Several meters away, Dom ran… his legs kicking faster than they had ever done in their entire life.
Branches whipped across his face and arms as he shoved through the forest, lungs burning violently with every breath. Roots and stones nearly caught his feet over and over again, but adrenaline forced his body forward before panic could let him fall.
His heartbeat thundered so loudly it drowned out the world.
He didn't look back…He didn't need to.
He killed them.
The thought slammed through his mind over and over.
He killed them!
His foot suddenly caught against a buried root, sending him crashing into a muddy puddle, dirty water splashing across his clothes and into his mouth. Pain shot through his knees and elbows as he skidded across wet earth.
But terror forced him back up immediately as he scrambled forward.
He's not human. He's a monster… Monster?
His eyes widened--What Pops said. The restaurant conversation. The hunters. The missing hearts. The thing in the woods.
It's him. He's the monster.
A crushing pressure suddenly slammed into his senses.
Dom twisted violently on instinct--just as a gigantic blade of compressed wind tore past him.
The attack cleaved straight through a thick tree ahead. The trunk slid apart and crashed down with a deafening crack.
Dom rolled across the dirt, panting frantically as he sensed a presence approaching. He was so focused on it that he failed to notice the sting across his left cheek, where his blood trickled out of the wound left by the attack.
"I knew you were special."
Dom shivered as the stranger stepped out from between the trees, emerald eyes glowing with excitement.
"You sensed my attack," The man said softly, stopping several meters away. "And dodged it. Not to mention that you're pretty fast for someone your size."
That's when he lifted his hand, and Dom gasped once he saw the small, bloodied heart in the man's grasp.
"I only had time to taste those other children." He said as he bit into the organ, splashing blood across his face as he chewed on the flesh before unceremoniously spitting it out. "Their meat tastes awful—like poorly cooked fish."
Then his gaze settled onto Dom's trembling blue aura.
"But yours…" The man smiled slowly, saliva dripping from his lips, mixing with the blood on his chin as he tossed the heart aside. "…yours will be different. I can smell it."
Dom staggered backward, his legs trembling so badly that they barely supported him. "I—I don't want to die." He whispered.
The man chuckled warmly, almost sympathetically. "Neither do the pigs or cows…," He tilted his head, eyes glowing brighter. "…but you still eat them, don't you?"
He stepped forward.
"Cut their throat."
Another step.
"Ignore their screams."
Dom backed away desperately, tears beginning to blur his vision.
"Please." He begged.
But the man's grin only widened further. "That's nature, my beautiful prey." His voice softened into something almost gentle. "The predator hunts for food."
The wing began swirling around his body, leaves lifted, and branches creaked.
"The prey runs, only to get caught and die." He then crouched, mana flaring out of his body. "That's the wondrous circle of life!"
Instantly, the forest erupted as violent ind exploded from his body.
Dom cried out, raising both arms as the gust nearly tore him off his feet. Dirt and leaves blasted around him violently.
"You can't escape."
The whisper came from behind him now.
Dom's blood froze solid as he felt fingers reaching toward his back. It was so fast that his memories didn't even have enough time to flash through his eyes.
Only two words formed in his mind.
Pops… help…
The man's fingertips brushed against Dom's shirt just as a jet of flames tore through the woods like a missile.
The inferno carved a blazing path directly between Dom and the cannibal, swallowing the trees, leaves, and air itself in blinding orange light.
The cannibal recoiled instantly with a sharp snarl as the flames engulfed his arm.
Meanwhile, heat roared across Dom's face, and for a split second, the world vanished beneath fire and light.
The cannibal leapt backward through the explosion, landing several meters away as smoke curled from his burned arm. The flesh there was blackened, cracked, and still faintly glowing. The smell of burnt meat spread through the clearing.
"Who's there?!" The man snarled, emerald eyes flashing murderously through the smoke of the scorched trail.
The flames slowly began to fade.
And Dom blinked, his eyes widening once he realized he wasn't on the ground anymore.
Strong arms held him effortlessly, lifting him as though he weighed nothing. His breath hitched as his vision steadied, settling on the face of the man who had intervened.
He was old—older than Dom had expected—but not weak. Deep lines marked his face, carved there by time, heat, and battle. His hair was ash-gray, pulled back loosely, and his beard was trimmed short, singed at the ends as if flames were never far from him. Most striking of all were his eyes.
They glowed.
A deep rose-red, steady and calm, like embers buried beneath a mountain of ash.
"You good?" The savior asked, his voice low and grounded, cutting through the ringing in Dom's ears.
Dom tried to speak, but nothing came out. His throat worked uselessly before he finally managed a stiff nod.
The savior's grip adjusted slightly, careful—gentle, even. "Alright," He said quietly, then stiffened briefly once his glowing eyes lingered on Dom's white hair.
Recognition flickered across his face for only a second before disappearing beneath focus again.
"I've got you."
The words hit harder than Dom expected.
The savior lowered him carefully behind his back before stepping forward without hesitation, placing himself between Dom and the monster instinctively.
The act was effortless, practiced.
Like he'd done it his whole life.
Across the clearing, the cannibal flexed his burned hand slowly as flakes of charred flesh crumbled away from his skin.
"You've got some nerve," He growled, voice sharpened with rage, "… interrupting my hunt. You'll pay for that!" The wind howled in response around him.
The savior straightened fully.
Only then did Dom notice the uniform.
Black, reinforced, and battle-worn, lined with faint blue seams that almost pulsed softly with mana. A long white coat hung from the man's shoulders, its edges patterned with red-yellow flames that seemed to flicker even while still. On the center of his back was a symbol every citizen of the South knew by heart—
A black beast, fangs bared, with the number 3 etched boldly beneath it.
"Elon Kruger," The savior said, voice steady as stone. "The Mage Cannibal."
The name landed like a death sentence.
"You were being transported to the Capital for execution," The savior continued, turning fully now, his back broad and unmoving for Dom to see. "Your suppressor cuffs failed. You killed your escorts and escaped."
Elon's glowing green eyes dragged over the golden bow and arrow insignia on the savior's chest, then up to the elderly face.
"A Magic Knight," He said slowly, savoring the words. "Did they really send someone like you after me?" His gaze sharpened. "So who the hell are you supposed to be?"
The Knight didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he took a single step forward. "An old timer," He said at last, "… who happened to be nearby."
Dom shuddered as heat began pouring off the Knight--thick, oppressive, pressing against his skin. Red mana leaked from the man's body like smoke from a forge, warping the air around him.
Elon chuckled softly. "Doesn't matter who you are. You interrupted my hunt."
He licked his lips, eyes flicking briefly toward Dom before returning to the Knight.
"And for that, you'll die. At least…" His smile widened unnaturally. "…you look like someone with a strong taste."
The Knight tilted his head back, eyes closing.
For a moment, he looked almost tired.
"I heard about what you did," He said quietly. "The people you slaughtered before you were captured. The bodies they found yesterday in Quirkville. The two hunters you killed last night."
His hands suddenly clenched at his sides, and Dom flinched as the Knight's aura surged, heat washing over him in one suffocating wave.
"I found the police squad of this village that went missing a few hours ago, and when I followed the tracks… I found those three boys."
The silence that followed was heavy—absolute.
"Judging by their size," The Knight continued, his voice tightening as he glanced at a Dom. "..they were about this one's age. They probably hadn't even gotten their first girl yet."
Blood dripped from his clenched fists, evaporating against the scorched ground, adding the smell of iron into the air.
"And… you slaughtered them like animals."
Elon tilted his head, genuinely puzzled. "We are animals," He replied calmly, raising his uninjured hand. "I got hungry and found prey. So I hunted and ate." His grin widened further. "It was simple survival. Nothing more. Nothing less."
The Knight turned slowly, red eyes burning as they locked onto Elon's. "Is that how much value a human life holds to you?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" Elon said as he looked down at his blood-stained hand, studying it like a chef examining his work. "Human life is the greatest gift of nature."
His grin stretched wider.
"The texture of the meat. The flavor… And their mana—each person tastes different. It's an experience beyond compare."
A vein bulged violently on the Knight's forehead. "The Capital ordered me to capture you, so that you'll get the painful execution you deserve…" He said, voice trembling with fury.
"But after hearing that crap…" He raised a fist, his knuckles igniting with scorching flames. "…I'll send you to hell myself."
Crimson light exploded outward as the Knight's aura flared, heat crashing into the forest like a living thing.
Trees groaned. The ground cracked apart beneath his feet. Leaves ignited mid-air before turning to ash instantly.
Elon's grin widened impossibly as he spread his arms, welcoming it. Like a starving beast finally seeing a worthy meal.