White Hunter

He staggered upright, drawing his katana, a pitiful sliver of steel against the terrors lurking within those woods.

"You too, come on out," he challenged, voice rough but steady, hands tightening on the hilt until his knuckles blanched.

The shadows shifted. From behind the huge, wild grass, so tall he'd mistaken it for trees—new beasts emerged, their bodies gradually taking shape in the beams of light that pushed through the thick canopy overhead. In that filtered glow, the spirit beasts closed in, silent and relentless, from every direction.

A beast on four legs emerged. White skin, pitted with scattered black spots, stretched tight across rib and muscle. Twin fangs curved down on either side of its mouth, constantly dripping strands of red-tinted saliva to the dirt. The beast's eyes were... hollow, there was nothing where its eyes were supposed to be.

'Tsk' Sezel gritted his teeth, trying to hold back the terror. Compared to some of the Spirit Realm's twisted denizens, this was almost mundane.

His grip tightened on the katana, muscles bunched and tense. He was scared—terrified, honestly, but he forced it down and as if to add fuel to fire the assessment device chimed.

[Common Beast - White Hunter detected.]

[Rank - 2]

The first line barely registered. But Rank-2 gave him pause. He was a Rank 0 Slayer. This thing could tear him apart.

Still, Sezel stood a chance, it was still just a common beast with no intelligence. But there were so many. They'd trapped him completely. His pulse hammered so loudly it seemed to fill the air.

The beast in front of Sezel growled, heavy voice mixed with hunger, as the beasts had completely encircled him. There was no place to escape, and Sezel didn't even know if he could kill them or not.

And yet... something about the Spirit Realm felt oddly familiar, a sense of déjà vu with every breath, a strange comfort mixed with the fear and doubt about whether this place was Spirit Realm at all.

None of that mattered in the truth of the moment. The beast right in front of Sezel lunged, its form as tall as a six feet (182 cm) tall human, white as snow.

Sezel placed his left leg behind, raising the katana, forming an attacking stance. He had learned how to wield all kinds of weapons, however not fully, and a sword is the best thing of all weapons, easily usable by anyone, a universal weapon as could be said.

The beast landed just inches from Sezel. Its maw opened wide, fangs gleaming. Sezel stepped aside and slashed down with all the force he could muster. The katana bit into its neck, not deep, but deep enough. A few drops of thick, black blood splattered onto the ground before the beast pulled back, startled.

No time to celebrate. In a blink, another beast lunged from behind as the wounded Hunter spun back to join.

With barely a heartbeat to decide, Sezel snatched the pistol from his belt and fired at the ground, just to his left. The gunshot cracked through the quiet. Both beasts crashed together at the spot, just as he suspected.

'They can't see. They're following sound,' Sezel realized, hope flickering in his chest.

Pressing the advantage, he fired another shot at a distant tree. Every beast turned toward the echo, bounding after it. Sezel held his breath, moving quietly, raising his katana inch by inch as he started to retreat.

But as soon as the group realized they'd been tricked, they whipped back toward him. No more patience. Sezel ducked into the enormous grass, zigzagging, boots pounding into the weird, rocky earth, the beasts thundering behind him.

His lungs burned. He paused, panting, then turned, just in time to see the whole pack charging at him, a wild tangle of white fur and bared teeth.

He forced himself to smirk, raising his sword tip, and with a quick, sharp motion, scraped his katana along a nearby stone. The shrill sound pierced the air. Every beast spun toward the new noise, bunched for the attack.

Just before they reached him, at the last instant, Sezel fired again, a sharp report. Caught in confusion the closest of the beasts skidded, turning hard. The momentum from the rear ranks carried them forward until, with a harsh rumble, the whole group tumbled one after another into the great pit the Leviathan had carved into the rocky ground.

Thuds and scrapes echoed as they slid and fell on top of one another.

Sezel panted, half laughing, half in shock, looking at the beasts struggling to climb through the rocky pit. Earlier he noticed that these monsters didn't have sharp nails and so won't be able to climb on rocks.

Strangely, the whole ground here was built up of rocks and when the Leviathan devoured the tree he made a pit large enough to sustain these beasts.

"Mindless beasts," he muttered, looming above the struggling pack below.

A grisly spectacle played out. In their panic, one of them bit off a chunk of flesh from the one Sezel had wounded, and soon enough all of the monsters fell into chaos, biting and eating each other. Black blood and gore splattered everywhere.

"Disgusting." Sezel's stomach twisted in revulsion. The stench of blood, saliva, and ruptured organs clawed at his throat until he doubled over and he staggered backward, ready to be sick.

But he wasn't alone.

With a blur, another beast lunged from the shadows. 'Shit, missed one.' his mind reeled.

Sezel instinctively swung his katana at it, but the beast avoided the attack and instead headbutted Sezel and sent him tumbling across the ground. The world spun. He forced himself upright, eyes burning.

Before he could gather himself, the beast was upon him. It slammed him down, heavy weight pressed on his chest and red saliva splattered down his torn shirt.

He tried to wrestle free, but then, the ground heaved. Both he and the beast froze, glancing wide-eyed as cracks feathered across the rocky terrain and with a deafening roar the earth gave way, swallowing Sezel and the beast into darkness.