The speed of the Shuoye night was fast, dealing with the guards who had lost their shooting direction in the dust, she only needed one slash to end the fight. After all, when she got close enough to a distance where both sides could be clearly seen with the naked eye, the difference between the shadow chasers and the guards who had only received ordinary combat training was still significant.

However, as they were still human, after cutting off the opponents' weapons, Shuoye did not kill these guards, just knocked them down with the back of her knife.

Her first target was still the High Priest. While observing in the cave, Aya clearly saw the appearance of the High Priest and immediately pointed out the exact direction to Shuoye. She only needed to keep moving in that direction.

Bang! Bang! Two consecutive gunshots grazed Shuoye's sleeve, leaving two holes. Shuoye subconsciously glanced in that direction and met the icy gaze of Yanliu.

Yanliu's original position was behind the guards, at the edge of the dust. Although he could easily retreat, he instead charged into the battlefield with a gun in hand.

"Young master! Be careful!"

The guard beside him also noticed the situation here after the dust began to dissipate and immediately rushed over to stand in front of Yanliu.

The High Priest was still nowhere to be seen, and the dust was about to clear. So, Yanliu had to be taken down first. With a plan in mind, Shuoye exerted force under her feet, accelerating once again to demonstrate her elusive agility. She moved so fast that the two guards nearby couldn't aim in time and were knocked down.

"Hmph."

Facing the charging Shuoye, Yanliu's expression became alert but not overly panicked. Instead, he slowed down his breathing and closely followed Shuoye, who kept knocking down guards and getting closer to him.

Then, he pulled the trigger continuously, emptying the remaining four bullets in his gun at once.

"?!!"

If it were an ordinary guard shooting, not to mention four bullets, even forty wouldn't hit Shuoye. But in Shuoye's eyes, who was rapidly advancing, the four bullets shot by Yanliu accurately appeared along her path of advancement, each aiming for a vital spot.

Urgently evading two bullets, she blocked the third with the blade of her knife, but the last one was coming straight towards her forehead.

"Ouch... Luckily it came in time."

Suddenly, a fist popped out abruptly from the hazy yellow sand, colliding with the bullet head-on. The bullet softly fell onto the sand, while Aya, who had activated her acceleration, grimaced in pain, continuously blowing air onto her fist.

The acceleration was broken... What kind of weapon was this firearm? It seemed to have average power, but unexpectedly strong penetrating ability. She almost felt like her hand was pierced. But fortunately, it came on time. She couldn't just watch Shuoye's head get blown off.

Shuoye's eyes also revealed astonishment, realizing that she had just skirted the line of death. While ordinary people could not keep up with her movements, all they could see were shadows resembling afterimages and could not aim at all. Yet Yanliu seemed to have seen through her movement trajectory?

"Surprised? Lady Shadow Chaser?"

Yanliu mocked with a smile, filling his pistol with bullets while slowly moving to open up distance between himself and Shuoye.

"Huff... Huff..."

"Your breathing... Have you learned that too?!" Shuoye stared at Yanliu for a while, finally locking her gaze on his slowly rising and falling chest.

"Breathing techniques are not exclusive to Shadow Chasers. After all, I am a noble, acquiring some ancient martial arts texts is not difficult."

Indeed, while breathing techniques were created by ancient Shadow Chasers, this technology was not monopolized. Even ordinary people could obtain it through some effort. However, due to its high physical demands, few could persist in the body training required before practicing it. Nobles lived pampered lives and were unwilling to pay a high price, or even risk their lives, to train themselves.

"Although my talent is not that great, and I'm only at the basic level after practicing for so long, it's enough to keep my eyes on your movements."

"And then, add this -" a cool flip of the gun closing the open chamber, Iwanryu once again pointed the gun at the two, "If you can't deceive me with afterimages, bullets are something your flesh can't dodge! It's not an era where Nightstalkers can be invincible with just a sword, sir, the times have changed!"

With that said, the trigger was pulled again, firing six shots in rapid succession.

"What?!" This time, the astonishment was on Iwanryu's face as he shot to seal off all possible escape routes for Saoya. The bullets, as if hitting an invisible wall, softly fell to the ground just like the last bullet before.

Was that not an accident?

A sudden gust of wind rose, and even with Iwanryu's enhanced senses from breathing technique, he couldn't capture the entire movement. The white-haired girl was by Saoya's side one moment and in front of Iwanryu the next, carried by a chaotic airflow.

"What are you talking about? If one is unclear, it looks like they have the upper hand."

As the dust settled, Aya stood in front of Iwanryu caught off guard by the sudden close combat, yawned, grabbed his wrist, and forcefully made his hand momentarily lose strength, letting go of the gun.

Swiftly kicking the ornate gun in the air and sending it flying over ten meters, Aya surveyed the guards around her who were all aiming at her without a word: "Don't move at all, I have a hostage! Behave and give me a way out, otherwise, I'll kill him!"

Such familiar lines for a villain. Perhaps in a cop movie, a negotiator would come and then a lone hero would push him aside and take down Aya, or in a Fuze scene, the hostages would be blown up along with the villain, or in a script, a beautiful female knight would be defeated for the safety of the hostage and then killed.

However, Aya did not fit into any of these categories, so everyone better cooperate and hand over the High Priest for me to complete the mission. Once the Morninglight crisis is resolved, I can find clues to go home and everyone will be happy.

The guards surrounding them were also somewhat indecisive facing Aya's threat. They followed Iwanryu as their main pillar and even overturned Tairaeda Ayako, who was supposed to be the rightful heir, except for Iwanryu, no one could command them.

"Thanks to you."

Saoya and Ryūrei also stood by Aya's side, vigilant against anyone playing dirty. Saoya sighed and sincerely said. Although the situation could temporarily be considered in their favor, without Aya, the situation would have completely turned against them. Saoya couldn't dodge Iwanryu's first round of shots, and Ryūrei had no combat skills, Ayako's plan would have been a complete failure.

"Indeed, Miss Aya, you are amazing!" Ryūrei also praised sincerely.

"Do you believe me if I use this guy to smash you to death?" Two crosses popped up on Aya's forehead, making a fierce threat.

"...Are you all pretending I don't exist?"

Iwanryu's body trembled slightly, as if insulted, he clenched his fists tightly and shouted angrily, "What? Do you think you still have the ability to resist?" Aya flicked the guy's forehead, causing the boy to tear up from the pain, despite Iwanryu having trained in the breathing technique and having a more robust body than an average person, Aya and Saoya stood less than a meter away from him. Not to mention being unarmed, even if he were given back the gun, he would not have time to raise it before Aya knocked him out with a hand chop.

"What? My actions are considered villainous? That's a joke. Clearly, this guy has done all the villainous deeds, so how does me teasing him make me the villain? It's tough being a good guy."

"Everyone! Shoot! Kill them!" a hysterical shout.

Of course, no one fired a shot. The guards all looked at each other, each with hesitation written on their faces.

"Young Master Yanliu, think carefully. If you die, Tairaeda's heir will only be your sister," Longjing confirmed the safety of the surroundings and grew more arrogant.

"More importantly," Shuoye pointed his knife at the guards around him and said loudly, "We won't harm Yanliu—as long as you bring the High Priest in front of us."

That's right, that's the real issue. Capturing Yanliu won't solve the root of the problem; it's the High Priest who is responsible for the decreasing light of the moon over the sea.

"Why are you looking for that old man? Am I less important than that guy?!" Feeling slighted, Yanliu struggled unhappily.

"Hey, why are you getting angry?" Aya looked at him disappointingly. Truly Ayako's brother, causing trouble because of teenage emotions? Too easily agitated.

"Ignore him, capturing the High Priest is the priority," Shuoye reiterated to the guards around him.

Suddenly, the light around Aya and the others dimmed.

"Move aside!" Sensing danger, Aya grabbed Longjing and immediately jumped back, while Shuoye, after being shouted at by Aya, quickly dragged Yanliu away from their original position.

Boom!

Almost in the next second, a heavy behemoth slammed viciously into the spot where Aya had been, raising a cloud of dust.

Shuoye and Yanliu, reacting a bit slower, were blown off balance in midair and tumbled among several guards, but the guards didn't take advantage to subdue Shuoye.

All their attention was fixed on the behemoth before them.

Crack... Some who were more timid couldn't even grip their guns in front of the behemoth, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

"What is that? Another Dark Elemental? It's a bit exaggerated in size, isn't it," Aya propped himself up on the sand and looked up at the colossal being standing upright, at least four stories tall. It seemed like an evolved form of the Dark Ape-like creature seen not long ago, still sturdy in build but with the ability to stand erect, leaning more towards the form of a giant, with several thick protrusions on its impressive back that made it seem like some kind of alien.

Hmm, perhaps it always was.

The imposing presence of this giant Dark Elemental was quite astonishing. If summoned by a Dark Elemental mage, it would undoubtedly be considered a top-notch elemental creature summoning by magical standards.

"Seems like a big knight-level upwards? Ninth rank?" It was hard to evaluate, but Aya felt that this being's strength definitely didn't fall short of a ninth-ranked knight, and its overall power would not be weaker than a big knight's.

Hmm... In that case, I can't defeat it.

Things just got serious.