Chapter 1 Before the Door Opened

Even before the door opened, Hao Ren didn't feel particularly tense. Although his professional training instilled a cautious mindset that prompted him to signal everyone to stay away, he didn't expect much danger lurked behind the door. This wasn't mere carelessness; the surrounding environment subtly lulled everyone into a false sense of security. As far as they could tell, the entire outer perimeter of the experimental base was intact, as pristine as new. It didn't seem like it had suffered any external intrusion or internal meltdown. It was as if the personnel evacuated in haste for some other reason.

However, he never completely dropped his guard, and this reserve of vigilance proved useful. Before the door fully opened, he suddenly felt a tightening in his heart, a sense of crisis washed over him. He dodged to the side while shouting a warning, "Get back! Danger!"

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, a beam of white light shot out from the door like lightning. This light seemed to cleave through space, leaving countless dark fissures in the air along its path. The white light angled downwards, and though it vanished in an instant, it left a shocking scorched mark on the alloy floor, which was stronger than any alloy on Earth.

The power of a single strike was almost equivalent to a small plasma cannon!

But thanks to Hao Ren's initial instruction for everyone to stay away from the door and his timely warning when it opened, the tremendous blast didn't result in fatal consequences. Only one mage apprentice, unable to dodge in time, was injured by the aftermath of the explosion. The arcane shield, hastily erected, failed to block the high-temperature, high-pressure air blast. The unlucky apprentice was thrown several meters, hitting the wall headfirst.

In an instant, Hao Ren retrieved two spears from his dimensional pocket—the Plasma Battle-Blade and the divine spear Gungnir. He landed nimbly, holding the two spears in front of him, one slightly ahead of the other, and looked towards the now fully open doorway.

A humanoid figure, engulfed in pale flames, charged out.

All anyone saw was a flash of white light, and Hao Ren was already engaged in close combat with the white figure, wielding his spears. They heard only a continuous series of air explosions. The enemy, burning from head to toe, wasn't even able to show its face because he, or she, had their entire appearance covered by the holy flame. Hao Ren felt his eyes blurring, all he saw were the chaotic afterimages of the opponent's attacks, and it was almost impossible to keep up with the fighting rhythm with his vision alone. He relied solely on his demigod-level intuition and physical strength to resist the enemy's frantic assault!

Although the two spears were created by mortals, one was the culmination of all Aerym Elven technology and had undergone a series of Hao Ren's own subsequent enhancements. The other was simply a legendary weapon from Earth, the strongest armament of the Norse Aesir. As weapons, they already surpassed any material on Holletta. However, after dozens of exchanges with the flaming enemy, Hao Ren noticed signs of heat-induced deformation in both spears!

He had tested ordinary demon hunter holy flames with these two weapons before, and this had never happened!

Seizing a brief opportunity, he quickly retreated, returning the two spears to his dimensional pocket. At the same time, the enemy wreathed in pale flames didn't miss the chance to pursue, letting out a bizarre howl, lunging forward like a tiger or wolf hunting its prey!

Hao Ren twisted his upper body, reaching behind him. A dark longsword, its surface rippling with countless starlight, appeared out of thin air. He spun halfway around, extending the blade from an angle that would normally be a blind spot, aiming for the enemy's ribs.

However, the enemy seemed to have no blind spots, detecting the attack. Its body instantly scattered into countless silver-white sparks, which then teleported dozens of meters away, reforming on the other side of the hall.

But this finally gave Hao Ren a moment to breathe, and he was able to see the enemy's appearance—at least its general shape.

It was truly a "person" burning with raging holy flames. The flames were silver-white or white-gold, extremely similar in form to the holy flames used by demon hunters, but even purer and more powerful. The flames coalesced, vaguely outlining the graceful curves of a woman, finally allowing Hao Ren to understand that his attacker was male or female—although gender seemed meaningless to the other party, as she was entirely composed of these flames, lacking any facial features or physical details. This state reminded him of Bai Huo's ultimate skill: the Holy Flame Avatar.

However, compared to Bai Huo, who could only temporarily maintain the holy flame form, this creature was clearly more powerful. At least in controlling the holy flames, she had reached the point of truly "becoming fire."

Perhaps she was truly a mass of holy flame energy with a humanoid form. After all, this was where the ancient magic empire "developed" the demon hunters. It wouldn't be surprising if some strange experimental byproduct appeared.

Such chaotic thoughts flashed through Hao Ren's mind, but his movements didn't slow down in the slightest. He instantly drew another Godslaying Sword (the one with autism), crossing both swords in front of him while shouting, "Vivian! Lily!"

The trio, well-coordinated from numerous collaborations, formed up instantly. Without Hao Ren needing to give detailed instructions, the husky spirit and the vampire girl launched their attack. Lily drew Frostmourne and Fire's Great Joy, charging at the enemy like a spinning storm. Vivian flew into the air, refraining from attacking immediately, instead using her swarm of bats to create orbs of powerful lightning energy, waiting for Lily's strong attack to force an opening, then hammering the enemy with a round of lightning orbs.

Hao Ren, wielding both swords, kept pace with Lily: If Lily's assault succeeded, he would join in to beat the dog in the water; if Lily encountered trouble, he could provide support.

The trio's attacks were coordinated and measured, but the "Holy Flame Avatar" wasn't easy to deal with. When Lily swung her ice and fire blades at her, she once again resorted to the same trick, suddenly exploding into a storm of flames, and instantly teleporting to the other side of the hall.

Hao Ren felt a headache coming on: The most infuriating ability of demon hunters, a completely unreasonable bug-like talent: teleportation with no cost, no cooldown, no casting time, and random flashes within line of sight!

How could those magic emperors that sat on the smoke in the past endow a mortal species with such heaven-defying abilities!

The Holy Flame Avatar instantly completed its teleportation and reformation. This time, it landed right near a group of mage apprentices. These apprentices were clearly still inexperienced and lacked practical combat experience. Faced with an enemy that suddenly appeared before their eyes, they were somewhat dazed, until one of them was sent flying by a sudden energy explosion, his bones broken. Only then did they react, frantically applying various magical protections to themselves.

But fortunately, their mentor reacted much faster than them. Archmage Haymer had retrieved an unadorned hardwood staff from somewhere. He pointed this staff at the "Holy Flame Avatar," uttering a word so obscure it was almost impossible to pronounce with the human voice.

Several beams of colorful light descended from the sky, trapping the "Holy Flame Avatar" as if in a cage. Countless tiny sparks of energy erupted between the beams, filling the gaps in the blink of an eye, forming a solid seal.

The Holy Flame Avatar, temporarily trapped, let out an angry roar. Its form seemed to become unstable, and it began to unleash fire jets similar to solar flares. These flares bombarded the energy barrier, causing it to emit a series of grating cracking sounds.

Hao Ren immediately shouted a warning, "The barrier can't hold her! She's naturally resistant to all binding spells!"

Another bug-like talent of demon hunters: natural affinity for all magic, natural resistance to all magic, and the ability to break free from almost any seal based on pure energy.

This was why they were called caster killers on Earth. Even on Holletta, the "ancient species" of the same origin as demon hunters had the same reputation.

Haymer wasn't ignorant of the powerful talents of those "ancient species" in the world. If faced with a normal ancient species, he would naturally choose a more cautious approach. But the situation was too sudden, and this "flame person" that had appeared was vastly different from the traditional impression of ancient species. The archmage didn't connect the two at once: he thought this was just an out-of-control energy creature that had escaped from an ancient laboratory. This situation wasn't uncommon; he had faced it once or twice. And the "Elemental Barrier" was indeed the most effective solution against energy creatures.

But it couldn't trap the holy flame of a demon hunter.

After several impacts from the flame jets, the energy structure of the elemental barrier collapsed. Almost the instant it shattered, countless silver-white flames danced and leaped, disappearing from everyone's sight in the blink of an eye.

"Everyone, be careful!" Hao Ren, holding both swords, was on high alert. "She's still in the hall. Her spatial teleportation is limited to the range of sight! Becky, lead the knights to guard the exit, prevent her from forcing her way out!"

Becky reacted immediately, leading a group of knights towards the entrance door. The door had been closed by Haymer after everyone entered, but now it had lost its magical enchantment, and it was, at best, a stronger-than-average door panel. If unguarded, the monster would likely break through it directly.

"This sword thinks that the guy might have sneaked away," the Godslaying Sword babbled. "Look, it's been several seconds, and she hasn't shown up. Maybe she can also pass through walls while invisible, and then watch you guys strike poses from outside...what do you say, buddy?"

The World-Rending Blade trembled, emitting a brief syllable: "Oh."

But just as Hao Ren began to have doubts about this, Lily suddenly shouted, "She's definitely still here—I can feel it!"