Monsters Die When Killed

It’s a well-known fact that when people learn a new language, the first thing they master is swear words.

Clearly, the being on the other side of the altar—the one the maid had called ’Lord Messenger’—didn’t react at first. By the time he understood he’d been cursed out, Su Zhou had already unleashed a crisp Thunder Strike, blasting the Crystal Altar to smithereens.

Half an hour later, Elias, who had rushed over, found the maid imprisoned in a Water Prison by Su Zhou in the great hall of the Duke’s Mansion.

Water Prison. It sounded cool, but in reality, it was just Su Zhou gathering a large amount of Water Spiritual Power to confine someone. However, after his recent studies, Su Zhou could freely adjust the pressure and flow within the water he controlled, making it a very useful tool for imprisoning targets he didn’t want to kill.

"I can’t believe there was a spy."

Elias wasn’t particularly surprised. After all, the Naisel family’s most loyal attendants and maids had all been killed off over the last six months. Everyone currently in the mansion was a new hire. He just couldn’t figure out how the Water God Believers had managed to convince these maids to betray them, especially given the high risk of being discovered.

"It’s simple. Because this maid is one of them."

Su Zhou wasn’t surprised in the slightest. He reached into the Water Prison and pushed aside the captive maid’s hair behind her ear, revealing gills and a few faint scales. "’Since doomsday is coming anyway, death isn’t scary. If you’ve got one shot, you might as well take it. For people who have hope, that kind of thinking isn’t strange at all.’"

"Is that right... I thought most people’s thinking was, ’Since doomsday is coming anyway, what’s the point of trying so hard? No need to exhaust myself, I might as well just wait to die.’"

The gray-eyed youth gave a bitter smile, his attempt at a joke. Su Zhou laughed in reply. "That’s humanity for you—a walking contradiction."

Most beings in the Tartadis World lived by the principle that a bad life was better than a good death, perpetually half-waiting to die. Even the bandits in the wilderness were, in essence, just people who roamed beyond the civilized world, enjoying a kind of freedom. Robbery was simply their way of seeking thrills. But all that was just self-abandonment born from hopelessness. If a sliver of hope for survival appeared, no one, regardless of who they were, would give it up. They would erupt with unprecedented motivation.

Clearly, this maid was a Fishman. The act of Su Zhou imprisoning a Fishman in a Water Prison sounded ridiculous—like torturing the Undead with poison gas, putting a Fire Element on trial by fire, or banishing a Druid to an uninhabited wilderness. It was basically performance art. But that wasn’t actually the case.

As any purveyor of useless trivia knows, fish can drown too. If the water pressure is high enough, even deep-sea fish can be "drowned" in the depths. The pressure Su Zhou was applying to his Water Prison was equivalent to a depth of two thousand meters in the sea. The maid was having trouble just breathing, let alone mustering the strength to break free.

However, the very fact that she could withstand two thousand meters of water pressure—when she had seemed like an ordinary person before—was proof enough that she was no longer a normal human, but a scion of the Water God.

At that, Su Zhou eased the water pressure. He turned to the maid, who could finally catch her breath, and asked, "Speak. Why did you betray Naisel City and side with those thugs?"

’The reason was obvious, but I still need to hear her say it herself.’

After a fit of coughing, the maid glared at Su Zhou with hatred. She sneered, "We are the descendants of the Divine Chosen! We’re not like you believers in the New Gods! As long as the Father God reclaims his power, we will survive the end of the world. At least, some of us will live on into the next Era... just like at the end of the last one."

"Even in death, I will only be returning to the Father God’s embrace. My Soul is Immortal—"

ZAP. Su Zhou killed her with his Thunder Technique. The rampaging Thunder Light reduced her to cinders, Soul and all.

"So that’s the gist of it," Su Zhou said. "The Water God seems to be real, and their organization is probably far larger than we imagined."

Su Zhou, of course, had no strange moral compunctions about killing women. He was a firm believer in gender equality; everyone was the same in his eyes. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill this maid, and he wouldn’t hesitate to deliver a killing blow to an inhuman beauty like Garuda, either.

’Unlike someone as shallow as Yara, when I, Su Zhou, hit someone, I never care if they’re good-looking or not!’

Elias was visibly startled by Su Zhou’s decisiveness and flinched back. But he also understood. The maid’s attitude had been resolute, like she’d been brainwashed; they probably wouldn’t have gotten any more information out of her anyway. Killing her was for the best. "Indeed..." he said. "And they know all about this ’Era.’ We, on the other hand, are completely in the dark."

"This shows the enemy hasn’t given up on keeping tabs on Naisel City." Su Zhou, feeling refreshed after his meal, tossed the charred remains out the window and made a suggestion. "So I think we should get a move on. For instance, we could go check on the Maze right now."

"Alright, Mr. Su." Feeling mentally exhausted, Elias sighed. "I’ll take you there right now."

The Naisel City Maze wasn’t far from the main city.

If the spot where Su Zhou had first entered the city was the south gate, then the Maze was located in a small, hilly area about three kilometers outside the city walls. A diamond-shaped fissure there led down into the deep, dark earth.

For Su Zhou, covering such a short distance would only take a few minutes, even if he flew slowly.

There were many camps set up around the Maze. Most adventurers typically lived in these camps, only returning to the main city to drink and celebrate after a successful haul.

But recently, with all the chaos in Naisel City, the adventurers’ exploration of the Maze had been severely impacted. There wasn’t much activity in the camps, which now looked quite desolate.

Su Zhou and Elias landed together at the entrance to the Maze. There was a registration post here for tracking adventurers coming and going, and for identifying those who died or went missing. The Duke’s original registrar had been killed by the Water God Believers, and the replacement they’d installed had fled during the chaos of the previous day. Now, the post was deserted, forcing adventurers to register themselves.

After casually writing his name and the time in the logbook, Su Zhou headed inside. Elias had no choice but to follow, given his own lack of strength and the obvious safety concerns. Otherwise, if the Water God Believers sent an Elite Tier assassin after him, he would probably only survive for a few extra minutes, even if he played his ’Bottom Card’.

「Just as Su Zhou and Elias entered the Maze.」

Far away, deep within an unknown maze, lay a hidden Ice Crystal cavern.

The Messenger, who had been hung up on and had his entire family "greeted" with poorly-spoken profanity, had since calmed down from his initial humiliation and rage.

’It seems our compatriot hiding in Naisel City has been discovered.’

He looked like a strange narwhal humanoid, with six peculiar limbs that allowed him to both walk on land and swim through water. A long, white horn protruded from his head.

He gazed at the altar before him, lost in thought. ’The Father God was revived only recently; his strength hasn’t returned to its peak. He certainly can’t act rashly. Suppressing a peak Elite Powerhouse, one who might even be on the verge of becoming Near God... Duke Naisel’s unexpected death should have been the perfect opportunity, but it was one disaster after another. Not only did three of our envoys die, but we still don’t have any clear information on the enemy.’

’But regardless, the enemy’s strength must be at least on par with the former Duke Naisel.’

Even though he saw himself as a descendant of a god and possessed the arrogance of the chosen, the Messenger was not one to underestimate his enemies. He muttered softly to himself, "But we at least know that in the lower levels of the Maze near Naisel City, there is a major Divine Hall belonging to the Father God. It can restore a great deal of his power."

’That’s enough. That alone is reason enough for them to throw everything they have into capturing it.’

"We only sent three Elite Tier envoys before, thinking it would be more than enough. It seems that was a miscalculation—but we won’t make that mistake again!"

His massive, whale-like mouth twisted into a savage grin. The narwhal Messenger’s gaze shifted to Naisel City on the map. "Just you wait, you arrogant fool!"

He pointed his horn, pressing it down on the map. The Messenger applied a bit of force, and the sharp tip pierced straight through the map, shattering the Ice Crystal behind it into a fine powder.

"I will appeal directly to the Father God and ask Him to personally intervene—to grant us His Divine Power!"

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