Volume 2 Chapter 32: Death in Battle

“Boom!” Amidst dazzling flames, Qin Lun felt a soft white luminescence envelop him.

Though the pale glow covering his body was paper-thin, the scorching flames parted like a gentle breeze around him as if meeting their natural enemy. They swept past his sides without inflicting any injury.

“Magic immunity?!” The Witch Maiar’s face twisted with shock as she stared at the unscathed Demon Hunter emerging from the inferno, shrieking in fury.

“This is… the Guardian Power of a Demon Hunter!” Qin Lun’s eyes lit up as he glimpsed the radiant aura around him. He scrambled up from the ground in a roll and lunged toward the witch once more.

For the first time, a flicker of panic appeared in the witch’s eyes. Demon Hunters immune to magic were exceptionally rare. Though their physical strength usually remained ordinary, they could transform the Guardian Power bestowed by the Demon Hunter Oath into a constitution that shattered dark magic.

Any magic born from “undead powers” would prove utterly ineffective against such a hunter, so long as it did not exceed the limits of this purifying shield. To defeat them, one needed claws and blades—not spells.

“So you gained a magic-immune constitution!” Bonnie was overjoyed. Finally, he understood why the physician showed no visible changes after signing the Demon Hunter Oath.

“Hmph!” Frustration flashed across the witch’s eyes as she realized her peril. Luckily, the gravity spell’s effect was fading; she still had a chance to escape.

With that thought, the witch leaped high, escaping Bonnie and Qin Lun’s pincer attack. The moment she landed, she swung her wand, unleashing a streak of black light toward Bonnie. It halted the blond youth’s charge, reigniting their earlier chase—but now, she had to cautiously maintain a triangular distance, unable to leap freely.

Just as she prepared for her fourth leap away, something clamped tightly around her ankle, yanking her back down after rising only a foot. Staring in horror at the approaching hunters, she glanced downward.

A figure covered in blood gripped her ankle like a vise. Raising its head, the thing stared at her through eyes reduced to bloody holes, mouth splitting open in a soundless grin.

“No!” the witch screamed, finally realizing their pursuit had led her straight to the dying Demon Hunter.

The Witch Maiar lifted her wand and drove its hardened tip like a dagger into Odo’s hollow eye socket.

“Squelch!” Filthy blood sprayed as the weapon pierced the hunter’s skull.

Odo’s entire body stiffened. He dropped his head and died without a sound. Yet his hands didn’t loosen—they tightened like iron shackles, digging deep into the witch’s ankle.

“DIE!” Roared Bonnie, blood trickling from his gritted teeth. His shout echoed across the clearing.

The blond youth’s form blurred into a furious dragon of wind, sweeping dead leaves into a cyclone as he hurled himself at the witch.

The witch’s pupils dilated. Hastily raising her wand, she sought to blast the swordsman away with magic.

“Clang!” A silver streak of lightning shot past Bonnie’s charge, striking the wand first.

“Ungh!” The wand snapped instantly under the blow, jolting the witch’s arm. The wand’s tip and a silver longsword spiraled into the air together. Not only did her spell fizzle, but the backlash left her dizzy and disoriented.

By the time her vision cleared, a face burning with hatred filled her view.

“Aiii—” The witch’s scream tore through the air as the silver blade plowed into her body, carving a bloody furrow across the dirt.

After hurling one sword to shatter her wand, Bonnie had seized his fleeting chance, driving his second blade deep into the witch’s right chest.

“Not enough!” Brutal focus flashed in Bonnie’s eyes.

His attack—the “Instant Thrust”—was swift as lightning, a long-ranged piercing strike. Its sole flaw was poor accuracy, and he’d failed to strike the walnut-sized heart core within her.

Gritting his teeth, Bonnie planted his free left hand atop the sword’s hilt. With all his strength, he wrenched sideways to cleave open her chest and shatter her final core.

Three hundred years after war’s end, death’s shadow embraced the witch once more. That eerily familiar sensation froze the Witch Maiar in grim calm.

She didn’t waste effort resisting Bonnie’s strike—pitting a witch’s strength against a swordsman hunter was pure folly. Instead, she bared her teeth in a snarl, spewing a jet of ink-black liquid into Bonnie’s face from inches away.

“Aaargh!” Bonnie managed a slight turn of his head before the foul substance drenched half his face. Agonized roars ripped from him as white smoke hissed from the tainted skin. Blisters swelled and burst like boiling cream, flesh melting into dripping ruin.

“Krehehe!” The witch lashed out with a kick, hurling Bonnie—now clutching his ravaged face—into Qin Lun as he charged.

Bonnie collapsed, motionless.

Though the Albert Family heir became a Demon Hunter young, courage was never his lack. Always shielded by comrades, his agility had spared him grave injury—until now. The searing pain had plunged him into unconscious shock.

“Ack!” Nearby, another battle ended. Blinded by blood loss, Bla faltered. The man-faced mantis struck.

Glossy-black as satin, its scythe tore through Bla’s collarbone, carving down his torso, nearly splitting the boy in half.

Seeing her tiny irritant finally hit, the mantis’s human face curled in triumph. Raising its other scythe, it impaled Bla through the abdomen, hoisting him skyward like a trophy.

Bla’s arms hung limp. His face turned snow pale. Pupils dimmed rapidly, lips trembling on death’s edge.

Suddenly, color bloomed across his cheeks. Like someone roused from sleep, his eyes snapped open. With a final effort, he hurled his only weapon—a curved knife.

“Father! Little Bla… won’t shame you!”

“Thunk!” The blade spun like a disc of light, burying itself in the giant mantis’s human visage.

“REEEERGH!” The beast shrieked. Normally, it would bat aside such an attack—but both scythes were sunk deep in prey, letting dying Bla strike true.

The mantis jerked its weapons viciously. Bla’s body finally tore apart. Upper and lower halves splashed into the grass beside the clearing. Howling, the blade-embedded monster rampaged away into the forest.

In a grassy corner, Bla rested. Eyes dull as faded marbles, he gazed emptily skyward. A pure, tranquil smile touched his lips.

The Witch Maiar dropped her broken wand. Gripping the sword lodged in her chest, she slowly wrenched it free.

“Hiss…” Bonnie’s silver longsword radiated anti-magic. As it withdrew, murky green blood surged uncontrollably. Dizziness flooded the witch, a deep ache suffusing her limbs.

“To wound Meisha, noble among Maiar, so deeply…” She hissed venomously, calling herself Meisha. “Centuries of hibernation may not undo it!” Her gaze swept the clearing, settling on Qin Lun standing not far off.

“You die too!” Snatching up the bloodied blade, Meisha streaked toward Qin Lun.

She’d noticed during the fight: though this hunter had magic immunity, his strength was merely that of an ordinary man. Without magic, she could still slaughter him using her stone-hard flesh and unnatural force.

Qin Lun eyed the witch warily. With a twist of his wrist, the dagger “Sin” slipped into his grasp.

He’d collected ample data on witches recently, nearly piecing together a working Combat Model. But without Bonnie, victory was impossible.

“Clink!” Sparks sprayed between the black dagger and silver longsword. Overpowering force knocked Qin Lun staggering.

[Target strength prediction error. 80% combat impairment. Combat Model aborted. Hypnotic trance broken!]

One clash exposed his miscalculation of the witch’s power. Dazed eyes snapped into sharp focus. With deadly steel closing in, he scrambled backward into a clumsy roll, dodging her pursuit. Had Meisha possessed sword skills, he’d already be dead.

Seeing Qin Lun topple, the witch shrieked in glee. Swinging the longsword like a club, she gave chase. Hunted by Bonnie’s flashing blade earlier had grated deeply. Now, making another hunter flee felt intoxicating.

Amid their brawl, a hulking figure abruptly slammed into the witch’s side.

“Young master… run!” Frank had somehow crept close, thrusting himself between them, shielding Qin Lun.

“Insolent!” Caught off guard by the clearly ordinary hunchbacked servant, Meisha stumbled. Fury ignited within her. She whipped the sword upward, burying it in Frank’s chest.

“Run… please run!” It seemed Frank wanted the blade to strike him. Rough hands clamped onto the sword, and he twisted to flash Qin Lun a ghastly smile.

Meisha snarled coldly. A twist of the blade shredded his fingers against sharp steel.

But this interruption only enraged her more. Shoving the hilt with brutal force, she impaled Francis fully.

“Schtuck!” The blade’s tip erupted through the servant’s hunched spine. A single drop of blood fell slowly.