"Never underestimate a monster," I told him. "If you think they are mindless beasts who thinking of nothing but killing, get rid of that impression immediately. They are also among the most cunning and insidious creatures to ever invade our dimension. They can be as intelligent as humans."

The Alpha Chiropteran snorted, as if mocking us, its elongated snout opening to reveal rows of gleaming teeth. I readied both of my swords, but before I could order Canis Major to attack, the Alpha Chiropteran launched the first strike.

It hadn't been hiding this entire time to do nothing, after all.

"!!!!"

The Alpha Chiropteran shrieked so loudly that all of the gla.s.s windows shattered instantly. I was sent staggering backward as violent vibrations thundered into me, almost breaking my eardrums and destroying the concrete around me.

"This much power from just a screech…no, is this a sonic attack?!"

The attack also took out a big chunk of my pack of Canis Minor, the poor hunting hounds howling in agony as the sonic attack ruptured their ears. They had even more sensitive hearing than I did and were thus more vulnerable. I hurriedly dismissed them, along with the Ursa Minor, a good number who had been tossed about like teddy bears…uh, I mean rag dolls.

Before I could react, the Alpha Chiropteran flapped its wings, and the next second it was right in front of me, its scythe-like claws arcing toward my shoulder. I was barely able to parry it in time, but greenish-black demonic mana surged out and blew the entire place up.

"Ugh!?"

I tumbled out of the explosion, coughing. Blood trickled down my face and from my shoulder. Rolling to my feet, I gasped as I brought both of my swords up. If I hadn't unleashed a black blast of mana from Hei Yue to counter the monstrous creature's attack, its scythe-like claws would have taken my head off my shoulders.

And the creature knew it. The Alpha Chiropteran was actually laughing as it watched me, its black eyes glinting maliciously. It raised another scythe-like claw to swat me aside, despite me parrying its blow with my crossed swords. It was almost as if I was nothing more than a toy to its prodigious strength.

"Gr…!"

Ursa Major growled as he lumbered up behind the Alpha Chiropteran and struck it with his claws. To my surprise, the monster merely batted Ursa Major's huge claws aside with a ma.s.sive wing, and used its other wing to knock him aside. Ursa Major staggered, but then a dexterous tail whipped out and pierced through his throat, penetrating even thick muscles and fur to send blood jetting out. While Ursa Major tumbled over and disappeared, Canis Major seized the chance to unleash his Sirius spell and bathed the Alpha Chiropteran in flames.

"…"

The Alpha Chiropteran merely cleaved the superheated torrent apart with a scythe, and then disappeared. Before Canis Major could respond, the Alpha Chiropteran appeared behind him, and then slashed him from shoulder to hip, causing him to howl as he went down. I quickly dismissed him to spare him the agony.

"Richard!" Kufa yelled as he raced forward, but before I could gesture for him to get back, the Alpha Chiropteran was in front of him. He was barely able to block its next blow, and found himself flung across the warehouse. "Kuh! d.a.m.n it…!"

His eyes widened when he saw that the Alpha Chiropteran was right above him, bringing its scythe down to decapitate him. He wouldn't be able to block it in time, with his katana knocked aside. Even so, he tried to raise his sword as quickly as possible…

An azure arrow slammed into the Alpha Chiropteran, forcing it to abort its attack. It turned toward me, its wings swatting away the next hail of azure arrows that followed. I was firing consecutively with Orion, having sheathed my swords.

"Retreat!" I ordered a stunned Kufa. "Take Saya and bring her out of here! Get out of the warehouse! I'll deal with this monster!"

"By yourself?" he retorted in disbelief. I smiled at him.

"Have you forgotten? I'm never by myself."

He immediately understood, and flung the protesting Saya over his shoulder. While firing more azure arrows at the slowly approaching Alpha Chiropteran – who was casually flicking them away with its wings as if they were nothing more than a minor irritant – I watched them leave. Kufa slashed one of the few surviving Chiropterans with his katana, and then smashed his way out of a window to crash outside of the warehouse. His job was made easier because the Alpha Chiropteran's sonic attack had shattered all the gla.s.s earlier.

With him and Saya now safely outside, I could begin the next phase of my strategy.

"Vermillion Phoenix!"

My Celestial Guardian above me, and then set the entire warehouse ablaze. The remaining Chiropterans screeched as they were incinerated into ash, their bodies shriveling up and blackening. Only the Alpha Chiropteran was able to survive the divine flames, using its wings to s.h.i.+eld itself from the blaze. Despite its power, it was vulnerable. Ugly burns expanded over its brown, leathery skin, and it screeched in agony.

"!!!"

The d.a.m.ned monster unleashed another sonic howl that blew the flames out, or tried to. Vermilion Phoenix unleashed another torrent of flames that engulfed the poor creature and caused it to trash about for a moment. Its scythe-like claws slashed out of the crimson flames, seeking purchase in the razed warehouse. The entire place was falling apart around me, immolated beams and flaming pieces of concrete raining down.

I effortlessly evaded the blazing debris while firing off a few azure arrows in the Chiropteran's direction. The gargantuan creature flapped its wings forcefully to extinguish part of the flames, but it wasn't enough to prevent the unfortunate warehouse from collapsing upon itself.

With another shriek, it burst out of the burning warehouse, attempting to break free and soar high into the air. However, Vermillion Phoenix was waiting for it. With a cry, my Celestial Guardian rammed into the fleeing Chiropteran and knocked it back down into the crumbing warehouse. As it plummeted, I took aim with Orion.

"Rigel," I intoned softly. The azure arrow blazed in my right hand so brightly it almost resembled a star, even as I fitted it to my bow. The gusts of wind conjured by the sheer power of Rigel blew the flames away from me, sending the superheated air rippling away. Ignoring the destruction around me, I released the arrow and directed it at the Alpha Chiropteran, which was even now trying to recover its balance.

My arrow stuck true and detonated, enveloping the Alpha Chiropteran in a colossal sphere that consumed the rest of the warehouse. Vermillion Phoenix swooped down and grabbed me, then took off to escape the expanding conflagration that reduced everything within its reach into atoms.

"Jesus Christ!" Kufa cried out as he s.h.i.+elded his eyes from the searing blast. Behind, the men in suits all crouched down instinctively, their sungla.s.ses protecting their eyes from the blinding glare. A medic was tending to Saya, who shook her head in disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding me," she growled as she glared at the explosion. "Where the h.e.l.l did this guy come from?"

"From Jing Tian City," Kufa replied without thinking. Saya buried her face in her palm – she still only had one arm at the moment.

"That's not what I meant…" she trailed off, and then turned to stare at her comrade, her eyes widening. "Wait, that Jing Tian City?!"

"Yeah, that Jing Tian City."

They were referring to the Jing Tian City event where it was invaded by an army of monsters and almost turned into a living h.e.l.l thanks to the machinations of the Dark Church. Whoops, I almost accidentally said Black Vatican there. Sorry.

The conflagration was slowly fading, and there wasn't even much of a corpse left. Ash rained down, falling into the raging inferno that now devoured the remains of the warehouse. Vermillion Phoenix dropped me off at the perimeter, and then disappeared.

"None of the other Chiropterans escaped, right?" I asked David. He jolted, and then snapped of a salute.

"No, sir!"

Did the guy not realize that I was not his commanding officer? Why the h.e.l.l was he addressing me as sir?

Deciding not to dwell on the minor details, I nodded and proceeded toward Kufa. Jerking my head at Saya, who was now receiving treatment, I asked, "Is she all right?"

"She will be."

"I'll live," Saya said unhappily, her red gaze turning toward me. "I appreciate the help you two have given me. At the very least, we have wiped out an entire nest…this mission has been a great success."

"It's possible that we might have exterminated all the Chiropterans in Flandor City." There was hope in David's voice, but Saya scoffed at that.

"I wouldn't put any money on that. These things are tenacious. There will be a few who have gone underground, and they will surely go into hiding until we forget about them."

"Then we'll continue to root them out." David clenched his fists. I wondered if he had lost a loved one or a friend or even family to these monsters. Or perhaps that was just my imagination going wild. Imagining a random backstory for someone I hardly knew.

"Our job here is done." I glanced at Kufa, who nodded. However, he didn't budge.

"I'll stay here until we clean everything up. To ensure there are no Chiropterans or other monster hiding in there somewhere."

I sighed, cursing under my breath. Why did I have to be a nice guy? "I'll stay with you then. No way will I leave the place until the job is done."

"No, you will not."

"!!!"

All of us jumped and spun around, the men in suits raising their rifles and guns to point at the source of the voice. To our surprise, it belonged to a kindly old lady with her silver hair pinned to a bun and dressed in regal robes.

"…Headmistress Taylor…"

Teresa Taylor nodded absently as she almost seemed to glide over the ground. She surveyed the destruction for a few moments before turning back to us.

"I'm pretty sure you two are not supposed to be here. I have no recollection of the Hunter a.s.sociation submitting a request to my academy students for a Chiropteran hunting mission."

"W…why are you here?" Kufa finally found her voice. She snorted and gestured toward the warehouse.

"With you people making this much of a ruckus, how could I not notice? And also…I happened to see that Vermillion Bird, as well as that huge explosion from afar…so I rushed over as soon as I can." She regarded me. "Your spells are very distinctive, Student Richard."

I said nothing. I had been caught in the act, and there was no excuse I could make.

"So…why are the both of you here? Student Kufa, Student Richard?"

"It was an emergency!" Kufa swallowed, and then glanced at Saya, who was still receiving treatment. "A friend of mine was in danger…and so I begged Cla.s.smate Richard for help. I was the one who got him involved in all this."

"If I may…" David raised a hand. "Headmistress Taylor, the Hunter a.s.sociation will accept all responsibility for this mess. We were the ones who underestimated the enemy. We had thought Saya sufficient to dispatch the Chiropterans, and we were horribly mistaken. Consequently, Saya almost paid for our error with her life, and in our desperation, we called Kufa Van Peer and his friend here for help. It was truly an emergency. I hope you can forgive us."

Teresa Taylor was silent for a while. Then she sighed.

"I am not unsympathetic to your plight," she finally said. "However, if this was truly an emergency, you should have contacted the military mages, or hired a mercenary unit. Why did you instead call upon the aid of two students?"

"They may be students, but they are very capable…" David began, but Taylor cut him off.

"You can't fool me. It's because they would be cheaper, right?"

David looked shocked, but he lowered his head, unable to deny it. I narrowed my yes. So basically these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds dragged me out of my resting period and got me involved in this mess because they wanted to save money?!

"Both of you, go home.��� Teresa Taylor turned to speak to Kufa and me. "I'll deal with the Hunter a.s.sociation. As for the Chiropterans, you need not worry. I have already enlisted the a.s.sistance of the city's military mages."

Kufa and I exchanged a glance, and then we obeyed, leaving the blazing warehouse and the men in suits behind.

Please go to to read the latest chapters for free