Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 426: Look who’s back!

The clash of blades returned heavier.

Clang—!

This time, there was no room for long conversation. Adalric advanced like a wall, each blow charged with real intent, sparing no force. Kael responded in kind, his feet tearing the ground, his body leaning dangerously with each dodge. The training had ceased to be mere correction—it was pressure.

"Faster!" Adalric growled, bringing his sword down in a brutal arc.

Kael blocked with difficulty, feeling his arms protest.

He spun, advanced inside the guard, attempted a short strike to the torso. Adalric responded with an elbow, then a horizontal slash that Kael only avoided instinctively.

The impact of the swords echoed like thunder, birds fleeing from nearby trees.

"Like that!" Adalric laughed, even while attacking. "To survive, you need to accept that it hurts!"

Kael gritted his teeth and responded with a more aggressive sequence, abandoning some of his elegance. A low blow, a feigned retreat, then a direct advance that nearly hit Adalric's shoulder.

The Sword King chuckled loudly.

"There you are!"

The training escalated. The air felt heavier, vibrating with the constant exchange of steel. Sweat dripped down Kael's face, his breath rougher, but his eyes focused, alive.

Then—

"L-LORD ADALRIC!"

The desperate voice cut through the field.

The swords clashed one last time before both instinctively retreated.

A butler came running towards them, his face pale as paper, his breathing ragged, almost tripping over his own feet.

"What is it now?" Adalric asked, irritated, resting his sword on the ground.

The man swallowed hard.

"It's… it's Lady Eva. She… she's forcing her way into the mansion."

Kael felt an immediate chill. Adalric frowned.

"Forcing?" He crossed his arms. "Why the hell didn't they open the gate?"

The butler opened his mouth… closed it… opened it again.

"I-I don't know how to explain it, sir. The knights tried to restrain her and—"

"Tried?" Adalric already seemed tired. "Idiots. Go open it now before—"

The butler turned to obey.

And froze.

Because Eva was already there.

Standing a few meters from them, among the trees of the training field, her dark dress impeccable, her red eyes gleaming with a dangerously calm amusement.

"I didn't kill those knights," she said, tilting her head slightly, a demonic smile curving her lips. "But it's good to be careful with your words."

The butler almost fell backward.

His legs gave way, his eyes wide, his body visibly trembling. Eva stepped aside, making room for him to pass.

"Go," she said sweetly. "Before I change my mind."

The man practically ran away.

Her smile then vanished.

And, in the blink of an eye, everything changed.

Her shoulders relaxed. Her gaze brightened. Her expression transformed completely.

"KAEL!!"

She disappeared.

Literally.

Kael barely had time to widen his eyes.

"Wait—!"

Too late.

Eva appeared in front of him and lunged forward with incredible speed, enveloping him in a crushing hug.

"I MISSED MY BABY SO MUCH!"

"GKH—!"

Kael's face was violently buried between her breasts, the air escaping his lungs as she squeezed him too tightly.

"Eva—!", the voice came out muffled. "N-no… resp—!"

"You disappeared!", she continued, completely ignoring him. "You worried me! Do you know how cruel that is to me?!"

Adalric stood still, blinking.

Then he sighed deeply.

"…Every time," he murmured.

Kael tried to break free, but it was useless. Her strength was absurd, and the more he moved, the tighter she squeezed.

"It's all right now!", Eva said happily. "I found you!"

"I-I… am going to… die…", Kael managed to say, already turning red.

"Eva," Adalric called, tired. "Let go of the boy before he really dies."

She stopped.

She looked down.

"…Ah."

She loosened her embrace slightly.

Kael dropped to his knees, gasping for air as if he had just emerged from the water.

"You…" he gasped, "…are a disaster."

Eva smiled, crouching in front of him, her hands behind her back, swaying slightly.

"But I am your disaster."

Adalric rolled his eyes.

"Training is over for today," he declared. "Before that woman destroys my property… or you."

Kael looked up, still trying to recover.

And, despite everything…

He was smiling.

Eva was still crouched in front of Kael when she noticed his tired smile.

Her smile widened dangerously.

"Since you're alright…," she said, rising with a soft crack in her joints, "now it's my turn."

Kael felt a chill run down his spine.

"Your… turn?" he repeated cautiously.

Eva crossed her arms under her chest, tilting her head with feigned innocence.

"Uh-huh." She nodded enthusiastically. "We need to spend some time together."

Her gaze intensified.

"After all… you owe me a lot."

Kael swallowed hard.

"Eva… when you say 'a lot'…?"

Her smile widened even more.

"A LOT."

Silence.

The wind swept across the training field.

Kael felt his survival instinct scream.

"I-I'd love to, seriously, but I have to—"

Eva disappeared from his sight.

And reappeared beside him.

"No," she said simply, gripping his wrist tightly enough not to hurt, but impossible to escape. "You don't have to."

"Eva, wait, we can talk—"

"We're already talking," she replied, pulling him along.

Kael almost tripped.

"Let's go."

She started walking toward the exit of the Ainsworth property, dragging Kael along effortlessly, as if he weighed as much as a shopping bag.

"H-hey!" Kael tried to steady himself. "This is kidnapping!"

"No," Eva replied cheerfully. "That's a charge."

Kael looked desperately over his shoulder.

"ADALRIC!!"

Adalric stood where he always was, calmly cleaning his blade.

He looked up.

He saw Kael being pulled, practically being carried by his feet at times.

He thought for two seconds.

Then he raised his hand… and made a simple gesture.

👍

"GOOD LUCK," he said, with an absolutely calm smile.

"YOU TRAITOR—!"

Eva sped up.

Kael completely lost his footing and was dragged along, like a very whiny sack of potatoes.

"ADALRIC, I'M GOING TO DIE—!"

"I doubt it!" the man replied, already turning to leave the field. "She likes you too much for that!"

"THAT DOESN'T REASSURE ME—!"

Eva's laughter echoed down the path.

"Relax, baby~," she said, pulling him out of the property. "I'm just going to take a little of the time you owe me."

Kael was dragged out of the mansion gates, the sun beating down cruelly on his fate.

He sighed, defeated.

"…I should have stayed in the void."

Eva laughed even louder.

Kael was still trying to catch his breath when he felt the ground disappear completely.

"Eva— wait—!"

She simply lifted him.

Without warning. Without effort.

In a fluid and utterly humiliating movement, Eva threw him over her right shoulder, holding him by the leg as if she were, in fact, carrying a particularly noisy sack of potatoes.

"HEY—!", Kael lightly thumped her back. "I HAVE DIGNITY, YOU KNOW?!"

"You don't," Eva replied cheerfully. "He lost when he went into a coma and left me alone."

"THAT WASN'T INTENTIONAL!"

She bent her knees.

Kael felt the world recoil.

"Eva, please warn us before—"

BOOM.

The ground exploded beneath her feet.

The impact was so violent that the surrounding air was pushed back in a dry rumble, leaves, dust, and small stones hurled in all directions. The training field vanished in a blur as Eva shot into the sky.

"AAAAAAAAA—!"

Kael's scream faded into the background.

The world turned into lines.

The wind crushed his face against Eva's back, tearing the air from his lungs as the pressure made his ears ring. The landscape below became unrecognizable—forests, rivers, roads, and hills turned into green and brown patches stitched together by flashes of light.

"EVA—!", he yelled, his voice almost ripped from his throat. "THIS IS UNNECESSARY—!"

"YES IT IS!", she replied, perfectly comfortable, her pink hair whipping through the air like a war flag. "Walking is for sad people!"

Kael tried to lift his head.

Fat mistake.

The G-force pushed him back against her shoulder.

"I'M GOING TO PASS OUT—!"

"Not again!", Eva complained. "I just recovered you!"

She adjusted her arm, holding it even tighter, like someone protecting a precious object… and totally unaware of the psychological terror involved.

"You're too thin, you know?", she commented casually, as she broke the sound barrier for the second time. "You need to eat more."

"I— CAN'T— EAT— IF— I— DIE—!"

The sonic boom echoed behind them like continuous thunder. The capital of Ascaron was already far away when Eva finally slowed down, the world regaining its form, depth… and comprehensible gravity.

She landed on top of an isolated hill with a thoom too soft for something that had just crossed kilometers in seconds.

Kael fell from her shoulder and rolled across the grass, stopping face down.

He lay there.

Momentary.

"…"

Eva leaned over, her hands on her knees.

"Kael?"

He slowly raised his thumb.

"…I'm alive."

"Phew." She smiled, relieved. "See? I told you everything would be alright."

Kael turned his face to the sky, breathing as if he had just escaped death three times in a row.

"You… you can't… do this without warning…"

Eva sat beside him, crossing her legs.

"Yes, you can," she said, tilting her head. "I do it all the time."

He closed his eyes.

"Why… are we here?"

She moved a little closer, her smile becoming dangerous again.

"Because now," she said, snapping her fingers, "my time with you officially begins."

Kael opened one eye.

"Eva…"

"No running away," she finished. "No Adalric. No magical forest to save you."

She leaned in until she was very close to his face.

"Just me… and everything you owe me."

Kael swallowed hard.

Far, far away, Adalric sneezed.

"…Strange," he murmured. "Must be the wind."