Chapter 62: Team Annihilation

The two sides observed each other from a hundred meters away.

Ji Xinghuo recognized the five-person team he had seen before.

Half a Star Realm month ago, when he left the City of Freedom, he saw this team on the road. He kept a safe distance while the other team slowed down, moving closer with clearly unfriendly intentions.

The leader was a White Knight, probably the captain.

He wore a full suit of heavy, silver-grey metallic armor, barely leaving gaps at the eyes, making him look like a tin can.

He also held a cross-handled greatsword, like a knight straight out of the Middle Ages.

White Knights have healing abilities, enduring stamina, and quick recovery but lack early offensive and defensive capabilities, hence the heavy custom armor for protection.

The other four members were either masked or had their heads wrapped in cloth.

Still, their professions were distinguishable.

One was a female Shadow Blade. When Ji Xinghuo first appeared, she melded into the shadows, lurking in the dark.

A tall, thin man stood beside the White Knight, also in armor but not as bulky, holding a lever-action steam rifle aimed at Ji Xinghuo.

He was a Machinist.

Not far from them stood a man with frost covering his body, icy blue pupils, and transparent ice blades in both hands, clearly an Ice Edge.

Lastly, a Hunter.

Like Ji Xinghuo, he used a composite hunting bow and was accompanied by a terrifying clawed raptor, resembling Earth’s velociraptor but larger and more menacing.

The raptor stood over two meters tall, saddled and armored to enhance defense without hindering its speed.

A chilly crow circled above the Hunter’s head, waiting for commands.

A team of a White Knight, Shadow Blade, Machinist, Ice Edge, and Hunter!

Two high-tier, three mid-tier extrahumans.

They represented a classic professional combo: melee, ranged, healing, control, and scouting. Each had one or two specialized roles, making the team well-rounded with almost no weaknesses.

They had just killed a barely alive Stone Scythe Giant Xuan. They hadn’t even started celebrating when Ji Xinghuo arrived.

They immediately realized the problem.

“Excuse me,”

The White Knight’s voice came from under the helmet with a respectful tone, asking, “Is this Stone Scythe Giant Xuan your prey?”

They dared not provoke someone who could hunt a Stone Scythe Giant Xuan alone.

Attacking a healthy Stone Scythe Giant Xuan as a group would likely cost them injuries among three team members or even a life.

Yet, one man had done it alone, seemingly unscathed.

This meant Ji Xinghuo was possibly outmatched by the entire team, urging caution but not surrendering the right to share the spoils since they had contributed.

Ji Xinghuo barely understood the White Knight’s words.

As he was about to respond, the Hunter suddenly exclaimed, “It’s you!”

Recognizing Ji Xinghuo’s Dragoon Falcon Bow and gear, he yelled, “Brook, this is the Ranger we encountered outside the City of Freedom. He’s young, from the Asia-Pacific Community. There’s only one of him; we shouldn’t be afraid.”

“Are you certain?” The White Knight was surprised.

“It’s him. I remember too,” the Machinist nodded, confirming, “We let him slip away last time.”

Despite being alone, Ji Xinghuo’s ability to hunt a Stone Scythe Giant Xuan meant his strength couldn’t be judged by appearance or age.

“This Stone Scythe Giant Xuan isn’t his prey, Brook,” the Hunter observed closely, adding quickly, “He has no signs of battle on him. He must have stumbled upon it like us.”

“The injuries on the Giant Xuan are burns and falls, not from arrows.”

“Whoever was really hunting the Giant Xuan must be nearby. We don’t have much time. We need to act now or miss our chance.”

“He’s staying silent to intimidate us!”

The Hunter thought he had seen through everything, but he didn’t know Ji Xinghuo couldn’t understand him.

Gibberish continued.

Ji Xinghuo didn’t understand a word but guessed from their reactions; they recognized him and wouldn’t concede the prey.

Suddenly, a warning flashed in his mind.

Bang!

The Machinist fired his gun.

His steam rifle shot metal bullets. Though not as powerful as electromagnetic rifles and slower, it could pierce steel within a hundred meters with utmost precision.

As the gun sounded, the Hunter also released an arrow.

Both were shooters in the team, having developed high synergy over years of fighting side by side.

“Charge!”

The Hunter yelled, urging his clawed raptor forward.

Ji Xinghuo’s right eye flickered just before the gunfire. His head tilted, and the bullet whizzed past his ear.

Then he vanished.

The Hunter’s arrow hit thin air. Realizing Ji Xinghuo disappeared, he shouted, “Invisibility ring!” He wasn’t surprised, having guessed Ji Xinghuo owned one after their last encounter.

“It’s definitely him!”

The hesitant White Knight and Ice Edge were now certain.

“You won’t escape this time, yellow-skinned Asia-Pacific!” the Hunter shouted wildly. With abilities like “Eagle Eye,” “Sound Shape,” and “Trunk Smell,” corresponding to visual, auditory, and olfactory senses, his scouting skills were exceptional, unfazed by stealth.

In a blink, the Hunter found Ji Xinghuo by scent.

“Over there!”

His bow released another arrow, marking the enemy’s location, only a few steps from where Ji Xinghuo had vanished.

Snap!

The bowstring vibrated, and the arrow flew.

Almost simultaneously, the hunter saw Ji Xinghuo’s stealth outline flash as Ji Xinghuo also shot an arrow back.

The hunter’s exceptional vision caught the fast-approaching titanium-aluminum alloy arrow in the dim starlit night.

A black dot rapidly enlarged before his eyes, but he couldn’t react in time.

Thud!

The arrow struck the hunter’s eye. His head burst open, cutting off his scream midair.

His arrow, however, went astray.

The duel was swift, deciding both victory and life in an instant.

Ji Xinghuo hadn’t moved from his spot.

He seemed to have known the hunter’s arrow would miss. His movements remained unaffected as he quickly nocked and released another arrow.

This one aimed at the Machinist.

The steam rifle, powerful and long-ranged but noisy and slow to fire, was no match for a bow.

After firing, the machinist hurriedly reloaded, heating the rifle’s steam chamber with his abilities “Molten Hand” and “Steam” to build pressure for the next shot.

Just as he lined up his second shot, Ji Xinghuo’s arrow struck.

“Watch out!”

The White Knight shouted, blocking the machinist with his body, acting as a human shield to protect his teammate.

The titanium-aluminum alloy arrow struck his shoulder armor, not bouncing off but bizarrely changing direction to hit the machinist behind.

“Ah…”

Hearing a scream behind him, the White Knight turned only to see an arrow embedded in the machinist’s face, the shaft half-exposed.

Such a severe injury was beyond saving.

In moments, the team’s two shooters were dead, their ranged capabilities lost.

“Charge him!”

“His bow is too strong; we’ll all die otherwise!”

Without hesitation, the White Knight turned and charged at Ji Xinghuo. Ice Edge was faster, bursting ahead about thirty meters, his body sheathed in thick ice armor, coldness radiating off him.

The fallen Hunter’s clawed raptor still obeyed his last command.

It had already covered half the distance.

Thwack!

A flash of light and Ji Xinghuo’s outline briefly appeared. An arrow struck the raptor’s eye, emitting a pained howl as it crashed to the ground mid-run.

Another arrow then took down the swooping chilly crow.

As Ji Xinghuo dealt with the hunter’s beast, Ice Edge closed within twenty meters. He was a high-tier extrahuman, fast and now cold-hearted, seeing Ji Xinghuo even in stealth.

Because Ji Xinghuo had already aimed the Dragoon Falcon Bow at him.

An arrow flew.

“Roar!”

Ice Edge opened his mouth in a furious bellow. His “Ice Roar” exploded the ice from his body, releasing a blast of cold air and ice shards.

Ice Roar was defensive this time, blocking Ji Xinghuo’s exploding flame arrow upon contact, creating a fierce explosion that swept the nearby area like a storm of ice and fire.

Boom!

Ji Xinghuo’s flame arrow exploded against the Ice Roar, igniting a vast blaze of high-temperature flames.

The collision of ice and fire caused an even more intense explosion, enveloping a few meters around like a realm of ice and fire.

Ice Edge wasn’t hit by the arrow but his charge was halted by the explosion’s force, rolling on the ground before regaining his footing just in time to see another arrow approaching. Instinctively, he swung his ice blades, cleverly deflecting the arrow.

“Ah!”

A scream followed.

Ice Edge turned to see his captain, Brooke, with an arrow stuck in the slit of his helmet, the very one he had deflected.

“Brooke!”

Ice Edge froze, never imagining the arrow he deflected would kill his captain.

Was this coincidence?

But the machinist had died the same way!

Once could be coincidence; twice suggested manipulation! But how could a human achieve this?

Ice Edge’s mind was in turmoil, the accidental killing of his teammate rendering him blank and sealing his fate.

An arrow pierced his ice armor, drilling through his head.

Ji Xinghuo had killed Ice Edge, and as he turned, he narrowly dodged a dark dagger aimed at his back, his hand already on the hilt of his Lightning Combat Blade. A swift slash, and a flash of lightning-like blade light severed a head wearing a black mask, surprise still in the eyes.

A headless body appeared mid-air; she was the female Shadow Blade.

As Ji Xinghuo killed her teammates, she had finally reached him from behind, attempting a deadly strike.

But her effort was in vain; she never realized her actions were within Ji Xinghuo’s control.

The woods fell silent.

The light rings in Ji Xinghuo’s eyes dissipated as he looked down at the five bodies, a cold snort escaping his lips.