The Ascending Demon Wolf

"Thank god, it's the Demon-Hunting Squad." Zhou Min said, sounding like someone who'd just been handed a second chance at life.

Mo Fan wasted no more words. With the One-Eyed Demon Wolf frozen in place, he seized the moment and got out of there.

They had barely cleared the street when he heard Guo Caitang speaking into her Bluetooth earpiece to the other squad members: "Has Fan Mo been notified? This is a One-Eyed Demon Wolf in the middle of an ascension. In all likelihood, it's the same creature that snuck into the Earth Sacred Spring alongside those Giant-Eyed Ape-Rats. The Ape-Rats we can handle — but this One-Eyed Demon Wolf has received a massive power boost. Its combat strength is far beyond that of a typical Demon-Beast. Without a Lightning Element mage, keeping it under control will be nearly impossible!"

"So this is the insolent beast. My father has had a bounty on it for some time now — and we've caught it here today," said the tall, lean, brooding young man standing beside Guo Caitang. "Perfect timing. Today, I — Yu'ang — will join your squad in putting this thing down."

"We shouldn't rush in," Guo Caitang said seriously. "Let's use Ice Vine to suppress it from a distance. It seems to have run into something just now and hasn't fully recovered — otherwise our Ice Vine might not be enough to hold it. Better to wait until our full squad arrives, especially the Lightning mage. For a power-type creature like the One-Eyed Demon Wolf, Lightning Element is the best counter!"

"Oh? All right, your call." Yu'ang gave a small nod. He linked together the Star Trail of the Ice Element and stood at a distance, maintaining a steady freeze on the One-Eyed Demon Wolf. With an air of casual ease, he glanced back at Mo Fan retreating with the girl and said, "Who's that little punk you called out? Do you know him?"

"That's Mo Fan. The lawless one who insulted Uncle Zhuo Yun." Guo Caitang said through gritted teeth.

"So *that's* Mo Fan. Heh." A contemptuous smirk spread across Yu'ang's face.

*So much for the rumors. The moment he's face to face with a Demon-Beast, he runs like a dog that's had the nerve scared clean out of it. Pathetic.*

*If he really did kill a Gloom Wolf Beast during his Field Expedition, it was pure dumb luck — if he killed it at all. The people at that Waystation love to run their mouths.*

*Is trash like this really worth including in my Coming-of-Age Ceremony?*

*Well... no point dwelling on a nobody. Better to focus on what to do about this ascending One-Eyed Demon Wolf.*

"Mo Fan, where are you going?! You're heading back?!" Zhou Min called out as she ran with her grandmother toward the more populated streets.

"I left my phone back there." Mo Fan brushed aside her protests and sprinted back the way they'd come.

As he ran, he yanked his hoodie out of his flat satchel — a pretty slick-looking piece, admittedly — then grabbed a crayon and smeared his face black for good measure. Better add a mask too, just to be safe.

*American superheroes just rip their shirt open and instantly transform into city-saving legends. My disguise is seriously behind the times.*

In truth, all he was doing was switching from his Fire Element identity to his Lightning Element one. Fortunately, even throughout his school days, he had never forgotten his other sacred calling — City Enforcement Officer — and so he always kept the gear close.

Done playing the brave civilian classmate. Time to transform into the city's guardian. Whether that made him genuinely cool or just ridiculous, he honestly couldn't decide.

Come to think of it, the man standing beside Guo Caitang was Yu'ang — Mu Zhuoyun's adopted son. What a two-faced piece of work. One look was enough to know he was rotten to the core.

*A One-Eyed Demon Wolf that stole a drink from the Earth Sacred Spring??*

*What in the world is the Earth Sacred Spring, and how could it turn an ordinary One-Eyed Demon Wolf into something this terrifying?*

Mo Fan was a far cry from the rookie who had stumbled through his first Field Expedition. If a Gloom Wolf Beast were standing before him now, he could hold his own. But that One-Eyed Demon Wolf was in a different league entirely...

*Could all the tremors rattling the city lately — and all those frenzied Giant-Eyed Ape-Rats — really have something to do with the Earth Sacred Spring??*

*Never mind. Stop overthinking it and go save the day.*

*Besides — mutant monsters supposedly always drop the good loot.*

By the time Mo Fan made it back to the old Rongshu Street district, the rest of the Demon-Hunting Squad had already converged on the scene.

They were on call around the clock. Any incident, and they'd be at the scene before the police could even get their bearings — speed no ordinary force could match.

"Fan Mo, little brother — you got here fast!" Feishi's face split into a wide grin the moment he spotted Mo Fan.

"Stay focused. This ascending One-Eyed Demon Wolf could put any one of us in the ground at any moment," Captain Xu Dahuang said gravely.

"Right. And fortunately, we have an extra hand today," Li Wenjie added. "With two Ice Element mages on the field, we can significantly restrict the wolf's movements."

Both Guo Caitang and Yu'ang were accomplished practitioners from Ice Element lineages. Their combined Ice Vine had locked down every inch of a ten-meter radius around the One-Eyed Demon Wolf. The wolf wasn't fully immobilized, but its every movement had slowed to a crawl.

Ice Vine had a seeping quality to it: the longer a target remained within its range, the stiffer its muscles and bones became. Against a Demon-Beast that relied on nothing but raw strength — like the One-Eyed Demon Wolf — it was the perfect counter.

There was, however, a complication.

Ice and Fire Elements had a fundamental conflict. The squad's primary killing power rested with Captain Xu Dahuang, but a single Fire Burst: Blast from him would almost certainly shatter Guo Caitang and Yu'ang's Ice Vine to pieces...

For now, containment was the only viable option.

"I've already called for backup. Yang Zuohe from the Mage Association is on his way. Until he arrives, we hold containment — do not attempt to kill this One-Eyed Demon Wolf," Xu Dahuang said, with the authority of long experience.

Fire Burst: Blast would certainly deal serious damage, but it was too risky. If the wolf still had fight left in it afterward, regaining control would be nearly impossible — and at all costs, it had to be kept from breaking into the occupied residential blocks.

"Yang Zuohe — that Intermediate-Level Water Element Mage?" Xiao Ke's eyes lit up, her face flooded with undisguised admiration.

"Yes. With him here, we can put the wolf down cleanly. If it escapes, the civilian casualties will be incalculable," Xu Dahuang said.

"True — though I can't say how long our Ice Vine will hold. The wolf's strength is immense. If we could bring our Ice Vine to level three, escape would be out of the question," Guo Caitang said.

"Don't worry, we're here too," Feishi and Li Wenjie said together.

"Should I do anything?" Mo Fan looked over at the assembled squad — their plan already laid out — and asked.

"Stand by. Your level-one Lightning Seal probably won't wound it, but the muscular paralysis effect should prove critical — the moment this One-Eyed Demon Wolf shows any sign of breaking free..." Xu Dahuang's expression shifted. "Wait. Something's wrong. Why does its aura feel stronger?"

The old Rongshu Street district was thick with biting cold — yet somehow, centered on the One-Eyed Demon Wolf with its frost-locked legs, a savage, primal aura surged outward like a tide, sweeping through the entire block in a churning storm.