North of the City
A tall tower rose beneath the moonlight.
At its peak stood a young man whose presence could not be sensed at all. With hair and eyes the color of dark wood, the hunter stood there—Kyle.
From this height, and with his unique eyes, he could see the entire city.
He had arrived here before sunset and watched how people moved, how the streets emptied at the first hint of nightfall, as if they were hiding from something...
At the far north, at the edge of the city, a large building resembling a hotel stood tall.
Light leaked from its windows, signaling the activity of those inside.
Kyle activated his ability and zoomed his vision in. Inside, he saw them—numerous criminals drinking and reveling, their voices rising and invading the stillness of the night.
And in separate rooms, things other than drinking were happening... Kyle saw them all—rape, torture, and more.
East of that building, several streets away, stood another similar structure, where the same things were taking place.
On the streets leading to those two buildings, two separate groups were moving, each heading toward one of them.
One consisted of five people, led by the princess, heading toward the eastern building, while Garon followed a few meters behind, declaring that he had no intention of cooperating with them.
The other group consisted of four people, led by Elliot and Leona, targeting the other building.
Kyle understood. The real challenge for them was not defeating the criminals, but themselves—because this might be the first time they would kill a human being.
He then turned and looked toward the other side of the city. There, many people were gathering and heading toward a specific building in groups.
Something big was about to happen there... and he knew what it was.
After all, he had seen how the two men had dragged Caius there.
"Is he planning to face all of them at once?" he thought.
That sounded like madness... In truth, Kyle did not like wandering near Caius, so he had been avoiding him these past few days.
Because whenever he was close to him... his instincts began to stir.
Not because of his skill or strength... but because of something else... something hard to notice.
Madness... pure madness in his eyes.
And that strange feeling when looking at them... as if your soul wanted to leave your body and go to him.
Kyle sighed and returned his attention to the north.
He placed an arrow on his bow. His muscles tensed as he raised it and drew the string back.
When he saw that Ellen and her group had reached the entrance, he released the string.
The arrow flew.
A silent arrow shot forward, tearing through the air until it reached a window. It did not shatter the glass; it pierced straight through, passing cleanly through the skull of a man who was on top of a woman.
His corpse fell, blood dripping onto the unfortunate woman beneath him, only for her screams to rise in the next moment.
But Kyle did not wait. Many more arrows were already flying in that direction.
"Tonight, I am the hunter... and you are the prey."
...
Back to the building where Caius was
A person stood frozen in place, appearing to be about twenty-five years old. His features were ordinary, and it seemed he had only recently reached Rank 2.
He was the same person Caius had forced to contact the rest of the gang and call them here.
His name was Mike. Just an ambitious young man who had joined the gang not long ago. They had offered him money and support to become stronger—and they had delivered, providing him with resources until he broke through to Rank 2.
That day, he had thought his life would change for the better.
People would fear him.
He would do whatever he wanted without fear of punishment.
He even gained servants and women to satisfy his desires.
But now, everything had shattered. His companions had been slaughtered in the most brutal ways, and with them, his dreams were destroyed.
He looked at the scattered corpses, still trying to process what had happened.
He turned his head toward a table in the corner, one of the few that had remained intact after the fight.
There sat a younger man, with black hair and eyes like dark ink. His body was covered in blood from head to toe. He sat there, drinking a mug of beer, staring at the corpses before him.
Mike did not understand who this person was... He had appeared out of nowhere, delivered a strange speech, and then started cutting them down like a butcher.
But one thing was clear... he was strong... very strong.
So Mike did not think of escaping. He simply waited quietly for the others to arrive.
The only sound in the building was the tapping of the mug against the table.
Mike could not understand how he could drink so calmly, so indifferently, among the corpses... Just standing there made him feel nauseous, bile rising to his throat.
Suddenly, the young man turned his head and looked at him.
Every hair on Mike’s body stood on end.
Those black, abyss-like eyes devoured his soul.
The young man spoke calmly, indifferently,
"What is your name?"
It was a simple question, yet Mike found himself unable to answer.
The young man repeated,
"What is your name?"
Finally, Mike gathered the courage to respond.
His voice trembled.
"M... Mike."
The young man nodded in satisfaction.
"So, Mike, did you enjoy your life... I mean rape... theft... and so on?"
He rested his head on his hand, looking at Mike as if he were an entertaining show.
"Answer... don’t be shy. I won’t punish you."
Mike trembled.
"A... a little."
"Good."
With that word, he stood up from the chair and picked up his swords.
Mike shook and took a step back, but the young man did not move toward him. Instead, he headed for the door with slow steps.
"It seems your companions have arrived."
Moments later, Mike heard loud sounds from outside, like dozens of people running toward the building.
Then, in the next instant, the door was slammed open.
Two men entered—and the moment their eyes fell upon the massacre, they froze in place.
"W... what happened here?"
But there was no answer.
Only—
The world flipped upside down in their vision.
And all they saw was a young man with two swords in his hands.
In the next moment, their heads hit the ground.
And two more corpses were added to the pile.