(VOL.1) Into the Wild

Lux plunged deep into the forest.

The branches of towering ancient trees intertwined high above, obscuring the sky and sun, while the ground was covered and fractured by countless gnarled, sprawling giant roots.

If one were to transform into an ant at this moment and look upwards, what they would see would surely be an endless, majestic mountain range of wood.

Lux’s figure darted through this primordial greenery.

This was an unprecedented experience—the feeling of being completely enveloped by such dense, vibrant vegetation.

Although less than a quarter of an hour had passed since she had taken the package from the blue-skinned man, night, like silently spreading ink, had begun to encroach upon this forest.

In the distant sky, the setting sun had only a final, narrow, blood-like streak of crimson remaining, seemingly making a futile, last struggle.

And overhead, a hazy moon had already eagerly revealed its blurred outline.

Everything here seemed so unfamiliar, as if she had stepped into an entirely different world.

Lux's speed was extremely fast, like a nimble cheetah chasing an invisible prey.

Even though there was no visible target ahead, she still ran with all her might.

She could clearly feel that, under the enhancement of the newly acquired magical power within her body, the strength and speed unleashed when using magical accessories were entirely different from before.

Her muscles, in the constant tension and release, seemed to have transformed into a swift gust of wind in the jungle, sweeping away dead branches and fallen leaves, rushing forward in a determined direction without hesitation.

Countless chaotic thoughts churned in Lux's mind, but at this moment, there was always one seemingly most pressing question, like an annoying fly, persistently lingering.

That was: The north… which way was north exactly?

And that so-called City of Theater, in which direction should she head?

Of course, she also knew that this question… perhaps could be slowly figured out after completely getting away from the ruins of Purple City.

"Speaking of which… this place… haven't I been here before?" While running, Lux suddenly stopped, looking at a familiar-looking crooked tree, and muttered to herself in some distress.

Yes, she sadly discovered that she seemed to be… lost.

She was a natural-born directionless person.

Previously in Purple City, she could at least rely on her keen sense of smell and memory of various landmarks to identify directions.

But now, in this primeval jungle where everything seemed to look the same, she was completely disoriented.

"Maybe… I should go left? No… it seems right is more like it?" Lux shook her head in frustration. "Why do these trees grow so tall? It makes me look short."

She kicked the fallen leaves under her feet in a somewhat dejected manner.

"Over there… seems to be a path? Or maybe I can follow the path for a bit… No, that would make it too easy to be discovered."

After running for about another quarter of an hour, Lux's gaze pierced through layers of tree shadows, and she vaguely saw a winding dirt road in the distance.

The dirt road extended upwards, leading to a small hillside.

"However… walking along the edge of the road for a short distance, or… simply climbing that small hillside to check the distant terrain and confirm the general direction would be good too."

Lux felt that blindly rushing around like a headless fly was ultimately not a solution.

She cautiously crept to the edge of the dirt road, carefully observed the surrounding movements, and after confirming it was safe, she quickly advanced along this small path towards the low hillside.

Soon, Lux climbed to the top of the small hillside.

She looked out as far as she could see; directly in front was a deep forest like a green ocean, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Behind her was the direction of Purple City—the firelight there had, at some unknown point, completely extinguished, leaving only a dead, pitch-black silence; it had presumably already transformed into a black, dead city composed of ruins and charcoal.

And to her right, a wide river seemed to be flowing quietly under the moonlight, with a rather magnificent large bridge spanning it.

To her left, it was still an endless forest…

"It seems there's no one ahead either… Perhaps I can continue along this road for a while… Or… should I go back into the forest and head towards that big bridge?" Lux quickly weighed the pros and cons in her mind, decided on a general direction, and was about to descend the hillside, re-enter the jungle, and sneak along the direction of the dirt road…

Just then, Lux suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a… very special "insect" hovering and flying not far around her.

Insects were naturally numerous in the forest, especially after nightfall.

But this "insect" immediately attracted all of Lux's attention.

It was an… "insect" with wings as thin as a cicada's, almost transparent, and shaped like a dragonfly.

It had a body as crystal clear as a ruby, and under the hazy moonlight, it even emitted a faint fluorescence…

No. This wasn't an insect. This was clearly a… flying gemstone.

The instant Lux realized something was wrong, that "gemstone insect" suddenly erupted with an extremely dazzling red light.

Then—a deafening explosion.

The massive shockwave of the explosion instantly swept across the entire mountaintop, its power so great that it almost blasted a shocking large crater on the top of this small hill.

The moment the explosion occurred, Lux subconsciously enveloped her entire body in shadows, and she was sent flying like a cannonball by the blast wave, crashing heavily into the nearby woods, breaking a tree as thick as a bowl with a "crack" before finally stopping.

"Tsk tsk, wasted a perfectly good fire-type red crystal of mine, a purchase price of about ten blue silver coins each," a voice tinged with some smugness and regret came from the shadows of the forest. "However, your luck is very good—or rather, my luck is very good—you actually used magic! This proves that you and that damned resistance army are indeed together! In that case, this pretty little head of yours, its price will soar to a full 200 shining gold coins! And if you happen to be carrying that blasphemer's fragment on you… wouldn't I be able to make another big fortune, a full 1000 shining gold coins?! Hahahaha!"

Accompanied by wild laughter, a man wearing a magnificent white robe trimmed with gold thread and a ruby ​​coronet slowly walked out from the shadows of the forest.

Judging by his attire, he was clearly a Grace Bather of the Wealth Cult.

And beside him, followed a man in a black robe, one hand wrapped in thick bandages—he was a Demon Hunter, much like the one who had previously pursued Lux.

"Oh, and you, Kane," the Grace Bather seemed to have just remembered there was still a subordinate beside him. He glanced at the Demon Hunter Kane, gritted his teeth as if having made a great decision, and said in a condescending tone, "If you can capture this woman alive, I can give you… an eighty-twenty split! …No! Seventy-thirty! That should be fine, right?!"

He seemed to think he had proposed an incredibly generous agreement.

"Hmm… Mr. Brad," the Demon Hunter named Kane said, his face showing no expression upon hearing this, merely speaking in a flat tone, "I think, according to standard procedure, shouldn't we first fire a signal flare to notify nearby colleagues?"

"What did you say?!" The Grace Bather named Brad, as if his tail had been stepped on, immediately jumped up and shrieked, "Do you know that the more people who come, the less… No! The less benefit we can get?! This idiot was stupid enough to choose this remote path to come here, it's already a stroke of luck for us! I'll take responsibility if anything happens! So, now everything must be according to my orders! Understand?!"

"Yes, Mr. Brad." Demon Hunter Kane nodded, seemingly unsurprised by Brad's reaction.

Confirming the "Mr. Brad takes responsibility" promise was a standard procedure he had long since memorized in his mere one year as this greedy and foolish fellow's subordinate—because he knew very well that if Brad didn't make this promise, then if any mistake occurred later, this guy would absolutely not hesitate to push all the blame onto him.

"Also… Mr. Brad," Kane suddenly looked up, a faint smile playing on his lips, and pointed in the direction Lux had just disappeared. "That woman… seems to have already run away while we were talking. Shouldn't we… hurry up and chase her?" His tone sounded like a reminder, yet also like… mockery.

"What?! My 1200 shining gold coins?! …No! It's my 840 shining gold coins!!" Brad had now completely assumed that Lux was carrying the so-called "blasphemer's fragment." He paid no attention to the mockery in Kane's tone and immediately urged as if his eyebrows were on fire, "Quick! Quick, chase after her for me!"

"As you command, Mr. Brad." Demon Hunter Kane bowed slightly, then unwrapped the thick bandages from his arm.

Underneath, what was revealed was an arm as withered and pitch-black as a mummy's.

However, almost the instant the bandages were completely unwrapped, that withered arm began to rapidly swell and transform at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Skin tore, bones cracked.

In the blink of an eye, that arm transformed into a ferocious giant claw covered in black keratin, glinting with a metallic luster.

The claws were incomparably sharp, their length reaching a horrifying three to four meters.

At the same time, his feet also underwent the same terrifying transformation, tearing through his shoes and socks, becoming a pair of giant, scaled hind feet like those of a huge lizard.

The moment the transformation was complete, Kane violently pushed off the ground, and the earth beneath his feet instantly cracked.

His entire body, like a cannonball fired from a cannon, shot towards the direction Lux had fled at a terrifying speed surpassing human limits, disappearing into the dense forest in the blink of an eye.

And Lux, the moment she had climbed up from the ground earlier, had already turned and fled without hesitation.

She activated the power of the [Wildcat Ring], and like a true wildcat, ran frantically through the dark forest, which had already been completely soaked by the night.

She felt as if she had dived into an endless, dark deep sea; the deeper and longer she dived, the safer she seemed to be.

Lux constantly changed directions, nimbly weaving and leaping between trees and bushes, until her legs began to feel sore, and she finally found a large, hidden rock to temporarily hide behind, trying to catch her breath and recover some strength.

[There should… only be two people chasing me. But, it can't be ruled out that more people will arrive later. The most urgent task now is to get out of their search range as soon as possible. Perhaps… I can run in the direction of that small path from before? They don't seem to… have immediately chased after me yet…] Lux thought quickly about countermeasures while vigilantly observing her surroundings.

She caught her breath slightly, patted off the dirt and crushed leaves clinging to her body, and then prepared to continue her desperate journey.

"So… you were here," a voice, tinged with a certain laziness yet revealing a hint of cruel amusement, suddenly sounded from behind.

At the same time, a suffocating, vicious gust of wind had already struck.

Those ferocious giant claws, almost faster than the voice, slammed hard onto the rock where Lux had just been hiding.

"Boom." A deafening loud noise.

That hard rock, at least half a person tall, instantly shattered like a boiled potato smashed by a heavy hammer, turning into a sky full of flying debris.

After smashing the rock with one blow, the giant claws didn't pause, immediately striking down towards Lux's head.

At the critical moment, Lux once again enveloped her entire body in shadows.

She felt like a cricket ball hit with full force, instantly sent flying.

Along the way, with "crack-crack" sounds, she broke seven or eight trees of varying sizes before finally crashing to the ground with a "thud" and stopping.

"Oh my? Is that shadow magic? That does remind me of a… very annoying colleague," Demon Hunter Kane said, walking out slowly from the shadows with heavy steps, his tone as relaxed as if chatting with an old friend. "My name is Kane, and my title is 'Dire Beast'. Of course, I myself don't like this title at all."

"So, beautiful lady, would you also be willing to introduce yourself? If we wait for that greedy fellow behind to arrive, you probably won't have time for introductions. We Demon Hunters, at least, have had a few days of etiquette lessons, unlike those crude priests in the temples." Kane, or rather, "Dire Beast," slightly tilted his head up, a smile mixing cruelty and strange elegance appearing on his face.

His giant claws, covered with countless tiny eyeballs, and his pair of huge, lizard-like hind feet, made him look like a wingless, deformed evil dragon, yet his torso and head retained human form, creating an incredibly bizarre and terrifying combination.

"That colleague of yours being annoying, I quite agree with that point," Lux said coldly, struggling to get up from the ground and wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. "As for an introduction… let's skip it. Because I haven't thought of a title for myself yet. I'll tell you next time we meet." After saying this, she even waved at Kane, as if genuinely engaged in a normal social conversation.

"Oh? You know that fellow Rio? That's truly interesting." Kane seemed very interested in Lux's answer. "However… regarding the suggestion of meeting next time, I don't think it's a good one." He stretched his ferocious claws and giant feet, the joints emitting a tooth-grinding "kaka" sound, then his tone shifted, carrying an undeniable killing intent as he said, "Because… there won't be a next time between us, madam."

Before his words had faded, Kane violently stomped his feet.

The ground beneath his feet instantly caved in, forming two deep pits.

His massive body, with a shriek that tore through the air, appeared before Lux as if by teleportation.

Those giant beast claws, glinting with a cold light, slammed down hard towards Lux's head.

"That's truly… a great pity," Lux said. Facing this thunderous blow, Lux didn't dodge or evade, merely using her newly acquired shadow magic to instantly condense a thick black wall in front of her, steadily blocking Kane's giant claws. Then, she even had the leisure to tease, "I was planning… to eat lots and lots of cake, you know. So, I don't plan on being caught by you just yet."

"Oh? Is that so?" Kane seemed amused by Lux's words, his offensive slowing slightly, and he actually started joking, "Then why don't you surrender now? I'll bring you lots and lots of cake afterwards." He paused, then added, "Of course, that's before you're executed."

"No," Lux answered decisively. "You look so scary, I reckon your taste isn't very good either. The cake you bring… would probably taste awful."

"Is that so…" Hearing Lux's words, the smile on Kane's face instantly vanished, replaced by an icy silence. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said word by word, "Then… you can just die!"

Before his words had faded, the giant claws on Kane's hands suddenly swelled again.

Sharp, fang-like barbs even grew in rows on the backs of his claws, glinting with a heart-stopping cold light.

He swung his giant claws at Lux frantically, like a torrential storm.

Each swing carried the power to tear everything apart.

And Lux continuously mobilized the shadow magic within her body, again and again condensing black shield walls of varying thickness in front of her, arduously resisting Kane's storm-like attacks.

The "bang bang bang" of impacts was incessant.

"Had enough?" After once again narrowly blocking an attack, a cold glint flashed in Lux's eyes.

Her remaining left hand suddenly pushed forward, and the condensed black shadow in her palm instantly erupted.

It transformed into a surging black giant wave, like an abyssal beast with its blood-red maw wide open, roaring as it lunged towards Kane to devour him.

Facing this sudden, fierce counterattack, Kane dared not be negligent.

He immediately raised his claws and crossed them in front of him.

"Boom—." The black giant wave slammed hard onto his giant claws.

The immense impact sent Kane's massive body staggering back several tens of meters.

His huge hind feet plowed two deep furrows in the ground.

The surface of his claws was even pitted and riddled with fine holes from the impact of the black wave.

However, in just the blink of an eye, those damages rapidly recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Your magic… your magical power is quite abundant," Kane said, shaking his fully recovered giant claws, looking down and commenting. "It's just that… your skill in using magic is too crude, and you waste too much magical power."

"Then… how about this?" Lux sneered, her figure suddenly vanishing from the spot.

In the next second, countless pitch-black shadows, like sharks smelling blood, pounced towards Kane from all directions.

After these "black shadow sharks" got close to Kane, some of them immediately exploded with a roar.

They transformed into a sky full of shooting black spikes, stabbing at Kane like a dense rain.

And the remaining part, like a real school of sharks, circled and roamed at high speed around Kane, looking for an opening to attack.

Soon, they had completely surrounded Kane.

Lux's figure reappeared not far away.

She slowly opened her remaining left palm, fingers spread, then abruptly clenched it, shouting sharply, "Contract!"

In an instant. All the black "sharks" circling, roaming, and suspended in mid-air, as if receiving the highest command, simultaneously pounced towards Kane, who was surrounded in the center.

In mid-air, countless scattered black spikes condensed and erupted again.

They formed an almost inescapable net of certain death, made of pure shadow.

"[Bone Spur Armor]." Facing this certain-kill blow, Kane finally held back no longer.

He suddenly let out a deafening roar.

Countless bone spurs, glinting with a ghastly white light, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, grew out frantically from his arms, legs, and even his torso at an astonishing speed.

These bone spurs rapidly spread, intertwined, and fused, finally forming a hideous and terrifying white bone armor that completely enveloped his entire body, leaving only a pair of eyes glinting with fierce light.

Those black spikes, capable of piercing steel, struck the bone armor, all emitting crisp "ding ding dang dang" sounds, and were then completely deflected.

"By the way, let me tell you something," Kane's voice came from behind the bone armor, tinged with a smug smile. "This move, [Bone Spur Armor], was a skill I painstakingly researched specifically to deal with that bastard Rio. What a pity… I only truly mastered it after graduating from the Demon Hunter Academy. Today, I'll test its power on you first."

As soon as his voice fell, two bloody gashes suddenly tore open on Kane's back.

Two long whips, covered in viscous flesh and blood, with sharp bone blades at their tips, shot out from within like vipers emerging from a cave.

The bone blades on the whips were still constantly pulsating and rubbing, exuding a heart-stopping aura of frenzy and danger.

Then, with his giant beast claws covered in bone armor, he performed an extremely bizarre, yet somewhat chivalrous, courtesy towards Lux.

"So, this… 'rookie' lady whose magic application is still quite lacking," Kane said with a smile. "Allow me to properly demonstrate to you what is called… true magical combat."