The sound of clapping echoed through the air as the girls finished dealing with the mob. To them, it hadn’t even been a proper warmup, especially for Lana who barely broke a sweat.
Stepping forward was Zach, accompanied by his five friends. Among them was the green-haired one, a snake hybrid whose body carried lethal poison.
"I expected no less from you, Lana." Zach applauded with a sly smile tugging at his lips.
"I knew there was no way these men would be able to harm a B-ranked hunter like you. They were simply meant to serve as a little distraction."
"For what?" Daki asked sharply, her brow arched in suspicion.
"Kek!" Zach chuckled darkly before glancing at his teammates.
"Shall I tell them?" he asked.
"Kek!" The green-haired hybrid hissed with amusement, his tongue slithering out unnaturally as it elongated. He licked his fingers with twisted glee. "Give it to them."
"Fine." Zach grinned, his smile stretching wider before suddenly snapping into a grim expression. In the next instant, he clapped his hands together. A massive spike erupted from his body, shooting out with blinding speed.
Its target was none other than Max.
The spike tore through the air with deadly precision. Lana saw it and reacted instantly. With a fierce motion, her wings sprouted out and she bolted forward in a blur.
She leaped into the air and positioned herself in front of Max. In one motion, she stabbed her wings into the ground, forcing them to curl protectively over her body. The timing was perfect.
The spike slammed into the barrier of feathers, the force so immense that her wings began tearing apart. The ground quaked as Lana was pushed back, her feet skidding across the dirt, wings dragging and slicing trenches into the earth.
"ARGH!" she screamed, muscles straining. With a powerful heave, she swung her wings outward. The spike was deflected, ripping free of her defense and crashing into the ground with an explosive thud.
Panting heavily, Lana lowered her wings. Feathers, sharp and broken, drifted down from the torn edges as a frown carved its way onto her face.
"You took down weak humans and felt proud?" Zach sneered. "Let’s see how you fare against hybrids and hunters."
Spikes sprouted violently from his forearms, back, and stomach, gleaming with menace. Without hesitation, he launched himself forward at full speed, his friends charging alongside him.
"Kek! Bring it on!" the girls roared together. Lana’s wings sprang behind her, and in a flash, she shot forward, meeting Zach’s group head-on.
’For fuck’s sake, why the hell are you all fighting for me?! I don’t even interact with them properly!’ Max raged internally. His fists, weak and trembling, slammed against the ground as he stared at the deadly clash about to unfold before him.
The entire area quaked violently as Lana crashed into the center of the boys’ formation. They immediately split apart: Zach and the snake hybrid rushed at Lana, the sword-wielding hunter and another went for Jasmine, while the last two spear users lunged toward Daki.
And with that, the true battle of hunters began.
"Take that!" Zach roared as he fired a barrage of spikes toward Lana. She reacted instantly, pulling her wings in front of her like a shield, the sharp projectiles slamming against them harmlessly. Not a single flinch escaped her face as the impact echoed.
The wings lowered at just the right time, revealing a sudden threat—a long, slimy tongue thrusting toward her face like a spear.
She sprang upward, trying to take to the skies, but her feet were caught mid-motion. Zach’s hands clamped around her ankles, and with raw force he yanked her down, smashing her into the ground. The impact shook the earth, dust and fragments bursting outward.
The snake hybrid leapt at her immediately, fangs dripping with poison, aiming to sink them into her flesh. Lana rolled away in the nick of time, causing the hybrid to crash into the ground with a heavy thud. Without hesitation, she drove her wings into the earth, using them as leverage to propel herself forward.
Like a predator, she shot ahead and slammed her talons into the hybrid’s shoulders, piercing flesh and bone before swinging him violently. His body smashed into the ground behind him, the force cracking the earth deeply.
The man’s tongue lashed out again with terrifying speed, darting straight toward her face. Lana prepared to block it with her wings, but before she could, her defenses were suddenly seized.
Her wings were gripped tightly and coiled together, held back by immense strength.
"ARGHHHH!" she roared, struggling. A quick glance behind revealed Zach clutching her wings, refusing to let her defend herself. His face twisted with determination.
"Screw you!" she bellowed. In a sudden move, she released the hybrid pinned beneath her, grabbed hold of the darting tongue, and spun her body with brutal momentum. With a fierce motion, she hurled the snake hybrid directly toward Zach.
"Shit!" the snake hybrid cursed, panic flashing in his eyes. Zach, caught off guard, released Lana’s wings to dodge. The hybrid tried to reel his tongue back, but it was far too late.
Lana spun and delivered a devastating punch into Zach’s abdomen, the blow cracking through the air. Zach was sent skidding across the ground, groaning as he tumbled several meters away.
The snake hybrid staggered back to his feet, shoulders dripping with blood, pain etched across his face. Yet his fury outweighed the agony. With a loud hiss, he lunged at Lana once more, eyes burning with murderous intent.
With her wings free, Lana leapt into the air, barely dodging him. His tongue grazed against her feathers, narrowly missing its target. She retaliated instantly, spinning midair and releasing a storm of razor-sharp feathers.
The hybrid dashed wildly around the battlefield, barely keeping ahead of the deadly projectiles. Each feather hit the ground with explosive force, shattering soil and stone, clouds of dust rising with every strike. His agility kept him alive, but it forced him on the defensive, unable to counter.
Then Zach reentered the fray, his expression hardened. He thrust both palms forward, spikes erupting in rapid succession. The air whistled as they tore through the battlefield like arrows from a porcupine.
Lana shifted quickly, abandoning her offense. She twisted and weaved through the air, dodging with precision. Each spike flew past her face, close enough to scrape her skin, before vanishing into the distance. Fresh chapters posted on novel※fire.net
The snake hybrid regained his footing, crouching low before launching himself upward with blinding speed. His tongue shot out, snapping through the air like a whip toward Lana. She spun in midair, narrowly avoiding the strike.
That was when Zach’s grin widened.
He clapped his hands together, the sound echoing like a thunderclap. At once, a massive spike erupted and shot toward Lana with devastating force.
Now she was trapped. One attack came from above, the other from below. She had only a split second to decide—dodge the venomous tongue or the monstrous spike.