In the midst of the black Qi, Sande’s wails echoed, followed by shouts filled with rage and resentment.
"To hell with what’s best for me! I don’t need your damn concern! I don’t care what the cost is, I just want to be with my Sofia! You self-righteous bastards, give me back my Sofia! Give her back! Give her back to me!"
Black Qi congealed into numerous arms with sharp nails, frantically stabbing at the short-haired woman, seeking to vent their anger by dismembering her. But under the assault of two Silver Light Daggers, most of the black Qi arms were severed, with only a few successfully striking the short-haired woman. A great burst of blood light erupted from her body, where the parts touched by the black Qi arms exploded on contact.
However, comparatively, it was the black Qi that was at a disadvantage. Under the relentless attack of the short-haired woman’s Silver Light Daggers, it visibly weakened. Realizing this, the black Qi dared not entangle any longer; with a bizarre shriek, it rapidly retracted and withdrew dozens of meters away.
The black Qi dispersed, revealing Sande.
At this moment, many parts of Sande’s body bore charred wounds, emitting a pungent burnt stench, the acute pain stimulating him, causing his face, which had only just regained some color, to turn even paler.
But to him, this was nothing, not even enough to make him frown.
His face was twisted, teeth clenched tight, cheek muscles bulging, eyes and eyebrows squeezed together, and tears streaming down from the corners of his mouth.
The tears were black, like ink, drawing dark lines across his face.
Sande trembled as he spoke, sounding like he was crying, laughing, and most of all, pleading: "Sofia... my Sofia... give me back my Sofia..."
The short-haired woman looked at Sande, pursing her lips, changing her grip on the daggers. Her voice suddenly became softer as she persuaded, "Mr. Sande, come back with us. You know our strength. If you sincerely cooperate with us, we... might be able to help you fulfill your wish?"
"Do you think I’m a child!" Sande looked up at the short-haired woman and said, "If you wanted to help me, you wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to chase and kill me!
Go back with you? Dream on! As long as I live, I will never submit to you, I will fight against you until death!
Remember my words: once I heal and grow stronger, I will kill every single one of you, without exception, to avenge Sofia!"
Sande roared, spreading his arms wide, as ghostly shrieks that could make one’s scalp tingle resonated around him, the air visibly rippled. Black Qi poured out endlessly from beneath Sande’s robe, congealing into hundreds, thousands of spears, and bombarded the short-haired woman and her only remaining companion.
The short-haired woman’s face turned pale, sensing the seriousness of the attack. She dared not engage Sande in close combat again and exerted all her strength to conjure an earthy yellow Energy Shield in front of her.
Black Qi Spears struck the Energy Shield one after another, causing it to shake violently, like a paper window in a storm, the short-haired woman’s face drained of color as she struggled to maintain it.
For a long, long time.
Eventually, the Black Qi Spears all dissipated, and the short-haired woman took down her Energy Shield and stood up, scanning her surroundings. She saw her companion—who had just removed an Energy Shield close to collapse—relieved, as if they had survived a great disaster.
Besides that, there were no other living persons in sight—Sande, who had released the attack, had already left during her moment of defense.
After confirming this, the short-haired woman stomped her foot in frustration, feeling as though her efforts had fallen short.
Yes, her efforts were insufficient.
This time, her team had finally encountered the enemy, but due to their lack of strength, they let the enemy escape. The next time they encountered the enemy, it was entirely unpredictable, and all the plans they had made before were now useless.
The more she thought, the more infuriated she became. The short-haired woman couldn’t help but walk over to a nearby tree and start punching it furiously, causing the tree to shake continuously.
Her companions watched cautiously and asked, "Group Leader Doran, what do we do now?"
After hearing this, the short-haired woman looked at her companions, glanced over the bodies of the two other members now lying dead on the ground, took a deep breath, and said, "It has come to this, so we can only try to remedy the situation. You and I will first deal with the aftermath of the battle, then take the bodies and leave, so local wizards won’t come by and notice that something’s amiss.
Afterwards, I will report the situation truthfully to our superiors, urging them to prioritize this matter—the enemy’s strength is growing faster and faster, and it will only become more troublesome as time goes on!"
"Okay." Her companion nodded, quickly getting to work clearing any evidence of the battle, then each carrying a body, they rapidly left the scene.
Not long after they had left, the grass a short distance away parted, and Bobbobovic revealed himself.
Bobbobovic first looked at the processed battlefield, ensuring there were no clues left, then turned to look in the direction the short-haired woman and her companion had departed.
Speaking to himself with a somewhat serious expression, Bobbobovic murmured, "They were after someone else, which means this has nothing to do with me? Could the previous incident have been a misunderstanding? A reasonable explanation might be: they intended to set a trap and lay in wait for their target, but I blundered into it, and thus I met with misfortune.
But who are they? What does that emblem mean? The incident with Mike from years ago, was it their doing? Or more precisely, is it possible that they were hunting Mike just like today, and killed him?"
Clutching his fist and tapping his forehead lightly, Bobbobovic pondered, "This is truly complicated. However... no matter what, I must continue the investigation, only by uncovering all the reasons can I possibly learn what actually happened to Mike years ago."
Having said that, Bobbobovic started to follow in the direction the short-haired woman and her companion had left, but suddenly, with a sense of alertness, he turned his head, looking behind him.
Up and down, left and right, Bobbobovic scanned the air behind him several times with his gaze. He even used a special Spell to probe, but found nothing, causing his brows to furrow deeply.
For some reason, he felt as if someone had been following him the whole time, and very closely at that, yet he couldn’t detect them.
Was he being overly sensitive?
With a gesture of his hand, Bobbobovic cast a special Spell, making his entire body transparent, blending in with the air, and in this state of Stealth, he pursued the direction the short-haired woman and her companion had taken.
Shortly after Bobbobovic vanished, a few orange wildflowers quivered as if a Transparent Human, curiously inspecting the flowers, had touched them.
Then, the Transparent Human left, not following in the direction of Bobbobovic or the short-haired woman, but instead took another path, towards the direction where the Black Robed Man, Sande, had departed.