Episode 255 – Hunt (1)
“Kal Blazer.”
Gram recalled the na of the man who had beco her target.
It was through the bloodstained handkerchief handed over by Arcane that she first learned of Kal’s existence.
[Blood Trace]
‘Blood Trace’ was one of the abilities that manipulated blood, and it allowed one to glean certain information from the opponent’s blood.
Whenever she encountered unfamiliar blood, she always started by identifying the trait.
Kal’s trait was Ti.
It was such a rare trait that she had gotten excited just from discovering it.
She wanted to study him.
Even more fascinating than Samuel Barber the courier, who possessed the Space trait.
However, she had no intention of hunting Kal for research right away.
Kal and Demtor were currently in negotiations over the witch, and with Kal currently stationed in Tobaron, it would be hard to touch him.
She knew this because of her previous pursuit of “Dominic Huaton,” a Chira researcher, which had taught her that Tobaron was not an ideal place for hunting.
“But things have changed, haven’t they?”
Kal had lost.
She had heard about Kal’s fate through Arcane.
In the battle that would decide Tobaron’s fate, if Kal lost, his fate would disappear.
“Disappearing” ant death, and that created a troubleso situation for her.
“I can’t afford to lose such a precious specin.”
To extract true blood from a heart still beating, she had to capture him while he was alive.
Arcane had the ability to locate Kal’s position, and Gram had the power to give Arcane what she wanted.
Thus, Gram struck a deal with Arcane regarding Kal.
That was why she began the hunt the mont Kal entered the Forest of Ghosts, mobilizing her Black Butterflies.
“How annoying.”
Since she had stepped in personally, she believed the hunt would end quickly.
But for a lord of the frontier, Kal’s power was considerable.
“His gaze is irritating too…”
He looked at her as if he knew her, yet judging by the Blood Trace, he was soone she was seeing for the first ti.
Gram did not overextend herself during the hunt.
If she remained away from the confrontation with the witch for too long, rumors might spread, but Grand Duke Bersen Clarke would handle that.
It was more important to minimize damage to the Black Butterflies, her joint research assets.
Even if it took ti, she was certain she could complete the hunt without major losses.
She envisioned extracting true blood from his heart and taking the corpse, delighting in the thought as she proceeded with the hunt.
And indeed, her plan was unfolding exactly as predicted.
Zzzk—!
“What!?”
That was, until the unexpected variable nad Lyon appeared.
The more the Black Butterflies clustered, the stronger they beca. When over fifty of them acted as one—attacking, defending, casting spells—their power was imnse, sturdy, and stable.
But when dispersed, gaps ford and weaknesses were exposed.
Thus, a scatter command had never been issued except when a battle had ended.
“Scatter!!!!”
The mont Gram saw the approaching energy, freezing the ground as it charged, she shouted the command.
As she stretched her hand backward, the suspended blood droplets in the air surged toward the incoming force.
The red droplets flew like sharp thorns.
As hundreds, thousands of blood drops pressed in, piercing the aura and closing in on the knight in blue armor, he attempted to draw his sword.
“Kuagh!”
Skkang—!
With Lyon’s shout, a frost blade burst forth and slashed the air, freezing the advancing blood droplets in an instant.
The hot blood transford into white snow mist and scattered.
“…Insane!”
The mont the frost blade touched, everything froze. Three nearby Black Butterflies were caught in the blade and solidified like hard ice, causing Gram to grit her teeth and thrust both hands skyward.
Kkwaaang—!
The blood-soaked earth exploded into a red wall.
Blood Wall.
Activating her trait to erect the wall, she pulled a pouch of reagents from her robes.
She took out two vials—one blue, one red—from the pouch and drank them both at once.
The blue vial was Blood Nature.
As the suppressed mana from the Forest of Ghosts awakened, her robe billowed into the air.
With the red vial’s magical properties, flas were summoned to her hands.
Black fire, surging as though it would incinerate everything.
Any magician who witnessed it would have been shocked.
It was Clarke of Fla’s trait—Terrifying Fla—and it poured down upon Lyon.
Kwaaang—!
Lyon was directly hit by the flas and, for the first ti, staggered backward.
Gray smoke billowed from his body.
A blue, ghostly aura erged in Lyon’s eyes.
As he bared his teeth and charged again ferociously, Gram groaned and swallowed another reagent.
Imdiately, a wall of blood surrounded her.
Lyon’s frost blade struck it.
Zzzk—
The boiling blood wall began freezing the mont it t the blade.
The wall froze instantly, and Lyon shattered it with his sword, stabbing straight at the center.
But Gram had vanished, as if swallowed by the earth.
Lyon cursed and lowered his frost blade.
Behind him, Kal raised his hand and issued a command.
“Attack! Track them down and annihilate them!”
At Kal’s order, the royal guards and shamans spread out in sync.
Black Butterflies were weak when scattered.
Kal knew this and would not miss the opportunity.
“Lyon.”
“H-hngh… Kuugh.”
Lyon collapsed before Kal, coughing blood.
Seeing him slump helplessly, Kal grit his teeth and called out.
“Rengua!”
Rengua rushed over and shook Lyon’s shoulders.
“Th-the dagger! Where’s the dagger?!”
“Inside…”
Kal retrieved the dagger from Lyon’s chest.
Wooong!
The Dagger of the Dead let out a chilling wail.
Rengua checked the gem on the hilt and sighed in relief, then grasped the dagger and began chanting.
Pale smoke rose from the dagger and seeped into Lyon’s body.
Lyon’s pain-twisted expression eased rapidly.
His breathing stabilized, and his eyes regained clarity.
But after examining Lyon’s condition, Rengua groaned and asked,
“Did you use your power sowhere else before this?”
“Hunt broke into the ritual field. I pushed myself then.”
“Idiot! Your body’s like a ticking ti bomb. Push any further and it’ll break apart.”
“I had no choice. Then and now.”
Lyon looked at Kal, who nodded and supported him.
“You’ve done well.”
“My apologies.”
“No, you’ve exceeded my expectations. Say no more and rest. The road ahead is still long and rough.”
Kal, supporting Lyon, lifted a white mask in his hand.
The being that once took his heart—the Blood-Drinking Chalice.
He had seen its mask fly off during Lyon’s final attack.
“And I saw its face.”
When the mask flew off, they had locked eyes.
Golden hair flowing in the wind.
And eyes glowing red.
“Was it Gram Seraphim who was the Blood-Drinking Chalice?”
A hollow laugh escaped him.
So even under the lamp, it had been dark.
She had acted like a loyal alchemist, exploring knowledge, uninterested in power or combat.
That such a woman was operating as Demtor’s shadow—the performance had fooled him completely.
“Even the stars probably haven’t realized yet.”
They hadn’t in the past, and now, none of the stars of Demtor would know.
This was information that could be an opportunity for Kal, and a crisis for Gram.
“She’s not one to give up on .”
He had seen Gram’s face.
She would co for him even more persistently now.
Kal turned his gaze toward the forest beyond.
Once they left the woods, it would be three days to Pri Root.
Roughly a week.
If Lyon could hold out that long, they could reach Pri Root, where a temporary safety chanism awaited.
“Kugh!”
“Lyon, don’t talk, just rest.”
“A-an ambush!”
“What?”
Sensing sothing, Lyon warned of an ambush. Kal looked up at Rengua.
Rengua, sensing it too, paused and chanted a spell.
Soon, his expression twisted in shock.
“L-life signs of the shamans are disappearing!”
“Give the retreat order now!”
“Wait… Damn it!”
“What’s going on!?”
“They’re dying too fast!”
Even after issuing the retreat, the shamans’ life signals continued to plumt rapidly.
There were over twenty surviving shamans, but ten vanished in an instant.
Kal had sent them to track and strike at the retreating Black Butterflies. What in the world had happened?
Grinding his teeth, Kal quickly calculated.
“Did Gram move again?”
No, she hadn’t seen Lyon’s condition. If she had, she wouldn’t have acted so rashly.
Was there another ally she had brought?
“Lord, we must act first!”
“Lyon, can you move?”
Lyon nodded in response, supporting himself with his frost blade as he rose.
The chilling aura of the Frost Lord, which had consud him, was being suppressed temporarily by the power of the dead.
With Rengua’s help, he could move for a while longer.
Lyon fixed his eyes beyond the woods and rushed forward. Kal and Rengua followed.
When they broke out of the forest—
“Khuugh!”
The royal guards were being ambushed.
It wasn’t the Black Butterflies. Nor was it Gram.
Assassins, dressed in classic garb, struck silently with unified daggers through throats.
Familiar silhouettes.
And from the direction of the shamans—
Flash!!!
“H-he’s here?! Kuagh!”
A golden light burst forth, sweeping away the shamans. Caught in the light, they couldn’t resist. Two swords—twin blades—danced through the air, slicing necks and ending lives aninglessly.
Kal stood frozen, mouth agape, surveying the area beyond the forest.
It felt like a dream.
Behind the corpses of the guards and shamans, even the Black Butterflies lay slain.
They belonged neither to Kal nor to Gram.
“Him!!!!!!!”
Hunt.
Cracks finally ford on the always composed Kal’s face.
Lyon rushed back into the forest to rescue allies, and monts later, a voice shouted, “Everyone scatter!” as the forest shook with turmoil.
One by one, the surviving guards and shamans gathered around Kal.
Kal gave a hollow laugh as he looked at his returning subordinates.
Only fifteen had survived.
More than half of nearly fifty had died.
The elite force that had held off Gram four tis had been wiped out in a single clash.
It had been so sudden, so perfectly tid.
It struck precisely when both Black Butterflies and his forces had scattered.
“Co out! Show yourself right now!”
Kal clenched his fists and scread a na in his head.
Arthur.
The man’s true na, and the actual leader of Hunt.
The worst enemy who had ruined the future Kal had reclaid and brought him to this miserable state.
But Kal did not speak the na aloud.
Arthur was one of the few remaining cards he had.
He couldn’t waste it screaming in anger.
Rustle—
Monts later, sensing movent in the forest, Kal turned his head.
A familiar face erged.
A man with a red bow drawn tight.
Brown hair. Fierce eyes.
“…You’re Alex?”
The mont he muttered the na, Kal’s whole body turned to stone.
A chilling presence.
It felt as if soone had carved out his heart with a blade.
And at that mont—
“I’m hunting you.”
The words slipped from Alex’s mouth.
It was him.
It was really him.
Kal glared at Alex like he was going to kill him, his face twisted into that of a demon.
The Divine Hunter.
They had all been fooled. Completely deceived.
“So it was you!!”
To that shout, I let go of the bowstring and answered:
“Yeah, you dumb fucker.”
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