Chapter 332

### Chapter 293: Breaking Free

Xiti Vyan, Coal Ash District, Charred Wood Intersection.

In the afternoon, the once peaceful intersection suddenly erupted into intense disputes, with more than a dozen pairs of conflicts flaring up simultaneously. Under the influence of mysterious extraordinary powers, the minor psychological fluctuations between people were instantly intensified into a bl**d feud. In the chaos, it seemed an endless sea of bloodshed was about to break out.

At this moment, Edmond desperately began searching for the source of this extraordinary power. Guided by his “inner intuition,” his gaze locked onto a woman across the street. Dressed in a simple dress with a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, she appeared unremarkable at first glance. However, compelled by his “inner intuition,” he immediately concluded that she was the instigator of the turmoil.

“I found you, mastermind…”

Edmond’s gaze focused on the woman, who was trying to calm the scene, Adele. Dorothy, who had been monitoring the scene from above, quickly noticed Edmond’s shift in attention and realized something was off.

‘The person leading over there has turned their gaze… Something’s not right…’ Dorothy thought to herself. Reacting quickly, she directed Ed to tap Adele’s shoulder and said, “Wait, we’ve been targeted. We need to—”

Before Ed could finish, Edmond sprang into action. The seasoned Hunter from the Anonymity Headquarters pulled out a short staff from behind him. After gripping it, he waved it in the air, causing a fierce wind to whip through the intersection.

A powerful gust suddenly swept across the Charred Wood Intersection, lifting the accumulated dust from the ground. Everyone present instinctively shielded their faces, blinded as the area was engulfed in a sandstorm, visibility plummeting.

The black-gray whirlwind interrupted the intense arguments, replaced by screams as everyone began to search for shelter. Adele, shielding her hat from the unnatural gale, was momentarily stunned by the realization that this wind was definitely not natural.

“This wind is caused by the Black Dog’s wind technique? No, at this level, it should be…”

“Run! Don’t worry about me!”

Before Adele could say more, Ed urgently warned her. Amidst the swirling dust, a figure charged through, and alerted by Ed, Adele swiftly dodged. The staff in Edmond’s hands struck down with force, shattering the wooden ad sign that Adele had been near.

Seeing the situation, Adele recognized that things had gone awry. Instead of confronting Edmond, she chose to heed Ed’s words, swiftly turning and leaping with incredible strength onto the roof of a nearby three-story building, then began to sprint across the rooftop, jumping quickly from building to building to escape the scene.

“Looks like there’s something behind this… This power… Is it the ‘Cup’?”

Upon witnessing the suspicious woman’s actions, Edmond murmured, recognizing that Adele was not an easy target. He swung his staff, and the surrounding air immediately coiled around him, lifting his entire form off the ground.

Powered by his extraordinary ability, Edmond levitated into the air, pursuing Adele in her escape direction, while Ed darted off in another direction, disappearing into the dust.

Flying above the streets, Edmond chased after Adele, who continued jumping across rooftops. The winds stirred up by his powers raised thick clouds of dust from the Coal Ash District, reducing visibility and causing confusion below, leaving no one aware of the two extraordinary beings above.

‘Can he fly? Huh… It’s clearly not just a wind technique; this is a Wind Summoner… How did I suddenly encounter the Black Dog’s captain?’

Glancing back, Adele mused, realizing that controlling the wind for flight was a hallmark of the “Shadow” path and the White Chalk Tier’s Wind Summoners, which the Prit An Yin Bureau heavily manipulated, making such powers very familiar to the extraordinary beings in Tivyán. She quickly recognized it.

Adele continued to leap across the rooftops while Edmond closely pursued her. Being a genuine flyer, Edmond’s speed exceeded Adele’s, quickly closing the gap between them.

……

Meanwhile, high above where the dust could not reach, the zombie crow controlled by Dorothy flew, and she observed the chase below from her vantage point.

‘So they’re from the Anonymity Bureau? But why have they suddenly aimed at Adele? Do they think she influenced those people at the intersection? How could they be so direct and precise?’

In her carriage, Dorothy furrowed her brows, troubled by the preceding series of events that made her feel someone was manipulating them. Unpleasant thoughts swirled in her mind.

‘It seems someone is scheming behind the scenes… It looks like they used a power similar to Adele’s to set her up, trying to use the Anonymity Bureau to drive a wedge. Ha… It appears the Coal Ash District incident is indeed a trap.

‘Some mastermind is orchestrating all of this, involving not just me and Adele, but also the Anonymity Bureau. The priority now is to assist Adele in escaping. If she falls into their hands or engages in a full-on confrontation with the Hunters, it could lead to casualties…’

With this thought, Dorothy continued to observe the scene from afar, noticing that the situation was deteriorating; Adele was on the verge of being caught by the Anonymity Bureau agents.

‘So… without direct confrontation, is there any way to help Adele escape?’

Gazing into the distance, an idea slowly formed in her mind. She silently took out her Magic Box.

……

On the other side, Adele, sprinting for her life, reached a storage area piled high with goods, transitioning from leaping between rooftops to bounding across the stacked cargo.

Edmond soon caught up to her, shouting, “Surrender! Otherwise, I won’t hold back!”

“You have it wrong, Hunter captain! I’m not the person you want! I’m not involved with the affairs of the Coal Ash District!” Adele replied, but Edmond continued coldly.

“If you say it has nothing to do with you, then stop and cooperate with our investigation. If everything checks out, you’ll be cleared; if you keep running, don’t blame me for being rude!”

Edmond’s stern tone implied the urgency. Clearly, as a famous celebrity, Adele couldn’t just stop and cooperate with Edmond’s investigation, which only solidified his belief that she was hiding something.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

Murmuring, Edmond swung his staff, creating countless invisible blades in a howling rush toward Adele. She dodged urgently, a stack of logs beneath her being shredded into countless pieces by the incoming wind blades.

“Ugh… Can’t I outrun him?”

Having narrowly evaded the wind blades, Adele landed on the ground, gritting her teeth as she looked up at Edmond floating in the air. He raised his staff again, preparing to unleash another wave of wind blades. As she adjusted her sunglasses slightly, in her peripheral vision, she locked eyes with Edmond in an instant, using her ability to slightly divert his intent to attack. As a result, Edmond’s wind blades flew off course, allowing Adele to dodge them one by one, while some struck the ground, carving deep marks, and others severed many stacks of cargo.

“Hmph… Pretty evasive…”

Muttering quietly, Edmond waved his staff again, conjuring small whirlwinds around Adele. The swirling winds stirred up dust, obscuring Adele’s vision and inundating her ears with roaring wind noise. Edmond unleashed countless wind blades toward her amidst the storm.

With her sight and hearing limited, dodging Edmond’s attack became significantly more difficult. Thus, instead of evading, she directly utilized the White Chalk Tier’s “Cup” power, seizing an iron cargo box nearly the size of a small shipping container to shield herself. Edmond’s wind blades struck the large iron box with a series of crisp clanging sounds, cutting numerous gashes into it while the fruits inside spilled out through the cracks.