The Hunter in White
We left the shelter just before dawn.
The city was quiet—too quiet.
No traffic. No drones. No patrols. Only the low hum of arcane wards woven into the skyscrapers above, pulsing like a heartbeat beneath the steel skin of the city.
Aria was walking again, but barely. Her body still trembled from the Devil's blood. I kept close, eyes scanning every alley.
Then my system pinged.
> [Incoming Threat Detected]
[Name: Seraph X]
[Affiliation: Church of Order, Elite Hunter Rank]
[Intent: Personal Vengeance / Termination]
I froze.
Aria did too.
Her face went pale. "Seraph X…? No. He's dead. I—I killed him."
A shadow dropped from the rooftop, landing without a sound.
He stood tall—seven feet at least—cloaked in radiant white. His mask was bone-white porcelain, but unlike the others, it had cracks. Deep ones. As if someone had burned through it from the inside.
> "Hello again, Aria," the man said.
His voice was calm. No anger. No hatred.
Worse.
He sounded… amused.
"You didn't kill me," he said, stepping closer. "You just slowed me down."
Aria backed away, trembling. "You burned half a city. You executed children."
"They were corrupted. Just like you."
I stepped in front of her, fists clenched.
He tilted his head. "And you must be the system thief. The bonded fool. Did she tell you what she did to us? To me?"
> "Shut the hell up," I snapped.
> [System Alert: Threat Level S]
[Auto-Defense Protocols Disabled — System Authority Override Detected]
Wait—what?
My system blinked red.
> [Seraph X is a System-Enforcer. Your contract is recognized as illegal.]
I grabbed Aria's wrist. "We run. Now."
Too late.
Seraph X blurred forward. His scepter morphed mid-swing—into a blade of glowing light.
It cracked the air where my head had been a second earlier.
I dove, pulling Aria with me. The street exploded in divine fire. My skin burned. Aria cried out as shrapnel bit into her legs.
We tumbled behind a crashed drone transport.
Seraph didn't pursue.
He stood in the flames, watching us. Not moving.
"I will not chase you, Aria," he said. "You will come to me… eventually. They always do."
Then he turned and vanished into the smoke.
> [System Note: Seraph X has marked your soul with a divine brand.]
[You cannot hide from him. Only delay the next encounter.]
---
We made it to the lower edge of District 5 before collapsing behind a vendor stall.
My breathing was ragged. Aria was silent, hugging her knees. Her eyes were wide with something deeper than fear.
Guilt.
"I thought I destroyed him," she whispered.
"You didn't."
She looked up at me, eyes glassy. "He was my mentor, Flare. My friend. He trained me when I joined the Chosen."
I didn't respond. I couldn't.
But I made a vow right there, in the dying light of morning.
I didn't care what I was.
What my system was.
What this contract wanted from me.
No one was going to touch her again.