Chapter 001: Deception

Alexander didn’t want their identities revealed too early. But Du Fan was indeed quite strong—someone at the peak of level 9 not only managed to gain an advantage over the four of them but also killed one of them. How could they not be shocked?
On the contrary, it was inevitable for them to reveal their identities. Thankfully, though Du Fan was strong, he wasn’t a monster. The three of them together formed a siege, making it impossible for Du Fan to escape no matter what. Anyway, since their identities had been exposed, they couldn’t let Du Fan leave alive!
Earlier, they were afraid that Du Fan might see them transform and discover their identities before escaping, so they revealed their own identities while exposing themselves in Uterred, surrounding Du Fan in the process. Now that Du Fan was under control, Alexander quickly took out the aqua-blue sphere he had always carried for emergencies—the “Blue Stone”—and threw it hard onto the ground. The “Blue Stone” shattered, and a faint dark-blue gas drifted out.
Soon after, Du Fan could no longer sense the departing group, not even the dust raised by their rapid movement. With Du Fan’s knowledge, it wasn’t hard to realize that the aqua-blue stone Alexander had thrown was actually a barrier similar to a magic scroll—simple and efficient!
From this, it was clear their goal wasn’t robbery but had always been him. Their purpose was to kill him!
Du Fan sneered. Did they really think he was that easy to kill?
Although they seemed well-prepared, what if killing him failed? Weren’t they afraid of exposing themselves? He would only become more cautious in guarding against them.
No matter what they thought, Du Fan found those wildly laughing faces in front of him utterly detestable!
Seeing his elder brother set up the barrier to hide their dark demon clan’s aura, the already thick black patterns spread across his entire body. Eventually, they covered his whole body, with blue lines appearing on the black patterns, growing and extending across him…
“Uterred!” Alexander shouted angrily. He was being too arrogant. The “Blue Stone” barrier could hide their dark aura, but only up to a point! By doing this, wasn’t he exposing himself? That sudden appearance earlier might not have been noticed clearly by those people, who would likely assume they were skilled in dark magic or dark energy, rather than linking them to the Dark Demon clan.

Now he kept releasing the power within him over and over again; relying solely on the “Blue Stone,” he simply couldn’t withstand the aura of the Dark Demons in their full strength! Wasn’t this telling them that the Dark Demon clan was here and urging them to come and eliminate them?
It wasn’t surprising that Alexander was so furious. If people found out about the Dark Demon clan, it would be better for them to commit suicide!
Utrede chuckled, revealing a row of stark white teeth. “Big brother, it’s just that I haven’t used the power of the Dark Demon clan for so long—I got excited for a moment! It won’t happen again!”
“Hmph!” Alexander snorted and frowned. “Finish him quickly. Let’s leave this place ASAP. If someone senses something wrong and comes to check, we’ll be in trouble, not just us!”
Utrede shrank back, realizing his big brother was truly angry. “Can they detect us? This place is so remote…”
He didn’t dare say more, as Alexander remained silent, giving him a cold glance. This made Utrede understand that Alexander was on the verge of losing control of his anger.
Du Fan coughed. “I say, you three—shouldn’t you ask for my opinion?”
Utrede grinned. “Is it necessary to ask a dead man’s opinion?”
Hearing this, Du Fan muttered, “It seems like you’re sure you can kill me!”
Immediately, Du Fan unleashed Frostfall Snow.
“If you want my life, see if you have the ability!”
After saying that, Du Fan dropped his contempt. He saw that Alexander had some cunning, but Utrede didn’t. If they were just ordinary Dark Demons, Du Fan might have been surprised, but he had already heard about their clan.
He had also read related texts during his time in the Church, though there wasn’t much recorded.
After this transformation, although Du Fan was nervous—after all, he was facing three Dark Demon warriors who had unlocked their dark magic powers and reached level nine—he wouldn’t be cautious.
Moreover, Utrede’s second transformation clearly showed Du Fan that this wasn’t the Dark Demons’ strongest form, which only made Du Fan more wary. And it was “kindly” warned him to be careful if they transformed again.
From Du Fan’s observations, their transformation wasn’t immediate; it took time. So Du Fan had a chance! To kill them before they transformed again!

With this thought, Du Fan moved. At his unpredictable speed, he leaped to the side of the weakest person. Before they could even warn that person, Du Fan’s Frost Snow slashed through the air in a graceful arc—elegant, as if the Death God were harvesting souls while admiring the terrified expressions of the dead. Frost Snow retracted, and the man collapsed silently. Utreid and Alexander were shocked to realize that even with their strength at level nine, they could only see a faint afterimage of Du Fan! What kind of strength was this? Seeing his brother die at Du Fan’s hands once again, Utreid roared in fury and charged at him. As he rushed forward, he also transformed, with blue patterns gradually thickening on his body, spreading like trees growing from his face across his entire frame, until he was completely blue! Du Fan was momentarily stunned by Utreid’s blue skin—not because of the skin itself, but because fine silver-black tattoos appeared on it. Du Fan didn’t know how many times they could transform, but it seemed they had already done it three times. And what he sensed from Utreid was a strength approaching the peak of level nine! Alarmed, Du Fan wondered if the “Blue Stone” barrier could stop him from escaping. If he could leave, his first priority would be to flee! Yes! To flee! Even a random Dark Demon Warrior had such strength—after three transformations, possibly even a fourth, already nearing the peak of level nine! What kind of strength would he have after one more transformation? Du Fan didn’t dare think about it, didn’t want to, and refused to! Moreover, there was Alexander right there! But Du Fan also knew they were ready to use their transformations and had resolved to die. So, the “Blue Stone” barrier was definitely not something he could break easily. If he tried to break through, wouldn’t he be leaving his back exposed to those two? With their strength at the peak of level nine, it would be nearly impossible for him to survive! Du Fan’s thoughts raced in an instant—all these considerations took but a moment. Meanwhile, Utreid hadn’t even completed his second transformation. The silver-black threads didn’t thicken like before and spread across his body, forming only an ancient and complex pattern. With Du Fan’s limited understanding of Dark Demons, he had no way of knowing what those patterns meant, and now wasn’t the time to ponder such things!

Alexander reacted even more violently than Du Fan. When he saw the silver-black patterns appearing on Utrecht’s body, his already dark face seemed to take on an even darker hue! It was truly miraculous!
Alexander shouted in panic, “No! Utrecht, stop! Stop now!”
By the time Alexander said these words, Du Fan had already made up his mind—kill! He didn’t want to rely on luck again and again for his fate! Although Du Fan didn’t know what Alexander was afraid of, he could probably guess. With Alexander distracted and Utrecht at a critical moment of transformation, if he didn’t act now, would he go bother breaking a barrier he wasn’t even sure he could break in a short time?
Seeing Du Fan’s resolute expression, Alexander realized things were bad. Though they were only at level nine and this was their first transformation, it shouldn’t be too hard to hold them back. He had already witnessed two brothers die before his eyes; he didn’t want to see Utrecht die the same way!
So when Du Fan moved, Alexander rushed at him without hesitation.
Du Fan prioritized Utrecht but kept a close eye on Alexander’s movements. In his mind, Alexander was far more dangerous than Utrecht—Utrecht’s strength was currently closest to his own, and he was currently forced to defend himself. Otherwise, Du Fan would have targeted Alexander instead!
Seeing Du Fan and Alexander’s actions, Utrecht found himself unable to move, just as Du Fan had guessed. It was his trust in his elder brother Alexander that made him transform at such a critical moment.
Alexander was thinking of ways to save Utrecht, but Utrecht saw that Du Fan had changed the direction of his attack, aiming at Alexander who was rushing to save him!
Du Fan had long realized that Alexander was the most terrifying. If Alexander were a strategist, no matter how strong Utrecht was, he would still be just a warrior. There was no reason for Du Fan not to kill Alexander and spare him! The act of seemingly planning to kill Utrecht before his transformation was meant to deceive Alexander!
It could be said that Du Fan’s performance was excellent—not only did Alexander believe it, but even Utrecht did!
Due to his limited strength, Alexander had no spare energy left to stop Du Fan before he reached Utrecht. Without spare energy, he couldn’t change tactics, and his death was inevitable!

“No!!!” Utrecht cried out…