Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

Chapter 594: Suspicious Activity

Somewhere far from the vampiric capital, far from the black towers, far from the newly raised memorials, and far from Queen Liza’s red eyes, there was a windowless room.

It was not a large room. Nor was it luxurious. The walls were gray stone, too smooth, too cold, without tapestries, crests, or marks of belonging. In the center, a round table made of dark material held twelve white candles, all lit with motionless flames. None flickered. None produced smoke. Their light seemed trapped in space, as if even fire did not have permission to move freely there.

Around the table, only two figures were present.

The first wore a long, completely black robe, its edges embroidered with silver threads. The figure’s face was hidden beneath a deep hood, but the hands were visible: thin, pale, covered by dark veins that pulsed slowly beneath the skin. On one finger was a ring bearing the same seal seen in the ancient records of the vampiric royal lineage.

The second figure remained on the other side of the table, still as a statue. They also wore a robe, but theirs was white, marked with red symbols that were almost faded away. Unlike the first, this person did not completely hide their face. The lower half was visible, revealing lips far too calm for someone discussing a catastrophe.

Between them, a crystal floated.

Inside it, fragmented images repeated in silence.

Vlad, seated on a dark throne.

Liza, imprisoned in a place of shadows and blood.

Elizabeth fleeing through underground corridors.

Kael Scarlet crossing through vampiric soldiers like a scarlet storm.

And, finally, the ancient seal exposed on the table before the Queen of Vampires.

The black-robed figure observed the image for a few seconds before speaking.

"Using Vlad was a failure."

The voice was not loud, but it seemed to echo from within the walls.

The person in the white robe tilted their head slightly.

"That is a problem."

"A problem?" The figure in black placed a hand on the table. "Vlad did not merely fail to consolidate command over the lineages. He was captured. Liza returned to the throne. Elizabeth survived. The Kingdom of Witches is involved. And now Kael Scarlet has seen the seal."

The crystal glowed as it once again showed the image of Kael staring at the ancient parchment.

The person in white remained calm.

"He does not know what it means."

"Yet."

"Knowing the seal is not the same as understanding the origin."

"But he will search."

"Naturally."

The calm of that answer made the air in the room feel even colder.

The figure in black pressed their fingers against the table.

"You speak as if that is acceptable."

"I speak as if it is inevitable." The person in white raised one hand and lightly touched the crystal. The image of Kael dissolved into red mist. "Vlad was always an unstable gamble. Too ambitious to obey fully, too proud to realize when he was already trapped. He opened the door, but believed he still held the key."

"He gave us access to royal blood."

"Yes."

"He gave us succession rituals."

"Yes."

"He gave us the pressure points of the lineage."

"And because of that, he was useful."

The figure in black went still.

"Useful?"

"Until he stopped being useful."

The silence that followed was heavy.

Inside the crystal, new images appeared. Red lines stretched like roots, connecting names, houses, clans, and descendants. Some lines were broken. Others trembled. At the center of the web, where Vlad had once appeared as the main point, there was now a dark void.

The person in white observed it with clinical interest.

"The control was not completed, but the tests were valuable. We confirmed that royal authority still responds to the ancient rituals. We confirmed that command can be amplified. We confirmed that hunger makes the clans more receptive to extreme orders when presented as a return to nature."

"And we lost the king."

"Kings are replaceable."

"Vlad was the most direct path."

"Direct, yes. Necessary, no."

The figure in black slowly turned their face toward the other.

"You have another path?"

The person in white smiled.

It was not a wide smile. Only a slight curve of the lips, too small to seem human.

"We have several."

The crystal changed again.

Now it showed Liza.

The Queen of Vampires was seated in the meeting room, cold, elegant, rebuilding her authority over a wounded kingdom. Beside her, Elizabeth looked exhausted, but alive. On the other side of the table, Kael and his companions listened, analyzed, calculated.

The figure in black spoke with restrained contempt:

"Liza will not be manipulated as easily."

"She does not need to be manipulated."

"She wants to create a solution for the hunger. With the witches’ help."

"Exactly."

This time, the figure in black remained silent for longer.

Then understood.

"You want to let them try."

"I want to observe."

"If they manage to create something that satisfies the vampires, our influence over the radicals diminishes."

"Or increases."

"How?"

The person in white touched the crystal again. The image changed to vials of blood, golden roots, witch symbols, green leaves, and red lines mixing into a substance that did not yet exist.

"They will try to create something living, neutral, without owner, without lineage, and without command. A clean solution. Moral. Supervised. Full of beautiful conditions."

The word beautiful came out almost like a joke.

"And?"

"And anything capable of touching the ancestral hunger of the vampires will need to converse with the same place where we have worked for centuries." The person in white leaned over the table. "Memory. Blood. Instinct. Bond. If they open that door in search of healing, perhaps they will find what we left buried on the other side."

The figure in black did not answer immediately.

The motionless candle flames seemed to darken a little.

"You believe we can contaminate the project."

"Not contaminate." The smile barely increased. "Guide."

"Kael Scarlet is not naive."

"No."

"He will place Eleonor, Elion, Sylphie, and perhaps even Yggdrasil over this."

"I am counting on that."

For the first time, the figure in black seemed truly surprised.

"You want to involve Yggdrasil?"

"I want ancient forces to look at the wound."

"That is dangerous."

"Everything that matters is dangerous."

The crystal showed an immense tree for an instant. Not Yggdrasil’s full form, but a shadow of it. Infinite roots. Branches crossing dimensions. A green and golden glow pulsing like a primordial heart.

The person in white observed the image with something close to reverence.

"For centuries, vampires believed their hunger belonged only to them. A burden of blood. A curse of origin. But hunger is a language. And every language can be taught to say other things."

The figure in black narrowed their eyes beneath the hood.

"You are speaking in too many riddles."

"I am saying that Vlad tried to give us an army. Liza may give us something better."

"What?"

The person in white raised their gaze.

"A cure that everyone will want to drink."

Silence returned.

This time, even the figure in black seemed to understand the scale of it.

If a new substance were created, if it truly relieved the vampires’ hunger, if it were accepted by the clans, the people, the crowns, the treaties, then it would not merely be a solution. It would be a foundation. Something distributed on a large scale. Something ingested. Absorbed. Integrated into the blood, the mana, the routine, and the politics of the kingdom.

A key willingly placed in everyone’s mouth.

The figure in black spoke more quietly:

"And if Kael notices?"

"He will suspect."

"And if Sylphie feels it?"

"She will feel part of it."

"And if Yggdrasil recognizes it?"

The smile of the person in white disappeared.

For an instant, only an instant, their calm became something harder.

"Then we will have to be careful."

The figure in black leaned back against the chair.

"You underestimate the danger. Kael Scarlet destroyed our operations in the kingdom before he even knew our name. He brought Liza back. Saved Elizabeth. Exposed Vlad. And now he has witches, a successor of Yggdrasil, shadows, and divinities around him."

The person in white went still.

"Yes."

"Does that not worry you?"

"It does."

"You do not look worried."

"Because worry without action is waste."

The figure in white raised a hand, and the crystal split into several smaller images.

Kael at the top of the palace.

Sylphie sleeping in the royal room.

Inari in golden light.

Umbra in deep shadow.

Eleonor in the Kingdom of Witches.

Elion surrounded by runes.

Yggdrasil with an irritated expression, holding an empty cup.

The figure in black focused on Umbra and Inari.

"He was not alone."

"He rarely is."

"Then we need to separate the pieces."

"No." The person in white closed their hand, and all images vanished except one.

Kael.

"We need to make them move together."

The figure in black fell silent.

The person in white continued:

"When many powerful forces look at the same problem, each sees through its own nature. Witches will see magic. Vampires will see blood. Yggdrasil will see roots. The fox will see spiritual memory. The shadow will see hidden trails. Kael will see responsibility."

The candle flames finally trembled.

"And responsibility," the person in white said, "is the oldest leash there is."

The figure in black watched Kael inside the crystal for several seconds.

"Then what do we do now?"

The person in white slid a finger over the crystal’s surface, and Kael’s image broke into red lines.

"Let Liza deliver the records. Let Eleonor open the archives. Let Sylphie search for a cure. Let Yggdrasil complain, shout, and, inevitably, help."

"And Kael?"

The smile returned.

"Kael will follow the trail."

"That sounds exactly like what we want to avoid."

"No." The person in white extinguished the last candle with a simple look. "We want him to follow the right trail."

The room plunged into darkness.

For several seconds, there was no sound at all.

Then the voice of the figure in black echoed in the dark.

"And if he reaches us?"

The answer came calm, almost affectionate.

"Then we will finally know whether he is only a storm... or something capable of breaking the first blood."