Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 461: I am technically the Witch King.

The two vampires took another step back.

Pure instinct.

Survival screaming inside them.

But there was nowhere to run.

The ground was frozen.

The walls were destroyed.

And, at the center of it all... Kael.

Standing.

Immobile.

As if all that devastation was nothing more than a detail.

The ice crunched beneath his feet as he took another step forward.

"Who’s behind this?" he repeated, his voice low, but laden with a pressure that seemed to compress the air.

One of the vampires spat blood onto the ground.

The dark liquid froze almost immediately.

He laughed.

Weakly.

Hoarsely.

But still... defiant.

"You think... this is so simple?" he said, raising his gaze with difficulty. His red eyes were unsteady, the light flickering. "Do you think it’s just a name?"

Kael didn’t answer.

He just watched.

Waiting.

The other vampire, younger, trembled.

Not just from the cold.

But from fear.

A fear that wasn’t of death.

It was... of something worse.

"If we talk...", he murmured, his voice breaking, "...it won’t make a difference."

The first one laughed again.

"It will," he said, looking directly at Kael. "But not to us."

Silence.

The wind passed between them, dragging fragments of ice and blood across the floor.

Kael tilted his head slightly.

"So you know," he said.

It wasn’t a question.

It was a statement.

The older vampire closed his eyes for a moment.

He breathed.

Slowly.

As if gathering what little control he still had.

"We don’t know everything," he said. "But we know... enough."

Kael took another step.

Now he was a few meters from them.

"Then speak."

The vampire opened his eyes.

And, for the first time...

There was no challenge there.

Only... weariness.

"It began before the queen’s death," he said. "Long before."

Kael’s four allies remained silent behind him.

Attentive.

Absorbing every word.

"The king... began to change," the vampire continued. "First, small things. Strange decisions. Contradictory orders."

"And no one questioned it?" Kael asked.

"They did," the vampire replied. "And they disappeared."

Silence.

"Then... came the advisors," he said.

Kael narrowed his eyes. "Advisors?"

The vampire nodded slowly.

"New faces," he said. "They appeared out of nowhere. No history. No lineage. But... with direct access to the king."

The other vampire swallowed hard.

"They speak little," he said. "But... when they speak... the king listens."

Kael remained motionless.

But his attention... intensified.

"How many?" he asked.

"Three," the older one replied. "Always three."

The silence grew heavier.

Three.

Small number.

Precise control.

"And the queen?" Kael asked.

The vampire hesitated.

For a second.

Two.

"She tried to stop it," he said finally. "She realized."

The air seemed to grow even colder.

"She confronted the king," he continued. "In private."

Kael didn’t interrupt.

"The next morning... she was dead."

Silence.

No sound.

Not even wind.

Not even breathing.

Nothing.

"And nobody saw the body," the vampire finished.

Kael closed his eyes for a moment.

Confirming.

Everything fit.

Direction.

Isolation.

Elimination.

Substitution of influence.

Control.

He opened his eyes again.

"And the princess?" he asked.

The younger vampire answered this time.

"She was close to the queen," he said. "Very close."

"Did she see something?" Kael asked.

"Probably," he replied. "Or... hear."

The older one nodded.

"Enough to be a problem."

Kael remained silent.

Then...

"She didn’t run away," he said.

The two vampires looked at him.

"She escaped," Kael continued.

The older one let out a weak laugh.

"Yes... that makes more sense."

Another silence.

Heavy.

"Those advisors," Kael said. "Have you ever seen them fight?"

The two exchanged glances.

And then—

They shook their heads.

"No," the older one said. "Never."

"They don’t need to," the other added. "They... just watch."

This made something in Kael’s eyes change.

Subtle.

But dangerous.

"So they aren’t warriors," he murmured.

"No," the vampire said. "They are... something else."

The ice on the ground creaked.

As if answering.

"And there’s one more thing," the younger one said hesitantly.

Kael looked at him.

"Speak."

The vampire swallowed hard.

"When they’re near..." he began, "...the blood...reacts."

Silence.

"Reacts how?" Kael asked.

The vampire narrowed his eyes.

"As if... something were wrong," he said. "As if... they didn’t belong."

The older one nodded slowly.

"Even ancient vampires avoid being near them," he said. "Instinct."

Kael said nothing for a few seconds.

But his mind was already working.

Quickly.

Connecting the dots.

Creating patterns.

"I understand..." he murmured.

He took another step forward.

The two vampires stiffened. Instinctively.

But they didn’t attack.

They didn’t have the strength for it anymore.

"Last question," Kael said.

They waited.

"Why were you following those four?" he asked, indicating the allies behind him.

The eldest took a deep breath.

"Because they were also looking for the princess," he said.

Silence.

"To protect her," he added.

Kael looked over his shoulder.

The four vampires nodded.

Confirming.

No lies.

No hesitation.

He looked back at the two survivors.

"So you’re not enemies," he said.

The eldest laughed.

Humorlessly.

"Depends on who asks."

Kael remained silent.

And then—

The ice around the two... began to rise.

Slowly.

Relentless.

They realized it immediately.

Fear returned.

"W-Wait—!", said the younger one.

Kael ignored him.

"You knew you were being used," he said. "Even so... you attacked."

"It was an ambush!", said the older one. "We—"

"And you accepted it," interrupted Kael.

Silence.

Ice already covered their legs.

Rising.

Slowly.

"If you truly want to protect the princess," said Kael, his voice cold, distant... definitive, "...then stop acting like weapons for someone you can’t even see."

The younger one trembled.

"Then what do we do...?", he asked, almost pleading.

Kael looked at him.

For a moment.

Long.

Heavy.

And then—

The ice stopped.

A few inches from their chests.

Suspended.

Waiting.

"Survive," Kael said.

Silence.

"And stop attacking without thinking."

The ice receded.

This time faster.

Breaking.

Releasing them.

The two vampires fell to their knees, breathing heavily.

Still alive.

By his choice.

Kael turned.

Without looking back.

"If I find you again...," he said, starting to walk down the frozen street, "...decide before you attack."

He stopped for a second.

Without turning around.

"Because next time... I won’t ask."

And then—

He kept walking.

Leaving behind the field of ice.

The bodies.

The silence.

And a warning...

That none of them would forget.

The silence that remained after the battle was not merely an absence of sound.

It was weight.

Fragments of ice covered the street, mixed with darkened blood and pieces of bodies that were already beginning to disintegrate into fine ashes, carried by the cold night wind. The air still vibrated with remnants of mana, unstable, as if space itself were still recovering from what had just happened.

Kael stopped.

He didn’t look back immediately.

He took a slow breath.

Controlled.

And then he turned his face.

The four vampires were still standing.

But barely.

One of them clutched his shoulder, where the fangs had torn deep. Another limped slightly, the impact against the wall still reverberating through his body. The third breathed heavily, his chest ragged. The fourth one remained upright... but blood trickled down the side of her face, dripping onto the ice below.

Still...

None of them retreated.

None of them tried to flee.

They remained there.

Waiting.

Kael observed each of them silently for a few seconds.

Assessing.

Measuring.

And then he walked back to them.

Unhurriedly.

The sound of ice breaking beneath his feet echoed low, rhythmic.

When he stopped before them, there was no hostility.

But there was no gentleness either.

Only... decisiveness.

He raised his hand.

And the air changed.

The cold didn’t return violently as before.

This time, it was... precise.

Fine.

Controlled.

The ice formed on their wounds, not to trap... but to contain. To stabilize. To stop the blood flow, hardening like a second crystalline skin that sealed torn muscles and ruptured vessels.

One of them gasped.

Not from pain.

But from surprise.

The vampire who had been bitten on the shoulder looked at his own arm, seeing the ice mold perfectly over the wound, preventing him from continuing to lose blood.

"This...", he murmured, "...isn’t normal."

Kael ignored the comment.

"Can you move?", he asked directly.

The older one nodded.

"Yes."

Another one too.

Even with difficulty.

But they were functional.

That was enough.

Kael crossed his arms.

"Then let’s save time," he said. "What do you intend to do now?"

The four exchanged glances.

This time, there was no tension between them.

There was... alignment.

The eldest stepped forward.

"We want to see the princess."

Direct.

No beating around the bush.

No fear.

Kael watched him.

Long.

Silent.

And then...

He shook his head.

"Not now."

The air seemed to harden for a moment.

Not in a hostile way.

But firmly.

"She just escaped a physical and emotional breakdown," Kael continued. "She’s injured. Unstable."

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"And you just participated in a battle that probably didn’t go unnoticed."

Silence.

They understood.

"If someone is manipulating the king," Kael said, "then this city is no longer safe."

The youngest bit his lip slightly.

Frustration.

But he didn’t argue.

"And you’re being tracked," Kael added.

This made the four even more tense.

"Then... no," he said. "Not today."

The oldest took a deep breath.

Accepting.

Even against his own will.

"...I understand."

There was a brief silence.

And then—

"But tomorrow," he said, raising his gaze again. "We want to see her."

The others nodded.

Without hesitation.

Without discussion.

It was important.

More than anything else.

Kael observed the four.

Weighing.

Calculating risk.

Consequence.

And then he nodded.

"All right."

Their eyes widened slightly.

They hadn’t expected it to be so... direct.

"But it won’t be the way you want," Kael continued.

The tension returned.

"What do you mean?" the woman asked.

Kael tilted his head slightly.

"You won’t go to her."

Silence.

"I’ll bring her to you."

The older man frowned.

"Why?"

Kael stared at him.

Cold.

Direct.

"Because I control the environment," he said. "You don’t."

No answer.

No objection.

He was right.

They knew.

"And because I’m not just hiding the princess," Kael continued. "...I’m hiding you too."

This caused the four to exchange glances.

Confused.

"Hiding... from whom?" asked the youngest.

Kael stared at them for a moment.

Then pointed to himself.

"From the emperor."

Silence.

Total.

The four froze.

Literally.

But this time... it wasn’t ice.

It was understanding.

It took a second.

Two.

And then—

"...What?" said the woman, almost voiceless.

Kael maintained a neutral expression.

"You crossed human territory," he said. "You killed. You moved. You left tracks."

He took a step forward.

"The emperor doesn’t ignore this."

The oldest’s eyes widened.

"...Then why didn’t we go—"

"Because I didn’t let you," interrupted Kael.

Silence.

Heavy.

Dense.

They were beginning to understand...

But something was still missing.

"You’re... protecting vampires... from the human emperor?" the younger one asked, clearly unable to process it.

Kael tilted his head slightly.

"Technically."

"Why?" another asked.

Kael didn’t answer immediately.

He just observed them.

And then—

He gave a slight smile.

Almost imperceptible.

"Ironically..." he said, "...that’s my problem too."

They didn’t understand.

Yet.

"You speak as if you have authority..." the older one began.

Kael raised his hand.

And pointed to himself.

Without arrogance.

Without theatrics.

Just... fact.

"I am technically the Witch King."

Silence.