Smoke: The Limitless Hunt
Episode 2 – Hunters in the Shadows
The city didn't sleep. It couldn't. Not anymore.
When immortality came, night lost meaning. Violence had no cost. The neon streets burned twenty-four hours a day with riots, drugs, blood sports, and hollow pleasure. But tonight… tonight was different.
Because tonight, fear returned.
The ashes of Veyrix, the vampire warlord, still smeared across the cathedral club. His body hadn't healed. His soul hadn't returned. He was gone—truly gone. For centuries, immortals had watched friends, enemies, and lovers tear each other apart, only to laugh when they stood back up seconds later. But now? They saw someone erased forever.
And they knew the name of the one who did it.
Smoke.
Eyes in the Dark
I stood on a rooftop above the chaos. My cloak of liquid steel rippled in the wind, hair of shadow dancing around me. The half mask on my face hissed, bleeding smoke into the night.
Below, the city screamed. Rumors spread like wildfire. Whispers in alleys. Hushed words in dens. Shouts in drunken fights.
"He killed Veyrix—"
"Not possible, nobody can—"
"No, I saw it—"
"The gods made him. He's Death reborn."
They were right. I was Death.
And that's why the Hunters came.
⸻
The First Hunters
I felt them before I saw them. Hunters weren't like mortals, demons, or vampires. They were predators in the chaos—mercenaries who lived by missions, chasing levels without end. Stronger than gangs, smarter than warlords, more ruthless than gods.
The moment I killed Veyrix, I knew I painted a target on myself.
The first came in silence. A blade of bone shot through the air, aimed at my head. My body dissolved into smoke, reforming behind the attacker.
A Hunter crouched low, skin covered in jagged scars, arms replaced with serrated blades. His eyes glowed red, hungry for blood. "You're the one they're whispering about," he hissed. "Smoke."
Three more appeared on the surrounding rooftops—one armored in obsidian, another cloaked in blue flame, the third levitating with skeletal wings.
"Word spreads fast," I said, my voice echoing like smoke through the night.
The scarred one grinned, blades twitching. "You killed Veyrix. Permanently. That means you're worth something. Your head will make me a legend."
I tilted my head, cloak rippling. "Try."
The Fight
They lunged at once.
The blade-armed Hunter rushed first, slicing through the air in a frenzy. My body bent backward, spine arching unnaturally as his blades cut through nothing but smoke. I twisted, teleporting behind him, spikes erupting from my body and tearing into his flesh.
He laughed, spinning to strike again—then froze. The wounds didn't heal. Blood poured endlessly down his arms, dripping onto the rooftop.
His eyes widened. "N-no… impossible…"
I ripped him apart with a storm of spikes. His body convulsed, then crumbled to ash. His scream burned out into nothingness.
[Level Up: 3]
My body shivered, evolving. The steel smoke hardened, new veins of glowing black crawling across my chest. My speed surged. My hellhound roared, bursting out of my shadow with double the size it had been before. Its chains rattled, dripping molten steel.
The other three Hunters hesitated.
One whispered, "He really can kill us…"
That hesitation didn't save them.
The winged one screeched, firing bone spears like rain. I teleported through them, appearing in his face. My smoke spikes shot out, pinning him mid-air like a crucifix. He screamed, wings tearing as my hellhound leapt, ripping out his throat. His body fell into ash before it hit the ground.
[Level Up: 4]
The blue-flamed Hunter charged, engulfing me in fire hot enough to melt concrete. But my skin evolved, shifting into plates of liquid steel that reflected the flames. I walked through the inferno, cloak burning but reforming instantly. I raised a hand of smoke, and spikes erupted from beneath him, impaling him through the gut.
He spat blood, still burning. "What… are you?"
I leaned close, mask grinning. "The end."
I crushed him, flames snuffing out with his scream.
[Level Up: 5]
The last Hunter turned to run. Smart. But not smart enough. My hellhound chased him, leaping across the rooftops, chains lashing out. The beast tackled him mid-leap, ripping him apart. I finished it with a spike through his skull, erasing him.
[Level Up: 6]
Evolution
My body pulsed with power. The liquid steel smoke thickened, reshaping itself. Plates of armor grew denser, sharper. My movements were faster now—unnatural, like I was gliding through space. My cloak stretched longer, heavier, dripping smoke with every ripple.
And my hellhound? It towered, three heads now snarling, each one dripping molten fangs. Its eyes burned with unholy fire.
I crouched on the rooftop, cloak flowing, as the ashes of my enemies scattered into the wind.
The city below was silent. They had watched the Hunters come. Watched me kill them permanently. Four souls erased forever.
Fear spread deeper. Even Hunters weren't safe anymore.
⸻
The Aftermath
Whispers turned to panic.
"He killed them—four Hunters, gone—"
"They don't come back—"
"He's unstoppable—"
"What if he kills the gods?"
I ignored them. Their voices were noise. I didn't care for their panic, their tears, or their fury. I didn't care for alliances or mercy. I cared for one thing.
Missions. Levels. Power.
And my next mission carved itself into my mind, glowing with divine script.
Mission: Enter the Blood Markets. Kill the Broker. Reward: +1 Level.
The Blood Markets. A world within the city, where immortals sold flesh, souls, drugs, weapons, and slaves. A place where debauchery reigned unchecked. The Broker ran it all, profiting off endless suffering.
Perfect.
I rose, teleporting into the night, hellhound stalking behind me. The hunt was endless. The levels limitless.
And every immortal, god, and celestial in the universe would soon learn:
Not even eternity could save them.