Meanwhile, inside the Temple of Horus;
A 25-foot giant werewolf, which was sleeping on a sacrificial altar for the past six hours, opened its eyes.
"I hope you had a good sleep, Milord," an aged voice was heard from the side.
It transformed into a 7-foot buffed man looking like he was in his early forties. Sitting on the altar, he took a glance at the statue and then at the old man in his late sixties, who was standing there for a while, "Did it start, Qin Sheng?"
The S-rank Hunter bowed deeply like a true subordinate and replied, "Not yet, Milord. It looked like they were a couple of hours behind in launching the attack."
"Very well," The Werewolf lord nodded with a grin on his face, "Call my generals, right now. We'll begin the preparations for the ritual."
"Eh?" Qin Sheng was taken aback. "But, if there are no captured Hunters, who will we sacrifice?"
The Werewolf lord replied, "Instead of sharing my Mana particles with others, I shall use my powers to destroy the barrier before the enemy anticipates. And then, we shall proceed to seal the entire Napzu city and use the cursed box of Horus to release plague. Every child, woman, man, and elderly person will be sacrificed for our cause."
A look of panic and shock appeared on Qin Sheng's face.
"But, without your help, Milord, our brothers might not be able to hold against the incoming army of Hunters. I heard that there are more than 6000 of them coming at us and we are only 184. Yes, we might be invincible so far but not this time. Because the humans are desperate. When they become desperate, their strength will increase. We will be defeated before you complete the ritual," Qin Sheng appeared to be genuinely worried about the situation.
The Werewolf lord patted his shoulder with a grin, showing off his sharp fangs, "Don't worry. Once the trap you set succeeds, I will be reborn as the Fenrir, and once I had the power of progenitor, I will be able to resurrect the lives of our lost brothers. As for those humans, they will pay very dearly. The Age of Fenrir will begin soon, hahahaha…"
As the werewolf lord started laughing wildly, Qin Sheng clenched his fists, murmuring under his breath. "I just hope Milord will show grace on Sungjun."
*
In the depths of the Blythena Sea, a stealth submarine was quietly moving in the pitch darkness where the sunlight cannot reach.
The eight veteran Hunters were going through their strategy based on the new piece of Intel they received from their spy. Sungjun, meanwhile, was silent. His role is already determined. Hence, he didn't need the feel to participate in their discussion.
Watching him silently stay in the corner and closing his eyes, Xing Lin broke up from the group once their discussion was over and walked toward him.
He sensed her presence nearby and opened his eyes.
She sat beside him and asked in a friendly manner, "What are you thinking, Mr. Han?"
Sungjun shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing. I just wanted to get out of this mess."
"Hmm?" Xing Lin misunderstood his words and couldn't help but look at him in pity. She thought that he was worried about dying, as this isn't something he signed up for. As for his earlier display of strength against Jaden Wong, in her eyes, he was just protecting his ego. In reality, she termed him weak and someone who needed protection.
Trying to give him an assurance, Xing Lin let out a smile and said, "Don't worry about it. Just stick to my side until the mission is over. You will do fine. In fact, your ocular powers will be quite helpful if I might add."
Sungjun glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He could tell that she was sincere when she said those words.
At first, he had the urge to clear her misunderstanding. But, Sungjun knew that doing it would not be helpful to him in any way.
Hence, he just went with the flow and commented calmly, "You sure are different from the rest, Ms. Xing."
"Thanks, I guess." Xing Lin smiled once again. After a brief pause, as if she remembered something, she further added, "By the way, you can call me Xing Lin. Or Xing Xing if you want to be casual. I don't mind it."
Before Sungjun reacted to it, Sun Xiao intervened by calling Xing Lin and walking toward them.
She was actually curious about what they were talking about. Since she cannot act like a friend around Sungjun, she sat beside Xing Lin, her former teammate, and whispered to her, "Do you know each other or something?"
Sungjun's ears perked up as he barely heard her, but he stayed silent as if he wasn't interested. Xing Lin then shook her head, "No. I'm just accompanying him." After a brief pause, she addressed both of them at the same time, "By the way, both of you came from the same detention facility, right?"
As both of them nodded, she asked, "Did either of you come across anyone named Xing Yu there? He is around the same age as me."
"Xing Yu? Someone from your family? Your brother?" Sun Xiao asked after hearing the name. Sungjun wondered the same.
Xing Lin clarified that it is her stepbrother, who often ends up in detention facilities due to insubordination. She added that her brother cannot ignore the one who needs help.
It was there that she got Sungjun's attention, but he stayed silent as usual.
He thought it was interesting and asked her a few things, like Xing Yu's features and powers.
Xing Lin answered without thinking much, "My brother could be said as a talent, you could only find one in several decades. Xing Yu was born with the Mana reserves far higher than any other normal baby in the world. However, because of that, his intelligence levels improved quite slowly. He doesn't think as fast as others, but whatever he does, he does what his heart tells him to do, and because he seldom thinks about consequences, my brother always ends up in trouble while standing up for the unfortunate. His powers are just amazing. When his fist glows…"
At first, Sungjun listened attentively, but as she went on and on about her brother for more than twenty minutes, Sungjun could only blankly nod every now and then. As for Sun Xiao, she left their side at some time.
Fortunately, the ship arrived at its location not long after, and they shifted to a submarine, which took them to the depths of the sea and proceeded toward the tunnel as planned.