A figure zipped through the dark forest with speed, cold gaze darting left and right as he searched for prey.
'The chill is getting thinner.'
Malakai had switched to relying on his sight for a while now. He had initially used the chill he felt from darkness creatures to locate them instantly.
However, after basically circling his entire region and killing them at an unnatural pace, he seed to be running out of targets.
'I might have to enter another region at this pace. Or…'
Malakai's gaze flashed cold. 'I'll hunt the other youths.'
He had run into nurous youths while dashing through the forest. However, Malakai hadn't so much as glanced at any of them.
While the 40% point gain he'd get from taking down a youth was tempting, he had already concluded that going after darkness creatures was far more beneficial.
Rather than wasting ti taking down other participants, he could grow stronger with each creature he killed, while gaining points in the process.
But now that he was running out of prey in his region, he was torn, should he target the other youths or move to another area?
'Moving will take ti, and I can't guarantee there'll be many darkness creatures there anyway.'
Malakai glanced at the tir on his life guard.
'Less than 2 hours left.'
Ti had passed, and they were already nearly halfway through the hunt. He needed to decide. Fast.
'The youths.'
His eyes turned cold. He had made his choice.
The forest around him suddenly fell into a loud silence. Malakai ignored every other sense and simply listened, for movent, for sound.
Crack!
A branch snapped.
Malakai spun, eyes snapping toward the source. He shot forward, cutting through the forest like a streak of death.
A second later, his gaze sharpened. 'One youth. A Sanguine.'
A youth with crimson eyes and hair entered his vision. He had been moving stealthily, or at least trying to, when he turned and saw a figure rushing at him with terrifying speed.
As he caught the icy gaze and cold face, realization slamd into him.
'The Ninth Vein!'
His hand shot to his utility belt, grabbing a flare gun and pointing the wide nozzle skyward. He pulled the trigger, and a flare burst into the sky, exploding in a bright light.
Malakai's eyes narrowed. 'What was that?'
He was barreling toward the youth, his ill intent obvious, yet the first thing the boy had done was fire a flare into the sky?
His mind was already working through the implications. But he didn't slow.
Vita surged through his legs. His speed exploded.
In the blink of an eye, he closed the gap. The youth had drawn his sword and was swinging desperately, but Malakai vanished to the right, evading the downward slash.
His left foot slamd into the ground, and his right leg snapped upward, hurtling toward the youth's exposed neck.
The youth's eyes widened in horror, but it was too late.
Just before the kick landed, the youth vanished, leaving only empty air. Malakai's leg passed through nothing.
'So they won't even show themselves, huh.'
The shadows, those assigned to intervene in case of fatal blows, they were the ones who had just stepped in.
Even though Malakai hadn't used his weapon, that kick was loaded with a massive amount of vita. If it had landed, it would have snapped the youth's neck.
Still…
'A flare.'
Malakai turned his gaze toward the sky, where the bright light still shimred.
'Was this their plan?'
He had already ford assumptions before the fight was even over. Still, he wanted confirmation.
Without another word, he turned in a random direction and shot forward with explosive speed.
—
After so ti, Malakai stood, looking down with an icy stare at a trembling youth.
"Why did you shoot that flare?"
This was the second ti he was asking. The first ti, he had broken the youth's right leg for choosing silence over an answer.
Tears streaked down the youth's face, his body trembling as he tried to withstand the pain surging through him.
He turned shaky eyes towards the boy who looked more demon than human. Still, he didn't speak.
'It's a waste of ti.' Malakai decided, and his leg shot forward, about to hit the youth's throat, when the boy suddenly vanished, leaving only a gust of air in his wake. He had been taken out of the competition.
'My assumption is accurate.'
Malakai had taken down fifteen more youths in the span of minutes, and of them, five had fired flares into the sky the mont they spotted him.
As though shooting blindly into the sky was more important than guarding against an incoming threat.
'Soone wants to locate .'
That was the imdiate thought that ca to his mind. And now, he had confird it. A flare could only an one thing, signaling. In this case, signaling a person.
'And it's not just Sanguine.'
The first youth had been a Sanguine. But the others were from ordinary clans. It was clear, the person trying to find him had enough reach and influence to get many people to carry this out.
Malakai didn't even need to think before a na ca to mind.
'Varnel.'
With thousands of youths participating in the hunt and no way of knowing where Malakai would be placed, for this plan to work, Varnel had to have gotten to as many people as possible. Sothing a Pulse could easily do.
Malakai cleared his thoughts.
'Julius will co for .'
He wasn't frightened. In fact, even after finding out all this, his expression hadn't changed. He had already foreseen this outco. He had prepared for it. Regardless, he wasn't going to stop his hunt.
Just as Malakai was about to move, he paused.
'How?'
His instincts scread, and he sharply turned to the side.
"Co out," Malakai said coldly, his gaze fixed on a tree so distance away, or more accurately, the one hiding behind it.
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