Death Notice

The Ghost Owl flapped its wings once, grabbed a slanted branch with its feet, and landed lightly at the top of the tree.

The Ghost Owl’s body was as skinny as dry firewood. Its bat-like wings were connected to its arms, and its limbs had sharp claws. If you ignored its monkey-like head, it looked more like a Gargoyle. The Ghost Owl couldn’t fly very high; it was a creature that could only glide through the air using its bat wings. However, its body was agile, moving as swiftly as lightning within the forest, making it very troublesome.

“Caw…” With a sharp screech, the Ghost Owl pushed off with its feet, deftly weaved around numerous branches, and dove down towards Kael on the ground.

“Damn it!” Kael rolled away clumsily, avoiding the Ghost Owl’s sharp claws, a flash of brutality appearing in his eyes.

“Fink, Sen, you two keep chasing! I’ll deal with this Ghost Owl!” Kael took a deep breath, planted his feet, and stayed in place, letting his two companions run past him.

“Kael, are you going to use that move?” Fink was startled. He glanced at the Ghost Owl above them, then nodded firmly. “Alright, catch up with us quickly!”

“Yeah!” Kael answered distractedly, his eyes fixed on the Ghost Owl. He clenched his fists, all the pores on his body opened wide, and a bright white Battle Qi burst out, burning fiercely like flames across his skin.

The Ghost Owl circled in the air, moved behind Fink and Sen, turned into a black blur, and swooped down towards the two of them.

“Come on, you beast!” Kael grinned sinisterly, showing his white teeth. He pushed off the ground with all his strength, shooting towards the Ghost Owl like an arrow.

“Caw…” The Ghost Owl, with its sharp hearing and sight, had already noticed Kael’s movements. It immediately flapped its wings, arched its upper body, and flew over Fink and Sen’s heads, trying to avoid Kael’s charge before diving down again. Seeing this, Kael’s face remained grim. His charging steps quickened even more, as if he hadn’t noticed Fink and Sen blocking his path at all. When he was just one meter behind Fink, Kael suddenly planted his feet and leaped into the air, reaching out with one hand to grab the Ghost Owl’s foot.

The Ghost Owl turned its head to look back, a hint of mockery appearing humanly in its eyes. It flapped its wings again, rising several meters higher.

Seeing that his jump had reached its limit, a bright light flashed in Kael’s eyes. The white Battle Qi burning like flames all over his body trembled violently, stretching towards his back and instantly transforming into a pair of Battle Qi Wings – the Flamingo of the Phoenix Soaring Battle Fist!

“Beast, die!” A trace of cruelty appeared in Kael’s eyes. The Battle Qi Wings behind him flapped with a “whoosh,” and he seemed to teleport, catching up to the Ghost Owl in the air. He grabbed one of its feet, twisted his waist, and swung his arm, hurling it towards a large tree opposite them.

“Boom!” The Ghost Owl slammed into the tree trunk like a cannonball. The large tree, which would take several people to embrace, shook violently, and countless leaves rained down.

“Die for me!” Before the Ghost Owl could hit the ground, Kael’s Battle Qi Wings flapped again. He vanished from the air and flashed in front of the Ghost Owl. His right hand formed fingers like a bird’s beak and struck the Ghost Owl’s chest rapidly – the Beak Strike of the Phoenix Soaring Battle Fist!

“Thump!” Blood spurted from the Ghost Owl’s heart. Its heart was instantly shattered by Kael. The fear on its face hadn’t even faded yet before the light in its pupils quickly dimmed. Its head and arms hung limply at its sides. This Level 7 Dark Night Monarch was actually nailed to the tall tree trunk by Kael just like that.

At the same time, Kael’s face turned pale. “Pfft,” he spat out a mouthful of blood. The Battle Qi Wings behind him trembled slightly and then scattered into countless points of light. His body went limp and fell from the sky, caught by Fink who had rushed over.

Actually, given Kael’s strength, he couldn’t yet utilize the high-level skills of the Phoenix Soaring Battle Fist. He merely relied on his understanding of martial arts to simulate the skill, which was somewhat similar to Qin Lun’s Combat Model. Every time he used a high-level battle skill, it caused a Battle Qi backlash, leaving him weakened for a period of time. If the Ghost Owl hadn’t been so troublesome, and if they weren’t in a hurry to avenge Qingming, Kael wouldn’t have taken such a risk.

…

“Cough, cough…” Watching the Ghost Owl fall from the sky, Casey choked on his own saliva. A cold glint flashed deep within his pupils.

He didn’t really care about losing this Ghost Owl; it wasn’t his anyway, so its death wasn’t a pity. But without this Ghost Owl to restrain Fink and the others…

Maybe he should just let one more of them die! Casey secretly glanced at Hill and Hansen, a malicious thought forming in his mind.

While Casey was secretly watching Hill and Hansen, the two Serial Killers each felt a sudden chill, their bodies shuddering. Hansen turned his head and glared viciously at Casey, while Hill’s smile grew even brighter.

Casey pretended to look innocent and turned his head away. Looking at the pale-faced Kael behind them, a trace of admiration appeared in his eyes. He had seen many powerful fighters, but there weren’t many who, from start to finish, gave up using Apostle equipment and insisted on fighting empty-handed.

As long as such people could keep living, their strength would eventually become truly terrifying.

Suddenly, Casey’s pointed elf ears twitched slightly, and a look of joy crossed his face. The young elf’s eyes darted around. Whoosh! He jumped off the sprinting Arrowhog Beast and ran towards the three people behind him, his face full of grief and anger.

“My Ghost Owl… Sob, sob, you have to pay for it…”

“Looking for death!” Fink and the other two cursed inwardly. Being fellow newcomers to the camp, they naturally knew Casey. However, they didn’t believe Casey had any direct connection with this enemy team.

Although Casey had always been hanging around with Qin Lun, and was now helping Hill and the others, he had never shown any real strength. Plus, Casey worked at the stables, and coupled with that Level 7 Ghost Owl, they vaguely guessed that Casey might be a relative of one of the camp’s senior members.

For this reason, Fink and the others were unwilling to attack Casey, to avoid unnecessary trouble. However, if Casey didn’t know better and tried to stop them, then they wouldn’t mind killing him.

After all, their Main Quest had already failed. They had now made up their minds: if they could use Hill and the others to lure out Qin Lun, that would be best. If they couldn’t lure out Qin Lun, then they would just kill Hill and the others and return directly to the Shattered Starry Sky.

“Sen!” Fink gave the Dwarf a look. Kael was injured and needed time to recover, and Fink didn’t want to slow down the chase. Having Sen deal with the young elf was just right. Although the Dwarf’s combat ability was relatively weak, he had also undergone a Class Change. Dealing with an ordinary young elf would be more than enough.

Sen’s eyes flashed. He took out a huge war hammer from his Storage Space and grinned menacingly as he moved towards Casey. Sen also practiced the blacksmithing profession and had high strength attributes. This war hammer was both his forging tool and his combat weapon.

“Kid, don’t blame me if you die!” Sen lifted the war hammer and swung it fiercely towards Casey.

“Tch, someone as brilliant and heroic as me, young master, how could I possibly die by the hands of a short stump like you!” Casey lifted his head proudly. He pulled out a shiny silver elf curved dagger from his clothes, twirled it in a fancy move, and slashed towards the Dwarf.

“Clang!” The moment the huge war hammer made contact with the curved dagger, the exquisitely crafted elf dagger in Casey’s hand snapped in two and flew out of his grip.

A flash of brutality appeared in Sen’s eyes. As a Dwarf, he hated it the most when people called him short. After smashing the dagger, he not only didn’t retract his move, he added more force. The war hammer slammed heavily into Casey’s chest.

“Pfft!” Casey’s chest caved in deeply. He vomited a mouthful of blood. The young elf’s slender body folded in half. He was sent flying like a meteor, crashing hard into a large tree, and then slowly slumped to the ground.

“Screech…” Right at that moment, a sharp, high-pitched eagle cry echoed from far above the forest.

A thick bolt of lightning pierced straight through the dense foliage above everyone’s heads, striking the Dwarf’s body as he was lunging forward. It fried him until he was charred black on the outside and tender on the inside. Fink and Kael, not far from him, could even smell the scent of roasted meat.

“…” Everyone stared wide-eyed, speechless. Both the pursuers and the fleeing party slowed their pace simultaneously, looking up at the sky in shock.

Through the dense leaves above the forest, they saw a black dot in the distance rapidly growing larger as it approached, arriving above their heads in an instant.

This was a giant eagle that resembled a Golden-eyed Eagle, only its size was several times larger. Its body was covered in majestic golden feathers. With its wings spread, it measured over fifteen feet across. The eagle claws under its belly were each the size of a millstone. Its eagle eyes glinted with a chilling light.

The giant eagle flapped its wings once and dove straight into the forest. The branches and leaves above everyone’s heads fell like a heavy rain. The eagle’s golden feathers, shimmering with light, simply swept through, slicing apart all the branches blocking its path. The cross-sections of the broken branches were as smooth as if cut by a steel blade.

“This is… a Thunderbird! A Level 10 Thunderbird!” Fink cried out in disbelief upon seeing the giant eagle.

The depths of the Silent Forest were not lacking in High Rank creatures, but the so-called High Rank referred to levels 7 to 9. Level 10 creatures, however, were beyond the High Rank category; that was the realm of the Legendary.

The Thunderbird was precisely such a Legendary Creature – Legendary Rank 1!

After this enormous Thunderbird plunged into the forest, it flew directly towards the fallen Casey. Just as Fink thought that unlucky young elf was about to become food for the Legendary raptor.

The Thunderbird folded its wings, its body rapidly shrank, and it transformed into a beautiful female elf, standing gracefully in front of Casey. The glittering golden feathers of the Thunderbird transformed into a leafy feathered cloak draped over her shoulders. She wore a strange deer antler hat on her head, and there were two purple vertical marks near her eyebrows.

“Legendary Rank shapeshifting! She’s a Grand Druid! Run!” Fink’s face changed dramatically. He roared and, without hesitation, turned and fled.

A Grand Druid was a Legendary Profession. They couldn’t see any hope of victory at all. A Grand Druid actually intervening in a battle of this level – Fink now understood perfectly whose relative that young elf was!

“Do you think you can escape?” Seeing Casey lying there, his face as pale as gold paper, the corners of his mouth full of bright red blood, his condition unknown, whether he was alive or dead.

A flicker of anger crossed Vima’s face. She turned and threw herself towards the ground. Before her palms even touched the earth, her body underwent another change. Her limbs turned into thick horse hooves, her forehead bulged, and a straight, spear-like conical horn grew out.

“Neigh…!” A pure, flawless Unicorn reared up on its hind legs, its snow-white mane flowing in the air. It then stomped its front hooves forward powerfully and leaped out.