DBLACKTHORN

In a world where monsters pour through dimensional rifts and hunters are humanity’s last hope, Kael was just another weak scavenger—until the dungeon that should’ve killed him... gave him power.

Left for dead. Betrayed by his own guild. Revived by a System born from the shadows.

Now, Kael doesn’t hunt monsters. He controls them.

With undead guardians at his command and a growing army of souls, Kael will climb through the ranks, infiltrate the corrupt guilds, and face the secret overlords ruling the portals—those known only as the System Lords.

They thought he was dead.
They were right… but something else came back.

The Last Hunter's Rise

📍 Juren – Lower Residential Sectors

Not real fire—but whispers, riots, awakenings. Kael's broadcast hit the city like a pulse of raw truth. People poured into the streets, tearing down guild flags, demanding answers.

And the Guilds responded… with force.

> [System Alert – Civil Unrest Detected]

[Guild Enforcement Units Mobilized]

Kael moved through the chaos like a storm, cloak flowing, eyes lit by the glow of data projections. His rebel teams struggled to evacuate innocents as Dragoon shock troops marched into the districts.

Mana grenades exploded. Drones scanned every face.

> "Target: Virek Kael – Kill on Sight"

Myrla, bleeding from a shoulder wound, rushed to his side.

"They're not just after you anymore. They're erasing anyone tied to your name."

"Then I'll give them something else to chase."

📍 Mobile Guild Base – Dragoon Command Unit 3

A Captain tapped furiously at his interface.

"New anomaly—he's splitting his signature."

Kael had cloned his mana trail. Four phantom versions now moved through the city simultaneously, confusing trackers.

"He's learned to manipulate the battlefield," the Captain muttered. "We underestimated him."

A pulse of compressed shadow slammed through the reinforced walls.

Kael stood in the opening, eyes locked on the command core.

Meanwhile, Nara helped treat the wounded.

She didn't have combat training, but her mana senses were unusually sharp. And tonight… they were screaming.

Outside, the wind howled unnaturally. Her fingers trembled.

Something wrong was moving through the ether—something that didn't belong.

"Then listen carefully. What's coming… isn't part of this world."

📍 Underground Meeting – Rebel Cell Alpha

Kael stood before a makeshift council—leaders of smaller rebel groups now looking to him for direction.

"People are dying," said one. "We lit the flame. But now we can't control it."

"This was never going to be clean. Every system that's ever enslaved a people was paid for in blood. I never promised safety."

"I still do," he said, voice hardening. "But if any of you came here expecting mercy from those who kill their own... you should walk out now."

📍 Midnight – Eastern Ridge of Juren

From afar, the city flickered with unrest—flames, mana pulses, smoke trails.

And at the edge of that chaos, hidden in a cliffside, something watched.

A whisper, far too low for ears, drifted into the void:

Let the mortals burn their own cities.

When the ashes settle… we descend."

📍 Final Scene – Kael on Rooftop

Kael stood alone above the flames, cloak whipping in the wind. His fingers trembled—not from fear, but responsibility.

> [System Message – Threat Status: Level 3]

📌 Next: Chapter 13 – Echoes of Control

The Cost of Fire