One Slash

The seven members of the Fire Hammer Squad kept formation as they slipped out of the Haihao Hotel and climbed over a wall into the courtyard of a residential area beside the street. The crumbling wall bore signs of past battles, with more than a dozen collapsed sections visible ahead. Weeds had long since overrun the residential area's concrete paths, and moss grew at the foot of the wall.

"The fat sheep's just up ahead." Wei Tie, the eldest of the Wei Brothers, peered cautiously through a gap in the collapsed wall toward the street. "We're in luck. There aren't many monsters around—just a Two-Tailed Tiger Cat and sixteen Tiger Cat underlings."

Luo Zhe also peered through a crack in the wall.

About fifty meters down the street was a pack of Tiger Cats led by a Beast General Level Two-Tailed Tiger Cat.

"Everyone, remember this."

Gao Feng lowered his voice as he gave his instructions. "First, your job is to kill the ordinary Tiger Cats. Stay away from the Beast General Level Tiger Cat so you don't get caught up in the fight. Leave it to me. It's only a Junior Beast General Level Tiger Cat. I can handle it alone. Second, Chen Gu, don't fire your machine gun. You can shoot if something unexpected happens... But once you do, we have to leave the area immediately."

"Understood."

Luo Zhe and the others nodded solemnly.

Gunshots could easily draw the attention of monsters. From a high-rise rooftop, the distance made it difficult for monsters to pinpoint the source by sound. But in a ground-level battle, firing a gun made it easy to give away their position. It would soon attract hordes of nearby monsters, and the longer they stayed, the more monsters would come.

That was what had happened the last time they went after the Bloodthirsty Tank's corpse. The moment Chen Gu fired, they had all fled.

"Good. Let's finish this quickly! Move out!" Gao Feng waved his hand.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

All seven shot forward almost at once. Even Chen Gu carried a machine gun in his left hand and a short dagger in his right, apparently eager to show off his fighting skills.

The seven of them became seven blurs as they charged the Tiger Cat pack.

"Roar—" The pack's leader, the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat, saw them and bristled, letting out an angry roar. The sixteen Tiger Cats around it roared furiously as well, their cries echoing deafeningly between the buildings on either side of the street. The powerful, agile Tiger Cats leaped at the humans.

"Kill!"

"Die, you beast!"

Gao Feng charged straight at the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat, swinging his two gleaming silver hammers with fearsome force. The beast sensed the threat at once and charged head-on with several of its underlings.

Luo Zhe stayed close to Chen Gu, gripping the Blood Shadow Battle Blade as he watched the fight unfold. They were only dealing with sixteen Beast Soldier Level monsters; there was no need for him to join the fray right away.

Luo Feng, Zhang Ke, the Wei Brothers, and even Chen Gu each engaged the nearest Tiger Cat as soon as they reached the battlefield. Luo Feng's performance was the most impressive. His Micro-Level movement technique and strength approaching the Advanced Warrior Level let him toy with two Tiger Cats at once, with enough energy to counterattack.

Suddenly, a Tiger Cat sprang like lightning at Luo Zhe from the front right. He shifted his footing and dodged a little over a meter to the side. Riding the momentum of the movement, he swung the Blood Shadow Battle Blade in a chilling arc, bringing it up toward the Tiger Cat's throat. The leaping beast gave a low growl and dipped its head slightly, trying to block Luo Zhe's slash with its chin.

The Tiger Cat had a good idea, but it hadn't expected the already lightning-fast slash to accelerate again midair. The blade grazed the beast's jawbone and went straight for its throat. Blood sprayed. The calf-sized Tiger Cat took two more steps, staggered, then roared and collapsed, kicking up a cloud of dust.

That Tiger Cat reacted so quickly. If the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade's special force-generating technique hadn't made the blade accelerate a second time, it probably would've blocked my slash.

By then, Luo Feng and the Wei Brothers had each taken down two Tiger Cats. Zhang Ke was at a slight disadvantage against the Tiger Cats' astonishing reaction speed because he wielded a spear, but he had still managed to defeat his first opponent.

Only Chen Gu was left. He rarely fought on the front lines himself, and the Tiger Cat he had chosen had fur that marked it as a particularly powerful High-Level Beast Soldier. They were still locked in a fierce struggle, with Chen Gu even seeming to be at a slight disadvantage.

Seeing this, Luo Zhe immediately sprinted over. The Tiger Cat was eager to attack, leaving an opening. Luo Zhe seized the chance and brought his blade down, driving the Blood Shadow Battle Blade through the beast's blind spot and into the chin of the Tiger Cat leaping through the air.

He yanked the blade free, sprang up with both legs, and kicked the Tiger Cat away in midair.

"Pfft—" Blood gushed from the beast. It was already dead before it hit the ground. Its corpse rolled far away and slammed into the wall of a nearby residence, scattering a cloud of dust before coming to a limp stop.

"Look out!"

Before Luo Zhe could say anything to Chen Gu, a loud shout rang out behind him.

"Bam!"

Not far away, the Wei Brothers were thrown into the air by a sudden impact. Wei Tie slammed hard into the wall beside the street. With a roar, the long-neglected wall collapsed, and Wei Tie hit the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Luo Zhe took a closer look. The Two-Tailed Tiger Cat had escaped Gao Feng's control and was rampaging wildly. It had just sent Wei Tie and Wei Qing flying—and the next instant, it was already charging at Luo Feng!

At the sight of the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat going berserk, Luo Zhe was so furious his eyes nearly split. He burst into a full-speed sprint, but the distance of less than twenty meters seemed like an insurmountable chasm. No matter how fast he ran, he couldn't get there in time.

At that moment, Luo Feng was slicing open a Tiger Cat's throat. Hearing Gao Feng's shout, he hurriedly turned his head. The Two-Tailed Tiger Cat's speed shocked him, and he instinctively tried to dodge sideways.

But Luo Feng's physical abilities were far inferior to the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat's. Though he reacted in time, he was still a fraction too slow. Just as the beast's claws were about to rake across him, Luo Feng's sideways movement suddenly carried him farther than it should have, as if an invisible force were pushing him forward. The Two-Tailed Tiger Cat's claws skimmed past his body.

"Shing!"

Luo Feng reacted and immediately swept his blade upward. The edge struck the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat's right foreleg, but the sharp Blood Shadow Battle Blade scraped across its fur with a hissing sound and failed to cut even a single layer of skin.

Before Luo Feng could marvel at the Beast General Level monster's terrifying speed and defense, Luo Zhe came hurtling toward them at full speed, almost as fast as lightning. A faint blue-green thread seemed to coil around the War Blade in his hand. Fueled by his fury, he brought it down hard on the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat.

The beast had only just landed, its claws gouging a deep crack into the worn concrete, when Luo Zhe's powerful slash struck it.

The Two-Tailed Tiger Cat's right foreleg had taken Luo Feng's slash without seeming to suffer any injury. But when Luo Zhe's blade hit its abdomen, some mysterious, razor-sharp force seemed to cleave through it from within. Its tough hide offered no protection at all, as thin as a sheet of paper.

"Pfft!" The Two-Tailed Tiger Cat was cut in half!

"Damn beast!!" Having let his companion get hurt through carelessness, the captain, Gao Feng, charged in from the side like a furious guardian deity. His face twisted with rage, and his two massive hammers spun like windmills, poised to come crashing down.

Then he saw the Two-Tailed Tiger Cat split in two by Luo Zhe's slash and was so shocked he couldn't speak.

"You! You! Luo Zhe!?" Gao Feng turned to say something to him, but suddenly Luo Zhe's body tipped backward. A moment later, Gao Feng realized he had lost consciousness.

Gao Feng hurried forward and caught Luo Zhe as he fell.