"?"
The instant before his kick connected, Glenn glimpsed the attacker's face by the faint sparks thrown up when the weapon crashed into stone. But changing course was impossible now.
"Hermione, don't shoot."
The kick touched and withdrew instantly. Glenn braced his palm against the ground, twisted with the momentum, and leaped to Hermione's side, pressing down her raised and aimed weapon.
"One of ours."
Hermione didn't hesitate, immediately lowering her gun. She unhooked a small lantern from her waist and lit the wick with a pocket lighter.
Raising the flame, firelight carved through darkness, finally revealing the attacker's true identity.
"...Feng Lian?"
Hermione arched an eyebrow. She could match every team member's name to their face. Standing before them now—grimacing while rubbing his neck—was indeed the young practitioner from North China Academy of Mystical Arts, Feng Lian.
"Hiss, ow ow ow... Ah, Glenn, my brother, I knew I hadn't misjudged you! That was absolutely magnificent!"
Feng Lian in his crimson robes burst into wild laughter. Though still massaging his neck, his free hand shot up to give Glenn an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
"Who's your brother?"
Glenn regarded the burly man with complete indifference. Though time had been critical earlier, the moment he'd realized this was a misunderstanding, he'd pulled back considerable force. Even so, his kick could have easily snapped an adult's cervical vertebrae.
Glenn had been mentally prepared for body disposal.
After all, Feng Lian had initiated the attack—his death wouldn't have been Glenn's responsibility.
But the sensation and impact feedback from his foot hadn't felt as fragile as expected. Quite the opposite—Glenn had used that reactive force to flip back to Hermione's side.
"This person's mastery of body tempering techniques..."
As Glenn pondered this, Hermione stepped forward furiously, hands planted on her hips, glaring daggers at Feng Lian.
"Hey! What's wrong with you? Why did you attack us without any explanation?!"
The evidence was undeniable—that massive halberd still protruded from shattered stone. Judging by the earlier momentum, a direct hit would have cleaved a person completely in half. Small wonder Hermione was livid.
"Oh, that? I merely wanted to test Glenn's abilities. Don't take it personally!"
Answering Hermione's outrage with casual dismissal, Feng Lian cracked his neck with audible pops, then gripped the halberd's shaft and kicked the heavy weapon free from the ground, shouldering it once more.
"I'm not your—"
"Like hell I won't take it personally! You did something like that for such a ridiculous reason!"
Cutting off Glenn's protest, Hermione was so incensed her hair practically bristled with static. She immediately raised her rifle, prepared to introduce this maniac to high-velocity lead therapy.
Glenn wasn't particularly surprised by Feng Lian's explanation. His counterattack had been purely reflexive. Reflecting now, when his opponent had launched that assault, dense battle-lust had indeed crashed over him like a wave—though he genuinely hadn't sensed murderous intent behind the man's actions.
Otherwise Feng Lian wouldn't have survived long enough to explain.
"But speaking of which, Glenn, my brother, you truly are extraordinary! That reaction speed, that explosive power, such lightning-fast kicks... Do you possess some secret training regimen? If possible, could we spar again immediately?"
Seemingly oblivious to Hermione's hostile weapon, Feng Lian turned and clamped both massive hands on Glenn's shoulders, eyes blazing with combative enthusiasm.
"I refuse. And I'm not your brother."
Casually brushing away the oversized hands, Glenn declined with complete emotional flatness.
Though somewhat intrigued, Glenn wasn't the type to lose sight of priorities.
Between Hermione's expectations and his own selfish curiosity, he could still distinguish what mattered most.
Beside them, Hermione wordlessly lowered her weapon. For inexplicable reasons, she suspected both these males were operating on frequencies slightly removed from normal human behavior—leaving her, the sole rational person, feeling distinctly isolated.
"Enough tangents—why are you here? Were you teleported as well?"
"He was transported by dark wizards, same as us."
Hermione's question and Glenn's explanation emerged simultaneously. Hermione slowly rotated her head toward Glenn.
"You knew this entire time?"
"Yes. I observed it in the final moment before our own teleportation."
"Then why didn't you share this intelligence?"
"It wasn't relevant."
Hermione slapped her palm across her face with an audible smack, drew two steadying breaths, then fixed Feng Lian with a penetrating stare.
"What happened to the dark wizards on your end?"
"Need you ask? Eliminated them all, naturally."
Feng Lian jerked his thumb toward the passage behind him, continuing with breezy indifference:
"All bisected or pulverized. Still fresh, too—care to inspect the carnage?"
Hearing Feng Lian's casual recounting, Hermione finally registered the anomaly in his attire.
She distinctly remembered his robes being predominantly white. Now they blazed crimson from collar to hem.
Unless she was gravely mistaken, that coloration was probably all...
Never mind. Irrelevant details.
"Besides dark wizards, did you encounter anything else? Magical creatures, perhaps?"
Hermione remained fixated on those adorable magical beings.
"Hmm, now that you mention it..."
Feng Lian stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"No."
Then delivered this blunt conclusion.
"..."
"Though I did hear magical creatures screaming."
"Where?!"
"Beyond the passage outside my teleportation cave. But I detected the aura of a formidable opponent from your direction—someone who genuinely interested me. Remembering I'd witnessed you two being teleported before my own transport, I came directly to find you instead. Pleased?"
Feng Lian beamed with self-satisfied pride and erupted into hearty laughter.
"Pleased? About something like that? Since you discovered traces of the magical creatures, we can't linger here—we need to rescue them immediately!"
Hermione exploded upon hearing the magical creatures might be suffering torture or slaughter. She seized Glenn's arm and began charging toward the passage behind Feng Lian.
"Oh ho! Heading into battle? Count me in! After we eliminate those scoundrels, we can have our match!"
"Who asked you!"
"I don't object."
"Glenn, don't encourage him about things like this!"
"Truly worthy of the man who's captured my interest—so refreshingly direct!"
"Stop using such bizarre phrasing about Glenn! He's my boyfriend!"
"Hermione, I believe—"
"You be quiet!"
"Understood."
Hermione felt utterly drained, somehow acquiring the exhausted sensation of chaperoning two problem children on a field trip.
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