Mari ran until her feet bled, the tall trees rapidly disappearing behind her.

The huntress leapt into a clearing, where her ragged legs found some much needed reprieve upon breaking the surface of a running creek. It wasn't deep, but it was enough to cushion her landing. Even the barest and tiniest breaks were a blessing. Still, she pressed on, the sound of splintering trees and rumbling earth echoing not far from her, just over her shoulder. Mari dare not look, for the dreaded eyes of that foul thing had burned itself into the depths of her mind - eyes of the blackest night, like spilled ink. It reflected nothing, seemingly devouring all - even light itself.

Their weapons were little more than chew toys for the creature, and all ten of her comrades - fellow veteran hunters, whose skills were legendary and whose names were known even in the Northern kingdoms - all of them were killed, their flesh flayed off their bones and their guts feasted upon by hungering jaws. She survived only because she stood at the very back end of their formation, letting loose scores of arrows into the creature's impenetrable hide.

And so she ran away, the dying screams of her comrades echoing just over her shoulder.

A writhing mass of darkness, gaping maws and jagged teeth, inky black eyes and unnatural tendrils flashed in her mind's eye and she nearly stumbled.

It was supposed to be a routine mission, a simple scouting incursion into the Eternal Glade, paid handsomely by the Mages. A strange creature had been detected by their magical sensors, a creature of great power that'd suddenly arisen in the dark of the woodlands. One of the mages, someone named Prince-Magos Tevan, had a running theory that the unknown entity's peculiar energies might just hold a clue to further understanding the magical plague that was running rampant through the Northern Kingdoms. No one knew what it was, just that its energies were neither Qi nor Mana, and so the Hunter's Guild was called upon to investigate.

Now, nine of its best hunters were dead, slaughtered, and they were no closer to uncovering that miracle cure for the northern lands. Mari had a feeling she wouldn't make it out of the woods, no matter how far she ran.

And yet... she had to try; she had to go back to the guild to warn them - to warn the world. Hunters would not be enough to destroy it. No, they needed an army of Cultivators, Mages, and Hunters to march into the Eternal Glade. That thing... it couldn't be allowed to exist - it should not be allowed to exist. It was a wound upon reality itself - the endless void, given material form, a living blight. The Mages could have its body afterwards - only that it was killed before they start experimenting.

Looking back, however, Mari wasn't so sure if that thing could even be killed. Induminas, their most powerful warrior, a former cultivating prodigy, couldn't even dent the creature's black hide, not even when he brought forth the full measure of his powers.

She had to go back to the Guild - she had to run.

It'd been a long time since the veteran huntress had felt true fear. And now - she was filled with it.

Thunder cracked and boomed, and trees splintered behind her.

It was close. Mari could smell its briny scent as it closed in.

The huntress climbed out of the clearing and made her way into a thicket of tall oak trees that grew so close to each other they created a natural barrier of sorts. Of course, she seriously doubted if it'll do anything, but it would, at the very least, probably slow down the creature's approach - long enough for her to escape this blasted forest. Beyond the Eternal Glade's western treeline was the Great Wall, built by the Hunter's Guild with the aid of Mages and Cultivators, meant to keep the dark and terrifying magical beasts out of the realms of man. If Mari could climb over the wall and reach the other side, then she might just live through the night.

She passed one of the numerous markers they'd placed during their initial forray, a bright red piece of cloth that hung from a low hanging branch. Andreas, may he rest in peace, was the one responsible for placing the markers; he was the Guild's head scout after all, their greatest and most effective woodsman, who could track down any creature from anywhere.

He was dead now, just like the rest of her team.

'Ten kilometers...'

She was ten kilometers away from the westernmost edge of the Eternal Glade; her legs were close to breaking and each stride was agonizingly painful, but stopping meant immediate death. The briny smell of the unknown creature was growing more pungent by the second and Mari had no illusions as to the fact that it was most definitely chasing her at the moment. The sound of splintering trees and breaking rocks directly at her back would attest to that. She leapt forward, over a fallen log, easily clearing a distance of eight meters with a single leap, before landing and rolling on her shoulder. Mari slipped into the tiny gaps between the tall trees, before bounding forwards.

A shrill shriek echoed behind her, an unnatural cocophony of grinding metal and glass, followed by child-like echoes and moans. Just hearing it made her skin crawl. And yet the sound was far away, just enough for her to outrun the creature and reach the Great Wall. If it somehow broke through the magic and qi infused structure, then there would be a veritable nation of hunters, waiting for it on the other side.

No, nothing had ever broken through the wall, not even the legendary Blue Dragon, though that thing had wings and could just fly over the structure if it wanted to, but that wasn't the point. For five hundred years, the wall stood, looming over the Eternal Glade, and it will do so for the next thousand years. That thing they faced was incredibly powerful, more powerful than anything she's ever faced before, but surely it couldn't scratch the mystical stones that encompassed the Great Wall.

It was salvation, but it was also quite far off.

Something burst through the natural wall of thick and ancient trees, sending splinters and debris flying off at random directions. She was already far away by the time it happened, her legs carrying her beyond their breaking point. And, even then, Mari wasn't sure if she'd ever reach the wall.

Absently, her eyes caught the glimmer of her wedding ring, glinting off the moonlight's bluish hue. Her husband was likely at home, taking care of their children, waiting for her to get back.

And what of the others? All her squadmates were with families of their own.

Going up against a Green Dragon all by her lonesome would've been preferrable to having to explain to children, widows and widowers that their wives and husbands, fathers and mothers had all been eaten by some eldritch abomination and promptly spat back out to use as projectiles.

Desolation plagued the forest as she ran through the trees, though a few birds and insects flew just above the canopy every now and then. The large creatures had all disappearing, likely having retreated into the depths of the Eternal Glade, keeping away from the monster that was still fucking chasing her. Mari passed by another marker, her chest heaving with controlled breaths and her limbs burning from exhaustion. At this point, the only thing keeping her outright after sprinting for the last three hours were the Guild's mutagens, still running through her bloodstream.

'Five kilometers - I can make it!'

The briny smell in the air was getting stronger, but that hardly mattered. Mari could already see the Great Wall, looming in the distance, a structure so unimaginably vast as to be comparable to the Grey Mountains themselves in magnitude, manned by thousands upon thousands of hunters. This thing that was chasing her, whatever the fuck it was, wasn't getting through.

Mari reached into her pocket just as she neared a narrow path between two, very large trees. The path was likely large enough for that thing to waltz through without hassle, which was exactly what she wanted. From her pocket, the huntress took out the last of her flash traps, a simple contraption that, when triggered, would unleash an incredibly powerful flash of light, enough to burn out a normal person's eyes. That monster had, at least, a thousand eyes on just one side of its body. She tossed the flash trap on the ground, its activating mechanism springing to life the moment it hit the earth.

Another howl echoed; this one was even more disturbing than the last - akin to the dying shrieks of a thousand, tormented souls, crying out for salvation and release. Her bones rattled at the sound, and every fiber of her being screamed in terror.

A bright, golden light filled the forest, and a hoarse screech echoed in turn - though it was more of irritation than it was of pain. It might've brought her more time and might've not; Mari dare not glance over her shoulder.

The huntress sprang through the treeline, the Great Wall already within reach - great fires, burning at the battlements.

Mari expected the creature would burst out into the open, screaming and roaring with its otherworldly voice.

And yet....

Nothing happened.

Her sprint towards the Great Wall went unimpeded, horns blaring all the while, signalling a Hunter's return. She glanced over her shoulder, eyes lingering over the shadows between the tall trees. A cold shudder ran across her being, and Mari lost all strength in her legs, falling to her knees.

The gates of the Great Wall groaned open, hundreds of tons of rock and metal moving with the aid of arcane mechanisms. On the other side, a team of Hunters awaited.

"Veteran Mari, what happened?"

Alfaer, now the Archmagos, poured through the hundreds of reports and documentations of the Catarina Plague that now ravaged the Northern Kingdoms. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, leaning back against his chair; he couldn't just catch a break, could he?

'What the hell could've caused this?'

Fate, it seems, had seen fit to drape upon him a great and terrible responsibility. Only two days after he was officially given the title of Archmagos Dominus, news had reached the Southern Realms of a terrible sickness that was plaguing the Northern Kingdoms. It was apparently serious enough to warrant a ceasefire between the warring Kings. Now, ancient favors and contracts were being called upon left and right, forcing the hand of the Mages to come up with some kind of cure, before the sickness overruns the whole of the North.

Dubbed the Catarina Plague, due to its alleged origins in the city of Catarina, the sickness would kill its victims within three days, after a rather excruciating length of time - people's skins were said to be peeling off their muscles, while others mentioned eyeballs boiling within their sockets. The documentations were likely exaggerated; until a proper investigation team could be sent to deal with the Northern Kingdoms, Alfaer would refrain from conclusions.

What he did know, however, was that this sickness was magical in nature. A single sample had been brought in - the leg of a man, whose whole body had shriveled away and melted right before his family. Only that one leg remained and, after extensive experimentations and tests, it was found that the sickness was definitely magical in nature. The strangest thing, however, was that its foul energies were neither Mana nor Qi, but something else entirely - something unknown and new. Regardless, it was a clue; Alfaer quickly assigned scrying orbs to search for that same, unique signature.

Three days ago, that search came up positive; something had been detected in the northern reaches of the Eternal Glade, where the most dangerous creatures were said to roam. The signature was faint, but it was present; a dark and unnatural presence at the edge of the former swamp lands, where the bones of the long dead remain buried under the cold marshes.

And so he called upon the aid of the Hunter's Guild - for a handsome fee, of course.

'Tsk... damn hunters....' As much as he despised their ways, Alfaer couldn't deny their effectivity in dealing with monsters and magical beasts. Enhanced by mutagens and gene therapy, Hunters were more than capable of holding their own against an experienced cultivator... which is exactly why he had to pay the full price regardless of success or failure.

He sighed, leaned back, and stood up. Alfaer walked towards the window of his office and looked down. The acolytes were training in group casting, down below, supercharging the air with Mana. Despite all the stress this Catarina Plague was bringing into his life, Alfaer couldn't help but smile at the sight. Leading the group practice was this generation's most promising acolyte, Marek Nightsong, a half-elven youth from the hills of Albrand to the far south. In him, Alfaer saw a burning soul that glimmered with untapped potential. If he pushed himself, Alfaer knew for a fact that this boy would one day surpass him.

"Archmagos, we've received news from the Hunter's Guild."

Alfaer sighed and turned; hopefully, the Hunters uncovered something useful.