Hard times create heroes. In the line of defending mankind against the incomprehensible scourge, few are more famous than Eifreet and Francois Lavelle. The siblings that defined an era of Blind Order. No longer were hunters sent out in drove in hope of taking down a monster. Every single fighter was trained and equipped to fight threats far greater than them.

The frontline against invasions from the unknown, the siblings had grown bitter and cynical. They frowned upon those who could be considered as naïve. To live in this business, one needs a reason, a drive powerful enough, something personal.

Time and time again they were proven right. Those who fought for a higher cause, for reasons that weren’t selfish, they never made it. Facing with the unknowns, disillusion set in quickly, that or they just turned crazy, realising the futility of their effort. The siblings believed that only selfishness could carry one forward.

“Hah hah hah”

And so, they laughed mockingly at one new recruit. He was a bit older, harder to train and more naïve for most. Wanted to become a knight in the first place, he decided to train as a hunter instead. His reason? To protect the weak.

“You won’t last a year” Said Eifreet “We will get to see it for ourselves” Francois mocked.

A year passed then another and another and another. The recruit, then an official hunter, was still as naïve. The sibling, however, went on a mission and was never seen again.

Until now.

The fight between the three hunters quickly moved to the roofs of the fishing hamlet. All experts as trap, the murky water could hide many devious contraptions. But the twin had already predicted such an outcome. The wooden tiles were littered with bombs and the like.

And yet, their opponent didn’t step on any of those. Even in the dark could see, predict where all the traps were. Eifreet and Francois wrote the book of hunter, but he had perfected it.

As he encroached closer and closer, they repelled him with bolts and bombs. But the man wasn’t deterred, he pressed on. A down and dirty fight it was then, no problem. They were accomplished fighter and it was a two on one.

[Why do you fight?] Eifreet asked.

Without any hesitation, their opponent gave them the same answer he would years ago.

“To protect the weak” The naïve hunter replied.

[You still haven’t learnt] Francois mocked [We will have to fix that]

The fight wasn’t even close at all. The twin was simply decimated, it was a slaughter, an execution. But for the old hunter, it was just a hunt like any others. Old comrades turning mad weren’t a new occurrence and they also needed to be cut down.

Did he have any thought about ending his old teachers, of course.

But it wasn’t a time to be thinking about such a thing. The old hunter continued focusing on the hunt. And now, he is to face against the strongest prey of all.

A champion of the depth.

This is a definition of an uneven battle. The champion can pulverise the old hunter with a single strike, but the man is used to dealing with a stacked hand. The fight starts out just as lopsided, the old hunter has to retreat back constantly, he can’t afford to take single hit.

Pushing toward the well, Walker and the Smiling Hunter move out of the way.

Of course, the champion has his eyes on those two as well. Tracking three targets isn’t a feat he would consider to be particularly difficult. But for now, those two is not planning anything, yet.

The old hunter finally decides to move in. Ducking under the dull blade by just a smidge, he circles around the champion, his target the back of the head.

His opponents turn with great speed along with a wide swing, but the old hunter sticks to the back like a shadow. Then, with an accuracy of an eagle, the steel blade is directed to the drilled hole, only to be retracted at the last moment. The champion slams his entire body backward, the old hunter manages to evade to the side at the moment. His dodge is nearly caught by a swing of the sword, but he kicks the weapon to propel himself even further.

Before his feet could touch the ground, the champion is already on him. Mustering all of his strength, the old hunter manages to redirect the dull blade slightly with his own.

The champion continues his onslaught with swings after swings. Knowing that his arms can’t deflect another attack, the old hunter tries to make distance to no avail.

Walker watches on in awe, how many close calls were there. And yet, the old hunter continues to flirt with death but how long could he last. The man couldn’t do anything, his barb wire would do nothing to stop the champion while hindering the other side. He casts his eyes on the Smiling Hunter, who has kneeled down to rest, her injuries quite severe.

She also observes the fight with bated breathes, partly due to her broken ribs.

The woman puts her trust in the Stranger, so mysterious and a force of nature, she can be counted on to exist. Siobhan could continue with her life, knowing that the Stranger still lives and that helps to anchor her in this crazy world.

But she never feels the same way about her college here. Even though he has survived more than most, he is still a human and he feels very much like so.

Dodging the champion’s barrage of attacks, his movements are incredible but not inhuman. Even after all this time, the old hunter could still continue with that naïve will of his. But at any moment, like most out there in the waste, he could just drop dead. It doesn’t matter that he has eluded death till now, one mistake, one stroke of bad luck is all it takes.

That’s a human fate.

But this is not that time. The champion closes in, his opponent could no longer back out in time for the next attack. But as he raises his sword, a sharp foreign feeling spreads throughout his body. What is this? So familiar yet so strange.

A warm liquid is escaping from his neck, is this feeling… pain?

A bolt has gone through the drill hole straight into the champion’s neck. But how, the Smiling Hunter couldn’t have shot it from her angle.

As he falls to his knee, the champion could see it. Under the rubble, hidden in the dark is a crossbow already sets up. The Smiling Hunter had put down that trap before her fight, but seeing that its trajectory is set, there wasn’t much she could do. No, it was the old hunter who lures him to this spot and fights here, his back exposed to the crossbow.

Then, the Smiling Hunter waits where she kneels, with a string in her hand for the perfect moment. Waiting for when the champion neck is at the exact spot.

“You make a fine bait indeed” Remarked the Siobhan, patting the old hunter on the shoulder.

The champion could only watch as the victors turn away from him. Dropping the sword, perhaps this is the chance for him to finally fall. His wish of meeting another of his kind, unfulfilled. Insides his mind is a wealth of knowledge, thousands and thousands of years of histories, preserved in him. The cultures, the lives, the deeds of his people. In the end, he couldn’t pass it down.

With a final grunt, the champion picks up the sword and throws it at his attacker, the one who killed his last hope. The Smiling Hunter dodges the attempt easily, sneering at his last futile effort. This hopelessness that the champion must be feeling right now is one that has plagued mankind for a century.

Siobhan can’t help but smirk at the struggle, ‘talk about karma’.

Breathing his last breath, the champion collapses, his crown rolls onto the floor. The Smiling Hunter simply crushes it under her foot without a single care. In this fight, his chance of winning from the beginning has always been null.

‘I am the hunter, you are the prey’

The three escapes through the portal to find the hamlet crumbling. Dragged here by the champion’s will, the place soon shifts and morphs into something else. A rather cosy kitchen.

___

Bruno sighs, he has been doing that a lot. Waiting is simply an excruciating experience, the man even hopes that a monster or two would come his way. His wish comes true in that instant as something of note happens. He can hear a noise coming from a nearby bush. Is it a monster, an animal or a person who wanders here?

It doesn’t matter, Bruno decides to investigate anyway. With one hand he holds onto his steel knife, the other the Fisherman’s spear.

Surrounded by a monochrome world, the man’s vision is quite limited. It could easily be fooled by a monster of the cosmos. And yet, his heart is beating like normal, the worst that man could ever face maybe hiding in there, but Bruno doesn’t feel any pressure at all. With the spear, he splits the bush apart to find… nothing.

Bruno lets out another sigh and he is then consumed by something violent.

It starts as an explosion, then the place is covered by a white dust that covers all of his vision. This is a Blind bomb! Is it another hunter, or someone else?

The man is tackled by a person brandishing a shield. Choking from the steel dust, he is knocked down quite easily. Nevertheless, Bruno manages to kick his attacker away quite easily. Whoever that is isn’t particularly strong physically.

The attacker swings a sword which Bruno blocks with his spear. The dust also settles to reveal… Michael.

“What are you doing!” Bruno called out. Is the boy now affected a higher power? One thing is sure, there is not enough time for him to go to the settlement and back.

“Doing the right thing” Michael answered clearly “I could just leave and hope the darkness would do its job, but I can’t. I will kill you myself!”

There is nothing wrong with the boy, at least not that Bruno can tell. He easily pushes his attacker away, but Michael is relentless. None of his untrained attacks could reach Bruno, however, but it doesn’t stop the boy from swinging away.

“You raider scum! You killed my father” Michael grits his teeth “You probably don’t even remember, he was a knight, a protector of the weak!”

Of course Bruno remembers, the group assigned to protect the settlement was wiped out. He was there, he was fighting against them, he even plunged his spear into one of the man. They were noble knights, trying to protect the people, but he killed them without a single though.

But now? All those memories come back crashing down to him. Bruno doesn’t even know why or how his apathy returns. Perhaps it’s just a temporary tryst and he would soon return to the bloodthirsty raider that the Fisherman had trained. But now is not that time. Now, what would Bruno do?

Be a coward.

He has wanted to die but again and again he fought back against the darkness, resisting. But dying, being the target of vengeance for a noble knight. Perhaps this is what he is looking for. His opponent is still a youth with a long life ahead filled with possibilities, it is right for him to live.

Michael continues to strike like a hungry beast while Bruno decides to accept his fate.

But once again the man survives, the boy is dragged back by a mysterious force. This is not a work of the unknown but something Bruno is very acquainted of. It’s magic.

A mage, charger in hand, drags the boy back.

“I don’t know what happened, but killing is not the answer” The mage said “Especially against someone who is not fighting back”

How could this be, after so long… Bruno stands, a whirlwind of feeling within him. His home destroyed, all of his friends, his companions also gone with the cosmos. All but one. The person he thought to have been swallowed by the cruel wasteland, now right there in front of him, still the same.

“Mordia…”

But fate, or maybe an unknown eldritch has another plan, their reunion is cut short violently. Blood gushes out as Michael stabs the mage without any hesitation.

“You dare get in my way!” The boy said coldly.

Those damn raiders and now a mage? It doesn’t matter, Michael won’t let anyone stand in his way of vengeance. How dare them took his target away from him. That man… that despicable man, the one who masqueraded as a saint. The pain that he had inflicted upon Michael and mother. The woman couldn’t take it, she tried to run away and was murdered, an ‘unfortunate accident’ it was called. Behind the boy’s shirt are countless scars still, the mark of that ‘man’.

Michael had tracked the bastard all the way to the wild, where he could be murder without arousing any suspicion. But those raiders got there first, his target was stolen from him. But all will be right here.

After he kills the raider the boy will apply to be knight. To be one to protect the weak especially from monster in human form. He will grow up and maybe… he will meet her again. The woman with crimson hair. From some reason, Michael knows that she will be the same as the first time they met. Perhaps he could…

The boy thought is cut short and so is his life full of possibilities. A spear goes straight through his throat, tearing his arteries opened. Michael tumbles to the ground, gurgling, puking out blood. He clutches his throat, but nothing could do. The flame of vengeance has been extinguished and there is nothing awaiting him but the cold uncaring abyss. He opens his mouth, but no words could come out.

‘I don’t want to die’ No one could hear his cries.

Bruno is already by his friend side, wrapping the horrible wound.

“No no no, answer me, Mordia. You can’t die!”

There is nothing, his friend is in shock, but he is still breathing. There is still hope!... Hope? In this shattered world, is there such a thing. In his mind an image appears, of a person, a paradox, a mystery, otherworldly, the Stranger.

She is his last hope! Bruno is not sure how but this ember is all that he has.

Taking his friend on his back, the man ventures into deeper into the dark world. He passes by the corpse of Michael without a single care. The thought of retrieving the spear is nowhere in his mind. Clutching the steel knife, Bruno soon encounters monster of many disciplines. The depth, the cosmos, the dessert, pain and many more. This night, they all come out on a parade.

Many simply pass by the man but not all of them, others are interested in this prey, the first of many in their visit to this realm.

“You can try but none of you will stop me!” Bruno declared with great resolve, a fire lighting up within “I won’t let you die here, my friend”