Chapter 8 – The Hunter's Arrival
The warning came not from the System, but from the villagers' silence.
James noticed it as soon as he stepped into the square with Lira. No laughter from the children, no chatter of barter at the well. Everyone stood frozen, their gazes fixed on the dirt road leading into the village.
At first, he thought it was just another patrol of mercenaries. But then he saw him.
The man walked with unhurried steps, his armor dull silver etched with runes. A long cloak dragged in the ash behind him, and at his hip gleamed a blade that seemed too heavy for any normal man to carry. His face was hidden beneath a helm, but the way he moved… steady, calm, inevitable.
The System chimed coldly in James' head.
[Warning: Cycle Hunter detected]
[Designation: E-Rank Eliminator]
[Estimated Survival Probability: 6%]
James' stomach lurched. An Eliminator. Not a ragtag sellsword, not a monster. A trained executioner whose sole purpose was to erase people like him.
Lira whispered beside him, voice trembling.
"James… we should run."
The Hunter stopped at the edge of the square. He lifted his helm just enough to reveal a scarred jawline, his lips pressed into a flat line of disdain. His voice carried across the still air, low and unwavering.
"Reincarnator. Step forward."
The villagers recoiled, murmurs breaking into panicked whispers. "Cycle Cursed… it's him." "He brought this." "We're doomed."
James felt the stares pierce into him like arrows. He gripped his dagger, though the weapon felt like a child's toy compared to the man's blade.
The System glitched, screens overlapping in front of his eyes:
[Quest Generated: Defeat the Cycle Hunter]
Reward: ???
Failure: Termination of User Integrity
His pulse thundered in his ears. "Defeat him? With this?!"
The Hunter unsheathed his sword in one slow motion. The blade sang like iron dragged across bone. "Do not resist. The Cycle ends here."
And then he moved.
—
James barely saw it. One moment the Hunter was standing across the square, the next his sword was crashing down toward James' head. James rolled aside, the blade striking stone and cleaving it like rotten wood.
The shockwave sent villagers screaming.
[Emergency Protocol: Activating]
[Skill Granted: Fragment Surge – unstable output]
[Stability Cost: 5%]
Power seared through James' veins, burning and twisting. His vision fractured into glitching fragments—past lives screaming, flashes of foreign memories. A thousand voices shouting, Kill him, run, bleed, survive!
James screamed back, slashing wildly with his dagger.
The Hunter parried with one hand, almost lazy, sparks flashing as steel met steel. His strength was overwhelming—each blow felt like it would snap James' arms.
"You don't belong here," the Hunter said, voice calm even as his blade pressed closer. "Your existence corrupts this land."
James spat blood. "I didn't ask to be here!"
He forced the Fragment to flare. His dagger glowed faintly, splitting into afterimages. [Blade Echo I]. He struck three times in one breath.
The Hunter blocked the first, dodged the second—then the third cut across his shoulder, leaving a shallow wound.
The villagers gasped. No one ever wounded a Hunter.
James staggered back, chest heaving. His veins burned like fire, his skin crawling as though his body would rip apart from the inside. The Fragment was eating him alive.
[Warning: User integrity dropping – 72% → 65%]
[Overuse will result in collapse]
The Hunter touched his shoulder where the cut smoked faintly. He didn't bleed like a man—his wound leaked silver threads, writhing before sealing shut. He looked at James with something colder than hatred.
"Interesting. You wield a Fragment."
James froze. "You… know about them?"
The Hunter raised his blade again, pointing it directly at James' chest. "That power does not belong to you. It belongs to the Cycle."
And then he attacked again.
—
The square erupted into chaos. Villagers scattered, some screaming, some praying. Lira stood frozen near the well, torn between running and helping.
James fought desperately, every dodge and counter tearing at his muscles. The Hunter's strikes were impossibly precise, designed not just to kill—but to erase. Each blow felt like it was cutting pieces out of his very soul.
The System crackled, glitching harder than ever.
[Override Detected]
[Hunter Authority in effect]
[System Access restricted]
James' eyes widened. He can control the System too?
The Hunter pressed forward relentlessly, forcing James into the dirt. His dagger snapped under the weight of the greatsword. Splinters of metal scattered across the ground.
The Hunter raised his blade for the final strike. "End of the Cycle."
James' Fragment screamed inside him. Voices, visions, raw power. He felt the temptation to let go completely—become the storm of memories and souls clawing for release.
But if he did, would he even still be James?
His body trembled, torn between collapse and explosion.
The Hunter's sword began its descent—
—