Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 218: No mercy

Aelirenne watched Kael turn away, ready to leave with his decision already made—simple, direct, bloody. But something inside her screamed louder than fear or pride.

"Kael..."

He stopped, without turning around. His silence was more eloquent than any words.

"Everything is in chaos," she said, her voice lower but firm. "The clans are at war, the councils don’t speak the same language, and my people... my people are divided, more than ever. The bloodline is corrupted by fanaticism and thirst for control, yes. But there are still the innocent, the young who were born into this and know no other truth."

She took a step forward, her bare feet touching the cracked steps of the platform.

"I... don’t want any more unnecessary bloodshed. I already lost her father. I thought I lost Sylphie. I don’t want to lose anyone else."

Kael remained silent for a second. Then he finally turned to face her.

"Not everything is as we want it to be, Aelirenne," he said, not harshly, but with a frankness as cold as bare iron. "If it were, you would still have your court intact, your throne erected... and your daughter in the golden halls beside you."

He approached slowly, without haste. Kael’s eyes burned with conviction, but his voice was calm as the sea before a storm.

"Sometimes it’s not enough to prune the rotten branches. Sometimes you have to uproot the entire tree and burn the roots so that something new can grow. If necessary, it’s better to exterminate the pests... and nourish the next generations with healthy nutrients. No ancient poison, no inherited hatred, no lies preserved as sacred relics."

Aelirenne closed her eyes for a moment, and for the first time, she looked... tired. So tired that even the shadows seemed to weigh on her shoulders.

"What if you go too far, Kael? What if, by pulling out the bad roots, you also destroy the good seeds that could blossom?"

Kael smiled slightly. Sad. Honest.

"Then it will be their fault for burying the right seeds in the wrong soil."

He took a step back and turned again, now determined.

"Let’s go to the Temple. The time of harvest has come."

And without waiting for a response, Kael began to walk, with Exelia and Liora following close behind, like silent reapers on the brink of revolution.

Aelirenne was left alone for a moment. Her gaze fell on the shattered stained-glass window above the throne—where once the symbol of the union between the clans had been carved. Now, there were only shards.

She whispered to herself, almost like a lament:

"May the gods forgive us if tomorrow dawns on a field of ashes..." And for the first time in a long time... she wasn’t sure if that was a curse or a promise.

...

The path to the Black Forest of Syl’doril was silent, dense, almost oppressive. Twisted trees seemed to bend over each other as if whispering ancient secrets, and the sunlight itself struggled to penetrate the thick veil of the canopy.

Kael walked ahead, his hand resting lazily on the hilt of his sword, but his eyes were alert to every movement in the shadows. Exelia followed close behind, her red eyes constantly on guard. Liora walked in silence, her fingers sliding over the runes carved into her staff, feeling the echo of the magic that pulsed around her.

"We’re close," Liora said, her voice low. "I can feel the distortion in the energy flow. Someone—or something—is channeling an active magical field."

Kael nodded, his eyes fixed ahead. When they crossed the last arch of intertwined roots, they saw the temple in the distance.

The Temple of Nihrael rose from the ground as if it were part of the forest—made of black stone covered with ancient moss and pulsing vines, it looked like an open wound in the earth, pulsing with a dark glow that came from no torch. The columns that supported its entrance were cracked but still stood, like sentinels from forgotten ages.

But the most obvious thing... was the security.

Two rows of guards in ornate armor, with merciless elven features, stood on either side of the main staircase. Some wore cloaks bearing the crests of ancient clans, others were covered in runes of restraint and war enchantments. All were armed—and their eyes were trained and alert.

Kael narrowed his eyes.

"We have a warmer welcome than I expected. The temple has become a fortress."

Exelia laughed, a dry, humorless sound. "They’re afraid. And fear breeds paranoia... and paranoia brings swords."

Liora nodded. "But they’re also organized. This wasn’t put together in days. This kind of structure takes weeks, maybe months. It confirms what Aelirenne said: this conspiracy was already underway long before the attack on the throne."

Kael didn’t respond. He simply advanced to the line where the trees thinned and the ground became rock. He looked up: above the temple, there were lookouts on elevated platforms. One of them raised a shiny artifact—it looked like a magic lens, activated by some rune—and looked directly at the group.

"They’ve seen us," Kael said. "They may recognize us... or they may not. It doesn’t matter."

He turned slightly toward his two companions.

"Let’s do this right. First, reconnaissance. Then blood, if necessary."

Exelia raised an eyebrow. "You? Restraint? That’s new."

Kael smiled. "I’m trying to grow as a person. One step at a time."

Liora raised her staff, murmuring an incantation. A blue glow ran through the carved wood, and then a small translucent glyph floated in the air.

"Listening spell and interference neutralized," she explained. "We can speak freely."

Kael nodded and pointed to one side of the temple. "There. Look at the stone formation—there’s an ancient drainage path hidden by the vegetation. If we go that way, we might get in without alerting the entire guard."

Exelia smiled. "Have you been here before?"

"Of course not. But I have a mana sensor here, remember? I’m using it to scan the entire area, memorizing where the mana passes."

The group moved through the shadows, skirting the temple’s rock formation until they reached the slope covered with vines and moss. Beneath them, Kael identified the corroded iron grate of an ancient drainage channel—narrow, but enough for them to pass through.

"We’re going to get dirty," he said. "But it’s better than being riddled with arrows."

Liora conjured a faint light, just enough to illuminate the tunnel without giving away their presence. The trio moved silently through the damp, stuffy passageway, their footsteps muffled by the slime-covered stone. Distant sounds echoed inside—murmured voices, the clinking of metal, something that sounded like prayers distorted by hoarse voices.

When they emerged inside the temple, they were behind a heavy tapestry in a side chamber. From there, they saw a disconcerting sight.

Ancient priests, cloaked in dark purple robes, stood in a circle around a runic diagram that pulsed with an unhealthy glow. Their faces remained hidden beneath deep hoods, but the aura around them exuded corruption—a mixture of twisted ancient magic and something much older, much hungrier.

At the center of the circle, a dead tree stood like a profane monument. Its branches were like charred claws, twisted in agony, and black veins pulsed with a subtle glow from its trunk. From time to time, the priests raised golden chalices and poured blood onto the exposed roots, as if feeding a hungry god that slept beneath the earth.

Liora held her breath as she felt the energy of the place.

"This... this isn’t just a cult," she murmured, her eyes wide and her staff trembling slightly between her fingers. "It’s a ritualistic communion. They’re not praying. They’re feeding. They’re... sustaining something. Something that already exists. Something that waits for the right time to awaken."

Kael narrowed his eyes, feeling the cold heat of adrenaline run down his spine. And then, as if the world itself recognized the gravity of what lay before it, a translucent, red message appeared before his eyes:

[Demonic Circle Detected.]

[Objective: Destroy completely. Total Eradication Recommended.]

Soon after, a second, more direct line appeared—like a non-negotiable order carved in stone

[You have found a Demonic Cult.]

[Purify the place. Leave no survivors.]

Kael silently read the message engraved in the depths of his magical bond with the higher powers that guided him. And then, a thought as cold as an ice blade arose: ’So the succubus was summoned... how interesting...’

He did not take his eyes off the cursed tree.

"Now it makes sense," he muttered.

Kael stood silently for a few seconds, watching the dark pulsing of the runes beneath the priests’ feet. The smell of dried blood mixed with the sickening aroma of corrupted magic was almost suffocating. The place seemed to breathe—a dying, hungry breath that came from the ground and spread through the air, permeating everything around it.

"They summoned her," he said at last, his voice low but firm. "The succubus. It could only be that. All this blood, all this structure... it’s not just for corruption. It’s to keep something powerful anchored to this plane. Something that shouldn’t be here."

Exelia narrowed her eyes, her expression hardening. "What if she’s here, or worse—what if she’s already loose?"

"It doesn’t matter," Kael replied, raising his sword slightly. "This tree is the heart of the ritual. And these bastards are the veins. We have no time for diplomacy, no room for mercy. If this thing grows any further... it will become impossible to contain."

Liora nodded slowly, still watching the magic circle. "The corruption here has already begun to take root. If we let it pass, if we hesitate... the whole forest may fall. And what comes next will be worse than any clan war."

Kael drew his sword from its sheath. The metallic sound of steel cutting through the air seemed to make the tapestry tremble for a brief second.

"Then it’s simple," he said, his eyes fixed on the priests. "We kill them all. Quickly. Before they realize that death is already among them."

Exelia smiled, her red eyes sparkling. "Finally. I was getting worried about all your ’maturity.’"

Liora twirled the staff in her hands, and the runes carved into it began to glow with a blue-violet light, vibrating with increasing intensity. "Let’s do this right, then. A coordinated attack. Quick. Lethal."

Kael raised his sword, pointing it at the heart of the circle.

"No mercy."

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