Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

Stella's charge was the spark.

With a determined scream, she sprinted toward the golems that had broken past the defensive line. Behind her, Sylphie raised her staff, conjuring a barrier of magical wind to protect the group, while Irelia advanced alongside Stella, blade in hand, and Amelia provided cover with precise spells.

The air around them thickened with pure mana. Magical flames flickered in response to the raw force awakened by sheer survival instinct.

At the front line, Kael unleashed his power.

The aura surrounding him pulsed with an invisible, almost suffocating force. His body felt lighter, steadier, as if every cell was in sync with a hidden energy pulsing inside him. At his side, Erika exchanged sharp blows with the golems, but her eyes were now locked on Kael — a mix of disbelief and soldier-like focus in her gaze.

Kael charged at three golems at once. They tried to crush him with simultaneous punches, but he twisted his body and, with a sudden explosive motion, unleashed a shockwave with his clenched fist — an instinctive technique, still unnamed, but absurdly destructive.

CRACK—BOOM!

The three golems were hurled against the walls, shattered into pieces.

"What the hell are you…?" Erika muttered, not looking away from the destruction.

Kael didn't respond. He just rolled his neck and exhaled, letting the mana accumulated along his spine surge into his arms and hands. The bluish energy veins that once flickered timidly now burned beneath his skin.

"More," he said coldly.

And the golems answered the call.

Meanwhile, in the support group...

Stella slid under a golem's leg and drove her enchanted sword into its joint, immobilizing it for a moment. Irelia took the opportunity — with a swift leap, she sliced through the golem from top to bottom, aiming for the core.

CLANG! CRACK!

The core glowed brightly before shattering into shards.

Sylphie, chanting her spells with fluid precision, summoned concentrated wind spears that pierced the joints of the golems, making them easier targets for her allies. Amelia, on the other hand, was pure precision — jabbing with light spears at exposed cores, she brought down one enemy after another without ever changing position.

"It's… working!" shouted Stella, dodging an attack and slicing through an enemy's wrist.

"We're syncing," Amelia commented with a small smile. "Not bad for a makeshift team."

But the victory was short-lived.

From the tunnel, a new roar echoed—deeper, denser. A sound that scraped at the soul.

Everyone froze for a second.

Kael, sensing the shift in magical pressure, turned his eyes toward the back of the dungeon.

"What is that…?" From within the horde of golems, a much larger creature emerged. Three times the size of a regular golem, its body was covered in obsidian-black plates. In its chest, three mana cores spun in sync — and on its forehead, a flaming red rune glowed.

Erika took a half-step back. "A Guardian Golem. That's not supposed to be here. This one's Rank B."

Kael clenched his fists. The energy around him vibrated like thunder barely contained."Perfect... just what I needed..." he muttered.

The Guardian Golem let out a magical roar, and its presence alone began to destabilize the tunnel. Chunks of the ceiling started to fall. Students screamed in the background. Erika barked orders to form a new defensive line.

"KAEL! DON'T DO ANYTHING CRAZY!"But he had already vanished in a flash.

The impact hit like a storm.

Kael collided with the Guardian Golem, landing a direct punch to its chest.

BOOM!!!

The sound was deafening. The tunnel walls shook, and the ground cracked under the force of the blow. The Guardian staggered but didn't fall — its structure was more advanced, denser. Its eyes lit up, and it retaliated with a flurry of blows that rang out like war hammers striking steel.

Kael blocked one, dodged another, and let the third strike hit his shoulder. The impact launched him backward, crashing into a wall.

Dust and debris rose into the air.

Stella screamed: "KAEL!"

But even before the smoke cleared, he was already on his feet. His shoulder bled, but his eyes burned with something fiercer than pain.

"Damn..." he muttered.

The dust hadn't even settled when the metallic sound of footsteps echoed again through the tunnels — not one, not two, but dozens.

Erika spun on her heels, eyes wide, sensing the approach of the presences like an invisible avalanche of corrupted mana.

"This... can't be real..."

More golems emerged from the shadows. They weren't like the earlier ones: their armor was thicker, their joints reinforced, and the cores in their chests pulsed with violet light instead of blue. Behind them, three larger figures stood out, each wielding a different type of rune-forged weapon — maces, broad swords, enchanted spears — but it was the last one that brought true terror:

A Greater Guardian.

Massive. Four meters tall. Its chest open, revealing a spiral of mana cores spinning around a black crystal that absorbed mana from the environment like a black hole. Around its body, runes burned like smoldering coal, and wherever it stepped, the ground crumbled, drained of all magical energy.

The air grew thick. Heavy.

From the rear, Amelia shouted:"We're losing mana! It's draining everything!"

Sylphie fell to her knees with a muffled gasp, her staff trembling in her hand."I can't... cast the barrier...!"

Irelia felt her blade lose its glow, as if the steel itself was being emptied."My enchantment… it's fading!"

On the battlefield, Erika took a step back, her eyes locked on the creature. The Greater Guardian raised its arm and pointed directly at her.

Kael, already back in position, spat blood. His shoulders throbbed, and his body screamed for rest. But he saw the intention even before the attack was fired.

"ERIKA!!!"

A violet flash exploded from the Guardian's crystal.

Erika tried to raise her sword, but she was too slow — drained, exhausted, vulnerable.

And then Kael launched himself forward.

He didn't think. He didn't hesitate.

He crossed the battlefield with a clumsy leap and threw himself in front of the beam.

The impact struck him square in the chest.

CRAACK!

The sound of bones cracking echoed like shattering glass. Kael was flung backward, his body crashing into one of the stone columns, embedding itself with brutal force. The structure cracked, and dust burst into the air.

"KAAEEL!!"

Erika ran toward him, but more golems were dropping from the ceiling like living hammers. A Guardian Golem landed behind her and raised its rune-blade, aiming straight for her skull. She tried to react, but everything was slow — heavy, muted, like moving through water.

Kael coughed blood.

His body trembled, the pain was searing. He felt his chest tighten, his left arm limp, his right shoulder dislocated. And still, he tried to rise.

Not for himself.

For her.

Two more Guardian Golems joined the first, surrounding Erika. They raised their weapons in unison.

Kael growled, and the last traces of mana in his body answered the call — a spark in the dark.

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!"

He launched himself again.

His muscles tore. The pain was indescribable. But he crossed the space between them in one final burst of mana — pure instinct, pure fury.

With a desperate spin, he grabbed the arm of one of the Guardians and yanked it, causing the sword to miss Erika by mere inches. One of the other golems slammed its weapon into his back in response. The sound that followed was gut-wrenching.

Erika screamed, but Kael didn't fall.

He dropped to his knees.

Blood dripped from his mouth, and his blurred eyes struggled to stay focused. The mana in his body had been nearly drained. And without mana... there was no defense, no regeneration, no shield.

For the first time, Erika hesitated.

"Kael... you shouldn't have..."

"If you... fall... who's gonna keep those idiots alive?" he muttered with a half-smile, spitting blood. "Go... find them... protect Sylphie..."

But another blow was coming.

This time, the Greater Guardian raised a massive arm and unleashed a shockwave that hurled Erika against the wall with a sickening crack. She collapsed, unconscious.

Kael barely had time to react. Two Guardian Golems grabbed his arms and lifted him off the ground. The Greater Guardian approached, the rune on its head burning like a miniature sun.

A roar echoed from the creature, and then it drove its fist into Kael's stomach with devastating force.

Kael's world went black for a moment.

His body gave in. A high-pitched ringing filled his ears, and the taste of blood flooded his mouth. But he was still there. Still… there.

Even while being beaten. Even with his chest crushed. Even with his arms restrained.

Kael looked up at the Guardian's face.

"You're... gonna need more than that..."

Then he heard Stella's voice in the distance:

"KAEL!!"

Sylphie raised her staff with trembling hands, her eyes brimming with tears. Irelia tried to shield Amelia, who was desperately casting a teleport spell with the last of her mana.

They were all at their limit.

And in the center of the chaos, wrapped in a spiral of pain, surrounded by monsters built to destroy… Kael closed his eyes.

His mind sank into silence.

In the darkness of his being, something pulsed. Something sleeping.

Something that was calling to him.

"…release me…"

The rune on the Greater Guardian's head flared, preparing the final strike.

But Kael's body… began to glow.

Not with mana.

With something older. Denser. Primordial.

For a moment, all the runes around him went dark.

And then Kael's eyes opened — golden, blazing with fire.

His scream was the spark.

"AAAAAAAAARGH!!" The entire tunnel shook.