Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 404: Nervous Exelia
Exelia didn't run.
She shot.
The instant she stepped out of the command building, the ground exploded beneath her feet. The demonic aura she had kept contained for months was unleashed without any care, forming a dark red trail that tore through streets, inner walls, and watchtowers as if they were paper sets.
Soldiers saw only a flash.
Then, wind.
Then, the sound arrived—late, violent, shattering windows and making alarm bells ring without anyone knowing why.
Exelia crossed the entire Kingdom in a straight line.
The rapier was already in her hand.
She drew it mid-motion, the metal singing as war runes ignited along the thin, deadly blade. The air ahead of her began to burn with friction; behind her, space seemed torn, as if reality had been pulled and dropped carelessly.
She surpassed the sound barrier.
She almost broke it.
To those far away, it looked like a meteor too low, too fast, too furious to be anything natural.
In the arena—
Elion felt it first.
"Kael—!"
She didn't even finish the sentence.
The world came crashing down.
Explosion.
Not of fire—of impact.
Exelia struck the center of the arena like a divine judgment, the rapier advancing in an apocalyptic blow, direct, without refined technique, just emotion condensed into violence. The frozen ground was pulverized, ancient seals screamed before dying, and a wall of dust, ice, and debris rose to the heavens.
The impact echoed for miles.
For an instant, everything was white.
Everything was silent.
Then—
Exelia's voice cut through the chaos.
"—YOU SON OF A BITCH—!"
She stepped into the still dense dust, the aura boiling around her body, tears already streaming down her face without her trying to hide them.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU DID TO US?!"
Another step. The ground cracked.
"ONE YEAR!" she screamed. "ONE YEAR AND THREE MONTHS, YOU BASTARD!"
The rapier trembled in her hand, not from fear, but from excessive strength.
"YOU JUST LAY DOWN AND DECIDED TO DIE?!"
The dust began to settle.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT WAS TO SPEND EVERY DAY THINKING YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO WAKE UP?!"
More tears.
Anger mixed with relief, with fear, with exhaustion.
"I LOST NIGHTS OF SLEEP!" I SLEPT IN CRY FOR WEEKS!
She raised the rapier for the final blow, even without knowing exactly where he was.
"—AND YOU WERE… ALMOST DEAD—!"
Enough dust fell.
And Exelia froze.
Literally and figuratively.
The rapier didn't advance.
It was stuck in mid-air.
Not blocked.
Not dodged.
Held.
Two fingers.
The blade was covered in a layer of scarlet-blue ice, perfectly smooth, so cold that the steam rose in slow spirals. The metal didn't creak. It didn't vibrate.
It was submissive.
Exelia followed the frozen edge to the hand that held it.
Then she looked up.
Kael was there.
Standing.
Kimono open, his body still marked by subtle lines of energy, the frozen ground around him intact, as if the impact had simply decided not to touch him.
He was… laughing.
Not a loud laugh.
A crooked, tired, genuine smile.
— …Hi, Exelia.
For a split second, she didn't react.
The next—
— YOU BASTARD!
She tried to pull the rapier back.
She couldn't.
— LET GO!
Kael tilted his head slightly.
— You got here fast.
She sobbed.
Her face was red, wet, her aura flickering dangerously.
— YOU! — she screamed, hitting his chest with her free hand. — YOU WERE ASLEEP AND LEFT ME WITH THIS WHOLE MESS!
Kael didn't let go of the sword.
But he sighed.
"I know."
Exelia struck again.
"I HATE YOU!"
"I know."
Another blow, weaker.
"IDIOT!"
"I know."
Her strength gave out.
Exelia collapsed forward.
Kael dropped the rapier.
It fell to the ground, still frozen, shattering into ice fragments when it touched the stone.
Kael caught it before it fell.
Exelia gripped his clothes tightly, burying her face in his chest as she cried uncontrollably.
"...I thought you were really dead," she said between sobs. "Everyone said you'd come back... but time... wouldn't wake up... you bastard..."
Kael was silent for a few seconds.
Then he rested his chin lightly on her head.
"Sorry," he said softly. "I got a little lost."
She laughed through her tears.
"A LITTLE?!"
He smiled wider.
"Maybe more than a little."
Kael didn't answer immediately.
He simply pulled her closer.
Not with excessive care—but firmly, certainly. A firm, complete embrace, as if he wanted to assure her that she was truly there… and that he was too.
Exelia felt it.
She felt the warmth beneath the residual cold of Chaos, felt his heart beating—steady, real—against her own face. Kael's hands closed around her back, one between her shoulder blades, the other holding her by the waist, preventing any possibility of falling.
She trembled.
She tried to say something.
She couldn't.
The crying came again, quieter, less angry, more broken.
"I thought…" her voice faltered. "I thought I'd lost you…"
Kael closed his eyes.
For a moment, all the noise of the world disappeared.
"Look at me, Exelia."
She hesitated, but lifted her face.
His eyes were serious now. Calm. Present.
"I'm here," he said slowly, as if each word were an oath. "And I'm not going anywhere."
She swallowed hard.
"Not in battle without return. Not in foolish sacrifice. Not in sleep that turns into a tomb."
He rested his forehead against hers.
"I promise."
Exelia laughed softly, a weak and incredulous sound.
"You always promise things that are too big…"
"I know," he replied. "But this one I can fulfill."
She took a deep breath.
Her demonic aura began to dissipate, like smoke in the wind, leaving behind only exhaustion. Her legs finally gave way—not from weakness, but because they no longer needed to support everything alone.
Kael held her effortlessly.
"You held everything while I was gone," he said softly. "The kingdom. The people. Me."
She closed her eyes.
"Someone had to do it… you idiot…"
He smirked.
"So now leave it to me for a bit."
Silence.
For a split second.
Then—
The aura shifted.
Exelia was still in Kael's arms when she first felt it. A raw, ancient shiver rising up her spine like an instinctive predator warning.
She turned her head in time to see.
Elion.
Standing a few feet away.
Her eyes gleamed a deep red, anything but calm, anything but rational. The aura surrounding her wasn't just powerful—it was possessive, twisted by something far beyond strategy or control.
Jealousy.
Cruel.
Violent.
"…I'm going to kill you" Elion said, his voice too low to match the overwhelming pressure spreading through the arena.
Exelia's eyes widened.
"Elion, wait—!"
Too late.
The ground beneath Elion's feet cracked as she lunged forward. She didn't run—she exploded toward Exelia, the magic condensing into blades, chains, and seals of pure destruction, all converging on a single point.
She wasn't thinking.
She was reacting.
The pressure was so intense that Exelia felt her legs tremble. Survival instinct screaming. This wasn't a restrained attack—it was everything.
"ELION, STOP—!"
The world should have ended right there.
But it didn't.
Kael smiled.
Not a mocking smile.
A tranquil smile.
Tired.
Confident.
He raised a hand.
That's all.
Elion's magic froze in mid-air.
Literally.
The blades hung suspended inches from Exelia, trapped in translucent scarlet-blue ice. The chains stopped mid-movement, as if time had decided to ignore them. Magical seals snapped… and died.
The impact never happened.
Elion blinked.
"…What—?"
Before he could react—
Her body was pulled forward.
Not with brute force.
With authority.
Absolute telekinesis.
Elion was ripped from her own attack and brought straight into Kael's arms, who held her with a firm arm around her back, preventing any further release of aura.
"No fighting" he said, too calm for the situation. "You idiot."
She tried to break free.
She couldn't.
"Let go!" she growled, her face red with anger and… something else.
Kael tilted his head and, without ceremony, pressed his lips to her forehead in a quick, firm, undeniably familiar kiss.
There was no provocation.
Just presence.
"I'm here," he said softly. "They both are. Nobody's going to kill anybody."
Elion froze.
Her aura flickered… and then plummeted, like a flame deprived of oxygen.
"…You…" her voice faltered. "You hug her… and then you think I won't—"
"—get jealous?" he finished, with a half-smile. "I expected exactly that."
Exelia blinked, still processing the fact that she was alive.
"You two are sick," she murmured.
Kael chuckled softly.
"Family tends to be."
Elion took a deep breath, his shoulders finally slumping. She rested her forehead against his chest for a second, defeated.
"You disappear for over a year…" she said, exhausted. "And you come back like this…"
Kael tightened his embrace for a moment.
"I'll stay," he replied. "You two will have to get used to it."
Exelia crossed her arms, wiping her face with the back of her hand.
"Then you'd better explain everything," she said. "Because the whole kingdom will want answers."
Kael looked around.
The destroyed arena. The ice. The dead runes. The two most dangerous women in that kingdom in his arms and before him.
He smiled again.
"Right," he said. "But first…"
He looked at them both.
"Let's breathe. Before someone actually tries to kill me."
