Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

The blood had already begun to dry on her skin, hardening like old bark on wounds that wouldn't heal any time soon. Sylphie's core, now filled again with an unstable light, trembled in her palm as if recognizing the call.

It was then that Kael felt it.

A distant warmth, a faint thread of energy that brushed against his senses - familiar, fragile, and, above all, urgent. It was as if the world itself was whispering Sylphie's name to him again. But this time not as a lament... but as a plea.

Amelia.

Irelia.

Sylphie.

All three were together.

Fallen.

Kael didn't hesitate. He simply punched the air and opened a small passage, teleporting.

The silent hall in Azalith shuddered with a whisper of energy as Kael appeared in the center of the circle, his body shrouded in dark mist and flakes of shadow. The ground beneath his feet split into fine cracks, reacting to the magical force that surrounded him.

The air was dense, stuffy. The sky above the holy city was tinged with gray and blood. And in front of them...

There they were.

Sylphie, Amelia and Irelia, unconscious. Bodies lying among ancient roots and runes, like withered flowers in a cursed garden.

And next to them, standing motionless, her eyes fixed on the three of them - was Ahri.

Kael appeared so suddenly that the mist cleared in a flash. His eyes lit up when he saw their state - the cold sweat on their foreheads, their weak bodies, the silence.

Sylphie's core shook harder in her hand, responding to the call of the girl's sleeping body.

Ahri didn't move.

She just watched him with a look that seemed to weigh eons. Her eyes shone with something deep... not fear. Not guilt. Something older. Something Kael couldn't name.

"You took your time," she said, her voice velvety, almost sad. "The price exacted for what she did is not small. But... she can still be saved. If you're quick."

Kael didn't answer right away. He knelt beside Sylphie. Her heart was still beating - faintly, slowly, as if time was pulling her away.

Amelia's arm was frostbitten, perhaps from one last badly cast spell. Irelia, still with the cut in her arms, slept with stiff muscles - as if she had fallen fighting.

Kael moved closer to Sylphie and placed the core gently on her chest. The light from the crystal reacted, beginning to vibrate in harmony with her body.

But it was unstable.

"I think it's best to ask Yggdrazil for help with this," continued Ahri, now walking slowly around the circle, without touching the roots or the symbols. "Returning a nucleus is not simply putting it in place."

Kael frowned when he heard the name. But he sighed.

Sylphie lay in agony before him, and even the core in her hand seemed reluctant to merge completely, as if something was missing... something beyond magic. Something primordial.

He raised his free hand, drawing a runic symbol in the air with fingers shrouded in shadow and light. The air shimmered, wavering, and then tore like thin bark. A breath of ancient wind escaped from the tear - carrying the scent of wet earth, dried leaves and sacred nectar.

A second later, she was there.

Yggdrazil.

The red-haired goddess.

Emerging from the crevice as if from the ground itself, her bare feet touching the stone with ancient lightness. Her long, scarlet hair spread like roots in the wind, and her skin glowed with the pale radiance of enchanted sap. She was beautiful - and terrible - like a forest on the brink of fury.

Her eyes landed first on Kael.

And then on Sylphie.

Her expression changed.

From serene goddess, to something... disappointed.

"Kael..." she said, with a calm that sounded like a warning. "You promised me to protect the heiress. And to hunt down what threatened her spark. Instead, I leave her in your wake... and find her on the brink of death?"

Kael stood up slowly, without looking away.

"I have no excuses to make." His voice was cold, but there was pain buried in every syllable. "Do you want to blame me, Yggdrazil? Do it later. Now, save her."

Yggdrazil stared at him for another second.

Then he sighed.

"You mortals, always exchanging lives like coins. But..." she slowly knelt down next to Sylphie, resting a hand on her still unstable core "she has strong roots. Even now, it stubbornly clings to the earth. Perhaps... it will bloom yet."

A golden glow began to emanate from the droid's palm.

Silent, pulsating.

Runes appeared under her fingers, dancing across Sylphie's skin and the crystal on her chest. The golden light penetrated her body, guiding the core into her as if it had been grafted back onto the mother tree.

Kael watched without blinking.

On the other side, Amelia let out a small moan, her burnt arm slowly regenerating as emerald leaves briefly grew around her skin and then disappeared.

Irelia let out a deep sigh, the cuts closing as if they had never existed.

Yggdrazil moved his other hand in a circular gesture, and a wave of greenish energy spread like a breath over the ground, enveloping the three of them.

Sylphie finally breathed in.

Deep.

Her eyes opened slowly, reflections of leaves and sunlight tinting them. For a moment, she seemed... part of the forest. Part of Yggdrazil.

"Kael...?" Her voice was weak, but alive.

Kael fell to his knees beside her, relief and exhaustion mixed. He touched her face with his fingertips, hardly believing it.

"You're back."

Yggdrazil stood up, the gold in his hands ceasing.

"She'll live. The three of them are out of danger for now." His tone hardened. "But with caveats, it can't happen to Sylphie again."

Kael nodded, without looking away from Sylphie. "I'll protect her. Even from that."

The Dryad watched him for a moment longer.

Then she turned, walking back to the magical rift that still pulsed behind her.

"You swore this before. Don't break it again."

The ground still vibrated slightly with the remnants of the divine magic that Yggdrazil had left behind. The glow from Sylphie's core stabilized, while Amelia and Irelia breathed more easily. Kael was still kneeling between them, protecting them with his presence, but his gaze was already rising towards the horizon.

He felt it before he heard it.

A precise rhythm of steps, war boots against sacred stone, advancing with impeccable discipline. A silent but powerful march.

And then they appeared.

From between the shattered columns of Azalith, five figures stepped forward, armor gleaming and purple cloaks fluttering. In front of them - Exelia.

The Captain of the Royal Knights.

As soon as they approached the circle, all five knelt at the same time, right shoulder touching the ground, heads bowed. The reverence was clear. It was a military salute, yes - but not just to a superior. It was to a man who had just defied death, fate and the gods.

"The perimeter has been cleared and controlled. Young Master." declared Exelia, her firm voice echoing through the silent ruin. "No hostile presence remains on the outskirts of Azalith. The shadows have completely retreated after the wave of purification."

She looked up.

And for a moment, it was just Exelia - the warrior. The cold commander. The shield of royalty.

But when she saw Kael, her eyes softened slightly. A faint gleam of something more intimate, contained beneath the layers of discipline. She knew when to put on the captain's armor. And when not to.

But at that moment... it was the battlefield. And he was still the central focus of everything.

"You're hurt." said Exelia, her voice low and firm, almost a whisper between the steel of her presence. But in that tone there was something else... a touch of restrained concern that slipped out from behind the captain's impeccable armor.

Kael stood up slowly, each movement heavy with the weight of what he had just endured. The tension made his muscles stiff, and the dried sweat on his face carried more than effort.

His eyes met hers.

And in that look, it wasn't just a commander and his captain. It was the silent recognition of two forces that understood each other without the need for words.

"There's no time to bleed when others are falling," he replied, his voice hoarse but firm.

Exelia held his gaze for a second longer. She nodded slowly - the gesture of a soldier, but also of someone who knew exactly what it cost to be the pillar when the whole world was collapsing around you.

But even as she accepted his words, she saw the slight tremor in his hands. The exhaustion hidden behind his posture.

"Are they safe now?" he asked, briefly shifting his eyes to the unconscious bodies of Sylphie, Amelia and Irelia, still wrapped in the residual energy of Yggdrazil's healing.

Kael looked at Sylphie for a moment longer - her pale face now softened by regular breathing, the core in her chest pulsing like a weak but living flame.

Then he looked back at Exelia.

"Prepare a portal. We'll take them to the Palace." he said, with the authority of someone who would accept no more risks. "I want guards doubled up at the entrances. No whisper of a threat gets near them again. None."

Exelia raised her right fist and slammed it against the armor on her chest in a short, precise gesture.

"Yes, sir," he replied with conviction.

But before she turned away, her posture wavered slightly. She hesitated, just long enough for Kael to notice. The captain was still there - but behind her, the woman who knew him beyond the trenches was also speaking, albeit quietly.

And for a moment, Kael wanted to say something more. But he held back.

She didn't insist.

With a military turn, Exelia began to organize the troops and conjure the seal of the portal, her presence restoring order to the chaos of the camp.

And Kael... well... he was pensive.