CHAPTER 122: THE TRUE HUNTER

"Tell me what's going on." Wang Yu flicked his wrist, kicked aside the headless body of the ranger, and asked Homien to explain just what had happened.

The vision that the Lady of the Night had granted him was limited. He only knew that these members of the Church of Nightfall were being hunted, but the details were unclear to him.

"We were targeted by the Spiderweb gang. They're known to capture non-humans to sell as goods. I don't know who leaked the information, but they seem to want to capture us alive to learn the whereabouts of the Church of Nightfall—they know that we have a large group of non-humans in our midst."

Homin struggled to stand after his rough fall, his explanation brief but swift.

"The orcs who came out with me are in a berserk state to buy time. I just didn't expect them to have a fully-fledged ranger class. If it weren't for you, Archbishop, I'd be dead."

Homien quickly updated Wang Yu on the orcs' situation.

"I'll go check on them. You should return with the church members first." Once Wang Yu grasped the situation, he immediately made his decision. The Lady of the Night had notified not only him but also the others in the church.

However, thanks to the Gap, Wang Yu was able to travel at extreme speed, arriving at this location—one of the entrances to the capital's shadow—before the others and rescuing Homien in the nick of time.

"Archbishop!" By then, two figures had arrived from the other side of the alley. A black panther nimbly leaped across the rooftops, bounding several times before landing beside Wang Yu. Behind it, the elven ranger Vena arrived at nearly the same time.

"Take Homien back. I'll check on the orcs and save them if I can." Wang Yu turned, ready to depart.

"Archbishop, please allow me to go with you. The Spiderweb gang is quite formidable. I believe I can serve as an asset." The black panther transformed into a dark elf—Homien's grandfather, the druid Holo.

As polite as Holo had been, he was clearly concerned about Wang Yu's strength. Wang Yu's unique physique meant that his fighting spirit was weak, and others perceived him as a mid-rank knight-in-training at best.

"Alright. Vena, please take Homien back. You can come with me." Wang Yu didn't bother explaining himself. Having Holo as an ally would indeed be beneficial.

Druids capable of shapeshifting were powerful not just because of their physical prowess but also due to their formidable supportive magic, such as Nature's Blessing.

Holo could provide significant assistance to Wang Yu. The reason Wang Yu had initially suggested both Holo and Vena return wasn't out of arrogance—it was simply unnecessary for them to help. After all, Sieg was also with him.

Homien and Vena nodded, while Wang Yu and Holo set off without delay. Very quickly, however, Holo realized that he had severely underestimated Wang Yu's strength.

Wang Yu's powerful physique allowed him to move at breakneck speed through the chaotic underground city. Any protrusion or gap was a foothold from which he could accelerate.

He leaped from and sprinted down railings, rooftops, and pipes, his ripples a sixth sense that provided him with the layout of the terrain ahead. No matter how tricky the path, he could always find a precise landing point. To Wang Yu, this maze-like underground city was no different from flat ground.

The more Holo followed after him, the more shocked he became. Wang Yu's physical strength had already exceeded the standards of a full-fledged knight. Even without activating Bloodburn Drive, his speed was exceptional. With his ripples bolstering him, Wang Yu was able to move through the city at an alarming pace.

Even in his agile black panther form, Holo could barely keep up. He now understood why Wang Yu had thought their assistance unnecessary.

Soon, distant roars of anger reached their ears. Wang Yu stepped on a pipe and launched himself onto the roof of an alchemical workshop. The workshop was located within a high tower, allowing Wang Yu to get a clear overview of the city.

He channeled more mental energy into his Spellweaver's Tome and activated Observer's Eye. Magic surged, forming a glowing cross-shaped pupil in his right eye. Wang Yu closed his left eye and waited for the luminous cross to rotate once, magnifying and pulling distant scenes into focus.

The orcs were rampaging, charging forward and swinging wildly. Their skin had shifted from green to a furious red, signaling that they had entered a mindless berserk state.

While their destructive power was terrifying, it had come at the cost of their reason. Their surroundings were in utter chaos. Walls lay crumbled, pipes were bent and twisted, and even the ground bore deep craters from their strikes.

But all that was futile. Several gang members, each marked with a spider emblem, moved nimbly above them, leaping between the buildings and throwing metallic darts at the orcs.

Though the orcs had thick skin and these attacks only drew minor wounds, the injuries accumulated. Blood seeped from countless small gashes. The orcs were weakening bit by bit.

The Spiderweb gang had honed tactics for capturing members of every race. They chased down elves by exploiting the knowledge of this urban terrain, baited dwarves into confined spaces for brutal beatdowns, and simply exhausted and toyed with orcs until they collapsed.

The orcs' berserk mode was a massive drain on their stamina. As their wounds piled up, they would soon collapse from exhaustion and become easy prey.

A few of them had the sense to grab objects and hurl them at their airborne attackers, but their crude throws lacked speed and precision. The Spiderweb members dodged effortlessly.

The orcs' breathing grew heavier, interrupting their once-unrelenting roars. They wouldn't last much longer.

"There's always disgusting scum like this everywhere... Mr. Holo, could you cast Hawk's Eye on me?" Wang Yu dispelled the glowing cross in his eye and turned to request Holo's aid.

"Of course." Without hesitation, the druid bestowed Wang Yu with Hawk's Eye, replacing his earlier Observer's Eye.

With his enhanced vision, Wang Yu locked onto the Spiderweb members attacking the orcs. He steadied himself, his palm crackling with electricity as a golden spear of lightning gradually took shape.

This was Lightning Lance, one of only two third-tier spells in the Spellweaver's Codex, and Wang Yu's sole extremely-long-range attack. Without replacing the mana crystal in his tome, he only had the mana to cast it ten times.

The spear of lightning hummed with energy, ionizing the air around it and sending faint prickles through Wang Yu's arm. He aimed and hurled the lance from the tower toward a momentarily stationary gang member.

A flash of lightning streaked across the air—and then came the impact. The Lightning Lance was famed for its speed. Before the gang member even registered the attack, the spell had struck his head.

There was a brief pause. Then, the lance exploded into countless arcs of electricity that coursed through his body. His skull was charred black instantly, but that was just a side effect.

In terms of physical destruction alone, Lightning Lance was inferior even to most second-tier spells. Its true power lay in neural disruption—it fried the target's brain in an instant.

His body convulsed, then went rigid. The lifeless corpse tumbled from the building, only to be torn apart by the enraged orcs below.

"Enemy attack! A hostile mage! Find him and close the distance—kill him!" A Spiderweb scout reacted swiftly, scanning the surroundings before locking onto Wang Yu, whose hand was once again crackling with lightning atop the tower.

The scout widened his eyes, but otherwise reacted far too late. The second Lightning Lance silenced him permanently, reducing his head to scorched remains. His fatal mistake had been to stop moving while looking around.

"There's a mage up on that tower! Is he from a rival gang, or the orcs' ally?"

"Forget the orcs—kill the mage first! He's worth far more dead or alive than any profit from those non-human hideouts!"

"Move out! The orcs will collapse from blood loss and the backlash from their berserk status soon enough anyway. We'll deal with them after we take care of the mage!"

Despite losing two members in seconds, the remaining Spiderweb hunters quickly pinpointed Wang Yu's location. They took cover and immediately shifted their focus to him.

Though not as lucrative as an alchemist, a magician was worth a staggering amount. If they could capture him alive, the gold they would receive would far exceed that from selling a dozen non-humans.

After all, non-human trade was heavily taxed at every step along the way. The hunters received only a small cut of the eventual profits from selling non-humans, but they could lay claim to the magician and his equipment directly.

Without hesitation, they abandoned the orcs, who continued to rage helplessly below, unable to scale the buildings. The Spiderweb hunters, well-versed in navigating urban terrain, swiftly surrounded the alchemy workshop from all directions.

Using their unique observation magic, they maintained a high-angle perspective on the tower, ensuring that Wang Yu hadn't left the vicinity.

In fewer than two minutes, they had reached the workshop's perimeter and immediately launched a coordinated assault on their target.

Some members began scaling the alchemy tower, their sharp climbing tools tearing into the tower's walls and leaving it in ruins.

Others spread out to block any potential escape routes.

Magicians had some countermeasures for when they were trapped in close combat, but their melee capabilities were far weaker than those of most other professions. Their strength lay in their devastating destructive power. That was why they were both rare and valuable, but also why an unguarded mage was so easy to kill.

However, they had no idea that the opponent they faced was not an ordinary magician, but instead a knight with newly acquired spellcasting abilities—one who specialized in physical enhancement.

Just as about a dozen Spiderweb hunters reached the midway point of their climb, Wang Yu suddenly leaped off the tower's peak. Before the hunters could process why a magician would jump towards them, Wang Yu had already activated his second third-tier spell—Infernal Cannon.

Blazing flames erupted beneath Wang Yu's feet, propelling him downward with an explosive burst of heat and light. The force of the explosion, combined with gravity, turned his descent into a high-speed dive. In an instant, his figure blurred as he closed in on the Spiderweb hunters.

Then came the cannon strike. Fire mana had already gathered in his palm in staggering quantities. With his momentum at its peak, Wang Yu slammed his blazing hand onto the chest of one unfortunate climber.

The Infernal Cannon detonated. Concentrated fire energy erupted in a directed explosion at point-blank range. The climber's chest was completely perforated, leaving behind a charred, gaping hole. The blast engulfed other Spiderweb hunters in its fiery shockwave.

"Volley!" A voice shouted from within the flames. Despite the explosion, the other climbers didn't panic. They immediately clung to the tower's surface, taking cover to avoid any follow-up attacks.

A magician using a spell at close range in mid-air would inevitably fall—and there would be no way for him to dodge.

Below him, the Spiderweb hunters stood prepared with crossbows and throwing darts. Before the flames had even dissipated, they pulled their triggers—only for the ground beneath them to collapse. Thick, tangled vines burst up from below, entangling the hunters.

The unstable terrain and the sudden attack threw their aim into disarray—arrows and darts shot wildly off course, missing their target completely. A black panther, its eyes gleaming with fury and hatred, leaped out of nowhere. With a swipe of his razor-sharp claws, Holo tore open a hunter's throat. Blood gushed as the man clutched his neck, collapsing in agony. Holo vanished into the alleys, leaving the remaining Web members struggling against the ensnaring vines.By then, none of them had attention to spare for the airborne Wang Yu.

Meanwhile, high above, Wang Yu's massacre had only just begun. He was no helpless magician caught in freefall. In the unique environment of the capital's shadow, channeling wizardry was effortless. Void energy materialized beneath his feet, forming invisible stepping stones.

With a single kick, he sent a hunter flying off the tower's edge, his skull bursting apart like pulped fruit. Without pause, a wind blade slashed through the air, severing the rope of another climber, sending him screaming as he plummeted to his death.

Watching Wang Yu sprint toward them, defying gravity on invisible platforms, the remaining hunters' eyes filled with terror. The situation had turned against them; the hunters had become the hunted.