08.1 – The Hunter and the Hunted [1]

The demon's presence grew stronger with each second, and there was something wrong with the mana flow, which made Velmira's vampiric instincts send out warnings.

She stood at the entrance to the ruins, Aldric unconscious in her arms, thinking about the impossible choices she had to make. It was too dangerous to fight while carrying him. If I ran, it would just make things worse. He was in a vulnerable position when he was left alone.

There are no good choices. Just the bad ones and even worse ones.

The [Sentinel Ring] she had taken from the ruins was pulsing against her thigh. The magic on the ring was telling her that there was a threat approaching, that the person coming was hostile and that they had a lot of power.

Velmira had made her decision.

She carried Aldric deeper into the ruins, back to a small side room that still had most of its ceiling intact. She laid him down carefully, checking his pulse again. It was steady and strong, but he was still deeply unconscious from the head wound. The bandages she'd put on were working, but he needed proper healing soon.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to his unhearing ears. "Stay here. Stay hidden. I'll take care of it."

She took a waterproof sheet from her bag—it was just basic camping stuff, but it would do. He was completely covered, with stones arranged around him to make it look like random debris. If the demon didn't search thoroughly, Aldric might not be noticed.

Might.

Velmira touched his forehead once, gently, then turned and walked back towards the entrance.

Time to face what was coming.

***

The demon was waiting outside the ruins, dark against the afternoon sun.

He—it was clearly a man—was about six and a half feet tall, with a fit build that made it look like he was fast and strong. He looked almost like a human: he had sharp features, dark hair and pale skin. But the details showed what he was really like. He had small horns that curved back from his temples. His eyes were completely black, with no white bits, and they reflected light like a cat's. And the energy around him was full of corrupted mana, looking dark and threatening.

"There you are," he said, his voice smooth and cultured. "I was wondering when you'd show yourself."

Velmira stopped ten paces from the entrance, standing between the demon and the ruins. The Moonveil Cloak protected her from the sun, but she could feel the drain, the constant loss of energy that daylight caused even through magical protection.

It was just bad timing. She would be weaker than normal, fighting under the sun against a demon that probably thrives in sunlight.

"You were looking for me, right?" she asked, taking a moment to think. His power level felt significant—mid-tier demon, maybe level 50 or 60. It's dangerous, but not an impossible challenge.

"Looking for the anomaly." The demon tilted his head and looked closely at her. "That delicious wrongness in your mana signature. So well organised. It's so fake. So very different from the world we know." He smiled, showing sharp teeth. "You're like the last one. The one who carved desperate messages in stone and thought they'd be safe if they just kept running."

K.M. This demon had killed K.M.

"Where is your friend?" the demon asked, looking at the ruins. "That human male I sensed earlier. Such fragile creatures—it would be a shame if something happened to him."

Threat and leverage. He knew about Aldric.

"He left," Velmira lied. He went back to the city to get supplies. It's just me."

"Liar." The demon smiled wider. "I can smell him. Blood, fear and death. He's close. I think it's probably inside those ruins. It's really handy. I can kill you first, then take my time with him."

He moved.

Fast—inhumanly fast—closing the distance between them in a blur. His hand moved towards her throat, with his claws out, aiming to kill her quickly.

Velmira took a step back – not as fast as she could go – to see how he would react. She wanted to understand demons in this world. Their abilities. Their limits. A comparison of Yggdrasil's enemies.

She drew [Shadow Blade], the weapon materializing instantly. The demon's eyes followed it, and he turned mid-charge, claws meeting her blade, creating a shower of sparks.

"Fast!" he said, grinning. "But let's see how long you last."

They started to fight, with Velmira trying to defend herself. The demon was getting more confident with each time she blocked a hit. She was testing him. Speed, strength, magical ability and combat experience.

A demon that is in the middle of the scale. Level 50, or maybe 55. Skilled, but not exceptional. The sunlight was weakening her, but she was still holding back a lot.

"[Corruption Wave]!" The demon unleashed dark magic.

Velmira moved out of the way instead of hitting back, letting the black energy burn the ground where she had been standing. The demon used this to his advantage, attacking again.

"Are you tired?" he teased. "Is the sun making you tired? That's the problem with you people – you're powerful at night, but weak during the day!"

Velmira let him hit her — his claws dug into her arm, ripping through the Moonveil Cloak and making her bleed. She let out a cry of pain and took a step back.

The demon smiled wide. "First blood! Maybe this won't take as long as I thought."

"Wait—" Velmira raised her hand, sounding tired. "Before you kill me, tell me something. The one you killed before, K.M., were there others? Are there other anomalies like us?"

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"Because I'm dying anyway." She let her shadow blade flicker, as if she was losing control of her mana. "Just... I need to know. Were we the only ones? Or are there more?"

The demon thought about it, then laughed. "Do you want to know if you're alone? OK. I'll give you that much before you die." He circled her, enjoying his perceived victory. "K.M. was the only other one I found. I killed them seven years ago – they put up a good fight, but it wasn't anything special. I have been looking for more ever since. Your kind's mana signature is very unique. Easy to track."

"And you've found no others? In seven years?"

"None. Just you and K.M." He stopped moving in circles, getting ready to attack. "You're rare. Anomalies that get through the barriers that keep your kind out. And demons like me? We remove anomalies. Keep things as they are."

So K.M. was probably the last one. The demon didn't know of any other transported players. The news was hard to take for Velmira — she might really be on her own.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "That's all I needed to know."

"Good. Now die—"

The demon tried to hit the final blow.

Velmira stopped pretending.

Her hand shot out and caught his wrist just as he was about to hit her. The demon suddenly stopped moving, as if he'd hit a wall. He was shocked.

"What—"

"You want to know what I am?" Velmira's red eyes shone brightly, her fangs were fully showing, and her vampire aura was no longer hidden. "I'm level eighty. A True Vampire Lord. And I've been testing you."

She squeezed, and the bones made a cracking sound. The demon screamed.

"You're level fifty at best," she continued, her voice cold and analytical. "Mid-level demon. Good at your job, but nothing special. The one you killed, K.M., was probably level forty. You won because they were weak, not because you were strong."

Velmira threw him.

The demon flew backwards, crashing through a tree trunk as thick as a man's torso. Wood splintered. He hit the ground hard, rolled around, and came up coughing black blood.

"No way—you were hurt and now you're even weaker."

"I was learning." Velmira walked towards him slowly, taking it easy. "I had to understand demons in this world. Their abilities. Whether they were a real threat."

She stopped a short distance away.

"You don't. Not to me."

The demon ran backwards, scared. "Wait! I can tell you something! Other demon territories, their leaders, their—"

"[Crimson Chains]."

Bright red magical bonds shot out of the ground and wrapped around his arms, chest and neck. These chains were much thicker and stronger than any she'd ever used before. The demon struggled, dark energy swirling around it.

"[Corruption Burst]!" he shouted.

The chains didn't bend at all. The fifth-tier spell was nothing compared to her full power.

"You killed K.M.," Velmira said quietly. "You hunted them for seven years, cornered them, and murdered them. Left them as ash and forgotten memories."

"That's what we do! We hunt for anomalies! It's just what we do—"

"And I always protect what's mine." Her face became serious. "You threatened my research partner. My friend. That was your big mistake."

The demon's face changed from looking terrified to furious. "You think you're better than me? You're a predator too! A vampire! You eat the living just like—"

"[Greater Dispel]."

The seventh-tier counterspell didn't target a spell – it targeted the demon's own corrupted magic that was sustaining him. His protective magic, his ability to heal himself, and his magical defences all disappeared at once.

The demon was shocked when the power he had had for many years just disappeared.

"I'm not better than you," Velmira said. "But I choose what I protect. And I choose who I kill."

She raised her hand, gathering power for the final spell. This had to be clear. It's clean. Leave minimal evidence.

"[Reality Slash]."

It's an eighth-tier spell. Spatial magic that cut through reality itself. A thin silver line appeared between her hand and the demon.

The demon was shocked at the thought of death. "No—wait—please—"

The line passed through him.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the demon just broke apart. Cut so precisely that the pieces were already turning to ash before they hit the ground. The Crimson Chains disappeared, leaving behind pieces that blew around in the wind.

Velmira stood in the open space, breathing quickly even though she was not trying to breathe quickly. The real battle had lasted less than thirty seconds once she stopped holding back.

Level 80 versus level 50. It was obvious who would win.

But the information was upsetting. There are no other players on the team. Just her and K.M., and K.M. was dead. She really was on her own in the world.

She looked at where the demon had stood. [Reality Slash] had cut through him and made a line into the earth – a perfectly straight groove six inches deep and twenty feet long.

Too obvious. It's too distinctive. Anyone who knows about magic would know that this wasn't normal magic.

Velmira spent several minutes covering up the evidence. [Earth Cradle] filled in the gap, spread soil around and put rocks in place. The ash had already gone away. There was no blood, because the cut had been too clean. The mana signatures are just starting to fade, and they will disappear completely within the hour.

When she finished, the clearing looked like nothing worse than a golem fight had happened there.

The lie was ready. The evidence was erased.

She was still on her own.

Velmira stood up slowly, her wound already healed, and the demon's energy was helping her recover. She was covered in blood—his and hers—and breathing hard even though she didn't need to.

The battle had lasted about five minutes. It felt like hours.

She looked at the pile of ashes, and felt nothing but a sense of cold satisfaction. This demon had killed K.M. It had hunted another player who had been transported and murdered them. He had come here planning to do the same to her.

Thank goodness.

But now she had a problem.

***

Velmira stood in the clearing, surveying the evidence of battle. Scorched earth. Blood stains. Torn vegetation. The demon's ash pile. Anyone with eyes could see that a significant fight had occurred here.

Aldric couldn't know about this. Couldn't know about the demon, about her true power, about what she'd done.

The lie had to be maintained.

She started with the ash. [Earth Cradle] opened a small pit, and she swept the remains into it, burying them deep. No trace of the demon left behind.

The blood was harder. Her own—crimson, obviously not human if examined closely—and the demon's black ichor. Both needed to disappear.

She spent twenty minutes carefully removing evidence. Digging up stained earth and burying it elsewhere. Using [Minor Flame] to burn away blood on stone. Arranging vegetation to hide scorch marks.

When she finished, the clearing looked... better. Not pristine, but plausibly like nothing worse than a golem fight had occurred.

Inside the ruins, she went further. Used [Earth Cradle] to smooth over the worst battle damage. Arranged rubble to look natural. Made the golem's remains look like they'd been destroyed in the collapse rather than through precise magical dismemberment.

The story she'd tell: They'd activated the golem. It attacked. The ceiling collapsed. Aldric was knocked unconscious. She managed to finish off the golem during the chaos. They barely escaped.

No demon. No display of overwhelming power. Just luck and desperation.

Another lie added to the growing collection.

By the time she finished, dusk was approaching. She'd worked through most of the afternoon, and her strength was finally flagging. The combination of sunlight exposure, combat, and magic use had drained her significantly.

She needed rest. And blood. Proper blood, not corrupted demon vitality.

But first, she needed to check on Aldric.