Chapter 93 – The Woman Behind Him?

“Boom—!”

A startling blaze suddenly erupted on the frontline, surging forward like a raging tide of fire that instantly swept across the area.

The Shadow Demons lunging at Su Ming had no time to react. Still in their pouncing posture, they collided head-on with the incoming fire wave and were completely engulfed.

No screams.

No howls.

They seemed unaware of what was happening before being incinerated by the overwhelming flames.

The fiery wave continued its relentless advance, not only burning the rampaging Shadow Demons to ashes but also forcing nearby Sorcerers to retreat.

“So hot!”

“Is this the Twenty-Eighth Form: Spiral Fire…?”

“With this power… I’d believe it was the Forty-Seventh Form: Blazing Lotus Scarlet Flame!”

The Sorcerers exclaimed in astonishment.

Even Su Ming himself stood frozen, staring blankly at the scene of flames sweeping through the surroundings.

“Did the power increase?”

The Spell Formula he had unleashed was several times more powerful than before.

“What’s going on?” Su Ming muttered in confusion. “I didn’t output much Spirit Power.”

He couldn’t make sense of it.

However, he noticed that after releasing this Spiral Fire, the burning sensation and restlessness within him seemed to gradually fade, and his chaotic Spirit Power was slowly calming down.

The strange pattern on his forehead had completely disappeared.

No one noticed this.

No one witnessed this bizarre occurrence.

Many assumed Su Ming had taken an alchemical potion that enhanced Spirit Art power during the critical moment. Though surprised, with Shadow Demons continuing their assault, they couldn’t dwell on it and quickly reengaged the attacking enemies.

While others missed Su Ming’s abnormality, An Zijin, being closest to him, had taken notice.

“Just now…”

An Zijin stared dazedly at Su Ming, at his smooth forehead, feeling somewhat at a loss.

“Wooo”

A Shadow Demon suddenly attacked with a long howl, lunging toward An Zijin.

“Twenty-Eighth Form: Spiral Fire!”

Seeing this, Su Ming immediately cast the Spirit Art again, releasing flames from the three hovering ring arrays around his wrist.

Facing the oncoming flames, the Shadow Demon targeting An Zijin chose to retreat, swiftly backing away to avoid the fire wave.

Witnessing this, Su Ming couldn’t help but look at his hand.

“The Spell Formula’s power has returned to normal.”

This was the ordinary power level of Spiral Fire.

“That previous Spiral Fire was definitely unusual.”

Realizing this, Su Ming didn’t dare overthink it and pulled An Zijin close to him.

“Stop spacing out!”

Su Ming sharply tapped An Zijin’s head as she stared blankly at him.

“Ah! Understood!”

Only then did An Zijin yelp in pain and snap back to attention.

“Thirteenth Form: Roaring Blast!”

An Zijin also cast a Spirit Art, blasting the continuously drifting Shadow Demons around them.

By now, like Su Ming, the burning sensation and restlessness within An Zijin had quietly faded away without recurring.The anomaly between the two individuals felt like an unreal dream, as if it had never occurred, and was quickly forgotten by the sorcerers who were hastily responding to the enemy.

“Seventh Form: Grey Binding!”

In the distance, Ye Bai also began using spell formulas to restrain the Phantom Demons, prompting the other sorcerers to join the fray.

The great battle continued to rage.

……

“Huff…”

Noticing that the situation in the rear sorcerer camp had stabilized, and that Su Ming and An Zijin were now fighting back-to-back against the incoming Phantom Demons, forcing the lurking Shadow Demons to retreat, Xu Qianqian couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

“Squeak!”

A Screaming Demon descended from the sky, flapping its wings as it charged toward Xu Qianqian, but she cleanly severed its body with a swift dagger strike, sending it screaming to the ground.

With her mind at ease, Xu Qianqian finally began to focus seriously on the battle.

However, someone approached her, forcing her to temporarily halt.

“That little lover of yours really has some skills.”

The newcomer was none other than Xu Yanyan.

Wielding two small sabers, Xu Yanyan moved like a cutting machine, leaving trails of cold light in her wake as she sliced the attacking Phantom Demons in half.

“What are you doing here?”

Xu Qianqian’s eyes turned cold, her grip on the dagger tightening slightly.

“Relax, I wouldn’t dare touch you in such a public setting,” Xu Yanyan said while cleaving through the Screaming Demons continuously descending from the sky, bathed in their screams and blood like a bewitching crimson flower. She smiled at Xu Qianqian and added, “I just admire you. You’ve always been aloof toward everyone, yet the first person you actively approach is so… special.”

Such pointed remarks made Xu Qianqian frown deeply.

“Do you really intend to harm him?”

Xu Qianqian glared coldly at Xu Yanyan, then suddenly spun around, her dagger transforming into two icy arcs that repelled two Blade Demons who had silently crept up on them.

The two sisters fought separately against the enemy, unknowingly ending up back-to-back.

“You’re overthinking it, my dear sister,” Xu Yanyan sneered at Xu Qianqian behind her. “I’m not foolish enough to casually harm that guy. If I did, the woman behind him might truly be driven to your side. Such a loss would be unacceptable to me.”

Xu Yanyan’s words made Xu Qianqian’s frown deepen even further.

“The woman behind him?”

Xu Qianqian muttered under her breath.

“Don’t play dumb,” Xu Yanyan scoffed at her reaction. “After learning of that woman’s existence, I guessed it—you approached Su Ming to get to her, didn’t you? To form an alliance with her?”

Xu Qianqian’s eyes flickered slightly, but she remained silent, swinging her dagger to cut down the Phantom Demons swarming around them.

While fending off the attacking Phantom Demons, Xu Yanyan spoke in a low, steady voice.

“I don’t know if this is your scheme or your father’s, but don’t think it will make me back down.”

As she spoke, Xu Yanyan’s expression twisted into something fierce, as if recalling all the events that had led to this moment.

She had always believed herself to be the most outstanding junior of the Xu Family.

In terms of talent, potential, bloodline, and effort, Xu Yanyan refused to admit inferiority to anyone.

She had once been her father’s pride, and even the Family Head, her grandfather, had doted on her excessively.Xu Yanyan found none of this strange, for it was all rightfully hers.

Debuting as a two-star Professional and consistently holding the top position in the Hunter Department during her time at the Demon Hunter Academy, Xu Yanyan had never once doubted her abilities.

Until Xu Qianqian appeared.

Then, her father began to express disappointment in her.

Her grandfather, too, shifted his affection away from her and toward this cousin.

Bit by bit, everything she had was being taken from her by Xu Qianqian.

Thus, Xu Yanyan swore to prove herself and seize everything Xu Qianqian possessed.

“Just wait and see, my dear cousin.”

With those words, Xu Yanyan said no more, transforming into a gust of wind as she charged into the horde of Phantom Demons ahead, unleashing a storm of saber gleams and sword flashes amid splatters of crimson blood.

Xu Qianqian watched the scene intently, but her thoughts were not on Xu Yanyan’s harsh words or threats. Instead, she fixated on one phrase:

“The woman behind him…”

Unable to help herself, Xu Qianqian turned her head once more to look in Su Ming’s direction.

“Zijin! Behind you!”

“Right!”

There, Su Ming continued to attack the drifting Shadow Demons with 【Spiral Fire】 while constantly warning An Zijin beside him. An Zijin repeatedly released 【Roaring Blast】 to strike the Phantom Demons assaulting her, her body pressed tightly against Su Ming’s.

Watching this, for some reason, Xu Qianqian felt inexplicably irritated.

“Screech!”

A Blade Demon, utterly lacking in perception, lunged at Xu Qianqian, its body’s blades attacking like a storm.

“Thud!”

Yet a dagger effortlessly sliced through the air, carrying a lethal chill and overwhelming force, slashing the Blade Demon until it bled profusely.

The Blade Demon’s steel-hard body proved as fragile as paper under this fierce assault, torn apart repeatedly.

In silence, her face cold, Xu Qianqian frantically swung her dagger, mercilessly cutting the Phantom Demon before her into pieces.

Li Wei, who happened to witness this scene nearby, couldn’t help but swallow hard, causing his surrounding teammates to tremble in fear.

……

The battle lasted nearly an hour.

Despite numerous unexpected incidents, the group of Professionals ultimately succeeded in holding back many Phantom Demons and significantly reducing their numbers.

Naturally, in the process, some inevitably slipped through the net.

They bypassed the front lines entirely, darting toward the rear, seemingly aware that the Professionals were not easy targets, and instead turned to bully the soldiers stationed behind.

After all, both were sources of blood and flesh, and the soldiers were no fewer in number than the Professionals, so the Phantom Demons naturally targeted these easier prey.

Unfortunately for them, the soldiers were equipped with alchemical bullets. Upon seeing the Phantom Demons cross the battle lines and head their way, they opened fire without hesitation.

Thus, the sound of gunfire gradually joined the battlefield, lending it the scent of gunpowder.

Even so, a small number of Phantom Demons managed to break through the soldiers’ defense line and continued their assault further back.

Faced with this situation, there was little anyone could do but hope that the final line of defense remaining in the rear could hold these Phantom Demons back and prevent them from leaving Huaming District.

As time passed, the number of Phantom Demons began to sharply decline.

The pressure on the front lines eased considerably, allowing many physically and mentally exhausted Hunters and Sorcerers who had depleted their Spirit Power to retreat to the rear.From this point on, it was no longer necessary for everyone to stand guard on the defense line together.

Without a rotation system, everyone here would eventually collapse from exhaustion.

At present, the less capable trainees were granted the first opportunity to withdraw and rest, leaving the defense line to the Professionals who still had strength to spare.

Su Ming also supported the exhausted An Zijin, following the main group as they retreated, looking somewhat weary and disheveled.

Watching the Professionals still fighting at the rear, Su Ming muttered to himself.

“If only I could be responsible for cleaning up the battlefield.”

That way, the Phantom Demon materials on the battlefield would likely bring him a substantial gain.

“Hmm, I’ll think of a way to sneak in and pull off a heist later.”

Su Ming decided.

(End of Chapter)