The battle that erupted inside the residential complex was deafening—shockwaves from my flames, the demon ripping a streetlamp out of the ground and hurling it. In terms of peak noise level from a single event, ordinary construction work had nothing on this kind of disturbance.

  It didn't take long before residents from the surrounding buildings started appearing on balconies and at windows, craning their necks to see what was going on.

  To avoid getting stopped or questioned, I hurried out of the neighborhood.

  All the while, I kept close watch on the demon's movements a kilometer away.

  After plunging into the river, the demon quickly realized something was terribly wrong. Just like those underwater burning demonstrations from high-school chemistry class, the flames coiled around its body showed no sign of extinguishing.

  That grotesque goat-like face contorted into an expression of utter terror and despair. Amid the hellish searing pain, it expelled a frantic series of panicked bubbles. Then, thrashing desperately, it dragged itself onto the deserted riverbank and unleashed another heart-rending howl.

  You could see it wanted desperately to do something—anything—but had no clue what. Fleeing my line of sight and diving underwater still hadn't put out the flames. Calm thinking was impossible; the burning agony had probably turned its brain to boiling mush.

  Its only remaining escape route was the cave in that fifteenth-floor room. If it could get down there, it might sever my link to the flames. But either it hadn't thought of that, or it didn't know how to open the cave or understand its unique properties.

  After screaming for a few moments, it finally scraped together a fragment of reason and bolted again—heading farther away from the neighborhood.

  What an incredibly resilient body, and an equally stubborn survival instinct. A normal human burned to this degree would have had their willpower completely crushed long ago—though, to be fair, I've never actually tested that.

  Honestly, I felt a bit disappointed by the actual performance this demon was putting on.

  From the beginning of the fight until now, everything it showed me had been purely physical techniques. Even the shadow attack earlier—despite looking visually mysterious and otherworldly—ultimately just manifested as physical blades stabbing at me. Wasn't that kind of dull? Didn't it have any weirder, more uncanny abilities?

  Was this the standard way of fighting in whatever world it came from? Or was it simply a low-tier minion?

  Judging by the choice it was making now, it probably suspected it still wasn't far enough from me, which was why the burning continued. Pointless—even if it escaped to the other side of the planet, it wouldn't matter. But I still intended to collect it later, so I couldn't let it run too far.

  I paused where I was, raised my right palm toward the distant point a kilometer away, and clenched it tightly.

  Among the flames enveloping its body, the ones coating the outside of its legs suddenly surged inward under my control, burrowing aggressively into the muscle like living things.

  A thunderous explosion—its legs detonated on the spot. Its body couldn't stop in time and, carried by momentum, crashed clumsily into the woods beside the road, tumbling a long distance before finally grinding to a halt.

  It pressed both hands against the leaf-covered dirt, pushing itself upright. I had no intention of setting the surroundings ablaze, so even though it had fallen amid highly flammable material while wreathed in fire, the flames showed no sign of spreading. It glanced back at its exploded, severed legs and suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.

  "Z, you're watching me, aren't you!?" It lifted its head toward the empty night sky and howled madly. "If you've got the guts… if you've got the guts, just put me out of my misery! Kill me already!"

  "No can do," I replied from a kilometer away, even though I knew it couldn't hear. "You're still useful."

  Moments later, I reached the patch of woods where the demon lay.

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  It was sprawled motionless on the ground, charred black all over like cooling coals with faint embers still glowing. It looked dead, but I knew it was alive. Aside from its legs, I'd only let the flames destroy skin and muscle—deliberately sparing the vital organs. I could even sense through the flames that it was consciously keeping its breathing shallow and controlled.

  Perhaps the burning had numbed so many of its pain receptors that it barely felt anything anymore. Out of curiosity, I'd once looked this up online (let's not discuss why). Human pain receptors are concentrated in the epidermis and dermis, so deeper burns don't always hurt more proportionally—some severe burn victims actually feel less pain. I had no idea whether this demon's physiology worked the same way.

  "You're still conscious," I said aloud, starting the conversation. "I have some questions. If you're willing to answer, I can hold off on burning you for now."

  No response. I took a few steps closer. When the distance between us shrank to four or five meters, it suddenly braced both arms against the ground, launched itself upward, and flew straight at me.

  "Z—!!" The roar was thick with murky, seething hatred.

  This had to be its final, desperate lunge. I'd anticipated it, so I wasn't surprised. But what happened next completely blindsided me.

  Right as I prepared to counter, a streak of white light shot out from behind me, brushing past my shoulder and slamming directly into the demon's torso. The creature flew backward like a soccer ball hammered by a powerful kick, crashing into a nearby tree hard enough to bend the trunk.

  This time, it didn't seem to be faking—it had genuinely lost consciousness.

  Who the hell did that?

  I spun around immediately.

  From the other side of the woods, a figure holding a longsword slowly approached.

  Clouds drifted across the night sky, finally parting to reveal the moon. Moonlight poured into the bamboo grove, illuminating the figure's features.

  It was someone dressed like an ancient wandering swordsman—brown-black straw rain cape, matching wide-brimmed hat, a black-and-red scabbard slung across their back. The longsword was held in hand, tip angled toward the ground, radiating a constant air of readiness to strike.

  Judging by how they'd just intervened to help, they probably weren't hostile. Honestly, I thought it was unnecessary—I had everything under control—but being aided out of nowhere by a mysterious stranger felt oddly refreshing. I couldn't muster any resentment. Still, even if I didn't see them as an enemy, they might not feel the same about me. Maybe I should introduce myself first and make my intentions clear.

  "Hello," I said, speaking up. "I'm—"

  Suddenly, the figure seemed to get a clear look at my face and let out a startled cry. "Z?"

  It was a young woman's voice—and it sounded familiar.

  "You know me?" I asked, surprised. "Who are you?"

  She hesitated for a moment, then reached up and removed her hat, revealing her face.

  The moment I saw it, I was even more stunned—more shocked than when I'd first encountered the demon. The emotional surge was far greater.

  The face that appeared was someone I knew.

  In my memory, that face had always looked gentle and compliant—evoking quiet streams, clear springs, misty lake surfaces, like a serene ink painting. Most of the time, she seemed to go out of her way to avoid any conflict in relationships.

  Now the features were unchanged, but the aura was completely different—like a formidable swordswoman, ready to confront any dispute with direct, crisp resolve.

  "…Zhu Shi?" I spoke her name.

  It was Chang'an's younger sister, Zhu Shi.

  "You…" She glanced hesitantly between me and the fallen demon nearby, her voice full of disbelief. "…did you take this thing down?"

  "No, that last hit was you."

  I knew what she really meant—I was just buying a few seconds to steady the storm inside me.

  "I mean all these accumulated burns on its body…" At first, her tone still carried disbelief.

  But gradually, she regained her composure, and her voice steadied. "—Did you do all of that?"

  The way she spoke now was completely different from the Zhu Shi I remembered—even the pitch had changed. Comparing them, her old manner of speaking had felt a little forced, like she was playing the sweet, obedient role. Maybe this was her true self all along.

  I'd more or less calmed down too. While analyzing the current version of her, I gave a firm nod. "Yeah. That was me."

  She studied me for a moment, then sheathed her sword on her own initiative and asked tentatively, "Are you a demon hunter too?"

  "Too?… I'm not in that line of work." I answered. "If I had to label it, I'd say I'm more of a superhuman."

  "That still counts as a demon hunter," she said.

  Counts as? This wasn't the first time I'd heard the term "demon hunter"—it sounded like a profession. Just possessing unusual powers, without actually working in the field, still qualified someone as a "demon hunter"? It felt off to me, and the word itself triggered an association.

  No wonder her voice sounded so familiar—it was identical to the female demon hunter I'd heard speaking to Agent Kong on the phone earlier today.

  Zhu Shi was that demon hunter woman!

  Amid the shock, I immediately realized one thing—

  The demon hunter woman—Zhu Shi—worked for Luoshan, which was very likely an official supernatural organization. That meant it would be difficult for me to keep this demon to myself now, right?

  Was there a way to snatch the demon back… No, that was shortsighted. An official supernatural organization had finally revealed itself right in front of me, and here I was still fixated on some unknown demon. If I wanted information about the strange world, wouldn't it be far better to ask them directly?

  And conveniently, Zhu Shi was my friend's little sister. With that connection, it was practically heaven-sent!

  I immediately focused all my attention on her.

  "I forgot to reintroduce myself properly." Zhu Shi spoke in a very formal tone. "I'm a demon hunter with Luoshan, responsible for security in this area. Regarding the matter of you defeating a fallen demon hunter, I have many questions I'd like to ask. Are you available to talk right now?"