"Clang—!"
In the abandoned factory, the sudden clash of metal rang out exceptionally sharply, shattering the silence.
Sparks burst like fireworks, illuminating Lei Hao's face as he gripped his greatsword, as well as the figure of a monster swooping down at him from above.
"Haahhh!"
The veins on Lei Hao's forehead bulged, while the muscles in both his arms swelled desperately. Using all his strength, he roared and knocked back the monster that had lunged at him, its scythe-sharp forelimbs hacking into the greatsword he had hurriedly raised to block.
"Chik!"
The monster was sent flying straight into the ceiling. It stood there as if stuck to it, letting out a savage hiss.
Taking a closer look, the monster's entire body seemed to have been forged from steel, radiating a cold sheen. All four of its limbs were blades, making it look like a killing machine manufactured by some sort of black technology.
However, despite its mechanical appearance, the monster's entire mouth was stained red.
The color of blood.
It told anyone who saw it that this monster was not a machine that had no need to eat, but a genuine Phantom Demon that required a large amount of flesh and blood to replenish its nutrients and increase its strength.
This was Su Ming and the others' target this time—the Blade Fiend.
About ten minutes after entering the abandoned factory, Su Ming and the others had successfully been spotted by their target and lured it out.
"Chik!"
The Blade Fiend, covered in blades, let out a shrill screech. Then it shot down from the ceiling and lunged at Lei Hao.
Its speed was astonishing, like a bullet.
"Bring it on!"
Lei Hao showed no fear. Instead, he roared again and charged forward rather than retreating.
"Clang—!"
The greatsword and blades collided, sending sparks flying once more. The battle between humans and Phantom Demons had officially begun.
Lei Hao charged ahead and blocked the front line, swinging his heavy greatsword like a windmill as he repeatedly attacked the Blade Fiend. The howling of wind and clashing of metal rang out without pause.
Under such circumstances, the remaining members of the same team naturally could not just stand by and watch.
"I'm coming!"
Jiang Wanyu gave a delicate cry. At some point, she had gripped a pair of sharp short blades in both hands. Her entire body transformed into a gust of wind as she rushed toward the Blade Fiend with a howl.
"I-I'm going too!"
Yao Beibei's voice was filled with nervousness, but the petite girl held a pair of enormous iron hammers in both hands. Displaying terrifying brute strength, she lifted them with ease and charged toward the Blade Fiend.
The two junior schoolmates seemed to have excellent physical attributes. Although their obvious inexperience and immaturity could be seen, their physical capabilities were not weak in the slightest.
Yao Beibei's brute strength was enough to make one's hair stand on end, while Jiang Wanyu's speed was equally dazzling.
"Take this!"
Jiang Wanyu rapidly closed in on the Blade Fiend. The short blade in her hand struck like a venomous snake, stabbing toward the enemy with a sharp whistle.
"Ding!"
With a crisp ringing sound, Jiang Wanyu's short blade landed on the Blade Fiend's body, but only produced a burst of dazzling sparks.
"Chik!"
The Blade Fiend, which was engaged in a fierce battle with Lei Hao, sensed that it had been attacked. It immediately turned its head and hissed at Jiang Wanyu.
Its savage face, with its mouth covered in blood, gave Jiang Wanyu a tremendous shock. Her movements involuntarily froze.
"Chik!"
The Blade Fiend immediately seized the opportunity. The blade in its hand transformed into the Grim Reaper's scythe, gleaming coldly as it slashed toward Jiang Wanyu's head.
"Don't even think about it!"
Lei Hao growled. He abruptly twisted and swung his greatsword, and its powerful slash cut through the air before crashing heavily into the Blade Fiend.
"Clang!"
Like a golden bell being struck, Lei Hao's greatsword landed on the Blade Fiend's body and immediately produced a deafening roar.
The Blade Fiend was sent flying by the powerful blow. Covered in sparks, it crashed into the factory wall, smashing the wall apart.
"Be careful!"
After landing his hit, Lei Hao did not press the attack. Instead, he stood in front of Jiang Wanyu and shouted without turning his head.
At that moment, Lei Hao had completely lost his usual carefree manner. All that remained was a solemn and murderous air like that of a warrior.
"S-Sorry!"
Jiang Wanyu knew that it had been her fault. She had nearly lost her life, causing the hand gripping her weapon to tremble slightly after the fact.
"Wanyu!"
Yao Beibei, who had already rushed over, seemed extremely worried when she saw Jiang Wanyu like this.
However, this was absolutely not the time to get distracted.
"Yao Beibei! In front!"
"It's coming!"
The shouts of Su Ming and Ye Bai came one after another.
"...What!?"
Yao Beibei's whole body shook, and the warning bells in her heart began screaming.
"Yah!"
Without thinking, Yao Beibei instinctively raised one of the heavy hammers in her hands and smashed it forward amid a burst of sonic boom.
The Blade Fiend had already pounced over, meeting Yao Beibei's heavy hammer head-on.
The Blade Fiend showed no fear. Relying on its steel-like body, it charged straight into the attack.
With its simple mind, it probably thought that this seemingly delicate and weak human girl in front of it could not possibly hurt it, right?
Nor was the Blade Fiend the only one who thought so. Even Su Ming and the others could not help but subconsciously think the same.
Until the next second—
"Boom!"
When Yao Beibei's heavy hammer slammed into the Blade Fiend's body, a thunderous roar rang out.
Terrifying power erupted from Yao Beibei's hammer. It not only sent out a shock wave, but also shattered the ground beneath her feet.
The Blade Fiend, which had taken the full force of the blow head-on, was sent flying.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
Amid repeated explosions, the Blade Fiend smashed through one pillar after another. In the end, it crashed into a large, rusted machine, shattering the iron barrels mounted on it.
"Holy crap!"
Such a shocking scene made Su Ming, Lei Hao, and Ye Bai curse despite themselves.
"Wah... So scary."
Yet the culprit behind everything seemed to have received an enormous fright, trembling all over.
Shouldn't we be the ones trembling?
Su Ming, Lei Hao, and Ye Bai felt their scalps go numb.
An Zijin, on the other hand, wore a bright smile, as if she had known all along that this would happen.
"Sh-She really is Brute-Force Beibei. I probably couldn't do something like that in my entire life."
Even Jiang Wanyu had recovered from her lingering fear. Seeing this scene, she was completely unable to find words to comment.
"Chik!"
The Blade Fiend, by contrast, had fallen completely into a state of rage.
As it hacked apart the iron barrels, it hissed repeatedly. Cracks appeared across its steel-like body, and wisps of blood seeped out.
Yao Beibei's heavy blow had clearly worked, injuring it.
However, when everyone saw this, they not only felt no surprise—they became even more wary.
That was because the wounds on the Blade Fiend's body were recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, most of the cracks had already healed.
"Hey! Are you Warlocks still not going to act?" Lei Hao shouted. "Only your Spiritual Arts can inflict damage on these Phantom Demons that cannot heal. Stop slacking off!"
Without a Warlock's Spiritual Art, dealing with a regenerative Phantom Demon was indeed extremely difficult.
This was also a Hunter's disadvantage. Although Hunters gained power by plundering the blood of Phantom Demons, they lacked the ability of Spiritual Arts, which specifically restrained Phantom Demons. Without a Warlock's assistance, completely subjugating a Phantom Demon was extremely difficult.
Therefore, when facing Phantom Demons, teaming up with Warlocks was the first choice every Hunter made.
A pure Hunter team was fine against humans, but would be at far too great a disadvantage and waste far too much time against Phantom Demons.
An inefficient subjugation was like wasting their lives to Professionals. Thus, even the most poorly equipped team had to include at least one Warlock.
Now, the three Hunters had faintly suppressed the Blade Fiend, so it was time for the Warlocks' finishing moves to take the stage.
"Little Zijin, prepare to attack with me." Su Ming made the decision at once. "Ye Bai, hold it down. Don't let it escape."
As he spoke, Su Ming raised his hand, causing three circular arrays to appear around his wrist.
"Leave it to me!"
Ye Bai also raised his hand, causing a circular array to appear.
"Got it, Brother Su Ming!"
An Zijin took a deep breath and raised both hands with determination, clasping them together.
Two circular arrays appeared in the hands of the goddess-like junior schoolmate, making them exceptionally eye-catching.
Thus, the Warlocks' Spiritual Arts erupted as well.
"Thirteenth Style: Roaring Cannon."
Ye Bai's binding technique was released first. Black ash drifted in from all directions like wind, surrounding the Blade Fiend.
"Chik!"
The Blade Fiend sensed the danger and roared furiously, as if it had gone berserk. The blades in both its hands slashed repeatedly, but only stirred up sparks against the wall of black ash. It could not break free.
"Thirteenth Style: Roaring Cannon."
An Zijin's Spiritual Art was ready. Seeing that the Blade Fiend had been trapped, she immediately released it.
In an instant, scorching heat appeared.
Streams of electricity gathered from the void like snakes, converging between An Zijin's palms and forming an ion cannon that blasted straight toward the Blade Fiend.
"Boom!"
The electric projectile struck the Blade Fiend head-on, blasting apart the wall of black ash and sending the Blade Fiend flying as well. Blood sprayed from its entire body as it crashed to the ground amid arcs of electricity, screaming in agony.
"Twenty-First Style: Earth Net Punishment."
At that moment, Su Ming's final killing move arrived as well.
As the three circular arrays around Su Ming's wrist glowed, the ground beneath the Blade Fiend began to move.
"Pfft!"
A spike suddenly burst upward and pierced through the Blade Fiend's body.
"Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!"
One spike after another thrust up from underground, piercing through the Blade Fiend's body and skewering it like meat on a stick.
The Blade Fiend's steel body was astonishingly fragile before these spikes, as if it were made of paper.
There was no doubt that this was a fatal blow.
"Chik..."
The Blade Fiend's body wriggled once on the spikes. A few seconds later, it seemed to lose all strength and went limp.
Blood flowed down from its body along the spikes, gradually staining the ground red.
"D-Did we win?"
Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei still seemed unable to react.
"Good, it's done."
Lei Hao and Ye Bai had great faith in the power of Su Ming's technique, and both let out a sigh of relief.
"That was amazing, Brother Su Ming!"
An Zijin was already looking at Su Ming with stars in her eyes.
But Su Ming did not show the slightest trace of joy.
"Looks like we need to review what happened, junior schoolmates."
Su Ming turned to look at the three girls.
The girls lowered their heads in shame.
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