Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

The carriage gradually slowed as the terrain began to change, the once stable path giving way to a more uneven trail, surrounded by twisted trees and vegetation that seemed to have been drained of any natural vitality. The air had also changed—colder, heavier, as if each breath required a little more effort, albeit almost imperceptibly. Outside, the horses began to show a slight discomfort, their movements becoming more cautious, as if instinctively recognizing that they were approaching something... wrong.

Kael opened his eyes slowly, as if he had sensed the change even before seeing it.

He leaned forward slightly, pushing back the window curtain with two fingers, allowing his gaze to reach the horizon ahead. And it was at that moment that he saw.

It wasn’t a wall.

It wasn’t a physical structure.

It was something much larger.

A dome.

A massive barrier of dark magic rose at the edge of the vampire continent, curving into the sky like a dome invisible at first glance, but impossible to ignore when observed closely. Sunlight, as it passed through that layer, seemed to be swallowed, distorted, weakened until it became only a pale, almost nonexistent reflection. The sky beyond the barrier wasn’t blue—it was dark, like an eternal twilight trapped in a single moment.

Kael remained silent for a few seconds.

Observing.

Analyzing.

His eyes narrowed slightly, not out of distrust, but out of recognition of the level of power involved.

"So that’s how it is..." he murmured, almost to himself, still looking at the dome that stretched across the visible horizon.

He let out a small sigh through his nose, leaning back slightly in his seat while still keeping his gaze fixed on the altered landscape.

"That explains how they survive."

The sentence came out simple, but laden with immediate understanding. Vampires weren’t creatures made for sunlight—and yet, an entire kingdom existed, expanded, and strengthened itself under an artificially obscured sky.

That wasn’t just protection.

It was a complete adaptation to the environment.

In front of her, Exelia calmly lifted her eyes from the clipboard, as if she had expected that kind of reaction. She didn’t seem surprised, nor particularly impressed—but there was a slight glint of interest in her gaze as she noticed Kael’s focus.

"Yes," she replied, slowly crossing one leg over the other while elegantly adjusting her posture. "This dome isn’t recent. It’s been around for generations."

Kael finally looked away from the window, turning to her with a curious expression, but still carrying that natural calm that never seemed to completely leave him.

"It doesn’t seem like something vampires would do on their own," he commented, resting his arm on the back of the chair while tilting his head slightly.

Exelia gave a small smile.

Not out of humor.

But out of confirmation.

"It wasn’t." She said, closing the clipboard with a slight movement and resting it on her lap. "This was the result of a contract."

Kael raised an eyebrow slightly.

"A contract?" he repeated, his tone slightly more interested now.

Exelia nodded.

"Between the Vampire Kingdom... and the Witch Kingdom." She explained, her voice remaining calm, almost didactic, like someone revisiting a well-documented historical fact. "An ancient agreement, established at a time when both sides had... aligned interests."

Kael remained silent for a moment, absorbing the information.

His eyes moved briefly back to the window, observing the dome again, now from a different perspective.

It wasn’t just a barrier.

It was a symbol.

Of cooperation.

Of shared power.

And, possibly, of forgotten consequences.

"So this thing..." he began, making a small, vague gesture with his hand toward the darkening sky. "...is witch magic."

Exelia tilted her head slightly.

"More specifically..." she corrected, a slight glint of restrained pride appearing in her expression. "...it’s our Queen’s magic."

There was a short pause.

And then Kael blinked.

Once.

Slowly.

He turned his gaze completely outward, observing the dome once more, but now with a different level of attention, as if recalibrating his own perception of it.

"..."

The silence lasted a few seconds.

And then he let out a light exhalation.

"Grandma..." he murmured, running a hand through his red hair as he tilted his head back slightly. "...is too powerful."

The comment came out in an almost casual tone, but there was something there—not exactly surprise, but a kind of belated recognition of the true extent of Eleanor’s power.

Exelia couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

"That’s a... simplified way of saying it." She commented, crossing her arms slightly as she observed his reaction. "But yes. Queen Eleanor doesn’t do anything halfway."

Kael made a small sound through his nose, something between agreement and resignation.

"I noticed." He said, still looking outside.

The carriage continued to move slowly, drawing ever closer to the actual border. The closer they got, the more evident the dome’s influence became. The light gradually diminished, as if the world were being filtered by an invisible layer that drained any trace of warmth or vitality.

The colors seemed more opaque.

The air denser.

And there was something... too silent.

Kael slowly uncrossed his arms, leaning forward slightly again, his eyes more attentive now, more focused.

"They depend on it." He commented, more as a conclusion than a question.

Exelia nodded.

"Completely." She replied. "Without the dome, the Vampire Kingdom wouldn’t be able to sustain itself as it exists today."

Kael fell silent again.

Thinking.

Connecting.

And then a small, wry smile appeared on his lips.

"So that means..." he began, looking away from the window and back at Exelia. "...that, technically, we have the key to their house."

Exelia didn’t answer immediately.

But the slight arch of her eyebrow was enough to show that she understood exactly where he was going with this.

"In theory..." she said carefully. "Yes."

Kael leaned back in his seat, relaxing slightly, but without losing that attentive glint in his eyes.

"Interesting." He murmured.

Silence filled the space again for a few moments, as the carriage finally reached the invisible line that marked the border between the two worlds.

And then—

They crossed.

The change was immediate.

Not physical.

But sensory.

The sunlight disappeared almost completely, replaced by a weak, diffuse glow that seemed to come from nowhere in particular. The air grew even colder, heavier, and the surrounding sound seemed... muffled, as if the environment itself were absorbing any excess.

Kael didn’t move.

But his eyes were wide open now.

Attentive.

Present.

"Well..." he said, after a few seconds, in a tone almost too casual for the moment. "...this is going to be fun."

Exelia tilted her head slightly, observing him with a small smile.

"You have a curious concept of ’fun’."

Kael shrugged.

"I adapt." He replied.

The surrounding sounds still seemed muffled, as if the very air were being compressed by the constant weight of the magic that covered the entire continent, when a slight movement among the nearby trees caught Kael’s attention. It wasn’t abrupt or chaotic—on the contrary, it was too subtle, too controlled, like predators who knew exactly how to move without announcing their presence.

His eyes slowly moved in that direction, without any hurry, as if he already expected something to emerge from there.

And then they appeared.

From the twisted shadows of the forest, a small group of figures emerged with silent, coordinated steps, crossing the line between the dense vegetation and the road with a naturalness that betrayed absolute familiarity with that environment. Their movements were light, almost elegant, but there was contained tension in every gesture, as if they were constantly ready to react to any threat.

Vampires.

The same ones who had followed Elizabeth to the Human Kingdom.

Now, there, they seemed different.

No longer out of place.

No longer in hostile territory.

There... they belonged.

Their pale skin seemed even more pronounced under the dim light of the dome, and their eyes carried that characteristic gleam, alert, predatory, yet controlled. None of them advanced aggressively. No gesture was interpreted as a direct threat.

They simply stopped a few meters from the carriage.

Waiting.

Kael observed the group silently for a few seconds, resting his arm on the window frame while tilting his head slightly, analyzing each of them with the same methodical calm he had been demonstrating since the beginning of the journey. There was no surprise in his expression, nor evident distrust—only recognition.

He had expected this.

Exelia had also noticed, her eyes briefly glancing out of the carriage before returning to Kael, awaiting his reaction without interfering. Her posture remained elegant, controlled, but there was a slight tension hidden in the way she held the clipboard, as if she were ready to record... or react, depending on what happened next.

One of the vampires took a small step forward.

It wasn’t an aggressive advance.

It was almost... protocol.

He inclined his head slightly, not in complete submission, but in recognition, his eyes fixed on Kael with a mixture of caution and respect.

"We came to fulfill the agreement." His voice came out controlled, without trembling, but with evident care in the choice of words. "We were instructed to guide you to the center of the territory."

Kael didn’t respond immediately.

He just kept his gaze on him.

Silent.

Weighing every detail.

And then he let out a small sigh through his nose, as if this was exactly what he expected... and, at the same time, something slightly inconvenient.

"You took your time." He commented, in a neutral, almost disinterested tone, as if he were talking about something trivial.

The vampire didn’t react to the comment, maintaining his firm posture, although a slight hardening in his expression betrayed that he had felt the weight of those words.

Kael then fully opened the carriage curtain, allowing the little external light to better illuminate his face as he observed the group more clearly. His eyes quickly scanned each of them, registering their presence, levels of control, potential threats... and intentions.

Nothing there seemed disorganized.

Nothing there seemed improvised.

This only confirmed what he already suspected.

He tilted his head slightly to the side, resting his chin on his hand for a brief moment before speaking again.

"You know the way." The sentence came simply, directly, without any unnecessary formality.

A brief pause.

Then he made a small gesture with his hand, pointing to the front of the road, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Then go ahead."

It wasn’t a request.

Nor a suggestion.

It was... instruction.

The group remained motionless for a second, as if assessing the tone, the meaning behind those words, or perhaps simply confirming that there was nothing more to be said. The same vampire who had spoken earlier held Kael’s gaze for another brief moment before tilting his head slightly again.

This time, more firmly.

"As you wish."