The rhythmic clatter of the train had almost lulled Lucien into peace. The countryside blurred past the window with fields of green and ochre, endless skies, the distant glimmer of rivers.
Then the train jerked. The lights flickered once, twice... and died.
A murmur of confusion rippled through the passengers. Moments later, the speakers crackled with static before a voice came through, calm but tense."Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated. We've had to stop temporarily due to… an incident on the tracks ahead."
Lucien frowned. He could feel it in the air, something wrong and restless.
He rose, slinging his bag over his shoulder, and approached a uniformed crewman near the exit."What's going on?" he asked.
The man looked nervous. "There's… a rift. It opened a few hundred meters ahead. The rail control says it's small, but we can't risk moving until the Association sends someone."
Lucien's jaw tightened. "How long until they arrive?"
The crewman hesitated. "They didn't say."
Lucien exhaled through his nose. "Then I'll go take a look."
He reached for the twin swords and pu it on his back. The glint of steel silenced further protest. The crewman's eyes widened as recognition dawned."You're... a Hunter?"
Lucien gave a single nod. "Keep everyone inside. I'll handle it."
Before anyone could stop him, he stepped down onto the gravel, boots crunching underfoot. The wind outside carried the smell of blood.
He adjusted the strap of his satchel and began walking along the railway.
Ahead, smoke rose on the horizon. Not black from fire but white and shifting, like mist leaking through a wound in the world. The air grew heavy, charged with pressure that pressed against his lungs.
Then he heard it.
A scream. it wasn't human...
Lucien broke into a run.
He climbed a small hill and froze. Down in the valley below, a half-formed rift twisted in midair... an unstable tear bleeding light and darkness both.
Massive wolf-like creatures were tearing through the fences, their hides thick and gray, muscles rippling beneath plates of natural armor.
Lucien's hand went to the hilt of his sword.He remembered what he'd read in the Hunter archives:
"When a new rift manifests, a localized breakout often occurs. Small-scale. Manageable."
But as he watched one of the wolves crush a reinforced gate under its claws, Lucien realized that even if it was small-scale, it was still verry dangerous.
Still, compared to what he had seen in Lyon… this was nothing.
He exhaled slowly, drew his blade in a clean motion, and started running toward the burning farm.
The wolves came fast... they were five of them, their eyes glowing with mana. They were larger than any natural beast, their bodies twisted by the unstable energy leaking from the newborn rift.
Lucien stood firm.He reached over his shoulder, drawing his first sword... the one he had forged marked with his ancestral vow.The Orc Cleaver stayed sheathed on his back. That blade was for dire moments only.
The first wolf lunged. Lucien met it head-on, his blade cutting through the air with clean precision. One strike, one kill. The creature's body dissolved into black smoke.
Another came from the left. Lucien sidestepped, turned his wrist, and drove his sword upward through the beast's chest. Sparks of mana scattered as the corpse hit the ground.
Three left.
They began to circle him, low growls echoing through the ruined field. Lucien focused his breathing, his stance unshakable.
A shadow flickered... one wolf leapt from above. Lucien pivoted, slicing across its midsection mid-air. The impact split the creature in two before it even touched the ground.
The remaining two charged together. Lucien ducked under the first, rolled forward, and slashed backward in the same motion, severing a leg. The beast howled in agony. The last one rammed into him, claws grazing his shoulder, forcing him a few steps back.
Lucien gritted his teeth, steadying his footing."Predictable."
He twisted his blade, deflecting a bite, then delivered a sharp counter... straight through the skull. The final creature staggered, then fell, fading to ash like the rest.
And then finnaly there was silence again...
Only the soft crackling of fire from the nearby farmhouse remained. Lucien exhaled and lowered his weapon. His movements had been efficient, measured and every strike precise, not a single motion wasted.
He cleaned his blade, sliding it back into its sheath.His eyes turned toward the rift pulsing a few meters ahead in a swirling mass of purple and black, warping the air around it like a mirage.
A transparent system window blinked into existence before him.
[System Alert]New Rift DetectedClassification: D-Rank (Minor Distortion)Entry Limit: 1 Individual OnlyProgress: 0 / 1
Lucien studied it with an unreadable expression ."A solo gate…" he murmured.
He crouched down and pressed a hand into the soil, feeling the vibration of raw mana beneath his palm. The earth was trembling faintly, alive.
He rubbed the dirt between his hands and whispered a prayer, old words carried from another age.
"Faites de mon épée votre messager."
(Make of my sword your messenger)
Then he gripped his sword, the same one that bore his vow, and stepped toward the distortion.
Light swallowed him whole.