Outside the Stadium on Pearl Academy's Green Campus.
A man riding a Blue-Green Behemoth stood between its towering horns, his piercing eyes fixed on the enormous Stadium.
He was the Hunter King—Du Xiao!
"Reporting, sir. We've identified these parasitic Demon Beasts as Scale-Skin Demon Soldiers. Ordinarily, they can't spread through blood. I believe the ones we're facing have mutated into a creature we've never encountered before."
A striking man dressed head to toe in leather stood beneath the Blue-Green Behemoth and addressed Du Xiao with great respect.
"Humans develop all kinds of magical potions and even experiment on Demon Beasts. It's no surprise that some monsters result from that. But I will not tolerate one appearing in Pearl Academy!"
Du Xiao's face was stern, his voice edged with anger.
"This is the Green Campus. Most of the people here are freshmen and Beginner Mages. They have no way to fight back against these parasitic Demon Beasts!"
As hunters, they knew perfectly well that Magic City was vast enough for Demon Beasts to run rampant.
But for something like this to happen at the most sacred academy of magic would shock the entire magical world.
How had the situation grown so dangerous before anyone noticed? What was the City Demon Hunting Squad doing?
"Yes, sir. We were careless."
A squad of mages in neat uniforms stood nearby, unease written across their faces.
They were a branch of the City Demon Hunting Squad responsible for the district around Pearl Academy.
"We've counted at least a hundred people who've been infected. According to our sources, if the Scale-Skin Mother Demon realizes she's doomed, she'll make all of them kill themselves."
"So we can't alert her?"
Du Xiao frowned deeply as he asked the question.
"That's right. At the very least, we can't let