Volume 2 Chapter 29: Death Duel

This was the real combat skill of a Demon Hunter! Qin Lun’s fists clenched tightly, his pupils contracting to pinpricks. A huge sense of crisis suddenly surged within him.

When Qin Lun had first arrived at Albert Castle, Bonnie had seemed like nothing more than a straightforward, wild, and unrestrained noble son. Only later, as Qin Lun treated Little Miller and joined the Demon Hunter faction, did this blonde youth slowly reveal a more mature side.

Even so, Qin Lun still hadn’t considered him a formidable warrior. Not even Bonnie later reclaiming the giant bear, BEN, or teaching him evasive techniques had changed Qin Lun’s view.

In Qin Lun’s eyes, if Joey ever got close, Bonnie would be no different from the other undead who had died by the Serial Killer’s hands—just ants. Perhaps… a slightly stronger ant.

Although Qin Lun had constantly heard about Demon Hunters, Witches, and Evil Creatures, he had never viewed them as powerful beings surpassing human limits.

And that Gargoyle that died by his hand, along with Bla—who awkwardly fell into the man-eating flower trap—had seemed to partially prove that so-called Witches and Demon Hunters were merely ordinary beings. Their fighting power wasn’t frightening and remained within controllable limits.

Yet, Bonnie’s sword strike just now shattered the wall in Qin Lun’s heart. For the first time, he realized the strong among the Demon Hunters might represent a deadly threat even Joey couldn’t face head-on.

From what Qin Lun had seen and heard these past few days within the Demon Hunter group, Bonnie was only one of the stronger members, not even the strongest. That King’s Flower, Nova, was stronger than the blonde youth.

But Qin Lun asked himself: in a fair fight, he couldn’t beat Bonnie. At the very least, he couldn’t have blocked that strike just now. Thinking this, Qin Lun’s heart sank. It was fortunate that Joey hadn’t lost control within Albert Castle that night, attempting to use force to seize the Albert Family’s secrets. Otherwise, he’d probably be dead already.

No wonder the three Demon Hunters not only kept him at the back but also didn’t let the somewhat strong Frank join the fight. Qin Lun had originally thought they were intentionally protecting him. Now he saw it was because they were afraid Frank would just hold them back!

Realizing this, Qin Lun watched the battle before him, falling into deep thought. He pondered how he could achieve victory against powerful Demon Hunters and the Witch Maiar, expert in Black Magic.

The Serial Killer had an intuition. Even without possessing strength beyond human limits, he still had the ability to kill strong Demon Hunters and even the Witch Maiar. It just hadn’t been discovered yet.

Struck by Bonnie’s Death Twist, the Witch Maiar let out an angry shriek. Her body was sent flying through the air. However, Qin Lun didn’t see any blood spray out. Instead, he heard a sharp Bang! quite like the metallic clang signaling the night watch.

The long black hair behind her head suddenly exploded outwards, like a peacock spreading its tail. Some of the hair coiled around the criss-crossing wound on her chest like bandages. Landing, she tumbled several times on the ground. Her originally soft, charming eyes now shot out a venomous glare.

“Yaah!” The Witch Maiar opened her mouth wide. Her original cherry-like lips split right up to her ears. Her once pretty face visibly decayed at high speed, the surface skin peeling away like lime powder, revealing a hideous face covered in white lichen and deep cracks.

Witches were very old. Even those newly born with Magic Potions after the Millennium Pact were over three hundred years old. While they gained the ‘Undying One’ trait, they couldn’t keep their original lovely beauty. At best, they used Black Magic to hide their true appearance most of the time.

But now, wounded by Bonnie’s slash, this Witch Maiar had to channel all her witch power into the fight, unable to spare any to maintain her disguise.

The scroll Odo used earlier was a very common earth spell, “Gravity”. Most Witches could fly using magic. To defeat them, one first had to break this aerial advantage.

The Witch regained her footing. A large “X”-shaped wound stretched from her shoulders down both sides of her ribs. “Death Twist” was a tremendously powerful sword skill. If it weren’t for the Witch’s body being as tough as ironwood, that strike alone would have sliced her into four pieces.

The black hair wrapped around her wounds slowly melted into her skin. The exposed flesh squirmed like maggots as the injury visibly started healing.

To kill a Witch, this level of blade injury wasn’t enough. Witches were “Undying Ones”. Only a very few methods could truly end them. Purification by fire was the best way. Fire could destroy both a Witch’s body and Soul.

Besides fire, there were, of course, other methods. Like: cutting off their heads, stabbing their Heart Core within the body with an item infused with “long-lasting” magical power, and so on.

“Ahahaha!” The Witch Maiar glanced across the battlefield, letting out a hoarse, strange laugh like an Owl’s hoot. Unable to keep up her beauty magic, her voice was also back to its damaged state. Now, she truly matched the mental image Qin Lun had of a Witch.

After landing that heavy blow on the Witch, Odo and Bonnie didn’t pause for a moment, charging relentlessly forward. Bonnie, wielding a sword in each hand, led the way. Odo now gripped a silvery cone, over a foot long.

This hollow cone held sealed “holy spring water”, blessed by followers of the Longevity Seekers. Stabbing this cone into the Heart Core cavity in the Witch’s heart was enough to rob her of all magic power, even if it didn’t instantly kill her, turning her into a decrepit old woman at death’s door.

Bonnie rushed before the Witch in an instant. He swept his paired swords up in a spinning motion, unleashing a lightning-fast strike. A silver arc cracked through the air like a whip, snapping downward towards her.

Demon Hunter combat sword skill—Crescent Moon Slash!

“Heh heh!” The Witch chortled, waving her Wand and leaping skyward. The “Gravity” had grounded her flying, but couldn’t completely bind her movement. At minimum, she turned flight into a powerful jump.

“DIE!” A dark figure appeared before the Witch the instant she hit the peak of her jump. Odo, who had run closely behind Bonnie, seemed to have been waiting in mid-air just for her.

The chilling tip of the cone filled her view, growing larger. Whoosh! The silver cone pierced through her left chest unstoppably. Her ironwood-tough body yielded like buttercake, as the cone’s sharp point stabbed into a crimson-glowing nut-like Heart Core.

“Aarggh!” Amid her scream, the hair behind her head suddenly shot out like razor wire, slamming into Odo’s face and chest.

Thud-thud-thud! Blood flowers exploded over the Demon Hunter’s face and upper body. Odo plummeted silently like a log, crashing to the ground with a THUD, raising a cloud of dead leaves and dust.

“Captain Odo!” Bonnie roared, his eyes turning bloodshot. He swung both swords together, twisting his torso and arms, using the blades like a staff. He struck the Witch in a spinning slash, sending her flying backwards through the air.

Demon Hunter combat sword skill—Whirlwind Slash!

Hidden in the clearing’s tall grass, Qin Lun felt dazzled. The two Demon Hunters’ tacit coordination and selfless bravery deeply moved him. Bonnie’s swordsmanship was strong and skillful, but Odo’s god-like prediction was even more incredible.

Moving behind Bonnie, with just a few simple, coordinated steps, Odo had made the entire fight unfold like a stage play. The mighty Witch Maiar, despite having numerous Black Magics at her command, hadn’t even managed to create distance to cast one of her signature spells! She was executed on the spot!

No wonder this team followed Odo’s lead, not Bonnie Albert, the master swordsman. Odo truly deserved it. If circumstances hadn’t been unfavorable for the Demon Hunters earlier, Odo might not even have needed to Sacrifice himself to capture this Witch Maiar.

The Witch crashed down from the air unmoving. After striking the Witch away, Bonnie ran forward a few steps to pick up Odo.

“Is… the Witch dead?” Odo opened his mouth to speak, blood fountaining out instead. His upper body was saturated with blood. His face was a horror of gaping holes, his eyes already pierced blind. Countless bloody punctures riddled his chest like a honeycomb.

“She is…” Bonnie swallowed his grief and glanced towards where the Witch had fallen. Just as he started to confirm the Witch’s death, his eyes suddenly fixed. He slowly set Odo back down, stood up, his face instantly turning iron-gray.

The Witch, whose Heart Core had been pierced, slowly pushed herself up from the ground. She twisted around, facing Bonnie with a face full of savage hatred.

“Screech…” The Witch gripped the silver cone embedded in her chest. Amid a terrible grating noise, she wrenched it out. A stream of dark green liquid spurted out with it.

Clang! She threw the cone to the ground. With her sharp-nailed right hand, she dug into the wound on her left chest, pulling out a shattered Heart Core already fading to gray.

“Heh heh, Demon Hunters… didn’t expect this, did you!” The Witch Maiar let out a hideous laugh, flicking away the broken core, and crooked a finger mockingly at Bonnie.

“IMPOSSIBLE!” Bonnie yelled furiously, raising his swords to charge the Witch again.

“Pipsqueak Demon Hunter… You’re too late. You got your swings in… Now it’s my turn!” Flash of contempt in her eyes, the Witch leapt high to avoid Bonnie’s slash. A mere twitch of her Wand sent an invisible bolt of compressed air instantly blasting Bonnie far away.

“She has a SECOND Heart Core!” Odo struggled to sit up, spitting blood. Though blind, the experienced Demon Hunter grasped the situation immediately.

This Witch Maiar wasn’t simple. A Witch only had one Heart Core from birth—the source of her ‘undying’ trait. A Witch possessing two cores meant she had certainly murdered another Witch. She had to have dug out her victim’s core while she still lived… That was the only way she could possess two.

It must be in the right chest! Qin Lun, lurking in the shadows, stared grimly at the Witch’s right chest, virtually understanding Odo’s realization simultaneously.

If he didn’t intervene now, the mission’s chance of failure was over ninety percent! Qin Lun glanced towards the other fights scattered across the clearing, his eyes flickering coldly…