Chapter 1453: Regrouping
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
*Klunk!*
Caught off guard, Ha.s.se was. .h.i.t by a super-alloy brick on the head, and the sound was akin to the collision of two pieces of metal. The veteran demon hunter had already reacted before his eyes captured the brick. He tried to dodge the attack as his muscles contracted in a split second. But Hao Ren was not slow either. He had antic.i.p.ated that Ha.s.se would jink, so he blocked all of Ha.s.se’s possible moves. Hao Ren had learned his brick-throwing skill from the master, Lily, while they practiced close-quarters combat during their free time. Lily was a master of bricks and Hao Ren had been practicing the skill with her for more than two years. With his superhuman physique, his skill was superb to put it modestly.
As such, Ha.s.se could not dodge the attack. The brick hit him, and the world spun around him.
However, Ha.s.se did not pa.s.s out. Instead, he stabilized his footing while he reached for his sacred silver dagger by his waist.
Hao Ren was astonished.* How could this be? Are demon hunters’ heads made of battles.h.i.+p alloy too?* he thought to himself.
Ha.s.se’s head was spinning. He stepped back. Years of combat experience had enabled him to defend himself even in a semi-unconscious state. Ha.s.se looked shocked and angry as he glared at Hao Ren. “You—”
Hao Ren could only resort to Plan B. He pointed at Ha.s.se; a dark spatial rift immediately emerged under the old demon hunter’s feet. “I am sorry,” said Hao Ren.
Before Ha.s.se could finish, the s.p.a.ce around him distorted. He immediately tried to teleport himself away, but the distorted s.p.a.ce and time prevented him from doing so. The next second, the senior demon hunter had fallen into Hao Ren’s dimensional pocket.
Hao Ren quickly looked around to make sure that his actions had not attracted the attention of the demon hunters on night watch. He then quickly sneaked out of the cemetery and into the darkness.
He made a sprint that lasted half an hour. After making sure that the demon hunters had not caught up with him, he breathed a sigh of relief. Given a choice, Hao Ren would not want to offend those demon hunters. When he knew that there was a Malevolence in hibernation here, he wanted to retain every possible force, including the demon hunters, to fight it. At first, Hao Ren had no plan to throw Ha.s.se into the dimensional pocket, which was not a comfortable s.p.a.ce to be in. It would be a lot more bearable had Hao Ren prepared a closed living s.p.a.ce in the dimensional pocket; otherwise, it would only be boundless s.p.a.ce of chaos and absolute silence, which could cause severe psychological problems to people. Hao Ren used to carry Lil Pea and a little bat in his dimensional pocket. But Lil Pea had a beautiful large aquarium to play in while the little bat was asleep.
The poor old demon hunter was forced inside the dimensional pocket while he was awake.
Hao Ren sighed and could only hope that Ha.s.se would be able to stay sane with his strong will.
Why do demon hunters have such hard skulls? Hao Ren asked himself.
With such a heavy heart, Hao Ren hustled in the desolate wilderness under the night sky.
The late Middle Ages in Europe was the end of the Dark Ages. But in the land where barbarism and darkness ruled, before the arrival of the Industrial Revolution and the Renaissance, the influence of supernatural forces would not go away. Outside the city and the countryside, eerie and horrible unknown forces dominated. Development was almost non-existent, and farmland and pastures usually were not too far from human settlements. The area outside the illumination of city lights was no man’s land, where abandoned buildings were everywhere.
Abandoned castles, run-down windmills, eerily quiet military outposts, and ruins were common sights in the wilderness. They used to belong to the seigneurs. But since the abandonment, people could no longer rebuild these places.
Because at night, there were some unspeakable horrible forces in the wilderness. Once the artificial light went off, the supernatural powers would come in to fill the void left behind by the light.
In the Middle Ages, there was no shortage of legends such as haunted mills, cursed villages, and vampire castles.
Hao Ren felt that the atmosphere in this place was very similar to those legends.
Following the marks along the way, Hao Ren came to a building ruin away from human settlements. It was at the foot of a small hill with a stream flowing down the hillside. On the riversides, several half-collapsed houses and a water mill were still standing. There were more ruins in farther away. On the top of the hill, a more ma.s.sive ruin stood against the night sky.
The place was filled with a strange air. Cold and weird. Even the wind seemed to carry the cry of the dead. Hao Ren was sure as h.e.l.l that this deserted place was unnatural.
It might have something to do with the otherworldling activities. The strange atmosphere that lingered until this day was mostly related to the negative forces that the demon hunters had mentioned.
Vivian should be here, hibernating somewhere. The power of her Malevolence had begun to leak out into the real world.
Hao Ren looked around and saw a small amount of silvery-white hair on the outer wall of an abandoned wooden house. It was not easy to notice the hair, but he knew that the witches were here. He strode forward and called out, “Come out. No one is tailing me.”
A silvery-white figure flew onto the roof of the wooden house and said to Hao Ren with arms akimbo, “Secret phrase! You must say the secret phrase!”
Hao Ren glanced at the husky and said, “The place where you’re standing is not stable.”
“Aah!” Lily froze. Following a crisp cracking sound, the plank under her feet snapped, and she went down with it.
The witches emerged out from their hiding places, so too Hessiana. Lily was the last. The husky maiden, covered in sawdust and mud, she yelled, “This situation would not have happened to me had I been in my heyday.”
“You come back alive, what a surprise!” Hessiana looked at Hao Ren as if she had seen an alien. “How did you slip under the nose of the demon hunters? Who the h.e.l.l are you?”
“I did not just escape unscathed.” Hao Ren laughed and gestured to Lily. “Come here, I need a hand.”
“What is it?” The husky maiden asked, eyes wide open.
Hao Ren handed the alloy brick to Lily. “When I release this man out from the dimension pocket, you are to knock him out immediately. But don’t kill him. Everyone, step back.”
Hessiana seemed to have guessed something. She was horrified. “Don’t tell me you have captured a demon hunter!”
Hao Ren just smiled. He then nodded to Lily and carefully opened his dimensional pocket.
Hao Ren released Ha.s.se with controlled precision and did not let him entirely out, but only his body from the shoulder up was peeking out of the Dimensional Pocket. Ha.s.se seemed to be looking for a way to escape. He froze when he suddenly caught sight of the outside world and Hao Ren’s despicable face.
“You—”
“Surprise!”
*Klunk!*
Lily smashed the brick on Ha.s.se’s head with all her strength. This time, the old demon hunter pa.s.sed out, just as Hao Ren requested.
And then Lily was startled when she saw whom she had knocked out. “Aah! Ha.s.se?”
“This guy is from this time period, 600 years ago. He doesn’t know us,” Hao Ren said in the Hollettan language so that the other would not understand. He waved at Lily, signaling her to not say a thing. Lily’s physical strength still awed him although she was not what she used to be.
“Finally, we have him restrained. Otherwise, I don’t know how to deal with him.” Hao Ren only breathed a sigh of relief and took Ha.s.se out from the dimension pocket after making sure that Ha.s.se had pa.s.sed out. He had also taken out a set of shackles, used to restrain dangerous humanoid captives, and put it around Ha.s.se’s neck, wrists, and ankles.
“Lily, you are to carry him. I am afraid that things might go wrong if I keep him in the dimensional pocket.”
“What if he wakes up?”
“Then you knock him out again.”
Lily was not stupid. When she saw Hao Ren had captured Ha.s.se, she had guessed what was in his mind. “I will handle him.”
Then the witches only dared to come close.
There was no innate hostility between the witches and the demon hunters. But the fact that the demon hunters had been hunting the witches all this while had created a paranoia in the hearts of the witches. The effect was just as adverse as innate hostility. Madam Marie had her heart in her mouth when she saw the demon hunter. The witches only dared to come close after Lily and Hao Ren disabled the demon hunter. The witches pointed at Ha.s.se on Lily’s back while discussing among themselves. The witch Helen frowned and asked, “Why don’t you kill him?”
“He is still useful to me,” Hao Ren said casually. “It is about some ancient magic. You will not understand even if I tell you.”
“It is your prerogative to do what you like with the captive. But I would like to remind you that demon hunters are dangerous. Especially when you keep one alive with you.”
There was a rare solemn look on Little Bat’s face.
Hao Ren thought it best not to be perfunctory with Hessiana. He hemmed a couple of times and said in a serious tone of voice, “Do not worry, I already have a plan, in which this demon hunter will play an important role. As you have already seen, Lily and I could easily get things under control. He will not be a threat.”
However, Hao Ren was bluffing. Had Lily and he not used tricks on Ha.s.se, they would have a hard time in apprehending the demon hunter elder.
Hessiana glanced at the restraint devices on Ha.s.se. “I hope the shackles are strong enough.”
“Of course, they are.” Hao Ren nodded with a smile. “Let us not talk about this demon hunter for now. What is more important… Oh, wait a minute. Where is the other one?”