Even though the moon shone ever so lightly, it was enough to allow the hunters to catch a glimpse of today’s prey. But what greeted them wasn’t a pretty sight, and the stench permeating the air was so overwhelming that it left a bad taste in their mouths.
As minutes went by, more and more deformed, half-rotted heads rose to the surface of the water, giving birth to a ghastly scene that seemed to come straight out of a horror movie. And although the rest of the water ghouls’ bodies wasn’t visible, hidden by the murky water, the hunters knew it wouldn’t be any prettier.
“Gosh, those things are as hideous as ever,” snorted a man crouching on the rocky shore, his nose wrinkled in disgust.
“Not as hideous as you, that’s for sure,” replied another man, who was lazily leaning against a pine tree.
“…Want me to punch you in the guts?”
“You’re welcome to try, dear.”
“You—”
“Keep bickering, and I’ll throw both of you into the lake,” interrupted Jules, the last member of tonight’s hunting party.
At those words, Cains, the one who had spoken first, mimed zipping his mouth shut and tossing the zip aside, while Reyes, the second man, refocused his attention on the lake, playing dumb.
Unlike what his gentle appearance suggested, Jules was a reckless man, and the two hunters didn’t doubt he would follow through on his threat if they didn’t quiet down. Neither wanted to become fish food, so they tacitly decided to stop causing trouble.
“There’s quite a lot of water ghouls,” Cains mumbled after a while, staring intently at the lake. “Probably one of the biggest swarms I’ve ever seen.”
But it wasn’t anything surprising, considering the mountain’s history.
According to one of their sources, a relatively large local tribe lived in the vicinity centuries ago. When the conquerors reached the area and thought of making these lands theirs, the natives stood up to protest. However, the invaders turned a deaf ear to their pleas and slaughtered everyone regardless of their age and gender.
A tribe that had been flourishing for ages was thus reduced to ashes overnight.
After the battle at the mountain top reached its end, the invaders dumped the lifeless bodies into the lake and watched the rain wash away the blood. It was as if hiding the mangled corpses from sight would lessen the severity of their crimes.
Though the common folks had long forgotten the atrocities committed by their ancestors, the victims hadn’t, and their resentment still lingered about. Over time, the deep-rotten grudges gave birth to water ghouls, and the once peaceful tribe now lived on bloodlust, not even remembering why they were so furious in the first place.
“…It’s honestly a wonder that the Association hadn’t dispatched us sooner,” Reyes scoffed, narrowing his eyes.
The water ghouls’ story was indeed sad, but he had no sympathy left for the dead.
“You know how those pricks work,” Cains snorted, his voice filled with disdain. “They always wait until the problem becomes a full-blown crisis before sending us in. ”
“Until recently, this particular swarm wasn’t problematic, much less a priority,” Jules intervened in a deadpan tone. “Before, the area was desolate and had few visitors. But now, more campers and hikers come by due to social media promoting the lake as a scenic spot.”
“And several people have already gone missing because of this shit,” Cains waved before adding with a wry smile, “Anyway, I don’t think a bit of holy water is going to do the trick, so what are we going to do?”
“What we do best,” Jules answered with a shrug. “Cut them to shreds or blow them up, I don’t care. I want this to be done before dawn.”
“…And what happens if we’re not done before dawn?”
There was a short silence before Jules smiled faintly, mirth sparkling in his pale grey eyes.
“Then the two of you will have to deal with it alone. I have a prior engagement tomorrow morning, and I’m not doing overtime.”
“…Better get started, then,” Cains whined, his heart filled with resentment.
However, protesting wouldn’t get him anywhere, except maybe at the bottom of the lake. So Cains didn’t complain and obediently sat in a lotus position instead, bringing his hands together to form a seal. His fingers bent at odd angles, intertwined with each other in an uncomfortable-looking but beautiful way.
Half-closing his eyes, he mumbled something unintelligible, his usually cheerful voice growing deeper and colder. Soon after, the air surrounding him started to undulate, making his curly brown hair and clothes flutter. The bracelet of jade tied to his wrist shook particularly violently, scratching his skin until it oozed blood.
When Cains opened his eyes again, a cold light seemed to twinkle in his pupils.
Breaking the seal, he clapped his hands in a loud thud, and as he did so, blueish-white runes appeared on each side of where he sat before spreading all around the lake, enclosing it. Now, the water ghouls couldn’t flee the area, prisoners of the barrier he had just erected.
“It’s done,” Cains panted, wiping off the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “It should last a bit past dawn, maybe even longer if we’re lucky.”
“Perfect,” Jules nodded, stretching his arm to the side as bright particles of light gathered to his hand, gradually forming the silhouette of a thin double-edged sword. “I’m going in.”
The words had barely left his mouth that he had already jumped inside the barrier, his feet graciously landing on the water surface without even creating ripples. He didn’t sink and instead stood on the water with his back held straight, the white sword in his hand appearing to glow faintly under the moonlight.
“As always, his spiritual energy looks so pure,” Reyes sighed, a discreet but wry smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
“And yours looks as sinister as ever,” Cains snickered as he glanced at the black particles that had gathered around Reye’s hands, his eyes full of hidden meaning.
"It’s better than having to use external objects to manifest my spiritual energy… unlike a certain someone," Reyes replied with a pointed glare.
“Oh yeah? At least I’m still very much human, which has nothing to do with—”
Cains stopped talking mid-sentence when he noticed Jules glancing at them from the corner of his eyes, reminding them of the threat hanging over their heads. Both fell quiet at last, and Reyes took a step forward, entering the barrier with twin daggers in each of his hands. The blades were pitch-black, with only a hint of silver adorning the edge, quite different from Jules’ snow-white sword.
Staying behind, Cains drew several paper talismans out of his pockets and watched over his colleagues’ backs as they launched the battle, ready to lend a helping hand whenever needed.
And it didn’t take long before they needed his help.
There were too many water ghouls to keep track of them all, and a few of these sly things dived deep into the lake to swim around the hunters, trying to ambush the two men from behind. As soon as Cain saw their shadows approaching his colleagues’ backs, he swiftly threw several talismans as if they were darts, and the yellowish paper thus lashed onto the sneaky bastards’ heads.
The moment the talismans touched them, the water ghouls froze mid-air, now only able to emit sounds akin to gurgling. It was a momentarily counter-measure that would last but a few seconds; however, that was plenty of time to allow Reyes to turn around and behead the ghouls, his sharp daggers cutting through the flesh and bones as if it were tofu.
Although Cains and Reyes quarreled whenever they met, they could set aside their animosity and work in tandem when the situation called for it. If it hadn’t been the case, Jules truly would have thrown them in the lake, and he would have done so without batting an eye.
He had other things to do than babysit two fully grown men.
As his colleagues got rid of the water ghouls behind him, Jules took care of those in front. He swung his sword with a jaded expression on his face; his blade cut through his prey, and he side-stepped to avoid most of the dark, sticky blood that gushed out. Reyes got drenched in his stead, making him let out a curse, but Jules pretended not to hear him, already slashing down another ghoul.
And so, Cains stayed on the shore, overseeing the whole field, while Jules and Reyes fought at the front; one wielded his sword with precision, each of his movements made with a clear purpose in mind, while the other let his instinct guide his body, his attacks being as messy as can be. Every time their blades fell, a ghoul lost a limb or two—when it wasn’t directly its head, killing it on the spot.
The hunters didn’t exchange a word, yet they coordinated their attacks flawlessly, always there for their comrades when they had to. It felt as if they could read each other’s minds, knowing what to do next to compensate for their teammates’ shortcomings.
Hours went by in this way, and despite his limbs and mind growing more and more numb with each passing minute, Jules kept pushing in, trusting Cains and Reyes to take care of his back. Not once did he slow down his pace, leaving a trail of corpses in his wake.
But as dawn broke, Jules abruptly stepped aside, jumping on the shore. And, with a wave of his hand, his sword turned into a cloud of silvery-white dust. It seemed to sparkle under the morning light, just like a thousand stars, before being blown away by the wind.
“…What are you doing?” Cains asked in a puzzled tone, his heart skipping a beat as a water ghoul rushed toward them. Unsurprisingly, it bounced against the invisible barrier, falling back into the lake, but ripples were created in the air, letting Cains know that the barrier was about to go down. “There are still quite a few ghouls left…?”
“Hm? Didn’t I tell you earlier?”
“Right… No overtime today.”
“Good, you’re not senile just yet,” Jules nodded, patting Cain’s shoulder as he brushed past him. “See you later.”
“See you later,” Cains sobbed before quickly refocusing his attention on the task at hand and drawing out more talismans.
“You’re heartless!” Reyes yelled as he avoided a bony hand by an inch and, at the same time, kicked another ghoul in the stomach to send it flying away. “Shit, these things can’t stay still even for a second!”
As an answer, Jules waved his hand, not even bothering to glance back. There wasn’t that much left, and he knew his colleagues could handle a few water ghouls just fine on their own.
Though he acted like he couldn’t care less, Jules would have, in truth, much preferred to stay and help out. Slaughtering ghouls was a lot less tiring than babysitting a bunch of noisy kids. However, he had promised his mother to bring his sister and her friends to the amusement park today, and he couldn’t go back on his word.
Well, that was unless he wanted all hell to break loose at home.
