Midnight. But the night was different from the previous nights. There was only one moon on the sky- one bright moon. The sky was not completely dark as before, but the reddish hue the ‘full’ moon radiated made it the eeriest night any of the students in the Fleeting Lands ever faced.

None of the students of the ‘main camp’ dared to go to bed as orders had yet to come. Inside the largest pavilion at the centre, sat five different youths around a round table.

“Where is Brad?” Asked a pink haired young woman. “We are already halfway through the Hunt. And he has yet to arrive.”

“Nor do I know, nor do I care about that baldy” said the pale faced young man. “Maybe he was killed somewhere. The Confederation sent four level 4s after all.”

“Tsk. I wandered for a whole week without any kills.” A long haired youth slammed on the table. “I was fortunate enough to catch ahold of the heir of Ironcross House. But he somehow slipped away.”

A young woman with white hair giggled. “I wonder if Tina is still sitting at the Hellish Depths looking for us, waiting for us.”

*Tap. Tap. Tap.*

Everyone became silent as they looked at the gold haired young man sitting with an emotional face, tapping the table with his fingers. He turned to the white haired girl, making her gulp.

“Just because you were selected to be my fiancée, do you think you can do anything you want?”

“But-“

“No buts. No matter how much you hate her, it doesn’t change the fact that she is a level 4 circler- an integral part of our mission.” His face was nonchalant as usual.

“I… I am sorry.” She looked down.

“Leave it Harry. Valentina is an assassin. Sven is enough to take charge of the sneak attacks.” The pink haired girl turned to the long haired youth and smiled. He nodded in return.

“No use crying over spilled milk.” Harry scanned through everyone. “We will be waiting five more days before we strike. If Brad and Valentina can join by then, all’s well. If they can’t, we will proceed without them. It’s not everyday we outshine the Confederation in both quantity and quality.”

Suddenly the curtains opened as an Institute Student rushed in. He knelt down.

All of them turned to him, some squinted but some remained nonchalant.

“We have an intruder.”

“An?” The pale faced youth frowned.

“Yes. Adrian Darkheart. He came alone. He is slowly approaching our camp.” The messenger was sweating profusely. Even though he was a fourth year just like the five, he did not dare to look them into the eyes. He hailed from a mere viscount house after all.

The golden haired youth, Harry, smirked. “Interesting.”

Outside the camp everyone gathered. Soon, the messenger and ‘the five’ joined. All of them was looking at the same direction.

A young man with otherworldly looks was slowly approaching them, as if he were on a stroll. He was wearing a white shirt with blue lining. Everyone recognised the intruder in a jiffy. Who would not burn the portrait of the Confederation student with the highest bound in their memory? He was wearing some sort of peculiar gauntlets on his arms- with eerie claws coming out from the fingertips.

Everyone glanced at the heir of the Sol House- Harry Sol, awaiting for his orders. But as he remained silent, none dared to interfere with the newcomer’s approach.

“Greetings.” Adrian came to a halt.

“Adrian Darkheart, welcome to our humble abode. How can we entertain you?” Harry Sol smiled as he opened his arms.

“I am here for a feast.” Adrian smiled back.

“Are you sure you are not here to switch sides? The Empire is very selective compared to Nemphis; but I assure you- you are more than welcome.”

“The Empire is strong, right?” Adrian asked.

“Very.” The golden haired youth nodded. “If not for the threat from the North looming over us, we would have conquered the Confederation two times over.”

“I decline then. It’s no fun joining the stronger side.” Adrian shook his head. “The stronger the opponent, the more fun it is pushing it to the ground.” His lips stretched to a grin, sending shivers down the spine of almost everyone.

But the dukeling was as emotionless as always. “Well, what is your reason for coming here then? To die?”

Adrian shook his head. “I’ve already answered. I am here for a feast- a feast of blood.” He flaunted his two inch long dark claws. His grin reached his ears.

Harry Sol just nonchalantly waved his hand.

Everyone understood his signal.

One Imperial student charged at him with an axe. “How dare you look down on our Motherland?”

*Sphhhlt*

Blood splashed. Everyone gasped. Some of them took a step back. Even Harry’s face twitched.

A hand- no, claws came out of nowhere and pierced through the axe-bearing students lower jaw and it came out from the top of his head. Five of the sharp claws were piercing through a pink wavy organ, which he was holding up in the air.

“That’s how you ought to be- brainless.” Everyone could hear his soft mutterings through the dead silent atmosphere.

The pale faced level 4 circler shouted, “Is this a ball? That you will go one by one and ask for a dance. Charge at him together and bring me his head.”

All the warriors charged forward as the casters and archers remained behind, with the archers knocking their bows and casters preparing their spells. The five had yet to join the action.

Adrian threw away the brain and pulled out his arm from what remained of the corpse’s skull.

He looked at the charging crowd and smiled. His face, which was now besmirched by the blood of his last kill, looked even more scary under the red shade of the moon.

*Plop*

The axe, along with the body carrying it, finally fell on the ground. Adrian, their prey, suddenly disappeared.

“What?!” The four beside Harry shouted at the same time. Harry, on the other hand, frowned.

“Avila.” He spoke, prompting the white haired girl to look at him. “My spear.”

She nodded before rushing back to the pavilion.

The other three looked at each other- the situation was serious.

They again turned back to the fray. He had yet to appear. Suddenly-

“Aaaaaaaaah!” A high pitched shriek grabbed the attraction of all. They turned towards the source and the anxiety they were feeling increased.

*Plop*

An armless female archer fell on the ground. Blood was still gushing out from her shoulders. Her eyes only betrayed surprise. Worst of all, her weapon was missing along with him.

“He is a level 3- at least. And his property- it is an even more enhanced version of <Conceal>. He ceases to exist the moment he escapes our eyes.” The pink haired girl declared. A magic circle was appearing slowly before her.

“I concur.” The long haired Sven knocked his bow and ran towards a tall tree. He couldn’t let the intruder out of his sight anymore.

“Tsk.” The pale faced rushed back to the pavilion; his mace was there.

“Aaaaargh!” All of them looked at the direction, a male caster had a gaping wound on his chest- his heart missing.

Adrian appeared again. The two on his side detected him. But before they could take any action, Adrian clasped their throats with his claws, tearing them off. The two warriors died before they could even scream.

*Whoosh*

Adrian suddenly crouched down. The arrow aiming for his head missed. He smiled at a nearby treetop before disappearing again.

Seconds later, three more bloodied bodies fell to the ground, parts of their organs missing.

“Here.” Avila passed the spear to Harry.

Harry examined his gold coated spear before nodding.

“Everyone, retreat. You are no match for him.” He shouted.

Everyone sighed in relief as they began to rush to the camp. It was forty against one and they already lost eight of their fellow students.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!” Two more screams resounded at the same time. A female caster and an archer had their bowels flowing out from their abdomen.

Ten.

“Adrian Darkheart! You think you can do whatever you want just because of that property of yours? I can see you; you are there.” He pointed his spear at a specific direction.

Everyone followed the spear and squinted. They could see him! He was not a ghost after all!

*Clang. Clang*

Adrian clapped with his metallic claws.

“Just what I expected from the <Detect> essence of the Sol family.” He praised.

“You know that you can’t kill them without stopping me. So, why don’t we decide this with a duel.” Harry said to Adrian before looking at everyone from the Empire. “None will interfere.”

“Sure. Why not?” Adrian did not waste any time as he slowly advanced towards his opponent.

Harry did the same; he walked towards Adrian nonchalantly.

Soon, they were only two meters away from each other.

Harry did not have any intentions to probe. He decided to use his property on the first move. A blinding light emitted from his body as he thrusted at Adrian’s chest with maximum force.

Everyone including the other level 4s covered or closed their eyes from the light.

Once they felt that the light disappear, they opened or uncovered their eyes again. But the scene in front of them was beyond their wildest imaginations. All of their hearts skipped a breath and eyes popped out of their sockets. Many of them even forgot to breath.

The spear was now divided into two. Harry was holding the posterior part while Adrian was holding the anterior.

The nonchalance had disappeared from Harry’s face. What replaced it was shock and horror.

“Run!” He shouted. “It’s a level 5!” He took a step back preparing to run.

These words pierced through the hearts of everyone. They got ready to run themselves. But did they ask for his permission?

“Why the rush?” Adrian smiled. “The party is just beginning.”

A terrifying evil aura pushed down on the whole camp.