Chapter 27: The Hunter’s Arrival

Within the swirling mist, Robert materialized in the sky, his head nearly severed from his body.

The raw, exposed flesh on Robert’s neck ceaselessly writhed, rapidly mending his grievous wound.

Bai Yu wasted no time, firing a shot, for she had no intention of granting her foe an opportunity to recover.

Yet, with a mere blur of motion, Robert deftly evaded the bullet.

Bai Yu’s brow furrowed; while her physical attributes had been amplified fiftyfold, the handgun itself offered no such bonus.

Her previous hit on Robert, she realized, had merely been a stroke of luck, catching him precisely during a moment of incapacitation.

By now, the disheveled Robert had fully regenerated; not a single wound marred his body, though his complexion had grown even more ghastly pale.

Bai Yu gripped the gun’s handle tightly, a grim realization dawning on her.

She had unleashed every one of her most potent techniques, yet had the damage inflicted upon Robert truly amounted to so little?

Clearly, she had gravely underestimated the power of a high-tier Mysticism Master; this was an unbridgeable chasm between them.

“What should I do, Moweila? How much longer can your enhancement last?”

Bai Yu urgently questioned Moweila, knowing that if she were to lose this augmentation, she would likely be slain in a single exchange.

[Approximately three minutes. I suggest you attempt to flee.]

Bai Yu gritted her teeth.

Three minutes? Where could she possibly run in such a short span?

‘I should have brought two more fruit knives,’ Bai Yu mused inwardly, a hint of dark humor in her despair.

Yet, even those would likely prove useless.

Her prior success in wounding Robert had been solely due to his utter disdain and underestimation of her.

Now, Robert was fully on guard, making any attempt to replicate her previous maneuver virtually impossible.

Beneath the moonlight, the mist clinging to the grass slowly began to recede, unveiling a sky densely studded with stars.

Under the vast expanse of stars, the young girl confronted a formidable adversary, one that seemed almost insurmountable.

Within Bai Yu, her [Stars] spiritual core pulsed with an even fiercer fervor in the face of such a dire situation.

However, regardless of its rage or excitement, the inescapable truth remained: she was undeniably outmatched by this vampire.

High above, Robert remained motionless, his gaze fixed cautiously upon Bai Yu.

Her recent attack had genuinely startled him; he had never anticipated that, despite such an overwhelming difference in power, she could still manage to inflict harm.

He had observed that Bai Yu appeared to be under the influence of a unique augmentation.

While he could not identify its nature, his vast experience taught him that such enhancements rarely endured for long.

He simply needed to bide his time; he had all the time in the world to wait her out.

As for the Dragon Summer Investigation Bureau? He had long since dispatched his subordinates to initiate attacks across various locations within the city.

They would be utterly oblivious to any of his actions in this secluded spot.

Robert inwardly gloated, confident that his meticulously crafted plan would ultimately come to fruition.

Everyone, without exception, would offer their lives for the advent of the divine.

A new era was dawning, and tonight, it would truly be a sleepless night.

At this thought, Robert surrendered to a fit of unrestrained, maniacal laughter, tilting his head back to the sky.

His eyes, bulging from their sockets, threatened to burst forth from the sheer intensity of his mirth, his entire expression utterly distorted and grotesque.

Sweat streamed down Bai Yu’s cheeks.

Time had utterly run out.

Why hadn’t those from the Dragon Summer Investigation Bureau arrived yet?

If things continued like this, she truly was going to die.

Was the destiny Moweila spoke of truly so perilous, so absolute?

Just as Bai Yu was steeling herself to make a desperate escape in the final moments, an unexpected phenomenon erupted.

In the heavens, the once perfectly serene night sky was abruptly marred by the appearance of clouds.

These clouds steadily multiplied, coalescing into a swirling vortex that ceaselessly churned across the sky.

“What is this?”

Bai Yu sensed an ineffable spiritual fluctuation, accompanied by an inexplicable feeling of familiarity.

[Your turning point is here! This individual is even stronger, at least beyond the 8th tier, and would be considered a formidable power even in the present world!]

Upon hearing Moweila’s alert, Bai Yu’s spirits instantly lifted, and she immediately fixed Robert with a defiant, provocative stare.

Robert, too, seemed to detect that something was amiss.

This unfamiliar aura was overwhelmingly potent.

Could this witch truly possess such a formidable backer?

“Hmph, you didn’t truly believe I had no trump cards, did you? To provoke me, you are simply not worthy.”

Bai Yu declared to Robert with an arrogant tone, simultaneously placing her hands on her hips, striking a pose that screamed defiance and self-importance.

This sudden display genuinely caught Robert off guard.

He instantly summoned his crimson longsword, his gaze warily fixed on the churning sky.

From the heart of the vortex, a helicopter emerged into the sky, beginning its slow, deliberate descent.

“A helicopter? Is it truly the Dragon Summer Investigation Bureau?”

Bai Yu had never witnessed such an entrance for a helicopter before.

Did official interventions always unfold with such dramatic flair?

[This is a wondrous artifact. The other party’s intentions are unclear; you must be cautious.]

“Wait, aren’t they here to help me?”

Bai Yu was utterly bewildered.

If another 8th-tier being arrived to confront her, even a divine intervention would be hard-pressed to save her now.

From the helicopter, a figure, seemingly female, appeared at the aircraft’s open doorway.

Her face was entirely concealed beneath a bird-beak mask, above which two brass-colored lenses shimmered, reflecting the moonlight.

Her hunter’s attire appeared as though it had been baptized by countless battles and the passage of ages, while the pale scythe clutched in her hand was utterly terrifying, seeming poised to reap all life in the very next instant.

[It’s a Hunter. Do those individuals from the Holy See still exist?]

Moweila murmured to herself, unaware that the Hunters had long ago severed ties with the church to forge their own path.

“A Hunter? What exactly is that?”

Bai Yu inquired, the sight of the attire making her somewhat apprehensive; this person hardly seemed like an ally.

[How to put it… in my era, Hunters and Witches were absolute mortal enemies, the kind who would fight to the death upon encounter.]

“Oh, great! Then I’m absolutely doomed!”

Bai Yu couldn’t help but lament.

She had initially believed a savior had arrived, only to find a harbinger of plague instead.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the Hunter launched herself from the helicopter, leaping from the sky with no apparent cushioning, allowing herself to plummet in a free fall.

With a resounding thud, the Hunter landed firmly on the grassy ground, not a single speck of dust marring her pristine attire.

Her gaze, piercing through the brass-colored lenses, fixed intently on Bai Yu in the distance.

“Do not move, or I will kill you.”

The voice emanating from behind the mask was both chilling and terrifying, yet Bai Yu detected an oddly familiar cadence within it.

‘How could this be?’ she wondered.

‘How could I possibly know such a terrifying figure? I was merely an ordinary person before all this.’

Frantically, she sifted through her memories, realizing that only one voice bore any resemblance to the Hunter before her.

It was her Mother’s voice, but the notion was instantly dismissed by Bai Yu.

Her Mother could not possibly be so terrifying.

In Bai Yu’s mind, her Mother had always been the epitome of gentleness, and it was inconceivable that she would possess such immense power.

As far as her memories served, her Mother was simply an ordinary woman.

The Hunter, her pale scythe clutched in hand, advanced towards Robert, speaking as she moved.

“[Source of Dreams]’s leader, Robert, is that correct?”

“Your Excellency, it would seem we bear no grievances against one another.

Even if the Hunter Guild harbors animosity towards those like us, surely it would not be without cause!”

Robert’s voice was surprisingly meek as he posed the question.