Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

The forest seemed to hold its breath, as if time had frozen after the first monster exploded. But Kael knew. That was only the beginning. The magic that lingered in the air was not an echo—it was a harbinger.

And then, the ground shook.

Coming from all sides, shadows crept, dripping like paint from the trees, taking shape. Each one a different aberration. Tall, short, with too many limbs or mouths where they shouldn't be. Kael's eyes narrowed.

He rolled his shoulders, twisted his wrists, and smiled crookedly.

"Let's go. Let hell begin."

The first creature leaped from the left, made of tendons and sharp claws. Kael swung his ice sword in a horizontal motion, decapitating it with surgical precision. The blood that spurted out evaporated before it touched him, frozen by the blade's cutting trail.

Before the body even hit the ground, two other shadows lunged from above. Kael spun on his axis, sliding under the first attack with a fluid motion and kicking the second into the air, breaking bones that snapped like dry twigs.

But there were too many of them.

Kael ran to the center of a clearing, his boots sinking slightly into the mud. With a quick gesture, he raised his free hand. The shadow of his own body stretched out... and exploded into shards of darkness.

Like spears, these shadows struck the enemies around him, piercing throats, eyes, and hearts, scattering them in fading screams.

But for every shadow he killed, two more appeared. It was as if the forest had become a cyclical nightmare.

Kael leaped upward, using the wind as momentum. He spun in the air, his silver hair following the movement, and descended with his sword plunging into the ground. A wave of ice spread in a spiral, freezing the ground and enemies within a three-meter radius.

He didn't wait. He pulled out the blade and ran across the ice, sliding with his body lowered, cutting legs and jaws as he passed. Behind him, the crystals cracked and exploded with the screams of the damned.

From above, two more monsters glided on wings made of translucent ribs. Kael swung his sword behind him, then opened his palms. Wind.

He summoned a spiral of air currents that rose like an inverted hurricane, throwing the monsters upward. Then, with a precise movement, he threw shadow spears—sharp as razors—that pierced them in midair, pinning their deformed bodies to the tree trunks.

Kael fell to his knees for a moment, panting. Using shadow and wind at the same time drained his energy like a drain. But there was no time to rest.

A sharp cry echoed to his right. Something bigger was approaching. Much bigger.

From the mist, a creature nearly ten feet tall emerged. Its head was composed of multiple jaws, and its body was a mass of flesh stitched together from the pieces of the defeated. It carried an axe made of fused bones, and a black aura pulsed around it like a sickly heartbeat.

Kael did not hesitate.

He ran straight at it, dodging the first blow with a jump to the side. The ice sword flashed as it collided with the axe, a crack of magic reverberating through the air. The force of the impact pushed Kael back, but he used the momentum to spin and slash at the back of the creature's leg.

The monster roared, staggering. But it did not fall.

Kael raised his arms. The shadows around him condensed into black whips, which he hurled at the creature. They wrapped around its limbs, restricting its movements. At the same time, he summoned a whirlwind that swirled around the monster's feet, raising dust and sharp leaves.

The creature tried to break free, but Kael approached with speed, using a gust of wind to propel himself, and leaped onto the abomination's shoulder. With a roar, he plunged his ice sword into the beast's skull.

The blade sank in, and freezing cracks spread throughout the creature.

Kael jumped back before it exploded into a shower of flesh, bones, and ice crystals.

But he didn't have a second to spare. Other shapes were rushing out of the forest, as if reality had collapsed and released all the nightmares from the mind of the entity that had imprisoned him.

Kael knew he couldn't go on like this. He had to reverse the flow.

He planted his sword in the ground and opened his arms. The shadows came to him. The darkness around him was sucked into his body as if he were a black hole. His eyes glowed with a deep blue light, and then... he roared.

An explosion of wind and shadow spread in all directions.

The forest shook. Trees fell. Creatures were thrown like dolls. The sword vibrated, following the flow of energy that was renewed within him.

Kael moved like lightning. His form was almost indistinct, blending with the shadows he manipulated. A cut here, a jump there. Multiple strikes, in three directions at once. Every time the sword touched an enemy, ice

Kael fell to his knees, panting. The sword stuck in front of him. The shadow around him rested like a cloak. The wind still swirled in gentle spirals, as if trying to protect him.

But he knew: it wasn't the end. It was just the pause before the next nightmare.

"Come... all of you," he whispered. "I'm ready. I always have been."

The mist parted with a whisper. Not with the sound of leaves, nor the growling of creatures—but a soft, almost affectionate whisper that made the trees bow and the wind retreat. A new energy invaded the forest, thick, sweet as poison.

And then she appeared.

"Wow, you made a mess..." she said, with an almost maternal tone. 'Annoying, you know that? But cute. And strong. Very strong.'

Kael struggled to his feet, leaning on the sword stuck in the ground. Blood still trickled down his side, and his muscles ached as if they were burning. But his eyes were steady.

"You sent them. Now you're calling me annoying?"

She gave a short, melodic, venomous laugh.

"Those? No, love... that was just the forest trying to defend itself. I just... watched. And I confess: I had a blast."

She approached, her feet still not touching the ground. Each floating step left a trail of purple embers that slowly faded away. She was a few feet away from him now, looking at him as if observing a slightly damaged but still fascinating work of art.

"Are you always like this, Kael? Destroy everything and then kneel in the middle of the ruins, pretending you still have a greater purpose?"

Kael clenched his fist.

"Who the hell are you?" Kael growled, the mana around him boiling like a battlefield about to explode.

The pressure intensified in an instant. The air around him became dense, vibrant, as if reality was being forced to retreat. The demon woman took a small leap backward, surprised and... amused.

"Who knows?" she replied with a mischievous giggle.

But before she could finish laughing, something cut through the air with deadly precision. A blade as thin as the thread of truth emerged from the shadows behind her and pierced her body through the back, piercing her heart.

"Oh..." she murmured, looking down, watching the silver metal protruding from her chest with a mixture of curiosity and boredom.

She slowly turned her face and saw, standing a few steps away, a woman with short blue hair and eyes as sharp as blades. She wore armor with wide shoulder pads, breathing heavily, her posture firm.

"You woke up too fast, you know?" commented the demon with a lazy smile.

"Sorry, prince," said the woman, without taking her eyes off her enemy. 'That bitch cast an S-Class spell on me. Now I'm going to finish her off.'

It was Exalia. And she was furious.

In a single movement, the rapier was torn from the demon's back and began to move in a frenzy. A thousand thrusts in seconds. A million piercings digging in like a rain of steel. The blade moved with such speed that it crackled in the air, cutting like metallic thunder.

The demon remained motionless, laughing. Laughing.

"HAHAHAHA! THAT TICKLES!" she shouted, her shoulders shaking, her laughter growing like wicked thunder.

Suddenly, she stopped laughing.

With a cold stare, she slowly turned her neck. The smile was gone. The aura changed.

"Don't fuck with me, child."

With a brutal movement, she raised her leg and delivered a direct kick backwards. The impact was sharp and devastating. Exalia's body flew like a thrown doll, crossing the air until it collided with the trunk of a huge tree. The crack of bones mixed with the sound of wood splitting.

The rapier fell to the ground, broken into pieces. Unrecognizable.

Kael's eyes widened for a second.

But the demon was already floating again, as if nothing had happened. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth, which now curved into a maniacal smile.

"This is getting interesting..."

And her eyes glowed, hungry.