The sun was setting when Zhen arrived in Tolin—before Sohei. He hid behind a large boulder nestled between the mud and the shore, his gaze locked on a creature that he suspected was Sohei's target.
Though it belonged to the Western Clan's territory, Tolin had long been declared forbidden—not by curse, but by a blood pact sworn by the elders of old. The Western Clan had cursed this land themselves, turning it into a gray zone, accessible only to Official Blood Hunters or by permission of the Hell Hunt System.
It was as silent as the space after death.
Its sand was no ordinary sand, but ash that never settled. Its water, black-green and toxic to humans, served as a cradle for monsters—beings born from the abyss of hell, creatures that could not die until they devoured the last light in a victim's eyes.
He brought no sound with him. Zhen didn't move right away. He had to wait. To observe. To follow the foul trail left behind by the monster—a Teras Ghur, a creature with a slime-covered body and arms as long as its torso. It was wallowing in the mud.
"Seems like it's resting time," he murmured.
Zhen stepped out from behind the rock and began digging a hole with his bare hands.
Not to trap. But to lure.
He positioned himself inside the shallow pit and made a small cut on his wrist, letting the blood drip onto the beach's ashen sand.
His sword was flung behind him, piercing a distant boulder.
"If you must die… then let it be with wounds aplenty," Zhen muttered, satisfied as he stared at his bleeding wrist.
A monster's cry tore through the night.
But Zhen stayed still inside the pit, waiting patiently for it to enter—and be trapped with him.
The creature crawled from the mud, drawn by the scent of blood—a scent every monster longed for.
It grinned at the blood-stained hole, drooling with greed. It leapt in without a second thought.
"I HAVE WAITED SO LONG… FOR A NOBLE FEAST FROM THE NORTH!!! AAKKHHH!! CURSED YOU ARE!!!"
The monster lunged with a scream, jaws opening wide as acid slime sprayed forward.
Zhen jumped straight at its body, slamming his elbow into its neck and driving his fingers into its left eye.
The Northern Hunter shattered its joints one by one, peeled the skin around its throat,
pressed his foot down onto its heart as the creature slipped into the edge of unconsciousness.
"You are not my prey.But I need a monster's heart—to seal someone's soul."
The monster lunged at Zhen with its claws—but how could it ever overcome fingers cold as death itself?
It began to freeze, slowly, its body stiffening under the bite of that deathly chill.
Zhen wasted no time.
The Northern Hunter slashed the monster's chest with a Northern Bear claw he kept in his pocket, ripped it open, and pulled out its heart—still beating. He slipped it into the inner pocket of his cloak.
"YOU CURSED HUNTER!! CURSED MAGIC!!"
Monsters could be controlled if their hearts were taken while still alive. That was one of the truths Zhen had learned while surviving the Northern Tundra.
The creature writhed in agony, but it still tried to crawl. Parts of its skin blackened. Its eyes burned red. Its veins glowed like embers.
It dragged itself out of the bloodied sand pit,
then buried itself back into the mud.
Zhen's cloak was drenched in slime and the monster's blood.
"I need to move." The Northern Hunter covered the hole, now filled with the fury of a silent battle.
Then he entered the mud—the monster's final resting place.
The night grew darker still, as if in warning.
Even the sky above wove constellations of flame and omen.
That was when Sohei arrived.
He walked along the ashen shore,
eyes tracing the trail of giant footprints and fresh drops of blood leading into the mud.
His steps left imprints in the still-warm ash.
He walked with calm. His cloak was spotless.
A pair of twin blades crossed behind his back—the signature weapon of a Central Blood Hunter. His eyes, unwavering.
"Foolish beast," Sohei muttered. "Come out… before twilight erases your name from the sky."
He didn't know the creature was already dead.
What now moved beneath the surface—was Zhen.
"Come out. The System doesn't like to wait."
In an instant, Zhen burst from the mud, striking from behind, his hand plunging into Sohei's chest.
Sohei fell, but quickly kicked Zhen off with fierce force.
"You're… no monster…" Sohei gasped, wiping blood from his chest.
Zhen nodded. "You won't run?"
Sohei was taken aback. "Isn't this a trap?"
He slashed without hesitation. His bloodblade cut through the air, slicing the wind like a celestial dagger—but the figure blocked it with his bare hand, gripping the sword mid-swing.
The first blood sprayed into the air. Zhen had stabbed Sohei in the shoulder with his own twin blade—turning the attack back on him.
Blood began to drip from Sohei's arm.
"Official Hunters are taught more than techniques," Sohei whispered near Zhen's ear. "We're taught… to make our enemies believe they still have a chance."
Zhen lowered his head.
Silent.
Then—he laughed.
"And I… was trained by nature. By wolves who never trusted plans. Only instinct… and rage."
Zhen leapt backward, driving his blade into Sohei's left arm.
This wasn't about who would win.
It was about who could still stand without denying who they truly were.
"If I die, the System will avenge me!" Sohei shouted, fear bleeding into his voice, along with the blood from his wounds.
Zhen stepped forward, raised his blade to Sohei's neck.
"If you die… then the world will learn that even the System… can't always save its dogs."
Sohei's body stiffened as if turning to stone at Zhen's piercing words.
He staggered back, step by step, disbelief in his eyes. "The System would never—"
"The System sent me." Zhen cut him off with a grin.
Sohei screamed in denial, launching into a wild, desperate attack.
But it was too late.
Zhen had already stolen the rhythm of the battlefield.
He drove Sohei toward the pit of mud.
Zhen said nothing more. He simply stabbed a short blade into the side of Sohei's neck—
not to kill, but to weaken.
"You can't kill monsters… if you don't know what it feels like to be one."
Sohei gasped, his breath faltering.
Blood dripped from his neck.
"Damn you! The System will pay for this!" he shrieked in agony.
"The System doesn't mourn the corpses it discards." Zhen leaned closer, pressing his forehead to Sohei's ear.
Then he lifted half of Sohei's body—and threw him into the mud.
From the depths of the muck, his soul groaned and twisted, trying to escape.
Sohei's soul screamed, "You are no one! Your clan is dead! The world will reject you, Zhen!"
Zhen stepped closer, calm as ever.
"I didn't come to be accepted. I came to end this."
Sohei's soul writhed, splintering into red shards that danced in the air like dying embers.
His official Blood Hunter bracelet was flung from the mud just as his final scream broke the silence—like the sound of glass fracturing under pressure.
Then, the glowing red fragments surged into Zhen's Blood Rager band.
Zhen watched it all, unblinking.
[HELL HUNTING SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[SEALING SUCCESSFUL]
[SOUL OF OFFICIAL HUNTER No. 786 HAS BEEN SEALED INTO HELL SPACE]
[REWARD GRANTED]
Zhen smiled in satisfaction, his eyes lifting to the sky above Tolin, now riddled with constellations.
"Even the heavens warned you, but you… were deaf to the voice of nature."
[NEXT MISSION …]