“How far is it?” Chen Zhao asked.

Sienna turned around and looked at Chen Zhao. She had never seen Chen Zhao tired.

But today, she did.

Chen Zhao was really in a bad state, and it was obvious.

He was covered in cold sweat and his breathing had also become heavier.

“Almost there. It’s just in front.” Sienna looked at Chen Zhao, worried. “Chen, I think we should go back now and come after you recover.”

“I’m fine. We’re already here.”

Just then, they heard footsteps before them.

From the sound, there were a few people.

Four, or five?

The group stopped. The few people also seemed to notice their footsteps.

“Huh, there are people apart from us?”

“One, two, three, and a guardian spirit.”

“Should be local witches in LA.”

Five women walked out of the darkness.

From their equipment, they seemed to be mercenaries.

They had guns, grenades, and bulletproof vests.

“Hey, you there, you shouldn’t be here. You better leave this place.”

“Why? Who the hell are you?”

Intrepid, Rupert had never been scared of anyone, apart from Chen Zhao who was right behind her.

Boom!

Suddenly, a bowl-sized hole appeared on the tree trunk beside Rupert.

The gun in their leader’s hands was smoking.

“Because of this. Girl, if you’re still stubborn, the next thing that will be blasted will be your head.”

“You dare to attack me?!”

Furious, Rupert whipped out her magic wand.

“Rupert, calm down.” Sienna stopped Rupert. “They’re all witches.”

To be honest, Chen Zhao was also surprised to see witches dressed up like mercenaries.

It was a strange sight.

“Hehe… Girl, you should listen to your sister.”

The leader of the witches blew at her smoking gun, and the other witches laughed.

“You must be here for the magical guardian beast. It’s ours. You may leave now.”

Rupert took two steps back. “Chen, finish them all.”

Chen Zhao had been rubbing his nose and seemed to be in a daze. “Huh, what?”

“Ha… You can’t win us, so you asked a wizard to fight us? Girl, have you mistaken something?”

“Rupert, Chen is ill. Don’t look for trouble.”

“Look for trouble? They looked for trouble first!”

Suddenly, Chen Zhao’s Eye of Shadow Vision opened.

He immediately pulled Rupert and Sienna onto the ground.

The next moment, a five-meter long beast rushed past where they were standing.

Because of Chen Zhao’s action, the enormous beast grabbed nothing but air.

However, the beast did not stop and disappeared into the darkness at once.

“It knows how to sneak attack!” Rupert rubbed off the soil on her face.

The five strangely dressed witches also shouted, “Ready for combat, form an array.”

With their backs facing each other, the five witches withdrew their guns.

They had various weird-looking pieces of equipment.

Lying on the ground, Chen Zhao asked softly, “What’s with those five women? Are they really witches? They look like mercenaries.”

“They’re indeed mercenaries, witch mercenaries,” Camilla answered. “The guns they are holding are refined magic guns. And that pair of night goggles are actually magic night goggles which can detect hidden magical fluctuations.”

“They look so much more professional than y’all, at least in terms of equipment,” Chen Zhao remarked.

“They just look more advanced. I can easily take down ten of them,” Rupert said with contempt.

All of them could tell that Rupert was exaggerating.

Nevertheless, they had to admit that the witch mercenaries indeed looked professional.

They were acting very much like mercenaries.

“Target at eleven o’clock. 300 meters away.”

“Don’t shoot. It’s too far.”

“200, 150, 100, 50… 30.”

“Shoot!”

Bam, bam—

The five witch mercenaries fired simultaneously. Their guns were firing bullets infused with magical power.

“Target hit, minor injury.”

“Target is moving away from us.”

“Wait… Another target at four o’clock.”

“There is more than one target. Be careful!”

Chen Zhao, Sienna, and Rupert lay on the ground as the five witches fired in different directions.

The three could not even lift their heads.

Chen Zhao’s condition had worsened.

Sienna glanced at Chen Zhao, who had been rubbing his nose.

“Chen, are you alright?”

“The gun smoke is making me choke.”

“Their weapons have been magically refined. Even the smoke contains magical power, so it’s irritating your body,” Camilla said.

Just then, the gunshots became more intense and the five witch mercenaries also looked anxious.

The situation had exceeded their expectations. They had originally thought that there was only one target.

However, there were more magical guardian beasts than they thought.

It was significantly more. Their firepower was insufficient to deal with so many of them.

“There are six of them.”

“You all, quickly come and help, if you don’t want to die here too!”

“Weren’t you boasting just now?”

Rupert said aggressively, “Why are you asking us to save you now?”

“We’re not asking you to save us. We’re asking you to save yourselves.”

“We’re not helping. Go and die!” Rupert shouted.

“If we die, so will you.”

“I’m not scared. We have Chen.”

“Chen? You mean him? You sure this wizard can handle magical guardian beasts, all six of them?”

“Also… he looks sick,” one of the witch mercenaries noted.

Chen Zhao stood up, staggering, as he gasped for air.

Suddenly, he felt a gust of wind from behind.

“Careful! Behind you!” one of the witches shouted. “Lie down!”

Because Chen Zhao was standing, the witch mercenaries could not shoot.

Chen Zhao turned his head and opened his mouth wide.

He felt that his nose had reached its limit. Achoo!

Boom!

An extensive wave of magical power swept out as Chen Zhao sneezed into the guardian beast’s mouth.

Then, the magical guardian beast exploded without warning. A cloud of blood permeated the surrounding air.

Chen Zhao’s entire body was covered in blood and filth…