A series of clangs and explosions. Sparks flew where blades and Alchemy Bullets met, followed by detonations.

Baron’s expression was grim. He had loaded special high-explosive Alchemy Bullets, custom-made by Master Bagins of the Inner Side. Each one cost nearly one hundred pounds, and he only had twelve in total. Now, he had fired every last one at Ferdinand.

Even if the man was on the cusp of Silver Tier, an attack like that should have left him gravely injured, if not dead.

Back at the Underground Altar, he had seized a moment of Ferdinand’s weakness, rushing in to cut off his head.

But now, facing him head-on, Baron understood that the peak of the Bronze Tier was in a league of its own. Just by standing before Ferdinand, he could feel the vast chasm in the quality of their Spiritual Power, to say nothing of the overall gap in their strength.

Just from the sheer pressure he exuded, it was as if Ferdinand had the words, "I may be weak, but you two chumps are still no match for me," written all over his face.

That feeling only intensified after the last high-explosive round hit, when the many wounds that had appeared on Ferdinand’s body began to heal.

Baron suspected that even if he threw the Annihilation Stone Yalilan had given him, whether it would even hit Ferdinand was one matter, and how much damage it would actually do was another entirely.

Baron knew the best course of action now was to...

"Run!"

Baron, the master of running away, yelled at Andre and bolted!

Andre was clearly a seasoned Demon Hunter himself; by the time Baron shouted, he had already put several dozen meters between them.

In his past life’s Olympics, even Usain Bolt would have had to bow down in defeat before him.

Baron fired back at Ferdinand as he ran.

This time, Ferdinand didn’t raise his Bone Blade to block. He simply allowed the Alchemy Bullets to blast one gaping hole after another in his body, his gaze fixed on Savi’s corpse as it burned in the Blue Fire on the ground. His expression was one of strange pity.

"I told you, L. The only reason I didn’t kill you was out of respect for Stephen..."

He spoke softly, then silently lifted his head to look in the direction Baron and Andre had fled. Fury began to burn in his eyes as his body was gradually covered by pale, silver Alchemy Circuits.

"But now you’ve killed my son. I no longer have any reason to spare you. Even Stephen won’t have a word to say after I kill you!"

The moment he finished speaking, he ignored the bullets tearing through his body, stomped a foot on the ground, and shot forward like a phantom!

"Give me back my Return Gold Coin!"

’So after all that, it’s still about the gold coin.’

Baron sneered inwardly. He knew that for someone like Ferdinand, as long as the price was right, anything—including his own son—was a potential sacrifice.

"BANG! BANG!"

Two more shots.

He tried to fire again, but his gun was empty.

Ferdinand closed the distance in just a few breaths. In two more, he would be on top of them.

Baron and Andre exchanged a look and nodded in unison, as if they had reached an agreement.

Andre gritted his teeth, his lips moving to form a single, unexpected word: "Thanks."

Then, the two of them spun around, activating their Gold Connection Circuits and [Blood Pattern], instantly pushing their Spiritual Power to its absolute limit.

The difference was, Andre took off in another direction, while Baron, with a flick of his wrists, deployed the Spear Sword that Andre had once secretly envied. Made entirely of Snow Pattern Steel, its blade caught the morning sun, glinting like liquid mercury.

"Our lives depend on this strike," Baron said in a low voice. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

He planted his feet, taking a firm stance as he watched the livid Ferdinand charge toward him, swinging his Bone Blade with an overwhelming, unstoppable aura.

The Shepherdess’s advice from his dream battle suddenly echoed in his ears: ’The art of the hunt is all about speed. As long as your blade is fast enough, killing an enemy of a higher Tier is not so difficult.’

He centered himself, tightened his grip on the blade, and tensed every muscle in his body. His back went ramrod straight, the very tip of the Spear Sword resting on the ground. With each breath, there was a faint sound like wind and thunder.

Closer now. He could see that the healed wound where Ferdinand’s head had been severed was not the empty cavity of a typical Undead. Instead, black, burl-like growths protruded from the scar, holding the neck together in a circle like glue.

The word surfaced in Baron’s mind unbidden: ’Corruption...’

"What are you—"

In the distance, the fleeing Andre glanced back and froze, shocked. He didn’t even notice the tremble in his own voice.

He looked on, dumbfounded, staring at L as he prepared to face Ferdinand head-on.

’Didn’t our look mean we should split up and run? Is L actually drawing his blade to fight Ferdinand—a top-tier Bronze on the verge of becoming Silver—head-on?’

No matter how brilliantly L had performed in the Hunting Competition, how superb his Combat Skills were, or how many talented youths of the same or even higher Tiers he had bested—that was only possible because his opponents had suppressed their Tier-based abilities, limiting the fight to a contest of pure skill.

If all restrictions were lifted, and without resorting to dirty tricks like sneak attacks, poison, or ambushes, a High Tier could crush a Low Tier with absolute ease.

And they were facing a top-tier expert of the Bronze Tier like Ferdinand.

’Could he be doing this just to buy me time...’

A thousand thoughts raced through Andre’s mind in an instant. He believed he understood the profound reason for L’s action, and a strange sorrow filled his heart.

’I was so hostile to him before, yet he turns out to be such an honorable man.’

Andre reined in his emotions and sprinted, sword in hand. He had to report Ferdinand’s location to Yalilan and the reinforcements that would follow.

’L, you have to hold on!’

...

As Baron heard Andre’s footsteps fade, he cursed him internally. ’That asshole Andre is such a coward. I gave him the signal for us to draw our swords *together*.’

’I even gave him the "Our lives depend on this strike" pep talk.’

’And what does that dumbass do? He turns tail and runs.’

Though he was cursing internally, Baron’s face remained impassive. He focused his Essence, Qi, and Spirit to their absolute peak, his eyes locked on the charging Ferdinand. As Ferdinand cut through the air, Blood-colored Alchemy Circuits spread across Baron’s entire body.

He had one strike. Everything depended on this single, focused moment.

If he spoke, he would break his concentration.

Ferdinand’s figure was spectral, flashing before Baron in the span of a few thoughts. He raised the pair of Bone Blades—forged from his own ribs—and they sent out a tangible ripple that seemed to tear at the very air, carrying with it an aura of utter corruption.

’So fast!’ Baron’s pupils contracted violently, and he instinctively took a step back.

But that single step was a mistake. It disrupted his focus and created an opening.

As the leader of the Iron Thorn Gang, Ferdinand had a veteran’s eye. He instantly seized the opening and pressed forward.

"If your prayer hadn’t ruined my advancement ritual, we could have served Chairman Liuxia together. But now... you can just die!"

A triumphant smile spread across Ferdinand’s face as his silver Bone Blades fell upon the Demon Hunter’s shoulders in the instant before he could react.

He could barely contain his ecstatic joy at the sight of blades slicing through flesh and blood spraying through the air.

Once the Demon Hunter was severely wounded, his interrogation techniques would surely make him spit out the location of the Return Gold Coin.

And once he had the Return Gold Coin...

But in that split second, as the corrupting aura washed over him, just as Ferdinand watched his Bone Blades about to sever the Demon Hunter’s arms—

Baron’s body suddenly jolted. He had turned himself into a loaded gun, his sharp killing intent exploding outward in the instant the trigger was pulled!

To an outsider, it might have all happened in an instant.

The Bone Blades landed on the Demon Hunter’s shoulders as expected, slicing through muscle as if it were tofu, severing clavicles, shearing scapulae, and tearing tendons.

The Demon Hunter’s defeat seemed certain. He couldn’t even lift his sword.

The focus he had been building for so long seemed to have dissipated completely.

But at that exact moment, the Demon Hunter’s hands went limp, releasing the two Spear Swords. He threw his head back, a pre-hidden Canaan Tree Spike coated in corroding flower liquid clenched tightly in his teeth, and viciously stabbed it into Ferdinand’s neck!!!!