I can return to the age of mysterious
Chapter 812 - 812 423 Arrogant Capital (4000)_2

Chapter 812: 423 Arrogant Capital (4000)_2 Chapter 812: 423 Arrogant Capital (4000)_2 This situation was like a deadly, densely-thorned terrain. Any creature that rushed into it would be lacerated, poisoned, and eventually die—even an elephant would be no exception. However, a bronze-armored, steel-boned tank suddenly charged in from the outside, its treads rattling as it crushed everything in its path. Unhindered, it drove straight through, no different than a car driving on a peaceful road.

When the tank had passed, the only thing left in its wake was the thorns trampled into the mud.

Solomon’s face turned pale with shock, and he clasped his palms together, unleashing all his strength in that moment. All around him, the thorns surged wildly, turning into waves of piercing thorn-waves that rolled over in layers.

Bang, bang, bang, bang…

In an instant, Casio’s body was struck by the thorn waves no less than ten times, each impact causing a loud boom. But just like sea waves crashing against a steadfast reef, only the waves would shatter to pieces. After the violent outburst, all the Sinful Thorns Solomon had released turned into fragments. Casio, completely unharmed, was wrapped in red energy, facing the sky-full of thorns. He casually walked up to Solomon as if he were strolling in a garden.

In his astonished gaze, Casio knocked him out with a hand knife.

In the distance, Claire silently stood her ground, unlike Soss and Solomon who took action, she simply remained still, silently observing the fight. She watched as Casio treated the two self-deluded opponents like a grown-up smacking around children. Shaking her head, Claire mocked herself inwardly.

“What kind of grand melee is this? Clearly, it’s just two fools seeking abuse…”

In fact, after the night when Casio used the Black Bait Wood to lure and hunt down the majority of the dark creatures in Florence, Claire had already understood a fact: someone had already possessed the strength of a Shadow Hunter before even becoming one. The other competitors had long lost any chance.

The last struggle from Soss and Solomon was nothing but a bit of wishful thinking mixed with unwillingness to concede. In the end, they lost as miserably as clowns.

“I surrender…”

Claire said quietly, looking into Casio’s eyes as he gazed over.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… Bang, bang, bang…

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps hitting the ground echoed throughout the canyon.

Five senior members of the Hunters Association approached, with most of their gazes focused on Casio. Among them was Aaron, the number five Shadow Hunter, who was carrying someone—it was Soss, the recently sent flying Lion King. He had been flown so high that he had to be intercepted halfway to prevent him from falling to his death.

Soss was still conscious, but his face was ashen. The force that ran through his body had been scattered in the brutal palm clash just now, and he could not muster any strength at all. His left shoulder, in particular, felt as if it didn’t belong to him. He struggled to stand on the ground, supporting himself with his right leg.

Next to him, Shadow Hunter Aaron was looking at Casio with an odd glance.

From the moment Holy Light Hunter Dili Xiati announced the start of the battle, to the moment witch Claire surrendered and the melee ended completely, roughly ten seconds had elapsed.

In ten seconds, three top Dark Gold Level Hunters were utterly defeated. Two of them had once been geniuses who could compete to become Shadow Hunters at any given time in the past. Even though Casio already possessed the strength of a Shadow Hunter, the ease with which he swept them aside was still quite astonishing.

But on further thought, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

Except for the number three Shadow Hunter Jin, who was away on a mission, the other Shadow Hunters had more or less some understanding of Casio’s origins. The old hunters’ consistent public stance was that Casio was a genius they had raised from a young age. But in truth, this reason did not hold water; all present Shadow Hunters were more inclined to believe that Casio came from the mysterious Secret Martial Arts World of the Empire…

The Secret Martial Arts World was rife with masters, teeming with strong fighters. It was just far too independent and insular, dealing mostly with internal exchanges. As long as other supernatural world forces didn’t provoke them, they weren’t interested in meddling with the outside world. The Dark Hunt Organization had actually attempted to communicate with the Secret Martial Arts World but ended in failure.

Those Secret Martial Artists Sects preferred to stick to their own turf. They were more keen on clashing with other Secret Martial Art Sects—sect feuds, north and south disputes, east and west confrontations, and so forth. As for cooperating with the Dark Hunt Organization or dominating the national supernatural realm, they had no interest whatsoever.

As time passed, the Secret Martial Arts World naturally drifted apart from the Transcendental Realm. It was as if the two had become unrelated existences.

People in the Secret Martial Arts World knew very little about the Transcendental Realm, and those in the Transcendental Realm likewise had little understanding of the various aspects of the Secret Martial Arts World. Casio, hailing from the Secret Martial Arts World, naturally represented the most likely scenario. Of course, whether Casio was from the Secret Martial Arts World or not did not affect his becoming a Shadow Hunter. The process was fair, and everything spoke through strength.

A breeze swept through the canyon, carrying away gravel and bringing with it the howling of the wind.

“Congratulations, Bai Kui, you are now one of the members of the Shadow Hunters,” Dilixiati suddenly extended his hand, revealing a Shadow Hunter Badge prepared earlier. It was a metallic carving resembling a Ghost Face, exuding a fierce demeanor, like a fierce ghost of the night.

It was half the size of a palm, shaped like a shield, with a stone-like protrusion around its edge.

It looked heavy and cold.

Dilixiati tossed the badge over, and Casio reached out to catch it.

Beyond some of the details just mentioned, there was also a number at the very top of the shield, deeply engraved above the Ghost Face’s head: 5.

Undoubtedly, this was the logo of the number five Shadow Hunter.

As the number four Shadow Hunter, Soul Sickle, had been seriously injured and retired, Aaron naturally moved up to take the spot as number four. As for the new genius who emerged and joined the Shadow Hunters, he naturally became the least experienced, the new number five Dark Hunt.

Beside Aaron, Soss, his figure trembling slightly, wore an ashen face as he stared intently at the Dark Hunt badge in Casio’s hand. It was something he had yearned for since childhood, but now it was in someone else’s hands to toy with.

Across from him, Casio glanced at the Dark Hunt badge in his hand and showed no obvious sign of joy. He lifted his head, his gaze sweeping from Aaron to Dilixiati and the others, as he spoke, “It’s said that Shadow Hunters have the chance to challenge others once a year, with the stronger gaining a higher ranking. Except for the Holy Light Hunters, no one can refuse…”

“Are you suggesting… you want to challenge us now?”

Aaron’s eyebrows raised, and the smile on his face gradually turned solemn. It was not unprecedented for many prodigies to immediately challenge higher-ranked Shadow Hunters upon their admittance to test their strength. But that was always after they had been to the Source of the Holy Spring and pushed their abilities to the limit.

For Casio to issue a challenge to the Shadow Hunters right after passing the assessment was a first. It seemed, had his ten-second melee just been a warm-up? And were they now the main course?

Feeling Casio’s intent, Aaron immediately became serious. Because according to the challenge rules, he would be the first to face the challenge as the newly advanced number four.

“So soon? You don’t want to wait until after your powers have increased at the Source of the Holy Spring?”

Aaron’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his momentum gradually began to rise.

“No need,” replied Casio with a still cold face, “It’s rare for all of you to gather in the canyon today. If I wait until after I return from the Source of the Holy Spring, you will probably all be scattered across the Empire on various tasks. Instead of that, why not have a go now? It also saves the effort and time of looking for you all. What do you think?”

His gaze met Aaron’s head-on, not giving an inch. Casio’s behavior might seem arrogant and reckless, as he was challenging other Dark Hunts immediately after becoming a Shadow Hunter. But in truth, he wanted to quickly ascend the hierarchy of the Dark Hunt Organization, to replace the number one Dark Hunt, and even the Holy Light Hunter.

He had to assert his strength dominantly from the start, to subdue everyone else. Only through intense conflict could he employ drastic measures, and only drastic measures could bring about significant changes. Such as Casio ascending from the number five Dark Hunt to the Holy Light Hunter within a year’s time.

Of course, there was one important prerequisite for this hate-attracting approach.

That is, you must have the capital to be arrogant while you are being arrogant!

Without the capital to be arrogant, that would be overestimating oneself, that would be courting death…