CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 50: THE DESERT HUNTER RETURNS!

"Hmm?" Andrew’s "Water Spirit Sensing" immediately detected the guy who was initially coming towards him, but suddenly turned to run towards the tent where Barbara was.

His heart startled slightly but soon calmed down again.

He didn’t even intend to stop them, instead maintaining his offensive stance towards Hubert.

This was not only because of the three Magic Circles he left in the tent, but also because—

Bang!

The moment the person lifted the curtain and entered the tent, it was as if they were hit by a critical strike, clutching their nose and staggering back, falling to the ground.

Just then, Aunt Sofia rushed out: "Who dares to touch a hair on my daughter!!"

Yelling, she exerted force with her legs, propelling her not-so-slender but rather voluptuous body into the air, crashing down heavily.

Finally landing her butt on the Magic Apprentice’s... abdomen!

The person let out a miserable howl and then passed out from the pain.

He really shouldn’t have rashly lifted the curtain and entered the tent as a physically weak Mage without the cooperation of an Apprentice Flame Warrior.

After all, aside from the exceptional Andrew, the Mage group generally has weaker bodies. Even the Fire Mages from the Magic Guild are slightly weaker than the Mages from the Warm Fire Commerce Association!

Within the Magic Guild, it seems the more powerful the Fire Mage, the weaker their body becomes, tending to develop some strange illnesses.

"Ugh..."

Seeing the hit area, Andrew felt a sympathetic pain just looking at it, involuntarily clenching his legs.

Little did he know that when Sofia, the aunt rushing out of the tent to protect her daughter, regained consciousness and saw the surrounding scene, her heart was truly struck by an indescribable shock, leaving her utterly dazed and forgetting to get up while sitting on the person.

Andrew, on the other hand, withdrew his gaze.

He gathered another portion of "Fire Extinguishing Value," allocating it into himself and Aunt Sofia.

Then continued, advancing towards Hubert!

"Oh? Andrew junior, you... seem to want to do something to Professor Hubert?"

A female voice, full of power and energy, resounded, "But it seems you haven’t asked for Cook and my opinions, right? Isn’t it a bit disrespectful towards your senior sister and brother?"

Andrew tensed up, but his steps didn’t change direction.

He saw a robust figure stand between him and Hubert.

It’s... Sally!

However, after Andrew’s initial shock, he rolled his eyes: "Respect, my ass."

Raising his hand, he precisely aimed another invisible "Long-range Water Needle" towards an Apprentice Flame Warrior almost a hundred meters away who was trying to seize An Ya.

After piercing through that person’s body, Andrew obtained another "Fire Extinguishing Value," sharing more than half with An Ya—after the battle started, Andrew had planted a "Seed of the Water Spirit" within An Ya, which he hadn’t done when they previously went to the Living People Cemetery. Only then did he shout at Sally ahead: "Get lost, gorgeous! And you, Cook!"

On the surface, Sally seemed to have come alone.

In fact, through "Water Spirit Sensing," Andrew clearly saw: Cook was not far behind Sally.

With one at a distance and the other in close combat, they formed a rudimentary "Dual Battle Array"!

What Andrew didn’t know yet was: in this Flame Realm, the "Magic Professionals," represented by Fire Mages, and the "Combat Class," represented by Flame Warriors, were originally meant to cooperate with each other.

The "Earth Fire Mage" from the Magic Guild teamed up with "Flame Warriors."

The "Warm Fire Mage" from the Warm Fire Commerce Association paired with "Crimson Knights."

It’s just that Hubert, busy looking for a way to prolong his own life, hadn’t really taught his apprentices properly, leading to most apprentices fighting individually without coordination.

Only Cook and Sally—referred to as conjoined twins by other apprentices—were actually representing what professionals in this Flame Realm should be like! Dual endless training in teams is the norm in this world, not something to be criticized!

"Flame Martial Combat Technique: Black Flame Hammer!"

Sally swung her giant hammer up, completely ignoring the Magic Apprentice that Andrew eliminated while talking to her.

She was still an Apprentice Flame Warrior, but the feeling she gave Andrew was stronger than that of a formal Flame Warrior like Raymond!

"Puppet Fire Series: Molten Rock Armor!"

Cook was calm behind Sally.

Flowing from his hands were large amounts of dark red magma-like Flowing Flame, not to attack Andrew directly, but to coat Sally’s body, forming a set of dark red Flame Armor!

The power of one plus one far exceeds two!

Sally is stronger than Raymond, Cook is stronger than Pete and Brian, so what level of strength do they have when cooperating?

It’s known that some Fire Mages specifically hire "Desert Hunters" as their bodyguards and guards.

But in fact, between Desert Hunters and Fire Mages—whether they are Earth Fire Mages from the Magic Guild or Warm Fire Mages from the Warm Fire Commerce Association—there has never been genuine collaboration and cooperation.

Instead of calling it "hiring," it’s more about building good relationships through hiring to avoid assassination by elite Desert Hunters.

Before Andrew arrived in this Flame Realm, Desert Hunters were considered the only ones somewhat able to restrain Fire Mages!

Historically, there was even an exceptionally assassin-trained, powerful Desert Hunter who crossed the "limit" of Desert Hunters, not only hunting Desolate Beasts but also Fire Mages!

"Andrew!"

"Careful, Andrew!!"

An Ya, Delin, and the old man with a shovel couldn’t help but exclaim.

"Senior Cook, Senior Sally, go for it! Teach this arrogant guy a lesson!"

Magic Apprentices cheered once again.

They saw Andrew maintaining his stance against Hubert, as if shocked and even frightened by the joint strength of Sally and Cook.

Surprisingly, he didn’t use "invisible long-range water needles" to retaliate!

He also had no intention of dodging.

Gritting his teeth, Andrew shouted fiercely: "I can’t beat them! It really feels impossible in a two-on-one! Even if I can beat them, if we get stalled, our side will take casualties!

So you damned bastard, how long are you going to hold back? If you don’t make a move, I’ll get crushed, then who will treat your lungs?!

These words seemed utterly nonsensical and without reason.

Making everyone present confused: "?!"

Especially the old man with the shovel: "Huh? Huh huh? Was that... addressed to me? Are you valuing me so much, needing my combat strength like this? Saying you’ll treat my lungs if I don’t help! But Andrew... seems like you’ve already healed my lungs..."

With a booming sound.

Sally’s giant hammer entwined with dark red Flame struck the ground heavily. "What are you talking about, kid? I don’t understand at all!"

Yet Andrew wasn’t hit; instead, he rolled to the side, stood up maintaining his charge stance towards Hubert, and advanced another step!

"Is your head this hard?" The smile on Sally’s face completely vanished, her teeth slightly grating, "Great, I love it when you’re like this, makes hitting more satisfying!"

But just as Sally lifted her hammer, preparing to continue the pursuit.

Cook’s voice suddenly reached over, with a rare urgency Sally seldom heard from Cook:

"Watch out on the right!!"

Without thinking, Sally swept her hammer horizontally to the right.

The hammer swept over first, then her gaze followed.

She saw a burly figure, strong as Raymond, yet landed silently, somehow circled around to her right!

It’s Ivan!

At last, Ivan, the Desert Hunter who had made a deal with Andrew at the Living People Cemetery, saying he would leave temporarily to find "help," had returned!

Now Ivan was back!

At this moment, Ivan charged from the right, the Desert Hunter who had reached an agreement with Andrew long ago to act as his temporary ally!

He was finally back!