Huntress

The woman in the purple-black uniform entered the chaotic Underground Mall and rapidly approached the source of the disturbance with the aid of her night-vision goggles. A woman's voice, responsible for remote support, reminded her through the earpiece in her mask, "Careful, Huntress. Your target went in through the electrical room. It's moving deeper underground and should be in the generator room by now. I'm sending its location to your mask display."

"Great. Why do freaks always like dangerous places?"

The woman known as Huntress muttered her complaint as she swiftly followed the directions to a door marked with a lightning-bolt danger symbol. She skillfully picked the lock and stepped inside.

She took a deep breath, raised her alertness to the utmost, and slowly descended the dark metal stairs. All kinds of horrifying claw marks covered the outer walls, while indistinct growls drifted up from deep underground. The sound waves echoed repeatedly through the enclosed space, making the place all the more chilling.

Before entering the generator room, Huntress gripped the doorknob with one hand and drew a folding composite bowgun from the outside of her pale thigh with the other. She inhaled deeply, pushed the door open inch by nearly silent inch, and carefully stepped inside.

"The heat signature says it's in this room. It could be hiding anywhere," the voice in her earpiece warned. "Be careful, Huntress. The feedback indicates the target is extremely fast and may also be incredibly strong."

Huntress did not respond. She held her breath, and her sharp, intelligent eyes behind the night-vision goggles scanned every slightest movement like precision instruments.

Then, without warning, she spun around. Her bowgun swept through a perfect one-hundred-and-eighty-degree arc with a whoosh, and the specially made alloy bolt loaded on it stopped right at someone's nose.

Both of them froze. Huntress kept the bowgun pointed at the other person's nose for perhaps three to five seconds, and the two stood as motionless as statues in the darkness.

Through her night-vision goggles, Huntress made him out—it was a man, or perhaps more accurately, a boy. He wore a dark blue hood and stood a head taller than Huntress, but his face still carried the traces of youthful immaturity. He looked like the scholarly type.

Naturally, this was Jay, who had followed the source of the commotion down here. The moment he unexpectedly encountered this beauty, his eyes lit up as he recognized her. He remembered that Huntress's real name seemed to be Helena. She was a superhero from DC Comics, once a member of Batman's team, specializing in stealth and hunting, just like her codename suggested.

This should have been the first local superhero Jay had met since coming to this world. Thinking about it, he could not help feeling a little excited.

Huntress frowned. This clearly was not a situation covered in her mission briefing. "Who are you?" she asked.

"That's rich, coming from a girl in a mask and cape," Jay shot back. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Huntress. I was sent to deal with the emergency here," she said. "This place is extremely dangerous. You shouldn't—"

As if in response to the word "dangerous," something blurry came whistling toward them on an invisible vortex before she could finish speaking. Jay's pupils contracted. Without a word, he stepped forward and shoved Huntress to the ground. A cold sharp weapon swept past the scalps of both of them with a whoosh, leaving a deep gouge in the dark green casing of a heavy machine.

Huntress reacted just as swiftly. She immediately realized the enemy was right beside them. This kid looked pretty sharp, but she had to ensure his safety before figuring out how to deal with the enemy.

Yes, she had already temporarily categorized Jay as an "innocent civilian who had wandered into a minefield." Protecting him had become her responsibility.

She sprang nimbly to her feet, stretched out an arm to shield Jay behind her, and shouted, "Get back!" The enemy's savage pounce had missed, and it now turned around, seemingly rather irritated. Only then did Huntress clearly see what she was facing—it was twice her height, its entire body covered in white scales. Its eyes were blood-red, its hands tipped with sharp claws, and its teeth were like a row of white saw blades.

Disgusting thing.

Huntress sucked in a breath. Her intelligence had said the target was a troublesome nonhuman creature, but she had not expected anything this outrageous. She had to admit that she was a little frightened. By the time the creature's claws were already raised high over its head, she finally remembered to dodge.

Her sideways roll was somewhat clumsy, and the monster's vicious claws tore off a corner of her cape before it abruptly turned and pursued her again. Huntress leaped into the air, avoiding the swipe while deftly flipping onto its back, her feet braced against its shoulders. She pulled two small electrodes from her utility belt and slammed them onto either side of the monster's temples—or rather, where its temples should have been, since she had no idea whether this creature even had temples.

Apparently, she had guessed right. Dazzling blue current violently burst from the electrodes, briefly illuminating the pitch-black room like a flash of lightning. The monster let out a roar that sounded almost like a groan and slapped Huntress off its shoulders. Her cape billowed in midair, making her look like a bat spreading its wings as she flew away.

Her back slammed into the cabinet door of a voltmeter with a bang, denting it inward before she crashed heavily to the floor. It looked painful. But the white monster had no intention of showing mercy. It gave her no time to catch her breath before pouncing again like a starving jackal.

Huntress's pupils narrowed. She quickly rolled across the floor, and the monster crashed down on the spot where she had been a moment earlier, its claws punching straight through the metal flooring. It raised its head, its bloody gaze swiftly locating its prey again, then pulled its blade-like claws free and tried to close in. Sitting on the floor, Huntress instinctively scooted away from it while raising her bowgun and pulling the trigger. The bolt shot out with a whoosh, and the spinning snare cord tightly bound the monster's feet just as it was about to charge. The white creature immediately lost its balance and fell, though it still raised its head and roared at her defiantly.

After Huntress shouted for him to get back, Jay obediently folded his arms and retreated to the side, watching how this "professional" handled the situation. Though she had remained on the defensive because her strength was far inferior to her opponent's, the combat skill she displayed as an ordinary human without superpowers was truly admirable.

If she could handle it without him needing to intervene, that would naturally be better. But judging by the situation, it looked like he would still have to act personally.

Just as Jay thought that, Huntress's snare cord sent the monster tumbling to the ground. She flipped to her feet, spun around without the slightest hesitation, grabbed Jay's hand, and took off running.

Jay did not react in time. "Hey, wait, wait, wait—"

"The snare cord won't hold it for long." Huntress dragged him along at full speed, her tone incomparably serious. "We need to get out of here!"

Uh. Hold on, sis. Weren't you the professional who came here specifically to solve the problem?