Around 200 years ago.

“Why? Why did this happen?”

A lone monster sat on his knees in the endless pool of blood.

Everywhere he looked, he was surrounded by corpses of his kind.

The final stand of his race against humanity (Demon Hunters) ended in a complete and total loss. Not even children were spared.

He couldn’t sense a single sign of life around him.

Human beings thought of his kind as a potential threat, so they have hunted them down for centuries. Now, they have succeeded in wiping out all but one.

For so long he sought to find his brethren, or at the very least those who were of the same race as he, but now, all of them lay dead at his feet.

Human beings have done the unthinkable, genocide of nearly the entire race of monsters.

He only managed to survive due to being left for dead.

Now he was left truly and completely alone.

Sobbing tears mixed with blood, the lone monster howled, cursing the heavens for this predicament.

“Damn you! Damn you all!”

* * *

Once, the Demon Hunters (aka Order of Hunters or just Order) consisted of thousands of elite swordsman, led by 13 immortals, with a single goal: freeing the kingdoms from the threat of monsters.

13 immortals were a group of humans who have managed to obtain an eternal life and boundless wisdom. They led humanity to many victories against monsters, forming the Order of Demon Hunters in the process.

Over the centuries, their order grew and expanded, with more and more talents joining them each day.

At their height, there were over thousand members, each able to take on any monster they encountered. The dream of living in a world free of monsters seemed not so distant.

With 13 immortals leading them, they achieved countless victories, one of which was the complete extermination of the species of monsters known as the Yaksha, or so they thought.

Like many other species of monsters, Yaksha were powerful, though they were nowhere near as powerful as demons and like many others, they possessed powerful regenerative ability, originating from their life force.

It is said that Yaksha’s lifespan was about ten times longer than a human being’s, assuming that the lifespan of a human being was maximum of 100 years.

Not only were they powerful, but they could live for centuries and use powerful magic.

But that was not what made them so dangerous.

While many monsters were weak to a specific element (sunlight, water etc.) or a specific material (silver, holy steel etc.), Yaksha had no known natural weakness.

The only ‘flaw’ in their biology was the fact that their regenerative power depended upon how much energy they stored within their body, which was finite.

In order to use their magic, they would have to make use of that power.

Once that energy ran out, the Yaksha were just as vulnerable as any human being.

Demon Hunters took advantage of that flaw at kept attacking the Yaksha; slowly decreasing their numbers over the span of centuries until the last of them were driven into a corner. In the final battle, the Yaksha were finally defeated.

Having achieved their greatest victory yet, the Order’s confidence grew and they, for the lack of better word, let their guard down.

What they did not know that there was a survivor.

A few years after the final battle, a lone figure arrived at the footsteps of their base, a place where all the Demon Hunters were gathered after their latest triumph.

They could not have known what disaster would follow.

As they saw his black eyes, they knew immediately what they were up against.

“A Yaksha?”

“But I thought all of them were dead!”

“So there is just one more left, let’s purge him from the face of the earth!”

They couldn’t have known that the Yaksha they were facing was different from any other they have encountered.

No matter how many wounds or fatal injuries he received, he did not stop.

He fought alone against a thousand strong, but he was not going down.

As they saw the lone Yaksha’s rampage, the 13 immortals chose to interfere and stood in his way.

Oh, how they have underestimated him.

Yaksha were not known for their fighting skills, relying mostly on their natural strength or brute force.

Because of this, skilled swordsmen could always best a normal Yaksha.

But this Yaksha was anything but normal.

Wielding a glass-like sword, he fought them with an unmatched ferocity.

It became clear that unlike his brethren, this Yaksha chose to learn and adapt, taking humanity’s skills as his own.

One by one, the 13 immortals fell to his sword, until only one wounded immortal remained.

His onslaught did not stop there.

Every Demon Hunter was his target.

For the duration of 12 hours, the night was filled with countless screams and sound of human corpses falling on the ground.

When the night ended, the Yaksha fled; too injured to continue.

Of the 13 immortals only one, Min Hua, remained. And of the thousand Demon Hunters, the survivors could be counted could be counted with one or two hands.

In a single night, the Order of Demon Hunters was brought to a ruin, at the hands of a single monster.

And even after two centuries have passed, the Demon Hunters were nowhere near what they once were.

Without anyone to deter them, the number of monsters expanded without any control, leading to the world infested with all kinds of deadly beasts we see today.

“I will come for you”

Yaksha smiled within Min Hua’s dream.

* * *

“Aaaah!”

Min Hua woke up with a scream, clutching her chest.

“Lady Min Hua!”

“My lady, are you all right?”

She was breathing heavily.

Even after two centuries, the scars from that monster did not fade away.

As if to remind her that this monster was still on the loose, her old wound was itching non-stop.

Not minding her two concerned attendants, Min Hua stood up, with her hand upon her chest, a place where the Yaksha once inflicted a great wound.

Min Hua: “He is still alive. He is out there somewhere…waiting for a chance to purge me….”

Drawing her sword she declared.

Min Hua: “I will not let you have your way, you damn Yaksha! I will put an end to you, once and for all!”

All these years, she had lived in fear of this monster, and she knew that until she killed him, she will never have a peace of mind.

Unfortunately, this Yaksha happened to be an expert at disguising himself. He could easily blend in and pretend to be human.

* * *

Shoyo: “Well this is awkward, in more ways than one”

Shoyo, Nagare, Kai, and Jing Fu finally arrived at the location of the Golden Branch of the Order.

Shoyo: ‘After so long, I arrive at the footsteps of my former enemy’s base’

The barrier magic placed around the base prevented any monster from entering, but Shoyo was not deterred.

Without anyone noticing, he weaved a hand sign before marking his upper arm with a seal.

It was a special method for a monster to enter into an anti-monster barrier, as long as the monster had a certain magic mark placed on his body, the barrier would not prevent him from entering.

Shoyo: “Fate truly is a strange mistress”