Shadow Slave

The Huntsman was so dangerous because he ruled the forest like a stealthy predator. He moved unseen and attacked from the mist and darkness, picking off his victims one by one. He also seemed to know the value of intimidation and mental pressure, displaying the mutilated corpses of his victims on the branches of the ancient trees for everyone to see.

Or maybe skinning corpses simply spoke to the abomination's aesthetic sensibility. In any case, his human enemies often faced him already shaken and rattled, which was a deadly poison for anyone going into battle.

Rain knew that he was approaching the creature's lair because she saw a human skeleton hanging in the trees, its bones cluttering against each other in the wind. Her expression darkened.

However, she wasn't shaken. She wasn't rattled, either. Her mind was much too strong to be poisoned by fear — instead, fear only sharpened it.

'...I'll need to bury them properly after everything is over.'

She shivered — not because of the morbid scene, but simply because she was cold. The battle would warm her up, though, so it was alright.

Every time an Awakened cohort ventured into the forest, the Huntsman was in no hurry to attack. Sensing the threat presented by a group of experienced Awakened warriors, he stalked them silently or retreated into his lair, waiting for the night to come. Then, when impenetrable darkness shrouded the world, his own hunt would begin.

Rain was not a cohort of Awakened warriors, so she was pretty sure that the demon would not wait to attack her. It was for the best — she knew that if she failed to slay the enemy before nightfall, her chances of survival would drop to zero.

And yet, the Huntsman had not shown himself yet.

What was he waiting for?

She frowned, then glanced at her shadow.

"Could it be that the demon is afraid of you, teacher?"

A calm voice resounded from the darkness:

"It is highly unlikely. I am very hard to notice when I'm hiding in the shadows. There is a much simpler explanation, don't you think?"

Rain nodded.

after all. He

what she had been hoping for. Rain knew that she wasn't strong enough to face an Awakened Demon in a direct confrontation, which meant that she had to rely on

if he doesn't

to have

smell of blood and smoke permeated the

***

there was a presence — a dangerous presence moving through the forest, somehow remaining

Her intuition, which she had honed through dozens of hunts, was telling her that

mask her scent, she was watching the forest intently. Even then, she was only using her peripheral vision to observe it — many Nightmare Creatures could sense

for that reason that she managed to notice a

'The frost...'

were broken. It was as though someone heavy had walked past, leaving footprints

'He's... like a chameleon.'

that seemed to be a little hazy, but still transparent, as if distorted by heat. But how could there be heat in this frigid cold? No, the almost unnoticeable distortion was the masked figure of the Huntsman, moving noiselessly in the direction

and prudent, but not as prudent and

Rain was weak, and had no

many Awakened

Chalice Knight was

had known about that strange ability of his in advance. She had talked to the members of the cohorts who had ventured into the forest to slay the Huntsman in the past, and learned quite a bit

she had

her breath, feeling the world grow stark

battle-ready mind entered the state

That state...

confounding his explanations about the meaning of clarity were. But after finally mastering it, Rain

the body, master the mind... the essence of combat was murder, and every action she took in combat only served one of two purposes — to kill the enemy or to prevent the

truly understood that unfathomably deep, but simple truth, every