The raging flames devoured everything around us.

  Inevitably, the tidal surge of fire engulfed not only the enemies but Investigator Kong as well. He let out a panicked cry: “Ah!”

  Only then did I remember I hadn’t warned him. I hurriedly called out, “Don’t worry—my flames won’t hurt allies.”

  In truth, they didn’t harm him at all. Not even the ground or the nearby greenery caught fire. The all-destroying heat and blinding light targeted only my foes. As long as I willed it, the flames could operate under these selective rules, distinguishing friend from enemy with perfect precision.

  But the fight wasn’t over yet. The instant the three demons were obliterated, two more crawled out from distant shadows untouched by the blaze or glare.

  From that brief exchange, I had confirmed one thing: their combat ability fell far short of the fallen demon hunter from last night.

  They were just as massive, but their speed was noticeably slower, their mobility nowhere near the same level. At the very least, while charging, I didn’t have time to reposition my feet, but I could still raise my arm and make a symbolic gesture of attack. I couldn’t judge their offensive power since I’d taken them out before they could strike me. As for defense… the flames I’d unleashed would likely have had roughly the same effect on last night’s fallen demon hunter, so there was no clear difference there either.

  In short, the one from last night had probably been an elite among them. These were just fodder.

  The two new demons unleashed deafening roars and charged forward with reckless abandon, as though they didn’t care about their own lives.

  Doing so would only lead them to the same fate as the previous three.

  Considering how one of the earlier demons had used its burning comrade as a shield, they clearly possessed at least some intelligence despite their beastly appearance. I didn’t believe they were foolish enough to throw their lives away pointlessly. This blatant frontal assault—drawing so much attention to themselves—had to be a diversion.

  I didn’t turn around. Instead, I extended my awareness through the surrounding flames to sense what was happening behind me.

  Sure enough, a patch of shadow had crept silently along the ground to a point far behind me. That area was still within range of the firelight, yet the darkness remained completely unaffected, untouched by illumination. From within it, another demon emerged.

  Even now, that demon was carefully skirting the flames on the ground as it closed in on me. Masked by the roar of the burning fire and the charging bellows of the two in front, its enormous, lumbering body managed to carry out this stealth assassination attempt.

  My first instinct was to incinerate it on the spot, but then I reconsidered—this was the perfect opportunity.

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  Zhu Shi and Investigator Kong believed my only strength was raw destructive power. Here was my chance to demonstrate my tolerance for surprise attacks and ambushes. I had originally planned to use the evil spirit for this display, but it never showed. Now, fate had handed me exactly what I needed on a silver platter. No reason to let it slip.

  Fortunately, this demon wasn’t nearly as agile as the fallen demon hunter from last night. Even with the extra complication, I could still protect Investigator Kong.

  I raised my right hand toward the two charging demons ahead. The flames blanketing the ground surged at my command, rushing toward them like living waves and reducing them to ash in seconds.

  The moment the obstructing fire on the ground was cleared away, the demon behind me threw caution to the wind. It accelerated, closing the distance in a heavy rush.

  Both its arms transformed into long, mantis-like bone blades. They crossed in a scissoring motion aimed straight at my torso.

  I pretended not to notice, not even turning my head.

  But Investigator Kong had spotted it. His face drained of color as he shouted, “Watch out!”

  At the same instant, he pulled the trigger.

  Against last night’s fallen demon hunter, human-level reaction speed would never have been fast enough. Even if Investigator Kong’s mind registered the threat, his body couldn’t have kept up.

  But this one was different. A gunshot cracked through the air. Whatever special ammunition that revolver was loaded with, it knocked the massive demon off its trajectory mid-charge. It barreled past me, barely missing.

  As Investigator Kong himself had admitted, this was only an emergency weapon. It had disrupted the assault, but the damage was far from lethal.

  Realizing its ambush had failed, the demon let out a frustrated, guttural roar. If only it had pressed the attack in that moment—but no, it chose to disengage and flee toward the distance.

  I could only sigh, then cast a glance at its retreating back.

  The instant my gaze landed on it, a brief, lightning-like flash of fire erupted. Its body disintegrated into drifting ash.

  The battle was over. Every flame and unnatural disturbance faded away. Except for the scattered piles of ash on the ground, it was as though nothing had happened at all.

  In Investigator Kong’s words, this had been an “excessively easy slaughter.”

  Because of the precedent set by the fallen demon hunter, I couldn’t be absolutely certain these creatures weren’t once human. I had only assumed they weren’t, which let me kill without hesitation or guilt.

  But if the enemies just now had been ordinary humans—and if I had been forced to kill them—the practical difficulty would have been exactly the same. They would have died just as easily.

  In the face of this power, life felt so fragile… As I mentally replayed the scene, an indescribable feeling welled up inside me.

  “That scared the hell out of me. I really thought that thing was going to get me,” Investigator Kong said from beside me, exhaling in relief. “Z, you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  The moment I thought of how Investigator Kong had jumped in at the last second, my budding感慨 was replaced by speechlessness. Life really was full of frustrations. Maybe it was better not to force dramatic real-combat demonstrations. Or perhaps I could just show them my skills outright in a controlled setting—that would be a reasonable compromise.

  Of course, if possible, I still hoped for a more theatrical opportunity.

  I set aside the tangled thoughts and stepped forward, intending to examine the ash on the ground.

  What difference, if any, was there between the remains of an anomaly burned to ash and ordinary ash?

  But after only two steps, I froze involuntarily.

  Investigator Kong should have been standing right behind me. His shadow, cast by the sunlight at his back, stretched out in front of me. Yet the human-shaped shadow’s arms had somehow changed—elongated into what looked like a pair of long blades.

  I whipped around on instinct.

  Before I could bring him fully into view, the world spun violently. Sky and earth flipped. My vision slammed into the ground.

  A familiar yet alien headless torso toppled down beside me.

  I struggled to lift my gaze, trying to see who had attacked.

  Then, a heavy, merciless slash drove straight into my eye socket—shattering through bone and brain without mercy…