157: Battle of the Deer

"Done. We only have 15 minutes left, we need to hurry."

Xie Ning nodded, patted Little Mantis on the shoulder, and turned to pick up the Ice Crystal Snake, which was recovering from its injuries on the table, preparing to head out.

However, as the laboratory door opened, Xie Ning's expression froze.

A man and a deer stood at the door, though he didn't know when they had arrived.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Withered Deer looked at the two of them, then shifted his gaze to the Ice Crystal Snake in Xie Ning's arms. His tone instantly turned cold. "That is not something you should take. Put it down."

Xie Ning was about to reply when Little Mantis's angry cry echoed in his mind. Then, a figure flashed before his eyes, and both Withered Deer and the Bone Nether Deer were sent flying by Little Mantis's collision.

"Little Mantis!"

Having no time to think, Xie Ning set down the Ice Crystal Snake and drew his sword to give chase, leaving behind a sentence: "I'll come back for you in a moment."

When Xie Ning and Ice Blade Woman caught up, Little Mantis was already engaged in battle with the Bone Nether Deer and Withered Deer.

An angry Little Mantis was even stronger than before. Its two blade-arms flew up and down, cutting the space until it seemed slightly distorted. Facing the erosion of the Bone Nether Deer's gray mist, it twisted space with every strike, preventing the mist from getting close. It then flew up, its blade-arms hacking at the Bone Nether Deer's body with a series of metallic clangs.

Just then, Little Mantis's Aura exploded, its speed increasing further. Its two shimmering blade-arms began to leave wounds on the Bone Nether Deer's body.

[Ding! The Rift Blade War Mantis has stimulated its potential during battle. Reward: intermediate energy potion *2]

"So... powerful. What on earth is that little guy of yours!" Ice Blade Woman watched in shock as the Rift Blade War Mantis, fighting across many levels, beat the Bone Nether Deer into submission.

However, Xie Ning showed no sign of a smile; he knew the characteristics of the Bone Nether Deer.

A few seconds later, Little Mantis's twin blades split. It cleaved the Bone Nether Deer, which had been tossed into the air, into several pieces that fell to the ground with a clatter.

Little Mantis also stopped its attack and returned to Xie Ning's side, panting heavily.

"A decent Yao Beast, a pity it already has a master." Withered Deer spoke as nonchalantly as ever, as if he hadn't even seen the Bone Nether Deer's defeat.

Ice Blade Woman let out a cold snort. "Your strongest Demon Tamers Beast is dead. Do you still intend to stop us?"

"Dead? No, no, you don't understand the meaning of its name." Withered Deer shook his head.

In the next second, the bones of the Bone Nether Deer reassembled themselves and it returned to Withered Deer's side. It was as if the battle just now had never happened.

Withered Deer patted the Bone Nether Deer and introduced it: "It is called the Bone Nether Deer, an undead creature. No matter how many pieces you hack it into, it can be resurrected."

"What a disgusting ability." Ice Blade Woman's expression turned grave as she whispered to Xie Ning, "Let's find a chance to slip away. We can't beat him."

Xie Ning was about to nod when Little Mantis's voice rang in his mind. Then, its figure flashed as it charged forward again, ignoring its physical limits, going all out with a sonic burst!

"Forget it, let's just kill him quickly." After Xie Ning spoke, he was the first to charge at Withered Deer. Midway, he summoned White Fang, and their twin flames roared as they transformed into a giant Fire Wolf that pounced toward Withered Deer.

Seeing this, Ice Blade Woman's lip twitched. "Defeating a Gold Rank... I can't believe you even thought of that!"

Despite her words, her movements weren't slow at all. Dragging her twin blades behind her, she shot forward.

Boom!

The twin flames emitted by Xie Ning and White Fang seemed to be blocked by something midway, resulting in a massive collision. When the flames vanished, Withered Deer's figure appeared, encased in a red fireball, completely unharmed. Beside him stood a red deer with raging flames burning from its facial features.

Bronze Rank 8 Flame Deer.

One wolf and one deer, two Bronze Rank 8 fire-attribute Demon Tamers Beasts. Like enemies meeting, they both growled with fierce glints in their eyes.

"I'll leave it to you," Xie Ning said.

"Awoo!"

White Fang let out a wolf howl and pounced at the Flame Deer. The latter was not to be outdone, charging back at White Fang under the glow of its strange flames.

Withered Deer now brandished a long spear. He looked at the incoming Xie Ning and Ice Blade Woman and smiled. "This is the first time I've been so underestimated by Bronze Ranks."

With that, Withered Deer charged at Xie Ning. With a sweep of his spear, he sent Xie Ning flying over ten meters away. He then exchanged three moves with Ice Blade Woman, pierced her abdomen, and kicked her away. Just as he was about to speak, he felt a wave of heat approaching from behind. With a sweep of his spear, the incoming flames were diverted to both sides.

Xie Ning had appeared behind him at some point. He passed through the flames, his changhong sword aiming straight for the man's head.

An inch longer is an inch stronger; the long spear struck first, piercing Xie Ning's ribs, but Xie Ning grabbed it firmly. Flames began to spread up the spear.

Withered Deer suddenly smiled and raised his other hand, which held a thermal weapon—a demon hunting gun.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out. Xie Ning and Withered Deer both retreated several steps. Xie Ning hadn't had time to use his bracelet's defensive ability, and his right shoulder was pierced clean through. The massive recoil made him stagger back several steps before he could steady himself. Withered Deer, on the other hand, was repelled by a Flame Ring, leaving a charred patch on his body. The pain made it impossible for him to remain calm any longer.

"Damn brat, you actually managed to wound me!" Withered Deer was furious. He was about to finish Xie Ning off while he was injured when he heard another gunshot.

Bang!

"Playing with guns against someone from the Security Action Team? You're finished!" Ice Blade Woman held the gun with both hands. Her face was pale and she was panting heavily, but her words were full of triumph.

Withered Deer looked down to see a bowl-sized hole blown open in his abdomen.

"You..." Before he could finish, Withered Deer collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Watching Withered Deer's reaction, Xie Ning slowly walked past him to Ice Blade Woman. "If you had such a good thing, why didn't you use it earlier?"

"If I used it early and he noticed, it wouldn't have worked. I only had one silver bullet," Ice Blade Woman said, blowing on the muzzle before putting the gun away.

"Little Mantis, we..." Xie Ning was about to call Little Mantis back when he saw it was still fighting. His brow furrowed instantly. "Wait, he's not dead yet."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Bone Nether Deer turned into mist and landed on Withered Deer. Then, he was seen standing up again. His entire body was covered in bone-like armor. The wound in his abdomen hadn't healed, but it was filled with gray mist.

"It seems you still don't understand. I am unkillable." Withered Deer cracked his neck. His dull eyes looked very sinister. Antlers grew from his head, and his body slowly grew taller. His entire Aura also rapidly surged from that of an High Silver Rank Ancient Martial Artist to the Gold Rank.

Xie Ning and the woman looked at each other and said in unison, "Now we're really finished."

Little Mantis came to stand before the two, facing the surging Aura of Withered Deer as if facing a great enemy.

"Are you hiding anything from me? For example, some secret like you actually being a Gold Rank Demon Tamer?" Xie Ning asked while pondering a countermeasure.

Ice Blade Woman replied, "We really are in sync. I was just about to ask the same thing."

Xie Ning thought of something then. He looked around, locked onto a certain spot, and whispered a few words.

By now, Withered Deer had finished his transformation, turning into a strange half-human, half-deer creature. He stood three meters tall, and an Aura close to the Gold Rank Middle Stage washed over them, exerting immense pressure on the two.

"You should be satisfied that you pushed me to this point. Now..." Withered Deer looked at Xie Ning and the woman with eyes full of killing intent and charged. "Die!"