Chapter 16: The last survivor
Chapter 15
"Welcome to my domain, hunters."
The moment her voice reached them, something in the air changed. Heavier. Sharper. It was like the very laws of the portal had shifted. They could feel it in their lungs, in their bones. An oppressive pressure settled over the entire squad. Their instincts screamed, but none of them turned to run. These weren’t novices. They were some of the most elite hunters in the Black Veil Guild. A squad of ten. Three S-rank hunters. Seven A-ranks. They’d faced hell before. And survived it.
But none of them were prepared for her.
She stepped into full view under the red-tinted sky of the S-rank portal, and the hunters froze.
She looked almost human at first glance. Almost. Her skin was a smooth, deep crimson that shimmered faintly as if bathed in moonlight. Her hair flowed like liquid shadow, moving even when the air was still. Her eyes glowed blood-red, but there was intelligence in them. Power. Awareness. The glyphs pulsing across her skin weren’t just decoration, they were alive, like they breathed with her. Her ears long and pointy....She was an Elf....a dark Elf.
The air around her shimmered subtly, like the world was warping. And perhaps it was. She didn’t need to speak to be terrifying.
But she did anyway.
"My name is Velmaria," she said smoothly. "And your deaths... are long overdue."
Irie, one of the A-rank water users, gripped her twin daggers. Her throat was dry. "That’s no normal beast," she muttered.
"If she is the reason this portal is tagged S-rank, If she is the reason this portal was red, just how strong is she?"
Rael, one of the fire realm S-rankers, took a sharp step forward. His face was unreadable, but his hand hovered near his blade. "Spread formation," he ordered tightly. "No one acts alone. Don’t break line of sight."