Chapter 122: The True Hunter

"Tell me what is going on." Wang Yu flicked his hand, kicked the headless corpse of the ranger aside, and ordered Homiene in a stern tone to explain the situation.

The images conveyed to him by the Lady of the Night were limited; he only knew that these members of the Nightfall Church were being hunted, but beyond that, he remained in the dark.

"Archbishop Wang Yu, it seems that the gangs who capture non-humans as merchandise have discovered that our church has been gathering a large number of them. I don't know who leaked the information, but they seem intent on capturing us alive to find the location of the Nightfall Church."

Homiene, who had taken a hard fall, stood up with some difficulty and explained the current situation in short, rapid sentences.

"The orcs who came out with me are currently using their berserker rage to buy me time, but I never expected them to have an official knight with the ranger class. If it weren't for you, Mr. Wang Yu, I would be dead."

Homiene then informed Wang Yu of the orcs' plight.

"Oh... I will go and see. You should head back with the others from the church." Once Wang Yu understood what was happening, he made an immediate decision. The Lady of the Night had notified not only him but also the people within the church.

It was only because he possessed the "Gap" ability, allowing for high-speed movement, that he had arrived at this location near one of the entrances to the Shadow of the Royal City faster than the others, saving Homiene in the process.

"Mr. Wang Yu." Two figures had already arrived on the other side of the alley. A black panther leaped nimbly across the surrounding rooftops, landing beside Wang Yu after a few bounds, followed closely by the ranger elf, Wena.

"Take Homiene back. I will go check on those orcs; if I can save them, I will." Wang Yu turned, preparing to depart.

"Archbishop, please let me accompany you. The Spiderweb gang is quite formidable. While I trust in your strength, having me along will provide extra support." The panther transformed into human form—it was Homiene's grandfather, the druid Holo.

Although he spoke tactfully, it was clear he harbored concerns about Wang Yu's strength. Due to Wang Yu's unique constitution, his battle aura levels were very low, and the strength he projected was merely that of an intermediate apprentice knight.

"Fine. Let Wena take Homiene back, and you come with me." Wang Yu did not bother to explain his true power; having Holo as an assistant had its benefits.

For a druid capable of shapeshifting, their greatest asset was no longer their own physical strength, but their powerful support abilities that could bestow natural protection.

Holo could provide Wang Yu with significant help, and the reason he had previously told Holo and Wena to return was not out of arrogance, but because there was truly no great need for them to assist him—after all, Zig was also with Wang Yu.

Homiene and Wena had no objections, and Wang Yu and Holo reached an agreement.

With the arrangements settled, Wang Yu and Holo set off without a moment's delay, and Holo soon discovered that he had absolutely underestimated the strength of this Archbishop.

His powerful physique allowed Wang Yu to traverse the complex and chaotic underground city at high speed, using every protrusion and groove as a springboard for acceleration.

Moving with agility, leaping across railings, eaves, and pipes, Wang Yu used the ripple technique to scout the path ahead. Like someone with foresight, he found his next foothold with precision no matter how tricky the terrain. To Wang Yu, the labyrinthine underground city was not much different from open ground.

Holo, following behind, grew increasingly astonished. Wang Yu’s physical fitness already met the standards of an official knight, granting him sufficient speed even without activating his blood-burning drive. Combined with the ripple technique's scouting, his ability to predict the path made his movement through the city terrifyingly fast.

Even the agile and flexible black panther form could only just barely keep up with Wang Yu's pace, and Holo finally understood why Wang Yu had deemed it unnecessary for him and Wena to follow.

A loud roar echoed in the distance. Wang Yu stepped onto a pipe and vaulted up, reaching the top of an alchemy workshop. This workshop was a tall tower, much higher than the surrounding buildings, allowing Wang Yu a simple bird's-eye view of the city.

His mental energy engaged the Weaver's Grimoire, changing the spells prepared within. "Eye of Observation." With a surge of magic, a glowing cross-shaped pupil formed in Wang Yu's right eye. Closing his left, the cross-ring rotated, rapidly magnifying the distant scene.

Several orcs were charging and punching in a chaotic frenzy, their skin turning from green to red, signaling that they had fallen into a mindless berserker state.

The destructive power of the berserk orcs was astonishing. Sacrificing their sanity for immense strength and immunity to pain, they wantonly destroyed everything around them; walls collapsed, pipes twisted, and even the ground was cratered by their fists.

But it was to no avail. Several gang members bearing spider insignias were maneuvering through the buildings above the orcs, repeatedly throwing iron projectiles that looked like darts.

The orcs were thick-skinned, and these attacks only drew blood and caused minor wounds. However, as the damage accumulated, their skin became covered in dense, tiny lacerations that bled continuously. Teased and besieged, the orcs' condition was rapidly deteriorating.

Spiderweb had contingency plans for capturing every race: using their familiarity with the terrain to ambush elves, provoking dwarves into traps for group beatings, and for orcs—a powerful but mindless race—they were easiest to wear down and toy with.

The orcs' berserker state was itself an exhausting act, and with the constant addition of external wounds, they would soon collapse and become prisoners.

Only a few of them, even in their rage, knew to throw nearby objects at the buildings where the Spiderweb members were leaping.

However, the Spiderweb members capable of such capture missions were quite skilled. The heavy objects thrown by the orcs were powerful but far too slow compared to the tiny darts thrown by the gang members, allowing them to dodge with ease.

Under the sustained siege, the orcs' breathing grew heavy, and their constant, angry roars began to falter. Clearly, they could not hold out much longer.

"These disgusting vermin are everywhere. Mr. Holo, can you cast Eagle Eye on me?" Wang Yu dissipated the cross-ring in his right eye and turned to ask Holo.

"No problem." Holo did not hesitate. Drawing upon druidic power, he cast Eagle Eye on Wang Yu, replacing the dissipated "Eye of Observation."

Wang Yu locked onto the Spiderweb members surrounding the orcs. He took a stance, arcs of electricity dancing in his hands. A golden spear made of flickering lightning coalesced in his grip.

Thunder Spear, one of only two third-tier spells in the Weaver's Grimoire, was also Wang Yu's only means of attacking from a great distance. Without replacing the magic crystals, his energy reserves could only sustain ten uses.

Lightning gathered in Wang Yu's hands, ionizing the surrounding air and causing a slight tingling sensation in his palms. Aiming and predicting the target's movement, he threw the thunder spear from the tower top toward a Spiderweb member who had momentarily paused.

The light of the lightning flashed across the sky. After the flash came the impact. A key feature of the Thunder Spear was its speed; before the gang member, who hadn't been watching the distance, could react, the spear had struck his head, wreathed in powerful electrical energy.

A brief pause followed as the spear dissipated upon impact, turning into arcs of electricity that surged into the man's body. The heat from the violent current scorched his head black, but that was merely a side effect.

The Thunder Spear spell was designed to target living beings; in terms of pure physical destruction, this third-tier spell was inferior to most second-tier spells. The current surged mercilessly into the enemy's brain.

The stray arcs of electricity incinerated the man's fragile brain almost instantly. His body twitched and then stiffened, falling from the building, only to be torn into two by the enraged orcs below.

"Attack! There's a hostile mage! Find him and close the distance to kill him!" A Spiderweb member stopped, turning his head to scan the surroundings. He appeared to be a scout, and his keen observation quickly spotted Wang Yu on the distant tower, lightning gathering in his hands once more.

"Oh no!" A sense of impending doom flashed through his mind. The next moment, his brain was reduced to a lump of charred organic matter by another cruel thunder spear from Wang Yu. Stopping to look was his fatal mistake.

"That tower! It's a mage. Which gang is he from, or is he an accomplice of those orcs?"

"Forget the orcs! Kill the mage first! The profit from these orcs and the non-human nest tipped off by those kingdom lapdogs isn't worth as much as killing or capturing a mage. Move! Close in on him, and he'll have nowhere to run."

"Go! Once these orcs come out of their berserker state, they'll be unable to move due to blood loss and the aftereffects of the rage. It won't be too late to collect the goods after we deal with the mage."

Although Wang Yu had swiftly killed the scout, the Spiderweb members were observant. After witnessing the scout's death, they identified Wang Yu's position, quickly found cover, and shifted their focus.

A mage was a symbol of wealth—a profession that burned gold, second only to alchemists. Capturing one was far more profitable than selling a dozen non-humans.

After all, the non-human trade involved layers of commissions during transit, leaving the captors with little profit. A mage, however, was a high-value asset.

They quickly abandoned the orcs, who could only roar in impotent rage below, and the Spiderweb members, familiar with the city's architecture, converged on the alchemy workshop from all sides.

Using a special observation spell unique to the Spiderweb organization, they could view the area from above and confirmed that Wang Yu had not left the vicinity.

Within two minutes, they arrived at the workshop and began a well-coordinated siege of the "mage."

Some members began nimbly climbing the tower, their sharp climbing tools scarring the surface. Others spread out around the perimeter to prevent the mage from escaping.

While a mage might have countermeasures when engaged in close quarters, they were generally inferior to other classes in that regard. A mage's strength lay in their terrifying destructive power. Thus, despite their rarity, killing an unprotected mage was quite easy.

However, they never imagined they were facing a knight with specialized physical enhancements who had just gained the ability to cast spells.

As a dozen Spiderweb members reached the halfway point, Wang Yu leaped from the top of the tower. Before they could react to the mage jumping toward them, Wang Yu activated his second third-tier spell: Purgatory Cannon.

Scorching flames erupted beneath his feet, the dazzling fire providing a massive burst of acceleration. With the combined force of propulsion and gravity, he blurred through the air, appearing instantly beside the climbing gang members.

Second stage: Cannon. A massive amount of fire elemental energy had already accumulated in Wang Yu's palm. Utilizing his high speed, he pressed his burning palm against the chest of an unlucky soul. The cannon detonated, the fire elements turning into a violent, unidirectional blast at point-blank range.

The explosive force pierced the man's chest, leaving a charred hole before detonating behind him, engulfing the other Spiderweb members in the flames and shockwave.

"Cough! Volley!" A shout rang out from the fire. The climbing members did not panic; they pressed themselves against the tower's surface, dodging the subsequent shots.

The mage had jumped down to use a high-power spell at close range, which meant he would inevitably be falling through the air—a moment where he could not dodge the crossbows and darts prepared by the members below.

Before the fire could dissipate, the members below were already pulling their triggers. Suddenly, the ground collapsed. Thick, sturdy vines burst from the earth, entangling the Spiderweb members. The unstable ground and the vine attack caused their shots to fly wildly off-target.

Holo, in his black panther form, lunged from the shadows, the hatred and fury in his beastly eyes clear. His sharp claws swept across, and a Spiderweb member fell, clutching a spurting throat. The panther vanished into the alley, leaving the remaining members with no energy to spare for the threat above.

Above, Wang Yu's slaughter had only just begun. He was not helpless in mid-air; the unique environment of the Shadow of the Royal City made manipulating wizard power incredibly simple. The void energy beneath his feet acted as a foothold, turning him into a true walker of the sky.

He kicked one member's head into a ruin against the tower wall, then sent a wind blade flying to sever another's safety rope, sending him screaming to his death.

Watching Wang Yu sprint toward them on invisible steps, the remaining Spiderweb members were filled with terror. The hunters they had always played had, in this moment, become the prey.

(Only now, writing this, do I realize just how terrifying a knight with spellcasting abilities truly is. To call it a qualitative leap is an understatement. ╭(°A°`)╮)