The entire building immediately became alert. Without thinking, I followed. By the time I entered the hall, the three family leaders were already standing.
The messenger looked exhausted.
"Settlement Thirty-One Alpha."
The room immediately fell silent.
The man’s breathing remained uneven.
"We lost contact."
The messenger swallowed before continuing.
"The emergency beacon activated less than ten minutes ago."
Commander Hida’s expression hardened instantly.
"Confirmed?"
The messenger nodded.
"Multiple confirmations."
That answer changed everything. The casual atmosphere disappeared completely. Every person in the room became serious.
Haliaka immediately moved toward one of the maps hanging on the wall.
"When?"
"Approximately two hours ago."
Silverbane cursed under her breath. That meant whatever had happened was already over.
The settlement either survived.
Or it didn’t.
Andrea looked toward the leaders.
"I’ll prepare a response team."
Hida nodded immediately. Then his eyes shifted toward me. The room followed.
Then Haliaka sighed.
"I suppose this is as good a test as any."
I raised an eyebrow.
"So I’m invited?"
"You wanted to help. Now you can."
Less than fifteen minutes later we were moving. Only a small group.
Andrea. Commander Hida. Several elite members from the three families. And myself. Before leaving, I decided to split my summons.
Aurora, Ash and Silver remained behind in the settlement. If this place was discovered while we were gone, somebody needed to protect it.
Ragnar, Knight and Lyrate came with me.
None of them complained.
Especially Ragnar.
The giant ape still seemed disappointed that Verilux had escaped with all three heads attached.
The journey itself took surprisingly little time.
The resistance possessed an extensive transportation network hidden beneath the Prime Territory. Ancient formations connected countless safe routes together and allowed movement between hidden settlements without exposing themselves to Eternal surveillance.
Several teleportations later we emerged near Settlement Thirty-One Alpha.
The moment we arrived, I knew something was wrong because of the silence.
There was no movement or soul force signatures. The settlement sat within a valley surrounded by crystal formations and concealed beneath multiple illusion barriers. At least it should have.
Most of those barriers no longer existed.
The valley looked devastated.
Several buildings had collapsed entirely while others appeared torn apart from within. Massive gouges stretched across the ground and traces of battle could be seen everywhere.
Yet the strangest thing wasn’t the destruction. It was the absence. The settlement wasn’t destroyed.
It was empty.
We entered cautiously. My perception immediately expanded across the entire area and did not find a single living signature.
Andrea’s expression darkened.
"No..."
Several resistance members began searching immediately. The results only made things worse.
Bodies started appearing. But they were too few considering the size of the settlement. They were scattered throughout the settlement.
An elderly woman near one of the houses. A young man beside the central square.
Several guards near the outer perimeter.
But compared to the actual population, the number was insignificant. The settlement should have contained thousands. Perhaps tens of thousands.
Instead only a handful remained.
The rest had vanished. Commander Hida crouched beside one of the bodies and examined it carefully.
His expression immediately became grim.
"Soul Hunters."
The name immediately caught my attention.
Andrea closed her eyes.
"Damn it."
I looked between them.
"Soul Hunters?"
Silverbane’s people exchanged uncomfortable glances. Nobody seemed happy hearing the term.
Hida eventually nodded.
"Professional predators."
His gaze swept across the ruined settlement.
"They work for the Eternals and are not from Prime territory."
That surprised me.
"Then why attack this place?"
"Because someone paid them."
My expression darkened. That made far more sense. The commander walked toward the center of the settlement.
Several others followed. Eventually we arrived at what appeared to have once been the central square.
Then everyone stopped. Something stood there.
A stake. Driven deep into the ground. Attached to it was a slab of black crystal.
The moment I saw it, I understood it wasn’t random. It had been left behind intentionally. The crystal suddenly illuminated.
Then words appeared across its surface. Every person present read them.
The message was short. Only a single sentence written in glowing silver letters.
Hand over Billion Ironhart. Or the remaining settlements will suffer the same fate.
Silence spread throughout the ruined valley. Not because nobody knew what to say. Because everyone understood exactly what the message meant.
The Soul Hunters hadn’t attacked this settlement by accident. They hadn’t discovered it randomly. They had been looking for me. And now every hidden settlement in the Prime Territory knew it.
My gaze remained fixed on the black crystal while countless possibilities moved through my mind. The Soul Hunters clearly knew I existed. More importantly, they knew enough about the resistance network to locate hidden settlements. Whether they were working directly for the Eternals or merely accepting contracts from someone willing to pay enough hardly mattered.
The result was the same. People were dead. And thousands more had vanished. Suddenly multiple signatures entered my perception.
I turned slightly toward the eastern side of the valley. A large group was approaching fast.
The resistance members around me immediately noticed as well. Weapons appeared. Soul force surged.
Within moments dozens of figures descended from the sky and landed throughout the valley.
Then dozens became hundreds.
The newcomers spread outward while carefully examining the devastation surrounding them. Their expressions quickly shifted from concern to shock as they realized the scale of what had happened.
Then they noticed the crystal. Then they noticed me. The atmosphere immediately changed.
I watched the realization spread through them.
Several members of the newly arrived group immediately began moving.
Toward me.
One after another they spread throughout the valley until a loose encirclement formed around our position.
The movement was subtle. But the intent was obvious.
I couldn’t help chuckling. The sound immediately drew several looks.
Beside me, Ragnar snorted. Then a ripple spread from his body. The giant man didn’t even move. He simply released a fraction of his presence. The effect was immediate.
The surrounding soul force trembled. Space distorted slightly. Then the ripple reached the people surrounding us.
They were thrown entirely off their feet.
A few Transcendents found themselves sliding across the ground before they managed to regain control of their bodies.
The entire encirclement collapsed instantly.
Ragnar slowly lifted his gaze. Only a single word left his mouth.
"Careful."
The valley became silent. Several people immediately recognized Ragnar’s rank.
The fear that followed spread quickly.
One of the resistance members even took an unconscious step backward. The newcomers finally stopped advancing.
At their center stood a middle-aged man with dark hair streaked by silver and sharp eyes that continuously scanned the surroundings. Unlike the others, he recovered almost immediately from Ragnar’s display.
His gaze moved from me. Then finally settled upon Commander Hida.
Recognition appeared instantly.
"Hida."
The commander sighed.
"Hany."
The man shook his head while surveying the destroyed settlement once more.
"I was hoping the signal was false."
"So was I."
For several moments neither spoke. The devastation surrounding them said enough. Eventually Hany’s attention shifted toward me again.
This time his gaze lingered. The suspicion wasn’t hidden. Nor was the concern.
"I assume that’s him."