Chapter 255 An Enchanting Nightmare
In the midst of the tense atmosphere, Asher stood tall and undeterred. A smug smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth as he heard whispers of his name amongst the newcomers, "Oh?" he mused aloud, his voice as cool as ice, "I didn't expect to have so many fans. You really shouldn't have."
Hugo's face contorted with raw anger, veins protruding from his neck as he took a menacing step forward, "Hellbringer!" He bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the clearing, "Say your prayers because today, you're going to pay for all those you've killed. For my brother and friends!"
Elara, swiftly moved to Hugo's side. She spoke softly, her voice barely more than a whisper, "Hugo, play this safe," she cautioned, her gaze never straying from the enigmatic blue-skinned demoness beside Hellbringer, "I can't see through her strength."
Hugo and the rest of his team had their eyes widened at Elara's words.
Elara was known for her specialization in INT and was the highest in their team, enough to even almost touch the INT stat of a peak A Rank; for her to admit she couldn't gauge a person's strength spoke volumes about the threat they faced.
"Could it be...that the blue-skinned demon is a S Rank??" Iris whispered with a concerned look, making Marcus and Gareth also exchange uneasy looks.
Asher, however, looked visibly confused by the unfolding events. He crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged nonchalantly, "I have no idea who the fuck you are," he drawled, the indifference in his voice stoking the flames of their rage, "How am I supposed to remember every loser that fell under my hand? I lost count ages ago."
"HELLBRINGER!!" Hugo's shout ripped through the clearing, laced with seething anger. His team, fuelled by their fury, clenched their fists at the demon's nonchalance.
The rest of the Hunters, however, took this as their signal to act and were also outraged at the audacity of this demon.
Since Hugo and his team weren't backing away, they thought they all could together take out Hellbringer and the other demons.
With deafening war cries, ten of them charged toward Hellbringer, their weapons held high.
"Wait, stop!" Elara's desperate shouts for them to stop fell on deaf ears as the first wave of their unplanned attack thundered toward the unfazed demon.
Before the first wave of attack could crash into Asher, a singular figure stepped forward, her dark eyes sparkling with an unspoken challenge, "Let me handle this."
It was Isola, the blue-skinned demon that had caught everyone's attention, her alluring beauty that even made the hearts of most of the men skip a heartbeat despite her being a demon.
Hugo, Elara, and their team reflexively stepped forward, their instincts demanding they protect their comrades from this S Rank demon!
But their grim determination was met with an unexpected scene.
Isola's lips parted, but instead of an incantation or a roar of challenge, a mesmerizing melody began to fill the air. It was as if she was weaving magic through her voice, creating an audible enchantment that seemed to put a spell on everyone.
The Hunters, who had been rushing to attack, their eyes aflame with determination and fury, suddenly ground to a halt. Their eyes glazed over, their weapons hung loosely in their grip, their thoughts seemingly swept away by her song.
"Hugo...snap out of it..." Elara gripped Hugo's wrist, who also entered into a stunned state while she herself was struggling to block this melodious yet deadly song from entering her ears using her ability.
All she could do was direct some of the wind quickly towards Hugo's ears to disrupt the melody, making Hugo's eyes regain clarity but immediately began to grimace just like Elora, their bodies shuddering while looking around with a shocked look.
Iris, Marcus, and Gareth, on the other hand, seemed to be also falling under the spell, their eyes unfocused and vacant.
Suddenly the eyes of the Hunters began to fill with hostility as their grips tightened on their weapons.
"YAARGHH!!"
As if spurred by an unseen force, the hypnotized Hunters turned against each other while Isola continued with her melody.
Their eyes gleamed with an eerie rage as they attacked their own comrades, their blades slashing through the air and plunging into familiar bodies. Shouts of anger and screams of pain rang out as the clearing turned into a bloody battleground.
Chaos was literally unfolding, and even Hugo and Elara were frightened as their own friends, Iris, Marcus, and Gareth, tried to attack them.
The surreal scene had a chilling effect and astonished Asher, Ceti, and Merina. They knew those with Mindforce abilities were very frightening to deal with, but this was even more terrifying when they saw with their own eyes.
They stood, frozen, watching as among the Hunters, friend turned against friend, bewitched by Isola's strange and potent melody.
Asher still had a look of disbelief. Once again, he had underestimated Isola. Her allure wasn't just in her physical form but also lay hidden in the deadly power of her voice.
She was the perfect definition of an enchanting nightmare.
But they didn't simply stand around longer.
Utilizing the chaos and confusion that Isola had summoned, Asher, Ceti, and Merina sprung into action.
Like a trio of grim reapers, they moved through the throng of bewitched Hunters, their powerful attacks slicing through the dazed figures like a hot knife through butter. Each fell victim to their relentless assault, their cries of realization silenced before they could fully form.
Hugo and Elara, the only two who managed to barely resist Isola's entrancing melody from bewitching them, found themselves facing their bewitched comrades.
Marcus, Iris, and Gareth, their eyes devoid of their usual warmth, swung their weapons at them with single-minded ferocity.
"Snap out of it, please!" Elara yelled, her voice filled with desperation as she deflected another strike from Gareth.
Her eyes were tearing up, not from the injuries they were inflicting on her but upon seeing her dear friends striking her and Hugo without any knowledge of their own actions.
Even if she and Hugo managed to not get bewitched, their minds were still busy fighting off the melody, slowing them down and preventing them from using their abilities properly.
They never expected to face such a terrifying demon with powerful abilities, and their team wasn't equipped to counter such abilities.
"We have no choice, Elara! I will cover you, argh!" Hugo's voice was rough with anguish, his words echoing Elara's fears. But the urgency in his voice spurred her to action while he took on the brunt of the attacks of his own friends.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she gathered every bit of her strength. Her hands rose, moving in a calculated pattern as she summoned the power of the wind.
*Whoosh!*
The air around them started to pick up speed, whipping around them in a ferocious whirlwind. As she raised her hands higher, the intensity of the wind increased, sending an overwhelming gust of wind roaring through the clearing.
The wind seemed to carry a life of its own, it twirled and spiraled, sweeping up the battlefield. The powerful gusts distorted the air, creating a barrier of white noise that successfully disrupted Isola's voice.
Her hypnotic song was drowned in the howling wind, the enchanting melody replaced with the deafening roar of nature's fury.
But Elara had no idea the song was about to come to an end anyway.
Slowly, her bewitched friends seemed to regain control of themselves, their eyes clearing and their hands trembling upon realizing what they were doing.
"Elara! I..I..." Iris cried out in horror as she immediately lowered her weapon, just a few inches close to striking her neck.
But by the time Elara had stopped the influence of Isola's song, it was too late.
The ten Hunters that had accompanied Hugo and his team lay lifeless, their bodies bearing the brutal evidence of Asher, Ceti, and Merina's relentless assault and their own comrades.
With a final note lingering in the air, Isola ended her song, her chest rising and falling as she took a deep breath, not surprised that one of them managed to dispel her voice in the end.
But by the time she did, enough damage had been done, and their leader was already on the ground, bleeding.
The battlefield fell into an eerie silence, broken only by the sound of the wind dying down, and Marcus and Gareth taking deep breaths in shock, unable to believe what came over them, and horror seized their hearts as they saw Hugo lying on the ground, "Hugo!"
The sight that greeted Elara, Marcus, and Iris was like a cruel mirage, filling them with guilt.
There, amidst the carnage, lay Hugo, gasping for breath, his body writhed in pain as his fingers clawed into the hard soil beneath him. Blood seeped from the corners of his mouth, staining the earth in a chilling hue of red.
Before they could rush to his aid, their attention was drawn to the looming figures of Hellbringer, Shadow Maid, and Royal Battlemaster approaching them with unyielding strides. The faces of the werewolves were impassive, while Hellbringer had a look of contempt, all three of them closing on them like predators closing in on their prey.
In response, a fierce determination kindled in the eyes of Elara, Gareth, Marcus, and Iris. Despite their overwhelming grief and injuries, they grasped their weapons tighter, channeling their hatred and desperation into a fiery resolve.
They lunged toward the demons, their movements fueled by a potent cocktail of fear, fury, and resentment.
*SCREEEEEE!!!!*
But their charge was abruptly halted. A high-pitched, bone-chilling screech sliced through the tense atmosphere.
It was Isola, her eyes alight with a terrifyingly cold glint, her lips parting as she unleashed a banshee-like scream, a stark contrast to the beautiful melody that escaped the same lips earlier.
The air vibrated with the sheer intensity of her voice, the sound waves rippling through the space like a seismic shockwave.
Elara, Marcus, Iris, and Gareth found themselves clutching their ears, their faces contorting in agony as the harsh sound seemed to spear their skulls and even shattered their armor and weapons.
They crumbled onto the ground just like the barriers they desperately tried to put up, their bodies shaking as if they were being subjected to an invisible tormentor.
The screech was so penetrating that even Asher, Ceti, and Merina found themselves instinctively covering their ears, a grimace etching itself on their faces despite the attack not being directed at them.
The moment the deafening cacophony subsided, Asher chuckled contemptuously. His gaze roved over the pitiful sight before him, five Hunters, once confident and resolved, now knelt on the earth, bleeding from their ears, noses, and mouths.
The moment the deafening cacophony subsided, Asher chuckled contemptuously. His gaze roved over the pitiful sight before him, five Hunters, once confident and resolved, now knelt on the earth, bleeding from their ears, noses, and mouths.
He shook his head with contempt as he derisively stated, "You morons really thought you could take on an S Rank without an S Rank powerhouse, let alone a peak A Rank Hunter?"
Hugo raised his bloodshot eyes, locking his gaze with Hellbringer. Coughing up a mouthful of crimson, he spat out his words with undying defiance, "Rejoice while you can, Hellbringer. It won't be long before Hunters like...Miss Sterling and Sir Victor cut you down...along with your cohorts. You are not...the only one with an S Rank powerhouse in your team..."
"You will burn in hell...and suffer a worse fate than our brother and sister..." Elara choked out with a resentful gaze.
Asher looked down at them with a chilly gaze as he suddenly clutched Hugo's neck, "Ah...now I remember...You are from the Blackthorn Family, and you..." Asher glanced at Elara as he added, "You are from the Sinclair Family, both highly respected High Class Families that never hesitated to backstab and aid in the killing of your fellow Hunters and friends just to please WHA. Or am I wrong?"
Asher remembered the information he got from Grace, where so many powerful families, including Blackthorn and Sinclar Family, had participated in hunting down his true friends after he died as the Golden Prince.
Since they still supported him, these opportunistic families took advantage of the situation to hunt them down and make themselves appear good before the WHA.
His eyes flickered briefly as he remembered the memories he shared with them. If only he had them by his side that day, then maybe...things could have ended very differently.
Of course, these families did it behind the curtains so as to avoid any possible public backlash since it involved silencing even some renowned Hunters and people.
They tried to do the right thing, and in return, they were killed and shamed just like he was.
Hugo and Elara and the rest three of them had their eyes quiver, wondering how he knew about that.
"So how dare you all...have the audacity to spout moralistic bullshit about avenging your friends when you all are scum that does not deserve to breathe," Asher's spine-chilling tone and his gaze sent shivers down their spine. For a moment, they felt as if they were kneeling before the grim reaper himself.
Isola's gaze softened as she looked at Asher from the side, understanding the pain in his voice even though nobody else could see that on the outside.
Merina and Ceti glanced at each other, sharing silent curiosity about why Asher was talking about the things Hunters did in their world and why he even cared.
Still, they felt satisfied upon seeing the stumped looks on their faces. It seemed as if Asher's words struck a nerve in all of them.
Gareth suddenly spat and said, "Pah, fuck off, demon. We would do it all over again...
No follower of a demon should be left alive!"
"No, no! You are right. We were wrong to spout such nonsense. Please spare me!! I will do anything!" Marcus suddenly began to shed tears as he fell at Hellbringer's feet, realizing he was fucked.
The only reason he even felt confident about hunting down Hellbringer was because of Hugo and Elara. But who knew Hellbringer would have such a powerful demoness protecting him.
"Marcus?!" Elara, Hugo, Gareth, and Iris had their eyes shake with shock and disbelief upon seeing their best friend throwing away his dignity and begging at the feet of a demon.
Was this really the Marcus they knew?
"Ugh, what a shitshow this is," Asher clicked his tongue with a look of disdain as he kicked Marcus' face and said to Hugo and the other three, "Feels good to have a taste of your own medicine, doesn't it? And..."
His lips curved into a cold smile as he added, "It won't just end with your brother or sister. I am coming for everyone in your families, all of them and I don't plan to be so merciful next time."
Hugo, Elara, Gareth and Iris felt their blood run cold upon hearing his menacing words. For some reason they felt it was an ominous prophecy.
Asher shot a curt nod toward Isola, turned around, and stepped aside with Merina and Ceti.
"NO! Please!" Marcus cried out as he saw Hellbringer walking away, while Hugo let out a weak roar with reddened eyes as he tried to get up, "Hellbringer..."
But once again, Isola opened her mouth, releasing another lethal screech.
*SCREEEEEE!!!!*
The sound pierced the air like a sonic spear, making the wounded Hunters wince in unbearable agony for a couple of seconds before something within them just burst.
Their eyes rolled back, the light in them extinguishing as they collapsed onto the ground, lifeless. Blood flowed more freely now, staining the battleground, marking the tragic end of Hugo and his team.
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