Star Gate

Chapter 71: Demon Hunters’ First Battle (I)

The group’s sprinting footsteps traveled particularly lightly through the onslaught of rain. They arrived at the church very shortly. Liu Long didn’t draw near—supernatural senses were remarkable and the enemy might sense them if they approached too close.

He raised his hand without a word!

Those behind him swiftly set up an attack formation, assembled a miniature cannon, and loaded it with ammunition. A machine gun was also erected while someone burrowed into a nearby house. Everything was conducted in a methodical manner and all was ready within a minute.

The entire process was startlingly quiet. There was no need for loud commands as this troop had supported Liu Long in previous supernatural hunts. They were so discreet that not many knew he had trusted followers outside of the law enforcement team that dared kill supernaturals for him.

Liu Long’s tall and bulky figure looked toward the church in the distance. His eyes cut through the rain with a frosty glint. Supernaturals were hard to kill—he and his men may not be able to kill that many even with an ambush. However, he wasn’t the type to passively sit back when others came for him. It was better to strike the first blow!

A mighty dragon was hard pressed to match a local snake. Liu Long was the local snake of Silver City! He raised his right hand high and swung it downward!

KABOOM!

A cannonball crashed into the church, swiftly followed by multiple grenades. The team also flung packs of explosives in the church’s direction. The consecutive collisions temporarily overpowered the rain.

“This is the law enforcement team of the Inspectorate! We are here on business! Do not put up a fight! Those who resist will be killed!”

Rumble!!

Explosions ripped through the air before he finished.

BOOM!!

The church walls were instantly reduced to rubble and the roof caved in. Liu Long withdrew a hatchet, took off his drenched trench coat and roared, throwing the weapon at the first Ghostface to run out of the church.

“Keep hitting them!”

KABOOM!

No one seemed to care about accidentally hitting Liu Long or even his survival. Massive amounts of artillery hit the church and a rat-tat-tat from the machine gun drowned out the rain.

……

Inside the ramshackle church.

The Ghostfaces were ready to move out after receiving word that Li Hao had separated from the law enforcement team. Although completely caught off guard by the ambush, there were thankfully numerous supernaturals among them.

Mysterious power surged after a Ghostface shouted, forming a protective dome around the assembly. A cannonball pierced through it in the blink of an eye; the others immediately backed away. In the next instant, a machine gun filled that Ghostface with holes!

Another Ghostface panicked and ran out of the church, meeting a silver hatchet as soon as he emerged.

One stroke from a hatchet propelled by seven layers of force!

Bam!

A Darkmoon supernatural was the equivalent of a Sunderer. Cloven into two, the hysteric Ghostface’s blood sprayed over the street.

“Liu Long!” wailed a shrieking voice.

The deputy chief felt danger in this moment—formless danger. Something seemed to appear next to him and burrow into his body.

If Li Hao was here, he’d see three scarlet shadows hovering around the chief. Not only that, but more flew towards the soldiers. Leader and squad were completely clueless. Ammunition and explosives were ineffective against these ghostly entities.

“Arf arf arf!” Panther’s barks were particularly shrill in the stormy night.

Liu Long understood from the dog that the mental danger he’d sensed last time was here. He was a Sunderer at the end of the day, so he could fend for himself for a bit. His brothers outside, however, wouldn’t be able to withstand them!

A barrage of cannonballs, explosives, and bullets rained down on the supernaturals. It created an opening for Liu Long to rush forward and hack every Ghostface he saw. If his team died and the hot weapons were rendered ineffective, Liu Long wouldn’t be able to face the enemy by himself. He could sense more than one supernatural on the scene; there were quite a few of them present!

There had to be at least seven or eight, and this was after he hacked one to death while the machine gun took out another.

“A ten person squad?” Liu Long was stunned. Ten supernaturals? This scale went beyond the imagination. Even Night Watchers found it difficult to send ten of their people to Silver City for one operation. They were called in for too many cities.

“You court death, Liu Long!” someone roared from the church. “We seek only Li Hao, but you dare interfere and even kill us! Silver City is an insignificant backwater, do you really think we won’t dare put the city to the sword?!”

This was crazy! They had their plans and a full understanding of Liu Long. He should’ve gone to the other location with his men to process the arson case. What was he doing here?

They had agents among the law enforcement team; there was no large-scale withdrawal of weapons today and the armory laid untouched. Of course, Liu Long could secretly collect some weapons since he was the captain of Law Enforcement. With the inspector general choosing to pay selective attention, regular people were very easily kept in the dark.

The Ghostfaces hadn’t imagined that Liu Long would dare open fire inside the city, and with this level of firepower! He’d even brought mortar with him?? He might be here with a cannon meant for besieging cities if it wasn’t for lack of time!

“We do not concede to evil!” Such was Liu Long’s only response.

Put the city to the sword?

No matter what, they would never bow their heads to evil. The Night Watchers’ repeated compromises had resulted in increasing unrest instead of peace. These fellows would be afraid only when enough of them died.

“Final round!” Liu Long roared after he backed out of the church’s range.

Ghostfaces materialized inside the structure. Some flew into the sky, others dove beneath the ground, and more melted into the air. Having gathered their wits, the capabilities of the supernatural were beyond imagination. Other than those who truly had no way of escape, all ran away when Liu Long called for a final round of attack.

One person with a gun was no threat to them, but a dozen prepared elites in formation required prudence and avoidance. Of course, they could quickly kill these impertinent mundanes if given enough time!

The sky lit up with red after Liu Long shouted. Every last cannonball, explosive, and grenade found their way to the church. A Ghostface roared, directing gale winds through the air with a wave of mysterious power. The wind swept through everything, tossing explosives and cannonballs into the sky.

KABOOOOOM!!

Explosions rocked the area and deafened the ear. The supernatural commanding the winds stumbled. Plainly, this was a hasty deployment of power beyond his capabilities.

Liu Long suddenly turned back with the hatchet upraised. The tendons on his hand bulged as he waved the weapon seven times.

Seven layers of force!

“Kill!” He pushed off his toes and shot into the air as if he were a dragon himself, charging the Ghostface that’d just employed his abilities.

Killing intent shot through the air like frost, scattering the rain! A hatchet hurtled forward with a vicious glint. The wind supernatural raised his head in fear. Though he was a Darkmoon, he’d just employed power beyond his capabilities and was gathering his strength for a next blow.

An experienced Sunderer like Liu Long was most adept at pinpointing opportunities in battle. As the supernatural reeled from horror, Liu Long jerked. He’d been fighting the scarlet shadows that’d burrowed into his body all this time. Since he’d just redirected his internal force to a blow that employed his full strength, he could no longer protect his body. As such, his organs immediately felt like they were on fire!

The pain was indescribable!

Liu Long couldn’t see it, but Panther’s eyes were full of worry in the distance. It saw three scarlet shadows tunneling into the man’s body and sparks beginning to ignite on the captain!

They were immolating Liu Long!

Not only that, but some other scarlet shadows had drawn close to the soldiers on the outskirts.

“Arf arf arf!!” The little black dog frantically warned everyone.

“Is this all you got?!” Liu Long suddenly roared. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he brought the hatchet down on the supernatural’s head. His blood frothed like boiling water when the enemy’s head split open!

Even the shadow seemed to be harmed by the agitating blood—wisps of green smoke rose from the man’s body! The agitating blood burned the scarlet shadow in turn!

Liu Long roared like a lion, propelling his internal force for all his might. He didn’t care if it ended up being a pyrrhic victory. More than forty years of age and a practitioner of the Nine Forged Force to seven layers, each battle worsened his injuries. If he continued to fail the crossover, it was only a matter of time before he ended up like his father. Once he was disabled from crippled arms, he would be a worthless wretch on a sickbed until he died.

His eruption today resulted in two dead supernaturals so far. His comrades had killed another—worth!

Of course, he didn’t want to die now.

No one ever wanted to die; he was no exception. But unless he could enter Dominator of Thousands, there was no better approach against the scarlet shadow. This kind of mutual destruction was the only way to somewhat keep them in check.

……

After the soldiers fired their last salvo, they immediately fled the scene without a look back. Years of coordination and experience told them that if they continued to stay, they would be dead without a doubt. Not only would they not be able to eliminate the enemy, but they would hamper Liu Long instead.

The scarlet shadows, however, remained on the chase!

These mundanes had caused grave casualties to the Ghostfaces, so the supernaturals commanding the shadows would not easily forgo their retribution! These mundanes must die!

Someone would come along to handle Liu Long, so the rest of his men should prepare for death since they’d dared face supernaturals head-on!

Seven Ghostfaces manifested outside of the church. They were a ten person squadron of supernaturals—three were dead. The rest were beside themselves; mysterious power rippled over all of them.

All of these impertinent mortals had to die!

One of them snorted when they saw Liu Long stir his blood to burn the scarlet shadow.

“Liu Long, do you think you can delay us with just you? You think too highly of yourself and underestimate Li Hao’s importance. Do you think this is all of us?”

Focused on withstanding the shadows in his body, Liu Long’s expression finally shifted noticeably. This wasn’t all of them? How isn’t this all of them??

Ten supernaturals all at Darkmoon meant that they were ten Sunderers… This was more than he’d anticipated, yet this still wasn’t the enemy in full?

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