Night in the Heart of the Unparalleled was nearing its end. At a dark point in the centre of the city, a strange wind blew. Then came a faint whistle, followed by a burst of light… A blue vortex appeared. As the spiral continued to spin rapidly, voices and groans echoed from within it.

  The groaning belonged to Cengaver. The voices, however, came from Abbey and Gina.

  When the vortex spun rapidly and suddenly stopped, the entire team stepped out as if they were disembarking from a large vehicle.

  Sonsuz stood at the very front, surveying the surroundings, while Elzem emerged last and made sure no one had been left behind.

  Cengaver looked around with disbelieving eyes, unable to accept that he was standing in the Heart of the Unparalleled, while Kylie carefully scanned the area with extreme caution.

  Sonsuz turned to Elzem.

  “Everything is just as we discussed.”

  Elzem held her sword ready.

  “Then let’s begin.”

  Sonsuz gave a resolute glance and readied his own sword, scanning the darkness around them. Turning to Cengaver, he said,

  “You’re with me,”

  and, bringing the Female Breakers along with him, crossed to the opposite side from the right. As they advanced into the darkness of the Unparalleled, he continued walking and said, even before Cengaver could ask:

  “You’re wondering why we’re moving as two separate teams, aren’t you?”

  Cengaver hurried to keep up with Sonsuz, nearly running.

  “I’m sure you’re doing it to avoid being noticed. This way you attract less attention… unless you have another reason.”

  Sonsuz walked with great caution.

  “That’s one reason. But the real reason is the curse. Elzem and I draw more of it when we stand side by side. By separating, we attract less of the curse.”

  At the same moment, Elzem, along with ?etrefil, Yank? and Abbey, advanced through the darkness with the same focus and vigilance. The surroundings were eerily silent.

  But that silence did not last long.

  With every step Elzem took, the ground produced the sound of bones cracking. It was as though something beneath wished to awaken. The rot that never followed the footsteps of ?etrefil and Yank? seemed to decay beneath Elzem’s steps. As they moved forward, an unbearable stench of decay began to spread through the air.

  Suddenly, Elzem heard a furious scream approaching them from afar. Instantly certain of what it meant, she warned them at once.

  “?etrefil, Yank?… they’re coming. Be ready.”

  Abbey glided into place just behind Elzem’s neck, focusing on the direction of the sound.

  “We expected them to be this fast anyway,” she said.

  Elzem gripped her sword tightly and cut down the first Patternbreaker that came shrieking through the darkness.

  With roaring growls, ?etrefil and Yank? tore three Patternbreakers apart with their jaws, though the noise they created was far from subtle.

  Looking toward the direction the Patternbreakers had come from, Elzem said,

  “More are on their way,”

  and began to move away swiftly. As growls rose behind them, she accelerated, trying to reach the shore.

  Black cliffs appeared on the horizon, but several Patternbreakers had already caught up with them. As though they were about to seize a colossal prey, they roared with excitement and charged at Elzem and the others. Their filthy, mud-caked black feet tore into the soil while their thick black claws swung wildly as they surrounded them.

  Elzem had reached very near the rocks. Abbey remained beside her, while ?etrefil and Yank? circled them as though shielding them, preparing to counter the first assault of the Patternbreakers.

  The Patternbreakers, eyes filled with hatred, spat saliva from their hyena-like jaws. The tall one at the front stepped forward.

  “A Reborn Hunter who has walked into the curse by her own feet! This opportunity must not be wasted!”

  he shouted, barking orders to the others.

  At that very moment they charged like a raging pack spraying saliva everywhere. Elzem and the others attacked with calm coordination. While ?etrefil and Yank? hosted a brutal bone-crushing frenzy, Elzem slit the throat of the Patternbreaker she had thrown to the ground by its neck.

  Abbey gathered breath to protect them, but stopped at Elzem’s warning. Abbey’s correct judgement and refusal to enter a dangerous state meant Elzem’s life. The slightest mistake could destroy them both.

  At the same time, Sonsuz and his team were moving swiftly to reach the shore when it did not take long for the Patternbreakers to begin pursuing them as well. As Sonsuz approached the shoreline, the soil beneath his steps—just like with Elzem—echoed with the cracking of bones and the stench of rotten flesh.

  Cengaver struggled to endure it, yet he did not complain.

  Suddenly they turned and found a group of Patternbreakers right behind them. Sonsuz instantly drew his sword and began attacking.

  No matter how fiercely they came at him, Sonsuz fought with clear enjoyment.

  While Cengaver watched in astonishment, one of them seized him by the neck. Struggling to break free, he cried out for Sonsuz’s help.

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  With a single sword strike, Sonsuz cut down the Patternbreaker that was about to kill Cengaver. Gratefully, Cengaver hid behind him. Sonsuz laughed at this, but Kylie believed they were wasting too much time.

  She took a deep breath and released her cold blue wind toward them.

  The Patternbreakers struck by the sharp blue breath collapsed to the ground one by one.

  Kylie cast Sonsuz a cold look.

  “You enjoy exercising, but you wouldn’t want to be late, would you?”

  Sonsuz smiled with amusement.

  “Come on. We’ve reached the shore.”

  He stepped forward.

  Cengaver was still struggling to catch his breath and felt irritated that Kylie had not helped him.

  At last both sides had reached the dazzling waters of the Unparalleled behind the Heart of Nota. At one end of the waters stood Elzem; at the other, Sonsuz, both upon massive black cliffs, looking at one another.

  Between them, the water rippled calmly—soon to become the centre of chaos.

  Abbey and Kylie released a thin blue mist upward, giving the signal.

  With their guidance, Elzem and Sonsuz were now ready for the announcement.

  Abbey merged with Elzem as if seeking a place within her body and lifted her into the air. As she slowly carried her toward the water, Elzem believed in it completely.

  It was an extraordinary sensation.

  She felt water rippling inside her and air deeper than she had ever known. It was as though she might drown from breathing too much. As Abbey brought them closer to the water, Elzem felt as though she had forgotten how to walk—as though she had always done this.

  For Sonsuz, however, things were slightly different.

  Kylie and Gina stepped ahead of him, hardening the water where he would step so that he could walk upon it.

  With a stylish ease, Sonsuz leapt toward the water and warned Cengaver:

  “Stay here and never step outside the plan.”

  Cengaver bent forward, looking into the water behind Sonsuz.

  “That is exactly what I’ll do.”

  As Elzem and Sonsuz approached one another, the one thing they had not foreseen happened.

  The moment they neared the exact centre of the Unparalleled waters, Elzem—together with Abbey—began sinking toward the depths.

  Sonsuz, however, was rising with Kylie’s assistance.

  As one side sank and the other ascended, the Heart of the Unparalleled began echoing with the phenomenon—even through the streets and avenues. When the scent of fear spread through the cold darkness of the ground, even the team buildings could not escape it. A strange black mist seeped into their floors, enough to awaken them all.

  All the hunters rose from their beds and rushed outside.

  The Deviants, as if out of control, emerged from the Deviant Shelter and waited in the front courtyards of the buildings. Before the hunters could understand what was happening, they were forced through open hatches and thrown out.

  Within seconds they found themselves at the bottom of the waters behind the Heart of Nota.

  The Deviants lined up side by side near the depths of the waters after throwing the hunters out, standing there with a grim posture.

  No one understood what was happening.

  It was impossible for the administrators not to hear the commotion, so they arrived as well, sharing the same shock.

  Lady Okyanus ran forward anxiously toward the edge where the waters began, desperate to see with her own eyes what was happening.

  But the sight before her revealed the very thing she had never wished to witness.

  Elzem continued sinking deeper, while Sonsuz rose higher and higher. The scale of the two hunters’ power was revealing itself.

  Elzem had sunk so deep that she could now even hear the sound of the waves brushing her hair above the surface. Even the stillness of her arms had a sound. She could feel Abbey’s immense sorrow—she could even sense her silent tears.

  Everything had a sound. Everything had a feeling.

  Only one thing did not.

  She knew this.

  But now she faced the terrible truth for the first time.

  She could not hear the beating of her heart.

  All the excitement, the fear, the adrenaline… none of it had caused it to beat.

  Neither the joyful moments she had lived nor the sorrow she had endured had made her heart move.

  For a long time she had continued with this truth.

  For the first time, she felt death within her body.

  The silent veins of her voiceless heart proved to her that she was dead. Her soul had accepted it; it understood the extinction within her halted life.

  She sank deeper.

  The light was gone. Darkness had ignited.

  It was stronger than blindness or drowning.

  It was, in every sense, nothingness.

  At those same seconds, Sonsuz had risen high, and the embodiment of his power caused a pillar of flame to surge skyward from the very centre of the Unparalleled waters. The flames were so immense that they became a spectacle like a giant torch in the middle of the water.

  Then a massive black smoke began rising beside the red flames toward the sky.

  As the black and red flames turned into a visual spectacle side by side, everyone around watched in stunned silence.

  At that moment, Lady Okyanus suddenly began to cry.

  It was a sorrow she could not hide.

  Dora, Onur and Se?kin turned their attention from the scene before them and looked at Lady Okyanus.

  Through her streaming tears she said,

  “She’s dead.”

  Stepping toward the water, not caring that the pieces of her dress were soaking wet, she repeated more loudly:

  “She’s dead!”

  At that moment every hunter’s attention was fixed solely on Lady Okyanus.

  Still crying, she shouted,

  “Elzem Erk is dead!”

  Though she refused to believe it,

  “How can this be! Elzem Erk is dead!”

  she said, staring in disbelief.

  Zafer and Mr. Galip hurried to her side and held her by the arms to comfort her.

  Mr. Zafer, with determined composure, said,

  “Are you certain, Okyanus? The hunter in question is a Reborn!”

  He wanted to convince even himself that the situation could not be this dire.

  Without taking her eyes off the flames, Lady Okyanus answered through sobs,

  “I’m certain, Zafer! Elzem Erk is dead!”

  Mr. Galip protested,

  “How could such a thing happen? It’s impossible!”

  Struggling to remain standing, Lady Okyanus whispered with a trembling voice,

  “I know the reason.”

  Dora and Onur exchanged astonished glances, while Se?kin tried to hide the pleased expression on his face behind a subtle smirk.

  The moment all the Deviants heard that Elzem had died, tears streamed down their eyes. They lined up side by side at the edge of the shore and bowed their heads.

  Just when everyone had accepted that Elzem was dead, Sonsuz unleashed an explosion of rage.

  A fire ignited within his blue eyes.

  Without even warning Kylie to prepare, he hurled himself into the water. Diving like a sphere of fury from above, he descended all the way to the bottom before either Kylie or Gina could catch up to him.

  Elzem had always expected the darkness to turn into hope from the same person—and once again she wanted that hope.

  Even though she knew her entire being was entering the phase of disappearance, she was certain she would not wait long.

  And she did not.

  With sudden speed and movement, Sonsuz seized Elzem by the arm and began swimming upward.

  When Elzem opened her eyes, she once again saw those jewel-like blue eyes—the eyes of Sonsuz, whose uniqueness could make even the water itself jealous.

  Kylie and Gina finally arrived and, with a shock-like strike, hurled both of them up to the surface.

  The hunters and administrators experienced immense shock when they saw Elzem and Sonsuz alive upon the water.

  They, however, rose even higher with joyful yet defiant expressions, aided by the Female Breakers.

  At that very moment, above the black and red flames, names appeared—carved as though etched into a deep wound.

  Elzem Erk

  Sonsuz Son

  Their names were engraved between the water and the flames.

  At the edge of the shore, the Deviants—who had been drowned in an inexplicable grief for minutes—suddenly filled with joy.

  Dora felt uneasy at this sight, and she was no longer alone. The same discomfort was visible in the gazes of Onur and Se?kin.

  The tears flowing from the eyes of the Deviants stopped with the victory of Elzem and Sonsuz and fell happily into the water. They bowed respectfully at the same moment and withdrew. As they took their places beside the hunters, a shadow quietly passed by.

  Before Dora and Onur could understand what had happened, the shadow disappeared.

  When the final tears of the Deviants mixed with the water and reached the flames, the names of all the hunters present were carved around the great wound like blood.

  At that very moment, unnoticed by anyone, Kylie hardened the water with shocking speed so that ?etrefil and Yank? could cross it, allowing them to arrive and open the passage. When Cengaver joined them in the same way, they all passed through the gateway that opened behind the flames.

  And together, they vanished from the scene.