GOD OF DECEPTION Chapter 17 - The Silver Hunters

Chapter 17 — The Silver Hunters

The mont the prophet finished speaking, the atmosphere inside Erald snapped.

Not emotionally.

Physically.

The air itself beca heavy.

Oppressive.

Like invisible pressure descended across the entire village at once.

The three hunters remained perfectly still beneath the dark sky, silver masks reflecting the faint shrine light.

No anger.

No hesitation.

No emotion at all.

Honestly?

That made them far scarier than normal enemies.

Because people driven by emotion could be predicted.

These things?

They felt more like machines.

And that comparison unsettled deeply.

Elena stood directly in front of now, silver divine light flowing around her body in soft waves.

Her usually calm blue eyes had sharpened completely.

Battle-ready.

Dorian quietly moved toward the side of the square, subtly positioning himself near possible escape routes.

Smart man.

The prophet remained beside the shrine unmoving, silver eyes glowing faintly.

And ?

I was trying very hard not to panic while pretending I absolutely knew what I was doing.

The tallest hunter finally spoke again.

"Resistance is unnecessary."

His distorted voice echoed unnaturally through the silent village.

"We are authorized to perform containnt."

God, I hated how calmly they said terrifying things.

Elena answered instantly.

"You hold no authority inside Seraphine’s territory."

The hunter tilted his head slightly.

"Incorrect."

And then—

the silver symbol on his mask ignited.

A pulse of strange energy spread across the village.

The mont it touched —

pain exploded through my chest.

"Gh—"

I staggered backward instantly.

The blue divine core inside pulsed violently like sothing trying to tear itself apart.

What the hell?!

Elena imdiately turned sharply.

"Kaiser!"

The hunters didn’t move.

They simply watched.

Observing.

Analyzing.

The smaller hunter spoke quietly.

"Target resonance confird."

Target.

Wonderful.

Love being referred to like military equipnt.

Dorian’s expression darkened.

"That’s anti-divine suppression."

The prophet nodded grimly.

"The hunters ca prepared."

Prepared was an understatent.

My knees nearly buckled again as another wave of pain shot through my chest.

The blue energy beneath my skin flickered wildly.

Unstable.

Angry.

The tallest hunter stepped forward slowly.

"Your authority remains immature."

His silver eyes glowed brighter behind the mask.

"Submission prevents further damage."

I forced myself upright while breathing heavily.

"No offense..."

I coughed once.

"...but your recruitnt strategy sucks."

The hunter stared silently.

Apparently humor did not exist within their operating system.

Elena suddenly raised her hand sharply.

Silver light erupted across the village square.

Dozens of glowing symbols appeared in the air around us instantly.

Magic circles.

Actual fantasy magic circles.

Honestly cool timing.

The saintess’s voice beca cold.

"Leave."

The hunters observed the divine symbols calmly.

No visible fear.

That worried .

A lot.

The woman hunter finally spoke.

"Lady Seraphine’s saintess engaging in hostile interference."

Her tone remained emotionless.

"Updating probability calculations."

What were they, walking calculators?

The prophet suddenly whispered near —

"They predict outcos before battles begin."

That sounded horrifyingly efficient.

Dorian frowned deeply.

"The hunters rely on probability divination."

Ah.

Future prediction nonsense.

Wonderful.

The tallest hunter looked directly at Elena.

"Current victory probability: 78%."

Elena’s expression didn’t change.

"Then your calculations are flawed."

And instantly—

the magic circles activated.

Silver light exploded across the square like dozens of lasers firing simultaneously.

The attacks shot toward the hunters from every direction at impossible speed.

The villagers watching from distant windows scread.

I honestly thought the fight would end imdiately.

Then the hunters moved.

Or rather—

vanished.

Three silver blurs disappeared from reality itself.

Every attack struck empty air.

What.

The next second—

BOOM.

A building behind us exploded apart.

Shockwaves ripped through the square while debris flew everywhere.

I barely managed to avoid getting crushed by flying stone.

The hunters had crossed nearly fifty ters instantly.

No teleportation circle.

No visible spell.

Just raw speed.

Holy crap.

Elena reacted imdiately.

More silver symbols ford around her while barriers appeared across nearby hos to protect villagers.

The saintess clearly prioritized defense first.

Interesting.

The tallest hunter stood atop a collapsed rooftop now, staring directly at .

"Containnt authorized."

Blue pain surged through my chest again.

That anti-divine energy still interfered with my core sohow.

My authority felt unstable.

Like static spreading through electronics.

Wait.

Static.

An idea suddenly ford.

Terrible timing for experintation.

But honestly that described my entire life recently.

The woman hunter appeared beside the tallest one instantly.

"No lethal damage permitted."

Interesting.

So they wanted alive.

Useful information.

Dorian ducked behind broken stone nearby and shouted toward —

"Kaiser! Your authority reacts unpredictably under pressure!"

Helpful.

Not imdiately useful.

But helpful.

The smaller hunter suddenly raised one hand toward Elena.

Silver chains erupted from the ground beneath her feet.

The saintess reacted instantly, jumping backward while creating barriers around herself.

The chains smashed through stone like paper.

Definitely not sothing I wanted touching .

Elena fired another barrage of divine attacks imdiately afterward.

Again—

the hunters avoided them with impossible movents.

Not faster.

More efficient.

Like they predicted attack trajectories beforehand.

Probability divination indeed.

That was absurdly dangerous.

The prophet stood beside the shrine watching everything carefully.

Completely calm despite the destruction.

Honestly old prophetic people were built differently.

The tallest hunter suddenly looked toward again.

"Your emotional state destabilizes your authority."

Yeah no kidding.

Pain plus attempted kidnapping usually affected emotions negatively.

The hunter stepped forward.

"Submit peacefully."

I glared at him.

"You guys seriously need better dialogue."

No reaction.

Tough crowd.

Another pulse of anti-divine energy erupted outward suddenly.

Pain slamd through my body again.

This ti stronger.

I dropped to one knee.

The blue core flickered wildly beneath my skin.

Elena imdiately noticed.

Her expression changed sharply.

"Kaiser!"

The hunters began moving toward simultaneously now.

Coordinated.

Precise.

Like execution patterns.

My thoughts raced desperately.

Think.

Technology.

Synchronization.

Static.

Interference.

Wait.

Interference.

The anti-divine suppression worked by disrupting spiritual resonance.

aning their system depended on stable frequencies.

And technology systems back on Earth?

They constantly dealt with frequency manipulation.

Signal disruption.

Feedback overload.

My eyes widened slightly.

No way.

Could that actually work?

The blue energy around my hands flickered harder.

The hunters noticed imdiately.

"Authority fluctuation increasing."

The woman hunter moved faster.

She appeared directly in front of instantly.

Silver chains erupted toward my arms.

Instinct reacted before thought.

I raised my hand.

And imagined noise.

Not sound.

Signal noise.

Electronic interference.

Static overload.

The blue core exploded with energy.

CRACK.

A wave of distorted blue light erupted outward violently.

For one brief second—

the entire village square filled with screeching static.

Like corrupted radio signals tearing through reality itself.

The silver chains shattered instantly.

The woman hunter staggered backward violently.

Every hunter froze.

Their masks flickered erratically.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

The anti-divine pressure vanished completely.

The pain inside my chest disappeared imdiately.

Holy crap.

It worked.

The hunters reacted instantly afterward.

For the first ti—

their movents lost perfect synchronization.

The tallest hunter stepped back sharply.

"Unknown interference pattern detected."

Static continued crackling around my hands uncontrollably.

The blue energy felt chaotic now.

Wild.

But responsive.

Dorian stared at like I’d grown a second head.

"What did you just do?"

Honestly?

No clue.

But it looked cool.

The prophet suddenly laughed loudly near the shrine.

Not creepy this ti.

Excited.

"The forgotten authority adapts!"

The hunters imdiately repositioned themselves again.

But slower now.

More cautious.

Interesting.

The woman hunter studied the broken silver chains around her carefully.

"Probability calculations disrupted."

The smaller hunter looked toward .

"Impossible."

I finally stood fully again while blue static flickered around my body.

My heart pounded violently.

Adrenaline mixed with divine energy in strange ways.

Honestly this probably wasn’t healthy.

But for the first ti since the hunters arrived—

they looked uncertain.

Good.

Very good.

Elena stepped beside carefully.

Her eyes moved between the blue static around and the hunters ahead.

"What was that?"

I exhaled slowly.

"...Interference."

Not technically wrong.

The tallest hunter’s silver eyes narrowed sharply.

"The authority continues evolving during combat."

The prophet nodded proudly like this was sohow expected.

"Yes."

Her silver eyes glowed brightly.

"That is why the ancient gods feared Technology."

Cold wind swept across the ruined square.

The hunters beca silent.

Then the tallest one quietly spoke.

"Threat classification increasing."

Wonderful.

Love hearing that.

The woman hunter suddenly looked toward the eastern mountains.

Then calmly said—

"We are out of ti."

Interesting.

The smaller hunter nodded once.

"Additional divine signatures approaching rapidly."

Everyone froze.

Elena frowned sharply.

"...Lucien."

Dorian’s eyes widened.

"The Church of Eternal Light?"

The hunters imdiately stepped backward.

Retreat posture.

Interesting.

Apparently even they preferred avoiding direct conflict with major churches.

The tallest hunter looked toward one final ti.

Silver eyes glowing beneath the mask.

"Containnt delayed."

The blue static around my body crackled harder instinctively.

The hunter continued coldly—

"But inevitable."

And then—

all three vanished into silver light instantly.

Gone.

Just like that.

Silence fell across the destroyed village square.

Broken buildings.

Cracked stone.

Flickering shrine lights.

And sowhere beyond the mountains—

new divine forces approached rapidly.