Fallen Demon Hunter VS Superpowered Individual 1

I am Kong Da, a probe from Luoshan.

In the workplace, I am generally addressed as "Agent Kong."

Looking at Zhuang Cheng, who had fallen before me, I retracted my arm, which had transformed into a sharp blade.

"I warned you long ago, Zhuang Cheng," I said, taking out a handkerchief and casually wiping my hand before tossing the soiled cloth onto the opponent's corpse. "Flame ability users have a low margin for error. Just one miscalculation, like being ambushed like this, can lead to irreversible ruin."

Yes, I am the true Fallen Demon Hunter.

At this moment, Zhuang Cheng was undoubtedly dead. His head had been severed and lay on the ground, his eyes destroyed by the blade. The slash had even penetrated deep into his skull, completely obliterating his brain tissue.

My palm still bore traces of blood and brain matter that wouldn't quite wipe clean. Having killed so many people already, I no longer felt sorrow for taking lives, but this sticky, nauseating sensation was truly unpleasant.

This is also a drawback of the physical enhancement type. Unlike some ability users who wield guns, power, and kill without a trace, physical enhancement Demon Hunters must kill with their own hands. Sometimes, they even have to listen to the dying screams and witness the pained faces of the deceased up close.

If I had Zhuang Cheng's flame ability, perhaps I could have killed more cleanly and efficiently. Of course, I would never trade my own abilities for a superpower that only excels in offense.

The current situation is the best reason. Zhuang Cheng's superpower was incredibly potent; he could destroy the clones I summoned with just a glance. Even if I were to block it myself, the outcome wouldn't be much better. But what was the point?

Killing an opponent with a single blow has never been something to brag about; it's a given.

On ancient cold weapon battlefields, one could take a life by piercing the enemy's vital points with a blade or spear. On modern firearms battlefields, victory belonged to whoever drew their gun first. Even in street brawls, it's sometimes possible to accidentally kill someone with an elbow. In the struggles between humans, an excess of offensive power is commonplace. Thinking that "clearing the HP bar in one hit" is impressive is merely a game mentality.

What truly matters is striking first. Even if you wield a dagger and your opponent has a cannon, as long as you hit first, you win. Amateurs like Zhuang Cheng probably couldn't understand this.

What's the use of being able to kill with a glance? You can just ambush them from behind. Anyone with intent can kill him. In the world of abnormalities, there are countless skills far more unfair than this. And this is already a skill with a relatively easy counter.

...But speaking of which, when he unleashed that all-directional flame attack that killed those clones and incidentally engulfed me, I was so scared I almost transformed on the spot. I thought I had been exposed, or that he had gotten carried away and forgotten about me, his "companion," on the field. Turns out, his flames could distinguish friend from foe, and he forgot to warn me beforehand. What a guy lacking in camaraderie.

I've analyzed his personality briefly. In my eyes, he's a very typical individual who becomes arrogant after gaining great power.

Many might assume such people would run rampant in society after obtaining power, but that's not necessarily true. Based on my observations over the years, at least half of these individuals simply feel superior to those around them and still hold a degree of awe for powerful national collectives.

They often feel more transcendent than ordinary people and have a certain tendency to disregard human life. This is quite normal. Anyone who possesses the power to kill with a mere glance and lives for years with the awareness that they "can kill without consequence at any time" will inevitably have their mindset distorted. As the saying goes, a hammer sees everything as a nail, and a sharp weapon breeds a murderous intent.

He likely often rehearses killing scenarios in his mind, perhaps even wanting to try killing someone just to see. Not because he has a motive, but simply because he can. The color of lawlessness lurks in his eyes, and he might even ponder how to counter-kill if he clashes with the police or military. While he appears humble and cautious on the surface, he is extremely confident in his own strength. He won't actively seek trouble, but deep down, he believes "I will always be the one to win, even if a fight breaks out."

In the absence of any conflict, he will try to hide his identity as a superpowered individual. However, if he can no longer hide it, he will reveal himself without any psychological burden. Zhu Shi mentioned in her report that she witnessed him at a combat scene and interacted with him, and he did not conceal his actions at all. This is because deep down, he harbors a desire to expose his uniqueness to those around him.

Ordinary life is so restrictive for him, which is why he wants to venture into extraordinary worlds, much like a fish thrown onto land yearns to return to the water. Perhaps he believes that is where he belongs.

This is a wish born of ignorance.

My first encounter with the world of abnormalities and Demon Hunters was twenty years ago.

I was young then, fascinated by the incredible phenomena meticulously recorded in popular literature. Tales of ghost ships with mysteriously vanished crews, the sounds of hell emanating from the world's deepest drilling wells, or ghost traps, spirit photos, doppelgangers, and so on. From a young age, I had an unparalleled interest in such supernatural and inexplicable matters.

These occurrences, which defied common sense, far surpassed my life and experiences. While they frightened me, they also filled me with longing. I imagined how I would react if I encountered these events, whether I could be as witty and brave as the characters in stories, or if I might even gain powers beyond reality after overcoming the predicament.

Similarly, I was drawn to metaphysics and spiritual cultivation knowledge. Meditation, channeling, exorcism, divination... For a time, I secretly experimented with these things behind the backs of my friends and family, practicing as if I truly believed.

If my friends and family knew what I was doing, they would likely think I genuinely believed. Of course, I didn't truly believe, but I wished these things could make me believe. These pursuits offered a temporary escape from the tediousness of my studies and work, allowing me to journey into a world of magical imagination. As time went on, my obsession grew, even reaching a fervent level.

However, good times don't last. When a person becomes truly obsessed with something, it inevitably leaves traces in their life. When my family and friends discovered my secret, they began to look at me strangely, treating me as an eccentric oddball, and gossiping about me behind my back.

In reality, I never considered myself different. If my innermost thoughts were laid bare, not everyone, but at least most people would resonate with them. The desire to escape the gravity of reality, to journey to inexplicable dimensions and experience thrilling encounters and adventures there, is a dream many have had since childhood. Even those who mock fantasy and consider themselves realistic, don't they secretly wish that fantastical things were real? I was merely more honest with my desires and pursued this dream longer than those around me.

After graduating from university, I didn't abandon these hobbies. I even found some like-minded new friends. External criticism doesn't always make people give up their hobbies; sometimes, it can strengthen their resolve and unity. We began to use our free time and holidays to investigate clues related to urban legends and supernatural powers, sharing the leads and failed experiences we gained along the way.

Finally, one day, I encountered the supernatural event I had always dreamed of.

In a supposedly haunted, abandoned dead-end alley, my friends and I, who had met offline, stepped into it with the casual mindset of "just taking a look." We never expected that such a seemingly insignificant exploration, among all our failed attempts, would hide a genuine evil spirit.

At first, we reached the end of the alley and found nothing. The anomaly occurred on the way back. We were chatting and laughing as we walked, and then slowly realized that no matter how long we walked, we couldn't see the entrance to the alley we had come from. By the time we realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

We frantically searched for a way to escape, but my companions disappeared one by one. The sounds of the bustling city outside gradually faded until they vanished. The city's neon lights and stars above also extinguished one by one without us noticing. The dead-end alley slowly transformed into a desolate realm far from civilization.

When I snapped back to reality, filled with dark and terrifying thoughts, all my companions were gone. I was left alone in this eerie dead-end alley.

It's really haunted here!

In extreme panic, I bolted, running desperately towards the exit.

However, no matter how long I ran, it felt like I was standing still. The alley, which should have been straight, now seemed like a Mobius strip, its ends connected, and I was an ant crawling fruitlessly on its surface.

Even the high walls on either side began to change in incomprehensible ways. I tried to climb the wall to escape the alley. Setting aside the fact that I had little experience with urban climbing, when I strained every muscle and climbed to a considerable height, the wall's height inexplicably increased before my eyes.

I had no choice but to return to the ground and try to continue moving towards the exit. However, I had already lost hope in my actions.

Time ticked by, accumulating like grains of sand. After an unknown number of hours, the dead-end alley remained in a terrifying night. Thirst and hunger gradually set in.

After another unknown period, perhaps a day or two, the burning thirst and hunger finally reached an unbearable limit.

I couldn't tell whether my strength or my spirit gave out first, but I finally couldn't walk any further. The prolonged anxiety and fear had numbed my mind, like a piece of flesh that had completely lost its elasticity.

And after a long period of numbness, I finally broke down, weeping desperately in the endless dead-end alley.

I regretted it.

I hated myself up to this point.

Why did I enter this nonsensical place?

Why was I so ignorant and reckless, pursuing these abnormalities?

The life I once found so tiresome, the boring, uneventful, yet secure life, now seemed so warm and brilliant to me.

I just want to go back there, back to my home, back to that soft, comfortable bed, and sleep soundly, forgetting everything that happened here today. After that, I will work and live properly, and never again think about those unrealistic things.

So, please, let me go... I beg you, let me go back...

I knelt and kowtowed to the ghost, which I didn't know where it was watching me from, or if it was watching me at all, sobbing uncontrollably.

However, there was no reaction from the darkness, and my heart was swallowed by despair. Perhaps, I was going to die here, losing all dignity and honor, dying here worthless like an animal that starved to death.

Fortunately, in the end, I didn't die there.

I fell into a coma from hunger and was then woken up.

It turned out that while I was in a coma, new visitors had entered this dead end. This visitor personally eliminated the evil spirit that had been lurking in the alley. I was also saved in a confused state because of this.

After saving me, the person asked me about my previous experiences. I was exhausted, but I forced myself to tell him everything.

After forcing myself to finish, I couldn't help but ask, "...Who exactly are you?"

"I am Wuchang," he replied.

"Wuchang... is that your name?"

"No, Wuchang is my title. In Luoshan, those who handle abnormalities on the front lines are called 'Wuchang'." His attitude was quite friendly.

Luoshan, Demon Hunter, Wuchang... My mind was still trapped in the nightmare, making it difficult to digest these concepts.

Suddenly, I remembered a few friends who had entered the dead end with me and asked the "Wuchang" in front of me if he had seen them.

"I didn't see them, they must have all been devoured," he said. "You are the only one who survived. I guess you were placed last in the evil spirit's feeding order, which is why you were lucky to survive."

"Only... me..." Fear trembled through me like surging stomach acid. "You... how did you defeat that ghost?"

"You ask me how I defeated it... I just found it normally and swung my sword," he said. "This evil spirit wasn't very powerful itself, it was just good at invading minds and manipulating fear to create illusions. It was enough to deal with ordinary people like you, but it was impossible for it to do that to us Demon Hunters with its mana; we are directly immune. And even for ordinary people, as long as they maintain their inner resolve, they won't be harmed by it.

"Take you as an example, if you hadn't let fear control your state of mind in that dead end, you wouldn't have been trapped for so long; or if you could face death calmly and accept it as a possible outcome, that kind of illusion would also be ineffective against you.

"But then again, whether it's not being controlled by fear in a helpless situation or facing death calmly, these are things that even many Demon Hunters can't do. It's indeed asking too much of an ordinary person like you..."

Hearing this, I silently lowered my head.

Yes... it wasn't my fault.

Anyone who realizes they will die alone far from everything will eventually break down. Because humans are social animals, they cannot tolerate absolute loneliness and death.

Those who live apart from the herd are either gods or beasts.

Humans stripped of their social veneer are beasts who succumb to primal fear, and I was just one of those beasts.

Anyone placed in my position would have ended up the same as me.