The echo of the horn still hung in the air when silence gripped the ruined fort.
Not the silence of peace—no. It was the silence of the world holding its breath.
Dax swallowed, his daggers dripping with the beast's blood. "That wasn't… that wasn't another monster, was it?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "No." He looked at Ragnar. "That was worse."
Selene froze. Her chains trembled with a faint hum, the silver light pulsing as if sensing the new danger. "Hunters." Her voice shook, not with fear—but recognition.
Ruin spat blood on the cracked floor, his grin sharp even through his wounds. "Finally. I was getting bored."
But Ragnar did not smile. His crimson-black eyes were locked on the broken archway where the sound had come from. His shadow curled restlessly at his feet, like a predator ready to strike again.
The horn blew once more—closer this time.
Kael stepped beside him. "They tracked the beast. Which means they'll find us too."
Ragnar's answer was cold, quiet. "Let them come."
They didn't wait long.
The crunch of boots on stone echoed through the night. Armor clinked softly in rhythm, and faint glimmers of torchlight pierced the darkness outside the ruins.
Selene's breath quickened. "We can't face them. Not here. Not right now."
Dax muttered, "I thought you said you weren't afraid."
Her eyes flashed. "I'm not afraid for myself." Her gaze flicked toward Ragnar, then quickly away. "But you don't understand. Hunters are different. They're not beasts. They're worse."
The torches grew brighter. Shadows danced along the walls. Voices barked orders in the distance, hard and sharp.
Kael's hand rested on his blade. "We have two options: flee or fight. Ragnar?"
Ragnar didn't look at him. His gaze stayed fixed on the approaching lights.
Hunters… The word burned in his chest. The whispers in his shadow hissed louder, almost excited. Kill them. Devour them. Their Law is strong. Stronger than the beast.
His hands trembled. Not from fear, but from hunger.
Selene noticed. She stepped closer, her voice low. "Don't. Don't listen to it. You're still yourself."
For a moment, Ragnar's jaw clenched, and the shadows at his feet stilled—slightly.
The torchlight finally broke into the ruins.
A squad of armored figures entered through the shattered archway, their steps confident, unhurried. Each wore dark cloaks marked with a single crimson sigil—a serpent coiled around a blade.
Their leader stood at the front. His helmet was off, revealing a scarred face with pale gray eyes that gleamed with cruel intelligence. He carried no torch, yet his presence seemed to light the space around him.
He looked at the beast's corpse sprawled across the floor. Then at Ragnar.
And he smiled.
"Well, well," the man said, his voice smooth like oiled steel. "The pup has teeth."
Selene stiffened. Her voice cracked with a name Ragnar had never heard before.
"Valerius…"
The leader's smile widened. His gaze slid to her, lingering as if savoring her fear. "You're still alive. How… inconvenient."
Her silver chains glowed faintly, reacting to his presence. She took a step back, but Ragnar's shadow moved on its own—curling protectively in front of her.
Valerius raised an eyebrow. "Protecting her? How curious. Does the beast think it's a man now?"
Ruin snarled, his blade humming. "Say that again, bastard—"
Kael stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "No rash moves." His eyes were fixed on Valerius. "Not yet."
Dax whispered under his breath, "There's… too many." His hands shook slightly. He wasn't wrong. The hunters filled the ruined chamber—at least a dozen, each armed and dangerous.
The horn had not summoned one beast. It had summoned an army.
Valerius stepped closer, his boots crunching against broken stone. His gaze never left Ragnar.
"You killed it," he said softly, gesturing to the monster's corpse. "That should not be possible. And yet… here you stand."
His smile faded. His gray eyes hardened into cold steel.
"Tell me, boy. What are you?"
The chamber seemed to shrink, the weight of his words pressing down on everyone.
Selene's lips parted, as if she wanted to speak. To warn them. But she couldn't. Her chains pulsed with faint light, holding her tongue.
Ragnar met Valerius's gaze. His shadow writhed, hungering, whispering. He wanted to answer. To roar. To strike.
But instead, he said nothing.
The silence was louder than any reply.
Valerius chuckled darkly. "Very well. If you won't answer… I'll carve the truth out of your corpse."
He raised his hand. The hunters drew their blades in unison, the sound ringing like death itself.
Kael whispered sharply, "Ragnar—command us. Now."
Ragnar exhaled slowly. The air grew heavy. Shadows thickened, pooling like black water beneath his feet. His crimson-black eyes burned in the torchlight.
He spoke only two words:
"Kill them."
The ruins exploded into chaos.
Ruin roared and charged, his blade crashing against a hunter's shield with the force of thunder. Dax darted through the shadows, daggers flashing like silver fangs. Kael moved with sharp precision, cutting down every opening.
Selene lifted her chained hands, silver threads of light weaving desperately to bind the enemy's strikes, her body trembling from the strain.
And Ragnar—
Ragnar was a storm.
Shadows erupted from him, wrapping around hunters, tearing weapons from their hands, snapping armor like paper. He moved through them like death itself, each step a massacre.
Valerius watched, unflinching, his cruel smile returning as blood sprayed across the walls.
"Good," he murmured. "Show me what you are."
And then—he moved.
Faster than Ragnar had expected.
In a single blink, Valerius was in front of him, his blade already slashing down. Ragnar barely raised his arm in time, shadows clashing against steel with a scream of power.
The impact shook the chamber.
Valerius leaned close, his gray eyes burning with delight.
"You're mine."