After Lin Gui and the other two left the bar, the heavy wooden door shut, cutting off the cold wind and the night outside.
The rowdy atmosphere inside the bar returned as the dwarves continued to clink their mugs and drink heartily. However, the bustle was soon interrupted by the sudden opening of the door.
Three figures stood at the entrance.
The leader was a tall, thin man wearing travel-worn, dark brown hunting attire. A hand crossbow and a row of silver bolts hung at his waist, and his leather boots were caked in dried mud.
His hat was pulled low, revealing only a hard-lined jaw and tightly pursed lips.
It was a typical Demon Hunter's outfit—one that was even a bit outdated.
Following behind him were two young people, a man and a woman. They also wore leather coats suitable for movement, carried travel packs, and held vigilant gazes.
Blackbeard’s expression instantly turned serious.
He set down his mug and sighed first.
“Cass, if you're here to buy potions...”
“You’d better look elsewhere.”
“Just now, I sold off all my remaining stock.”
Upon hearing this, Cass fell silent for a moment.
He raised a hand to pull down the brim of his hat and turned to leave.
“Wait.”
Blackbeard called out to him.
His gaze swept over the two young people standing beside Cass.
“It’s been... almost eight years, hasn't it?”
“Your two children have grown into quite the figures now.”
Blackbeard’s voice was low, carrying a rare weight.
“Do you really intend for them to follow you—”
“And throw their entire lives away for the sake of that so-called ‘revenge’?”
His gaze landed on the young boy’s face.
He could still vaguely see the face from eight years ago: young, terrified, yet trying his best to look composed. Back then, he was only around ten years old, clutching his older sister’s hand as he hid behind his father.
Now, his shoulders were broad, his back was straight, and his eyes were sharp, reflecting a steadiness that didn't belong to his age.
The girl beside him was the same.
The little girl from back then, who had messy braids and eyes red from crying, now looked every bit a cold-eyed, straight-backed Demon Hunter.
Blackbeard was a dwarf and technically shouldn't interfere in the grievances of humans, but he couldn't help it.
Eight years ago, on the dangerous road to find missing Title Rank experts, it was the very Cass before him who had dragged him out from a surrounding circle of eerie spectral demon fires.
He had to repay that life-saving debt.
“Eight years ago, you followed the trail of that white-haired Demon King to the Bounty City,” Blackbeard’s voice was slow and heavy, each word seemingly soaked in the weight of memory.
“Since the day you saved me...”
“I’ve always... been keeping an eye out for any traces of Gusion, the Eleventh Pillar Demon King.”
His rough fingers unconsciously traced the edge of his mug.
Over the years, he had used his network in the Bounty City more than once to ask various hunters and information brokers about any vague rumors involving terms like “white-haired,” “Gusion,” or “Demon King.”
Every time he caught wind of something, he would pass the information along faithfully.
However, most of those reports were incomplete or difficult to verify. Some were just misinterpretations, and some were even bored jokes made up by hunters to pass the time.
But Cass would just head out blindly, charging into the Wall of Sighs time and time again.
He had come back several times on the verge of death, barely dragged back by his equally injured children.
The most dangerous time was when they accidentally stumbled into a place called Wailing Valley. The spectral demons there would mimic the cries of loved ones.
Cass was nearly lured over a cliff, and it was his son who had desperately held onto his legs at the last second. The boy's own back had been torn open by the spectral claws of a demon, leaving three gashes deep enough to show bone. Even now, those scars still ached whenever it rained.
Blackbeard looked at the silent Cass before him and then at the two prematurely mature children. Guilt and pity wrapped around his heart like vines.
“You only have the strength of a Low-tier Legendary...” his voice sounded hoarse.
“But Gusion, as one acknowledged by a Demon King Pillar, was born at the Low-tier Epic rank.”
“And he might... be even stronger now.”
Blackbeard raised his eyes, his gaze heavy as iron.
“Even if you actually find him—”
“What then?”
He didn't say those words aloud, but his gaze said everything.
Cass’s quest for revenge would ultimately lead to his death.
But the two children he had adopted were innocent. Those two children he had worked so hard to raise...
They would also be buried with Cass in that never-ending mist, all for the sake of his hatred.
Cass remained silent for a moment.
From beneath the brim of his hat came a raspy voice that sounded like sandpaper rubbing together:
“Ever since Gusion... destroyed everything I had,”
“I have done only two things in these past eight years.”
“Honing my techniques for hunting the Demon Race.”
“And preparing... a blade capable of killing a Demon King.”
He spoke simply, but Blackbeard knew what those words entailed.
It meant a body covered in old scars from fighting demons alone in the wilderness during winter. It meant sneaking into dangerous territories countless times just to harvest a rare poisonous herb that grew only on cliff edges. It meant exhausting all his wealth on the black market for forbidden alchemical items specifically designed to restrain high-ranking demons.
This man had lived his life as a weapon forged only for revenge. Even the childhood and youth of those two children had been poured into this near-obsessive fixation.
Blackbeard let out a long sigh. He knew that, no matter what, he couldn't stop the other man from flying into the flames.
“I sold all the potions... to a young man. A fellow countryman from Shield City asked me to look after him.”
He paused for a moment.
“They’re staying at the Oak Barrel Inn, in the room at the very end of the second floor.”
Upon hearing this, Cass slowly nodded.
The shadow of his hat hid all his expressions. He didn't offer any thanks or say goodbye. He simply turned around in silence and, leading his pair of young but resolute and weathered children, pushed open the heavy wooden bar door.
They merged into the cold, dim night outside.
...
On the other side, after leaving the dwarven tavern, Lin Gui and his companions returned to their temporary resting place.
Once they had packed their belongings, they headed directly to the grassy slope outside the Bounty City. The uniquely shaped 7-Copper Post Office Exclusive Express Flying Vessel appeared out of thin air and landed there.
Just as Lin Gui was about to walk toward the pilot's seat, he saw Theia beat him to it, nimbly sitting inside.
Eve followed as well, sitting behind Theia and naturally wrapping her arms around Theia’s slender waist.
Lin Gui was stunned.
“What are you two doing?”
The two girls turned their heads at the same time, looking at him with speechless expressions.
Theia spoke without mercy: “Since there's a certain ignorant person who has no concept of speed and answers every word of advice with a reckless sprint— from now on, the heavy responsibility of piloting will be shoulder by the beautiful, charming, youthful, and forever eighteen-year-old Theia!”
Eve nodded from behind with a smile, “That's right. Captain Theia will now be the one in charge of directing our course. As for you, Mr. Lin Gui, your driving privileges have been revoked due to your repeated speeding.”
Lin Gui looked at Theia skeptically, “Do you even know how to control this thing?”
It had taken him at least a week of fumbling to figure out which buttons corresponded to which functions.
Theia put her hands on her hips, “Who are you looking down on? Don't underestimate my terrifying vision that can find a single gold coin in ten thousand miles of grassland!”
Lin Gui muttered helplessly, “That has nothing to do with whether you can fly this thing or not...”
He let out a sigh.
“Fine.”
Lin Gui walked to the back, squeezed into a seat, and fastened his safety rope.
He cast Levitation, and the entire vessel began to float slowly.
Then, he said to Theia in the front, “Could you please make it quick?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he received two synchronized rolls of the eyes from the girls.
Rate on N.U.
