Blade Edge Island spanned nearly ten thousand li in circumference. Atop the island rose a towering peak whose summit, at first glance, resembled the edge of a blade — steep and perilous — which earned the island its name.
Blade Edge Island also served as a gathering place for a powerful bandit faction. Anyone traversing the Star Fog Sea would actively steer clear of the area, but even so... the island's forces would scatter to scout on their own, and upon finding a target, they would lead a crowd swarming in as one.
"Rumble~~" The sea roared, waves crashing against the island's shore.
A bolt of lightning struck down. As the flash faded, a man stood at the coastline — the cold, stern man with a war blade strapped to his back.
The man's icy gaze settled on the distant sky-piercing peak, and he murmured, "Blade Edge Island. The second one!" Then he strode forward, each step a flicker of movement covering hundreds of meters, and in an instant he had vanished into the island's mountainous interior.
The mountains were home to a great number of bandits and brigands.
The stern man marched ahead in his black robe, paying no heed whatsoever to the bandit forces before him.
"Who goes there!" someone shouted from within the forest.
The island's mountains housed countless bandits, so naturally someone spotted the black-haired man. But the black-haired man didn't so much as glance at the shouting figure — in a single step he was hundreds of meters away.
The bandit's expression changed. He immediately roared, "Someone's breaching the mountain!"
"Someone's breaching the mountain!"
The thunderous shout echoed across the entire peak. Bandits who had been resting or cultivating snapped to attention, and the whole of Blade Edge Island erupted into commotion. Numerous bandits rushed toward the source of the noise, and inevitably some crossed paths with the black-haired man.
But the black-haired man continued onward without a care.
"There he is!" someone spotted him at once.
"Stop!" others shouted.
Yet the black-haired man still covered hundreds of meters per step, pressing steadily toward the summit.
"Kill!" Without hesitation — a large crowd of bandits had already gathered. They roared and swung their weapons with ruthless fury: scarlet light, earthy yellow light... attacks powered by various elemental laws commenced all at once.
The black-haired man's expression didn't change a fraction.
"Shhh—"
A peculiar sound. The black-haired man's speed hadn't diminished at all — two or three steps and he was already a kilometer away.
"Huh? How come this guy isn't reacting at all?" Many bandits were baffled.
"Boom!"
Abruptly, more than thirty bandits burst apart, flesh and bone scattering in every direction, divine sparks clattering to the ground. The surviving bandits went pale with terror. Only then did they realize the man had already struck.
It was just that his speed was so immense they hadn't seen a thing.
Among the elemental laws of wind, lightning, and light, there were those that excelled in speed. Whichever was fastest came down to individual mastery.
To achieve a speed so great that even midgods couldn't perceive it — that was truly terrifying.
From the foot of the mountain to the castle gate of Blade Edge Island, he took exactly twenty-eight steps and killed six hundred and twenty-eight people. With such upheaval, the three leaders of Blade Edge Island naturally came out as well. The island's elites now stood atop the castle walls.
Blade Edge Island had three leaders, nearly a hundred highgods, and over ten thousand midgod bandits — a truly colossal force in the bandit world.
At this moment, those nearly hundred highgods flanked the three leaders as they looked down from the castle walls at the black-haired man below.
"Who are you, to come here and slaughter at will?" A silver-haired, cold-faced man spoke from the wall in an icy tone. This was Blade Edge Island's chief leader, "Akts," the strongest being on the entire island. Akts could already sense that the black-haired man below was not someone to be trifled with.
"Why has this man come to provoke me?" Akts couldn't understand.
In Hell, supremely powerful beings generally had no interest in dealing with bandits.
The black-haired man slowly raised his head, his pale face and gaze as sharp as a blade locking onto Akts. "I am Romeo Bolnosen."
Akts frowned. Romeo Bolnosen?
He had never heard that name.
The black-haired man said flatly, "I've heard that Blade Edge Island's leader, Mr. Akts, was once a Six-Star Demon long ago. I've come here today with two purposes. The first is to challenge you, Mr. Akts."
Akts couldn't help but narrow his eyes, studying Romeo the way a venomous serpent would.
He had been a Six-Star Demon — back before he became a bandit. After so many years, whether he possessed the strength of a Seven-Star Demon, few people knew. This was precisely why no one dared provoke Blade Edge Island. No one wanted to offend someone who might be a Seven-Star Demon.
"If this man dares come to challenge me, then he must have the confidence to face a Seven-Star Demon," Akts calculated.
In an instant— "Brothers, combine forces — kill!" Akts immediately sent a divine sense transmission to the nearly hundred highgods around him, including the other two leaders. This group of highgods almost simultaneously produced their weapons and unleashed their strongest attacks.
"Whoosh!"
The black-haired man shot into the sky.
"Akts, you truly disappoint me!" A cold voice echoed across the sky, and at the same time, countless bolts of lightning materialized overhead. Countless electric serpents spiraled together into a vortex. The blinding radiance of the lightning serpents illuminated every face in the castle below.
Akts and his followers were horrified.
"Brother, this looks like a Fog Sea upheaval!" Akts's second-in-command, "Daiman," cried out in alarm.
It was indeed the spectacle of a Fog Sea upheaval — countless lightning bolts swirling together.
"Brother, what do we do?" The third leader, "Nilis," asked with worry.
Akts's face was dark. He knew that once those countless lightning serpents struck down, nearly all of the hundred highgods would perish — perhaps ninety percent or more. These were Blade Edge Island's elites. He immediately called out, "Romeo, since you're challenging me — then come!"