The sun dipped slowly toward the horizon, its dying rays mingling with clouds and the silhouettes of solitary geese in flight, just as the clock tower tolled six.
The appointed hour had arrived.
With a sizable explosion, members of the Hunting Organization lurking in the shadows launched their assault. Their targets were not Sang, but Aisha Hodhua and Lusana, the two Blood Clan Maids.
This was to be expected—Aisha and Lusana were both of the Blood Race, and the Hunting Organization was dedicated to eradicating them all. Though they had promised Sang they wouldn’t harm the maids, a feint attack was necessary for appearances.
After all, wars required a righteous pretext to claim the mantle of justice.
In an instant, chaos engulfed the central square of the Third District. Countless low-tier residents fled in panic as dozens of assassins charged toward the two women and one man.
The humans who emerged were nothing special—ordinary combat operatives on the same level as the assassins Sang had slain at the Heavenly Key. He was grateful to Liyou for honoring their deal; she hadn’t sent any elite human powerhouses, just rank-and-file fighters.
Still, he hesitated over whether to sound the harmonica.
The sights he’d witnessed in the past few hours had stirred something deep within him, but the image of that lonely figure, isolated for ten thousand years, left him undecided.
The scene returned to the present moment.
Though Aisha Hodhua and Lusana weren’t powerhouses, their innate Blood Race advantages made short work of these small fry.
However.
Just as Sang thought he had the situation under control, a burly figure cloaked in white emerged from the shadows, his killing intent boiling over like a wild stallion unleashed.
Despite the cloak, Sang recognized him—the hulking man who had first accompanied Hyacinth to Kaen Town in search of him. He was the man at the top of the official bounty list.
Bruno!
During their last encounter, this man had concealed his true strength, much like the elite powerhouse Snow Hill, masking his aura completely. This time, however, he unleashed it without restraint. Vast mana surged forth like a flood, making the air thick and hard to breathe.
“Blood Race scum! Die!”
His target was the two Blood Clan Maids, and he bore down on them with ferocious momentum.
Sang’s pupils contracted as he realized something had gone terribly wrong. This wasn’t a feint—it was genuine killing intent from a true powerhouse. This wasn’t what they had agreed on!
Hadn’t they promised not to harm Aisha and Lusana?
Both maids’ Blood Eyes locked onto the charging Bruno, but even spotting him did nothing; their bodies couldn’t keep up.
“We’re done for…” the two maids said in unison.
The man’s speed and power were monstrous.
Bruno wasn’t some knight; he styled himself a warrior, wielding steel gauntlets forged for brutality rather than a blade. As captain of the Hunting Organization’s special assault team—one of their highest-ranking officers and the number-two in command—he was infamous for his violence, hailed as the pinnacle of human martial prowess. Despite his brutish build, he harbored a sense of justice as unyielding as iron.
Born with godlike strength unmatched by any other, he believed himself destined for a sacred mission: to save humanity.
By exterminating the Blood Race!
As Bruno’s iron fist descended toward the two Blood Race women, a cluster of senior Hunting Organization officers—including Liyou—watched in shock from afar at his uncontrolled rampage.
According to the battle plan, the high cadres were supposed to hold position and await the True Ancestor’s appearance.
Liyou forced a strained smile, her voice laced with regret. “This is my fault. I didn’t account for Bruno’s state of mind lately. Ever since Jessica died, he’s been inconsolable… I shouldn’t have let him join this operation.”
Not long ago, the woman captured by the Cape Family and beheaded by the True Ancestor had been Jessica—the number-two name on the official bounty list, Bruno’s longtime comrade, and someone with whom he shared far deeper feelings.
Seeing Liyou’s pitiful expression, some officers offered words of comfort, while others focused intently on the unfolding drama nearby.
Either way, those two Blood Race maids were as good as dead.
They had no chance of surviving a single blow from Bruno.
At that moment.
An unexpected blue-haired youth dashed forward, shoving Aisha and Lusana out of harm’s way in one reckless motion. Who else but Sang?
He didn’t dare take the punch head-on. Instead, bracing the area near his elbow joint, he aimed to redirect the force.
Liyou couldn’t have cared less about the maids’ fates, but seeing Sang charge in sent her into a panic. That boy was the organization’s most vital asset right now.
The other cadres had no idea who the youth was; they only saw a scrawny little human throwing himself between Bruno and the Blood Race women, adopting some bizarre blocking stance.
“What the hell is that human doing?!”
“He doesn’t plan to tank Bruno’s punch, does he?!”
It wasn’t just the Hunting Organization cadres—even nearby civilians gasped in disbelief. The Hunting group attacking Blood Race was one thing, but a human rushing to save them? What kind of twist was this?!
Liyou could no longer sit idle. “Everyone, move in! Stop Bruno—he can’t hurt that boy!”
The next instant, every cadre surged forward as one. But they were too far away; it was too late.
Bruno’s fist had already connected with the youth. The devastating blow rocked the central square, kicking up clouds of dust and sending shockwaves rippling outward. Chunks of pavement tiles flew through the air.
One could only imagine the sheer terror of that strike’s power.
Witnessing it all, Liyou’s pupils shrank. “Damn it,” she said tensely.
If that boy died, the organization would suffer an irrecoverable loss!
Yet.
Even as everyone assumed the youth had been pulverized into oblivion, the smoke began to clear. Amid the shattered ground stood a slender figure. His clothes were shredded to rags, and only half his face mask remained.
His deep blue hair gleamed under the setting sun.
He… had withstood the punch.
In the pin-drop silence that followed, the youth flashed a brilliant grin and delivered his cocky line: “Come on, you’re so weak…”
The words hung in the air.
Everyone was dumbfounded. This was the punch from the Hunting Organization’s special assault captain—the number-two chair, one of humanity’s current strongest, the top name on the official bounty list, worth eight hundred gold coins.
And this one-point-six-meter shrimp not only ate it whole but talked smack afterward.
Just who was this masked blue-haired youth!?
Liyou was the most stunned of all. She had no idea this Abandoned Child possessed such power. No matter what, that strength didn’t belong to an Abandoned Child.
