A few minutes earlier.
The Dream Butterfly flew toward the core zone of the storm belt.
Both the Scyther Mantis and the Blaze Bat were elite-level. The mid-level storm of the Valley of Sighs was barely a problem for them.
One was nearly a meter long, the other the size of a round table. The two spirits quickly caught up to the petite Dream Butterfly.
Like two burly men baring vicious fangs.
Fireball!
A scorching fireball blasted out.
The Scyther Mantis circled around behind, waiting for the Dream Butterfly to dodge the fireball or hurl an energy sphere to intercept it, then strike suddenly.
But...
The Dream Butterfly didn’t dodge or evade. It even wore a mocking expression.
“Nyah nyah nyah~”
The massive fireball rolled in. The wind swept through, deflecting it. It grazed past the Dream Butterfly and vanished into the blizzard in an instant.
The Scyther Mantis froze.
It looked at the Blaze Bat.
Weren’t you supposed to strike first, and I’d follow up? How am I supposed to fight now?
The Scyther Mantis charged anyway.
Earlier, the spirit tamer had ordered a capture, so it had held back.
Otherwise, that little butterfly would’ve ended up like the Blade Leaf Samurai.
Now it didn’t need to hold back. Its figure flickered.
Swish!
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish—
Blades flashed with the ferocity of a tiger.
It unleashed its deadliest move right off the bat.
It struck...
One afterimage after another.
MISS!
MISS!
MISS...S...S!
The Scyther Mantis, having lunged from left to right, froze.
Something felt off about the blade’s impact!
The Blaze Bat dared not fire another fireball. Battling the storm, it flapped its broad wings powerfully.
Flames ignited on its crimson fangs as its mouth gaped wide.
Flame Fang!
The Dream Butterfly’s wings fluttered gently as it rode the wind, drifting like a light green leaf, covering a good distance in an instant.
The elite-level Blaze Bat could barely keep up.
The cold wind poured into its mouth, nearly snuffing out the flames.
Gritting its teeth, it mimicked the Dream Butterfly, letting go of resistance and riding the wind.
Then,
It got dizzy from the erratic gusts.
The Scyther Mantis had better resistance to the wind.
It moved straight and fast. Even gliding low, its blade arms could slice through the storm, facing little resistance.
It was even faster than the Blaze Bat.
Like a sharp blade, it thrust straight... thrust...
Before the mantis arrived, a light sphere came first.
Take this energy sphere, nya~!
The energy sphere wasn’t affected by the storm at all, striking the Scyther Mantis with precision.
The pursuing Scyther Mantis sliced with its blade arm. The energy sphere exploded into smoke, and a dark green figure burst out, its speed undiminished.
But...
Take this continuous energy sphere, nya~!
Boom, boom, boom, boom!!
The Scyther Mantis wasn’t good at ranged attacks. A few thrown Leaf Blade shurikens had no accuracy in the storm.
It couldn’t get close either.
The one time it did, five strikes all missed.
It could only take the beating.
The Blaze Bat was as useless as a pig teammate!
...
Outside the storm belt, the two spirit hunters grew restless.
“Why aren’t they back yet?”
They couldn’t enter the storm belt—they’d never catch up—so they had to let the two spirits chase alone.
Without their commands to assess the situation, the spirits might fight too straightforwardly.
But the Dream Butterfly had no spirit tamer directing it either.
And it was only a beginner-level spirit.
“That Dream Butterfly is no weaker than the Blade Leaf Samurai. Who knew it’d be this strong right after evolving? No wonder there are several bounties on the dark web.”
“Yeah, even though the evolution conditions for Dream Butterfly are public, the first one to evolve by chance must have special traits. Some organizations love studying spirits like that.”
“What’s that got to do with us? Just catch the Dream Butterfly—alive or dead.”
“Let’s just hope its spirit tamer doesn’t have enough soul power to recall it.”
After all, they guessed.
Su Hao and the others were probably hiding somewhere in the storm belt where the winds weren’t too fierce.
But the wind blades’ attacks would drain a lot of their soul power.
Or maybe they’d panic and fail to command their spirit repeatedly—they’d seen that before.
They were just high schoolers. What kind of situations could they have faced?
The two spirit hunters waited another two minutes.
Their unease grew.
If the Dream Butterfly had been recalled, the two spirits should’ve returned by now.
If not, there was no way it’d take this long to deal with a mere beginner-level spirit.
“Something’s off. Time to pull out.”
Inside the Valley of Sighs, the howling wind made shouting useless.
They focused, using their contract bonds to call their spirits.
Soon,
A dizzy Blaze Bat and a somewhat battered Scyther Mantis burst out of the blizzard.
They whined about the fight.
The two spirit hunters’ faces turned incredulous. “How is that possible? It’s just a beginner-level spirit!”
If the Scyther Mantis’s tamer didn’t know his own spirit was a cold-blooded killer, he’d suspect it was messing with him.
But they had no time to think.
“We’ve probably got four or five minutes before a Valley of Sighs spirit tamer shows up. We have to leave.”
He looked up.
A beginner-level Vine Snake poked its head out from the cliff, unleashing prepped vines. Using its ability, it controlled the vines to wrap around the two of them and pull them up.
Just then,
Two energy spheres flew in.
Not aimed at the spirit hunters, but at the vines dangling mid-cliff.
The Scyther Mantis and Blaze Bat, guarding their masters below, couldn’t intercept in time.
The spirit hunters never expected the Dream Butterfly to be so bold. They could only watch as the vines... snapped.
They hadn’t climbed high. They fell and were caught by their spirits.
They trembled with rage.
Failing to hunt and getting tangled by their prey—this was a stain on their hunter records!
At their command, the two spirits charged again.
The Blaze Bat spat out a few small fireballs, not caring about accuracy, just to limit the Dream Butterfly’s movement. The Scyther Mantis, driven by a desire to wash away its shame, turned into a dark green blur.
“Gunyo~”
The Dream Butterfly danced, its form drifting with the wind.
It hadn’t left the storm belt at all!
The Scyther Mantis, lunging again, missed a second time.
It flipped and struck again, but the Dream Butterfly had already slipped deeper.
Advance when the enemy retreats, harass when they advance.
The Dream Butterfly knew this well.
It completely ignored the Scyther Mantis and Blaze Bat, focusing solely on the two spirit hunters.
The hunters became the ones with a fatal weakness.
...
The guard uncle’s main spirit was an elite-level Pure Jade Lotus.
A wood-type spirit skilled in support.
It looked like a blooming white jade lotus, as big as a pedestal, floating half a meter off the ground.
The Pure Jade Lotus emitted a faint white glow—a support move also called Guardian.
With a larger range.
It enveloped Su Hao and the guard uncle.
Letting them cross the storm belt without worry.
When Su Hao and the guard uncle burst out of the storm belt and arrived here,
They saw the injured, weary Scyther Mantis and Blaze Bat.
And the two bedraggled elite hunters.
The Dream Butterfly was hiding far off, occasionally lobbing an energy sphere. Spotting Su Hao, it flew over happily.
It reached out its little hand, seeking praise:
“Gunyo nyo~”
The guard uncle was stunned.
Weren’t you saying your spirit was being hunted by spirit hunters with two vicious elite-level spirits?
And your spirit was just a weak, pitiful beginner-level.
The situation was dire.
But from what he saw, something was off.
The elite-level Scyther Mantis was covered in wounds—from taking energy spheres to save its master.
The Blaze Bat wasn’t much better, looking almost afraid of the Dream Butterfly.
Those were two elite-level spirits!
Was your Dream Butterfly really just a beginner-level?!
Though the guard uncle had a lot to say, he didn’t hesitate. He ordered his main spirit, the Pure Jade Lotus, and a beginner-advanced spirit, the Whirlwind Rabbit, to charge at the two exhausted hunters.