Chapter 001: The Broken Arm

“Randy, since you realize your mistake, you must be willing to take responsibility for it, right?” Du Fan suddenly stretched out his finger and tapped the Thunder Sword. With that single tap, the sword emitted a thunderous sound that lasted for a long time.
Hearing Du Fan’s words, Randy suddenly shouted, “Stop him at all costs!”
As soon as he said that, Randy jumped up and started running away toward the back of the cavalry group!
At Randy’s command, the cavalry rushed forward quickly and surrounded Du Fan and Nai Xiu tightly.
Seeing Randy flee, Nai Xiu smirked coldly, soared into the air, and drew back her bowstring. Just as the knights were about to reach Du Fan, Du Fan still managed to smile at her and say, “Dear Queen Nai Xiu, please don’t take his life!”
Hearing Du Fan’s words, Nai Xiu smiled slightly. With a snap of her bowstring, the single arrow turned into two, shooting into Randy’s thighs.
“Ah!” Randy screamed as his rapid pace came to a sudden halt. He knelt heavily on the ground, then quickly flipped over, passing through the cavalry and landing in front of Randy.
“Youthful Master Randy, do you really think running will help you in front of me?” Du Fan said interestingly, pressing the Thunder Sword against Randy’s chin.
It wasn’t until Du Fan pressed the sword against Randy’s chin that he began to sweat profusely. Yet his mind kept racing.
Seeing that Du Fan dared to kill the Ice and Fire Duo, he probably dared to kill him with a single sword as well. Besides, he and Garfield had also tried to kill Du Fan before.
At this thought, Randy suddenly regretted not killing Du Fan with a sword earlier, causing him to fall into Du Fan’s hands now!
Just as Du Fan pressed the sword against Randy’s chin, the knights of the Randy family behind him turned around and charged at Du Fan.
Randy had already run about dozens of meters away when he suddenly attacked. At such a distance, it would take the knights a few seconds to reach Du Fan. During those few seconds, before they could get close, Du Fan’s clothes swelled as countless bursts of energy erupted from his body, instantly forming wind blades!

The wind blades wielded by the experts in the wind domain reached an extremely high level in terms of speed and sharpness. They were like countless gleaming blades, accompanied by a howling sound, sweeping toward the charging knights like swarms of locusts.
These ordinary knights of the Lionheart family had no chance whatsoever to resist a wind mage of Du Fan’s caliber.
The knights suddenly found themselves facing a sudden gust of wind. Of course, these knights of the Lionheart family fully demonstrated the virtues of a knightly spirit—they all roared, bent low, and struggled to move forward. Their horses had already raised their front legs, lifted their heads high, and were neighing fiercely!
But against those wind blades like swarms of locusts and the fierce winds they brought, how could these horses take another step forward?
With dull sounds as if blades cutting through leather armor, mixed with screams, after those wind blades passed, not a single piece of intact skin remained on the knights or their horses!
The number of wind blades Du Fan had unleashed earlier amounted to thousands! With such a large number targeting over twenty knights, each of them was hit by hundreds of wind blades!
There were no pedestrians on the road anymore. Nayixiu stood not far away, holding an elven longbow, her body shimmering with starlight. Without activating the Elven King’s set, she simply relied on the Protection of the Starry Sky to defend herself. Given her status as an expert in the domain, only a god-tier being could break through that protection. In the imperial capital, the Protection of the Starry Sky was more than sufficient for her.
The Elven King’s set was too astonishing; Nayixiu usually wouldn’t use it unless facing a god-tier expert.
The Mercenary Guild had already closed its doors, as if this matter had nothing to do with them. Meanwhile, on the magic tower of the Magic Guild, the mages watching the battle were shocked to see Du Fan unleash such a massive number of wind blades. The scale of his wind blade deployment proved that his magical prowess had reached a level they could only aspire to.
Looking at the corpses of the family knights scattered around, Randy’s eyes twitched. Still unsure how to deal with Du Fan, he blurted out, “Du Fan, you’re really ruthless!”

“Am I cruel?” Du Fan thrust the sword in his hand at Randy’s neck. Soon, a bloodstain appeared on Randy’s neck. “No matter how cruel I am, it can’t compare to your collusion with the Lanni people to kill me, right?” Du Fan said with a smile.
“Du Fan, you know that even just our Lionheart Family wouldn’t dare attack you,” Randy said suddenly, very seriously.
“Randy, you’re wrong there. I understand what you mean, but think about it—the trust between me and the Emperor isn’t something someone like you can destroy,” Du Fan said with a smile.
“Du Fan, I’m telling the truth.” Suddenly, Randy also became panicked, and some words he shouldn’t have said slipped out.
After thinking for a moment, Du Fan said, “Randy, would you dare say those things in front of the Emperor?”
“Du Fan, you know I could never say those things in front of the Emperor. If I did, he would surely accuse me of sowing discord,” Randy said dejectedly.
“Haha, Randy, since you know it’s impossible to confront these matters right away, what’s the use of what you’ve told me?” Du Fan laughed loudly.
Suddenly, Du Fan’s expression turned cold. His wrist twitched, and Thunder Sword emitted a cold glow. Randy screamed as his entire right arm fell to the ground.
“Randy, I don’t want your life either, but let this hand be your price for killing me back then!” Du Fan said coldly.
Holding his severed right arm with his left hand, Randy actually showed a resolute expression. “Du Fan, thank you for sparing my life today,” he said calmly, then slowly stood up and walked back toward Duke Wade’s mansion.
Watching Randy’s determined steps, Du Fan even had the illusion that sparing him today was a huge mistake.
“Du Fan, are you just going to let this man go?” Nai Xiu approached Du Fan, puzzled.
“Yes, I’m letting Randy go. Tonight, I want to see what the Emperor intends,” Du Fan said calmly, flipping his wrist to store Thunder Sword back in his ring.
In the palace, Emperor Fisher was furious.
“What? Du Fan actually cut off Randy’s right arm? Is he crazy?” Emperor Fisher roared in anger.

“Yes, Your Majesty! You must stand up for your humble servant! As soon as Duke Du Fan returned to the imperial capital, he attacked our family. His actions clearly show that he disrespects imperial laws, the emperor, and imperial authority!” Duke Wade said loudly in agitation.

“That Du Fan is truly too arrogant! To commit such a brutal act in broad daylight in the imperial capital against a noble!” Fischer said fiercely.

“Your Majesty, that’s not all! Duke Du Fan also killed thirty-six knights from our family! There was blood everywhere! Among those thirty-six knights were eight imperial barons and two viscounts! They were all the elite and backbone of our family, Your Majesty!” Duke Wade said loudly again.

“Where is Randy? Randy is there—I want to see him!” Fischer said loudly.

“He’s waiting outside,” Duke Wade replied. Hearing this from Emperor Fischer, he immediately ordered the guards nearby to bring Randy in.

Soon, Randy, with his right arm wrapped in thick bandages, came in.

“Randy, how did you end up like this? Did that Du Fan really cut off your arm?” As soon as Fischer saw Randy, he immediately placed his hand on Randy’s severed arm.

“Your Majesty, you must stand up for me!” Upon seeing Fischer, Randy immediately knelt before him deeply.

“Hmph, you’re also a useless idiot! Back in the south, with your level 9 skills, how could you not defeat that kid Du Fan?” Hearing Randy’s words, instead of comforting him, Fischer turned around and rebuked him harshly.

“Randy, when you returned, you told me that Gaffield had already taken action against Du Fan. Gaffield is a master of the Sacred rank and should be able to kill Du Fan. Look at this—now Du Fan himself has become a Sacred rank warrior! He even married the Elven Queen!” Fischer shouted loudly.

“What? That Elven woman is the Elven Queen?” Not only Randy but also Duke Wade was shocked and exclaimed in surprise.

As an official in the Gavin Empire, Duke Wade wasn’t easily surprised by ordinary matters. But hearing that the woman by Du Fan’s side was the queen of the elves, even this old fox was stunned, his expression changing.

You should know that although elves generally do not leave their homeland, their archers and nature-based mages are renowned throughout the world. Though the elf population is small, every adult elf is at least an excellent archer. The elves can truly be said to be full of experts! Even when human adventuring parties try to hunt elves, they only dare to operate in the periphery; they never dare to enter the heartland of the elves!

“But Your Majesty, I heard that for thousands of years, there has been no elf king among the elves. How come a queen suddenly appears now? Could there be some conspiracy behind this?” Duke Wade suddenly said.

“I think it’s likely true that the woman by Du Fan’s side is the elf queen. Duke Green himself told me this. I doubt Du Fan would dare to deceive even his own father,” Fischer said coldly.

Ever since the last elf king disappeared, no elf king has appeared for thousands of years. This is something that almost everyone who knows something about the relations between the various races on the continent is aware of.

The sudden appearance of an elf woman claiming to be the ruler of the elves is something that is hard for anyone to accept right away. Moreover, based on historical experience, the emergence of each generation of elf kings has led to a golden age for the elves! The appearance of an elf king is also a sign that the elves are about to prosper!