The demon rat's body was still burning when Harry, panting, approached Vinícius.
"Are you okay?" he asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.
Vinícius was breathing with difficulty but managed to stand up.
"Now that it's dead… I think so. But… what was that, Harry? I'd rather face a mutant cockroach than that disgusting thing!" he tried to joke, though his tone was still full of tension.
Harry gave a weak laugh.
"Definitely. That was worse than any nightmare." He looked around. "I think we're done here, right? Let's go home?"
Before Vinícius could respond, a sinister glow cut through the darkness. Red eyes appeared in the shadows — one, two, six pairs. Then, as if coming from hell itself, five more demon rats advanced from the tunnel, completely ignoring the fire that consumed their fallen companion. They snarled, drooling, eyes fixed on the burnt flesh and scattered blood.
"They… they're eating him?!" Vinícius whispered, horrified.
"They have no consciousness… only instinct." Harry took a step back. "Vinícius… run!"
Even while retreating, Harry channeled Qi into both hands and formed a large fireball, the size of a human head. With a roar, he launched the spell right into the crowd.
The explosion lit up the tunnel like a camera flash. One of the rats was hit directly and fell dead; the others were thrown back but quickly rose, their fur singed and eyes even more crazed.
"GOOO!" Harry shouted, pulling Vinícius, who was already running close behind.
The rats chased them, claws making a metallic sound against the concrete, their screeches echoing like a chorus of nightmares.
As they ran through the tunnels, Harry channeled fist-sized fireballs every thirty seconds, hurling them at their pursuers to slow them down. Some grazed the rats, others exploded on the ground, raising smoke and blocking their vision.
Vinícius tried to focus on summoning his water spells, but fear made everything harder. His Qi scattered, his hands trembled. Even so, he didn't stop trying. They were exhausted, but adrenaline kept them moving.
Suddenly, one of the rats jumped from the ceiling, nearly hitting Vinícius. He slipped and fell, and the monster advanced, claws raised for the final strike.
That's when the blade gleamed in the darkness.
With a precise and silent move, the hooded man emerged from the shadows and beheaded the rat with his curved scimitar, wielded in reverse like a ninja dagger. The blade cut through the air effortlessly, and blood splattered across the tunnel walls.
Wasting no time, the stranger advanced on another rat, striking its flank with a deep slash. The creature screeched and retreated.
Seeing the opening, Harry launched another fireball, hitting the same wounded rat and finishing it with a furious cry. Three remained.
Vinícius got back up and, using the Qi he had built up, released a water slash that sliced through another rat's snout, blinding it. The monster charged anyway, but Harry intercepted it with his knife, dodging strikes and piercing the creature's chest with precision.
The next rat tried to flee, but the hooded man caught it with an agile leap and drove the scimitar into its spine. The last one hesitated, but before it could react, Vinícius shot a stream of water straight into its open mouth, making it choke and thrash. Harry took the chance and finished it with a fire strike to the chest.
Silence returned, heavy, broken only by their ragged breathing.
Harry dropped to his knees, exhausted. Vinícius collapsed beside him, face sweaty and mask crooked.
"I… I almost died…" he murmured.
"But you didn't." Harry smiled, body trembling from fatigue. "And you did great."
Light footsteps echoed through the tunnel. The hooded man approached slowly, his presence now undeniable.
Harry and Vinícius looked up. Shadows danced around him, and the scimitar still dripped with blood.
Without a word, he stopped in front of them.
Tense silence lingered for a few moments. The hooded man wiped the blade on his dark tunic and strapped it back onto his back. Harry and Vinícius, still panting, watched him intently.
"You shouldn't be here," he said firmly, calmly. "What exactly were you doing in the tunnels?"
Harry stepped forward, still on guard.
"Investigating the murders. We were following leads… and found this."
The man made a scoffing sound, almost a laugh.
"Do you really think this is something two low-level cultivators should face alone?"
Vinícius raised his trembling hands.
"Look, we didn't know it was exactly this. We just… felt like we had to do something."
The hooded man crossed his arms.
"And what sect are you from?"
Harry and Vinícius exchanged confused glances.
"Sect…?" Vinícius muttered.
Harry shook his head.
"We're not from any sect."
The hooded man frowned beneath his hood. Suspicious silence hung in the air for a few seconds before he took a step forward, voice full of suspicion:
"You're not from any sect, yet you can manipulate Qi with that intensity? Your fire magic is very strong. I haven't seen any other cultivator use Qi like that."
Harry stood firm.
"I… learned on my own," he lied — or almost. He remembered Long Hai but knew revealing that would be far too risky. "I've been training hard these past few months."
The man didn't seem convinced, but didn't press further. He only said, almost to himself:
"Hm. That's… unusual."
"And you?" Vinícius asked, regaining some courage. "Who are you, anyway? Some kind of… hunter?"
The hooded man hesitated for a second, then replied clearly:
"I'm a cultivator. You can call me Sobrenatural. I'm investigating the recent cases. These deaths, the disappearances, the presence of corrupted Qi."