A lone hunter stood in a field of white flowers.

Fatigue wracked his body as the Great One before him breathed its last.

Godly Ichor freely flowed from the corpse, staining the once spotless flowers in blood red.

Silence echoed through the field as the hunter took off his mask to calm his body.

Weapon and clothes dripped with blood as his mind begun to register what had happened.

The Dream was no more.

He was free.

But as the realization set in.

His shoulders begun to shake.

At first all that could escape him was small chuckles as he tried to contain it.

However, that restraint broke quickly as the chuckles evolved into laughter.

Throwing his arms wide open, his laughter begun to echo across the fields.

The flowers paying witness to a nightmare being born in the blood of an old one.

For all this hunter could think about was not of how the hunt had ended.

Of how he could forget this horrid dream.

But of what other beasts he could hunt.

What sporting hunts he could partake in.

Whilst he basked in the glow of a bloody moon.

A field of blood tainted flowers wept the loss of their hunter.

The night was silent in the city of Fuyuki. Lights shut off as the innocent citizens of the city went to bed, unworried about the fate of tomorrow.

For Ryunnosuke Uryuu,

It was the perfect time to go on his nightly murders.

Breaking into the home of some random family that just happened to leave their front gate open was trivial. All he had to was lockpick their door and sneak in. There was nothing special about this family. It comprised of a father who had normal office job with a wife that stayed home and a child, a typical Japanese family here.

Typical enough that no-one would miss them.

The look of despair that flashed across the father's face as he woke up to a knife held close to his throat was pure gold to Ryunosuke. The father had tried to put up a fight for his life but Ryunosuke was quick enough to motion to his already tied up wife, the distraught wife had tears running down her face as she tried to scream for help through her gag. Seeing the love of his life in such a state, the husband quickly became submissive to the serial killer; in hopes that Ryunosuke would spare his wife.

Not like it mattered as by the end of the night, the entire family would be dead.

Gazing at the bound form of the couple, Ryunnosuke wished that he had more time to 'enjoy' their time together. Maybe torture one while the other watched, maybe play a sick game of Russian Roulette to decide which one got to live while he killed the other. Oh well his dark fantasies could be played out on another unsuspecting family another day.

Pulling out a book he couldn't help but grin at the prospect of what tonight was going to bring. He had done some cleaning up and found a book that his ancestors had kept. Curious he decided to read through what his ancestors deemed worthy of writing down.

Imagine to his surprise it was a grimoire for summoning demons.

He had never summoned a demon before, but tonight was the night he'd get to see an envoy of sin in the flesh. He hoped that it would be a terrifying abomination or maybe a demonic snake that consumed humans in a horrific way, wouldn't that be a fun one.

The sound of a door opening put his thoughts on hold as he looked out of the door and across the hallway. A door opened up as a kid seemingly wanted to grab a midnight snack before retiring back to his room, oblivious to the state of his parents as they realized their boy was in danger. Grinning manically Ryunnosuke motioned for the two to stay silent before silently followed the unsuspecting boy down the stairs.

Three was always better than two after all.

"Now what do I do next?" After following the boy down to the kitchen, Ryunnosuke quickly knocked the kid out, before tying him up and throwing him into a closet. The grimoire specifically said that only a child would be able to appease a demon, rather specific but who was he to question the specifics. Making sure that the kid was still breathing he closed the closet and addressed the empty living room. He had also dragged down the parents down because their blood would serve as the catalyst for the ritual. Looking down at the book he noted that he would have to draw a pentagram that would call forth the demon.

Now he wasn't the best artist in the world but he did happen to have a high amount of drawing material on standby. Looking back at the fearful gazes of the parents he could feel his excitement soaring.

Now it was time to summon a demon.

Dropping the struggling kid down on the floor with a thud, he proudly looked at his masterpiece. It took some time but having so much blood that the parents kindly donated for his ritual, he was able to create the ritual circle. The parents surprised him however as they were still alive and kicking, if anything their struggle doubled.

The kid locked eyes with his bound parents and he too begun to try and trash his way out of captivity. Ryunnosuke looked down at the kid with a maniacal smile. "Hey isn't this great! The whole family is together now!" Enjoying the horror of the kid struggling to free himself, Ryunosuke continued on with his diabolical plan. "So, I found this book in the warehouse. Apparently, it was my ancestors trying to summon a demon," Pulling out the book he showed the kid what was going to await him.

A pentagram that was easily recognizable for summoning demons.

"Now I'm curious to see if demons really do exist, however..." Looking to his side, he made sure the parents were looking at him. "It'd be pretty stupid if a demon did appear and all we did was chat and not offer it anything to eat so...," Holding his hand in a mock sign of charity.

"Mind if we let it eat your kid?"

The father struggled against his bonds in rage while tears begun to streak down the wife's face as she tried to beg for her son's life. The kid proceeded to absolutely lose it as it became apparent, he was going to be the dinner of some eldritch being. Laughing at the struggle of the kid Ryunosuke looked back at the ritual circle.

Now all that was time to do was chant the summoning.

"It's going to be great seeing how demon eats a child," Flipping across the pages he tried to find the appropriate page that held the invocation for the summoning. "Alright let's see..." It seemed like time had really ravaged the contents of the page, seeing how only a few words of the actual chant seemed to have been faded out.

"Um destroy each when filled...or something like that." Squinting as best as he could, he continued doing his best to try and continue the chant with what he had.

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill." He counted out loud, using his fingers as reference to make sure he didn't skip on one. The book was very specific about it being five times, something about your body blowing up if you didn't do it right.

"Okay, now it should be..." He trailed off, squinting as the text had become too faded to even make up. You couldn't even try and decipher what a single word was as it was all just some big black smudge on the page.

"Eh maybe this book wasn't really-Ow!" He winced as a sudden flare of pain overcame his arm. Lifting the arm up, he was lost as a sudden red tattoo begun to etch itself onto the skin of his hand. Red like blood, the tattoo formed the shape of a claw, with it being clearly divided between the three claws.

The blood pentagram that he had spent so much time and effort on making illuminated the entire room before reaching its peak before throwing the entire room into smoke. Not believing what he was seeing, the serial killer looked away from his hand in growing glee as the smoke parted to reveal an obscured figure.

"Servant Caster." The figure tilted the hat that he was wearing so that his eyes, which the redhead couldn't help but marvel at how red they were, stared directly into his eyes.

"Are you my master?"

"Uh," Not knowing how to proceed, the serial killer decided to just introduce himself. Nothing in the book ever said anything about a 'Caster'. "Um names Ryunnosuke Uryuu." Not getting a response from the man he just continued onward. "I'm currently unemployed and I like killing people, pretty much."

"I see." Caster brought up a hand to his chin in intrigue, to which Ryunnosuke couldn't help but marvel at how his fingertips were actual metal claws. "Very well, the contract has been signed in blood. For through the duration of this Holy Grail, I shall be your servant."

"Holy Grail?" What was he talking about? The Holy Grail? The cup that Jesus drank from at his last supper? Eh it was probably nothing, maybe it was some sort of rambling that he had to do whenever he was summoned.

Ryunnosuke quickly frowned as he noticed a key problem. "...Are you sure you're a demon? I expected you to be a lot...different." He motioned to his form, he had expected this towering figure whose eyes would be that of fire and horns dripping in blood. Not someone that came out of the Victorian era

Caster chuckled as he motioned to his form. "Didn't the stories tell you that we demons never show our true forms to lowly humans, though..." Ryunnosuke's gaze was taken as he could see something rustle in the back of the servant's cloak.

"If you want, I could show you what exactly this demon can do." Looking down, Caster locked gazes with the bound child. All color was drained from the toddler's face as he found himself under the gaze of the servant and now begun to trash as hard as he could in his prison. His parents were too shocked at what had occurred right in front of their own eyes to even react to their child's life being in danger.

"Oh yeah, forgot about you." The serial killer had genuinely forgotten about his existence but seeing the prized meal before them, he motioned for the servant to feast. "So, uh got this kid over here, you wanna eat him?"

Caster looked at him with what looked like mock hurt. "You harm me master, even we demons have some pride you know." Walking over to the thrashing bound child, he put his arms up in peace. "Don't worry kid, I'm not here to eat you."

The kid calmed down but still held a look of caution as the servant begun to undo his bonds. Ryunnosuke looked appalled at the act. "Hey what do you think you're doing!?" To which was ignored as Caster finished removing the child's bonds.

Lifting the boy up, the servant tone shifted to a somewhat proud emotion. "There there now, no need for tears now." He wiped the tears that had been falling from the child's eyes, carefully not to scratch his delicate skin with his metallic claws.

"You're so strong to being able to brave such an ordeal." Ryunnosuke was about to argue what he was doing with his supposed meal until Caster caught his eyes and reassured him that all was well. The look in his eyesomehow reassuring that all was well.

"Kids should be more like you, brave, fearless..." He trailed off as his grip on the child suddenly tightened, his metallic claws drawing blood. The kid let out a cry of pain but soon forgot about that pain as he looked up in horror at how close Caster was getting. His red eyes now seemed to be glowing in the dark.

"And oh, so delectable." The servant's voice shifted from proud to that of a starving beast. He growled as his mask seemingly parted to reveal a mouth of sharp canines, drooling as its next meal was sitting right in front of it.

"A-!" The kid couldn't even utter his scream as Caster tore into him, devouring him with gusto. Ryunnosuke's mouth dropped in awe as he witnessed the demon before him devouring the sacrifice that he had prepared for this very occasion. He couldn't fully see what was going on, with Caster's back facing him, but he could imagine the vicious feast occurring as blood sprayed from the kid's body and the sounds that the servant was producing.

The parents could look in horror as their kid the was devoured right before their eyes. The mother shut her eyes and looked away as she did not want to see the scene that was happening while the husband's eyes dull having witnessed his son's gruesome death.

Dropping the now headless kid onto the ground, Caster looked back at Ryunnosuke with a smug look in his eyes. His mouth no longer visible as the only signs of it was the copious amounts of blood that was on his mask. "So master, was that enough for you?"

The serial killer in question could only drop his book in awe as he threw his arms out in excitement. "C-COOl! You're so awesome!" He yelled in glee. Steeping forward he took hold of the servant's claw like hand, uncaring if he might be the next meal.

"Okay! I don't know what this Grail crap is but I'm following you from now on! Kill more people!" Ryunnosuke's eyes sparkled as he made his happiness known. "Show me even cooler ways to kill people!"

Even if his mouth was hidden away by a mask, Ryunnosuke could see that Caster was sporting a similar smile as well. "Ryunnosuke was it? I must be truly blessed by the gods themselves if my master is someone that shares in my delight. Then it is final Master, I shall show you the joy of a bloody hunt. One unlike this world has ever seen!"

Hunt? Well, who was Ryunnosuke kidding, he didn't care what this demon wanted to do. As long as he got to see more blood than he was fine with whatever his partner planned!

"Oh dear," Caster's eyes moved past Ryunnosuke to the bound forms of the parents whose child he ruthlessly devoured in front of their eyes. "Don't you know its rude to try and interrupt a conversation."

The husband's bonds had loosened from all the thrashing he had done, his strength much greater than both his wife and son. He knew that it was suicide to even attempt to fight but he wasn't thinking straight anymore, the death of his son breaking him. All that was running through his mind was avenging his dead son.

"ARGHHH!" He let loose a war cry as he stood up and rushed the two, his rope prison loosened enough for him to even achieve this feat. Raising his fist, he was ready to maul the redhead responsible for the fate of his family.

He didn't make it two feet before something skewered him through his heart. Coughing up a considerable amount of blood, the husband looked to see some sort of blade like appendage going through his body.

"Respectable but ultimately foolish." Caster remarked as he maneuvered his tail, throwing the husband's body to the floor before retracting the blade-like appendage back under his cloak. The now dead corpse splattering against the floor, blood flowing out of the hole in his chest at a rapid rate.

As the sole survivor of the family, the wife begun to absolutely lose it as she saw the dead bodies of both her son and husband lying right before her eyes. Her muffled sobs were the only sounds present in the room.

"The love of a family is life's greatest gift." Caster walked up to the crying women before kneeling down in front of her. "But fate is a cruel mistress for the greatest gift can so easily be turned into the greatest curse." Reaching up the servant cupped the weeping women's cheek, wiping the tears off.

"Rejoice however, for you shall be gifted a blessing from the gods." Taking his free hand, he plunged it straight into the women's abdomen. Still cupping the women's cheek, he leaned in and whispered into her ear, "Receive enlightenment, you poor lost lamb." He finished as he freed his hand from the body effortlessly.

However instead of blood pouring out of the wound, the wound begun to close on itself miraculously. No signs of the wound ever happening remained, the only signs present was the tear in her shirt that the servant had stabbed her through.

At first the woman was confused, however that confusion did not last long as pain soon overcame her. Collapsing unto the ground, she begun to convulse as her entire frame was wracked in pain. All that she could manage was pained muffled screams as her body shake erratically on the ground.

Flicking his wrist to clean off any blood on his metallic claws, Caster looked at the convulsing women with intrigue. "Hmm, it seems the blood is very potent here. Just a few drops of blood are required for it to take hold. Very promising."

Standing up and wiping his mask clean of blood he looked back at his master, who looked at him with sparkles floating around him. "So Master, I hope that I am everything that you wished to be."

"Everything and more!" Walking up to him, Ryunnosuke begun to realized something. "Uh, I actually never learned your name."

"Oh yes a name, I had forgotten about that, it's been so long since I've needed to use one. Hmm..." Racking through his brain, the servant found a suitable name that would fit him quite well.

"Call me Laurence then Master."

By the time the authorities had arrived at the scene, they were treated to a horrid scene. All that was left was a headless child, a husband killed by a massive hole in his chest, and a wife devoid of any injuries laughing hysterically as she soaked in the blood of her dead family.

The master and servant were long gone by the time the authorities had reached the scene, pleasantly walking down an alleyway. "What's next Laurence!" Ryunnosuke asked excitedly, like a child in an amusement park wanting more and more fun.

"Patience master, we will get to the fun part soon enough." With his arms placed behind his back. Laurence gave his master a hidden smile as his bladed tail swung discretely underneath his cloak. The only visible part was the actual blade of the tail as it seemed to be wagging to match the mood of its master.

And as the two departed into the night,

If one looked up for the split second that it had occurred, they might've seen it.

A red glow encompassing the moon.

Beckoning all to receive its divine truth.

My heir to The Hunt. Wanted to try the story of a hunter who lost the battle with bloodlust and embraced it fully. Unlike the Hunt, this will sort of follow the Zero storyline; unlike The Hunt with the Yharnam universe vs the masters and servants. Though I'll add my own plot twists into the story, incorporating some key things I planned to write in The Hunt.

And yes, Ryunnosuke is going to be living past the first chapter, his going to be somewhat a pupil to 'Laurence' as the maddened hunter preaches his philosophy to him.

Hope you all enjoyed this!