I woke up to the sound of screams. Darkness was everywhere—eyes closed or open, it made no difference. The only contrast was the unending, haunting screams. I moved from my bed, reaching out, feeling my way through the dark. Beside my bed was the one my little sister slept in. I touched her bed to see if she was there, but felt nothing. I searched frantically, my hands sweeping across only wet sheets.
The constant screaming sent fear deep into my bones. A flicker of firelight started to seep in from outside. That's when I saw it—near the foot of my bed was half a head, with only one side of the face intact. My mind went blank. My scream caught in my throat. I moved toward it and picked it up.
A single blue eye stared wide open in terror, blood vessels prominent in the sclera. Her blonde hair was now soaked in red. I collapsed on my back, the remains of my sister's head clutched tightly to my chest. Grief overtook me. I let go of everything—and succumbed to the void.
Jack woke up to the screams of villagers and saw people running. Black shadows chased after them—monsters, bloodthirsty and cruel, hunting in packs and feeding on fear. These shadow monsters merged with the darkness, traveling through shadows. They were from the Red Zone Forest and had never left their territory to hunt before.
What's going on here? Jack thought. I have to protect my family.
He had once been a B-rank hunter and still knew how to fight. Grabbing his old sword, he ran in the opposite direction of the fleeing villagers. He came upon a shadow monster—panther-like, with glowing red eyes and a smoky black aura. Jack knew he had to kill it in a single swift stroke. In a flash, he was beside the beast and drove his sword—glowing with blue light—straight through its head.
"One down, many more to go," he muttered.
He moved toward a nearby house where three shadow monsters were feeding leisurely on a man's corpse. One noticed him and approached while the other two continued eating, unfazed.
The monster leaped at Jack, vanishing into the air to become smoke, then reappearing behind him, slashing his shoulder. Jack grunted, startled. "What the hell is a B-rank shadow monster doing here?"
With a blink, he slashed the monster's leg in a blur, his sword wrapped in a glowing blue aura. I need to get out of here. I can't fight them all, he thought.
He blinked again, slashed the monster's other leg, and ran toward his home. With swift footwork, he reached his house and rushed into his children's room.
What he saw made his world collapse.
Little Anna's white bed was drenched in blood. Alex lay near it on his back, holding a severed head in his hands.
Jack rushed to him, and as he saw what Alex held, a scream of anguish tore from his throat.
"NO! ANNA!"
Tears streamed down his face as he checked Alex—he was alive.
Suddenly, shadow monsters entered the room. Jack snapped back into focus. Five monsters—one B-rank, the rest D-rank or lower.
I have to take out the B-rank first. It's the only chance for survival, Jack thought.
He blinked and appeared beside the B-rank monster, thrusting his sword toward its eye, but failed to pierce the brain. The monster slashed at him with shadowy claws. Jack parried most of the blows, but one cut across his lower belly, blood pouring down.
Jack knew he didn't have much elemental power left. He had to finish this and escape with Alex.
With everything he had, Jack blinked to the monster's side and thrust his sword through its ear canal, piercing the brain. The monster collapsed with a thud.
Jack picked up Alex, slung him over his shoulder, and dashed out of the house into the night—
Jack ran into the forest, opposite the direction of the villagers, to avoid attracting the attention of the monsters. After half an hour of running, Jack felt dizzy due to excessive blood loss. The forest was dark, with only the moonlight casting faint shadows. Near a hill, he spotted a narrow opening in the mountain, partially hidden by bushes. He recognized the cave—his usual resting spot after hunts.
He entered the cave, dragging his son behind him. The cave was dim, lit only by moonlight filtering through a slit in the roof. Jack laid his son down opposite the entrance and exhaled deeply.
"Son, I'm sorry I have to leave you alone here. I don't want to, but if I stay, those shadow bastards will swarm this place."
Jack removed Alex's clothes, cleaned the remaining blood from his body, and crushed some plants over him.
"These are essence plants. They can mask a person's presence from monsters—only if the person isn't injured. But if you're bleeding, the monsters can track you. Shadow monsters are the most sensitive of them all."
He left his ring with Alex and stepped out of the cave. As soon as he did, he sprinted into the dense forest. More than ten shadow monsters were chasing him.
After five minutes, Jack grew breathless—he had lost too much blood. He stopped near a river, the full moon breaking through the clouds, casting a milky glow across the water, shimmering with starlight. Jack knelt and caught his breath as the monsters surrounded him—over twenty of them.
A golden-eyed shadow panther leapt from a tree and approached.
"So you finally realized you can't run," it said.
Jack's eyes widened in shock. *How is that possible? An A-rank monster came to massacre a tiny village?*
Jack asked, "Why would an A-rank lord come to a small village?"
"Oh, so you still have some energy left," the shadow panther said with a fanged grin. "It won't hurt to tell you now—since you're going to die anyway. I know who you are—Jack Veylor, the talentless outcast from the Silent Veil clan. The whole village was destroyed because of you."
Jack's eyes widened again, then he began to smile—a bitter smile full of sadness and loss.
"So... my family finally came after me," he murmured. "But I can't let you leave. Not now that you're all here. Let's begin."
Jack began overloading the elemental power in his heart. Water and moonlight swirled toward him, forming a whirlpool of milky and blue energy. Alarmed, the golden-eyed panther growled, and the shadow monsters closed in. But before they could reach him, Jack released a massive magical blast that engulfed them all.
A shockwave echoed through the forest. A huge crater was left behind—soon filled with water, becoming a new lake.
The golden-eyed shadow panther crawled out of the crater, bleeding and wounded.
"Crazy Veylor… talentless bastard. Who knew this mission would be so dangerous? I better get proper compensation.