Chapter 8: The Mimic Beast Saint.

Slipping away from prying eyes, Suna reached the end of a quiet alley, her aura and perception magic fully suppressed.

She glanced back to ensure no one followed.

Satisfied, she touched a brick on the wall, channeling magic into a hidden array.

The bricks parted, forming an irregular passage just wide enough for one person.

As Suna stepped through, the bricks sealed shut, restoring the wall’s solid appearance.

Descending a staircase to about thirty meters underground, Suna entered a room roughly one hundred square meters.

Activating a magic stone lamp, she illuminated the space.

Though small, the room predated Korez Town’s surface structures, part of the ancient underground ruins.

Neglect had collapsed other passages, leaving this room isolated.

While this made it a risky hideout with only one exit, Suna, as a shapeshifting beast, could squeeze through collapsed gaps if needed.

Eyeing the magic crystals in the corner, scattered trinkets on shelves, and sealed, long-lasting candies and snacks, Suna sighed.

“I wanted to take all this back to the Demon King’s territory, but I’ll have to abandon it.

Luckily, every temporary base has a self-destruct array.

I just need to set a delayed self-destruct signal here.”

Muttering to herself, Suna took a magic crystal from the storage box and inscribed a delayed self-destruct array.

“Ten minutes should be enough.

Can’t delay too long, or those demon hunters might find a base with traces of my aura.”

After setting the timer, Suna embedded the crystal in a wall crevice near the entrance.

While she had time, she grabbed two cans of her favorite star-shaped candies from the snack box and tucked them into her backpack.

As she prepared to leave through a collapsed passage, a mischievous idea struck her.

“Since I’m blowing up these bases, why not lure those hunters here and let them get blasted?”

Despite her good temper, being chased and forced to abandon her belongings soured her mood.

She took another magic crystal and cast a scarlet spell.

“Flesh Husk Mimic.”

Scarlet light spread, and from the crystal, bones grew, followed by flesh and skin, forming a human arm.

Suna moved a table to face the passage entrance, placed the arm on it, and posed it in a comical gesture.

“Hm, needs a few words.”

Using scarlet magic, she scrawled large, bold red letters on the table.

Then, leaving the arm radiating her aura and magic, she transformed her body, flowing like water through the collapsed passage’s gaps to the other side.

As she escaped the blast zone, the demon hunters, frantically searching the town, sensed her faint aura.

They rushed to her base, using wind magic to tear open the bricks and storm the underground passage.

But when Tylan and her Raven Faction hunters entered, the scene made them curse inwardly.

The severed arm on the table gave them a thumbs-up, next to neatly written, almost elegant words:

[You guys are awesome! Found this place so fast—here’s a thumbs-up!]

Tylan realized she’d been tricked.

As she raised her cloak to shield herself, a strange vibration rippled through the bricks.

A crystal in the storage box, triggered by the signal, detonated, igniting all the crystals and engulfing the room in a swelling scarlet fireball.

The blast’s shockwave, rebounding off the solid walls, surged through the only passage, blowing Tylan and her two companions out.

Meanwhile, Suna savored her star candies, feeling slight tremors from the sequential blasts.

Realizing her prank had succeeded, she relished the melting candy and vented her satisfaction.

“So sweet, so good!

Those hunters are probably digging themselves out of rubble now.

Too bad I can’t see their ridiculous state.”

Unbeknownst to Suna, her attack had lightly injured Tylan, while her companions were worse off, bedridden for days.

She’d assumed hunters, capable of slaying demons and twisted ancient creations, were tough and skilled in defensive magic.

Unfortunately, Tylan wasn’t adept at such spells.

In the confined underground, facing a golden-tier explosion’s full force, even her skills couldn’t fully shield her from the searing blast.

After the attack, Suna, expecting a cat-and-mouse game with the hunters, noticed their searches ceased within a day or two.

Two days later, fully cloaking her aura and altering her appearance, Suna sat in a tavern on a quiet street, sipping ale while discreetly watching Skoll work.

She muttered under her breath.

“Huh, did they think I fled town?

Weird.

Are hunters this clueless now?”