57: Chapter 57 Raiding Black Wind Stronghold! And incidentally killing the Demon King's son.

The setting sun was like blood, casting long shadows over the ruins in front of Black Wind Stockade.

As soon as Qin Ji finished speaking, the group of bandits, already scared out of their wits, completely collapsed. Some dropped their weapons and knelt for mercy, some shrieked and tried to scale the stockade walls, and others slumped to the ground, the smell of urine wafting from their crotches.

"Since you won't line up, I'll have to 'organize' you myself."

Qin Ji shook his head with some regret, raising [Sunset's Sorrow] once again.

There were no world-shaking skill effects; even the sound of the bowstring vibrating was deliberately suppressed. His fingers moved like phantoms, and purple-black magic arrows, like homing missiles with eyes, traced eerie arcs through the air, accurately piercing the back of the heads of everyone trying to escape.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Muffled explosions sounded one after another, like crushing ripe tomatoes.

"Ding! You have killed a Black Wind Bandit (Elite). Triggered [Greedy Grasp]. Looted attribute: Strength +2."

"Ding! You have killed a Black Wind Bandit (Elite). Triggered [Greedy Grasp]. Looted attribute: Agility +2."

...

Within just half a minute, the originally noisy stockade entrance became completely silent.

Aside from the equipment and shimmering gold coins covering the ground, not a single Soul remained alive.

"Mosquito legs are still meat; every little bit counts."

Qin Ji glanced at the basic attributes on his panel, which had risen by several hundred points, and casually snapped his fingers. The Abyssal Demon Dragon "Frost" behind him immediately understood. Its massive dragon wings flapped, kicking up a gale that swept the loot from the ground right in front of Qin Ji.

Stowing the loot, Qin Ji stepped over the deep trench he had blasted and entered the interior of Black Wind Stockade.

Unexpectedly, the vast interior of the stockade was completely empty.

In the Hall of Loyalty, where the BOSS should have been, there were only a few cups of steaming tea and overturned tables and chairs.

"Fled?"

Qin Ji raised an eyebrow, walked to the tiger-skin chair, and felt the temperature of a teacup. "The tea is still hot. It seems the First and Second in Commands chose to abandon the stockade and flee the moment they saw me insta-kill the Third Brother."

"Tsk, these are the so-called heroes of the greenwood? They don't even have the courage to fight for their lives. Poor review."

Qin Ji was somewhat disappointed. He thought he could farm two more BOSSes; even if their attributes weren't as good as the Third Brother's, they could at least contribute some special affixes.

However, since they ran away, they certainly couldn't take their belongings with them.

Qin Ji turned and walked toward the warehouse in the backyard.

After violently breaking open the warehouse door, the sight that met his eyes made him pause slightly.

There weren't mountains of gold and silver treasures here. Instead, there were rows of neatly arranged weapon racks.

The racks didn't hold the broadswords or spiked maces commonly used by bandits, but rather uniform standard-issue spears and Steel Repeating Crossbows.

[Star Kingdom Standard Issue Spear (Excellent)]

[Description: Standard equipment for the Star Kingdom's regular army. Exquisitely crafted and durable.]

"Heh, interesting."

Qin Ji casually picked up a repeating crossbow and pulled the trigger. The mechanism made a crisp clicking sound. "A bandit den acting as kings of the mountain, yet hiding thousands of sets of regular army equipment. If there's no one behind this, even a dog wouldn't believe it."

He recalled the "family drama" he had seen in the palace earlier, and everything became clear.

"It seems Princess Qing Fuyun isn't just playing palace politics; she's been busy outside too. Is she planning to raise a private army for a rebellion?"

Qin Ji casually swept all the equipment into his backpack. Although he looked down on this scrap metal, it would be great to take back and give to the lifestyle players in the guild to dismantle for Materials.

After looting the warehouse, Qin Ji went to the First Chief's bedroom.

The place had been ransacked into a mess, clearly indicating the First Chief had left in a hurry.

Among a pile of scattered clothes, a letter caught Qin Ji's attention. The envelope was sealed with a dark red rose wax stamp—the private Seal of the Star Kingdom's Second Princess, Qing Fuyun.

Qin Ji picked up the letter with two fingers and scanned it.

"...Father has been unwell lately; this is our chance. Be sure to transfer this batch of 'goods' to the Underground Dark River before the next full moon. Also, that thing must be guarded well; it is our only bargaining chip for negotiating with 'that side'..."

There was no signature, but the aura of treason between the lines almost overflowed from the paper.

"Tsk tsk tsk, solid evidence."

Qin Ji tucked the letter into his robe. "This is a good item. If that Second Princess doesn't behave in the future, I'll just throw this in her face."

Just then, Frost, who had been circling in the air, suddenly let out a low roar. The massive dragon head leaned toward Qin Ji, nostrils puffing out two trails of white vapor, as it pointed anxiously at a bookshelf in the corner of the bedroom.

"Hmm? You mean... there's an aura of the undead there?"

Qin Ji's eyes lit up.

The Abyssal Demon Dragon was most sensitive to Souls and the aura of the undead. Anything that could make it react was definitely no ordinary object.

He walked to the bookshelf and kicked it over.

Boom!

The bookshelf collapsed, revealing a hidden door on the wall behind it. The hidden door wasn't locked—or rather, the person fleeing didn't have time to lock it.

Pushing open the hidden door, a bone-chilling cold air instantly rushed out.

This was a secret room only about ten square meters in size.

There were no gold or silver jewels in the center of the secret room, only a black box floating in mid-air. Visible black mist swirled around the box, with countless hideous ghostly faces appearing and disappearing within the mist, letting out silent wails.

[Sealed Demon King Phylactery (Special Item)]

[Description: A remnant Soul of the Son of the Demon King, 'Grelorlinssen,' is sealed inside. As long as the phylactery is not destroyed, he can be reborn through it even if his Physical Body perishes.]

"Holy crap?"

Looking at the attribute panel before him, Qin Ji couldn't help but swear. "No wonder those two chiefs ran faster than rabbits. It turns out the truly valuable thing in this Black Wind Stockade wasn't the equipment, but this hot potato!"

The Son of the Demon King!

This was one of the major antagonists in the ragnarok background story. How could he appear on the edge of a novice map like this?

"Damned insect! Since you have discovered my place of slumber, then offer up your flesh and Soul!"

Seemingly sensing a living aura, the black box suddenly vibrated violently, and a raspy, majestic voice exploded directly in Qin Ji's mind.

Immediately after, the black mist surged, condensing into a giant skull that opened its bloody maw to bite at Qin Ji.

The momentum was grand, and the pressure was staggering!

If it were an ordinary player, this spiritual pressure alone would probably be enough to put them into a [Fear] state, leaving them at the mercy of others.

But Qin Ji just boredly picked his ear.

"Screaming so loud, anyone who didn't know better would think you were in your complete form."

He lifted his eyelids, looking at the approaching skull, a mocking curve appearing at the corner of his mouth. "A mere remnant Soul dares to act tough in front of me? Shatter for me!"

Without any fancy movements.

Qin Ji directly reached out his right hand, and his fair, slender palm was instantly covered in a layer of golden light.

[Hand of God: Physical Salvation]!

Slap!

A crisp sound of a slap echoed through the secret room.

That terrifying-looking black mist skull was directly slapped into pieces by Qin Ji!

"Awoooo—!!!"

A shrill scream rang out, and the black mist instantly dissipated, shrinking back into the box.

"Impossible! You... how can you have the radiance of divinity on you?! Who are you?!" The voice in the box was filled with terror and disbelief.

"I'm your daddy."

Qin Ji didn't bother with nonsense. He pulled out the legendary greatsword [frostmourne] from behind him, gripped the hilt with both hands, and slashed down hard at the floating phylactery!

"No!! You can't kill me! I am the Son of the Demon King! If you kill me, the Demon Army will trample..."

Crack!

The crisp sound of shattering interrupted all threats.

The incredibly hard phylactery, said to be destructible only by Divine Artifacts, was like a crisp cracker in the face of Qin Ji's sky-high attack power, instantly disintegrating into countless black fragments.

A ball of ghostly green Soul fire floated out. Before it could escape, Qin Ji grabbed it in his hand.

He squeezed hard.

Poof.

The Soul fire was extinguished.

At the same time, a series of pleasant System notification sounds, like a carnival movement, frantically flashed before Qin Ji's eyes.

"Ding! You have killed the Son of the Demon King, Grelorlinssen (Remnant Soul). Triggered [Greedy Grasp]."

"Congratulations on obtaining a hidden attribute: luck +50!"

"Congratulations on obtaining a special passive: [Demon King's Pressure] (Increases damage to dark creatures by 100%, and comes with a Fear Aura)."

"Ding! You have killed a mythic rank creature (Remnant Soul) while under-leveled. Obtained Experience +50 million!"

"Ding! Your level has increased to LV.21!"

"Ding! Your level has increased to LV.22!"

...

"Ding! Your level has increased to LV.25!"

Golden light flashed on Qin Ji five times in a row!

This rocket-like leveling speed was enough to make any hardcore grinder shed tears of blood in envy.

But it wasn't over yet.

"Ding! Detected that you own the guild [ragnarok]. Guild Achievement Points +50,000."

"Ding! Your guild level has increased to 3 Stars. All members' Attack Power +50."

"Ding! Your guild level has increased to 4 Stars. All members' Health +20,000."

"Ding! Your guild level has increased to 5 Stars. Unlocked guild skill [Space Teleportation]."

"Sweet!"

Qin Ji took a deep breath, feeling the warm current surging through his body.

This wave was simply like Qin Shi Huang touching an electric gate—a total win!

Not only did he get the long-coveted luck attribute, but he also got a mythic rank kill achievement for free. Although it was just a remnant Soul, the rewards were the real deal.

"Ding! You have completed the server-first kill of [Son of the Demon King Grelorlinssen]. A server-wide announcement is about to be made. Do you wish to hide your name?"

"Hide."

Qin Ji chose to reject it without hesitation.

What's the point of not showing off? It would be like wearing silk robes and walking in the dark. Moreover, he wanted those guys hiding in the shadows to see what happens to those who mess with him.

The next second.

A blood-red System announcement scrolled across the top of the vision of all online players in "God's Domain," forced to the top three times!

[Server-wide Announcement: Shocking! Player "Hidden Name" has successfully killed the Son of the Demon King Grelorlinssen (mythic rank) single-handedly! As the first player to kill a Mythical creature, this is hereby announced to be recorded in history!]

[Server-wide Announcement: Shocking! Player "Hidden Name"...]

The entire world channel instantly exploded.

"Holy crap?! mythic rank? I can't even beat an Elite mob, and someone has already slaughtered a god?"

"Hidden Name? This must be Snow Emperor or that mysterious White Night!"

"Son of the Demon King? The game just launched a few days ago, is the plot progressing this fast?"

"Am I the only one focusing on 'single-handedly'? Is this a one-man game?"

...

Looking at the frantically scrolling comments on the world channel, Qin Ji smiled with satisfaction.

He ignored the noise and walked out of the secret room.

By now, the sky had turned completely dark.

The ruins of Black Wind Stockade looked exceptionally desolate in the night, with only the occasional caw of a crow in the distance.

Qin Ji stood on the remains of the tallest tower, the night wind whipping his clothes. He tucked the letter that could shake the kingdom into his robe and looked toward the brightly lit Star Capital in the distance.

There, an even greater storm was brewing.

"Qing Fuyun, Son of the Demon King..."

The corners of Qin Ji's mouth curled slightly. His deep eyes reflected the prosperity of the capital, yet they were colder than the night. "It seems I have no choice but to wade into these murky waters."

Sensing its master's Battle Intent, Frost the dragon poked its massive head out from the darkness, bowing submissively at Qin Ji's feet. The cold breath it exhaled condensed into Frost on the ground, as if paving the way for the coming slaughter.