Season 2 — Episode 6: First Hunt Reborn
Cold Open — Blood in the Snow
Snow drifted lazily over the shattered carcass of the Titan Warlord. Its frost-crystal plating caught the pale light of the pre-dawn sky, shimmering like a mountain made of glass. Xavier stood at its base, his breath steaming in the cold, eyes fixed on the broken weapon in his hands.
A scythe, or what was left of it — the blade cracked, the handle splintered, but the runes along its edge still glowed faintly. He traced one finger along the markings. Ancient. Familiar.
Behind him, bootsteps crunched in the snow. Kai's voice broke the stillness.
"Still in one piece, huh? Lucky."
Xavier didn't answer. He was still thinking about the man behind the mask — his mentor's face, the same one that had once taught him how to swing a blade.
Kai jogged closer, tossing a communicator crystal underhand.
"Guild Master says they found something. North ridge. You're not gonna like it."
The crystal flickered to life. The Guild Master's voice came through, tense and clipped.
"It's a battlefield, Xavier. A big one. And it's not from our time."
Act 1 — The Frozen Graveyard
The ridge opened into a canyon that looked like a frozen cathedral of death. Titan skeletons, each the size of a fortress, loomed on both sides — their bones locked mid-swing, their jaws open in silent roars.
But it wasn't just Titans.
Looming among them were humanoid giants, twice the height of any modern man, clad in armor fashioned from beast bone and strange, star-forged metal. Weapons the size of airships lay scattered in the snow — swords, axes, spears tipped with obsidian-like stone.
Kai whistled low.
"…Humans this big?"
The Guild Master stepped into the canyon behind them, his fur-lined cloak catching the wind.
"Not anymore. These were the First Hunters — warriors who fought alongside Titans to seal something even worse than them."
Xavier frowned.
"Worse than a Titan King?"
Before the Guild Master could reply, the ground shook beneath their boots. Cracks spiderwebbed through the ice, racing toward the center of the canyon.
A deep, ancient hum rolled up from below. Then the ice shattered, collapsing inward.
From the chasm rose a humanoid shape wrapped in frostfire — its armor blackened and scarred by battles fought eons ago. Its eyes burned an unnatural blue, its voice a low growl that was more vibration than speech.
A blade longer than an entire Hunter airship rested on its shoulder.
HUD: Threat Level: 90 — Class: First Hunt Remnant
Act 2 — Ambush in the Storm
The Revenant moved before Xavier could even draw his weapon. A single swing of its blade carved through three Titan skeletons like they were snow sculptures, the impact throwing Xavier and Kai into opposite ends of the battlefield.
Xavier rolled to his feet, shaking off the shock — and froze.
A figure stepped out from behind a ribcage the size of a ship hull. The Cloaked Hunter. His abdomen was bandaged, his movements slower but still dangerous.
"Now you see it," he said, voice muffled by the half-mask. "Titans weren't our enemies — they were our allies. The First Hunt… wasn't to kill them. It was to stop what's coming back."
Xavier tightened his grip on his blade.
"And you think slaughtering cities is preparing us for that?"
The Revenant's roar split the sky, cutting off the argument. The snowstorm thickened, visibility dropping to almost nothing. A shadow swept down — the Remnant's blade — forcing them both to dive aside or be split in two.
Act 3 — Reluctant Alliance
The Revenant fought without allegiance. Every step it took left a crater of shattered ice. Every swing shook the canyon.
Xavier found himself back-to-back with the Cloaked Hunter — an alliance of necessity. Using Hunter's Duality, he split his focus between defending against the Cloaked Hunter's probing strikes and counterattacking the Remnant.
The Cloaked Hunter spoke between parries, his voice strained.
"The First Hunt sealed the World-Eater. A Titan so large it blocked out the sun. Your Dragon? My Titans? Pawns in a bigger game."
Xavier ducked under the Revenant's swing, his boots sliding in the snow.
"And the Shadow King?"
"Wants it unsealed."
"Then why work for him?"
The Cloaked Hunter's eyes narrowed.
"Because I can't kill him. Not yet."
Act 4 — Breaking the Revenant
The Revenant slammed its massive sword into the ground, pinning Xavier beneath it. The weight pressed the air from his lungs.
Then the Cloaked Hunter moved — his broken scythe spinning through the air, striking the blade aside just long enough for Xavier to roll free. But the reprieve came at a cost — a backhand from the Remnant sent the Cloaked Hunter flying across the battlefield, vanishing into the snow.
Xavier's vision narrowed. Limit Break Overdrive roared to life, golden arcs of lightning tearing through the storm. His boots shattered the ice as he launched upward, landing on the Revenant's head.
The blade in his hands hummed with power.
Arc Storm Cleave.
He drove it straight down, lightning exploding through the Revenant's armor, carving a glowing wound down its spine.
HUD: LEVEL UP! 50 → 55
NEW ABILITY: First Hunt Resonance — Damage boost against First Hunt remnants & ancient-class foes.
The Revenant staggered, frostfire spilling from its wounds, then collapsed like a felled mountain.
Act 5 — The Promise
Xavier trudged through the settling snow toward the Cloaked Hunter, who knelt clutching his side.
"You could've killed me today," Xavier said, blade leveled. "You didn't. Why?"
The Cloaked Hunter's breath steamed in the frigid air.
"Because when the World-Eater wakes… you're going to need me. And I'm going to need you."
Before Xavier could reply, the Cloaked Hunter smashed a frost-smoke vial against the ground. The mist swallowed him whole — and when it cleared, he was gone.
Ending Cliffhanger
INT. SHADOW KING'S THRONE ROOM — NIGHT
Frost mirrors replay the battle in ghostly light. The Shadow King leaned forward, silver eyes reflecting the Revenant's death.
Below, in a cavern of black ice, cultists carved a seal into the floor — vast enough to hold a continent.
From deep within the ice came a sound — slow, heavy breathing. Each exhale sent cracks spidering through the frozen walls.
"The First Hunt," the Shadow King whispered, "begins again."