A fantastical journey across the heavens, beginning with the Witcher.

Despite Li De's swift and determined efforts, he was still a step too late.

As soon as he rushed to the academy gate, the blood and corpses scattered all over the ground stung his eyes.

Broken spears, tattered plate armor, and congealed bloodstains covered the floor tiles, and the air was filled with a heavy stench of blood and the stench unique to monsters.

Li De became increasingly certain: these blood demons must be deliberately controlled by someone!

"Ah! Monster!"

"Help!"

The screams in the distance were still echoing, sharp and desperate.

Li De didn't have time to check on the survivors at the door. He drew his silver sword "Goldwell" with a backhand stroke. The blade reflected his cold, golden cat eyes. Following the direction of the loudest screams, he charged straight into the depths of the academy.

Along the way, several survivors stumbled past him, their clothes stained with blood and their expressions terrified.

One of them was Professor Gillen.

Whether by coincidence or drawn by the screams, their eyes met as they passed each other, and they both began to observe each other.

Gillen was slightly taken aback; he never expected that the Witcher would return unharmed.

Despite the bloody claw mark on his shoulder armor, his aura remained steady, indicating that he was not seriously injured.

Li De's gaze was even more penetrating. The professor in front of him, who looked gentle and polite, had no bloodstains on his body except for the wrinkles in his clothes from running away. The fear on his face was deliberately stiff.

Especially when she saw herself, a flash of panic and disbelief crossed her eyes, as if she was wondering how she had managed to come back alive.

However, saving lives is the priority right now.

Li De withdrew his gaze, quickened his pace, and rushed towards the stone building where the screams were most concentrated.

Passing through a garden full of wildflowers but already stained with blood, a horrific scene suddenly came into view.

In the open space in front of the stone building, several guards lay on the ground, covered in blood and groaning in pain. Several other corpses had been torn to pieces by the Blood Demon's claws, and blood was splattered on the white stone walls, a horrifying sight.

Despite their injuries, the surviving guards formed a final line of spears, holding their ground at the gate. Thrall was among them.

Upon seeing Li De, a flash of wild joy crossed the eyes of the city guard captain, who was filled with murderous intent. He then shouted, "There are two monsters! One is over here, and the other went towards the research building!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Li De drew his sword and charged directly at the Blood Demon before him.

He knew better than anyone that the best of both worlds only existed in storybooks; in reality, it was more often a matter of helplessness and choosing the lesser of two evils.

The guards were already on the verge of collapse. If he turned around to chase the other one, the defense line would be breached in less than a minute, and the people in the classroom would become food for the Blood Demon.

Moreover, he was unfamiliar with the academy's layout, and even if he reached the study building, he would most likely only find corpses scattered all over the ground... The result of everyone wanting to save them might be that no one could be saved.

"Arden!"

The ancient words were uttered, and purple magical runes instantly spread across the ground, forming an invisible binding array.

The Blood Demon, who was tearing apart the guards' spears, sensed the threat behind him and immediately abandoned his prey, turning around to pounce on Li De, his claws carrying a stench as he aimed straight for Li De's throat.

"Axeshi!"

Another hand seal was cast. Axii's function is hypnosis, but its effectiveness is limited. It is insufficient when facing determined humans and high-level monsters. It is mostly used to soothe horses and extract information.

However, the Blood Demon before them is being controlled by someone, and its mental state is inherently flawed, which might allow Axe to have a surprising effect.

Sure enough, the moment the hypnotic hand seal was formed, the Blood Demon's movements, which had been as swift as the wind, suddenly slowed down. His crimson eyes under the spherical mask fell into confusion, as if he were standing there, lost in thought, asking himself: Who am I? Where am I? What am I going to do?

Now! A cold glint flashed in Li De's eyes. He pushed off with his feet, his body moving like an arrow, his silver sword pointing straight at the gap in the armor on the Blood Demon's chest and abdomen.

puff!

The sharp silver sword grazed the metal armor plates, precisely piercing the monster's body, penetrating its internal organs, and then exiting straight out from the other end, gushing out blackish-red poisonous blood that splattered all over the ground.

"Aaaaaah!"

The intense pain instantly interrupted the hypnotic effect. The Blood Demon let out a shrill, ear-piercing scream, and furiously swung its claws, attacking Li De like a madman.

But it ultimately cannot escape the constraints of basic biology: the chest and abdominal muscles are the core of the body's movements.

The silver sword was deeply embedded in his body. With every movement, the wound would be torn wider, causing excruciating pain and distorting his movements. With distorted movements, he could never catch the agile Li De. Unable to catch his prey, his anger grew stronger and his desire to attack became more frantic.

The more frantic one becomes, the more intense the pain in the wound and the more clumsy one's movements become.

In this vicious cycle, Li De barely took the initiative to fight back. He simply held his steel sword and moved nimbly around the Blood Demon, occasionally stabbing it in its weak points and sometimes grabbing the hilt of the silver sword stuck in its waist and abdomen, pulling it to widen the wound.

Each tug elicited a blood demon's agonizing howl. Its waving claws were like a toddler trying to grab a toy, futilely swinging its claws only to miss its target time and time again.

Soldiers, their strength nearly exhausted, collapsed to the ground, staring dumbfounded at the battle scene that resembled a farce.

Just moments ago, they were arrogant and incredibly strong, able to easily tear apart plate armor and slaughter countless of their companions.

At this moment, he could only struggle in vain under the toy of the witcher. His wounds grew larger and larger, his internal organs were repeatedly cut and ripped apart by the blade, and poisonous blood flowed all over the ground.

As Li De watched the monster's movements slow down, he realized the time had come; any later and the monster would have escaped.

He raised his hand and waved it, instantly forming a Quen sign. An orange magical shield blocked the Blood Demon's claws that came crashing down on him, while his right hand thrust his steel sword straight at the gap in the Blood Demon's spherical mask.

The Blood Demon instinctively dodged in panic, and Li De seized the opportunity to grab the hilt of the silver sword tightly. He swung it horizontally, and the sharp blade ripped open the monster's belly, spilling out its dark red internal organs mixed with poisonous blood.

The piercing scream abruptly stopped. The Blood Demon's massive body staggered and swayed before crashing to the ground. A faint, desperate sound of blood bubbling back into its throat could be heard.

The final sword stroke followed the wound, precisely piercing its heart.

The Blood Demon's body twitched twice, its scarlet eyes completely lost their luster, and its life force dissipated.

"Monster blood is poisonous, do not touch!"

After warning the soldiers not to come into contact with the monster's blood, Li De picked up his silver sword, which was stained with poisonous blood, and rushed towards the research building.

Thrall, leaning on his spear, struggled to his feet and, panting, ordered, "Quick! Check on the wounded, move those still breathing indoors, and don't touch the monster's blood! The rest of you, come with me to support the Witcher!"

……

On the other side, Li De sped along and, before he had gone far, he burst into an art garden.

Here, shrubs grow thickly, and flower walls intertwine, forming a maze-like layout. Exquisite art sculptures are scattered among them, creating a strong artistic atmosphere.

But at this moment, this exquisiteness has become an obstacle.

"I hate garden art."

At this point, any detour would be a waste of time. Li De took a deep breath and quickly formed a hand seal with his left hand: "Igni!"

A blazing orange-red flame erupted, forming a surging wave of fire that instantly burned shrubs and flower walls to ashes, filling the air with the smell of burning.

Faced with a maze of colorful statues and openwork walls, Li De simply gave up on going around them. He would jump over whatever he could, and use Igni + Ald for the ones he couldn't.

With flames and shockwaves working together, he was like a runaway bulldozer, pushing and destroying everything in his path, following the screams as he charged straight toward the Blood Demon's slaughter scene.

Meanwhile, inside the study building, many teachers and students were huddled in corners, trembling as they hid from the Blood Demon that was roaming around searching for them.

If Li De were here, he would definitely shout for us to run!

Blood Demons have extremely keen hearing, capable of detecting the faintest heartbeats and breathing sounds from hundreds of meters away. Such self-deceptive hiding is futile and will only make them prey on the chopping block.

"Ugh...uh..."

A male student huddled behind a giant vase, his hands tightly covering his mouth and nose, his fingernails almost digging into his flesh, trying his best to muffle his voice, afraid of attracting the monster's attention.

But the heavy footsteps of the Blood Demon lingered in his ears, each step feeling like it was pounding on his heart.

Fear overwhelmed him like a tidal wave, and suppressed sobs finally escaped through his fingers.

Suddenly, the footsteps disappeared.

A cold shadow slowly enveloped his vision.

The boy's body stiffened, and he struggled to raise his head, only to see the terrifying blood demon, covered in blood, standing quietly behind him, its sharp claws hanging at its sides, and its foul-smelling saliva dripping onto his face.

At that moment, the fear reached its peak.

"ah…"

Before the scream could even be fully uttered, it was torn apart inside his chest by the Blood Demon's claws.

Blood gushed out, splattering onto the pristine white wall, forming a gruesome bloodstain.

The students who were hiding nearby were so terrified by the horrific scene that they abandoned all hiding and scattered in all directions.

The Blood Demon, like a cat chasing a mouse, followed at a leisurely pace, each swing of its claws followed by a scream.

Soon, it caught up with a library, its ferocious gaze locking onto the figure behind the bookshelves.

Several female students huddled together, trembling, their eyes filled with tears as they watched the monster approaching. They didn't even have the strength to cry out.

Elena gripped the slender-necked vase tightly, resolutely standing in front of the students, her voice trembling yet still stubbornly threatening, "Get out of my way! Monster!"

But her trembling legs and pale fingertips revealed the fear in her heart.

This intimidation seemed so pale and powerless in the face of the ferocious monster.