The stench hit them first.
A thick rot rising from the grated entrance of Bo City's old sewer line, where the red-and-white hazard tape fluttered weakly in the winter wind. Civilians had been evacuated hours earlier. The only sounds now were dripping water… and quiet breathing.
Lu Mei gestured her team forward.
"Xu Yan, guard the rear. Mu Yuan, ice anchors. Li Xia, fire support on my signal."
She turned to Lu Jun.
"Stay behind me. You observe today. You don't engage unless I say so."
Lu Jun nodded politely.
Inside, he was already mapping the tunnels.
He remembered this place from the novel.
The humid air.
The cracks in the stone.
The echoing drips that weren't water.
This was the chapter where half the team almost died.
He tightened his fist.
Not this time.
They descended the metal ladder and stepped into ankle-deep water. Their boots splashed quietly as they moved down the narrow sewer corridor.
Li Xia snapped her fingers, igniting a small flame.
"Let's get this over with. Giant-Eyed Ratts are disgusting."
Mu Yuan whispered, nervous. "They spit blood beams…"
Xu Yan scratched his head. "It's fine. Low-level vermin. The captain is mid-tier. Nothing to fear."
Lu Jun said nothing.
The walls along the tunnel were covered in bite marks—hundreds—some old, some fresh.
Lu Mei knelt and examined the floor.
"Footprints… Three groups of Ratts. Small tunnel. Should be Lesser or Standard Minions."
She stood up.
"We sweep left first. Light formation. Watch each other's backs."
They walked another ten meters—
SCREEEEE!!
A shrill cry echoed from the darkness.
Red light streaked across the tunnel.
"DOWN—!" Lu Mei shouted.
The crimson beam shot past her cheek and melted a chunk of concrete behind her.
The beam of a Giant-Eyed Ratt.
Several small shapes crawled rapidly across the ceiling, their necks stretching unnaturally long as their bulbous crimson eyes glowed.
"Confirmed—Standard Minions!" Lu Mei barked. "Begin!"
Li Xia flicked her wrist.
Fire Burst!
A jet of flame shot upward, roasting two instantly.
Mu Yuan froze another with a shaky Ice Lock.
Xu Yan slammed his foot, breaking the ground and trapping the rats in earth fissures.
Lu Jun calmly kicked one off his shoulder and drove his foot into its skull. Quick. Efficient.
As expected.
But something was wrong.
The rats were retreating.
Giant-Eyed Ratts never retreated.
Unless—
A tremor pulsed through the tunnel.
The water vibrated.
Mu Yuan whimpered. "C-Captain… the floor…"
Lu Jun stepped forward. "Get back."
The rats dispersed, fleeing into cracks.
And from the darkness—
Something huge rose.
Thick neck. Oversized head. Crimson eyes like burning lanterns. Yellowed fangs dripping sewer filth.
A Giant-Eyed Ratt King.
An Evolving Minion.
Several times stronger than Standard Minions.
Comparable to a Lesser–Small Warrior in raw strength.
Lu Mei's face darkened. "Everyone, FALL BACK!"
But it was too late.
The Ratt King roared and charged.
Li Xia's fire shot forward—
splashed off its hide like sparks off iron.
"It barely burned it!" she gasped.
Xu Yan slammed his foot—
Earth Spike!
The spike shattered on impact.
Mu Yuan froze with fear, unable to cast.
Lu Jun clenched his teeth.
They were too close to the event.
History was repeating itself.
The Ratt King lunged at Lu Mei, claws wide.
Lu Jun stepped between them.
"LU JUN—!" she shouted.
Too late.
The monster swung down.
Lu Jun raised his left hand.
Seven Water stars lit instantly.
"Water—Shield Wall!"
A shimmering barrier surged upward—
The Ratt King smashed into it—
Cracks shot across the surface.
The team stared.
"That's not a novice's Water Shield…" Xu Yan muttered.
Lu Jun exhaled.
This won't hold long.
He lifted his right hand.
He hesitated only one heartbeat.
He didn't want to use Metal.
Not in front of so many witnesses.
But—
Water would only buy seconds.
The Ratt King roared and slammed again.
The shield fractured.
Lu Jun whispered:
"…Borrowed Edge."
A razor-thin glint shimmered along his fingertips.
Not a full Metal spell.
Not even half.
Just a trace of sharpness hidden inside Water.
A hybrid technique.
Illegal.
Unrecognized.
Taboo.
But it was enough.
When the Ratt King lunged again—
Lu Jun stepped forward, palm slicing horizontally.
The air spilled with a faint silver arc.
Aqua Severing Line!
To the team, it was Water—
thin, pressurized, cutting.
But the truth was hidden inside the flow.
The Ratt King's claw was severed at the joint.
Blood sprayed the tunnel.
Lu Mei froze in shock.
"…That's not an elementary Water spell…"
Li Xia's eyes widened. "What the hell was that…?"
The Ratt King shrieked and stumbled back, enraged.
Then it charged again.
Lu Jun narrowed his eyes.
No hiding now.
He stepped forward, both hands moving.
Water stars lit—
and within them, faint forbidden metal currents sharpened the water into invisible blades.
"Aqua Guillotine."
SHHHING.
The Ratt King froze.
A thin line opened across its neck.
Its head slid off.
THUD.
Silence filled the tunnel.
The sewer water rippled around the corpse.
Lu Mei stared at her little brother.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"…Was that really Water?"
Lu Jun smiled softly. "Yes."
It was the truth.
Technically.
But there was another truth he couldn't say aloud:
Water could not cut like that.
Only Metal could.
Hidden inside Water.
And no one here would be allowed to know Metal even existed.
Lu Mei trembled slightly—not out of fear, but out of something like pride and disbelief.
Li Xia whistled. "Captain, your little brother is terrifying."
Xu Yan rubbed his arm. "That… that was mid-tier control. From a novice mage."
Mu Yuan just stared with his mouth open, frozen like his own ice spell.
Lu Jun simply stepped back and breathed evenly.
The tremor faded.
The tunnel grew quiet.
And outside—
Above ground—
Xu Mang sat on an abandoned water tower, gazing in their direction, Frost Star Wolf curled at his feet.
He had sensed the Ratt King long before the fight.
He could have intervened.
But he didn't.
Lu Jun needed this moment.
Xu Mang smirked.
"He handled it well. Metal hidden perfectly."
Wolfie gave a low approving howl.
"Come on," Xu Mang said, hopping down. "We continue our own hunt."
Lightning crackled quietly at his fingertips as he walked into the forest.
And below him…
Lu Jun walked out of the sewer, drenched in blood and silence, his team staring at him like he was someone entirely different.
Like someone dangerous.
Someone rising.
Someone they would never fully understand.