However, the reputation of the Demon Race was simply too terrifying.
Ryan did not even dare to spare Hannah another glance.
He scrambled out of the cathedral on all fours, rushing to catch up with the departing hunters.
Hannah shrugged nonchalantly.
“Looks like I'll have to change my identity again to keep an eye on these guys.”
“What a shame. I actually quite liked being a bard.”
A trace of nostalgia flashed through her eyes.
“It reminds me of over ten years ago, when I traveled through the borderlands.”
“Singing the poems I wrote myself.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rosa stumbling out of the cathedral.
Hannah and Gero exchanged a look and nodded silently.
The two of them blurred and followed quietly behind her.
Their method of tracking was extremely sophisticated.
Hannah did not stay too close, instead occasionally fluttering her bat wings.
She emitted faint sound waves outside the range of human hearing.
As the sound waves swept across the ruined walls and broken pillars, they accurately bounced back information about the movements ahead.
Gero, on the other hand, was more like a shadow.
His footsteps on the gravel and rotting leaves were almost entirely silent.
Every turn and pause was naturally concealed by the shadows of the buildings.
His level of experience was terrifyingly high.
Rosa was heading in the exact direction Ryan had fled.
Her eyes were bloodshot, her breathing heavy and ragged, but her steps were exceptionally resolute.
Her right hand remained pressed tightly against an unremarkable leather box at her waist.
The box was about the size of a palm and entirely pitch-black.
Its surface was etched with dense silver runes.
It was a specialized weapon of the Demon Hunters—a black-box crossbow.
Not far behind her, Gero lowered his voice and analyzed,
“She is going to seize the guide.”
“Without the dying to clear the way, she cannot possibly survive in the mist.”
“The specters in the Demon God's Eerie Mist will tear her to pieces.”
Hearing him mention the Demon God's Eerie Mist, Hannah let out a scoff.
Her smile was filled with undisguised mockery.
“Tell me, what would those 'Heroes' who throw their lives away trying to storm the Demon God's fortress think?”
“What if they knew about this remote Blackwater Corridor?”
“What if they knew that the bounty hunters they look down upon...”
She paused, a trace of mockery flashing in her crimson eyes.
“...had already cracked the so-called Demon God's Eerie Mist ten years ago?”
“And that they can even come and go as they please using a 'guide'?”
“I wonder what kind of faces they would make then.”
Gero asked in a low voice, “Should we help her?”
Hannah nodded. “Of course we should.”
“We need her to lead us to the City Lord.”
She shifted the topic, the corners of her mouth curling into an amused arc.
Her crimson eyes suddenly darted to the side—toward the terrace of an abandoned house.
She smiled and said, “But before that...”
“...let's drag out the little mice tailing us first.”
Before her voice could fade, she cracked her neck, the excitement in her eyes instantly intensifying.
Gero asked, “Do you need help?”
“No need to trouble a High-tier Legendary Knight.”
Hannah chuckled, her bat wings fluttering slightly.
“Just two little runts. I only need... two claws.”
On the terrace, Lin Gui, who was sitting sideways on his staff, knit his brows tightly.
The Shroud of the Gloomy Night... had been seen through again?!
Before he could think further, Hannah below had already made her move.
Her bat wings flapped violently!
The air let out a sharp, brief boom.
She transformed into a dark-red afterimage, soaring into the sky.
She was so fast that she left a distorted trail in his field of vision.
Her right fingers flexed, and her nails instantly grew long.
They transformed into five curved, pitch-black claws gleaming with a metallic chill.
Her crimson eyes locked onto the terrace, filled with the thrill of the hunt.
However—
She actually flew straight past Lin Gui, who was hovering in midair!
Her sharp claws, carrying a gust of foul wind, swiped fiercely at the empty stone railing of the terrace!
“Rip—!”
A piercing tearing sound rang out.
The space on the supposedly empty terrace fluctuated violently.
Two slender figures stumbled and fell out of thin air!
It was none other than Theia and Eve!
Theia reacted extremely fast, shoving Eve behind her.
At the same time, she drew a dagger from her waist with a backhand sweep.
Her emerald eyes instantly turned blood-red as her demon energy erupted!
The dagger turned into a dark-red arc of light, clashing against the five claws.
“Clang—!!!”
The deafening clash of metal on metal was ear-splitting.
The moment the pitch-black claws clashed with the dagger—
The violent shockwave exploded outward in a ring!
“Boom!!”
The roof of the entire terrace was blown away on the spot.
Debris and rubble rained down in all directions.
Theia felt an irresistible, massive force travel down her dagger.
The webbing between her thumb and forefinger split open, and the dagger flew out of her hand.
She was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string.
Hannah closely pursued the flying Theia.
The phantom of her claws coalesced once more as she flapped her bat wings violently.
In less than a breath, she caught up to Theia, who was still hurtling through the air.
“Eavesdropping on others—”
She sneered, thrusting her claws straight toward Theia's chest.
“...is very impolite, little girl.”
The claws cut through the air, bringing a foul wind to her face.
Suspended in midair, Theia had nowhere to gain leverage, seemingly unable to dodge.
Just as Hannah thought victory was in her grasp—
She saw the elven girl unusually curl the corners of her lips.
She did not protect her vital points, nor did she block or parry.
Instead, she expanded her chest, leaving herself completely wide open.
At the same time, her right hand reached rapidly behind her back—
And grabbed the limb of her demigod longbow.
Hannah's pupils contracted slightly.
In her field of vision.
The white-haired elf actually shifted several feet horizontally in midair!
It was as if she were being supported by invisible wings.
Demon energy carrying a dangerous aura rapidly gathered on the extraordinary longbow.
Hannah's pupils shrank, and she beat her bat wings frantically, trying to dodge to the side.
However, at that exact moment—
A cold and obscure fluctuation of mana erupted around her without warning!
Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw four pitch-black magic rings.
They had quietly materialized around her.
When did this happen?!
Her mind went completely blank.
From beginning to end, she had not sensed even the slightest sign of mana gathering!
“Swish, swish, swish—!”
Dark shadows erupted from the rings!
Dozens of spikes made of pure shadow shot out.
They were not particularly sharp, nor could they truly pierce her protective demon energy.
Instead, they acted like countless cold vines, wrapping around, delaying, and interfering with her every movement.
Her wingbeats were disrupted, and she instantly lost her balance.
In that brief moment of hesitation...
The demon energy arrow on Theia's bowstring had condensed to its limit.
Her emerald eyes locked on, and she released the string.
A dark-red stream of light shot through the air!
It slammed squarely into Hannah's body.
Like a meteor crashing into the earth, debris and dust exploded with a loud bang.
Hannah coughed up a mouthful of turbid air, a wave of numbness and stinging pain spreading through her arms.
She pushed herself up, pulling her bat wings back rather disheveledly, her eyes filled with a mixture of shock and anger.
Just as she was about to flap her wings and counterattack—
A cold touch quietly pressed against her neck.
It was a heavily worn dagger, yet it was wrapped in a dangerous shroud of demon energy.
The blade pressed close to her skin, sending a clear stinging sensation.
With just a slight movement, it could slice her throat.
If she were a Knight or a Warrior, classes known for their high defense...
This stab might not have been fatal.
But unfortunately, the extreme speed and sharp claws she had displayed...
Clearly indicated a high-attack, fragile, and agile build.
The neck was always the most fatal weakness.
Her movements froze, and her crimson eyes drifted slightly downward.
Staring at the weapon right before her eyes, she suddenly burst into laughter.
“To think there was actually another person hiding without being detected by us. How impressive.”
Her voice was hoarse, yet it carried a strange sense of ease.
Rate on N.U.
