What Awaits in the Darkness [1]

Supernatural events in this world are unlike anything you'll encounter elsewhere; each is more irregular than the last. Yet, many of them follow a certain regularity in their occurrences.

In some cases, the malevolent spirits that torment the living always have a cause and effect behind their wicked behavior.

At the same time, their appearance and possession are not without reason. Unlike demons that come directly from hell and have their own bodies, the evil spirits that have lingered in the world of the living are inherently weaker and must go through three universally known stages before they can fully possess humans and control their bodies and consciousness.

These stages, so to speak, are three.

The initiation stage occurs when humans enter a contact, territory, or dark zone that triggers the appearance of one or many malevolent spirits.

Once marked, the time comes for the malevolent spirit to manifest. It begins by making slight noises, understandable whispers, footsteps, tugging on the victim's body, and starting to drain their positive energy.

In this stage, the cursed spirit wears down its victim. Ordinary people tend to lose patience, questioning when the ordeal will end now that they know something invisible is haunting their home. What is true fear?

Personally, if he had been in that situation in his past life, he would have been scared. Because if you can't fight something you can't touch, see, or smell, that would be a battle lost long before it begins.

His thoughts on these matters were that if he encountered a ghost tormenting him to the point of death, once dead, he would make sure to kill whatever had taken his life. If something exists that you cannot see, the chances of becoming that very thing are high.

But now he doesn't think the same, because the third stage is indeed possession.

However, what was unknown or unwritten is that there's a certain stage, one where the malevolent spirit roams the world freely without being punished for its sins.

As a hunter, Ethan was about to face this level of evil, one that very possibly no living being had ever managed to harm.

When he put on his red pants with two black belts wrapped around his right thigh, a black leather belt, black gloves, and tall black boots, he walked over to where his weapons were.

His primary weapon was Rebellion, which was sometimes substituted with Yamato in some of his more regular missions but was, in fact, a fake copy of Rebellion, the demon-slaying sword that had helped him cut down any being believed to be untouchable.

Additionally, Ebony and Ivory, his twin pistols, were custom-made for rapid firing.

Ethan is a muscular man with black hair that was previously styled with bangs partially covering his eyes and is now parted with his bangs combed down. He has sky-blue eyes and pale white skin.

Fully equipped, he climbed the stairs to the living room floor, where about thirty men were waiting silently for him. All of them were equipped with the most advanced protective gear against dark entities.

Ethan's footsteps were heard; everyone stood up and held their weapons ready, prepared to accompany their leader to death if necessary to eliminate that dark entity.

When Ethan looked at his men, his words were brief: "Dark entity, class five. I'll personally kill it. I want you to ensure it remains within the seal, where it can't hide in its dimension. I'll kill it personally; you just need to protect the seal during that time."

"Understood, boss."

Ethan nodded slightly, put on a red mask that covered the lower half of his face, and murmured, "Then let the hunt begin."