Hunter’s Vengeance: The Rise of the Predator

   Seeing that after almost a minute the young woman in her arms showed no signs of waking up, and realizing that being in such direct contact with the body of a woman she found very attractive was not good for her mental health, Kara decided to sit down with her back against a tree and lay Ophelia on the grass with her back against it and her head in her lap, to let her stay in the most comfortable position until she regained consciousness.

   Looking at the seductive face of the young woman, whose delicious lips moved slowly every time she breathed, and feeling the intoxicating scent of her body, which acted for her as a potent aphrodisiac causing her all sorts of impure thoughts, Kara began to feel like a tiger that hadn't eaten in over a week and had stumbled upon a gazelle with a wounded leg that couldn't run.

   'No, Kara! This isn't good. You need to think of other things...', Kara told herself in her mind, aware that if she continued to follow her instincts as she did when she first saw this very attractive young woman, it was very likely that she would always be seen as a beast by the young woman and would never be able to gain her trust.

   'What will her attitude be when she wakes up? Will she be angry with me for killing her companions? Will she be as terrified as before fainting? Well, in the first case, justice is on my side, as they were the ones who attacked first, so my actions can be classified as self-defense. Moreover, I saw the expression on her face, which showed shock and disapproval, when the skinny guy launched the magic attack at me, which tells me that it won't be difficult to convince her that they are to blame for everything that happened. In the second case, if she's as horrified when she wakes up as she was before fainting... well, then I'm not sure what I can say to calm her down... Anyway, in that case, I can't blame anyone but myself because I should have reassured her that she wouldn't be harmed before killing the three of them and not let myself be led by the desire to assert my dominance immediately like a stag in mating season...', Kara thought, trying to escape the present and focus on the future.

   Fortunately for Kara, whose instincts were becoming harder and harder to control, the unconscious young woman began to move slightly after about 5 minutes and furrowed her brow as if she was about to wake up. After a few more minutes, she opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Kara's remarkably beautiful face, whose pure and innocent smile reminded her of summer evenings from her childhood when she fell asleep in her mother's arms while her mother read her stories about fairies and princesses.

   Observing that the young woman displayed no signs of fear and, instead, maintained the position of her head while looking at her fascinated, Kara couldn't help but feel proud of her accomplishment, and motivated by this, she made additional efforts to project an image of utmost harmlessness, aiming to dispel any remnants of fear the young woman might still hold.

   Unfortunately for Kara, things didn't continue to unfold favorably for her. When Ophelia ceased wavering between the realms of dreams and reality, she comprehended her surroundings and the identity of the individual before her, then, in Kara's resigned gaze, she stood up with a sense of panic and moved back a few meters. However, this time, a distinct resolve to fight for her survival emanated from her gaze.

   "There's no reason to be so scared. I don't intend to—"

   "Boom!!"

   Things seemed to be getting worse and worse for Kara, as Ophelia didn't seem capable of understanding her words and she started sending various magical attacks towards Kara, which destroyed everything around her.

  'Well, it could be worse. At least she didn't faint again...', thought Kara, looking around at the explosions happening one after another and using one hand to extinguish the flames that had engulfed her clothes, her body remaining unaffected by these violent attacks.

   "Well, I guess that's enough. At this rate, I'll end up naked...", said Kara, finally getting to her feet and starting to advance towards Ophelia, ignoring the magical attacks that were increasingly intense.

   Seeing that her attacks were having no effect on her enemy, Ophelia began to panic more and more and involuntarily took steps backward until her back was against the trunk of a tree.

   'Damn it! Why does misfortune keep following me? What did I do to deserve this?' Ophelia wondered in her mind, desperately trying to find a solution to escape this situation, but the fear she felt made her mind not as agile as usual.

   Finally, Ophelia remembered that among the family heirlooms she took with her before leaving home was a crystal containing a magical formation capable of capturing a rank A beast.

   'Yes, this is my only chance. If I can capture her in that magical formation, she won't be able to escape. But what if she dodges before I can capture her? No, I don't think she'll dodge. From what I see, she's too confident in her powers... She is like a cat playing with a mouse before eating it... She enjoys seeing the desperation in the eyes of her victims when they realize they have no chance, no matter how hard they try to fight. Yes, her arrogance will be her downfall...' Ophelia thought and less than a second after she stopped sending magical attacks towards Kara, she retrieved a large blue crystal the size of her fist from her spatial ring and, after inserting her remaining mana into it to activate it, she threw it at Kara's feet, who had no intention of dodging.

   "Boom!!!"

   As soon as the crystal made contact with the ground, it exploded into millions of particles, and around Kara appeared a dome of lightning with a diameter of about 4 meters, seemingly capable of pulverizing anything that came into contact with its surface.

   Kara didn't expect the young woman in front of her to possess such valuable items, which she had heard about from her father when she told him about a method used by some wealthy nobles to capture high-ranking beasts that would have been impossible to capture alive using other methods.

   'It seems her identity isn't so simple...' Kara thought, looking through the lightning surrounding her at Ophelia, who breathed a sigh of relief that her plan worked and she managed to save herself.

   "I don't want to ruin your joy, but this barrier can't stop me. Anyway, I'm glad you were able to calm down, and I hope we can clear up this misunderstanding now..." Kara told Ophelia, who had taken three mana recovery potions from her storage ring and had started to drink them.

   "Heh, do you think I'll give you a chance to try to deceive me into releasing you? I've heard enough stories about demons, about how well they can manipulate other beings..." Ophelia replied, trying not to look at Kara, to make sure she wouldn't be able to use any tricks.

   "I don't know what made you think I'm a demon, but that's not true. Well, maybe I was a bit careless and unintentionally scared you when I eliminated the three men who were with you, but I believe you're aware that they attacked me first...", Kara said hastily, fearing that Ophelia would soon cover her ears to protect herself from what she considered Kara's manipulations.

   "Oh, so you were just trying to protect yourself? Then why did you also kill Mason, the man standing next to me? As far as I remember, he had no intention of attacking you?" Ophelia asked Kara, wanting to prove that she could see through Kara's lies.

   "Well, because he was part of the same team as them. Of course he was their accomplice...", Kara replied hesitantly, aware that her excuse wasn't very convincing.

   "So following this logic, does it mean I should be eliminated too since I was part of the same team as them?" Ophelia said to Kara, very proud that she managed to easily unravel the lie created by the demon.

   "Okay, you got me! I killed the three of them just because they were getting on my nerves...", Kara said, tired of being looked down upon and pretending to be innocent, then she advanced toward the lightning barrier that surrounded her and easily passed through it, as if it were a soap bubble.

   "Impossible!" Ophelia said with a trembling voice, shocked by how powerful Kara was. "Please... please, don't kill me. My sister... I,...I still have things to resolve... I can't die here...", she continued with tears in her eyes, knowing she had no method left to defeat Kara.

   'Damn it. Making such a beautiful girl cry out of fear makes me feel like crap.', Kara thought as she watched Ophelia sit on the ground and uncontrollably sob while trying to stop her tears.

   "You, you have no reason to cry. I told you I don't intend to harm you...", Kara told Ophelia, unsure of how to prove to her that she posed no threat.

   "No, I don't believe you! You're lying to me... You want to, you want to give me false hope... you want to mock me..." Ophelia started to say amidst sobs, not daring to look at Kara, who had approached her.

   'It seems I have a lot of work to do to convince her that I mean no harm...', Kara told herself in her mind, not knowing if it would be better to leave and let the young woman calm down or to embrace her and try to console her.

   ........................................................

   In the end, Kara didn't choose either of the two options, so she remained in the same spot and continued to reassure Ophelia that she didn't want to harm her, that it was all just a big misunderstanding, and that she had no connection to the demon race.

   "Really? You really won't hurt me?" Ophelia asked Kara for the twentieth time, looking at her with moist, timid eyes.

   "No! Uh, Yes, I won't harm you..." Kara reassured her, having forgotten how many times she had to repeat the same things to Ophelia.

   "Okay then. I'll believe you for now..." Ophelia replied with a small smile on her lips.

   "Seriously?" Kara asked, finding it hard to believe that she had finally managed to convince Ophelia.

   "Yes, seriously. If you were a demon, I don't think you'd have the patience to try to make me believe you for two hours. Besides, you haven't harmed me until now, so it wouldn't be fair for me to continue doubting you...", Ophelia responded, even though she didn't have complete trust in Kara and still believed it was possible that Kara might be a high-ranking demon, but she had realized after analyzing their interaction so far that there was a good chance Kara was attracted to her and probably wouldn't harm her in the near future as long as she remained obedient.

   "I'm glad to hear that..." Kara said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Then let me introduce myself again. I'm Kara Ardow, a hunter..." Kara continued, forgetting the grand introduction she had prepared for herself when she first saw Ophelia, then she extended her hand to help Ophelia get up from the ground.

   "Pleased to meet you. I'm Ophelia.", Ophelia replied with a seductive smile after she got to her feet, but still holding Kara's hand.