Blade of the Demon Hunt

Untitled Part 15

"Aziz, how did things come to this?" Amir knelt on the ground, watching helplessly as Aziz's sharp, blade-like nails approached his neck.With a mere flick, his throat could be slashed open. Amir understood this clearly, but he was completely unable to move."You killed Lina. Do you know that Lina was about to evolve into a B-Class demon soon? And you killed her right at this moment!" Aziz roared angrily. "You bastard, you should die!" With that, he wasted no time and thrust his right hand forcefully towards Amir's neck.Time seemed to stand still as the glinting nails touched his skin. Amir's dagger felt as though it had been heated to an unbearable degree, making it frighteningly hot.He gently raised his right hand, and the dagger seemed to move with purpose, slicing towards Aziz's approaching fingers.Blood lingered in the air, like red flowers blooming from the fingertips.Amir could clearly see the droplets of blood hovering and trembling slightly in mid-air.As his right hand, still gripping the dagger, fell, a pained scream reached his ears.Blood splattered, and four fingers fell in front of Amir's eyes as time resumed its normal flow."You bastard!" Aziz roared, gripping his wrist, and kicked Amir in the chest, sending him flying.Amir crashed through the window and landed on the floor of the corridor, his chest aching intensely as he coughed up blood.Aziz over there continued to scream in agony, tightly gripping his right wrist. All four fingers on his right hand had been severed at the roots, and blood was gushing from his hand.Amir felt a blow to his head, and his vision became somewhat blurry, while the ground around him began to shake.When he was kicked away, the dagger fell to the ground, leaving him unarmed and curled up on the floor.After a moment of screaming in pain, Aziz turned his gaze toward Amir, who was lying on the ground. Surrounding Aziz, black smoke began to spread, growing denser and enveloping him completely.When the black smoke cleared, Aziz's appearance had changed. His formerly smooth short hair now stood erect like a beast's mane. His eyes were as red as if they could bleed, his tanned skin had darkened to a deep black, highlighting his snow-white, sharp fangs, and his muscles were bulging and making cracking sounds.Unlike the grotesque, beastly transformations of C-level demons, Aziz's form still retained the basic human shape.Amir saw that the dagger, just a few meters away from him, seemed to respond to Aziz's transformation by emitting a red glow.He needed to get the dagger, or he would be killed by Aziz. Amir understood his perilous situation, but the pain coursing through his body left him unable to move even a single finger.Watching Aziz approach him step by step, Amir struggled to move across the ground, trying to reach his weapon.Aziz clearly saw through Amir's intention, and with a swift kick, he sent the dagger flying. He then grabbed Amir by his clothes, lifted him up, and struck him forcefully in the face with the elbow of his injured right arm, causing blood to gush from Amir's nose.Still not satisfied, Aziz grabbed Amir's hair, forced his upper body down, and drove his knee into Amir's chest and abdomen. Vomit mixed with blood spewed from Amir's mouth and nose.Aziz's attacks continued to rain down on him. Amir no longer felt pain but instead experienced dizziness and difficulty breathing.Strangely, Amir wondered why he was still alive. If he were an ordinary person, he would have been beaten to death by now.The frenzied beating suddenly stopped without warning. Amir lay on the ground, unable to move, but his mind remained alert. He struggled to open his eyes to see what was happening.A dark shadow with fluttering wings hovered over Aziz's face, preventing him from continuing his assault on Amir. Aziz swatted at the shadow with his arms, trying to shake it off.A voice, as clear and melodious as wind chimes, rang out coldly, "B-level." It sounded like celestial music to Amir's ears. "Yasin, come back."The black owl, upon hearing the command, obediently flew back and perched on Zahra's shoulder, its golden eyes still fixed on the enemy."I didn't expect two hunters to show up," Aziz remarked with a click of his tongue, licking the blood from the corner of his mouth."Was there a mistake when the task was issued?" Zahra muttered to herself, ignoring Aziz.Casting a glance at the gravely injured Amir lying on the ground and the C-level demon's corpse nearby, Zahra understood what had transpired.She extended her left hand, and the mark in the center of her palm glowed faintly red. With a gesture of her right hand, a black longsword materialized in her grip.Aziz, seeing Zahra's weapon, immediately realized that this female hunter was far stronger than Amir and prepared himself accordingly.Zahra gripped the longsword firmly and held it out in front of her, its tip pointing directly at the enemy.Aziz took the initiative and charged at Zahra, raising his left hand high with claws like blades, aiming to strike at her face.Zahra leaned her upper body slightly backward, then executed a graceful upward swipe with the longsword, creating a white arc of light that cut across his cheek. In the next moment, she flashed behind him and delivered a powerful kick to his lower back.Aziz staggered, blood spraying from his cheek as he tried to steady himself and turned to swing his elbow.Zahra sidestepped, and her longsword moved with the agility of a black serpent, slicing across Aziz's body and causing blood to spurt everywhere.With his right hand nearly incapacitated by Amir's earlier attack, Aziz struggled against Zahra's agile assaults. Realizing he couldn't avoid her swift strikes, he stopped trying to evade and instead raised his injured right arm to block the black longsword with sheer force.When the sword blade embedded itself into his arm, Aziz immediately exerted force, his taut muscles pinning the weapon firmly in place.Zahra struggled to withdraw the sword but couldn't free it instantly, leaving her momentarily exposed.Aziz seized the opportunity, extending his left hand to grasp Zahra's shoulder. His claw-like nails dug deeply into her shoulder blade, and the sound of cracking bones was almost audible.Zahra didn't make a sound. Grimacing in pain, she gritted her teeth and released her grip on the sword, then thrust her head sharply into Aziz's chin and delivered a powerful kick to his abdomen.As they separated, Zahra's right shoulder was torn open, blood and flesh flying, nearly staining half of her body red. The longsword was left behind, still lodged in Aziz.Aziz pulled the longsword from his arm and sneered, "I wonder what the effect of using a demon-slaying weapon against a hunter will be." With that, he charged at Zahra, sword in hand.Amir watched in desperation as Zahra shouted, "Yasin!" A dark shadow dove from the air, attacking Aziz's face.Aziz swung his sword at the incoming owl, but Yasin deftly evaded the blade with a flap of its wings. Zahra took advantage of the distraction, rushing in to grab Aziz's left wrist. With a twist and turn, she wrenched the sword from his hand, then delivered a spinning side kick that sent Aziz crashing through a window into a classroom.Zahra, holding the longsword, jumped through the shattered window. The sound of fierce fighting soon echoed from inside the classroom.Amir felt a slight recovery in his strength and attempted to move his body. However, as soon as he made a move, a sharp pain surged from his limbs to his brain, forcing him to stop.He couldn't just watch Zahra fight alone. A determination rose within Amir; he had to do everything in his power to help her.At this moment, he didn't consider Zahra's superior strength or whether his body could even function. His sole focus was on the dagger, which was not far from him. He knew clearly that if he could reach the dagger, he would be able to continue fighting.Gasping for breath on the ground, Amir waited for the pain to slightly subside before trying to move again.The intense pain hit him once more, but this time Amir did not stop. He continued to struggle, sweat starting to bead on his pale face as he persisted in his efforts.The distance of less than five meters felt like it was worlds away. This was, without a doubt, the longest stretch Amir had ever experienced in his life.Finally, he managed to reach the dagger and grasped it, feeling its warmth in his palm.Perhaps it was a trick of the mind, but Amir felt the pain in his body lessen, no longer as unbearable as before.At that moment, a loud crash echoed from the classroom. Amir turned to see Zahra flying out through the broken window, followed closely by Aziz, who was covered in blood and also leaping through the window.The two of them collided again in the hallway, resuming their fierce battle.Seeing that Zahra seemed to be overpowered by Aziz, Amir felt a surge of anxiety. At the same time, the dagger in his hand grew extremely hot, as if it was trying to communicate something to him.Suddenly, Zahra bent her body and swung her sword horizontally at Aziz's abdomen. Aziz leaped backward to avoid the strike, landing right in front of Amir.Amir recognized this as his chance. With Aziz's attention focused entirely on Zahra, he could make a move without being noticed.With this thought in mind, Amir gripped the dagger tightly and slashed at Aziz's foot.The scorching dagger sliced through the tendons above Aziz's heel as smoothly as if cutting through tofu. Before Aziz could even comprehend what had happened, he felt his left foot give way and collapsed to the ground. He turned to look at Amir behind him, his expression a mix of anger and disbelief.Zahra didn't give him a chance to react. She charged forward and thrust her sword into his chest.Aziz looked down at the black longsword embedded in his chest, a momentary look of bewilderment crossing his face. When he looked up again, blood was already flowing from the corner of his mouth.The black longsword, named Star and Moon, emitted a faint red glow. Soon, Aziz closed his eyes and collapsed.Amir sat on the ground, staring blankly at the man who had seemed somewhat familiar, feeling a void in his heart. Unconsciously, tears began to fall from his eyes.Zahra approached, giving Aziz a gentle kick to confirm his death. She then pulled out the longsword, Crescent Moon, and with its tip pointing toward her left palm, she stabbed it. The sword emitted a soft white light before disappearing from her hand.