Chapter 292: A Difficult Battle

“I’m curious—how did you know I was here?” The cult leader, towering over even the four tall men surrounding him, spoke fluent English.

Zhang Qian sneered. “It seems you’re disappointed we weren’t blown to pieces.”

The cult leader shook his head. “Quite the opposite. I’ve been so bored lately. If you can keep me entertained for a while, I’ll be delighted.”

At that moment, Firth stepped out of the car and reported, “Your Holiness, I’ve notified Mashu of our location. He said a car will arrive to pick us up in about twenty minutes.”

“Twenty minutes? That should be enough. I hope you don’t die too quickly—otherwise, the game won’t be any fun.”

The blatant disregard enraged everyone, even Zhang Qian, who rarely lost her composure.

Almost in unison, Zhang Qian, Lei Yin, Kuang Dao, and the others—nine in total—charged at the cult leader.

As the nine masked figures rushed toward him, the cult leader seemed to say something, his lips moving slightly.

Zhang Qian was the first to confront Firth. Under the moonlight filtering through the trees, she recognized him clearly. He was the current head of the Andes Tokyo branch, a powerful esper she had once fought during an infiltration mission. Back then, she had been forced to flee after being surrounded.

Now, with a stronger team and more numbers, Zhang Qian was determined to settle the score. She raised one hand, lifting a hundred-kilogram stone bench from the park and hurling it at Firth with such force that even her teammates, who had never seen her in action, were taken aback.

However, just as the stone bench approached within three meters of Firth, it suddenly stopped midair.

“So, it’s you,” Firth remarked, raising a hand in response, his expression thoughtful.

“Thanks for your hospitality last time. I’ll repay you in full today.” As she spoke, Zhang Qian’s irises gradually turned golden, and the stone bench accelerated, hurtling straight toward Firth’s head.

To her surprise, the bench struck him without resistance—no counterforce, no evasive moves.

But when she saw the bench pass through him as though hitting air, Zhang Qian’s heart sank.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard a gust of wind by her right ear. Acting on instinct, she raised her hand to block.

In the next moment, something pierced her right hand, followed by searing pain.

She turned to see Firth stepping out from the shadows of the trees on her left.

Looking down at her hand, she saw a rusted iron rod embedded deep into her wrist bone, with nearly five centimeters protruding from the other side. The pain almost brought tears to her eyes, but a chilling realization struck her: if the rod hadn’t been stopped by her bone, it would’ve gone straight through her palm and into her forehead.

With no time to pull it out, Zhang Qian glared at Firth. “What a miscalculation. I didn’t realize you weren’t just a telekinetic.”

Firth replied in English, “What you saw earlier was merely my shadow. It would’ve been better if you had died then—you wouldn’t have to suffer now.”

Suddenly, a furious shout echoed from another direction—it was No. 5’s voice.

Glancing over with her peripheral vision, Zhang Qian saw one of the cult leader’s four tall bodyguards gripping No. 3 by the neck with one hand, lifting him off the ground. No. 5, trying to save his teammate, pulled a dagger from his waist and stabbed it into the bodyguard’s neck.

With a sickening sound, the dagger pierced the bodyguard’s nape. However, it stopped after only three centimeters, unable to go any deeper.

At the same time, a sharp crack came from where the bodyguard’s hand gripped No. 3’s neck.

In that instant, No. 5 froze in shock.

He had heard that sound before during missions—it was the sound of bones breaking.

“Crack… crack…” The bodyguard didn’t loosen his grip but instead tightened it further.

“Old man, let him go!” No. 5 roared, stabbing the bodyguard’s neck and shoulders repeatedly in a frenzy.

Despite No. 5’s relentless attacks, the bodyguard seemed unfazed. He continued gripping No. 3’s neck, not even bothering to retaliate or glance behind him.  

After about 20 or 30 seconds, the bodyguard finally flung No. 3’s lifeless body to the ground. Slowly, he turned to face No. 5, whose eyes burned with fury, along with No. 2, 4, and 6, who wore expressions of anguish and rage.  

“It seems one of your companions has died. I wonder how much longer the rest of you will last,” Firth remarked casually.  

Zhang Qian stared in disbelief at No. 3’s motionless body.  

What had just happened? In less than a minute, with a five-to-one advantage, one of their teammates had fallen. She had assumed this man before her was the most dangerous of the group, which was why she had focused on holding him off to buy time for the others. But now, it was clear things weren’t as she thought.  

Looking up, she saw Lei Yin and Kuang Dao engaged in a fierce battle with another bodyguard, while No. 1 stood behind them as if waiting for an opportunity.  

Their target, the Andes cult leader, stood quietly behind the remaining two bodyguards, watching the scene as if enjoying a show.  

Firth didn’t seem eager to attack. Instead, he spoke in a condescending tone. “You shouldn’t even dream of harming His Holiness. He is the one true god in this world. To him, you are nothing more than insects.”  

Zhang Qian sneered. “Just a cult leader calling himself a god—disgusting. There are plenty of lunatics like you in mental hospitals, claiming to be saviors. Your so-called ‘god’ is just a deluded man. Do you really think he can save you? You’re nothing but a pawn being used by him.”  

A flash of anger crossed Firth’s face. “Foolish woman, don’t try to provoke me. It won’t end well for you. The only reason I haven’t attacked yet is to let you watch your companions die one by one. Enjoy the show—none of you will leave here alive.”  

Zhang Qian didn’t respond. Suddenly, she dashed toward the cult leader.  

“Stupid woman,” Firth scoffed, moving even faster to intercept her.  

“Take it back!” Zhang Qian thrust her left hand forward as she spoke. The rusted iron rod embedded in her wrist bone suddenly shot out sideways toward her left.  

As the rod tore through her wrist, Zhang Qian felt a blinding pain and nearly blacked out. But at the same moment, she heard a grunt from her left. She knew she had succeeded.  

Ignoring the blood streaming from her hand, she turned to see a man stumbling out of the shadows.  

“How did you know I was here?” Firth asked, clutching his side, his expression a mix of pain and confusion.  

“No matter how convincing your phantom is, it’s still just a shadow. When you made it walk out of the trees without making a sound, I knew it wasn’t real. From that moment, I began searching for your hiding spot. Your telekinesis is almost on par with mine—perhaps not enough to defeat me, but certainly enough for self-defense. But you rely too much on ambush tactics. That’s why you failed.”  

As she spoke, Zhang Qian remained vigilant while wrapping her injured wrist with adhesive bandages to stop the bleeding.  

“Even if you’ve defeated me, you’ll never harm His Holiness,” Firth muttered before collapsing to the ground, gasping heavily.  

Although he was severely injured, he still had some fighting ability left. Zhang Qian didn’t want to waste any more time on him. She immediately turned and sprinted toward the cult leader.  

With the others locked in combat with the two bodyguards, Zhang Qian circled around them and charged directly at the cult leader.  

When she was within two meters of the two bodyguards in front of him, one of them suddenly stepped forward and reached for her neck.  

She hadn’t anticipated such a large man moving so quickly. By the time she reacted, his massive hand was less than a foot from her throat.  

Just as she thought she was about to be caught, she felt a powerful force from behind yank her backward.  

When Zhang Qian was pulled back nearly five meters by someone from behind, the bodyguard didn’t pursue her. Instead, he stepped back to his original position and stood motionless.

Looking back, Zhang Qian realized it was Lei Yin who had saved her.

Lei Yin’s breathing was slightly heavy now. While keeping a wary eye on the bodyguard, he spoke in a low voice, “Hey, find an opportunity to retreat.”

“You’re only saying this now?” Zhang Qian glared at him, visibly annoyed.

“Take a look at my blade.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Zhang Qian glanced at the weapon in his hand. The steel-forged long blade had two clearly visible chips on its edge. Seeing this, she was momentarily stunned.

In a somber tone, Lei Yin explained, “This blade got damaged cutting into them. If they’re not wearing steel plates under their clothes, there’s only one explanation—they’re not human.”

Lei Yin had never encountered opponents like these before.

Technique-wise, the bodyguard’s moves were straightforward—grabbing, grappling, kicking, and punching. But his speed was astonishing, and his strength was beyond anything Lei Yin had ever seen.

Previously, the most powerful adversaries Lei Yin had faced were modified test subjects, but compared to these bodyguards, those test subjects were like children.

For someone of Lei Yin’s level, such opponents were troublesome but manageable. What was baffling, however, was that no matter how many times he landed a hit, the bodyguards appeared completely unscathed.

Kuang Dao was equally puzzled. For the first time ever, he had teamed up with Lei Yin against a single enemy. Despite landing at least twenty hits on the bodyguard so far—and even deforming their blades in the process—the bodyguard showed no signs of injury.

Hearing Lei Yin’s explanation, Zhang Qian seemed to realize something and began to speak, “So, you’re saying—”

Before she could finish, the cult leader, who had been silent until now, pointed at them and commanded, “Deactivate protection mode. Eliminate those two.”

As soon as the cult leader finished speaking, the two bodyguards simultaneously charged at Lei Yin and Zhang Qian.

Reacting instinctively, Zhang Qian and Lei Yin split up and moved in opposite directions.

Facing the bodyguard alone, Zhang Qian finally understood the terror they posed.

The bodyguard’s speed was not only incredible, but his movements were seamless, leaving no openings. His constant lunges and grabs forced Zhang Qian to retreat desperately, trying to maintain a safe distance.

What shocked her the most was when, in an attempt to block his path, she lifted a stone bench weighing over 100 kilograms with her telekinesis and hurled it at him. The bodyguard shattered it with a single punch. Witnessing this, Zhang Qian couldn’t believe her eyes.

To make matters worse, she discovered that her telekinetic force field had no effect on the bodyguard at all.

Amid her shock, Zhang Qian began to grasp why this was happening.

Among various superpowers, telekinesis was fairly common. With training, many telekinetic users could generate a force field to block most physical attacks. However, the field’s strength was limited. When an external force exceeded the field’s threshold, it would become ineffective.

Now she understood why No. 3 had been so easily killed.

With her abilities rendered useless against the enemy, Zhang Qian had no choice but to dodge continuously. However, the bodyguard gave her no breathing room, pursuing her at a relentless speed.

This was the second time in her life she had been chased so desperately—the first was when Lei Yin had hunted her. Despite the dire situation, she tried to lure the bodyguard out of the park to create an opening for her team to strike.

Just then, the bodyguard suddenly stopped. Slowly, he returned to the cult leader’s side. The other bodyguard, who had been chasing Lei Yin, did the same.

Seeing this, Zhang Qian nearly cursed out loud in frustration.

The cult leader spoke, “I’ve never been fond of hide-and-seek. You insects are far too slippery. It seems I won’t be able to kill you tonight. What a pity.”

Lei Yin walked over to Zhang Qian and whispered, “If this keeps up, we stand no chance. Let’s retreat for now.”

“Is there really no other option but to run?” Zhang Qian glanced at No. 3’s lifeless body on the ground, her expression dazed.

“If you don’t want more people to die, then do as I say.” While speaking, Lei Yin suddenly grasped her left hand and held it tightly.

After a moment, Zhang Qian slowly raised her head and blinked at him.

Finally, she gritted her teeth, lowered her head, and spoke into the communicator. “No. 1, order all team members to retreat immediately. That’s an order.”

※※※

About ten minutes later, three luxury vehicles pulled up at the park entrance.

Watching the group board the vehicles, the eight people observing from a distance felt a surge of bitterness and frustration.

They never imagined the mission would end like this.

Not only did they helplessly watch the targets leave, but they also lost a team member in vain.

There was no denying it—they had failed this mission, and failed utterly.

Only Kuang Dao, oblivious as ever, seemed unfazed. If he had any thoughts at all, it was probably his disappointment at not being able to continue fighting the bodyguard. However, he had promised Zhang Qian before the mission that he would follow orders, or else she wouldn’t have let him join. That promise was the only thing stopping him from cursing aloud when the retreat order came.

In the silence that followed, Zhang Qian cast a complicated glance at Lei Yin, who stood beside her.

She wanted to ask what he had meant by the Morse code message he tapped on her hand earlier. But she didn’t dare. Perhaps it was just a pretext to convince them to retreat.

He was right—in a situation where victory was impossible, retreat was the only option.

Suddenly, she noticed a strange smile on Lei Yin’s lips.

He was smiling? Zhang Qian couldn’t understand what his smile meant.

Then he said to her, “If I make this mission a success, will you agree to be Lei Li’s girlfriend?”

“W-What did you say?” Zhang Qian blinked at him, her heart suddenly racing. She had an inexplicable feeling that something big was about to happen.

Lei Yin smiled faintly. “Never mind. Forcing the issue would be meaningless. Pretend I didn’t say anything. But you do owe me a favor now.”

With that, he spoke into a small communicator hanging around his neck. “Fireworks, now.”

As everyone else stared at him in confusion, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted in front of them.

Half a second later, two more explosions followed in quick succession.

Everyone, except Lei Yin, was dumbstruck as they watched the three luxury vehicles engulfed in a massive fireball.

After a long silence, Zhang Qian suddenly grabbed Lei Yin’s shirt. “W-Why did this happen? Tell me, why?”

Lei Yin smiled. “You seem a little excited.”

“You bastard! Tell me why this happened, now!” Overwhelmed with joy, her eyes reddened, and her grip on his shirt tightened as if she wanted to tear it off.

“Killing someone can sometimes be simple. Earlier, when I shot out two tires on each car, it wasn’t just to keep them from escaping. It was also to force them to call for backup vehicles. Once I confirmed the target had entered that building, I had someone sneak into the Tokyo branch’s garage and plant bombs on all the cars. Since they inspect their vehicles daily, the bombs had to be planted after their checks were done. That was my second layer of insurance. Simple, isn’t it?”

As Zhang Qian stared into his calm eyes, she found herself at a loss for words.

While the others were still reeling from shock, Kuang Dao suddenly pointed ahead. “Am I seeing things, or is someone still alive?”

Everyone immediately focused their gaze on the scene.

Amid the roaring flames and rising smoke, a humanoid figure engulfed in fire was slowly stepping out of the wreckage of the middle vehicle.