VI. The Hunters Get Hunted

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***

Cavite City, Calabarzon State, just tens of kilometers south of Central City.

A man in his early 20's was found dead in a dark alley of Cavite City. He was covered in slash wounds but it was obvious he died from the slit on his throat. It wasn't the first victim that died in such a fashion. Judging from the number of his wounds, the man put up a fight against the criminal, same with the other victims. Blood was everywhere.

But what made it a horrifying sight was the face of the dead man. It wasn't just because it was brutalized. It's because his eyes were wide open which was not uncommon, but it only took one look to understand the man's expression. It was beyond fear. Full of terror and agony. Whoever killed him, it made sure to show his true evil nature to this man, who even tried to fight, only to die with a terrified face as if all hope abandoned him.

"That was a Hunter", a young man with blond hair thought to himself. He didn't look like a cop, he was just observing from a distance. He slowly walked around 100 meter radius from the scene of the crime, vigilant for any clues he might find, and stopped to think after reaching the starting point. He's a Knight of ARK, the organization that Lucian mentioned.

Alliance of Religion and Knowledge where spiritual belief and science overlap and begin to accept each other's methods in order to deal with the paranormal.

"There was no sign of battle in the earthly plane. I also don't detect any fresh spirit remnants. This Hunter didn't die protecting someone and whatever happened, it didn't occur in Terra. It happened in the plane of Umbra. But why the trouble of bringing the physical body here?", he continued to think.

Umbra, which translates to shadow, is a parallel dimension which is created through the spiritual perception of every living being, except its dwellers are the spirit energies emitted by these living beings which transform into Nightmares with enough energy. A portion of Umbra can appear in the earthly plane or the real world of humans, which is called Terra by ARK, for a brief period between five minutes to one hour. It's a random phenomenon but spiritual researchers of ARK theorized that it is attracted to places and individuals emitting strong spirits, trapping these people in this portion of Umbra.

Individuals who manage to escape this phenomenon will have a high probability of going insane due to the depressive experience, if they aren't attacked by Nightmares, because meeting one will either result to death or absolute insanity, which is considered the lucky outcome. It's unfortunate that the world's technology hasn't done much to discover and unravel the paranormal. Even incidents caught on cameras are called fake and edited due to how far technology has come.

Individuals who are "unlucky" are dragged into the depths of the shadow world. Umbra has a distorted sense of time. Unlike the phenomenon that follows the laws of time in Terra, traveling the main Umbra plane can either have a slower or faster sense of time. If you manage to escape, there's no telling how much time has passed in Terra. It can be seconds, minutes, or decades where all the people you know had already passed. And if someone's lucky to come out alive, there's extremely high chance that it's not just them who returned.

His face brightened, indicating that he had solved the mysterious death. He quickly pressed number 3 in his speed dial. It took only one ring for the other line to answer.

"Hello, Arthur, it's been a while.", a man's voice from the other line.

"Hello, Sir. I have something very important to report."

***

In a church somewhere in the Philippines.

Three men speaking in Italian. One of them was a Cardinal from Italy, the other two were Filipino Archbishops.

"This is the fourth one. Not even a month has passed since the first killing."

"But is this really a threat to us?"

"We don't know the extent of its abilities. We may be overreacting."

"It seems to target lower ranked soldiers only."

"Should we wait this out until one of the Watchers or Scouts figure this out?"

The three were discussing when one man stormed the room.

"Or you can give the order to track this criminal who's killing our Hunters. That way, you'll actually be putting your council seats to good use aside from saving your holy asses.", said the man who just entered.

A Hunter is one of the two lowest soldier ranks in ARK, the other is a Watcher. They differ in job description. A Hunter, as the name suggests, hunts Nightmares. Their primary duty is killing Nightmares in Terra, and sometimes, in Umbra. They aren't assigned to a certain area. The promoted ranks of a Hunter respectively are Scout, Ranger, and Exterminator.

A Watcher is a protector in a designated area. Their primary duty is to keep civilians safe and ensure that the Treaty is honored and abided by all sapient creatures to keep a "functioning and war-free society". Watchers aren't obligated to kill or engage in battle with Nightmares as long as the civilians are kept safe. The promoter ranks of a Watcher respectively are: Guardian, Knight, and Arch Knight.

However, ranks aren't necessarily and always determined by how good and powerful soldiers are in the organization. Just like how the best and deadliest soldiers are not the generals in a command center.

"Well, if it isn't the infamous man for getting banished.", the younger Archbishop mocked.

"You can't be in here, you're excommunicated. Watch your place.", commanded the older Archbishop.

"Come on, Fathers. We all know I'm not here for earthly church business so save the excommunicated argument to yourselves, Father Damos, Father Silva."

"Gentlemen, I'm sure he meant no disrespect. Sit with us, Sir.", said the Italian Cardinal.

"I'm fine standing, Grazie, Your Eminence." The man took out some photos from his pocket. "These are the location of the murders. All victims were our Hunters. All within Central City."

"That's exactly what we're talking about when you interrupted us, young man. I pray you have something more to contribute." Father Damos said.

"Prayers answered, Father. Investigation showed no sign of battle in Terra, and no new spirit remnants around the location. That means our unfortunate Hunter fought alone, without any civilian to protect, in Umbra.", the man explained.

"I suppose our Hunter didn't accidentally fall down the Umbra phenomenon nor purposely went there to play hero, did he?" it was the Cardinal who asked.

"Perceptive as always, Cardinal Fabiano. He did neither of that. Our Hunters are well trained to avoid places with enough spirit level to attract the phenomenon or intentionally enter it without justifiable cause like saving a civilian, and as shown in the investigation, no civilian was present." the man continued. "I can only assume how this happened, to four of our Hunters, no less."

He paused, examining the expression of the men in robes who're now interested in what he's saying. "Whoever is doing this, it can control the phenomenon. It can summon a portion of Umbra at will, at any place absent the spirit energy it needs."

"Nonsense!", Archbishop Damos exclaimed. "There's no Nightmare powerful enough to do that. If it's a Nightmare in Terra, it's better off just attacking someone head on, with the risk of discovery and getting killed by our soldiers, instead of summoning the Umbra phenomenon at the cost of its own spirit. That's suicide for them." Archbishop Silva added.

The man just looked the priests dead serious in their eyes. It was an awkward minute before he decided to break the silence.

"You're right. But I didn't say anything about an ordinary Nightmare." he said. "If it's an ordinary Nightmare, it would do it better to consume both the spirit and the flesh of our poor hunter, so why return the body to earth?"

"What do you mean?", Archbishop Damos.

"Just lay it straight to us. Stop being cryptic." Archbishop Silva.

"It means whatever body it assimilated, it's way more powerful than our regular Hunters. I think it's testing its powers. He's toying with the lives of the Hunters." he answered. The priests turned white as if they lost blood in their face.

"I'm afraid you are not as safe as you think because this is definitely a threat to us all, with or without a seat." he said.

The two Archbishops gulped in between their breath. Sweat started to drip from their foreheads. Their hands were trembling, they couldn't even wipe their sorry faces. It was Cardinal Fabiano who had the courage to confirm their terrors.

"Are you certain about this, Marcus?"

"I am, Your Eminence." said the man who leaned closer, the sun lighting his face, revealing that he's Marcus Vigil.

"You're lying!!" Archbishop Damos insisted. "You're just saying that to make yourself relevant again to ARK and by extension, to gain the favor of the Church!"

"I wish I'm just making this up, Father. Look at the bigger picture. It's not just these murders. There have been organized crimes that are committed in broad daylight. Here's the most recent one." Marcus pointed to a picture of a particular bus accident. It was the one where Irina was involved.

"Alexander Kaspian's daughter was attacked in broad daylight by at least four confirmed Nightmares with human flesh. As a result, they gave us 30 collateral dead bodies. That same night, the four said Nightmares came after her. It was the right decision to have Lucian look after her.

Do you understand what I'm saying? These creatures have learned to cooperate, to organize, and learned the concept of continuity, to finish what they started. They understand that the invincible councilmen of ARK will have their weaknesses revealed if they have a leverage. How long before they come after the lives of your family, too? Or arrogantly enough, after your precious lives?" Marcus slammed his fist on the table, startling the two Archbishops.

"This threatens the very existence of the balance as we know it. Just like 15 years ago.", he continued. "Do you still think your asses are safe because you have a seat in the council? Do you still think this is the doing of your regular, simpleton Nightmares?" he looked them straight on their eyes, one at a time.

"The organization needs you to act as the leaders you should be. Or we will never stand a chance against this band, or army, or even a legion of Nightmares with their leaders. That's right, Your Eminence" he stilled his eyes to the Cardinal.

"The Spectres are back."