“Stop spouting nonsense and give back the city lord’s Aquadine!” the spy shouted furiously, losing his composure. Aquadine was a precious ore. The punishment for losing it would be a heavy one.

“I already told you, I didn’t take the city lord’s Aquadine. In fact, it’s the other way around. You’re trying to take my Aquadine and claim it’s the city lord’s.” Realization dawned on Han Wu’s face. “Oh, I get it! You stole the city lord’s Aquadine and planned to use mine as a substitute, so no one notices, right?”

The huge scandal was pinned back onto the spy, causing him to rage even more. He was supposed to be the one doing the framing and catching, but now he had turned into the thief instead.

“Stop telling lies and cooperate! Come with me to aid the investigation, or I’ll kill you on the spot!” the spy threatened, no longer bothering with his facade.

Fighting and killing Han Wu was his best chance of replacing him in the upcoming contest, and rather than running around in circles, the spy decided to decisively deal with him right here and now.

The surrounding guards all brandished their weapons, following the spy’s lead and threatening Han Wu, “Put down your weapon and do not resist!”

“Why so talkative if you want to kill me? Just come at me.” Han Wu scoffed, his Small Locust Blades dancing tauntingly in the air.

The spy’s bloodlust only grew at the sight of the flimsy little blades.

Even though the Small Locust Blades radiated the pressure of a God-grade Divine Weapon, the spy reined in his fear. After all, he had a God-grade Divine Weapon too. The spy roared, his blade releasing a God-grade pressure far stronger than the Small Locust Blades’.

“I’ll show everyone here how weak outsiders are!” the spy shouted, charging forward.

Although Han Wu appeared to look down on him, he was actually taking the battle very seriously, willing the twenty-one Small Locust Blades to stab at the spy in unison.

The spy rapidly swung his blade around his body, halting the Small Locust Blades in their tracks. Seeing this, Han Wu willed the Small Locust Blades to attack again, except this time from varying angles.

“What are you guys waiting for? Take him down!” the spy shouted at the guards while protecting himself from the onslaught.

The other guards snapped out of it and attacked.

Han Wu grabbed another copy of his Small Locust Blade. This copy came from the effect Split, meaning it had the same properties and parameters as the original. That copy then also split into twenty-one copies of its own.

The unpredictable attacks threw the guards into chaos.

One smarter guard defended against the Small Locust Blades while slowly approaching Qin Shuang. Having noticed that Han Wu and Qin Shuang were together, he was hoping to stop Han Wu’s attack by taking Qin Shuang hostage.

Han Wu noticed the guard’s plan, but did nothing to stop it. The smart guard would realize the error of his ways very soon.

The guard was five meters away from Qin Shuang when he pounced. Already on guard against potential ambushes, Qin Shuang swiftly summoned her Fulther Blades and deflected the attack.

Then, summoning her Feather Dart, she pierced the guard with a flurry of them. With a flick of her finger, the Feather Darts discharged lightning at the same time, electrocuting the guard. His dying screams struck fear into his allies.

The spy raged when he saw the guard’s charred remains. “How dare you kill my brother! I will kill you!”

No longer willing to hold back, he summoned his most powerful Divine Weapons: three God-grade blades. He then unleashed his three-blade arts against Han Wu’s Small Locust Blades. Even a single blade had been enough for him to protect himself. Three meant he could defend and retaliate at the same time.

Han Wu also revealed his full strength, flicking out his Explosive Locust Blade to blast the spy backward. He then summoned the humanoid Locust-V.

The guards were in shock. They had never seen a humanoid Divine Weapon before.

“You rascal. I was just joking. Why did you lock me up for so long?” Locust-V grumbled after getting summoned.

“Stop joking around and turn him into a sieve.”

Locust-V lit up. “Then I won’t hold back.”

With that, Locust-V turned both of its arms into six-barreled Gatlings, aimed them at the spy, and fired.

At first, the spy could still deflect the bullets using his three-blade arts, but once Locust-V changed its bullets to Armor Piercing Rounds, the spy started to fall back. The three God-grade blades also rapidly lost their durability.

Seeing this, Locust-V eagerly turned the Armor Piercing Rounds into Explosive Rounds, which peppered the spy in continuous blasts. The spy soon collapsed to the ground with heavy injuries. Locust-V approached, muzzle pointed at his chest.

“Spare me,” begged the spy, conceding defeat.

Locust-V didn’t care. “What does a sieve look like again? Oh! I remember now.”

Unleashing several rounds, the spy was soon turned into a bloody sieve.

Locust-V gleefully absorbed the blood of the spy before turning to the other guards with blood-red eyes.

“Can I turn the rest into sieves as well?” it asked Han Wu.

“Go ahead.”

Locust-V laughed maniacally as it rained bullets onto the other guards. Having two arms meant it could shoot in two different directions at once. Many of the guards were hit and couldn’t escape.

Suddenly, a powerful pressure came from above and pinned Locust-V to the ground, putting an abrupt halt to the bloodbath. Han Wu looked up to see a dignified middle-aged man with golden robes walking toward him. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The surviving guards kneeled while enduring the pain of their wounds. “City lord!”

Jin Buhuan, the city lord of Everlight City, had arrived. He had been observing everything from a distance with the intention of intervening after the spy lost. Even so, he hadn’t expected Han Wu to summon a humanoid Divine Weapon.

As a city lord, Jin Buhuan naturally had access to more information than the others and instantly recognized that it was a God-grade Armament Spirit. This left him in shock at Han Wu’s strength.

After killing the spy, Locust-V started killing the other guards. When Jin Buhuan saw this, he knew he had to stop the unnecessary losses, which was why he chose that moment to appear.

Regardless of the slaughter, Han Wu’s strength caused Jin Buhuan to look upon him with newfound respect and appreciation. This had only confirmed that Han Wu was indeed the candidate he needed for the contest.