Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

Kael stared at the floating message in the air, watching as it dissipated like stardust, slowly dancing away into the mana particles suspended around him. It was beautiful. Solemn. Unreal.

[ Divine Contract Established ]

The phrase echoed within him like a muffled thunder. Not just in his mind — his soul resonated with the confirmation. It felt as if every fiber of his existence had been acknowledged by something far greater, something ancient and sacred. The pact wasn't merely magical. It was absolute.

He raised his eyes to Ygg — or rather, the living manifestation of the World Tree. She still watched him with that enigmatic smile, as if she knew exactly what he was feeling, as if each of his thoughts echoed in her emerald gaze.

"You just... hired me?" Kael asked, his voice low, hoarse, almost disbelieving. "Like I'm just some common mercenary?"

Ygg simply swirled the teacup in her hands, as though that accusation weighed no more than the aroma rising from her drink.

"Kael, darling..." she began, her voice a blend of breeze-sweetness and storm-weight, "...you are not just anyone. You're an entity. A predator among gods. A hunter of absolutes. And right now..." her eyes locked onto his, serious now, "...I need exactly that."

Kael clenched his fists. The contract pulsed within him, impatient — like a war drum echoing through his veins.

"Who's the plague?" he asked bluntly. There was no room left for games. "Who do you want me to eliminate?"

Ygg rested her elbows on the table, fingers interlaced before her lips, her expression shedding its lightness... descending into something heavier. Darker.

"It's not just one man," she said, her voice dipping into shadow. "It's a group. A cell of entities, alchemists, and heretics trying to use fragments of my being for... let's say, unnatural purposes."

She gestured slightly, and a flower at the center of the table bloomed... revealing, like a holographic display in its petals, fragmented scenes. Vials. Instruments of torture. Black magic. Dissected plant-like bodies.

"They're trying to replicate and manipulate my essence," she continued, her voice now colder. "Creating drugs. Weapons. Curses. They're after the sacred nectar... the very lifeblood of my dryad. Sylphie."

The name dropped like an anchor in the middle of the table. And in Kael's chest.

"I see... the hunt she's been running from since childhood..." he murmured, feeling the rage claw its way up his throat.

"Yes," Ygg replied, her eyes glinting with contained pain. "Her blood is pure. It's the nectar of the World Tree. Those bastards want to turn her into a... divine battery. An eternal reservoir of power."

Kael looked at the images again, now displaying arcane symbols — ritual schematics, alchemical circles connected to vials and crystals. He narrowed his eyes.

"Those fuckers..." he muttered, fury burning cold beneath his skin.

"I can't interfere directly," said Ygg, leaning back with graceful poise. "The Laws of the World bind me. I sustain the realms, I am part of the structure of reality. If I act... reality itself might fracture. But..."

She raised a finger, a subtle smile on her lips.

"I can hire."

Kael scoffed with dry irony. "How convenient."

"Necessary," she retorted, firmly. "And... I trust you. Not just because you're powerful. But because you bear the Hunter's Mark."

He raised an eyebrow. "The Mark of what?"

Ygg leaned forward, as if about to reveal an ancient secret.

"True hunters are not born by chance. Their souls carry a unique mark. An invisible seal, etched by the world itself. That mark allows them to evolve faster, to absorb, adapt — to become monsters among monsters."

Kael blinked. His heart beat faster. He understood.

The system.

She knew. Or at least, she almost knew.

"Judging by that look... you've already figured out how to exploit it, haven't you?" Ygg asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Care to tell me how?"

Kael hesitated. For a moment, he considered denying it. But lying to this — to her — made no sense. She was the world. The forest. The earth. The mother of all that breathes.

"Souls," he finally said, voice low. "I absorb souls. That's what makes me grow."

Ygg watched him for a second longer than usual. Then, a slow smile curved her lips.

"Ah... so that's it. Now it all makes sense." She glanced to the left — where the fox played distractedly with a shimmering butterfly.

"You made a pact with that goddess, didn't you?" Kael turned sharply — and saw Ahri.

Frozen.

Her eyes wide, locked onto Ygg. The mask of indifference had vanished into a tense, brittle silence.

"Ara, ara," Ygg said with a soft laugh, crossing her legs elegantly. "Still pretending not to be who you are? Tsk, tsk. That's very naughty."

Kael looked again at the fox.

Small. Cute. Bright-eyed, with a fluffy tail lazily swaying as she very poorly pretended to still be focused on the now-vanished butterfly.

"Goddess?" he repeated, turning slowly toward Ygg, one brow arched. "You're kidding, right? She's just... a fox."

Ygg only smiled.

And then — something shifted.

The air behind Kael rippled, as if the world itself had just held its breath. A warm, elegant presence formed behind him, and before he could even react…

"You and your big mouth," came a sultry, husky voice right by his ear, laced with irony and seduction.

Kael froze.

That voice… he had never heard it before.

Before he could turn his head, a rose-gold aura spread around them, soft and powerful, like the scent of night-blooming flowers at midnight. The light shimmered, coalesced — and then…

She appeared.

Not a fox.

Not a fox.

But a woman.

Tall, with perfect, dangerously well-defined curves. Her long light pink hair fell like a cascade of silk down to her waist, surrounded by sparkles that looked like stardust. The kimono she wore was traditional, yes - but with a neckline that defied all concepts of modesty and logic. Floral fabrics in soft tones embraced her body with the precision of a forbidden whisper.

And behind her... nine tails. Nine. Flowing, fluttering like living veils, full of power.

Kael swallowed.

"Ahri...?" he said, the word coming out like an apology and a swear word at the same time.

The woman turned her face towards him, her golden eyes shining with a malice that had been contained for centuries.

"I was kind of enjoying being just the 'cute fox', you know? So easy. So convenient," she said, walking up to him with a subtle but absurdly effective roll. "But then you call me 'just a fox'? Oh, Kael... you broke my heart."

Kael took a step back, visibly lost. "You-what? Do you speak? Are you... a goddess?!"

Ahri just smiled and spun around, making her tails open in a dazzling fan.

"I was your spirit relative, yes," she said with false innocence, "but you never asked who I was, did you? You never bothered to find out why a mystical forest creature accepted a bond with a mortal."

Ygg laughed behind them, the sound echoing like sacred bells rung by mischievous fauns.

"Ahhh, that moment was worth every fallen leaf over the last hundred years," she said, fanning herself with a fan made of living petals. "I really wanted to see your face, Kael."

He stared at Ahri as if she were a spirit from the mists - and in a way, she was. Everything he knew about her... was it a lie? Or just a very, very small part of the truth?

"Are you telling me," he said slowly, still trying to process, "that this cute thing that sleeps curled up on my lap... is a goddess... with nine tails... and.... you've only just decided to tell?"

Ahri crossed her arms, making her cleavage seem even more offensive. "You never asked."

"I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD SOMETHING TO ASK!"

"It's not my fault if you're absent-minded," she replied with a sharp little smile.

Kael wiped his hand across his face. A nervous laugh escaped, against his will.

Ygg, still with the same serene smile - but with his eyes shining with pure amusement - rested his cup on the living wooden table and commented, like someone watching the climax of a play written by bored gods:

"Well... now that everyone has taken off their masks... can we get back to work?"

Ahri slowly turned her golden gaze to Kael, a lazy smile on her lips. There was something dangerously sweet about it. Something that said "it's not over".

"Not everyone has taken off their masks," she said in a melodic tone. And before anyone could react, she raised her hand in the air as if to catch a piece of fruit hanging from an invisible branch.

Her fingertips closed on nothing - and nothing squirmed.

A soft, almost imperceptible crack echoed as something invisible seemed to tear apart. A shadow struggled in the air, writhing until it revealed itself.

"How about you tell him who you really are too... you slut."

The last word came out like melodic poison as Ahri pulled hard, materializing a figure between her fingers - a woman wrapped in shadowy veils, bluish-grey skin and eyes like gaps between worlds. Umbra.

"HEY! HEY, CALM DOWN!" Umbra screamed, struggling with her thin arms like liquid shadows, before her entire form distorted into a dark glow.

With a PLOFT, the female figure vanished - giving way to a small wyvern with white scales and wide eyes, which flew in a zig-zag pattern and hid behind Kael's neck with quivering wings.

"FUCKING CRAZY!" she screamed, pointing a trembling claw at Ahri. "You almost ripped out my essence with that solar bitch hand!"

Ahri just laughed.

"Fufufufu..." came the sound, smooth as silk... and as threatening as a whisper in the dark.

"Did you really think you could hide from me? I sensed you the moment he summoned you... your layers of disguise stink of primitive chaos."

Kael, now with a kitsune goddess at his side and a hysterical wyvern on his shoulder, just held up his hands.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he said, looking from one to the other. "Is someone going to explain to me what's going on here?! Ahri is a goddess, the fox is a woman with nine tails, now Umbra is... who, exactly?!"