Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

The entity roared, and every platform inside the Well began to tremble. The roots advanced at once, without any concern for the imprisoned consciousnesses. Kael saw the transparent currents being dragged together with the red ones.

If he continued attacking that way, he would free some and destroy others.

He touched the communication crystal attached to his clothing.

"Sylphie."

The answer did not come through the crystal.

It came through the bond between them.

"I am here."

"I need you to open the connection."

"It nearly reached your heart before."

"There is no mark anymore."

"There is still a path."

"That is what I need."

Sylphie understood before he explained.

"You want to send the consciousnesses upward."

"Yes."

"There are thousands."

"You do not need to hold them alone. Just give them a direction."

There were several seconds of silence.

Then Kael felt Sylphie’s natural energy cross the old path of the mark. It did not come as containment. It came as a green current, firm and alive, connecting his mana center to the upper platform.

"It is open," she said. "But I cannot maintain it for long."

"You do not need to."

Kael placed his left hand against the eye’s surface.

The entity tried to pull him in again.

This time, he allowed it.

The connection opened completely.

Memories, commands, and fragments of consciousness advanced toward him. Before they reached his center, Kael separated the currents as he had done on the platform. The transparent ones were guided toward Sylphie’s energy. The red ones remained with him.

The pain was immediate.

Thousands of commands entered his channels.

Obey.

Kill.

Serve.

Forget.

Consume.

Kael held all of them.

His scarlet mana surrounded the red lines. Celestial energy crossed each command, burning the hierarchical structure keeping them attached to the Well. His body began emitting light beneath the skin, but he did not retreat.

Above, Sylphie received the first transparent current.

The suspended vessels lit up.

Eleonor noticed the change.

"The consciousnesses are returning."

Elion continued examining the cracked cup.

"Not to the bodies. To their original vessels."

"Can you stabilize them?"

"If this object does what I think it does."

She turned the cup and found a second inscription beneath the inner rim. The symbol did not indicate only a summons. Every bell possessed two movements. One called.

The other ended.

Elion raised the cup.

"Kael, when you hear the sound, pull everything."

He heard her through the bond with Sylphie.

"I am waiting."

Elion struck the side of the cup with a crystal instrument.

The sound was not loud.

It was deep.

The vibration crossed the platform, the rings, the walls, and every root inside the Well. The vessels responded at the same time. The transparent currents broke free from the white roots and began rising toward the containers from which they had been removed.

The entity tried to hold them.

Kael pulled.

Not with his arms.

With all his mana synchronized.

The same principle of Celestial Step crossed the entire connection. A single impulse traveled through every channel, every root, and every line of command at the same instant. The consciousnesses were launched upward. The commands remained trapped inside Kael for a fraction of a second.

Then he burned them.

The white eye began to crack.

"Stop."

Kael increased the force.

"You will destroy what remains."

"No."

More cracks spread across the surface.

"I am destroying only you."

The human silhouette inside the pupil finally formed a face. It was not Alaric, Vlad, or any specific person. It changed every second, using the faces of consciousnesses consumed over the centuries.

"I am their memory."

"You are the chain."

"Without me, they will become lost."

"Then we will let them decide that for themselves."

Kael pulled the sword from the eye.

Behind the cracked pupil, he found the true core.

It was small.

A white sphere the size of a human heart, surrounded by thousands of red threads.

The entity withdrew every root to protect it.

Kael used Celestial Step.

The first root tried to pierce his chest. He changed direction in the middle of the movement and appeared above it. The second formed a wall. Kael touched its surface, used it as support, and advanced diagonally. Dozens more closed the path, but the structure was already weakened. The memories no longer sustained the defenses.

Only command remained.

And command could not keep pace with his speed.

Kael crossed the final layer.

His injured hand closed around the white core.

The entity tried to enter his mind one final time.

"I can show you everything."

Kael felt ancient cities, dead kings, forgotten bloodlines, and secrets guarded for centuries pressing against his consciousness.

"I can give you knowledge."

He saw rituals no witch knew.

"I can deliver the origin of blood."

He saw the first vampire kneeling before a dark basin.

"I can reveal who created your light."

Kael tightened his grip around the core.

The offer almost made him hesitate.

Almost.

"You made a mistake."

"What?"

"You believed knowing everything mattered more than freeing someone."

Scarlet mana surrounded the core.

Celestial energy came immediately afterward.

Kael closed his hand.

The core shattered.

The white light disappeared.

There was no great explosion. The Well lost its strength all at once, like a body whose heart had just stopped. The roots fell. The red lines became dust. The rings stopped vibrating, and the dark column above the tower dissolved into the air.

Kael began falling.

This time, there was no creature, root, or platform close enough to help him. The true bottom of the Well remained hundreds of meters below.

A shadow opened beneath his feet.

Umbra emerged from it to the waist, seized his arm, and pulled him inside before he vanished into the darkness.

The two traveled through the shadows of the walls in a violent ascent. Umbra could not transport Kael the entire distance at once, so she jumped between the dark areas left by the platforms, reappearing for several seconds before entering again.

"You took too long," she said.

Kael breathed with difficulty.

"I was solving it."

"You always say that."

"It worked."

"That does not make it better."

They emerged from the shadow on the main platform.

Kael fell to his knees.

Sylphie released the rows she had been supporting only when Eleonor took part of the weight, then ran toward him. She held his face with both hands, checked his eyes, breathing, and mana center before speaking.

"You went down alone."

"Umbra was nearby."

"She was here."

"Then she came to get me."

Sylphie closed her eyes for an instant, clearly choosing not to argue at that moment. Then she wrapped both arms around Kael and squeezed hard enough to worsen the pain in his ribs.

"That hurts."

"Good."

Kael did not complain again.