Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hao Ren was not nervous. The vigilance from his professional training prompted him to warn the others to stay away from the door although he did not expect any real danger behind the door. It was not his carelessness; it was just that the circumstances surrounding them were relaxing. The entire experimental base was tidy and in good condition. It did not look like there had been an intrusion or deliberate destruction from the inside. Something else must have triggered the evacuation.
Hao Ren had not let down his guard. His heart skipped a beat, and he shouted in warning before the door fully opened. “Fall back! Danger!”
Before Hao Ren’s voice trailed off, a white light blazed out from the door. It pierced the open space and left a trail of dark spatial rifts in the air before it hit the ground. Although it only lasted for a split second, the light left a scorched mark on the floor, which was made of superalloy, an alloy stronger than any alloy on Earth.
The energy of the single strike was almost equivalent to the power of small plasma artillery!
Hao Ren’s early warning had saved everyone. There were no casualties. The light hit an apprentice mage, whose arcane shield saved him. But the shockwave from the heat blast sent him flying backward into a wall and broke his head.
Hao Ren immediately took out his two spears—the plasma spear and the Gungnir—from the dimensional pocket. He flipped his body before planting his feet firmly on the ground. Guarding himself with the two spears in front, he looked at the opened door.
A humanoid creature shrouded in pale flame rushed out from behind the door.
While a bright light flashed in front of everyone’s eyes, Hao Ren had already engaged the white humanoid creature in close-quarter combat with a continuous sound of air blasts. Flames shrouded the enemy, no one could see its face. What Hao Ren saw was just a bight light and chaotic shadows of fists and legs in his vision. He could not possibly catch up with the fighting rhythm of the humanoid but only rely on his demigod instinct and physical strength to hold back the attacks.
The two long spears were human-made objects: one was the ultimate product of Aerymian technology and further enhanced by Hao Ren, the other was merely the legendary weapon of the Norse’s Asgard family. Both spears could cut through and defeat any matters on the planet Holletta. But after a dozen rounds of combating the flaming enemy, Hao Ren found that both spears had heated up so much that they showed signs of deformation.
Hao Ren had tested the two spears using the Sacred Flames of the ordinary demon hunters. There had never been any overheating problem.
Spotting an opportunity, Hao Ren quickly pulled back and tucked the two spears back into his dimensional pocket. But the enemy would not allow Hao Ren the chance to take a breath, it roared and pounced at him like a beast after its prey.
Hao Ren’s upper body twisted, and he reached his hand behind him before pulling out a dark, long sword with stars floating on the blade out of thin air. He then took a 180-degree turn and thrust the sword into his opponent’s ribs when he was in the enemy’s blind spot.
However, his enemy seemingly noticed the move as if it did not have any visual blind spots. The flaming body broke into silver sparks in a flash and reappeared a dozen meters away on the other side of the chamber before it formed back into a humanoid form.
Nevertheless, this gave Hao Ren a breather for a moment, and he could finally see the enemy more clearly than before, though it was still an outline.
It was a “person” engulfed in bright white or white gold flames, much like the Sacred Flame the demon hunters used. But this one here was purer and more powerful. When the flame came together, it appeared in the graceful figure of a woman. Finally, Hao Ren figured out the gender of his enemy. But it seemed to be irrelevant to the humanoid who was made of flames with no facial and body features. It reminded Hao Ren of White Flame’s skill: the Sacred Flame Incarnate.
But compared to White Flame who could only maintain in the form of Sacred Flame for a brief moment, this creature in front of Hao Ren appeared more potent. At least in terms of flame control, it had achieved the true embodiment of flame.
Perhaps the figure was indeed a group of Sacred Flame energy in the form of a humanoid. After all, it was the place where the Ancient Magic Empire developed the demon hunters, the appearance of strange experimental by-products was not that surprising.
Those thoughts flashed across Hao Ren’s mind, but his physical reaction did not slow down. Hao Ren took out another Godslayer—that one with autism—in the blink of an eye. He crossed the swords in front of him and shouted, “Vivian! Lily!”
The trio, having fought together many times and a tacit understanding, grouped into a formation instantly. Without needing a prompt, the husky and the vampire maidens began to their moves. Lily launched into the air with her Frostmourne and Flamejoy and charged at the enemy like a storm. Vivian flew to the air. She did not attack but wait while summoning clouds of power lightning with her bats. The vampire maiden was waiting for the enemy to reveal its flaw before she smashed down a round of lightning balls.
Hao Ren was holding a pair of swords and keeping up with Lily’s pace all the time. If Lily’s brute force attack were successful, he would take that advantage to end the enemy. But if Lily was in trouble, he could be of help in time.
The trio’s attacks were synchronized, but the Sacred Flame Incarnate was no slouch. When Lily thrust her Frostfire Claws, the enemy brought up its old trick again by breaking itself up and teleporting itself to the other side of the chamber.
It was the unfair and “bugged” talent of the demon hunters that gave Hao Ren a big headache.
Hao Ren wondered how the mage emperors of that time gave the mortal creation such a nature-defying ability.
The Sacred Flame Incarnate completed the near-field teleportation and reconstruction almost instantaneously. Her landing spot this time was near to a group of apprentice mages, who lacked combat skills and experience. They froze when the enemy suddenly popped out before them. When a burst of energy that appeared out of nowhere sent one of them flying and breaking his ribs, the apprentices only came to their senses and summoned various magic shields to protect themselves.
The reaction of the teacher of the apprentice mages, Master Hymer, was much quicker. He drew an unpretentious-looking wooden staff and pointed it at the Sacred Flame Incarnate while chanting in words that no humans could have pronounced.
Beams of colorful light shone from the above and trapped the Sacred Flame Incarnate like a cage. Immediately, many tiny energy sparks appeared between the beams, filling up the gaps to form a robust seal.
The Sacred Flame Incarnate roared in anger, and her body became unstable and solar prominence-like flame began to burst out and slammed on the energy barrier. The energy barrier began to emit a cracking sound that was disgusting to the ear.
Hao Ren quickly warned. “The barrier won’t hold her in! She is resistant to all types of shackle spells!”
It was yet another “bugged” talent of the demon hunters, who had an affinity for and was resistant to all types of magic. They could almost always break away from energy-based restraints.
That was why they were known as the Caster Nemesis on Earth. Even in Holletta, the Ancients homologous to the demon hunters had the same reputation.
It was not that Hymer did not know about the talents of the Ancients; he would have been more careful if he were to face one. But what happened here had caught Hymer off guard. The “fire figure” was nothing like the Ancients that he knew; the archmage did not immediately link the two together. He thought it was just an out-of-control energy creature that came out from the old lab, which was not uncommon. He had seen it a couple of times before, and the elemental barrier was indeed the most effective response to energy being.
But elemental barrier could not hold in the Sacred Flame of the demon hunters.
The energy structure of the elemental barrier began to collapse after the prominence slammed it for a few times. Almost at the moment of its collapse, the silver flames disappeared in front of everyone.
“Everyone, be careful!” Hao Ren held a pair of swords in his hands in high alert. “She is still in the chamber. Her teleporting range is confined to her field of vision! Becky, bring your knights and guard the exit. Don’t let her get away!”
Becky responded at once and brought a group of knights rushing toward the exit. Hymer had closed the first door behind him after everyone had entered earlier. But the door had now lost its magic energy and was just a regular wooden door albeit a little more robust than the normal ones. The monster would be able to break out if no one was guarding the entrance.
“I think, that guy has sneaked away,” the Godslayer began to babble. “Guys, it’s been a few seconds, and she still doesn’t show up. Maybe she could walk through the wall in stealth mode and is now laughing at your guy outside. Am I right, bro?”
The Worldbreaker sword shook a little and replied with an “Oh.”
Just when Hao Ren was also in doubt, Lily suddenly shouted, “She must still be here—I can feel it!”
