Chapter 4: Chapter 3: The Return Of The Last Soul Hunter

The moon was half full this night and the sky was clear. Not ideal for hunting in a small group. If it was a rainy or foggy day, I could have butchered the entire camp with my axes alone. Killing them one by one, using their fear of the unknown monster in the fog against them. No matter, the old man's plan is solid.

We have managed to stay on track and alive so far. On our right and left there was a forest of giant mushrooms. Most of them were a mix of purple, pink and crimson. Some of them glowed. Like Heaven, their beauty was a trap. If you make a loud enough sound near them you will explode instantly into shroom spores. Stop staring and stay on the safe path, you have a job to do.

I walked quickly yanking the rope of my prisoner now and then.

"You don't have to yank so hard yet, no one is watching," said 8 in an annoyed voice.

I yanked the rope even harder, making 8 stumble. "I need to practice, I'm not a great actor," I said, looking back at the old man with a sinister smile.

"HA HA, I need to focus and relax, you are definitely not helping," said 8, going back to his breathing exercises.

As I looked at him I saw his huge ancient soul. A mix of bright shapes of light in many different colors, shifting rapidly from one color to the next. Contrary to the look of a common soul, the immortal's soul went up and up into the sky like lightning.

My ability to see souls made it pretty easy to find him. Should keep in mind that others with my ability could find him too, rare as we are. The last of the soul hunter's tribe, what a disgrace I became. I must gain our honor back, only I can do that now. Step by step, focus on the task at hand.

I stretched my arms and heard something hitting the ground with a squeal. I quickly looked towards the sound.

"Stupid exile, NOoO grace, not like the master yes-yes," said the Imp with a disgusted face.

I forgot the creature was sitting on my shoulder. "We don't need you whole, I can always take one of your arms," I said coldly.

The face of the varmint turned from pure disgust to pure fear. Silently, the imp claimed back on my shoulder this time holding it tightly.

"Hey partner, you can see souls right? How does the soul of the imp look?" asked the old man.

"Imps don't have a soul."

"Really? I don't remember any book about demons mentioning that," said the old man. "It does make sense now that I think about it. The souls of demons needed the power of god as food. That is why they are extinct now. Imps survived because they don't have a soul. I wonder how they stay alive then." 8 looked at the pest curiously, like he wanted to dissect the thing while it is still alive to get some answers.

"Master is so smart-clever!" declared the imp with excitement.

"Shut up imp! We are getting close," I said.

The shiny white walls that were only a small glimmer on the horizon moments ago, turned huge and intimidating. The Hierarchy definitely didn't build those, they were relics of the old world. On the other hand, the spikes decorated with disobedient slaves were definitely the Hierarchy's work. They looked completely out of place, covering the beautiful white metal of the walls with brown dried blood. Some of the spikes also got a banner on them, two crossed purple arrows on a black field. The banner of lady arrow to the gut. What looked like a small shimmer of pink from afar, turned up to be a big neon sign stating "Property of Lady Arrow <3".

What was not visible from afar was the many slaves working around the walls. They picked mushrooms of a variety of colors and sizes. The farms had tubes pumping all sorts of chemicals into the soil. The shrooms are popular ingredients for drugs and poisons used by the Hierarchy. Too bad this is not even one of the biggest mushroom farms of the Hierarchy.

The slaves themselves had bells attached to their dark skin with metal hoops. That way any slave who was foolish enough to try to run into the forest would have immediately exploded into spores. Most of the slaves here had weak gray souls, likely broken by their masters. I hope at least some of the slaves inside the walls got more of a fighting spirit. The ones here will be useless as soldiers.

I lifted my makeshift banner. One of the guards came my way while the others aimed their crossbows at us. The guard was wearing a stupidly impractical black leather armor decorated with metal spikes of course. He twitched endlessly, which was probably the result of the arrow stuck in his head.

"Wh- whhh who theee the FUCK are you?" screeched the guard.

Before I could answer, an imp appeared from behind the guard's back and climbed to his head. Then he grabbed the arrow in the guard's head yanking it a bit. The guard screamed in pain.

"I told you-you a million times, ONLY I ASK THE QUESTIONS HERE MEAT!" screamed the imp.

The imp looked at me suspiciously "Two black axes on a bloody field, lots-many brands, two black axes, yes-yes. You are the exile, HOW DARE YOU COME HERE HA?!" screamed the imp.

"I'm here to repent."

"Yes-yes, he works with me now," said Yps.

The imp started laughing uncontrollably. "You expect me to believe Yps succeeded in his quote-on-quote mission?"

"No, he got caught immediately, but I saved him. You were after the immortal no?"

I yanked the rope forcefully. "In return for forgiveness, I will give you non-other than 8 The Infinite."

"Hmmmm, MEAT! Give me-me the poster!" The imp held the wanted poster near 8's face. "He those look-look like him, but that is not enough," said the imp much quieter this time. "Kill him, the only-single way to show he is the immortal".

"Not in front of you, only in front of the lady," I said crossing my arms.

The imp laughed, "You-you got guts exile, yes-yes. I will let you through, but if he is just a mortal look alike, well, maybe the lady will give you to me-ME as my new Meat. This one is starting to ANNOY me," said the imp, moving Meat's arrow around making him scream.

I gave him a silent nod.

"OK BOYS, LET THEM IN! SEARCH THEM THOROUGHLY AND TAKE THEIR WEAPONS!"

A bunch of guards came to take our weapons. They stripped us naked checking us thoroughly even checking our butts for some hidden weapons. So paranoid, rightfully so. We stepped into the mouth of the beast to see what horrors hid in its gut. The camp was teeming with imps, some were purple others were black, some had goat horns others had scales, and all didn't have a soul. Good soldiers, obedient to the core.

The camp also had plenty of slaves. Most had darkish skin, common to the jungle people beyond the portal. The slaves were operating big machinery and farming a kind of berry bushes I'm not familiar with near the walls. The slave masters used spiky whips to punish the slaves not quick enough to obey their orders. Those cruel conditions only left the strong and the young of the slaves alive for long. Good, their strength will soon be used against their masters.

Some had the soul of a broken man, gray and faint. Others had crimson raging souls spinning around them like a raging blood tornado. Their rage and pain will make them fight all the harder to get their revenge when the battle will start.

4 guards escorted us in. They were all wearing black or deep purple armor. Two of them got polearms, one a crossbow and the last, some kind of makeshift flamethrower. The last will probably be the most dangerous to me, I will take him out first.

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"You guys are new?" I asked in the friendliest voice I could muster.

"Yeee we are, joined the gang of the lady when she got promoted," the guard with the crossbow and a human skull as a helmet answered. "Looking to join us, big guy?"

We got close to the barracks of the camp. A big black building full of graffiti of scenes of war. As I remembered it had a tunnel beneath it leading to the generator room. Not yet, I need to be patient.

"Rejoin, you new guys won't remember me but I used to have a high position in the Hierarchy back in the day," I answered.

"Yeee? What? A bodyguard to some high-ranking sadist maybe?"

"Something like that." I used to be the main enforcer, working for God himself. Just a tool but feared and respected. Now I'm all but forgotten, what a fool I was.

We were now very close to the tunnel. I could see the heavy door to the tunnel used to keep the generator safe in case of a battle. Perfect, exactly how I remembered it. It is time soon.

"Do you know how I knew you guys were new?"

"Hmmm naaaa, how?" answered the guard with the flamethrower.

"If you knew me from the old days you would have taken my fists as well as my axes." With one quick movement, I broke the windpipe of the flamethrower guard with my bare hands. Before they could react I kicked the crossbow guy using his body to knock out the other guards.

As planned I took one of the guard's daggers, I picked up 8, and ran into the tunnel. Before the guards still standing could go after us, I closed the heavy metal door to the tunnel and locked it from the inside. I ran as fast as I can until we reached the generator room. I could feel the pest trying hard to not fall off my back digging his claws into my skin. It barely hurt at all because of my healing ability, but I could still feel it.

We heard the sound of heavy machinery get louder and louder until we finally got to the heart of the beast. The generator room was a big hall. The only light in the room was a bunch of small light bulbs that flicker from time to time, giving the room an ominous atmosphere.

I instinctively reached for my axes but they were not there of course. I closed the heavy metal door of the room and locked it.

The room was filled with odd furnaces feeling it with a bit of smoke. The tube and pistons attached to them blow out steam here and there. A bunch of fans filters the smoke out at the walls of the room. Inside the furnaces, I can of course see faint souls.

I broke 8's neck and threw the dagger I stole from the guard near his body. As soon as the old man got his new body he started to cut the belly of the old with the dagger. After a bit of digging in his old gut, he pulled out a couple of small metal balls. Then he opened one of the balls to reveal a caged glowing beetle. 8 opened one of the furnaces and his face turned into one of disgust and surprise.

Inside there was what used to be a man. His skin was pale and his shriveled body was covered in bandages. His eye were closed, not used to light after many days in darkness. Tubes were connected to many parts of his body.

"Do they use human souls as power? Just the more reason to burn this place to the ground," said 8 going back to his work. "Can you maybe free some of them before you go? We still have a bit of time."

"No, they will die as soon as we take them out," I lied. Even if I did save one or two of them, they will be broken and useless.

"Then go! When I start the process you won't have much time to escape".

I ran as fast as I could to the other entrance of the room and the old man locked the door behind me. There is no stopping him now, I must escape! My job in this accursed world is not done yet. Two angry souls were coming my way. Aha, I could see their owners now, one with a shield and another with a long man-catcher. Do they plan to take me alive?

The ceiling of this tunnel was high enough, I peeked up my speed.

"Wait-wait wh-" before the imp could end his sentence, I grabbed him by the leg, took him off my shoulder, and held him upside down. The imp now screamed in absolute terror.

Getting close I could see the golden arrogance of their souls mixed with the red rage. FOOLS. Right before I got too close to the man catcher I jumped. The shield guy tried to back up and adjust his shield to block my attack but he was too slow. I kicked the spear guy so hard his body rolled along right outside the tunnel.

Before the shield guy could turn around I brushed him on the back of the head with the imp again and again until they were both a broken bloody mess. I threw what was left of the pest to the side and went towards the end of the tunnel.

I could already see the many souls waiting for me outside, most of them were a jumble of colors, they were afraid. Good, the newbies learned to respect their seniors. Outside I was surrounded by thugs, some humans some imps. They even let some of the jungle people join them, ones who would be wasted as slaves and got a thing for pain of course.

They got wooden shields, man catchers, spears, and crossbows all laced with poison I'm sure. It's no matter, I was immune to most poisons anyways. Their numbers were the real problem, even with my skill they could end up cornering me. Out of nowhere, an imp showed up, this one got bat wings and a crossbow way too big for it. Its skin was a mix of purple and deep blue, covered in yellow scars.

"YOU STUPID-FOOL! I will torture you personally," screamed the varmint.

I slowly took a step to my left so I didn't block the entrance to the tunnel anymore. "Time for me to go, BYE BYE," I said and stood as still as I can, focusing to activate my invisibility.

"WhAt?! Did he-he teleport away? Went invisible?"

The fear in the souls of the thugs grew into pure terror. I couldn't help but smile.

"You-you get into the generator room, the rest search the camp for the exile! The lady does not need-need to know about this, we must-must take care of it!" The thugs moved as soon as they heard the orders. One of them almost bumped into me.

At the very moment most of them were gone, I started sprinting towards the wall. I ran past some slaves and finally got to the wall. As I started to climb suddenly I felt a pain in my arm. Getting to the top of the wall I saw a crossbow bolt in my arm, but something was wrong. I could feel pain, lots of it, and the veins in my arm started to turn black.

Looking up I saw the flying imp grinning "I got-got you!"

Suddenly the barracks exploded. My eyes were completely blinded by the brightness of the blast and my eardrums were likely broken as a huge thunder-like sound turned to a ringing. I almost fell off the walls from the shockwave of the explosion.

My vision recovered bringing before me a scene of total destruction. The barracks were completely gone, a couple of buildings near it were crumbling to ruins. Fire spread throughout the camp somehow so hot it melted some of the metal buildings with odd colorful flame. The air was filled with colorful greyish smoke, ash and shrapnel.

And the bodies HO the bodies, burned, crushed, mangled. So many died in just seconds. Magnificent! With that destructive power, I can keep my promise to you brother, no compromises anymore, I can kill them all!

Then something hit me, my world went black.

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