An explosion occurred in the distance.
A smoky haze spread widely, growing into a large gray cloud as it shrouded everything on the ground.
As it dispersed, the screams of the civilians trailed like an afterglow.
"Huh?!" Maeyurai exclaimed, his eyes searching around the area for the location of the explosion. "What's happening?!"
Several people ran from whatever was in front of them.
Kaienley acted immediately as he ran towards the explosion. His Sense Boost had been activated all this time, ever since they had been walking around Yugihanata. This was a way he honed his Sense Boost, as it improved his endurance and duration over time.
"Follow me, Maeyurai!" shouted Kaienley, running swiftly towards the large puff of smoke in the distance. Even if he didn't carry his katana, he still ran forward to help.
Without hesitation, Maeyurai's legs moved quickly, tracing Kaienley's steps from up ahead.
"What's going on, Kaienley?" asked Maeyurai as he ran beside Kaienley, his eyes peeled over the surroundings for threats. "Why is there a sudden explosion?"
"I don't know either," Kaienley answered. "But all I know is that there's a powerful Hell's Spawn nearby; I can hear its heart's pulsations—"
Kaienley cut himself off mid-sentence and said, "It's here."
Vrrrrmmmmphh...
The sound of energy charging echoed, and then a sudden flash of light moved across the air. It was like watching solid lightning pierce through everything. The sight of it was breathtaking and horrifying, as the walls slowly broke down from its force.
Zzzzssst!
"What is that?!" Maeyurai shouted as he ducked to avoid getting hit by the destructive ray of light.
"It's unusual," Kaienley replied as he passed through the large smoke. "I've never seen this one before either."
Kaienley's ears fluttered for a moment, followed by the twitch of his right eye.
After Kaienley passed the cloud of smoke, he met a creature's feet straight to the right side of his stomach. The creature performed a drop-kick, which was executed by a decently heavy being.
The force hurled Kaienley away like a piece of rag, his body twisting in the air as he received the hit. He crashed into a wall, creating a smaller explosion.
Since it was through the smoke, Maeyurai didn't see what had happened beyond it. He merely heard a loud noise. And afterwards, Maeyurai passed by and met with the creature face-to-face.
It stood at a height of 6'2, which was a tall humanoid height. Its red, faceless head was accompanied by its raging horn, placed in the middle of its forehead.
It was an Elite-Level HS, a One-Horned Slave.
Maeyurai stepped his foot forward to stop his momentum, his eyes narrowed.
A single thought ran inside Maeyurai's mind.
How did this thing slip by unnoticed?
Something of this caliber would've been detected by Kaienley's hearing, since he's been using his Sense Boost since earlier.
But it just passed by like a speck of wind, disregarded by Kaienley like an impractical instrument.
Not to mention the fact that it should've been identified by the civilians nearby. If it had snuck in intelligently, that would be greatly dangerous for the people if others like it were nearby.
For a moment, Maeyurai stared at the One-Horned Slave. It was another creature he'd never seen before, like the Shrieker and the Stalker he once stumbled upon.
A slash of wind came flying in the Horned's direction, striking its neck accurately. It didn't have much impact, but the force still managed to push the Slave's body a little.
"Maeyurai, your move!" Kaienley shouted as he recovered from colliding with the wall.
Maeyurai's head flicked to the left, in Kaienley's direction. Due to the swift slash of wind that Kaienley sent before, the smoke around him dissipated slightly.
With a nod, Maeyurai turned towards the One-Horned Slave and conjured a lightning bolt. He stepped forward with a wide distance and stabbed its chest.
The lightning bolt snapped in half as it made contact with the Slave's chest. It wasn't strong enough to pierce through its sturdy chest.
"Dammit!" exclaimed Maeyurai, reminded by the Shrieker. He felt a sudden sting in his heart, the past knocking in his mind.
The horned creature in front of him flicked its arm forward and punched Maeyurai's face. The strength it carried was immense as it sent Maeyurai flying meters away.
Maeyurai landed near where Kaienley was. After he managed to take his footing, he heard Kaienley's voice.
"That Spawn isn't native here."
More importantly, the horned enemy in front of them was no ordinary Spawn.
"Where do you think it came from then?" asked Maeyurai as he came to his feet.
"Definitely not around here, that's for sure," Kaienley replied.
Then after, Kaienley conjured a katana made of wind. At the same time, Maeyurai conjured a bow made of fire.
The Horned stood ominously, frozen in place as its faceless head twisted to turn in their direction. It kept still, as if waiting for something.
Kaienley took one step forward as he glanced at Maeyurai over his shoulder, his eyes delivering a message, which Maeyurai immediately understood.
Maeyurai drew his own flaming bow, a fire arrow nocked on its string. Kaienley stormed forward with the faux sword held in both of his hands.
"If its ability is to shoot out a powerful ray of light and to kick strong... Then I'll have Maeyurai coordinate with my attacks to interfere with how it moves."
As Kaienley ran forward, he shifted his grip, and the wind blade fluttered for a split second before growing thicker.
Then, he swung the blade diagonally upwards, sending out a slash of wind. As he brought the blade forward with his left hand, he released his grip with his right hand.
"Wind Divider," he whispered.
This was an Activation Sequence. Every single technique cannot properly be performed just by will, it has to be named out through the vocal chords for it to be activated.
The technique was a precise, wide slash of wind. It traveled swiftly, colliding with the shoulder of the Horned, wounding it slightly.
Its power didn't carry enough mana and force to cut through the Horned's sturdy skin. The main factor for this being that Kaienley didn't have a proper physical medium.
"This is fine," said Kaienley as he moved to the side, his Sense Boost still activated. He never removed it the entire time.
"That technique..." Maeyurai muttered under his breath. "It reminds me of a certain memory... Ugina..."
Then, he aimed his bow.
Fwyoh!
With a flash of fire, Maeyurai's fire arrow penetrated the air and landed on the Slave's head with a weak explosion. The force it carried made the horned creature stumble back, giving a wide opening for Kaienley to attack.
Kaienley dashed forward, the wind blade in his hands prepared to strike down the Spawn in front of him. He gripped the hilt firmly and swung horizontally, with the intent to slice the Horned in half.
But the wind blade merely struck the Horned's right side like a dull bat, launching it tumbling a few meters away.
Kaienley felt a strange sensation upon landing the direct hit. Even though he was so sure that it would've at least cut through the Horned's tough skin, it merely pushed it away.
"What is that thing made of...?" Kaienley muttered under his breath, his right eyebrow twitching in accordance with his baffled state of mind.
At the side, Maeyurai had already loaded up another fire arrow. Since his Flame Shower had a wide area of effect, he couldn't recklessly use it in the middle of the city where buildings aren't totally demolished.
He took one closer look at the surroundings, his gaze trailing from left to right.
A second after, he lowered his bow impulsively, his face tightening from realization.
Why are there no injured civilians?
An explosion that large with several screams should've left a wounded person around.
But there's no one, aside from me, Kaienley, and whatever that Hell's Spawn is.
Kaienley should've noticed it by now as well.
Maeyurai's eyes glanced in Kaienley's direction for a moment. As he observed Kaienley's face, Maeyurai couldn't help but notice his troubled expression.
In front, the Horned's movements were strangely erratic. Its pulse had an unsteady rhythm, which threw off Kaienley completely as he listened to its heart.
Maeyurai lifted his bow, compelled to defeat the Slave that was present in front of them.
He shot the fire arrow and hit the Horned, throwing it back down to the ground.
Kaienley followed up by dashing forward, attempting to cut its limbs.
After he swung his sword, the same outcome from earlier came out. The strike felt dull, as if his faux blade wasn't even a sword to begin with.
"This thing is incredibly tough... I can't cut its skin."
However, the Horned's pulsation suddenly regained its rhythm, flowing at a stable rate.
"No!" exclaimed Kaienley.
The Horned underneath him swung its hand swiftly, punching Kaienley's stomach and blasting him away once more.
Maeyurai watched as Kaienley flew back, rolling across the road. But he immediately returned his attention to the slave and charged a lightning arrow.
Vrrrrrmmmmph...
The Horned had already stood up, anticipating shooting out another one of those beams it shot out earlier. Its arms reached out, a single palm open and facing towards Maeyurai while the other hand gripped the wrist of the open hand for support.
As Maeyurai saw the flash of light, his arms wavered. He shot the lightning arrow, but its trajectory was off. Not only that, the lightning was still as flawed as it was at the port of Jinsang Bay, since its trajectory bent at the middle of its flight.
The powerful beam passed through the air swiftly—not as fast as light since it's not light itself—melting any objects it meets whenever it makes contact with them. It was essentially condensed lightning mana formed into a beam of light, which makes it hot and potent.
Maeyurai ducked in time and managed to avoid having his face melted by the beam. "That was close!" he exclaimed to himself, conjuring another lightning arrow in a stubborn impulse.
He truly wished he could make use of his lightning arrows, or they'll be there for the sole purpose of making his projectile look fantastic—which it doesn't even look like with how it unnaturally bends before it even hits its target.
As he ran to the side, Maeyurai carefully aimed the bow, making sure to have his lightning arrow hit the Horned.
Shortly after, the Horned moved its arms, the beam following after its movements, tracing Maeyurai's footsteps until it easily reached his bow made of Fire Mana.
Maeyurai's bow dispersed into tiny gusts of fire, vanishing into thin air. However, Maeyurai's great instincts couldn't allow him to get even a single scratch, as he immediately ducked and acrobatically rolled in the opposite direction that the beam was heading.
Fwueesh!
Kaienley's Wind Divider flew past Maeyurai and headed straight for the Slave. Then, followed by another figure with a golden trace, it was Kaienley—rushing forward with silent strides.
It was a General-Level human against an Elite-Level Spawn. If one had thought about it, Kaienley should've been able to cut down the One-Horned Slave into pieces the first time his blade met the Spawn.
But he couldn't.
"There's something up with you," said Kaienley as he lunged his wind blade forward with the intent to penetrate the Horned's heart.
Once more, it was like hitting an indestructible wall.
Kaienley's wind blade had a refined composition and shape, so it didn't break apart from the intense contact with the Horned's chest.
Due to the fact that the Horned's body was awfully tough, there was no damage inflicted. Though, however, the momentum and force that Kaienley exerted were transferred to the Horned, pushing it back, the ground underneath its foot cracking apart.
Kaienley pulled his sword back and swung several times, hitting all the possible weak muscles of the Horned, to make sure that it truly fell down.
From the neck to the stomach, attempting to pierce its navel, to stabbing its neck—Kaienley tried so much to wound the Elite-Level creature in front of him, just a rank below his own.
But he felt nothing.
It was obvious that the Horned was pushed back—not even daring to resist Kaienley's attacks. Still, his strikes had no effect, not even scratching the Horned's skin once.
"Strange," muttered Kaienley as he continued his endless flurry of attacks. "If it's this weak, why can't I kill it? Is its durability stronger than a Low-Lord...?"
Wham!
The Horned made its move and punched Kaienley's gut. It was incredibly powerful.
"Arghh..." Kaienley groaned, the wind blade in his hand dissipating as he clutched his stomach, gasping for air.
As soon as Kaienley clutched over, a powerful fire arrow passed Kaienley's head and exploded on the Horned's face, surprising it once more.
It was Maeyurai. He'd reformed his bow after the strong beam had broken it apart, and he'd been waiting for an opportunity to strike ever since Kaienley started his consecutive attacks.
The Horned stumbled backwards as the fire arrow collided with its head—but it looked as if the arrow didn't have an effect, as not even a single burn was visible on its skin.
"Just how tough is that thing?" whispered Maeyurai in disbelief. He didn't lower his arms and conjured another fire arrow, pulling the fiery string taut—his chin serving as the anchor point.
After Kaienley had recovered, he immediately created another wind blade and charged forward with the intent to cut down the Horned's legs—or possibly to knock it over to the ground.
The Horned anchored its left foot to the ground and regained its balance; its head whirled forward to gain sight of its two opponents, Maeyurai and Kaienley.
Kaienley swung his blade diagonally, aiming at the right ankle of the Horned.
However, as soon as Kaienley's arm moved to strike, the Horned reinforced its right ankle, neutralizing the force of Kaienley's attack.
The wind blade bounced off as if the ankle were rubber.
The Horned pulled its left arm back with an open hand—its fingers quivering, as if powering up. Not even a second after, its palm started to glow brightly, indicating that it had charged up another one of its beams.
Maeyurai finished his analysis of its movement and launched the fire arrow to the Horned's left shoulder.
Before the Horned could unleash its attack directly on Kaienley's face, its shoulder recoiled backwards from the fire arrow's power.
The released energy from its palm erupted into a powerful explosion. It wasn't going to be a beam; it was a robust combustion made to demolish enemies from up close. Its loud roar rang in Maeyurai and Kaienley's ears, demonstrating just how much density its energy contained.
Had Kaienley been hit, his face would've been muddled into a bloody, skinless mess.
"Kaienley, defeat it, now!" Maeyurai shouted from the back as he rushed forward to help Kaienley.
After a single glance, Kaienley nodded. He stepped forward straight away and whirled his sword around swiftly. With a vigorous—yet graceful—demeanor, he plummeted his wind blade down the Horned's neck, knocking it down to the ground.
A loud thud was heard, and a soft vibration from the ground could be felt.
Kaienley held down the Horned by pushing his blade downwards, keeping it pinned to the ground.
Maeyurai briskly slid across the ground before he stopped beside the Horned on the opposite side from Kaienley. He lowered his bow, aimed directly towards its head, and conjured a lightning arrow as he pulled the bowstring.
The air crackled from the electric currents of the lightning arrow, its tip having close proximity with the Horned's faceless head.
The arrow glowed brightly like still thunder, solidified as it assumed the form of an arrow.
For a split second, Maeyurai contemplated whether this arrow would replicate the same power that defeated the Stalker—or if it wouldn't.
Then, Maeyurai released the bowstring.
The arrow, meant for the Horned, struck the ground instead.
It wasn't that Maeyurai missed, even if there were a plausible reason due to his arrow's fugacious flight.
But rather, because the Horned had disappeared into nothingness.