At Li Liu's outburst, Lin Fang suddenly felt like the guy who was cheating on his girlfriend but got caught in the act.

He hurriedly spoke. "No, it's not what it appears like. We actually kinda checked into the same hotel, you know, since she was my business partner and all… Because of that aura earlier, I came to check on her.

"Really?" Li Liu's voice came colder than before. "Then your body must have been moving before you even think about it. That aura flared up only a few moments ago, and you just barged outside your room and intruded into hers to check on her?"

Lin Fang's face froze once again. As his mind went blank, not being able to think of a perfect, reasonable excuse, Alpha's voice echoed in his head, and he immediately spoke the same words. "Liu'er, we are neighbors. It's not my fault that she practically checked into the opposite room from mine."

Right then, Vivian's voice came again, cutting in unintentionally before Li Liu reacted to it. "Lin Fang, looks like the power's gone. You should charge your phone before the backup generator dies, too."

Li Liu went silent. Lin Fang hurriedly said. "Liu'er, just stay safe, alright? Stick to Ms. Leng. Contact me in the group chat if anything happens."

He didn't wait for a reply and hung up immediately, letting out a long exhale.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Li Liu was still staring at the darkened phone screen when she felt Zhi Yan's gaze on her.

"Tell me honestly," Zhi Yan asked, her tone gentle but direct. "Is there something going on between you and Fang-ge?"

Li Liu blinked, taken aback. "What? No! Nothing like that."

Zhi Yan didn't look convinced. "Then how come you were so rattled the moment you heard Vivian's voice?"

Li Liu pursed her lips, avoiding eye contact. "I was just… surprised, that's all. Vivian is my ex-boyfriend's cousin. I wasn't expecting her name to come up suddenly." After a brief pause, she added in a quiet murmur. "And you know… I just don't want people related to him in my life… so, I was just worried… that's all."

Zhi Yan crossed her arms, still not being convinced. Her gaze sharpened as she said, "Oh, really? But when Lin Fang was trained under your ex-boyfriend himself and even became close friends with him, you were perfectly fine with that. So what makes Vivian different?"

Li Liu froze. The room went quiet except for the faint hum of the emergency lights flickering above them.

As Li Liu hesitated, unsure how to respond to Zhi Yan's piercing words, the sound of hurried footsteps drew both their attention. Xuenyi burst in from the terrace, returning to the room with a grim expression. "It's bad," she said sharply. "It's a Class-0 demon."

Her words froze both Zhi Yan and Li Liu in place.

"And that's not all," Xuenyi continued. "A barrier has been erected… over the entire city."

"Over the entire city?" Zhi Yan gasped, standing up abruptly. "Is it an instant dungeon?"

Li Liu frowned at that, clutching Zhi Yan's phone in her hands. "But we didn't get any system alert…" She said.

Then her eyes widened as realization struck, and she gasped aloud. "Wait…could it be man-made? You know about those dark guilds that targeted Southern Wu a few months ago. Is it like them?"

Xuenyi shook her head grimly. "No, I don't think so. Because they don't create the dungeon. They basically use their technology to bring forth a dungeon to our material world. This is different." She then turned to Zhi Yan and added, "But whatever it is, we can't stay here. We have to get back to the Young Master. His life could be in danger."

She clenched her fists, guilt flashing across her eyes. "The Old Master is already furious that I let him get hurt once. I can't afford another mistake."

Zhi Yan nodded, her earlier calm completely replaced by determination. "You're right. Lin Fang's safety comes first."

Li Liu blinked, looking between the two women in confusion. "Wait… Young Master? Who are you talking about?"

Her brows furrowed as she turned toward Xuenyi. "Is it Fang-Ge?"

Xuenyi didn't answer, though. Her expression remained stone-cold, focused only on the mission.

Zhi Yan exhaled sharply and turned toward the door.

"We don't have time to explain," she said. "Let's move."

Then, glancing back at Li Liu, she added, "You said he checked into Four Seasons, right?"

Li Liu nodded.

"Then that's where we're going."

Without another word, the three women grabbed their weapons and coats, vanishing down the emergency stairwell as the city's sirens began to wail in the distance.

Twenty minutes later — Four Seasons Presidential Suite;

On the highest floor, Alexander sat comfortably on the balcony with a cup of red wine in hand and a long-range tactical telescope mounted before him. Through its lens, the scene outside unfolded like a painting of chaos — a massive humanoid of pure energy rampaging through the city center.

Below it, dozens of hunters from various guilds had already engaged the creature, their abilities flashing like sparks in the darkness. Explosions, smoke, and beams of light lit up the night sky as alarms blared across the metropolis.

Alexander smiled faintly. "So it begins… The Devil's return has truly turned this city into hell."

He swirled his glass lazily, the reflection of crimson flames dancing in his eyes. "However, it isn't the right time to act."

Across the central district, the Silvershapers Guild, one of the city's most renowned hunter guilds, had already mobilized three strike units — Team Argent, Team Coreline, and Team Helix — all made up of seasoned A-rank hunters.

At the front line stood Rafael Wang, the team captain, an A-rank Hunter who controlled liquid silver as though it were alive. His metallic armor gleamed as he hurled razor-sharp streams of molten silver toward the towering demonic figure.

Beside him, Fei Yan, another A-ranker known for her Ice manipulation, froze incoming fireballs with a flick of her fingers, shouting orders into her comm.

"Hold the line! Support from Team Coreline coming in ten seconds!"

But even with their combined might, the sheer pressure from the being floating in the air, the Satan, crushed their spirits.

When the two S-rank Hunters from the Federation Guild and Ace Guild arrived at the same time: Gareth Han, the "Crimson Spear," and Noel Viera, the "Saint of Bulwark," the soldiers cheered.

For a brief moment, hope returned.

The street trembled as Gareth's crimson aura erupted as his spear blazing like molten magma.

"Mr. Noel, I need cover while I invoke my ultimate attack."

"You got it."

Noel, the S-rank Hunter and the guildmaster of Ace Guild, stretched his hand upward and mumbled, "The Shield of Bulwark."

Mana flared up from his body, unleashing a series of shield-shaped attacks toward Satan. They all surrounded him in no time and revolved around him, intending to redirect every attack Satan unleashed onto the streets around toward themselves and absorb them.

The sky that lit up with beams and explosions redirected toward the shields as planned and disappeared, leaving behind only the giant humanoid armor around the floating Satan.

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