Ding Lang froze, utterly stunned. "Huh?"
After several seconds of blank staring, he finally realized that Evernight's sudden silence hadn't been hesitation—she had simply begun clearing the area herself. And now she was done?
Evernight stated calmly, "I've eliminated all monsters within a hundred-kilometer radius of No. 3 Factory. For the foreseeable future, at least, no more monsters should attack this area."
Ding Lang stammered, "All the monsters within a hundred-kilometer radius? In just that short amount of time?"
Evernight nodded, turning her gaze to Ding Lang. "Yes. Is there a problem?"
Ding Lang opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. A faint sense of unreality washed over him. Something that had plagued him for so long had been resolved by Evernight with a single word, just like that?
He had always known Evernight was powerful—after all, Heinrich had called her a god—but he had never truly grasped the extent of her power.
If Evernight's previous actions—summoning the jellyfish to evacuate the factory workers and clearing out the nearby Black Panthers—could still be considered within the realm of comprehension, instantly clearing out monsters across a hundred-kilometer radius felt like an outrageous exaggeration.
Seeing how effortlessly Evernight accomplished this, it was clear she hadn't even exerted her full power. If she were to unleash her full strength, how formidable would she truly be? Could she clear two hundred kilometers, five hundred kilometers, or even half the world's monsters in mere minutes?
This led Ding Lang to ponder: If Evernight was this formidable, why was her world still under attack by the Mother of Flesh, forced into a defensive posture?
Was the Mother of Flesh simply too powerful, or...?
After a moment's hesitation, Ding Lang said, "Since the area's been cleared, there's nothing stopping us now. So... shall we set out to find the Child of Flesh right away?"
Evernight nodded. "Mm."
She took two steps toward Ding Lang, bringing them nearly shoulder to shoulder, almost touching. Heinrich mirrored her movement, closing the gap until the three of them were practically pressed together. Then, Evernight activated her ability.
Ding Lang felt a sudden blur before his eyes. When he regained his senses, he was no longer in the room but hovering in mid-air. Looking down, he saw an immense, deep pit stretched out before him, with faint red flames flickering along its rim.
The air crackled with chaotic, violent elemental energy. Ding Lang recognized immediately that this was the aftermath of the Elemental Rending Bomb explosion—the very spot where the First Squad had carried out their mission, luring the Child of Flesh and detonating the bomb.
"Is the Child of Flesh still here?" Ding Lang wondered aloud.
"Here, and not here," Evernight replied cryptically.
The First Squad's mission had failed to kill the Child of Flesh outright, but it had left the creature grievously wounded. Evernight could sense that while the Child of Flesh wasn't physically present, its attention remained firmly fixed on this place, like a vengeful beast stalking its enemy.
After explaining the situation, Evernight concluded, "So all we need to do now is lure it out again."
Upon hearing this, Ding Lang produced a lantern—the same Magitech Item he had previously given to First Squad, designed to attract creatures. However, he voiced his concern, "The Child of Flesh already fell for this trick once. Do you think it'll come again?"
Evernight replied, "We'll find out if we try, won't we?"
Ding Lang nodded and lit the lantern. A small, white flame flickered to life. Though it was fire, it radiated no warmth; instead, it exuded an icy, chilling aura.
Time slowly ticked by. Evernight remained patient, silently waiting. Ten minutes passed, then twenty. Just as Ding Lang was about to give up on the lantern's effectiveness, a dark shadow suddenly materialized behind him.
Several tentacles lashed out from the shadow, hurtling toward Ding Lang's back with terrifying speed.
Heinrich immediately raised his right hand and gently pressed his thumb against the middle joint of his middle finger, activating the Trigger Spell. The spell stored within was from the Seventh-Level Abjuration School: Magic Crystal Shield!
A deep blue crystalline barrier shimmered behind Ding Lang, enduring a relentless barrage of tentacles that slammed against it with dull thuds.
"Miss Evernight!" Heinrich called out, his gaze snapping to Evernight. "My shield won't hold much longer!"
Evernight remained silent, her gaze fixed on the Child of Flesh before her. The purpose of their mission was for Ding Lang to observe and study it, so their combat style would naturally lean towards control.
After a moment's thought, she focused her will, and with a thunderous rumble, ice pillars erupted from the ground, their frigid aura spreading rapidly through the air.
"Ha-choo!" Ding Lang sneezed violently, his face pale with shock as he stared at the colossal ice pillars surrounding him. "Th-this... how is this possible?!"
The ice pillars didn't directly attack the Child of Flesh. Instead, they positioned themselves at the four corners of the arena, halting their ascent at a certain height before expanding horizontally, merging with neighboring pillars to form a massive ice wall.
Finally, Evernight raised her right hand and sealed the cage with a roof. A massive square cage, over ten kilometers in diameter, materialized around them, trapping the three humans and the Child of Flesh inside.
Now the real hunt began: trapping the dog and beating it down.
Countless ice spears materialized on the ice walls of the cage, hurtling toward the Child of Flesh from all directions.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Heinrich and Ding Lang could even hear the ice spears slicing through the air. Seeing this, the Child of Flesh immediately ceased its attack and tried to dodge backward.
But its movements seemed to slow to half speed, like watching a video in slow motion. What should have been an easily avoided attack reached its side in the blink of an eye.
In the next moment, the entire Child of Flesh vanished from its spot, one of its abilities allowing it to move freely through shadows.
Heinrich observed, "This ice cage seems useless, doesn't it? Can't it just teleport out?"
But before his words could fade, a loud thud echoed as the Child of Flesh suddenly reappeared at the edge of the ice cage, crashing headfirst into the icy wall.
Evernight calmly stated, "No, it can't escape."
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Spy- Author still super sick from new years, so chaps short