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Chapter 19 - Chapter 19: Hunt of the Unseen

Chapter 19: Hunt of the Unseen

The smoke from the battlefield had barely faded when the whispers began.

Not from the mouths of the pack—but from the woods.

The trees themselves seemed to lean inward, creaking as though sharing ancient secrets. The moon, once proud and whole, now hung behind a drifting veil of cloud, pale and watchful.

Kael stood at the edge of the battlefield, the dying embers of a funeral pyre crackling at his back. Around it, the Crimson Howl performed the rites—mourning their dead, binding their wounds, and praising the strength of those who stood.

But Kael felt no peace.

He could feel it. Watching him.

Not Broken Fang. Not the morphed.

Something older.

System Notification:

Observation Confirmed: Entity Unknown

Threat Level: Red - Hostile Intent Suspected

Origin: Forbidden Moon Cult

Target: Pack Alpha

Mission: Survive the Hunt

Time Limit: 6 Hours

Failure: Chaos Bloodline Instability / System Lockdown

Kael's breath slowed. "They're already here…"

He turned to his right. Flam stepped into view, blood still crusted along his jawline, eyes alert.

"You feel it too?" Flam asked quietly.

Kael nodded. "Something's coming. Not to strike yet. To watch. To measure."

They didn't wait long.

Just before midnight, the shadows moved.

Silent as whispers and twice as fast.

The sentry on the western ridge vanished—no sound, no scream. His post left bloodless, untouched… except for one thing:

A claw mark scorched into the stone. Not scratched—burned. Crescent shaped. Lunar.

Tamir was the next to alert Kael, panting, voice shaking. "I—I saw one. Just a blur. Black robes, no scent, no heartbeat. But I swear, Alpha… its eyes glowed like the moon."

Kael clenched his fists.

"This isn't a raid. It's a hunt."

System Update:

Emergency Trial Mission Unlocked: Hunt of the Unseen

Objective: Identify the Moon Cult's Shadow Stalkers

Bonus Objective: Capture One Alive

Reward: Shadow Pulse Technique (Stealth Type)

Warning: Shadow Stalkers cannot be tracked by normal senses

Use Devourer Mark Instinct Mode to engage

Kael growled.

"System," he whispered. "Activate Instinct Mode."

The world twisted.

Color bled from Kael's vision, replaced by heat, motion, and pulse signatures. A low howl echoed through his mind, tuning him to the predator's path.

Then he saw them.

Four shadows circling the eastern slope—too fast to be seen, but visible now through the system's lens.

One was close.

Too close.

Kael dove sideways just as a curved blade shimmered from the dark. It struck air where his throat had been.

The attacker landed lightly, cloaked in midnight silk. Their face was hidden behind a mask of bleached bone shaped like a crescent moon.

They didn't speak. They attacked.

Kael blocked the first strike with his bracer, rolled low, and countered. The stalker moved like smoke, but Kael's eyes tracked every twitch.

He struck.

Steel met bone. The stalker hissed as Kael's blade grazed their thigh.

Blood—a strange silvery shade—splashed to the ground.

The stalker vanished.

But Kael had already marked them.

System Alert:

Devourer Mark Imprint: Shadow Stalker – Tracked for 1 Hour

Capture Window Active

Kael howled.

The pack surged.

Torches flared. Traps snapped. The forest lit with motion as the Crimson Howl turned the tables—prey no longer.

They chased the unseen.

And as Kael ran into the woods, heart pounding, mark glowing, he knew:

This was just the beginning.

The Cult knew his name now.

But soon… he would know theirs.

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