The demon hunters’ appearance changed the tide on the battlefield.

Hao Ren realized that he had miscalculated something and that something made the battle more difficult to fight than he had expected. He did not expect the Malevolence in the shadowy realm to be so powerful and have so many qualities. It was harder to kill and was able to use its environment to its advantage. Hao Ren had misjudged the shadowy realm’s “outsider-repellent” quality. He thought that since the Malevolence had split from Vivian, its close proximity to Vivian would curtail its power, but that was not the case. The Malevolence was not entirely separated from her “mother”. She was still part of her. Not only would the realm accept that, but it would also strengthen them.

The misjudgment did not make the Malevolence invincible, but it had no doubt caused great trouble to Hao Ren.

Fortunately, his habit of thinking ahead played a crucial role at that critical moment. He lured the demon hunters into the battlefield and managed to turn the tide of the battle.

Sacred bolts with destructive power flew through the air, seemingly tearing the dimension apart along its blazing trajectory. The demon hunters’ unique runic magic formed colorful clouds of energy in the air. It was the result of a chain reaction when magic power achieved a certain level of strength. As the dense magic field formed, even the silent shrill of the Malevolence lost its effect for the first time. The Hunter Group, led by Hasse, was no amateur. They were the elites, and not only possessed superb combat skills but also the sharp intuition of predators after living on the edge of life and death for years. Those demon hunters were extremely good at combat in harsh environments and could find even the slightest flaws in enemies far more powerful than themselves. Such an ability came in handy in their current situation.

The demon hunter, Lockheed wielded his sacred silver sword and charged forward. His comrades had cleared a path for him using a barrage of arrows and magic bombing. The Soulless Guards, controlled by Hessiana, started a wave of suicide attacks again. The Malevolence was up to her old tricks. She raised her head and shrill silently, the invisible power tore the Soulless Guards in pieces in the air. But the sacrifice of the Soulless Guards was not in vain; the weakening of the silent shrill, as a result, had enabled Lockheed to charged directly at the Malevolence, cutting it in half under the crimson moon.

The light pouring down from the moon in the sky brightened up again. Inside the light fall, the Malevolence’s figure reappeared. But this time, her resurrection was apparently slower than before.

Before the Malevolence could finish materializing, another attack had arrived.

Hao Ren wielded a pair of cosmic dark fragments and rushed up to the red light column. The Malevolence, face identical to Vivian but crazy and vicious, opened her mouth and was about to rerelease shockwave. But her action was slower this time.

Before the Malevolence could discharge her silent shrill, two black cosmic fragments had cut through her. Hao Ren emerged from the red light column, and the Malevolence broke up in the air. That was the second wave of attack.

The crimson moonlight intensified again, and the Malevolence reappeared like a never-ending nightmare. But it was more difficult for her to resurrect this time. Before her figure fully formed, a silvery-white shadow had lunged up her.

Lily was wielding a super-alloy sword. This time, she was more skillful. She shouted a Starburst Slash and cut the Malevolence into pieces. That was the third wave of attack.

The Malevolence resurrected again. This time, it was Hasse’s turn. He used his giant crossbow with a Thunder Blow at the Malevolence. That was the fourth wave of attack.

With a simple flipping motion in the air, Lily landed like a feather beside Hao Ren. The super-alloy sword in her hand still sizzling in white smoke as the destructive dark power had left burn marks on the husky maiden wiped her forehead. “Phew! Mr. Landlord, is the Malevolence dead this time?”

Hao Ren did not reply but stared at the red light column at the center of the battlefield.

The light pouring down from the moon had no signs of stopping. But for the first time, the Malevolence did not appear in the light column. After a dozen seconds had passed, there were no signs that the dark power would emerge in the moonlight.

It seemed that the Malevolence had died for real this time.

Hao Ren was not convinced. Lockheed and his men were perplexed.

“Did we just kill the Countess of the Crimson Moon?” A younger demon hunter gasped and said with a hoarse voice in disbelief, blood dripping from his forehead. “Did we kill her?”

The demon hunters looked at each other, there was confusion among them.

The demon hunters had set out to kill the otherworldlings. They had been chanting their slogan before the battle. But now when they saw that Vivian Ancestor had vanished in the light, it baffled them. They could not believe what they had done.

In the demon hunters’ minds, the Countess of the Crimson Moon had always been invincible. This notion had ingrained in them. Whoever dared to say he was going to kill Vivian, that person must have a few loose screws. No one demon hunters—not even the elders—could have imagined that Vivian Ancestor would die in their hands. In their understanding, the Countess of the Crimson Moon was immortal.

This ridiculous worldview took shape in the minds of every demon hunter after Vivian had beaten their forefathers.

The demon hunters had no idea that the one they killed was only a Malevolence. They did not even know the existence of such a being.

But there are still some smarter ones who knew the inside story. Hasse shouted at his men. “Don’t be silly. The Countess is more capable than this. The one here was only her violent avatar.”

“Avatar?” Lockheed was a bit confused.

“Don’t worry about what it is,” Hasse descended from the air and waved at Lockheed. He then turned to Hao Ren. “So what is next after this?”

The atmosphere became a little tricksy.

Lockheed might not know the inside story, but he realized that their cooperation with Hao Ren had come to an end.

The demon hunters surrounded Hao Ren. But Hao Ren just shrugged. “It is not that simple. Hasse, wake up. Don’t let your killing instinct blind your judgment. Did you not realize that the real Vivian had not appeared?”

The old demon hunter suddenly came to his senses. He looked at into the sky.

The crimson moon was still there.

There were no signs of the red light beam going away.

“Everyone, be careful!” Lockheed had also gotten wise to it. “The avatar is probably not dead yet!”

Lily, thinking that she could finally breathe a sigh of relief earlier, was on her guard again. She clenched her swords, and her ears flicked back and forth. “Where is she? Where is Battie’s Malevolence?”

The demon hunters began to search around as darkness continued to swallow the dimension. Some of them flew up into the air to try to see if the moon was a real or just an illusion. But there seemed to be some barrier in the air preventing them from doing so. The moon hanging high in the sky was unreachable.

The chaotic darkness was devouring the grassland at the border under the moon. The entire shadowy realm was on a countdown of disintegration. But there were still no signs of a total collapse. The real Vivian had not appeared, and the Malevolence had vanished. Things were not yet over as everything had not changed.

Could the Malevolence hide?

The question popped into Hao Ren’s mind. And almost at the same time, the crimson moonlight suddenly intensified.

Far away from the red light column, a red-haired violent figure materialized in midair. It swooped down at the unsuspecting husky maiden.

Hao Ren’s heart missed a beat, and immediately, he lunged out with his sword in his hand. “Lily, behind you!” he cried.

At the moment, Lily had also sensed the movement behind her. She tried to dodge to the side but she was too slow—the Malevolence’s hands were only a dozen centimeters away. Lily was scared stiff.

Farther away, the demon hunters could not help either.

Just then, a shadow, faster than with which eyes could keep up, suddenly lunged out from another direction.

The shadow, rolling up a gust of wind and traveling with bursts of lightning, clashed with the Malevolence. The impact of the collision produced a visible shockwave and sent the Malevolence flying backward. The shadow clamped the Malevolence’s neck as they clashed, leaving behind a hundred-meter gash in the ground.

When the shadow and the Malevolence finally ground to a halt, Hao Ren finally was able to see what happened.

The black-haired Vivian grabbed the Malevolence’s neck and pinned her to the ground with one hand, and violently beat her with the other.

“You occupy my bedroom! You occupy my coffin! You occupy my territory! I can only afford to sleep in ruins, yet you come to steal from me!”