Chapter 11: The Blazing Hunter and the Silent Shadow
The bloodhound circled, its grotesque, mutated form emanating a bone-chilling aura. Its obsidian-black fur shimmered with an oily gleam beneath the blood-red sky. Its maw dripped with steaming saliva, eyes locked on Elena, Duke Roseviver, and the remaining knights.
Then, a footstep.
Flames licked the air as Leon stepped forward, his flaming sword drawn, his smirk wider than ever. With a lazy glance over his shoulder, he spoke, "Protect them."
Elena blinked. Those words hung in her ears as Leon turned his back to her without hesitation, facing down the monstrosity alone. His burning blade danced in his grip like a predator eager for its kill. The bloodhound snarled and lunged.
The battle began with a clash that shattered the cobblestones beneath them.
Leon moved like a dancer, a lunatic one, spinning and sidestepping with a grace that mocked the beast's fury. Each strike of his blade sent out shockwaves of fire and steel, painting the battlefield in flaming arcs. He laughed—genuinely laughed—as the bloodhound roared, swiping and snapping.
"You call that a bite? I've seen puppies with more ferocity!"
The bloodhound howled in rage, its claws raking through stone as it charged again. Leon ducked low, letting it sail over him, and then slammed his flaming sword up into its underbelly. The beast shrieked.
From the sidelines, Elena watched, breathless.
Suddenly, a cloaked figure emerged beside her and the Duke. The Black Knight.
He turned to them, eyes hidden beneath his hood. "Don't mind me."
Elena flinched, blinking at him. "Wait… What rank are you?"
He paused. "Why do you ask?"
"We have an ally fighting a demon that might kill him," she said quickly, gesturing in the distance. "Barog. He's holding him off, but he can't win alone."
The Black Knight looked toward Leon. A moment of stillness passed.
He reached into his cloak and pulled out a glowing crystal recorder, handing it to one of the knights. "Don't lose this. Keep it running."
Then he vanished.
Elena barely had time to react before the focus was pulled back to Leon, still locked in feral combat with the beast.
Far from the blazing square, Bernard stood bloodied and breathing heavily. His armor was cracked, his arms trembling. Across from him, Barog towered with a sadistic grin stretched across his monstrous face. Each of his swings had cratered stone and bent steel. Bernard had dodged dozens of death blows. But he was slowing down.
"STAND STILL, YOU DAMN BUG!" Barog roared, slamming his axe down in a brutal arc.
Bernard twisted just in time, the edge missing his skull by inches.
Barog's aura burned red, writhing like snakes of flame and shadow. The demon was in a frenzy.
Inside Barog's mind, his thoughts spiraled.
He had rejoiced earlier. The bloodhound had been perfect—an abomination born of his own blood, merged with sacrifices, empowered through vile rituals. It had rampaged through the city like a god of death. But then he felt it.
That aura.
Primal fear gripped his blackened heart.
Not just a demon slayer.
A Rank 10. A mythic. A predator.
Barog had prepared meticulously. When he'd realized Bernard had entered the city, he had taken a chance—spilling his own blood into the sacrifice to mutate the Bloodhound, to push it to a new threshold.
But now it was unraveling.
And worse, the Bloodhound was losing to him. The cocky one. The flaming sword
Barog's wild eyes glanced toward the battle. He needed to flee.
Feigning a stagger, he baited Bernard into dodging. "Got you," Barog hissed, pulling out a hidden jagged blade pulsing with corruption. Just as he was about to hurl it toward Bernard's heart
Then the air changed.
The weight of raw, unfiltered killing intent bore down on him like a falling mountain.
Barog turned—
A flash
And the last thing he saw was his own body, collapsing to its knees as his head sailed through the air, his thoughts scattered in a blur of confusion, fear, and then—nothing.
Behind him stood the Black Knight, dagger already wiped clean, eyes half-lidded as if bored.
Barog's head thudded to the ground.
Bernard staggered, breath ragged. He leaned heavily on his sword as he gazed at the fallen demon, and then at the figure now standing beside it. No aura. No noise. Just... death.
"...You killed him," Bernard muttered, stunned.
The Black Knight nodded. "The princess sent me. We need to move."
Bernard scanned the cloaked figure.
His eyes narrowed.
The crest on the Knight's cloak was unmistakable. The proud sigil of House Slayer
But beneath it was something rarer: a second insignia. An eclipsed dragon's eye, flanked by twin daggers.
Bernard's breath caught.
He whispered the words without thinking:
"We see all. We hear all. We erase all."
His voice held something new.
Respect.
Awe.
The mark of the Black Dragon Knights.
He straightened up, fatigue momentarily forgotten.
"Let's go," the shadow said.
Bernard followed.
Back at the city square....
The Bloodhound, bloodied and burned, still fought on.
Leon twisted mid-air, letting the beast's claws graze past him before he kicked off its head and flipped backward. His sword swirled with fire, striking in wide, gleaming arcs.
"You know," he laughed, "I expected more from a creature that ate half a city district."
The beast roared, snapping its jaws at him. Leon let it bite down on his flaming blade before dragging the sword through its upper jaw and sending molten blood splashing.
As the group looked on in stunned silence, the Bloodhound finally hesitated.
It began circling. Glaring. Saliva and blood dripping from its jaws.
Leon stood tall, unfazed.
Then, suddenly, he turned.
"Don't worry," he said. "He's dead."
Elena blinked. "What…?"
Before she could ask, Leon's eyes narrowed.
The Bloodhound lunged.
But this time, Leon met it head-on. Their clash sent a massive shockwave through the square. Fire exploded. The beast howled.
As rubble fell around them, the flames cleared just enough to see Leon standing mid-air, sword ready, cloak fluttering.
And his smile, wide as ever.