Chapter 1 – Isn't This Too High-Profile?

The city under the night sky appeared dazzlingly vibrant against the backdrop of colorful neon lights.

People strolled along the straight avenues, accompanied by green belts composed of bright flowers, emerald grass, and towering trees, bringing a hint of coolness to the slightly sweltering summer night.

Multicolored lights.

Glistening river waters.

Together with the illuminated rainbow bridge in the distance and the ever-present clamor.

All of this had repeated for countless nights in this city, no one knew exactly how many.

This was routine.

This was normalcy.

Until…

“Boom!”

A thunderous roar abruptly erupted from one corner of the city.

At the edge of a broad, crowded street, a dark shadow shattered a solid wall, emerging from the spray of broken debris.

The shadow wasn’t large—about the size of an adult—but its speed rivaled that of a speeding vehicle. In the blink of an eye, it darted out from the flying debris and charged onto the street.

A closer look revealed a monster with fly-like wings, a bloated, segmented body resembling a bee’s, and a mottled green hue that evoked physical revulsion.

The monster’s appearance shattered the ordinary summer night’s tranquility, plunging the entire street into chaos.

“Phantom Demon!”

“A Phantom Demon has appeared!”

“Run!”

People on the street let out terrified screams at the sight.

They fled in panic, their fearful cries causing numerous vehicles to lose control and collide everywhere.

Amid the chaos, no one noticed that the creature they called “Phantom Demon” was actually fleeing in panic itself.

It stared at the living beings on the street, its eyes gleaming with greedy, bloodthirsty, and savage hunger as if gazing upon delicacies.

Clearly, to it, beings called “humans” were no different from food.

Yet, this monster had to abandon so many “delicacies,” scrambling frantically toward the other end of the street.

Just then, three figures rushed out from the hole in the wall the monster had burst through.

They wore matching uniforms, their faces still bearing traces of youthfulness, appearing no older than seventeen or eighteen.

But at the sight of these three youngsters, the monster sped up its escape.

“Don’t even think about running!”

A fair-skinned boy who looked like a frail scholar extended a hand toward the monster, his voice filled with anger.

A ring composed of mysterious symbols and patterns suddenly materialized, sliding from his arm to his wrist, then hovering before his palm like a cannon muzzle, aimed at the fleeing monster.

“Seventh Form: Grey Binding.”

The mystical ring floating before the uniformed boy’s palm glowed brightly.

“Hum!”

Amid the humming, a cloud of black-gray ash appeared with a sudden gust of wind.

The ash intertwined like ropes, forming strands of gray mist that swiftly ensnared the fleeing monster, surrounding it.

“Thud!”

Caught off guard, the monster slammed hard into the gray ash wall, bouncing back like a rubber ball.

“Screech!”

The monster let out an urgent shriek, turned, and crashed into another side, only to be repelled once more by the gray ash.”Lei Hao! Hurry!”

The fair-skinned boy in uniform shouted out.

“Leave it to me!”

Among the uniformed boys, one rushed forward as he responded.

Unlike the fair and delicate scholar-like boy, he was burly with powerful limbs and slightly tanned skin. Carrying a greatsword on his shoulder, he charged forward like a tank, not only smashing through a blocking vehicle but also leaving crater-like footprints with each powerful step.

The speed generated by such brute force was astonishing, allowing his figure to shoot forward like a bullet, easily catching up to the monster restrained by black ash.

“Roar!”

With a beast-like roar, the burly boy named Lei Hao shattered the street stones beneath his feet, transforming into a human cannonball that shot into the air, reaching above the monster’s head.

“Get down!”

Amid the roar, the greatsword on Lei Hao’s shoulder was suddenly raised high and came crashing down heavily upon the monster.

“Rip!”

With a sound like tearing cloth, the monster was split in two before it could even react.

The bisected body fell to the ground with splattering blood, instantly staining the pavement red.

“Hmph!”

No trace of joy appeared on Lei Hao’s face.

“Squelch…”

Before Lei Hao could land from mid-air, the monster lying in the pool of blood suddenly began to squirm all over. The two separated halves showed a tendency to move closer to each other, preparing to reconnect.

“Tch, as expected, it’s hard to eliminate these regenerative Phantom Demons without using Spirit Art.”

Lei Hao landed on a street lamp, clicking his tongue in frustration before turning to call out toward the other end of the street.

“The rest is up to you, Su Ming!”

As Lei Hao’s shout faded, the last uniformed boy had already emerged slowly from the other end of the street.

Unlike the other two, he was neither fair-skinned nor burly, with an average build and unremarkable appearance. Only his eyes were deep and piercing, giving the impression that no one could tell what he was thinking.

He walked slowly toward the monster lying in the blood pool, which was reconnecting and preparing to revive. Unbeknownst to him, mysterious rune circles had begun rotating on his arm, just like the fair-skinned uniformed boy.

There were three circles in total, with mysterious characters and patterns continuously flowing across them, as if forming some kind of design that gradually completed the circles.

When the three mysterious circles fully formed and shifted to the front of his palm, Su Ming had already reached the monster.

“Screech!”

The monster seemed to sense danger, disregarding its regenerating body as it suddenly surged up, shrieking viciously while pouncing toward Su Ming.

But by this time, Su Ming had already raised his hand.

“Twenty-Eighth Form: Spiral Fire.”

Instantly, scorching flames erupted like a vortex.

The incompletely regenerated monster was enveloped by the fiery vortex before it could reach Su Ming.

A soundless scream echoed.

The surrounding temperature began to rise.

Crimson light illuminated the chaotic corner of the street, dyeing the surrounding buildings red.

By the time the blood-soaked ground had been scorched black, the monster had already been reduced to ashes within the flames, scattering with the wind along with the black ash that had previously restrained it.

“Done!”In the distance, Lei Hao clenched his fist and let out a loud shout.

“Hoo…”

The fair-skinned boy also breathed a sigh of relief.

“Clap clap clap clap!”

The bystanders who had calmed down from the chaos exchanged glances, then broke into enthusiastic applause.

“Well done!”

“That was brilliant!”

“So young yet able to eliminate a Phantom Demon—truly remarkable!”

“Looking at their uniforms, they must be students from the Demon Hunter Academy, right?”

“Are they Sorcerers then?”

“Or possibly Hunters.”

“Whether Sorcerers or Hunters, being able to kill a Phantom Demon is impressive!”

“Exactly! Absolutely!”

The surrounding crowd began such conversations amidst their applause.

Su Ming, however, slightly raised his eyebrows as he watched the applauding and discussing bystanders. Instead of feeling proud, he grew wary.

“Was this too high-profile?” Su Ming thought to himself.

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have used the Twenty-Eight Forms. I should have used a lower-sequence Spirit Art to cover up instead.”

Just as Su Ming was having these thoughts, Lei Hao leaped over the crowd, carrying a greatsword on one shoulder and gripping a pair of wings in his other hand, causing many bystanders to gasp in surprise.

“Finally finished this damn mission,” Lei Hao said with a grin, showing off the wings in his hand. “Got the spoils too. Let’s grab Ye Bai and get out of here!”

Lei Hao’s cheeky remark infuriated the fair-skinned boy, who was squeezing through the crowd with difficulty from the outskirts.

“Get out of here, my foot!” Ye Bai rapped Lei Hao on the head with a knuckle and yelled, “Do you think running away means we won’t be held accountable? If you hadn’t been careless, this Screaming Demon wouldn’t have broken through our encirclement and run into the streets! Luckily, there were no casualties, or we’d all be doomed because of you!”

“Don’t say that,” Lei Hao retracted his neck and chuckled awkwardly. “I was just worried this Screaming Demon would escape back to the Spirit Demon Abyss. I got a bit carried away…”

“Too carried away?” Ye Bai said irritably. “That’s why I say you Hunters—all you do is dig into your physical potential and find ways to refine your bloodline, but you never use your brains! All brawn, no brains!”

“Yeah, yeah, you Sorcerers are the smartest, alright?” Lei Hao replied carelessly. “Anyway, the mission’s done, and we’ve recovered the Screaming Demon’s wings. Let’s go report back!”

Hearing this, Ye Bai didn’t know what else to say and could only sigh silently.

Seeing this, Su Ming knew their usual bickering session had ended.

So, like a background character and peacemaker, he seized the perfect moment to speak.

“In that case, let’s head back to the Academy.”

With these words, Su Ming drew a close to this unexpected incident.

Before long, the sound of police sirens echoed.

Su Ming and the other two left together, leaving behind a messy scene and a tale that would be talked about with relish.

Of course, it wouldn’t become some massively trending event.

At least, not in this world.

Su Ming watched Lei Hao and Ye Bai, who for some reason had started bickering again, then suddenly lifted his head to gaze at the night sky.

The night sky was dotted with stars, distinctly different from the night sky over a big city in Su Ming’s memory.

In his recollection, the night sky in big cities had long lost its stars.

But here, they were still visible.Because this was no longer Earth.

Or rather, it had become unrecognizable as Earth.

“Who could have imagined the world would transform into this overnight?”

The city remained the same city, only its name had changed.

The people around him were still those Su Ming had known since childhood, yet they too had become fundamentally different.

Even Su Ming himself had become incomparable to his former self.

The proof lay in the Screaming Demon’s wing he dragged in his hand, and this world where monsters now roamed as a matter of course.

(End of Chapter)