As Sam Li fought the Notoriety Ethereal—Locomotive by conjuring beasts from condensed Geo...
Cass watched Sam Li, then looked at the rock-like beasts. The shock on his face only deepened.
He leaned numbly against a boulder, utterly dazed.
Was this some kind of movie set?
Was Sam Li performing magic?
Or was he a beast tamer?
The incredible scene before him reminded Cass of a fantasy movie he had seen over a decade ago.
It was just like "Beasts vs. Ethereals", where the zoo director commanded hordes of animals to fight off Ethereals when the Hollows engulfed the zoo—and ultimately triumphed.
But that was only fiction.
In reality, no beast could ever stand against a Notoriety Ethereal—
unless they had become a Notoriety Ethereal themselves.
Cass leaned there, dumbfounded.
"He might actually beat the Locomotive... So that's how powerful the agents of Hare's House really are..."
If he'd known Hare's House had this kind of strength,
he never would have gone searching for a so-called guardian angel.
He would've just hired Hare's House from the start.
Cass would never have imagined that an ordinary-looking street office could hide such terrifying power.
As Cass stared at Sam Li, silently praying he could defeat the Notoriety Ethereal...
Piper was swinging her axe, cutting down the centipede-like Ethereals one after another.
there were too many of them.
Every batch she wiped out was immediately replaced by a new one.
As long as the Notoriety Ethereal—Locomotive was alive,
the centipede swarms would keep coming endlessly.
Piper clenched her axe tighter in frustration.
Planting her feet, she spun around once more.
"Ahhh—I'll chop you all down!"
The move was powerful.
A full 360-degree sweep—anything within range was either sliced apart or sent flying.
However, there was a flaw—
when spinning , Piper couldn't defend herself from above.
If an enemy attacked from overhead,
there would be no time to stop spinning, no time to dodge.
Cass shouted from behind her.
"Miss Piper, above you!"
Piper quickly looked up.
several Ethereals were falling from the station roof, aiming right for her head.
With no other choice,
Piper tried her best to pull back and defend.
At that critical moment—
Sam Li noticed her situation.
With a casual wave of his hand,
several rock spheres shot out, flying like cannonballs.
they smashed the descending Ethereals to pieces.
Piper gasped for air, then looked up at Sam Li standing atop the building.
"Thanks... you saved me again."
Meanwhile, on Sam Li's side...
He continued gathering Geo elements, commanding them to take the forms of eagles and tigers,
sending them to clash against the Notoriety Ethereal.
All the while, Sam Li simply stood there watching,
as if he weren't fighting, but conducting an experiment instead.
If he had a teapot with him,
he might have brewed a cup of tea on the spot.
He really was conducting an experiment.
If Sam Li truly wanted to kill the Notoriety Ethereal,
he only needed to summon the Vortex Vanquisher and pierce it with a single strike.
Or he could simply condense rock spears from Geo and shoot the Locomotive full of holes.
Either way, it would be over quickly.
But Sam Li was in no hurry.
It wasn't easy to find a high-ranking Ethereal to spar with.
he intended to make the most of it.
He wanted to test the strength of Geo beasts condensed through his techniques,
and hone his control over the Geo elements.
This idea had come to him after returning from the Hollows of the Imperial City.
That farcical assassination attempt on the Geo Archon.
The Geo Archon had used Geo to create a replica of himself in dragon form.
Sam Li's progress wasn't nearly as advanced—
he couldn't create something on that scale yet.
But making basic rock beasts?
The stone predators...
Under Sam Li's control,
these creations weren't just holding their own—they were actively suppressing the Notoriety Ethereal.
As he summoned more beasts,
the strain on him increased.
The more creatures he made,
the more Geo he had to manipulate.
"Rock creations have no will of their own...
If I can find a way for them to fight autonomously, their strength could improve even further."
these rock beasts relied entirely on Sam Li's conscious control.
it didn't boost his combat effectiveness by much.
If they could move and fight independently,
it would drastically reduce his burden—
and the potential of the technique would skyrocket.
he hadn't found a way to solve that problem.
more than a dozen Geo-formed beasts surrounded the Notoriety Ethereal—Locomotive.
Pressed into a corner,
the Ethereal's hundreds of legs thrashed wildly.
It smashed one of the stone beasts clear across the battlefield.
as if it had gained some twisted intelligence—
the Notoriety Ethereal realized who was controlling the beasts.
It immediately abandoned the stone beasts.
All its focus shifted to Sam Li.
With terrifying speed,
it sprinted straight toward the building beneath Sam Li's feet.
Faster than any Ethereal Sam Li had fought before.
At least twice as fast as the Dead End Butcher.
Ordinary people, even seasoned agents, wouldn't have had time to dodge.
But Sam Li didn't move.
Not because he couldn't—
but because he didn't need to.
the Notoriety Ethereal—Locomotive collided violently with the building.
The entire structure exploded with a deafening boom.
The Ethereal's massive body blasted straight through the platform's front building.
It swung its tail with brutal force.
Another building collapsed instantly.
the Notoriety Ethereal turned sharply,
its massive frame rearing up.
It aimed to strike a fatal blow at Sam Li in midair.
with the building crumbling beneath him—
Sam Li had no footing left.
the Notoriety Ethereal would succeed.
Sam Li showed no panic.
He simply crossed his arms over his chest,
allowing himself to freefall.
At the critical moment—
a giant rock eagle burst from the collapsing ruins,
swooping up and catching Sam Li in midair.
The Locomotive's attack struck nothing but empty space.
Standing on the eagle's back,
even Sam Li couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
"Geo elements really are incredible."
If he'd developed this technique earlier,
he wouldn't have needed to rely on rock ridges to fly during the C97 Hollows.