During her time in the Azure Fox Realm, Mulan had grown deeply familiar with the fox clan’s simple-hearted warmth and genuine hospitality.
Back then, still believing herself a false Azure Fox, she felt guilt and unease at their sincere affection.
But why?
How could the Cursed Calamity Nine Banes deceive them with such shameless ease?
His vile arrogance ignited a cold fury within her!
[After gaining the villagers’ trust, the evil wolf shed its disguise and turned on the defenseless with brutal cruelty—mocking their innocence, devouring their flesh, seizing their land, without a shred of remorse!]
A sharper chill glinted in Mulan’s eyes. Her suppressed rage finally broke free.
She had never before felt such a burning desire to utterly erase someone.
The Azure Fox Realm had given her the warmth of home; the Azurehill Fox Clan, the love of family.
They cherished her—a stranger of unknown origin—with tender care, as if she were a fragile creature needing protection.
Mulan was truly grateful, deeply moved, and had come to see them as kin bound not by blood, but by heart.
The Cursed Calamity Nine Banes shared a similar path.
Disguised as an Azure Fox, he too received the clan’s trust and affection effortlessly.
Yet he harbored impure intent—and without hesitation, trampled their fate, wounded those who accepted him!
This betrayal stoked Mulan’s fury.
Whoosh!
The fiery arrow sliced the air, leaving a brilliant golden trail like a burning thread of destiny.
It pierced the Cursed Calamity Nine Banes’ arm. Golden flames erupted from the wound.
“Huh?!”
Disbelief flashed across his face.
Could such a simple attack wound him?
Merely the flame of a three-tailed Azure Fox inflicting searing agony?
Was his Solarcrown Rank physique a lie?
A chilling certainty struck him: one hit to a vital spot, and even his formidable vitality would fail him.
Fear crept into his heart. Escape—now.
Mulan calmly drew her hunter’s bow to full moon again, arrow ready.
“What do you fear? The arrow about to fly? Or the hunter’s blazing wrath?!”
[The kind-hearted hunter arrived at the village. Witnessing the wolf’s atrocities, hearing its crimes, her heart burned with resolve—to hunt the savage beast down, here and now!]
Another arrow loosed.
His other arm shattered. Flames roared, layering unbearable pain.
“Face me, whelp!”
Silent, he glared at Azurefox Wuyue in the distance.
This bizarre spatial magic was unheard of—effects mirroring his own rule-based magic.
Here, even supreme power was crippled.
Could Starry Rain Tier truly overpower Solarcrown Rank?
Absurd… yet forbidden magic made it so.
He knew magic had limits. Rules demanded conditions.
Surely Azurefox Wuyue’s technique required triggers—perhaps he’d unwittingly activated them.
No time to ponder. Only one goal remained: break free before she ended him.
The story pressed on.
[The evil wolf trembled. The hunter’s arrows, her fury—it screamed for escape. But the enraged hunter would never relent. Only by shooting the wolf down, piece by piece, could her wrath be stilled!]
“Do you regret it? Fear it? When you killed others… did you ever imagine *you* would fall?”
Another arrow.
Struck the abdomen.
He couldn’t dodge. *Wouldn’t* dodge.
Being hit was his fate.
The mighty hunter was the evil wolf’s nemesis!
[Agony consumed the wolf. The hunter’s wounds seared its flesh—but that pain ignited savage fury. Cornered beasts fight back. Desperate. Deadly.]
“Ugh… Aaah!!!”
He unleashed the madness long suppressed.
No time left. Only one gamble remained: kill the caster.
So what if he’d lost Solarcrown Rank power?
Even with teeth alone—he could tear apart this delicate golden fox!
He lunged toward Mulan.
Pierced arms wouldn’t stop him.
But fate dragged his steps. Too slow. Too late.
[The wolf knew: kill the hunter or die. Gathering its last strength, it charged—fangs bared, final hope.]
Mulan’s eyes widened. Flames on her bow roared like her fury.
Behind her, fire coalesced into a towering, majestic Golden Nine Tails!
“You think you can defeat *me*? On what grounds?!”
[The hunter staked everything—dignity, life, rage—on this final shot. This arrow would end the wolf!]
Boom!
The sacred blazing arrow pierced straight through the Cursed Calamity Nine Banes.
[The story closed softly. The wolf’s futile counterattack ended beneath the hunter’s arrow. The hunt was complete.]
Mulan stared at the charred corpse wreathed in golden flame. Anger faded from her eyes, replaced by sorrow—not for him, but for the fallen fox elders.
As the tale ended, the Theater of Fate’s illusion crumbled.
Her figure reappeared in the Azure Fox Realm.
Seeing her unharmed, the waiting fox clan sighed in relief.
*The Golden Nine Tails is safe.*
“The Cursed Calamity Nine Banes is dead. I killed him myself.”
Her quiet words sparked joyful cheers.
“Ahhh! Lady Auspicious Fox!”
Their fervent cries reached her—but why did joy feel so distant?
Scene shift.
Starplucking Hall.
The Eight Calamity Stars sat in silence, still awed by the Starplucking Princess’s miracle.
“She truly did it.”
“The Auspicious Fox… such an identity, unforeseen.”
“Beyond expectation.”
Mirophiel rose with a gentle smile.
“Then our turn has come. Those foxes will never release our Starplucking Princess. So we shall reclaim her—from their grasp. No one takes *our* Starplucking Princess.”
The Starplucking Court’s high command mobilized. All forces deployed.
