Chapter 7: Fateful Encounter.

Realizing the path ahead was blocked, Suna hid in a nearby abandoned house, weighing her options.

Should she immediately change routes to another hidden entrance to the underground ruins, or wait patiently for the female demon hunter to leave?

[I’d better get out now to avoid trouble.]

After a moment’s thought, Suna made her decision.

She pulled a tool from her small backpack as a precaution, then moved to exit through the side door into an adjacent alley.

But as a gust of wind approached, a shrill creak sounded from the steps outside the house.

“Stop right there!”

“Eek!”

Feigning fright and freezing, Suna half-turned, inwardly cursing her luck.

At the same time, she readied herself for close combat.

The female demon hunter stopped five meters away.

“You’re under investigation. If the magic tool clears you, we’ll let you go.”

Facing the hunter’s stern words, Suna adopted a cowering, fearful demeanor.

As the hunter pulled out a silver orb embedded with a magic crystal and tossed it toward her, a male hunter rushed up.

“Tylan, you’re too fast…”

As the orb hit the ground, his words briefly distracted her.

Suna seized the moment, opening her mouth toward Tylan and her companion.

A ring with an opal in her mouth unleashed a blinding light, painting everything stark white.

Caught off guard, Tylan lost her vision temporarily but instinctively unleashed a wide-range attack.

“Sloth Feather Barrage.”

Black feathers tinged with purple fanned out like a rain of arrows.

Suna, crouching low, dodged most of them.

Her left hand sprouted a bone shield, deflecting the sharp feathers as she charged Tylan.

Reverting to her original size, Suna’s left hand morphed into a bone blade, slashing at Tylan’s neck.

Tylan parried with a drawn knife, but Suna followed with a swift, heavy kick to her abdomen.

Tylan flew backward, crashing into her companion and tumbling outside.

The kick carried a disorienting curse, making Tylan feel like a boat in a storm, her senses scrambled, barely able to stand.

Yet, relying on magic perception, she prepared to fight, despite her vision being white and her ears filled with noise.

After ten seconds with no further attack, Tylan realized she’d been outmaneuvered.

Popping a pill into her mouth, she chewed it bitterly.

“Damn it! That f*cking monster got away without even showing its true form!”

The pill’s magic quickly cleared her sensory disarray, but she knew her “prey” had escaped in those ten seconds.

The male hunter, Peter, also restored his vision with a pill and rubbed his eyes.

“Was that… a Radiance Spell? Tylan, how could that monster use such magic?”

“You didn’t see? Peter, it was a magic tool in her mouth.”

Accepting her lecturing tone, Peter drooped his head.

“We’ll have to track her traces now. Given her shapeshifting, she’s likely a demon skilled in transformation or an ancient cultist.”

“Should we adjust our gear?”

Tylan nodded, following Suna’s faint, widely spaced footprints to a manhole cover.

Peering into the dark, damp tunnel below, she abandoned the idea of pursuit.

Facing a golden-tier shapeshifter in a confined, unlit space without specialized gear was a death wish.

“Start setting up for a large-scale search. This enemy’s craftier than the others. We’ll dig her out, no matter what.”

While Tylan nursed her grudge, Suna navigated the unlit underground ruins with ease.

She exited through a hidden entrance.

Cautiously watching for hunters while heading to her main hideout at a leisurely pace, Suna, disguised as a passerby, pondered their arrival.

[Are they chasing some ancient creation that escaped the battlefield? My perception barrier didn’t detect anything that dangerous… Or maybe they’re investigating ancient cult activity to clean out those groups.]

Lost in thought, Suna accidentally bumped into a tall, lanky figure rushing out of an alley.

“Oops!”

Steadying herself and looking up, her heart tightened—she’d run into someone familiar.

Skoll, carrying two heavy sacks, stared at her with dull, blue eyes that had lost most of their spark.

Malnourished, his face and body were gaunt, and his exhausted, traumatized state made him look like a lifeless mummy.

As Skoll hesitated to speak, Suna quickly bowed.

“I’m so sorry!”

Her apology was sincere.

Having reduced Skoll to this state, she felt uneasy and guilty facing him.

She chose to keep her distance, as always, to maintain her resolve and continue her plan.