Everything was ready. The two kids ran another stretch, going deeper and deeper into Monarch's territory.

  Truly this was an extremely risky and foolish action. Though usually called the Southern Guardian, Monarch had never been benevolent; it was a powerful, fast, fierce predator. It was the persistent threat to all children in this small Oakhaven town. Whenever wanting to threaten, young parents often brought up its name to scare: "Will take you to the Southern forest for Monarch..." That was enough to know how haunting and dangerous it was.

  Moreover, the fact it could survive so long without being caught by major hunts still frequently occurring in Oakhaven was enough to know its intelligence wasn't ordinary.

  Therefore, though they'd overcome childhood fear instincts, when Liam and Theo (not overly affected) stepped into Monarch's territory, both still felt somewhat restless. Every breath and sound was controlled.

  They quickly hid in a thick, tall treetop where they could observe the entire surrounding area. Tactics completed, weapons prepared, fear overcome.

  The final problem could only be: waiting...

  Time gradually passed, the silence in the treetop tightening the wait. Theo focused his vision, fixed on Pidgey's flight trajectory. Liam beside him silently observed surroundings, muscles tensed.

  Suddenly, Theo saw Pidgey's flight trajectory change—a small, quick spiral, signaling opponents' presence. Looking at the flight direction, he roughly judged the number and approach direction of enemies.

  Theo thought a moment, softly reminding:

  "G, supplement Al's training method. Use flight altitude to report distance."

  G confirmed: Recorded.

  Then Theo reminded Liam, voice low and decisive:

  "Enemies have arrived. Prepare."

  Liam nodded. The paralytic essence vial already lay ready in his hand, prepared to apply to Zaravand spear's blade. He knew this liquid wouldn't last long in air, so he had to apply at the right moment.

  Theo drew the Sylvanius bow strapped to his shoulder. He truly didn't like this action plan—it had too many loopholes, depended on enemy tactical probability, depended on Monarch... too many factors beyond control.

  But having decided, he would respond with full force. His face was solemnly cold, but deep in his eyes, battle intent was boiling.

  Theo had calculated the distance and time for Night Hawks group to invade Monarch's territory. He and Liam exhausted experience erasing traces to eliminate all signs of their existence. If nothing went too wrong, Monarch had reacted to strange scents invading its territory, and as a cunning magical beast, its natural hunting instinct could only have one reaction...

  Before long, Liam faintly heard the appearance of a group stopping near the hiding area. He quietly recounted what he heard to Theo.

  "Lost the trail, Ryel?" a rough, wild voice rang out.

  "Yeah," Ryel answered concisely.

  "Damn, these two kids are really not bad, far exceeding standards for two 14-year-old hunter kids."

  "No problem, split into two teams," another deep stable but harsh voice ordered. "Ryel and Sable expand search range in spiral pattern. Torvin and I return to where we lost the trail and search carefully once more. They can only be around here."

  After that, no more sounds.

  Theo and Liam looked at each other, eyes flashing bright. This would be the moment they turned the tables—just needed one chance.

  One second. Two seconds. Twenty seconds. One minute. Three minutes. Five minutes...

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "ROAR!"

  A fierce roar echoed throughout the Southern forest.

  Correct—the final piece had entered position.

  With the superb hunting habits of a fierce magical beast, Monarch would target the two easiest targets to neutralize: Ryel (archer, neutralize long range) or Torvin (slowest, cumbersome armor pillar). The greatest probability was Torvin—Theo's intuition whispered that a superb hunter like Ryel would never be detected by Monarch, and Vesper also said Ryel had Shadow Cloak spell, which reduced Ryel's chance of being attacked. If so, Theo would have the chance to use the decisive move.

  Theo signaled Liam to execute the plan. Next, he signaled Al to return for combat support, target: neutralize Ryel, the difficult tracking master.

  Liam nodded, taking a deep breath. He jumped from the oak tree, unleashing full speed with Remnant Wind and Shadow Step. Liam's silhouette disappeared behind the tree trunk.

  After Theo's instructions, Al also chased to support. A dangerous tactic was ready for new prey.

  With its transcendent vision, Al quickly discovered Ryel. He was moving lightly on oak branches, his entire body seemingly transformed to brown oak trunk color—a Biological Camouflage art, perhaps this was his magic. Sable had used Swift Stride magic to run ahead supporting the other two, while he alone would lag behind finding suitable positions to support teammates from afar.

  Quickly, unexpectedly, Al continuously used Growl mixed with Gust strikes. Thanks to recent physical exercises, the little Pidgey's attack power had increased noticeably—the Gust skill swept leaves flying toward Ryel, temporarily preventing him from distinguishing the little Pidgey's direction. The main goal was still to signal the precise position for Theo and G.

  The target-locking system interface flashed in Theo's eyes. At the same time, a complete 3D figure of Ryel appeared in vision. This was the reproduction image G created, helping him more easily identify targets. Yes, this was the improvements he and G made to the Sound Sensor tactic.

  G immediately processed the sound wave feedback stream from Al's Growl, determining:

  Detected slow movement, low footstep intensity.

  In just an instant, G analyzed target position:

  Ryel was moving on a branch at 10.5 m altitude above ground, estimated distance 112.2 m. His approach direction was West-Northwest.

  After adjusting for complex canopy drag and local wind gusts, G determined precise wind deflection angle was 12.3 degrees Northwest direction. Wind speed strongly reduced, only remaining 1.1 m/s.

  With calculated data, G provided final action recommendation: Use Magic Arrow with master's current bow force of 30 kg. Aim 11-12 m above the branch where Ryel is standing. Aim slightly left to compensate for light Northwest wind.

  Theo operated like a machine, expertly drawing arrow, nocking bow, swiftly not deviating a single millimeter. How ironic—the magic arrow he drew was precisely the arrow Ryel had returned.

  Theo drew the bow—fired.

  The magic arrow infused with paralytic essence flew softly, without a whistle, like a venomous snake silently aimed straight at the half-elf hunter.

  Ryel narrowed his eyes. This was a situation that couldn't be more familiar. He lightly dodged Al's harassing attacks while activating all senses to maximum.

  In just 0.4 seconds, Ryel reflexed like lightning. He tilted to dodge the arrow, twisted hips to draw bow, fluidly and smoothly shooting back toward the incoming magic arrow.

  Ryel's arrow shot from the bow then vanished—yes, it turned invisible.

  Just that moment, Theo felt a sting on his cheek. An arrow had carved a cold line across his skin, then embedded deep in the oak behind his back.

  Returning to position, Ryel's lips just curled in a smile, as if saying:

  —One trick to deal with me twice, kid?

  But before the twisting posture could recover, his face changed.

  Corner of mouth, smile not yet faded—

  Liam attacked from below.

  Exploiting the perfect blind spot, with Remnant Wind's speed inertia, each ghostly movement of Shadow Step, he powerfully kicked the oak trunk. Like an agile hunting panther, Liam's eyes focused on only one position—Ryel's calf.

  Liam knew this was the only chance in this test. Pressure and opponents only made him more excited. The more excited, the more Liam concentrated, making Shadow Step and Remnant Wind seem to reach a new level—dangerous and ghostly.

  This split-second confrontation had no second outcome: it was the perfect coordination of all three—Al (sensor), Theo (analysis), Liam (execution).

  The Zaravand spear had its hammer blade removed to maximize speed. The sharp spear tip coated with paralytic essence struck hard into Ryel's calf.

  But Ryel didn't flinch at all. He leveraged Liam's very attack force, spinning in air another rotation. Though feet had left ground, the spinning posture was enough to show how terrifyingly flexible this body was.

  With centrifugal force from hip muscles, Ryel while spinning back drew the dagger from his chest, attacking powerfully at Liam.

  Liam also didn't flinch. He knew how terrifying these mercenaries were from last time. He rotated the short spear to block, but the powerful force from Ryel also sent Liam flying back to ground. Liam could only use momentum to let his shoulder blade touch ground then roll to reduce impact force.

  As for Ryel, thanks to recoil force from Liam, he regained balance. Left hand grabbed nearby branch, right hand still gripping dagger. The bow had been strapped to shoulder from who knows when.

  Ryel hung from the branch with one hand, looking down at Liam, lips curling once more.

  Liam was stunned before Ryel's skill, but he also decisively rolled and retreated to where Theo was hidden. Because the plan had succeeded: the Zaravand spear had struck Ryel's leg—though not yet immobilizing his entire body, the paralytic essence had rendered his leg unusable. Just one more minute when blood circulated throughout the body, he would be completely neutralized—plenty of time for the two to escape.