The sun lit up the grass and blood-covered plants that moved out of sync with the wind.
The bodies of the members of the Church of the Demon King were surrounded by crows and insects.
A few people dressed in black suits, white dress shirts, and sunglasses protected the place from any curious paparazzi.
Two men approached the corpses. The fattest man, wearing a loose green shirt and beige pants, was crouched beside the body of one of the members.
"Brian Majors." He said as he checked the fallen man's vitals. "Dead. That's not going to be good, one of the world's top 50 dead like this. I know he was a complete freak, but still..."
As the man in the green shirt checked Brian's body, the scarier the scene got.
Several bruises spread all over the body, mainly on the face. Perforated throat and abdomen too. Blood coming out of his orifices due to internal bleeding and the man's tongue was not in place.
More likely, some wild animal had ripped it out of his mouth.
"He fought someone." The man in the green shirt said getting up.
"Or something." The other man spoke with his eyes fixed on Brian's body.
He wore a metal plate that covered his entire chest, had a sword strapped to a sheath at his waist, and some metal plates on his forearms.
Underneath, a black shirt and white pants. He had blue eyes and red hair.
"Do you think the mistress of beasts did this?" Said the short, fat man.
A group of hunters went to the dungeon to face the mistress of beasts that day, when they found the hall empty.
A message hung in the air.
[ ATTENTION! DUNGEON BOSS IS MISSING! ]
When the hunting alliance heard the news, they tried to cover the area completely until they could understand the gravity of the situation. After all, a dungeon boss had run away, how disastrous could that be?
"I've seen news of dungeon monsters running away from them, but... can a dungeon boss do that?" Said the bald man.
"It's my first time seeing something like this too." The younger man, definitely in his twenties or thirties, spoke.
He approached the body of Walter, the incredibly muscular man who was now sprawled on the floor with a cut across his neck.
Beside him, two heads and two corpses, they were the mages. And besides, the healer's body.
"Did you find Brian's sword?" The redhead asked.
"No. We searched the entire area and found absolutely nothing." The man in the green shirt took a moment to breathe, speaking so fast it tired him. "Why the question?"
"Look at the cuts. There are burns on each one. Whoever killed them used Brian's sword." He said and continued. "Very accurate cuts for a monster."
The bald man looked at him and their eyes met. He could feel the inferiority between him and the young man.
"Mr. Fehrman, are you saying a hunter did this?"
The young man next to the bald man was Roland Fehrman, one of the greatest hunters of the generation. The pride of England.
"Henry." He said the name of the man who looked at him once more, this time in a cold sweat. "Do you know why I came here? It wasn't because members of the Demon King's church died. It wasn't because a dungeon boss escaped her prison. I came here because this was the last place my brother was seen alive."
"I didn't know you had a brother."
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me. I even asked the hunting alliance president to omit some facts about me, including my family."
Roland looked at the dozens of men dressed in black surrounding the place as if a UFO had fallen in front of the dungeon.
When the dungeons appeared, that's exactly how the world's governments reacted.
"And your brother is..."
"Dead? I don't know. The last record he signed into the alliance says he came here with a group of three other people. Only the three of them left, as the team dungeon report says."
He approached the healer's body. The girl's look of fear and pain filled Roland's eyes. Her mouth was covered with dried blood.
"Henry, I need you to find these three people for me. The addresses are not required to join the hunting alliance so they didn't register them. I want you to find out everything you can about them."
Henry could have sworn that all the hair he'd stuck in the corners of his head would fall out, he was so nervous.
"Would you know their names?"
"Tervin Jones, Donna Lin and Kin Jin-woo."
Henry was tired of standing. The lack of exercise in his life was taking its toll at that time in his life.
"I'll see what I can find on each of them. I'll keep you posted with updates."
"Thank you so much."
Roland was leaving the room when he remembered something, returning to Henry's side.
"You said you have a niece who recently got the gift, didn't you?"
"Yeah! Her name is Savannah Grant. But why do you want to know?"
"If you find these three, I will place her in my guild, the White Snake. Consider this a show of affection for your cooperation."
Henry smiled and the nervousness completely disappeared. He thanked Roland, who walked among the men in suits.
Roland had a teleportation crystal that was magically attached to a monument of magical stones in his office. He activated it and then teleported in a few seconds to the desired location.
A wooden table with a computer, keyboard and mouse on top. Some papers were scattered around the place and several paintings filled the white walls.
He was side by side with a potted plant that was on the windowsill. His hands gently touched the plant which, if it could speak, it would be extremely grateful.
"Home, sweet home." He said as he looked through the humongous window.