The woman's presence was like a shadow that refused to leave, lingering in the air long after her words had settled in Kael's mind. His grip tightened around the hilt of his sword, the blade still dripping with the blood of the Vorgar. Yet his focus remained solely on the stranger before him. Something about her was different. She wasn't just another survivor of the rift. She was something… more.
Kael's instincts screamed at him to attack. The chill in the air, the unnatural stillness around them — he had faced enough enemies to know that silence was often the precursor to something deadly. Yet something held him back. This woman, despite the danger that radiated from her, didn't feel like an immediate threat. At least, not in the way the beasts did.
She stepped forward, her cloak rustling as she moved, the moonlight casting long shadows across her face. Her eyes — pale, almost ethereal — fixed on him with an intensity that was both unsettling and captivating. There was an air of confidence about her, a presence that hinted at deep knowledge, knowledge that Kael would have traded anything to possess.
"You've been to the edge, haven't you?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper, but it cut through the silence like a knife. "You've seen the rift for what it truly is."
Kael didn't answer immediately. The rift — he had always known it wasn't just a tear in reality. It was something more. Something far worse. But how did she know?
His suspicion only grew. "How do you know that?" Kael asked, his voice low but laced with an edge of anger.
The woman smiled, a faint but knowing curve of her lips. "I've seen it too, Hunter. I've been to places you can't even imagine." She paused for a moment, as if savoring the weight of her words. "And I know how it ends."
Kael's heart skipped a beat. He had seen the end before — countless times. Each death, each failure, each regression felt like a strike against his very soul. The cycle never stopped. But what if this woman knew something that could break it? Could she be the key?
"You're lying," Kael said harshly, though doubt crept into his mind. "No one knows the truth about the rift. Not even the strongest of hunters."
The woman stepped closer, her voice barely audible but clear in the stillness. "The truth is more than what you've seen, Kael Darnis. You've witnessed the surface of the storm, but there's a much deeper darkness beneath it. The rift isn't just a doorway to monsters. It's a doorway to everything — to all the possibilities of what could be, what should be. And what's coming… It's worse than you think."
Kael's mind reeled. He had always known there was more to the rift, but her words made something inside him twist. Something was wrong. The way she spoke, the certainty in her voice — it felt like a trap, like she was pushing him toward something he wasn't ready to understand. He took a step back, keeping his sword at the ready.
"You don't know anything," Kael growled, the fire of frustration rising in him. "You can't possibly know."
The woman's eyes gleamed with an unsettling mix of sympathy and amusement. "You're right. I don't know everything. But I know enough to see that you're caught in a trap. A trap that's been set for you long before you even drew your first breath."
Kael's blood ran cold. There it was again — that nagging feeling that this wasn't just some random encounter. She was here for a reason. And that reason was him.
"What do you want from me?" Kael demanded, his voice sharp. "Why are you here?"
The woman studied him for a long moment, her eyes calculating, as though weighing the truth she was about to reveal. She looked past him, toward the horizon, where the first hints of dawn were breaking.
"I'm here to offer you a choice," she said, her voice steady. "You're not just a hunter, Kael. You're something much more. Something that could either save this world — or destroy it completely."
Kael's heart skipped a beat. "What the hell are you talking about?"
She ignored the question, instead turning her gaze back to him, her expression unreadable. "You've felt it, haven't you? The magic. The way it pulses inside you. It's not just power. It's a force that connects you to the rift itself. You're not just fighting the beasts, Kael. You're fighting fate."
Kael's mind raced as the pieces started to fall into place. He had always known there was something different about his magic. It wasn't like the magic of other hunters, who could only tap into a single beast's power. His power was… alive. A living magic that grew stronger with every death, with every regression. But to hear this woman speak of fate — of his very existence being tied to the rift — was enough to make his skin crawl.
"The magic inside you is both your weapon and your curse," the woman continued, her tone softer now. "You've been sent back, again and again, because you're meant to play a role in this. The rift didn't just tear the world apart. It tore the timeline apart, and you, Kael Darnis, are the key to putting it back together. Or destroying it."
Kael's head spun. The weight of her words threatened to crush him, but he didn't let it show. He had been through worse. He had fought monsters, broken the rules of time, and defied death itself. But this — this was different. This wasn't just about survival. This was about the very fabric of reality itself.
"You want me to fix the rift," Kael said, his voice a mix of disbelief and anger. "That's why you're here. But I've seen what happens when you try to stop it. It's impossible."
The woman's gaze hardened, a flicker of something dark crossing her features. "It's not impossible. But it's not going to be easy. The rift is only one part of the puzzle. The real danger is what lies on the other side. There's something out there, something ancient, waiting to break through. And when it does, the world will collapse under its weight. The beasts, the magic — everything will burn."
Kael's stomach twisted. A part of him wanted to laugh. Another part wanted to run. But he couldn't. He couldn't ignore the truth that was staring him in the face. He had seen what happened when the rift opened. He had seen the destruction. And if what she was saying was true, then this wasn't just another fight. This was the fight.
"Then what do you want me to do?" Kael asked, his voice hoarse with the weight of it all.
The woman's eyes glinted with a strange fire. "I want you to choose. You can stop the rift, Kael. You can close it, and end the cycle. Or you can embrace the magic and let it consume you. Either way, you're going to change the world."
Kael stared at her, the silence between them stretching longer than it should have. The weight of her words pressed on him, pulling at the seams of his resolve. He had been through this before. He had fought, he had regressed, and still, the world had always fallen apart.
But now? Now, he had a choice.
His hand tightened on his sword as he looked at the woman, his heart beating in his chest.
It was time to make a decision.
As the first light of dawn crept over the horizon, Kael Darnis stood at the crossroads of fate, his next move uncertain.