The sudden accident caught everyone at the scene completely off guard.
An unknown Orphnoch ruthlessly tossed the unconscious person in its grasp right in front of the crowd.
The man, covered in horrific injuries, lay motionless on the ground.
Blood continuously seeped from his wounds, quickly dyeing the pavement red.
Someone finally snapped out of their shock, letting out an ear-piercing scream.
The scream jolted the rest of the crowd awake, and the plaza instantly devolved into pure chaos.
People scrambled in every direction, pushing and shoving to escape.
Some lost their footing and were trampled, and agonized screams echoed one after another.
The air grew thick with fear, unease, and the sheer despair of facing an unknown monster.
“Everyone! Please don’t push! Flee in the same direction and don’t clump together! Eve!”
Astra Yao shouted as she watched the panicked crowd, simultaneously turning her gaze toward Evelyn.
Evelyn understood immediately.
She flicked her wrist, shooting out a silken wire that tightly wrapped around the bloodied man, and pulled him through the air toward Astra.
Astra caught him smoothly and immediately began inspecting his injuries.
“Thank goodness. They’re mostly flesh wounds. It’s a miracle his bones and internal organs are unharmed!”
Ether energy began to gently radiate from Astra’s hands, and the bleeding from the man’s wounds slowly began to clot and stop.
By now, the crowd had completely scattered.
The Orphnoch watched Evelyn with keen interest.
It hadn’t made any move to stop them from saving the man; instead, it seemed to have developed a sudden fascination with the woman standing before it.
Evelyn gripped her dagger tightly, her eyes locked dead onto the monster, remaining hyper-vigilant of its every micro-movement.
While keeping her guard up, she rapidly analyzed its appearance.
It was entirely ash-gray, with sharp spikes protruding faintly from various joints on its humanoid body.
Both of its arms were covered in feathers that looked like solid steel blades, and its head featured a long, sharp beak.
It was basically a giant bird!
“I am ‘Hummingbird’ ! Human, state your name!”
“It can actually speak?!” Evelyn’s pupils shrank slightly in shock, but she forced herself to remain calm.
The Hummingbird Orphnoch nodded.
Spreading its arms wide, it declared with absolute arrogance: “I am an Ultimate Life Form that surpasses all things! Human, I have come under my Lord’s orders to recruit you! You now have two choices: submit or die!”
“Eve!”
Astra, still in the middle of treating the injured man, cried out anxiously upon hearing Hummingbird’s threat.
Seeing Astra’s worried expression, Evelyn felt a warm feeling in her chest.
She smiled back at Astra, who was standing a safe distance behind her.
“Don’t worry, Miss Astra. I will never agree to his terms. I’m going to protect you perfectly!”
With that, Evelyn turned a frosty glare back to Hummingbird, her eyes practically overflowing with killing intent!
“Very well! Since you have rejected me, then…”
Before the word even finished echoing, Hummingbird vanished in a blur, instantly reappearing right in front of Evelyn.
It raised its feathered arms and brought them crashing down like twin broadswords!
“So fast!” Evelyn said.
But Evelyn’s reflexes were nothing to scoff at.
She raised her dagger to block the heavy strike in the nick of time.
Unfortunately, she was still outmatched in raw physical strength.
With a sudden burst of power from Hummingbird, Evelyn was forced back several meters.
Before she could even adjust her footing, the next attack was already upon her!
However, Evelyn was no amateur.
Having survived countless dangerous missions over the years, her reaction speed to sudden, lethal threats had been honed to perfection.
With a flick of her wrists, she rapidly wove her wires into a thick, defensive screen to deflect the incoming barrage.
While defending herself, she didn’t forget to intercept the stray feathers flying toward Astra.
“Hmph! Useless effort! I will personally sever these meaningless bonds of yours!” Hummingbird scoffed.
Halting its barrage, it shifted its stance, preparing to bypass Evelyn and strike Astra directly!
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
The defensive wire screen instantly unraveled, shooting forward like a viper and tightly wrapping around Hummingbird’s legs!
The Orphnoch’s movements stalled for a split second.
Evelyn seized the opening perfectly.
With a flash of sparks, her dagger slashed fiercely across Hummingbird’s body, leaving a deep, long gash in its armor!
A searing, fiery pain immediately erupted across Hummingbird’s chest.
Enraged, it violently flexed its muscles, forcefully snapping all the restraining wires into pieces!
Seeing that her wires couldn’t hold it, Evelyn abandoned any thoughts of pressing the attack.
She quickly widened the distance, falling back to stand right in front of Astra, seamlessly returning to her combat stance.
Hummingbird touched the gruesome wound on its chest and began laughing maniacally, “Hahaha! As expected of the human favored by Lord Black Cat! To think you could actually injure me!”
But as the laughter died down, its voice became laced with nothing but pure, unadulterated fury.
“My Lord decreed that if you refused, I was to eradicate you! You said you were going to protect that woman, right?! For defying me, you will accept your punishment! Your wish will never, ever be fulfilled!!”
With that final roar, Hummingbird spread its arms.
The feathers lining its arms completely fell off, instantly replaced by far broader, more massive wings.
Even its legs began mutating, morphing into terrifying, raptor-like talons!
In a matter of seconds, a bizarre, terrifying avian humanoid finished taking shape.
(Imagine Kars from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 2 — Battle Tendency).
The fully mutated Hummingbird flapped its new wings.
Carried by a powerful updraft, it slowly lifted off the ground, hovering more than a dozen meters in the air.
The sudden transformation completely shattered any thoughts Evelyn had of a tactical retreat.
The enemy had absolute air superiority, while she was grounded with practically nowhere to run!
Hummingbird adjusted its posture mid-air, shifting into a dive-bombing stance.
With a massive flap of its wings, it locked onto Evelyn and launched itself downward like a biological artillery shell!
It’s too fast!
I can’t dodge!
Panic flared in Evelyn’s heart.
She was already outmatched in raw strength; now that the enemy had buffed itself further, there was no way she could parry this strike!
No!
Miss Astra is right behind me!
If I fall here, what will happen to her?!
“Brave Bird!” Hummingbird shouted its skill.
CLANG—!
The screeching sound of metal violently clashing echoed through the plaza, sharp and deafening.
A massive shower of sparks erupted between the dagger and the descending talons! This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Evelyn gritted her teeth so hard they nearly cracked, using absolutely every ounce of strength in her body to hold back the attack.
But Hummingbird looked completely relaxed, as if it wasn’t even trying.
“It’s over!” Hummingbird let out a cold sneer.
Twisting its body mid-air, it slammed a talon ruthlessly into Evelyn’s abdomen!
“Guh-ah!”
Two hands were no match for two talons.
The dagger flew from her grasp as blood spilled from Evelyn’s mouth, her body sent flying backward like a broken doll.
“Eve!”
Astra, who had just barely finished stabilizing the injured man, threw her arms open and caught the airborne Evelyn.
Under the immense kinetic force, the two girls skidded backward together for more than a dozen meters!
From the moment the fight started to Evelyn’s total defeat, the entire exchange had taken less than two and a half minutes!
Falling heavily to the ground in a miserable state, Astra hurriedly propped Evelyn up to check her wounds.
While the strike hadn’t been fatal, it had completely neutralized Evelyn’s combat capabilities for the foreseeable future.
Laying in Astra’s arms, Evelyn looked up at Astra’s dust-covered face, her heart filled with overwhelming guilt.
“Miss Astra… I’m sorry, I—”
“Stop talking, Eve!” With a tearful shout from Astra, Evelyn immediately fell silent.
Astra’s beautiful face was pale as a sheet.
Trembling violently, she poured her Ether energy out recklessly to heal Evelyn, large teardrops falling continuously onto her bodyguard’s face.
Astra wasn’t specialized in combat healing to begin with.
Saving the man earlier had already drained a massive amount of her stamina.
Now, trying to heal Evelyn on top of that, her body was visibly reaching its absolute limit.
Even if Astra had some offensive capabilities, against an enemy like this, she wouldn’t even be able to scratch its armor.
Hummingbird slowly strolled toward them, a mocking, sadistic gleam in its eyes.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. How incredibly moving! I’m practically in tears over here, haha!”
Hummingbird stood right in front of the two girls, looking down at them from its towering height.
With an icy, emotionless expression, it raised a wing gleaming with cold, deadly steel.
Astra squeezed her eyes shut in total despair, hugging Evelyn tightly.
Evelyn’s mind was consumed by nothing but endless guilt.
It’s my fault…
I couldn’t protect her…
Evelyn clenched her fists until her nails drew blood.
She wanted to push Astra away, to stand up and face Hummingbird herself, but her broken body wouldn’t obey.
“Fine by me. You two can keep each other company in the afterlife. Go to he—”
EXCEED CHARGE!
“SPARKLE CUT!”
A brilliant crimson slash tore across the plaza like a bolt of divine judgment, instantly severing Hummingbird’s descending wing.
The razor-sharp limb spun wildly through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.
“GYAAAAARGH!”
Hummingbird let out an agonized shriek, stumbling backward in disbelief as dark blood sprayed from the cleanly severed stump.
“You piece of trash! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
A voice overflowing with absolute, unbridled rage echoed from nearby.
It was none other than Li Qianqiao, now fully transformed into Faiz, his right hand held the Faiz Edge, Mission Memory inserted.