Chapter 14: Exousia Chapter 13
Chayse watched the day pass in complete bliss. The sun had long vanished, only for the moon to illuminate the entire town in its silvery light. Thousands of stars joined and painted the vast sky with their brilliant luster.
The Hunter relaxed in his chair and continued to stargaze, marveling at the beauty of the world in spite of its chaos. Unlike most, Chayse always found the time to take joy in the little things in life. There was so much more to life than just hunting and fighting. Not that he didn't enjoy those things.
However, he preferred it when he could settle down and get comfortable. Find someone women, drink, gamble, anything that he could imagine in his rotted mind brought him joy.
Unfortunately, his moments of relaxation didn't last long. The brown-haired man's gaze shifted from the sky down to across the street. Three men flew out from a tavern onto the dirt road by an individual in a dark, hooded robe. At first, Chayse decided to ignore it. But, once he took a second look at the hooded figure, he found himself uneasy.
His hand instinctively clenched, searching for the security that his trusty bow--Bellatrix--could provide him.
The three men returned to their feet, albeit they stumbled. Their faces flushed and speech slurred as they barked curses and insults at the hooded individual.
"Hey! You! You have some nerve tossing us out of the tavern like that!" The first man slurred.
"Yeah! We're paying customers! We're allowed to be as loud and rowdy as we please!" The second man added.
"You must have a death wish for you to mess with us so carelessly!" The third man reached for the weapon on his waist.
"Deathwish, you say? That is not the case for this one." The hooded man shook his head in response to the drunkard's words, "Besides, in your current state, this one doubts you three could do any harm."
"What was that?!" The third drunkard unsheathed his sword and stepped forward, dangerously brandishing his weapon as he approached the hooded man.
"Fool..." The hooded man reached into his robes and pulled out three dark orbs. Within a matter of seconds, he pressed the ominous objects against the skins of the drunks. At that moment, all three men dropped to the ground, writhing in agonizing pain as their skin turned pitch black.
Over time, the drunks vanished. Their cries of pain got replaced with the shrilling howls of the monsters they became--Lycan's. At the sight of the wolf-creatures standing in the middle of the street, Chayse jumped out of his seat.
"What the hell?!" He quickly grabbed his bow, pulled out three arrows from his quiver, and shot down the monsters. The arrows pierced through the heads of the Lycan's, slaying them almost instantly.
The hooded man sharply turned his gaze to Chayse once the monsters vanished. The unnatural glare from the man's purple colored eyes unnerved the Hunter. However, he regained his composure and grabbed another arrow from his quiver.
"You with the hood! Don't you dare move from that spot unless you want an arrow in you!" Chayse shouted. The mysterious man smirked from under his hood and tested the waters. Ever defiant, the man took a step back. Chayse aimed his arrow. "I'm warning you!"
The man clad in black ignored the warning and took off down the street. Chayse released his grip on his arrow and watched it soar through the air as it headed straight for the fleeing individual.
But, it missed.
Or rather, the hooded man took a sharp turn around a corner, narrowly avoiding the arrow.
Chayse lowered his bow and clicked his tongue. While it pained him to miss a shot, a moment of relief flushed over him when he realized Elma hadn't caught it.
"Elma! Get up!" Chayse entered the room and rushed over to his slumbering partner. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. When she woke up, she immediately swung and punched him in the face.
"What do you think you're doing?! What's all the yelling and screaming about?!" Elma demanded while Chayse recoiled back, gripping his nose.
"Grab your bow! There's trouble in the town! Come on!" Chayse hurried out the door and jumped from the balcony, landing on the ground below with ease. Elma collected her gear and followed suit.
"What's going on, Chayse? Who are we chasing after?" Elma asked.
"No idea! But I saw a person in some robes transform three people into Varvara!" Chayse informed her.
"What?! How is that even possible?!"
"I don't know. But we've got to find that person right now before they can cause any more harm!" Chayse picked up the pace with Elma following close behind. They turned the corner and raced through the alleyway the hooded man went down earlier.
The Hunters stopped in their tracks upon losing any trace of the target. Nothing seemed out of place in the area.
"Damn it! Where could he have gone?" Chayse walked on ahead and surveyed the area, hoping to find something that could help him locate the mysterious individual. That man was far too dangerous to be left alone in the town.
"He couldn't have disappeared without a trace," Elma stated. "You said earlier that this person turned people into Varvara, right?"
Chayse nodded his head in response. "That's right. I know it sounds crazy. But, I saw him do it with my own eyes. He used these black orbs. They looked like Vitalis."
Elma folded her arms underneath her chest and closed her eyes to assess the information. The absurdity of transforming humans into Varvara without assistance from said monsters themselves was a concept that never crossed the mind of the Huntress. Humans couldn't turn other humans into monsters. It wasn't possible.
It shouldn't have been possible.
However, Chayse wasn't one to make such incredible lies. If he believed that's what he saw, then Elma trusted him one hundred percent.
"Well then, perhaps this mysterious man has something to do with the Varvara attacks recently." Elma assumed.
"More reason to find him now before he causes any more trouble." Chayse and Elma continued with their search around the area. They investigated the alleyways and the roads ahead. It wasn't until they reached the town square that they found a clue as to where the hooded man went.
A large pack of Lycan's surrounded the area, growling and snarling as they approached the Hunters. Chayse and Elma readied themselves for combat and went on the offensive. Wholly synchronized, the Hunters fired arrows into the crowd of monsters. Upon hitting their intended targets, the projectiles exploded, consuming some of the surrounding monsters.
Elma stepped forward and reached behind her back for more arrows. Several Lycan's charged her with their fangs and claws at the ready to tear her apart. But, Chayse stood in front of her and knocked them away with his Neoframe arm. Elma took advantage of the downed monsters and shot them dead.
Afterward, the two scattered, running around the area firing multiple arrows at the enemies. The bodies of their fallen prey piled up one by one. The smoke from their evaporating bodies provided enough cover for the Hunters to conceal themselves. They jumped out from the smoke and continued to thin the numbers of the Lycan's.
Eventually, the entire town square got cleared, leaving only Chayse and Elma. The Hunters lowered their weapons and took that moment of silence to rest and catch their breath.
"Damn it! Did that man in the hood do all this?!" Elma scouted the area for any sign of their new target.
"This is my fault..." Chayse proclaimed. "So many people got turned into monsters because I didn't stop him in time."
"Don't beat yourself up over it, Chayse. Stay focused."
"I didn't even warn the people."
Elma approached Chayse and stopped once the ground beneath them violently shook. Out from the ground came a giant, serpentine creature with black scales, amethyst eyes, and sharp fangs. A black substance oozed from the serpent's mouth and dropped to the ground, corroding it.
"A Balkan?! Here?!" Chayse aimed at the monster.
"I hate snakes," Elma complained.
The giant serpent unhinged its massive jaw and lunged at the Hunters. Chayse and Elma jumped out of the way and fired explosive arrows at the monster. The explosions didn't even seem to scratch the hide of it.
The Balkan whipped around and lunged at the Hunters once more. They maneuvered around it again and watched it crash through the building behind them. The building collapsed and buried the serpent. The Hunters shielded their eyes and slowly approached the pile of rubble.
Once the dust cleared, the serpent had vanished.
"Did we kill it?" Chayse asked.
"Doubt it," Elma looked down once she felt the ground beneath her shake again. The Balkan erupted from below the Hunters and sent them flying.
Chayse skidded across the ground while Elma flew into the air. The Balkan honed its gaze on the airborne Huntresses and lunged with its jaw unhinged.
"I don't think so!" Elma fired multiple explosive arrows into the mouth of the snake. The creature recoiled and let out an agonizing screech. The Huntress slid down the back of the monster and safely reached the ground.
Chayse jumped toward the snake, grabbed it by the fang with his Neoframe arm, and jammed it into the ground. Before the monster could react, the Hunter held his arm out and smirked. The Ignis Vitalis embedded into Chayse's shoulder glowed brightly. Afterward, a torrent of flames shot out from the palm of Chayse's hand into the open mouth of the Balkan.
The Balkan's entire body expanded to massive proportions until it exploded.
"Is that all of them? Please say yes." Chayse pleaded.
"Not quite," Elma sharply turned around and fired an arrow toward a nearby building. The projectile soared across the air at its intended target--the hooded man. The man reached his arm out and captured the arrow with his hand. He snapped the object in half with ease and dropped it. "I guess that's him?"
"Yeah, that's the one," Chayse confirmed, "although you really shouldn't be firing your arrows at people if you're not certain they're the culprit."
"He shouldn't have been staring at me so intensely like that. It was beginning to creep me out, you know." Elma lowered her bow and approached the building. The Hunters made their way to the rooftop where the hooded man waited.
"You two are more skilled than this one initially assumed. Those Varvara proved no match for you." The hooded man congratulated the Hunters.
Elma ignored the sarcasm and stepped forward. She raised her bow and aimed an arrow at the man's head. "Who the hell are you?! Why're you turning people into Varvara?!"
"Getting straight to the point? Very well, this one will play along." The person removed their hood, revealing his sweptback black hair, purple eyes, and devious smile. "This one's name is Maur."
"Why're you suddenly introducing yourself?" Chayse asked, feeling weary about the whole confrontation.
"Because this one is showing common courtesy. You Hunters should feel the need to know the name of the man that will send you to the afterlife." Maur revealed.
Tension spread throughout the bodies of the Hunters. The man before them exuded such arrogance. However, it felt different from their confrontation with Thelo. Maur felt all the more dangerous to them.
"You sound confident," Elma noted. "You think you can kill both of us? We just laid waste to your entire pack of monsters."
"Indeed. You Hunters accomplished such a task." Maur nodded his head in agreement. Despite the severity of the situation, not a single shred of panic or concern showed through the man's actions or manner of speech. "However, those were mere pawns in the grand scheme of things. Nothing more than mere decoration for what is to come in the future."
"What's to come in the future?" Chayse repeated. "And what do you mean by that?"
The smile on Maur's face dropped. "Not even going to bother taking a guess? Very well, this one shall give you a hint. It is Mother's arrival."
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