»So now it's happened…«

After the end of the battle, a crushing silence spread over the ruins of the former fortress city of Berlin.

The inhabitants had been evacuated days before. The streets were accordingly empty, the houses deserted. Except for the few corpses of the brave fighters who, against all odds, decided to defend their home, only a sea of rubble covered the grounds of Berlin.

Every now and then, remnants of those creatures, for whose death the fighters sacrificed their lives, could be seen. But their number was so infinitesimal in comparison that they hardly came into the equation.

It was the result of a last resistance against a superior might.

But this picture changed the closer one came to the center of the city.

The carcasses of monsters of all kinds gradually filled the streets – until they seemed to pile up into small mountains on a certain square in the heart of Berlin. Here, meter-sized craters stretched throughout the entire ground, and red blood stained the subsoil until no clean spot of the once grey cobblestones remained.

The buildings that had previously enclosed the square on all four sides like protective walls were now in an almost pulverized state as if lightning had struck them countless times.

Only the feet of the two enormous stone statues, that once watched over the square from opposite sides, were still visible.

Even the gigantic marble structure that stood out like a palace from the rest of the city and had been a symbol of power and steadfastness for the citizens of Germany and Europe for over 50 years, was now shattered into ruins.

And in between it all, as if in a clearing in the middle of hell, lay a dying man.

♦

»Fuck...«

Lying on his back, the man looked up at the dark sky. And whether it was because there was nothing else he could do, or because he knew the end was near – he began to talk to himself.

»After all I have sacrificed? Who I have sacrificed?«

Was this to be the end of the story?

»Has nothin– cough cough«

Because the blood that was slowly accumulating in his mouth had entered his throat, the man had to pause for a moment. After an agonizing cough and a few more seconds to let the pain of the jerky movement subside, he continued in a raspy voice.

»…nothing changed at all?«

Nearly a decade had passed since the dying man had taken the oath to revenge his comrades and wipe out his enemies. He had trained incessantly since then. Day and night he worked on his skills, refined his technique, steeled his body.

»Tell me…«

All just to forget the pain of remembering the consequences of his failure.

»What else could I have done?«

He asked the heavens, knowing they were listening.

Through his indomitable will, he rose to become one of the strongest of his kind, and his power grew to the point where he was feared even by the other hunters.

»What should I have…«

A man without emotions. A fanatic who only loved battle. A mad warrior. A monster that hunted monsters.

That was his reputation.

»What…«

But none of that remained in the end. There was no place left for him to hide. No training that could hold back his inner demons. In his final moments, he was just a broken man.

Except for the raspy breathing that sounded like fluid being pulled through his lungs and a slight breeze, it was dead silent.

For a few seconds, he only stared upward with a blurry gaze.

And then, for the first time in many years, the man's vision blurred and a single tear flowed from his left eye and rolled down the side of his face.

He didn't try to wipe it away.

The tear didn't land on the floor. For that, it was not large enough. But undeniably, it was there.

»I'm sorry,« he whispered.

And with it, a dam broke.

»I'm so sorry.«

An inner barricade he had built up over the years to suppress any emotion that could have hurt him slowly opened.

»I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.«

A second tear followed.

»For letting you die.«

A third.

»Mother, I couldn't keep my promise.«

After a few moments, the tears flowed down his face uncontrollably.

»I couldn't help anyone. Not you, not father, even though you were always there for me. Not my friends, who accepted me as the person I am. Not my comrades who always stood by my side. Not… Not Mia, even though I promised I would. You trusted me, and I let her die!«

He formed a fist and struck the earth beneath him. His entire body writhed as if he were suffering unimaginable pain.

»And not even… not… even...«

And as the man thought of one particular person – her long, silver hair, her cheeky grin, her wry sense of humor, and also her last words – he fell silent. He closed his eyes and the tears also stopped at that moment.

His tense facial muscles relaxed and only one thought remained.

'Wait for me.'

♦

As the seconds and minutes passed, the dying man's breathing rhythm slowed increasingly and his pulse dropped to the point where it also could have stood still.

So he waited – peacefully – for death.

But before it came, he felt it. Immediately goosebumps spread all over his body. And a second later, his ears perceived the sound.

The sound of slow, yet steadily approaching footsteps.

'Have they returned?'

Both the man and his enemies knew after the end of the fight, that there was no rescue for him. This was the reason why he was left to die instead of receiving the coup de grace.

'Was the risk too great and they changed their minds? An apostle? No, impossible. A monarch? No other creature has that kind of…'

Reluctantly, the man slowly opened his eyes.

And contrary to his initial suspicions, his enemies have not returned. Instead, a human figure came to a halt above him.

Since, in his current state, the man was already struggling just to keep his eyes open, he could not see the person in front of him clearly. However, he believed that he saw a woman – a woman wrapped in a black cloak.

And…

'It can't be a hunter.'

Even though the human form of the person and the place they were in suggested that hunters hat appeared after the battle to look for survivors, he quickly dismissed that thought.

The battle had only recently come to an end. No one would dare to return to Berlin at this stage. And also…

'What a monster,' he thought.

Even though the man was on the verge of death and his senses were severely weakened, he could still sense it. 

That colossal, reality-distorting aura.

Though the person in front of him tried to hide it, she emitted enough pressure to make breathing near her difficult.

The man had encountered such a phenomenon only once in his life. And that was just a few hours earlier. Yet even the paralysis his body experienced in the presence of a monarch paled in comparison to what he felt at that moment.

It was authority, in its purest form.

When exposed to enough stress – so they say – the primal instincts awaken in even the most hardened of warriors. A principle that has defined the relationship between hunter and prey since the dawn of time. And at that moment, the relationship between the man and the creature before him was unequivocal.

Had he encountered her on the battlefield at any other time, not even he can say with confidence that he would not have taken to his heels.

'But she doesn't seem to be one of them…'

Monsters that looked confusingly like humans existed. But if they had had such a power among their ranks, the war would have come to an end a long time ago.

This mysterious person, however, only looked down at him. She did not seem hostile in any way. But not motivated to help him either.

»Do you want to live?«

»…«

At these words, the man flinched. It was not the content that surprised him, but the way she spoke the words. 

A completely emotionless voice rang out, and it did not seem as if its origin lay somewhere above the man.

Even though he had lost a lot of blood and his eardrums were already damaged from his many years on the battlefield, he still heard the following words clearly, as if she were speaking directly into his head.

»It would be a chance to fix past mistakes. A chance to change the outcome.«

'What does she mean by…'

The man was confused, but she continued nevertheless.

»Your path will not be easy. You will have to fight again. Suffer pain again. Make sacrifices.«

»…«

While in a daze, the man tried to process the echoing words in his head. Meanwhile, the woman continued to look down with an emotionless face.

She looked him straight in the eye.

»But it would be a chance. Not just for you.«

'Not just for you.'

Badumm!

At those words, his head cleared up. His breathing quickened and his heart, which had nearly stopped beating moments before, pounded against his chest.

The man did not know why. A strange woman, whom he was seeing for the first time in his life, spoke some meaningless words on his deathbed that he would have undoubtedly ignored under normal circumstances.

He should not listen to her. He had fought for a long time and now he should accept his end and rest, like a warrior.

Still…

'A chance. Not just for you.'

…he couldn't stop repeating her words in his head.

He didn't know if it was for the fact that this stranger appeared in his final moments or if it was the way she spoke… But something about her evoked an old, long-forgotten urge in his body.

He wanted to believe once more – to trust once more.

And as the man looked up to where he thought he saw her eyes, he opened his mouth and tried to speak – but to no avail.

His parched throat produced only a raspy exhale, followed by a fit of coughing. So he tried to form words with his lips, believing the woman would understand him somehow.

'My friends? Reunite? Save?'

Instead of an answer, the woman asked again.

»Do you want to live?«

This time, the man did not hesitate.

'If there is a chance, however small, I will...'

With his remaining right arm – and a superhuman amount of willpower – he slid his bloodied hand across the dirt floor until it hit something hard and metallic.

Slowly, he moved his trembling fingers and enclosed the elongated object with them.

Immediately, the familiar feeling of security and strength washed over him. In his hand, he held his companion from countless battles. His only friend in the darkest of times. A black spear, almost 3 meters in length, made of pure Adamas-Steel.

The woman in black observed this with watchful eyes and for a few seconds, she let her gaze rest on the man's tightly closed hand. Then, she nodded slightly and looked him in the eye again.

»So be it,« she spoke.

She then slowly raised her arms, palms facing upward, as if trying to summon something from the earth. Instantly, black clouds covered the sky. The shadows on the ground darkened and seemed to expand and dance. The earth split as if the gateway to hell itself was being opened. However, fragments of destroyed buildings, monster carcasses, and the endless sea of red blood did not fall into the abyss but hovered above the ground – before beginning to slowly rise. Wind began to sweep more and more strongly across the square until it reached hurricane-like proportions. Lightning thundered through the black sky a hundred times a second.

It was as if the world was truly nearing its end.

»Train your body once again. Steel your spirit. Face your demons. And live up to your name.«

Despite the deafening noise of the surroundings, the woman's voice echoed crystal clear in the man's ears.

»Do this and I shall…«

He could no longer hear the last part of her sentence, for now he was beginning to lose consciousness due to blood loss. But before this happened, he saw it.

It was only fleeting, but for a tiny moment, a soft smile formed on the emotionless face of the woman.

Then the darkness engulfed him.