“Chris, I’ll fight you to the death!”
Jordan Hunter roared as he drew a longsword from his waist and charged at Chris with ferocity.
In an instant, a powerful surge of energy erupted from Jordan’s body, filling the air with an oppressive force.
Chris narrowed his eyes slightly, surprised to discover that Jordan Hunter was a practitioner of Crescendence.
“Hmph!”
With a cold snort, Chris vanished from his spot.
When he reappeared, his hands gripped the Dragon Slayer tightly, and he brought it down in a vicious strike.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion rang out, and Jordan Hunter was sent flying backward, crashing heavily to the ground.
Blood soaked his clothes as it poured from his wounds. Struggling to lift his head, Jordan stared at Chris with disbelief.
He couldn’t fathom that he wasn’t even a match for Chris in a single clash.
Fixing his gaze on Chris, Jordan gritted his teeth and said, “Chris, I’m the head of the Hunter family. We have powerful allies behind us. If you kill me, you’ll be signing your own death warrant…”
Before Jordan could finish his sentence, Chris darted forward and, with a single stroke, severed his head.
Blood sprayed into the air like a fountain.
Jordan’s head rolled to the side, his lifeless eyes wide open, his expression frozen in shock and disbelief.
Chris glanced at the fallen head with disdain and muttered, “So much for all your talk.”
Without another word, he crouched down and began searching Jordan Hunter’s body.
It didn’t take long before Chris found what he was looking for-a parchment resembling a piece of sheepskin.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
As he’d suspected, the fragment of the Dragon Emblem had been hidden on Jordan Hunter all along.
Chris stowed the fragment away and turned to Tiger. “Tiger, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Yes, sir!” Tiger nodded, his face filled with murderous intent. He barked out an order, “Kill them all! Leave no one from the Hunter family alive!”
Whizz!
Whizz!
Whizz!
At the command, the Guards of Death sprang into action, slaughtering their way through the Hunter family.
Screams filled the air.
“Ahhhh!”
“Ahhhh!”
“Ahhhh!”
The cries of despair echoed throughout the Hunter estate.
Before long, flames erupted, engulfing the entire estate in a fiery inferno.
A shocking piece of news soon spread across Riverton.
The Hunter family, the most powerful of the four salt merchant clans, had been annihilated in a single night.
Speculation ran wild about who the culprit could be, but no one knew the truth.
The other three salt merchant families remained tight-lipped, refusing to comment or reveal any clues about the incident.
After wiping out the Hunter family, Chris returned to the Wind family estate.
This time, he came to bid farewell to Lindsay.
Lindsay was visibly startled. “Mr. Shelby, are you leaving?”
“Yes.” Chris nodded with a smile. “Lindsay, thank you for your hospitality these past few days. I have other matters to attend to, so I must go.”
Hearing the news, Lindsay’s face fell with a hint of disappointment.
Forcing a smile, she asked, “Mr. Shelby, will Esther be going with you?”
“No.” Chris shook his head. “I’ll be leaving alone. Esther will stay here.”
“What?” Lindsay was taken aback. She couldn’t understand why Chris would leave Esther behind in Riverton.
After saying his goodbyes to Lindsay, Chris returned to the villa.
“Are you leaving?” Esther asked, her face troubled as she looked at him.
Chris nodded. “Yes.”
“Can I go with you?” she asked, her eyes brimming with hope.
Chris shook his head. “No. This journey will be fraught with danger, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“But-”
Chris stepped forward and hugged her, smiling gently. “Don’t worry, my love. I’ll be fine. Stay here and wait for me. I’ll return soon.”
Esther nodded firmly, her voice trembling. “Promise me you’ll come back safely.”
Having lost Chris once before, Esther couldn’t bear the thought of losing him again.
Although she wanted to stop him, she knew there were some things she couldn’t change-especially when it came to someone like Chris, a man who could never be tied down.
Chris said no more. Turning around, he left.
Tears streamed down Esther’s face as she watched his figure disappear into the distance.
At the same time, Riverton International Airport buzzed with activity.
Tiger and the others were already waiting near the private jet parked on the runway.
Chris turned to Lynx and asked, “Lynx, are you certain Kameda Taro is there?”
Lynx nodded confidently. “Master, after my investigations, I’ve confirmed that Kameda Taro, the head of the Taro family, is indeed there.”
“Good.” Chris’s eyes turned icy. “Kameda Taro nearly killed me. I’ll make sure he pays for that.”
Previously, Chris had been ambushed and thrown off a cliff by three international assassins. Though he’d barely survived, he vowed to settle the score.
Alice, one of the assassins, was already dead at his hands.
Now, only Kameda Taro and Judge remained.
Judge was elusive, his whereabouts unknown.
But thanks to Lynx and the Springfield Crew’s intelligence network, Kameda Taro’s location had been uncovered.
After destroying the Hunter family, Chris decided it was time to confront Kameda Taro.
With his rapidly growing power and his identity already exposed, Chris resolved to eliminate all his enemies once and for all.
Wasting no time, Chris boarded the plane with Tiger and the others.
The engines roared to life, and the jet soon took off, heading toward its destination.
—
The Taro family was renowned as the most powerful clan in the region.
Kameda Taro, not only the family’s patriarch but also ranked third on the international assassin leaderboard, was a figure few dared to provoke.
On the outskirts of the capital stood a luxurious estate-the Taro family’s stronghold.
The estate was heavily fortified, with armed guards patrolling every corner.
Inside the villa’s grand hall, Kameda Taro sat leisurely on a couch, savoring a glass of 1982 Lafite wine.
A look of satisfaction adorned his face.
Not long ago, he and Judge, along with Alice, had traveled to Amerosia to ambush Chris.
Though Alice had been killed, they succeeded in forcing Chris off a cliff.
After returning, Kameda Taro received a hefty reward from Daniel Williams-a sum large enough to ensure his comfort for the foreseeable future.
Bang!
Suddenly, a deafening crash echoed through the hall.
Kameda Taro turned sharply, only to see the villa doors kicked wide open.
A lone figure strode in from outside.
When Kameda Taro saw who it was, his face contorted with shock.
“You’re Chris! How are you still alive?”