Boom!
A tall building collapsed as a body hurtled into it. Amidst the rain of falling debris, that figure rapidly changed her posture mid-air and fell towards the nearest building at the side.
"Damn it, they have magicians amongst them!" Kaiyi stabilized herself by grabbing onto an exposed pipe, then shouted towards Ji Zhixiu, "Watch out for the familiar!"
An incantation was chanted and a purple flash ensued.
"Hiss—"
A giant serpent extended its wings and shot upwards at an astounding speed, revealing bloody jaws and sharp fangs.
Ji Zhixiu's eyes narrowed as she threw her cane, embedding the blade edge into the wall at the side.
"Hiss!"
Glowing yellow eyes fixed their gaze on the hunter as the giant serpent viciously bit down towards Ji Zhixiu!
Jaws came clamping down, but it was suddenly halted. A silver furred paw grabbed onto the serpent's upper jaw as knife-like claws cut its skin and drew blood. The second paw caught hold of the serpent's lower jaw.
With force exerted to both the top and bottom at the same time, the giant serpent's jaws were gradually being torn apart. Its body writhed as it struggled frantically but it was no use as its body was mercilessly split down from the middle.
Splat! Blood and innards painted the wall red.
"What?!" The magician that had summoned the familiar staggered backwards in shock. The color in his face had drained as he cried on in disbelief, "How is this possible? How can she maintain her rationality with this degree of beast mutation! God damn it, I thought they were just rumors and Heris would inform us if he knew. He's just making use of us!"
"What's the use of finding out now? We are already on the battlefield!" exclaimed another magician beside him. "Don't panic! The blood of the Sky Wolf fears fire!'
"But it's raining now…"
"There's no point overthinking it! Prepare the gunpowder! Hold steady, she's just a Pandemonium-rank. We can win!"
"Howl…" On the rooftop, a silver wolf as huge as a hill stood on its hind legs, claw glistening with blood as its fur fluttered in the wind. Staring at the magicians with a piercing gaze, a raspy female voice escaped its mouth. "There's no escape for all of you!"
In the distance, Kaiyi and Marcus landed on the ground. "Miss…" muttered Kaiyi excitedly as she gazed at the beautiful and dangerous silver wolf up high.
Ji Zhixiu no longer had any resemblance to a human and had completely delved into the beast mutation state. If not for the fact she could still speak, any hunter seeing her would think that it was a powerful dream beast.
This was the power that all hunters yearn for! Kaiyi had a premonition that the young mistress would bring about a new world for hunters!
But who exactly is the mysterious tenant on 23rd Avenue that brought about all of this and helped the young mistress? What exactly is his motive?
"Don't think about it too much," Marcus broke her train of thoughts. Patting Kaiyi on her shoulder, he continued, "We just have to follow and share in the glory that comes after."
Kaiyi exhaled slowly as her fingers turned a shade of black. "You are absolutely right. Come on, the battle still has to go on."
The two of them turned into blurred streaks, darting at high speed towards where the magicians were.
With gunpowder in their hands, the magicians chanted a flame enchantment.
"Flame Enchantment - Blaze Activation!"
Behind them, aether condensed, forming large quantities of elemental fire. White balls of flame transformed into a rain of fire that shot towards Ji Zhixiu.
The silver wolf howled and leaped away, dodging a flurry of densely packed streaks of fire as she landed on all fours and started running. Another barrage of flaming arrows struck the ground beside her, creating an explosion that caused her to stumble and singe some fur.
Elemental flames continued to rain down, melting down constructions in the nearby area due to the high heat.
Ji Zhixiu howled in pain even though the wounds on her body had started to close up as she continued her mad dash, knocking down a building and concealing herself in the cloud of dust and debris.
She knew that the magicians Heris employed weren't weak. All three of them were elite Pandemonium-rank magicians.
Who could have imagined that magicians who had always despised hunters would cooperate with one?
If not for the gift and guidance she had received from Mr. Lin, Ji Zhixiu would have been killed without a doubt.
Heris was worthy of being the leader of a large hunter group indeed. First, he had betrayed the second leader Kaji before joining forces with magicians. Moreover, he had been hiding behind the scenes all this time...
But it didn't matter. In the sky, "Steel Resolve" floated above her, covering the entire area. She had already discovered Heris' position.
A second enchantment of the magicians was already reaching its end. A huge blaze continuously warped before eventually turned into a spiraling three-meter-long spear.
"Flame Enchantment - Katya's Spear!"
Whoosh—
The twisting spear of white flames shot forth, creating sonic booms and dissolving the rain into fog in an instant.
At this moment, Kaiyi and Marcus' sneak attack from the back was successful. Magicians were especially weak in close combat and the three magicians were instantly slain. The hunters turned around and watched the flame spear strike the body of the large silver wolf and explode.
Boom!
"Miss!"
——
Hands in pockets, Heris watched the urban district in front of him that was encased in a boundary enchantment. Flames flickered in the rain as explosions sounding like muffled thunder passed through the boundary. In this torrential downpour, no one would pay any attention.
Small and large battles like this had already occurred in Norzin dozens of times.
Damage suffered by the buildings in this battle would be blamed on the torrential rain that would wash away all blood.
Heris had the look of a mature middle-aged man. Wrinkles around the corner of his eyes and a head of grey hair with strands of white made him seem stern and cold.
Behind him stood a young man holding a black umbrella.
"Uri, someone is helping her," muttered Heris. "I never knew there was such a person in Norzin. Controlling beast mutation… even Wilde has no way to do something like this."
"Mm," the umbrella-wielding young man groaned in acknowledgment.
"Have you seen Wilde?"
"Nope."
"Go pay him a visit. He's still your teacher after all. Someone from Secret Rite Tower informed me that he made an appearance at 23rd Avenue. Perhaps, he might have some clues."
"Yes."
"Also…" Heris was interrupted midway.
"Howl!"
A small crack in the aether appeared in mid-air as a silver wolf leapt out, moving so quickly that it was just a streak of silver.
It was Ji Zhixiu!
The Sky Wolf's blood was surging in her body and this high level beast mutation granted her special characteristics of a dream beast.
Moreover, the Sky Wolf had the reputation for being able to leap through space and time!
Steel Resolve bestowed her with a certain degree of foresight. Just as the flame spear was about to strike her, she had leapt to the coordinates she had fixed her sights on!