Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls-Chapter 126: Mana Berserkers

Sylphie took a step back, her body tense. "Sorry, but I really need to go."

"Really?" the blond one said, his eyes narrowing predatorily. "Not without answering a few questions first."

"Yeah... would be a shame if something happened to someone as... special as you," the dark-haired one added with a crooked smile.

Sylphie narrowed her eyes. Magic began to accumulate discreetly in her palms, but she hesitated. Attacking fellow academy students could have consequences, even if they were being hostile. Besides... something about them felt wrong. She could sense it — like the air around them was contaminated.

That's when a shadow moved behind them.

Silent. Fast.

Kael appeared like a blade cutting through the mist — precise, lethal, and inevitable. He didn't speak at first, simply stepped between Sylphie and the two boys, glaring at them like they were insects that dared crawl too close.

"You picked the wrong place. And the wrong person," Kael said, his voice as low as a prayer... and as dangerous as a death sentence.

Follow current novℯls on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

The blond stepped back, caught off guard. "Kael? This has nothing to do with you."

Kael didn't answer. He walked toward them slowly, and the air shifted again — now thick, suffocating. An invisible pressure fell upon the hallway. Sylphie felt it, as if even the mana in the atmosphere was retreating in deference to him.

"We're just talking to the princess. No need to get involved unless—"

Kael vanished.

In a blink, he was behind them.

The blond turned, confused — and only had time to feel the air leave his lungs as Kael struck him with a precise kick to the ribs. The boy flew like a ragdoll into the opposite wall, knocking down tapestries and old plaques with a metallic crash.

The dark-haired one shouted and lunged forward, his fist engulfed in flames — but Kael caught his wrist mid-attack and twisted. The crack was audible. With a swift motion, he threw him to the ground.

"Don't... fight him..." Sylphie tried to warn, but it was already too late.

The blond staggered to his feet, groaning. "You bastard... think you're better than us?"

Kael tilted his head slightly, his golden eyes glowing like molten metal. "No. I know I am."

The dark-haired one, even with his arm twisted, clenched his teeth. "You have no idea what you just did."

Both of them pulled something from their pockets — small glass capsules containing a black, pulsing liquid that seemed to breathe.

Sylphie's eyes widened. "Stop! That's—"

"Essentia Ruinae," the blond murmured, before crushing the capsule between his teeth.

The dark-haired one followed suit. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the corridor.

The transformation was instant.

Their bodies began to tremble violently. Their veins darkened, their pupils dilated until their eyes were completely covered. Skin ripped in places, releasing mana vapor so dense it looked almost like liquid mist.

[RANK-B DANGER DETECTED! FLEE IMMEDIATELY!]

But Kael did not move.

The two boys' bodies cracked and expanded, as if their muscles were being inflated forcefully. Bones shifted in grotesque sounds, and black claws began to sprout from their hands. The blond now had completely red eyes and darkened grey skin with black patches — a monster of corrupted energy. The other one was even more distorted, his mouth stretching into a wide grin, with teeth no longer human.

Sylphie took a step back, shock painted across her face.

"They... they're destroying themselves," she whispered. "That will consume their souls."

The blond — or whatever was left of him — roared.

The wall behind him exploded as he lunged at Kael like a crazed beast, slashing through the air with claws wrapped in corrupted mana.

Kael raised his arm.

CRASH!

The blow was blocked. The shockwave cracked the ground around them, stones shattering like eggshells.

"You should have run!" the monster yelled.

"You should have stayed human," Kael replied.

He shoved the monster away with brute force and spun, narrowly avoiding an attack from the second berserker. His hands moved in precise patterns — not of conventional magic, but of refined magical combat. The runes on his forearms glowed faintly.

Kael slid across the floor, leapt, and struck the dark-haired monster's chest with an open palm.

BOOOOM!

The impact's pressure sent the monster crashing into the ceiling, breaking stones and leaving a trail of debris. Before he could fall, Kael had already moved — using a push off a side wall, spinning in mid-air, and kicking the creature back to the ground with brutal force.

The blond roared again, launching a dark beam of corrupted mana. Kael jumped, the attack slicing through the hallway like a blade. He rolled in the air, landing with a knee on the ground.

The system spoke again:

[Enemy status: Increasing Magical Instability, mana explosion risk in 78 seconds.]

But Kael didn't move like someone trying to flee. His gaze was fixed. Cold.

The monsters howled, charging at him again, this time in unison. Each of their blows shattered parts of the floor, walls, leaving the hallway almost unrecognizable.

Kael was a blur between their attacks. Dodging, counterattacking. His eyes never lost focus, each movement measured, each strike targeting specific points — joints, mana flows, internal channels.

Sylphie tried to approach, but Kael shouted, "Stay where you are!"

The roar of battle was deafening. The tension in the air felt like it was about to shatter like glass under pressure.

The system spoke once more:

[Mana Explosion in 60 seconds. Affected area: 30 meters. All living beings at risk.]

Kael knew. Those two would never return to being human. The substance they ingested was burning their souls as fuel, turning them into living bombs.

He held his breath. He needed to end this. Now.

He focused. The mana in the entire environment stopped and returned to him.

"Kael... what are you going to do?" Sylphie whispered.

"End this."

Blue mana exploded from Kael's body. "Kill them." The words weren't spoken. They were decreed.

The environment trembled.

Kael disappeared. In half a second, he was in front of the first berserker. He struck the creature's chest with a combination of punches so fast that normal eyes couldn't follow. Each impact made the mana around the creature recoil as if it were being sucked away.

The monster roared — and dropped to its knees.

Kael turned to the second and raised his palm.

"Wind Cut."

A thin, sharp ray, as ethereal as a blade, shot from Kael's palm. The beam pierced the second berserker's chest with absolute precision.

For a moment, everything froze.

And then... the creature split in half.

From shoulder to hip, the division was clean, brutal, silent.

The corrupted mana inside it let out a cry — not physical, but magical — as if the very essence of the creature was weeping its destruction. The black particles evaporated into the air, hissing like steam escaping from an enchanted cauldron.

The first berserker, still staggering, tried to rise with a guttural snarl... but his knees failed. He fell sideways, unconscious, his flesh vibrating with magical instability.

Kael took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling.

"Damn…"

[You have obtained two Rank-B Corrupted Souls]

The system alert flashed before his eyes for a second before disappearing. Kael didn't react. His gaze was fixed on the remains of the destroyed corridor, the smoke, the stone fragments, the dark blood still evaporating slowly.

Sylphie ran to him. "Are you... okay?"

Kael let out a heavy sigh, wiping a streak of soot from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Yeah... for now. But we need reinforcements."

He touched the sword brooch pinned to his uniform and pressed it firmly.

"East Wing Corridor. Possible invasion. Two targets neutralized. One dead. The other... irreversible." His voice was steady, but it was clear that exhaustion lay behind each word.

The response was immediate. A wave of magical energy reverberated through the brooch — a confirmation signal. Within seconds, footsteps echoed down the corridor, growing closer.

Amélia arrived first, with her spear in hand and her eyes crackling with electric energy.

Zane followed closely behind, summoning magical shields in reflex, ready to intercept any threat.

Clarissa appeared with her hair loose and her fingers in conjuration position, followed by Darius, his coat billowing and the grimoire already open in his hand.

But as they crossed the threshold of the corridor and saw what was left...

They stopped.

And froze.

Distorted bodies. Cracked walls. The floor soaked with a mixture of blood and mana that still pulsed, alive, almost conscious. The marks of battle were everywhere. The bodies of the two berserkers looked like abominations from an alchemical nightmare, twisted, no longer human.

Zane raised his hand to his mouth, his face turning pale. Clarissa staggered a step back, swallowing hard. Darius turned his face away with a grimace of disgust. Amélia whispered in horror, "What the hell… is this?"

"A drug," Kael replied in a low voice. "They used this to transform into... I don't know what. Mana berserkers. And they did it voluntarily."

Amélia's eyes widened. "This is forbidden! A weapon of war... this kind of magic is considered a crime in five kingdoms!"

Kael nodded. "And someone brought this here. Into the Academy."

A heavy silence fell over the group, broken only by the creaks of the environment slowly resetting and the remnants of the battle still lingering in the air, like magical dust.

Clarissa stepped closer to one of the bodies, analyzing the accelerated decomposition caused by the corrupted mana. "This... wasn't done by accident. This was an experiment. A test."

Darius added, closing his grimoire. "And you two were the targets."

Everyone's gaze turned to Sylphie. She stood next to Kael, still in shock.

"It wasn't for me, it was for her," Kael said.