The shock that rippled through the remaining hunters wasn't solely due to their comrade's gruesome demise. They were professionals, hardened by countless encounters with death, their minds trained to compartmentalize grief and focus on the mission. But the casual, almost playful, way the Phoenix had manipulated those flames, the sheer power he'd displayed and the fact that they were facing a Phoenix, a creature of myth and legend, in its human form
It was enough to make even the most seasoned hunter question their sanity.
"What the hell, dude?!" the tattooed woman shrieked, staring at the Phoenix, her jaw slack. "You just you just dropped him!"
Phoenix tilted his head, his fiery eyes wide with a childlike innocence.
"You told me to put him down," he said, his voice calm, matter-of-fact. "So I did."
