Kevin placed his hands against the heavy wooden door.
"Go for it, athlete!"
Xiling stood behind Kevin, cheering him on.
"Just shutting up is my greatest encouragement," he grumbled, and Kevin began to push with both hands, causing the door to creak.
Soon, the door that The Tarnished hadn't managed to open with all his might was completely shoved open by Kevin, revealing the scene outside.
Kevin froze as he pushed the door open, beholding a scene he would never forget.
Even though the buildings before him resembled a ruined battlefield, the gleaming golden tree in the distance captivated everyone's gaze.
"So beautiful!"
Lemuen, pushed forward by Xiling, sighed softly. She had seen many magnificent things, but the golden tree in the distance still left her breathless with admiration.
"It's truly beautiful, especially when it burns." Xiling, who had been tortured by this game before, and now, looking at the golden tree, couldn't help but feel a surge of nostalgia.
"Where exactly have I been teleported to? Why does this place look so dilapidated?" The Tarnished stroked his chin, surveying his surroundings. The more he looked, the more he felt something was amiss.
"Who cares about where it is? Let's move forward. We don't need a reason to move forward."
Xiling, leading the way, drew his holy sword, pointed at the distant golden tree, and shouted, "There are no enemies ahead of us. Companions, our goal is the sea of stars."
Kevin and The Tarnished looked at Xiling with disdain, while Lemuen smiled and clapped softly.
"Hmph, two uncoordinated individuals, drawn your weapons, get ready to fight."
Huh?
Just as Kevin and The Tarnished were puzzled, the sound of something heavy falling was heard not far away. Everyone's eyes immediately turned in the direction of the sound, and Kevin's expression darkened. Because within his sight, a truly bizarre creature was rapidly crawling towards him from afar.
Its body, adorned with various limbs, made Kevin feel utterly disgusted.
"Ah, what the hell is that thing!" Kevin turned to ask the locals, who were now bewildered.
"Where I used to live, there were no such things. You're asking me? How would I know?"
Unlike the two useless men, Lemuen had already aimed her rifle on the rapidly moving Godskin Noble below.
The Godskin Noble moved incredibly quickly, but Lemuen's marksmanship was even more accurate.
With a bang, the gunshot sound rang out, and the bullet pierced the air. Just as it was about to hit its target, the Godskin Noble, who had been advancing in a straight line, seemed to sense danger and thrust one of its several weapons into the air, the bullet and sword clashing with a clang of fine metal.
"Awesome!" Lemuen praised, then raised her weapon again, about to launch a three-hit combo, when a hand stopped her.
"Hold the line for me here, and let me face this little Godskin Noble." With that, Xiling leaped down.
His feet landed on the ground, and Xiling didn't rush to draw his holy sword. Honestly, he had never truly fought anyone. None of the trials left by the twenty-seven heroes involved combat; almost all were about willpower. As expected, the trials left by the heroes were all very similar.
"So, this should be my first battle."
Just as Xiling was sighing, the Godskin Noble arrived in front of Xiling, raising several weapons and launching a fierce attack at him. At that moment, the holy sword unleashed itself.
Without any resistance, Xiling's sword cleaved through everything in front of him, weapons, arms, and even heads, as easily as cutting through tofu.
"This sword will teach you how to guard against arrogance and impatience." The holy sword sheathed, and the Godskin Noble's body fell to the ground. With the victory in battle, something flowed from the corpses on the ground into the Holy Sword, ultimately feeding back into Xiling.
The Holy Sword is no ordinary sword.
It possesses the properties of restraining everything and being indestructible.
It also possesses a terrifying function.
In Xiling's words, it can be leveled up by killing monsters.
However, this monster isn't just any living being.
Evil beings.
Enemy of civilization.
Trampler of life.
Xiling didn't know what the standard was, but he didn't experience any reaction when he killed animals.
Such a powerful weapon, couldn't it have any negative effects? Some brothers do! Xiling had already understood the Holy Sword's function the moment he received it. It had a flaw: its judgment of kindness. When fighting against kind individuals, the kinder they were, the less damage the Holy Sword would inflict, potentially even no damage at all. Conversely, the more evil the person, the greater the damage.
Xiling didn't care that his body hadn't strengthened much, and he shouted upwards. "How was it? Wasn't that sword strike of mine impressive?"
Looking at the hero below, who seemed to be seeking approval, Kevin gave him a thumbs-up.
"The Holy Sword is powerful."
"You're not."
"It's clearly because I'm powerful that the sword is powerful, understand?"
"Before, I was just hunting and stuff, and I had no idea what this so-called hero Xiling was capable of. Now it seems he's got some real talent." The Tarnished rubbed his chin with emotion. Although he was a great magician, he still had a keen eye.
"He's a hero, after all," Lemuen smiled.
...
"I'd like to ask, how exactly was this place built? It's incredibly high, and what was the purpose of building it here?" Walking along a mountain road, Kevin found himself increasingly puzzled. Why would a building be built so high up? Climbing this mountain would be nearly exhausting.
"You'd have to ask Hidetaka Miyazaki about that. I definitely don't know."
At this moment, the group was heading down the mountain. Since they were already here, why not experience the otherworldly scenery? The main issue was that a certain shameless magician had directly clung to the hero's legs, begging for mercy.
Please, Hero, stay with me for a while. I'll do anything if you stay with me.
It was because Hero Xiling was kindhearted. If it's the guy next door, he had just kicked him away, and he would have done anything. Then, would you dare to transform into a beautiful girl? No ulterior motive, I just want to see it.
"Xiling, aren't you tired? Actually, it's okay for me to keep driving like this." Lemuen, in her wheelchair, said a little embarrassedly as Xiling lifted her wheelchair and herself.
"Okay, no problem at all. The wheelchair and you weigh no more than 200 pounds. That's no problem for me."
Soon, the group reached the foot of the mountain, and Xiling saw a familiar figure, which instinctively made him raise his eyebrows. A figure wearing a white mask stood before them.
Everyone noticed Xiling's change, and they calmly opened the group chat.
[Great Magician Tarnished]: In your words, those who come here have bad intentions.
[High School Student Kevin]: We are the ones who come here.
[Wheelchair Sniper]: Xiling, did you notice anything?
[I Don't Want to Be a Hero Anymore]: My holy sword is telling me there's evil nearby.
[High School Student Kevin]: Your sword has this effect! As expected of a holy sword.
Xiling suddenly felt a pang of guilt for deceiving a fool, but the guilt quickly faded, replaced by...
This fool is so easy to fool! If it were a girl, I could fool her more than seven times.
[Great Magician Tarnished]: So what should we do next?
[I Don't Want to Be a Hero Anymore]: Look at my social skills.
"Why are so many people coming out? What are their origins?" Varré sensed something was amiss, especially the dark-haired boy. The way he looked at him was particularly strange, and Varré decided he had to be more cautious.
Xiling, on his side, had also agreed. He smiled, a gentle, heroic smile, and stepped forward with Kevin, approaching Varré.
"Hello, my name is Xiling. Nice to meet you, Mr. Unknown." Xiling extended his hand. Seeing Xiling's heroic smile, Varré's initial wariness subsided slightly, and he even thought to himself, "Anyone with a smile like that can't be a bad person."
"Hehe, nice to meet you too." Varré extended his hand and shook Xiling's.
The two exchanged a smile. Although Xiling couldn't see Varré's expression due to his mask, it didn't matter. He was very happy. At that moment, Xiling's heroic smile suddenly changed into a treacherous and cunning expression, the smile of a man who had succeeded in his scheme.
"Kevin, do it!"
Varré:?