Kitana's mornings had blurred into a relentless cycle. Wake. Train. Hunt. Return. The grind never stopped. But every day, something inside her refused to let go—an unyielding force that kept her moving forward. Her body ached, her mind was exhausted, but she didn't care. Grief and anger fueled her, sharpening her focus, pushing her beyond her limits.
Today felt different. Her eyes were sharper, her stance firmer. The moment she stepped into the training yard, she knew—she was no longer fumbling with a borrowed blade. The sword in her hand was hers. Every strike, every movement, was calculated. She was becoming the warrior she had promised herself she would be.
Kitana had fought countless beasts before, but today was different. Today, she was hunting demons.
The guild had given her a mission—an easy one, they had said. A group of lesser demons had been spotted in the nearby woods, terrorizing travelers. A simple extermination. She had accepted without hesitation. She wasn't just eager to prove herself. She needed to feel something other than loss.
The wind whispered through the trees as she ventured into the forest, skeletal branches casting jagged shadows across the ground. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and decay. Then came the stench of sulfur. The demons were near.
Her pulse quickened. She was no longer the woman who had watched her husband die. No longer the grieving widow wandering the village in silence.
Kitana was a hunter. And today, she would hunt.
The demons emerged from the darkness—twisted, grotesque forms with glowing red eyes. They hissed as she approached, claws scraping against the earth, growls vibrating through the trees.
She gripped her katana tightly, feeling the cool steel hum beneath her fingers. No hesitation. The demons lunged.
Her first strike was clumsy—a reflex rather than precision. But she adjusted, regaining her balance in an instant. The second strike was smooth, lethal. A demon's head tumbled from its shoulders.
The others came faster, angrier. But Kitana had found her rhythm. Her blade carved through the air with deadly grace, cutting them down one by one. They were no match for her.
And then, silence. The forest lay still once more, the bodies of her enemies scattered at her feet.
Kitana stood among them, panting, sweat dripping down her brow. Her heart pounded, but there was no fear. No hesitation.
This was what she had trained for. This was what she had needed to feel.
She lowered her katana, exhaling deeply. A part of her wanted to savor the victory. But another part—the part that had driven her this far—reminded her of the bigger picture.
This wasn't about a single hunt.
This was about vengeance.
This was about the high demon who had destroyed her life.
And she would not stop until she found him.
Years passed. Kitana's skill grew. Each hunt brought her closer to her goal. Within the Hunters' Guild, her name became legend—whispered with both respect and fear. No demon was too dangerous. No challenge too great.
She had become the hunter they feared in the dark.
And she was just getting started.
But as Kitana's reputation spread, so did the whispers. Whispers of a high demon—one more powerful than any other, the architect of her suffering, the shadow behind her husband's murder. The one who had destroyed everything she had ever known.
The legend of the high demon was as old as the land itself. It was said he dwelled in a fortress beyond the mountains, in a place so desolate that no living thing could survive. The guild feared him. They warned hunters never to venture too close.
But Kitana wasn't afraid. She had come too far to stop now.
One evening, after a long day of hunting, she received a letter. The ink was smudged, the paper worn, but the message was clear:
The high demon is real. He is not a myth. And we know where he is. The map rests below, we warn any travelers who dare to challenge him
Her heart pounded as she read the words. This was it. The moment she had been waiting for. She had found him. And she was ready.
Without hesitation, she packed her things. There was no time to waste.
The journey to the high demon's lair was long and treacherous, filled with dangers that would have made lesser hunters turn back. The land itself seemed to resist her, as if trying to keep her from reaching her goal. But Kitana pressed on, her eyes fixed ahead, her heart hardened by the only thing that had kept her alive all these years—vengeance.
After weeks of relentless travel, she reached the gates of the high demon's fortress. Massive stone walls loomed before her, cold and imposing beneath the pale light of the moon. The air was thick, charged with an unnatural energy.
There was no turning back now.
Kitana tightened her grip on her katana, the blade gleaming in the darkness.
The high demon was waiting.
As she stepped forward, the forest around her seemed to shift. The trees twisted, their skeletal limbs stretching toward the sky, as if warped by the demon's very presence. The air grew heavier, laced with the scent of sulfur and decay.
It was as though the very land itself was changing, warping under the influence of the demon's power. For weeks, she had followed whispers, rumors, and every trace of demonic activity. Each step had brought her closer to him—the one who had torn her world apart. The one who had killed her husband and condemned her to a life fueled by vengeance.
She would find him. She would destroy him. And she would reclaim what was left of her soul.
Her blades, worn from countless battles, rested in her hands, their familiar weight grounding her. The cold forest air bit at her skin, but it couldn't touch the fire burning in her chest. Her resolve was unshakable.
Then, she found it.
A cavern. Its gaping mouth exhaled darkness, swallowing the dim light of the moon. A slow, steady breath left her lips.
He was inside.
Her grip tightened on her katanas. Her heartbeat was steady.
This was it.
The moment she had been waiting for.
The moment she would finally avenge Arlo.
She stepped forward.
The lair was nothing like she had imagined. No grotesque den of horrors, no battlefield strewn with the bones of the fallen.
It was eerily… clean.
A long, dark corridor stretched before her, leading deep underground. Strange markings covered the walls, symbols she didn't recognize pulsing faintly—alive with something unnatural.
A shiver ran down her spine.
She wasn't alone.
Kitana halted, gripping her katanas tighter as her eyes scanned the hallway. Then, she saw it—a doorway at the end of the passage, yawning like the maw of a beast.
As she stepped inside, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
The air was heavy. Suffocating.
She could feel it.
Something ancient. Something powerful.
And then, she saw him.
He emerged from the shadows, his form shifting through the mist like a nightmare taking shape. He moved with an unnatural grace, tall and imposing, his beauty as breathtaking as it was wrong—something that did not belong to a creature of his kind. His eyes, twin rubies glowing with predatory hunger, locked onto hers. The very air around him seemed to distort, heavy with a presence that made it difficult to breathe.
Kitana's fingers instinctively tightened around her sword.
"You," she whispered through clenched teeth. "You're the one who killed him."
The demon tilted his head, a slow smirk curling his lips.
"Killed?" His voice was smooth, taunting. "Oh, my dear, that was wasn't my fault . You were too late to save him, and too weak to defeat me."
Kitana's grip on her blade steadied as fury burned through her veins. "I don't need to listen to a beast," she spat. "I just need to make you suffer."
Laughter. Low and rich, rolling through the air like distant thunder.
"You think you can hurt me, little hunter?" The high demon's voice sent a chill down her spine. "I am beyond pain. I am beyond you."
Before she could react, he was upon her.
A blur of movement.
A crushing weight.
Cold fingers wrapped around her throat, slamming her to the ground. The impact knocked the air from her lungs, leaving her gasping as she clawed at his grip. His strength was inhuman—effortless.
"You don't get to speak of vengeance, Kitana," he murmured, his tone almost… gentle. If she hadn't seen his eyes, she might have mistaken it for concern. But those eyes… they held something else. Something dark. "You are nothing more than a broken soul. You were never meant to defeat me."
Her vision blurred at the edges. The pressure on her throat tightened. Her body weakened.
Was this it?
Had she come all this way only to fall at his hands?
The demon's glowing eyes bore into hers, his grip unrelenting. Darkness crept into the edges of her vision. Then—
A voice.
Faint. Distant. Calling her name.
A memory surfaced, flickering like a dying flame.
No.
She wouldn't die here. Not like this.
With a desperate surge of strength, she drove her knee into his ribs. The sudden impact made him loosen his grip—just for a second. But a second was all she needed. She twisted free, gasping as she scrambled to her feet, her heart pounding against her ribs.
The high demon straightened, watching her with amused interest.
"Impressive," he mused. "But futile."
Kitana didn't respond. She lunged.
Her blade cut through the air in a wide arc, aimed straight for his chest.
But he was faster.
With effortless grace, he sidestepped, his laughter echoing through the mist.
"You're not ready for this," he said, his voice laced with dark amusement. "Your hatred blinds you. You think grief has made you strong, but it is your greatest weakness."
Kitana gritted her teeth, forcing herself to focus. She wouldn't let him inside her head.
Another strike—faster, more precise. But he was already gone, moving like smoke, his presence shifting just out of reach.
Then—
Something coiled around her ankle.
A tendril of shadow.
It snapped tight like a vice, yanking her off balance. She hit the ground hard, her sword slipping from her grasp.
"So consumed by revenge," the demon murmured, his tone sickly sweet. "You never considered what would happen when you faced true power."
The mist thickened, curling around her limbs like living chains. Her muscles felt heavy. The air too dense to breathe. The very ground beneath her seemed to betray her, rooting her in place.
The demon stepped closer, his hand reaching for her throat once more.
"You've lost, little hunter."
His voice was velvet, his smile cruel.
"And now, you are mine."
Kitana struggled, but the shadows held her fast.
"No…" she rasped, her voice barely a whisper.
The demon chuckled.
"Oh, yes."
With a snap of his fingers, the ground beneath her gave way.
She fell.
And the darkness swallowed her whole.
When Kitana awoke, she was met with cold stone and dim torchlight. Every inch of her body ached, her head spun, and the heavy chains biting into her wrists sent a chill through her bones. It took only a moment for the weight of reality to crash down on her.
She had been captured.
Before she could fully grasp the situation, footsteps echoed off the cell walls. The iron door creaked open.
He stepped inside.
Unarmed. Unguarded.
And then—he knelt before her.
"Did you really think you found me?" he murmured, tilting his head. A slow smirk played across his lips, his crimson eyes gleaming with cruel delight.
Kitana's breath came in ragged gasps as she struggled, but the chains only tightened.
"What—" she gritted her teeth. "What is this?"
The demon leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand as if he had all the time in the world.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to get here," he mused.
No.
No, that wasn't possible. She found him. She had tracked him here. This was her revenge.
The demon's smile widened.
"You never found me, Kitana."
His voice was soft. Mocking. Almost… amused.
"I led you here."
The world tilted. Her stomach dropped.
"You're lying!" she shouted.
He sighed, as if disappointed. "Am I?"
His fingers brushed over the cold stone floor. "The notice you saw? I made sure you'd find it. The demons you killed along the way? My subordinates. They were meant to fall anyways. And the final piece—the information that led you here? Did you think it was fate? Luck?"
His smile sharpened, cutting like a blade.
"No."
Kitana's pulse pounded in her ears.
"All of it was mine to give."
No. No, this couldn't—
"I had to make sure you came to me," the demon continued, tapping his fingers lazily against her leg. "A blade is useless if it shatters too soon. You needed to become something first. You needed to grow strong enough to reach me. You needed to be a worthy pet."
His eyes darkened. His smirk deepened. He rose to his feet, arms outstretched, a wicked, nauseating glee radiating from him.
"And now, you're perfect."
Kitana felt sick.
She had spent years chasing him. Years believing she was the hunter. And all along—
She had been following his plan.
Her revenge was not hers.
Her rise to power was not hers.
Her purpose was not hers.
It was his.
"How does it feel?" The demon's voice slithered around her like poison. "To know you were nothing more than a pawn?"
Kitana's breath hitched.
Arlo's laughter echoed in her memory. His warmth. His love. All of it—gone.
And now, she knew the truth.
The one who took him from her had shaped her grief into a weapon. Had molded her, step by step, into exactly what he wanted.
A deep, shattering rage coiled inside her.
The demon's gaze darkened, his pupils dilating as a sickening hunger twisted his features. He trembled—not in fear, but in exhilaration.
"Ah," he breathed, eyes gleaming. "There it is."
With a sickening look he leaned in, voice barely above a whisper.
"Let's see what happens when I break you again."