What Tang Erda wanted from the Kings Guild was simple: he only needed them to “fill” the other games so Bai Liu would have nowhere to escape.

That objective had already been accomplished before they even entered the game.

But after entering, the goals of the Kings Guild and Tang Erda himself had clearly diverged.

Especially regarding the Little Witch.

The disagreement there was obvious. That was likely why the Queen of Hearts had deliberately forced additional people into the game alongside Tang Erda. She had realized that the Little Witch’s injury was somehow connected to him.

So rather than assisting Tang Erda in killing Bai Liu, the true purpose of the people she sent seemed to be protecting the Little Witch from Tang Erda himself.

That was also why Tang Erda had never once actively chosen to move together with Qi Yifang’s group.

Those who walk different paths cannot truly plan together. They could cooperate temporarily for a shared objective, but a lasting alliance built on conflicting goals was destined to collapse eventually.

Qi Yifang hung from Tang Erda’s arm, staring directly into those dark eyes in silence. Cold sweat seeped from his nose and soaked through his back. The other two members had also surrounded Tang Erda nervously, but Tang Erda’s expression remained utterly emotionless.

And the gun in his hand never lowered.

Qi Yifang clenched his teeth.

He understood perfectly why Tang Erda remained completely unfazed despite being surrounded by three people.

Because they simply weren’t capable of beating him.

It was absolute suppression through raw strength.

Tang Erda only needed three bullets to put all of them down. His marksmanship was horrifyingly precise, his reaction speed monstrous, and his close-quarters combat ability reached an entirely different level.

At that moment, Qi Yifang had both arms wrapped tightly around Tang Erda’s shooting arm, using his full body weight to force the gun downward.

Yet even as pain spread through his own arm from the strain, Tang Erda’s hand remained terrifyingly steady, as unmoving as a machine while still pointing directly at Liu Jiayi.

The processing worker nearby had nearly gone numb from shock at the scene unfolding before him.

Liu Jiayi calmly stepped forward despite the gun aimed at her forehead.

Tang Erda’s arm moved with her, tracking her precisely for the distance of a single step.

Still aimed directly between her brows.

But Liu Jiayi showed no panic whatsoever.

Instead, she turned toward the frozen processing worker and reminded him politely, “Could you hurry up with the weighing?”

“...Ah—right, right...”

The worker lowered his head in confusion and terror, fumbling through the weighing process with trembling hands.

Liu Jiayi turned back around.

The cold black muzzle hovered less than a centimeter from the center of her forehead.

At this distance, if the gun fired, she would unquestionably die.

But this was a game.

As long as Tang Erda’s attack failed to erase all her HP instantly, there was still room to survive.

She was the Little Witch.

So long as she wasn’t killed completely in a single strike, she could revive herself with antidotes.

Liu Jiayi slowly raised her head and pulled down the black hood covering her hair, revealing the pale, obedient face of a little girl.

Oversized translucent goggles rested on her face. Under the sunlight, the lenses reflected thick layers of darkened light, intertwining with the silver gleam radiating from Tang Erda’s gun barrel.

Liu Jiayi looked directly at Tang Erda.

Then suddenly—

she smiled.

A strange smile.

Without warning, she grabbed Tang Erda’s gun and slipped one slender finger into the trigger guard.

Tang Erda’s expression changed instantly.

But Liu Jiayi remained terrifyingly calm.

Without even the slightest hesitation—

she pulled the trigger herself.

At the exact same moment, she let out a shrill scream completely at odds with her expression:

“Don’t shoot me—! No—!”

Bang—!

Fire burst from the muzzle.

The next sound was the dull impact of flesh being pierced.

A brilliant silver bullet tore cleanly through the little girl’s skull, spraying a sharp arc of bright blood across the ground.

As Liu Jiayi’s body slowly collapsed backward into a pool of blood, everything around them seemed to freeze.

Within that narrow space occupied by the three of them, every movement appeared to slow into fragmented stillness.

Tang Erda stared in shock at Liu Jiayi’s fallen body behind Qi Yifang.

The instant the gunshot rang out, Qi Yifang’s pupils contracted violently. He spun around so quickly that sweat scattered from his jaw.

Liu Jiayi’s goggles slipped weakly from her face.

Her pale gray eyes had lost all remaining light, becoming motionless and lifeless like artificial glass eyes embedded in wax. Blood flowed steadily from the center of her forehead, trailing across her deathly pale lips, still slightly parted in lingering terror.

She looked completely dead.

So dead that it seemed impossible for her to even activate her own skills.

And besides herself—

no one else here could save her.

The Little Witch.

The person who had saved him more than once.

The person he failed to protect.

Shot down right in front of him by Tang Erda.

Qi Yifang’s pupils trembled violently as cold sweat dripped from his chin. His expression became blank and disoriented, as though his soul had momentarily left his body before being violently dragged back by splitting pain in his temples.

[System Warning: Player Qi Yifang’s mental value is fluctuating violently! Current mental value has fallen to 40! Please restore mental value immediately!]

For a moment, his breathing stopped entirely.

Then it returned in harsh, rapid gasps.

Qi Yifang slowly turned to stare at Tang Erda.

The wind vane in his hand began spinning frantically from side to side, so fast that only blurred afterimages remained visible.

His dilated pupils reflected Tang Erda’s rare expression of stunned disbelief.

Qi Yifang inhaled deeply twice and gripped the wind vane tightly.

Calm down.

Calm down, Qi Yifang.

You can’t beat him.

Unless you force your mental value into berserk territory, you won’t even have a chance against this Hunter.

But you’re the team leader.

You cannot lose control.

The debt for the Little Witch can be repaid later.

Right now the priority is surviving the game.

Protect the Little Witch first.

Retreat first.

Before Qi Yifang could fully calm himself—

the supposedly dying Liu Jiayi, sprawled in a pool of blood behind him, curled her lips upward in a victorious smile.

[System Notification: Player Bai Liu is currently using Mu Ke’s personal panel and has activated Mu Ke’s personal skill: Flash Strike.]

A blurred figure suddenly tore through the battlefield with terrifying speed.

Bai Liu appeared directly between Tang Erda and Qi Yifang.

He held a whip in one hand and a reverse-gripped dagger in the other. Both knees tucked upward mid-leap, he forcibly inserted himself between the two opposing sides.

Tang Erda’s combat instincts reacted instantly.

He snapped out of his daze and immediately tried to pull his gun free from beneath Qi Yifang’s arm to fire.

Bai Liu’s whip lashed toward Tang Erda’s face.

Tang Erda reacted astonishingly quickly, twisting sideways to evade while simultaneously driving a brutal punch toward Bai Liu’s face with his left fist.

Bai Liu twisted his body in midair, dropping one knee onto Qi Yifang’s shoulder to evade.

Tang Erda’s fist pursued relentlessly, stopping mere centimeters from Bai Liu’s nose.

Bai Liu grabbed Qi Yifang by the waist and shoulder, arching backward to avoid the punch while dragging the bewildered Qi Yifang down with him.

Tang Erda, whose arm was still trapped by Qi Yifang’s hold, was forcibly dragged downward as well.

Grinding his teeth, Tang Erda crouched low, trying to wrench both his arm and gun free.

At that exact moment, Liu Jiayi—who had been pretending to be dead behind them—rolled across the ground and swept her leg outward in one sharp motion.

Her kick struck Tang Erda’s gun cleanly out of his hand.

Qi Yifang, currently pinned awkwardly to the ground beneath Bai Liu, remained completely dazed as Liu Jiayi climbed up beside him with blood covering half her face.

Supporting herself with one hand, she shouted sharply toward the two stunned Kings Guild members nearby:

“What are you standing around for?! Attack him before he recalls the gun!”

The instant the gun was kicked away, it shattered into particles of light.

Tang Erda’s face darkened viciously as he ripped his trapped arm free from Qi Yifang’s hold. His fingers spread—

and the gun instantly reconstructed itself in his hand once more.

But those brief seconds were enough.

The other two members had already activated their skills, temporarily restraining Tang Erda for over ten seconds.

Tang Erda’s most terrifying trait was exactly this:

he was a high-speed assault type player.

If they failed to kill him outright in one burst, then all they could do was desperately delay the inevitable counterattack.

And that was precisely what Bai Liu wanted.

Bai Liu raised his dagger.

Tang Erda’s gaze immediately locked onto the blade, focusing entirely on defending against Bai Liu’s strike.

But Bai Liu only smiled lazily at him.

Then—

without warning—

he drove the dagger backward into Qi Yifang’s shoulder.

[System Notification: Player Bai Liu used Flash Strike on Player Qi Yifang, reducing Player Qi Yifang’s mental value by 27 points.]

[System Warning: Player Qi Yifang’s mental value has dropped to 13 points. Berserk state activated.]

[Player Panel — Qi Yifang (Berserk State)]

Mental Value: 40 → 13 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Stamina: 1339 → 1873

Agility: 1795 → 2010

Attack: 2700 → 6100

Defense: 1840 → 2100

Overall combat capability exceeds 10,000 points.

Player evaluation updated to: S-Rank.

Player Qi Yifang’s rank has advanced from S- to Bronze S.

Congratulations. Player Qi Yifang has reached S-Rank potential and unlocked the Bronze Pseudo-God title. Please continue gathering Faith Points to ascend to true godhood.

Qi Yifang’s pupils shrank to pinpoints.

The wind vane in his hand accelerated from trembling rotation into violent high-speed spinning, resembling a distorted single-bladed fan on the verge of tearing itself apart.

The speed became so extreme that even the vane itself nearly disappeared from sight.

Qi Yifang slowly raised his head toward Tang Erda.

His expression was utterly blank.

Like a corpse whose soul had already been hollowed out.

Tiny cyclones began swirling continuously around his body, shredding apart his pant legs with razor-like currents.

[System Notification: Player Qi Yifang has activated Personal Skill Form — “Monster Book: Extreme Weather Forecaster.”]