By the time Ryn and Amelia reached the village, the smoke had already settled into a suffocating haze. Half-burnt rooftops smoldered quietly. Charred fences collapsed under their own weight. The air was so thick it was practically a liquid.
They were late.
His chest tightened. Even after witnessing humanity's downfall, he still couldn't get used to the carnage.
The Arctis Knights fanned out, rushing to the scene to help evacuate survivors, if there were even any.
At their head walked Brigade Captain Ardan Letho, a man in his mid-thirties with short dark hair, a sharp jaw, and carried himself with the authority of a veteran.
He scanned the ruined village with cold precision. "The damage pattern is inconsistent," he murmured. "Fox attacks alone couldn't do this."
Ryn had the same thought, but got beaten to the chase.
Ahead, the Deimos knights gathered near what remained of the village square. They looked more like a rag tag band of kids playing dress up instead of a real knight order. Nonetheless they carried an official emblem.
One tried to calm a crying child. Another supported a limping villager. Their eyes trembled with the look of people who had survived something they were clearly not trained for.
As soon as they noticed the Arctis cloaks, one had rushed over, almost tripping in his haste.
"L-Lord Ryn! Lady Amelia! And—Arctis Brigade Captain?!" His voice cracked halfway.
Ryn gave a curt nod, "Please give us your report."
The young knight swallowed hard. "We… already fought off a wave of Fire Foxes. As you know monsters have been going wild recently in the territory."
"They acted rabid, like something had compelled them."
Ryn had a strange gut feeling, nothing was confirmed yet. However, this behavior was consistent with something he prayed wasn't related to the Evernight.
"But that wasn't the worst of it," the youth continued, lowering his voice.
"A Hellhound came down from the high ridge. It had two heads, and its fire melted even our magical items."
Hellhounds were unique monsters, hard to take down but bearable. However, as a popular saying goes, "The more head a Hellhound has, the higher its Rank is."
The Hellhound was classified as a C-Rank monster…which meant this Hellhound was B-Rank.
"Well, where is it now?" Amelia asked.
The young knight pointed shakily toward the inner village. "We wounded it. But it managed to retreat toward a nearby river."
A moment of silence passed by, only filled by the crackling of fire.
Finally, Ardan spoke, "It's your call Young Master, should we give chase?"
Ryn exhaled slowly. "We should hunt it down, a wild Hellhound is a disaster waiting to happen."
A few young Deimos knights shifted uncomfortably. Even they seemed startled by the decisiveness.
Ardan frowned. "With respect, that beast drove six trained knights into retreat. Even while wounded, it is dangerous. We should fortify our position and wait for its next movement."
Ryn stopped, glancing over his shoulder with a deceptively casual smile.
The kind of smile nobles used right before starting trouble.
"I trust the Arctis Knight's strength, plus we have Amelia Grandal herself," he gave another 'noble' smile. "We'll be alright."
Behind him, several Arctis knights straightened reflexively—pride flickering across their faces. Ardan's expression didn't change, but Ryn caught the faint twitch of frustration.
Ryn knew Brigade Captain was probably thinking something along the lines of, "He's just the middle brat! What does he know!?"
Amelia stared at him, eyes narrowing just a fraction.
He tried not to make eye contact, she's scary when she gets curious.
***
It didn't take long to find the Hellhound's trail.
Even without Enhanced Senses, the footprints were impossible to miss. Massive, clawed impressions gouged deep into the dirt, spaced far apart like the creature had fled in a blind, desperate sprint.
Captain Ardan crouched by one of the prints, fingertips brushing the charred edge. "Fresh. Within the hour."
Ryn didn't bother trying to look impressed. If anything, the prints were almost insultingly obvious.
"It wants distance," Ryn said quietly. "Not to hide."
"Then it's smart enough to know it's wounded," Amelia added.
The deeper they moved into the inner town, the quieter everything became.
Not the type of peaceful quiet that was enjoyed, but the one that came from having nothing at all, a dead quiet.
The outer roads held damaged homes and shaken villagers. But in here—no one had survived long enough to flee.
Shattered doors hung off their frames. Rows of houses were still smoldering from the earlier assault.
Ryn stepped over a fallen support beam, careful not to disturb the half-burnt corpse slumped beneath it. The figure's hands were still curled, as if they'd been clawing at the ground in their final moments.
One of the younger Deimos knights gagged.
Amelia quickly prayed for the soul before they continued moving.
Ryn exhaled slowly. "This all happened fast."
"Too fast," Amelia murmured. Her voice was even, but he saw the tension in her posture. "A Hellhound doesn't kill this many unless it's frantic."
Ardan crouched beside a half-eaten carcass, brow furrowing. "It fed hastily… then abandoned the meal." He rose, voice low.
"Something spooked it."
Suddenly, Ryn's hair stood on its edge, a byproduct of [Enhanced Senses]. He felt it—heat, coming this way.
"Down!" Ryn barked.
He tackled the Brigade Captain to the side just as a massive fireball tore through the air.
FWOOM—!
The blast struck the carcass they had been standing over, evaporating it until nothing was left but ash.
A roar shook the inner town.
The Hellhound emerged from the smoke, its body the size of a house. Two snarling heads moved in sync atop a charcoal-black frame, muscles rippled beneath its matted fur.
One of its forelegs dragged unevenly, injured from an earlier clash, but the beast still advanced with terrifying power, claws carving trenches into the stone.
Ardan stood up, immediately raising his shield as the beast breathed another wave of flames at him.
Three knights used this opportunity to rush in with their blades. The knights had used all their skills but none could make even a single effective hit.
All that did was get its attention. The beast pulled back, swiping a claw at the group. When death seemed certain for them, Amelia raised a hand.
"Scatter!"
White-pink fire erupted from her palm, exploding against the Hellhound's flank. The blast shoved the monster sideways, scraping its injured leg against stone.
It roared, more furious than hurt. But the attack was enough for the knights to reposition.
The Hellhound then lunged. Ryn didn't react, after all why would he? He was standing at the very back of the formation, like a noble strategist should.
Nope.
The beast jumped.
A single, powerful leap vaulted it clean over Ardan's shield, past the first line of knights, and straight toward Ryn with both heads bared.
"—Oh, come on."
He barely managed to dodge to the side, pulling out his sword in a single swift motion.
Though Ryn was not out of the clear yet.
He barely had time to yank his sword up before the right head slammed into him.
CRASH—!
The impact threw him backward, boots skidding along shattered stone. His shoulder screamed with the force of the hit.
[HP: 87/100]
The hellhound then tried to go up for a follow-up attack, but its injured leg made the charge awkward and predictable.
Using Aquila's dash, he was able to close the distance and deliver a slash right above its ribs.
[MP: 70/110]
Blackened blood spilled, freezing almost solid as it came in contact with Ryn's Cold Aura.
The hellhound staggered backwards, whipping its tail in a horizontal cone. Ryn raised his sword but realized there's no way in hell that he would be able to endure the full brunt.
He could use Aquila again, but it would be too suspicious with all these eyes watching.
Might as well just take the hit…
However, before the tail could hit him, it looked like it had crashed into something invisible.
BOOM—!!
A shimmering wall of pale-blue force manifested out of thin air, absorbing the entire tail strike in a single, thunderous impact.
Flames splashed harmlessly against the barrier, bending around its curved surface before dissipating into smoke.
Ryn blinked. Ardan stood behind him, one hand outstretched, aura crackling faintly around his arm.
Right, one of the reasons he was so well respected was because no one in his squad had ever died. And it was thanks to this one skill,
[Force Barrier].
Ardan grinned as he dismissed the skill,
"Now we're even Young Master."
The Hellhound snarled, thrown off balance by its failed strike. Amelia seized the opening and fired a compressed blast of flame that clipped its side, driving it back with a pained yelp.
The beast circled once—then turned and bolted deeper into the ruins, its injured leg dragging furiously across stone.
"It's running again!" a knight shouted.
Ryn dashed after it. "We finish this now!"
The Hellhound staggered into a collapsed courtyard and turned, both heads lowered in a fierce, deliberate stance.
He slowed. Something was wrong.
FWOOOM—!
Flames erupted along the ground in a circle, oil-fed fire racing upward into a blazing ring that sealed Ryn inside.
Amelia reached for the flames—and jerked her hand back. Clearly denied by something.
Inside the ring, the Hellhound advanced.
Ryn steadied his sword. One thing made itself painfully clear to him.
Someone was behind this incident.