Chapter 62 Hunter's Decent

Chapter 62 Hunter's Decent

I slowly closed my eyes, letting my head rest against the seat.

And just like that—

The memories came rushing in.

Not faint. Not distant.

Clear.

Vivid.

Like I was there again.

Four hundred years ago…

Before the hunters. A few decades after the prophecy. Before all of this.

Back when I was just… human.

I was an ordinary hunter then, living in a quiet village surrounded by thick forests and endless land. Life was simple. Hard—but simple. And I was good at what I did. No… I was the best. Everyone in the village knew it. If something needed to be hunted, if danger crept too close, I was the one they called.

But none of that mattered to me as much as her.

My wife.

She was the center of my world. The reason I woke up every morning with purpose beyond survival. And when she got pregnant… everything changed in the most beautiful way.

She would laugh more.

Smile more.

And her cravings—

Those cravings became my mission.

“Which meat do you want today?” I would ask her almost every morning, watching her eyes light up as she thought about it.

And no matter what she said… I always delivered.

That was the kind of hunter I was.

I would walk deep into the forest without fear, my spear resting comfortably in my hand, my senses sharp. The forest wasn’t just filled with animals — it held things… older. Stranger. Creatures that could take human form, spirits that watched from the shadows, beings you didn’t speak about unless you wanted trouble.

But I feared none of them.

Not back then.

One day, she looked at me with that soft smile and said, “I want deer meat.”

I remember laughing softly, pulling her close.

“Is that all?” I teased.

I held her, kissed her forehead gently, and promised her I’d be back before sunset.

Then I left.

The forest welcomed me like it always did — thick trees stretching high into the sky, the ground damp beneath my feet, the air alive with distant sounds. Hours passed as I moved deeper, tracking, listening, waiting.

Then I saw it.

A deer.

But not just any deer.

It was… beautiful.

Its coat shimmered softly under the light breaking through the trees, almost unnatural in its perfection. It stood still, calm… as if it had been waiting.

I tightened my grip on my spear.

Then—

Our eyes met.

And something in me hesitated.

For a brief moment, I thought…

Maybe I shouldn’t kill it.

Maybe I should just turn back, find something else.

But then her voice echoed in my mind.

I want deer meat.

My jaw tightened.

Duty.

Love.

Purpose.

The deer suddenly turned—

And ran.

Instinct took over.

I moved without thinking, my arm pulling back as I aimed. My muscles tensed, my breath steady—

Then I threw the spear.

It cut through the air with precision.

And struck.

Straight into its neck.

The deer collapsed instantly, its body hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Silence followed.

Heavy.

Unnatural.

I walked toward it slowly… not knowing that in that single moment—

Everything in my life had already begun to change.

I stepped closer to the fallen deer, my breathing steady but my mind still unsettled from that strange hesitation I had felt moments ago.

Then—

Its body moved.

I froze.

The deer’s form began to shift, its limbs twisting unnaturally, its shape collapsing inward before stretching again into something smaller… thinner…

Human.

My heart slammed violently against my chest as I stumbled back.

Where the deer had been lying just seconds ago…

…was a little girl.

Lifeless.

Still.

My hands started shaking.

“No… no…” I muttered, backing away, my entire body rejecting what my eyes were seeing.

Fear took over.

I turned—

And I ran.

I ran faster than I ever had in my life, branches slashing against my skin, my lungs burning as I pushed through the forest like something was chasing me. I didn’t stop. I didn’t look back.

Not once.

When I finally reached home, I burst through the entrance, breathless, terrified—

And everything went quiet.

Too quiet.

There were people there.

Women.

Elders.

And then I saw her.

My wife.

Lying still.

Unmoving.

My heart dropped.

“No…” I whispered, stepping forward slowly.

But I already knew.

She had died during labor.

And the child—

The child never made it.

A stillborn.

The world around me collapsed in that moment.

I couldn’t hear anything anymore. Couldn’t feel anything. Just a hollow emptiness tearing through my chest, swallowing everything I was.

When I finally found the strength to speak, I told the elders what had happened in the forest. Every detail. Every second.

They listened.

Silently.

Then one of them spoke.

“It was not an ordinary deer,” he said.

Another nodded grimly. “You killed a witch’s child.”

The words felt like a blade through my soul.

“That is why this has happened,” they continued. “The price has been paid… through your wife and your child.”

I broke.

Completely.

The guilt… the pain… the emptiness…

It consumed me.

Days passed.

Or maybe weeks.

I didn’t know anymore.

I cried until there was nothing left in me. I stopped eating. Stopped speaking. I was alive… but there was no life in me.

Until one day—

I decided to end it.

I couldn’t carry it anymore.

I took my spear, planted it firmly into the ground, angled it toward my chest… and without hesitation—

I fell on it.

The pain was sharp.

Instant.

Then—

Darkness.

Peace.

Or at least… that’s what I thought.

But when I opened my eyes again—

I was still alive.

I gasped, sitting up suddenly, my hand flying to my chest.

There was a scar.

Fresh.

But I wasn’t dead.

Confusion flooded my mind.

“This… doesn’t make sense…” I muttered.

So I tried again.

If the spear didn’t work—

Then something else would.

I found poison.

Drank it.

Waited.

My stomach twisted violently—

And I threw it all up.

Every last drop.

I tried again.

And again.

And again.

Each time, my body rejected it.

Like something inside me refused to let me die.

That was when I realized—

Something was wrong.

Something had changed.

And there was only one place that held answers.

The forest.

The exact spot where everything began.

I walked for hours, my body weak but driven by something deeper than strength. When I finally reached the edge of that clearing, I stopped.

I could see the spot from afar.

The same place.

The same ground.

But before I could take another step—

Movement.

From all directions.

Deer.

Dozens of them.

They emerged from the trees, one after another, surrounding the clearing. They ran toward that exact spot… then stopped.

All at once.

And then—

They turned.

Every single one of them.

And looked at me.

My breath caught in my throat.

Fear crawled up my spine.

But then a thought crossed my mind—

What did I have left to lose?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

So despite the fear…

I stepped forward.

And began to approach them.

As I stepped closer, the deer in the center of the clearing didn’t move like the others.

It stood still.

Watching me.

Then, slowly—

It began to transform.

Its body shifted, folding in on itself, limbs reshaping, shrinking, stretching—until what stood before me was no longer a deer, but a young woman.

Beautiful.

Unnaturally so.

She wore a flowing white gown that seemed untouched by the forest around her, her skin glowing faintly, her presence… calm, yet overwhelming. The other deer remained still, watching, as if this moment had already been decided long before I arrived.

My feet felt rooted to the ground as she began to walk toward me.

Step by step.

No fear.

No hesitation.

When she reached me, she didn’t speak.

She simply lifted her hand, placed it gently against my face—

And kissed me.

The moment her lips touched mine—

Everything vanished.

The forest.

The light.

The ground beneath me—

Gone.

I was falling.

Through darkness.

Endless.

Violent.

I screamed as the void swallowed me, my body spinning uncontrollably until—

I crashed.

Hard.

I hit the ground, I groaned, pushing myself up slowly, my vision adjusting—

And then I saw them.

Surrounding me.

Dozens of them.

Beautiful girls.

All dressed in white gowns.

Standing in a perfect circle around me, their faces calm… but their eyes heavy with something deeper. They didn’t move. Didn’t speak. They just watched.

And then—

The circle parted slightly.

Two figures stepped forward from behind them.

Elderly women.

One draped in black.

The other in red.

They walked with slow, deliberate steps, their presence alone commanding everything around them. The girls in white lowered their gazes slightly as they passed.

The woman on the left spoke first.

Her voice carried weight. Judgment.

“You took one from us…”

She paused, her eyes locking onto mine.

“So we took two from you.”

My chest tightened instantly.

Then the one on the right spoke, her tone colder, sharper.

“You made us all cry…”

A faint silence followed.

“…so you will cry for eternity.”

That was it.

Whatever strength I had left—

Broke.

I dropped to my knees, my hands hitting the ground as tears poured uncontrollably from my eyes.

“I’m sorry…” I choked out. “I didn’t know… I didn’t know she was one of you…”

My voice trembled, my entire body shaking under the weight of it all.

“Please…” I begged. “Just let me die… let me go to them… let me see my family again…”

My head dropped.

“I don’t want this… just take my life…”

For a moment—

There was silence.

Then I heard footsteps.

Slow.

Measured.

One of the elderly women approached me.

She stopped right in front of me, then slowly bent down to my level.

I felt her presence before I even looked up.

Then—

A single finger.

Her index finger slid gently under my chin.

And lifted my face upward.

Her finger held my chin firmly, forcing me to look directly into her eyes.

“We will let you die…” she said slowly.

Hope flickered weakly inside me.

“…but only on one condition.”

My brows tightened, my voice barely steady. “What condition?”

Her expression didn’t change.

“You will bring order to this world.”

I frowned slightly, confusion mixing with the grief still choking me. “What does that mean?”

There was a brief silence.

Then she answered—

“You will become a vampire hunter.”

—

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at our destination.”

The voice cut through everything.

Sharp.

Sudden.

The darkness shattered, and my eyes snapped open as the hum of the plane rushed back into my ears. The memory faded instantly, slipping away like it had never been there.

I blinked a few times, adjusting, my breathing steadying as I realized where I was.

Back on the plane.

Back in the present.

“We have now landed,” the pilot’s voice continued over the intercom. “Please prepare to disembark.”

I exhaled slowly, running a hand over my face.

Four hundred years…

And it still felt like yesterday.

I stood up without a word, grabbing my jacket as the other hunters began to move. The cabin filled with the sounds of unbuckling belts, quiet conversations, and shifting gear.

Tobi glanced at me briefly but didn’t say anything this time.

We both knew something had changed.

Moments later, we stepped off the plane.

Cold air hit instantly.

Sharp.

Biting.

We had landed at an American research airstrip, surrounded by nothing but endless white. Snow stretched as far as the eye could see, blending into the pale sky, the wind whispering faintly across the frozen ground.

But something was wrong.

I paused.

Looked around.

Too quiet.

There were structures — equipment, vehicles, buildings meant to house researchers and staff—but no movement. No voices. No signs of life.

The place was empty.

Completely.

My men stepped out behind me, spreading slightly as their eyes scanned the area. Boots crunched softly against the ice as we moved forward, alert, cautious.

Tobi came up beside me, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.

“This doesn’t look right,” he muttered.

I didn’t respond immediately.

I just kept looking.

Listening.

Nothing.

No footsteps.

No distant chatter.

No machinery running.

Just silence.

Cold, unnatural silence.

My grip tightened slightly as I spoke, my voice low.

“Where did everyone go?”