High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 346: Chapter 15: The Third Encounter_1

As a well-known aquatic elf, Zheng Qing was no stranger to the Kappa.

Beak mouth, round head, pointed ears, heavy shield armour, and the jade disc always on its forehead. Every wizard was familiar with these features.

Zheng Qing had encountered this magical creature on his first night patrol.

It was a Kappa crying under the moon, its companion had been abducted by a swarm of Sand Hour insects. At that time, the impression the Kappa left on Zheng Qing was that of a frail, strange creature with a thin voice and a beautiful jade disc on its head.

And now, while on patrol, Zheng Qing ran into the Kappa that was blocking his path once again.

Or perhaps more accurately, the monster in front of him had once been a Kappa.

Ignoring its flaming red eyes and bulging, tortured muscles, the young wizard could faintly recognize the traces of a beak, round head, jade disc on top, and a tortoise-like shell on this monster.

However, its shell had been torn apart by its suddenly inflated skeleton, and the jade disc on its head had cracked into pieces.

The thin voice characteristic of a Kappa had now become a muffled roar, accompanied by a dribble of saliva flowing from the corners of its mouth.

”Wild demon...” Lin Guo muttered: ”So close... we’re doomed...”

...

Various types of grasses and herbs were planted on the slope by the lake, sprinkled here and there with lush shrubs.

The Kappa Monster stood quietly in the shadow of one of the shrub clusters, completely motionless.

The Wild demon didn’t pounce right away.

It was pushing up its blood-red eyes, lifting its head, looking at the moon in mid-air, looking somewhat puzzled.

Perhaps the instincts remaining in its body were still guiding it to enjoy the slowly falling moonlight from the sky, but these residual instincts soon fell apart under the temptation of the food’s fragrance.

Its nostrils were flaring violently, it let out a painful roar from its throat, and it began to clamber up, one slow step at a time.

Its sharp claws comically dug deep pits into the soft grass.

...

Zheng Qing looked at those blood-red eyes not far away and could clearly feel the hatred and greed within them.

The demon’s hatred for Wizards.

The demon’s greed for the flesh and blood of Wizards.

This was the deepest imprint etched into the veins of demons and wizards alike, the heaviest memory after a long and brutal fight.

Any wizard who saw such eyes would have no illusions left.

Zheng Qing slowly nudged the young wizard behind him, his face paled, but his mind was strangely clear.

He even had the heart to distinguish what made this Wild Demon, transformed from a Kappa, different from the Wild Boar Demon in the Great Ming Pavilion.

Obviously, the transformation of the Wild Boar Demon in the Great Ming Pavilion was very thorough, aside from the triple chins, it had almost entirely become a separate creature.

But the Kappa Monster in front of him hadn’t changed drastically. Only its sharp teeth had turned into curving tusks, it had grown taller than the ordinary Kappa, and black thick hair had grown all over its body.

”Can you do Oster’s Guardian?” Zheng Qing’s lips moved as he asked softly.

”No.” Lin Guo answered even more softly.

”Then... can you run?” Zheng Qing paused before asking again.

”...My legs are gone.” The young wizard’s response was clearly tearful.

”Huff...” Zheng Qing let out a long sigh, slowly flipping open the Law Book in his hand.

Thank heavens, after just finishing his duties with the little bird, he hadn’t had time to put away the Law book yet. The spells transcribed on its pages sparkled under the moonlight, adding a bit more courage out of nowhere.

This was his third encounter with a wild demon.

The first time was at the Great Ming Pavilion when he faced the wild boar monster that was rampaging in the streets. His body was rigid, his mind a blank slate, and his brand-new Law Book did not contain a single spell. If not for Thomas’s Thunder Curse and the Calm Heart Talisman that just happened to fall on the boar’s snout, perhaps he would already be locked in the legendary Black Prison.

The second time was on the boarding school plane when he met a dazzlingly beautiful female demon. He was horrified and clumsy, with no power to fight back. If not for his companions’ resistance, the female demon would have captured him and taken him away before the guards on the plane could enter the dining car.

This was the third time.

His fingers touched the cold copper plaque on his chest.

His gaze fell on the Kappa monster in between the slopes, his nerves a lot calmer than before.

”Far from it,” he murmured, his fingers tracing the inscriptions on the Law Book.

Compared to the rampaging wild boar and the female demon that wreaked havoc on the plane, this Kappa demon, in both size and spirit, was far inferior.

Similarly, he himself, compared to a month ago, had come a long way.

...

Lin Guo’s large black mountain goat, following the slow climbing steps of the wild demon, moved backward in similar strides, always ready to collide.

This threat was evident to the Kappa demon.

Although it didn’t have any great intelligence, its instinct told it not to face two enemies at once, and not to expose its vulnerable back to that dangerous cloven-hoofed animal.

Lin Guo, clutching Zheng Qing’s robes tightly, anxiously peered out.

He was very worried about his mountain goat, which was critical to his survival.

...

A faint green light slowly seeped from between the pages of Zheng Qing’s Law Book.

Seemingly sensing the uneasy atmosphere in the air, the wild demon finally gave up its defensive tactics.

It stood upright, opened its mouth, and roared in silence.

Pressure!

Zheng Qing instantly recognized this familiar sensation.

This was a common mental attack method used by demons that could greatly disrupt wizards’ spellcasting. However, compared to the female demon on the plane, this Kappa monster’s aura was far weaker.

But understanding didn’t necessarily mean effective resistance, and not everyone could withstand this silent assault.

Lin Guo grunted, his body went limp, releasing his grip on his robe, and fell weakly to the ground.

Zheng Qing felt as if his head was splitting once again.

The situation before him seemed to slow down to a crawl.

He watched as the wild demon on the slope bristled its thick and coarse fur, its facial skin turned inside out due to its mouth opening too wide. It revealed shocking red gums and a complete set of icily pale tusks.

He also saw the black mountain goat, the grass under its hooves exploding outward as it went, head down and back bowed, like a loosed arrow, launching itself head-on at the nearby wild demon.

”Thud!”

The body of the wild demon tilted as the broad antlers of the mountain goat brutally collided with the Kappa monster’s carapace.

A dull cracking sound emanated from the shield-like carapace, the corner of the Kappa monster’s eye splitting open, its eyeballs seeming to be knocked out by the immense force; the mountain goat fared worse, unable to keep its footing due to the recoiling force, it rolled down the slope, nearly tumbling into the lake.

”Thud!”

The heavy thud, like a reverberating toll of a large bell, echoed through Zheng Qing’s mind, enabling him to shake off the recent mental onslaught from the wild demon.