Why did I escape back then?

Sword Saint Ah Xion had pondered countless times over this question. If she calmed down just a little and thought about it, she could understand what Gedora needed at that time.

But what were the emotions that surged from the heart at that moment?

It was fear.

Not fear of A·Gedora himself, but fear of herself.

At that moment, the emotions that surged within her heart whispered: "Do you really like that Hero, or this decadent man drinking in front of you?"

Was it the mighty life possessing superior swordsmanship, capable of defeating her, or this man entwined with curses, with severed tendons and a heart like dead ashes?

Ah Xion had to admit that she had never seen this man in such a dejected state. He had once been so youthful and arrogant.

She thought, she contemplated, and then she came here, only to finally realize how superficial a woman she truly was. Yes, superficial.

In the end, whether it was Gedora or Doro... probably weren't that important, what mattered was the person in front of her, this person he...

Doro dropped his sword.

He assumed a combat stance.

Both hands lifted high like a beast, as if they were holding up the entire sky, seemingly ready to smash it down to the ground the next moment.

"This is!"

Mohe, since encountering this man, for the first time couldn't help but exclaim, more aware than anyone else what Doro was doing at this moment.

That was Mohe's move.

It was the Demon King's combat technique, used in their final battle, where she collided her fist with Doro's sword to demonstrate the Demon King's might—yet now, he was doing what Mohe had done back then.

He undoubtedly abandoned the sword and chose the Demon King's method.

But... it shouldn't be like this!

In that battle, in the end, it was her fists that lost to A·Gedora's sword! If one were to say whose move was stronger... it was clearly Doro's sword that was stronger! He had no reason to discard the sword and use his combat skills... and... was he learning at that time?!

In terms of physique, Doro's body was considerably larger than Sword Saint Ah Xion's. When he assumed this stance, it was as if he transformed into a giant, while Ah Xion was enveloped by his shadow, like a trembling small animal, and Doro became the hunter.

In the Demon King Mohe's martial arts research, attacking from above is often the most effective method. The massive swing coupled with gravitational potential energy. Although drawing an arc, it often reached faster than straight or rush punches, and was more powerful.

In this posture, attacking becomes very easy. Sometimes it even seems like a gorilla, only knowing to hammer the ground with its fists... simple yet brutal—directly pointing to the core of combat: speed, strength, and sharp eyes. When you possess all three, moves become unnecessary.

Just need to launch a storm-like attack like Doro at this moment, like the former Demon King!

Fists fell like raindrops!

Block it?

No, Sword Saint Ah Xion made the judgment faster than ever; in this situation, the only way to win is—trading life for life! Once the first blow is blocked, the ensuing attack becomes a storm, and the defense line crumbles! Only by reaching his throat with the sword before the first punch lands can such an attack be halted.

Dive down, lower the body, and stab forward!

Simple, decisive, clean! The moment the sword light flashed, the tip had already reached Doro's throat.

However, Doro's fist had already landed on Ah Xion's back.

"You lost."

Doro declared.

Yes, lost.

The time it took for the sword to reach Doro's throat was slower than the punch reaching Ah Xion's—this slowness was very brief, maybe 0.1 seconds? No, even shorter than 0.1 seconds. Yet, it was this brief moment, this step of "arriving first," that allowed Doro to crush Ah Xion's offensive with formidable strength, causing her assault to crumble uncontrollably, at most pushing the sword into Doro's chest with inertia... then, her spine would break, and Doro would only suffer minor injuries.

Ah Xion withdrew her sword, her face full of bitterness: "When did you learn such a thing?"

"Of course, I learned it from fighting with the Demon King. In this world, what is more powerful and worth learning than the Demon King?"

He spoke with such matter-of-fact authority.

Of course, this is reality, standing at the pinnacle of almost every field, even an existence bearing the holy name, if challenged alone, can only face a fate of death—only the united force of many bearing the holy name and the most powerful heroes are qualified to challenge the Demon King. Such an existence is surely worth learning from.

But…

"Then I… I…"

She could never go back to the past with Doro.

The present scene elucidates the reality before her eyes.

Sword Saint Ah Xion knew more clearly than ever. What is Doro telling her…

Even if Doro lost to Ah Xion, he could never become Ah Xion's disciple again, because there exists a power even greater than Ah Xion's. What difference would it make to learn Ah Xion's techniques? She was inherently a "weakling." At least, in comparison to the Demon King.

Therefore, he could never again become Ah Xion's disciple; even if he sought refuge with the Demon King, such a choice would be impossible.

The existence called Ah Xion had no value whatsoever for Doro.

Am I the only one who remembers those warm memories of the past?

When he studied under me, didn't he feel— any warmth?

In her eyes naturally flowed sorrow, like a puppy abandoned by its owner, she had many words she wanted to say but dared not, merely staring pitifully at the person who abandoned her, hoping the other might feel pity and reconsider their decision.

This was very uncharacteristic of her.

Mohe focused on Ah Xion's appearance.

This Sword Saint had undergone baptism under the Moonlight Pool of the Elf Race ages ago, through which she gained prolonged youth, and correspondingly, her hair and eyes were dyed a moonlight-like silver color. Such people, although rare, there are indeed a few; the Demon King had seen many over the past years.

Speaking of the Moonlight Pool of the Elves, wasn't it something I snatched away?

A bit hazy to remember.

The one I took seemed to be…

Mohe's gaze fell on Lisidorwei, who also had long silver hair.

It seemed I used it as a raw material to create Vampires? I wonder who occupied the altered "Blood Pool" after my death.

Lisidorwei didn't understand what Mohe suddenly looked at her for, but she sharply made some guesses. Moreover… she harbored a small private intention.

Thinking Mohe was as malicious as always, she inappropriately spoke, "If you truly wish to stay by Doro's side, Ah Xion."

Doro was stunned, looking at Lisidorwei with confusion.

Lisidorwei knew Doro didn't want such a thing to happen, but the Demon King had already made a decision, if he truly opposed— he should decidedly resist, right?

"Then become Demon Race, Ah Xion."

"De-Demon Race…"

Lisidorwei approached Rose, using her hand to stroke Rose's chin: "Look at Miss Rose here, you should know very well, she's your second disciple, someone named Frodonick. She went to the Royal Capital to execute the plan of returning the Demon King's right hand, just so Mr. Doro could become Demon Race. What about you? To what extent can you go for Doro? Can you sacrifice your everything for him?"

"Sacrifice everything…"

Ah Xion's face was filled with struggle.

"Doro's hand needs healing, the curse within him needs to be undone. The severed tendon in his hand and the curse constantly torment him, forcing him to use drunkenness to forget the pain—the deal between the Demon King and Doro is exactly this. Retrieve the body parts, help heal the arm, and clear the curse within. This is precisely your value, Miss Ah Xion."

This is Lisidorwei's small personal intention: "Charlette is already on guard, if I'm not mistaken, she's already preparing to gather people to turn the world upside down to find our existence. Under such circumstances, it's extremely difficult to further retrieve the body parts—but you're different, Sword Saint. They have no guard against you. You can help the Demon King reclaim the body parts."

Mohe intended to say this wasn't my plan…but she didn't speak out, after all, what she had to do was exactly that.

Although she wanted to see a more entertaining development, planned to have Ah Xion fall into madness, and then completely become a frenzied Demon Race… such a deal wasn't the result she desired, however—

She recalled earlier combat, the move Doro used that belonged to her, her heart vaguely felt unease.

"Yes, that's right." She chose to go along with Lisidorwei's words, "If I can retrieve my right hand and legs, I can accomplish everything you all wish for, Doro can return to his original state, and as for what happens afterward, that's for the future. We're talking about the current stage of the transaction."

Her deep gaze met Ah Xion's confused eyes: "You are a Sword Saint, your heart is solely with the sword, isn't it? This is for a higher level of sword, this is for the practice of sword…it's not to betray humanity for Doro, it's for the sword. Remember, Ah Gedora defeated the Demon King with a sword back then… He has a sword stronger than any you've seen. For the sword, you can do anything. Right?"

For the sword…

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.