Chapter 76

Chapter 19: An Unexpected Encounter

"Stop! All of you, stop!" Dikais shouted, his voice high and commanding, halting the imminent battle. "Whether you are just or evil, light or dark, this is my territory! If you want to resolve your conflicts, do it outside! Those who come here are only guests!"

"As you wish!"

Ye Qi bowed slightly, but his hand did not relax on the hilt of the Yama blade, his eyes fixed on the opponent. The opponent snorted, lowering the gun, and to Ye Qi's surprise, the voice was clear and pleasant, belonging to a woman.

Vampire or dark wizard? Or another demon worshipper?

The negative energy emanating from the opponent clearly indicated that she was from the Dark Realm, and the unique firearm ruled out the werewolves, who preferred close combat and cold weapons. The human-like build could only belong to a vampire, dark wizard, or another demon worshipper who had sacrificed her soul for some reason.

However, no matter which one, caution was necessary! Survival in the Dark Realm was inherently difficult, and the more brutal and direct Dark Realm followed a stark law of the jungle where the strong ruled. For a woman to survive in the Dark Realm, she must have had her own means!

"Who are you?" Dikais tugged at his disheveled beard, sizing up Ye Qi. "Who recommended you?"

"I am Ye Qi! Recommended by Sir Jacob..."

"Jacob? So you're a Demon Hunter!" Dikais was taken aback by the name, then turned his head and recited, "Gun modifications start at 200 gold pence..."

Ye Qi nodded without hesitation, handing over the M500 from his waist, even though the 200 gold pence was almost all he had left—compared to money, weapons were undoubtedly more important for a Demon Hunter, as they represented a guarantee of life.

"M500!?" Dikais looked at Ye Qi's not particularly muscular body in surprise but did not ask further, only stating the time: "In two days..."

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A loud noise and a strong vibration interrupted Dikais; the meticulously crafted shop door and three walls were smashed to pieces amidst the dust, and the ceiling, which was already unstable, plummeted rapidly.

Ye Qi quickly grabbed Dikais and retreated to the back of the shop, with the woman from the Dark Realm following closely behind.

"Boom!"

As the ceiling crashed down, the system's mission prompt immediately followed:

"C-Class Mission: Ambush. Repel or eliminate all attackers!"

"Damn it! My shop!" Dikais cursed the unseen attackers under his breath, then turned to thank Ye Qi: "Kid, thanks! If you help me teach these bastards a lesson, I'll give your M500 the highest-level modifications!"

"Delighted to!"

Although he did not yet know who the attackers were or who their target was, the system's mission prompt and Dikais' promise were enough reason for Ye Qi to act. Moreover, the attackers had caused such a commotion without even showing their faces, clearly not intending to spare anyone in the shop—letting others attack him without retaliating was not part of Ye Qi's code!

"Bear's Endurance!"

"Enhance Resistance!"

"Mage Armor!"

"Stone Skin!"

With four consecutive buffs, Ye Qi walked towards the collapsed front hall—after gaining two points of Constitution from the demon statue and one point from the chosen feat of Endurance, his Constitution reached 19, allowing him to use fourth-level spells with ease.

Endurance: Your character's resilience allows you to face any difficulty without giving up; Effect: +1 Constitution; +4 bonus to any check and saving throw. Prerequisites: Toughness feat, Constitution 16 or higher.

"Capture the succubus, kill the rest without mercy!"

On the ruins of the front hall, six men in black suits, with pale faces, stood in a semicircle. As soon as they saw Ye Qi emerge, their leader immediately spoke.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

With the cold words, two crossbow bolts shot out from either side, emitting silver light straight at Ye Qi.

Succubus? Silver bolts?

Ye Qi's eyes narrowed—his knowledge of the special term for dark witches and the silver bolts immediately gave him a rough idea of the attackers' identity.

The Church!

With the answer in his mind, a mocking smile appeared on Ye Qi's lips—although the Demon Hunters' Guild and the Church had a common enemy in the Dark Realm, their relationship was far from harmonious. If the relationship between the Demon Hunters' Guild and the Special Operations was merely unfriendly, then the relationship with the Church was simply—hostile!

Unlike the Special Operations, where subordinates obey superiors, the Church, founded on faith, was seen by the freedom-loving Demon Hunters as a group of fanatical lunatics. Conversely, the rebellious Demon Hunters were seen by the Church, which dedicated itself to the divine, as a group of pitiful unbelievers.

The Church's favorite activity was "saving" lost sheep, guiding them back to the embrace of God—those who repented were welcomed, while the stubborn were to be eliminated! After all, a polluted soul had no need to continue existing in the world and should fall into the abyss! The quickest method was undoubtedly the stake or the guillotine...

Thus, some inevitable conflicts naturally arose—according to the secret records Ye Qi had read in the Tower of Knowledge, the conflict between the Demon Hunters' Guild and the Church could be traced back to the Dark Age a thousand years ago! The largest conflict almost led to the collapse of both the Demon Hunters' Guild and the Church...

A thousand years had not smoothed over the countless deaths and grudges between them; instead, the constant conflicts had only deepened their mutual hatred—incidents where a Demon Hunter's exorcism affected nearby churches or where a priest refused to heal a severely injured Demon Hunter were not uncommon.

Of course, things were not absolute!

If enough money or a price could be paid, a priest might heal a Demon Hunter, or the Demon Hunters' Guild might accept a mission from the Church—after all, in the face of two powerful forces, personal grudges were not important; what mattered was the interest, right?

"Clang! Clang!"

Ye Qi did not draw his Yama blade but used the scabbard to intercept the trajectory of the crossbow bolts, deflecting them so that they embedded in the soil beside him, their tails trembling.

The other four attackers, aside from the two who had fired the crossbow bolts, now wielded long swords and charged at Ye Qi.