Chapter 62: "The White Hunt Begins"
The warning bells rang just past dawn.
Three quick tolls. One long.
Enemy approach. Small-scale. Fast-moving.
Alex was already halfway to the north gate when Sophia landed beside him from an aerial glide, bow strapped tight and eyes narrowed.
"Scouts," she said, aura sharpening. "Human. But masked. Moving like shadowhounds."
"White Fang?"
She nodded grimly. "Testing the border."
Alex clenched his jaw. They'd known this would come. But he hadn't expected it so soon after the aura resonance pulse.
Behind him, the inner gates opened. Lilith appeared, calm but alert. Kyra emerged beside her, sword already drawn, armor half-secured but radiating a pulsing glow of loyalty.
And Ayame? Already on the rooftops, tails flaring.
"Five targets," she called. "Slippery ones."
Alex drew his blade—the silver-edge not just forged but soul-marked. The weapon still hummed with dormant potential. Unawakened. Not yet bound.
But it would be soon.
[System Combat Mode Initiated]
Threat Level: C-Rank Scouting Party Type: Human - Monster Hunter Affiliation Formation: Shadow Net (Ambush-Focused) Active Buff: Lust Domain Empowerment (35-meter radius)
Bonded Units Within Range: Sophia, Kyra, Ayame, Veira Aura Sync: 82% Active Passive: Heartforge Pulse Bonus: Reflex +10%, Magic Resistance +8%, Regeneration +5%
Alex could feel them syncing around him—four souls, four flows of energy converging like rivers. It was more than strategy.
It was instinct.
He raised a hand.
"Let them come."
The five figures broke from the trees in perfect formation, dressed in white cloaks, faces covered, sigil of a fanged crescent at their chest.
They moved like wind. Silent. Deadly.
The first threw a vial—shattering it midair.
Flashfire Mist. Designed to blind aura senses.
But it didn't work.
The Lust Domain's resonance pushed back, glowing tendrils of pink-gold light curling through the mist, absorbing it.
Sophia fired first.
Her arrow sang through the mist and struck true—a clean shoulder shot that sent the first scout spinning.
Kyra met the second with a roar, blade glowing, her aura radiating the full power of her recent bond. She didn't hesitate—just engaged.
Metal clanged. Sparks danced.
Ayame dropped behind the third attacker, silent as a fox's breath.
A whisper of charm magic.
A kiss to the neck.
And the enemy crumpled, wide-eyed, helpless before she flicked her blade across his throat.
Veira arrived last.
She didn't strike.
She commanded.
Her aura flared, golden fire rippling from her limbs, and the fifth scout—the leader—froze mid-strike.
Alex was already there.
Sword raised.
Eyes glowing.
His blade met the hunter's.
And shattered it.
In the silence that followed, the shards of the enemy weapon clattered to the ground.
Alex stood over the man—disarmed, stunned.
His own sword pulsed.
Then glowed.
Bright red. Black script.
[Bound Weapon Detected: Soul Affinity Achieved]
Name: "Crimson Oath" Type: Lustbound Blade Evolution Stage: 1/5 Passive: Soul Bleed - Wounds reduce target's willpower and enhance emotional vulnerability Active: "Pulse Reap" (Cooldown 1 hour) - Converts fear/lust into energy
Alex's grip tightened.
The blade responded.
A weapon awakened not by forging... but by feeling.
The surviving hunter didn't beg.
But he didn't resist either.
His eyes, grey and resigned, met Alex's as Veira bound him in chains of searing flame.
"You were just probing," Alex said.
The man nodded.
"We mark power before it corrupts."
"Corrupts who?"
"The world."
Alex crouched. Their faces inches apart.
"I don't want to destroy the world," he said softly. "I want to remake it."
The hunter smiled.
"That's what all tyrants say."
They let him live.
Scarred. Marked. A message.
The Lust Domain had defenders now.
And they weren't ashamed of what they built. Or who they loved. Or what they desired.
Alex stood with his bonded at the gate.
The others would come.
But so would allies.
And the kingdom?
It was no longer just a dream.
It was beginning.