"Someone help!" Bell Cranel screamed as he stared death in the face. He had run as far as his legs could take him and resorted to crawling backwards, constantly moving out of desperation to escape, until his back was literally against the wall. "Help!"

His screams only served to further spur the monster chasing him. Towering over his small frame like an imposing giant, the mass of muscle and the head of a bull that was known as the Minotaur advanced slowly. What it was doing on the upper floors Bell had no idea, but it had given chase to Bell the moment it saw him and he had been running ever since.

"H-Help…" Bell said in a whimpering voice as he cowered. It was all he could do now that he was backed into a corner and unable to escape.

The bull-headed humanoid's red eyes glowed with rage. It frothed at the mouth after having chased him for so long. Stomping forward, it let loose a bestial roar loud enough to make Bell's bones rattle until the shadow of death it cast washed over him.

"Anyone…" he called again futilely. There would be no help. The savior that would spare him from death's cold embrace was a minute away. The dungeon itself hindered her advance in an attempt to claim the life of a young adventurer this day and would not be denied.

"I..." Time slowed in front of Bell as the chambered fist of the monster began to rocket forward. "I don't want to die."

There was a flash of pain for a moment as the mighty fist of the Minotaur met his arms, raised in a desperate attempt to defend himself. Frail human bones snapped like hardy twigs. Flesh tore like paper. Last was a flash of pain as the blow connected to his head and his awareness ended…

I don't want to die.

The next thing he knew, he was floating. His consciousness was in a daze and his body felt like it was being cradled by a gentle pressure. It was as though he was within the murky depths of the deep sea.

Someone, help me.

There was a distant light that seemed to start filtering in from above. Was it the Heavens? Was this it? Would he leave behind the goddess that took him in, the lone goddess that cared for him since he arrived? Would he disappear without accomplishing anything?

Not yet. I'm not ready to go yet.

He didn't want that. But no matter how hard he struggled to move, he couldn't. The strength just wasn't there. All he could do was float there towards the inevitable end, praying silently for someone to give him a second chance.

Can anyone hear my prayer?

[R-M]

There was no God or Goddess that would overturn the cycle of life and death. It was an irrefutable law of nature that even they couldn't easily interfere with. However, there was a being that was sympathetic to his plea.

It could not be defined as by the terms of the Heavens or the Earth. But rather it existed outside of them both and dwelled within the Cosmos itself. It reached for the colorless soul, cradling it tenderly against its bosom. Such a frail thing that it was… so fragile that it could likely be shattered with a hard touch. Yet, it held the potential to be tempered into an adequate Hunter that would bring the night of the Hunt to an end.

Thus it proposed a contract: An escape from death for as long as it served the will of this 'Great One' and a respite to the waking world for every great feat befitting a 'Hunter' chosen by it, until the night of the Hunt is brought to an end.

The colorless soul quivered in acceptance to escape death, yearning to return to life no matter what. So the Great One dyed the colorless soul the hue of paleblood and the contract was established, bringing the Moon-Haired Hunter to the Dream…