As the remaining two Light Chasers continued to follow the woman, a man suddenly stepped out from within the crowd and stared toward the Shadow Clan woman with cold eyes.
It was impossible to know what exact relationship existed between the two, but one thing was immediately obvious—
There was an irreconcilable hatred between them!
This man wore golden-patterned white robes layered beneath a heavy mantle that had been draped over his shoulders. He had a young face, but at the same time, he held no aura of youth, appearing more like an old monster rather than a young priest. Embroidered on his mantle was the crest of the Church of Light, intricate and radiant, depicting a sun-themed spear ascending alongside a blinding white phoenix. Even amidst the dust and chaos of the surroundings, the white fabric subtly shimmered with a holy light, naturally repelling dirt and dust from its surface.
He quietly watched the battle as it moved further and further away.
Then, with a single step—
Woosh!
He instantly vanished from his original spot!
-
Not far away—
The Shadow Clan woman continued shooting through the crowded streets, but suddenly her instincts screamed, and a piercing sense of danger tore into her head and overwhelmed her mind! Without a moment of hesitation, she violently shot to the side, nearly twisting her leg in the process!
At the same time, her hand immediately reached toward the strange tattoo wrapped around her neck.
Her eyes fiercely flashed.
As her gaze darkened, seemingly making a hard and desperate decision, she gritted her teeth before digging her fingers directly into her own flesh.
Rip!
Blood splattered as she violently tore a writhing black thread-like snake from beneath her skin!
As she pulled, it looked no different than ripping out a vein.
The small creature resembled a tiny serpent formed from condensed darkness and twisted runes. It sharply screeched while exuding a sinister and bloody aura. Without hesitation, she twisted her wrist and flicked, then hurled the bloody serpent toward her previous location.
Flash!
Directly where she had been a moment earlier, the man instantly appeared!
Without even a moment's thought, his hand shot to the side, snatching the screeching serpent directly from the air. The creature twisted violently, its long body wrapping around his fingers and entangling his hand. It screeched, creating a high-pitched sound that shook the soul. As it continued to wriggle and writhe, it suddenly bit down, burying its fangs into the man's hand! While trying to burrow beneath his skin, it tightened its grip, transforming into an inescapable vice that continued to rip and tear.
He looked down, his eyes flashing with an almost twisted intrigue as he watched the same black runes that formed the small snake start to spread across his skin.
"The 'Soul Binding Curse' of the Shadow Clans Royal Family? Heh!"
With a cold sneer, he clenched his fist!
Crack!
The black serpent, affected by some unknown power, was instantly dispersed into dust!
At the same time, the two Light chasers appeared from afar.
"Lord Yang!" the female Light Chaser shouted.
The young man, Lord Yang, looked at her and nodded, his eyes lingering on the black runes that dissipated between his fingers, then scattered in the wind.
This young priest, a prodigy among his peers, had arrived on the Cross Continent nearly two years ago…
Unlike the others from the Church of Light, he had not participated in the disaster that happened at Imai. Instead, he had been tasked with another important mission, contacting the four Mage Towers and securing assistance in tracking down the Witch who was rumored to live on the Cross Continent.
He was initially told to complete this task alone because, in a certain sense, it was a kind of 'advancement trial' that he needed to undergo in order to advance his position in the Church.
After the death of the Demon Hunter, Yang was instructed to investigate the cause of his death and finish his mission, which was to find and kill the Witch.
This 'Witch' was a bit vague, but it initially pointed him towards a young mage named Bell, who had been the Witch Hunters' target at the time. He didn't rush, instead, he slowly understood the situation, but because of conflicting information and 'a strange series of coincidences', things became 'a bit incoherent' and he was repeatedly delayed until he eventually lost her trail.
During the past year, he had collected many clues.
Most of these clues initially pointed towards a certain mage from the Sky Tower, but after further investigating, he had learned that the accusation against Bell was based on the unclear ramblings of an already dead apprentice. Aside from that, she didn't fit the full description of the person he had initially come to find, so he could only move on and continue his search.
…After taking Bell off his hit-list, he moved on!
Time passed just like that, and soon, an entire year had passed!
After failing to find anything conclusive, he could only arrive at one conclusion—
There was more than one Witch living on the Cross Continent!
Although he felt as if the world was out to git him, he did eventually reach this conclusion.
It wasn't that he had found nothing; instead, he had actually found a lot! Ahem, he believed that he had found a lot! Between the eyewitness reports from the Church of Light's hidden spies throughout the Cross Continent and a number of vague pieces of information he managed to gather over time, his understanding of the Witch he was hunting was just too great!
First, he knew that she existed…
Second, he knew that she was very young…
Third, he learned that she liked to wander from place to place, not interacting with people…
In reality, he was a bit desperate, impatiently following any leads he could find.
In the end, he concluded that there must be at least three Witches! That was the reason all his information contradicted itself, because it was not just from one person, it was from three!
Such a 'discovery' was disheartening, yet at the same time, it caused his blood to boil with greed.
If he could capture even one Witch, then his status within the Church of Light would undoubtedly skyrocket. If he could uncover two or more—
Then perhaps he could ascend to an unprecedented level, immediately gaining great authority and prestige! Mm, those had originally been his thoughts...
Unfortunately—
Even after an entire year, he had failed to 'capture' a single Witch…
Not to mention capturing one, he couldn't even find one!
It was like they didn't exist at all, and if not for the initial information from the Church of Light he had received before his departure, then he would have started to doubt himself.
What Lord Yang did not know was that his conclusion had been wrong from the very beginning.
There were not three witches on the Cross Continent, there were five, and every single one of them had already been 'inevitably' 'guided' towards Petra by a certain unseen hand!
As for these 'traces' that Lord Yang had found.
They naturally referred to small points of dispersed aura filled with the darkness element. In other words, whenever Petra, Bell, or the other three acted, even if a lot of time had passed, there would always be a certain lack of 'something', which he could use to deduce their existence.
It was like when Petra used poison to kill a person. Although all traces of poison were usually cleaned up, the damage it caused to the natural environment was still there.
Witches themselves were also far more complicated creatures than most people understood.
Over the countless years that Pillomal had existed, the term 'Witch' had slowly distorted.
Depending on the era, it could refer to powerful dark-element mages, mind-type controllers, seductresses, female demons, or beings that were born purely from the dark element. In short, if they were female with a dark affinity, then they were a potential Witch! What the Church of Light was hunting was not the Witch Race, it was any female practitioner who met this description. If one was found, then they would be screened, and if they showed 'certain traits', they would be killed.
The Church of Light hunted them down without even a moment of hesitation!
But none of them were truly members of the Witch Race.
Of course, they didn't know this…
The actual Witch Race was something far older and far stranger, and even the Church of Light possessed very little real information regarding where the bloodline originally came from or how it worked.
As for why, this could be traced back to the events surrounding the First Demon King.
But that was a story for another time…
-
Anyways—
The moment Lord Yang realized that the Shadow Clan assassin could detect him through danger sense alone, he understood that trying to catch her off guard would be extremely difficult.
Because he could not openly slaughter the nearby civilians—
He needed to overwhelm her in one quick burst!
Making this decision, he stepped forward one more time.
Woosh!
His body vanished in a flash of white light, leaving the remaining two Light Chasers behind.
Then—
Flash!
In an instant, he reappeared directly in front of the fleeing assassin.
The Shadow Clan woman abruptly halted as Lord Yang stared at her with cold eyes and an almost emotionless expression.
Step!
He slowly walked forward.
Step!
The woman's expression darkened.
Step!
Their eyes met, and an invisible tension slowly spread through the streets, creating a tangible pressure, and carrying a hatred so thick that even the nearby civilians instinctively retreated.
The woman from the Shadow Clan gritted her teeth.
After quickly looking over her shoulder, she immediately realized that the remaining two Light Chasers were already moving to encircle her from behind. Lord Yang blocked the front, and the two Light Chasers sealed the rear. With the encirclement continuously tightening, escaping had suddenly become incredibly difficult, at least without slaughtering the crowd.
Step!
Each step seemed to carry an earthshaking boom!
Her heart pounded in her chest, and her mind spun with possibilities.
She knew that escaping was the most important, but she didn't want to leave the capital, instead, she wanted the people from the palace to personally intervene. If that could happen, then she would not have to worry about her safety for the next few days. Then, and only then, would the Church of Light back off and leave her alone.
The female member of the Shadow Clan looked left and right before slowly lowering her body into a crouched stance, preparing to pounce like a cornered predator.
She had no more time to think, she could only hope for help.
Lord Yang stepped forward, and golden light immediately burst from his body in rapid waves, illuminating the surrounding streets with a sacred glow. At the same time, the two remaining Light Chasers split apart and shot toward both sides, attempting to seal her movements completely.
Swoosh!
The Shadow Clan assassin instantly flashed toward the left, but almost immediately—
Lord Yang intercepted her!
With a swing of his arm, a spear formed entirely from condensed light manifested within his grip.
The Shadow Clan woman's eyes narrowed.
Clang!
She raised her arm and violently deflected the spear away from her body using her dagger! In almost the exact same instant, her foot shot backwards from behind, lifting her cloak, and collided with the lance of a Light Chaser attempting to ambush her from her blind spot.
Bang!
The force caused the Light Chaser to stagger back slightly, and before the second Light Chaser could close in from behind, the woman suddenly spun.
Swoosh!
Using the momentum of her own body, she launched herself up into the air!
Her hand snapped downward and seized the tip of Lord Yang's light spear, then, using the spear as a pivot point, she completely flipped over his body, while her trailing leg followed through and violently kicked the flanking Light Chaser directly in the chest.
Bang!
The man was blasted backward!
At the same time, Lord Yang narrowed his eyes and swung the light spear upward, trying to chase her, but the Shadow Clan assassin met the attack with the sole of her foot! Bang! The instant they collided, Lord Yang's eyes sharpened.
He noticed it immediately, the soles of the woman's boots were layered with a strange silver metal that actively repelled light-element elemental energy!
'So that's how she avoided our detection spell…' He muttered, his eyes flashing with light.
Without hesitation, he released the spear entirely, allowing it to be thrown away! Whoosh! The holy weapon flew through the air and was impaled deep into a nearby stone wall. Simultaneously, Lord Yang's hand moved toward his waist!
Swish!
A silver blade slid free from its sheath!
The sword gleamed with a sharp and oppressive light as he swung directly toward the assassin!
Clang!
The Shadow Clan woman raised her dagger to block, but the moment the weapons collided, her expression changed completely! A terrifying force transferred directly up her arm and violently launched her backward, shaking her organs in the process!
Crash!
Her body smashed through a nearby wall, causing dust and rubble to explode outward into the street…