As a Midnight-level monster hunter, Ye Xingyao had participated in the hunting of more than 10,000 monsters, or at least 800, so he could tell you with full responsibility that in the existing bestiaries, there was almost no such thing as a “Humanoid Magic Beast.”
Monsters could be animals, plants, or even exist as microorganisms. There had even been a precedent where an infection spread through more than half a city, leaving it nearly paralyzed and suffering heavy losses. It had barely recovered with the support of various parties.
The Humanoid Magic Beast before them was two or three stories tall, its entire body a deep black. It seemed to be made of a magical substance capable of distorting and absorbing light. Aside from its general proportions, it hardly looked human at all. Its facial features were blurred, its body details and muscles were indistinct… the only prominent feature on its entire body was its eyes, which were filled with red light.
‘Quite the charming fellow, isn’t it?’
Those crimson eyes seemed as though they had not even seen them. After sending Lin Li flying with an elbow upon its arrival, it stood there quietly as if it had lost its target, sensing something in place.
This was highly unusual. Monsters were creatures driven only by the instinct to hunt and consume mana; they generally did not exhibit biological behaviors like “searching for a target.”
“No matter what its goal is, we definitely can’t let it succeed!” Ye Xingyao whispered to Yi Shiyue.
The latter nodded, and the two of them tacitly took up their combat stances —
As for a goal? The reason for the monster’s abnormal behavior? It was most likely the Star Spirit Stone. Otherwise, did this old gentleman just come out for a stroll?
“THUNDER!”
Ye Xingyao threw out a purple-black magic stone while chanting the Elven language that could trigger the mana within. Then, the magic stone burst open, and the air filled with the scorched scent of electrical sparks.
Only then did the Humanoid Magic Beast shift its “gaze” toward them.
In the next second, an arc of electricity streaked through the night sky and accurately struck the Humanoid Magic Beast’s “head,” making it stumble.
Ye Xingyao’s expression grew increasingly solemn.
‘Are you serious? Did that hit only knock it off balance?!’
The monster’s strength, speed, and physical durability were all ridiculously high.
Before the Humanoid Magic Beast could steady itself, and just as Yi Shiyue was about to gather moonlight mana to follow up, Ye Xingyao grabbed a pitch-black magic stone. He pulled the girl by the waist and shouted softly.
“NIGHT WALK!”
The enraged monster leaped into the air. While it was airborne, it even seemed to blot out some of the moonlight. Its seemingly lumbering body adjusted its posture with agility, looking as though it intended to crush them into meat paste. Fortunately, Ye Xingyao was prepared. The figures of the two immediately vanished into the shadows, quickly moving a distance away.
“Xingyao?”
“Tch, this thing isn’t something we can handle. There’s also another guy hiding in the shadows somewhere. We need to pull back first and wait for our reinforcements to arrive.”
On a street outside the Satellite Park, one black and one white figure separated from the shadows. Ye Xingyao sighed and said with some frustration, “Where did this freakish monster come from… If this thing hadn’t interfered, we would have already captured that Wood Elf. This monster’s target is very likely the Star Spirit Stone. Shiyue, you have it on you, right?”
“Of course. Who are our reinforcements?”
“I asked my boss to come and back us up beforehand… What time is it now? Calculating the time, she should be arriving soon. I don’t know if the Human League’s patrol can stall a bit longer… Wait!”
An uneasy premonition rose from the depths of his heart.
Given that the monster’s goal was the Star Spirit Stone, and they were the ones carrying it, and considering the monster was powerful enough to possess some low-level intelligence, what would it do now?
“This is trouble. I don’t have many Dark Magic Stones left. We need to get out of here quickly. Shiyue, do you have any fast movement magic?”
The girl shook her head, her beautiful eyes fixed on the direction from which they had just come.
As if responding to his unease, the sound of collapsing buildings echoed from nearby. It grew closer and closer until the mountain-like silhouette could be vaguely seen.
Things had gone south. It really was coming for them!
“Monster, take this!”
Not far away, a girl with ice-blue hair appeared. She was wearing an ice-blue battle dress, and several ice spikes floated around her as she shouted loudly at the monster.
A Magical Girl? In his memory, there was no such person among the Magical Girls of Satellite City.
“You guys get out of… Elves?!”
Ye Xingling glanced at the two people hiding to the side. With one look, she saw the white-haired girl’s iconic pointed ears and the boy beside her wearing a white hood, his face hidden in the shadows.
“Did you guys cause this monster?!” she questioned.
“If we had caused it, we wouldn’t be running away from it. Magical Girl, we don’t know what this thing is either,” Ye Xingyao said helplessly.
“Is that so?”
“Stop wondering if it is or isn’t! That thing is coming over.”
Ye Xingyao pained his heart as he detonated another thunder-attribute magic stone, interrupting the monster’s movements.
“Eek!”
Ye Xingling was startled. She had not expected such a lumbering monster to be so agile. She hurriedly gathered mana to freeze the Humanoid Magic Beast’s feet and cast a magic shield on herself, slipping over to where the two were hiding.
She stared intently, trying to see the boy’s face, only to find that his face wasn’t just “hidden in the shadows and hard to see,” but rather that he was wearing a “mask” made of dark-attribute mana.
This person wasn’t simple either…
Before Ye Xingling could speak, countless cracks appeared in the ice binding the monster’s feet. Ye Xingyao grabbed them and turned to run, detonating a few more magic stones toward the monster along the way.
The two who had snapped back to their senses also took turns releasing some magic in an attempt to slow the monster’s pace, but it was useless.
The defense of this monster far exceeded that of an ordinary Midnight-level creature. Aside from the innate magic a monster should have, its physical strength was definitely at the very top of the Midnight-level tier.
He hated tanks that had high movement speed, high damage, and were incredibly tanky.
“Ice-attribute Magical Girl… Can you manage to seal its movements? I’ll prepare something big for it.”
There had to be an opportunity to deal effective damage. Otherwise, with its speed and its scent for the “Star Spirit Stone,” they would all suffer before reinforcements arrived.
“Huh? Me? I… I’m only a Radiance-level Magical Girl… Right now, I have no mana left.”
Hearing this, Ye Xingyao almost tripped and fell flat on his face.
‘Are you serious? Why would a Radiance-level like you come here to join the fun?!’
Ye Xingyao now knew why he had no impression of this Magical Girl. She was completely a hotheaded idiot who had just become a Magical Girl and wanted to fight monsters!
It fit his stereotype of Magical Girls perfectly.
“Tch, then let’s just pray that Qila and the boss arrive fast enough, or that some experts from the Human League show up.”