Another Group of People
Another Group of People
All of a sudden, the air above the open space twisted and quickly turned into a shiny, oval mirror. Shortly after, four people walked out of it.
The leader was a strict-looking man with gray hair and an eyepatch on one eye. Next to him stood a dark-skinned man with a bald head. He looked slightly Indian. And behind the men were two women. One of them was a tall woman dressed in a simple dress. She had long, brown hair and there was a layer of faint green scales on her cheeks, which was slowly fading away. Meanwhile, the other woman had very long, conspicuous silvery-white hair. She was someone they had met before—White Flame!
Except for the woman in the dress, the other three were dressed in standard demon-hunter attire: a long black trench coat, a strap around the waist, and a big crossbow on the back. This was obviously a demon-hunter squad.
The three demon hunters were surprised to find that there were already people on the beach. The one-eyed man and the bald man immediately raised their crossbows, preparing to attack. But when they saw the disparity in the number of people between them and Hao Ren's team, they did not act blindly. They stopped moving with the crossbows in their hand. White Flame was a little surprised once she recognized them. Her straight face twitched a little, but she soon calmed down. Maintaining her vigilant posture, she signaled Hao Ren with her eyes to not greet her rashly. Although she reported the hunting of vengeful spirits to her mentor after she returned from Andrea Castle, she did not tell them about the Countess of the Crimson Moon. It was better not to show that they knew each other.
It also proved that White Flame had kept her promise, and did not reveal too much to the other demon hunters.
Hao Ren got it. Vivian immediately threw a bat at Lily's face to stop her from talking: the stupid girl was about to jump excitedly and say hello to White Flame.
The most stressed person on the scene was Nangong Sanba. This amateur demon hunter who pretended to be a professional in the circle of demon hunters had been caught red-handed by real demon hunters. He broke out in a cold sweat and knew that his life as a demon hunter was done. From then on, he was going to need two copies of his will when he went out...
Rollie was looking at the sea on the rocky beach. When she saw what was happening in front of her and the reaction of her master(s), she immediately sensed the murderous vibe in the air. She lay down, and her tail stood up like an iron rod. The fur on her ears and tail puffed up as she shrieked, "Meow—"
The first battle roar from Hao Ren's team actually came from a cat.
"This is a surprise," said the one-eyed man with a watchful face. Even if the situation was unfavorable, he was unafraid, speaking firmly and loudly. "I didn't expect to meet a group of prey here."
"Are you sure you're the hunter?" Vivian was surrounded by a large swarm of bats with lightning interspersed between them. Cold winds blew and scattered around the area, and even the distant waves turned directly into large snowflakes when they hit the reef. "What the hell are you doing here?" Vivian asked.
Rollie shivered from the cold, but she still arched her back, ready to fight. "Meow… Meooooowww…"
A layer of glowing, shield-like light rose up around the one-eyed man to protect him from the chill wind. However, when he saw Vivian, he was stunned for a moment. He broke out in a cold sweat and asked, "The lady standing over there… The countess… Your Excellency?"
Lily was surprised. "Why is he being so polite all of a sudden?"
Vivian frowned, trying to recall if she had met the one-eyed man before. Finally, she remembered that he was the most famous one-eyed man among the demon hunters. "Young men would certainly not be so polite to me, only the older ones would—because they still remember seniority, isn't that right, Hasse? Boy, what the hell are you doing here?"
Hao Ren appeared astonished. "This is the one-eyed Hasse?"
One-eyed Hasse, the famous elder among the demon hunters, the old man who had existed since the Mythological Age. He was one of the leaders who destroyed Mount Olympus. It was said that this man nearly killed Hesperides. The arrowhead from his bow had been stuck in her head for thousands of years.
A man who sounded like a big shot, but was still just a "boy" in Vivian's eyes. Vivian also knew that her own seniority was a powerful weapon at the moment, so she tried to gain the upper hand with it.
The lady did not care about her age at the moment.
Hasse's expression quickly turned odd. It was not an awkward expression, it was more worried. He did not expect it to be such an unlucky day. He took a short-cut to teleport there directly, but ended up falling into a siege. The worst thing was, the world-famous Countess of the Crimson Moon was in the siege. Even someone like Hasse had to bow to Vivian respectfully before the fight. How unlucky!
Vivian was right. The older the demon hunter, the more they valued seniority. This was especially true when it came to this old man from the Mythological Age. Such a trait was beyond the grasp of the young, impetuous demon hunters.
The man standing next to Hasse moved forward by half a step. The front end of the crossbow in his hand was flashing with silver lights. He saluted Vivian and said, "Your Excellency, I'm Teuton, a master-level demon hunter. I am willing to accept your challenge."
"Are the demon hunters all such ignorant young people nowadays? Are you qualified to 'accept' my challenge? As a junior, you're telling me that you 'accept the challenge'?!" Vivian said. Her tone was cold and fierce.
Teuton paused for a moment. Hasse immediately got him to step back and said, "Don't act without my consent."
Vivian nodded slightly and said, "Good."
Lily had never seen Vivian so fierce and powerful. She immediately pulled Hao Ren by his clothes and whispered, "Why is Battie being so pretentious all of a sudden?"
Vivian maintained her fierce posture while she whispered back, "I'm just bluffing. I'm trying to scare them—I can't beat them now!"
Hao Ren was speechless. In her current state, she could not beat them…
But it was okay. The three demon hunters were no match for them regardless. However, Vivian thought that the best thing to do at the moment was avoid a fight. Unless it was absolutely necessary, she would not want to come into conflict with Hasse. Mainly because, the battle between the Countess of the Crimson Moon and the demon hunter elder could easily be interpreted as a declaration of war. That would really spell trouble.
When people's reputation reached a certain level, it would become hard for them to represent themselves.
Hasse apparently had the same thought as well. He lowered his crossbow a little, signaling that he did not really want to fight. Then, he frowned and asked, "I wonder why you're here, Your Excellency?"
"Is that a siren next to you?" Vivian looked at the only girl among the four who was not dressed as a demon hunter. She displayed some features of a siren.
Hasse nodded slightly and answered, "Yes."
"Are you planning on going to Nasaton?" Lily asked directly.
"Are you going too? Why are you going there?" White Flame asked in surprise as she lowered her crossbow.
"For an investigation," Hao Ren cautiously replied, turning off the beam at the tip of his silver lance. "We suspect that Nasaton is contaminated by some kind of exogenous creature. What about you guys? In theory, demon hunters don't hunt for sirens, so are you going to investigate, or help?"
"If what you say is true, then we have the same purpose," said Hasse. "However, I don't quite believe—"
"You should know that I'm different. I don't like to fight," Vivian suddenly raised her voice to interrupt Hasse. "The same goes for them, so we may not need to fight today. I have a suggestion, how about we put down our weapons?"
Teuton was a little surprised. He tilted his head a little and looked at Hasse, who nodded after some pondering, "That's acceptable, but there is a prerequisite: if any of you try something funny while we approach Nasaton, the battle will begin."
"Same goes for you," Vivian smiled and said, "and I'm sure the hunter won't be you."