A deafening crash emanated from the mines, followed by several softer ones. The four other Hunters and I continued running towards the mine’s entrance. Captain Joshua had told us that he’d be going ahead of us with his teleportation spell and that we should stay far away in case things go bad. But as part of the Squad, we were confident in our abilities. We could not just stay back and watch. We are a group of Senior Hunters with color rankings all above green, and were trained to be a group specializing in speed and stealth. We are the Shadow Division.

Under light of the full moon, we ran silently across the roofs of the houses. But at this point it didn’t really matter anymore. The noise from the mine had already awoken most of the townsfolk, and panic was spreading like wildfire.

By the time we arrived at the mine, all was quiet. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Heck, even the Sentry Ent stationed outside of the mine was unharmed and still working. But as veterans of countless battles, we all knew something was off. We took our formation and readied ourselves. I drew my dual daggers from their sheaths and took my stance.

We waited at the ready. A soft breeze flowed through the air as tension rose steadily. Just as we were about to explode from the tension, it happened.

A figure suddenly leapt out of the adit. The speed at which the figure was traveling at was simply amazing, especially since it was carrying a large polearm. Even with our trained eyes we could barely keep up with it. The figure landed in front of the Sentry Ent, which started shrieking its annoying alarm sound. We were finally able to get a good look at the figure, and I was really taken aback.

In front of me stood a woman of unmeasured beauty. She had silky jet black shoulder-length hair, her skin as pale as the moon. Her face looked like that of a goddess…perfect and beautiful, almost too beautiful to touch. It felt almost as though I was being beckoned into her embrace…

I snapped out of my trance when I realized that she had two extra sets of eyes, and that her lower body was that of a gigantic spider. I then realized that this was the monster we were supposed to hunt. I silently cursed the gods for putting such a beautiful face on an abomination like this, and readied my blades.

The monster looked around, and ran towards the forest on either side of the mine. Just as we were about to turn and give chase, another loud crash was heard from inside the cave. We all froze, eyes fixed to the adit. Even the Sentry Ent stopped its shrieking. I snuck a quick glance at the monster’s face, and was greeted by an expression full of horror and repulsion. This surprised me. Who or what is causing all these crashes, and made the monster arachnee this scared. Also, where was Captain Joshua? Mayhaps by some unholy chance this monster had killed the Captain?

The answer to my first question was immediately answered by the appearance of a large, clawed hand coming out of the mineshaft. Tendrils of darkness flowed freely out of the adit, grasping at everything around them. The still screeching Sentry Ent was enwrapped in layers and layers of darkness, its cries slowly fading away as it was completely swallowed up.

I blinked and shook my head. I had to be focused! The rest of the Division had also snapped out of it, and were now getting into a defensive formation. We weren’t sure who to attack, although we were much more weary of the gigantic shadow being that was still making its way out of the mine.

Suddenly, a large bolt of purple lightning flew across the scene and struck the top of the adit with such power that the entire front of the mine began collapsing.

The giant shadow monster was buried completely by the falling rocks and debris. I was confused. Who was the actual monster I’m supposed to be hunting? The arachnee? Or this giant ghostly creature that has the arachnee fleeing in fear?

The arachnee, taking advantage of this moment of indecisiveness, dashed off into the surrounding woods.

Turning back to the monster from the mine, we found that it had gotten up, completely unharmed, and was already shoving large handfuls of rubble from the adit. We approached carefully. Not knowing anything about an enemy can lead to your death, and so gathering info was the primary objective.

As we were trying to figure a way to defeat this hulking monstrosity, a figure appeared from within the ruined mineshaft beside the creature.

“C-Captain Joshua!” we gasped in amazement. “Th-The monster!” One member asked, pointing at the giant shadowy creature.

“Ohohoho! Settle down, fellow hunters, this little one’s under my control.” Joshua replied, chuckling.

“What!? That means that arachnee that ran off was the monster we’re after! Damn, we let it escape!” I groaned in frustration and shame. “Captain! What should we do? Should me make chase?”

Captain Joshua shook his head. “I have no idea where she’s headed off to, and I’ve already used my long distance teleportation spell. Ohoho, even if we were able to catch up to her, we wouldn’t be able to stop her anyway.” Captain Joshua paced about, stroking his chin.

“What do you mean by that?” another member asked.

“Well, she was able to defeat the three of my imps together with three of my greater demons all in one go. She was also able to snap out of Azalandra’s Fear Aura and escape as well. If you went after her, you’d all be killed in an instant.” Captain Joshua replied with a smile on his face.

“Then what should we do now?” I asked, sheathing my blades. The other members also started putting their weapons away.

“Report to the Association. Tell them to immediately change the arachnee’s Hazard Ranking from a C+ to an S- and that I am the one who requested this change. Ah, and also tell them they should capture her alive. She would make things very…interesting if she were to be able to make an appearance at the Tournament.” Captain Joshua said, turning around and looked up at the night sky, implying that we were dismissed.

We quickly made our way back to the town’s Hunter’s Association building to convey Captain Joshua’s words.

- - -

Spurius Joshentius Martialis looked up at the moon and let out a long sigh. His greater shadow demon, Azalandra, dissipated into the air, leaving him alone under the soft moonlight.

“Your daughter’s doing well, Matilda.” he whispered. ”She has grown up into a fine young woman, ohohoho!”

Spurius laughed a little under his breath and sighed once more.

“She’s changed so much since I last saw her. Before she was such a jolly little girl…but now…“ Spurius trailed off. “Never mind that. Meyalize is an adult now, and she has chosen her own path to follow. And although we are enemies, I swear upon my name, Spurius Joshentius Martialis, that I will come to her aid in her darkest of times. Forgive me, Matilda, for I cannot do more for her as a member of the Association.”

“Like mother, like daughter.” Spurius chuckled. “She reminds me so much of you went you were younger, Matilda. So vicious and sharp, ohohohohoho! Those were the days...”

A cool night breeze blew gently through the forest as the elf slowly made his way back to the town.