The Azure-Beast Hunter King

"Teacher Gu Han, Professor Qiu Yuhua — you're both here! I was just sparring with my new Summoned Beast." Mo Fan scattered the flames wreathing his body and greeted the two teachers with a broad smile.

"Mo Fan, we must offer you our heartiest congratulations! So — how does your Swift Star Wolf measure up?" Old Professor Qiu Yuhua asked, beaming with delight.

Mo Fan and the Swift Star Wolf had just finished a round of sparring, and the result had genuinely surprised him: he'd needed to draw on his Shadow Element abilities just to fight the wolf to a draw. The creature's speed was so extreme that even his Thunderbolt: Yaksha couldn't connect. If it actually came down to a fight to the death, whether he could win was anyone's guess.

That he couldn't subdue his own Swift Star Wolf didn't embarrass Mo Fan in the slightest. *This thing is mine — anyone who gives me trouble, I'll just sic it on them.*

"It's incredibly strong. I can't overpower it," Mo Fan said honestly.

"Ha! Only a freak like you could manage even a draw with a Swift Star Wolf. Anyone else would be torn to shreds in minutes. The Swift Star Wolf is one of the most formidable Battle-General-class wolf-type creatures in existence — no Intermediate Hunter team worth their salt would pick a fight with one without serious preparation and a solid strategy." The old professor heaped praise on Mo Fan's Summoned Beast.

"Oh?" Mo Fan raised an eyebrow, running his fingers through the comfortable fur on the Swift Star Wolf's head. "So you're that tough, are you!"

"And furthermore, the Swift Star Wolf has a rather special ability — ahem, you'll discover that for yourself in good time. Come on, enough! Gather everyone together. This is a grand occasion — Mo Fan's Summoned Beast successfully evolved! I'm treating everyone to a proper meal!" The old professor was practically radiating joy. The way he looked at Mo Fan was exactly like a man sizing up his ideal son-in-law — utterly satisfied.

Come to think of it, back on that bullet train from Xiamen to Shanghai, Professor Qiu Yuhua had written Mo Fan off as a scatterbrained kid full of empty boasts. Yet nearly two years had passed, and the boy had turned out to be nothing short of extraordinary. The old professor made a quiet mental note: *I really should find an opportunity to introduce him to my granddaughter someday. This young man has a brilliant future ahead of him.*

Teacher Gu Han offered his congratulations too, but his eyes barely left Mo Fan's Swift Star Wolf. The perpetually poker-faced man was wearing an unmistakable look of envy, and he eventually gave in to the urge — reaching out to comb through the fur the wolf had ruffled during their bout.

The Swift Star Wolf paid Gu Han no attention whatsoever. Its expression said plainly: *Get your dirty hands off me.*

Luo Song and Shen Mingxiao stood to the side, forcing smiles so strained their faces had practically twisted out of shape.

*Damn — what kind of insane luck does Mo Fan have? His Summoned Beast actually evolved??*

It was already absurd that this guy's Fire Element and Lightning Element were as overpowered as they were. Now his Gloom Wolf Beast had evolved into a Swift Star Wolf — a one-beast army all by itself...

"Hfff——"

The Swift Star Wolf exhaled a long, heavy breath, its star-black eyes fixing on Luo Song.

It seemed to recognize him. The very first time its master had summoned it, this fat oaf had given it a rough time.

The Swift Star Wolf stepped forward, its proud head drifting toward Luo Song — that slow, heavy exhale from a moment ago had been blown deliberately into his face, as though it had something to say.

"Hey, fatty Luo, my Swift Star Wolf says it wants another round with you." Mo Fan said with a grin.

Luo Song finally registered what was happening and scrambled backward, waving his hands with a hollow, plastic smile. "Let's... pass on that."

He couldn't put on airs this time. Shen Mingxiao, who was a notch stronger than him, had been chased around like a dog by the Shadowmark Berserker Wolf — summoned by Lu Zhenghe. The Swift Star Wolf standing before them was certainly no weaker, and Luo Song harbored zero illusions about his chances against it alone.

The Swift Star Wolf glanced at Luo Song one last time, its disdain unmistakable — the contempt almost palpable in the air.

Luo Song's smile curdled on his face. He'd just been looked down on by a wolf.

The night sky blazed with stars above an endless plain. An enormous azure creature was charging through the darkness, following the course of a white bullet train hurtling down its tracks — and gradually pulling ahead.

"Daddy, look — it's Godzilla!" A little girl pressed her face against the window, staring wide-eyed at the azure giant thundering across the wilderness.

"My God — it's a Demon-Beast!!" her father cried, pulling her into his arms.

The bullet train's route ran through the Safe Zone, but that was no guarantee a Demon-Beast wouldn't breach it. What else could explain the creature outside the window — so immense that a single footfall could crush the train car beneath it into crumpled steel?

The father's shout set off a chain reaction. Passengers all across the car craned toward the windows, staring at the staggering silhouette moving through the dark fields. Those who recognized it for a Demon-Beast went rigid; those who didn't might have mistaken it for a small flying mountain. The visual impact was overwhelming.

"Please remain calm, everyone. That is a Contract Beast. A Hunter King is currently on assignment and is simply passing through this corridor." A train attendant's voice came through the intercom almost immediately.

"Oh — a Contract Beast. Nearly gave me a heart attack."

"What an unreal summoner. I can see him standing right on top of its head!"

"That's a Hunter King for you — Commander-class Demon-Beasts barely even register as threats to someone like that. And that azure beast of his is almost certainly Commander-class itself."

The white bullet train fell further and further behind. The azure giant faded into the dark fields, swallowed by the night. But passengers couldn't help wondering: what on earth could have driven a Hunter King to cut directly through a bullet train corridor at full sprint?

"Hunter King, I can't close in on the target. With the damage output it has, I wouldn't survive five minutes." A voice broke the silence of the night sky without warning.

The clouds drifted apart. Pale moonlight spilled down, softly illuminating the stretch of earth below — and for those who looked carefully, a figure hung suspended in the air above.

He hovered roughly fifty meters above the ground, gliding parallel to the plain. Behind him spread a pair of powerful, fleshy wings, extraordinary in the silver light. Each beat left a churning wake of turbulence trailing behind him — effortlessly striking.

"Don't lose the target. I'll be there shortly." The Hunter King's voice crackled through a communication device.

"The military makes a mess and expects us to clean it up for them..." The winged man's voice was soft, faintly androgynous, edged with irritation. "It's fled beyond the Safe Zone. Should I pursue?"

"When I was still with the military, I was also one of the people behind this program. But as far as I know, surviving it should have been impossible — it has one catastrophic flaw built into its design." The Hunter King replied.

"If it can't work, why keep running it? Manufacturing some kind of aberrant elemental hybrid and then having to mop it up afterward — do they have any idea how much trouble that is? And the program is hardly humane to begin with. Failure means a Mage's death." The winged man in the leather jacket said.

"Ultimately, it represents a magical breakthrough unlike anything in recorded history. Those old men aren't going to let it go... I see you now." The Hunter King said.