SHIING!

Someone drew a saber.

The City Defense Captain reacted in a flash, drawing his own Long Saber to parry the blade slashing toward his face.

He sneered. ’Just as I thought, someone couldn’t hold back,’ he scoffed inwardly, about to order his City Guards to eliminate the Demon Hunters on charges of "assault" and "forcing the city gate."

BANG!

Someone fired a shot.

A muzzle flash cut through the gray gloom of the city gate. With a flick of his wrist, Baron retracted the blade into his Spear Sword, holstered the weapon at his waist, and settled firmly onto his horse. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Then, the City Defense Captain swayed, spat out a mouthful of blood, and collapsed to the ground.

The scene fell utterly silent. Both the City Guards and the Demon Hunters were dumbfounded.

The atmosphere had been tense, true, but... was it really necessary to kill someone?

A conflict was one thing, but once someone was killed, the nature of the situation changed completely.

Especially killing their captain right in front of the City Defense Team. According to the harsh laws enacted by Gillian to prevent Demon Hunters from using violence to break the law, not only would the death penalty be unavoidable, but there would be no escaping other punishments either.

SHIIING!

The sound of sabers being drawn in unison filled the air, the dazzling silver light glinting off the blades.

The City Guards stepped forward, their eyes locked on Baron. The usual arrogance on their faces twisted into savage fury.

Yalilan made a split-second decision, ordering the Demon Hunters to draw their weapons and stand ready. Maguire urged his horse forward to shield Baron, telling him to flee while simultaneously drawing his riding crop to strike the rump of Baron’s mount.

But before the crop could fall, Baron caught it. He gave Maguire and Yalilan a reassuring look, dismounted, and strode forward, completely unafraid of the sharp tips of the guards’ sabers.

He gave a cold look around, then, in front of all the guards, he drew his gun again and fired several more shots into the City Defense Captain’s body.

Several more large holes appeared in the City Defense Captain’s chest.

"You!"

The guards’ eyes were practically splitting with rage; each one of them wanted nothing more than to take their saber and carve a chunk of flesh from Baron’s body.

But they were intimidated by the sharp gazes of the surrounding Demon Hunters and Yalilan, and hesitated to act.

’So this is what it feels like to have someone watching your back. It feels fucking great.’

Baron said in a low voice, "Didn’t you see?"

"See what?" someone asked.

Cutting straight to the point, Baron pointed at the wounds on the City Defense Captain’s corpse. "There’s no blood seeping out of him!"

At his words, everyone’s expression changed drastically. A soldier immediately went to check, then cried out in a choked voice, "He’s right, there’s no blood! But he’s still breathing... The Captain is..."

"An Undead," Baron said grimly.

Hearing this, Yalilan frowned and had Andre dismount for a closer look. After checking, Andre nodded, his eyes turning sharp and cold.

It really was an Undead!

The City Defense Captain was actually an Undead. Who knew how deeply the vast Fude City had been infiltrated by the Immortal Church!

Then it occurred to her: for an Undead captain to block them like this, he had probably already sent someone to tip off Ferdinand.

"Still not backing down? Are you all in league with this Undead?"

Seeing the army troops stationed near the gate approaching, Baron was quick to slap an accusation on the City Defense Team.

He’d had accusations slapped on him so many times that he’d become quite adept at doing it to others.

The soldiers looked at each other, their faces showing their indecision.

Finally, they gave in to the pressure and stepped back.

Andre seized the opportunity, pressing the advantage with a mix of threats and inducements.

"Open the gate! We are on urgent business. If you cause any delays, I’m afraid the prisons won’t have enough room for all of you!"

Although the guards looked reluctant, they saw their deputy captain nod and complied.

As the steam engine rumbled to life with the roar of a great Beast and the gate began to open, the army troops stationed there arrived on the scene.

After some questioning, they learned what had happened and, with Andre’s coordination, took the Undead City Defense Captain into custody for investigation.

"But you still can’t leave," the army officer said. "According to the laws of Fude City, a group of this size requires an exit permit..."

Yalilan had lost her patience. Seeing the gate was already open, she immediately gave the order for the Demon Hunters to prepare to charge.

But the army was clearly different from the City Guards. They wielded long spears, and before Yalilan could give the order to charge, they had already formed up at the gate on their officer’s command.

If they charged the formation, injured horses would be a minor issue; there would likely be human casualties.

Veins throbbed on Yalilan’s forehead. As a Pure-blooded Fierce Tiger, she had never felt so frustrated and powerless.

In the past, she would have had the members of the Rose Hunting Group simply crush them the moment the officer uttered a single word.

But she was here in Gillian on a mission... plus, the Rose Hunting Group she’d assembled in Fude City was temporary and hadn’t undergone the systematic training of the Guild...

’This feeling of being constrained by others is truly awful!’

"Please cooperate, Lady Viscount!" the officer said.

He had just finished speaking when there was a loud BANG and a flash of light.

He fell to the ground with a thud.

Before anyone else could react, Baron raised his gun from horseback and yelled, "He’s not bleeding either! He’s also an Undead!"

Then, with a crack of his riding crop, he spurred his horse out from the group! He charged straight toward the army’s formation without a shred of hesitation!

Everyone was stunned. They all thought L must have gone mad.

The army wasn’t the City Guard. They were well-trained and would not retreat without their officer’s command.

"Get out of the way, now! Or do you want to see whose gun is faster?" Baron roared at the formation from horseback.

He drew two guns, their muzzles aimed at the formation. The thunder of hooves grew louder. Atop his horse, the Demon Hunter’s eyes were like cast iron, devoid of any emotion. The expressions of the soldiers raising their spears faltered slightly.

He yelled, "Anyone who blocks the way is an Undead! And for the Undead, there is only one fate—death!"

Just as his horse was about to crash into the cold tips of the spears, the Demon Hunter pulled the triggers without hesitation. With the crack of gunfire, the formation split apart as if it were made of paper.

Baron charged through the city gate on his horse! But no one in the formation had fallen.

The shots... the shots hadn’t been aimed at anyone!

"An army that’s never been to war is no army at all!"

Demon Hunter L’s wild laughter rang out from horseback, piercing the cool, dim morning air. At his jeers, some of the soldiers’ faces flushed red, their mouths went dry, and they lowered their heads in shame.

They were the soldiers who had broken formation earlier.

"Son of a bitch! How could I miss out on this! L, wait for me!"

Seeing Baron’s success, Maguire wiped his nose, gripped his reins, and followed him, charging toward the sundered formation. Zod and Carmen flanked him.

Yalilan also gave the order: "Charge!"

And so, hooves thundered, sabers and spears clattered to the ground, and amidst the earth-shattering neighs of the horses, the army’s formation was smashed to pieces.

Along with the officer’s corpse.

As one of the Demon Hunters following the main group rode over the corpse, his body couldn’t help but jolt.

The officer’s body... was covered in blood!

By the time the Demon Hunters had all left, only a few disheveled and demoralized soldiers remained at the city gate.

The City Defense Team, who had been reduced to background decoration since the gate opened, watched the scene unfold. ’Good thing we opened the gate,’ they thought. ’Otherwise, that would’ve been our fate.’

...

On the road, Zod, Maguire, and Carmen caught up with Baron.

Maguire asked curiously, "L, how did you know that City Defense Captain was an Undead? What if you’d killed the wrong person..."

Baron glanced at the silent Carmen and said, "If I’d killed the wrong person, we would have just fled. But the fact that Ferdinand is still alive is worse than me killing an innocent man."

"But that officer..." Maguire had noticed the blood on the officer’s body, which meant he probably wasn’t an Undead.

Baron sneered. "At this point, does it even matter if he was an Undead? If Ferdinand becomes a Silver, I’ll be the first one he comes to kill."

"My own life is hanging by a thread. If that officer’s dawdling had cost us our lives, who could we have turned to for justice?"

Baron holstered his Spear Sword. "Only the living can be judged and sentenced. Once you’re dead, you’re nothing."

Maguire and Zod exchanged a look. Maguire grew thoughtful, as if truly absorbing Baron’s words. ’Damn,’ he thought, ’I feel like I’m actually getting smarter just listening to him.’

Zod, however, had a somber look in his eyes, his thoughts unreadable.

"L, well done."

Yalilan rode up to check on Baron. After a brief word, she and Andre—who maintained his mysterious air, giving Baron only a cold, grudging nod—surged to the front of the group to lead the way.

They had lost contact with the advance team they’d sent ahead and suspected the worst.

Zod and Maguire followed them. Just as Baron was about to do the same, Carmen suddenly rode up beside him. Her rose-gold eyes, visible from under her hood, were serene.

"You’re injured."