Nobody needed clarification regarding who he meant. Several members of his group immediately became tense again.
The black crystal was still glowing. My name was still written across it. The connection was difficult to ignore.
Before anyone else could speak, Hida stepped forward.
"Stand down."
Hany continued looking at me.
"Hany."
This time Hida’s voice became sharper. The man finally turned toward her.
"An entire settlement disappears. A message appears demanding one person."
His gaze returned toward me.
"And then I arrive to find that exact person standing in the middle of the ruins."
Andrea folded her arms.
"If he wanted them dead, do you really think we’d still be standing beside him?"
Eventually the man exhaled slowly.
"I know."
His shoulders relaxed slightly.
"That doesn’t mean I have to like it."
One of the older resistance members stepped forward.
"You think it’s the Soul Hunters?"
Hany laughed humorlessly.
"Who else leaves messages?"
Then Hany’s gaze settled upon me again. This time there was less suspicion there. More calculation. As though he was trying to determine whether my arrival represented salvation or catastrophe.
Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t entirely sure of the answer myself.
The only thing I knew for certain was that whoever had left this message clearly wanted my attention.
And judging by the amount of destruction required to deliver it, they had gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure I paid attention.
I looked away from the crystal and toward Hida and Hany.
"Let’s assume this really is the work of the Soul Hunters. You should have some information on them, shouldn’t you? Locations, hideouts, known groups, something."
The two exchanged a glance.
It was the kind of glance shared between people who had dealt with the same problem for a very long time.
Eventually Hida sighed.
"We do. At least partially. The problem is that the Soul Hunters aren’t a single organization."
She gestured toward the ruined settlement around us.
"They operate more like mercenary companies. Some work independently. Some form alliances for larger contracts. Others disappear for decades before resurfacing somewhere else. They’re constantly moving between the regions and even outside the Prime Territory itself."
Hany nodded.
"The Null Realm is far too large for anyone to track them properly. By the time information reaches us, they’ve usually moved on."
"Even so," Hida continued, "there are certain locations that repeatedly appear in our reports. Places where they recruit, trade information, divide contracts and occasionally regroup between operations. We can’t prove they’re permanent bases, but they’re the closest thing to hideouts we’ve ever found."
I nodded slowly.
"That should be enough."
Both of them looked at me.
"Then share everything you have," I said. "I’ll deal with them myself."
For several moments neither responded. Hida simply stared at me as though trying to determine whether I was serious.
Eventually she folded her arms.
"You really intend to hunt them?"
"Why not?"
The commander shook her head.
"Because you’re underestimating them."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Am I?"
She pointed toward the devastated settlement.
"This place wasn’t weak. The people living here survived in the Prime Territory for centuries. Their defensive formations were strong. Their leaders weren’t weak either. Yet the settlement fell so quickly that most of them never even managed to send a proper distress signal."
Her gaze hardened.
"That doesn’t happen because a few Transcendents decided to raid a village. This attack was led by a Saint. Possibly several."
The surrounding resistance members nodded grimly. They had clearly reached the same conclusion long before we arrived.
Unfortunately for them, that wasn’t particularly convincing.
"It doesn’t matter," I replied. "As long as it’s not Verilux, I can deal with them. My actual question is whether eliminating them creates any larger problems. Political problems. Contract problems. Warden problems. Anything like that."
This time Hany answered immediately.
"No. The Soul Hunters aren’t protected. Nobody cares if they live or die."
"Then what’s the issue?"
"The issue," Hany replied, "is that killing one group solves absolutely nothing."
He gestured toward the ruined settlement.
"You kill these hunters and another group takes their place."
"Then I’ll kill them too."
"And then another group replaces them."
"Then I’ll kill them as well."
Hany stared at me. I stared back.
Eventually he rubbed his forehead.
"You’re missing the point."
His voice carried a hint of frustration now.
"The Null Realm isn’t a kingdom. It isn’t a continent. It’s practically its own universe. There are endless factions, endless mercenaries and endless people willing to take dangerous contracts if the reward is high enough."
His hand moved toward the black crystal.
"Even if you eliminate the people responsible for this attack, someone else will eventually accept the next contract."
I considered that for a moment. Then shrugged.
"Well, in that case perhaps you’re focusing on the wrong problem."
"What does that mean?" Hida asked.
"It means you’re spending all your effort hiding. You build hidden settlements. You create secret routes. You spend centuries avoiding detection."
I pointed toward the ruined settlement around us.
"And eventually someone finds you anyway."
Hany scoffed.
"Easy to say when you’re strong enough to fight Saints."
"Perhaps."
"Perhaps?" he repeated.
"Yes. Perhaps."
I looked directly at him.
"But if hiding was actually working, this place would still be standing."
Nobody had an immediate response to that. The ruined valley surrounding us made a very convincing argument on its own.
Eventually Hany exhaled slowly.
"It’s not that simple."
"No," I agreed. "It isn’t. But if you can’t eliminate the threat, and you can’t hide forever, then eventually you’ll need to solve the actual problem."
Several eyes narrowed.
"The Eternals," Andrea said quietly.
"The Eternals," I agreed.
Hany laughed.
"You make it sound easy."
"I never said it was easy."
"Good," he replied. "Because the Eternals have ruled the Prime Territory for longer than most of us have been alive. Then it’s about time somebody inconvenienced them."
"Let’s head back and decide our next steps there," I said while turning away from the crystal.
The others seemed more than willing to leave.
There was little purpose remaining in the ruined settlement. The answers we needed were no longer here. Whatever had happened had already happened, and the dead would not suddenly begin speaking simply because we stood around staring at the destruction.
I had barely taken a few steps when a strange sensation brushed against my perception.
At first it was subtle enough to ignore.
Then it appeared again.
A faint inconsistency.
Something that didn’t fit.
I stopped.
Around me the others continued moving before gradually noticing my reaction. Several resistance members turned back while Hida frowned slightly.
"What is it?"
I didn’t answer immediately. Instead my gaze drifted toward Hany and the group that had arrived with him.
The more I looked, the more wrong everything felt. Until suddenly the wrongness became visible. The face of one of the men standing behind Hany rippled.
The movement lasted only a fraction of a second, almost like a reflection disturbed by a stone thrown into water. Then another ripple appeared. This time it spread across his entire body.
The man froze. Then his skin began shifting.