Sudden Reversal — Traitor!

"Looking for me?" Mo Fan said, genuinely puzzled.

"Ah — you wouldn't know yet. Here's the situation: this disaster was orchestrated by the Black Church. Not only did they lure the Wing-Azure Wolf here — they plan to use the Earth Sacred Spring to draw multiple Commander-class Demon-Beasts into the city simultaneously and destroy Bo City entirely." Baiyang's expression was grave as he spoke.

"The Black Church — those despicable animals!" Xue Musheng said, his voice thick with outrage.

"Deputy Guard-Captain Lin Yuxin should have passed the Earth Sacred Spring into your keeping," Baiyang continued.

Mo Fan said nothing. He simply watched Baiyang.

Baiyang looked him up and down, trying to determine whether the item was still intact, then pressed on: "Hand the Earth Sacred Spring over to me. I need to deliver it to Commander Zhankong immediately — it's too critical to risk. If the Black Church gets their hands on it, Bo City is finished."

The others shifted their gaze to Mo Fan. None of them had imagined he was quietly carrying something this important.

"Mo Fan, so you've been secretly safeguarding the Earth Sacred Spring this whole time. We're lucky we've met up with Instructor Baiyang — hand it over to him and let's all get inside the Safety Barrier," Xue Musheng said.

Baiyang stepped forward eagerly, nearly reaching out to snatch the spring from Mo Fan's hands — except that he couldn't see where it was.

Mo Fan held his gaze and said, "It's perfectly safe where it is. I'll deliver it to Commander Zhankong personally. Instructor Baiyang, please — lead the way."

Baiyang blinked, visibly caught off guard. Then a broad smile spread across his face. "Of course, of course — that does make sense..."

He trailed off. A pause — and then the warm, affable smile froze on his face as though it had been flash-sealed into plaster. Something savage flared up behind his eyes, and his features twisted into a grotesque snarl.

"Then die!" Baiyang's voice was ice.

The words were barely out before the Gloom Wolf Beast — so docile only moments ago — lunged directly at Mo Fan, one razor-sharp claw raised high and raking straight for his face.

The betrayal erupted in an instant. Everyone stood frozen in stunned horror.

"Mo Fan!!" Zhou Min screamed — and could only watch, helpless, as those vicious claws closed in on his life.

"Instructor Bai, what are you doing?!" Xue Musheng bellowed.

Baiyang ignored him entirely. The Gloom Wolf Beast showed not a shred of mercy.

At this range, with this kind of ambush, no student should have walked away alive.

**SLASH!!!!**

The claw came down — carrying, it seemed, the full weight of Baiyang's own personal fury. His previous Gloom Wolf Beast had been killed by Mo Fan, after all. Now, at last, there was a chance at payback.

Not that revenge was the real point. The Earth Sacred Spring was what mattered. Once he delivered it to the Crimson Deacon, this city would —

*How... how is this possible?*

Baiyang had braced himself to be splattered with blood. Instead, a solid Sickle-Bone Shield rose up in front of Mo Fan. The claw crashed into it with tremendous force — but rather than a clean kill, Mo Fan was simply hurled backward, man and shield together, and survived.

The Sickle-Bone Shield. Baiyang recognized it instantly — Zhankong had given it to Mo Fan as a gift. But how had the boy gotten it up in time? At this distance, a surprise attack left no window to deploy even Enchanted Gear. Unless the little bastard had already suspected him — had already been on guard from the start.

The Sickle-Bone Shield shattered into a cascade of fading light particles after absorbing the blow. Mo Fan skidded back more than ten meters before finally grinding to a halt.

He raised his head. His face was cold and hard. The heaving of his chest told everything about the rage burning beneath.

*So I was right. There was always something off about Instructor Baiyang.*

"You rotten bastard." Mo Fan spat on the ground.

"Ha — ha ha ha ha! I genuinely didn't see that coming. I'm almost curious how you suspected me — I'm your instructor, of all things." Baiyang laughed wildly. The warm, handsome face that had girls swooning was gone; in its place was the unhinged look of a man with a thoroughly broken mind. Not a trace remained of that admirable glow.

This was no time for Mo Fan to waste explaining anything to a Black Church spy.

He swept a glance at his squadmates, still frozen in place, and shouted: "Watch out — he has more than one Summoned—"

Baiyang's expression hardened instantly, something lethal flashing through his eyes.

In that same heartbeat, two dark shapes that had been slowly crawling along the bridge railing launched themselves forward with terrifying speed. Their grotesquely elongated, blade-like forelimbs cleaved through the air like twin scythes — aimed directly at the two nearest targets: Zhang Xiaohou and He Yu.

Baiyang's betrayal had come so fast that no one had reacted in time. No one had even noticed the creatures lurking at the bridge's edge.

Ghost-monkey faces. Warped, humanoid bodies. Their forms were coated entirely in a gleaming, skin-tight black — like some grotesque second skin — hideous and wrong in every proportion. These were the Black Church's signature thralls: Black-Beast Demons.

Mo Fan saw one of them lunge at Zhang Xiaohou, and his heart slammed against his ribs.

*I need to complete my Star Trail in less than a second and blast that thing to pieces.* He already knew his casting speed wasn't anywhere near fast enough.

Zhang Xiaohou, in the end, was too trusting. He couldn't have been on guard against Instructor Baiyang the way Mo Fan had been — no normal student could have entertained even a flicker of suspicion toward their own instructor.

He never got the chance to activate his Wind Trail. When he spun around, the nightmarish black creature was already filling his vision.

*Is this how I die?*

Zhang Xiaohou could barely believe it himself. He'd survived the entire three-kilometer death gauntlet alongside Mo Fan, made it to within arm's reach of the Safety Barrier — only to die at the hands of his own instructor.

He closed his eyes.

**Pfft—**

Scalding blood splashed across his face. A wave of resignation washed over Zhang Xiaohou.

*Did it tear my chest open? It moved so fast — fast enough that I felt the blood on my face before I even felt my chest being ripped apart.*

A second passed. Then another. No pain came.

Confused, he cracked his eyes open.

The Black-Beast Demon that had been launching itself at him had been flung away by some unseen force and was slamming hard into a parked motorcycle nearby.

*I'm... not dead?*

Then whose blood was—

Zhang Xiaohou spun around — and went completely still.

A pale face. Achingly, heartbreakingly pale — the kind of pallor that made you want to pull her into your arms and never let go.

Blood poured from her body. Scalding hot. So hot it felt like it could burn Zhang Xiaohou down to nothing.