Chapter 629: Mysterious Killer
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Who had put Black Star as their hunting target?
A look of surprise appeared on Frenzied Sword’s face.
The expression of everyone present turned weird. Black Star was the leader of their faction, and upon hearing that someone was going to deal with him, the group inexplicably felt some hatred toward the other party.
Hao Tian’s eyes gleamed, and he communicated to them through the channel. “We might have picked up on a hidden storyline. Sleepy, continue asking. Try to trigger more of the storyline.”
Sleepy Winter nodded. “Black Star is our leader; we will definitely pass this list on to him. However, we would like to know more about this. Could you tell us more about the list itself?”
“The people on this list are all well-known Supers around the Shattered Star Ring,” Ronaldo said in a deep tone. “None of them are ordinary Grade A Supers, either having powerful influences or solo powers with a strong personal force. The goal of those who released this list is to kill or capture these strong Supers. As far as I know, there are already some people on the list who have gone missing.”
“Who are the people in charge of pursuing those on the list?” Sleepy Winter took the chance to continue down this lead.
“It seems to be a mysterious organization. I don’t know their origin and just refer to them as ‘Hunters’. They have captured a few of the stronger Supers on the list. I’ve only met with them once. At that time, I chanced upon two of the hunters, and their strengths were perversely strong, probably having the level of Grade A+.”
A sense of heaviness passed through Ronaldo’s eyes as he added, “My hands were broken by one of them.”
“So, you were their target as well?”
“Nope.” Ronaldo shook his head.
Sleepy Winter paused, suspicion filling his face as he asked, “Then why...”
Ronaldo cut in as he leisurely explained, “I was an outsider that was implicated. Hence, I got off with only my arms being broken.”
After pausing for a while, he said, “I have a friend who’s also a Calamity Grade Super. He was the actual target they were looking for on the list. He runs an armed organization in the Skywalker Star System, which has a close relationship with the Hutt Civilization.
“A year ago, while I was paying a visit to his headquarters, two of the hunters suddenly appeared. They killed their way into the headquarters, without anyone being able to stop them. Thus, I went to meet the enemy with my friend, but those two had overwhelming power, and we ended up being wiped.
“I managed to steal some of their information through their communicators during the battle, which was this incomplete list. Their target was my friend, and they captured him in the end, throwing me aside after giving me some serious injuries.
“I’m technically a Grade A Super, and you would think that they would capture me too, but they didn’t even look at me before swaggering out. They seemed indifferent to non-targeted people.”
Ronaldo laughed bitterly. “They did not look at me at all, which is why I managed to escape.”
Everyone present was stupefied.
The goal of the hunters was to capture the strong, but they did not even bother taking along a Calamity Grade Super that could not retaliate. Was it because they had specific targets, or were their goals too lofty?
No matter what the case was, this group of mysterious hunters seemed unfathomable.
“This hidden storyline must not be a simple one,” Frenzied Sword said within the team channel.
“While the hunters themselves are mysterious,” Ronaldo said, “the missing people on the list cannot be hidden. This means that the hunters are continuously on the move. Please be sure to transfer the name list to Black Star. While I might not know him, the Black Star Mercenary Group has helped me, so I don’t mind repaying my debt by reminding your leader.”
He had also calculated that behind Black Star stood the Dragon Emperor, and they could probably handle the hunters. If Black Star really succeeded, he would not need to remain in hiding forever.
The reason for him being low key was because he feared that his name would one day appear on the hunters’ list. Although he had only exchanged blows with them once, he was thoroughly afraid of their strength.
At this time, the interface of the players showed a notification.
_____________________
You have triggered the Hidden Mission: [Mysterious Hunting List]!
_____________________
They all glanced at each other, nodding in return.
...
In a random Star System of the Shattered Star Ring, a spaceship with visible signs of damage was moving at full speed, like a streamer, across the dark universe.
“Warning! Warning! Fuel reserves have fallen to the critical line. Exiting hyperdrive in one minute.” The Artificial Intelligence issued a reminder.
“Dammit! Those two fellows will catch up at this rate!”
Bang!
Within the cockpit, Kernid desperately smashed the control panel, an anxious expression on his face.
He belonged to a humanoid race with darker complexion, with natural wrinkles on his skin. He wore a special rune armor combat suit that combined mechanical and magical techniques. The armor was filled with countless mysterious runes on the inside and outside, with dozens of enchants as well. It was equipped with hundreds of different magical combat means and was the most commonly used type for interstellar magicians.
However, this high-end rune armor was currently torn and ragged, covered in Kernid’s own blood.
Kernid was the first official Grade A Super of a random civilization in the Star System, as well as an honorary member of the Hidden Red Robe Abbey. He was adept in magic and was named the Dark Purple Warlock, giving him high prestige. However, he was currently fleeing like never before.
And everything was because of the two enemies that had unexpectedly appeared.
While he was enjoying a paid vacation, exploring the interstellar regions, he chanced upon these two mysterious men, who attacked him without a single word.
Afterward, Kernid actually found out that he was not a match for the two of them and received heavy injuries.
Fortunately, he had kept a trump card, and managed to shake them away before boarding his spaceship and escaping. However, the two mysterious assailants continued chasing after him nonstop, causing him to be unable to stop.
The hyperdrive consumed his remaining fuel quickly, and the aircraft speed finally slowed down, exiting from hyperdrive and returning to normal flying speed.
“Drat!” Kernid had a face full of sweat, as he gripped his head tight.
Just as his voice sounded, the hum of magic waves passed through the many layers of the bulkhead. Kernid keenly captured the waves of magic through his senses, causing his expression to change greatly.
A bright blue ring was lit up around the abdomen of the spaceship, and the ring quickly expanded into a portal. A duo walked out leisurely from within the portal.
The two wore similar white overcoats without any embellishments. The material of the clothes seemed strange, gleaming dully, and was covered with countless enchantment inscriptions.
Both of them wore specially alloy masks to cover their faces. The man’s mask resembled a bird’s head, whereas the women’s resembled a cat.
More than a dozen thick, ancient-looking books were seen floating around the man, all of which were open. They were filled with magic texts and glowing with colorful spell rays. The golden yellow inscriptions morphed into several circles, surrounding the man’s body.
“The positioning is confirmed.”
The man’s tone was passive, and as he flicked his fingers, one of the pages turned up. The portal behind him then narrowed down to a point and disappeared. This man was a master of magic!
Suddenly, the bulkhead in front of the duo burst apart as tens of purple light beams arced out from Kernid, who was in the cockpit. The gorgeous purple lights pierced through the walls, striking the two uninvited guests.
Knowing their capabilities, he chose to attack first.
Boom!
Between the flashing lights and fire, the masked man changed his stance, which caused all the books to begin flipping at once. A blue magic circle covered him and the woman beside him, isolating them from all attacks. The purple arcs were deflected into space instead, unable to even touch them.
Kernid flew out of the gap, and his rune armor lit up, casting lights all around. Countless magical forces gathered around him and, like a colorful streamer, crashed toward the blue magic circle.
He had already suffered once from their attacks, and because it was humiliating to compete with the opponent in long-range magic, he switched to melee.
Kernid had condensed all his power, and his control over it was exquisite, not allowing any of the energy to dissipate. If an ordinary Grade A Super was faced with this attack, they would basically choose to avoid the blow instead of going head on. However, faced with these two strong and mysterious enemies, he did not have much confidence in being able to damage them.
Boom!
The resulting sound was like ramming a huge bell. The blue magic circle failed to withstand the blow and burst apart, turning into numerous glass-like energy fragments.
“Success!” Kernid was jubilant, and his confidence returned at the same time.
However, he saw the resulting burst of light illuminating the masks of both his assailants. Their eyes remained calm and indifferent, as though they did not view Kernid’s full powered blow as a threat at all.
The next moment, the magic shards suddenly integrated together before bursting in a beam of blue white light, which struck Kernid. The beam had superimposed the power that Kernid had used to attack them with previously, which was equivalent to him facing his own attack.
Kernid’s remaining offensive was interrupted, and he was blown back. Suppressing his pain from the injury, he exclaimed in amazement.
“What sorcery is this‽”
It was just protective-type magic, but it was surprisingly able to withstand his advanced-level Calamity Grade strike and could even rebound the power. This sounded simple, but at their level, the rougher and simpler a type of magic was, the more terrifying it would be. Unlike those magic shields that were layered with many inscriptions resulting in a ‘quantity change’, this was a qualitative change.
“Self-created,” the masked man replied simply, but this answer caused Kernid’s eyes to open wide, an expression of disbelief on his face.
At this moment, the woman by the side also attacked. Raising her right hand, she punched out violently.
Ka ka ka!
With the shrieking of bent metal, the entire spaceship started to rip apart.
The spaceship suddenly crunched up, as though it was violently pinched and crushed by a large hand.
Boom!
A large amount of oxygen leaked out, and the fuel tank as well as the engines of the spaceship exploded.
Fire burst outward, and the ‘sphere’ spaceship exploded directly, disintegrating instantly. Various debris flew outward into empty space.
In just a few seconds, a spaceship had been turned into space junk floating around the universe.
A spherical magic shield protected the duo, allowing them to levitate in the universe. Not far from them, Kernid’s rune armor also flashed with a flickering shield of light.
The spaceship exploding had worsened the already serious injuries of Kernid, and his rune armor was also on the verge of being destroyed.
Without the spaceship, there was no way to escape, and a hint of despair leaked out from Kernid’s eyes.
Within the magic shield filled with oxygen, the woman waved her arm.
All the wreckage came together once again, this time directly clamping Kernid in the center. It slowly turned into a huge sphere, as though there was some invisible force crushing it inward. The metal sphere slowly shrank further, as the original irregular shape turned round.
While there was still resistance within the sphere initially, it slowly turned lighter and weaker. Finally, there was no longer any more movement.
“Capture is complete for the Dark Purple Warlock Kernid,” the woman coldly said.
The man then took out a communicator and opened up a list, crossing off Kernid’s name. He sighed. “Shana, who’s our next target?”
Shana was the name of the woman. She glanced over and tapped on the list, saying, “I pick him, the commander of the Black Star Army.”
“Oh, this guy entered the list a year ago. His forces are developing very quickly, and if not for that, we might not even have paid attention to him. Yes, this guy is a bit special—he has the nickname of immortal. Seems difficult to handle. We should lead him to a suitable place to isolate him before capturing. That requires enough preparation time, and we also have to take Kernid back. Let’s change targets.”
“There’s no need. We’ll move separately. You take the captive back; I’ll go handle Black Star,” Shana blandly said. “Based on the intel, he only entered the Calamity Grade two to three years ago. Furthermore, he’s a Mechanic. I alone can resolve this.”
The man paused before smiling. “I almost forgot, your ability can restrain the Mechanic profession. Very well, I’ll go and complete our mission while you proceed on to capture him. It seems like our harvest this trip will be quite fulfilling.”
As for the relationship between Black Star and the Dragon Emperor, they did not even mention it once as though it was irrelevant.