Chapter 1450 - Another Surprise (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

With his arms crossed and his body leaning on a tombstone, Hao Ren gave the demon hunters the side eye. Little did the demon hunters know that Hao Ren was nervous. His heart was beating so fast like it was in vibration mode. Hao Ren kept his facial muscles tight to conceal his nervousness. He was confident in his acting skills and that the infiltration method that Hasse taught him would work. But the problem was, confidence was one thing, and nervousness was another. The demon hunters were the best of the best in smelling out a rat. They were cautious as Lily guarded her bones. No one could guarantee if the leader of the demon hunters would suddenly smell something fishy and decide to draw his dagger.

Nonetheless, Hao Ren successfully fooled the demon hunters in the end. The demon hunters looked at each other. They did not show hostility and suspicion but were only curious about Hao Ren.

It seemed that their vigilance and killing instincts were only effective on the otherworldlings. When they came face to face with a person who did not possess innate hostility, the demon hunters were just as good as ordinary people in terms of intuition.

“I am the head of the Hunter squad, Lockheed, the master of demon hunters,” said the demon hunter. “We were not aware of the happenings here. I did not know that a Stalker was here as well.”

That meant there was an intelligence blindspot in the area. Hao Ren, the “Stalker” had to explain himself first.

“My current name is Hao Ren. I used to be a member of the Nordic Battlegroup. Who can tell where the other members of the Battlegroup are now.” Hao Ren pretended to come from a disbanded ancient Battlegroup and now lived the life as a Stalker, just like Hasse had taught him. He had also learned the art of intimidation from the 10,000-year-old poor vampire by flaunting his seniority card. And he was good at that. “I have been wandering for thousands of years, hunting the rats in all corners of the world. The last time I contacted Coldpath was a hundred years ago. And you are a Hunter group? As far as I know, the Hunters are not very active now. Instead, there are more and more Stalkers like me.”

The master demon hunter who claimed to be Lockheed forced a smile. He thought that the man before him was what the elders termed as the Lone Wolf. After the end of the Mythological War, the demise of the gods also led to the simultaneous disbanding of the demon hunters’ sacred Battlegroups. The killing instinct had blinded the mind’s eyes of many demon hunters who plunged themselves into the ruins of various gods. They continued to hunt and pursue the otherworldlings as if they had lost their mind, losing contact with their organization as a result. Some of the demon hunters had resumed contact with Coldpath, but for various reasons, they were unable to rejoin their primary forces. These demon hunters had forever become the Stalkers, whom the elders called the Lone Wolves.

Asides from returning to the various demon hunter bases around the world to replenish their supplies and exchange information, the Stalkers almost had no communication with other demon hunters. Some of them had even discarded their real names and used only fake names.

It was a trouble to deal with the Lone Wolves because fanaticism and years of hunting alone had shaped weird characters in these guys. They tended to focus on hunting alone and were hostile to everything—including their compatriots—that got in the way of them doing their job.

In short, Stalkers were a bunch of guys who suffered from severe post-traumatic syndrome but declined treatment.

It seemed lucky that this Lone Wolf looked less hostile and relatively easier to deal with.

“We have an important mission here,” Lockheed explained the Hunter group’s intention. “To deal with an ancient otherworldling that might be waking up soon, an elder has called this Hunter group. We did not plan to hunt the witches initially. What is happening here is just incidental.”

Hao Ren’s eyebrows twitched. These guys indeed came for Vivian, and on their way, they raided this place.

Just then another demon hunter emerged from the fog and came up to Lockheed. “Master, the witches have escaped. A werewolf using some exotic weapon broke past our encirclement. The weapon looks a little like a relic of the Mythological Era.”

“I got it.” Lockheed nodded. “They always leave traces. The magical energy of this land will subside after the full moon. They will not be at large for long.”

Then Lockheed turned to look at Hao Ren. “It seems that our random actions have ruined your hunting operation. I apologize. But I would like to know more details. You have been tracking those witches. Why not kill them?”

“I am catching a big fish.” Hao Ren crossed his arms and looked into the night sky. The fog had begun to disappear, and the moon slowly came out in the sky. “I discovered that the witches were looking for an ancient ruin, which is very likely related to an ancient otherworldling. So I decided to wait and track them from afar. Tonight should be their last meeting, from which I should be able to get the most crucial information. But you guys stormed in and ruined everything. What is worse, you have let them get away!”