Chapter 385: How To Hunt A Hunter?

Chapter 385: Chapter 385: How To Hunt A Hunter?

Chapter 385 – How To Hunt A Hunter?

The journey began, officially kicking off the mission. A mission Diaila had genuinely doubted they’d even attempt, after literally being ambushed by a Fourth Ranker.

She still couldn’t quite believe it, even now. Her heart still sank at the memory of that yellow, beastly face, muscles so thick they seemed to fill her entire field of vision. And every time the thought crept back in, it left her unable to stop it from crippling her mind.

So she sat atop the first carriage, cross-legged, wind rippling through her hair in slow waves, trying her best not to let the oppressive silence swallow her from the inside. To cope, Diaila tried thinking of something else.

Anything that might help her push through this ordeal. But every time she tried, the only thing that filled her mind was Julaibib.

Which made sense. He was the one who’d gotten her into the Academy, and who kept feeding her EP for whatever she wanted.

Without a doubt, she was spoiled by him. All because he wanted to be close to her mother.

’Not the time, Diaila. Not the time,’ she told herself, trying to stop the dark thoughts from creeping in.

It didn’t work. Once they started, they never stopped until she was mentally exhausted enough to shut down entirely.

After all, Diaila had never quite made peace with the fact that everything she had now existed only because her mother was loved by the man Diaila herself loved.

That realization made her resent all of it, as though none of it had ever really been meant for her. And it was true. It wasn’t for her. It was for her mother.

’I am never the first choice.’ Diaila thought, her eyes fixed on the mountains scattered around them, her throat dry. ’Always, I give more of myself. Always, I am given less than what I give. Always, my mother overshadows me. Always, I find myself alone and miserable.And I always cling to whatever scraps of love come my way, no matter how small, like someone dangling off a cliff who knows the cloth in their hands is about to tear, but still can’t make themselves let go.’

Her chest ached. Ached the way something discarded might, as if she’d been given to someone who never understood her worth.

Diaila Law closed her eyes, and shivered as the temperature dropped around her, a cold sliding through her, freezing her from within. A cold that only deepened her craving for warmth.

Warmth meant just for her. From someone who made her their first choice, not their second. For once. Just once.

’Focus, Diaila. Focus.’ She forced her eyes open, and they landed directly on William, walking ahead, his back straight as a blade.

His words came rushing back to her: ’You’re nothing without being close to Julaibib.’

It stung. Because it was true.

She was nothing.

’And that’s fine.’

No. It wasn’t.

Her vision blurred for a moment, and her focus slipped. Without her noticing, the Rule she’d cast to protect the first carriage weakened significantly.

...

William walked ahead of the carriages, his mind fixed on nothing but the task at hand. He extended his perception in every direction, channeling all his focus into it.

In that instant, he sank into a level of concentration so absolute most people would’ve been amazed watching him reach it so effortlessly.

He was in the zone. A state where nothing existed but his purpose.

It was something his family trained into their bones from a young age. According to his father, a sword must know its purpose, and become that purpose.

As he walked, senses alert, William let himself drift back to something his father had told him, the day he’d returned from the Royal Event, after watching Cassius and Emrys fight.

He’d been deeply impressed by them, and it had fueled in him a hunger to grow stronger; stronger than anything he’d been before.

So he’d gone to the best swordsman he knew, and asked his father how to achieve it. His father’s answer wasn’t at all what he’d expected.

’Most people get it wrong, Will.’ His father had said, ’They think a sword cuts. But that’s not the deepest truth of it. A sword doesn’t cut. A sword is the cut. There’s a difference between doing something, and being something.’

At that point, his father’s eyes would always sharpen, pupils narrowing into the shape of blades.

’That’s the difference between our family and other swordsmen. They wield swords. We are swords. They learn forms because someone needs to teach them how a sword should move. We need no forms, because however we move already is swordsmanship.’

His father would then look him dead in the eye.

’Remember that, Will. The moment you stop asking what a sword can do, and start understanding what a sword is, you’ll have no limits left. And maybe, one day, you’ll stand at the very peak of swordsmanship.’

Here, William would tilt his head, confused, and ask, ’Why do you believe that?’

His father would always smile, something rare from him, unless his mother was around. Then he’d answer, with quiet pride, ’Because you’re my one and only child. My son. If I don’t believe in you, who will?’

Those words had stayed with William ever since. And because of them, his mind and heart stayed clear of useless distraction.

He knew where he was going. And he never wavered, no matter the danger.

Closing his eyes, William breathed deep to steady himself.

Then, suddenly, he felt the air around him grow cold. His face twitched, feeling that something in his senses had shifted.

He looked up at the sky and saw it darkening far too fast to be natural. Scanning around, he noticed the carriages had drifted onto a strange, narrow path, wedged tight between mountains.

’Something’s off.’

...

Cassius hadn’t opened his eyes once since the mission began. He sat there, long hair tied back, giving him a look somehow even more striking than usual.

Legs crossed, he leaned into the wind brushing his skin, unhurried.

Even with his eyes shut, he could sense everything around him with perfect clarity. Most of his attention rested on the Fourth Rank knight in full armor.

The knight walked beside the driver’s seat, power radiating off him in every direction. It felt different from the dragon hunter, but no less dangerous.

Cassius knew he couldn’t act with the knight standing this close. It would be far too obvious, especially that the moment he unleashed his full strength here, his time in this world would run out fast.

’Just do what you can. I’ll take care of the rest,’ a voice echoed inside him.

Cassius didn’t bother responding.

Besides the Fourth Rank knight, there was Mr. Green too, a life-form Cassius had never encountered before. Faceless? That alone was strange.

Stranger still was the mark he’d glimpsed on Mr. Green earlier — that faceless mask tattoo.

Cassius had been turning it over in his mind for a while now. That mark felt familiar. He couldn’t place where, but he was certain he’d seen it somewhere before.

’I really think I have. I just can’t recall where,’ the voice spoke again.

Cassius kept ignoring it.

That mark was the second odd thing.

There was a third. At the start, the carriages had been moving briskly, but now, nearing the edge of the Hushsight Domain, they’d slowed strangely, wedged tight between mountain walls.

Right around the same time, the temperature had begun dropping, and the sky overhead had started to darken.

Cassius sniffed the air and caught the scent of a damp breeze. Rain was coming. His body straightened at once, perception widening.

’I’ve felt like prey this whole time, eyes on me like they want nothing but to devour me. Quite the novel feeling,’ Cassius thought, his own body warming steadily, fire hissing under his skin. ’Which got me thinking about something I never expected to ask myself: how do you hunt a hunter?’

Simple question. Difficult answer.

’What if I know nothing about the hunter...not their gender, their age, their personality, their skills? What if I have nothing to go on, and still want to catch them?’

That was where the real problem started. Knowledge had always been one of Cassius Desdemona’s sharpest weapons.

Once he understood someone, dealing with them became far easier.

This time, though, was different. Not knowing his hunter meant he couldn’t predict their next move, or how they’d make it.

But Cassius wasn’t a fool. After weighing it carefully, consulting his goddesses and his spirit, one fact still remained standing.

His thoughts cut off abruptly. He raised his head, looking around, and saw fog rising off the ground, curling silently through the air.

The temperature dropped further, carrying an undertone he recognized instantly. This wasn’t the ordinary cold of the Frozen Pit.

This was a different kind of cold. The cold of death.

And the moment he felt it, he heard bones rattling to life, skeletal hands bursting up through the earth, clawing their way free.

’Oh my.’

"We’re under attack!" Mr. Green screamed, stating the obvious.

The Fourth Rank knight surged into motion, pressure spiking to an almost unbearable degree.

The carriages began slowing on their own, for no visible reason, and Cassius spotted, in the shadow of a huge mountain a few meters off, the outline of a woman in a crimson robe, wearing a black, faceless mask.

’Huh? Faceless—!’

He never finished the thought before the blue sky above vanished, swallowed by sudden darkness.

Night fell. A starless, moonless one.

The rattling grew louder, and undead clawed themselves out of the soil, growling, surrounding the carriages.

William was already ready to fight, the knights snapping into formation.

Diaila began to panic, and behind Cassius, Meadow tensed.

Cassius’s eyes snapped open wider. He blinked, and caught sight of another figure — a man this time, faceless mask on — bursting from the shadows of the night and striking William with a force that sent him flying, his bones cracking audibly.

That single strike felt like a dam breaking.

The woman he’d seen earlier appeared right in front of the Fourth Rank knight, reaching out a hand made of bone.

The moment it touched him, the knight was launched into the sky with a strangled grunt, the woman following after him, a sinister cackle trailing behind her.

Four more faceless-masked men appeared, surrounding the carriages on every side, skills erupting into life, splashing color across the world, screams and shouts cutting through the chaos.

Then heavy rain began pouring down, out of nowhere.

The first raindrop landed right in front of Cassius, and his eyes locked onto it. Inside it, he saw the reflection of a hooded woman.

Before he could process what he was seeing, a full-sized human hand erupted from the water and clamped around his throat, crushing it instantly.

The woman’s entire body followed, stepping out of the water itself, revealing black-nailed fingers and a bangle circling her wrist.

The remaining droplets hung suspended in midair, more reflections of the woman appearing across the suddenly lethal battlefield.

Wordlessly, she raised her other hand straight towards Cassius’s left eye — but froze, halfway there, having finally noticed something.

Cassius grinned. "I was right." Then his face began to melt away, revealing underneath a woman’s face, flaming red hair, eyes burning with every color of fire imaginable,

"The easiest moment to hunt a hunter is right when she’s hunting."

Scarlet’s grin widened, fire bubbling low in her throat.

"Hello, motherfucker."

The world exploded.

—End of Chapter 385—