Chapter 60: The Dominance of the Armored-Beak Hawks

The Armored-Beak Hawks, with wingspans stretching several meters and not just beaks but even feathers evolved into tough, armored plumage, circled in the air.

They seemed to regard Lin Xi, who had just slain one of their kin with a single strike, with palpable caution.

This characteristic was precisely what made the Armored-Beak Hawks so formidable.

While they possessed little sapience, they were far from unintelligent, exhibiting a keen understanding of group hunting tactics.

Even after one of their number had fallen, a formidable eight still remained, a testament to their enduring threat.

These Otherworld Beasts (TL Note: 异兽, Yìshòu, referring to creatures from another dimension or realm) could almost be described as having no true weaknesses.

Their exceptionally high defense, combined with the devastating damage inflicted by their speed, alongside their hunting behavior that blended primal savagery with cunning intelligence, allowed them to dominate any region devoid of higher-tier Otherworld Beasts.

Alas, today they had encountered a truly formidable opponent.

“We should move the battlefield further away, first.”

Judging that the battle might affect the train and the vacuum tube serving as its track, Bai Li extended her hand backward, then swept it forward.

With that single motion, the air before Bai Li was violently displaced by her initial supersonic speed and immense power, fanning out from her sleeve.

This created a shockwave comparable to that of a small nuclear explosion, directly sweeping the circling Armored-Beak Hawks far into the distance.

Simultaneously, Bai Li manifested a magical footrest beneath her, pushing off it lightly to pursue the swept-away Armored-Beak Hawks.

Leveraging this momentum, Bai Li seized one Armored-Beak Hawk by its beak and began to swing it.

She whirled it like a meteor hammer, creating blurs of motion.

The immense inertia caused the hawk’s blood to instantly rush to one end of its body, unable to return to its heart, leading to oxygen deprivation in its brain and subsequent loss of consciousness.

Its internal organs were all crushed together, and blood erupted from its mouth, eyes, and other orifices, painting streaks of crimson across the sky.

The only thing that could still be considered intact was its robust physique, covered by tough armored feathers, which was built for sustained flight.

Yet, this was far from the end.

Bai Li then slammed the seemingly intact, yet internally decimated, Armored-Beak Hawk heavily into another one.

The two Armored-Beak Hawks, piled one atop the other, plummeted toward the ground, even leaving transient sonic boom clouds in their wake.

Despite their hard feathers, their internal organs remained fragile.

This level of impact was many times greater than if they had simply dive-bombed and struck the ground themselves, directly bypassing the Armored-Beak Hawks’ defenses to shatter their internal organs and even their core.

They were utterly, irrevocably dead.

“Caw!”

Realizing that two more of their comrades had been slain, the remaining Armored-Beak Hawks shifted from caution to fury, crying out and beginning to reorganize their formation.

As raptors that hunted in groups, Armored-Beak Hawks were also exceptionally adept at cooperation.

They quickly formed a formation that encircled Bai Li while maintaining a safe distance.

Utilizing dives and high-speed turns, the Armored-Beak Hawks’ figures flickered in and out of sight, creating a dizzying display.

“Just a bunch of flashy tricks.”

However, for Bai Li, this was hardly a safe distance at all; for Lin Xi, it was even less so.

Just as one Armored-Beak Hawk prepared to streak past Bai Li at extreme speed, aiming to restrict her movement, a bullet precisely pierced one of its wings.

The searing pain and sudden instability of its wing immediately caused it to lose speed, rendering it unable to control its flight.

Bai Li, not one to waste an opportunity, stomped on the body of that Armored-Beak Hawk, using its momentum to propel herself.

She leaped before another hawk, extended both hands to grip it tightly, and then, with bare hands, tore apart its wings.

Stripped of its wings, the Armored-Beak Hawk before Bai Li plummeted downward, just like the one Lin Xi had shot through its wing.

Though not as utterly destroyed as the two hawks empowered by Bai Li’s previous strike, a freefall from such a height would leave it severely crippled, if not dead, slowly awaiting the inevitable ebb of life.

Naturally, such slightly inhumane actions were generally avoided whenever possible, but these hawks had chosen to antagonize them.

Anyone interfering with her and Lin Xi’s date deserved to die.

Even if they hadn’t officially defined their relationship yet.

[Xiao Bai, you can fly, right?]

[I can fly, yes, but not fast enough.]

Lin Xi communicated with Bai Li about the current situation via communication magic, though it felt more like casual banter than a tactical update.

[So, Xiao Bai, you run faster than you fly?]

[More or less.]

A Magical Girl’s flight was primarily a result of magic, which happened to be Bai Li’s weaker area.

While her magical technique and mana had recently improved, they still couldn’t compare to her raw physical strength.

Just moments ago, had she not created a magical footrest to launch herself, either her flight speed would have been too slow for even Lin Xi to keep up with, or she would have simply shattered the train’s outer shell beneath her feet.

It was clear that flight, among her modes of movement, was essentially an accessory, serving merely to adjust direction and position.

However, it was said that certain anomalous items were specifically designed to address this predicament.

Through her connections within the Otherworld Beast organization under her command, she might be able to find one.

To prevent it from being quickly destroyed by her, it would be best to seek out special items that were exceptionally durable or possessed self-repairing capabilities.

“Squawk! Caw!”

During the brief interlude of Bai Li and Lin Xi’s communication, the Armored-Beak Hawks, their formation suddenly broken, finally reacted.

In a mere few minutes, their numbers had been reduced by more than half.

This abnormal situation caused their primal instincts to recognize the grave danger, and their emotions shifted from initial caution to anger, and now, to sheer terror.

Ultimately, they were still Otherworld Beasts akin to wild animals; even apex raptors that dominated a region knew when to cut their losses.

This meal was simply too risky!

After a rapid exchange, the four remaining Armored-Beak Hawks simultaneously veered in four different directions, dashing away in a coordinated attempt to maximize their survival rate.

“Trying to flee?”

[Xi Xi, the ones to the east and south are yours.]

[No problem.]

Upon receiving the reply, Bai Li did not hesitate.

She raised the wing she had just ripped from an Armored-Beak Hawk high above her head, then hurled it with immense force toward the two remaining hawks.

Given the extreme hardness of the Armored-Beak Hawks’ armored feathers and the wing’s inherent shape, it functioned as a natural boomerang.

Amplified by Bai Li’s throwing power and spin, it transformed into a terrifying weapon, capable of slicing through iron like butter.

It precisely cut through the bodies of the two Armored-Beak Hawks, which had already flown a considerable distance, cleaving them in half, before returning to Bai Li’s hand.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lin Xi had implemented the magic of a rapid-fire shotgun onto her new bolt-action rifle.

The bullets, fired almost simultaneously, tore through the air, instantly headshotting the two Armored-Beak Hawks, much like the very first one.

They died before they even had a chance to react.

“That should take care of them, right?”

Even as she sniped the Armored-Beak Hawks, Lin Xi flew to Bai Li’s side, posing the question.

“Mm.

“However, the Armored-Beak Hawks’ armored feathers seem to be quite versatile materials; we might as well collect them.”

“Salvaging the corpses?

“Understood.”