Zack didn't appear.
The group advanced through the alien forest of the Red Continent, with Orpheus leading the way. The fifteen-year-old boy walked with a confidence that contrasted with his youth, his attentive eyes constantly scanning the surroundings, a hand always near the hilt of the Coyote.
Behind him followed K, the woman with ruby-red eyes; the young couple, Loren and Matheus; and the elderly, whose names no one had asked. All cast nervous glances at the shadows between the gigantic trees, where indistinct shapes seemed to move when observed out of the corner of their eyes.
"Where is your master?" Matheus finally asked, breaking the tense silence that enveloped them. "Did he just abandon us?"
Orpheus didn't answer immediately. He continued walking, his eyes fixed on the path ahead.
"He has his reasons," he finally said, his voice calm and controlled. "That's all you need to know."
Loren tried again. "But how can we trust you if we know nothing about you? Who are you? Where do you come from?"
Orpheus stopped for a moment, turning to face the group. His young face was serious, with a maturity that seemed out of place in someone so young.
"You don't need to trust us," he simply replied. "You just need to pay when we reach the city. The rest doesn't matter."
K watched the interaction with interest, her red eyes studying Orpheus with a disturbing intensity. There was something about this boy that didn't fit – a confidence, a skill, a presence that didn't match his age.
"How long have you been a mercenary?" Orpheus asked K, surprising her with the direct question as they resumed walking.
K hesitated, unaccustomed to sharing personal information. But something in the sincerity of the boy's gaze made her answer.
"Since I was ten," she said, her voice neutral, as if commenting on the weather.
Orpheus couldn't hide his surprise. His eyes widened slightly, and for a moment, K saw in him only what he truly was – a child. A child confronted with the cruelty of the world.
"So young," he murmured, more to himself than to her.
K shrugged. "This world isn't kind to anyone. You learn to survive or you die."
Orpheus remained silent, processing this information. K realized that he was re-evaluating his own life, perhaps realizing for the first time the abnormality of his situation – trained as a warrior since childhood, now leading a dangerous mission in the most deadly place in the known world.
The elderly woman, who was walking just behind them, approached Orpheus with slow but firm steps.
"I'm sorry, young man," she said, her voice gentle and laden with guilt. "We shouldn't put so much responsibility on your shoulders. You're just a boy."
Orpheus looked at her, and to everyone's surprise, his face lit up with a genuine smile – not the confident smile he used to reassure the group, but a truly happy smile.
"Don't worry," he replied. "I do this with love because I want to be like my master one day."
K and the young couple exchanged glances. There was something deeply disturbing and at the same time moving in the absolute devotion this boy showed for a man who had abandoned them at the first opportunity.
"Where did he come from?" Loren asked, her curiosity overcoming her caution. "Your master, I mean. How did he survive having black eyes? Everyone knows they are hunted from birth."
The smile disappeared from Orpheus's face, replaced by a closed expression. He didn't answer, continuing to walk as if he hadn't heard the question.
K observed the reaction with interest. "You didn't know, did you?" she said, her voice soft but penetrating. "About the black eyes. About the hunt. He never told you."
Orpheus remained silent, but the tension in his shoulders confirmed K's suspicion.
"What kind of master is this?" K continued, her voice now laden with disdain. "A man who uses a boy to make money, who abandons him at the first sign of danger, who doesn't even share basic truths about himself? He seems like a rather useless master to me."
K expected anger, perhaps even tears. What she didn't expect was the reaction that came.
Orpheus threw his head back and laughed – a genuine, carefree laugh that echoed through the silent forest. When he finally calmed down, he looked at the sky with a serene smile.
"I owe him my life," he simply said. "And I've never met anyone who could touch my master. He is, without a doubt, the strongest person in the world."
The group laughed ironically, exchanging glances that clearly communicated what they thought – childish delusions, exaggerations born of a pupil's blind admiration for his master.
But K didn't laugh. Something in Orpheus's absolute conviction bothered her. She remembered the strange feeling she had when she first met Zack and Orpheus – that feeling that there was something more to them, something she couldn't identify but that her instinct recognized as dangerous.
"Stay behind me," Orpheus said suddenly, his posture changing completely. "K, you stay at the rear."
"Who do you think you are to give me orders, boy?" K replied, annoyed by the sudden change in command.
Orpheus didn't answer. Instead, he knelt and placed his hand on the ground, closing his eyes in deep concentration. The group watched in silence, confused by the strange behavior.
After a few seconds, Orpheus opened his eyes, his gaze fixed on the darkness between the black trees, their red and orange leaves swaying gently in the non-existent breeze.
"There's a river 500 meters ahead," he said with absolute certainty. "And strong presences approximately 1 kilometer away."
K looked at him with poorly disguised astonishment. How could he know that? She was an experienced mercenary, trained to detect dangers, and felt nothing but the normal uneasiness that the Red Continent provoked in everyone.
Reluctantly, K positioned herself behind the group, recognizing that, somehow, this boy possessed abilities she didn't understand. The rest of the group followed in silence, now even more tense with Orpheus's warning.
"Your master," Matheus said after a few minutes of silent walking, "why doesn't he carry any weapons? A man who comes to the Red Continent unarmed is either crazy or a liar. Maybe he only knows how to heal, but not fight."
The change in Orpheus was instantaneous and terrifying. He stopped abruptly and turned to face Matheus, his eyes glowing with a cold fury that didn't seem to belong to a child. The look was so intense, so laden with the promise of violence, that Matheus involuntarily recoiled.
"I will not accept anyone insulting my master," Orpheus said, his voice low but carrying surprising authority.
K watched the scene with interest. Matheus had spoken too much, unnecessarily provoked the boy. She wondered if she should intervene before the situation escalated.
It wasn't necessary. The elderly woman slapped Matheus on the back of the neck with surprising force for someone her age.
"Shut up, foolish boy," she reprimanded her grandson. "Stop bothering the boy who is trying to save us."
The tension broke immediately. Orpheus laughed at the scene, his face returning to its jovial expression from before. The group visibly relaxed, grateful for the elderly woman's good-humored intervention.
But the tranquility was short-lived. Orpheus stopped again, this time his expression changing to something more serious, more worrying.
"Something's coming," he said, his voice now an urgent whisper. "A creature of the Void. Its aura is strong, perhaps A+ level."
The effect of these words on the group was immediate. The elderly paled, Loren gripped Matheus's arm tightly, and even K, normally impassive, felt a shiver run down her spine.
"A+ level?" she repeated, her voice betraying her fear. "The amount you're paying doesn't compensate for this risk. No one told me we would face something of this level."
"Please," Loren pleaded, falling to her knees along with Matheus. "We need to get to the city. It's our only chance."
Orpheus looked at the kneeling couple, confused by the intensity of their despair. Gently, he helped them up.
"I'll take care of this," he said with a confidence that seemed absurd given the situation. "The contract is still on. I'll take you there."
"Are you crazy?" K exclaimed, her composure finally breaking. "Is this a joke? We're all going to die! A creature of this level is not just strong, it's intelligent. And so much concentrated energy can awaken... certain things."
There was something in the way she said "certain things" that made everyone look at each other nervously, as if she had mentioned a taboo no one dared to discuss openly.
"I'll handle this alone," Orpheus insisted. "The contract is still on and I'll take you to the city."
K felt humiliated. Being outdone in courage by a child was unbearable. But something else bothered her – the katana at Orpheus's waist. Now that she paid more attention, she could feel the energy emanating from the weapon. It wasn't an ordinary katana. It was a special weapon, the kind of item mercenaries and collectors would kill to possess.
"If the boy dies," K thought, calculating coldly, "I can take the katana and run. If I sell it, I'll be rich enough never to have to accept suicidal missions like this again."
"How did you get a weapon like that?" she asked, pointing to the Coyote. "Which clan do you belong to?"
Orpheus's answer dropped like a bomb in the tense silence.
"I was a slave."
K felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. "Lie!" she shouted, advancing towards Orpheus. "No slave would have access to a weapon like that! You're lying!"
Orpheus remained motionless, staring at K with a look that left no doubt about the truth of his words. There was no defiance in his eyes, only a calm acceptance of his own story.
K stopped, studying the boy's face. Slowly, the truth settled in her mind – he wasn't lying. Which raised an even more disturbing question: how had a former slave obtained one of the rarest and most valuable weapons in the world?
The subject was temporarily abandoned when the group reached a lake that glowed under the blood moon's light. It was a spectacle of alien beauty – the moon was so red that particles of crimson light reflected in the water, making it the color of fresh blood. The surrounding trees glowed intensely, their red and orange leaves creating a luminous canopy over their heads.
"Very beautiful," Orpheus murmured, and for a moment, everyone fell silent, marveling at the unique beauty of this cruel and hopeless world.
Orpheus approached the lake's edge and looked at his reflection in the red water. His young face, illuminated by the supernatural light, seemed older, wiser, as if carrying the weight of experiences far beyond his years.
"Are you from the Red Continent?" K asked, breaking the contemplative silence.
Orpheus continued to look at his reflection for a few seconds before answering.
"We came from a place far from here," he finally said. "My master came to train me and seek something of his in the city."
"This place is only for those with A-level power or higher," K explained. "No one can survive here. The Red Continent harbors the most powerful creatures in the world, with levels reaching S++."
"Creatures of that level don't scare my master," Orpheus replied simply. "He is feared even by those who only hear his name."
K spat on the ground, her face contorted in an expression of contempt. "Son of a bitch," she muttered, laughing ironically.
The atmosphere instantly became tense. Orpheus and K stared at each other, the hostility palpable between them.
"Calm down, young lady," the elderly man intervened, placing a hand on K's shoulder. "Even those who are seen as crazy still have a truth."
K looked at the elderly man with irritation, but something in his words made her reconsider her hostility. She relaxed slightly, though her eyes remained fixed on Orpheus with distrust.
"The creature is coming," Orpheus announced suddenly, his body tense as a bowstring. "From the right side. You must go left."
He quickly consulted the map he carried. "If you continue left, you will find a road that leads to the main road. The city is just beyond the lake, less than ten kilometers from here."
The group realized with horror what Orpheus was suggesting – he would stay behind and face the creature alone, sacrificing himself so they could escape.
"There's no one in a ten-square-kilometer area," Orpheus continued, as if reading their thoughts. "The path to the city is safe."
K felt a deep discomfort. She remembered herself at ten years old, when she began her life as a mercenary. "That's not how I was taught," she thought. Her own master would despise her for abandoning a child to die.
"I'll stay," she said abruptly, surprising herself as much as the others. "The rest of you, go ahead. I'll help the boy and catch up with you soon."
"But we might encounter people or creatures on the way," Loren protested, clearly scared of the idea of continuing without protection.
"I already said there's no one within ten kilometers," Orpheus repeated firmly. "You'll be safe."
"Shut up and do what he says," K ordered, her patience exhausted. "Go now!"
The group hesitated only for a moment before quickly departing. The elderly cast grateful glances at K and Orpheus before following the young couple down the left path.
When they were alone, K looked at Orpheus with new curiosity. "Can you sense presences ten kilometers away? How?"
Orpheus didn't answer, his eyes fixed in the direction from which the creature was approaching.
"I'm going crazy," K muttered to herself, unsheathing her sword before thinking better of it and putting it away again. Against an A+ level creature, close-quarters combat techniques would be more effective.
In less than three minutes, the creature arrived.
It was an aberration that defied comprehension – almost three meters tall, with a body that seemed made of rubber, capable of molding and distorting at will. Its legs were like those of a giant grasshopper, powerful and unnaturally articulated. Its head resembled that of a wolf, but its mouth was filled with rows of triangular teeth like a shark's. It had no fur; its naked skin was a sickly gray, with pulsating veins visible beneath the surface. Its eyes were red like a cat's, glowing in the gloom with malevolent intelligence. It moved with the impossible agility of a hummingbird, despite its monstrous size.
K felt her body react instinctively to the horror before her – her arms trembled, her breath became ragged, and cold sweat streamed down her forehead. All her experience as a mercenary had not prepared her for something like this.
Then the creature spoke.
"Hello."
The voice was sweet and melodious – the voice of a seven-year-old girl. The dissonance between the monstrous appearance and that childish voice was deeply disturbing, like a perversion of everything that should be innocent and pure.
K felt her blood run cold. The voice awakened memories she had buried long ago – memories of a childhood friend she had loved deeply, but who had left her to pursue the life of a hunter. The same friend who had died on her first mission, her body found mutilated beyond recognition.
To her horror, K realized that Orpheus showed no reaction to the monster. His face was calm, almost serene, as if he were facing a routine challenge and not a living nightmare.
Orpheus placed his hand on the hilt of the Coyote and looked briefly at K. His smile was radiant, so bright and pure that for a moment K remembered the blue sky of her childhood, before the world hardened her, before she learned that survival meant killing before being killed.
"I am hungry," the creature said, its voice still that of a child, but with an underlying growl that sent shivers down K's spine. "And you smell delicious."
Orpheus smiled, a genuine, fearless smile. "You won't be eating anyone today," he said, drawing the Coyote with a fluid, almost artistic movement. The blade hummed softly, a counterpoint to the creature's monstrous presence.
K watched, mesmerized. This was the Orpheus Zack had spoken of, the one who faced nightmares with a smile. This was the Orpheus who would one day become the man she knew, the one who had saved her life countless times.
"Let's dance," Orpheus whispered, and with a flash of steel, he lunged at the creature, a blur of motion against the red-tinged landscape of the Red Continent. The true hunt had only just begun.