Chapter 26: The Hunter’s Judgment

Senior hunters arrived on the scene in heavy armored transports, their arrival slicing through the chaos like a blade.

I was still on my knees when they stepped out, led by a tall, decorated commander with silver hair and a face hardened by years of strict discipline. Multiple high-rank insignias gleamed on his uniform. Behind him, a squad of elite soldiers moved with cold precision, scanning the area and me.

The entire street fell into tense silence. Even the news drones seemed to hover lower, recording everything.

The commander surveyed the stabilized building, the cracked pavement, and the lingering black crystalline veins. His sharp eyes finally locked onto me.

He walked forward without hesitation and stopped a few meters away. His voice carried clearly across the rescue teams.

“Subject Elias Verne,” he said, tone formal and icy. “Explain the anomaly we just witnessed.”

Not a thank you. Not even acknowledgment of the civilians I had saved.

Just the anomaly.

I slowly pushed myself to my feet, legs still shaking. “I stopped the building from falling. The civilians were trapped inside. I didn’t have a choice. I just… reacted.”

The commander’s expression didn’t soften. “We are not here to discuss the civilians. We are here to discuss the power you displayed. That was not standard gravity manipulation. That was something far beyond known S-Rank capabilities. Report exactly what ability you used and how you accessed it.”

I felt the hostility beneath his formal tone. These hunters weren’t allies. They were evaluating a threat.

“I don’t know how I did it,” I answered, my voice rough with exhaustion. “It just happened. I raised my hand and the building stopped. I was trying to save those people. That’s all.”

One of the senior hunters behind the commander muttered something into his comms. Another kept his hand resting near his weapon, eyes never leaving me.

The commander took one deliberate step closer. “You expect us to believe you spontaneously manifested an unknown ability at the exact moment it was needed? After being the sole survivor of the Abyss Gate expedition? After your name was found engraved on the core seal?”

I swallowed hard, shame and anger mixing in my chest. “I didn’t plan any of this. I was just a porter. I didn’t ask for this power. I didn’t want it.”

“Yet here you are,” the commander replied coldly. “Holding back a collapsing structure that trained S-Ranks could not stabilize. The energy signature matches the Abyss Gate breach. You will report to IHA headquarters immediately for full evaluation and containment assessment.”

My stomach dropped. “Containment? I just saved those people. I risked my life out here. And now you want to lock me up like a criminal?”

“You are an unknown variable,” the commander said flatly. “And unknown variables are contained until proven safe. That is protocol. Refusal is not an option.”

Behind him, I noticed the soldiers quietly unlocking the safeties on their weapons. The soft, metallic clicks were barely audible, but I heard them clearly in the tense silence.

My hands started trembling again. “You’re pointing guns at me after I stopped a building from killing dozens of civilians? After everything I just did out here?”

The commander didn’t blink. “Our duty is to protect the public. From dungeon breaches. And from anything else that might prove more dangerous. You will come with us. Now.”

Soren’s voice cut in through my private comms, low and tense. “Elias, stay calm. Do not resist. I’m already coordinating with headquarters. Just go with them for now. I’ll handle this.”

I looked around. The rescued civilians watched from a distance, fear still clear on their faces. The hunters around me had shifted positions, forming a loose containment circle. No one was thanking me. No one was smiling.

They were all waiting to see what the “anomaly” would do next.

“I didn’t ask for this power,” I said, my voice cracking with emotion. “I didn’t want any of it. I just wanted to help. Why are you treating me like I’m the enemy?”

The commander gestured sharply toward one of the armored transports. “Your personal desires are irrelevant. You will comply. Soldiers, escort the subject.”

Two soldiers moved forward, hands resting on their now-unlocked weapons.

The system interface flashed in my vision, red text pulsing.

\[CONTAINMENT STRESS DETECTED\]

I felt the ancient pressure stir again inside my chest, reacting to the fear, the hostility, the isolation.

They weren’t treating me like a hunter who had just saved lives.

They were treating me like the next disaster waiting to happen.

And behind the commander, more soldiers quietly prepared their weapons.

Just in case.