Star Gate

Chapter 82: Sunflare (I)

Li Hao noted immediate qualitative improvements after absorbing the scarlet shadow. They were very noticeable, and much more compared to mysterious power. Highly agitated, the young man sprinted back with Panther. Would more scarlet shadows come along later?

……

At the same time.

The Ghostface supernatural coalesced countless water arrows, ready to break through Chen Jian’s defenses once and for all to exterminate the irritating fatty. The projectiles abruptly dispersed with dramatic flair when the supernatural spat out a mouthful of blood.

Utterly baffled, his mind spun. Backlash from mysterious power? What had he done? A rainy day was his home turf and he’d yet to exhaust his power to the dregs of his potential. Why had it suddenly recoiled?

Ghostface blinked, dazed in thought. The scarlet shadow was… gone!

Incredible!

Nonsensical!

The supernatural turned a bit lifeless in this moment as he couldn’t comprehend the development. Nothing like this had ever happened before. The scarlet shadow wasn’t his—it came from the organization. Powerhouses of the organization had assigned it to him and explained that the shadows were undying. They could not be exterminated as they were reborn from whatever tiny particle was left!

Therefore, backlash from them was not possible.

It was a symbiotic relationship between supernaturals and scarlet shadows. Their wielders provided mysterious power to maintain the shadows’ existence, whereas the latter accomplished many tasks that supernaturals could not.

Surveillance, target tracking, and assassinations were the shadows’ forte. They were the strongest existence within the organization and the most mysterious!

Even Sunflare found it hard to kill the shadows. They might be able to sense something from the entities, but completely obliterating them was almost impossible. When there was only a tiny mote left of a fully scattered shadow, not even Dominators or Sunflare could sense it. Therefore, scarlet shadows had reigned supreme over the years!

No one ever entertained the notion that a shadow might die. They lived even when the supernatural died. The shadows were simply severed of their connection with their wielders. The organization later sent people to collect them. Of the supernaturals that died tonight, their shadows currently waited in a standby mode.

There they would remain, undiscovered in the absence of commands. Dominators and Sunflare couldn’t locate them if they didn’t move. Thus, the organization always deployed a cleanup crew later on.

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“Impossible…” The supernatural didn’t understand.

Under normal circumstances, a supernatural’s mental fortitude was much worse than a martial master’s. Most of them succeeded overnight and lacked the tenacity of the martial masters. It was easy to fight when the winds were behind their back, while emotions often cropped up when they encountered something beyond their grasp.

Take the water supernatural, for instance. He was a bit lost at the moment. He’d first suffered backlash in the middle of battle and then grew lost in thought…

On the other hand, every single person of the Demon Hunters was a highly experienced martial master! Liu Yan, in particular, only appeared irreverently flippant. She clutched opportunities in battle with first rate reflexes.

Identifying an opening the moment the water arrows dispersed, she soundlessly rammed her black dagger forward! Chen Jian followed with an upraised shield. Although Wu Chao couldn’t stop vomiting blood behind them, he brightened and marshaled his attention. Running circles around their opponent, he provided a distraction for the supernatural.

Yun Yao quietly took out multiple crystal balls and tossed them at their enemy.

BAM!

Mysterious power roiled when the balls exploded, washing a wave of unpleasant recoil over the supernatural. Liu Yan’s dagger arrived before he had a chance to strike back. He subconsciously raised a hand to condense a water shield against incoming danger, but was nowhere near fast enough!

Pfft!

The dagger sank into the supernatural’s chest, shocking him awake! This was no time to wonder what happened to the scarlet shadow and why he’d been hit by recoil!

He was a Darkmoon at the end of the day; the dagger didn’t hurt him. Supernaturals were larger than life and not that easy to kill. The mysterious power inside him blocked the attack. Although he was injured, he was still alive!

Roaring, the supernatural summoned another shield of water and sprayed countless water arrows around him. Liu Yan and the others retreated, while Chen Jian pressed forward to protect the team.

Crack!

His small shield finally reached its limits and broke apart when water arrows pierced through it. A chorus of puncture sounds rose as the arrows stabbed into Chen Jian. He paled and blood seeped out of his body—numerous bloody holes had appeared on his face, one of them next to his face as an arrow nearly pulverized an eye.

The rest of the Demon Hunters regarded the scene warily.

Darkmoon!

This was an existence on par, no, a hair superior to a Sunderer. The team had been excited when they killed a Darkmoon before—Liu Yan even wondered if she was beginning to rival one. Upon fighting this one in pitched battle while lacking Liu Long as the main offensive, however, she understood how terrifying they were.

The team worked in unison and something had happened to cause the inexperienced enemy to lose his concentration. Even so, they failed to kill the other and it was they who were in extreme danger!

Wu Chao was fully out of commission. He was prone on the ground after a few water arrows pierced through him, his status unknown. Yun Yao had reacted swiftly enough to retreat, but her pant leg was also dyed with blood.

As the main defense, Chen Jian was the most heavily injured. Liu Yan was the only one in decent condition; there were only three bloody holes on her.

“All of you seek death!!” raged the water supernatural. He tried to mask his fear with anger. Where was the scarlet shadow? He didn’t think much of the people in front of him—the most critical thing was the shadow’s disappearance!

He was in for it if he lost the shadow, even if he completed the mission! The scarlet shadow was immensely important! If it died… although the organization never spoke of potential consequences, he was all too aware of the style of those higher up.

He was doomed! His own life might not be as important as the shadow.

As he ruminated through bafflement and horror, a frightened Li Hao tore back from the distance.

“Sis, there are two super powerhouses fighting ahead. I was almost shaken to death by their ripples! Run!!”

Liu Yan blinked. Super powerhouses? A great fight? But I don’t sense any ripples!

The water supernatural couldn’t spare thought for anything else.

“Li Hao, where is my divine shadow?!” He’d nearly lost his composure.

“Divine shadow?” Li Hao sprinted for dear life back to the group. He’d lost his shoe at some point and was a bedraggled mess. He gasped in a garbled mess as he ran, not having enough time to think. “What divine shadow… the thing chasing me? I don’t know, I think I saw red smoke next to me when the shockwave hit… That was so scary! Thank goodness I’m okay…”

The water supernatural blinked. Red smoke! Ripples from a fight between super powerhouses… killed the shadow?

He’d not only given the scarlet shadow orders not to kill Li Hao, but also to protect the young man. So the shadow had died to protect its charge?

Super powerhouses?

While he didn’t know how strong these powerhouses might be, those who could kill a scarlet shadow would not be a weakling!

Li Hao reached them, ignoring the supernatural caught in throes of fear. “Go inside and take shelter! Those two are coming!!”

The supernatural was extremely close to Li Hao and could reach out to grab the young man if he wished to. But that was the last thing on his mind at the moment.

“What super powerhouses?!” he bellowed.

An expert from the organization? Who were they fighting? Sunflare? Or stronger?

He didn’t sense anything at all, but the shadow was indeed dead. Li Hao didn’t have the ability to achieve that—absolutely impossible.

“Go inside first!” Li Hao grabbed the fallen Wu Chao and struggled to drag the man into the warehouse. He called out frantically, “They’re so strong! I saw a small mountain disappear without a sound! Those two felt hotter than the sun!”

The sun!

Sunflare!

The water supernatural blinked with incomprehension. Has the organization sent a Sunflare? And had one come from the Night Watchers??

He looked into the distance, but saw nothing. He didn’t sense any supernatural ripples! Did they extend beyond the limit of his perception?

Li Hao suddenly thought of something and dropped Wu Chao. He nervously walked toward the supernatural instead.

“I surrender! Take me away from here! They’re so fast that I’m worried their fight will spill over to here! It doesn’t matter which side they’re on, they don’t care about our survival since they’re so caught up in their struggle! You guys don’t seem like you want to kill me right now, but those two don’t care and might not be able to control themselves even if they do!”

He’s not putting up a fight? The supernatural coolly assessed Li Hao. The kid sought protection from him?? This was the biggest joke beneath the heavens!

The shadow died to protect this guy?? Damned unlucky!

But it was just as well, he had an excuse now. He might be in much less trouble when he returned. It wasn’t his own issue, but the result of dueling powerhouses. The shadow had died to protect Li Hao, and the young man truly couldn’t die now!

Liu Yan’s eyes lit up when the supernatural grabbed Li Hao’s shoulder. She thought he would do as before and assassinate the other right now.

And the young man… didn’t!

Li Hao remained docile in the other’s hand. He was no fool. He’d made it back to the scene before speaking up and saw Liu Yan fail to kill the enemy with one stroke. Mysterious power protected its wielder! No ambush would kill this guy; it’d only raise his attention instead. That would be true disaster.

Li Hao exclaimed with pain as it felt like the guy was going to crush his shoulder. “Gently! We should retreat first—why don’t we go inside? Those two are so strong that it might take the ice crystal covers inside to shield us.”

“Ice crystal covers?” The water supernatural suddenly understood why these guys wanted to run this way! So this was the reason! But since he knew, this was no problem. Not to mention, these guys were almost fully crippled.

He coalesced water arrows again without a word.