Chapter 31: A Dance of Predators

Completely disregarding the school’s facilities, Liya kicked the warehouse door open with one blow. Shattered steel scattered everywhere. Liya strode into the warehouse, roaring:

“Alice!!!”

It wasn’t just a vent for her anger. Liya wasn’t that irrational. The moment she stepped inside, she regained her calmest state, all her senses fully open, capturing the surroundings. The sound echoed in the enclosed space, the reverberation reaching her ears.

Identifying positions through sound—that was the martial technique known as ‘mind’s eye’.

Without any hesitation, Liya moved through the warehouse and quickly found Alice. And beside her…

“Yo, Liya, you’re here!”

It was a beaming Yagesi. Great, finally found him. Seeing Yagesi, Liya also broke into a smile.

Boom!

Almost at the same instant, Yagesi ducked his head at an unimaginable angle. Then Liya vanished from her spot, reappearing directly above him. Her slender leg swung, slicing through where his head had been, carrying a blade-like gale.

“?!?!”

The surprise flying kick missed. Though a bit startled, Liya didn’t panic. Following her body’s momentum, she turned mid-air, retracting her right foot while kicking out with her left—a straight kick. It landed beautifully on Yagesi, who had completely lost his balance from the forced duck, sending him flying!

Boom! Boom boom! With a series of collisions, Yagesi’s body smashed through numerous debris before slamming hard into the warehouse’s steel wall, buried under falling junk.

“Whew… Alice! Alice, are you okay?!”

Landing, Liya took a deep breath and immediately ran to the stunned Alice. But upon seeing her, Liya grew even angrier—Alice had tear tracks on her face and a dazed expression. This definitely didn’t look like something good had happened!

For that matter, what good could come from a man and a woman alone together?

Thinking of the possible outcome, Liya’s fury could no longer be contained. She patted Alice’s back and said firmly:

“Don’t worry, Alice. I’ll get justice for you… I’ll definitely kill that scumbag!!”

“So amazing… Huh? What? What’s wrong, Liya?!”

Alice snapped out of it, looking at Liya in panic. This only made Liya’s heart ache more. Had she suffered mental trauma from that kind of thing? Damn it… Yagesi!

“Roooar!!!”

Debris flew as a furious roar came from the corner. Then a blast of wind and shockwave swept through, blowing the junk away. Amidst the dust, the figure Liya loathed finally emerged.

“Ah, this won’t do. Striking first like this—my image is ruined, ahh…”

Yagesi stretched his limbs. Apart from some dust on his clothes, he had no wounds, not even internal injuries. So that kick hadn’t hurt him?

Then she’d hit him with a punch!

Liya said nothing. There was nothing to say to an animal. She just needed to make him pay. Channeling magic power to her right foot and detonating it, she used the orthodox martial step technique to rush in front of Yagesi in just over a second. He still hadn’t made any defensive move. So it was true, as Alice said, that he was a beast unlearned in martial arts. Smirking coldly, Liya clenched her right fist, channeling all the kinetic energy and her body’s center of gravity into it, swinging it forcefully toward Yagesi’s face…

“?!?!”

But this sure-shot punch caught nothing.

At the last moment, Yagesi ducked ahead of time, elegantly dodging Liya’s fist. Then he roared and leaped backward—not the evasive move of a martial artist, but rather a complete amateur… So that was it.

‘He’s not using martial arts insight to detect my attacks, but purely relying on instinct to dodge?’

Like a beast, following instinct and intuition. How repulsive.

Liya didn’t stop punching. From top to bottom—temple, heart, abdomen, knee, wrist joint—she threw lightning-fast blows at these weak points, a combo of over ten strikes covering Yagesi from head to toe. But.

“Hah! So fast! Much faster than anyone I’ve seen before!”

All these strikes were dodged by Yagesi, purely on instinct. It defied common sense, reaching an abnormal realm—like a cornered beast, chaotic but cunning.

But that didn’t matter. No matter how sharp the instinct, it couldn’t achieve precognition. Just one clean hit would be her victory!

“Ahh! Wonderful! I knew I wasn’t wrong about you! Liya!!!”

But Liya’s intention was soon interrupted. Yagesi suddenly stopped retreating, letting her fists rain on his vitals. At the same time, his body underwent a massive change.

His handsome face grew gray-black fur. Crimson pupils turned jade-green. Teeth sharpened; his face elongated. His limbs thickened, gray-black fur spreading all over. His body, about 1.7 meters tall, began to swell, rapidly reaching around two meters…

Finally, what stood before Liya was a two-meter-tall giant werewolf.

“Come on! Let’s love each other, Liya!!!”

Nonsensical ravings. Liya completely ignored Yagesi’s roar, her mind as calm as still water. So that was why Yagesi was called a beast—he could transform into a giant werewolf. And that uncanny intuition came from this. So this was the so-called ‘Beast’. The bloodline of the demon race did have its wonders.

But in the end, it was just a beast. What use was being bigger and fiercer?

Recalling the pitiful state of Alice she had seen, even hearing Alice’s voice echoing in her ears, Liya’s anger reignited.

“I will definitely kill you, Yagesi!!”

Calming her mind, she surged forth all her magic power, covering her body and starting to oscillate and synchronize, emitting a golden magical light. Simultaneously, a row of magical characters arranged and revolved around her, meaning:

[One who opens the earth and supports the sky. My hand holds the great strength that tears diamond!]

The Dharma Image of Acala, the divine power’s supreme technique enhancing her body. Holding nothing back, Liya stepped forward again, swinging her fist packed with immense force toward Yagesi.

“Whoa!!!”

Yagesi’s intuition seemed even stronger as a werewolf. Not only did it help him dodge, but after evading a punch, he launched a fierce counterattack, precisely seizing the gap in Liya’s technique. Opening his bloody maw, he bit fiercely at her neck. If that bite connected, Liya would likely become a headless corpse…

“Heh.”

But as a pinnacle martial artist in her past life, being defeated by such an attack would be too shameful. Liya elegantly stepped back a little, avoiding the bite. At the same time, her hands glowed with golden light, and like striking a gong, she slapped both sides of the werewolf’s temples.

This wasn’t the strength of a little girl. With divine power, this slap could shatter granite and crush steel. If not defended, it would turn Yagesi’s skull into bloody paste!

And with his excellent intuition, Yagesi foresaw that outcome.

“Rooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!!!”

The giant werewolf’s counterattack was a full-throated roar.

Just the sound vibrated the air, creating shockwaves and gales. Liya, being closest, was struck by this magical wind and sent flying, as if hit by a hammer.

“Ugh!”

“Rooooaar—!!!”

The madly howling demon wolf charged on all fours, bringing storm and shockwaves. Its sharp claws could tear Liya’s small body apart with just a touch.

“Lin! Bing! Dou! Zhe! Jie! Zhen! Xing! Qian! Xing!!!”

Counterattack! Mid-air, Liya didn’t panic. She also unleashed the secret technique of sound—the Six Jia Mystic Incantation of the Daoist canon. Combining the esoteric method of true words, she chanted the nine characters in a cycle, vibrating the surrounding space. This could not only disrupt magic but also shock the enemy’s spirit. Using it differently, it could also create shockwaves through sound!

Boom!

Shockwaves collided. At the same time, Liya extended her right hand, bending four fingers and tucking the thumb inward, forming a bear paw to meet Yagesi’s wolf claws! The might of Vajra and the brute force of the beast clashed. Both were flesh and blood, yet their collision produced a crisp metallic sound.

“Damned beast, die!”

Liya twisted the magic power in her right palm into a spiral force, outputting it as a hidden energy from her palm…

“Yo-ho!”

But just as the spiral force was about to penetrate, Yagesi, who had been at a disadvantage, suddenly abandoned the strength contest. He leaped backward, avoiding the crisis of his palm being pierced, and Liya lost another good counterattack opportunity.

“…Damn instinct.”

Landing back on the ground, Liya frowned. Several decisive moments had been dodged by Yagesi’s superhuman intuition. Continuing like this, it would be too hard to decide the victor.

After this brief fierce battle, Liya had fairly understood that Yagesi indeed knew no martial arts and didn’t seem to practice magic. He fought entirely with his werewolf transformation… No, not just the transformation—Yagesi himself had a nature close to that of a werewolf beast. That was why he could freely control this body.

Moreover, the werewolf transformation must not be simple. Liya couldn’t believe that the demon royal called the ‘Beast’ could only become a werewolf… That would be too low-level. There had to be more powerful means.

Looking at Yagesi’s jade-green eyes staring at her, Liya realized that this battle… its difficulty might surpass the duel with Teacher Annie a month ago.

No, this wasn’t a battle, nor a duel.

It was a slaughter.

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