"Now, where will you run to next?" Lana asked.

"You really decided to give us a tough time, huh? You could have just made this easy for all of us. Now, there's nothing stopping her from crippling you." Jake chuckled loudly as he walked to a corner of the alley and leaned against it.

The place was quite wide—about five metres across allowing for ample movement, while the others stood at the entrance guarding it.

"So you mean I can handle him all alone?" Lana asked as she tilted her head toward Jake with a smirk on her face.

"Sure, knock yourself out… actually, knock him out by yourself." Jake grinned widely as he crossed his arms, unwilling to get involved or allow the others to interfere.

"Get away from my path!" Bray roared as he instantly swung his claw toward Lana with full speed and strength, causing the female hunter to immediately lift a wing in front of her. The claw struck hard, sending her skidding an inch backward.

Luckily, she dug her talons deep into the ground, bringing herself to a halt and preventing her from skidding any farther. But this didn't satisfy Bray, who instantly spun around, swinging his leg toward her wing.

"Get away!" Lana roared as she swung her second wing toward his leg, forcing the hybrid to kick off the air and leap back, narrowly avoiding the slash aimed at him.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he exploded forward toward Lana at full speed, while the female hunter did the same. Both darted toward each other like blurs, and in a split second, they met dead in the center.

They swung their fists with full force, colliding with each other and letting out a small gust of wind as they locked in place.

"Die!" Lana shouted as her wings sprang forward, feathers ready to shoot out.

"Watch it! Don't kill him, we still need him alive!" Max shouted, his voice echoing through the alley. The warning caused the female hunter to immediately change tactics, swinging one of her wings from the side toward the hybrid with full speed.

CLANG!

Wing met claw in a fierce strike, sparks flashing as neither overpowered the other. In a desperate attempt to escape, Bray swung his foot forward, a sharp bang ringing out, but Lana was faster. One wing had already moved into the path of his strike.

Bang!

A loud thud echoed as his foot connected with her wing, sending the female hunter skidding a few metres back. The impact was strong, but she held her ground, digging her talons deep into the earth to stop herself from sliding any farther.

"Tch! And she always made tall claims, acting all high and mighty. Yet you haven't even landed a hit on him!" Max shouted, watching the fight with mild amusement.

"I would have landed one if I didn't have a no-kill order, you moron!" Lana clapped back, ducking swiftly to avoid a claw slash aimed at her neck.

Without hesitation, she drove her fist into Bray's side with all her strength, causing the hybrid to cough up saliva as his body went tumbling backward, skidding several metres before he tensed his legs and stopped himself.

At that exact moment, Lana exploded forward again, appearing in front of him in a flash with a talon kick aimed at his head. Bray reacted just in time, raising his arm to block the strike.

Bam!

The kick connected, and because of her sharp talons, it tore deep into his arm, drawing blood. The pain fueled his rage. Snarling, he quickly leaned backward, barely avoiding a wing slash aimed for his neck.

In one smooth motion, he flipped backward, his powerful leg smashing into Lana's face just as she was charging toward him. The force sent the female hunter skidding a few inches back, her eyes narrowing in fury as she steadied her stance.

'Truly, he is strong and fast,' Lana thought in anger as the hybrid bolted toward her in a blur, appearing in front of her in the twinkle of an eye as his claw shot toward her abdomen.

Due to quick thinking and faster reflexes, Lana's wing instantly appeared in front of her, guarding against the strike that slammed into it with such immense force that it sent her skidding again.

The ground beneath her cracked slightly from the pressure, and her feet dragged through the dirt before she managed to stop.

"You know what? Screw your order, Jake!" Lana thundered as she swung her wings away from her face, dispelling dozens of feathers that shot toward Bray like glowing projectiles.

Seeing this, he pressed his feet against the ground, cracking it beneath him, and in a split second, he began darting around the alleyway, avoiding each and every one of the feathers. Unfortunately for him, even though he was fast, the feathers were still too many and too precise.

A few got past his speed, slicing across his cheeks, arms, and even his thighs. Thin lines of blood appeared, but Bray didn't slow down one bit.

His determination only grew fiercer, and in the next instant, he was directly in front of Lana. She instantly reacted, her wings streaking through the air from both sides, aiming to cleave the hybrid in two.

'Huh? Is she going for the kill? Damn this hot-headed bozo!' Max facepalmed angrily from the side, feeling his stomach twist with frustration.

"You are fast, but I'm faster!" Bray grinned as he twisted his body, avoiding one wing by the skin of his teeth. His hand shot up, grabbing the second wing.

The wing sliced through his palm, blood spurting, but he held on tight regardless. He skidded several meters, gritting his teeth, before finally finding balance and tightening his grip.

Before Lana could even register what was happening, he tensed his muscles and, in a single motion, lifted her off the ground. Her body was slammed back down into the earth with a thunderous impact, sending dust flying into the air.

"I don't have time for this," Bray shouted as he turned toward the other exit and began making his way there, his movements quick and ruthless.

"Shit! He mustn't escape!" Jasmine shouted as Jake instantly tensed his calves, ready to dart forward—but then he froze.

"Huh? Why did you stop?" Daki asked, raising a brow. "Go after him! He's getting away!" she yelled, pointing toward Bray, who was just inches away from exiting the alleyway.

Jake's eyes narrowed. "Someone is here with us," he muttered, his voice low and tense. Every hair on his body stood on end as the air around them grew heavy.

"Huh?" Max muttered as he turned his gaze from Jake to Bray, who took one last step forward, his foot almost breaching the exit.

"Hmm. I thought I smelled humans here," a voice echoed eerily from the shadows. "But who knew I'd find some hybrids too. Yeyeyeye! More power-ups for me."

Before anyone could react, something flew into the air and landed right in front of them with a wet thud. It rolled a few times before coming to a stop. Their hearts pounded in unison as they stared at the object before them.

It was a head—Bray's head lying lifeless on the ground, his eyes still open in shock.

"Wh… who is there? Ho… how did this happen?" Jasmine stuttered, her whole body trembling violently.

"It's me, your death," the voice said again, colder this time. Slowly, from the dark corner of the exit, a figure came into view.

He was a pale, sickly man, lean to the bone, his skin covered in patches of pus-filled boils. His eyes bulged grotesquely as if they were about to pop out at any second, and yet he smiled—a disturbing, wide smile that stretched across his face unnaturally.

In his hand, he held a strange weapon—a sword with twin blades extending from both sides of the hilt, its handle forming the center. The steel glistened faintly, wet with fresh blood.

As he stepped closer, the stench of rot and decay filled the air, forcing everyone to take a step back.

Max's eyes widened, trembling slightly as realization hit him. His suspicion grew stronger with every second that passed, especially when that sickly, otherworldly odor wafted directly into his nose.

'Wh… wh… what is this?'

[Dragon Eyes Activated]

To be sure, Max activated his Dragon Eyes. His pupils glowed a deep yellow, radiating faint energy. However, the moment his gaze locked onto the strange man, a chill ran through his veins. There was nothing—no aura, no essence, no energy signature at all. It was as if the man before him didn't exist in the natural order of things.

Tring!

[Host has just met with a demon. Calculating demon's rank based on host's knowledge of demons…]

[Calculation complete. Rank found: Proto-Echelon]

'Proto… Proto what?! Fuck me!'

"Max! Remember what I told you about them?! You need to fucking run away now, otherwise you and all your friends are dead!" Pix's voice exploded in Max's head, trembling with pure dread.

Tring!

[Quest Alert!]

[Quest Details: Survive.]

'Survive? I… I've never received a quest like this before. It's always defeat, kill, or eliminate! But survive? The system knows I can't even touch a Proto-Echelon?! Sh… shit!'

"Who are you? Wait…what even are you?!" Lana's trembling voice broke through the tension as she rose shakily to her feet. She tried to stand firm, but her body betrayed her, trembling from the pressure that seemed to radiate from the man.

[Calculating survival rate against threat…]

"Me?" The demon's lips stretched into an unnaturally wide grin as his sickly pale face twisted with amusement.

Instantly, Max's Dragon Eyes flared brighter than ever, and at that moment, the demon's aura became visible—pitch black, like a storm of smoke and shadow, spreading outward like a living nightmare. The air turned heavy and suffocating, and Max's breathing quickened.

He suddenly recalled Pix's warning from long ago:

«So for your sake, once you see any demon from the Proto-Echelon and above, don't even think of confronting them. These guys can mask their auras completely, making them impossible to detect unless they choose to reveal themselves.

And the day they reveal it, Max… is the day they're ready to bring pure destruction.»

Max's face paled. "Crap… this is bad."

[Survival rate calculated.]

[Survival rate against threat: 0 percent.]

[Run now.]

"I'm your doom," the demon said in a voice so calm it sent chills through everyone's bones.

SWOOOOSH!

The demon blurred forward, disappearing from sight in an instant as a wave of bloodlust crashed over the alley.

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