The creatures of Varvara—ravenous entities with fearsome abilities and an unquenchable hunger for destruction. They've been called the enemy of humanity since the beginning of time itself, or at least as far as humanity can recall. They mercilessly and relentlessly hunt down any living creature besides themselves and convert them into one of their own. It was common knowledge that anyone bitten by a beast of Varvara was doomed to become one.
A fate worse than death.
Negative emotions draw in the monsters. Anger, sadness, jealousy, hatred, fear, it doesn't matter what it is. Extreme levels of those concentrated feelings can lure the Varvara to any location, which brought the question as to why they were in the city. It was understandable that the people of Soteria were in a state of panic. But, what was so troubling was how the creatures managed to make it so far without being spotted.
Out in the middle of the city, people continued to flee for their lives as Lycan's chased them down. Most of them managed to get away, except for a single woman that tripped and fell on the stone pavement. She outstretched her arm and desperately called out for help. But, no one summoned their courage to save her. The Lycan's quickly approached.
The woman shut her eyes closed and braced herself.
Just when they prepared to sink their teeth and claws into the helpless woman, a volley of arrows struck down the creatures. All of the projectiles pierced their heads and chests. Vital shots.
When the woman regained her composure, she opened her eyes and looked around for the source of her salvation. Confidently approaching her from down the street was a lone man with short brown hair and blue eyes. In his right hand was his trusty compound bow, and affixed to his back was his quiver—which held plenty of arrows.
"Are you unharmed, ma'am?" The man stopped in front of the woman then offered her his left hand, which was prosthetic. She grabbed his hand without hesitation and got pulled back to her feet.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks to you." She said. Her face turned beet red once the man flashed her a bright smile.
"It's too dangerous for a beautiful lady such as yourself to be out here at night. Allow me to escort you to safety." The man offered. As he continued to speak with the woman, a few of the Lycan's stood back up and approached the couple.
The man seemed far too distracted by the woman even to notice them slowly approaching. By the time the woman saw the creatures, it was too late. They were too close for any of them to react in time. Just when they were about to meet their end, another volley of arrows pierced through the heads of the creatures.
That time, they were dead for sure.
"You about done fooling around, Chayse?" A callous voice came from further down the street. Chayse's expression turned strained—worried—completely different from his confident one moment's ago. He knew what was to come because of his carelessness.
Reluctantly, he turned around and watched his partner approach him. The man walked with a stride of complete authority—scoping out the area for potential danger with their recurve bow held tightly in their right hand. Instead of confronting Chayse and the woman, he focused his attention on retrieving the arrows from the defeated creatures.
The individual utterly smote the woman. The shortcut of his white hair, fierce gaze, and muscular physique left an air of mystery around him. It was something that she couldn't let slip by.
She approached the man and gushed, "Thank you so much for rescuing me! You looked so amazing shooting the Varvara down like that!"
"Huh? Oh, thanks, I guess..." The white-haired man scratched the back of his head, unsure of the reason behind the woman's enthusiasm. He understood that saving a life was important. However, the woman's flushed face and heavy breathing felt suspicious to him.
"If it's not too much trouble. Would you mind escorting me to safety? My home isn't too far from here. I'd appreciate it if a big, strong man such as yourself would keep me safe until then." The woman's tone turned sultrier the more she spoke, much to the confusion and frustration of Chayse.
As the man recalled, he was the one that first saved the woman. But, as always, his "partner" had to be the one to get the girl.
Life just wasn't fair.
The woman slowly caressed the exposed part of the man's arm. Then, she leaned in and sandwiched the arm between her ample breasts. Having had enough, Chayse stepped in.
"Um, excuse me, ma'am? If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to—"
Within that split second, the woman grew fangs and horns as she violently turned her head and roared at Chayse—spewing a raging inferno from her mouth that charred his face.
No.
That didn't happen. It was all in the man's wild imagination—probably.
Regardless, he understood well enough that he was no longer needed. He stepped back and decided to keep watch for the time being.
The woman triumphantly smiled then returned her attention to the stud in front of her. She moved in closer and pressed her head against his chest, wanting to feel his rough and chiseled body.
However, there lied the problem. The man's chest indeed felt rough and chiseled, but, there also resided a certain softness to it. It wasn't much, but it was there.
Confused, the woman removed her head and placed a hand on the man's chest. She looked him in his grey-blue eyes as she felt his chest.
"Do you get it now?" The man trembled, trying to contain his immense hatred. The woman quickly removed their hand and backed away, realizing their mistake. "Get out of here, now!"
The woman shrieked and ran into the nearest building.
"Kinda harsh don't you think, Elma?" Chayse asked.
"Not in the slightest," Elma responded with a firm shake of her head. "You didn't even bother to help."
"I tried. You saw," stated Chayse as he shrugged his shoulders. The thought of Elma and the woman getting it on in the middle of the street brought a lewd smile to his face. "Besides, what right do I have getting in between two women? If it were a man touching you, however, I'd be on him in two seconds flat."
"I'm sick and tired of people confusing me for a man! What is it about me that makes people immediately assume I'm a guy?!"
"Perhaps the cut of your hair, lack of breasts and femininity, you're quite muscular for a woman of your size..." Chayse counted off Elma's characteristics, unknowingly infuriating her in the process.
Throughout their years of partnership, the man hadn't quite understood when to keep his mouth shut. Now and then he needed subtle clues.
Elma quickly raised her bow and fired a quick shot. The arrow zipped past Chayse's face, narrowly missing him by a few inches. The projectile struck down a wandering Lycan in the distance. Chayse nervously laughed and watched the monster evaporate upon its death.
"Go fetch the arrow," Elma demanded.
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Chayse quickly ran off and fetched the arrow. By the time he returned, Elma had cooled down to a certain extent.
"Anyway, what's up with the Lycan's suddenly showing up?" Elma looked around and inspected the carnage and destruction left behind in the wake of the Varvara. "How'd they manage to get this far in the country without being spotted?"
"If the concentration of negative energy is strong enough, they can spawn anywhere," Chayse revealed. "I think we cleared out most of them. We should keep moving. The hospital isn't far from here."
"Right. That Exousia fled there..." Elma and Chayse headed down the road, following the tracking device they placed on the Exousia they fought earlier at a restaurant.
"You wounded him so badly that he sought out medical attention. I don't see the point though. I thought Exousia had healing factors."
"They do. However, Exousia need complete concentration for it to work."
"So, the arrow in his stomach broke his concentration enough that he was forced to run to the hospital?"
"That, and the arrow I shot him with was poison tipped. So, the poison coursing through his veins must be quite an inconvenience." Elma smirked.
The duo turned a corner and spotted the Pandora Hospital off in the distance. Crowds of people still loitered around despite the recent Varvara attack. Most of them were police and military officers.
But, the remainders were mere civilians and news reporters. How people could choose to remain there for so long despite the dangers dumbfounded Elma.
Did they not value their lives?
"Well, it looks like some party took place here without our knowledge," Chayse casually joked upon noticing the crowd of people. His laughter immediately stopped once Elma shot a cold glare at him.
"These people are idiots for staying here. There's an Exousia at large, and there was a recent Varvara attack. They should all be at home where it's safe." Elma said.
"Think these people came to see us finish what we started?"
"I doubt that." Elma and Chayse forced their way through the crowd and confronted the military soldiers stationed in front of the hospital.
"More Hunters?" The soldiers showed explicit reservations at the appearance of the duo.
"Gotta problem with that?" Elma asked.
Having sensed his partner's irritation by the remark, Chayse stepped forward and spoke up.
"Hey there! You don't seem very happy to see us!"
Subtly was never his strong suit.
"I wonder why." Another soldier murmured under his breath.
It always frustrated Elma when the authority figures of the country looked down on her and Chayse. They hadn't done anything wrong. If anything, they've proven their loyalty to the kingdom and its people. It seemed no matter what they did; they'd never get accepted.
Taking notice of the insignias on their uniforms, Elma stepped forward, "I'm Elma Chloris. The man next to me is my partner, Chayse Raleigh. We're here under orders from General Zofia to hunt down and capture the Exousia in this hospital."
"Well, there's no need to worry about that. Our captain already has the situation under control." The first soldier confidently informed them.
"Besides, there's already another group of Huntresses inside of the building. There's no need to send any more people than we have to." Another one mentioned.
Upon being denied entry into the hospital, Elma placed her hands firmly on her hips and glared at the soldiers. Overpowering those men and forcing their way through would've been a cinch if they had to. They were given direct orders to capture the Exousia.
Failure was not an option.
Those men were in the way. One way or another, they were going to move. Either through cooperation or force. But, if Elma were to go through with the second option, it would've only caused more problems.
So, she resisted her urges and decided to move ahead to plan B. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Milo. A faint light emitted from the communication device as holographic numbers appeared above it. With swift movements of her fingers, she pressed several numbers then a dial tone was heard afterward.
"Oh boy, you guys are in trouble now," Chayse warned the soldiers while Elma turned her back to them.
"What do you mean?" The soldier asked.
"I know you're not that high up on the chain of command, so of course it's no surprise that you don't know of us. But Elma and I are Hunters kept on retainer by this country. And as luck would have it, we have ways of getting in direct contact with influential people. Say, your General for instance."
"You're kidding." Another soldier voiced his suspicions to Chayse's claim.
"If we're to inform her that some of her subordinates are hindering our mission to capture the Exousia, I doubt she'd be too happy to hear that."
"I won't be swayed by your words, Hunter. I won't permit you to enter the hospital. It's just far too dangerous." The soldier held his ground.
"Hey now, I understand completely. You're just trying to do your job and keep us safe. Just be prepared for the consequences of making my partner and the General angry. You'll most likely be dishonorably discharged. Then possibly thrown in jail. You don't want that, do you?"
The soldier fumbled with his words. The thought of upsetting his superior officer was more than enough to unnerve him. Eventually, the man surrendered and granted the duo passage into the hospital.
Once inside, Elma turned to Chayse and said, "Good work on manipulating him into letting us through."
"No problem. I didn't want the General to yell at the soldiers or us for calling her over something trivial." Chayse accepted the words of praise.
"You're right. Zofia would've been pissed."
"So, who were you calling in the first place?"
"Pizza."
Unable to contain his laughter, Chayse clutched his stomach with one hand while placing his other hand on the wall to support himself. "You're way too devious, Elma." He wiped away a tear forming in his eyes.
"Let's get to work now." Elma scanned the immediate area for clues concerning the whereabouts of their target. There was nothing useful throughout the wreckage, so she resorted to using her communicator.
She turned on the Milo and navigated through the settings, eventually activating the tracking device she placed on the target earlier during their battle.
Reading the coordinates given to her by the holographic image, she was successfully able to deduce that the target was up on a higher floor. With that information in mind, the Hunters raced towards the stairwell.
The tracking device led them directly to the rooftop of the hospital, where Chayse and Elma witnessed the shocking sight of their target lying down on the ground. Standing over him was a blue-haired woman holding a spear to his neck. She turned to the Hunters with her weapon at the ready to fight them. Instinctively, Chayse and Elma raised their bows and aimed at her with their arrows at the ready.
"Who are you?!" Runa demanded.
"Elma Chloris. This man over here is my partner, Chayse Raleigh. We're Hunters." Elma sternly answered, keeping her eyes solely on the blue-haired woman.
"And who are you, beautiful?" Chayse crossed the distance between the two of them within seconds. It may have been Runa's imagination, but she could've sworn the strange man's eyes turned into hearts.
That shameless man could never help himself when he encountered women he found attractive. He'd be in their personal space within seconds, often in spite of the situation.
Runa nervously looked back and forth between Chayse and Elma, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. One second she was fighting against an Exousia, and then next she was confronted by two complete strangers. When she regained her composure, she went with the flow and introduced herself.
"Runa das Meer. I'm a Huntress from the Wild Hunt Guild."
"Runa das Meer? What a beautiful name! Yes, truly a name that will be engraved in my heart for all eternity!" cooed Chayse. More hearts floated around him, creeping Runa out the longer she stayed near him. "I'm Chayse Raleigh, a man whose name will be so renowned that the gods themselves will place me up in the stars!"
There it was. One of Chayse's notable idiosyncrasies. It wasn't uncommon for Hunters to be full of themselves. Most of them took great pride in their fame and success. However, Chayse took it to a whole other level.
The man was far beyond full of himself. He'd never miss out on an opportunity to sing praises about himself and his inevitable glory.
Fame, fortune, women, he'd have it all.
Elma rolled her eyes and moved her attention to her target. Amid the confusion, the man tried to crawl away and escape. He found his next attempt thwarted when an arrow grazed his cheek and lodged itself into the ground.
"Where do you think you're going?" Elma asked.
"I'm getting sick and tired of you Hunters interfering with me today!" Thelo glared at the group before him. He activated his telekinetic powers and used it to return the arrow Elma shot at him.
Runa stepped out in front of the group and blocked the arrow with her spear.
"Shut up! I don't care about your circumstances! I'm here because you hurt my partner! I'll have your head on a fucking wall!"
"Get in line. We found him first." Elma said as she grabbed another arrow from her quiver.
"The fuck is wrong with you people? I did nothing wrong! You two attacked me in that restaurant for no reason! I was only defending myself!" Thelo shouted.
"Don't blame us for this mess. If you had just surrendered quietly, none of this would've happened."
"If you don't want another beating, I'd suggest surrendering. There's no shame in it." Chayse added.
"And if I were to refuse?" Thelo questioned.
"Then there's no saving you," Runa concluded before she took off towards him.
Thelo held his arm out in front of him and activated his powers again. A rattling sound came from behind the Hunters. Elma turned around and spotted the door getting pulled off its hinges. It flew at them at an alarming rate.
Elma alerted everyone before jumping out of the way. Chayse and Runa managed to avoid the flying door as well. Thelo, on the other hand, wasn't so fortunate. He was unable to stop the door in time from ramming into his chest.
He dropped down to his knees then hunched over in pain, coughing up some blood. Some of his ribs broke from the impact. At that moment, the Hunters took advantage.
But, a telekinetic blast forced them back.
"How the hell can he still use his powers with his injuries? Is the poison not having any effect on him?" Chayse complained.
No one in the group suffered any critical injuries from the blast, so they recovered quickly. The first one to continue with the battle was Runa. She approached the downed man and attacked with much ferocity.
Despite her fury, her attacks were quick and precise.
Normally rage clouded the minds of fighters, regardless of how seasoned they were. However, that didn't seem to effect Runa in the slightest.
Thelo had trouble evading the incoming attacks. He sustained gashes here and there over his body, but his limbs remained intact for the time being. Runa's last strike wound up with her blade embedded into the ground, which she quickly used as support to kick Thelo over to the edge of the building.
He grabbed hold of the ledge and looked over his shoulder down to the street. The moment he looked back, the blade of Runa's weapon was mere millimeters away from his face. The sight of the man's face distorting in a mixture of fear and frustration brought a smile to Runa's.
"It's over. Give up," Runa demanded, "Make any sudden movements, and I'll put this through your throat."
Thelo scowled fiercely at her—but she remained unfazed. As far as she was concerned, the battle was over. The man raised his hands above his head, heaving a sigh of defeat in the process.
Suddenly, three soldiers entered their way onto the rooftop. Their intrusion on the scene distracted the Hunters. It was at that moment they found themselves knocked off their feet by another telekinetic blast from Thelo.
Followed up afterward was gunfire. The soldiers open fired on Thelo. But, their bullets were rendered useless. They remained suspended in mid-air for a moment before he used them against his enemies.
Fortunately, the soldiers jumped out of the way of the gunfire. No casualties.
"I've come too far to die in some place like this! If I'm going to get killed here, then I'll take all of you with me!" Thelo accumulated as much power as he could muster. Afterwards, he swung his arms out and unleashed a much stronger telekinetic blast than before.
Sections of the roof were sent flying towards everyone. The Hunters had no trouble evading the debris. Meanwhile, the soldiers weren't so lucky. The debris struck all of them and sent them flying over the edge of the building. Their screams of terror soon stopped upon plummeting to the ground.
"Those idiots..." Runa shook her head then looked back over to Thelo. Before she could launch her counterattack, she found herself hoisted into the air.
"Damn it! Let her go!" Elma fired an arrow at Thelo.
"Don't think so!" He held his hand out and halted the arrow inches away from his face. Letting out a roar of frustration, he launched Runa toward Elma.
"I got this one!" Chayse seemed all too eager as he leaped into the air and caught Runa before she hit the ground. "Hope you weren't harmed, Runa."
"I wasn't. Now put me down." Runa ordered.
Meanwhile, Elma continuously fired arrows at Thelo. All of them were rendered useless.
"What's with this country in harboring Hunters? I thought that the kingdoms didn't employ them as often!" Thelo complained.
"I'm not so sure about the other kingdoms. But, this one only hires the best of the best." Chayse gloated as he struck a confident pose.
"Stop gloating and fucking fight!" Elma ordered.
"I don't have time for this right now. Run away with your tail in between your legs like last time if you don't want to get hurt." Thelo demanded.
His face was flushed and covered in sweat as he bled out on the roof. It was a miracle how he even managed to fight for so long. His legs wobbled, and he staggered. The man was far more exhausted than he let on.
"I think you have it backward! As I seem to recall, we were the ones that had you on the run about two hours ago!" Elma pointed accusingly at him, calling his bluff.
"Most cowardly of you using that explosion as a smokescreen to escape from us," Chayse added in onto the taunting, "did you feel so concerned when fighting us that you had to kill dozens of innocent civilians just to escape from capture?"
With great swiftness, Chayse reached behind his back into his quiver and grabbed onto three arrows. He pulled back on his bow and released all three of them simultaneously. Thelo moved the door from earlier in front of him and used it as a shield.
That was when their chance presented itself. Thanks to Thelo, the Hunters were obscured from his line of sight.
Elma signaled for Chayse to give her a boost. He rushed over to his partner and used his prosthetic arm to toss her over at Thelo. The Huntress slammed her feet onto the door and knocked the man back down to the ground. Propelling herself off the door, she also fired a series of arrows that pierced through the man's clothes and kept him pinned to the ground.
With him wide open for an attack, Chayse landed a devastating blow to the man's stomach with his prosthetic arm. A shockwave was released underneath them, causing that section of the roof to crack and crumble away, sending them both falling back inside of the hospital.
Honestly, it was a bit of an overkill. But, Chayse always did have a flair for the dramatics.
Runa and Elma jumped down through the hole and landed safely on the ground next to Chayse and the unconscious Thelo.
"Well, that was relatively easy." Chayse stood to his feet and dusted himself off. "How come our first fight against him didn't go so well?"
Elma walked past him and approached the downed Exousia. Reaching behind her back, she grabbed onto the collar placed on her belt. She didn't waste any time clamping it on the target's neck for safety measures.
"Probably because you screwed things up by letting him get away." Elma harshly reminded him.
"How many times do I have to apologize for that already?"
"You don't have to apologize anymore for now. You've made up for it by capturing him this time." Elma pulled out her Milo and placed it on the ground. Seconds later a holographic male figure appeared above the device.
It was a man with scraggly hair and stubble for facial hair, dressed in a poorly stitched lab coat, pants, and sandals.
"Since you're calling me I assume that the capture mission was a success this time?" A dull voice came from the holographic male figure.
"Yes, Caz. The Exousia has been apprehended and contained." Elma answered. "The situation is now under control. He won't be able to cause any more trouble with that subjugation collar around his neck."
"You can tell the director that we'll be bringing him to Tartarus as soon as possible," Chayse said.
"Understood." Caz had nodded before he vanished.
Elma picked up her Milo and set it back into her pocket. Her gaze then moved to Runa.
"Thanks for the help back there." Elma extended her arm out for a handshake.
"No problem. I'm glad that I could've been of some help." Runa smiled then shook Elma's hand.
"You were more than just "some" help to us. You were of big help." Chayse spread his arms out for emphasis. "Elma and I certainly would've had some trouble if you hadn't worn him out for us."
"I doubt it was her as much as it was the poison coursing through his veins. Speaking of which..." Elma knelt next to the unconscious man and rummaged through her pouch. She pulled out a syringe and pricked the man in the arm, injecting him with the antidote. "There, now he won't die on us."
"I'm not too sure that the people would be happy to hear about that. I know that I'm not happy about it." Chayse said.
"Anyway, I'm sorry that you had to involve yourself in this mess. Had it not been for the Varvara outside, we certainly would've been here much faster to finish what we started with this man." Elma apologized to Runa.
The fault of the travesty lied solely on them, Elma believed. If Chayse and her had done their jobs correctly and captured the Exousia at the restaurant earlier, then the lives lost on that day would've been spared. Someone had to take responsibility.
And Elma chose to be the one to do that.
"Don't worry about it. The Exousia's been captured, and now we can put this incident behind us," said Runa. Her attention then moved to the collar around the man's neck. "However, are you sure that subjugation collar will stop him from using his powers?"
"Yes, ma'am. The outstanding scientists of this country have magnified the effects of the collar." Chayse immediately answered.
Her eyes widened in surprise upon hearing the information. "Interesting. How did you two obtain such technology despite being only Hunters?"
"We're Hunters held on retainer by this kingdom. If we perform missions for this country alone, then we gain special privileges." Elma informed her.
"So, acquiring such technology is a cinch for us." Chayse bragged.
Runa approached the target and examined the collar around his neck. She ran her finger across the light blue colored crystals embedded around it. "I see...this collar uses Fulgur Vitalis to seal his powers?"
"More like to disrupt," Chayse corrected her, "the collar senses for abnormalities in the wearer's brain. If it detects an anomaly, say an Exousia trying to activate their powers, the collar will catch it and give them a couple of volts to break their concentration."
"That's enough talk now, Chayse. We should hurry up and get moving. I believe that everyone outside has been anxiously waiting for us to return." Elma said while motioning for Chayse to pick up the target.
"You two can go on ahead of me. I need to search for my partner on this floor. I wish you good luck with the rest of your mission." Runa bid the two farewell and then walked off, leaving them behind.
Elma looked over to Chayse and grimaced at the sight of him perversely fawning over Runa. She just couldn't understand what her partner saw in the woman. She wasn't that pretty in her eyes.
Sure, she could hold her own in a fight. But what did appearance matter in combat?
In a fit of irritation, Elma smacked her foolish partner across the back of his head and then proceeded to scold him over his behavior as the two of them left the hospital with their prisoner in tow.