《Apocalypse Hunter》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1: A World of Fools (Prologue Included) Prologue: ¡°Dear hunter, someone is walking from the horizon of the wilderness. I have no idea if he¡¯s a Reaver, a wanderer, a hunter, a bum, or a devil. What do I do in this situation?¡± The hunter replies, ¡°Just shoot first.¡± After a brief pause, he exins, ¡°Attack is the best defense.¡± ¡ª Chapter 1: A World of Fools ¡°Can¡¯t give it to yah.¡± ¡°I know that times have be weird, but you must have lost your intellect. In this case, the only reason you¡¯re not giving it to me is because you don¡¯t want to. It¡¯s not because you can¡¯t.¡± ¡°I had a lot of chips when I came to you with my request, but I¡¯ve used them all up since then. We wouldn¡¯t be in this situation if you¡¯d been faster at fulfilling the request!¡± The man¡¯s attitude hadpletely changed from their previous meeting as he gazed indifferently at the pile of monster ears Zin had brought. Not even four days ago, he¡¯d been begging Zin to the point of kissing his ass, but now, after Zin had taken care of the troublesome group of beasts, he was acting as if nothing had happened, unwilling to pay up. ¡°If I recall, a pay cut based on time ofpletion wasn¡¯t part of the deal.¡± ¡°Well, that depends. Anyway, I have no more chips. Can¡¯t give to you what I don¡¯t have.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ this might be some rural area, in a town somewhere in the boonies, but you do realize that not paying a hunter for his work isn¡¯t exactly the smartest thing to do.¡± The manughed off his warning. ¡°Heh, you might be a devil hunter and not a regr one, but I can¡¯t give you what¡¯s no longer there. And if you¡¯ve been hunting down beasts, you¡¯ve probably got enough chips as rewards, so why don¡¯t you just quietly let this go?¡± Suddenly, the man stared at Zin with a different look on his face. It wasn¡¯t the look of a person who couldn¡¯t pay because he was out of money. ¡°That is, if you wanna get back safe with whatever chips you got.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re misunderstanding something here.¡± Zin didn¡¯t even flinch at the man¡¯s threat. ¡°The amount of chips that you owe me is not the point.¡± Zin continued to speak as his face hardened. ¡°It¡¯s the fact that someone won¡¯t pay a hunter his due¡ªthat¡¯s the point.¡± Someone who didn¡¯t want to pay. Someone who needed to get paid. This never-ending feud had been ongoing since the Apocalypse. The town leader, who possessed more than twenty guns was trying to avoid paying Zin at all costs. And therefore, he yed hisst card. Reaching under the table, he slowly pulled out an object. Zin watched with amusement. He cocked it. CLICK! ¡°You realize what this is?¡± ¡°A ¡®gun¡¯.¡± The man looked leisurely at Zin as if he¡¯d gained the upper hand¡ªZin stayed still. ¡°Walk away, won¡¯t you¡­? Heh.¡± The man smirked before he could murmur, ¡®before I shoot¡¯. But Zin gave a big sigh; there was no need for him to pay attention to the man¡¯s gun. ¡°Dork¡­¡± Zin grimaced. Instead of getting angry, he looked even more dumbfounded and annoyed. ¡°Do you even know what a gun is?¡± ¡°Of course. This thing can take care of anybody in one shot. Hunters are no exception.¡± ¡°Look¡­ first of all, you¡¯re holding it wrong.¡± The man was holding the gun on the slide instead of the grip. A person would only end up smacking someone with the grip if they held it in such a manner. ¡°Plus, your fancy gun doesn¡¯t even have a trigger.¡± The gun only had a trigger guard. The man didn¡¯t even know how to use a gun. ¡°And there¡¯s no magazine.¡± The semi-automatic didn¡¯t have a magazine attached. Zin felt annoyed that he had to exin all of this, and that the man was threatening him. However, the man still looked confident. ¡°You think you¡¯re all that, Mr. Hunter, but do you know how many people have died because of this gun?¡± It was as if the man believed that he could have his way by using a gun without a magazine. He probably rose up as the town¡¯s leader with this gun. Zin started exining some obvious facts. ¡°Hey, guns need magazines to be effective A gun by itself is worthless.¡± The manughed again. ¡°Not once have I heard of a gun that needed paper magazines.¡± The man had no idea what a magazine was and that a gun needed ammunition. Zin was starting to get tired of the whole situation. ¡°Do you think a hunter has no idea what a gun is?¡± The world had be a strange ce where even fools were trying to fool a hunter. Breathing out another sigh, Zin pulled out his silver revolver. There was no more time to waste. ¡°Guns are not for show.¡± ¡°Wha¡­ what¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯re for shooting.¡± ¡ªbang!¡ª A shot fired off from the muzzle. ¡°Arrrgh!¡± The man screamed. ¡°¡­just missed it.¡± The man felt the bullet whistle right past his ear, and he soon realized what a gun could do. ¡°It¡¯s the real deal!¡± If the bullet had gone a fraction of an inch toward his face, he wouldn¡¯t even be screaming in the first ce. Realizing who he was fooling around with, the many t on the ground. ¡°Oh my¡­ Mr. Hunter. I¡¯m so sorry¡­¡± ¡°Enough. Get me the chips.¡± ¡°Right here!¡± ¡°And give me that as well.¡± ¡°Ye¡­yes!¡± Zin disassembled the semi-automatic and threw it away before another fool decided to mess with the gun. The man ran to the storage room and brought back eighty blue chips aspensation. After counting the chips, Zin waved at the man. ¡°Ye¡­yes, do you need me for something?¡± ¡°This applies to rogue clients like yourself, so let¡¯s revise our agreement for furtherpensation.¡± ¡°Wh¡­what?¡± ¡°I¡¯m charging you an additional twenty chips for unnecessary stress.¡± ¡°What??¡± ¡°Another twenty for overtime since you didn¡¯t tell me the exact location of the beasts.¡± ¡°What in the world¡­?¡± ¡°Another forty since there were about thirty percent more beasts than you initially mentioned.¡± ¡°No¡­¡± ¡°Another ten since the rain on my way back really fouled up my mood.¡± ¡°What!¡± ¡°So that¡¯s an additional ny chips. Plus forty chips for ammo, so you owe me a hundred and thirty chips on top.¡± Zin¡¯s request was out of the norm. And the man started toin. ¡ªCLICK!¡ª Zin aimed at the man and whispered to him. ¡°The bullet or your head. Do you want to find out which one¡¯s tougher?¡± ¡°Ha¡­haha¡­.¡± After collecting an additional one hundred and thirty chips on top of the eighty chips, Zin talked calmly to the man who had no more chips. ¡°Don¡¯t cheat a hunter out of hispensation, unless you want to get into additional negotiations.¡± A hunter¡¯s negotiation was not a negotiation. Had the man given the promised eighty chips, things wouldn¡¯t have turned out this way, but there was no point in regretting it now. From the man¡¯s perspective, he was lucky to have walked away with his life even after threatening the hunter. Feeling unbnced, the man watched Zin walk away. He then looked at the disassembled semi-automatic. ¡°So, we need paper magazines to use guns.¡± It appeared as if the fool had a long way to go. Chapter 2 Chapter 2: Incident at the Prison (1) Because of the sudden gunshot, the townspeople were now eying Zin. They were all nervous since this was probably the first time any of them had heard a gunshot. They didn¡¯t know what was going on, so they hid themselves from the hunter. Whatever the reason, it didn¡¯t really matter to Zin, who had already pocketed his reward. Zin sighed as he left the small town. The townspeople who were scared of the fake gun were probably living as ves, and that man had thought that the fake gun¡¯s power was real. ¡°It¡¯s still a world of fools.¡± Zin walked and read the messages that started to pop up in front of his eyes. [Darkborn Energy ¨C 0.32%] [All non-vital functions are inactive, remaining energy level ¨C 392 days 2 hours 32 seconds] [Devil¡¯s blood is needed] Zin would stop functioning when he consumed all his energy. However, Zin knew better than anyone that there were no more devils in this world. Out of the 210 blue chips that he earned, Zin consumed 100 of them. A normal person wouldn¡¯t dare to do something so insane, but Zin ate the chips like a snack. [Alternative energy consumption: 100 chips] [Uptime increased: 100h] For every chip consumed, one hour of life was extended. The uptime estimation was based on the level of darkborn energy, and when a potent amount of force was used, one¡¯s lifetime decreased. [Alternative energy has low efficiency. Please search for the devil¡¯s blood] Zin looked at the warning message and sighed. A hundred years ago, the world¡¯sst devil was hunted down. Two hundred and eleven years had passed since the Apocalypse. It was still a world of fools, and Zin was no different since he was living as a devil hunter in a world without devils. After the Apocalypse, people wanted tall and thick walls around their homes, and so towns grew bigger with taller walls. However, in a world where technology had vanished, construction was difficult to carry out, resulting in brittle trash walls built up from stones and rocks. The world¡¯s tallest and strongest wall was built before the Apocalypse. However, life before the Apocalypse hadn¡¯t required any walls. Therefore, building walls hadn¡¯t been amon practice. However, no matter how umon the practice, there were ces where the humans needed tall and thick walls. And one of those ces was the Prison. Prisons that housed many inmates were the perfect shelters for humans who lived in fear of beasts. The prison cells were small and adjacent to each other, which allowed many people to live them. The prisons also had tall watchtowers that allowed them to easily spot any external threats. Weapons were stored in the prisons to attack and defend against beasts. Therefore, all prisons, or at least the ones with tall and thick walls, were the best dwelling ces. Obviously, the weapons became unusable over a period of time, but even after two hundred years, the prisons became suitable habitations with tall walls and safe cells. The original purpose of a prison was to prevent someone from getting out, but now, a prison became a ce to prevent others froming in. ¡°So this is the Ard Point.¡± Zin stared at the tall wall in front of his eyes. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± The guards who spotted the approaching Zin showed up at the top of the wall. All of them had an arrow aimed at Zin. Looking at the bowstrings stretched to their limits, Zin felt weird. A hundred years ago, when guns and ammunitions were readily avable, people at the top of the wall would have patrolled with their guns. From machine guns and sniper rifles to rifles, from rifles to sub-machine guns, from sub-machine guns to pistols, from pistols to bow guns. And now, there were arrows. Zin wondered how much further their weapons would degrade. He thought perhaps slings and slingshots would be used next. Now, technology was degenerating instead of developing. As Zin realized how times have changed, he also realized that he¡¯d lived for far too long. ¡°I¡¯m a hunter.¡± Whether it was a town, security point, fortress or castle, there were two types of attitude towards a hunter ¡ª unweing or weing. A hunter and a Reaver were not too different in that they both killed humans and beasts. The only difference was that Reavers killed without reason, whereas hunters received chips to kill either humans or beasts. If a hunter was needed, a hunter would be weed, meaning that there were possible requests. If a town had no issues, the townspeople would not be so weing towards a hunter, who was essentially a stranger. ¡°Come on in.¡± The guard¡¯s words suggested that there were possible requests for a hunter. ¡ªcreeeeeeeak!¡ª The rusted steel door made a creaking sound as it opened, and Zin walked inside past the door. The two doormen were watching Zin alertly. The guards were armed with machetes and wooden spears, and they drew their weapons at Zin. ¡°No need to be hostile here. It¡¯s his loss if he starts amotion.¡± A man came down from the wall, and at his words everyone else withdrew their weapons. The men were poorly equipped, but were organized. The man came and stretched out a hand to Zin. ¡°I am Baek-Goo, and I am the Captain of the Guard at Ard Point.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Zin.¡± ¡°Quite an interesting name you have.¡± ¡°The same goes for you.¡± ¡°Hah¡­ is that so?¡± ¡°Before the Apocalypse, people used to name their dogs ¡®Baek-Goo.''¡± Instead of being annoyed by Zin¡¯s words, Baek-Goo started tough. ¡°Haha, yeah, my father used to beat me like a dog.¡± Zin chuckled at his reaction. The Captain of the Guard of Ard Point seemed to be a person with a sense of humor, which was a trait rarely seen in these times. ¡°I was trying to piss you off intentionally, but anyway, my apologies.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. That¡¯s how hunters are like.¡± Baek-Goo walked away and gestured to Zin. ¡°We are in need of help, so we can tolerate such discourtesy.¡± Baek-Goo started walking into the prison building, and Zin followed suit. Inside the Ard Point prison was a garden, taken care of by people who seemed to be residents. ¡°Quite a livelymunity.¡± Every vige had its own lifestyle, but in this ce, looking at the guards and those farming food, it seemed that themunity had chosen to produce and distribute food as amunity as well. Zin estimated that at least two or three hundred people currently resided in Ard Point. In a vige where amunity was formed, the leader had the most power, and eachmunity had its own strengths and weaknesses. Of course, Zin had seen many cases where the weaknesses were visibly magnified. However, he did not notice any signs of pain or exhaustion from the people. ¡°Looks like a pretty goodmunity¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got beasts that are edible,and they haven¡¯t been attacking us these days. It¡¯s great here.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good to hear.¡± Hunting beasts that weren¡¯t poisonous was one way to gain food. However, there was no use hunting the undead and the poisonous beasts. Those were only hunted to extract chips. ¡°Who¡¯s the boss here?¡± ¡°Our leader? Are you talking about our elder? He¡¯s an old man, but wiser than anybody else. We were able to go through rough times because of the elder¡¯s wisdom.¡± In every vige, the leaders would be called by different titles, and in this ce, it seemed that the leader was referred to as the elder. From Zin¡¯s perspective, Ard Point seemed to be an ordinary ce. However, Zin fell into deep thought. ¡°Hmm¡­ this is troublesome¡­¡± It was clear that the vige had some troubling matters. It was usually some direct threat like hunger, attacks from the beasts, or the Reaver¡¯s raids. These types of issues had to be dealt with right away without much thought. Judging from its exterior appearance, this vige seemed to be trouble-free. However, the fact that this type of vige was in need of a hunter meant that there was a big underlying problem. Based on Zin¡¯s experience, peaceful-looking viges usually made dangerous and strange requests. Baek-Goo said, ¡°The elder may not ask you for help, so don¡¯t expect too much.¡± ¡°He won¡¯t?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Baek-Goo himself also looked puzzled. ¡°So far, five hunters havee by, but none of them received a request.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ that¡¯s interesting to hear.¡± ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not even sure what kind of person the elder wants.¡± Baek-Goo started telling Zin about the elder¡¯s strange behavior. Out of nowhere, the elder said that a hunter was needed, and when a hunter visited, he would reject them every time. Without giving a specific reason, he would reject the hunter. He would then tell them to search for new hunters, but would always ask the visiting hunter to leave after a night¡¯s stay. ¡°So¡­ you can assume that you¡¯ll get a night¡¯s rest if you don¡¯t receive a request.¡± ¡°Well. Whatever happens, I have nothing to lose.¡± Getting a night¡¯s rest in a safe ce was a pretty sweet deal, and even though the leader seemed odd, Zin had nothing to lose. Chapter 3 Chapter 3: Incident at the Prison (2) The leader¡¯s room used to be one of the jailer¡¯s rooms, and as usual, the leader¡¯s room was on the top floor. ¡°Herees the hunter.¡± ¡°Alright, I see himing.¡± The leader was an elderly man, and although his face was full of liver spots, his voice was firm, and he did not appear feeble. The elder scanned Zin slowly, as if he was trying to get a sense of Zin¡¯s past life. He¡¯d met five hunters, and rejected them all. It might have been for no reason, or perhaps he was justified in doing so. As soon as the elder finished scanning Zin, he nodded slowly. ¡°Mm¡­ Yes. He is the one. Well done, Baek-Goo.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes. You are dismissed.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Baek-Goo wondered what the elder could have possibly found after a quick nce. He didn¡¯t quite get it, but he followed the elder¡¯s order. He walked down, and Zin, standing still, watched the elder. ¡°It¡¯s good to meet a great person in such unfortunate times.¡± Zin shrugged at his words. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look that unfortunate around here.¡± ¡°The greatest misfortunes are hidden behind the shadows.¡± ¡°Hmm. I agree. Anyway, first off, I¡¯d like you to tell me how I¡¯m different from the first five hunters.¡± The first five were not chosen, but Zin was chosen. The elder startedughing. ¡°The five hunters were all fakes. They were wannabe losers. However, you are the real deal.¡± ¡°How can you be so sure of that?¡± The elder raised his hand, and pointed at Zin¡¯s ck trench coat. ¡°The real hunters wear outfits that can hide a lot of stuff inside.¡± ¡°Interesting observation.¡± ¡°The sound of steel meeting steel. The faint smell of gunpowder. This is a proof that you¡¯re the real deal.¡± Zin¡¯s trench coat had plenty of space to hide things like a sharpened sword or gun. In a short period of time, the elder had picked up clues from Zin¡¯s appearance, and knew that Zin carried a gun. The elder was no ordinary client. And it was impressive that he identified the gunpowder smell so quickly. Zin asked. ¡°Were you a hunter before?¡± ¡°I was in a Hunter¡¯s Nest for quite a bit. I have good instincts.¡± ¡°Looks like I ran into a tricky client.¡± ¡°I will take that as apliment.¡± A client who understood the physiology of a hunter was a tough client. The elderughed as Zin asked again: ¡°Shall we talk about your request?¡± As soon as Zin asked, the elder¡¯s face hardened, and he started to speak. ¡°Towards the sun-setting west, there is a city that¡¯s a four-day walk away. Do you know about it? ¡°Hmm¡­ If I remember correctly, it¡¯s the city of Zado, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Correct. So, you know about it.¡± ¡°As the leader of Ard Point, what do you have to do with the city?¡± ¡°Some time ago, Zado City was destroyed. Our merchant told me about the news.¡± Zin grimaced. The average number of residents in a city could be as small as three hundred, and sometimes as many as a thousand. It was unusual for a city to be so easily destroyed. There were two cases when a city would get destroyed¡ªeither from the beasts¡¯ attacks or a Reaver¡¯s raid. ¡°Was there a raid from a massive ughterhouse? ¡°No, it was caused by the beasts. He said that it couldn¡¯t have been done by humans.¡± ¡°There are no beasts capable of destroying such a city in the region of ancient Korea.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking.¡± Ancient-Korea ¡ª The Korean penins was on the outskirt of outskirts, and there was no group of beasts or elite beasts capable of taking down a city. From that perspective, Ancient-Korea was a good region to live in. The elder knew about that fact, and was perplexed. ¡°If there¡¯s a beast capable of destroying a city, this ce is no longer safe.¡± ¡°True.¡± ¡°However, without knowing exactly what¡¯s going on, we can¡¯t migrate so easily.¡± ¡°Obviously, wandering outside is not a smart thing to do.¡± For that reason, the elder had waited for a hunter. The vige¡¯s guard was just a guard, and didn¡¯t have the same skill sets as a professional hunter. Guards simply fought. However, hunters observed, listened,id low, fought, and pursued. A hunter was best suited for this type of task. ¡°I would like you to investigate what beast attacked the city of Zado, and whether it¡¯s dangerous enough that we¡¯ll need to migrate. If you can bring some convincing proof, that will be even better.¡± The elder did not expect a single hunter to defeat a beast that had taken down a whole city. Therefore, the hunter was given a surveince request, not a hunt request. There were many hunters who failed to fulfill this type of requests with diligence. For that reason, the elder had looked for a trustworthy hunter¡ªnot a fake, but a true hunter. If Zin confirmed that the group of beasts that destroyed Zado City was dangerous, then the residents of Ard Point would have to leave for a new ce. The request might have been a simple one, but it came with great risk. However, Zin thought that the request was worth epting. It was a simple, yet strange one. This type of request usuallyted Zin with great returns. It was worth it, especially if it involved a fallen city. If a city had been destroyed, the city¡¯s blue chips would have no owners. Even without a hunter request, it was worth going to the city, and the reward frompleting the request would just be a bonus. ¡°First, let¡¯s talk about payment.¡± ¡°Advanced payment of 100. I¡¯ll pay up 100 afterpletion. Depending on how trustworthy you are, I will pay an additional 100.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty generous.¡± ¡°I am asking for that much diligence in return.¡± 300 blue chips was arge amount, enough to maintain the Point¡¯s energy level for about a month. It was not an amount that a small town¡¯s leader or the fool would have in possession. Considering that most beast-hunting requests paid one to three chips per beast, it was arge amount. As a surveince request, the pay was high, and the elder considered the request as an important deal. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do it.¡± Zin nodded as it was a very good request that wouldn¡¯t need further negotiation. The elder gave him the advanced payment, and Zin epted it. More often than not, people who faked being hunters would receive the advanced payment and run away. It was prettymon to see requests without a prepayment. Those who did advanced payments of 100 chips were divided into two groups¡ªthe dumb ones or the ones with great instincts. Zin thought that he was thetter. ¡°You told me that you were in a Hunter¡¯s Nest before. Where is that?¡± ¡°A nest called ¡®Lightning Bird¡¯.¡± ¡°Hmm, I see.¡± Zin nodded and then stood up. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll leave tomorrow. You¡¯ll have to wait about a week.¡± ¡°It probably a dangerous beast, so don¡¯t think about fighting it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s for me, a hunter, to decide.¡± ¡°Haha¡­ Well, probably.¡± As Zin walked out of the elder¡¯s room, he tried to remember a nest named ¡®Lightning Bird¡¯. He tried to imagine how the elder would have looked as a young hunter. Images popped up and faded away. ¡°I¡¯ve been through a lot.¡± Zin grimaced yet again. Zin moved in to one of the prison cells after getting guidance from Baek-Goo. It was a small cell, but it was hard to get a safer ce than this. ¡°Are you okay with potatoes as a meal?¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Baek-Goo walked away somewhere, and brought back three steamed potatoes. ¡°Surprisingly, hunters can get picky. I remember some of them used to ask for meat.¡± Baek-Goo grumbling as if referring to the five hunters who¡¯de previously. Zin smiled. ¡°I think we have a misunderstanding here.¡± ¡°Misunderstanding?¡± ¡°Hunters who seek meat are not hunters.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ some people hate meat?¡± For the residents, meat was hard toe by. But hunters ate too much meat. Since hunters wandered outside for a long period time, they would usually get sick of eating meat. Baek-Goo nodded slowly as if he¡¯d realized something. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve listened to you, it makes sense. Does that mean that those who seek meat are fakers?¡± ¡°Very possible.¡± ¡°Good. I¡¯m learning something good today. I¡¯ll remember this.¡± Baek-Goo murmured the phrase, ¡°Meat-seeking hunters are fake.¡± Zin felt amused by Baek-Goo¡¯s actions. Some people still tried to learn and memorize new things. Baek-Goo seemed to have nothing to do in particr and sat next to Zin who was eating the potatoes. ¡°Hey. About that Zado City¡­¡± ¡°Anything you want to tell me?¡± ¡°I think the wolves did it.¡± Zin¡¯s face hardened. ¡°Wolves?¡± ¡°The most fearsome beast is probably the Giant Wolf. I think those beasts formed packs and attacked Zado City. I asked about the merchant, and he said that the corpses were ripped apart as if something had gnawed on them.¡± ¡°Sorry to interrupt you, but Giant Wolves act solo, and they don¡¯t form packs.¡± For that reason, Baek-Goo¡¯s assumption was incorrect. However, Baek-Goo shook his head. ¡°I know. I hunted a Giant Wolf myself before. I did it by using a trick.¡± Zin was surprised at Baek-Goo¡¯sment. A Giant Wolf was a beast over ten feet in size; not quite arge-sized beast, but big enough to be categorized as a mid-sized beast. To Zin, it was surprising to hear a guard say that he¡¯d hunted a Giant Wolf before. And Baek-Goo wasn¡¯t bluffing either. Zin asked: ¡°A trick?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ It¡¯s a hunting trick that I developed. You know that Giant Wolves protect their own territory, right? If I provoked a wolf into following me to another wolf¡¯s territory, the one whose territory got invaded will rush out to fight off the invader. Both wolves will fight until one dies. And at that moment, I¡¯ll have to finish off the one that¡¯s exhausted. Once, when we were short of food, I desperately pulled off this trick to get meat.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± Zin nodded slowly. He was surprised that Baek-Goo hade up with such a hunting method himself. The method was not that of a guard or a warrior. It was a hunter¡¯s method. It was surprising that he¡¯d thought about it without learning how to hunt. Hunting without getting injured was the best hunting method, and Baek-Goo had figured it out. Zin thought that Baek-Goo should be proud of himself. ¡°But anyway, here¡¯s the important part.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I think this is the devil¡¯s deed.¡± Zin felt deted by his never-ending talk. Chapter 4 Chapter 4: Monster and Monsters (1) Excited, Baek-Goo kept on yapping. ¡°What other monster would make solitary Giant Wolves form a pack? The only monster that can make a group of beasts form into a pack is a devil. I¡¯m certain about this. I¡¯m sure that the devil brought the pack of Giant Wolves to Zado City, and wiped it out.¡± ¡°¡­ you sure know some random things.¡± Zin was speechless to the point of amazement.. It was surprising how a guard from the boonies could be so misinformed about the devil. Zin thought it was problematic that Baek-Goo believed that the Giant Wolves had formed a pack because the devil was involved. ¡°I always ask around whenever a stranger visit, and I¡¯ve learned quite a bit after listening to others. Don¡¯t you think that my theory makes sense? Looking at Baek-Goo who firmly believed that the devil was behind it all, Zin shook his head. ¡°Hey, Baek-Goo, do you even know what a devil is?¡± ¡°Devil? A devil is a devil is a devil?¡± ¡°What you described is just one type of a devil.¡± Since Zin was going to stay the night anyway, he thought that it would be okay to tell the naive Baek-Goo some stories. ¡°The term ¡®devil¡¯ refers to all seven groups of monsters.¡± ¡°Seven groups? Aren¡¯t all devils the same?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Baek-Goo was way too engaged in the topic, and Zin felt ufortable. But Zin continued. In the past, bringing up that name was a curse, but now it was just a thing of the past. ¡°Dragon, Demon, Vampire, Phantom, Immortal, Alien, and Witch.¡± Baek-Goo was perplexed after hearing about the seven devils. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s what, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard about some of those before.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Zin whispered in a low voice. ¡°None of them exist in this world anymore.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t exist anymore?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Zin was whispering the world¡¯s secrets to the attentive listener while he ate. ¡°Dragons were put to sleep, Demons were exorcised, Vampires were burnt to death, Phantoms were cleansed, Immortals were sealed, Aliens were exiled, and Witches were hunted.¡± Zin decided to tell him this in order to exin the current status of this world. Baek-Goo wasn¡¯t smart enough to understand the meaning of Zin¡¯s words. Zin stared at Baek-Goo and said: ¡°Therefore, it cannot be the devil¡¯s deeds.¡± Zin wasn¡¯t joking around, and Baek-Goo slowly nodded. ¡°Then what do you think destroyed the city of Zado?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to go there to figure it out. But there¡¯s no chance that a devil is behind it.¡± Baek-Goo nodded. ¡°You¡¯re not an ordinary hunter. My instincts are pretty urate.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re an ordinary guard, either.¡± ¡°Hah, I¡¯m just a fool.¡± ¡°One who calls himself a fool is usually not a fool.¡± ¡°Hah, whatever. Anyway, what were the special hunters called? What was it¡­¡± Baek-Goo thought that the hunter in front of him might be the hunter that he kept on hearing about. It didn¡¯t take long for him to remember the name. ¡°That¡¯s right! I just remembered! Devil hunter. You¡¯re a devil hunter!¡± Baek-Goo started getting excited. Zin thought that this naive man didn¡¯t even understand what a devil hunter was about. If one knew about it, one would not be happy to meet one face-to-face. Zin didn¡¯t answer, and Baek-Goo, after talking for a while, asked again. ¡°You know what?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You said that there are no more devils.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Then why do we need a devil hunter? Hmm¡­ well, why do we need a harvesting tool like a scythe, when there¡¯s no grain to harvest?¡± Zin was amused at Baek-Goo¡¯s analogy¡ªwhy need a devil hunter in a devil-free world? There were scythes, but no grain to harvest. What was the use for that scythe in this world? The analogy was cheesy, but to the point. ¡°Well,¡± Zin answered and added: ¡°I¡¯m curious about that myself.¡± ¡°What are you talking about¡­¡± Baek-Goo sighed at this nonsense, and Zin smiled, amused. ¡°Then why are you wandering around?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to hunt down the devil,¡± Zin answered. ¡°But you told me that there are no more devils?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sure that there aren¡¯t anymore devils, but why are you looking for one?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zin pondered for a while, and answered calmly. ¡°I haven¡¯t really thought about it.¡± Baek-Goo thought to himself ¡®What sort of crazy man is this guy?¡¯, and shook his head. Night came, and Zin was lying down on afortable nket, staring at the ceiling of the cell. Because of the thick prison walls, he didn¡¯t have worry too much about potential threats. It was a great blessing not having to worry about staying alert all night long in the open wilderness. Quite a smart guy. Zin thought that Baek-Goo was a pretty sharp person. If he figured out a way to hunt effectively, he could be a skillful hunterter on. However, a great hunter was not necessarily a great person. Bing a hunter wasn¡¯t a blessing. It was a hunter¡¯s destiny to die in the wilderness. It was probably much better living within the confinement of a wall. From the prison facility, the road to reach a Hunter¡¯s Nest with some sort of education system was quite far, and Zin had no intention of taking Baek-Goo there. After all, he was just another person that Zin had came across by chance. Zin knew that there was no point in clinging to such a rtionship. Even though Baek-Goo¡¯s talents were overqualified as a guard, as a hunter, he would perish while confronting a beast that couldn¡¯t be hunted. More than anything, Zin was too fatigued to form a new rtionship with another person. It was too much of a bother. When working on annoying tasks, even more bothersome things happened. This was one of Zin¡¯s adages that he lived by. Zin woke up and left early at dawn the next day. Baek-Goo got him a couple more potatoes, and Zin went his way, feeling refreshed by the hospitality which was rarely disyed by the people in this world. ¡°What a strange vige.¡± Ard Point¡ªa vige built from a prison facility ¡ªwas a calm, yet strange vige. Unless it were a freely-traveling city, strangers were more likely to be ignored, but Zin did not get that impression during his stay at Ard Point. He wasn¡¯t necessarily weed, but the people looked peaceful. The elder took care of the people, and the people respected the elder. In Zin¡¯s point of view, out of the numerous cities and viges that he¡¯de across, Ard Point was a pretty good ce to dwell. However, Zin knew one fact. A vige that was too hospitable would end up destroyed sooner orter. There was a reason why people got rid of their feelings of generosity. Generosity was a weakness, and weakness meant danger. ¡°I will give them at most ten years.¡± Humans treated others cruelly not because they wanted to act that way, but because it was necessary in order to survive for a longer period of time. Humans used to search for ways to live longer, and it was no different these days. But, in order to survive in a world where civilization had disappeared, developing technologies was a thing of the past, and the only option left for humans was to be cruel. That was the answer to longevity, as well as a survival n. ¡ªbang!¡ª Zin demonstrated this by sniping a stranger walking from far away. Zin slowly walked towards the dead body with his rifle strapped on his shoulder. The corpse was still, a bullet stuck deep in its forehead. There was not much difference between a hunter and a Reaver. To be exact, all wanderers were the same. Besides oneself, everything was an enemy. One always attacked first before getting attacked. It was difficult to determine whether the opponent was an enemy or not. One would rather kill first and then think. If it was an innocent person, one would feel the bad aftertaste of killing someone innocent, but would be granted another day to live. ¡°Pretty lucky.¡± Zin murmured as he looked at the cloudy, dark-red blood stains on the corpse. The wanderer had suffered from an addiction to Chaos Poison. ¡°Man¡­ was this guy in the process of bing a beast?¡± Watching the blood start to boil, Zin took out the flint from his coat. ¡ªpzzzt!¡ª Zin created a fire, dropped it on the pool of blood, and then ran away from the corpse. ¡ªboom!!¡ª Soon, a zing fire exploded loudly. Zin rolled a couple of times forward from the shock of the explosion, and then stood up. As Zin dusted off his coat, he walked away from the explosion behind him. ¡°Grrrrarrgghahhhhh!!¡± A premature monster came out of the corpse, struggling and screaming, but Zin didn¡¯t look its way. In any case, those wandering the wilderness were hunters, robbers, Reavers, vagabonds, and refugees. Aside from the refugees, the rest of them weren¡¯t innocent, and even then the refugees were far from being virtuous. Just now, the dead man had been a vagabond who could turn into a monster at any time, and Zin had kept himself safe by overpowering the opponent first. Still, there were four more days until his destination¡ªa long way to go. Chapter 5 Chapter 5: Monster and Monsters (2) A city was a vige that was independently formed by people without a ruler. In order to support themselves, they focused on farming andmerce activities, with most of the people involved in thetter. Therefore, a city was a ce where a lot of wanderers stopped by, and was open to everybody. Thisrge floating poption allowed a city to grow bigger than any vige. And in the city, food, lodging, water, weapons, and cheap alcohol could be bought with chips. Hunters always stopped by a city as it served as a pit stop for replenishment. However, the advantages came with disadvantages well. Cities were unsafe, had weak security forces, and thus were easily attacked by beasts. In addition, the unmaintained streets were filled with abandoned corpses and the stench of rotting garbage. Epidemics swept the city from time to time, and nobody cared if a murder took ce in the middle of the day. Having no control whatsoever meant that neglect and chaos would ensue. I am inside, yet outside. Hunters visiting a city would describe it in such a manner. The city was secluded from the beasts, yet dangers simr to the ones outside still existed. Hunters had to fend off the threat of thieves and gangs trying to mug them. Of course, if they were aware of how dangerous hunters could be, they wouldn¡¯t dare to attack, but in the Ancient-Korea region, where hunters were rare, there were sometimes ignorant people who didn¡¯t know about hunters. Just like how the outside was dangerous, the city was not much safer as different threats existed. To the hunters, a city was a type of dungeon. Until the hunter could discover the wanted goods and escape the dungeon, the hunter needed to take care of himself. But now, a city that had been metaphorically referred to as a dungeon had be an actual dungeon. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zin looked at the trash wall of the city from afar. The wall built from piles of trash was barely holding upright, and its height was low at about twelve feet. There were sharp objects in the wall, but they were easily avoidable. ¡°Grrrrrr!¡± Within the city, beasts growled here and there. Among the different sounds, Zin heard a distinctive cry, a cry that sounded like the screech of rusted metal. Most of the cities were built on top of ruins, and Zado City was no different. Having trash walls was better than having nothing, and ruins were the best spot to find trash. Zado City was a rtively small city, but it was muchrger than Ard Point. A city¡¯s ability to defend itself was inversely rted to the size of the city. Zado city did not have the ability to defend itself because of its bigger size, and the consequences were present in front of Zin. ¡ªmunch! munch!¡ª Krrrrr.. ¡ªchomp! chomp! chomp!¡ª Many beasts were feasting on a corpse. Ghouls, corpse-eating beasts and monsters, and poisonous canines had all gathered around it. Zin quietly watched the party of monsters. Beasts were animals. They would usually growl, but when they were eating, they didn¡¯t disy any signs of aggression. Zin slid down the trash wall of Zado City and walked into the middle of the group of beasts. If someone were to see this, he or she would say that it was a suicidal action, but Zin walked over without any hesitation. They¡¯re starving. Beasts were animals and some of the beasts noticed Zin, but they ignored him. There was meat already in front them, and corpse-eating beasts preferred to eat corpses, instead of attacking living humans for meat. Kyaaaah! Grrrrrrr¡­! Furthermore, if the corpse-eating beasts were hungry to the point that they¡¯d attack each other, they wouldn¡¯t pay attention to Zin at all. So it was more dangerous to attack these beasts first. Although Zin walked freely among the beasts, the beasts paid no attention to him and continued to feast on the corpse. A hunter was able to survive in the wilderness not because he was strong, but because he was knowledgeable about beasts. He would know how to handle the different beasts. While others would have run away scared or started swinging their weapons, Zin calmly walked between the flesh-gnawing beasts. In the midst of the bone-breaking and flesh-chewing sounds, he walked. And the hunter thought to himself: Zado City was destroyed about a month ago. If the beasts attacked then, the corpses should be nothing but bare bones by now, so it¡¯s strange that the beasts are still eating now. Corpse hunters have just arrived. Why would they leave the corpses untouched for a month? Was the beast that attacked the city so dangerous that the corpse-eating beasts were too scared toe any closer? In the Ancient-Korean region, there are no beasts that hunt for the purpose of getting anything other than meat. Then why would the beast leave behind all the meat? If it nned to destroy the city, it would have nested in the city, and consumed all the corpses¡­ The hunter started analyzing. The corpse hunters did not destroy the city. The beast¡¯s purpose in attacking Zado City wasn¡¯t for corpses/meat. In the Ancient-Korea region, all beasts attack for the purpose of getting meat. There is a possibility that a wanderer-type beast might have entered the region. But it¡¯s very unlikely. It will be hard toe up with a conclusion regarding this incident. I¡¯ll need to look around for more clues. The corpse hunters weren¡¯t a threat. These beasts were cowards by nature and didn¡¯t act as a group. Each beast lived for their own benefit, so after eating they would run away from the different beasts. Just as beasts were not a human¡¯s only threat, humans were not the beast¡¯s only threat. In Zado City, the residential area was mostly made up of shacks and regr buildings. The hunter slowly refined the identity of the culprit. Zin did not go inside the building since there¡¯d be more corpse hunters inside them. Most of the shacks that had been hastily built with tes had copsed, but the concrete buildings were still intact. It was a beast that can crush shacks, but not concrete ones. It¡¯s possible that it¡¯s not an extrarge orrge-sized one, but a mid-sized beast. Mid-sized beasts couldn¡¯t go inside the buildings. But Zin heard flesh-eating soundsing from inside the buildings. That meant that smaller-sized beasts had entered the building and killed the humans. Small-sized and mid-sized beasts attacked the city. There were more tall buildings toward the center of the city, with louder sounds of beastsing from inside the buildings. It was clear that all the humans had been killed. As Zin scouted around the area, he couldn¡¯t help but think about the unexinable things. w marks¡­ On the hardened mud, there were giant w marks made up of four deep lines. Naturally, Zin remembered Baek-Goo¡¯s words. I think the wolves did it. But a single Giant Wolf wouldn¡¯t be able to destroy a city of this magnitude by itself. And it made no sense that a solitary beast would attack the city with a group of small-sized beasts. The situation seemed suspicious and improbable. ¡°No way¡­.¡± As Zin reached the center of the Zado ruins, he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. Even the cool-tempered Zin frowned at the bizarre scene in front of him. ¡ªcrunch! crrrunch!¡ª Krrr¡­ Grrawrl!!! There were at least fifty corpse hunters eating corpses. It was a dreadful scene where ghouls, corpse-eating beasts, and poisonous dogs all mingled together. However, Zin wasn¡¯t frowning because of that. Baek-Goo¡­ you were right. The giant pieces of flesh that the corpse hunters were hurriedly munching on were actually the dead bodies of five Giant Wolves. As Baek-Goo had said, Zado City had been destroyed by an attack of mid-sized beasts, Giant Wolves. But those Giant Wolves were now all dead. Zin climbed up thedder on a tilted building and watched the scene from the roof of the tall building. The Giant Wolves had attacked a city. Among the beasts that attacked, the mid-sized beasts were the Giant Wolves, and the smaller sized ones were the cubs. There were the dead bodies of the cubs as well, but the corpse hunters were feasting on them. It was an unbelievable sight. Giant wolves acted on their own since they only attacked beasts and humans that trespassed. They only went out to hunt if they were starving. It was almost impossible for all ten Giant Wolves to be starving at the same time. After finishing the hunt, did the wolves fight against the others and then kill each other? The fact that the corpse are in one ce suggests that they were fighting against each other, resulting in their deaths. If that was the case, it exined why the corpse hunters would have arrivedter. Because the smell of blood from the Giant Wolves was all over the ce, so the corpse hunters wouldn¡¯t have dared to approach the city. It was an unexinable situation for an ordinary person. In any case, Zin¡¯s purpose was to find out who attacked the city, not to take revenge on the attackers. Therefore, after looking at the pile of corpses, Zin¡¯s mission wasplete. The beasts were the Giant Wolves, and they were all dead after the attack. So, the people of Ard Point would not need to migrate. Hmm¡­ Would this make sense for the elder¡­? Zin knew that his exnation wouldn¡¯t be enough to be epted by the elder. It was not an ordinary situation, and it was very possible that the elder would take it as a false report. Without a recording device, it would be a challenge to convince him with the truth. Zin could yank out a couple of teeth from the Giant Wolves as evidence, but he would not be able to receive additionalpensation. A hunter¡¯s main goal was not to find the truth. Mysteries were best left as mysteries, and hunters only needed to aplish the request. The world was full of unexinable events anyway, and there was no reason to risk one¡¯s life to understand them. Zin looking at the corpse hunters whose stomachs were bulging out from feasting on the meat. This feels like a devil¡¯s deed indeed. However, Zin has witnessed many incidents that seemed to be done by a devil, but many of them did not turn out to be the case. This sort of bizarre events, though not too often, could happen at any given time. Whatever reason the Giant Wolves had gathered in this ce, it could not have been a devil that did it. For Zin, there were more important matters than observing the copse of a city. Since the city¡¯s chip safes were now without owners, it now waited for a new owner. With the amount of chips that a city of this size would own, Zin would be able to extend his uptime. Zin¡¯s alternative goal for this surveince request was to reim the chips within the city. It was more important to profit off what was certain, rather than focusing on the unknown. That was a sure-firew of survival. Fortunately, the Reavers won¡¯t be able toe in because of the beasts. Many thieves coulde to the city as soon as news of its copse started to spread around. However, Reavers could not approach the city because of the many corpse hunters. In a sense, beasts be an excellent line of defense. Hunters only hunted when there was a need for it, and they utilized beasts for that purpose as well. Zin started searching buildings that would have safes in them. Over there. Zin started moving towards a rtively intact building in the southeast side of the city. krr¡­krrrrk¡­ And behind the remains of a corpse, something was starting to wiggle and shake ominously. Chapter 6 Chapter 6: A Hunter and a Stray Cat (1) Usually, cities had big chip safes due to the threat of thieves. Storing chips at home was considered stupid. Merchants formed unions and stored all the chips in one safe altogether. asionally, there were times when the guards would embezzle the chips, but storing chips inside the safe was considered quite secure. When someone had one¡¯s chips taken away by the robbers, it was very likely that one¡¯s life could also be at risk. As a result, the people established a bizarre rationale for using a safe. Safes were supposed to be ced in secure locations, and secure locations were usually ordinary locations. People had simr thoughts, and so safes were usually ced in predictable locations. Zin entered a rather well-maintained four-story building. Safes were usually in the basement of a safe building. Zin could not remember a time when this rule did not apply. Perhaps humans instinctively thought that it was more secure to be underground. Zin felt thankful for the tendencies of people. As Zin walked down, he stopped at the sounding from ahead. ¡ªcrunch! crrunch!¡ª A ghoul was sitting down and gnawing on something. As expected, there were corpses here¡ªthree to be exact. I guess they were killed while trying to rob the safe. The stairway was the only way down to the basement. Blocking the stairway, the ghoul kept eating the corpse and ignored Zin. In the midst of this tragedy, these people had died from their greed in robbing the safe. It probably wouldn¡¯t be smart to get too close to the ghoul. The ghoul would react if one were to pass by. Fortunately, there was only one ghoul, so taking care of it was not a big deal for Zin. Zin took out a gauntlet with des. The ¡®de gauntlet¡¯ was especially useful in dealing with small-sized monsters. Slowly and quietly, Zin approached the ghoul that had its back against him. ¡ªcrunch! crunch!¡ª Krrr¡­! Krrrr¡­!! The ghoul wasn¡¯t aware of Zin at all as it continued to focus on its meal. Zin moved slowly, almost as if he stood still. Like a person walking for the first time, Zin very quietly drew close enough to the ghoul that he could see the soiled pores on its head. Hunting was simple. Approach quietly, and then¡ª ¡ªcraack!¡ª When hunting, move swifter than sound. ¡°Kr¡­ aaaarggh¡­!¡± ¡ªcrack! pow!¡ª ¡°Kraaa¡­k!¡± Zin grabbed the ghoul by the neck, breaking it and yanking itpletely off the body. The des on gauntlet shed the ghoul¡¯s neck apart. Zin overpowered the body of the ghoul and pinned it down until it stopped moving. Hunting was different from fighting a battle. Hunting involved the battle and the time taken to approach the enemy, or the time it took for the enemy to approach the hunter. Overpowering the enemy within a split second was the most optimal method of hunting. The battle itself was important yet took the shortest time. Zin stuck the blue chip extractor into the ghoul¡¯s corpse. It extracted a total of three chips from the body. Zin pulled out the extractor and headed down towards the safe. He found a closed old steel door, but the locks were unfastened. The steel door was so heavy that it would require at least three ordinary people to open. That was probably the reason why there were three dead people in here¡ªthey¡¯d tried to open the steel door. And on the steel door, there were dozens of w marks streaked across the surface. For Zin, it wasn¡¯t so hard to open the steel door. ¡ªcreeeeaaak!¡ª The heavy steel door scratched the floor as it swung open. Zin felt stunned at the sight of thentern light. Zin shook his head as he looked at whaty in front of him. A person woke to the sound of the opening steel door and looked sluggishly at Zin. The person smiled faintly. ¡°It¡¯s a human¡­.¡± A girl was lying down on the floor. The girl was so malnourished it seemed like a miracle that she was still alive. She slowly murmured: ¡°Wa¡­water¡­ plea¡­se.¡± The girl passed out after saying the words. Zin looked at the girl on the floor¡ªher body had been tied up with ropes. Zin looked around slowly to determine if she posed a threat. The exhausted girl did not wake up as Zin examined her like an object. The hunter thought: Looking at the color of her eyes, she¡¯s not a vagabond, and since she¡¯s a child, she can¡¯t be a Reaver. A civilian. She looks extremely starved. It¡¯s a miracle she¡¯s still alive. This door is too heavy for the Giant Wolf cubs to push open, and I wonder if that¡¯s how she survived. The wolves tried to open the door after sniffing the girl¡¯s scent, but the door wouldn¡¯t open. That¡¯s probably the reason for the w marks on the door. On the other hand, the door was too heavy for the girl to open. The safe saved her, but at the same time, she was starving to death inside the safe. I wonder how she entered the safe in the first ce? Did the dead robbers trap her inside? The hunter analyzed. I can use her as a witness. This girl was a survivor of Zado City. She could be used as a witness for the Ard Point request. Or he could leave her alone after listening to her testimony. It would be cumbersome to bring this small child all the way back to Ard Point. Zin searched the safe, leaving the girl alone. Soon, Zin found another reason to keep the girl alive. No chips here. There was not a single chip inside the safe. When the girl woke up, the first thing she saw was a man boiling something in a pot. Inside the sealed safe, the man watched the girl. ¡°You finally woke up.¡± Zin passed a cup of water to the girl, and the girl barely grabbed the cup to drink the water. The girl felt more energized, as if her thirst had disappeared with the crispness of the water. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°A hunter.¡± ¡°I see. I thought I was gonna die. Thank you.¡± ¡°No need for that.¡± Zin passed a bowl of soup to the girl, and she ate it quickly. Burning her tongue as she drank the hot soup, she finished itpletely. ¡°I gave you water and food, so now answer my questions.¡± The girl understood what he was about to ask. Zin was not a polite person, and spoke harshly. ¡°I¡¯ve got three questions for you.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°First, what caused the destruction of Zado City? Second, how did you end up inside the safe? Third, where are all the chips in the safe?¡± Zin asked the three questions quickly, while the girl stayed still and alert, looking at Zin. In the wilderness, safety was not guaranteed. If the hunter didn¡¯t get the answer he wanted, there was no knowing how he would react. ¡°What happens if I don¡¯t answer?¡± ¡°I will make you answer them.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Well, are you curious?¡± As Zin spoke, the girl¡¯s face hardened. The girl talked slowly and with great animosity. ¡°You¡¯re going to kill me after I answer, aren¡¯t you?¡± The girl¡¯s suspicions were understandable, since people frequently killed others after gaining the needed information. ¡°If I¡¯m someone who¡¯d kill you after listening to your answers, don¡¯t you think I¡¯d kill you if you don¡¯t answer?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°Then, I am going to ask you one thing too.¡± The girl spoke brazenly, seemingly unaware of her situation. The world was full of countless crazy and weird fools, and this behavior was nothing new to Zin. He asked: ¡°What is it?¡± The girl showed him her empty soup bowl. ¡°This. I chewed on something meat-like?¡± She¡¯d eaten it in a hurry, and the food had the texture of meat. It was very tough and smelled bad. She¡¯d eaten it first, but felt uneasy afterwards. More importantly, meat was not something that people shared with strangers so easily. ¡°Of course it tasted like meat because it is meat.¡± ¡°¡­what meat?¡± The hunter started eating the soup and pointed at the steel door. ¡°I just hunted a ghoul.¡± ¡°Huh¡­? What?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it, do you?¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying that this meat is¡­.¡± ¡°What else? Ghoul meat.¡± ¡°Oop¡­ argh¡­!¡± The girl started throwing up as soon as she heard the words. Zin sighed as he watched the girl throw up. ¡°Kids these days¡­.¡± Spitting out words like an old fart, Zin continued to eat the ghoul meat soup. The girl seemed hungry again after throwing up and started eating the soup, stuffing it down her throat. She felt nauseated, but she continued to eat since she felt that she¡¯d surely die if she didn¡¯t eat anything. ¡°Phew¡­¡± The girl looked better after eating, and she nced at Zin. ¡°I¡¯m Leona. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for your name. Answer my questions.¡± Leona pouted. ¡°If you forgot the questions, let me repeat them. First¡­¡± ¡°I remember them all. You don¡¯t need to tell me again.¡± Cutting him off, Leona became more attentive. ¡°What guarantee do I have that you¡¯ll spare my life if I answer all your questions?¡± ¡°Well, I am nning to take you to Ard Point, which is four days away out west, to use you as a witness for a request. Without you, I won¡¯t get paid 100 blue chips, so killing you is not in my interests.¡± ¡°That¡¯s hard to understand. Can you exin?¡± Leona made a face as though she couldn¡¯t understand Zin¡¯s words, and Zinmented that kids these days weren¡¯t quick to pick up on things. ¡°You are a survivor, so you should know the full details about the city¡¯s demise?¡± ¡°What does ¡®demise¡¯ mean?¡± Zin felt helpless thinking about how he¡¯d need to exin his words inyman¡¯s terms. After a short pause, Zin started speaking once more to the puzzled Leona. ¡°I need you because you know better than I do how this ce ended up as a dump. Without you, I cannot solve my homework, understand?¡± ¡°Ah.. okay! That¡¯s better.¡± Zin sighed again at seeing Leona understand his ¡®easier¡¯ words. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that you need to tell someone why Zado got trashed, and because I know it the best, you need to take me to the boss, and that¡¯s the reason you can¡¯t kill me?¡± ¡°As dumb as you are, you¡¯re starting to get it.¡± ¡°¡­ Hey, what do you mean?¡± ¡°Just joking.¡± ¡°Joking?¡± Leona shook her head, but didn¡¯t ask again. She started answering the first question. ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly when I started hearing the wolves howling all over the ce, and then big and small wolves starting killing people.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you trapped in the safe? ¡°When the monsters came, the wolf cubbies trapped me inside the safe so that I couldn¡¯t run away.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ those Giant Wolves don¡¯t form packs. Those monsters. Do you know why they were forming packs?¡± Leona shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know? They were just doing it.¡± There was no way she would know. As Leona answered the first question, she answered the second question as well. Suddenly, the attack began, and she was trapped in the safe. It was not by her will. ¡°Did you cause some issues in the city?¡± ¡°I killed two people.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°One tried to steal my chips, and the other tried to rape me.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Zin was surprised by the fact that this small girl was able to kill people, let alone that she killed without any remorse. Chapter 7 Chapter 7: A Hunter and a Stray Cat (2) Leona hadmitted two murders in Zado. One of the victims was a robber, the other a rapist. However, Leona shrugged it off as if weren¡¯t a big deal. ¡°I wasn¡¯t imprisoned because of that.¡± ¡°Then why were you?¡± ¡°The guard captain took all my chips away as a fine. Who fines someone in a city? It¡¯s just ridiculous.¡± Leona spoke to herself, gnashing her teeth in anger. And shortly after, she smirked. ¡°And that¡¯s why I looted this safe. Unfortunately, I got busted.¡± Getting the full picture of what happened, Zin nodded his head. Leona tried looting the safe and got caught. She had bruises all over her body, and had probably been beaten by the guards. ¡°They tied me up and asked me where I hid the chips, but am I crazy? Why would I tell them about it? They were sure to kill me after I told them. So, I just shut my mouth and kept quiet. See that over there? I was tied and hanged in that thing. I thought I was gonna die.¡± Leona pointed at a steel pole, saying that they¡¯d tied her to it and left her to hang in the air. ¡°The guard captain locked me up in the safe when the beasts started to attack. That¡¯s all that I know.¡± If Leona were to die, there was no way for the guard captain to figure out where the chips went, so he probably locked her in the safe to keep her alive. The guard probably hadn¡¯t thought that the monsters would annihte the city. So the dead people outside weren¡¯t trying to steal from the safe, but trying to escape into the safe. After the city got attacked, there was a possibility that they were killed while trying to take refuge inside the safe. But that didn¡¯t matter much. Goners were goners. Zin still had his doubts as he asked: ¡°If you can steal from the safe, then that means you can open the safe, so why were you trapped in it? Couldn¡¯t you have escaped?¡± ¡°Are you an amateur?¡± Leona shook her head as if Zin were speaking nonsense. ¡°If a professional were asked to reveal her skill set, would she do it?¡± As Leona spoke with a serious facial expression, Zinughed. ¡°A pro¡­ haha. That¡¯s right. Sorry for asking.¡± ¡°You watch your tongue.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do that.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ well, actually, it¡¯s not even that big of a secret, anyway.¡± Leona whispered as if she were about to reveal a big secret. ¡°The guard captain dude created a tunnel leading from his house to the safe, so I just stole his home key. After I stole from the safe, he blocked off the tunnel afterward.¡± ¡°Aha, gotcha.¡± ¡°I threatened to reveal his secret tunnel if he killed me. After hearing that, he didn¡¯t kill me. But I almost died from hunger.¡± As a thief, Leona was as crafty as a cat. She hadn¡¯t revealed the captain¡¯s big secret, yet clung to stay alive, since dying would mean losing everything. ¡°Well, maybe crafty is not the right description¡­ she has survival instincts.¡± Rather than thinking through her choices, she acted based on her instincts to survive. There was nothing more important than one¡¯s instincts in order to survive in the wilderness. Zin concluded that Leona wasn¡¯t originally from Zado, but had arrived at Zado as a vagabond. It was nearly impossible for a kid like this to wander and survive around the wilderness with just instincts and determination alone. Although he had yet to resolve the mystery around the Giant Wolf pack, Zin thought that listening to Leona¡¯s story was good enough. Then, Zin brought up the most important thing. ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about the chips that you¡¯ve hidden.¡± Leona¡¯s face hardened. ¡°Those are mine.¡± ¡°They¡¯re stolen chips. Or stolen goods.¡± ¡°Whether stolen or not, once they¡¯re in my hands, they¡¯re mine.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll just steal them from you. Then they¡¯ll be mine, no?¡± ¡°Picking up unimed goods is not stealing.¡± ¡°Picking up something secretly, mugging someone¡ªstealing is stealing, there¡¯s no difference.¡± Leona had no way to win the argument over Zin, since no one could justify the act of stealing. ¡°Are you a Reaver?¡± ¡°If circumstances call for it, I could be.¡± Zin smiled as Leona started slowly backing away with caution. ¡°Consider yourself lucky that I don¡¯t like taking such measures.¡± If seizing things through force was the main part of the job, then there¡¯d be no reason to be a hunter. Hunters lived by a code of rules, and although not perfect, Zin tried to live ording to that code. Unless it was a reasonable request, a hunter did not kill people to gain chips. In the wilderness, one might kill someone for survival, but hunters and Reavers were different by nature. Hunters did not live only to steal. ¡°How many chips did you take?¡± ¡°¡­ Around two thousand.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite a bit.¡± That amount of chips would prolong at least two thousand hours of life. ¡°This ce is surrounded by corpse hunters. Not sure if you¡¯re aware, but they don¡¯t mindlessly attack humans. But, in your case, it¡¯s different.¡± Hunters usually took on requests, but at times, they gave requests as well. ¡°Just like prey will target the weaklings, the beasts will target the weak, and you are definitely susceptible to an attack.¡± ¡°¡­¡± It was evident that Leona would be attacked by the corpse hunters if she were to walk out. ¡°I will take you safely to Ard Point. However, I will take half of your chips.¡± ¡°You said that you need me anyway, which is why you¡¯re taking me, right? And you¡¯re trying to take chips as well?¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re an amateur.¡± Zinughed as he shrugged. ¡°Pros do not work for free.¡± Leona stood with a hollow look as Zin threw her words back at her. Request fees always fluctuated, and it depended on the urgency of the request. Even if the work had to be carried out, no request was free. Hunters were beings that were more stingy than the Reavers. ¡°Now aren¡¯t you a con artist?¡± Leona was staring at Zin as if she couldn¡¯t believe what she¡¯d heard. ¡°If I were in your shoes, I¡¯d rather deal with a con artist than a robber.¡± ¡°Damn¡­¡± Zin was logical in his reasoning, making him a very malicious person who exploited others with his way of thinking. Leona pondered as she looked at the cold-hearted hunter. If this hunter had bad intentions, he could just kill her and take away all the chips. He could easily decide not to keep his word. The hunter could attack Leona at any time if he found the ce where the chips were hidden. Leona was caught in a dilemma and she didn¡¯t know what to do. ¡°I know what your dilemma is.¡± ¡ªthud¡ª Zin tossed a palm-sized metallic box to Leona. ¡°Keep in mind that a hunter considers a requester¡¯s doubts as well.¡± ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called a chipbox.¡± ¡°Chipbox?¡± ¡°Hunters use this to store chips. It will not open without entering a set password. If forcibly opened, it¡¯ll explode.¡± ¡°Password?¡± ¡°You can set the password, and if the box is not opened with the password, the box explodes.¡± Zin exined to Leona how to set a password into the chipbox, how to open it, and how to store the chips. It wasn¡¯t a typical item seen around the Ancient-Korea region, but most of the hunters in the broader continent carried them around. A chipbox worked as a purse as well as a defense mechanism from the Reavers. A chipbox became a more powerful bomb the more chips stored inside it. Therefore, the Reavers avoided the hunters. If they were to attack the hunters and the chipbox exploded, they would lose the chips as well as kill themselves in the process. And the item was also used to instill confidence to requesters on bodyguard requests. ¡°You can store your chips here and pay me when we arrive at Ard Point. Then there¡¯d be no concern on your end.¡± ¡°But what if this doesn¡¯t explode? What if you know how to open this forcibly?¡± ¡°Good questions, but I¡¯ve been using this chipbox all this time myself. If this can be opened forcibly or doesn¡¯t explode, that spells trouble for me. There is a way to open it forcibly, but it needs to be taken to the chipbox manufacturing nt.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s that nt?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about a half-year¡¯s walking distance.¡± ¡°Ooh¡­¡± Leona seemed more amazed at hearing of a ce that far rather than the fact that it was really far. She was surprised that such ces existed. Leona examined the chipbox here and there, touching it all over. The chipbox was empty with no chips, but the box looked as if it could explode at any time. ¡°I feel cheated, but what can I do? You can¡¯t change your heart in the middle of the request, so I¡¯ll ept your deal. You¡¯d better protect me well.¡± ¡°You came to a decision pretty quick after some thought. Are you sure?¡± ¡°If I want to survive, I gotta take my chances. Remember that.¡± Leona put her hands around her waist and talked back to Zin, whoughed. Here was a kid giving survival tips to a hunter. Of course, Leona was right. At times, one needed to pick one of the poisons and just hoped for the best. At least Leona had the guts to make a decision. Zin had lived for a long time, but he was amused to see such a bold girl. Leonaughed. ¡°And I am pretty lucky when I gamble.¡± It was a more sinisterugh than a bright one. Leona appeared quite energetic for a girl who had starved for a long time. ¡°Mister, can I tell you something?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Leona stood and started searching the dark corner of the safe. ¡°Those who get things stolen look for their things all over the world except one ce. Heave! Heave!¡± ¡ªcreaaak!¡ª Leona moved one cab that was used as a safe with all her strength. Behind the safe, there was soil between the copsed walls. Leona crawled between the cracks of the wall, and swept something up. Shortly after, covered in dust, Leona crawled out of the cracks with a smile. ¡°And that ce is where the goods got stolen!¡± Zado¡¯s stolen chips were still in the same safe. But they were in a different location within the safe. Zin had to acknowledge that the kid was no ordinary kid. She didn¡¯t take the chips outside little-by-little, but instead created a hole, hid them, and nned to get arge sack to steal them at dusk. Zin couldn¡¯t help butugh at her impressive intelligence. From Zin¡¯s point of view, this kid was indeed clever. ¡°Let¡¯s go. You know that you need to protect me, right?¡± ¡°Nope, you forgot something.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Prepayment. Half of the payment you owe me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Leona took out chips from the chipbox, grumbling as if she¡¯d taken a bite of raw ghoul meat. The kid was a clever pro, but Zin was a seasoned pro. Chapter 8 Chapter 8: A Hunter and a Stray Cat (3) ¡ªthud!¡ª As soon as they opened the safe door, Zin heard the earth shake with a loud boom. Leona¡¯s face stiffened, and Zin stood still, frozen. Kaarrggh! Kargh! Krrraaahk! Krahk! Krrrrr! Krrrrrk! ¡°Wha¡­what the¡­¡± ¡°Shh¡­ be quiet.¡± Zin lifted Leona onto his shoulder as he looked at the shaky ceiling. Leona realized that it was not the time to resist, and she let Zin carry her. Zin moved slowly up the stairs, minimizing the sound of his footsteps and breaths. The hunter thought: ¡ªbooom! boom!¡ª Walking sound, two feet. Large-sized. Grrrrrroooooowwl! Howling sound, living animal. ¡ªcraack! gnaw! slurp slurp¡ª Krrrrrrr! Krrrhk! Beast eating. Zin organized his thoughts as he walked up the stairs. The building was in danger of copsing, and Zin needed to evacuate from the basement as soon as possible, but he didn¡¯t hurry. Without seeing them, Zin figured out what sort of beasts were out there based on their sounds. ¡°Large-sized beasts that walk on two feet, hunting corpse hunters¡­.¡± Instead of heading outside, Zin continued to climb up the stairs to the rooftop. The sun had set, and it was dark all around¡ªturning on amp would be suicidal. The beasts were shrieking while they ran away from the new predator, and some were screaming while getting eaten. And then, another scream rang out. Krraughoooohhhhahh!! Quite a different sound than before. If it¡¯s got at least two vocal cords, it must be a mutated beast. Mutated beasts were made up of a mix of different beings and did not have ordinary body organs, but strange-shaped ones instead. There were corpses and the signs of death everywhere, and a beast was eating corpse hunters. The hunter thought: Maneater. It was a beast which was infuriated by the thought of the corpse hunters defiling their bodies upon death. It hunted down corpse hunters, and with each kill grew bigger in size. It was an amalgam of hatred formed from malice and resentment. The maneater was a beast that hunted down other beasts. There were different methods to attack and overpower different beasts. As soon as Zin realized it was a maneater, he rushed to the rooftop of the building. About a hundred and fifty feet away, Zin saw a twenty-feet-tall beast annihting its surroundings. Leona was able to see the scene as well. ¡°Wha¡­what the hell is that¡­?¡± Leona grew petrified as she looked at the horrendous monster. The monster appeared to be a mix of many bs of flesh joined together, with many hair-like tentacles waving freely. And the tentacles were grabbing any corpse hunters it could find, eagerly stuffing them into one of its three mouths. The monster walked with two feet, using its hair-tentacles as twisted ropes while it ate up the corpse hunters. ¡ªgnaww! craaack!¡ª The horrifying sounds continued and all that remained of the beasts were pools of blood. The appearance of the monster was more than enough to cause a person to faint from horror. Leona had never seen such a monster and did not expect to encounter one so massive. However, Leona didn¡¯t look fazed. ¡°It looks like an ugly piece of crap.¡± Leona¡¯s words were those of disgust, not of horror. Just as Leona spoke in that manner, Zin suddenly said: ¡°As you¡¯ve said, today¡¯s our lucky day.¡± ¡°Lucky day? With that thing rampaging in front of us?¡± She wasn¡¯t horrified per se, but she knew that the situation was dire. She was puzzled at Zin¡¯s words. Zin smiled. ¡°That thing will chase away all the corpse hunters.¡± ¡°What?¡± As mentioned, hunters managed to survive because they were quite knowledgeable. ¡°That monster doesn¡¯t prioritize humans as targets. It will start attacking us after getting rid of all the corpse hunters.¡± They were safe for the time being. That is, ¡®for the time being¡¯. The world was a wild ecosystem, and the humans were not at the top of the food chain. Therefore, beasts fought against each other and ate one other. For the beasts, humans were just a type of prey. They didn¡¯t eat humans and some didn¡¯t even bother with humans. Grrrooooowl!! Zin and Leona watched the maneater as ity waste eating the corpse hunters around the ruins of Zado City. Ghouls, beasts, and poisonous dogs; all got sucked into the maneater¡¯s mouth. ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me that we¡¯re safe for now, but we won¡¯t be in a bit?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then I think we should be running for our lives right now.¡± Leona argued, but Zin shook his head. ¡°What do you think will happen after that thing eats a lot of beasts? ¡°¡­it¡¯ll get full?¡± Zin almostughed out loud at her simplistic and straightforward answer, but he held in hisughter as he didn¡¯t want to make a sound in front of the monster. Although Zin didn¡¯tugh, he looked pretty amused. Leona couldn¡¯t possiblyugh while looking at the ugly-looking monster. ¡°Does that monster look cute to you? Why are you freaking smiling?¡± Zin had no words for Leona¡¯s attitude, but he let her be herself. Certainly, Zin was looking cheerfully at the maneater. ¡°I¡¯m d because it¡¯s doing all the hunting for me instead.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°A monster that eats a lot of monsters will throw up all the chips it devoured.¡± Leona understood what he meant. And she felt astonished. ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re going to hunt that thing right now?¡± While letting the maneater hunt others, Zin nned to take advantage of the maneater and hunt it down. Leona thought that running away from the monster was more important than trying to hunt it down. But, Zin looked at Leona, as if he didn¡¯t understand why Leona was agitated. ¡°What¡¯s so weird about a hunter hunting?¡± In truth, there was nothing strange about it. A hunter lived to hunt, and not, for example, to sell merchandise. Leona nodded at Zin¡¯s logical-sounding words. ¡°Not at all.¡± And she added: ¡°But you¡¯re freaking weird.¡± Leona thought that hunting the monster was a crazy thing to do, even for a hunter. The maneater walking around Zado was not very nimble, but its tentacles were swift. The tentacles stretched out and snatched up the beasts, shoving them into the maneater¡¯s mouth. Krrrrrr! Krrrk! Leona said nervously: ¡°By the way, isn¡¯t that monster getting bigger and bigger?¡± ¡°You¡¯re correct. Overall, it gained some body mass.¡± ¡°Can I run away by myself?¡± ¡°Then your prepayment of 500 chips will be mine. Not a loss for me because it¡¯s more chips than the reward for my original request. If you want to leave, go ahead.¡± ¡°Hey, hey, shouldn¡¯t you be following my orders?¡± ¡°It was a bodyguard request, not a very contract, so I don¡¯t have an obligation to follow your orders.¡± ¡°Whatever you¡¯re babbling, I take it you¡¯re just going to do whatever you feel like.¡± ¡°You get it.¡± ¡°Damn¡­¡± Leona felt angry, but she had no choice but to stay close to Zin. Although she was a gutsy kid, it was impossible for a kid to navigate through a field of monsters. Avoiding danger only to encounter bigger danger was foolish. Even though Leona was not sure what was more dangerous, she felt drawn towards the somewhat reckless hunter¡¯s confidence. Leona was no different than Zin by the fact that she was a vagabond wandering around the wilderness. And the thing that kept her from getting killed was not her boldness. It was her intuition and her decisiveness to act that kept her alive. And this time around, her instincts were telling her to stick with the weird hunter. The maneater was too busy eating, so it didn¡¯t bother with Zin or Leona. Now¡¯s the time. Zin took out a finger-sizedntern from his coat. It was such a smallntern that it looked like a small container. There were dark spots inside the crystalntern. Blood stains? Leona shook her head as she looked at the object. She wasn¡¯t sure what it was, exactly. But, she grew surprised when she saw a small miracle happening because of it. ¡ªwoowoowooong¡ª Thentern started resonating with sound as darkness spilled out of it. The darkness surrounded thentern, with a radius of about the size of a basketball. But it wasn¡¯t quite darkness, to be precise. It looked like a small sphere; as if one had plucked out a ball from the dark sky. As if conjuring a small gxy, the ck sphere contained a night sky scattered with stars ands. Zin boldly stuck his hand inside the sphere and took something out. Leona was left speechless as she saw this supernatural event unfold in front of her. ¡ªwhooosh!¡ª With a strange sound, Zin took out a huge gun and some ammunition from the small sphere. ¡°Wha¡­what is this?¡± ¡°I used a charm to utilize the void.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Think of it as a bag that you don¡¯t need to carry around. Although this thing doesn¡¯t have enough space¡­¡± Zin checked the ammo for the sniper rifle as well as the equipment¡¯s condition as he looked through its scope. ¡ªkadank!¡ª ¡°It¡¯s got enough space to house a couple of guns.¡± As Zin turned off thentern, the void disappeared. People called it ¡®void storage¡¯, and the small charm was made up of alien¡¯s blood. The devil hunters used these charms to conjure the power of the sacrificial blood. The blood couldn¡¯t invoke the horrifying and devilish power of the monsters, but it was small enough to be used in many useful ways. The power of the charm wasn¡¯t strong enough to kill others, but Zin used the charm to store bulky or heavy items inside the void. In truth, the most troublesome matter for wanderers was carrying stuff around rather than fighting off monsters. The void storage acted as portable storage and was something that Zin often utilized even though it wasn¡¯t a powerful charm. Zin referred to the void storage as a ¡®bag¡¯ instead. Leona was astonished at what she¡¯d just witnessed. But her nextment was very practical. ¡°That¡¯s soooo handy¡­.¡± Leona became interested in the ¡®bag¡¯ when she remembered all the things she¡¯d had to throw away because she couldn¡¯t carry them along. And above all, it was her first time seeing a rifle, so she wasn¡¯t sure what Zin would use the metal object for. Grooooool!! As the maneater continued to eat, Zin quickly finished inspecting his rifle. When hunting, being efficient was more important than winning. Spending 30 chips to hunt down a monster that yielded 10 chips was an inefficient hunt. Maximizing the reward with the least cost was important. So, Zin didn¡¯t take out thergest caliber firearm. Zin took out a .308 Winchester, a custom Remington 700 model that used 7.62mm ammo. The sniper rifle was not new, but it was in clean and excellent condition from regr maintenance and part recements. Regardless of the rifle¡¯s power and efficiency, a rifle was useless against a monster of such size. However, Zin loaded two rounds of ammo into the rifle. The monster was about three hundred yards away, and Zin didn¡¯t need to use the scope. Sniping required skills, but the monster was so huge that even an aimless shot would hit it. However, Zin looked carefully through the scope. Kraaaaaaaaaah! And he took a shot at one of the monster¡¯s mouths. ¡ªbang!¡ª ¡°Ahh!! What was that?¡± Leona shouted as she saw the gun barrel explode with a bang for the first time. But a more surprising thing happened afterward. ¡ªcrraack!¡ª The bullet hit the maneater, and one of its mouths exploded into pieces. It was unbelievable that a single bullet could be so destructive. It seemed as if a bazooka had hit the mouth instead. The 7.62mm bullet¡¯s jacket was full of blue-chip powder, which exploded as soon as it hit the target. It was a regr bullet, but it had exploded like a shotgun shell as soon as it hit the target. A micro tank gunnery, or a missile. That was the bullet that Zin had used. Chapter 9 Chapter 9: A Hunter and a Stray Cat (4) As soon as it hit the maneater, the beast was left shell-shocked. It started to swing its tentacles wildly, but it was unable to identify its attacker. Zin did not stop there and cocked the rifle again. Shortly after, he fired another shot. ¡ªbang!¡ª ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Leonay t on the ground, covering her ears from the loud sound and the sh of the gunshot. ¡ªcrash!¡ª This time around, the bullet did not explode, but it struck the shredded mouth, ring it up. Within seconds, one of the maneater¡¯s mouths started to burn up from mes, covering it with white smoke. Grrraaaaahhhhh! Krraaaaaarrrrrrrggggh! Because of the mes, the maneater was swinging its tentacles in pain, destroying all the buildings around it. Zin loaded three more rounds. Two of them were of two different types: a 7.62mm buckshot that exploded upon contact; and the just-fired #76 firebomb that had engulfed the maneater¡¯s mouth in mes. Blue chips were infused into regr firebomb ammo to manufacture this particr firebomb. On a 7.62mm jacket, this special ammunition delivered great destructive power and mes even with just a small amount of powder. Leona looked in awe at the burning maneater which was brightly lighting up the night sky. ¡°What the heck was that¡­?¡± ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± Zin watched the maneater rampaging in pain. He¡¯d overpowered the maneater with two bullets. ¡°How in the world is this possible?¡± ¡°A beast¡¯s blood is highly inmmable.¡± Past or present, fire was the enemy of beasts. Leona wasn¡¯t sure what Zin meant; he continued to stand still. ¡°Hey, mister, by the way.¡± Graaaaahh! Leona felt uneasy as she looked at the struggling maneater. ¡°Hey, I think the maneater just spotted us. Am I seeing things?¡± Leona couldn¡¯t help but feel that the maneater was looking at them. Zin nodded. ¡°I think you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Really? Then¡ªackkk!¡± Zin yanked Leona away and started running with her on his shoulders. ¡°We¡¯re out of here.¡± Grrrrooooowwll! ¡ªthud! thudthudthud!!¡ª The enraged maneater started charging towards Zin and Leona with great speed, and it was terrifying. ¡°Aaaaaahhhhh!¡± Zin ran without looking back, but Leona, who was hanging onto Zin¡¯s shoulders, looked straight at the maneater as it charged towards them, destroying the buildings in its way. ¡°Faster! Run faster!¡± It was a terrifying scene for Leona as the beast covered in mes was charging toward her. Grrrraaaah! ¡°Mister! I think the maneater is saying that it¡¯s going to kill us? Right!?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Zin jumped onto the other building¡¯s rooftop, running further away from the maneater. It was not a great sight to see. Since all the corpse hunters had run away, the only ones left in Zado City were Leona, Zin, and the ming maneater. The maneater had grown about twenty feet in size, and Zin could barely outrun such a beast. Retreating was probably the best option in this case. Zin was running as fast as he could. ¡ªthud! thud!¡ª Zin ran in between buildings where the maneater couldn¡¯t get into. He ran to spots where the maneater had to destroy to get past, ¡ªbam! wham!¡ª The maneater was mowing down the buildings that Zin passed through, slowing it down in the process. When the maneater managed to get through one building, Zin would again run away into another building. ¡°Why hasn¡¯t that thing died already!?¡± ¡°Probably because of its size! It¡¯ll take a while for it to burn to death.¡± It was clear that the me-covered maneater was slowly dying. But it didn¡¯t look weak yet, and it was setting the city of Zado on fire as parts of its inmed body dropped to the ground. ¡ªbaaam!¡ª The maneater¡¯s body parts exploded into mes as they fell off. One hour. That was the time it took for the mes to subdue the gigantic maneater. ¡ªthud!¡ª Breathing hard from running away from the maneater, Zin and Leona stared at the maneater¡¯s corpse as ity dead on the ground, no longer twitching. The two sat down on a tile of concrete, waiting for the maneater to cool down enough for Zin to extract the chips. Leona wasn¡¯t so impressed by Zin, even though he¡¯d taken down the maneater with two shots. Leona started grumbling. ¡°You know, I thought a hunter only needed a few seconds to take a beast down, and it¡¯d be more exciting, too¡­¡± Leona had some fixed perceptions about hunters, and they weren¡¯t too different from other people. People imagined hunters hunting down beasts in a shy battle, with shing weapons, using swift and smooth moves. Zin smiled. ¡°Only amateurs fight in such a way.¡± A real hunter wasn¡¯t shy. One hunted with minimal effort. And one reaped the maximum profit. And it was more relevant for Zin whose survival depended on the chips. Leona also nodded; shiness had nothing to do with profit. ¡°You¡¯re not too afraid of beasts, are you?¡± Zin asked Leona. Leona screamed from time to time, but not out of terror. Leona replied as if it were nothing. ¡°I won¡¯t be afraid, even if I can¡¯t fight against them.¡± Terror led to atrophy, and atrophy led to certain death. ¡°Being terrified has no benefit.¡± As Leonaughed, Zin acknowledged that the kid was a pretty special one. ¡°Your attitude definitely matches your name.¡± ¡°Name? What about my name?¡± Leona shook her head. Names were just names, and nobody really cared for the origin or meaning of names. Not afraid, even though one can¡¯t fight against them. Zin thought that Leona¡¯s words were pretty cool. ¡°What about my name!?¡± ¡°Nah¡­ nothing.¡± Although it no longer exists in this world¡­ Leona, a female lion. A couple of hourster, Zin plugged the extractor into the body of the maneater, smoke still rising from its flesh, and extracted the chips. It extracted 108 chips from the maneater, along with the chips from the beasts devoured by the maneater,ing to a total of 229 chips. Taking into ount the cost of the two shots, the profit was 168 chips; it was a very efficient hunt. Zin had profited pretty well from his investigation efforts in Zado considering that he would get the request¡¯s reward, the chips from Leona, as well as the chips from the maneater. [400h uptime added.] Zin had profited, but the fact that he had to consume most of the chips hadn¡¯t changed. Leona was astonished to see Zin pour hundreds of chips into his mouth. ¡°Zin¡­ you crazy? Why the heck are you eating all that?¡± It was understandable that Leona would be surprised. People used blue chips as a currency in the age of the Apocalypse, and the blue chip was the only source of energy. However, blue chips contained a poison called CP, and it was not for human consumption. Back in the pre-Apocalypse days, it would be like drinking petroleum. Zin wiped his mouth, and talked as if nothing had happened. ¡°It¡¯s okay to eat. So don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it weird to eat them just because they¡¯re okay to eat?¡± Four hundred chips were enough to sustain the energy consumption of a vige for a couple of months. The two lodged at an abandoned building in Zado City, one where all the beasts had fled away from. They were nning to leave the following morning and Zin¡¯s mission would beplete as soon as they returned to Ard Point for the reward. For unknown reasons, Zin had given up on trying to understand the unexinable events in the world. Zin started a fire and put the pot on top of it. He took out a b of meat and nced at Leona. ¡°Is that¡­ from the maneater?¡± Leona shuddered at the thought. Ghoul meat had been terrifying for Leona, and she wondered how horrible the maneater¡¯s meat would taste like. ¡°If you¡¯d like to taste the fire-bombed, me-grilled meat, I can bring you some.¡± Zin did not eat meat charred by poisonous fumes. Aside from the poison, the meat would taste nasty. And ghoul meat wasn¡¯t any better. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re saying it¡¯s not from the maneater, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s ghoul meat.¡± ¡°¡­that doesn¡¯t make me happy at all¡­¡± Maneater or ghoul meat; either choice would be bad. But Leona knew that it was about choosing the lesser of two evils. The boiled ghoul meat smelled bad, but Leona readily dug into it since she was already used to its vor. ¡°You adapt pretty well. Probably exins how you survived so far.¡± When Leona first ate the ghoul meat, she had felt nauseated, but now she wasser-focused on her meal. Zin started to wonder why she was wandering around in this terrible world. But he stayed silent. Leona started to speak again. ¡°Mister, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Zin.¡± ¡°Single syble name. Pretty unique.¡± ¡°There are unusual names just as there¡¯s a name for each person.¡± Leona sat by the firece, absent-mindedly watching the fire burn. Zin was an old man who didn¡¯t sleep much, and Leona wasn¡¯t a good kid who¡¯d go to bed early. ¡°You had many opportunities to visit different ces, right?¡± ¡°You could say that.¡± Leona looked at Zin and asked: ¡°Is there any good ce you could call home?¡± ¡°A ce like home?¡± ¡°A city where a little kid like me can live. Point, Castle, anywhere.¡± Zin pondered for a bit. What¡¯s the criteria for one to call a ce their home? From Zin¡¯s perspective, there was no such ce in this world. However, he did think of a rtively, or somewhat of an okay ce. ¡°As soon as you¡¯re done with your request, I¡¯d like to live in such a ce.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t a city where you can live by stealing considered a good ce for you?¡± ¡°After getting beat up so many times, I¡¯d rather make my living with a job. I don¡¯t want to go back to my old ways.¡± Leona shook her head. Zin slowly nced over her and said: ¡°A castle would be good.¡± ¡°A castle?¡± ¡°If you entered into the lord¡¯s harem, you¡¯d have no trouble living.¡± ¡°Harem? Would they take in a kid like myself?¡± Leona had no reluctance about bing a member of a harem, rather she wondered if they¡¯d ept her in the first ce. In a world where integrity no longer existed, survival was more important. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not too surprising that those kinds of castle lords exist when there are thugs who¡¯ve tried to rape me.¡± Leona answered as she giggled. ¡°A harem would be better off than a prostitute, right?¡± A little kid wouldn¡¯t have much power in this world. Being powerless meant that one was a weak being, and the weak were always in danger. They weren¡¯t able to work and they were not entrusted to work by others. Regardless if you were male or female, little kids without guardians would end up exposed to prostitution. Obviously, some kids with guardians could still be prostitutes. They would prostitute themselves either because their parents forced them to, they were abducted, or they needed chips. Leona didn¡¯t express any signs of dignity or sadness in her. And neither did she show agony or sorrow. It became a natural thing in this world. Zin felt this difference between the old days and the present. ¡°Why are you looking for a ce?¡± ¡°I ran away from home?¡± ¡°And why?¡± ¡°I killed my own father. Murderers weren¡¯t tolerated in that vige, so I took off.¡± Leona left her hometown as a murderer. And she¡¯d wandered around for a new home. As Zin looked at Leona, she murmured: ¡°Mom was a prostitute and dad was a pimp.¡± Leona described her short life in pretty simple words. Chapter 10 Chapter 10: Never Dwell on a Good ce for Too Long (1) ¡°Customers beat my mom to death, and my dad selected me as his new prostitute. So, I stabbed him and ran away.¡± Exining her life in two simple sentences, Leona didn¡¯t seem to hold a grudge or bear hatred towards the memory. However, it was a bit odd to Zin that Leona, who wasn¡¯t reluctant to be a prostitute, would kill her father who¡¯d tried to make her a prostitute. Leona seemed to realize what Zin was thinking and then shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Isn¡¯t it strange for someone to take my money when I¡¯ll be the one working my ass off? Mom lived that way, but not me.¡± ¡°You could have just run away. Why kill him?¡± ¡°If he hadn¡¯t pped my face when I told him to split the money 7:3, I wouldn¡¯t have killed him.¡± Leona giggled, and Zinughed, too speechless to respond. If being reckless was a talent, Leona would be a genius in that department. Zin had told Leona to go to the castle, but now he didn¡¯t think there was a need for that. Thest vige he left would be the perfect ce for Leona. ¡°I take back what I said about the castle.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You remember that we¡¯re going to Ard Point?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good ce.¡± The people at Ard Point were benevolent. In a world where it was difficult to find any human hospitality, Ard Point could be a paradise for Leona. ¡°It¡¯s a safer ce where there are fewer beasts, less evil people, and it has more abundant resourcespared to other ces.¡± ¡°That¡¯s perfect!¡± Zin kept talking even though it felt unnecessary to exin further. ¡°There are no lords since it¡¯s a Point, and it¡¯s been maintaining amunity. They¡¯ll probably give you the opportunity to do something.¡± Were there kids there? Zin tried to remember his time at Ard Point, but couldn¡¯t remember. But if it was a ce where its people could offer three potatoes to wanderers, it was probably a good ce to live. Zin smiled as Leona looked at him. ¡°Ard Point is not big enough to have a brothel.¡± Where there¡¯s a demand, there is a supply, but Ard Point wasn¡¯t a big enough ce to run a brothel. ¡°Wow¡­ that¡¯s good.¡± Leona nodded, interested in Zin¡¯s exnation. Shortly after, Zin grew tired of answering all the questions that Leona started to ask non-stop. ¡°Well, if you want to get there early, you¡¯d better sleep early.¡± ¡°Yeah, I should do that.¡± Leona picked up some pieces of cloth around the fire, lumped them into a pillow andy down on the floor. Zin watched Leona, who fell asleep shortly after. He slowly closed his eyes as well. Next day, the two started their journey while munching on dried-up ghoul meat. The road to their destination was neither too far nor too close, and they walked down the wilderness. The way was pretty quiet, most likely because the beasts were scared of the maneater. Leona kept on yawning as if she hadn¡¯t fully woken up yet. ¡°Well, you didn¡¯t steal my belongings yesterday.¡± As Zin spoke those words, Leona started giggling beside him. ¡°I am a pro, you know, mister.¡± ¡°What does being a pro have to do with stealing?¡± ¡°A pro only steals what a pro can steal.¡± ¡°Do I seem like a hard person to pick off?¡± ¡°It felt like you¡¯d get up at any moment.¡± Zin always appeared to be on his guard, even when he slept. At her words, Zin looked at Leona yfully. ¡°Well, it sounds like you intended to do something.¡± ¡°!¡± Leona realized her mistake and grew scared. She had good instincts, but she was still a kid after all. ¡°Well¡­ I woke up in the middle of the night¡­ and¡­ um¡­ you know what I mean¡­ right?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Zin crossed his arms. ¡°A sleepless stray cat appeared to be sleeping, but when she tried to steal her master¡¯s purse, she realized it wasn¡¯t possible. So she just went back to sleep. And now she¡¯s yawning like this. Is that your story?¡± ¡°No¡­ not true¡­ there¡¯s some kind of misunderstanding here¡­ maybe¡­¡± Zinughed at Leona, who looked scared to death. In order to survive in this world, a kid trying to steal a hunter¡¯s purse was probably just a natural instinct. Since Zin had to take Leona with him anyway, he was willing to let this matter go. ¡°You should be thankful for your survival instincts. It¡¯s a great asset.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Leona breathed a sigh of relief. Zin continued to ask: ¡°Have you stolen like this before?¡± ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve traveled with apanion. When someone approached me from afar, I always hid.¡± If one couldn¡¯t overpower another, it was the right choice to avoid the unknown. ¡°Well, you have some pretty good instincts¡­¡± ¡°Mister.¡± Leona cut Zin off, slightly upset as she looked at him. ¡°Are you mad at me?¡± ¡°¡­ Mad at you?¡± ¡°I think you are. You¡¯re angry, right? Right?¡± ¡°You misunderstand me. I¡­¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re not cool about this at all. Do you want to p my face? Let¡¯s get this over with, shall we?¡± As Leona offered her cheek, Zinughed, speechless. ¡°Haha¡­ well, I don¡¯t know what to say. You¡¯re the one at fault, and now you¡¯re telling me that I¡¯m the one with the grudge.¡± ¡°See. You are mad, haha.¡± As Leonaughed out loud, Zin looked at the hologram disying his vital signs. [BPM ¨C 160] His BPM had doubled. As smart as Leona was, she had a knack for annoying people out of their minds. Zin sighed and looked at Leona. ¡°This! I¡¯m not mad, but I am annoyed.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ what?¡± ¡ªbam!¡ª With a smack on her forehead, Leona started crying out loud. ¡°Ow!¡± ¡°Please be quiet and just follow me.¡± ¡°That hurt! Mister Bastard!¡± Zin started walking forward, and Leona followed behind him, cringing. Leona followed and kept pace with Zin as much as she could. A kid and an adult had different physical conditions. Because Zin¡¯s physical stamina wasn¡¯t ordinary, it was obvious that Leona couldn¡¯t keep up with his pace. However, to Zin¡¯s surprise, Leona kept on following Zin without muchint. But Leona was clearly struggling to catch up. Leona wobbled as if she¡¯d fall down, but still bravely kept following Zin. So, Zin paced himself, and Leona was able to follow him without exhausting herselfpletely. A pretty darn good ce to live. Zin and Leona didn¡¯t encounter any beasts, even when they were very close to arriving at Ard Point. The beasts in the central region of the Korean Penins were mostly corpse hunters and poisonous dogs. If the incident at Zado City had decimated the Giant Wolves, then the surrounding areas would be an even better ce to live. On top of that, many corpse hunters would have fled hundreds of miles away because of the appearance of that maneater. Ard Point had probably be a much better ce to live. ¡°Hey, mister, is farming hard? I think I can take on farming.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ well.¡± As they were approaching Ard Point, Leona grew curious and started asking questions. ¡°In farming, people utilize agricultural techniques, but a sessful harvest depends on luck. It¡¯s hard to learn, and even if you learn, harvesting depends on luck.¡± ¡°¡­ Can you exin in words I can understand?¡± Leona asked angrily. Zin knew that Leona had a limited vocabry, but he was annoyed by the fact that he had to exin inyman¡¯s terms. Zin started to exin again. ¡°Farming is frigging hard.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I see.¡± Leona kept on murmuring, ¡°Damned world, nothing¡¯s easy.¡± Although it had been a pretty peaceful return trip, Zin wasn¡¯t too happy because he needed to hunt some beasts in order to extend his uptime. And when they arrived safely at Ard Point, Zin thought it was too easy of a trip back. ¡°Wow¡­ it¡¯s tall.¡± Leona stood looking amazed at the wall as if she¡¯d never seen one before. Someone peeked out from the gate, and without a doubt, it was Baek-Goo. Baek-Goo started waving at them from afar as if he¡¯d been waiting for the hunter to return. Baek-Goo started shouting to the people inside the wall. ¡°The hunter has returned! Open the gate!¡± ¡ªkrrrrrrrrrrr!¡ª Leona was amazed at seeing the steel gate slowly open. ¡°I really¡ª¡± Leona started shouting, unable to hold back her emotions. ¡°¡ªreally want to live here!¡± The thick prison wall looked so safe to Leona that she became emotional. Baek-Goo climbed down adder from the wall and smiled at them. ¡°I was waiting for ya, hunter! Thought you were dead.¡± Baek-Goo greeted Zin as if an old-time friend had returned. ¡°I wasn¡¯t thatte, you know?¡± ¡°Well, you could have died pretty quickly?¡± ¡°Look at you, trash-talking.¡± ¡°Yup, I became good at it. Don¡¯t I seem taller, too?¡± Baek-Goo pointed at his rtively short height, but Zin shook his head. ¡°Not at all.¡± ¡°Oh well¡­ Anyway, did you get to aplish your mission?¡± ¡°You could say that.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s this little friend?¡± ¡°A survivor of Zado City. She¡¯ll provide testimony.¡± ¡°It must have been quite a trip, trying to drag a small kid back. You sure are some hunter.¡± Leona was startled when Baek-Goo called her a little kid. ¡°Little? You¡¯re no bigger than I am!¡± ¡°Hmm? Really? Oh, excuse my words, haha!¡± Baek-Goo justughed at Leona¡¯s snarkyments without arguing back. Leona was surprised that Baek-Goo would respond in such a weird manner. ¡°Now, I gotta get going. You know where the elder is at, right? Please go ahead to his building.¡± ¡°Sure, thanks.¡± ¡°See youter!¡± Baek-Goo waved at them and headed back to the wall. The other guards and residents looked at Zin and Leona as they passed by. Everyone thought that the hunter would either get killed or flee, but they were d to see the hunter return. Leona appeared annoyed. ¡°Who the heck was that? Your friend?¡± ¡°He just acts like that.¡± ¡°I hate those types of people.¡± ¡°Hmm, he seems like a type of person who can¡¯t be hated.¡± Leona shook her head at his words. ¡°I don¡¯t like people who act too friendly when I¡¯m not ready.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re any better?¡± Baek-Goo and Leona weren¡¯t too different in that they were both intrusive, personality-wise. They acted slightly different, but Leona was a little bit more snarky. ¡°Hmm¡­ mister, you don¡¯t get it.¡± Leonaughed. ¡°People hate those with simr personalities.¡± As Leona spoke like a sixty-year-old granny, Zinughed out loud. ¡°Whether you like it or not, there¡¯s no point in acting weird in this ce. You¡¯re going to live here after all.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right.¡± Leona covered her mouth as she smiled. ¡°Should I apologizeter on?¡± Leona looked like she was in a good mood, wondering what she should do. The elder greeted Zin with the same look as the others, and Zin briefly reported what he¡¯d observed. Leona, who¡¯de as a witness, talked with the elder as well. It was not smart to believe in a witness¡¯s words just because one was a witness. And the elder started asking questions to test Leona. ¡°Is the Zado City¡¯s guard captain still that big-nosed one? Does he still have that big mole?¡± ¡°Well. I don¡¯t quite remember. He looked fierce and cold-blooded. Did he have a big nose? I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t think he had a mole¡­¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ you might actually be a survivor.¡± ¡°Elder, how do you know about the Zado¡¯s guard captain?¡± At her question, the elder gave a weird answer. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know him.¡± ¡°What? Then why are you asking me these questions?¡± ¡°I was testing you out to see if you were faking as a survivor.¡± Looking at how Leona was thinking hard to answer his questions, the elder started asking her more, and as soon as he heard the answers, he nodded his head grimly. ¡°A pack of Giant Wolves¡­ it doesn¡¯t make sense¡­.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s true!¡± ¡°A maneater appeared because of the corpses, and here¡¯s proof.¡± Zin pulled out a couple of maneater tentacles from the void storage, and he also pulled out some teeth he took from the Giant Wolves when he left Zado. ¡°Hmm¡­ you wouldn¡¯t have been able to hunt down the Giant Wolves in such a short period of time¡­ On top of that, a maneater¡­ Did you actually hunt the maneater?¡± ¡°I sure did. I won¡¯t ask for more money as long as you pay what¡¯s promised.¡± ¡°Very thankful for that¡­huh¡­maneater¡­ what is going on¡­.¡± The elder had to believe Zin¡¯s words because the Giant Wolves¡¯ teeth, and a somewhat burnt maneater tentacle, weren¡¯t items one could earn in a short period of time. The elder nodded slowly, took out the reward from the safe, and ced it in front of Zin. ¡°Well done. If the Giant Wolves were finished off, there is no need to flee Ard Point. Thank you again.¡± Zin opened the bag, counted the chips, and nodded his head. ¡°Two hundred. Perfect.¡± ¡°And this is a small token of appreciation for finishing off the maneater. It could have gone all the way here.¡± The elder took out an additional 50 chips and gave them to Zin. ¡°I¡¯ll take an extra reward any day. Thanks.¡± ¡°This is a much better oue than trying to look for a new shelter. Thank you, I really appreciate it. You¡¯ve brought some convincing evidence and finished the job perfectly. Even in my Nest days, I¡¯ve never seen a hunter like you.¡± The elderughed, knowing that one of his biggest concerns had resolved itself. Chapter 11 Chapter 11: Never Dwell in a Good ce for Too Long (2) The elder looked and smiled lovingly at Leona, who looked happily back at him. ¡°So you must be the kid who¡¯ll be our new family member, right?¡± ¡°Can I really live here?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got plenty of rooms,nd, and not enough workers, so your presence is very much weed.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± Leona became excited as the elder easily epted her to live in the Point. In amunity vige, kids were usually unwee because they were considered a burden. In some viges where the leaders were powerful, the leader would prohibit childbirth to prevent wasting food on kids. Leona understood the reality of living in the wilderness, and she kept on nodding with her hands sped. Now, she would not have to worry about stealing or of dark, scary nights. With that fact alone, Leona felt d. ¡°Mr. Elder, I will do my very best.¡± ¡°Well then, I must go and prepare a weing feast.¡± The elder looked at Zin. ¡°Why don¡¯t you settle here as well? We need a hunter, and a hunter of your caliber is always weed.¡± ¡°Mr. Elder, Zin may look weak, but he¡¯s the real deal. I¡¯m living proof of that.¡± Leona whispered to the elder, but Zin shook his head. ¡°If you were in the Nest before, you¡¯d know better.¡± ¡°Mm¡­ yes¡­ right¡­ that¡¯s a shame.¡± Elder sounded regretful, but didn¡¯t bring it up again. Do not hold back a hunter. A hunter who didn¡¯t wander was not a hunter. A hunter should not stop. Instead, a hunter must always be on the move. A hunter must journey past the wilderness to arrive at their final destination. There was no reason to live in such a way, but hunters had their rules and convictions. The elder slowly nodded and looked at Zin again. And when he saw Zin, the elder¡¯s look changed, as well as his words. ¡°A hunter who lives by the rules. Indeed, I have met a very noble one.¡± ¡°I believe there should be at least one fundamentalist.¡± Zinughed as he spoke. ¡°I urge you to rest for a couple more days. We have plenty to offer you.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ll be leaving soon.¡± Zin smiled bitterly, and spoke again: ¡°I never dwell in a good ce for too long.¡± ¡°Right¡­ I remember that rule as well¡­¡± Never dwell in a good ce for long. Otherwise, one would end up settling down. Because it became harder to leave, hunters tended to pass by ¡®good¡¯ ces. A hunter always watched out for good people, good viges,fort and calmness. The biggest enemy of a hunter was not the biggest monster, but an environment thatpelled them to settle down. A hunter was done for if they could no longer wander around. Leona did not understand the conversation, but was aware that Zin and the elder were having a discussion. ¡°Please leave. I hope your path does not lead back to this vige.¡± It was a farewell to the departing hunter. ¡°I wish to not return as well.¡± It was a farewell from the departing hunter. I want this ce to remain a ce where a hunter is not needed. I¡¯d also like this ce to be remain peaceful. After saying farewell, Zin took the reward, and left the elder¡¯s building. The elder did note out, but Leona followed after Zin. ¡°Are you leaving right away?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°Not good? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, you could have stayed a little longer. Why in such a rush?¡± Leona scratched her face with mixed feelings. She was able to live in a new and safe vige, one with a high wall. She was able toe to this ce because Zin had brought her here. And that hunter Zin was about to leave the vige. ¡°A hunter is a human too, you know. Why don¡¯t you take a break?¡± It seemed like Leona had something to say, but she ended up mumbling the words and then bit her lip. Zin looked at the little kid and thought about the past. There were memories, illusions, reminiscence, and reiteration. They were all moments in life that ended up as regrets in the end. ¡°If my goal was to settle down somewhere, I wouldn¡¯t be living as a hunter in the first ce.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got some talent.¡± ¡°That¡¯s apliment, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but¡­¡± Zin said slowly. ¡°¡­ in this damned world, a person¡¯s the happiest when they don¡¯t have to use their talent.¡± Zin had felt strong emotions ever since he epted the mission from Ard Point, and he believed that he had to remove himself from them. ¡°This is a safe ce, and you will live a life that doesn¡¯t require your talents. In that case, you won¡¯t be living an unlucky life.¡± Although Leona was a vicious person, it would not be bad for her to live her life farming instead of killing people out of viciousness. It had only been a couple of days¡ªat most, four days of fighting and walking. However, rtionships can form pretty easily in this world. Humans hate other humans, but they needed each other in the end. Leona looked at Zin with a heavy heart. ¡°Mister, you talk with big words,¡± Leona added. ¡°Because it¡¯s hard to understand¡­¡± Leona continued. ¡°Can you stay here and exin to me what you mean?¡± It wasn¡¯t clear what moment or event had given Leona a tingly feeling. The stray cat that wasn¡¯t attached to others probably felt something in her heart when she started to talk with someone for the first time. It was as if she finally realized that the feeling she had all this time was loneliness. She was growing afraid of being lonely after having someone to apany her. Zin shook his head. ¡°Big words are not necessary to live in this world.¡± Zin turned around and added: ¡°So, just live the way you are now.¡± Leona didn¡¯t cry, and the two weren¡¯t close friends yet. But Leona hoped to get to know him better. She hoped to talk a little bit more. Zin raised his hand and headed towards the prison¡¯s wall. Leona murmured, looking at Zin walking away. ¡°He¡¯s totally an amateur¡­¡± A hunter left with his back to everyone. A hunter disappeared, leaving people behind. And therefore, a hunter did not turn around to look behind his back. ¡°Damn, I hope you break your foot while walking!¡± Leona shouted. Zin left Ard point without meeting Baek-Goo. He left hastily¡ªafter all, a hunter had nothing to do with a vige after all the work was finished. Hunters looked for requests, and it was against their code to stay at a vige that had no work for him. Zin had to visit different viges to resolve their issues, and earn more chips in order to prolong his life. He passed several mountains, stopping when Ard Point was no longer visible. Zin knew that he was rushing himself. It was okay to rest up for about a day. Living by the code was a matter of belief. As Leona said, it was okay to rest for a bit as a human. Zin travelled through the darkest hours. Along the way, he met people that he felt worried about. He passed by viges that he felt concerned for. Because he came across these people and viges, he rushed ahead even more. A hunter needed to live alone. He had no friends orpanions. A hunter who didn¡¯t live by himself were more prone to dying, and it was not a matter of living by the code, but a matter of surviving. Baek-Goo would live as a good Captain of the Guard. He wasn¡¯t book smart, but he was street smart. He would protect the Point very effectively. The elder considered the safety of the people as his top priority, and was willing to spend about 300 chips in order to save the vige from danger. Although he was quite old, but so long as he lived, Ard Point would be a peaceful ce. Leona was a the most special kid that Zin had ever met. A very strange kid. Zin was able to describe Baek-Goo and the elder in his own words, but it was hard to describe Leona in simple terms. However, Leona¡¯s good traits that appeared as bad traits should help her live in Ard Point. A hunter would never settle down. If chips were offered, a hunter would find homes for the homeless, would assume revenge for others, and would kill monsters. And once all matters were resolved, a hunter would leave for a different ce. One would gather chips to make a weapon, and use that weapon to hunt down a monster to gather more chips. In this never-ending cycle, the hunter wandered in the wilderness for their final destination. The hunter would keep on walking until he arrived at their journey¡¯s end. Zin knew about the power of time more than anybody else. A hesitation of the mind was temporary. Love the chip more than anything else. Many codes had led the hunter to this date. Defending something was harder than hunting for something. Holding onto something other than one¡¯s self always brought pain for sure. In the end, because hunters were human beings as well, they couldn¡¯t always live by the code. After experiencing many failures when trying to defend his dearest things, Zin realized that closing one¡¯s heart was the only way to avoid pain. Hunters who¡¯d been around for a while were cold-hearted and didn¡¯t get sentimental towards anything. ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± As Zin looked around, he realized something. In front of him was thepass. East. West. South. North. Walking from the East, Zin had to pick one direction¡ªWest, South or North. But he wasn¡¯t sure where he had to go. If he walked south, he would reach the tip of the Korean Penins, and if he walked north, he would reach the broader continent. I need to head back. He had no reason to remain in the Korean Penins. Even though it had been a while since he¡¯d been to the Penins, thend was rather peaceful, and Zin was certain that he wouldn¡¯t earn anything out of this peacefulness. Should I go through the continent, and head to Southeast Asia¡­ mm¡­ yeah, I should. If Zin were to extend his lifetime by resolving different requests along the way, the journey would take over a year. Zin was nning to travel leisurely since he didn¡¯t think that the apocalyptic world would lead to another apocalypse. He had another 400+ days of lifetime, and death was still far for Zin. I should stop by Ragnarligion. Zin started to pick up his pace. He pondered what he should work on when he arrived at his next destination, which was still far away. Zin walked for two straight days without sleep. There was no real reason for it, but he kept on walking without rest. ¡°¡­¡± And at one point, Zin realized that something was not right with him. ¡­ I am walking northwest. He had focused solely on walking, but instead of walking north he was heading to a different direction. Zin corrected his direction and started walking again. He must not have noticed because he was trying to get rid of all the random thoughts in his mind. Experiencing a human¡¯s hospitality after such a long time proved to be a very troubling matter. Zin smiled bitterly as he had mixed feelings in him. And he kept feeling anxious from time to time. I feel like I¡¯m forgetting something¡­ Zin felt as if he¡¯d forgotten something very important. But he couldn¡¯t remember what it could be. That thought kept on popping in his mind ever since he left Ard Point. Zin felt as if he couldn¡¯t figure out which part of his body was tingling. He had a feeling that he forgot about something important and had passed it by. Zin stopped and started murmuring. ¡°Do I have dementia¡­?¡± There was fear in his voice, which was very unlike of him. Chapter 12 Chapter 12: There¡¯s a Reason Why the Crazy Survive (1) Zin had lived for a very long time. And it was not strange for him to have dementia. Even though he didn¡¯t appear old on the outside, his core was considerably aged, and it would not be a surprise to find that his brain wasn¡¯t normal. ¡°Did I age to the point where I need to worry about dementia? What a blessing.¡± Although Zin didn¡¯t do it often, he spoke in a monologue. Zin tried tough it off, but he just couldn¡¯t smile naturally. It was very obvious, but it wasn¡¯t easy to remember something that was forgotten. Zin walked helplessly. And at that moment¡ª ¡ªvrrrrrooom!¡ª ¡ªa loud engine noise reverberated from far away. Zin immediately hid in the bushes. ¡ªvrrrrrraaaaaaammm!¡ª The loud noise wasing from a couple of miles away, and it seemed to be getting closer and closer. Zin slowly moved from the bushes. He stayed still and observed the horizon. He spotted several beat-up cars approaching. ¡ªvrrrrrooom!¡ª The noise wasing from beat-up reactor cars. The car bodies were made up of scrap metal. The tires were made up of pieces of rubber tangled with wires. These reactor cars sometimes had three, two, or even four wheels. Some had driver¡¯s seats, and some didn¡¯t. ¡ªbrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!¡ª These cars had different looks, and they were like ticking time bombs that could blow up with the drivers at any moment. Junkwagon. It¡¯s impossible that someone in this penins would even build that crazy piece of junk¡­ Perhaps it¡¯s from the continent. The junkwagon imitated the vehicles from the past, but they had pretty good speed even with a crappy reactor since they used a powerful fuel, the blue chip. Just as Zin handled firearms, other people had technical skills in a world where the use of such skills was rare. And just as a hunter invested all their money and technology into hunting weapons, there were those who focused their energy on vehicles. They were the crazy group of individuals who were the enemy of all people. Reavers. They had the traits of a robber, murderer, thief, raider, and looter. Even though they were not monsters, they enjoyed murdering people more than a monster would, and no monsters or humans remained alive on the paths they passed. Reavers were obviously cruel in nature, and the junkwagons moved at a speed faster than a person could walk. From time to time, some wanderers would steal these junkwagons to travel. However, Zin did not prefer to ride on junkwagons. ¡ªbrrrrrr! craassh!¡ª ¡°Arrrrggggh!¡± One of the junkwagons seemed to hit a bump on the road, jumped up, and exploded in mid-air. A junkwagon was literally made with junk, and they were very unstable and unsafe. It was not Zin¡¯s preference to ride on a ticking time bomb. And a hunter was in a position to detect enemies first, but not in a position to alert others with a loud engine noise. In any case, a junkwagon was something that Zin really hated. The Reaver inside the exploding junkwagon flew and hit the road, dying a horrible death on the spot. ¡°Halt! Halt!¡± As soon as the head of the Reaver group shouted, all the Reavers stopped at once. It was not hard to spot the leader of the Reavers. They either led the pack or rode nicer junkwagons with ornaments like skulls. Among the group of about thirty Reavers, there were three leaders. On one of the car-like junkwagons, there were dozens of skulls dangling on its hood. Zin observed the group from the bushes. They don¡¯t have guns¡­ but they have high-powered weapons¡­ they are not from the penins. Zin made an analysis by observing the leader and the group¡¯s weapons. Inside the trunks of the junkwagons, there were a bunch of rocketunchers. ¡°Did that dude just die?¡± ¡°I think so, sir?¡± ¡°Go take the engine and parts! If there¡¯s useful scrap metal in the next town, we¡¯ll build a new one.¡± As soon as the leader finished speaking, a couple of Reavers ran towards the dismantled junkwagon. They were not interested in their deadpanion. Stroking his beard, the leader shouted at the Reavers looking at him. ¡°Who¡¯s got no car?¡± As soon as he shouted, ten Reavers raised their hands. The leader grinned and pointed at one of them. ¡°You! You already have a car!¡± ¡°Boss! It¡¯s shameful to even call this a car. You can consider me car-less!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so! Hey, over there, Boong-Shik, you¡¯re up next.¡± ¡°Oh! Boss, thanks! Thank you!¡± Boong-shik, the Reaver, was so happy that he screamed at the top of his lungs. As soon as the Reavers put the usable parts into their junkwagons, they started their engines. ¡ªvroom! vrroooom!¡ª Before leaving, the leader grew mad and shouted at the Reavers. ¡°You piece of crap! If you think your car¡¯s about to explode, stop! Don¡¯t die like an idiot! If a bomb went off, we¡¯d all be dead! Be careful! Understood!?!!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you just tell us that if we stopped, it would disrupt the formation?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Oh, never mind! Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°You moron! Let¡¯s go! Who knows, we might find something valuable like liquor during a stop?¡± ¡°Even if we did, wouldn¡¯t you, boss, drink it all? What¡¯s the point?¡± ¡°Now, you little punk¡­ I¡¯m going to get you!¡± ¡°Oops, I¡¯m going ahead, Boss!¡± ¡°Stop, you punk!¡± ¡ªvrrrrrroooom!¡ª Revving their engines, the group of Reavers left. The things they left behind were tire marks, scrap metals, and a corpse. Zin waited behind the bushes until the Reavers left, and stood up. Reavers are so noisy wherever they go. The Reavers appeared to be idiots goofing around, but one shouldn¡¯t take them lightly. For the victims, they would rather not encounter Reavers who talked jokingly about whether they should kill people by cutting off their arms or legs. The Reavers were cruel. And Zin tried not to pick a fight with the Reavers, avoiding them at all cost. There were many reasons for it, with the following four in particr: Reavers usually formed groups. And confronting them would require using a lot of ammunition. Reavers were humans, and he could not extract chips from them. The junkwagons¡¯ loud noise attracted beasts. When Reavers thought that they were losing the battle, they would self-destruct with their junkwagons. They would rather die than give up their chips. Zin hated fighting against Reavers because it wasn¡¯t cost-efficient. Wait a minute. That way¡­ The Reavers had gone over the curvy roads and were no longer visible, but he could still hear the sound of their engines. Zin was heading north, while the Reavers were heading south. Ard Point was on their way. It was very likely that they wouldn¡¯t find Ard Point, but the junkwagons had limited routes in terms of the roads that they could operate on. Just as Zin had taken the northern route, they would also take the southern route. That would mean that the Reavers would eventually reach Ard Point. Zin started heading north with a hardened look. A hunter did not act as a person of justice. A hunter worked for the number of chips he could get. Simr to how a hunter would start shooting without hesitation when he encountered wanderers and refugees in the wilderness, a hunter disyed no emotion during the hunt. Hunters were not good people, and Zin did not care about the viges that he had no more business with. And so, Zin kept on heading north without turning back, even though he knew what would happen to Ard Point. Zin neither thought nor said anything during this time. He only kept walking forward like a machine. Zin walked for an unknown period of time. Now I remember. Zin turned back. Turning from north to south, Zin started heading down the southern route.. The reason he turned back was simple. He finally remembered what he¡¯d forgotten about. As soon as he figured it out, his thoughts became clear, and he was able to set his destination. I didn¡¯t get my reward. He didn¡¯t recover the 500 chips from Leona. Zin headed down south to recover the chips. Zin was thinking that the chips were the only reason he was heading back south. Zin had never made such a mistake in the past. It showed how quickly he¡¯d left Ard Point. He¡¯d left in a hurry, to the point that he forgot about getting the reward. Zin had walked eighty miles north for two days. Zin walked without sleeping, so he¡¯d traveled a fair distance. And it took about ten hours for Zin to head back the same way. Zin ran at a very fast pace¡ªhis stamina was monstrous. The sky turned dark, as well as his surroundings. Zin paused; he was near Ard Point and could see the moonlight illuminating the prison wall. ¡°Tiring¡­¡± That was all he said after running for ten hours. Instead of resting, he observed the walls of Ard Point. It was too quiet. It must already be over. Zin was able to see what happened. He stared at the walls of Ard Point and stood still. It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out what happened. The gate is broken. The heavy steel gate was crushed. A Reaver¡¯s rocketuncher would be enough to destroy the gate. It seemed like there was a battle, and Ard Point had ended up overtaken. ¡°¡­¡± Zin didn¡¯t have much feeling about the fact that the Reavers had overtaken Ard Point. The guards of Ard Point were only armed with arrows, while the Reavers were heavily armed. Ard Point had no chance. Although all the people would be dead, Zin came back to retrieve his share of the reward. The unimed reward would still be there even though the people were dead. And Zin was going to take back his chips, even if they were taken by the Reavers. Chapter 13 Chapter 13: There¡¯s a Reason Why the Crazy Survive (2) Zin spotted people with lights climbing up the walls. Judging by their outfits made up of crappy leather clothing, Zin was able to figure out that they were Reavers. Zin hid himself behind some reeds in the open field and watched them. He was about a third of a mile away from their position. They weren¡¯t able to see Zin because it was dark. I need to get to higher ground. Instead of getting closer to Ard Point, Zin retreated to the nearby hills and climbed up. The hills were higher than the wall. When Zin reached the top of the hill, he was able to see inside past the walls of Ard Point. Ard Point was quite far from the hills, so Zin took out a pair of high-powered binocrs from his bag and started to monitor the enemies. As he zoomed in, he could even see the moles on their skin. Because the Reavers had lit up themps, Zin was able to identify their location. The Reavers were all gathered in the center of Ard Point. They¡¯d amassed all their trophies, enjoying their victory. What they gathered were chips and corpses. The Reavers didn¡¯t seem to be into torturing, and it looked like none were left alive. Reavers who arm themselves heavily seem to like to leave corpses. In the center of the gathering was a giant boiling pot, with human legs and arms sticking out of it. In other areas, some Reavers were butchering the dead. Some were kicking around decapitated heads like ser balls. Some were sleeping and using the corpses as pillows. And some were raping the corpses. Looking at this hellish scene, Zin kept his cool and tried to assess the situation. All the corpses had had their heads chopped off, and the heads were lined up in front of the leader as souvenirs. Zin tried to read the leader¡¯s lips. This! This looks awesome! These guys ate potatoes, and their heads are pretty, like round potatoes. Yo! Byung-Doo! Come over here! Boil and skin them! If you overdo it, I¡¯ll boil your ass! The leader seemed to be collecting the skulls and was looking through them one at a time. All these skulls were probably going to decorate the leader¡¯s junkwagon. It wasmon for Reavers, especially the leaders, to have such strange behavior. Picking skulls wasn¡¯t that bizarre for a Reaver. The underling started boiling the three heads in the pot, and the leader kept walking around. He stopped in front of one head, and he gnashed his teeth. He grabbed one of the Reavers and asked him: How many of us died today? One from the road, five from this battle. Didn¡¯t this dude kill all of them? Probably. He shot arrows pretty well. Bastard¡­. Man¡­ oh man¡­. What a waste¡­ The leader sighed. The skull was that of Baek-Goo¡¯s. For whatever reason, the leader wasmenting. If the skull looked a little bit prettier, I would have taken it with me. ¡ªcrack!¡ª And without hesitation, the leader stomped and crushed the skull of Baek-Goo. The leader was notmenting over the fact that he couldn¡¯t recruit Baek-Goo who¡¯d killed five of his men. ¡ªptoooot!¡ª After spitting on the crushed skull of Baek-Goo, the leader started looking closely at the other skulls. There really was no reason to take such interest in dead people¡¯s skulls. ¡ªvwooom!¡ª As soon as Zin remembered what he was looking for, he zoomed out and looked at the whole city. There wasn¡¯t a real reason to search for anything. Also, there was no real reason to start any trouble. But after scouting through the heads lying on the ground, Zin came to a conclusion. Leona¡¯s head wasn¡¯t there. He calmly observed the scenes of cannibalization, rape, and ughter. Zin tried to remain detached from any sort of emotions in the midst of Ard Point¡¯s copse. And he kept on trying. And he thought: Twenty-nine enemies in total. No long-range weapons, so they can¡¯t get me. They¡¯ll probably rest here and leave tomorrow. Four guard posts. They¡¯ll be on guard duty, and the rest will probably sleep. They¡¯ll fall into a deep sleep after their heavy meals. It looks like no one will sleep in the prison cells. They¡¯re going to sleep in the city square using the corpses as pillows. There¡¯s no booze in Ard Point, so no probability that they¡¯ll get drunk. From this position, I have enough visibility to snipe them all. This is a good spot. Hmm¡­ is that a CPD (Chaos Poison Drug)? Even better then. Taking dope instead of booze. Additionally, Zin spotted a couple of Reavers who were taking shots of a mix of cheap drugs. He thought: I¡¯ll wait until they go to sleep. I¡¯ll start with M700 chain-shots. I need to get at least half of them. If some hide in the buildings, I need to get them with the Saiga-12. I¡¯ll need at least 29 bullets. If I want to conserve shotgun ammo, I need to snipe as much as I can. This will probably be a battle with low-returns. I¡¯ll have to finish this using ordinary ammo only. Because Zin had to deal with many humans, he had to consider using a hand grenade. Using a grenade was possible, but it meant a loss of resources. Zin took out one of his firearms, a Saiga-12, from his bag and loaded it with ammo. Zin attached the four power scope, and expandable magazine to the M700. It was a good distance to take advantage of a silencer. He could take down the enemies without alerting them too much. Lastly, Zin attached the long silencer to the M700, and strapped the Saiga to his shoulder. The extra long silencer reduced the sound as well as the sh of the gunfire. From a different perspective, the silencer was deadlier than a firearm. Zin looked through the scope and observed the situation at Ard Point. If he had enough dark-born energy, he could have used an auto-aiming support. But because he had to conserve his energy, he decided to snipe them manually with his skills. The magazine had ten bullets. One shot per second should do it. Zin had the ambitious n of sniping ten enemies in ten seconds. As soon as the Reavers fell asleep, they would experience a hell within a hell. Unaware that a sniper was observing them from the hills, the Reavers finished eating and then went to sleep. There were four who were on guard duty, so the rest of them went to sleep in a hurry before it was their turn to be on duty. The weather was cool enough to sleep outside. There were some who slept inside, but these were few. And because of the cool weather, they would soon be facing death. Nobody was able to see the gun sh from the trees on the hill. ¡ªzip!¡ª A Reaver that was struck in the head fell over without a scream. The sentries were looking at different directions, and they hadn¡¯t realized that one of them was down. Another sliver of a gun sh appeared. ¡ªzip!¡ª Another guard went down. The silencer quieted the sharp sound of the rifle into a less intrusive sound. The silenced gunshot would fade away by the time it reached the walls of Ard Point. The Reavers would only hear the sound of the bullets piercing through their foreheads. Two more shots were fired and all the Reavers on top of the wall went down without a scream. The long-ranged sniping gave no hint of warning to the Reavers. One Reaver at a time was sumbing to Zin¡¯s sniping. ¡ªclick!¡ª Zin scouted the walls of Ard Point and its enemies. The enemies were all sleeping in one location. Even a silencer couldn¡¯t muffle the sound of a bullet piercing through the air. Once he fired shots to the group, some of them would notice the attack and start fleeing to the buildings. It was important to take down as many as possible before that happened. Using buckshot wouldn¡¯t be a bad choice here¡­ A single shot would kill several of them, but the explosion would send the enemies fleeing in terror. Zin was wondering whether he should kill them silently or kill them with a bang. Zin¡¯s choice was pretty simple. I should still use regr ammo. Buckshot was expensive. Zin loaded five more bullets into the magazine and aimed again. The leader was sleeping on the pile of headless corpses. After taking down the guards, Zin was going for the leader. Taking down the chain ofmand was the best strategy. Taking into consideration the wind¡¯s direction and thews of gravity, Zin aimed at the leader¡¯s head. He held his breath and slowly calcted the trajectory of the shot. Right before Zin was about to pull the trigger, he frowned. What the heck is that? ¡ªzip!¡ª In the middle of the open field where the Reavers were sleeping, an arrow flew and struck the ground. ¡°What was that sound?¡± One of the sleeping Reavers woke up and looked at where the arrow hadnded. ¡°What is that?¡± There was an arrow, and on it, something was shining with a blue light. ¡ªvrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!¡ª ¡°Huh, what the¡­?¡± As the Reaver felt that something wrong, other Reavers woke up one after another. The violently-shaking object was a chipbox that was about to explode. The Reavers realized what it was, but it was toote for them to run away from it. ¡°What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s with all the fuss¡­ huh?¡± The leader had also woken up toote. ¡ªsh!¡ª An explosive blue light shed, and the leader murmured in disbelief. ¡°What the f¡ª?¡± ¡ªbaaaaaam!¡ª A huge explosion covered the whole Ard Point square. Looking at the explosion, Zin also murmured: ¡°Son of a¡­¡± Zin could figure out what it was. It was the chipbox that he¡¯d given to Leona. ¡°Wow¡­ impressive.¡± Leona was marveling at the sight from one of the prison cell windows. Nothing was left in sight. The people that the Reavers had killed and the Reavers themselves had all been wiped out. ¡°Bastards, you¡¯re not getting away alive after destroying my new home.¡± Leonaughed and scouted the rest of the area carefully. She assumed that the sentry guards on the walls would being after the huge explosion. There were four guards, and she thought that she could safely flee after taking those four out. But Leona did not know that all of them were already dead. Leona didn¡¯t let her guard down easily, and she always looked for ces to hide in case of trouble. When the Reavers first attacked, she quickly hid herself in a concealed space above the ceiling of one of the prison cells. In the end, Leona had been able to survive because of her old instincts as a thief. Chapter 14 Chapter 14: There¡¯s a Reason Why the Crazy Survive (3) Those bastards were on some pretty fast rides, and I need to kill them all if I want to get away on one. Leona grabbed the bow and arrow next to her. Good thing I brought this with me. If she hadn¡¯t brought the bow in case of an emergency, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to throw the chipbox so far away. Her n was simple. Leona strapped the chipbox to an arrow, entered an invalid password which triggered the explosion sequence, and shot the arrow at the Reavers. However, the bow was too strong for Leona to use, and she¡¯d had a hard time even drawing it once. She was able to pull it off only once, but she wasn¡¯t sure if she could shoot and kill people with it. She only had a knife and a bow to protect her. Even though it could mean death, I have no other choice. Killing everyone in one st was possible, but dealing with four Reavers was troublesome. Running away would have been an option, but Leona did not want to do it, and she wasn¡¯t sure if she could make a safe escape. She was going to kill them all. She was full of anger because the Reavers had destroyed her new home, but that was not the only reason. They were good people. Even though Leona had only stayed for two days, all the residents of Ard Point had greeted her. Leona was disgusted by the Reavers who were kicking around the heads of the residents, and eating the residents¡¯ corpses. She was not going to forgive the Reavers and let them go alive. She could not stand allowing them to live. This was not a matter of right or wrong for Leona, but it was more of her natural instinct. Leona drew her bow, and looked quietly at the city square. The guards that Leona was waiting for did not show up. They were all dead from getting their heads shot, but Leona didn¡¯t know about that. ¡°What the hell!¡± Instead of the guards, other Reavers hade out instead. They had slept inside the prison and were safe from the st radius. There were three in total, and Leona quietly observed them. ¡°Bald dude, one-eyed dude, and a long hair dude.¡± Leona took note of their appearances as she observed them. ¡°I think they¡¯re all dead?¡± ¡°What in the world just happened? Did some drunkard throw a grenade?¡± ¡°Well, if that were the case, the boss would have killed him first.¡± The explosion of the chipbox had blown away all the loot. The remaining Reavers were unable to figure out the situation. They weren¡¯t sure if this was done by an enemy attack, or if it was a simple ident. It was the best moment to attack them. Reavers were a weird breed of people in the wilderness. They would never mourn for a fallenrade. They expressedradery, but not towards dead people. Out of the three, the bald Reaver started talking. ¡°So, who¡¯s the boss now?¡± ¡°The leader?¡± The three were starting to get excited about the topic. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s me.¡± The bald shouted at the words of the long-haired one. ¡°Bull! I¡¯m the oldest here. The oldest person used to be the leader all the time!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, the strongest is the boss.¡± ¡°You ain¡¯t no match for me? What are you guys babbling about?¡± The atmosphere became worse as the three continued to quarrel. What are those idiots doing? Leona wondered if the Reavers were people like her. She couldn¡¯t believe that Ard Point had been taken down by these Reavers who seemed dumb and careless. ¡°I¡¯m the new boss!¡± ¡°No, me!¡± ¡°Whoever came out first is the boss!¡± They were starting to taunt each other as if they were about to engage in a fist fight. Leona was starting to think that she¡¯d be better off fleeing quietly rather than deal with them. Leona was thinking about what she needed to do. Then the one-eyed Reaver looked toward Leona¡¯s direction, and he started to murmur: ¡°Found it.¡± ¡°!¡± Leona quickly ducked but the one-eyed Reaver was looking right at her. The long-haired one asked: ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Over there, fourth floor, fifth window from the left.¡± ¡°So there was a rat hiding?¡± ¡°It was a kiddo.¡± ¡°Heeheehee¡­¡± The bald oneughed. Leona started to get goosebumps listening to the Reavers speak. Those crazy bastards¡­ those crazy¡­ The three appeared to have run out randomly, but in fact, they were forming a triangr formation. They were scouting their surroundings while acting as if they were fighting. They did so after standing in a way that allowed them to check all directions. Reavers were insane people. They were just as crazy as the hunters. Reavers were able to survive in the wilderness for a reason. Craziness did not guarantee survival. The Reavers were a crazy group, but they had something else in them. They appeared stupid so attackers would let down their guard, and they had spotted Leona. From time to time, the Reavers were smart enough to take advantage of other people¡¯s perception of the Reavers. ¡°That building has no back door. The only way out is the front door, so let¡¯s take our time to tease her.¡± The Reavers were aware of theyout of the buildings in Ard Point even though they were only staying for a night. ¡°I think the guards are all dead?¡± The Reavers were aware of the situation, since the guards weren¡¯ting. ¡°She might flee through the window on the back, so you go towards the back of the building! I¡¯ll go to the side! You guard the front door!¡± ¡°Alright!¡± The Reavers started moving out quickly. Now that they spotted me, I can¡¯t stay here. Leona was not the type who would feel terrified to death. She moved to the next room and drew the bow while perched on the windowsill. ¡°Houuzza!¡± She hadn¡¯t drawn the bow fully, but Leona appeared in front of the window without hesitation. The Reavers saw Leona appear on the windowsill. She had no time to aim carefully. Please hit them! ¡ªtwaang!¡ª The arrow flew. ¡ªtwack!¡ª ¡°What was that?¡± The arrow struck the ground about ten feet away from the bald Reaver. ¡°You don¡¯t even know how to shoot an arrow? Hey, kiddo! You won¡¯t even hit a standing pig like that!¡± The bald Reaver taunted Leona, and Leona grinned. It was obvious that Leona missed the target because she didn¡¯t know how to draw a bow, and she didn¡¯t have the strength to draw it. The Reaver kept on taunting Leona. ¡°Hey! Shoot me! I¡¯m standing right here, hahahahaha!¡± ¡°That son of a¡­¡± Leona gnashed her teeth and drew another arrow. ¡°Ow!¡± Leona experience muscle pain just trying to draw the bow a couple of times. A bow was not a weapon that a kid could easily use. Leona tried drawing the bow, but she couldn¡¯t do it since she was exhausted. The bald Reaver jumped around andughed hard at Leona. ¡°Yohhhhhh! Where did the archer go? What you gonna do now? Hahaha!¡± Leona was pissed. Crazy bastards. If only I had some other weapons, I¡¯d kick their butts. Wait, wait a minute¡­ Leona felt an ominous feeling. Leona had made many mistakes throughout her life. However, there was a reason why she had been able to survive this far. She did not make the same mistakes. Leona had made a mistake before. The Reavers had spotted her while she was watching them goof around. She realized that the bald Reaver¡¯s taunts was another trick. I don¡¯t see the other two! There was one Reaver in front of her, and she couldn¡¯t see the other two Reavers. It was possible that they were inside the building and approaching Leona. Or. ¡ªck! ¡ª ¡°!¡± It was also possible that the Reavers were pretending to go around the building, and instead were bringing a weapon to attack the fourth floor directly. Leona could spot the one-eyed Reaver aiming a metallic weapon from afar. She didn¡¯t know that it was an RPG-7. However, feeling anxious, she threw herself inside the building. A rocketunched out with a loud bang, and Leona jumped to the next room. ¡ªkabooom!¡ª There was a loud explosion, and Leona fell rolling on the floor. ¡°Idiot! Can¡¯t you aim better?¡± ¡°You know that it¡¯s night time!¡± Fortunately, the rocket didn¡¯t hit Leona, but the room she was just in had blown up. Leona shivered and stood up. What the heck was that¡­. ¡ªck! click!¡ª Leona heard the metallic sound from outside, and she knew that another attack wasing soon. Deafened by the loud explosion, Leona didn¡¯t exactly know what was going on, but she knew that she was in grave danger. I need to run away. The enemies were using powerful weapons that she had never seen before. On the other hand, she couldn¡¯t even use a bow. Winning was not a possible oue for Leona, so she had to flee to safety. One was using a RPGuncher, and the other wasn¡¯t visible. At a crucial moment of danger, Leona realized that she hadn¡¯t kept track of thest Reaver¡¯s movements. As Leona wobbled and looked towards the door, she saw the long-haired Reaver looking at her andughing in the dark. ¡°Hehehehehe¡­¡± The three Reavers had moved swiftly. One prepared a direct attack to the fourth floor with a rocketuncher, and the other was ready to move into the building in case the rocketuncher attack missed. They tricked me to think they were going to split up to enter the building¡­ Only fools would loudly shout out their attack n. The Reavers might have been crazy people, but they were no fools. It was hard to figure out whether they were bluffing or not. The Reavers were able to carry out a well-organized attack n without discussing it in detail. These thirty-plus Reavers had managed to massacre one hundred people in Ard Point. They were able to do that not just because they had better fire power. Leona finally realized how superior they were. Leona stepped back slowly, biting her lip. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you were doing, but you¡¯ve got nowhere to run now.¡± The long-haired Reaver slowly approached Leona. He was bare-handed, but it wouldn¡¯t take much effort for him to kill Leona. ¡°Hehehe¡­ Good, good. My boss didn¡¯t like us toying around with living people, but now that he¡¯s dead, I¡¯m going to enjoy myself.¡± The Reaver slowly approached Leona who had nowhere to run to. Leona was in terror as she shivered by the window. She was shaking her head as if she was telling him to go away, trembling with her arms crossed. ¡°Do you want to jump from the window? That¡¯s the only way out, isn¡¯t it? If you get caught by me, do you want to know what bad things will happen?¡± Leona would die if she were to jump off the window. The Reaver was giggling and wondering if she would jump off the window to escape him. ¡°Do you know what I¡¯m going to do? Do you know that it¡¯ll hurt? Are you afraid? I want to gouge out your eyes and pour sand into your eye sockets?¡± With nowhere to run, Leona shivered with terror, looking at the long-haired Reaver as if he were a grim reaper. The man walked closer, and when he was about four steps away from Leona, he shouted: ¡°If you can¡¯t decide what to do, I¡¯ll do it instead!¡± ¡ªtap!¡ª The man jumped, and Leona lunged towards the man with her arms uncrossed. Leona had a knife concealed under her armpit, which she now held in her right hand. Then, she stretched her arm towards the Reaver¡¯s throat. ¡ªshank!¡ª ¡°Kaaarghh! Keck!¡± The Reaver clutched at his throat and fell backwards. Leona swiftly pulled out the knife from his neck. ¡ªshank!¡ª Leona stabbed his torso. ¡ªshank!¡ª Now she stabbed his stomach. ¡ªshank! shank! shank!¡ª To be exact, she stabbed him using both of her hands multiple times. ¡°Kaargh! Keck! Keck!¡± The long-haired man spilled blood from his mouth and trembled on the floor after getting multiple stabs. Leona kept on stabbing the Reaver with a calm look on her face, as if her terror from moments before had only been an act. ¡°Phew¡­ Phew¡­¡± Leona finally pulled the knife out when the many motionless on the floor. ¡°Being a small kid sucks, but there are times when being a kid is better.¡± ¡ªptooey!¡ª Leona licked the blood around her lips and spat it out. She was covered in blood. Kids are weak, and the opponent had underestimated Leona. It was just like how the Reavers deceived others with their crazy actions. Leona had also used the fact that she was a kid to her advantage. Chapter 15 Chapter 15: There¡¯s a Reason Why the Crazy Survive (4) ¡°Hmmmph!¡± Leona didn¡¯t feel relieved. She was not out of the woods just yet. The Reaver with the RPG-7, and the other Reaver were still outside. Leona picked up her arrows and bow and moved. ¡°Yo!! Jae-Goo!! Are you dead?¡± The Reaver shouted, and Leona shouted back without looking out the window. ¡°He told me to let you know that he¡¯s dead now, bastards!¡± Instead of an answer, there came the loud explosion of a rocket instead. ¡ªkabooom!¡ª The rocket hit the area where Leona had yelled from, but she had already run away from that spot after shouting. The Reaver was firing out rockets without hesitation, knowing that his friend was dead. This building might copse. The rocketuncher was powerful enough to blow up the building walls. Leona was frightened by the unimaginable power of the rocketuncher. If I run out the building, that weapon will kill me¡­ If I stay inside the building, they¡¯ll keep on shooting that thing, and I might die under the rubble. Old buildings would have already copsed after a couple of rocket sts. The buildings in Ard Point were strongly built because they had been prisons at some point. Therefore, they were able to withstand some rocket sts. She had to make a decision. ¡°Hey, kiddo! Come on out and shoot me with your arrow! I¡¯m right here?¡± Leona didn¡¯t react to the taunts this time. The one-eyed Reaver seemed to realize this. ¡°Shut up now, I¡¯m going to st the whole building.¡± ¡°Why? Shouldn¡¯t we at least see the girl who started all this?¡± ¡°Whatever. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll show up anymore.¡± ¡ªclink! ck!¡ª The bald Reaver kept on yapping in front of the one-eyed Reaver who was loading another rocket. ¡°Yo! Dare to shoot me? You looked cute drawing that bow! Are you listening?¡± Leona came down to the third floor. I might be able to shoot down because I¡¯m down one floor. She had to kill them off. She didn¡¯t want to react to the taunt, but she had to look out the window to shoot the arrow. If Leona were to peek her head out, the enemy would fire rockets wherever she appeared. It was like a game of whack-a-mole. Leona drew the bow with all her strength and readied herself to stand up. She had at most one second to aim and shoot. She had three arrows left, and if she couldn¡¯t finish them off with three shots, it was all over. Leona readied herself under the window, stood up, aimed, and fired. ¡ªtwang!¡ª The arrow left the bow with a piercing sound. Leona ducked down again without checking where the arrow went. ¡ªthud!¡ª However, the powerless sound of the arrow meant that Leona missed the target. Leona gnashed her teeth. I can¡¯t shoot them! Killing an enemy with a weapon that she had never used before was an impossible mission. ¡°What was that? You won¡¯t be able to shoot me at point-nk range. Shoot me! Shoot¡­¡± ¡ªkaboom!¡ª ¡°Huh?¡± There was a loud bang, and the head of the one-eyed Reaver who was aiming the rocketuncher at Leona exploded into pieces. The bald Reaver was astonished at seeing the death of his ally. And he grew petrified as he looked at someone pointing a gun at him. The man who was aiming a Saiga-12 at the Reaver¡¯s head murmured: ¡°If getting shot is your wish, it shall be granted.¡± ¡°No dude¡­ what I meant was¡­¡± ¡ªbang!¡ª That was the bald Reaver¡¯s epitaph. ¡ªthud¡ª In one brief moment, two Reavers were taken down, and Leona stood up to look outside the window, realizing what the sound meant. She wasn¡¯t sure, but it sounded simr to the sound of Zin¡¯s weapons. The two enemies who had been Leona¡¯s biggest threats were overpowered within five seconds. Two 12 Gauge Buckshot shells were more than enough to clear the situation. Leona shouted at the man who was standing in between the two headless Reavers. ¡°Mister!¡± Zin was standing there. Leona couldn¡¯t stop her emotions from swelling up. Leona wanted to go down, but she couldn¡¯t. ¡°Ah¡­ what¡¯s wrong with me¡­¡± Leona couldn¡¯t stand up because her legs gave out. As soon as she felt safe, her muscles rxed from the stress and she wasn¡¯t able to move. Zin went up to where Leona was. Shouldering the Saiga, Zin sat in front of Leona. He didn¡¯t speak. Leona didn¡¯t ask why and how Zin came back. There was a long moment of silence. Leona spoke first, talking with her head down. ¡°It¡¯s a lie that I wasn¡¯t scared.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I was so scared to death that I felt like my heart would explode.¡± Leona confessed her deepest feelings. There was no way that she wouldn¡¯t feel terrified and scared. It was impossible for one to stay calm when man-eating Reavers were surrounding and threatening you. ¡°I don¡¯t cry, or shit my pants, or run away. At times like this, I¡¯m just scared to the point where I want to die.¡± It was natural even for an adult or a kid to feel terror during such times. One would rather kill oneself than be killed. Remembering the terror and fear that she felt, Leona despised herself. She wouldn¡¯t be able to survive for long if she was weak. ¡°I hate myself for being afraid and scared¡­¡± Leona was shivering¡ªshe hated lseeing her helpless self. Zin watched Leona and spoke, causing Leona to look back at him. ¡°It is hard not giving up.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°But once again, you didn¡¯t give up, so that¡¯s more than enough.¡± It was more than enough. ¡°You¡¯re doing well.¡± Leona hadn¡¯t given up, and she was doing perfectly well. Leona and Zin sat without a word, and they waited through the dawn of the now-extinct Ard Point. The next morning, recovered from the fight, Leona asked: ¡°Why did youe back, mister?¡± And she nudged Zin¡¯s waist with a smile. ¡°Did youe back because you were worried about me? Hmm?¡± ¡°I came to recover the unpaid chips.¡± Zin stuck his hand out, as if he didn¡¯t want to listen to her nonsense. ¡°500 chips forpleting the mission. Give it to me.¡± ¡°Ha¡­ haha¡­ of course¡­¡± Expecting such words from Zin, Leona sighed. ¡°It was my mistake for not bringing up the topic of reward, but don¡¯t you think you were also at fault for not paying me?¡± Unhappy, Leona stuck out her lips as Zin spoke. ¡°Well, you should have taken care of your own paycheck. Why would I go out of my way to pay someone? You¡¯re the one who ran away in a hurry. What? Should I run out to follow you to give you the chips?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Zin remained silent at Leona¡¯s rebuttal, but not for long. ¡°Hmm¡­ so I came back to get my chips.¡± Zin didn¡¯t have to give a logical excuse since he¡¯de to simply im his reward. Leona looked ufortable as she scratched her cheek. ¡°Well¡­ you know¡­ I had the chips up until yesterday.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you tied the chipbox to an arrow, activated the self-destruct sequence, shot it like a bomb, and it exploded with a boom?!¡± As Zin finished speaking, Leona nodded her head vigorously. ¡°How urate! You saw it all?¡± ¡°Pheww¡­..¡± After confirming what had happened, Zin stayed speechless for a while, his hands on his temples. It was clear that Leona blew up about 1,500 chips which included his 1,000 chips and the reward owed from the mission. The number of chips had made it possible to blow up the whole of Ard Point¡¯s central square. Zin was trying to confirm what he observed, but he was shocked to learn that all the chips were gone. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t think you woulde back¡­ and I had to do something to survive. That chipbox was the only thing I could use.¡± Zin was fuming at Leona¡¯s words. Looking at his rising heart rate, Zin took deep breaths. ¡°Okay¡­ Do you know if there are any hidden chips in Ard Point¡­ or any ce where there might be chips?¡± ¡°Mister¡­ I¡¯ve only been here for two days.¡± Leona wasining that she wouldn¡¯t have found out anything new, and Zin stayed silent again. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And the Reavers gathered everything useful here¡­ as you can see.¡± The ce that Leona pointed at was the point of explosion. There was nothing to be salvaged in Ard Point. And just like that, Leona had be poor. Leona started to speak again after looking at Zin. ¡°¡­you look pretty disappointed, mister.¡± Zin grinned. ¡°Disappointed, you say? Hunting a maneater that can wipe out three to four viges can about a hundred chips, and I would need to hunt at least five maneaters to earn five hundred chips. And do you know how much special ammo I can make with five hundred chips? Spending that much could¡­¡± Zin kept on talking, and then sighed after realizing that he was getting too tense. ¡°Phew¡­ never mind. What am I babbling¡ª¡± ¡°What the hell?¡± However, Leona interrupted, visibly pissed off. ¡°So you were trying to get all those chips by offering to escort me for just two days?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You call yourself a hunter, but in fact, you¡¯re just a con artist!¡± ¡°Kiddo. That is a reasonable fee for the request.¡± ¡°Yeah, right, you had to do it anyway, so you milked more chips out of me. Reasonable, my ass. You probably can¡¯t even charge a hundred chips for an escort service. Am I wrong?¡± Zin kept silent as Leona made her deductions. It wasn¡¯t as if Zin wasn¡¯t an unreasonable person. However, afterining nonstop to Zin, she sighed after looking at his facial expression. ¡°Phew¡­ so¡­¡± Leona pointed her finger at Zin, and shouted again: ¡°Do understand that I¡¯m not going to give you the chips because I¡¯m a nice person, but because I¡¯m obligated to give it to you.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Sheesh¡­¡± Leona looked through her bag, pulled out a small leather sack and gave it to Zin. Zin took the sack and opened it, finding it full of chips. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that there weren¡¯t any more? That you blew them all up¡­?¡± ¡°Of course I lied. What, you¡¯ve never met a liar before?¡± Leona shrugged. She¡¯d acted as if she¡¯d blown up all the chips just to see how Zin would react. She hadn¡¯t lied with bad intentions since she was willing to give him the chips. ¡°I took them out before.¡± ¡°You took them out?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Leona had taken exactly five hundred chips out of the chipbox. And she did so in order to give them to Zin. Holding the chips and feeling perplexed, Zin looked at Leona. He couldn¡¯t understand why Leona hadn¡¯t kept the chips for herself, but instead had taken them out for Zin. Zin hade back after a couple of days, but he might not have returned at all. ¡°Did you think that I was going toe back?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think that you¡¯d be stupid enough to forget to take your chips.¡± And in fact, Zin was sometimes stupid enough to make such a mistake. ¡°You didn¡¯t have toe back, you know?¡± Leona murmured with some attitude. ¡°I was nning to give the chips back to you after it was time to wander again, and if I ever came across you. Leona was nning to carry the sack of chips like a lucky charm. ¡°Weren¡¯t you nning to settle here?¡± ¡°You saw what just happened. It doesn¡¯t matter even if I want to settle somewhere.¡± As soon as Leona settled down, Ard Point was under attack. The act of leaving and wandering can happen due to external events. Leona knew that she¡¯d have to be ready to pack up and go out into the wilderness at any point. Therefore, the first thing that Leona did after settling down was prepare herself to leave again. And she made the five hundred chips into a lucky charm. In case Zin didn¡¯te back, Leona was ready to go out to search for him. She did so with the hope that she would meet him one day. Zin couldn¡¯t understand why a kid would behave in such a way. Leona stood and watched Zin, who looked back at Leona with a grin. Zin put the sack of chips inside his pocket without counting them. He didn¡¯t eat the chips either. He just put them into his pocket. Just as Zin couldn¡¯t figure out Leona, he was unable to understand his own feelings. Slowly, Zin opened his mouth. ¡°Before the world became like this¡­¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°There used to be a time when¡­¡± Leona shook her head, trying to listen to him. ¡°When kids were naive and obedient.¡± ¡°What nonsense are you mumbling?¡± ¡°Shut up and listen me.¡± ¡°Sheesh¡­¡± Much had changed since that time when kids used to be naive. Such times have ended, and wrongdoings were prioritized over good deeds. Kids were weak, troublesome, and ipetent beings. And in this vicious cycle, kids who were mistreated grew up to be adults who mistreated kids. ¡°I will take you to the next safe settlement.¡± ¡°¡­is this a mission? I have no more money¡­¡± What Leona gave to Zin was everything she had. And Leona was penniless. Zin looked at Leona who had on a bitter expression, and said: ¡°I¡¯m not charging you a penny.¡± Naive and good kids needed to be rewarded. Chapter 16 Chapter 16: Forget to Live (1) Of course, all the looted treasures in Ard Point had blown up with the explosion. But that didn¡¯t mean that there was nothing else left. There were still the supplies of the Reavers. ¡°These guys¡­ did they raid a Wargrave Fortress? How did theye across such weapons¡­¡± Zin had rushed into Ard Point, he¡¯d had no time to closely look at the weapons. But he was speechless as he looked at the weapon-filled junkwagons in the parking lot area. The wagons were loaded with heavy weaponry including RPGs, bazookas, Panzerfausts, and warheads. ¡°What are all these?¡± Simr to other Ancient-Koreans, Leona had no idea what these weapons were. However, judging by the dangerous-looking objects, Leona was able to figure about that they weren¡¯t ordinary. In fact, Leona rememberedst night¡¯s attack and felt horrified. ¡°One of the bastards was shooting something, and the buildings were getting destroyed like sand castles. Is this what he used?¡± ¡°Ah, that would be this weapon.¡± Zin picked up a rocketuncher. ¡°It¡¯s called an RPG. This is a type seven.¡± ¡°Is it an ancient weapon?¡± ¡°Well¡­ you could say that.¡± It was an ancient weapon. A weapon widely used 200 years ago. But Zin found it amusing to hear it called ancient. Technically, all of Zin¡¯s rifles were ancient weapons as well. The RPG series in his hands were developed after the apocalypse. ¡°Can I fire it? How do you use it?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather dispose of all these weapons than watch you fire this baby.¡± Zin shook his head as he imagined Leona firing the rocketuncher. Leona kept on asking questions, but he ignored her and scanned through the junkwagons. I see no rifles, only heavy-artillery-type weapons¡­ What type of weaponposition is this? Warheads for rocketunchers and RPG-7 were stacked in separate piles, and there were hand grenades called chipbusters as well. ¡°Hmmm.¡± Zin felt the most astonishment at seeing explosive shells that were used for anti-aircraft artillery. It didn¡¯t make sense that there were shells, but no artillery weapons to use them. They must have raided some ce. It didn¡¯t make sense for the Reavers to be unarmed without a single gun or rifle. What a pity there¡¯s no ammo. Zin was unable to find a single piece of 5.66mm or 7.62mm ammo. They¡¯d probably raided a heavy artillery armory and ran away as fast as they could. ¡°In any case, this is pretty good¡­ Alright.¡± Zin grabbed a rocketuncher. Leona peeked over as he he put warheads into his bag. ¡°Are those expensive?¡± ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s not that they¡¯re expensive.¡± Zin pondered for a while, and gave an answer. ¡°You can¡¯t get these even with chips.¡± That meant that these weapons were extremely invaluable. As soon as Leona heard that, she became very happy. ¡°That means they are very expensive! Let me take some too!¡± There was a lot of heavy artillery so it wasn¡¯t possible to carry them all. ¡°I think you misunderstood me.¡± Zin grabbed Leona by her shoulder and said: ¡°You can¡¯t get them easily, and you can¡¯t sell them either.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°You can sell these types of weapon to those who don¡¯t know how to use them, right? However, if you sell these to those who know about them, you will be a person of interest. Do you intend to be killed as soon as you arrive at a vige? And where do you intend to store them?¡± Leona couldn¡¯t even fit a single warhead into her leather bag. ¡°And if I¡¯m not mistaken, these are from the Wargrave guys.¡± ¡°Wargrave? You mean the military dudes?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Wargraves are the only group that can carry these types of heavy artillery.¡± It was not possible for groups other than the military to carry these weapons in bulk. Zin was pretty certain about it. ¡°I don¡¯t know the details, but these Reavers probably stole from the Wargraves. Openly carrying around Wargrave weapons is basically asking to be killed. ¡°Right¡­¡± Leona stared at Zin. ¡°And you¡¯re still taking some of them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m carrying them concealed. That¡¯s different.¡± Zin pointed at the void storage, and Leona sighed with her head down. ¡°This is not fair¡­¡± The space of the void storage was limited, and Zin could only take a limited amount with him. I have theuncher, so I can probably take ten warheads if I pack them tight. Zin had to leave some extra space in the void storage in case he had to carry evidence for a hunt. Finally, Zin picked out the things that he was going to carry. Zin picked an advanced type of heat-pressure warheads. ¡°How are they different?¡± Curious, Leona asked Zin who was carefully inspecting the weapon. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Putting the warhead into the void storage, Zin wondered how to answer her. ¡°If the Reaver had shot this thing at you yesterday, you¡¯d be dead.¡± He also added: ¡°And that building would have copsed too.¡± As Zin exined, the heat-pressure warheads had monstrous power. And they were developed as an advanced type of explosive after the apocalypse. It was powerful enough to take down a mid-sized or arge-sized monster. While he exined, Leona couldn¡¯t imagine how powerful that would be. Zin got the reward chips, as well as powerful warheads. The heat-pressure warheads that the Reavers had were powerful and in great condition. They were easily worth over three to four thousand chips. Leona knew that the weapons were both dangerous and valuable at the same time. ¡°What do we do with the leftovers?¡± They couldn¡¯t carry anymore, and it was a scary thought to leave them in the open field for others to get them. ¡°We need to bury them.¡± Zin took out a shovel and started digging the ground. He was so strong that he scooped through the earth as easily as if he was digging some jello. He dug a hole in no time. How would one remember to find buried weapons in this vast world? Leona didn¡¯t know if it was possible, but she kept on watching Zin, who wasn¡¯t even asking for help. In the past, Zin had buried any ammunition or weapons that he was unable to carry all around the world. Zin was able to remember the location as long as he inputted the coordinates into the darkborn system. He¡¯d rather remember the location than destroy the weapons or allow others to take possession. Zin dug a hole that was big enough to put in three junkwagons. It was more surprising afterward. It was obvious that burying theunchers and warheads would make them rusted and unusable. Zin took out the steel tes from the junkwagons, welded them into a steel box, dumped all the warheads into the box, and then sealed the box so that water couldn¡¯t get inside. Leona had never seen a welding machine before, and she shook her head at Zin¡¯s work. Using the shovel, Zin buried the steel boxes, ttened the ground, and finally stretched his back. Leona watched Zin¡¯sbor and said: ¡°You look like a dog burying its bone.¡± ¡°¡­ well, you are spot on, and it¡¯s making me mad.¡± Zin was a little different than a dog by the fact that he buried his bones all around the world. ¡°Are you done now?¡± Leona kept on yawning while waiting for Zin to finish, but Zin opened the reactors of the junkwagons. ¡°Now what?¡± ¡°I¡¯m taking whatever is avable.¡± Junkwagons used chips as a source of energy. And Zin was nning to take all their fuel. All the junkwagons looked different, but they had the same type of engine reactors. Zin scraped away every single chip from the reactors. He was able to secure 280 chips in total and adding the warheads and chips, Zin came out with a profit even though he wasn¡¯t assigned on a mission to eradicate Reavers. ¡°You know, I thought I was pretty badass.¡± Leona was looking at Zin in astonishment. ¡°So what?¡± ¡°But nah¡­ you, mister, are the best.¡± Leona gave two thumbs up. ¡°Out of all the people that I¡¯ve met, you¡¯re the worst.¡± ¡°Is that apliment?¡± ¡°Of course it is!¡± Zin went through all the goods, consumed all the fuel in the junkwagons, and furthermore, buried all the weapons that he couldn¡¯t carry. Zin, whobored without getting bored or tired, looked like a madman to Leona. And now, after finishing all the work, it was time for them to hit the road. ¡°Aren¡¯t we riding this thing?¡± Leona asked Zin. She had never seen an operating junkwagon, but she was able to figure out that it was a vehicle of some sort. ¡°I¡¯ve got no business driving on a bomb.¡± ¡°Why? Isn¡¯t it better than walking? We won¡¯t get tired. And those bastards rode on them pretty well, no?¡± ¡°There is one thing that you need to be aware of.¡± Zin stopped walking and looked at Leona. ¡°There are some things that I hate. One of them is taking risks. The next is being loud and lively.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And that junkwagon has those two traits. I would rather ride the back of a monster instead of that.¡± Zin had promised himself that he would never ride on a junkwagon. It was his belief and he loathed the junkwagons. The junkwagon¡¯s loud engine either scared away the monsters or attracted them. Moving around with it would expose one to danger, and Zin refused to take part in that. ¡°Is that so dangerous?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you.¡± A picture was worth more than a thousand words. ¡ªboom!¡ª ¡°Ahhh!¡± Zin approached a junkwagon and kicked it with his foot. With a loud bang, the side of the junkwagon crumbled, and it broke into pieces. Leona¡¯s mouth dropped down in astonishment as she saw the junkwagon turn into a piece of junk in a split second. ¡°What was that¡­?¡± ¡°The reason the Reavers are called crazy is that they drive around in these pieces of junk.¡± Leona did not want to ride on a vehicle that disintegrated with a kick. Zin walked away, and Leona followed him with a shudder. ¡°You know, I understand that it¡¯s a dangerous vehicle, but didn¡¯t you kick that thing too hard, mister?¡± ¡°It was a gentle kick.¡± ¡°No? I saw your foot mark on the steel te.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re seeing things.¡± There was a foot-sized mark on the junkwagon¡¯s steel te. Leona wasn¡¯t sure if a junkwagon that could be destroyed with a single kick was problematic, or if Zin, who destroyed the vehicle with a single kick was problematic. In any case, Zin was walking fast and away from Leona. ¡°Ah¡­ man. Can you go slower?!¡± ¡°Quick. Follow me.¡± Leona started rushing to catch up to Zin. Even now, Zin or Leona didn¡¯t say anything about the deaths that happened in Ard Point. They knew that there was no point talking about it since no one coulde back to life. In a sense, they were alike, and they both realized that they had something inmon. As if they would never return to Ard Point, the two left without turning back. Chapter 17 Chapter 17: Forget to Live (2) Leona was curious about many things, and although Zin was not kind, he answered most of her questions. And after four days of traveling north, Leona became very knowledgeable in weaponry. For example, she learned about bows, guns, andunchers. She didn¡¯t know about how gunpowder was based on shell diameter, but she learned about guns in general. She just didn¡¯t understand the details. ¡®When you pull the trigger, it shoots a bullet, and people die when it hits you.¡¯ She was able to understand how a gun, a bullet, and the trigger worked. That was probably more than enough for her to know. A gun was a machine, and understanding how to use it was more valuable than understanding the mechanics. ¡°Will people die if I shoot a gun? Even though I¡¯m a kid?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t people get shed by a knife regardless of whether it¡¯s wielded by an adult or a kid?¡± ¡°Right. But I¡¯m weak.¡± ¡°A bullet doesn¡¯t travel faster if you¡¯re stronger.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a bullet travel faster if you pull the trigger faster?¡± ¡°¡­ what an unimaginably interesting perspective. Interesting indeed.¡± Zin felt funny after listening to Leona¡¯s naive words. A gun had be a rare weapon, and although it varied by region, people in Ancient-Korea had grown ignorant when it came to weapons. And even though guns were umon in Central Asia and Europe, the people there knew about guns. Bing ignorant about weapons meant that the people didn¡¯t need weapons. And theck of knowledge in weapons meant that people wanted to live in peace. ¡°I want a gun too.¡± It was natural for Leona to ask for a gun if it was a weapon that required a single bullet to take down a person. And a weak kid who couldn¡¯t overpower anyone by force would want a gun even more. Leona pondered for a bit and asked: ¡°Can I buy one with chips?¡± ¡°You might be able to get one in North or Central Asia.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a ce where you wouldn¡¯t survive past a day.¡± ¡°¡­ Mister. You know what? You seem polite, but you¡¯re just a punk. Just say ¡®don¡¯t even dream about getting one¡¯.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even dream about it.¡± ¡°¡­ Asshole.¡± Leona wanted to curse at Zin, but Zin didn¡¯t even bother listening to her. ¡°Well. I can¡¯t use it anyway because it looks heavy and I won¡¯t be able to lift it up.¡± It was probably impossible for Leona to even carry firearms such as assault rifles, sniper rifles, and shotguns. Zin looked at Leona and pulled out a revolver from his pocket. ¡°There are many types of guns. I don¡¯t use this often though.¡± Zin had pulled out a silver S&W-style revolver. A 6-round revolver that used small-caliber ammo and had a short range. People mostly used them for self-defense, not for hunting purposes. ¡°Oh¡­ that looks pretty¡­¡± Leona was charmed by the revolver as she looked at it. Zin was rmed by Leona who was mesmerized by the revolver, but also realized that he was giving her false hopes. ¡°Are you giving that to me?¡± ¡°Not a chance. I was just letting you know.¡± ¡°Psssh¡­ I knew it.¡± Zin calmly put away his revolver. Zin just wanted to show and exin to Leona that he used rifles as well as small guns such as revolvers. Leona was annoyed because she thought Zin would let her shoot the gun. Curious Leona still asked him many questions, and he answered them patiently. Zin chose to avoid most of the small beasts while traveling. Leona asked why he was avoiding them. ¡°Using a bullet would be the easiest option, but it¡¯s better to avoid them since I won¡¯t get enough chips in return.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not scared of them, are you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t risk everything when I hunt.¡± Zin was an extremely practical person, and he didn¡¯t engage in any battles that weren¡¯t profitable. However, Zin used a de gauntlet and a wire de to take care of some poisonous dogs in order to procure them food. ¡°What is that?¡± Leona was more amazed by the wire de than she¡¯d been with a gun. Zin chopped up the meat and prepped them for cooking. ¡°It¡¯s not a gun.¡± ¡°I can tell that?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t even understand what it is even if I told you.¡± ¡°I really want to kick your butt¡­¡± Zin exined how using the de required more skills than using a gun. After a week of traveling north, Leona became a self-proimed expert on guns. Leona breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the trash wall in the distance. They were near the city of Shera, and it was much bigger than the city of Zado. ¡°Finally¡­ does this mean I don¡¯t have to eat any more poisonous dog¡¯s meat?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it was tastier than ghoul meat?¡± ¡°Tasty? I¡¯ve never tasted anything more disgusting. It tasted disgustingly like crap! Ah¡­crap¡­crap¡­What was that sour and bitter crappy taste?¡± Remembering the sour and bitter taste of the dog meat, Leona felt nauseated and covered her mouth. ¡°Poisonous dog¡¯s meat¡­ isn¡¯t that something eaten only by people with a deathwish? I got goosebumps when you told me to eat that meat.¡± ¡°It¡¯s safe to eat poisonous dog meat as long as you remove the nds. And look, we¡¯re just fine.¡± Zin knew the beast¡¯s anatomy and knew which parts were safe to eat. Leona was frightened because she knew nothing about ughtering for meat. And she had no choice but to eat. It might have been safe to eat, but for Leona, it was a taste that did not feel safe at all. ¡°In Southeast Asia, people separate the dog¡¯s nds and use them as condiments. However, it has a side effect of causing anesthesia and hallucinations.¡± ¡°This world is full of crazy people¡­¡± Leona shook her head. She didn¡¯t really care how the people in Southeast Asia consumed the poisonous dogs. The city that they¡¯d arrived at had a wall of trash, but unlike other cities, there weren¡¯t any guards. ¡°I don¡¯t mind a city, but¡­ is this a safe ce to settle down?¡± ¡°No.¡± Zin promised to take Leona to a safe ce, but the guard-less city didn¡¯t look so safe. ¡°But if you like, you can settle down anywhere.¡± ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t seem like this is a safe ce.¡± For Leona and Zin, it was important for them to rest up at Shera after their tiring journey. People weren¡¯t trustworthy, but staying in a ce with many people was rtively safe. Leona was amazed looking at the people walking and passing by. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of people.¡± ¡°There are many medium-sized towns around here. Shera somewhat serves as a focal point¡± ¡°Focal point?¡± ¡°People from neighboring towns visit Shera frequently to buy and sell goods.¡± The many buildings and ruins served as the great trash wall around Shera. The copsed buildings served as the wall and trash filled up between the walls allowed for a good environment to set up a city. And in fact, the surroundings were more like ruins than wilderness. Although grass grew here and there, there were copsed buildings and glimpses of civilization. Unharmed buildings and single-story buildings became shelters for city residents, and many people were trading goods. Leona was looking around the city¡ªeverything looked amazing. ¡°This must have been a huge ce. There are so many tall buildings around here.¡± ¡°Before the world ended, it used to be called ¡®Seoul¡¯.¡± ¡°Seoul?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Zin talked about a forgotten city, and Leona didn¡¯t realize what it meant. To the north of Seoul was a dark hole called SMCP (Seoul Mass Confusion Point). It was a ce that was inessible, and there was no reason for anyone to go inside. ¡°Hunters know so much random stuff.¡± ¡°Of course. We travel all over the ce.¡± Although that wasn¡¯t the only reason, Zin didn¡¯t say any more. Each store had banners with wobbly words written on them¡ª ¡°Weapon¡±, ¡°Restaurant¡±, ¡°Lodging.¡± Most people were illiterate, so most of the banners had small icons next to the words. Zin first stopped by an inn. As soon as the owner saw Zin, he raised two fingers. ¡°It used to be a chip before. Now that¡¯s some price hike.¡± ¡°Last time, you didn¡¯t bring a kid. Check into the rooms #2 and #3 on the third floor.¡± The owner said as he pointed to Leona. Zin asked back: ¡°How about we stay at a single room for one chip?¡± ¡°Our inn has a policy of one room per person. There is no issue sharing a room, but do check iinto two rooms.¡± ¡°You are quite a bastard, Mister Owner.¡± ¡°A bastard with lots of chips.¡± ¡°Haha¡­ you.¡± Zin paid up two chips withoutining further. He¡¯d chosen the same inn that he stayed at thest time he¡¯d traveled down south, and just as Zin remembered the owner, the owner remembered Zin staying at the inn. ¡°Well, you got a pretty good memory for a bastard.¡± The owner took the two chips and smirked. ¡°I remember the faces of all my guests. That¡¯s how I can describe them whenever a bounty hunter asks for a person¡¯s whereabouts.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you selling the guests¡¯ privacy?¡± ¡°Then that guest should have lived a clean life to avoid being chased by hunters.¡± Zinughed at the inn owner who seemed to have a horrible sense of hospitality. He was a very creepy, yet funny owner. ¡°Last time I remembered you as a suspicious yet skillful hunter. But now I¡¯ll remember you as a suspicious hunter with a small kid.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± The owner yelled at Zin who started going upstairs. ¡°I told you before, but meals are extra. And noining.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry because this ce is filthy, and I have no intentions of eating here.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ what a shame.¡± The ownerughed out loud, and Zin smiled. He had no ill intentions. Zin hade back to this inn because he liked the owner who seemed to be honest. It was obvious that the owner would reveal Zin¡¯s whereabouts in a heartbeat to any bounty hunter who¡¯d pay him. As soon as Zin entered the room, he sat down on an old squeaky mattress. It was a cramped room with no windows, which suggested that it might have been a karaoke bar. The only exit was the door, and it was a great room to stay for a night. Leona put down her bag, and lightly stretched her limbs in the dark room. ¡°Isn¡¯t that owner annoying? But you didn¡¯t seem to care. Why did you overpay? There are many other inns around here.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather deal with a crude and honest person than a sneaky and polite person.¡± ¡°So you prefer honest bastards than sneaky ones, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re starting to catch on. Polite but sneaky ones are more dangerous. I like that this owner is a straight shooter.¡± Zinughed, and Leona smiled as well. Zin had his reasons for letting others rip him off. ¡°Are we resting for a day and leaving right away?¡± ¡°It will depend if I get any requests from the vigers.¡± It was important to earn some chips if there were requests avable. Taking Leona to the next location was secondary to Zin, and he nned toplete some requests to earn some chips along the way. He had no reason to forego any opportunity to earn extra chips. Leona looked unhappily at Zin. ¡°Mister, I think you¡¯re not focusing on my request?¡± ¡°Professionals don¡¯t give their best when doing favors.¡± ¡°Hah¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to rest.¡± Ziny down on the mattress. ¡°What about me?¡± ¡°The next room is yours. You can rest in that room.¡± ¡°Do the doors here have locks?¡± Nodding her head, Leona knocked and examined the doors. ¡°You have to pay four chips a night for that kind of inn.¡± Those types of inns were four times more expensive. Even the inns that didn¡¯t have any doors charged a chip per night. The current inn¡¯s nightly rate wasn¡¯t bad at all considering that the rooms had doors. Leona had a choice of sleeping on a bed by herself, or sleeping on the floor in the same room as Zin, a human weapon. For Leona, the decision wasn¡¯t hard to make. ¡°I¡¯m staying in this room.¡± Leona used her leather bag as a pillow, andy down on the floor. Although the floor was cold, she felt safer lying down on it. Chapter 18 Chapter 18: Mission Already Completed (1) ¡ªknock knock!¡ª Zin was already up when someone knocked on the door. The sound of footstepsing from the stairway was more than enough to wake Zin up from his sleep. ¡°Look, hunter. It¡¯s the owner.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± After checking on Leona, who was still sleeping, Zin opened the door. The owner was standing in front of Zin as if he had something to talk about. ¡°I was going to talk to you when you came down for breakfast, but it didn¡¯t seem like you¡¯d being down anytime soon. Are you going to eat?¡± ¡°I would if it¡¯s free, but I doubt you¡¯ll offer it for free.¡± ¡°Sure. But anyway, I received some request that promised some reward.¡± ¡°What does your request have to do with me?¡± ¡°You look like a hunter who¡¯s got some muscle, no?¡± Zin felt funny at receiving the ttering question, but he was not the type to hide his abilities. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what sort of help you¡¯re looking for, but I¡¯m pretty good at anything.¡± The owner waved his hand as he listened to Zin¡¯s sincere yet yful answer. ¡°Oh no, I don¡¯t need that kind of muscle. Anyway, I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s for, but I received a request to look for a skilled hunter.¡± Wanderers stayed at inns, and some of them were hunters. And usually requests to look for hunters were done at the inns. The inn owners introduced the hunters and received amission. In many ways, the inn owners had it pretty easy when it came to earning some extra money. But the inn owners were also exposed to the risk of unexpected violence from the wanderers. ¡°But you know, I didn¡¯t tell you about this right away because I felt uneasy about it¡­¡± ¡°You felt uneasy?¡± ¡°Right now, there¡¯s a soldier staying in Shera.¡± ¡°¡­A Wargrave is here?¡± At the mention of this, Zin tilted his head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to get involved in these kinds of requests, but the reward is pretty big. Many folks are hesitant about introducing a mediocre hunter and getting into trouble. But I don¡¯t want to lose this great opportunity, you know?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I see what you¡¯re saying.¡± Zin organized his thoughts and surmised: ¡°A Wargrave soldier is looking for a fine hunter to arrive in Shera, but you don¡¯t know the details of the request. And nobody¡¯s willing to introduce a hunter because they¡¯re afraid of what may happen.¡± ¡°Exactly! You¡¯re a smart guy, Mister Hunter!¡± Zin slowly nodded at the owner¡¯s exmation. The owner saw Zine back alive a short period after heading southbound. And he was certain that Zin was a worthy hunter after seeing a small kid apanying Zin. The fact that a person had traveled through the wilderness with a child meant that he was an extremely skilled person. The owner based his thoughts on these observations rather than gut feeling. Interesting. A Wargrave would never leave the fortress unless it¡¯s for special circumstances. Although, there is an SMCP right up north¡­ Zin thought. ¡°It looks like something problematic happened.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zin slowly nodded his head after listening to the owner¡¯s exnation. I can see what might be going on. Zin looked at the owner who seemed uneasy. No surprise that a civilian would feel so terrified about a Wargrave. Civilians were very afraid of Wargraves, almost as much as Reavers, as it was very rare to be in contact with the military group. ¡°Where¡¯s the soldier at?¡± There was nothing to lose by meeting the soldier. Zin let Leona sleep and headed to the town hall of Shera where the soldier was staying. The town hall was a ce where the people in power could discuss about the city¡¯s administration. It wasmon for a city to have at least one town hall. People with many chips or respected elders gathered at the town hall. In the end, it was a ce where powerful people gravitated to. Although town halls were not busy ces, people would always gather here. However, other than the guards, there was no one else at the town hall. And even the guards were terrified. They knew that a hunter was approaching them. ¡°Did youe to meet the soldier?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°He¡¯s in the center hall on the second floor.¡± Zin moved past the guards. They armed themselves a little better than the guards at Ard Point, but not by much. Zin checked how the guards of Shera were armed and thought that it was natural for them to be in terror. A single Wargrave squad could wipe out this city. It was very possible that a single soldier would be enough to wipe out the city. The Wargrave was an organization with overpowering weapons in the post-apocalypse era. And nobody knew why they were forever reserving power. As Zin entered the hall on the second floor, which seemed to have been used as an office at some point, there was a person sitting on a rugged sofa. The person looked at the visitor and said: ¡°A hunter.¡± The man wore a gray uniform and had a clean appearance with a neat posture, and he looked out of the ordinary. His tidy blonde hair, sharp appearance, and strong eye contact suggested that he was not an average person. ¡°Hmm, I thought there was a soldier here¡­¡± Zin said as he sat on the steel chair across from the man. ¡°Aren¡¯t you an officer?¡± People called him a soldier, but Zin recognized that he was an officer at once. It was not too hard to figure that out. He had a rank badge on his strap, and he recognized it. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I had to correct the people about myself.¡± Zin calmly looked at the Wargrave officer in front of him. Blonde? Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t often see those around here. Zin nodded as he looked at the blonde-haired officer. Without any changes in his facial expression, the officer looked at Zin as well. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a bit reassuring that you¡¯re a hunter who can recognize the rank order.¡± Zin felt good listening to the officer¡¯s words. ¡°It¡¯s not that hard to recognize it.¡± ¡°Well. Bonus points for not showing off.¡± The officer slowly nodded his head as if he were pleased with Zin¡¯s calmness. ¡°I¡¯d like to verify the loot of the most dangerous beast you¡¯ve hunted down, will that be okay?¡± They didn¡¯t give out dangerous requests to just anyone. Therefore, a verification process was needed, and the hunter had to prove himself with loot. ¡°You¡¯ll be surprised if I show you that, so let me show you something else.¡± Zin pulled out a reed flute, dark red in color. Made out of a long reed, the flute looked ominous. It didn¡¯t bend even when Zin grippeded it strongly with both hands. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be quicker to exin if I showed you.¡± Zin took the reed to his mouth and blew it gently. ¡ªaaaaaaaaaaiee!¡ª ¡°!¡± The officer stood up in fright as a creepy shriek echoed, and Zin put the flute away into his pocket. ¡°How, how¡­ did that sounde out from that flute?¡± It was a bizarre and chilling noise that sounded nothing like a flute. And all Zin did was gently blow the flute. The officer was clearly shaken up after listening to the scream. ¡°It¡¯s the flute of an evil spirit.¡± ¡°Evil spirit¡­?¡± ¡°If I told you that it¡¯s a charm, would that make sense?¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± After listening to Zin¡¯s answer, the officer breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again. ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯ve heard about it. I¡¯ve heard that extraordinary hunters carry special charms with them¡­¡± The officer seemed to understand the horrifying sound that came out from the flute. ¡°Is this good enough as a proof? If not, I can y it one more time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay, it¡¯s more than enough. Ah. Put that away! I¡¯m good!¡± As Zin tried to pull out the flute from his pocket, the officer yelled and waved his hands. Zin smiled as he saw the frightened officer who¡¯d looked solemn just moments ago. He might be highly ranked, but he¡¯s inexperienced. Zin concluded that he was not yet a true seasoned soldier. A hunter who carried a charm didn¡¯t need much verification to prove his skills. ¡°You¡¯re the real deal. But anyway, can I ask you something out of curiosity?¡± ¡°Sure. If it¡¯s something that I can answer.¡± ¡°How can that flute make such strange sounds?¡± ¡°I told you. It¡¯s the flute of the evil spirit.¡± The officer stared at Zin as if he didn¡¯t quite understand. After experiencing a good scare, the office was out of sorts. ¡°It¡¯s a flute that seeks the evil spirit.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ that¡¯s interesting¡­¡± A flute that was made with the blood of an evil spirit could reproduce the sound of that evil spirit. Just like using fire to fight back fire, the cry of an evil spirit was used to scare away other evil spirits. However, there was a possibility that the sound of the evil spirit could attract a more powerful evil spirit, but Zin didn¡¯t talk about that. ¡°I was getting sick of this crappy vige, and now a perfect person shows up.¡± Many con-artists hadn¡¯t shown up because they were scared of Wargrave, and many hunters refused to show up since they didn¡¯t want to get involved with anyplicated matters. Zin was the first one to actually show up. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you where I belong to exactly, but let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Charl, a first lieutenant. You can go by Lieutenant Charl, or Charl, whichever you like.¡± ¡°Ok. Lieutenant Charl, let¡¯s get to business.¡± Zin repeatedly spoke the lieutenant¡¯s name under his breath. An alias¡­ For whatever reason, lieutenant Charl hade from far away. Getting involved with Wargrave rted matters was risky, and they usually solved their own issues. It was very rare for them to request for assistance. However, the pay was usually sizeable for any requests asked by Wargrave. ¡°Have you seen a group of Reavers on junkwagons?¡± ¡°Hmm, go on, I¡¯m listening.¡± Zin realized that his suspicions had been confirmed. ¡°19 klicks north of here, our firearms transportation unit was raided. The request is simple. I heard that hunters are skilled in tracing, and your task is to guide us. You must trace the Reavers who raided our firearms. I¡¯ll take care of the Reavers, so I won¡¯t pay you for eradicating them. As soon as you sessfully trace them, I am willing to pay you 700 chips as a reward.¡± ¡°For a simple tracing job, that¡¯s a pretty generous reward.¡± ¡°We could produce the firearms again, but I¡¯d like you to know that we take this matter seriously and punish all those who underestimate our group.¡± Zin was surprised that the reward for a simple trace job was worth 700 chips. ¡°But then, how did the Wargrave transportation unit get raided by the Reavers?¡± ¡°You know about them? They¡¯re tricky to handle. They brought a group of beasts.¡± ¡°Ah, I see.¡± The Reavers used the loud noise of the junkwagons to attract several groups of monsters to fight against the Wargrave unit. Once the first wave of monsters was taken down, the Reavers brought in another wave of monsters. The Reavers annihted the Wargrave unit after they¡¯d exhausted all their firepower against the monsters. In many clever ways, the Reavers performed raids and utilized all kinds of means at their disposal. And it appeared they utilized monsters to raid the notorious Wargrave units. Lieutenant Charl was in charge of revenging the annihted transportation unit. ¡°Hm¡­ what would the reward be if I finish them off?¡± ¡°¡­ That¡¯s impossible. But in any case, if I end up unable to fight, I will pay you twice the amount¡ª1,400 chips for finishing them off.¡± As soon as he finished speaking, Zin stretched out his hand. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll have to take the 1,400 chips.¡± ¡°¡­ Are you telling me to pay the reward upfront? You know that¡¯s just nonsense.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant.¡± Zin started talking again. ¡°Did the stolen firearms include a Panzerfaust, RPG-7unchers, and warheads?¡± ¡°What? How did you know about that¡­?¡± As Zin spoke, Charl couldn¡¯t believe his ears as he looked at him. Zin smiled and started speaking with confidence. ¡°You asked me whether I¡¯d seen the Reavers head south. The short answer is yes.¡± ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°And they¡¯re all dead.¡± Charl¡¯s mouth was wide open with astonishment. The mission was alreadypleted even before he¡¯d requested it. Chapter 19 Chapter 19: Mission Already Completed (Part 2) Lieutenant Charl looked at Zin, his mouth agape with astonishment. Zin had perfectly described the types of weaponry stolen as well as the appearance of the junkwagons. And, Charl, who knew about the Reavers he was trying to locate, realized that Zin was telling the truth. ¡°The fact that you know the Reavers doesn¡¯t mean that you killed them. You could have seen them and just passed by.¡± Charl had no intention of giving the reward to Zin that easily. ¡°Plus, if you took care of them before this request, I don¡¯t think it makes sense to pay you.¡± Obviously, if a problem has already been solved, there would be no reason to ask someone to solve the problem. Zin did not know about the request and killed the Reavers. The Wargrave had no obligation to pay for a problem that had already been solved. Simply put, Charl could retract the offer. Zin¡¯s words were hard to believe, and Charl had no reason reward him. ¡°Valid point, but you¡¯ll think again when you see this.¡± Zin took out the heat-pressure warheads from his void storage. As soon as Charl saw the explosives, he became surprised again. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to retrieve all the lost weapons?¡± Showing Charl that he was carrying the Wargrave weaponry was dangerous, but Zin had determined that Charl was not a high-handed person. ¡°Hah¡­¡± Charl could no longer be doubtful after seeing the evidence in front of him. He didn¡¯t have to check the lot number because he knew that only Wargraves used such weapons. ¡°As you may already know, there were a lot of weapons that I couldn¡¯t bring myself. I can provide you with their coordinates if you¡¯re willing to pay up.¡± Zin loved weapons, but he loved chips even more. Weapons were used to kill enemies, but chips were absolutely necessary in prolonging his life. Cashing in was more profitable than stocking up weapons in a penins he wasn¡¯t even sure he¡¯de back to. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Charl had fallen into a dilemma. He could argue about paying Zin for taking care of the Reavers, but the coordinates to the lost weapons had practical value. Or, it was very possible that he had to pay up even more. ¡°¡­ We¡¯re going back?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve followed you all this way, and you¡¯re telling me that we¡¯re going back? Am I hearing this correctly? Are you nuts?¡± ¡°Not at all. We¡¯re heading back to Ard Point.¡± ¡°Crap¡­¡± Leona lost her mind as soon as she heard what Zin said. After regaining herposure, she stared at Charl who was sitting next to Zin. ¡°Didn¡¯t realize you hadpany, hunter.¡± ¡°She can walk fast, so you don¡¯t have to worry about her.¡± ¡°Hmm, as long as I can retrieve the weapons, I¡¯ll be saving a lot of time. That¡¯ll be okay, then.¡± Charl requested Zin to follow him to Ard Point because he had no assurance that the weapons were buried at the coordinates. If Charl could confirm that the weapons were buried at that location, he promised to pay 100 more chips on top of the 1,400 chips offered, for a total of 15,000 chips. It was an amazing offer, and it would have taken Zin at least ten monster hunting requests to earn that amount of chips. However, after listening to his exnation, Leona fell into despair. ¡°I¡¯ve walked all the way here, and now I have to go back and thene back again¡­¡± She had walked for a week. She didn¡¯tin much while traveling, but it hadn¡¯t been an easy trip. Zin looked at Leona and asked: ¡°If you don¡¯t want to tag along, you can stay here. I¡¯ll be back.¡± All that Leona had to do was stay at the inn until Zin came back. She did not have to walk for a week. It was up to her to stay at Shera for two weeks. ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t feel that safe staying here or following you, mister.¡± Leona knew that Zin wouldn¡¯t give her any chips if she chose to stay at Shera for two weeks. Without any chips, Leona would have to steal to survive. Leona became concerned, and tried to think through the current situation. And in a split second, she thought of something as her lips twitched. ¡°Mister, isn¡¯t there something not right here?¡± ¡°What¡¯s so wrong?¡± ¡°I killed all those Reavers, so why are you the one getting all the rewards?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Think about it. I blew up the chipbox and killed almost all of them. At most, you only killed six of them.¡± Leona pped her hands. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s share this fairly. Eight to two. I¡¯m getting eight.¡± ¡°Bull.¡± ¡°What, am I wrong?¡± Zin was briefly stunned at Leona¡¯s unexpected argument. Leona¡¯s words were logical. But Zin was upset. ¡°If I¡¯m wrong about this, go ahead and exin it yourself. I killed most of them, but why are you taking credit for it? Isn¡¯t that weird?¡± At her words, Charl reacted. ¡°Wait a second¡­ Did this kid kill all the Reavers?¡± And at his words, Leona started to nod vigorously. ¡°Not all, but most of them?¡± ¡°Hunter, is what she saying correct?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Bitterly reluctant, Zin slowly nodded. Leona had paid Zin for his dues. Therefore, it was true that Leona wiped out most of the Reavers by herself. Zin received the initial request, but Leona had the right to im most of the reward. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s right.¡± Zin acknowledged the fact unwillingly. With her hands on her waist, Leona continued to argue with Zin. ¡°Mister, I also rightfully demand my fair share for this request.¡± ¡°¡­haha¡­¡± It was impossible for Zin to refute her. As Charl saw Leona talk, he realized that she wasn¡¯t just a little kid following a hunter, but rather someone quite strange. Zin was neither a thief nor a Reaver. Zin did not act by any moral standards or conscience¡ªhe acted by the code of the hunter. He tried to abide by the code as much as possible. ¡°What are you going to do, mister?¡± Zin reluctantly started speaking again. ¡°Yeah¡­ let¡¯s¡­ do as you said¡­ I mean¡­ that¡¯s the right way.¡± ¡°¡­ are you mad, mister?¡± As Leona asked, Zin frowned. ¡°Not at all.¡± Zin started walking down to the inn¡¯s first floor, feeling unhappy. Leona and Charl watched Zin walk down and looked at each other. ¡°He looks pretty mad?¡± At Charl¡¯s words, Leona clicked her tongue. ¡°Isn¡¯t he cute, though?¡± Leona shrugged her shoulders. They went down to the first floor to get something to eat. Zin was about to buy food for Leona, but then paused. Leona was acting for herself, so technically Zin could have gotten the money for her meal from her. That would put Leona under pressure since she was penniless at the moment. Zin thought for a bit and then shook his head. What am I thinking¡­ Zin thought about how cowardly he was acting. A small kid had taunted him, and he was now acting like a kid himself. Leona would haveined had Zin started acting picky. Zin thought of himself as a practical person, but not a childish person. The meal was steamed sweet potato and corn on the cob. For a single chip, the meal was neither small nor big. Zin looked at Charl and said: ¡°Charl.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°Can it be considered that the request hasmenced?¡± ¡°Hmm, you could say so.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the hunter¡¯s principle that the requester pays for the meals when the requestor apanies the hunter.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Leona looked at Zin astonished, and Charl nodded in agreement. ¡°Is that so? I didn¡¯t know about that. I¡¯ll pay up. Hello there, three portions, please.¡± ¡°Yes, yes sir.¡± Charl had no problem with paying the three chips. Zin didn¡¯t realize how stingy he looked. Charl was looking quite generous since he was willing to pay for the meals. For whatever reason, Leona blushed and had ducked her head down. Zin was d to eat a meal for free, and nodded his head pleasantly. It was not a principle that Zin hade up with out of nowhere. However, a person was not necessarily wise just because they¡¯d lived for a long time. The meal was prepared but it was not a grandiose meal. The inn owner was scared because of the presence of a Wargrave soldier in front of him. He was so scared that he didn¡¯t have the guts to ask for themission. Zin hinted at Charl, who promptly paid themission to the inn owner. ¡°People are treating me like I¡¯ve annihted a whole town.¡± ¡°People are scared by the fact that you have that ability.¡± Charl nodded at Zin¡¯s words. Amazed, Leona was checking out Charl who was spotless in terms of appearance. It was natural for Leona to be amazed at seeing a Wargrave soldier whom ordinary people would never pass by a single time in their lives. As Charl peeled the sweet potato and started eating, Leona felt surprised. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I am eating a sweet potato.¡± ¡°Why would you peel it?¡± ¡°¡­It doesn¡¯t taste good if you eat the skin together?¡± Charl was amused to see Zin and Leona eat the sweet potato with its skin, and Leona looked back at Charl with astonishment. ¡°Ah¡­ Okay¡­¡± Leona started eating the sweet potato again. She couldn¡¯t understand how one could eat food and think about its taste. She would always eat whatever possible, and she never thought about whether the food tasted good or bad. Of course, she avoided ghoul meat and poisonous dog meat because they were a dangerous type of food to consume. There was no problem eating the sweet potato with its skin, and she thought it was a waste to throw it away. Isn¡¯t he a spoiled bastard? Feeling annoyed, Leona stuffed her food in her mouth, felt her eyes get watery, and drank a cup of water. ¡°Phew¡­¡± On the other hand, Leona was happy to meet a person who seemed part of another world. They had to walk for a long time. She felt that he wouldn¡¯t have the luxury to take off the sweet potato skin in the wilderness. Ghoul meat is still very terrible even with its skin removed. Leona became excited thinking how Charl would feel when he¡¯d get to take a bite at some ghoul meat. Leona was a pretty tenacious one. And especially in a negative way. Chapter 20 Chapter 20: Mission Already Completed (3) It was his fourth time heading to Ard Point. The first time was when he initially arrived, second time was with Leona, the third time was when he ughtered the Reavers, and the fourth time was to recover the weapons. At this point, Zin couldn¡¯t believe that he had toe back to Ard Point for so many reasons. However, he could not give up such arge number of chips within his reach, so he had to return. Leona didn¡¯tin, but she looked at the ground and murmured some ominous-sounding curse words. Charl and Zin had no problem physically. Charl walked pretty swiftly with his uniform on. And unfortunately, the moment that Leona was waiting for didn¡¯te. ¡°¡­ What is that?¡± Zin took out something from his bag, startling Leona. ¡°A potato.¡± ¡°Where did you get that?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not thinking that I just harvested in this wilderness, are you? I bought it while at Shera.¡± ¡°I mean, are you saying you bought¡­ ah.¡± Zin bought fourteen days worth of food in Shera after Charl said that he¡¯d be paying for the meals. Zin didn¡¯t like eating monster meat either. He packed food since someone was going to pay for it. Leona wouldn¡¯t get to witness Charl chewing ghoul meat in disgust. She became angry at Zin who was very thorough with trip nning. ¡°If you really want that meat, I could certainly get it for you.¡± With a smile, Zin realized what she was thinking, and Leona ducked her head. ¡°No thanks¡­¡± There was no way Charl would be eating monster meat when there were other options avable. Charl didn¡¯t know what Leona and Zin were talking about, and he waited for the meal preparations. ¡°Anyway, can I ask you a question?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°How did you kill the Reavers? I thought I heard something about a chipbox¡­¡± Charl couldn¡¯t understand how a powerless kid had managed to kill most of the Reavers. Leona exined how she triggered the detonation of the chipbox and shot an arrow with it attached. She said that a huge explosion took out most of the Reavers, and Zin finished off the remaining Reavers with his shotgun. They were done with the meal by the time Leona finished telling the story. ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re quite a courageous kid.¡± ¡°You keep calling me a a kid. I have a name, you know¡ªLeona!¡± ¡°Ah, sorry, Leona. You¡¯re very intelligent.¡± ¡°Intelligent?¡± ¡°He¡¯s talking about your swift actions.¡± Zin exined to Leona who didn¡¯t understand Charl¡¯spliments. ¡°Ah¡­ nah, I dumped and wasted all the chips that exploded.¡± Charl couldn¡¯t stopughing at Leona¡¯s story. ¡°Other people either run away from me or stay quiet, but you don¡¯t seem to be afraid of me.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather say what I gotta say and die instead of living as a cowardly mute.¡± ¡°Hahaha! I like your spirit!¡± Charlughed even louder, seemingly pleased to hear those words. Charl seemed to be a rather affable and outgoing person than a quiet and noble man. It was possible that he had to stay quiet since all the people in the city were afraid of him. ¡°Hey, Mister Soldier.¡± ¡°Mister?¡± Charl was surprised hear her say mister, and he looked at Leona. Leona kept on talking without stopping. ¡°What do the Wargrave guys do?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± At Leona¡¯s question, Charl pondered with a hardened face. Then he looked at Zin. ¡°Do you know what Wargrave is all about?¡± ¡°Somewhat.¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious to know what you mean by somewhat. Can you tell me?¡± Charl passed the question of what people thought about Wargrave to Zin. Looking at Leona, Zin replied: ¡°It¡¯s a group that solely upies MCPs.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ so that¡¯s what people believe.¡± ¡°What¡¯s an MCP?¡± ¡°You can think of a ck hole where the nastiest monsters flood out of it. The Wargrave takes care of the rare beasts appearing in the MCP area and monopolizes the chips.¡± ¡°When you say nastiest, how nasty are they?¡± ¡°Maneaters would be considered a joke.¡± ¡°Crazy¡­¡± Leona shook her head in surprise. ¡°But, if the Wargrave is taking care of those monsters, aren¡¯t they good dudes then?¡± Referring to the officer as a dude was a dangerous act, but Charl didn¡¯t seem to take offence. At Mass Confusion Points, referred as MCPs, many monsters appeared, and they were extremely deadly. The Wargrave built fortresses around all the MCP regions within Asia and hunted down the monsters. Their motives were unknown, but from a civilian perspective, the fact that they took care of extremely dangerous monsters was a good thing. Even though some time had passed since the Wargrave had appeared, the civilians admired them yet kept their distance from them. The answer to Leona¡¯s question was simple. ¡°You¡¯re forgetting the fact that I¡¯m a hunter.¡± ¡°I know that. So?¡± ¡°I get more business when the monsters are problematic to people, and having less ess to monsters that contain a lot of chips is a problem for me. The Wargrave takes care of all the big monsters, so that¡¯s not good for me.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± It was a crappy perspective, but it was the reality. The more the Wargrave hunted big monsters, the fewer monsters Zin could hunt. To the hunters, the Wargrave weren¡¯t wee. ¡°Frankly speaking, what the hunter said is correct. We¡¯re not surrounding the MCP because of the civilians. We don¡¯t ept any civilians or refugees heading our fortresses.¡± Sometimes they attacked or killed them. The Wargrave was not a group that acted for good. The only reason they seized the MCPs was for their own benefit. In fact, Zin had exined the nature of the Wargrave simply and correctly. ¡°Then what are you doing? What¡¯s the reason?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m low-ranked, and I don¡¯t know much.¡± Charl shrugged. Leona couldn¡¯t ask anything further, and Zin stayed silent. The Wargrave was a very important military group that kept things in order in the post-Apocalypse era. However, they didn¡¯t exist for the humans. Leona wanted to say something, but she couldn¡¯t think how to say it. She realized that the pretty and clean-cut officer was not as annoying as she thought. Charl was thinking about the statement that Zin made before. The Wargrave takes care of all the big monsters, so that¡¯s not good for me. It meant that Zin was capable of hunting the big monsters. And it didn¡¯t seem like he was bluffing. And Charl could sense the frustration that he felt. There were hunters who were dissatisfied with the Wargrave¡¯s monopoly on MCPs. Hunters received requests and earned chips when the people were in trouble. Hunters became richer when the world was unstable. Therefore, the peace that the Wargrave created wasn¡¯t good for the hunters. Hunters mostly hated the Wargrave for this reason. However, no hunter was annoyed by the fact that they couldn¡¯t hunt the monsters that appeared at MCPs. Charl looked at the firece with a hardened face. Ard Point had many great traits as a shelter. There were many buildings and walls, and it was big enough to inhabit a thousand people with the assumption that the nearby farnd would be in use. New people would find those people-less walls and it would serve as a vige for them. However, seven days weren¡¯t a long enough time for a new resident to appear. Ard Point was still empty. ¡°Ard Point was brought down even with such walls? It¡¯s as good as a castle¡­¡± Charl couldn¡¯t believe that a vige with such great walls had been overrun. ¡°Tall walls aren¡¯t enough to ovee the difference of power a weapon brings. Zin looked at Charl whose group had its weapons stolen. ¡°Ancient-Korea¡¯s weapons aren¡¯t at all usable.¡± Charl found broken arrows stuck to the ground, and he walked into Ard Point with mixed feelings. The once-quiet Ard Point had be an eerie ce. ¡°Only a couple of days have passed, but this ce feels so old and rundown.¡± Leona shivered as she felt the creepiness even in the afternoon. Zin headed to the coordinates where he buried the weapons and started to dig up the steel box with a shovel. ¡°I¡¯ll help you.¡± ¡°No, it might blow up if you hit it by mistake. Let me do it.¡± ¡°Fine with me¡­¡± As Zin was digging, Leona and Charl looked at the junkwagons. ¡°Interesting machine¡­ So they¡¯re operational?¡± Charl was amazed that such crappy machines worked and nodded his head. As a Wargrave who had a different lifestyle and weaponspared to civilians in the post-Apocalypse era, Charl was intrigued by the junkwagon. Forgetting about her first impressions on Charl, Leona grew close to him after seven days of travel. Compared to the multipurpose special vehicle that the Wargrave used, the junkwagons were pieces of trash. However, Charl was busy looking at the junkwagons here and there. ¡°Oh¡­ so this is the reactor. Looks crappy yet efficient¡­ And this would be¡­ the engine¡­ ah, this must be the fuel device.¡± Although the junkwagon was crappy, it had a simple structure, and Charl kept on investigating the junkwagon as if he were mesmerized by it. Leona hadn¡¯t been as bad as Charl. ¡°Mister, you¡¯re like a kid¡­¡± Charlughed after hearing Leona¡¯s words. ¡°Is that so? It hasn¡¯t been long since I left the fortress. I don¡¯t get to patrol outside the fortress that often¡­¡± As time passed, Charl grew closer to Leona as well and kept asking questions. Even yesterday, he asked Zin if he could hunt some ghouls so that he could try some ghoul meat. Zin was not the type of person to decline any request for chips, and he epted to hunt one for 10 chips. And of course, Charl puked as soon as he took a single bite of it. Leona was happy to see Charl examining the junkwagon. Charl didn¡¯t stop there, and sat on the driver¡¯s seat after putting in a couple of chips in the fuel tank. ¡°I suppose all vehicles have a simr mechanism?¡± ¡ªnk! nk! nk!¡ª ¡°Oh. Wow!¡± The engine revved, and Leona was surprised. ¡ªvroom! vroom! vroooom!¡ª ¡°Hmmm¡­ is this working? Oh, there we go!¡± As Charl kept turning the ignition key, the engine started with a loud noise. ¡ªvrrrrrrooooom!!¡ª With the engine started, the junkwagon began making loud noises everywhere. Leona stood up when she saw that the junkwagon had turned on, and when Charl waved at her, she jumped and sat on the junkwagon. ¡°Should we go for a ride?¡± ¡°Yeah! Yeah!¡± The engine noise was so loud that they had to yell to hear each other. Charl smiled and shouted as he grabbed the steering wheel. ¡°Hold on tight! We don¡¯t know when this thing¡¯s gonna break down¡­¡± ¡ªclunk!¡ª ¡°Hey.¡± And then the junkwagon wouldn¡¯t start. ¡°I can understand that a kid might do whatever, but a Wargrave officer shouldn¡¯t act like this, right?¡± Zin blocked them in front, a sullen look on his face. Chapter 21 Chapter 21: Phantomvein (1) Zin seemed ready to smack them both with the shovel as the two got off the junkwagon. ¡°Huh? Hunter¡­?¡± Charl looked at Zin perplexed. ¡°Not good¡­¡± Frightened, Leona ducked her head. Zin pointed next to the junkwagon with his shovel. Get off. Charl and Leona knew what he meant. They got off the junkwagon. ¡°You need to turn off the engine.¡± ¡°Ah, okay!¡± Charl turned off the engine and left the junkwagon. ¡°Do I have to exin to you how crazy it is to start a junkwagon in the middle of nowhere?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s crazy to be making any sound when we don¡¯t know what might be lying around here. This is not a fortress where we can get support, and you don¡¯t have any men to help you out.¡± Zin pointed to the ground he was standing on. ¡°We are in the desert. The Reavers are crazy for driving on the junkwagons because those vehicles are unstable, and more importantly, for the loud noise that they make.¡± Monsters lurking around the area coulde after the noise. Zin exined why Charl¡¯s actions were dangerous, and Charl nodded slowly with a gloomy face. ¡°Sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t think it through¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, mister. Charl didn¡¯t know about it¡­¡± ¡°¡­You think that I don¡¯t know you¡¯re trying to slip out of this?¡± ¡°Sorry!¡± Leona became gloomy as Zin stared at her. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything stupid and stay still.¡± ¡°Sure!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Zin had been yelling at the Wargrave officer, but Charl remained silent as he nodded his head. Zin went back and started digging again. Charl¡¯s actions had been very careless and Zin was extremely upset. Since Charl was still gloomy, Leona tapped him to get his attention. That guy really, really hates junkwagons. I see. Let him be. The two whispered, and as Zin stared at them again, they shut their mouths. Charl started feeling upset as well. I know it was a mistake. What¡¯s his problem? If there¡¯s a monster, then he could hunt it down. Charl himself was confident with hisbat skills. He¡¯d hunted down big monsters at MCP. This trip with Zin was getting very boring. Zin was overly cautious, quiet, and stealthy. For Charl who had overpowered monsters with heavy artillery, it was rather an underwhelming trip. Pfft. The seniors mentioned that hunters are all cowards, and that looks to be the case here. Charl couldn¡¯t help but think that Zin¡¯s behavior was cowardly. He thought it would be easier to wipe out any iing monsters and im the chips. Charl grumbled and watched Zin who was consistently digging. To Charl, Zin looked like a seasoned veteran hunter but was overly self-centered. Zin seemed to be a person who stuck to his own opinion. As an example, during the trip, he suggested taking the long and hard route because the easy route was dangerous. I could easily kill hundreds of monsters in the Ancient-Korea region. Charl just needed the coordinates, but not Zin¡¯s power. He thought that he could ovee any danger with the weapons that he had at hand. And what¡¯s up with that coat? Isn¡¯t he hot? What a show-off. Charl was starting to get angry about everything rted to Zin. If it weren¡¯t for Leona, he wouldn¡¯t have tagged along with Zin. ¡ªwhoosh!¡ª All of a sudden, as if Zin had read Charl¡¯s mind, he took something out from his coat. Charl had no time to react to Zin¡¯s sudden move. ¡ªcrank!¡ª Zin aimed the AKM at Charl. ¡°You¡¯re crazy!¡± ¡°Aaahh!¡± Charl drew Leona near him and activated the reactive gloves. ¡ªratatattaatatat!¡ª Gunfire zed out of the assault rifle with tremendous speed. But, nothing hit the reactive gloves. Kraaarggggh! The shots that Zin fired pounded something behind Charl. As Charl looked back, he became astonished. ¡°What¡­ What is this¡­?¡± ¡°Krrrk. Kr! Krrra!¡± A person who¡¯d been shot multiple times was shaking violently, covered with bubbles of blood. Zin reced the magazine on the rifle. ¡°It¡¯s a vagabond. Come over here.¡± Charl pulled Leona back and moved out. The corpse was riddled with bullets, but it did not stop moving. ¡°Did you know¡­ that that thing was around?¡± ¡°I always assume that something is around me.¡± Zin was always scanning his surroundings, and he would find enemies before they attacked. If Zin hadn¡¯t acted fast, Leona and Charl would have had their heads chopped off by the vagabond. ¡°Of course, I spotted it before, but I allowed it to attack us. I¡¯m sorry about that.¡± Zin put away the AKM into his void storage and pulled out the semi-automatic shotgun. ¡°Think of this as a punishment for ignoring my warning.¡± The junkwagon¡¯s noise had alerted the vagabond that was hiding in Ard Point. Charl watched as something formed within the blood-bubbling corpse. ¡°I¡¯ll put in an additional im for the ammo used in a fight caused by your carelessness. Do you agree?¡± ¡ªcluck!¡ª Zin asked the question as he loaded a powercell. ¡°Sure, I do¡­¡± Charl nodded his head vigorously as he realized that he could have died. Zin aimed at the monstering out of the corpse. ¡ªbabang!¡ª Large, blue-colored gunfire came out of the shotgun. ¡ªkaboooom!¡ª And a bigger fire sted out as the corpse was hit with the gunshot. The 7.62mm buckshot was a shotgun bullet that was modified with a regr bullet. In a simr way, regr shotgun bullets were modified. A powercell, which was made by recing the pellets with explosive chip powder, became more powerful in magnitude. The shot that Zin fired was so powerful that his clothes pped violently from the explosion. The monster¡¯s torso was blown away. It was clear that the monster had been taken down, but Zin gestured the two to move out. ¡°It¡¯s a gel type. Run.¡± ¡°It managed to survive from all the gunshots.¡± The corpse had blown to pieces from the powercell explosion, but the severed parts of its body werebining into one form. It was an unbelievable sight to see the red, bloody pieces of flesh gathering into one body. Leona did not leave Zin, and was ready to move at any point. Charl was stunned as he looked at the vagabond monster. ¡°What type of monster is this?¡± ¡°This must be your first time seeing a vagabond. Vagabonds never morph into a type of monster that we know.¡± All vagabonds transformed into different form of monsters. It didn¡¯t transform into the types of monsters that were known of before. Charl didn¡¯t have any knowledge of other monsters as he only hunted monsters in the MCP. Charl felt disheartened. ¡°Be careful! We don¡¯t know how the monster might attack.¡± The monster could attacking from a close range, far range, or some unknown way. It was better to finish off a vagabond before itpletely turned into a monster. The hunters hated any battle that was unpredictable. They were about 60 feet away from the gtinous monster, and Charl looked at Zin with his weapon drawn. ¡°What do we do now, hunter?¡± ¡°Why even ask?¡± ¡ªck!¡ª Zin loaded a different type of ammo into the Saiga shotgun, and then aimed at the monster. ¡°Attack is the best defense.¡± ¡ªkaboom!¡ª Massive gunfire came from the muzzle of the Saiga and hit the monster directly. It was a dragonbreath bullet that shot out a high-temperature ze. Most of the monsters were weak to fire, and it was wise to set fire on a monster that one had never encountered before. As soon as it hit monster, it exploded into fumes. ¡°Did it die¡­?¡± ¡°No, it vaporized. Run, now!¡± The enemy wasn¡¯t dead, but it turned into vapor and was roaming freely as a red mist. As soon as Zin shouted, Leona and Charl started running in the opposite direction of the red mist. Although they didn¡¯t know what it was, they were certain that they would be in trouble if they breathed the red mist. ¡ªzap!¡ª Charl fired some shots using hisser pistol, but it was ineffective against the mist. Charl¡¯sser pistol looked like an ordinary pistol, but it was a cutting-edge weapon that could take out low-level monsters with a single shot. It was different than the usual firearms. When he realized that his weapon was ineffective, he started to yell. ¡°My weapon¡¯s not working against that thing!¡± ¡°Just run!¡± The red mist was permeating the air towards the three, and it was fast approaching them. Zin was also running, and he thought: Immune to explosions. Immune toser. It tried to dodge the me shot, so that may be its weakness, but it¡¯s still ineffective. Gel, slime types are usually weak against fire andsers, but this one¡¯s different. And it turned itself into vapor. Gel types can regenerate through splitting¡­ Did it get a special ability because it¡¯s a vagabond? No, that¡¯s almost impossible. That¡¯s not a regr vagabond. I can assume that monster is immune to physical attacks. If it¡¯s a gel-type monster that¡¯s immune to physical attacks¡­ Zin thought. Ectosm. The enemy is a spirit. Ordinary attacks won¡¯t work. I will attack with magic. All hunting begins with understanding the characteristics of the prey. ¡°It¡¯s a ghost-type! Do not confront it¡ªjust run!¡± ¡°Ghost?¡± ¡°Ghooooost! Ahhhhh!¡± Leona and Charl freaked out. ¡ªpzzzz!¡ª The red mist was closing in, and Zin took out a charm from his coat. He brought it to his mouth and blew. Kyahhhh! It was the evil spirit flute that he¡¯d shown Charl before. ¡°Ahhh!¡± The red mist backed off after the horrifying scream, and Leona also freaked out and rolled on the floor. Charl had goosebumps. Zin stopped fleeing as he held the flute on one of his hands, with a weapon on the other. ¡ªnk!¡ª Zin was holding arge, dark-metallic sword in his right hand. He looked like a beast holding onto a two-handed sword with one hand, when other people would have a hard time holding it with both hands. Zin, who preferred safe battles, didn¡¯t like to engage in melee fights. But even though he didn¡¯t prefer it, it didn¡¯t mean that he wasn¡¯t skilled at it. ¡°Hey, hunter! You¡¯ve seen how our weapons didn¡¯t work against that thing!¡± Charl looked at Zin as if he was crazy to fight against an enemy with just a big sword. ¡°Just watch.¡± Zin backed off and then dashed forwards towards the red mist. Kyahhhh! Zin swung the two-handed sword down at the red mist, which had been stunned by the sound of the evil spirit flute. ¡°Huzzzah!¡± ¡ªsh!¡ª ¡°Kraaaaah!¡± It was simple sh, but Zin split the red mist into two. The mist that was split into two disyed a red light, indicating that the sword had damaged it. The dark hue of Zin¡¯s two-handed sword was not a metallic color. Rather it was a dark, bloody color that was created from a devil¡¯s blood as a charm. The sword itself was a charm. It was the magic sword of exorcism, Phantomvein. Charms were made from devil¡¯s blood. But it was not created from a single being¡¯s amount of blood. The charm used the blood of both evil spirits and vampires to create the Phantomvein. Chapter 22 Chapter 22: Phantomvein (2) Phantomvein was built to handle enemies that were immune to physical damage. For ordinary monsters, it was a simple sword, but for ghost-type monsters, it was very effective because the exorcism power of the blood was concentrated in the sword. The flute of evil spirits was used to stun the ghosts, and the Phantomvein finished them off. Using the two simple steps, he had taken down numerous ghosts. ¡ªpfffff! ¡ª With a single sh, the low level-ectosm had dissolved into fumes simr to a snail that had touched some salt. ¡ªfff!¡ª The volume of the ectosm decreased, but it didn¡¯t die. Zin looked at the dark sword in his hand with a bitter smile. ¡°You must have aged just like me.¡± The Phantomvein used to y great ghosts into a pile of ash had aged with the hunter. Zin realized that his power had diminished with time since the sword was unable to finish off the low-level ectosm with a single sh. The sword that once fed on devil¡¯s blood might have forgotten the taste of the devil¡¯s blood. And therefore it might have lost its power to y the evil spirits. ¡°Kyaaaah!¡± Once more, the ectosm rushed towards Zin, who then raised the Phantomvein in his right hand. Zin was old, and his charm was getting old as well. Zin was an old hunter who was prolonging his life by raking in chips. Phantomvein was just an old charm that had lost its spirit ying power. Zin was a powerless old tiger with fangs. However¡­ ¡ªthunk!¡ª ¡°Kyaaarrrrg!¡± A tiger that was old and weak still had its ws. ¡ªthud!¡ª ¡°Krrrrrraah!¡± The old tiger did notment the loss of its fangs but fought back with its remaining ws. ¡ªthunk!¡ª If there were no fangs to instantly finish off the enemy, the ws were there to rip them apart. ¡ªwham! wham! wham!¡ª Zin swung at the charging ectosm with his Phantomvein repeatedly. He continued to charge and attack when it retreated from the pain. A hunter only needed to kill the enemy at all cost. ¡°Phew¡­¡± ¡ªpfffffff!¡ª The ectosm emitted white smoke and soon turned into a pile of ash. Once a warrior, always a warrior. An old tiger was still a tiger, and an old sword was still sharp. Especially for Zin who continuously hunted down monsters¡ªhe would not lose out to a low-level ghost. After finishing off the ghost, Zin put back the Phantomvein into his bag, and he extracted chips from the pile of ash. ¡°Is it over?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Leona felt shaken up when she saw that the vaporized ectosm had crystallized into a blue chip. And Charl was shaken up as well. They clearly remembered how Zin had swung that sword like a demon. ¡°How in the world¡­¡± It was unbelievable for Zin to take down a ghost with a sword. ¡°Ghosts aren¡¯t hard to fight against as long as you have a n of attack.¡± It would be a problem to fight against an enemy without knowing its weaknesses. Exploiting one¡¯s weakness would make the fighting much easier. The ghost¡¯s greatest weapon was the terror it invoked, and terror caused the people to lose the will to fight. There was no reason to fear as long as one had the will to fight. However, this fact only applied to Zin. Most people would start panicking as soon as they realized that guns or weapons couldn¡¯t inflict any damage. Ghost-type monsters rarely appeared to the point where a whole fortress would instantly be on red alert if a ghost appeared. And fighting it off was not easy as well. All the firearms in the fortress would be rendered useless, and specially trained forces would have to arm themselves with special weapons to fend off the ghost-type monsters. The fact that a monster was immune to physical attacks meant that any physical defense was useless. Therefore Charl could not believe that a single flute and sword was all that was needed to finish off the ectosm. And more than anything, he was amazed at Zin¡¯s calmness. ¡°Why were you panicking? Even without a charm, if you knew a little about magic, you could fend off the ghosts.¡± ¡°Magic, how can someone fight against a ghost with that nonsense¡­¡± Charl started talking and stopped when he remembered Zin ripping apart the ectosm with the sword. Zin finished up the extraction, looked at Charl and said: ¡°It¡¯s impolite to judge areas that you¡¯re not familiar with.¡± ¡°¡­ Excuse me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s rare for one to use magic that¡¯s effective. Most magicians are engaged in meaningless ceremonies.¡± ¡°So what are you telling me?¡± As Zin taunted Charl, Charl replied with frustration. ¡°I just wanted to tell you that there can be the real deal among the many fakes.¡± ¡°Pft¡­¡± After Zin extracted chips from the ectosm, he grabbed the shovel. ¡°If the vagabonds are already moving in, we can¡¯t stay here for too long.¡± Zin murmured and started digging. Leona was still shocked to have encountered a ghost for the first time. ¡°Ugh, so scary.¡± Still trembling from the experience, Leona moved next to Zin and sat down. She had a strong belief that the seat next to Zin was the world¡¯s safest ce. ¡°Leona, I¡¯m more scared to hear you say that you were scared to see a ghost.¡± Charl slowly walked towards Zin and talked to her. Charl¡¯sser pistol was a superior weapons than Zin¡¯s firearms. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Some of the soldiers pass out when they encounter ghosts.¡± ¡°The soldiers pass out?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ a bit embarrassing, but whatever.¡± Charl grew embarrassed, paused talking, and then smiled. Leona looked at Charl weirdly but smiled shortly after. ¡°Soldiers are scared of ghosts? They¡¯re not kids, you know.¡± Leona clicked her tongue and thought it was pathetic. Charl wanted to refute this, but he didn¡¯t since he wished that the Wargrave soldiers could be as calm as Leona. It was Zin who actually objected. ¡°You¡¯re the weird one here.¡± ¡°What? I¡¯m the weirdo?¡± ¡°The presence of ghosts causes people to panic. It affects people¡¯s minds. People who aren¡¯t used to seeing ghosts start losing it..¡± ¡°Panic?¡± ¡°Yes, they start shooting at one¡¯s ownrades, start running away, charging towards the ghost, or nking out.¡± ¡°What? They start shooting at their ownrade? Isn¡¯t that crazy?¡± The fear of the ghost was not in its force, but in the panic and chaos. Without doing anything, ghosts could break down a group of armed soldiers by causing them to panic. Charl answered Leona: ¡°Ghosts make people go insane.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s stupid¡­¡± Zin did not feel terror because he was used to ghosts, and Charl had felt shocked and lost hisposure when theser pistol had turned out ineffective. And although Leona shouted out ¡®ghost!¡¯, she didn¡¯t panic at all. Charl knew about the power of ghosts, and slowly nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure your nerves are made of steel.¡± ¡°Is that apliment?¡± ¡°In a way, yes.¡± Leona smiled, and Zin continued to dig. Charl realized that traveling through the wilderness wasn¡¯t easy. Charl felt nervous when he realized that his weapons weren¡¯t effective against the monsters in the Ancient-Korea region. However, Leona who had nothing to prove looked at Zin without any fear. And her fearlessness did note from the belief that Zin would protect her. Charl felt that Leona wouldn¡¯t be afraid even if she were left alone. And he also knew that not all everyone in the wilderness was like Leona. Most of the people were afraid and avoided the Wargrave soldiers if they spotted them from far away. And Reavers usually avoided Wargraves as well unless they were extremely crazy. However, Leona had disyed no fear when she first met Charl. She was curious and cautious about seeing a stranger. As Zin dug out the steel box, the sun set and it became dark at Ard Point. Charl looked at the warheads stored in the box and nodded his head. ¡°Although not all of them are in the box, these are the stolen weapons for sure. They must have used them.¡± Charl checked the remaining weapons and nodded his head. ¡°Thanks, hunter¡­ I know you were probably going to save the weapons for yourself, but that¡¯s okay.¡± Although Zin stole the weapons that the Reavers stole from the Wargrave, it wasn¡¯t unusual for Charl to pay the reward. The Wargrave may be a cruel group, but they honored contracts pretty well. ¡°I will not take back the warheads that you might have in your possession. Think of it as a bonus for the request. I can let those go.¡± Charl didn¡¯t know how many Zin took, but since he retrieved quite arge amount of warheads, he did not ask Zin to return them. ¡°I had no intentions of returning them, but I will dly keep them like you said.¡± ¡°Just curious, do you talk in that cocky matter on purpose?¡± ¡°You can think of it as an old man acting cute.¡± Zinughed it off with a serious look, and Charl sighed. ¡°Hah¡­ Well, I will let you keep the heat-pressure warheads, but I need you to understand that this conversation needs to remain a secret. If a problem arises because of the warheads, nothing good will happen to you or me.¡± ¡°I will keep it as a secret.¡± Charl handed Zin the promised 1,500 chips, plus the 100 chips for the battle that happened because of his carelessness. Zin divided the 1,500 chips with Leona as per their agreement. But Leona shook her head. ¡°You hold on to it, mister. I don¡¯t want to carry around chips without a chipbox.¡± ¡°¡­ are you sure about that?¡± ¡°Promise me that you¡¯ll give them to meter.¡± ¡°I will.¡± The portion due to Leona was a lot of chips for her to carry around. Leona didn¡¯t feel suspicious about Zin keeping all the chips, and Zin felt ufortable with Leona¡¯s behavior. Regardless of his uneasy feeling, Zin stored the chips inside his chipbox. Without looking at her chips getting poured into the chipbox, Leona looked at Charl and asked: ¡°So, I heard that you¡¯re a private soldier?¡± ¡°Private¡­ I am a lieutenant¡­ Hmm, hmm! Yeah. I¡¯m pretty much treated like a private.¡± Charl scratched his head in woe. ¡°The Wargrave must be a rich group! How can a private carry around that many chips?¡± Zin answered her question. ¡°The Wargrave is an organization that has the most chips in hand. Nothing new about it.¡± ¡°Hahah¡­¡± Charlughed awkwardly, and Zin stared at Charl as he added: ¡°Of course, they seem to be effectively using that many chips. And I¡¯m fine as long as I get my portion of chips.¡± Charl was slightly surprised at Zin¡¯s words, but Zin seemed to believe that everything was cool as long as he got the exact reward promised. The request wasplete, and everyone was free to go their own separate ways. ¡°Now, what are your ns? If you¡¯re heading north towards Shera, I¡¯m willing to go with you.¡± For Zin, there was no harm in tagging along with a Wargrave officer as an ally, and he had food with him. ¡°I need to stop by the SMCP (Seoul Mass Confusion Point) fortress, so I¡¯m heading in the same direction. If a hunter goes with me, that¡¯s cool. And, of course, there¡¯s no reward for tagging along.¡± ¡°Ah. What a pity.¡± Zin spoke like it was a pity, but he didn¡¯t look like it at all. Charl recorded the coordinates and buried the steel box. Charl was nning to send out a transportation unit as soon as he arrived at the SMCP to retrieve the warheads. ¡°Hah¡­ so now we go back¡­¡± Leona felt pissed that she now had to walk back to Shera. ¡°You¡¯ve only traveled the same path twice, but it¡¯s the sixth time for me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°So stopining.¡± Zin has been the first one toe to Ard Point, left Ard Point afterpleting the initial request for the second time, came back for the third time, left for the fourth time with Leona, came back from Shera for the fifth time, and now he was ready to leave for the sixth time. Zin was also not excited to be going back to Ard Point. Leona kept on pouting andining to Zin. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m expressing my frustration over things that frustrate me. Can¡¯t I even express myself?¡± ¡°You have a knack for annoying other people, so you¡¯re better off staying quiet.¡± ¡°You¡¯re no different in that sense, mister. Aren¡¯t you exactly like me?¡± At Leona¡¯s words, Zin smiled and answered: ¡°I think you told me before that people hate others who resemble them.¡± ¡°¡­ Ah, ah. I hate you¡­¡± Unlike Leona, Zin annoyed other people with his calm voice, and it was pretty effective. And Zin was a little better than Leona at it. Chapter 23 Chapter 23: Southbound (1) ¡°If you keep onining, the monsters wille. Be quiet.¡± ¡°Arggh¡­ugh!¡± Leona felt scared and trembled, and as soon as Charl finished burying the box, he dusted off his hands and smiled. ¡°What a weird crew we have.¡± They had to stay the night at Ard Point anyway. Charl sat down on the floor, and Zin refused to leave during the night. Zin used a flint stone to start a fire. They stayed at one of the abandoned buildings in Ard Point. ¡°This ce feels spooky for sure.¡± The creepy feeling around Ard Point was probably not because all the residents were gone but because of the vagabonds infiltrating the vige. At Leona¡¯sment, Zin looked outside the window. ¡°It still feels creepy.¡± ¡°¡­ yeah, I think so.¡± The ghost was dead, but the creepiness still lingered around Ard Point. Charl felt uneasy that Leona and Zin were expressing such an opinion. Leona and Zin didn¡¯t talk about the final days of Ard Point, but the silence itself told a sad story. ¡°Now, I¡¯m a bit curious. You¡¯re too quiet now.¡± At Charl¡¯s question, Zin remained silent, and Leona had a bitter smile. ¡°I was going to settle in this vige.¡± Charl understood what had probably happened. The Reavers invaded, and Leona blew up the chip box in a rage. Leona was the sole survivor. However, that didn¡¯t exin why Zin had to take Leona to a safe ce. Zin stared at Charl. ¡°Are you the curious type?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t deny that. I think it¡¯s good to know as much as possible, and I¡¯m simply curious about seemingly insignificant things.¡± Charl¡¯s look reminded Zin of Baek-Goo. Zin didn¡¯t like that this brought back memories of Baek-Goo. He believed that curiosity should either be stopped or quenched. And Zin felt benevolent to the person who had rewarded him a huge amount of 1,600 chips. ¡°Are you curious about why that kid is tagging along with me?¡± ¡°Yeah. It doesn¡¯t happen that often.¡± To Charl, Zin was not the type of person who would babysit a kid. And since he was taking Leona with him, Charl was curious about how the two met. And it did not seem like their rtionship was that of a hunter and his aide. Nor did they seem to have a friendly connection as a rowdy kid and an old hunter. ¡°I promised to take the kid to a safe settlement. You can think of it as a request.¡± ¡°Do hunters get those kinds of requests?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve searched for treasures for the Wargrave, so there¡¯s no reason I can¡¯t ept such requests.¡± ¡°Ha, I suppose so¡­ Then, how did you two meet?¡± Zin looked at Charl, and his eyes looked like those of a boy who was wildly curious about learning anything. And in fact, to Zin, Charl had the appearance of a young adult just over twenty years old. ¡°I initially epted a request from the leader of Ard Point.¡± Zin exined to Charl how he met Leona. Zin was cooking some potatoes over the fire, and there was enough time to tell the story before the potatoes cooked fully. Zin wasn¡¯t the best storyteller, but he exined what happened in a simple and calm manner. Leona also wondered how he¡¯d exin his version of the story about her, so she listened carefully. Zin talked about the copse of Zado City, how he spected the cause of the copse, how he found Leona trapped inside a safe, how they faced the maneater, how they went back to Ard Point, and how the Reavers attacked Ard Point. The story was neither short nor long. but as soon as Zin finished talking, the potatoes were ready to eat, and Zin handed them out. Leonaughed at Zin. ¡°You must be really stupid. How can you forget about the rewards owed to you?¡± ¡°You brat. My forgetfulness is the evidence that I¡¯m still a human.¡± ¡°Well if you were trying to be funny, that was pretty good. You really are hrious.¡± Leonaughed again at Zin¡¯s words. After a long chuckle, Leona felt an awkward silence and looked at Charl. Charl looked at his portion of the potatoes with a heavy and hardened face. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Charl?¡± ¡°Thanks for telling your story.¡± Charl looked dead serious. ¡°I want to confirm one thing. Was that all true?¡± ¡°I have no reason to lie.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not fooling around.¡± At Charl¡¯s serious attitude, Zin took a bite of his potato and asked: ¡°What part of the story are you referring to?¡± ¡°About the fact that Giant Wolves attacked Zado City. You told me that they¡¯re the type of monsters that don¡¯t form packs, isn¡¯t that right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. I saw their dead bodies. They fought each other in the central square of the city, and they all died. And a maneater emerged from one of the corpses..¡± Charl seemed restless after listening to his story. ¡°¡­ Sorry to keep on asking, but why do you think that happened? Any special reasons for that?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to figure out the reason, and it wasn¡¯t part of the request.¡± Zin wasn¡¯t lying, and sensing Charl¡¯s weird attitude, Leona asked: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is there a problem?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you. But¡­ but I need to understand something. Hunter, can I ask you one more question?¡± ¡°As long as I can answer it.¡± ¡°You said that a pack of Giant Wolves attacked Zado City. And ording to your knowledge, Giant Wolves don¡¯t move in packs once they grow into adults. Then, those monsters that never form a pack coborated together as a pack to attack Zado City. And after the copse of the city, they attacked and killed each other. Is that correct?¡± What Charl exined should have never happened, but Zin thought that this was the case based on his findings. It was hard to be certain about something, but Zin nodded his head without hesitation. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you trust me, but as far as I can see, that is the case. There¡¯s no other exnation.¡± Zin was certain about his findings. He had lived as a hunter for a long time, and he was certain of his conclusion based on his experience as a hunter. ¡°I see¡­¡± Charl became even more somber, and slowly nodded his head. Zin wasn¡¯t curious about the shock or worry going through Charl¡¯s mind. Charl was a curious person, but Zin knew that being curious did not help much in life. Since he¡¯dpleted the request, Zin had no reason or responsibility to figure out what the requestor was thinking. But Leona was curious. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? I wanna know.¡± ¡°Sorry Leona, I can¡¯t talk about it.¡± Charl stood up without eating his potato. Zin didn¡¯t stop him and asked: ¡°Are you leaving?¡± ¡°¡­sorry for standing up so abruptly. I need to check on something.¡± ¡°No need to be sorry.¡± ¡°And I would like you to keep this event a secret.¡± Zin knew that he was talking about the copse of Zado City. But Zin gave him an odd answer. ¡°Hmm, hunters don¡¯t do favors.¡± Zin then made an ¡®O¡¯ shape with his thumb and index finger. It was a gesture referring to a blue chip. Charl¡¯s behavior implied that the secrets of the Wargrave might be rted to the copse of Zado City. Zin implied that Charl would need to pay him to keep the secret. At Zin¡¯s action, Charl frowned. Charl preferred not to get into an altercation with the hunter. ¡°So how much are you asking?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make it a special deal for you. A single chip.¡± ¡°¡­ Hah. That¡¯s too much of a joke.¡± Charl took out a chip from his pocket and gave it to Zin. Zin put away the chip and nodded his head. ¡°Hunters don¡¯t work for free.¡± Hunters were a strange group of people. Charl thought about it and smiled. And Leona looked nkly at Zin for a moment. Hunters don¡¯t work for free. The sentence echoed in Leona¡¯s head. ¡°Going to Zado?¡± ¡°For now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s four days west. It¡¯ll probably take a day or two for you.¡± ¡°Thanks¡­¡± Charl nodded, looking back as he stepped out of the building. ¡°¡­It was good meeting you, Zin and Leona.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah¡­¡± Leona stood up slowly and walked toward Charl. Charl gently ced his hand on Leona¡¯s head. For some reason, Leona thought that Charl¡¯s hand was soft and warm. ¡°I hope that you get to ce you¡¯re looking for.¡± ¡°Um, uh¡­ you too, Charl. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but be careful.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Without hesitation, Charl swiftly ran out of Ard Point. From Leona¡¯s point of view, he ran much faster than ordinary people. Leona stared at Charl¡¯s direction as he disappeared. She wasn¡¯t sad per se, but Charl had left so suddenly and in a strange manner. ¡°What was that about?¡± Leona came back to the firece, murmuring as she ate her potato. ¡°Is Wargrave responsible for the copse of Zado?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know, but there must be something going on.¡± It was suddenly just the two of them now, but they weren¡¯t particrly sad about the farewell. Leona split Charl¡¯s portion of the potato into two, and gave one half to Zin. Zin looked at the half for a while and ate it at once. ¡°So, mister.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°Why was Charl acting like a man?¡± At her words, Zin shrugged. With her instincts, Leona figured out the secret Charl was hiding. Zin knew about the secret when he first met Charl. It was the first time the two were mentioning it. ¡°If you were wondering about it, you could have asked directly. Why are you asking me?¡± ¡°Well, I felt awkward.¡± Charl had acted like a man, but Zin and Leona yed along. Zin stayed still and looked thoughtful as if he was trying to solve a quiz. ¡°Charl¡­ then her real name could be Charles, Charlotte. One or the other.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to exin.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t even start talking about it in the first ce.¡± ¡°I do whatever I want, kiddo.¡± ¡°Ah. You¡¯re so annoying.¡± Leona shook her head. Zin sat down and looked at the fire. The copse of Zado was possibly a nuisance for the Wargrave. Zin wasn¡¯t actively seeking to understand why Zado was attacked. He thought that it was just one of many events happening in the world. However, there were reasons behind many idents and weird events. Cause and effect. Zin thought about what the cause could be. He didn¡¯t have to think about it before, but it was different now. To Zin, it was a very strange incident. He would have let it go, but if it was a matter that a Wargrave officer would sensitively react to, that was a different story. Zin thought. There is a possibility that the Wargrave is involved with the incident at Zado. If they are rted, why didn¡¯t Charl not know about it? And even if Charl didn¡¯t know about it, why did she react so sensitively to it? Beside the question, it was important to understand what Charl¡¯s responsibilities were. Most Wargrave soldiers hunted monsters within the MCP area. They were indifferent about the wilderness. Wargrave units traveling outside the fortress were tasked with transportation of supplies, and they were mostly escorted. It was extremely rare for one to act individually. Charl¡¯s rank was a lieutenant, his affiliation was unknown, and he was armed with aser pistol. Aser pistol was a high-powered weapon, but it was a weak weapon for a Wargrave soldier to be carrying around travelling the wilderness alone. To understand who Charl was, it was important to figure out what she was trying to do. Charl was not the officer assigned to the raided transportation unit. She¡¯d tracked the Reavers that attacked Wargrave all on her own. In the first ce, Charl had mentioned to Zin that she was going to take care of the Reavers by herself. It meant that theser pistol wasn¡¯t the only firearm that she had. Zin could think of one position that could act independently, use as many chips as possible, and assigned to enact revenge against the Reavers alone. An executor. An executor checked the status of each fortress around the world and was responsible for resolving any issues hindering the operations of a fortress. She was a hunter dispatched by the Wargrave headquarters. Chapter 24 Chapter 24: Southbound (Part 2) An executor was different from a hunter in the sense that an executor only worked for the Wargrave organization without any reward. It was possible that they¡¯d dispatched Charl to the Korean Penins to resolve the issue. She looked very young, but she could have been a recent hire. As an inexperienced executor, she could have been dispatched at the rtively less dangerous East Asia region to gain experience. Zin was able to infer that Charl was an executor of the Wargrave. The actual rank of the executor didn¡¯t matter much. Executors even had the right to execute a warlord, the leader of a fortress, if it was for a good reason. Therefore an executor was feared by all ranks of Wargrave soldiers. All this information wasn¡¯t known to a regr civilian. Zin knew about this, and he was able to judge the matter at hand based on these facts. Leona sat still when she saw Zin fall into deep thought. Leona had very good instincts, and she chose not to interrupt Zin during such times. On the other hand, Zin wasn¡¯t quick to notice her actions. What kind of problem would make an executor react so hastily¡­ It was clear that Charl had acted because something was going on. In the Korean Penins, there are two Wargrave fortresses¡ªone in Seoul, the other in Busan. In the penins, two MCP¡¯s had appeared in total within those two ces. Wargrave built a fortress around every MCP, so there was a fortress in Busan as well. However, the MCP at Busan has no more activity. They closed down the fortress after that¡­ It was rare for an MCP to cease activity. However, for whatever reason, the Busan MCP had stopped, and no more monsters came out of it. Zin had heard about the news, and he visited Korea to confirm it. It was an event that had happened thirty years ago. At that time, the Wargrave forces had heavily guarded the closed-down Busan fortress, and Zin hadn¡¯t infiltrated the fortress to investigate further. He¡¯d assumed that there was some issue inside the fortress. Hmm¡­ I suspected that the Wargrave conducted some secret experiment, but now it all makes sense. There were many suspicious activities happening around the world. And there was no reason to be curious about every one of them. But in this case, it was different. Zin wondered if the gathering of the solitary monsters, their attack, and subsequent destruction wasn¡¯t just some chance urrence, but rather, an intentional ident. He wondered if the Wargrave¡¯s top-secret experiments were directly rted to this incident. Charl probably knew about the truth behind the inactivity of BMCP and the closure of the Busan fortress. Or perhaps she had some spections. It was possible that they¡¯d sent her to investigate the unusual event that happened in the penins. Once again, Zin remembered Baek-Goo¡¯s words. It¡¯s the devil¡¯s deeds. At first, he hadn¡¯t epted or believed those words. But, as Baek-Goo said, a group of Giant Wolves destroyed Zado. Zin smiled bitterly. Baek-Goo, looks like you had some foresight. Zin couldn¡¯t shake off his suspicion that the words of the dead Baek-Goo might be true. The executor was connecting the dots between the past incident at the Busan fortress and the copse of Zado. And it was very possible that the copse of Zado had been an act of the devil. Zin thought. What did the Wargrave do in Busan? Charl is a Wargrave executor. The inactivity of BMCP and the closure of Busan fortress are rted, and both are connected with the Wargrave experiment. Zado¡¯s copse is rted to the Wargrave experiment in Busan. It will be worthwhile to verify what the experiment was about. Zin looked at Leona and said: ¡°I¡¯ll have to postpone taking you to the promised ce.¡± ¡°Why? ¡°I need to head south.¡± It was obvious that Leona was extremely mad. Their destination was northbound, but they kept going south. ¡°We are going to Busan.¡± It was possible that there might be no reward for this activity, but Zin was willing to use some of his time after receiving chips from Charl. Charl¡¯s urgency implied that Wargrave had not been thorough with its operation somehow. Zin was sure that he¡¯d be able to find some clues when in Busan. ¡°Get to bed early today. We¡¯re heading southbound.¡± ¡°Ahhh¡­¡± Leonamented that the travel was about to be extended. It would not be possible to head south to Busan and thene back north within a month. ¡°Our destination is northbound, but why are we going south?¡± ¡°I¡¯m curious about that as well.¡± ¡°¡­ You¡¯re the one suggesting that we go south, mister.¡± They were about to head to the southernmost region on Korea past Ard Point. The two went past Ard Point and headed south. Zin found the sudden change in circumstances amusing. Wasting time meant wasting his lifespan. This was true for any person, but Zin didn¡¯t have much time left. And this was an important decision for him as well. But Zin did not tell Leona about this. ¡°I thought you told me that your hometown was somewhere south.¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t even face the south anymore.¡± Leona said in a disgusted voice. ¡°Did something happen when you were there?¡± ¡°Hmm, isn¡¯t it harder to not get into something horrible?¡± A daughter of a prostitute. It was obvious to see how people would have treated Leona while growing up. In a crazy world, people were even meaner to each other. Even though everyone was lowly, some people thought contemptuously of others. They felt more precious byparing themselves against others who were just as unfortunate. Zin found it ironic that such wretched people like to makeparisons amongst themselves. Zin realized that the world hadn¡¯t changed much¡ªthere were still ranks and statuses that divided people. Leona smiled as if she remembered some past memories. ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t the type who was bullied around.¡± ¡°Hmm, you do look like the type, though.¡± ¡°I can tell you about the time when I fought against five people by myself.¡± ¡°That¡¯s interesting. You have a nasty temper, but I can¡¯t imagine you as a good fighter.¡± Leona shrugged as she clenched her fist. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that hard against kids. When fighting against multiple people, it¡¯s not possible to beat up everybody. I focused my attacks on one enemy. I don¡¯t stop even if the others punch me in the face. I focus and beat the crap out of one single person. When that happens, it scares the others and they run away.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ that¡¯s impressive. But how were you able to beat one guy up when there were five people attacking you?¡± It was hard to ovee the disadvantage of being outnumbered. It was very likely for the outnumbered one to get mobbed. ¡°In a kid¡¯s fight, girls have the advantage.¡± Leona talked boldly and pointed at Zin¡¯s groin. At the sudden move, Zin moved back. ¡°Boys have a weakness called balls, and that¡¯s easy to exploit. I pounded them as hard as I could. At the first hit, he¡¯d get knocked down. And after a couple of hits, they would beg for mercy. At that point, the other guys would get scared. Isn¡¯t that funny?!¡± Leonaughed out loud. ¡°When I first attacked like that, the other guys nked out and ran away. Later, I heard that first dude had ended up with one busted ball.¡± Leona was not the type of person to show mercy. When attacked, she fought back like a beast with all that she had. It was amazing that she¡¯d survived as a physically weak person. More than anything, Zin was shocked to see Leona point at his groin in a surprising move. He was shocked at this little girl who would point at an old hunter¡¯s groin without hesitation. ¡°¡­ what has the worlde to?¡± Leona kept onughing. She was someone who the people of her hometown had looked down upon, and her personality didn¡¯t help much either. She added by saying: ¡°And I even killed my own father. People were calling me a witch and tried to kill me.¡± It was clear that she had to leave her hometown, and she had no fond memories of it. And Leona did not want to head south towards her hometown. Zinughed. ¡°A witch? Do people still use that to curse someone? That¡¯s amusing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not amusing for the person being cursed.¡± Leona stared angrily at Zin. ¡°They were cursing at a kid who didn¡¯t know what a witch was¡­ no, even they didn¡¯t know what a witch was. They cursed me as a witch because they simply hated me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how people curse others. Whether it¡¯s now or back then.¡± ¡°It¡¯s messed up to call someone as a witch. Why don¡¯t they just say ¡®go and die¡¯? That¡¯s more straightforward and to the point, isn¡¯t it?¡± Leona shrugged. Zin remembered the times before the devils disappeared. Although people didn¡¯t often refer to others as witches, but as Leona mentioned, people referred to despicable people as witches. Leona grimaced, unhappily thinking about her past memories. In a moment she thought of something and started to talk again. ¡°That¡¯s right. Mister, you¡¯re a hunter! You¡¯d know what a witch is all about?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a type of devil.¡± ¡°Is a witch a monster-like devil?¡± ¡°There are many types of devils, and a witch is one of them. There¡¯s nothing simr about the different types of devils. People just started referring to all of them as devils.¡± People referred to horrendous monsters as devils, but they did not have much inmon. ¡°Then, what is a witch all about?¡± ¡°It has many traits¡­ First of all, a witch controls monsters.¡± ¡°¡­what?¡± ¡°A witch can use monsters as servants. Does that make sense?¡± ¡°Controlling monsters? How is that possible?¡± ¡°Yes. Witches can control monsters.¡± Monsters also had traits, instincts, and their own willpower. A witch was able to disrupt the minds of monsters to control them. If a devil was behind the copse of Zado, it was clear that it was the deed of a witch. Monsters that normally acted solo or were hostile against each other had joined forces under the control of a witch. This meant that a witch was a serious threat. ¡°A witch can bring together a group of monsters to create a great force. It means that a witch can make a city of monsters. A witch can order the monsters to attack or even mobilize them strategically.¡± As long as the monsters were under control, it meant that the witch could lead an army of monsters. This trait alone made the witch a threatening presence. ¡°At one point, a single witch conquered the whole region of ska up in the north. You wouldn¡¯t know where that is anyway.¡± Witches had conqueredrge regions and built a nation of monsters. This had all happened in the past, but Leona talked without thinking about what that all meant. ¡°That¡¯s pretty convenient.¡± ¡°Haha¡­ that¡¯s an interesting point of view.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that so? It would be safe since the monsters would be guarding you. And if you needed some chips, you could ughter one of the monsters.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ from the witch¡¯s point of view, that¡¯s probably the case.¡± Zinughed out loud at Leona¡¯s thoughts. ¡°It would have been very convenient if I was actually a witch.¡± She meant that she would not go through such hardships if she had that convenient power. Zin understood what Leona was talking about, and smiled bitterly. He remembered all the innocent people who were killed after being used of being a witch. And past memories shed through Zin¡¯s head. Tell me the difference between a devil and a devil hunter. When you kill thest devil, how will you live? What¡¯s the difference, tell me now! In a devil-less world, what are you going to do? You don¡¯t even know what to do. O devil-less devil hunter, what are you going to live for? You¡¯re just a devil hunting a devil. You cruel bastard. When your time is up, you¡¯ll realize that you really loved us. Kill me, go ahead and kill me. It¡¯s over, finish me off. Devil hunter. ¡°Mister?¡± As Leona nudged Zin, he came back to his senses. ¡°Why the nk stare? Are you sleepy? Leona found it strange that Zin stopped walking and was standing still. ¡°Never mind.¡± Zin gnashed his teeth to snap out of the past memories that suddenly appeared in his mind. After feeling a sharp pain in his mouth, he started walking forward. ¡°You have a sour face.¡± Leona grumbled as she looked at Zin moving forward, but he didn¡¯t reply. Some of the unforgettable memories woulde back powerfully. Sometimes, Zin couldn¡¯t keep himself together, caught in the heavy memories. Humans lived with such memories as a burden for the period of time they lived. And Zin had a burden heavier than anyone else. Chapter 25 Chapter 25: Disasters Don¡¯t Discriminate (1) It took about a week to travel to Busan. If Zin was traveling by himself, it would have taken a shorter time, but since was Leona following him, he had to pace himself for her. Leona followed Zin with all her might. During their trip south, Zin had to decide whether to fight off the monsters or not. There were some Points and towns along the way, but Zin and Leona weren¡¯t wee as they didn¡¯t need a hunter. ¡°Such hospitality, pffft.¡± ¡°Smaller viges tend to be unweing. Ard Point was more of an exception.¡± ¡°Do they think you¡¯re a Reaver even though you¡¯re with a kid like me?¡± ¡°Never hurts to be extra cautious.¡± Leona was frustrated that the vigers didn¡¯t wee them, and she flipped her middle finger at the vigers who were watching them leave. ¡°B****es! You better hope for a good life!¡± Leona cursed and spat out. They were almost out of food to the point where they had to hunt monsters for their meals, but the viges still didn¡¯t ept them. ¡°You are one picky eater, kid.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really not picky. But the food you suggested¡­ they¡¯re just nasty.¡± ¡°What did you eat when you were roaming around? You haven¡¯t starved to death, so you must have eaten something to survive.¡± ¡°Any edible grass¡­ stuff like that. I couldn¡¯t hunt monsters, and I didn¡¯t want to eat them either.¡± ¡°It may taste bad, but you need to eat enough protein at your age. You gained some weight while traveling with me. It tells me that you didn¡¯t eat enough before.¡± Leona was gaining weight, and she was adding some bulk to her arms and legs. Zin didn¡¯t skip any meals, and Leona kept consuming protein and fat-eating meat. Leona was getting more fit than before. ¡°I definitely feel less fatigued than before¡­¡± It was obvious that she¡¯d gain more energy by eating meat. Although it wasn¡¯t tasty, Zin fed nutritious meat to Leona. ¡°Eh. I¡¯m getting used to the meat anyway.¡± Leona said with a bright smile. There was no point in being sad, and it was better to have a positive mindset. Leona firmly believed that her mood and feelings impacted her health. Zin smiled and replied: ¡°Well then today, we¡¯ll have some poisonous dog ribeye steak saut¨¦ed on ghoul oil.¡± ¡°¡­ You¡¯re fooling around, aren¡¯t you?¡± Leona replied with an upset voice, and Zin added: ¡°It¡¯s a diet n that¡¯s full of nutrients. You should be thankful.¡± ¡°I feel like barfing just by listening to it!¡± ¡°It would be funny to see that.¡± Leona was fuming, yet she had no choice but to eat whatever Zin prepared. And Zin actually served up some poisonous dog ribeye steak saut¨¦ed with ghoul oil. Leona chewed on the meat that looked as if it came from the devil¡¯s pan, andmented that it was actually pretty good. After eating an early dinner, Leona and Zin moved on. ¡°Where would Charl be now?¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ll meet her if we have the same destination.¡± But, Zin was sure that Charl was heading to the BMCP. Either Charl or Zin could arrive there first. However, if they were to meet with Charl, Zin wasn¡¯t sure how she¡¯d react. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Leona looked around and walked. Around them, there were ruins of a city with copsed buildings. ¡°Watch your step. There might be sinkholes.¡± Copsed cities were more dangerous than the wilderness. Especially in bigger cities, where one could find sinkholes where basements had copsed. And it wasmon for the ground to sink when someone stepped on weak spots. Just like an abyss, Leona and Zin came across multiple giant holes. They looked like tunnels cut vertically across the city. ¡°My hometown had a simr atmosphere.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yeah, many kids went far out to y and got killed as the ground copsed. I know a bit about sinkholes. You don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡± Zin and Leona walked through a firm path between sinkholes. Zin walked carefully, and so did Leona. ¡°Going far away from the vige¡­ kids.¡± It was very dangerous to stray from the vige. ¡°Well, kids always yed treasure-hunting games.¡± ¡°Treasure?¡± Zin wondered how kids would hunt for treasure in these ruins. ¡°Well, if you search very well, there are things that adults don¡¯t care about much.¡± ¡°What would that be?¡± ¡°Stuff like dolls, toys, hairpins, or clothes. Shoes. Adults don¡¯t care about those, but they¡¯re valuable to kids.¡± Leona pointed at the buildings and their windows. Kids searched those ces to look for treasure. They were searching for their treasures, not the adults¡¯ treasures. There were many treasures for the kids that adults didn¡¯t care about. ¡°The rare items were things like stic robots. Especially if they were transforming robots. When someone found one, the kids would fight over it. The robot would get destroyed as they fought over it. The kids would destroy it if they couldn¡¯t y with it. The kids would cry and yell, and on the next day, they would look for treasure again¡­ Doesn¡¯t that sound silly?¡± Leona giggled as she remembered her past. They were innocent but silly kids. Zin said to Leona: ¡°I guess you had some fond childhood memories with your friends.¡± ¡°¡­¡± At Zin¡¯s words, Leona¡¯s face became gloomy. Before she was singled out, she¡¯d had some good memories with her friends. And she was happy thinking about those times. ¡°I was a kid, so I yed with them. But it got old and boring. So, I stopped ying.¡± Zin knew that Leona was lying and trying to act happy, but he didn¡¯t point it out. Leona was still a kid. It didn¡¯t look good that Leona was trying to think about her sad past. Cities were built to utilize spaces as efficiently as possible. There were buildings constructed, and holes drilled. After the copse of the cities, old structures fell down. Zin and Leona had to walk cautiously to make sure they didn¡¯t pass a weaker area of ground. By contrast, mountains and fields were safer. Cities had many spots to hide in, and people hid in those ces to take cover. But monsters also hid in those ces, waiting to attack. Ruins were the perfect ces for monsters to hide for an ambush. And it was the same for humans. In the wilderness, one had to watch all four directions, but in the city, one had to also look above and below. I don¡¯t think there¡¯ll be much here, but¡­ Zin was carefully scouting the surroundings. The sun was setting, and they had to find a spot to rest through the night. Zin and Leona kept walking through the ruins until it grew dark. There were no monsters, and some wild cats were walking back and forth between buildings, meowing as they did so. And all of a sudden, Leona shouted: ¡°What¡­!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°I see something here¡­¡± Leona bit her lip as she looked around. ¡°It¡¯s so familiar¡­¡± Leona pointed at a statue that fell down. It had rusted over so it was hard to figure out what it was, but Leona talked as if she already knew. Zin understood what was going on. ¡°Was this your hometown?¡± ¡°It looks very familiar. All the cities looked the same, so I wasn¡¯t sure¡­ But now I know after seeing this¡­¡± In the body of the statue, there was a word engraved on it ¨C ¡°Mok-Gol¡± ¡°Hmm, you said that you didn¡¯t want toe back to your hometown, right?¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t mean it that way¡­¡± Leona started carefully looking around as the sky turned dark. ¡°The fact that we can see this statue means that we¡¯re in the middle of the city.¡± However, it was dark all around without a single light turned on. They were in the center of the vige, but there was no one to be seen. Zin hadn¡¯t even passed a trash wall. Leona¡¯s hometown was a vige without a wall. As Leona gazed at the statue, she smiled. ¡°Everyone must have died.¡± Leona shrugged, and she didn¡¯t look sad or mad at all. Somehow she hade back to her hometown which was now a pile of ruins. ¡°It¡¯smon.¡± ¡°It must have been a while ago since I don¡¯t see any corpses.¡± There was no way to figure out if monsters or Reavers had destroyed the vige. But it was probable that they¡¯d destroyed everything. ¡°I know the ce inside out, so why don¡¯t we rest since it¡¯s dark?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s time to rest¡­¡± Leona was brave enough to suggest staying the night among the ruins of her hometown. Other people would have tried to leave the town as soon as possible, but Leona did not disy any sadness, fear, or terror. To top it off, she added: ¡°If monsters, not Reavers, destroyed the vige, I know of a ce where we might find something to loot.¡± Zin nodded as she smiled. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Leona and Zin didn¡¯t have much inmon, but when given the opportunity, they were always ready to scavenge the area. Leona picked the fourth floor of a building that used to be a supermarket as their ce to stay. ¡°The other buildings looked unstable, but this building was the most stable and was also the tallest. The other buildings looked like they¡¯ve copsed.¡± All the windows were shattered, and the wind was blowing in, but Leona knew that picking higher ground was good. Leona¡¯s survival instincts surprised Zin once again. Leona was in charge of scouting the area, and Zin decided to watch out for any iing monsters or Reavers. Zin watched Leona walk to the first floor of the building. Zin thought that Leona must have started roaming the wilderness a couple of years ago. And it appeared that the vige of Mok-Gol had copsed quite a long time ago. Most of the items would have already been looted, and most of the food would have gone bad. Zin wasn¡¯t at the highest point of the city but most of the buildings had copsed, so Zin had a clear view of the area. Even in the dark, his good vision could scout the area. He had slightly better vision than most people. And small differences like that were worth a lot. It looks like the cats have taken over the vige. Zin nodded slowly as he watched the cats stroll through the ruins at night time. No dogs were around. Wild dogs didn¡¯t bark as long as they weren¡¯t provoked. They formed packs to hunt, but there were no signs of a pack of dogs. They could use the cats as food, but Zin decided to wait for Leona toe back. There is no benefit in hunting cats. Though weak, cats had spiritual power, and they were used in some magics. It wasn¡¯t good to hunt for spiritual monsters in a ce so steeped in death. And it was a dangerous action to take in a vige full of cats without the presence of a single wild dog. Zin did not take actions that were considered unlucky as a superstition. After monsters appeared in the world, the line between fact and superstition grew vague. Some superstitions became facts, and some facts became lies. Science became a religion, and was no longer generally trusted. And Zin didn¡¯t know how to trust it anymore as well. As a person who had witnessed many tragedies stemming from superstition, he knew what actions to avoid. And at that time, Zin heard a sharp noise. Kyaaaang! It came from far away, and Zin looked at the direction the sound came from. Gyaaaaong! It was a sound of an rmed cat. He took out a monocr, and looked at the area. It was dark, but the moonlight provided enough light for him to see. He spotted a cat¡ªan arrow had struck its side. It was trying to climb a wall, and then fell down. There were five men with bows, and they were killing the cats. Each of them carried a sack, and after pulling out the arrows from the dead cats, they put their corpses into the sacks. Chapter 26 Chapter 26: Disasters Don¡¯t Discriminate (2) The cats of Mok-Gol started running around trying to find refuge. But the three archers were skilled. They searched for spots that the cats could possibly hide in, shooting arrows at the cats when they ran out of their hiding ces. They were extremely skilled at archery since they were able to hit the cats that were running in full force. Could they be Reavers? It was possible that they were Reavers, but to Zin, they seemed to be wild animal hunters. Reavers weren¡¯t people who could hunt animals tactfully. The only thing they were good at was smashing and destroying. However, Zin noticed how some were chasing the cats, and some were shooting at the cats. Kyaaa! The swift cats were getting picked off one at a time by the hunters. Leona heard the loud screech, moved carefully out of the building and waved at Zin. Zin signaled to Leona. Over here. Leona quickly picked up his signal and nodded her head. Without a word, Leona understood and swiftly moved to the building that Zin was at. Meanwhile, the animal hunters calmly continued to hunt for the cats. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°They must be hunting animals. See that over there?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ yes.¡± Leona nodded and seemed to understand what was going on. ¡°They¡¯re not Reavers, are they?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think they are¡­¡± ¡°I was so surprised¡­¡± Leona sighed with relief as she thought that something was going on since the cats were making amotion. Zin continued to monitor the animal hunters. The fact that Zin spotted them first meant that he could preemptively attack them. And it was highly likely they were not Reavers. It also didn¡¯t matter if Zin let them finish their hunt and left the site. ¡°Mister, what are you going to do?¡± ¡°Well¡­ It seems like they¡¯re hunting for food, so we could just stay put, but¡­¡± Disasters don¡¯t discriminate between people. If the hunting of the cats were to bring misfortune and cause a disaster, the animal hunters would not be the only ones affected by the disaster. ¡°Let¡¯s monitor the situation for a bit.¡± Zin took out his Remington M700, and loaded some ammunition. He wasn¡¯t sure what might happen, but he decided to conserve his ammo. Leona nodded grimly. The cat hunters were still wandering around Mok-Gol and had hunted about fifteen cats. A few momentster, they were close enough to hear them speak. ¡°Isn¡¯t this enough?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hunt just a little bit more so that we cane back for more.¡± ¡°Yeah,st time at district D, we hunted too many dogs until there were no more left.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve broken five arrows as well.¡± ¡°We gotta catch some more. You know how many people we have to feed.¡± The hunters sighed as the one who looked like the leader said: ¡°Even if we catch more, our food won¡¯tst a week.¡± ¡°Crap¡­ I hate this ominous ce. I want to leave right now.¡± ¡°Calm down. Let¡¯s hunt five more then. That should give the people enough to eat for a meal.¡± All nodded at the leader¡¯sment. They probably had shelters somewhere and hunted animals to survive. For a small group of people that weren¡¯t able to form a vige, the five hunters were responsible for earning their living. Waoooh! The seemingly sad howls of the cats resounded from here to there. One of the hunters freaked out and said: ¡°Man¡­ This is freaky¡­¡± ¡°I hateing here¡­¡± ¡°Stop with the nonsense. There¡¯s nothing here. There are only cats around this ce.¡± ¡°I know. I know that being scared is cowardly¡­ but you know what? As soon as we finish hunting, do you know what happens?¡± One of the hunters looked around and said to the leader: ¡°Hundreds of catse out and start staring at us¡­ You guys don¡¯t know because you¡¯ve never seen it¡­¡± The hunter was starting to panic as he imagined hundreds of cats staring at the hunters with grudge-filled eyes.. The scene of those nocturnal animals¡¯ eyes staring at him remained as a nightmare for that hunter. In the end, the leader got fed up and shouted angrily. ¡°Shut up! I¡¯m more afraid of starving than some stupid cats¡¯ eyes! I¡¯m more afraid of seeing my kids falling into seizures than seeing those cats¡¯ eyes! Shut up and follow me!¡± At the leader¡¯s words, the other hunters forgot about their terror. At that moment, they remembered the looks of sadness on their family members. They remembered the eyes of the starving and dying families. Those kinds of sights were the scariest. And they realized that they had no time to be afraid of the cats¡¯ cries. ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s not just the stupid cats¡¯ eyes¡­¡± However, the frightened hunter murmured to himself. ¡°It¡¯s not just their eyes, they were crying in sorrow. Did you hear their cries? Do you know how they cried? Do you know how sorrowfully they cried?¡± ¡°Shut the hell up, you idiot!¡± ¡ªwham!¡ª The leader smacked the horrified hunter in his face. The hunter fell down on the ground, blood all over his mouth. ¡°Get yourself together. Stand right up if you don¡¯t want another swing.¡± ¡°We shouldn¡¯t havee here¡­¡± ¡°Get up!¡± ¡°Haha¡­hahahahaha¡­ you, you don¡¯t know¡­ that sound. You haven¡¯t heard it, that¡¯s why.¡± ¡°Yo, yo. What the hell is wrong with him? Something¡¯s wrong with him.¡± At the other hunters¡¯ words, the leader became alert again. The other hunters knew that he was scared of things, but not to this extent. The leader realized that he was panicking beyond the norm. Still lying on the ground, the hunter continued to murmur as blood dripped out of his mouth. ¡°Do you know how they cry?¡± And the hunter opened his mouth. Meooooww¡­ The hunter cried out like a cat, letting out a sound that couldn¡¯t possibly havee out of a human. ¡°!¡± The man was not panicking. Meoo¡­ As the cry of a cat came out through the hunter¡¯s vocal cords, everyone felt chills running through their spines. Zin turned serious when he heard the cry. Possession by spirit¡­ The man shivered and kept on talking. ¡°Like this¡­ they cry like this¡­¡± ¡°Yo, what the hell is wrong with you? What¡¯s going on? Huh?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Get yourself together!¡± Therades started shaking him, and the leader pped him in the face many times, but the man wouldn¡¯t get up from the ground. ¡°We¡­ we should never havee here¡­¡± And at the same time, cats were starting to surround the animal hunters¡ªck, brown, striped, white, all sorts of cats gathered around them. And they started to cry. Meeeeeoow. ¡°What¡­ what is this¡­¡± Unlucky things draw misfortune to themselves. Hundreds of cats were staring at the hunters with their shining eyes, and they started to cry out with sorrow and resentment. Zin put away his M700. Disaster hase upon this ce It was not a matter that could be resolved with guns. ¡°What the hell is this?!¡± They only had bows. It was natural for wild animals to run away from humans. It was unthinkable for the wild animals to group together, staring at the humans. The man on the ground cried again. Kyaaaaaah! With his cry as the signal, hundreds of cats lunged towards the hunters. Leona¡¯s eyes widened and watched the unbelievable sight. Disasters don¡¯t discriminate. In the wilderness, nobody knows what may happen at any moment. Therefore, it was wise to avoid anything deemed unlucky. It was not part of the hunter¡¯s code, but of the magician¡¯s. ¡°Holy¡­ what the hell is going on?¡± Hundreds of cats were attacking the hunters. Like an army of ants attacking the grasshoppers, the five hunters were at the mercy of the cats. ¡°Aarrrggh!¡± ¡°Help me!¡± ¡°Nooooo! Ack! Argggh!¡± ¡ªcrack! crunch!¡ª The possessed was also eaten alive by the cats. Leona was in shock as she witnessed the supernatural event unfold in front of her. Leona couldn¡¯t believe that ordinary animals, not monsters, would do such a thing. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know exactly, but they¡¯re something like evil spirits.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t we in danger as well?¡± ¡ªclick. click¡ª Zin took something out from the void storage, and started to assemble it. At the same time, he was closely monitoring the situation. ¡°Disasters don¡¯t discriminate.¡± Cats were weaker beings, but if they attacked in groups, they could pose a danger to others. They would be a clear threat to Zin, and Leona was sure to die if the cats attacked at once. ¡°So what¡¯s the n?¡± ¡ªck!¡ª Zin finished assembling the item and looked around. ¡°Looks like the cats are all in one ce.¡± All the cats in Mok-Gol had gathered where the animal hunters were. Zin aimed the weapon that he¡¯d just assembled towards their location. It was an RPG-7 heat-pressure warhead. ¡°It¡¯s going to be loud.¡± Zin aimed at the cat¡¯s location and fired away. ¡ªkaboom!¡ª ¡°Ahh!!¡± Leona fell down in surprise from the shot,nding on her butt. ¡ªkabam!¡ª A huge explosion shed the location where the hundreds of cats had gathered. ¡ªpsssssshhh¡ª With the heat and explosion of the warhead, everything turned into jerky. Zin put theuncher away into the void storage and tapped his hands. Leona looked down with disbelief. ¡°What just happened¡­¡± Along with the hunters who were getting feasted upon, the hundreds of cats instantly disappeared without a trace. The heat-pressure warhead¡¯s broad explosion sted everything nearby with a storm of heat. Leona was astonished as she looked at the mushroom cloud created at the explosion¡¯s point of impact. ¡°Totally way cool¡­¡± ¡°¡­ to be honest, I think you need to watch your tongue.¡± ¡°Look who¡¯s talking¡­¡± Leona¡¯s frank words perfectly described her emotions, but Zin alwaysughed whenever Leona made suchments. Leona was still in awe at the massive power of the heat-pressure warhead. ¡°Hey, question¡­ they killed about ten cats and got into trouble. Is it okay for us to kill that many cats?¡± ¡°I wiped out the disaster¡¯s medium, so we¡¯re fine.¡± Since the disaster had happened through the cats, there would be no problem if all the cats were gone. Leona was speechless at Zin¡¯s reckless statement. It was better to avoid unlucky things. But if disaster were to strike, the best action to take would be to overpower it. Zin always considered his own safety as the highest priority. It was always better to be safe than sorry. ¡°Well, we don¡¯t know what might happen now¡­¡± ¡°I think so, too.¡¯ Leona thought that there was no point staying in the vige after seeing hundreds of cats crying in one ce. Zin and Leona had tagged along for quite some time, and they knew what their next move would be. Zin then said: ¡°Let¡¯s run.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Zin and Leona fled Mok-Gol without looking back. Without finding out what had happened to the spirit of the cat, or if the spirit had been out for revenge, Leona and Zin left Mok-Gol. The two kept walking until dawn, and Zin checked on Leona to make sure she wasn¡¯t possessed. ¡°Meow.¡± ¡°!¡± ¡ªclick!¡ª ¡°Sorry! Sorry! It was a joke!¡± Zin had pulled out his revolver to aim at her point nk, and Leona yelled in terror. ¡°You fool around here, and you might end up with a hole in your head, kid.¡± ¡ªthud!¡ª ¡°Ow!¡± Leona cried as he struck her head with the revolver. Some time had passed since they left Mok-Gol, and she gnashed her teeth in pain. ¡°You knew it was a joke, and you¡¯re a big bully for pulling out that gun¡­¡± Zin knew it was a prank because a human wouldn¡¯t be able to fully imitate the cry of a cat. ¡°Don¡¯t you know? Jokes are more fun when the other person ys along, isn¡¯t that right?¡± Zin shrugged as Leona shook her head. ¡°Tiring¡­ It¡¯s more tiring tagging along with a person like you.¡± As they came out of the city, the open desert stretched out in front of them. They still had to walk to find a shelter because the sun wasn¡¯t up yet. ¡°So, was there anything worthwhile?¡± As Zin asked, Leona shook her head. ¡°Nah. I wasn¡¯t expecting much. Don¡¯t know about other ces, but at least in the ces I searched, there was nothing. It¡¯s been a while since the ce copsed.¡± Leona talked as if it were just wishful thinking, and Zin nodded. It would be strange for anything valuable to be still around. While walking, Leona suddenly spoke as if she remembered something. ¡°So, what¡¯s going to happen to the family who were waiting for them?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask a question if you know the answer.¡± ¡°¡­ Sometimes you aren¡¯t even in the mood to answer.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just me.¡± ¡°You are such a brat.¡± Leona clicked her tongue, and Zin didn¡¯t even reply to herment. What would happen to the group of people who lost five hunters? The two knew the answer to that question. As Leona thought about the reason she asked, she couldn¡¯t figure out why she¡¯d asked that question in the first ce. There was no reason or need to have sympathy. And therefore, there was no reason to be curious. Chapter 27 Chapter 27: Prototype (Part 1) Before nearing the Busan fortress, Zin stopped at a city around the area. Mok-Gol was destroyed, but Hewl-Jin, a southern city, was safe. Zin bought supplies such as food, and booked an inn. The old fortress was about a day¡¯s distance for Zin, and he didn¡¯t need to stay at Hewl-Jin. Zin had stopped by this city for another reason. ¡°You stay right here.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Although it¡¯s inactive now, there¡¯s a high risk of exposure to CP in the MCP. If you don¡¯t want to die or be a monster, you better stay here.¡± ¡°I suppose¡­¡± A person who is exposed to Chaos Poison (CP) would be a vagabond. Although the MCP was inactive, there was still a high amount of radiation as well as poison. Ordinary people could get killed or be a vagabond just by approaching the MCP. Leona asked: ¡°How long will it take?¡± ¡°At most a week. I¡¯ll be back before then.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ okay.¡± It wasn¡¯t much of a problem for Leona to stay alone for over a week since she¡¯d received her portion of chips from Zin. She had been wandering by herself and didn¡¯t feel too scared to be left alone. ¡°Have a good trip.¡± Exhausted from their long journey, Leonay down on the haystack and was ready to go to sleep. Zin stepped out to the streets of Hewl-Jin. There were trash walls, and there were no monsters around. There were many cities like these that disappeared and emerged. A poption of about seven hundred¡­ Pretty big city. The beach was close by, but it wasn¡¯t close enough for sea monsters to attack. The Ancient-Korea Penins didn¡¯t have many monsters, so a city by the beach was a pretty good ce to live. Which is why I don¡¯t understand how Mok-Gol was destroyed¡­ Mok-Gol and Hewl-Jin were about a two-day walk from each other. If the Reavers had attacked Mok-Gol, it would be strange for them to not attack Hewl-Jin as well. And that would have been the same for the monsters. Mok-Gol was destroyed, but Hewl-Jin was safe. As Zin walked around, he couldn¡¯t figure out the reason. Before leaving, Zin stopped by a medicine store. ¡°I¡¯d like to buy some anti-venom medicine. Do you have anything good?¡± ¡°One chip per bundle.¡± Anti-venom medicine was usually a bundle of herbs or leaves that had ingredients to cure venom. And there were many types of herbs that weren¡¯t effective at all. ¡°Hey, that mugwort has no active ingredients to cure venom. Why did you include it in the bundle?¡± Zin criticized the owner, who shrugged it off. ¡°It¡¯s there to neutralize the bitterness of anti-venom herbs. It makes the anti-venom herbs taste better and improve their efficacy.¡± Zin sighed as he watched the owner spit out lies without any hesitation. I guess he really thinks that way¡­ Different people had different knowledge since there was no easy method to check for facts. Zin grabbed five bundles of anti-venom herbs. After paying, Zin looked at the owner. ¡°You a scavenger? I want to tell you that there¡¯s nothing to find at the BMCP.¡± The owner advised, thinking that Zin was heading to the closed Busan fortress. Many scavengers stopped by this shop to purchase herbs before going there. Zin kept on staring at the owner. ¡°I¡¯m not a scavenger, but shouldn¡¯t you tell that to the scavengers before selling these herbs?¡± The owner was nasty in the sense that he would immediately tell the scavengers this right after selling the herbs. ¡°You can always use the herbs at any time. I think I¡¯m doing them a favor because if they go there, they¡¯ll end up fried from the CP and the radiation. They should thank me instead.¡± What the owner said made sense, and he was nosy enough to tell the scavengers about the fortress¡¯s condition. ¡°I suppose a lot of scavengers have gone to the BMCP?¡± ¡°You bet. After the Wargrave dudes moved out, the scavengers went there in droves. And you know what those Wargrave dudes did? They didn¡¯t leave behind a damn thing. Well, who knows? Maybe someone found a pot of gold, and they¡¯re staying quiet. Every month or two, scavengers head to the fortress, but I haven¡¯t heard anyone say that they found something valuable.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I see.¡± Zin thought that it was unlikely to find any good clues by searching the fortress. But he was nning to head to Busan since he was close by. He was ready to see it for himself. ¡°Well, let me ask you something else.¡± ¡°You ask too much without even giving me a chip.¡± ¡°Should you be so harsh to a customer who bought five bundles of useless herbs?¡± ¡°Haha, you¡­ speak without hesitation. Sure, ask.¡± ¡°What destroyed Mok-Gol?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Mok-Gol?¡± At Zin¡¯s question, the owner looked confused. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a bit strange.¡± ¡°Strange?¡± ¡°About two years ago, the monsters suddenly attacked the city out of nowhere.¡± ¡°¡­ is that so?¡± Zin¡¯s face hardened. ¡°As a result, a lot of refugees from Mok-Gol migrated to Hewl-Jin. If you¡¯re curious, you could ask them. There¡¯s quite a number of them here. About fifty, I think.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Will do¡­¡± ¡°They said that it was an act of a witch.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that funny? People talk gibberish once they get scared. What era are they living in? Witches don¡¯t exist anymore. They even said that a witch lived among them¡­¡± The owner clicked his tongue as he made fun of the refugees, but Zin couldn¡¯tugh. Zin left the herb shop after he¡¯d finished listening to the owner. Zin looked as if he was ready to kill anything. He walked back to in the direction he came from, without visiting the Mok-Gol refugees. He went straight back to the inn where Leona was staying. She woke up as soon as she heard his footsteps. It was a wild animal-like instinct. ¡°What¡¯s going on, mister? You haven¡¯t leave yet.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zin looked at Leona and said: ¡°I¡¯m going to ask you a question.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up with you? What is it?¡± ¡°When did you leave Mok-Gol?¡± ¡°Why are you asking?¡± ¡°Answer me.¡± As Zin kept probing Leona, her facial expression changed. It was hard to exin what was going through her mind. Then she answered with a heavy voice. ¡°It¡¯s been about two years.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Zin stood still for a while without a word. Leona silently looked back at him. Zin didn¡¯t question her further, and Leona did the same. After a long pause, Zin took something out of his coat. When Leona saw it, she stepped back in fear. It was the revolver that Zin had shown her before. Zin walked towards Leona, held the gun by the muzzle, and gave it to Leona. ¡°¡­ why?¡± ¡°Take it.¡± Puzzled, Leona received the gun. She didn¡¯t know what to do with the revolver as she held it. ¡°It looks like there are survivors from Mok-Gol here.¡± ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± ¡°They¡¯re probably thinking that you destroyed Mok-Gol. It¡¯ll be dangerous to appear in front of them.¡± Leona was called a witch and was banished. Zin had to go to the BMCP, but he couldn¡¯t take her with him. It was safer to let her stay in the city rather than expose her to the monsters. He didn¡¯t want to take her with him. ¡°If you encounter any danger, use this. Point this at the enemy, and pull the trigger. Even a kid can do this.¡± ¡°Uh, I know¡­ I kinda know how to use it¡­¡± It was possible that the Mok-Gol refugees would recognize Leona and attack her. To help Leona, Zin handed her the revolver. Within a short period of time, Zin taught Leona how to use the revolver. ¡°There are six bullets. Don¡¯t use all of them, and if there are too many enemies, run away.¡± ¡°If I run away¡­ what do I do then? Where do we meet?¡± ¡°¡­ Finding you isn¡¯t going to be that hard.¡± So stay wherever, I¡¯ll go look for you. Zin kept those words to himself. Zin looked down at Leona; she returned his stare. She bit her lip and started talking again. ¡°¡­ mister.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Do you think that I¡¯m a witch?¡± Leona¡¯s voice held a wealth of emotions that was difficult to interpret. With a grin, Zin answered by saying something else. ¡°Promise me.¡± ¡°Promise what?¡± ¡°After Ie back, you¡¯ll tell me everything.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Zin knew there were moments when Leona had tried to conceal her past, but he didn¡¯t care too much. Leona looked at Zin and asked a question, without a trace of fear, hate, or resentment in her tone: ¡°I asked you a question first. You answer me first.¡± Zin stayed silent for a bit, and answered: ¡°All the witches are dead.¡± Zin¡¯s answer had many meanings, and even though Leona didn¡¯t know them all, she nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± She nodded and agreed to tell the whole truth when Zin came back. After listening to Leona¡¯s answer, Zin said: ¡°Leona.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening. Speak.¡± Zin wasn¡¯t sure what kind of emotions were swirling through him. He couldn¡¯t understand the feelings within him. Leona slowly nodded as she looked at Zin. ¡°I¡¯m a devil hunter.¡± Zin said as turned around without looking at Leona. He didn¡¯t speak further. The following day, near the BMCP (Busan Mass Confusion Point) area. Zin was in front of a concrete wall that was taller than fifty feet. The Wargrave fortress built near the ck hole had huge concrete walls surrounding it. No monster would be able to escape and no human would be able to get inside. The fortress walls used to have turrets to shoot down trespassers, but now there was nothing. There was nothing but tall walls and with no one inside. The abandoned fortress was uninhabitable, and nobody dared to take over the empty fortress. Some fools woulde and stay at the fortress only to die from exposure to the high radiation and CP. It was crazy to stay near this ce without any equipment. The outskirts of the fortress, which had a rtively low level of radiation, had probably been looted a long time ago. Zin had no interest in scouting the outskirts. The walls looked fine, but the doors were destroyed. Zin entered the fortress. The herb shop owner told him that the fortress was already looted, but that was incorrect information. Wargrave fortresses had inner walls and outer walls. Inside the outer wall, there were military facilities, and Wargrave soldiers hunted the monsters that appeared at the MCP beyond the inner wall. People did not know about the Wargrave. And they were unable to loot the fortress. Chapter 28 Chapter 28: Prototype (Part 2) Zin monitored the currently skyrocketing level of MCP, stuffing the herbs into his mouth. The herbs weren¡¯t that effective, but this was okay since Zin¡¯s body was somewhat immune to poison. The outer wall area had a high level of density of MCP. Ordinary Reavers would have suffocated to death. The scavengers would not be able to find anything inside the outer wall. The Wargrave fortress buildings on the ground were all temporary. In the event that the fortress would get destroyed, the Wargrave had built structures to store their food supplies and weapons. The enemies would be focused on raiding the temporary buildings instead of the key buildings. The key buildings were built inside the underground bunkers. Most of the Wargrave forces lived underground, and they essed the inner wall using the bunker elevators. Most of the fortresses were built using the same blueprints. They were built in a way that allowed Wargrave soldiers dispatched to other fortresses to stay familiar with the structure. There were slight variations but they were all pretty much identical. If someone knew the structure of a single fortress, it would be the same as knowing the structure of all fortresses. Zin moved through the middle section of the inner and the outer wall. He was heading for the point between the fourth armory and the third barrack. At that location, there should be a secret door that could be opened with a password. However, Zin made a face as he approached that spot. ¡°¡­ What¡¯s this?¡± The secret door was destroyed. The door was ripped apart and seemed to have been destroyed due to arge explosion. Looking at the rust, it looks like it was recently destroyed. It seemed to have happened recently, no more than a few months ago. The metaldder that stretched down to the bunker looked fine, so Zin slid down thedder. The doors are all destroyed. It looks like someone forced their way through. As Zin slid dozens of feet down the tunnel, he saw more demolished steel doors. Even if he used all the heat-pressure warheads, he wouldn¡¯t be able to destroy a single steel door. The steel doors were designed to keep people away, and it was strange that something had managed to smash through them. For someone to destroy all fiveyers of steel doors, it meant that the person or the group had massive firepower. Zin went down thedder past the steel door as if he was on acrobatics until he reached the bottom. ¡°Is there still power?¡± Zin was surprised to see that the lights were aglow on the alleyway leading to the bunker. If the Wargrave had closed the fortress, there should be no power. Zin entered the bunker and walked silently. There was dust everywhere leading to the inner doors. Footprints. Zin spotted two sets of footprints on the floor. They seemed to have been made recently. One was barefoot, and the other wore boots. Zin was able to guess who had worn the boots. Charl, did you destroy the doors? Zin was amazed at the thought of the firepower that could destroy all five steel doors. He saw that the footprints going inside were of the boots, but the footstepsing out were barefoot. Zin realized the meaning of this and quickly moved in. Something had also destroyed the door separating the inside and outside as well. There were different bunkers, and Zin quickly scouted the armory first. As he looked inside the barracks, he was left feeling disgust. ¡­ So I guess they closed it down? Inside the bunker, there were many recently killed soldiers lying all over the ce. Must be the monster¡¯s doing. No corpse was left intact. They had all been ripped apart into pieces, and it was a truly horrific sight. Blood and corpses littered the entire ce, and the bunker waspletely devoid of sound. Busan fortress only appeared inactive, but it was still operating inside¡­ Zin knew the structure of the bunkers, and he went to the control room where he could check the entire fortress in one go. In the control room, many monitors disyed the status of the bunkers using CCTV. There were no other signs of life aside from Zin. The CCTV showed that everyone was dead inside the bunker. And there was a big red warning message on all the screens. [Emergency] [Restraint Room empty] [Central Lab destroyed] [Experiment ¡®Prototype¡¯ disappeared.] Prototype? It looks like that thing caused this massacre¡­ What type of experiment was it? This was his first time entering the fortress, but even he realized that a dangerous situation had just happened. The CCTV was still operating in the areas where the massacre took ce, but it was inactive in theboratory area. He was able to conclude that something had happened there. Zin started running in the direction of theb Many corpses filled the hallway that joined the buildings. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zin groaned as he arrived at theb area. The ce waspletely scorched to destruction. Theb¡¯s machines were all shattered into pieces, with shing sparksing out from the ripped cables. And on theb¡¯s wall, he spotted Charl¡¯s gruesomely embedded body. Her abdomen was pierced through with a giant pipe sticking out from the wall. Her left arm had been ripped away from the elbow and beyond, and the right leg ripped away from the knee area. The whole body was covered in deep scratches, exposing bone, and her chin had been pulled out. It was a scene too grisly for anybody to look at. ¡°That¡¯s very gruesome, lieutenant.¡± However, Zin drew close to Charl and clicked his tongue. There was no response at all from Charl. Her exposed bones glittered with a silver color, and flesh dangled here and there. She didn¡¯t resemble a human at all and looked more like a monster. Zin calmly stared at Charl and grabbed the pipe piercing through her. ¡ªoommmph! crack!¡ª He twisted and broke the pipe. ¡°Phew¡­¡± Zin simply sighed after cleanly breaking off the pipe without showing any exhaustion. He grabbed Charl¡¯s body and pulled her out from the pipe. ¡ªkrr! krrrk!¡ª Charl¡¯s body slid out from the pipe, the movement making a creepy, creaking sound. ¡ªthud!¡ª Her body fell to the floor with a loud noise. ¡°I suppose you¡¯ve failed in lightening your equipment, lieutenant¡­¡± Zin picked up Charl¡¯s body and walked off. He calmly carried her dead body, knowing what to do next. ¡°Man¡­ you¡¯re heavy¡­¡± Zin had to walk slowly as he struggled to carry Charl¡¯s body. He didn¡¯t go to theb room; he went to the recovery room inside the armory instead. It was fortunate that the escaped prototype didn¡¯t seem to be interested in destroying the bunker itself. Zin dumped Charl¡¯s body onto the emergency recovery capsule and closed the capsule. Zin operated the module skillfully as if he had used it before. [This recovery room supports recovery up to a Megaframe.] [The object is a Gigaframe.] [Using Megaframe parts to start emergency recovery.] [Power and durability will be downgraded.] [It is rmended to go to headquarters for full recovery.] [It is expected to take 5 hours for recovery.] ¡ªvrrrr! click!¡ª Shortly after, the capsule moved into the main recovery system and hung Charl in the air, surrounded with many mechanical parts. Zin observed the process where the system reced broken bones and reattached flesh. Zin knew from the beginning that Charl was not a human, but a cyborg. Wargrave executors were usually cyborgs. The Boneframe was the manufacturing procedure that all Wargrave cyborg soldiers went through, with the Gigaframe being the most advanced procedure. After fixing the mechanical parts, the system used an unknown chemical to recreate the body¡¯s organisms. Five hourster, when Charl came out of the capsule, the body was fully repaired. ¡°You¡­ how did you get here¡­?¡± Charl could not believe who she saw as she came out of the capsule. Zin replied without answering her question. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this fits you, but put this on first.¡± ¡°!¡± Charl realized that the recovery procedure had stripped her naked and she tried to cover herself up. ¡°Oh no¡­ no¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really care about why you tried to dress up like a man, so put something on.¡± As Zin spoke indifferently, Charl took the underwear and the uniform. Just as Zin had many unanswered questions, Charl wasn¡¯t sure how Zin had entered the fortress. Charl started dressing. As the reced body parts creaked, and she moaned as she wore the uniform. While Zin had a curious look, Charl had a terrible expression on her face. She looked like a person who had made a huge mistake. ¡°Ok. I¡¯m done putting my uniform on.¡± ¡°Hmm, looks like it fits you perfectly.¡± ¡°Do you want me to thank you for being so detail-oriented?¡± Zin shook his head as Charl spoke with a blush. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you know about the Boneframe¡­ but thank you anyways.¡± Charl didn¡¯t understand how a regr hunter would know of Wargrave secrets. Especially about the war machines and the recovery method, but Charl personally thanked Zin first. Then Zin fired away his question. ¡°What happened here? I don¡¯t think this was a closed-down fortress.¡± ¡°That¡­ is top secret. I can¡¯t tell you. It¡¯s not something that I can tell a hunter¡­¡± Charl bit her lips and exined. There was no way that she would tell an ordinary hunter. ¡°I¡¯m not asking you as a hunter.¡± Zin was not asking Charl as a hunter. ¡°I am a devil hunter.¡± ¡°¡­ What?!¡± Charl looked at Zin in astonishment; she knew about devil hunters. A hunter and a devil hunter were different. An ordinary hunter acted based on requests, but a devil hunter hunted devils without needing a request. Hunting devils was the only objective for a devil hunter. A devil hunter did notmunicate or negotiate with anybody to gather information and track devils. If someone refused to cooperate, the devil hunter would torture that person to gain the information. The devil hunter¡¯s devil hunting was done purely without expectation of receiving rewards. ¡°This is not a matter where you can refuse to talk even if you wanted to. If you¡¯ve gotten the Gigaframe procedure, you¡¯d know about this fact.¡± As Charl looked at Zin who was ready to attack, she remembered the warning she received before heading out into the wilderness. It¡¯s very unlikely, but you mighte across a devil hunter. Most of them are con artists, but if you doe across a real devil hunter, avoid him. They can hunt down anything alive, and that includes us as well. But who knows. They may be an asset in helping out with your mission. Charl was in front of the very monster she had never imagined she would meet. Charl didn¡¯t think that Zin was an imposter. He knew about the existence of the Gigaframe and had entered a Wargrave fortress. There was no possibility that he was a fake devil hunter. Charl had to make a decision. She would have to get rid of the hunter in front of her, avoid him, or tell him the truth. It was not a tough decision to make. Charl was in great need of a devil hunter. Getting to know Zin might have been a coincidence, and possibly the luckiest thing to happen to her. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you¡­¡± ¡°Good.¡± Zin sat on the chair, and Charl started to go through her memories. It was something that she was not supposed to say. However, the current situation called for her to act beyond her authority. ¡°I am an investigator from the Wargrave¡¯s Central Headquarters¡¯ special forces.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you an executor? Also, you¡¯re quite far away from the central headquarters.¡± ¡°I am affiliated with two groups. I am also the executor of Wargrave¡¯s Central Asia¡¯s enforcement units.¡± ¡°¡­ You¡¯re affiliated with both of them? Then, you¡¯re¡­¡± Zin tried to think of something and grimaced. He couldn¡¯t think of the word that he was trying to say. He was living in a world where that word was long forgotten. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Charl slowly nodded. ¡°I¡¯m an undercover investigator sent to the Central Asia division by the headquarters.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I suppose the Wargrave has progressed a bit.¡± Zinughed at Charl¡¯s words, and she smiled bitterly. Charl spoke about information that was not meant to be revealed. She talked about it anyway to get Zin¡¯s help. ¡°Long story short, they were experimenting on how to artificially create a devil here.¡± ¡°¡­ Crazy bastards.¡± Zin cussed after realizing what was going on in the fortress. However, Charl was not done exining. ¡°I¡¯ll start from the beginning.¡± This was not a problem for the Wargrave alone. ¡°Right now¡­ the Wargrave organization is split up.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ understandable. Things of this nature would happen then.¡± ¡°To be exact¡­ the symptoms of a split are surfacing.¡± Zin looked at Charl as if he wanted to hear more. ¡°Wargrave is divided into two groups ¨C Central Headquarters and the Central Asia division. On the surface, they are cooperating, but both have been acting independently for a while. The two groups are going to be split up into two. From a geographical perspective, it¡¯s going to a standoff between Europe and Asia.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s pretty interesting.¡± It meant that there was a rebellion within the Wargrave organization. Chapter 29 Chapter 29: Prototype (Part 3) ¡°About thirty-seven years ago, the BMCP fortress in the southernmost area of the Korean Penins was destroyed. The whole MCP ceased its activities, so HQ decided to send an investigation team. However, the Central Asia division insisted on taking care of the matter. But HQ wasn¡¯t about to do nothing after witnessing an MCP going dormant, and they ignored the request by sending the investigation team.¡± Charl remembered exactly how it all started. However, after their headquarters dispatched an investigation team, the Busan fortress waspletely sealed off. The Central Asia division reported that the monster experiments taking ce in the BMCP fortress had gone out of control, the MCP stopped operations, and the fortress bunker waspletely sealed off because of the dangerous amount of CP. The only way to enter the sealed fortress was by destroying itpletely, but the Central Asia division refused to allow this because it would expose the whole continent to CP and radiation. The Central Asia division exined that the fortress had to be sealed off in a hurry, but their actions were suspicious. ¡°Busan was in direct control of the Central Asia division, and HQ had limited influence. The investigation was pretty much cut short because of pressure from the Central Asia division.¡± The investigation team was not able to find the root cause, and without ever getting into the Busan fortress, they were forced to head back. They had to report based on the reports issued by the Central Asia division which was probably fabricated. Ever since then, friction between their headquarters and the Central Asia division started to escte. The Central Asia division was trying to hide some secret and their headquarters was trying to uncover it. Wargrave had a powerful army, but it was split across the world. They had no luxury to attack each other. As the friction worsened, many years of silence had passed. ¡°My responsibility was to find out what the Central Asia division was up to. I had to hide my identity as an investigator. I was chosen by the Wargrave and received training for the executor role.¡± Therefore, Charl was dispatched from their headquarters, but she spent more time in Asia. In fact, Charl received the Gigaframe procedure at the Central Asia division. ¡°Hmm¡­ Then, couldn¡¯t you havee directly to Busan? Why go through the whole hassle of going undercover?¡± ¡°In the past twenty years or so, all the executors dispatched to the East Asia region from HQ went MIA (missing in action). Have to think that they got murdered. Europe and East Asia is too far apart. The Central Asia division would spot one on the way.¡± So their headquarters decided to utilize an undercover unit as the executor of Central Asia division to investigate the BMCP incident. Charl took the role of executor and slowly carried out missions in the Korean Penins. ¡°One of Central Asia division¡¯s rules was not to go to the Korean Penins unless under direct orders. They didn¡¯t exin why. The executors received warnings if they tried to go near the penins. And in reality, most of the executors cannot go to the Korean Penins.¡± And at the time, the attack against the Wargrave transportation unit gave a good reason for Charl to enter the Korean Penins. ¡°I was quite respected as an executor. So they granted me permission to enter the Korean Penins to track the Reavers.¡± So, she stopped by the Seoul fortress to verify the mission and then headed south. She headed down slowly to take on the real mission. And then she heard from Zin and Leona about the sudden unidentified copse of Zado. ¡°I was under the impression that a problem had started, and there was no time to waste. The headquarters had also guessed at the possible artificial creation of the devil.¡± ¡°So what was the result?¡± ¡°They seeded.¡± ¡°¡­ That¡¯s the worst.¡± The fortress of Busan appeared closed but in fact they were conducting secret experiments. They kept it a secret from HQ, and the fortress was left looking as if it were abandoned. ¡°It appeared to bepletely concealed, but they closed it from the inside. When I forced my way inside, there were tons of researchers¡­¡± Charl exined about the situation when she entered the Busan fortress. ¡°After that, I overpowered the research facility by force and learned about the research project.¡± The power of the Gigaframe that the Wargrave executor disyed was unmatched for the fortress¡¯s researchers and ordinary soldiers. But Charl had mixed emotions. ¡°The devil itself waspleted 37 years ago. BMCP went inactive because the devil¡¯s power had gone out of control.¡± Zin couldn¡¯t imagine how many people would have been killed. ¡°The devil converted the Mass Confusion Point into an inactive state?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then what did the researchers do for 37 years?¡± ¡°They were conducting experiments to augment and control the devil they had created.¡± The people conducted such experiments in the fortress to control the power of the devil. ¡°If they can control the devilpletely¡­ They could mass produce the devils and utilize their power. Whether it was destroying the headquarters or solidifying theirmand line. There is no harm in having more power.¡± This meant that the freed prototype was a devil built by the Wargrave. Charl covered her face with both hands and started trembling. ¡°But, ultimately, the devil got away because of me.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°In these circumstances, the executor would get rid of the personnel¡­ That¡¯s a given. As soon as they learned that I was an investigator from headquarters, it meant that they were going to be executed.¡± As ast resort, the leader of the Busan fortress made a bold move. They overestimated the aplishments of their 37-year-long research. ¡°They released the prototype to kill me.¡± ¡°Mmm¡­ and they weren¡¯t able to control it. You were beat up pretty bad, and all the researchers ended up killed. Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Charl was in agony. She was able to figure out the plot of the Central Asia division, but as she witnessed the existence of the devil, she triggered the release of the devil into the wilderness. Charl felt powerless as she remembered her defeat with the power of the Gigaframe. However, there was something Zin didn¡¯t understand so he asked a question. ¡°Wait, so that specimen¡­ was the prototype trapped inside here all this time? Then, how did Zado copse?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Charl stood up as if she remembered something. ¡°If I scan through the database, I might be able to find something.¡± Zin and Charl headed to the data room where all the data was stored. The bunker was full of blood and dead bodies. ¡°It must have had some real grudge.¡± The specimen ripped apart all the researchers into pieces, and it was a disy of extreme rage. The researchers were lucky to be swiftly put to death by the devil which they¡¯d treated as a specimen for several years. Charl went through the database to extract the data. As she scanned the database, she stored the massive amount of data. ¡°They wanted to capture the power of the devil, especially the witch¡¯s power to control the monsters¡¯ minds. The built most of the prototypes based on the characteristics of a witch.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­ I suppose that¡¯s easier.¡± ¡°Easy?¡± ¡°Ah, never mind. Keep on with what you¡¯re doing.¡± Zin nodded. Charl couldn¡¯t understand his words, but she continued to download the data. Charl gnashed her teeth. ¡°This was a Chimera experiment.¡± ¡°I see.¡± It was an experiment to fuse the devil¡¯s power into a human body. The specimen was not aplete devil, but a human who inherited the devil¡¯s power. And the specimen that escaped not only had the power of the witch, it possessed additional powers as well. As more shocking facts were revealed, Charl spoke with a hardened face: ¡°Now I see¡­ There were twopleted specimens.¡± ¡°Two?¡± ¡°Yes. Prototype-One and Two. 37 years ago, Prototype-One¡¯s rage must have interfered with MCP¡¯s energy. As a result, BMCP created monsters at the rate of a hundred times more than usual. The fortress dispatched their forces to the MCP to take out the monsters. As their defenses weakened, Prototype-One destroyed the defense walls, and while the guards were upied, Prototype-Two escaped¡­ But¡­ Prototype-Two ended up killed by the pursuing forces¡­¡± ¡°Whatever the motive, it¡¯s likely that this was a false report.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ I do think that Prototype-Two is still alive¡­ And Zado¡¯s destruction was probably caused by Prototype-Two.¡± ¡°Two devils¡­ but why did they appear after 37 years?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± The MCP becamepletely dormant because arge amount of energy had been drained. And, as Charl kept on downloading the data, she twitched slightly. ¡°This¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°These are the pictures of Prototype-One and Two¡­¡± Charl¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. Both Prototype-One and Two were female. It was likely the researchers experimented on females to imnt the power of the witch. But that wasn¡¯t the important point. The first picture looked ordinary, but the second picture took Zin and Charl by surprise. ¡°This¡­ resembles Leona¡­ too much¡­¡± Charl looked at Zin. ¡°¡­ It appears so.¡± The Prototype-Two looked like Leona in her adulthood. Charl couldn¡¯t understand. Leona whom she met was a small kid, and although she was a brat with a unique personality, she was nothing like a witch. ¡°Is this¡­ possible? Can devils easily change their appearance?¡± Zin replied to Charl who was confused. ¡°Leona¡¯s mom was probably a witch.¡± ¡°¡­ What? A devil giving birth to a child? A monster and a human cannot bear a child. That¡¯s impos¡ª¡± Zin cut Charl off. ¡°You¡¯re mistaken.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Witches are not monsters.¡± Looking as if he didn¡¯t want to remember some dark past, Zin gave a bitter smile. ¡°Witches were originally humans.¡± ¡°What¡­ does that mean¡­?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably the reason why there were human experiments happening in this fortress.¡± Charl couldn¡¯t believe Zin¡¯s words. Zin spoke again. ¡°The power of the witch is just a supernatural power.¡± Witches were born with powers that ordinary humans could not gain. Devils were referred to the seven types of monsters. Witches were the only humans who were considered as devils. Charl couldn¡¯t speak for a while. And there were many things that Zin couldn¡¯t understand. He could not understand why Leona¡¯s mother, a witch, had died without a fight. Chapter 30 Chapter 30: White Witch (Part 1) As Charl downloaded all the data to be used as evidence, she took deep breaths. Whatever the truth turned out to be, Charl and Zin had to make some decisions. Charl told Zin everything to ask for assistance. ¡°You¡¯re going to hunt the prototype, right?¡± ¡°Even though the devil was artificially created, I probably will.¡± Zin and Charl did not talk about Leona anymore. ¡°Are you confident that you can hunt it?¡± Clearly remembering herplete defeat, Charl couldn¡¯t trust that Zin would be able to hunt the devil. ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s been a while, so I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll have to see.¡± ¡°I would like to help as well, but I need to return to Moscow. It¡¯s more important for me to report this incident in order to take action against the Central Asia division. The Central Asia division will start moving as soon as they hear that the Busan fortress was breached.¡± There was only one devil. Before the Central Asia division finished their battle preparations, the Wargrave headquarters needed to be ready as well. Charl had more important tasks than chasing the runaway prototype. ¡°Please hunt down the prototype.¡± ¡°I have to hunt the devil anyway, but why are you requesting me for it?¡± ¡°I need physical evidence. Data is sufficient, but¡­ I would like to take down the witch as soon as possible. I do not want the Wargrave¡¯s wrongdoings to freely wander around the world.¡± ¡°And the rewards for this request?¡± Charl calmly replied to Zin. ¡°I¡¯ll give you more than enough chips to build a fortress.¡± ¡°I can take that to mean over five hundred grand?¡± ¡°Probably more than that.¡± ¡°I know you¡¯re among the higher ranks, but I¡¯m not sure if you have that much power to pay up such an amount.¡± Charl answered Zin¡¯s question. ¡°¡­Charl is an alias I use for undercover missions. My real name is Charlotte De Kaltz. Devil hunter, do you know the meaning of my name?¡± ¡°Ah, I do. Of course I do¡­¡± Zinughed as he replied. ¡°Are you a descendant of the Kaltz?¡± Zin hadn¡¯t said that name in a while, and he felt weird saying it out loud. Charlotte was surprised again, thinking that Zin wouldn¡¯t understand the origin of the name. ¡°¡­ You surprise me yet again.¡± ¡°If the requestor is a candidate for the position of Wargravemander, there¡¯s no need for assurance.¡± She probably took on dangerous undercover missions in order to earn merits. The position of the Wargravemander was not one that could be earned through lineage. The mission was set. Zin was to hunt the prototype, and Charlotte was to head to the Wargrave headquarters in Moscow. Charlotte asked Zin onest thing. ¡°Are all devil hunters as old as you?¡± ¡°Not always.¡± ¡°I see¡­ is that so.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve wasted too much time. I think the forces in the SMCP fortress will start heading south. They¡¯ll probably be after you and the prototype. Shouldn¡¯t you be running for dear life?¡± At his words, Charlotte gained her senses. There wasn¡¯t much time to waste talking. BMCP was destroyed, and the fortress of Seoul at North would be dispatching troops as soon as they detected an anomaly. They would be going after the undercover Charl and the prototype. ¡°Okay, until next time then. I hope to see you at Moscow!¡± She was wishing for Zin¡¯s safety as well as hers. Charlotte dashed out of the empty fortress, and Zin prepared to leave as well. A clear fact hammered through Zin¡¯s thoughts. A devil has returned. ¡°¡­¡± Zin grew alert, his senses tingling. He felt alive and his heart started throbbing. ¡°Where was the¡­ power room¡­¡± Zin wandered around the bunkers to collect the blue chips used to run the fortress. Zin lived as a scavenger as much as he lived as a hunter. The survivor is the winner. The fact that I¡¯m alive is more than enough. I can endure anything as long as I can survive. There are many more horrible and scary things happening in this world. This is nothing. Remember that. There is nothing more precious than living. Even though you can¡¯t expect to live to see the sun and the moon every day, consider yourself lucky. When asked why she didn¡¯t leave the father even throughout his abuse, the girl¡¯s mom answered: She never fought back against the wrongdoings. At times, she was suspected of being a witch. She was kicked out of the city after her husband physically abused her. There were many reasons for the abuse¡ªshe couldn¡¯t handle a customer because she was sick, she talked back to him, or the husband lost chips gambling. She wandered through the wilderness of night, and returnedte at dawn when the husband was asleep. As such incidents happened frequently, the people wondered why the monsters in the wilderness didn¡¯t attack the woman, or why she didn¡¯t get hurt while walking around the dangerous ruins of the night. Nobody knew the reason. There were rumors that she was a witch, even though nobody knew what a witch was. They had no hesitation in referring to someone as a witch. And naturally, Leona was also suspected as a witch. However, it was slightly different for Leona. Leana was close with all the children in Mok-Gol, but there were some she was particrly close to. One day, they went out to search for treasures. They left to a familiar area of ruins, one they had been to many times. Then one day. Five kids left for the ruins, but only Leona returned. Leona told the adults that the kids fell to their death into a sinkhole, and the adults didn¡¯t bother searching for their dead bodies since such idents happened frequently. In fact, Leona was a liar. At the time, the friends didn¡¯t die because of the sinkhole. Leona and her friends hade across monster rats that were wandering around the sewage. The friends were devoured alive by hundreds of rats. But not a single rat came near Leona. The rats were acting as if they were afraid of Leona and revered her. The rats didn¡¯t touch Leona at all. She couldn¡¯t figure out how she was different from the friends the rats had devoured without a trace. But, she knew that she was differently somehow, and so she kept it as a secret. Being different meant exclusion and exclusion meant the road to death. Therefore Leona lied, and she thought that her mom was no different. During the incident, Leona lost all her friends, and she was left alone with kids who hated her. The kids spread rumors that Leona was a witch just like her mother. There were rumors that Leona ate the hearts of the kids who went missing, and Leona naturally ended up isted. During that times, Leona¡¯s mom died. And the next day, Leona killed her father and left Mok-Gol. I¡¯m a devil hunter. Leona started running while thinking about Zin¡¯s words. ¡°Get her. Get that girl!¡± People were pursuing Leona from behind. If she wasn¡¯t human, but something else like a devil, Zin who was a devil hunter would have to kill Leona. Leona couldn¡¯t understand why Zin let her know of that fact. Zin headed to the BMCP to confirm his thoughts. In fact, it was more of a warning. He might have warned Leona to run away before he obtained some sort of confirmation. However, Leona couldn¡¯t figure out why a devil hunter would give a devil time to run away. And Leona did not run away. Although she was fleeing from people, she did not want run away from Zin. There were always people who targeted those who were weak such as little kids. The hunter who seemed like the girl¡¯s guardian had gone away. So, the robbers came to Leona to mug her. And the robbers were also survivors of Mok-Gol. They had no option other than robbing others since they were unable to settle down in a new city. At first, they were surprised. They were surprised by the fact that Leona was still alive and well after she killed her father and left Mok-Gol some years ago. And they remembered the rumor about Leona being a witch. And unfortunately, not long after Leona left Mok-Gol, the vige was raided by monsters and destroyed. The robbers who came to steal from her tried to kill Leona instead. But Leona stabbed one of them and was now on the run. ¡°Get her! Get her! She¡¯s a witch. She¡¯s Leona of Mok-Gol!¡± ¡°What?!¡± People who were unaware of the situation avoided the scene, but people who recognized the name Leona started chasing after her as well. Leona didn¡¯t try to exin herself nor deny the rumors. The people were closed-minded, and there was no point trying to exin anything to them. Crap. I should have stayed outside the city. A kid couldn¡¯t possibly outrun an adult, and the robbers were closing in on Leona. Not many people in the city were interested in the chase, but more Mok-Gol survivors were joining in the pursuit. For them, Leona was the person who destroyed their hometown and killed their friends and families. Whether that was true or not, it was more important that they believed in it. ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere, witch!¡± As soon as Leona reached a narrow passageway, a huge man blocked the passage so that Leona couldn¡¯t pass through. Leona had to decide. ¡°Why are you doing this to me? You bastards!¡± Leona swiftly pulled out the silver revolver from her pocket. She had never used it before, but she had asked Zin many times how to handle it. Point it to the enemy and pull the trigger. Leona ran towards the man and aimed the gun. Even kids can do it. ¡ªclick!¡ª As soon as Leona pulled the trigger, the revolver shed with a burst of sound. ¡ªBANG!¡ª ¡°Ah!!!¡± And Leona yelled instead. ¡°What was that?¡± At the sudden bang, everybody was surprised, and Leona felt the pain in her wrist from the discharge. The revolver¡¯s knockback force wasn¡¯t very strong, but Leona was surprised since she hadn¡¯t known about it. He didn¡¯t tell me about this! Feeling the pain in her wrist, Leona jumped over the man who was grabbing his abdomen. It was lucky that the gunshot hit the man. ¡°What! What was that!?¡± ¡°The witch is using the devil¡¯s weapon!¡± The pursuing people stopped due to fear; they didn¡¯t know what that metallic object could be. They didn¡¯t know about guns. This also meant that the people didn¡¯t know about the limited amount of ammunition. The people were panicking and couldn¡¯t run after Leona or stay put. Leona slipped away from the square after the people stopped chasing her. I need to get out. She thought about leaving the city. She hoped that Zin would find her. But what would happen when Zin found her? She didn¡¯t know if he would kill her or not. Leona was confused about whether she was supposed to wait for him. I don¡¯t know. I gotta run! Leona ran and ran away from the city as she started to feel nauseated. It was impossible for her to go over the trash wall, and she had to head to the front gate. As she was trying to go past the people and out of Hewl-Jin, someone shouted. ¡°Stop right there!¡± Leona became petrified as someone by the entrance yelled at her. ¡°Crap¡­¡± Five guards armed with bows were aiming at her. The captain looked down at Leona from the top of the trash wall. ¡°I¡¯m the guard captain of Hewl-Jin, Dolphar.¡± Wearing a cap with a visor, he slowly climbed down the trash wall and walked towards Leona. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about what happened in Mok-Gol, and I have no interest in knowing either. We¡¯re at Hewl-Jin, so I don¡¯t care about what happened at a different city.¡± ¡°¡­ Then why are you blocking my way?¡± ¡°I see that you have a gun with you, right?¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°I told you before. I¡¯m the guard captain. I can let kids stirring up amotion with such a dangerous weapon.¡± ¡°Well, I was on my way out of the city. So, get out of my way. I¡¯m noting back to this ce.¡± She aimed the revolver at the captain. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to understand what I¡¯m saying¡­¡± The captain frowned. ¡°Dangerous weapons are helpful for us to defend the city.¡± Leona frowned as well and was annoyed at the captain¡¯s long talk. She didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡ªbang!¡ª ¡°Arrggh!¡± She aimed it urately this time, but she still wasn¡¯t used to a gun. The bullet hit the captain¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Damn. If you want to steal it from me, just say so. I¡¯m sick of people talking trash without getting to the point.¡± Leona mumbled as she spat. Chapter 31 Chapter 31: White Witch (Part 2) Leona had aimed correctly, but the gunshot ended up hitting the captain on his shoulder. The Mok-Gol people closing in on Leona. The captain gnashed his teeth and yelled: ¡°Shoot! Kill her!¡± At hismand, arrows started to fly. ¡ªwhoosh!¡ª However, Leona managed to dodge the arrows.. The arrows hit the ground where she¡¯d just stood at. Reloading the arrow would take some time for the guards. Leona was about a hundred yards away from the gate, and the guards were sure to carefully aim for Leona to kill her. ¡ªbang!¡ª Leona shot again, but she was not skillful enough to shoot from a long range. ¡°Crap¡­¡± ¡°Get her. Take that gun away from her!¡± As Leona attacked the captain, she became the enemy of the people of Hewl-Jin as well. I only have three more shots. There were many enemies, but she didn¡¯t have enough ammo to kill them all. The enemies were closing in with sticks and swords to kill her. Even though Leona was a brave one, it was a difficult situation for her to ovee. Zin gave Leona the revolver to protect herself, not to attack others. The enemies were rapidly organizing themselves to attack her. The square was blocked off, and her enemies were aiming arrows at her. She had nowhere to run. Her foes were surrounding Leona to make it easier to shoot her down with arrows. ¡°Guards! Shoot her! We got her trapped!¡± The Mok-Gol survivors blocked off her path, and Leona was trapped. I don¡¯t want to die in a ce like this! Leona gnashed her teeth and was determined to survive at all costs. ¡°Shoot!¡± I¡¯m not going to die like my mom! Leona dodged the five arrowsing her way, but the situation was bing hopeless. The guards reloaded their arrows and kept on shooting. Leona had to dance around to avoid the rain of arrows. There were three shots left. Do I shoot these bastards blocking the passage and climb past the trash wall? No, I need to save the bullets¡­ if I die, what¡¯s the point of saving bullets? What do I do¡­? ¡°Shoot!¡± ¡ªwhoosh!¡ª The arrows flew through the air, and Leona shouted frantically: ¡°Stinking hunter! When are you going toe back?!¡± At her shout, all the arrows froze in mid-air. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡ªthud!¡ª The arrows that were floating in the air fell down to the ground. ¡°Kiddo. Did you know that your psychowave is very loud? I¡¯m getting a massive headache.¡± A woman was slowly walking through the front gate. Leona had never met her before; she was barely clothed with several ces ripped apart. ¡°Wh¡ªwho are you¡­?¡± The woman who suddenly appeared started walking towards Leona. Her gray hair was long enough to reach her calves, and her eyes shone with a purple light, showing that she wasn¡¯t quite sane. She had the form of a human, but she was different. ¡°What¡¯s going on? What did you do? Who are you?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you tell?¡± As the captain grabbed her shoulder and shouted, the gray-haired woman smirked. She stretched out her hand, and a force of energy shot out, smashing the captain into pieces. Before the gray-haired woman could reply, a random person shouted: ¡°It¡¯s the witch! The real witch!¡± A survivor from Mok-Gol had shouted these words. ¡°What? If you¡¯re saying that I¡¯m the real witch, then you¡¯re saying that the little girl was not a real witch?¡± ¡°!¡± The people started screaming and running away. The gray-haired woman started smiling. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a witch.¡± The gray-haired woman turned her hand into a tentacle, then instantly pierced and killed the man. She looked at her right hand and said: ¡°I¡¯m an alien as well.¡± A violent red current stormed out of her left hand, and it struck the group of people, turning them into mummies that looked thousands of years old. ¡°And a vampire.¡± As the woman stomped on the ground, a dark liquid burst forth and dragged the people underneath. ¡ªcrack! crunch!¡ª Leona was disturbed by the sound of human bones breaking and crunching underground. ¡°And a demon.¡± The woman who was emanating a ck, red, white, and purple auraughed at the people who were terrified by this series of events. Alien, vampire, demon, and a witch. The gray-haired woman who possessed four different devil powers wasughing eerily. Soon, the woman was unfazed by the ughter that had taken ce. The womanid her hand on Leona¡¯s head, her face turning dark. ¡°Is Eiel¡­ dead?¡± The gray-haired witch asked, looking at Leona. She hadn¡¯t arrived at the city by mistake¡ªshe had been drawn to Leona¡¯s psychowave. To be exact, she had mistaken Leona¡¯s psychowave as someone else¡¯s. But as soon as she realized something, she started talking with a sad face. ¡°Kid. Avoid humans.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re around them, they act all cocky.¡± ¡ªkabam!¡ª ¡°Arrggh!¡± As the witch stretched her hand, tentacles smashed and killed the remaining people running around. Leona screamed as she crouched on the ground. She had never felt such terror before. There were screams all over the ce, and someone was shrieking in terror. The witch swiped Leona¡¯s head one time and started walking away. ¡°Wh¡ªwho are you?¡± Leona asked the witch. ¡°A devil, just like you.¡± Leona and the woman were still devils regardless of their differences. After the gray-haired witch saved Leona, she walked away without saying much. She left without any regrets or remorse. As the witch left Hewl-Jin, there was no one alive besides Leona. Leona sat down for a while. As if reminded of a fact that she didn¡¯t want to know about, she was left stunned and didn¡¯t say a word She didn¡¯t know what a devil was about, but she knew what she was. Leona lived to stay alive, and she was taught to do so. She was not the same Leona that she used to be. She wasn¡¯t sure about her reason for living. In a bit, Leona stood up again. She started wandering around Hewl-Jin¡ªthe witch had ughtered everyone so she started gathering chips. She figured that there was no point being in a state of shock and terror. When Leona finished gathering the chips, Zin returned. ¡°¡­ What a mess.¡± Zin said as he looked at Leona who was waiting in their inn. The inn had also been attacked and looked like it was about to copse. Zin didn¡¯t know what had taken ce in the city, but looking at the destruction that took ce, he was able to figure out something. A devil must havee by. And looking at Leona who was alive, he didn¡¯t ask. But Leona looked at Zin and asked: ¡°Are you going to kill me?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Zin realized something, Leona had alsoe to a realization. Therefore, Leona had to ask the question in order to figure out how the devil-hunting devil hunter would react. Zin asked a different question. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you run away?¡± At this, Leona dug her head and spoke somberly. ¡°I want to live.¡± ¡°If you want to live, you should have run away.¡± ¡°I want to live, but not like this.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re asking me why I didn¡¯t run away. Then why aren¡¯t you killing me?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t have the confirmation that you were a devil.¡± ¡°Do you have that confirmation now?¡± ¡°I have evidence that somewhat gives me confirmation.¡± ¡°Then are you going to kill me?¡± Zin didn¡¯t speak for a while. Leona who told him that she wanted to live stood defenseless in front of a dangerous hunter. Leona gnashed her teeth and dropped her head. Leona had wandered around the tough wilderness. She had to avoid thieves, robbers, gangsters, Reavers and vagabonds in order to survive. And throughout this, she had been by herself. She thought that she had to survive. In the end, she spoke her feelings. ¡°My mom told me that even though if you had to live in a dumpster, it was better to be alive.¡± Zin did not speak. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to live like that anymore.¡± As Leona felt the loneliness, she started to feel the painfulness of being alone. ¡°Being in a dumpster still means being in garbage. I don¡¯t want to live anymore if I¡¯m going to be living like this. I hate being alone. I can¡¯t sleep alone in the woods covering myself with leaves. I can¡¯t do this anymore!¡± Leona started shaking and crying. She thought that she¡¯d rather die by Zin¡¯s hands instead of living a lonely life apart from Zin. She was starting to learn how good it was to have apanion, and she felt sorrowful that she had to be alone again. She realized the feeling of loneliness after experiencingpanionship. And she couldn¡¯t be satisfied with just surviving. She wanted to be with Zin. She wanted to have a real life instead of enduring each day. As soon as she knew that she was a devil, she knew it was going to be impossible. But she waited for Zin to confirm it even though it meant that Zin might kill her. But it appeared that the cold look of the hunter wouldn¡¯t allow it. ¡°What a crappy life¡­¡± Leona said in a devastated yet cute tone, but Zin did not disy any emotions. Leona dropped her head down without a word. She was ready to be killed if Zin chose to do so. Zin started thinking in agony. Not as a hunter, but as a Zin, he slowly spoke at Leona who was sobbing. ¡°A hundred years after the apocalypse, I¡¯ve been living as a devil hunter.¡± Zin started to talk about himself. Leona felt strange as Zin talked about how long he¡¯d lived. ¡°And after the devils were all gone, another one hundred years passed. I¡¯ve been living as a devil hunter in a devil-less world.¡± Zin¡¯s face disyed no emotion, but it seemed like something was swirling in his mind. ¡°Too much time has passed¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s been so long that I don¡¯t even know why I have to hunt the devils.¡± When Zin talked with Baek-Goo, Zin realized how he¡¯d lost the reason for mindlessly searching for a devil. He forgot why he did it a long time ago. And when a devil came back, Zin was more confused than happy. It was as if a person remembered a long forgotten dream. ¡°Nevertheless, I am going to hunt the devil. Just like I used to do.¡± Even though he¡¯d lost the motives, he was going to keep on hunting down the devils. And that meant that he was going to kill Leona. ¡°But, just this one time¡­ I¡¯m going to dy it for a bit. I¡¯m sorry that I couldn¡¯t keep my promise of taking you to a safe ce.¡± Even though he was determined as a devil hunter, Zin had to admit that this stray cat had be a part of his life. At Zin¡¯s words, Leona raised her head. Her eyes were red from the sobbing. ¡°You¡¯re going to be the next target.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Go.¡± He conveyed the point that there were other powerful devils that he had to hunt. But it was just an excuse since that he didn¡¯t want to kill Leona. ¡°Run away and live at some ce where I can¡¯t find you.¡± Having mercy on a prey, especially a devil was forbidden for a hunter. However, Zin decided to spare Leona¡¯s life in order to hunt down a more powerful enemy. Leona was given a grace period until Zin hunted down the prototype. Leona slowly got up. Zin¡¯s scary facial expression did not allow her to speak further. ¡°I¡­ would rather¡­ be with¡­¡± ¡°Stop.¡± Leona tried to say something, but Zin cut her off. ¡°Stop talking.¡± Leona bit her lips at Zin¡¯s cold response. ¡°You don¡¯t realize how I feel talking to you.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Among the witches that I hunted, there were many people who were precious to me.¡± He had to kill them only because they were witches. ¡°I had to kill people who had nevere across a monster only because they were witches.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And now, I am giving an exception for the first time in my life.¡± Without understanding why he was doing it, Zin looked at Leona and said: ¡°By letting you go, I¡¯m insulting all the people that I¡¯ve killed.¡± The devil hunter added. ¡°So, get lost.¡± At his words, Leona clenched her fists, unable to say anything else. Since she didn¡¯t know what Zin was thinking, Leona was unable to criticize or understand his behavior. Zin was willing to spare her life, but he couldn¡¯t stay with her anymore after learning that she was a witch. Leona stood up slowly and walked past by Zin. As she passed Zin, Leona murmured while crying: ¡°You¡¯re a coward.¡± Zin didn¡¯t reply, and Leona disappeared. Leona went away, and Zin stood still for a while. He had to look for prey, but he needed some time to organize his thoughts. [Devil¡¯s blood needed] The message was visible to his eyes. Zin was wondering if he had to kill the little thing¡¯s chest and suck away her lifesource. Zin decided not to do so, and his decision was not logical. A hunter¡¯s life was far from rational, but this time, Zin even forewent the hunter¡¯s code. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was worth it. There would be consequences for the actions that he¡¯d taken. Zin didn¡¯t stay for long, and started moving. From the overcast skies, rain started to fall, and it started to pour down hard. Zin was alone again, and he had a clear goal to walk to. The hundred years of wandering had ended. Chapter 32 Chapter 32: White Witch (Part 3) Zin started heading north to track the path of the prototype. The rain continued falling hard, and the path became muddy. Under the heavy rain, any traces of the prototype disappeared, and it became harder to track down. But it was not difficult to figure out where the prototype would be heading to. Its hate against human is very strong. Especially against the Wargrave¡­ He was able to guess based on how the witch demolished Hewl-Jin which had no connections with the Wargrave. It was clear how much hatred the witch would have against them. It¡¯s heading to the SMCP (Seoul Mass Confusion Point). Two hundred years had passed, but there were still remains of street signs, and it was not hard to look for directions. Zin didn¡¯t have the security code to download the data, so after Charl downloaded the information, he skimmed through some data over Charl¡¯s shoulder. And by looking at the destruction of Hewl-Jin, he was able to determine the power of the enemy. People were pierced and crushed to death, which meant it had tentacles. (Alien) There was mummy looking corpses that had the bodily fluid sucked out. (Vampire) There were traces of darkness shooting from the underground, which meant it had the power to handle darkness. (Demon) And top of that, it had used psychowave kic power. (Witch) He was not sure what other powers it possessed, but he was able to determine those powers so far. The Wargrave had conducted tests by infusing many different powers into the body of the witch. A devil that utilized the power of an alien, demon, witch, and vampire at the same time¡­ A monster had appeared with such power that was beyond its time. Zin had never faced such powerful enemy before. But for a devil hunter, no enemies were unconquerable, and Zin had proved this by surviving until now. And he was confident that he would be able to aplish the hunter mission just like always. ¡ªdibble, dibble!¡ª Zin kept walking through the heavily pouring rain. He didn¡¯t know how fast a prototype walked, so he had to hurry. The heavy rain erased all footsteps, so it was impossible to track it down using that method. Zin was heading toward the SMCP based on his instincts. He was not much different in the past. He started searching devils based on rumors, and then traced and tracked the devils all the way to the end. Or there were many times when the devils would take action publicly. Luckily at the moment, the prototype was not aware that the devil hunter was tracing it. And in the Korean Penins, the road always led to the same direction, unless one crossed the ocean. If the devil were to hide somewhere, it wouldn¡¯t be possible for Zin to track it down, but as the days went by, Zin was more convinced that the prototype was heading towards the SMCP. On the fourth day, Zin increased his pace. Besides the sound of the pouring rain, the surroundings were eerily quiet and calm. Zin didn¡¯t hear a monster cry out even once. Is it dragging all the monsters with her? The devil was by itself. And it was not possible for it to cover all the areas it can¡¯t see. The prototype was controlling the monsters near it with the psychowave and herding them to the north. It was probably gathering the monsters at the SMCP to attack the fortress. It¡¯s probably pumped up. The devil became free and was full of energy, now freely heading north. This was good news for Zin. The devil would not expect that it would be targeted by someone else. Zin thought: It easily took down the Busan fortress because the fight happened within the building. The Wargrave fortress will not go down so easily by the monsters in the Ancient-Korea area. The SMCP should be well-prepared if they¡¯ve learned about the copse of the Busan fortress. There will be a direct attack on the fortress. The devil will have to lead the monsters in front. Zin thought again. I will snipe it when it lets its guard down after victory. Time to take out the NTW-20, the first time in a long while. Zin realized that it was time to take out the sniper rifle that he hasn¡¯t used for a while. Using 20mm anti-devil ammo would be effective against mixed devils. The battle would be determined in a short period of time. It would be simr to hunting a duck with an overly powerful weapon, but he just had to make sure that he finished off the devil with the strongest weapon. After making up his mind, he stood still for a while. To be exact, he wasn¡¯t very happy. ¡°¡­¡± In fact, Zin was back at Ard Point. And in front of him was a junkwagon. The prototype most likely moved faster than Zin, and he had to move faster in order to catch up. In order to catch up, it would make sense to ride the junkwagon. Because of the heavy rain, the engine¡¯s loud noise wouldn¡¯t spread so far away. But Zin did not want to ride this piece of junk to his death. ¡°Damn¡­ hmm.¡± Zin cursed, then sighed. He thought about his long journey with her. It appeared that he picked up her habits as well. Zin stared at the junkwagon for a bit and then turned around. I won¡¯t get far with this because the wheel will get stuck under the heavy rain. And if the wagon were to crash, Zin would get hurt. And if the wagon¡¯s reactor were to blow up, that¡¯d be a catastrophe. In the end, Zin gave up on the junkwagon and started running. Running through the heavy rain, he murmured that he¡¯d rather die than ride that piece of junk. It was a fact that Zin ran faster than ordinary people. But he wouldn¡¯t outrun a junkwagon. Two days after the rain stopped, Zin started following the monsters¡¯ footprints. As Zin suspected, many footprints were leading to Seoul. The wave of monsters that started with the heavy rain swept through the penins. At Shera City, where Zin had visited a couple of days ago, the monsters had finished ughtering the people. Zin quickly passed through the city¡¯s bitten and mutted corpses. They were killed not long ago. Not even a day ago. Zin picked up his pace; he felt that a battle might have started at the SMCP. The monsters¡¯ footprints were now gathered closer together. Zin ran through the ruins. ¡ªthud! thud!¡ª ¡ªbamm!¡ª Kraaah! The cries of the monsters and the gunshots resounded everywhere. There were copsed building in the Gangnam downtown area where many tall skyscrapers had once existed before. Zin was getting closer to the MCP that appeared near Gangnam, the fortress surrounding the area, and the monsters surrounding the fortress. As he was nearing the battleground, Zin quickly climbed up a building that had broken in half. He positioned himself on higher ground. The sky had lightened after the rain, so he had clear visibility¡ªhe could see the wall of the Wargrave fortress. The battle scene was intense. ¡ªbang! bang!¡ª As theser cannons from the fortress wall fired away, dozens of monsters ended up burning to death. There were this many monsters in the Korean Penins? Although weak, it was still scary to witness the flood of monsters that the witch had driven from the southern region of the penins. To Zin¡¯s surprise, the prototype had extraordinary control over the monsters. The monsters were attacking the fortress wall, stepping over the dead corpses of their kind. A witch could turn monsters into mindless machines. Monsters controlled by a witch would attack without the fear of death, and would take a bullet willingly. An army of monsters controlled by a witch was truly a formidable force. However, the fortress¡¯s resistance was not to be taken lightly either. The shower ofser shots from the fortress disintegrated the monsters at every second. And it was not just theser cannons. Wargrave soldiers on the wall were holding off against the line of monsters by using powerful weapons. They were outnumbered, but the monsters only had the advantage of numbers. Zin pulled out the giant sniper rifle NTW-20, and was getting ready. The distance was about one kilometer away, and he had to locate the target. Luckily, without having to switch positions, he was able to find the enemy. ¡°Aaarggh!!!¡± ¡°Help!¡± As the gray-haired witch stretched out her hand, five strings of tentacles shot out, grabbing the Wargrave soldiers by the neck and throwing them down to the ground. ¡ªcrunch! crunch!¡ª The monsters instantly devoured the fallen soldiers. I suppose they don¡¯t have the power to break through the fortress walls. The tentacles swiftly grabbed any enemies and threw the soldiers to the ground. With her tentacles, the witch blocked off all attacks made towards her. Wargrave soldiers were killed, but the number of monsters weren¡¯t infinite either. And the witch¡¯s power was limited as well. Shortly after, the fortress wall opened up, and white smoke shot outside the wall. Krrrrrrrrrr! The monsters clinging on the wall were melting away from the smoke. The fortress wall was also utilized as a weapon. The smoke attack instantly dissolved the monsters. ¡ªbam! bam!¡ª As soon as the weapons were switched out on the fortress wall, they fired blue shots at the monsters. Many fortresses were built with these types of attacks in mind. ¡ªbang! bang! bang!¡ª With a blue sh, thousands of grenades blew away the monsters surrounding the fortress. In a split second, the area in front of the wall became empty. The monsters surrounding the fortress were badly destroyed. Wargrave had controlled their firepower in order to get the monsters within range. And as soon as the monsters closed in, they were able to deal heavy damage by concentrating their firepower. One of the soldiers on top of the wall sighed with relief. ¡°Now I think we can take a breather¡­ What¡¯s that?¡± The privates did not know about the existence of a devil. ¡°A special team is on its way. Hold on. The officer is on his way.¡± ¡°But this time¡­¡± ¡°Shut up. Hold your ground.¡± The soldier nodded at the senior¡¯s words. All sorts of attacks did not affect the gray-haired witch. The witch was guarding against the attacks made towards her, but she didn¡¯t attempt any additional attacks since the monsters were put to a halt after the initial attack. Zin was observing the situation through the scope. Regr attacks are not effective¡­ Is it due to the powers of the alien and vampire? The witch was pretending to block off attacks with a wall of tentacles, but she was neutralizing all physical attacks. Zin waited for the right time to attack. Now¡­ what¡¯s your next move? Most of the monsters were destroyed. So, are you going to engage in a melee attack by climbing up the wall? Zin thought that the witch wasn¡¯t interested by the death of the monsters, and she looked rather rxed. ¡ªthud!¡ª As soon as a loud bang was heard, sheughed. ¡°You guys are focusing too much on the outer wall.¡± Krrraaaaoohhhaah! Soon, they heard many monsters¡¯ cries from inside the inner wall. The Wargrave¡¯s main forces were deployed to defend the outer wall. It meant that there were no avable forces to protect the inner wall area. So the attack of the outer wall was a decoy. ¡ªboom!¡ª The inner wall was under attack, and the fortress could be seen shaking. Cannons installed in the inner wall kept on firing, but the monsters in the inner wall were very different from the ones on the outer wall. Fully-armed Wargrave special forces came out of the outer wall to hunt the gray-haired witch. ¡°All of you, die!¡± ¡ªbam! babam!¡ª A giant tentacle started to hit the concrete wall. Chapter 33 Chapter 33: White Witch (Part 4) The dark cloud appearing from the ground started attacking the special forces approaching the Witch. ¡°Do not let the dark smoke touch you!¡± The special forces who were treated with cyborg transnt quickly moved towards the Witch. They were armed with photon disruptor weapons specialized in dealing with ghost-type monsters, and they could deal damage to alien-type monsters as well. ¡ªshank!¡ª As the Witch was shed with a sword radiating a white energy that disintegrated anything it touched, she didn¡¯t scream, but insteadughed. ¡°That tickles, you idiots!¡± ¡ªcrack!¡ª She mmed her right hand down upon a soldier, and the man was crushed like an empty can. All the special force members were astonished. The Witch had crushed a cyborg whose body was harder than steel! ¡°The photon disruptor sword doesn¡¯t work on her!¡± ¡°No! It should work! Keep on attacking!¡± The side of the Witch was shed, and there was white powder falling out of her. Her dimensional density is too dense. The photon disruptor weapons were built by Wargrave to handle monsters of different dimensions. Low-level ghosts would be destroyed as soon as it touched them. However the Witch was not destroyed so easily by. Stronger ghosts had better control of different dimensions. It¡¯s too strong. It would not easily die with normal attacks. The prototype was much stronger than Zin had expected. The Witch was able to trigger the MCP, the source of monsters, and summon as many monsters as she wanted. She was also immune to physical attacks, and she could attack the spirits of her enemies directly. It¡¯s the first time since lebtoqizra that I have had to deal with a pesky one. Zin was getting nauseated just thinking about the nasty ruler of the aliens. Although the Witch was smaller in size, it had enormous stamina. Zin pulled out the bullet, bit his thumb, and applied his blood to the bullet. [Warning ¨C Bleeding. Darkborn energy lost.] It was a primitive method, but the blood of a devil could be used to deal with devils, simr to how the Phantomvein was used to handle devils. Wargrave was able to develop technology to deal with the devils, but in the end, Zin utilized a more primitive method. Devil hunters drank the blood of devils, and their blood was mixed with different types of diabolic blood. Therefore, the blood of a devil hunter was effective in dealing with devils. Zin improved the effectiveness of the bullet by sacrificing a certain level of darkborn energy. ¡ªclick!¡ª As soon as Zin loaded the rifle, he waited. There were only two bullets for the 20mm rifle. On top of that, his devil hunter¡¯s blood was applied. It would be a problem if the Witch were not taken out with a single shot. Zin observed the grey-haired Witch ughtering the special forces. The Witch wasughing like a mad woman, and ridiculing the dying soldiers. Within the inner walls of the fortress, the monsters were continuing to attack. Although the fortress should have been indestructible, it was under attack from the inside out. The Witch was assuring herself of victory, and kept on ughtering the cyborgs. The crazy Witch was not aware of the devil hunter who was calmly looking to kill her at the right moment. Zin stayed absolutely still to use the right moment to kill the Witch with a single shot. Ancient Korea was a remote area for the monsters, and a rtively uncivilized area. Most people did not know about guns, and most of the monsters were corpse-scavenging types. In the main continent, many people didn¡¯t know of the existence of this area, as the Korean penins had fallen into historical invisibility since the apocalypse. It also meant that the people and the hunters in Ancient Korea were not equipped properly. ¡ªkaboom!¡ª But it sure wasn¡¯t true for the fortress, and the Wargrave organization. Even though it was a remote area, high level monsters appeared in this MCP. Simr to Moscow and Beijing, horrendous monsters appeared in Seoul¡¯s MCP. The special forces of Wargrave fortress were highly skilled soldiers, just like other areas of the continent. There was not much difference in Wargrave¡¯s firepower between different divisions. Wargrave and Moscow¡¯s men might have different types of weaponry, but there was not much difference in the level of skill sets and experience. It meant that they were equally strong. But things weren¡¯t looking too promising at the moment. The enemy was a secret weapon developed by the Wargrave, and it was a monster that possessed multiple powers of the devil. Half of the special forces had been crushed. [As the thirdmander in line second lieutenant Oldyshe was KIA, warrant officer Ramphil is inmand effectively immediately! Everyone is to follow his orders!] Back at their headquarters, officer Ramphil gave out orders. ¡°Everyone, move away from the target one hundred yards.¡± Death was part of the battle, and changes inmand happened often. But it was unusual for themander, and the second and third inmand, to be killed at the same battle. As soon as Ramphil gave out his order, all the forces moved away from the grey-haired Witch. Officer Ramphil retrieved all the swords from the fallen soldiers, and connected them in one line. Then he gathered the swords and put them away. ¡ªVwooom!¡ª The photon disruptor swords could be connected together to increase their power level. The headquarters decided to the call the target ¡°White Witch.¡± However, it didn¡¯t matter much to Ramphil. Whatever the target was called, he had matters to take care of. ¡°At this moment, all forces are to retreat to the inner wall, and supported the battle inside the MCP.¡± All the soldiers were in shocked at his orders. ¡°Themander will deal with the White Witch alone. Everyone, move out.¡± Wargrave operated from the top down. Everyone couldn¡¯t understand why Ramphil gave out such orders, but they started moving out swiftly. All the men retreated, and the white Witchughed at the fleeing soldiers, before her face suddenly hardened. ¡°What, are you trying to act like a hero?¡± ¡ªbam!¡ª The ground exploded and a dark cloud shot up from the ground. Ramphil avoided the explosion and moved closer to the Witch. Although Ramphil had the rank of warrant officer, he looked very young being twenty years old. The Witch was enraged, but she didn¡¯t lose her cool. While she was confined in the Wargraveb, she learned themand system of Wargrave. With her advanced hearing, she had heard that the young man was a warrant officer. Such a high rank was not awarded to an ordinary young man. ¡ªwhoosh!¡ª Before she realized what was going on, Ramphil charged towards her with the multi-connected photon disruptor sword, and stabbed her. ¡ªvoom!¡ª ¡°Ack!¡± In the brief moment where the Witch was stabbed in the heart, she jumped straight up into the sky using her tentacle-feet. The Witch was greatly shocked, gnashing her teeth in rm and fury. But it was not over. Ramphil threw one sword that was in his vest towards the jumping Witch. ¡ªzap!¡ª And at the same time, he shot it with aser pistol. ¡ªkaboom!¡ª The sword exploded in mid-air, and the explosive wave hit the Witch. ¡°Aaaaack!¡± The Witch was directly struck by the explosive wave, and hit the ground hard, standing up slowly. Ramphil looked at the Witch and slowly walked towards her. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be detai-oriented for someone that strong.¡± ¡°Ng¡­ahhh¡­¡± Ramphil checked the connected sword as if he was testing it. A Wargrave solider that was dispatched to the rural area was not weak at all. Ramphil charged towards the Witch that trying to recover. The number of humans had dramatically decreased, but geniuses were still being born. ¡°Aaaaargggggh!¡± ¡ªswooom!¡ª Dozens of tentacles spread out from the hands of the Witch to attack Ramphil, but the officer avoided all the tentacles with swift movements and continued charging towards the Witch. ¡ªshank! shank!¡ª In a split second, he shed the Witch with the connected photon disruptor sword. The Witch tried to run away, but Ramphil followed her and didn¡¯t stop attacking. Three times, four times, five times¡­ As the Witch received ten consecutive attacks, she was inplete shock and retreated to the top of the wall using her tentacles. The devil ran away! Ramphil looked at the Witch several yards above him. He was sent to the battlefield at the age of 17, and became a warrant officer, the highest rank for an enlistedbatant, at the age of 21. Such rapid promotions were unusual. However, people who watched him on the battlefield couldn¡¯t understand how he was socent and satisfied with the rank of a warrant officer. Even before he received the megaframe procedure, Ramphil had faced a situation where the squad was annihted, and he single-handedly destroyed a group of AA level monsters with a singleser saber. When the reinforcements arrived, Ramphil stood calm and still without a scratch in a field filled with corpse of monsters. Ramphil was no different now, as he faced the White Witch, possibly the strongest monster in the world right now. His eyes were as still as ake, and he was very calm without any fear. Everyone in the SMCP fortress said that he would have been pushed up as a seniormander if he wasn¡¯t sucha loner. He had the soldiers retreat not because he was worried about the copse of the fortress, he did it because fighting along with them was a distraction. Ramphil did not disy any anger or hatred as he looked at the Witch. The Witch felt a crawling fear as she looked at a human who looked less human than her¡­ What kind of a man is he¡­ Without giving much time for the Witch to think, Ramphil jumped toward the fortress wall, and started running up it with extreme speed. ¡°!¡± ¡ªfwoot!¡ª As Ramphil reached the Witch, he swung the sword once more. The photon disruptor sword had no physical power. It could not defend against physical power, but it was likewise nearly impossible to defend against. ¡ªshank!¡ª ¡°Aaaaack!¡± The Witch was shed again, and felt her body be faint. She knew that she would be destroyed at this rate. The Witch was able to withstand multiple attacks of a photon disruptor sword that could destroy weak ghosts, but she would eventually die if attacked too many times. Ramphil persistently followed the Witch. If the Witch jumped in the sky, he threw the sword into the air and blew it up like a grenade. If the Witch stood on the ground, he chased her with tremendous speed. Ramphil spoke as he approached and attacked the Witch at point nk range. ¡°Slow.¡± ¡ªvwoom!¡ª ¡°Irrational.¡± ¡ªshank!¡ª ¡°Dull.¡± ¡ªwhoosh!¡ª ¡°Clumsy.¡± ¡ªcrack!¡ª ¡°Aaargggh!¡± The Witch was thrown into the air outside the wall, staring at the three swordsing right at her. ¡ªsh!¡ª The swords exploded with a sh of the pistol. ¡ªKaboom!¡ª ¡°Kyyaaaaaaarck!¡± ¡°I give props to your level of stamina.¡± As Ramphil ridiculed the Witch contemptuously, he remained so calm it seemed unreal. Chapter 34 Chapter 34: White Witch (Part 5) As Ramphil hacked the freefalling Witch to the ground, he raised the power level of the sword, and started shing the Witch ever more quickly. ¡ªwhoosh!¡ª He was shing at least five times a second, seemingly hacking his enemy into dust. Getting pounded on, the Witch was about to lose consciousness from the agonizing pain and shock. However, a devil was still a devil. ¡°Aaaaack!¡± ¡ªbabam!¡ª Hundreds of dark tentacles shot out of the ground around Ramphil. However, he noticed them, and started moving to avoid them. ¡ªzing!¡ª Telekinesis! Ramphil was briefly stunned by the telekic power, and the brief pause was the beginning of his downfall. ¡ªSswoop!¡ª Ramphil¡¯s arms and legs were tied up by the tentacles, and he watched the Witch get up slowly. ¡°You are able to use telekinesis.¡± ¡°Hehe¡­kid. Everybody has a hidden to card to y with.¡± The Witch did not utilize her telekic power in order to drop Ramphil¡¯s guard. And when Ramphil was about to deal the finishing blow, she got him. As Ramphil was tied up in the air, he sensed defeat. He was too quick to judge. The Witch caught him off-guard, and Ramphil let his defenses down. Hmm. I probably could not have won in the first ce. If the Witch had utilized her telekic power from the beginning, he would not have been attacking so fiercely. Looks like I was the rookie. Ramphil had to admit his mistakes. And the consequence was his death. ¡ªcrack! bam!¡ª ¡°You bastards, you¡¯ve reced all the bones with alloy steel¡­ You are despicable even thinking about doing such things.¡± As the Witch tightened her tentacles, the arms and legs of Ramphil were crushed. As the Witch saw the steel shining with blood, she looked at Ramphil in disgust. ¡°You don¡¯t even scream.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Ramphil looked at the Witch without a groan. Ramphil had no change in emotion, disying no fear of death nor the will to survive. ¡°I was going to toy around with you, but I changed my mind.¡± The Witch thought that the Wargrave soldier in front of her was the weirdest and scariest soldier that she had ever seen. She was nning to put him into agony, but as she saw him so emotionless, she changed her mind. ¡°Die, you frea-¡± ¡ªpow!¡ª Before she could finish her sentence, her upper body blew up. ¡°What?¡± As the tentacles lost its shape, Ramphil¡¯s armless and legless body fell to the ground. ¡ªbang!¡ª A loud gunshot rang through the air a couple secondster. Ramphil looked at the Witch¡¯s corpse, only the lower body remaining, trembling with specks of blood. Sniping? Ramphil looked towards the direction where he heard the gunshot, but there was no one visible. The Witch¡¯s corpse started to regenerate. It has regenerating power, too. Ramphil was wondering what other power the devil was hiding, but he could do nothing but watch the Witch¡¯s body regenerate. ¡ªbubble, bubble¡ª The white legs were shaking, but here was no screaming. It was showing that the devil was going through extreme pain. When the sniper arrived to finish off the target, the regeneration had finished. The sniper was wearing a ck coat, and holding arge grey sword in his right hand. A sword? A hunter? The Witch struggled to get up and get away from the sniper. Her body was getting faint and it appeared the Witch was in tremendous pain. ¡°You have the power of an Immortal, as well. What a nuisance they created¡­¡± ¡°Krrr¡­. You, who are you¡­?¡± The Witch stepped back. By carrying a ck sword, and by the looks, it was certain that he was a man from the wilderness, not from the Wargrave. The man slowly walked towards the Witch and replied, ¡°I dispose of trash like you.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Would you know if I told you that I¡¯m a devil hunter?¡± ¡ªpffft¡ª Zin charged forwards, and chopped down the devil with Phantomvein. ¡°Kyaaaack!¡± ¡ªchop!¡ª The Witch tried to run away, but Zin started butchering her. He struck her head, the shoulder, and the waist. He looked as if he was going to cut off every single pound of flesh, as he attacked with his lone sword. ¡ªpow! chop! chop! ¡ª Ramphil watched the scene helplessly. It was more of a ughter than a battle. The grey sword was resonating as the body of the Witch was spraying blood. ¡°Ack! Ack! No! It hurts! Hurts! Kyaaaaaa! Keeeeeeyaaaaa!¡± The Witch was screaming something inhuman. She was feeling a different sort of pain from the photon disruptor sword, like something vital was being sucked out of her every time she was hit. The devil hunter butchered the devil like a piece of meat. The Witch tried to push back using telekinesis, but her power was weak because her body had not fully regenerated. However, the power of the Immortal within the Witch kept on regenerating the body of the Witch. However, as soon as she regenerated, she was minced again. ¡ªchop! chop! ¡ª Ramphil watched the ughter scene for about thirty minutes. And after thirty minutes, Zin started frowning. ¡°What a filthy thing.¡± ¡ªkrrrrrr¡ª The chopped body parts gathered together to regenerate yet again, and the devil hunter sighed as if he was tired. Phantomvein had less power, and it appeared that it was not strong enough to kill off a devil with the power of an immortal. Luckily, Phantomvein was absorbing the blood of the devil. If the sword absorbed enough power, it was possible to finish off the devil. Krrrraaaa! ¡°Hunter. I see monstersing.¡± Ramphil spoke as he heard the sound, and Zin looked up into the sky. The Witch was not waiting for its death quietly. ¡°Damn.¡± A monster bird was flying towards Zin at high speed. The Witch had summoned a flying monster to her. ¡ªbambam!¡ª The monster plunged toward Zin like a meteor, and Zin quickly avoided the dive. ¡°Krrrraaaaah!¡± The monster bird emanated dark smoke from its feathers and breathed out dark smoke from the beak. As Zin dodged the smoke, the ground that was hit by the smoke disintegrated. Zin put away his Phantomvein and pulled out his Saiga shotgun. ck hawk¡­ This is going to be fun. A ck hawk was arge monster was considered tough to deal with. It was smart enough to avoid gunfire, and it had speed and power. How the heck does that Witch so easily summon such a powerful monster¡­Zin was disgusted by the power of the Witch! The ck hawk stood over the bloody foam of the devil and breathed fire at him. ¡°Kyaaaaaah!¡± ¡°Argh!¡± Zin briefly lost his senses as he was struck by powerful sound waves. It was not good to hunt monsters without any preparation, and he hadn¡¯t prepared to attack this type of monster. ¡ªkaboom!¡ª There was an explosion as the powercell hit the face of the ck hawk, but after the smoke cleared, there was no damage to it. Meanwhile the devil was still regenerating, and as Zin was preupied fighting off the ck hawk, the White Witch regained her form. As she fully regained her body shape, the Witch emanated a purple aura. She was in an unstable state! ¡°Ooooaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!¡± ¡ªziiing!¡ª ¡°Arg!¡± At the powerful release of a psychowave, Zin was shaken up. The psychic power of the Witch was more then strong enough to overpower Zin, a mere human. ¡°Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahck!¡± The Witch¡¯s cry stuck everyone in the area, regardless of enemy or ally, and the ck hawk was trembling as it was overpowered by the psychic storm. As if the whole world had suddenly stopped, Zin tried to stay conscious from the pressure that was crushing his brain. Ramphil lost his consciousness at the powerful psychowave, and Zin bit his lips as he trembled. ¡°Crazy¡­ what the heck¡­¡± ¡ªziiiing!¡ª ¡°Dieeeeeeee!¡± ¡ªkabam! kaboom!¡ª The ground shattered and the telekic energy started to pummel Zin. The psychowave was shot all over the ce, but was now specifically targeting Zin. Zin¡¯s brain was going to shatter at this rate! He had to make a swift decision! [Activating dark born energy] [Energy level extremely low! Stop use of energy!] ¡ªvwooooom!¡ª As Zin¡¯s body was surrounded with dark smoke, he was released from the pressure and dashed towards the Witch. ¡ªbam!¡ª ¡°Aaack!¡± ¡ªbaaaam!¡ª Zin¡¯s fingers pierced through the eyes of the Witch and ripped apart her skull. Krrrrrrrrrr! However the waves of telekic energy did not stop, and as Zin¡¯s whole body was squeezed, mes zed around the dark smoke protecting him. ¡ªbam! baam! ¡ª Zin ripped apart the body of the Witch with his bare hands, but the power of the devil did not diminish. He was utilizing a high level of energy to attack and defend himself at the same time. It was like he was attacking in the middle of a nuclear explosion. [Remaining energy level 31%¡­ 29%¡­ 24%¡­] As his darkborn energy was drained at a frightening speed, Zin was crushing the regenerating body of the Witch. In a space where time seemed to be stopped, Zin continued to rip apart the body of the Witch. Because of the overloaded power, the body of the Witch was repeatedly crushed and regenerated at a quick rate. [Don¡¯t continue the use of energy! Remaining energy level critically low!] ¡ªbabaam!¡ª [Remaining energy level 1%¡­ .92%¡­] ¡ªpow!¡ª Suddenly, a powerful telekic energy exploded from the body of the Witch and struck Zin¡¯s chest. ¡°Huuuck!¡± Zin was flung far away by the mighty blow, and his dark born mode was deactivated. It was as if the telekic force was alive and concentrated its attack on its enemy, punching a hole into his chest. ¡ªkrrrrrrrr!¡ª As the power of the psychowave diminished, the fully regenerated body of the Witch started to tremble wildly. She almost faded out. ¡°Sniff¡­ sniff¡­ I don¡¯t want to die¡­ don¡¯t want to die¡­ save me¡­ it hurts¡­ hurts¡­ no needles¡­ save me¡­ my body is melting¡­ sniff! Ah! I¡¯m sorry! Sorry! Help¡­ Help me¡­¡± Responding to the cry of the sorrowful Witch, the ck hawk which survived the psychowave started to crow. Kiiiiii! The monster bird grabbed by Witch in its ws, and started to p its wing. ¡ªvwoom!¡ª With a single p, the monster bird started to fly up in the sky. The monster continued to fly away with it master held in its ws. ¡°I want¡­ to live¡­¡± The Witch continued to murmur out of her mind. [No energy avable to auto-regenerate the body.] [Utilizing the drained blood from the fourth charm, Phantomvein. Regenerating body.] [Approaching energy depletion state.] [Shutting down.] [Need the blood of a devil.] [Need the blood of a devil.] [Need the blood of a devil.] . . . Unable to move a single finger, Zin watched the monitor without the ability to make any decision. If he used his remaining energy to stay conscious, he would cease to functionpletely. He had no energy to even pick up and consume the blue chips. It meant that death was near. Zin was too weak to fight against the new devil. Zinid down at the footstep of death. He could only see a yellow sky. Just as other hunters had, Zin was facing death in the wilderness. He had no energy left to open his mouth or move his eyelids. He was not able to move at all, and even if he conserved his remaining energy, he had less than an hour of life. Zin did not feel liberation, happiness, sadness, or desire for survival. I thought it would feel more terrible. Zin figured that hisst moment would be gruesome, but he was not expecting it to end like this. He lost the battle. He was not used to facing death upon defeat. It was not because he expected defeat. He didn¡¯t expect his final moments to be like this. Deaths in the wilderness were very simr. It was neither tragic nor happy. Zin would disappear into the dust of the wilderness. ¡ªvrrrrrrrroooooooom!¡ª And then, a loud engine sound could be heard from somewhere. ¡°¡­¡± It was approaching Zin at a zing speed. Zin wanted to smile at the sound of the engine that he despised so much, but he couldn¡¯t. ¡ªvrrrrooom!¡ª ¡°Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisterrrrrrrrr!¡± The world did not want to let Zin go away yet. Chapter 35 Chapter 35: Each own goal (Part 1) ¡°Are you dead, mister?¡± Leona stopped the junk wagon, walked up to Zin, and looked at Zin who had his eyes open. Leona pondered for a bit as she watched Zin¡¯s eyes as he was lying down helplessly. ¡°You look alive¡­¡± Looking at Zin who had his eyes open, Leona did not realize that Zin did not have much time left. Zin tried to tell Leona that he needed chips using his eyes, but it was hard for both of them tomunicate. Consuming Leona¡¯s blood would help Zin, but that meant consuming Leona¡¯s life, and Zin was not in a position to even exin that. As Leona looked at Zin, it took a while before she realized that Zin was low on energy and that he needed chips to survive. Leona ran to the junk wagon to grab some chips, and stuffed them into Zin¡¯s mouth. [Blue chip consumption total 4853. Uptime increased by 4853h.] [Remaining energy level 0.16%] [Vital functionality restored.] [Need devil¡¯s blood.] Leona had about five thousand chips stored on the junk wagon. ¡°Ah¡­ my eyes¡­¡± Zin was pressing on his eyes as he had hard time performing bodynguage with his eyeballs. Zin dug his head down and wondered why the kid came here. He pondered why she woulde all the way over here riding on the dangerous junk wagon. Zin knew the answer, but struggled to understand it. He couldn¡¯t figure out why she acted in such a way. And Zin could not lift his head up. The kid whom he told to get lost and the thing that he despised the most helped save his life. As Zin lifted his head up, Leona was right beside Zin staring at him. ¡°This is prepayment.¡± ¡°¡­ What?¡± ¡°Do you think I¡¯m crazy and would give away over four thousand chips for free?¡± And frankly Zin did not understand how she was able to gather that many chips. Leona looked at Zin, and spoke. ¡°I want you to train me as a hunter.¡± It was something that Zin did not expect at all. At her words, Zin shook his head in disbelief. ¡°Makes want to puke up all the chips.¡± ¡°Then throw them up now.¡± At her words, Zin shrugged his shoulder. ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have the capability.¡± Zin sighed and stood up slowly. He did not understand what was going on, and why it was happening. He did not know why the devil that he chased away came back to him. He was confused about how to deal with the kid whom he decided not to hunt as an exception. But Zin was a hunter. He was a devil hunter and a hunter. A hunterpleted tasks by epting chips as reward. Therefore, he had to pay up for the reward. ¡°I never had a pupil before.¡± ¡°Am I the first one? That¡¯s great!¡± As Leona smiled, Zin smirked. ¡°I meant that I have no confidence in my teaching abilities.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Leona was starting to regret what she said. ¡°Let¡¯s go, things will get rowdy soon.¡± Zin walked towards the fortress that became quiet. The fortress was not going to fall. It was clear that unnecessary altercation would happen when squads woulde out to retrieve fallen soldiers. As Zin tried to leave suddenly, Leona talked in a rush. ¡°Let¡¯s ride this¡­¡± ¡°I acknowledge that this junk helped youe all the way here, but I have no intention to¡­¡± As soon as Zin started to talk that he had no n to ride the junk wagon, the Wargrave squad appeared. ¡°Hey, over there! Stay where you are!¡± And they shouted at Zin. ¡°Damn.¡± As soon as Zin cursed, he picked up Leona. ¡°Wow wow!¡± ¡ªvrrroomm vrroooom!¡ª Zin put Leona by his side, and started to ride the junk wagon away from the fortress. The Wargrave troop stood still and watched Zin and Leona drive away on the junk wagon. ¡°Drive carefuuuullly! It¡¯s scary!¡± ¡ªvrrrooom!¡ª Zin pressed hard on the elerator, and rode the junk wagon more violently than a Reaver did, using only one hand. Two days passed after the SMCP fortress attack. ¡°Warrant officer, what are you doing?¡± ¡°¡­ I was in shock.¡± Ramphil was sitting down on the recovery room, even forgetting to salute the senior officer. The repair of his body at the repair room was finished, but Ramphil looked like he was thinking about something. More than anything, Ramphil seemed to be in great worry to the point that he forgot to salute the head of the fortress, the Warlord. ¡°You look too calm for a person who is in shock.¡± Ramphil slowly nodded at the words of the Warlord, brigadier general Ramzier. ¡°It was the first time that I was injured.¡± ¡°It was a nasty foe, a devil. If it were not for you, the fortress would have been destroyed. You should be proud of yourself.¡± In fact, if it weren¡¯t for Ramphil, the special forces could not have been able to regroup, and the fortress would have copsed from the inside. Ramphil was overpowering as he fought against the devil with not much problem. Most forces at SMCP were in awe of Ramphil¡¯s superior battle skills and did not think that hecked anything. It was the first that Ramphil was injured in a battle. And he did not understand the emotion that he was feeling his heart. He wondered if this was the sense of defeat or sense of revenge. Ramphil slowly organized his thoughts. The emotions that he was feeling were different that dark or terrible ones. He was more in awe and surprise. To Ramphil, a battle was something that was extremely predictable. He knew what needed to be done, and the results followed suit. He thought that other did not know what to do were strange. And therefore, he couldn¡¯t understand others who were defeated and died. Ramphil was that talented. He was a talented genius that didn¡¯t understand much about the untalented. However, in thest battle, he knew what to do for a brief moment, but he didn¡¯t know what to do in thest moment of the battle. He was not able to figure out how to defeat the enemy. At the moment of defeat, Ramphil didn¡¯t feel despair, but he felt something different and exciting. And as he met an unexpected stranger at the moment of defeat, he was extremely impressed by him. He was impressed by the devil hunter that butchered the witch with a giant sword. Even though he was knocked out in the end, he didn¡¯t just fight against the witch; he ripped apart the witch to death. That day, Ramphil came across with two unexinable beings. ¡°This world is a big ce.¡± ¡°It is indeed. So big that it¡¯s unimaginable.¡± That day, Ramphil realized that he was toocent with himself. Ramphil always took orders to fight. He became a soldier when he was asked to be one, fought when he was asked to fight, and became victorious was he was asked to win. As the Warlord quietly looked at the officer who was out of his mind, he sensed something strong. The cyborg started to have emotions. Though Ramphil was a warrant officer, he was a very important person at SMCP fortress. He was so important that the Warlord himself came to check on Ramphil after his recovery. ¡°Officer.¡± ¡°Yes, Warlord.¡± ¡°¡­ Do you remember the first time we met?¡± Listening to his words, Ramphil looked at the Warlord. ¡°It was at a ughterhouse arena.¡± ¡°You remember very well.¡± Ramzier was born and grew up in SMCP fortress. He was in charge of searching and destroying a group of fearless Reavers that attacked a Wargrave squad. During the conquer mission of the Reavers, Ramzier first met Ramphil at the ughterhouse that was the size of a regr city. The Reavers took civilians as prisoners and enjoyed watching the arena battles between the prisoners. And Ramphil was a warrior that survived in the arena for two years. At that time, Ramphil was only ten years old. Wargrave troops only took revenge on the Reavers and left the prisoners unharmed. Ramzier didn¡¯t bring Ramphil with him for any special reason. Among the surviving prisoners, no one came near Ramphil. ¡°At that time, I took pride in myself for making the best decision of my life bringing you with me.¡± ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± Ramzier knew that Ramphil¡¯s eyes were those of a cold and calm soldier. His gut told him so. Ramphil had all the traits of a soldier at a young age. He had the coolness in the midst of rapid changes, and he had a facial expression that he was ready to persevere any hardships. And out of all, Ramzier was impressed that Ramphil remained calm without disying happiness or sadness as he watched the deaths of the Reavers who persecuted him. Afterwards, Ramphil was trained as a soldier under the supervision of Wargrave. Under dangerous circumstances, Ramphil acted as the hidden card for the SMCP fortress. And this time as well , Ramphil fought off the devil to save the fortress. And now, Ramzier was looking at Ramphil who appeared to have lost hisposure for the first time. ¡°Officer, I will give you a special order.¡± ¡°What would that be sir?¡± ¡°It¡¯s an order from the Central Asia division.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Eradicate the white witch.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°As you can see, we sustained heavy damage. We received too much damage to form a new squad for this mission.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The SMCP fortress became too weak to form a new squad to attack the witch. And Ramzier was asking Ramphil to take the mission to eradicate the witch by himself. The data about Ramphil¡¯s battle against the white witch and Ramphil¡¯s battle skill level were going to be a good proof that the SMCP waspliant with the Central Asia division¡¯s order. SMCP was in a situation where if it formed a new big squad for the mission, the fortress would not have the minimal force to defend itself. It was better for Ramzier to send an elite soldier by himself for the mission. He thought that it would be sufficient to please the Central Asia division. ¡°I will grant you status as a temporary executor. It¡¯s not official, but you will be able to receive support from other fortresses.¡± Ramphil did not agree or disagree to the Warlord¡¯sments. Ramphil was a soldier, and he only needed toply with orders. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Ramphil did not say anything else. He did not argue that it was an unreasonable order. The next day, Ramphil gathered some equipment and left the fortress. He bid farewell to Ramzier. As Ramzier returned to his office, one of his aides spoke. ¡°What a pity. There he goes¡­ I was hoping to catch up with officer Ramphil. At his words, Ramzier stared at him. ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°¡­ What do you mean, sir¡­¡± ¡°I asked if you are really thinking that way.¡± Looking at the stunned aide, Ramzierughed. ¡°Ramphil has been with us for eleven years.¡± ¡°I know that, sir.¡± ¡°These eleven years, he has not made a single friend. He has not spoken to anybody privately.¡± At Ramzier¡¯s words, the aide¡¯s face hardened. It meant that he wasn¡¯t a robot, but a human who was practically a robot. Ramzier brought Ramphil to the fortress, and he trained him as a soldier. ¡°He has never talked casually with anyone.¡± Nobody approached Ramphil, and he never approached anyone. Like a machine, Raphil did not move unless he was given an order. He did not read books or chat with others. He didn¡¯t do ¡®anything.¡¯ Ramphil was a genius, and he was regarded as the savior of the fortress, yet everyone in the fortress feared him. ¡°I need soldiers. A person who can take down a devil by himself cannot be considered a soldier. This order worked out well for us.¡± In a sense, Ramphil was kicked out from the fortress. Ramphil was too strong to be called a soldier. And it was better for Ramzier to let him go. The Central Asia division¡¯s order to eradicate the witch was an impossible task for SCMP, and Ramphil¡¯s skill and battle data was a good method to avoid any repercussions. He was able to perform missions that required a brigade. If Ramzier sent the data to the Central Asia division, he would be off the hook for sending only one soldier for the mission. It was the best decision for Ramphil and Ramzier as well. Ramzier tried to treat Ramphil like a son. He brought him to the fortress himself and was most likely fond of him. Ramzier also gave him the name Ramphil. Although Ramphil thanked Ramzier, he did not disy love towards him. As he was given the order to leave, he briefly said goodbye and left that day. The aide could not look straight at the Warlord. The Warlord was also feeling miserable for sending Ramphil to an impossible mission because he did not have confidence in handling Ramphil. Ramphil did not feel any emotions as he walked through the wilderness for the first time in eleven years. It was still barren and lonely. For Ramphil who had no motivation to live, he was always given the reason to live by others. In the past, he killed enemies in the arena; in the fortress, he was under orders every moment. Currently, he had a simple mission engraved in his mind. Eradicate the white witch. It was a mission that did not tell ¡®how.¡¯ And therefore, Ramphil did not face such a mission that was open to interpretation. But after facing the white witch, he knew that it was not an easy mission. The Warlord had given him a very irresponsible mission, and he had to think of how he would aplish this mission. I would need to join up with the Central Asia division, but they are too far away. In order to attack the target, the white witch, the Central Asia division¡¯srgest force would be on the move. But it would take a long time to get to them. I will have to go to the devil hunter. Ramphil thought that it would be more effective to look for the devil hunter who would be around the area. Ramphil came across the two types of iprehensible forces, and he believed that the devil hunter would lead him to the devil. Chapter 36 Chapter 36: Each own goal (Part 2) ¡°Chips? I looted all of them. I hit the jackpot, you know?¡± Zin asked Leona how she got hold of that many chips, and she said that she looted a city that the monster swept past. The Korean penins south of SMCP was practically wiped out by the monsters, and Leona rode the junk wagon north while collecting all the chips from the destroyed cities. And at the moment, all those chips became energy for Zin. Leona headed towards the fortress. She came without knowing what Zin would do to her. She brought arge number of chips and asked Zin to train her as a hunter. ¡°I am pretty sure that you are the best hunter out there. As soon as I can defend myself, I will get lost, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Leona did not want to live as a weakling. She had her reasons to be a hunter herself. Of course, Zinughed loudly at herment. ¡°Good excuse.¡± Leona frowned at his words. ¡°Can you stopughing it off? This is a serious matter for me, you know?¡± In the wilderness, monsters were not the only threat. Just as the hunters did not only hunt monsters, Leona wanted to be a hunter to protect herself from other humans. ¡°Your physical limitation cannot be ovee by gaining new skills.¡± ¡°But it would at least help me, no?¡± ¡°¡­ Sure.¡± Zin sighed, and Leona smiled as she was happy that she won the argument. ¡°But what are you exactly? Why do you gain energy by eating chips?¡± Leona asked Zin about how he could resuscitate after eating chips. Zin spoke as if was not a big deal. ¡°Half of my body is made up of a machine. And the machine requires chips to operate. Got it?¡± ¡°Ohh¡­ that¡¯s cool¡­¡± As Leona was marveling at the fact, Zin didn¡¯t know what to do. Leona was the first person who reacted this way after hearing about the Darkborn energy. ¡°Are all hunters like that?¡± ¡°No, not all of them.¡± It was not something easily exined, and Leona didn¡¯t ask further. Zin¡¯s body was built with a fortified frame, and he had far superior strength than ordinary people. However, he was not able to utilize battle skills and support skills, and he had a time-limited life. Zin didn¡¯t talk about that fact. And he also didn¡¯t talk about the fact that he needed to drink the devil¡¯s blood. Zin and Leona started heading north as nned. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± The question had many meaning. How would they find the devil, how would they kill it, and how would Zin make Leona a hunter. It was question about where they were headed. ¡°Even if we find the devil, I cannot kill it.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°That devil¡¯s got the power of an immortal. It¡¯s rtively weakpared to other powers though.¡± ¡°What is an immortal?¡± ¡°Think of it as a devil that does not die.¡± ¡°What, isn¡¯t that cheating?¡± It was a relief that it did not have aplete power of an immortal, but Zin had no way of hunting the devil with the weapons he carried. Zin smiled bitterly at Leona¡¯sments. A devil hunter would not be able to hunt something that does not die. ¡°Back in the days, I had to seal it off.¡± ¡°Seal?¡± ¡°Yes, sealing. To be exact, that witch is a collection of devils.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I have been trying to guess what you were talking about? Can you exin it so that I can understand?¡± ¡°That monster is a mixture of alien, demon, immortal, witch, and a vampire. I don¡¯t know for sure¡­ but it might have the power of dragon and ghost as well.¡± What Zin had to do was pretty clear. ¡°I will need to seal the power of the immortal that the witch possesses, and kill her with the Phantomvein.¡± Leona kept on nodding as if she was tired to even say ¡®I don¡¯t understand. First step was sealing the power of the immortal to remove that power from her. And second step was killing the witch with Phantomvein or with any weapon with magical power. At the moment, Zin¡¯s priority was to gain the power to seal, and strength the weakened Phantomvein. ¡°So where are we going?¡± ¡°We have to choices. Look for a seal expert, or extract the power of seal from a seal field.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a ce called heavenly power castle two months away in the north.¡± Zin looked far north. ¡°We¡¯ll head there first.¡± ¡°So there¡¯s a seal field there?¡± ¡°Yes, at the heavenly power castle, there¡¯s an immortal sealed underground.¡± Zin and Leona started walking fast. The white witch was not aplete immortal, so Zin didn¡¯t need to draw the full power of the seal. ¡°Am I wrong to think that this is something dangerous?¡± ¡°It is dangerous. The immortal might get freed up by mistake.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Leona shook her head at Zin¡¯s calm voice. It was as if Zin was looking for bigger trouble. Looking for the devil was not the priority. They had to look for the tools to hunt the devil. Leona thought of something and asked Zin. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we rather look for the seal expert? That would be less dangerous.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t where he is. And I don¡¯t know him either.¡± It was better to go to a familiar ce than searching for one person around the world. ¡°What is a seal expert? It that a magician?¡± ¡°Magician¡­ you people still belief in such lies?¡± Zin smiled. He thought how magic or conjuring were not that different. ¡°The seal expert is a devil hunter like myself.¡± At his words, Leona opened her eyes wide.¡± ¡°To be exact, he¡¯s an Immortal hunter. Ah¡­ you must be learning about this for the first time.¡± Leona did not know about the devil hunter, and she didn¡¯t understand what it meant. ¡°Devil hunters are asked to take care of specific devils professionally. Immortal hunters have such seal power for those reasons.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ is that so? Then what are you in charge of?¡± Zin watched Leona for a while. ¡°Well I didn¡¯t specialize in a one thing. If I were to pick one, I¡¯d be a witch hunter¡± ¡°Are you joking? It¡¯s not funny.¡± At Zin¡¯s words, Leona¡¯s face became pale. ¡°I¡¯m not kidding.¡± And Zin was not kidding as well. Zin kept walking forward without looking at the face of Leona. And Zin added. ¡°The exception on you is therefore a special one.¡± In fact, Zin was a witch hunter. And it was hard for Zin that he was making exception for Leona. As Leona looked at Zin, she felt this strange feeling swirling in her. ¡°I feel like I have gotten a weird confession.¡± As Leona spoke with slight disgust, Zinughed. A witch was apanying a witch hunter. And the witch wanted to be a hunter. The unexinable team continued to walk up north through the wilderness. ¡°Ugh¡­ uh¡­¡± The prototype, white witch, woke up somewhere deep in the mountain bed. The witch crawled out of the soft feathers that were covering her. The ck hawk was vignt, and made sure that the witch was safe. And it was covering the witch with its feathers until the witch woke up. Kiiiiiii¡­ The ck hawk cuddled in front of the witch, and the witch gently stroked the head of the big ck hawk. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you¡­¡± The battle against the Wargrave soldier was fierce, but the attack from the devil hunter was especially deadly as it brought soul crushing pain to the witch. And in fact, if took away some power from the witch. And if the witch didn¡¯t have the power surge, she might have been killed on the spot. The witch kept on gently stroking the ck hawk as she was very thankful. I was too cocky. She thought that she could take down the Wargrave fortress by herself, but she was stopped by a single soldier. On top of that, the devil hunter appeared to kill her. She thought it was just a legend. She thought that people who feared the devils created such myth, and even if the devil hunters existed, they should have been disappeared in a devil-less world. But as soon as she engaged on the first battle, the devil hunter appeared. And even though the devil hunter had his chest pierced, the white witch could not forget the murderous eyes of the ughterer. A true devil hunter would not have died so easily. The witch felt goosebumps all over her body. Her body was blown up by a single gunshot, and she felt her soul getting shredded as she was shed by the weird sword. And the witch was freaking out by the thought that such hunter wasing after her. The witch thought that her power was dominating. But as she experienced her first defeat, she realized that things were not as easy as it seemed. And the witch thought that she was fortunate to be defeated early on. She was lucky to have encountered a strong foe like the devil hunter. The witch spoke as she gently stroked the ck hawk. ¡°I can¡¯t do this by myself.¡± She was able to survive the battle because she quickly summoned the ck hawk. She was strong, but she was alone. It was clear what she had to do. If she was alone, she had to recruit more powerful monsters. The monsters in the Korean penins were weak, but she could gather more powerful monsters from different areas. As soon as she could gather an army of powerful monsters, she would be able to wipe out fortresses without a sweat. And the devil hunter would be vulnerable in front of the army of monsters. The revenge would have to be postponed, but the world would be facing a true destruction when the witch would reappear. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Kiiiiiiehhhh The witch rode on the back of the ck hawk, and the ck hawk started to p its giant wings. The ck hawk rose up high in the sky and started flying away. Nobody knew where they were heading. Zin and Leona were heading towards north. They were not off the Korean penins yet, but they hoped that they would be out of the penins in about a week. Although the civilization was extinct, there were still four seasons. Nobody tracked dates anymore, but Zin was able to know the date based on the clock on the Darkborn. The month was August past July. ¡°Crap¡­¡± Leona was walking and huffing under the scorching sun. ¡°It¡¯s hot¡­ I¡¯m dying of thirst¡­¡± It was a scorching hot weather that was unbearable for Leona who usually didn¡¯tin about pain. The sun was strong, and under the burning sun, Leona was sweating like a pig even though she rolled up her sleeves and pants. However, Zin still had his coat on, but he was walking without a sweat. ¡°Any way I look at it, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m a devil at all.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You do think so, right? What kind of devil suffers under the hot sun? Crap! This is not fair!¡± Leona was cursing at the sun, but nothing happened as the sun kept shining with heat. It seemed unfair for Leona. She was identified as a witch and mistreated by Zin, but she did not have any power or benefit for being a witch. Chapter 37 Chapter 37: Vegabond (Part 1) Zin did not talk any more, because he knew that the tired and whiny kid would keep on bickering anyways. Leona became so exhausted that she stopped yapping and just continued to walk. Her head was getting burned by the sun, and as she climbed the mountain, she could feel muggy humidity. One of the things to watch out for while wandering the wilderness was the climate. ¡°Mister, are you not feeling any heat because you are a machine?¡± ¡°No way.¡± ¡°What? But you are not sweating at all.¡± ¡°I can control my sweating.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Leona stood still and wondered what he meant. She seemed to really believe that Zin could control his sweating. ¡°¡­ Just kidding. Don¡¯t think about it too long. I can control unnecessary biological functions.¡± ¡°¡­ I feel hotter now.¡± Because of the hot weather, Leona was struggling to think straight. Anyway, Zin felt the need to change his clothes. During thest battle, his chest was pierced and his coat had a hole in it. He had the option of sewing it up, but the cloth was getting very old. Getting frustrated of the heat, Leona took out a knife and cut off her sleeves and pant legs, turning them into a short sleeve shirt and shorts. ¡°Phew, now that¡¯s better.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll regret it.¡± As Zin spoke, Leona shrugged. ¡°As long as I am happy now, I am good. I am more than happy the way it is.¡± ¡°Well, if you say so.¡± Leona toss away the pieces of cloth that she had cut off, and started walking with more energy. ¡°But, don¡¯t tell me that it¡¯s going to get hotter?¡± Leona looked gloomy as she asked the question. Zin looked up in the sky, and shook his head after checking the air condition and wind direction. ¡°It will get hotter in the next two days.¡± ¡°Two days? Hotter?¡± ¡°Yeah. Well¡­ It looks like it¡¯s going to rain after two days.¡± Zin spoke with conviction, and Leona shook her head after looking at him. ¡°Are you a sorcerer, mister? I mean, not that it¡¯s surprising.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I am able to utilize sorcery, but this has nothing to do with it. It¡¯s based on my experience.¡± ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s going to rain?¡± ¡°Well, as a matter of fact¡­¡± Zin shrugged. ¡°I think a storm is approaching.¡± Zin was hoping to reach a good shelter within two days. Although the climate wouldn¡¯t affect him too much, it was terrible to walk through a storm and heavy rain. Leona was scared after hearing him mention a storm wasing. ¡°Last time, I almost died because of a storm.¡± Leona could get blown away by a storm because she was small and light. She had almost been killed several times because she was swept by a storm. In such ways, the climate of the Earth had deteriorated greatly. Unfortunately, they were passing through an area where there were no buildings or underground facilities that they could shelter in. ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ hurry, mister.¡± ¡°To where?¡± ¡°Anywhere!¡± Leona started walking faster in front of Zin. ¡ª They picked up the pace after Leona learned about the storming. Two dayster, the weather cooled off considerably with overcast clouds, and Leona started to panic, as it looked like it was going to rain as Zin had predicted. ¡°Crap! Why is there not a single building!¡± There was no building to seen anywhere around. There were only ruins or mounds of concrete rubble. ¡°Well, we are in such a ce.¡± Zin was considering exining to Leona how there used to be a South Korea and North Korea, and how the two countries differed in terms of development, but he didn¡¯t because she wouldn¡¯t understand even if she was told about it. They had passed Seoul, and were entering the northern area of the Korean penins, past the DMZ. Unlike South Korea where there were marks of buildings and roads, thends of North Korea were barren, with nothing much around. ¡°I hate facing a storm in the streets¡­¡± Leona was able to survive the storms by entering buildings and taking shelter. Leona panicked as she thought that she might get swept up by the storm out in the middle of the wilderness. Zin had noticed that there were no cities or viges as he headed south before. Humans would be living in ces where there was at least rubble. The surrounding area had no recyble things to build a trash wall. Zin reviewed the maps of the pre-apocalypse days from the Darkborn data. There were a couple of areas that might still be intact. ¡°A military base might still be fine.¡± He located a military base that used to exist about two days away. At the good news, Leona jumped for joy. ¡°Really? Awesome!¡± ¡°Follow me. I do not like walking and holding a kid through the storm.¡± As Zin started walking away, Leona poked him in the side with an evil smile. ¡°Mister, you know, you are not that honest.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what makes me charming.¡± ¡°¡­ well you are honest about being conceited.¡± Zin headed towards the military base. ¡ª¡ª Two dayster, as the strong gusts started blowing, Zin arrived at the location. As soon as Zin told that they arrived, Leona shouted, ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t see anything?¡± ¡°Yeah, looks like it.¡± In front of them were the ruins of a military base. There were signs of buildings, but all were destroyed. The tall grasses around the base suggested that the ce had been raided a long time ago. ¡°¡­ well, if it had anything left, somebody would have looted long time ago, ¡°Leona murmured hopelessly. It was not that surprising for someone to loot concrete or metal, as resources were scarce. ¡ªhe!¡ª The wind was blowing harder, and it was only a matter of time before rain started pouring down with the wind. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have ripped my clothes¡­¡± Leona was getting frustrated for ripping her clothes because of the heat before. Zin clicked his tongue, as if he knew this would happen, and Leona hated Zin for that, but she had nothing to say. ¡°Well, you were briefly happy back then, so isn¡¯t that good enough?¡± As Zin taunted Leona, Leona started to look devastated. ¡°It¡¯s good to be happy at the moment, but it¡¯s no use if I am not happy right now¡­¡± Zinughed at Leona, who was very simplistic. In any case, Zin and Leona started walking towards the ruins of the military base. Although everything was taken apart, there was a basement facility where they could take shelter from the storm. They were not sure if it was a basement of a barracks or a different building, but there was stairway leading down to the basement. Zin spoke up in a serious tone, ¡°You decide.¡± ¡°Decide what?¡± ¡°We can look for other ces to shelter from the storm. We will get wet from the rain, but the storm doesn¡¯t look too bad, and it¡¯ll be better than this ce.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s the other option?¡± ¡°We can go into the basement to take shelter. But if the basement gets flooded, then we will need to leave. We will have to look for a new shelter in the middle of the storm.¡± Both options seemed to be bad options. It was unclear how strong the storm would be, but it was clear that the basement would get flooded by the rain. Leona was thinking what to do, but she hated that she had to make a decision. ¡ªkururrrrr!¡ª A lightning bolt shed in the sky covered with green dust, and the thunder shook the ground. ¡ªsh! sh! ¡ª As three consecutive lightning bolts shed, Leona grabbed Zin by his arm. The storm was approaching and it was toote to run away for a new shelter. ¡°I, I think we should take cover right now.¡± Leona rushed down the stairs, and Zin was dragged down after her. As they went down into the dark basement, Leona realized that her decision was the right one. ¡ªcrack!¡ª The rain was falling so hard that Leona could hear trees snapping. The howling sound of the storm could be heard from the basement, and Leona shook her head in fear. ¡ªplop! plop!¡ª And just as Zin had predicted, there was water falling from the ceiling. ¡°Oh no! Argg¡­ can¡¯t I get a break¡­ Ah!¡± A water drop fell on Leona¡¯s head, and she stared at the ceiling, only to be hit by more drops. At this rate, it was clear that the ce would get flooded. However, even with the water leak, it seemed like they could stay in the basement for a while. ¡°By the way, what is this smell?¡± Leona frowned and sniffed. The basement was filled with a wet and unpleasant odor. Zin was looking around the boiler room. ¡°Are there any monsters?¡± ¡°Why do you even worry? We won¡¯t get attacked.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean that the monsters are all good, you know?¡± Leona kept onining and Zin continued to look around. The basement was filled with an unpleasant and ominous smell. Such basements were good locations for monsters to nest. Therefore, monsters lived in the cities rather than the wilderness. It was very likely that nests in the middle of the wilderness were inhabited by powerful monsters who could withstand the weather. But Zin was not too worried after smelling the odor. This is not the smell of just one kind of monster¡­ there¡¯s a mix of different types. The foul smell was all around the basement, but Zin was able to distinguish the smell of different monsters. Corpse hunter, garbage slime, poisonous dogs¡­ And he also spotted fur, dried up mucus, bodily fluids, and bloodstains. It was possible that a monster could have been eating here, but he was not able to smell any trace of a powerful monster. ¡°What is it? Did you find something?¡± Zin slowly nodded at Leona¡¯s question. ¡°I think it¡¯s camouge.¡± In this basement full of the ominous smells of monsters, Zin was able to find a hole at the edge of the boiler room. It was located in the far corner of the room, dark and alone. ¡°Somebody lived here, or is living here.¡± Spraying the scent of monsters in the entrance could scare away other monsters, as well as robbers. The basement had be a ce where the different kinds of foul odor were unbearable. ¡°Secluded groups of people use this type of camouge. It is usually better to camouge the area in such a way, as monsters can find the entrance rather easily.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ that¡¯s smart.¡± The residents in this ce made the basement look like the nest of an extremely dangerous monster. Most of the people would not realize this, and low level monsters would be scared away by the scent of the other types of monsters. However, Zin dealt with many types of monsters, and easily noticed the disguise. ¡°So what are you going to do?¡± Leona was asking if Zin was going to go inside the hole or not. It was very likely that the residents formed a very smallmunity and that there would not be many resources. There were many times where people requested help, but could not pay up properly. Zin had seen people ask the hunter for free work. It was something that he did not want to deal with. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll be better off staying here.¡± At his words, Leona sat down on the floor, and Zin also sat down nearby. They didn¡¯t know how long it would take for the storm to go away. And they could only hope that the basement would not get flooded before then. ¡ª¡ª ¡ªdrip! drip!¡ª The rain was pouring down hard with lightning. Leona thought that this would the only chance, and she went out to wash herself in the rain. She came back to the basement all wet, and dried her hair. ¡°Phew, I feel better now after taking a shower. I felt so dirty.¡± Leona washed her spare clothes and threw them on the ground. Because she was not able to shower on a regr basis, Leona washed herself using rain water. Feeling refreshed and clean, Leona wore the wet clothes andid down on the floor of the boiler room. Zin thought how weird Leona acted as she showered in the storm. ¡°¡­ muddy water is falling down.¡± As she was hit by the muddy water from the ceiling, she murmured hopelessly. Zin thought that Leona would have survived even though she didn¡¯t have the power of the Witch. Then Leona stood up as if she had thought of something. She took out her knife, cut her hair, and kept herself busy. And then she started to sharpen the knife against the concrete floor. The small knife that was probably used in the kitchen looked very dull. The knife was her only weapon, and helped Leona survive in the wilderness. Even though she never learned how to sharpen a knife, she was diligently sharpening hers while pouring water over it. ¡°Use this.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Zin approached Leona. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to cut through a vegetable using that knife. This is a knife!¡± Zin handed over a knife with a leather sheath to Leona. He only used it to trim meat, it was a spare. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Leona pulled out the knife from the sheath and marveled. The knife was in an excellent condition, the grip was covered with good quality leather, and the knife was light enough for Leona to use. More than anything, the knife was small enough for Leona to conceal it in her clothes. Leona wrapped the old knife with cloth, and put it away in her bag. And she put the knife around her waist. Leona smiled brightly, very happy with the new knife. ¡°Thank you, mister.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be too happy about a piece of metal.¡± ¡°Ah, I am starting to understand that this is what makes you charming, mister.¡± Leona giggled as Zin spoke indifferently, and Zin, dumbfounded, went back to his ce. Leona kept on looking at the new knife that was glinting with a metallic light. ¡°Let me teach you how to sharpen a knife, as well. If you sharpen it how you did before, the de will be ruined in no time.¡± ¡°Ohh!!¡± Zin had asked to make Leona a hunter, and had already received the chips for the request. He didn¡¯t want to give a firearm to a small kid, so he decided to teach her how to handle a knife. Zin pulled out a whetstone, and started to sharpen the knife slowly. ¡°Hold this area, and be careful not to get a cut¡­¡± Zin showed Leona how to sharpen the knife slowly, and Leona paid close attention. After learning how to sharpen the knifepletely, she nodded with a pleasant smile. ¡°I got this now. But, you know, I don¡¯t have a whetstone.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°?¡± Zin realized that he had forgotten something very important. Chapter 38 Chapter 38: Vegabond (Part 2) It rained for a long time. The rain did not pour into the basement, but it did drip into the basement slowly. More importantly, water dide into the basement, but the basement didn¡¯t get flooded. Leona watched the water flow into the hole in the room. ¡°Mister.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Whatever¡¯s inside that hole, don¡¯t you think that they¡¯re screwed?¡± Several days had passed, and the water kept on flowing into the hole. The area past the hole was probably getting flooded. Zin nodded without replying. ¡°Howe nobody¡¯s getting out of there?¡± ¡°Either everyone¡¯s dead, or they moved out from there. There could be multiple exits.¡± ¡°Really?¡± As Zin spoke, he was sure that there still were survivors in the area. The stench in the area was too fresh for a base that was destroyed long time ago. He thought that the survivors probably escaped to another ce. But he was also thinking about a third possibility. ¡°But¡­ something smells even worse, and I don¡¯t like it.¡± As the rainwater flowed into the hole, the air inside was pushed out. And a different type of stench started toe out. ¡°I¡¯ll need to verify.¡± They wanted to stay in the basement for couple of more days, and Zin wanted to find out what the foul stench was about. ¡°What about me?¡± ¡°You wait here.¡± Zin entered though the hole that the water was still flowing into. It was dark, and Zin crawled through the narrow passage. He moved forward along the wall, and it was leading him further below the ground. It smells like CP. The smelling out from the passage was very eerie. Zin continued to crawl through the muddy water. As Zin came out of the narrow passage, he pulled out his Saiga rifle. I¡¯ll need to use night vision goggles. Zin took out the goggles that operated with chips. He could have used a shlight, but it would be a foolish to reveal himself in the dark. A stairway¡­ The narrow passage connected the building¡¯s basement to another building¡¯s basement. The top of the stairway was blocked with concrete rubble. It looks like they drilled the passage to utilize the basement¡­ ¡ªkuuuuu!¡ª Arge amount of water was flowing out from under the piled concrete. The stairway led down a wide passage. Is this a bunker? The stairway leading downstairs was quite wide, and it looked like the bunker was built before the apocalypse. The concrete wall was old but looked sturdy, and the rainwater kept flowing downstairs. Hmm¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure this is a bunker for the VIP¡¯s. Zin could not understand why such a bunker existed even though the military base was not arge one. However, it was not surprising to see bunkers of this size in the regions of North Korea. Well, whatever it was used for, the important matter is who is in there. As Zin was about to enter the bunker, he felt very ufortable. He was pretty sure that there was something in the underground facility. The entrance was the narrow passage, and air flowed through the concrete. It was an ideal location for someone to hide. ¡ªkuuuuu!¡ª Luckily, Zin¡¯s footsteps were cancelled out by the sound of the water flowing down. There was only one way leading down, and smell of the rain and the foul stench was getting stronger. I am pretty it¡¯s the smell of CP, but there¡¯s something more to it¡­ As he reached the bottom of the bunker, someone spoke to him with a warning. ¡°Stop, do not move forward any more, hunter.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°There is nothing of interest to you in here. So turn back now.¡± A voice could be heard from somewhere that Zin could not see, and the voice had an ominous tone. ¡°Did you know that I was here?¡± Zin asked, waiting for a reply. ¡°You were blocking the entrance, so why would I not know? Anyways, leave now. I will let you stay here through the storm. But get lost after the storm dies down.¡± ¡°If more raines down, this ce is going to get flooded. Aren¡¯t you worried about it?¡± ¡°That is our problem. It¡¯s none of your business, hunter. It¡¯s not a problem that can be solved by a hunter, anyways.¡± ¡®Our¡¯¡­ there must be a group of people. The other person knew about Zin and Leona, and blocked off the entrance so that they wouldn¡¯te inside. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not a scavenger, so I know when to stop being curious. But, I have no intentions of staying with a suspicious group of neighbors through the storm.¡± ¡°Look, you are the ones who entered our shelter. You have no right to say that we are suspicious.¡± ¡°Pal, it is two hundred yearste to proim this ce as your shelter. I have no intention to fight you, but I need to know who you are.¡± Zin did not have to learn who they were, but as he had decided to stay at the basement through the storm, he had no intention to mess around with unknown people. As long as he was going to stay in the basement, he had to identify what the strange smell was about. ¡°So you regard safety as a priority. Fine. I know the ways of a hunter. But keep in mind,¡± the person started to warn with a hoarse voice, ¡°You are not the only one who thinks that attacking is the best defense.¡± ¡°¡­ you a hunter?¡± As Zin asked, someone started walking towards him. And as Zin saw the man through the infrared goggles, he frowned. The man continued to talk. ¡°I once was. But no more.¡± ¡°¡­ Vegabond.¡± The body of the man was covered with ck smoke. He had a hood on his head, and he was covered with darkness all around. All Zin could see was a big mass of darkness. People who were addicted to CP became monsters called vagabonds. And they were CP addicts. They were in danger of bing monsters because of the exposure to CP. However, hunters who hunted monsters and extracted chips frequently were also exposed to CP. People could be monsters through CP addiction, or they could be monsters by exposure to CP for a long time. It might be a small difference in words, but there was a big difference if effect. Hunters who became monsters maintained their consciences. And therefore they were referred as a vegabond instead of a vagabond. They were not regarded as devils, but some became monsters deadlier than a devil. After the devils were eradicated, the deadliest monsters were usually vegabonds. The fact that a hunter survived to be a vegabond meant that he was a veteran fighter, and there was nothing more horrible than an expert hunter and fighter bing a monster. And Zin could feel goosebumps rise all over him. This was not a foe that he could easily fight against, like poisonous dogs. ¡°This is myst warning. Get lost.¡± ¡°What are you doing here? Tell me that and I¡¯ll walk away.¡± ¡°¡­ You are one persistent hunter.¡± Veterans were able to spot other veterans. Just as Zin was on his guard against the vegabond, the vegabond also knew that Zin was no ordinary person. It was better for them to avoid any shes. So, they left the battle as thest resort. ¡°We are getting prepared to head to the Betrayer¡¯s Hut.¡± ¡°Going such a long way¡­¡± ¡°So we need more preparation time. Now, this is none of your business. Get going now.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Zin slowly backed away from the stairway. The vegabond watched Zin leave through the narrow passage, but Zin did not put back his gun yet. Finally, Zin was able to figure out what the foul smell was about. It was abination of CP and body odoring from the vagabonds. For whatever reason, the vegabond was gathering the vagabonds to head to the BH. They were probably preparing drugs to maintain the conscience of the vagabonds. The Betrayer¡¯s Hut was the only area where the vagabonds who were rejected by the humans and monsters could live. It was no small feat to lead the vagabonds to the BH while preventing the vagabonds from turning into monsters. Zin didn¡¯t understand why the vegabond was doing such thing. In any case, the vegabond had no ill intentions, and that was enough for Zin. There was nothing to gain by fighting against a vegabond regardless of the oue. Zin sighed with a relief. Leona quickly asked Zin as he came out through the hole, ¡°Did you find something?¡± ¡°There was something, but nothing to worry about it.¡± ¡°¡­ What was it?¡± As long as the vegabond was there, Zin thought that the vagabonds would not attack Zin and Leona. Leona kept on asking what that was about, but Zin did not reply. The storm was still strong outside. And unfortunately, the situation Zin and vegabond hoped for, where both parties would go their own ways, did not happen. The storm was still strong, and on the fifth day, Zin woke up at strange sounds in the middle of the night. Get inside! Now! No, no¡­ help me¡­ I¡¯m hungry¡­ Wait until the rain stops! The eerie shouts along with the sound of the rain, kept Zin alert. Leona also heard the sounds, and woke up. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Something¡¯s going on.¡± ¡ªkrraaaa! kaark!¡ª I need the drug¡­ give it to me! Not the drug! Give him the suppressant! I¡¯ve had it! I¡¯m done with this! I don¡¯t want that suppressant anymore! I need chips! The loud sounds were getting closer and closer. I¡¯ve had it! I am getting out of here! ¡ªthud! thud!¡ª And a banging sound started to echo out. Did the vagabonds go crazy¡­? Therge sound wasing from the banging of something big. The vagabond was probably destroying the concrete pile around the bunker. ¡°What? What the heck is going on¡­¡± Leona could not stay still as she was getting frightened. You told me that there was a hunter! The hunter should have some chips! Twenty chips would be enough to make a week¡¯s worth of drug! Stop it, you bastards! The vagabonds were drug addicts, and the addiction would not stop, since they were bing monsters. Most of the vagabonds became monsters that sought chips. ¡ªthud! thud!¡ª The sound of crushing concrete was getting louder, and Zin pulled out his weapon with a serious face. There¡¯s about¡­ seven or more. It was my mistake to trust in the vegabond¡¯s ability to control them. Zin pondered for a while as he drew his weapon. If he fought the seven vagabonds outside, the storm could conceal his position. But the problem was not the crazy vagabonds. If I assume that I will have to fight against the vegabond, I will have to hide first and take position. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Without much exnation, Leona knew what Zin wanted to do. Zin carried Leona on his back, and talked to her. ¡°Hold on tight. It¡¯s still gusty outside.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Zin ran out of the basement and headed outside to the ruins where it was still storming. ¡ªboom! babam!¡ª The pile of concrete on the right side exploded. It was raining heavily and dark, so Zin was not able to figure out what happened. He flung himself in the opposite direction, and hid himself behind the bushes. Zin loaded the buckshot ammo on his AKM that utilized 5.56 ammo, and looked around. He was trying to finish the fight from mid-range. ¡ªboom!¡ª Leona did not open her mouth even when the showering rain struck her face. The gusts were too strong for Leona to stand by herself. Zin observed the location where the explosion happened without blinking his eyes. ¡ªKabooom!¡ª As the lightning shed, Zin spotted a group of monsters that were exiting the entrance of the bunker. There were eight of them, and most of them had already turned into monsterspletely. The biggest one had broken through the concrete. Did they live inside the bunker and finally get out of it as monsters¡­? They were barely under control because of the suppressant, but as soon as the suppressant wore off, they would be monsterspletely. There was nothing that could stop them. They were too addicted to the CP, and they were beyond the point of no return. It was probably because they lived in the bunker for a long period of time, or because of the sudden storm. It looks like they were going to leave for BH after producing enough suppressants¡­ However, the vagabonds went mad after barely maintaining their conscience by taking the suppressants. As Zin was holding his breath, he waited for the right time to attack. The vegabond was trying to calm down the vagabonds, but it was toote. The vagabonds were losing their minds one at a time. ¡ªsh!¡ª As the lightning brightened the surroundings, one of the vagabonds who was looking around spotted Zin lying t on the ground. Damn! The cognitive senses of the vagabond were more alert than Zin had imagined. A giant more than thirteen feet tall started dashing towards Zin. ¡°Kwaaaaaaahh!¡± At the screams of the monster, the other vagabonds started rushing towards Zin as well. Zin got up and was ready to pull the trigger. ¡ªcrunch! ¡ª But right at that moment, the dark mist wrapped around the vagabond¡¯s body. ¡°Kiiiieeehhk!¡± ¡ªcrunch! crack! thud!¡ª Like a beast, the mist started biting and crunching the body of the monster. Blood sttered everything, and the body of the monster was mashed and destroyed. The other vagabonds did not care, and kept on running towards Zin. And the dark mist also swallowed up the other monsters that were rushing towards Zin. ¡ªcrunch! thud! ¡ª ¡°Kyaaaah!¡± ¡°Keeeeeck!¡± The dark mist minced and ate up the monsters. It was a gruesome scene even for Zin who was familiar with hunting. In front of Zin, the dark mist devoured the monsters. All of the monsters were gone without a trace of blood, and eaten by the mist. ¡°Uh¡­ disgusting¡­¡± Leona did not take her eyes of the scene as she whispered. All the seven vagabonds were eaten up. Now only Zin and Leona were left, and the vegabond stood in front of the entrance of the bunker as he drew back the dark mist back into his hand. ¡ªkaboom!¡ª In the middle of the storm, the vegabond stood still. He was nning to go to the BH with a group of vagabonds for some reason, but he killed all of them when they went mad. Zin also looked towards where the vegabond was standing. This is like a nightmare¡­ fortunately he doesn¡¯t seem mad. The dark mist was a very rare power that Zin hadn¡¯t seen before. Ghost-type monsters turned into mist, but he had never seen a mist eat creatures alive. Hunters became the most dangerous monsters, the vegabond in front of Zin was a proof of the fact. Leona was not sure what the vagabonds meant to the vegabond, but she was able to feel the sadness within the vegabond. ¡­ What is this feeling? Leona felt weird that she was able to notice the feelings of the vegabond. She was not judging based on his calm silence. Leona was able to feel the emotions of the vegabond flowing through her mind, she was very certain of the fact. What came across to Leona was a deep and unfathomable despair. The vegabond also looked straight at Leona, not Zin. At the moment, a sense ofpassion was shared between Leona and the vegabond. Leona hung to the neck of Zin tighter, and the vegabond started walking into the storm, away from Zin and Leona. Chapter 39-40 < Create Own Request if There is None (Part 1) > The vegabond left, but Zin and Leona decided to stay at the base until the storm died down. Zin was not sure if the vegabond would head to the BH or somewhere else. Leona was feeling uneasy for a while, and ended up speaking up about her experience. ¡°I¡­ I was able to feel his emotions.¡± ¡°You felt it?¡± ¡°Yeah, it was¡­ as if I was able to read his mind. What is this about?¡± Leona had a gloomy look on her face. ¡°You were able to look into the vegabond¡¯s mind.¡± He didn¡¯t tell her that she was able to do so because she was a witch. Leona became gloomy and dropped her head down. I suppose she can¡¯t use her power of her own will. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Leona was not able to utilize her powers freely yet. All vegabonds were powerful monsters, but this vegabond used power far superior to other, ordinary vegabonds. And the fact that Leona was able to enter the mind of a monster at the vegabond¡¯s level meant that Leona had an extraordinary dormant power within her. It was even more formidable because she was able to read the mind of a monster that used to be a human. Zin wondered if Leona knew about the fact. Leona was in a gloomy mood for a while, and didn¡¯t speak. ¡°The storm should die down by tomorrow. Let¡¯s leave tomorrow.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Zin changed the subject on purpose, and Leona noticed it, but she didn¡¯t speak any further. The vegabond left for some destination, and Zin assumed that he went towards the BH. I hope I don¡¯te across him again¡­ But Zin had a strong feeling that he would meet the vegabond again. Zin, a hunter and a devil hunter, always came across many monsters that he didn¡¯t want to meet. ¡ª¡ª The storm weakened, and as the wind calmed down, the two left the base. Leona was sick and tired of the basement, and she walked quickly to release her pent-up energy. Zin also picked up his pace. The air was humid after the storm, but it was bearable for them. And as Leona walked through the wilderness, she made many silly gestures. ¡°Mister! Look! It¡¯s an umbre!¡± Leona used a giant leaf of a mutated tree as an umbre, and she became very happy because it provided her with shade. ¡°You are acting all silly now¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong? It¡¯s keeping me cool.¡± Leona walked around with the giant leaf with joy, but after thirty minutes, she threw away the leaf. ¡°Crap! It¡¯s too heavy!¡± ¡ª Leona kept herself busy and entertained even though Zin did not respond to her much. As a kid, she was able to find things to do that would keep her busy. And even though it was a long journey, it seemed like the time flew by pretty quick. Seven days after the storm went away, Zin and Leona were able to reach the northern part of the Korean penins. ¡ªbang!¡ª As soon as the sharp gunshot fired off, the bullet struck the head of a red bear. The red bear was three times the size of a regr bear, and Zin only needed a single shot to take down the bear. Zin slowly put away his M700. ¡°Looks like we¡¯re pretty far up north. I haven¡¯t seen any ghouls or poisonous dogs for a while.¡± ¡°Does that mean we¡¯re going to see different monsters?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s more dangerous. But as long as we spot them first, there is nothing to be worried about.¡± The red bear was a monster with burning red fur, and it was powerful enough to take down dozens of poisonous dogs or ghoul by itself. However, it was sniped down with a 7.62mm bullet while taking a nap in the shade. Zin and Leona started to walk up the hill where the red bear was lying dead. A stronger monster produced more chips, and there was another important fact. ¡°That is a pretty delicious monster.¡± ¡°Really? How good is it?¡± ¡°It smells slightly, but its taste is simr to a cow¡¯s meat.¡± ¡°Wow! Awesome!¡± Leona got excited and jumped with joy. They had not been able to stop by any vige, and they have been eating corpse hunter for a while. The meat of the ghouls, birds, and monsters all tasted the same¡­ rotten. ¡°I was getting worried because I was getting too used to the rotten taste.¡± Leona was sad that she was getting used to eating such bad-tasting meat. However, because she had been eating well, she gained some weight and looked healthier. She was looking sharp, and was growing up as a kid. And, Zin was satisfied about hunting the red bear. As Leona looked at Zin, he pointed at the bear. ¡°The galldders are very expensive.¡± ¡°What is a galldder?¡± ¡°It¡¯s an internal organ.¡± ¡°Galldder? It sounds very bitter.¡± ¡°It is very bitter in taste.¡± ¡°Something bitter is expensive? Why?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure, but there¡¯s plenty of demand for it.¡± ¡°What a strange world.¡± Along with the chip that could be extracted, the galldder could be sold for some good profit. Zin would be able to sell it for at least 20 chips, and he would be able to sell it for 100 chips to lords who were very conscientious about their health. Zin thought how much he would profit by hunting a red bear using a single bullet. Zin was getting happy at the thought. As he continued to climb the mountain, he looked out for the surroundings. He figured that there might be one or more red bears living around here. And then something unexpected happened as they were about twenty steps away from the dead bear. ¡ªvwooom!¡ª ¡°!¡± ¡°What!?¡± The red bear was sucked under the ground and it disappeared in a split second. Leona was surprised, and so was Zin. At the spot where the bear disappeared, there was a hole that looked like an ant lion¡¯s pit. Leona looked at Zin who was in shock, and asked him, ¡°Mister¡­ this¡­ Did we get robbed?¡± ¡°¡­¡± They were robbed of their prize. They were robbed in broad daylight. With disbelief, Zin kept on looking at the ant lion¡¯s pit for a while. It was a disgrace for a hunter to get robbed of his prize that he hunted down. However, this time around, the situation was a bit dicey. ¡°It¡¯s a cave ant.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a cave ant?¡± ¡°They are ants that dig tunnels and live inside it. They rarelye out of the ground.¡± Zin exined to Leona as he looked at the sunken ground. Zin was still in shock, and couldn¡¯t speak for a while. ¡°They dig a tunnel close to the surface, and when the prey passes above the tunnel, several ants attack and shred the prey.¡± As Zin spoke, Leona looked at the ground in fear. ¡°What? Does that mean we are in danger as well?¡± ¡°They will not hunt anything alive unless they are very hungry¡­ They usually steal dead monsters.¡± The cave ants usually stole the bodies of monsters or humans that were killed in a battle. They were risk-averse monsters. And therefore, Zin was not worried about the cave ants too much. ¡°Well, aren¡¯t they some scumbags?¡± They could not deny the fact that they were robbed. Leona was very upset by the fact that her delicious meal was robbed, and Zin was shaking in anger, as he was robbed of his chips and galldder. The cave ants moved at a great speed inside the tunnels. They were probably carrying the dead body somewhere underneath. Zin murmured with a serious look on his face, ¡°A witch can control monsters with her psychowave.¡± ¡°Huh? Why is that¡­?¡± Zinid his hands on the both shoulders of Leona, and looked straight into her eyes. ¡°Control the cave ants and bring them over here. No, you just need to locate them. If you can control them, that will be even better. If you can locate them, let me know. It will be worth the try.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Hurry!¡± Zin was fuming in anger, and Leona had never seen Zin get so mad. Zin pulled out his NTW-20 and started loading ammunition. Although the shell of the cave ants were thick, the ammo was strong enough to pierce through them. ¡ªck!¡ª ¡°I am going to kill them all.¡± Zin was nning to kill them at point-nk range with the massive rifle. Leona was not sure what she needed to do, but she closed her eyes, and started to concentrate. Thirty minutes passed by. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Leona shook her head as she was getting tired. ¡°Anything you sense?¡± ¡°No, I am lost.¡± Leona was lost as she did not know what she had to do, and she was getting tired as she tried focusing her energy. Leona tried to sense the monsters for a while. ¡°¡­ Now I feel like peeing.¡± As if her concentration had affected her dder, she ran away to somewhere remote. As Leona as struggling, Zin was able to regain hisposure. And as he looked at the giant NTW-20 rifle in his hand, he came back to his senses. ¡°¡­ I got too upset.¡± He was reacting irrationally, as using a giant rifle was very inefficient. Acting furious and irrational was not the way that a wise hunter would act. Even if he could sell the galldder expensively, at most, he lost out on about 150 chips. Zin took a deep breath to calm himself. 150 chips¡­ 150 hours¡­ It took a while for Zin to unload the ammo from the rifle, and put it all away. He thought that he could always hunt other red bears, and he had only used up a single 7.62mm bullet. When Leona came back, Zin was talking to himself repeatedly to calm down. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°What¡¯s with that face, mister?¡± ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s wrong with me?¡± ¡°You look so ready to kill anything.¡± Zin had a very dead serious look in his face. Humans were agitated easily at misfortunes, and it was no different for a teenager or a two hundred year-old hunter. Leonaughed as she poked Zin¡¯s side. ¡°Well, let it go, things happen, you know.¡± ¡°¡­ that doesn¡¯t feel too great, getting advice from a kid.¡± ¡°We still have something to eat, you know? I mean, I was a bit sad that I am going to miss out on good-tasting meat.¡± Leona was trying to cheer up Zin, and she said things out of the norm. And Zin smiled bitterly looking at Leona who was trying hard. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Leona started running, and Zin spoke. ¡°It¡¯s not that way. It¡¯s this way.¡± ¡°Ah! You are right!¡± Zin pointed out that Leona was heading in the wrong direction, and she scratched her head and smiled. They passed the mountains, and along the way, Leona spoke again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She sounded down a bit. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t help.¡± At the moment, Zin realized why Leona was trying to cheer him up. Zin talked to Leona who was feeling down. ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Why are you sorry, mister?¡± ¡°Sorry for asking you to do something strange.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Leona dropped her head down, and tried to hide her smile. ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­¡± As Leona replied, she felt something swell up inside her heart, but she was not able to figure out what it was. < Create Own Request if There¡¯s None (Part 2) > As Zin and Leona walked past the mountainous area, they spotted several holes that looked like ant lion pits. ¡°It looks like the cave ants have been living in this area for a while.¡± ¡°Ugh, disgusting.¡± Simr to the regr ants, cave ants formed colonies. As Leona imagined thousands of cave ants crawling underground through the tunnels, she became scared. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± As they went over one mountain, Zin checked the map. ¡°If we go north from here, we¡¯ll reach a building that used to be a prison. I haven¡¯t been there, but it probably turned into a habitat. We will get there within today so let¡¯s rest up at that ce.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± Up north was a building that used to be a concentration camp for political prisoners. Such ces were easily converted into viges. It was very likely that those ces were converted into points or castles because such ces with buildings were scarce. Because Zin and Leona had been on the road for a long time, they wanted to eat a good meal. And Leona did not have much trouble travelling through the mountains, as she was lightweight. ¡°Mister, so, are we not going to be able to hunt that cave ant?¡± After walking for a long time, Leona asked the question curiously. Zin was extremely upset about the loss, but he didn¡¯t actively try to hunt the cave ants. That probably meant that it was near impossible to hunt them, and Leona was curious. Zin shook his head. ¡°I could hunt them, but it would take a lot of preparation, and it¡¯s not worth it.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ The cave ants can dig tunnels hundreds of yards below the ground. They can crush through rocks to dig tunnels. I can exterminate them, but it will be tough to extract the chips. The tunnels that the cave ants go through are not wide enough for me to crawl through. And even if I¡¯m able to go inside the tunnel, it¡¯ll be crazy to fight against the cave ants inside the tunnel.¡± ¡°Well, they are one annoying group of insects.¡± ¡°Yes, they are.¡± So Zin did not recklessly force himself to hunt the cave ants inside the tunnel. It was better for him to let this one go than try to force it. ¡°Hunters don¡¯t hunt every monster. They only hunt those that return a profit. I hunt cave ants only when there are requests to hunt them. If there¡¯s no request, it¡¯s best to not even worry about it.¡± It was a very practical view, and it was the only way the hunters thought. ¡°I see!¡± As Leona kept the teaching in mind, she nodded vigorously. There were monsters that were tough to handle, yet had hardly any chips. Hunters didn¡¯t like handling tough monsters, but they wanted to hunt weak monsters that yielded many chips. People had many misconceptions about the hunters, but hunters were human, after all. Cave ants were hard to deal with. They were not worth the effort unless there were requests. Wait a minute, I¡¯ve got an idea. Zin slowly nodded as if he thought of something. ¡°I hope there¡¯s a vige where we stay. And I hope they have enough chips.¡± ¡°Why? We don¡¯t even have galldders to sell.¡± ¡°¡­ stop talking about it. It hurts.¡± As Leona pointed out the truth, Zin frowned and started murmuring to himself. Leona asked again, ¡°Then what¡¯s the n?¡± ¡°¡­ There will be a request from the vigers for sure.¡± ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± Zin started walking forward as he smiled. ¡°There may be none. But if there¡¯s none, we could create some.¡± ¡°You are going to create requests?¡± ¡°If there¡¯s none, you gotta find a way to create some.¡± Zin was all smiles as he continued to walk, and he appeared to have forgotten about the red bear incident. Leona could not understand what gibberish Zin was talking about. She shook her head, and then shouted out in a hurry, ¡°Mister! Slow down!¡± Leona had to sprint to catch up Zin, who was walking too fast. ¡ª¡ª The camp that they arrived at was on a basin in between the mountains. It was surrounded with a wall that was about twenty feet high. The wall looked sturdy, and thend inside was cultivated for food. ¡°Wow, there is a vige!¡± Walking down the hill, Leona was surprised to see a vige as Zin had foretold. Leona was amazed at how Zin was able to predict things. ¡°What happens if they don¡¯t allow us in? People in the castles were usually unweing, and they usually rejected suspicious-looking people. ¡°We gotta make them ept us.¡± Zin talked as if he had some n. The castle in front of them seemed to have at least 500 vigers. Zin quickly scouted to check for their defenses. No firearms, but they are all armed with crossbows¡­ On top of the walls, they had ballistae to defend againstrge monsters, in lieu of firearms. This meant that there were craftsmen who built such weapons. The castle appeared to be on high alert, as the weapons were guarded very well. As Zin and Leona approached the castle, the people outside the walls were getting cautious. They held their positions, and someone started walking towards Zin and Leona. ¡°Who are you? I haven¡¯t seen you around here.¡± A guard who was armed with a crossbow slowly approached them. He was not aiming at them, but the bolt loaded on the crossbow meant that he was ready to fire at Zin at any given time. ¡°I am a hunter, and I¡¯d like to rest up at the castle. And I can talk if needed.¡± Zin was unarmed, as he put all his weapons into void storage. The guard nodded. ¡°I will ask themand center. Wait here,¡± the guard ordered the others, who were quite nervous with the appearance of a stranger, and ran towards the wall. A lord was in charge of a castle, and held most of the power. The guards were also given power. In this castle, it seemed like the guards were keeping the vigers under control. ¡°Hey there, don¡¯t stand idle, start working again!¡± At the shouts of the guard, everybody resumed working in the fields, keeping an eye on Zin and Leona as well. ¡°Is this your first time at a castle?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ yeah,¡± Leona nodded with a puzzled look. It was strange to see that people were being ordered, and following orders. People lived in different environments, and people in the castle were protected at the cost of living as ves. They had no other choice. The guard came back, and waved at them toe in. As soon as they walked inside the wall, the guard captain weed them. ¡°Wee to the Jule castle, hunter.¡± ¡°Thanks for weing us.¡± ¡°Is this kid a hunter too?¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± ¡°Ha¡­ really?¡± The guard captain looked at Zin weirdly, but Zin didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Do you have any requests in particr?¡± ¡°Nope, we are self-sufficient. But we always wee visitors spending chips. We have a lot of supplies here.¡± They did not have any requests at the moment. Hunters solved requests for viges, and they also provided chips to the viges by exchanging for goods. ¡°That building over there is the visitor¡¯s inn. Nightly rate is five chips. Meals cost extra, and you can buy supplies from there. Please do not wander around at night, if you do not want to get involved with any trouble.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± ¡°I have asked them to prepare a room, so you¡¯ll need to wait a bit.¡± Zin nodded as the captain was speaking in an intimidating tone. The lodging fee was somewhat expensive, but considering that the castle was a rtively safe ce, it wasn¡¯t that bad. Zin headed to the building that the captain referred to. The building was in good condition, and the vigers and the kids avoided Zin and Leona. ¡°What is wrong with them?¡± Leona didn¡¯t like the way the vigers were looking at them. ¡°People in the castle are afraid of strangers. They are not free. And they are brainwashed to fear strangers so that they will not run away from the castle.¡± ¡°How are they brainwashed?¡± ¡°They are told that if theye in contact with a stranger, their flesh will rot and die. They are told things that make no sense whatsoever.¡± ¡°Hah, then why do they believe in those lies?¡± ¡°It is easier to be afraid of the unknown.¡± Leona shook her head as she didn¡¯t quite get what Zin was saying. ¡°Let¡¯s rest up first.¡± Whatever Zin was plotting, he was not nning to execute it right away. The visitor inn was a single-story concrete building, and most of the doors were closed. The rooms that were avable had wooden windows, and some of the vigers were cleaning the rooms diligently. They are a pretty hospitable people. The guard ordered the vigers to clean up the room, and the vigers were soon dusting off the nkets in the sun. Zin sat on the chair in the hallway, and waited for the room to be cleaned up. The vigers also had water for washing. ¡°The people here have very pale faces.¡± Leona looked at the faces of the guards and the vigers, and was amazed that all looked white and bright. Before Zin could answer, a viger walked in with a wooden box holding an item. The aproned woman also had a white face. ¡°That is because of soap.¡± ¡°Soap? What is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s something that makes people clean, and sanitation is important. People of Jule castle have to wash up every morning when they wake up, and every night before they go to sleep.¡± At the exnation, Zin nodded as if it was funny. ¡°Hmm¡­ it¡¯s a very special castle¡­¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it? In the Jule castle, there are no epidemics.¡± ¡°What is a soap? How does it look like?¡± ¡°It is tool that contains disinfectants to remove oil and dirt.¡± ¡°¡­ You deliberately spoke with bigs words so that I can¡¯t understand, right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°You are a punk!¡± The middle-aged viger didn¡¯t understand Zin¡¯s exnation, either. The woman looked at the wooden box and, took out a bar of hexagon-shaped ivory-colored soap. The woman exined to Leona how to use the soap, and Leona was surprised as she listened to the exnations. Leona walked into the bathroom with the woman, and after using the soap, she made strangements. ¡°What¡­ this is slippery¡­ I don¡¯t like this feeling¡­¡± ¡°Now you can wash with water.¡± ¡°Huh! Why are you spraying water on my face?¡± ¡°Hmm, you are quite dirty. Come over here, I am going to give you a full bath. Take off your clothes.¡± ¡°Ahh, mister! Help me!¡± ¡ªPlop!¡ª ¡ªWak!¡ª It sounded like Leona was throw into a bathtub, and she was washed with soap by the woman. Without paying much attention to Leona, Zin looked around at Jule through the door with his arms crossed. A castle that makes soap¡­ well, all you need is some oil. Monster oil or bear oil was used to make soap. The soap was used to maintain the hygiene level at the Jule castle, and many washed clothes were hanging on the clotheslines. In many cases, cities had bad hygiene, and epidemics spread through the cities often. The health of the vigers was directly tied to the stability of the lord. The castle¡¯s lord knew what was important. Zin looked at the washed clothes hanging on the clothesline, and thought that it was very unique. The castle seemed to be a very good ce, as they provided free soaps to the strangers who might carry virus and germs. Or, it was possible that the lord was just a neat freak. ¡°Oh my goodness, look at this. Look at the dead skin that came off from your body.¡± ¡ªSmack!¡ª ¡°Ak! Why did you p me, ma¡¯am!¡± It was pretty loud inside as Leona was screaming. About an hourter, only the voice of the woman could be heard. ¡°Look at yourself now. Don¡¯t you feel clean and great?¡± ¡°My skin hurts so bad, I feel like it got peeled¡­¡± ¡°We need to wash your clothes, too. Change yourself with these clothes. I will get your clothes ready.¡± Leona was wearing a white one piece dress when she came out again. The cotton dress looked very good, and it seemed to have been made by the vigers. The woman was happy to see the clean Leona, and smiled. The woman took out a mirror from the box, and showed Leona¡¯s face in the mirror. ¡°Look, you are much prettier now, aren¡¯t you?¡± Leona was amazed to see a mirror, but she was more amazed to see her cleaned-up face. Her oily hair was cleaned up, and the oil and dust on her face were gone as well. The woman has scrubbed Leona¡¯s skin so hard that it was now red, but she was now as clean as a child. ¡°Wow¡­!¡± Leona was amazed and shouted out, ¡°I am so freaking pretty!¡± ¡°¡­¡± Zin was speechless as he watched Leona, who was acting so funny. Leona looked into the mirror for a while as she fell in love with herself. She had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and pale white skin even though she wandered under the sun for a long time. And the white dress looked very good on her¡­ ¡°Look! Mister hunter!¡± While the woman was drying Leona¡¯s hair with a towel, she started talking to Zin as she thought of something. ¡°You should get washed, too. You are beyond filthy right now, and you smell very bad.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me¡­¡± ¡°If you keep on procrastinating, I am going to wash you up myself.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m washing up now!¡± Zin stood up in a rush, and headed to the bathroom area. Chapter 41
Chapter 41: Create Own Request if There¡¯s None (Part 3)
When Zin finished washing up in a rush and came out, the cleaned-up Leona was waiting for him on an old and polished sofa. ¡°Soap is awesome.¡± ¡°You were screaming like a pig a while ago, and now you seem to have changed your mind.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because people feel different emotions at different times.¡± ¡°Hunter, did you just wear the same clothes?¡± ¡°Yes, I did¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s point of washing up if you¡¯re going to wear the dirty clothes again?! Give that to me. I¡¯m going to wash it. Go to your room and get dressed in the new clothes that I have prepared.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do¡­¡± ¡°I am doing this because of sanitation purposes, not out of hospitality. Now give me that!¡± ¡°Well then, hold on¡­¡± After Zin took off his coat and bag, he took out the void storage and other necessary items, before giving the clothes to the woman. The woman freaked out and murmured, ¡°Man, oh man, look at this thing. Drenched with oil and dust¡­ Not even flies are going to get drawn to this.¡± The woman gathered all the clothes, and looked at Zin, who changed into new garb. She wanted to tell Zin to wash up again, but didn¡¯t. Leona and Zin had both received new slippers and clothes. The woman was determined to wash clean all the clothes, as well as the shoes. The woman disyed all the items in a wooden box on a table in the hallway. There were food, bolts, weapons such as crossbows, soaps, and other items that were avable in Jule. ¡°If you need anything, let me know how much you want, and we¡¯ll have it ready. The prices are non-negotiable, just to let you know.¡± ¡°Do you handle outside visitors?¡± ¡°Yes, sort of. If you need anything, let me know.¡± ¡°The Jule castle must have hired very outgoing people as hosts,¡± Zin murmured as he was tired, and the woman smiled. ¡°Well, should you say that we are more friendly, oh hunter? Wouldn¡¯t you rather deal with me than a cold person?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I suppose so.¡± ¡°Hahaha! I will take as apliment. I like meeting new people. I especially enjoy the dirty strangers getting cleaner.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am, you are a quirky one¡­¡± Leona was thankful for the woman¡¯s hospitality, but she was getting tired of her. Zin looked at the supplies avable. Some of them had signs that said ¡°chicken¡± and ¡°wild rat meat.¡± It seemed like the castle had livestock. They did not have any weapon supplies that Zin was looking for, but there were many food supplies and clothes. ¡°Could you prepay today¡¯s lodging fee?¡± ¡°Here it is.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Zin paid five chips. Considering that the inn offered soap and water, the lodging fee of five chips per night was cheap. Most of the cities charged a chip per night, but this inn even provided clothes, so it was not a bad deal. ¡°Ma¡¯am, what do you do for living usually? I don¡¯t think visitorse by very often.¡± ¡°Hmm? I¡­¡± Leona rudely asked questions, but the woman did not point it out. Before the woman was able to answer, a loud shout could be heard from far away. ¡°Lord! Mr. Good hurt his finger while using a hammer!¡± The guard was running straight towards the hallway. The woman was surprised and ran towards the guard in a hurry. ¡°Oh no, that¡¯s terrible! Did he get hurt bad?¡± ¡°I think he broke his nail, and we¡¯ll have to disinfect his fingers!¡± ¡°Okay, bring some disinfectant and gauze to the cksmith.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord!¡± the woman replied and then looked towards Zin and Leona. ¡°Phew¡­ I will be right back, so please rest up.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah¡­ sure¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± The woman started running somewhere, and Zin and Leona looked at each other. ¡°Is she the lord of the castle?¡± ¡°Looks like it.¡± ¡°¡­ Didn¡¯t expect that at all.¡± Zin and Leona were shocked and stood there for a while. The woman wore an apron and had a white bandana around her head, and she didn¡¯t look any different from the other vigers.
¡°My husband used to be the lord of this castle. This ce used to be a point, and then the poption grew enough to be called a castle. But one day, he went out to hunt a bear and was injured. His condition got worse, and he died. That was¡­ about ten years ago. We did not have any children then. People were getting scared because the lord died, and somebody had to step up to lead the castle, but there were no people as qualified as me. They started calling me lord, and I started to lead as the lord since then.¡± After returning from the cksmith, she prepared a meal and started talking about her life story even though Zin and Leona did not ask about it. Zin and Leona did not have much to do, so they watched the woman cook food on the stove. ¡°In the past, we rejected all outsiders and closed off the castle from outsiders. But you know, I wondered how many visitors actually came to our castle. I am thinking maybe two or three visitors pass by every three months. But after losing my husband, my mind changedpletely.¡± ¡°How?¡± Leona asked. ¡°If we had a single bottle of disinfectant, he wouldn¡¯t have died so easily. Since then, we¡¯ve been weing any visitor to see if they could share any medicine or herbs and such. I know how to read and write, so I try to note down as much as possible. I know how to make paper, and I learned how to make soaps about five years ago when we had refugees visit our castle. They are currently living in building number four.¡± After the death of the previous lord, the current lord realized that they needed knowledge from outsiders to survive. And they weed hunters and other foreigners so that they could gain more knowledge. She hosted the visitors herself not just because she was an outgoing person. She learned how to raise cotton nts, make disinfectants, make soaps, and craft weapons. And sometimes, the people who were knowledgeable settled in the castle as residents. She thought that the most important thing was sanitation and that the secret to healthy living was clean clothes and good hygiene. Water was readily avable in a nearby valley, and monsters were unable to climb the walls. It was not too troublesome for them to fend off any monstersing to steal the crops at night. The current lord was spot on, and even though Jule castle did not have the best weaponry, the castle was developed enough to protect the residents. The meal was four chips a meal, but he didn¡¯t think it was that bad, as chicken broth soup was served. ¡°It¡¯s good!¡± Leona was excited about the meal and ate the soup with steam cooked barley. Zin didn¡¯t express it, but he was enjoying a proper meal which he had not had for a while. ¡°I don¡¯t have a child, but I love watching kids eat well.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am, you are such a nice person. I am sure of it,¡± Leona nodded as the lord spoke. ¡°Hey, mister.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°I just realized something.¡± ¡°And what is that?¡± ¡°People live to eat good food.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± ¡°Right?¡± Leona stuffed more food into her mouth. As Zin agreed, the warm and hot meal made him feel great. It was such a great experiencepared to eating monster meat that tasted sour and foul. After they finished the meal, Zin looked at the lord. The lord did not look much different than other housewives, but Zin knew that she was charismatic in her own way. This sort of charisma was rare and noble. ¡°I am sorry to say, but as a hunter, I don¡¯t have much to offer you that will help with the castle¡¯s wellbeing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. We are fine as long as you can spend chips for our services. It¡¯s getting trickier to run a power generator these days. And there are not that many monsters to hunt. ¡°But, I can help you in one way.¡± Zin started to get down to business. It was lucky that the lord was an open person, and Zin did not have to small talk to break the ice in the beginning. After Leona finished her meal, she looked at Zin, wondering what he would say. ¡°Help?¡± ¡°Please listen to me without any misunderstandings,¡± Zin started to speak with a serious tone. ¡°The Jule castle will be destroyed within a year, or even within six months. Well, to be exact, it will fall.¡± ¡°¡­ what do you mean?¡± The lord became serious as Zin kept on talking. ¡°I am pretty sure it will happen because of the cave ants.¡± ¡°¡­¡± The lord did not smile anymore and looked very serious. Then, Leona realized that the lord was all buffed with muscles hiding underneath the white dress. It showed that she trained herself hard to maintain such body. Her facial expression was very intense, like a wild beast. She was a person who had been managing about six hundred people. It was impossible to lead that many people by being a nice person. Her expression showed how she was able to manage the castle. Her time as a lord was not always peaceful. After her husband¡¯s death, she overcame the tragic event to develop the Jule castle even more. ¡°When I acquire information, I always review the trustworthiness first.¡± She was implying that lies would not fool her. ¡°I don¡¯t earn my living through lies.¡± ¡°You better not.¡± The lord conveyed that she was open yet not foolish. She warned him with a calm voice. ¡°I found the red bear that killed my husband and ripped it apart with my hands.¡± The lord¡¯s arms looked strong enough to do so. It was a polite threat that she was going to rip them apart if they lied. It was natural for the lord to disy such calm anger as what Zin told her seemed like an unbelievable lie. It was fortunate that she did not call the guards. ¡°As you said, don¡¯t you think there¡¯s a reason why monsters are decreasing in number?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Do you know that the cave ants have started living around the area?¡± ¡°Yes, but they only steal dead monsters. I heard they don¡¯t hunt for food. We had our hunted monsters stolen by them, but there was no way for us to wipe them out. They didn¡¯t cause too many issues for us, so we¡¯ve been ignoring them. And they don¡¯t steal the crops¡­¡± Zin cut off the lord as he was ready to point it out. ¡°Cave ants are omnivores. Why do you think that they do not steal crops? Crops grow underground, and they will eat root vegetables.¡± ¡°Well¡­ I haven¡¯t thought about it. Maybe they have other things they attack for food¡­¡± ¡°The cave ants do hunt. And when they hunt, they do it very slowly.¡± Hunters knew the characteristics of their prey. And Zin knew the traits and habits of most monsters. ¡°The cave ants have formed a sizable colony around the area. In order for them to maintain the colony, they need more food.¡± ¡°Please get to the point, hunter. I don¡¯t like the long exnation when ites to this kind of matter.¡± ¡°Cave ants usually scavenge the dead body of the monsters that lose a battle, but when they hunt, they target a group. Amunity that is stationary and doesn¡¯t move around. It may be a group of monsters or a nest of monsters.¡± Zin pointed to the ground. ¡°Or a city of humans.¡± At those words, the lord was astonished. The cave ants hunted slowly but surely. They would decide on themunity to attack and dig many tunnels beneath them. In other words, they weakened the base of themunity. And when they were ready, they copsed the ground of themunity and buried themunity. And then the cave ants picked off and hunted their prey easily. And the work happened slowly and secretly. It would be toote to defend against it after the attack started. Listening to Zin, the lord kept silent and asked another question. ¡°But I have never heard of the cave ants performing such attacks.¡± ¡°That¡¯s obvious. Viges that were attacked disappearedpletely. And when they n on hunting, they do not bug themunity until the attack. They know that themunity will disperse when they feel in danger.¡± There were not many people who knew about the traits of the cave ants as they were killed by them. Zin asked a question. ¡°Recently, did the ground sink down, or did a sinkhole appear all of a sudden?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It looks like it did.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ One sinkhole appeared after thest storm. I thought it was because of the rain¡­ but didn¡¯t know it was because of the cave ants¡­¡± She probably thought that the ground became weakened, and did not even think that the cave ants were the culprits. ¡°Think of this as insurance against a possible disaster.¡± Zin was implying that he was here to sell a solution. Chapter 42 < Extermination n (Part 1) > Leona and the lord did not know what insurance meant, and they were shaking their heads. But what Zin had talked about was a very tempting offer. One could avoid a huge disaster in the future by investing a small fortune. There was a reason the insurance industry did so well in the past, no one could easily pass up on such a tempting offer. The lord started to ponder again. The hunter¡¯s words were logical, and sink holes were found inside the castle before, as Zin had predicted. She had to abandon the castle, or exterminate the cave ants. And it would be hard to find a location as good as the current castle. ¡°Even if what you told me were a lie, we would not lose any more monsters to the cave ants.¡± The lord thought out all the possible oues, and concluded that it would be better off having the cave ants exterminated. She smiled again and looked at Zin. ¡°Well then, shall we talk about your fee?¡± ¡°I want prepayment of four hundred, and another four hundred uponpletion.¡± It was a total of eight hundred chips! The lord was shocked at the cost. ¡°It¡¯s too¡­ expensive¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not hunting one or two cave ants, I¡¯m going to exterminate the whole cave ant colony. I think the cost is fair.¡± ¡°Hunter, if I were to pay to that many chips, the castle will not have even a week¡¯s worth of energy left. It¡¯s very tough to earn chips these days¡­¡± A castle had fewer chips stored than a city. Unlike a city where many people visited and traded frequently, a castle did not have much trading going on, and there was less flow of chips. The Jule castle was located in a deep valley, and the level of chips was diminishing as days passed by. But Zin shook his head. ¡°You have nothing to lose from this deal.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The cave ants live under the ground, and even if I seed in exterminating them, I can¡¯t retrieve the chips from the ants. You could pay me eight hundred chips, and you can dig out the cave ants from the underground and harvest the chips. You will be able to collect more chips than what you pay now.¡± ¡°¡­ You are not going to harvest the chips yourself?¡± ¡°We are in a hurry, and it¡¯ll take too long to dig out all the cave ants. But it will be no problem for you and the residents of the castle.¡± Zin guessed that there were more than a thousand cave ants, and if each cave ant yielded five chips, it would add up to more than five thousand chips. If only one tenth of the dead cave ants were dug up, it would be five hundred chips of earnings. ¡°Hmm¡­ it looks like you are telling me that the cave ants will be killed underground, right? But I don¡¯t understand how you will be able to hunt them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s for me to take care of as a hunter, but if you¡¯re curious, you can watch me.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The lord pondered for a long time. She couldn¡¯t tell whether the hunter was telling the truth or not. She wondered if it was worth spending eight hundred chips for the job. ¡°I have never seen a hunter approach first and suggest a request to be done. But that¡¯s okay. I believe in you. But I will watch what you will be doing.¡± More than anything, she was curious how a single hunter would kill all the cave ants! ¡°I need some materials prepared.¡± ¡°Materials?¡± The lord was puzzled when he asked for materials, and thought he was asking for weapons. But Zin asked for things that she could not have thought. ¡°I need some cattle that are sick. I need one chicken, and a pig as big as a cow would be good, as well. And I need cats. To be exact, the bones of cats. If you don¡¯t have them, the bones of chickens will be fine, too. Also I need a handful of seeds from any nt. And I need cotton thread. Threads used for sewing will be good enough, and you should have plenty of that.¡± ¡°What¡­ weren¡¯t you going to hunt?¡± The lord was surprised at the list of materials that Zin requested, but Zin just looked at her. ¡°Can you have them prepared?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ I can have them ready.¡± ¡°Then, please get them ready.¡± The lord wasn¡¯t sure what was going on, but she told him that she would have them ready by tomorrow. ¡ª¡ª Zin and Leona headed back to the inn to rest. Leona felt awkward sleeping in a clean room with clean pajamas on, and was cuddling up in the nket. She was lying down on the bed for a while, and suddenly she got up and called out for Zin who was lying on the other bed. ¡°Mister.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°At my hometown, once in a while, merchants came by to sell medicines. They imed that they could cure any disease in the world.¡± ¡°Hmm. Yeah, there are all sorts of people.¡± ¡°But whenever I saw them, I knew that they were con artists.¡± ¡°And so what?¡± ¡°And you looked just like one of them.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Leona was calling out Zin as a con artist. ¡°Well, if I take care of all the cave ants, Jule would not get destroyed, so you could say that.¡± One would never know the consequences of a disaster, if the disaster was prevented beforehand. Zin¡¯s hunt was like getting a flu shot. Zin told Leona that he could create new requests when there were none. Leona thought that the veteran hunters were all con artists, regardless of their hunting skills. ¡°But why did you tell her that you need all those materials prepared?¡± ¡°For monsters that are not essible, we need to attack them in a different way.¡± Zin didn¡¯t exin the details, and Leona had no idea what the n would be. Zinughed and then looked over at Leona. ¡°You don¡¯t always have to swing swords and shoot guns to hunt monsters.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t get it, you know?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± There were many methods of hunting monsters, and guns and arrows were not the only possible methods. What really mattered was the oue. Zin became happy at the thought of getting his revenge on the cave ants for the stolen red bear, and earning some chips. ¡ª¡ª The next day¡­ Zin and Leona washed up in the morning and changed clothes, following the rules of Jule. When it came to hygiene, the rules of Jule were strictly enforced. People who refused to wash up were arrested by the guards, and people were advised to keep themselves clean. The residents of Jule had to change their clothes at least once every two days. In the morning, the guards gathered and started the roll call of the residents. After the residents finished their breakfast, they were sent to work based on their schedules. ¡°It¡¯s very¡­ orderly.¡± Leona and Zin ate with the residents in the building that was used as a dining hall. After they finished eating, they moved into the designated areas. ¡°Castles always operate this way.¡± The residents conformed to the lifestyle of an army, and the guards controlled the residents. ¡°I would never be able to live in such a ce.¡± Leanz was horrified at the idea that someone would be watching over her all the time to control her. Their breakfast was beef broth with mashed potato, and it was a pretty good meal. And of course, Zin and Leona had to pay for the food with no exception. As the cooks moved around to clean up the dining hall, the residents started to move as well. The lord ate with the residents in the same dining hall. The residents greeted the lord, and the lord greeted them courteously. The lord did not have a lifestyle different from the residents, and the guards and the residents were friendly to her. The lord washed her hands with soap, dried her hands with the apron, and approached Zin and Leona. ¡°We have prepared all the materials that you requestedst night. I still don¡¯t get why you need them, but¡­¡± ¡°We will need to ask the guards to move them outside the castle. The farther away from the castle, the better.¡± ¡°Okay, got it.¡± Zin was wearing the uniform that the residents of Jule wore ¨C cotton shirt, leather pants, and a pair of sandals. Leona was wearing a white one-piece dress like yesterday. Leona was not going to be involved in the hunting much, but Zin did not look like a person going for a hunt at all. ¡°I hung your washed clothes. They should be all dried by the afternoon.¡± She pointed to their clothes hanging on the clotheslines. She mentioned how she had to use two bars of soap because the clothes were so dirty. ¡°Were my clothes that color before?¡± As Leona saw the original color of her clothes for the first time, she was tilting her head left and right. Some of the guards who were on standby started to take the materials away at the lord¡¯smand. One of them was a cow that was bred in Jule. However, it was a sick cow that lost most of its fur, and was struggling to walk properly. The cow had a pouch tied around its neck, and the pouch had all the materials that Zin had asked for¡­ including one sick chicken inside the pouch. ¡°All these look so random. Why did you need a sick cow? I mean, we did have a sick cow on hand¡­¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t have to be a sick cow. But it¡¯d be a waste to sacrifice a healthy one.¡± ¡°A sacrifice¡­¡± At Zin spoke, the lord¡¯s face became gloomy. Zin was nning to have the cave ants take the sick cow. Zin had deliberately asked if there was a carcass, or sick cattle. ¡°I asked you to bring one because you cannot consume the meat of a sick cow, and there is no use for it.¡± Zin figured that the residents of Zule would not eat the meat of a sick cow. The lord smiled bitterly and swiped the back of the cow. ¡°What a pity. It has worked really hard for us.¡± She didn¡¯t say no, and she was willing to sacrifice the cow for the safety of the castle. Zin, Leona, two guards, and the lord walked out of the castle, and went past the fields to the bottom of the mountain. The sick cow was having hard time walking. After Zin arrived at a location that was a good distance from the castle, he had the cow sit down. He had the guards, lord, and Leona sit back away from the cow. ¡°Now listen carefully to what I¡¯m going to exin.¡± Zin started to carefully exin the hunting process to persuade the lord because she wouldn¡¯t understand what was going on if he went on with the hunt. ¡°As you may know, all cave ant tunnels are connected to each other.¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°I am going to put a curse on this cow.¡± ¡°A¡­ curse?¡± At the word ¡°curse¡±, the lord as well as the guards and Leona became terrified. ¡°Yes. And I am going to have the cave ants take the cow that is cursed with an epidemic. The epidemic will spread through the cave ants that share the meat of the cow, and it will spread even further as the cave antse in contact with others.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ so you are saying that¡­¡± ¡°The effect of the curse will kick in after the cave ants spread the epidemic to their food storage, eggs, and the queen. Once the epidemic breaks out, all the cave ants will die.¡± The cow would be shredded by the cave ants, and the curse on the cow¡¯s meat would infect the food storage of the cave ants. During the incubation period, the whole colony would have eaten from the poisoned food in the storage. The lord thought of something and asked, ¡°Wait, is there any danger of polluting the soil?¡± ¡°Thend will be fine, but don¡¯t dig too deep for about two months. The curse is not there forever, and once the effect of the curse fades away, the epidemic will disappear. It would be better to dig up the ground after about two months to retrieve the dead bodies of the ants and chips.¡± It was not possible for Zin to stay for two months to retrieve the chips from the cave ants. The colony of the cave ants were so big that it required a curse thatsted for two months. ¡°Can I start now?¡± The lord hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. She was going to follow Zin¡¯s n as she decided to trust him. Chapter 43 < Extermination n (Part 2) > Zin took out the materials from the bag tied to the cow first. The cat seemed to have died a long time ago, and the body was decaying. It might have been a cat that was buried not too long ago. Everyone somewhat knew that Zin was engaging in a type of sorcery. Sorcery was freaky, and people were scared of watching an act of sorcery being performed. Leona was not scared, but she had more pity for the cow. Zin dismembered the body of the cat, and yanked out a piece of rib. He sharpened the bone on the whetstone in a brief moment, and made a needle out it. A needle made out of cat¡¯s bone. Zin also pulled out the sick chicken that had lost most of its feathers from the bag. Zin twisted and pulled out the neck of the chicken. ¡ªFlutter!¡ª The headless sick chicken fluttered and trembled, and Zin took the bundle of thread near the spurting blood from the chicken. ¡ªFlutter! Flutt!¡ª ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Everyone turned their heads away, disgusted. Zin continued to smear blood on the bundle of thread. Thread smeared with blood from a live chicken¡¯s neck. After drenching the bundle of thread with blood, Zin tossed the chicken to the side. The headless chicken jumped around all over the ce. ¡°Ugh, crap! What the heck!¡± Leona was astonished at the grotesque scene, but Zin didn¡¯t care at all. He threaded the needle and tied a knot. Zin was following the steps of a ceremony, and he was solely focused on it. The sick cow seemed to be blind, and it didn¡¯t move a bit even though the hunter was performing a crazy ceremony in front of it. Mooooo! The cow was lowing deep and low. Zin pulled out Phantomvein and a white charm from the void storage. It was called a ¡®spellstone¡¯ and it was a magical charm that was made by grinding the witch¡¯s bone into a round shape, creating a hole in the middle, and tying the witch¡¯s twisted hair into it. The charm was engraved with characters that contained the power of sorcery. The charm was a perfect item that contained the power of sorcery. I will use Phantomvein to proceed with the sacrifice. He chose a couple of characters to perform the sorcery using the spellstone. Zin was able to perform a million types of sorcery based on thebination of the characters. He frequently utilized the characterbinations that were effective. The spellstone was a great item that was superior to any other spell book. However, Zin was not a professional sorcerer or a witch, and he was not able to active a sorcery using Phantomvein alone. Zin held Phatomvein backwards, and raised it up with his hand. Then aiming from the back of the cow, he struck down with the sword. ¡ªVwooook!¡ª ¡°Aaaagh!¡± Moooooooooo! Phantomvein pierced through the cow and stuck deep inside the ground. Zin ced the spellstone on the handle of the embedded sword. Mooooo!! Like a steel bar, the Phantomvein was fixed to the ground without any motion. The cow was moving and struggling in pain, but the sword did not move an inch, firmly embedded in the ground. Zin pushed the struggling cow and starting stitching the back of the cow with the bone needle. The party was astonished andpletely turned their faces away from the scene. Only Leona was looking at the scene in disgust. Zin was sewing up the back of the live cow. He was sewing with great speed, and while his sword was in the center, he stitched a shape on the back of the cow. And slowly, there was a visible dark energy flowing out of the spellstone. The struggling cow started to weaken, and Zin walked away from the cow as he finished his work. And Zin held thest material needed for the ceremony. A handful of nt seeds. He had seeds of barley in his palm, and he started murmuring while looking at the spell book. The cow was barely alive. ¡°I will use the Insect, nt, Infiltration, and Spell characters to summon the power of the extermination sorcery.¡± ¡ªVwwoooom!¡ª Out of the many characters engraved in the white charm, the four characters mentioned were activated by the dark energy. ¡ªWhoosh!¡ª Zin threw the seeds onto the cow, and like living things, the seeds started to infiltrate the skin of the cow. Kwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! In agonizing pain, the cow screamed and trembled as the handful of seeds burrowed inside it. The cow was bleeding profusely as hundreds of seeds entered its body. At that moment, even Leona had to turn her face away from the gruesome sight. The cow died in seconds, and as the dark energy flowed into the body of the cow through the hundreds of holes, the ceremony waspleted. The sorcery waspleted as the ceremony was performed with the correct sacrifice. More sacrifices were needed for sorceries that required more spell characters, but Zin had activated the sorcery efficiently with the right amount of sacrifice. Sorcery would not be activated if the requirements were not met. And performing the ceremony required a lot of experience and know-how. I¡¯ve used four spell characters, so this should be effective. ¡ªShlunk!¡ª Zin pulled out Phantomvein from the corpse of the cow, blood starting to drip out of the wound. It didn¡¯t look a sorcery was performed, but it a scene where a cow was killed in a gruesome way. Nobody looked towards the dead cow, and Zin walked towards the spectators as he put his charms away inside the void storage. ¡°I am done with my work.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­¡± ¡°The blood seeping in the ground will attract the cave ants, and when the cave ants take the cow away, time will take care of them.¡± The lord was extremely nervous and was not able to look at the dead cow. ¡°Well, well¡­ I can see that you are not a con artist, for sure.¡± The lord was certain that Zin could not be lying after she witnessed the horrible scene. And after witnessing how Zin performed the sorcery without any hesitation, she thought that it would be okay to be duped by the hunter even if he was indeed a con artist. ¡°I am going to observe the dead cow from a distance until the cave ants take it away. Would you like to join me?¡± ¡°Ugh. No thanks. I am going to head back to the castle. It¡¯s been a while, but I think I¡¯ll have to throw up.¡± The lord started heading back to the castle with the guards. Everyone was feeling nauseated after witnessing the traumatic screaming and sorcery. And on the way back, one of the guards started to puke after looking back at the dead cow. Bwerrrghhhhhhh! Leona clicked her tongue as she watched the guard puking on the ground. ¡°I understand. It happens. I also feel sick.¡± Leona did not head back to the castle, remaining standing next to Zin. She had seen many dead human bodies, but the ceremony that she was witnessed was gruesome beyond anything she had witnessed before. Zin and Leona moved far away from the cow, and waited for the cave ants to appear. Leona turned her back, and asked Zin, ¡°I thought sorcerers threw rice grains around, but is an actual sorcery this horrible? I think I¡¯ll remember this day forever.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ well.¡± Zin was very calm for a person who had just performed sorcery, and Leona was scared about that fact. But Zin gave a strange answer. ¡°Real sorceries require these types of ceremonies, but you will not remember these forever.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because the oue of the sorcery is far more horrible than the ceremony itself. The oue is something that people will remember for a long time.¡± The oue of the sorcery was far nastier than the ceremonial act. Through the ceremony that Zin performed, thousands of cave ants would be killed. Leona nodded as she thought about the fate of the cave ants. The death of a single cow and a chicken didn¡¯t seem muchpared to the death of a whole cave ant colony. Leona looked at Zin, and shook her head. ¡°Well, thanks for letting me forget a horrible memory using another horrible one,¡± Leonained, but Zin smiled at her. ¡ª ¡ªPlop!¡ª Shortly after, the cave ants that were attracted by the smell of the blood dragged the dead cow into the ground. A huge pit and blood stain were left at the location where the dead cow had been. Leona looked in that direction and sighed. The seed of the epidemic was spread to the cave ants. ¡°They can¡¯t expect to remain safe after stealing my red bear.¡± Zin had an evil smile on his face as he was certain that his revenge would bepleted. Looking at Zin, Leonaughed out loud. ¡°Mister, I don¡¯t know if I should say that you are a narrow-minded person or a meticulous person¡­¡± ¡°In this case, you should say that I¡¯m a wise one.¡± It would have been tough for Zin to fetch all the required materials ¨C chicken, cat, thread, cow ¨C for the sorcery by himself. However, Zin was able to get them with the help of others. And top of that, he was getting paid with chips! While aplishing his revenge, Zin profited with chips and saved time as well. As Zin was able to pull this all off, Leona thought about how crafty Zin was. ¡°But, do you think thatrge piece of dead meat will aplish what you were nning?¡± ¡°I will have to believe in it.¡± ¡°¡­ umm¡­ your answer isn¡¯t that reassuring.¡± ¡°Sorcery is like that.¡± Zin started to speak about the problem of sorcery as if it was not a big deal. ¡°Even sorcerers do not know what will happen next.¡± ¡°You crazy? What are you going to do?¡± Leona started berating Zin, who seemed to be irresponsible. There was a reason why sorcery was referred as sorcery. Even though a sorcerer was able to activate sorcery, the results varied. Even after performing the same sorcery with the same sacrifices, some sorceries had catastrophic consequences, while others had no effect at all. And therefore people trusted sorcerers without any doubt, or did not trust them at all. ¡°I¡¯m different than other fake sorcerers, so don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± ¡°How are you different?¡± ¡°I am not the world¡¯s best sorcerer.¡± Fake sorcerers activated epidemics by mistake while trying to draw the rain. And some experienced sorcerers activated sorceries that were truly catastrophic. Zin was not able to activate sorceries on that level, and he did not want to do so, anyways. However, Zin possessed a unique charm called a spellstone. Zin started speaking again. ¡°But I am a pretty urate sorcerer.¡± He was able to activate the correct sorcery when we wanted to. Leona was not sure if he was humble or too confident. ¡°Mister, I think you are bing less like a hunter?¡± As Leona spoke, Zinughed. ¡°There are different methods of hunting, and that¡¯s how I picked up sorcery.¡± Zin learned sorcery as another method of hunting. Regr hunters would not need to learn sorcery, but Zin was a devil hunter. As a devil hunter, he needed to be familiar with sorcery in order to utilize sorcery when it was needed. It was natural that he became ustomed to performing sorcery. And of course, Zin did not tell Leona about this. The effect of the curse would appear over time, and Zin only needed to get the reward from the lord and leave the castle of Jule. Zin did not have to worry much about not getting paid, as the lord did not suspect Zin any more after witnessing the frightfulness of sorcery. While the lord was preparing the chips, Zin and Leona spent their time at the castle after packing up their belongings. Then, an incident happened that evening. ¡ª¡ª ¡ª A cow is a precious resource! It is not right to waste such resources even if the lord has asked to do so! ¡ª It was necessary to protect the castle! ¡ª Can you prove that it was necessary? Aren¡¯t you simply giving up the chips and cattle to the wander? ¡ª Give up? Watch yournguage! ¡ª I am sure that he is a con artist! Do you know what kind of people I came across before I came to the castle? Once- ¡ª Stop! I have heard the stories many times! ¡°Mister. I think we are screwed?¡± Zin and Leona were able to listen to the conversation as the lord and the man were raising their voices. Chapter 44 < Curse y (Part 1) > ¡ª And how can you be trusting in the power of sorcery? All the sorcerers that I met were fakes! ¡ª Captain, you won¡¯t know until you have seen what happened. It was not fake. ¡ª Do you know what? Con artists use trickery or illusions to trick people! They use simple tricks to dupe the people and they take advantage of people! ¡ª There is no way¡­ ¡°The lord does not seem to have greatmand of the people in the castle.¡± Zin clicked his tongue, and Leona was looking around in fear. A guard captain was usually the second most powerful person in a castle. The guard captain was the most likely person to be the lord of a castle. It was verymon for the guard captain to betray the lord and be a lord himself. And even though the captain was not a native of Jule castle, the lord hired him because he had the experience. It was clear that the captain wanted to be a lord himself. He was yelling and publicly making a big deal instead of talking privately with the lord. He was intentionally trying to convey the message to the people that their lord was ipetent. His primary goal was to point out the faults of the lord, and make the people suspect the leadership of the lord. He probably didn¡¯t care about the chips and the sacrifice of the cow. Politics¡­ It¡¯s everywhere. As long as society existed, there were politics involved. The guard captain was trying to stir up distrust among the residents. It was very foolish, childish, and obvious act. Leona asked worriedly, ¡°What do we do?¡± ¡°What do you think? We need to head out.¡± Zin stood up. ¡°We might lose our chips.¡± This was a serious matter for Zin, and he had to act quickly to get paid. Whether Zin was a con artist or not did not matter for the guard captain. His main goal was to create a rift between the lord and the residents. And as soon as the lord lost her trust of the residents, he would betray her and be a lord himself. But at this moment, the captain had picked on the wrong person. Zin might have been a crafty and sneaky person, but he was not a con artist. The guards and the residents were staying away from the lord and the captain, and observing the situation. In the middle of the castle square, the guard captain and the lord were staring at each other. ¡°You will have to talk to me directly about your suspicions.¡± ¡°How dare you walk out here, you con artist!¡± The captain stared at Zin with a fierce look, and the lord was not able to do anything about it. She couldn¡¯t side with the captain or with Zin. Regardless of his abilities, Zin was still an outsider, and the lord had the responsibility to seek the welfare of the castle. It would not be wise for the lord to take any side. Zin knew the situation that the lord was in, so he made a politically correct statement. ¡°It is my responsibility to defend my innocence, what do you think?¡± Zin was trying to rify that his innocence was what was being disputed. The lord nodded quietly, and the guard captain kept on staring at Zin, ready to use him. ¡°Right, you may be able to trick the lord, but you will not be able to trick me!¡± The captain was fully confident that Zin was a con artist who had tricked the dumb lord to steal chips and a cow. Zin wanted to rify and asked the captain, ¡°Do you not believe in the power of sorcery? Or do you not believe in me? Let us rify this first.¡± ¡°Both of them, you con man! If you don¡¯t return those chips that you took, I¡¯ll kill you and the kid who¡¯s with you, you piece of shit!¡± The guard captain seemed to hate Zin because Zin had Leona as apanion. Zin had no intention of exining his situation with Leona. ¡°Well, then. It sounds like if I can prove the power of the sorcery, I can prove my innocence. Is that right?¡± The residents were pretending to work while listening carefully to the conversation of the two. ¡°Ha, you are talking nonsense! Sorcerers are all con artists, so all sorcery is tricks and lies! Why don¡¯t you show it to us right now? Are you going to make it rain? Make it thunder? Go ahead!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t do those types of sorcery. I have a way to demonstrate easily.¡± Zin pulled out a charm from the void storage. As he pulled out an item from nowhere, the guard captain became slightly nervous. But he was still confident in his belief¡­ ¡°Ha, I think you are trying to y tricks. I don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°I pity you for regarding this as a trick.¡± ¡°What? How dare you talk like that to the guard captain of Jule¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a shame that you are so defensive about your own authority, yet you are rude to your own castle lord.¡± ¡°You piece of¡­¡± ¡°Enough. I came to prove my powers, not to pick a fight with you,¡± Zin cut off the guard captain. ¡°I am a hunter, but sorcerers always run into the issue of trust. ¡°There are always people who believe that sorcery is fake. In those times, sorcerers performed this action. I don¡¯t know if you have heard about it.¡± While holding on to the charm, Zin smiled sinisterly. It was the scariest smile that Zin had ever made. ¡°It¡¯s called ¡®curse y¡¯, and it¡¯s pretty simple. Nothing tooplicated.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°I put a curse on you, and you ept the curse.¡± There was no better method to prove the power of sorcery to someone who didn¡¯t believe in sorcery. A sorcerer always had to prove his power to unbelieving people. The method was more effective than performing ceremonies that drew rain and thunder. The person who asked for proof would receive the curse, and one would prove the power of the sorcery. It was a simple method that asked the unbelieving person to take a risk. If the curse was fake, the cursed person would be just fine, and the sorcerer would be deemed a fake. If the curse was real, the cursed person would encounter idents, and the sorcerer would be deemed a true one. It was a straightforward and simple method, and it was a method that was widely used in areas where the sorcerers ruled. If a sorcerer was able to prove his powers through the curse y, he would gain authority over people. Nobody would want to disobey the sorcerer. ¡°Didn¡¯t you im that I was fake? That would mean that my sorcery would be fake as well, and my curse would have no effect on you.¡± In many cases, a curse y did not take effect. Even if it truly was a hoax, nobody was willing to take the curse y upon themselves. What usually happened was that the person asking for the proof would cowardly walk away. Zin smiled and mocked the captain. ¡°You said that you came from the wilderness, but you must have left your courage somewhere out there, eh?¡± ¡°What? How dare you mock me, you imbecile! I am satisfied serving as a guard captain, but once upon a time, I used to be a hunter wandering the wilderness! Do you even know how many monsters I have hunted down?¡± ¡°Of course I don¡¯t know. But even if I did, why does it even matter?¡± As the captain yelled, Zin nodded along with a smile. Zin didn¡¯t believe that the captain used to be a hunter, but even he was a hunter before, it didn¡¯t really matter. In front of a devil hunter, it was pointless bragging about how many monsters a person had hunted down. The guard captain became even more furious at Zin¡¯s taunt. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go ahead and perform your curse y on me? I will prove that it will have no effect on me! And then I will kill you for trying to trick us all!¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Zin shrugged. ¡°I will put a curse on you. The duration will be four days. If you ovee the curse for four days, you will be the winner of the curse y. And when I put a curse on you, I will also create an anti-curse item that reverses the curse on you. If you give up ande to me to get the item from me, then I will be the winner of the curse y.¡± ¡°That will never happen, so go ahead right now, you fraud!¡± The sun was setting, and the residents sat around the captain and Zin. It had be a testing ground to see if the lord had made the right decision. The captain argued that all the residents had to witness the curse y, and the lord epted it. The residents had never seen such a thing, and were interested in watching a sorcerer perform sorcery. Everybody sat far away from Zin and the captain, and watched them. Leona also was watching them from a safe distance. Zin held the spellstone on his right hand, and had the captain sit down. ¡°I need to prepare something.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you are going to need another cow.¡± ¡°I am a skilled sorcerer, and I don¡¯t need such things to put a curse on a man like you. I just need some bonfires.¡± The guard captain hated going along with the curse y, but he was happy. Proving that the sorcery was a hoax would cause the residents to lose trust in the lord. By proving that Zin was a con artist, the captain would be able to take control of the castle. He was excited at the idea that he would be a lord himself soon. As couple of guards ran towards them and stacked firewood to start a fire, Zin shook his head. ¡°No, the bonfires need to be ced on the Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest corners.¡± Zin ce the firewood on the four corners himself and started the bonfires. Zin looked around the castle and saw couple ofmps that were turned on. He then spoke to the guards. ¡°Turn off all themps in the castle.¡± As Zin was speaking, the captain grumbled. ¡°How annoying. Can¡¯t you just get going?¡± ¡°A curse is drawn to the light. If there¡¯s other light, the curse might jump out and fall upon other people. This has nothing to do with the activation of the curse.¡± ¡°Pffft¡­¡± Zin asked to turn off all the lights, so that other people would be safe. Zin looked around at the four bonfires that were lighting up the now-dark Jule, and then up at the sky. ¡°A new moon. It¡¯s a perfect night to cast a curse.¡± It was a very dark and quiet night, and there were no stars shining in the sky. In the pitch darkness, with the captain surrounded by the four bonfires, Zin walked around. The bonfires continued burning, and the lighting the fire looked eerie. The residents who gathered held their breaths and remained silent. Zin was acting as a sorcerer, and the residents were watching the stranger perform an eerie ceremony. Their lord knew what was at stake. She was concerned about her position as a lord, but she was also wondering if it was okay to perform a dangerous ceremony within the castle. However, she knew that it had to be done, because the guard captain had been challenging her authority frequently. She needed the curse y to work in order to retain her position as a lord. The guard captain was in the middle of the light, surrounded by the four bonfires. He couldn¡¯t see anything else besides the four bonfires. He felt like he was in the middle of the darkness. ¡°Before I start, I will exin about different types of curses.¡± At the moment, Zin was not a hunter but a sorcerer, and he was overseeing the ceremony. ¡°The curse that I will put on you is called ¡®fortune drain¡¯.¡± It was a curse that utilized two characters on the spellstone. ¡°This curse will take away your luck. The effect of the curse is simple. Once the curse is upon you, you will be unlucky.¡± ¡°Be unlucky? What kind of curse is that? Hahahaha!¡± the captainughed out in a loud voice, a natural reaction to hide his inner fear. Zin continued to exin the curse. ¡°You will die in exactly four days at midnight.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Everybody held their breath at Zin¡¯s words. Chapter 45 < Curse y (Part 2) > As Zin foretold theing death of the guard, everyone, including the captain, gasped. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe in sorcery, you can ignore this curse. And I just exined the oue of the fortune drain sorcery. If you ept the curse, stay seated. If you do not ept it, stand up. Since you don¡¯t believe in sorcery, whether you die in four days or not, it¡¯s all a lie to you anyways, right?¡± Zin was taunting the captain to stand up, but the captain who lived by his pride refused to stand up. ¡°I will assume that you have agreed to ept the curse. I will begin the ceremony.¡± As everybody remained silent, Zin walked around the bonfires and started to cast the curse. The two characters ¨C Fortune and Drain ¨C from the spellstone started to emit dark energy. Zin started to murmur, but nobody was able to figure out what he was saying. The captain was watching Zin, who had appeared in front of the bonfire and then disappeared into the darkness. He would then appear by the other bonfire. Zin was simply walking, but Zin appeared to be like a devil that was fading in and out of the darkness. The atmosphere was creepy as Zin continued to murmur the spell. Everybody was still holding their breath and watching the scene. Many sorcerers turned out to be con artists. Con artists utilized tricks, circus acts, or illusions. However, Zin only lit up bonfires and was simply walking around the bonfires. Zin wandered like a grim reaper, and he would throw things into the bonfire to light it up. But his actions didn¡¯t look out of the ordinary. Leona stayed silent and looked at the bonfires. The ceremony was different from the one performed earlier in the day. It was not horrible. There was no gruesome killing, and there were no monsters involved. But everyone was afraid. The calmly walking hunter terrified the residents. Even though there were only bonfires burning, everyone was feeling something creepy about the whole deal. They thought that Zin was performing a real sorcery. Everyone was getting a taste of a real sorcery. ¡ª Zap! ¡ª And all of a sudden, one of the bonfires went out. The fire didn¡¯t die down, the lightpletely and instantly disappeared. The children who were watching started to freak out, and the adults were also surprised. But no one screamed. They were afraid to the point where they couldn¡¯t make a sound. ¡ª Zap, Zazap! ¡ª The remaining bonfires were also put out in a split second. No one was able to breathe. They felt like something horrible would happen to them if they made any sound. As soon as all the bonfires were put out, the people saw nothing but darkness. It was not the effect of the sorcery. The people had been looking at the bonfires so long that their pupils were constricted. They did not know about this fact, so they felt like they were in pitch darkness. They thought that this was part of the sorcery. ¡ª Thump, thump ¡ª In theplete darkness, Zin continued to walk in circles around the bonfires. Nothing could be heard but his footsteps, the sound echoing in a steady rhythm. The captain at the center of the ceremony was scared to death. ¡ª Krrrrrrroooom! ¡ª And then a dark mist shot outside of the bonfire and started to surround the guard captain. Everyone was able to sense the rumbling of the ground, and were all shocked. ¡°Ah, aaaaarggh! Help!!!¡± The captain stood up hurriedly, and ran away from the bonfires. As he ran, he lost control, and fell t down on the ground. ¡°Aaahhhck! Something is trying to grab me! It¡¯s grabbing me!!!¡± The captain tripped trying to get up by himself, and then copsed on the ground. Zin looked down at him, and spoke calmly, ¡°The ceremony is over. You may turn on the lights.¡± ¡ª Zap! ¡ª The guards who were on standby turned on all the lights, and everyone was able to see the guard captain on the floor unconscious. Leona who was watching the ceremony in the corner started tough out loud. ¡°Hahahaha! What is that? I think he shit on his pants?¡± And he had. The lord shook her head and ordered the guards, ¡°¡­ Please help him and let him rest.¡± As everyone was still in panic after witnessing the ceremony, Leona continued tough by herself. ¡ª¡ª It was obvious, but no resident came close to the inn that Zin and Leona were staying in. Before even seeing the final oue, everybody was certain that Zin performed a real sorcery. The lord seemed to be afraid after witnessing the power of Zin thanked him, but soon walked away from him after delivering his meal. ¡°Pfft, what¡¯s the deal? She¡¯s the one who asked for help in the first ce.¡± ¡°Strangers are either exalted or rejected. It¡¯s not surprising at all.¡± Zin and Leona ate the dinner that the lord had brought over. The guard captain was still unconscious without any movement. Leona was thinking about the notion that the strangers were either exalted or rejected. In fact, she was familiar with the attitude of the residents. The despising looks of the residents were exactly the same as the looks of the Mok-Gol people. People were afraid of Leona, and they hated her. ¡°What does it mean to be exalted?¡± ¡°It means that people regard them as important people. Dangerous sorcerers gain great status in a vige. Wouldn¡¯t people rather have someone powerful on their side?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ if I had power in my hometown, would I have been exalted?¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Zin looked at Leona and said, ¡°Then you would have not been suspected of being a witch.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Most likely.¡± Leona slowly nodded. A witch was feared by people, yet people imposed that name on weak people. People have been using that name to harm those who were not witches at all. Leona had hard time understanding what he was exining to her. But she was curious about another matter. ¡°So, is the guy who was cursed today going to die?¡± There would be nothing scarier than that. Leona was afraid how a ceremony would cause someone to die within four days. Listening to Leona¡¯s question, Zinughed. ¡°Of course not. That type of curse is called ¡®death wish¡¯. It is not a curse that someone like me who performs sorcery asionally can easily activate. The curse that I activated today simply makes the man be unlucky.¡± ¡°Can you give some examples?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t give you the specifics, but for example, he will bite small stones while eating food, he will bump his toe on a chair, or bugs will enter his eyes or ears.¡± ¡°¡­ it doesn¡¯t sound that serious.¡± Leona was a bit disappointed that the curse would only have minor effects on the person. But Zin smiled. ¡°However, how would you feel if those misfortunes happened consecutively?¡± Leona became horrified to think that one would always bite stones in every meal, and bump his toes on the chairs every single time. ¡°Okay, I take it back. It sounds horrible.¡± It would cause great fear if misfortune happened many times. ¡°The ceremony was a gimmick, and if I had such powers, I would haveid the curse on the devils.¡± Zin had created a scary atmosphere utilizing visual effects, and he gave out a death sentence in order to scare the captain. Leonaughed at Zin. ¡°Then why did you even say that the captain was going to die in four days? What would happen after four days? Wouldn¡¯t hee after us?¡± Leona couldn¡¯t understand why Zin lied. ¡°How will he feel when misfortunes happen every single moment? And how will he feel about the death sentence?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°He won¡¯tst more than two days.¡± The threat that the captain would die in four days acted as a countdown, and the captain would end up giving up under pressure. It became clear that Zin had deceived the people. ¡°Remember this. It is okay for a hunter tock skills, but it¡¯s not okay for a hunter to give up his reward.¡± Zin was determined to get the reward at any cost. After eating the dinner, Zin started to chisel a wooden block near him. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Now that I have activated a curse, I need to create an anti-curse item.¡± ¡°Anti-curse? Does that stop from the curse from happening?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Leona was able to figure out the meaning of the words that she didn¡¯t know. Zin kept on chiseling the wood after Leona went to bed. ¡ª The captain did shit on his pants, but when he woke up in the morning, he seemed to be fine. He acted as if nothing had happened and he started the roll call. Given the fact that the effect of sorcery was unpredictable, Zin was not able to predict the oue. The guard captain did not bite a stone while eating breakfast. Instead, he bit down on a cockroach. ¡°What the hell¡­¡± A cockroach could be a valuable for someone else, but it was not the case for the people of Jule. As he stood up to put away the dishes, he tripped himself and fell on the floor. ¡ªBam! ¡ª ¡°Oooph!¡± Everybodyughed when they saw the captain fall down. They all forgot about the horror fromst night. The guardsughed out loud. ¡°Captain! You are unlucky today!¡± ¡°What did you just say? Hahaha.¡± The captain joked around and started to lead the guards out on patrol. And strange events happened where the chair¡¯s leg broke off, and the captain hurt his finger while using tools. The captain and the guards started to feel that something was not right, but theyughed it off. Zin simply stated that the captain will be unlucky, but it was an understatement. ¡ªBoom! ¡ª ¡°What the-!¡± ¡ªBam! ¡°¡­¡± One of the guard¡¯s crossbows had fired idently. The arrow grazed the cheek of the captain and struck the wall. Nobody wasughing at that point. ¡°Um, uh¡­ captain¡­ it fired by itself¡­¡± The guard whose crossbow fired started to exin what had happened, and the captain became frightened as he swiped his bleeding cheek. He yelled at the guard, ¡°You crazy bastard! We are not in the middle of the battle. Why did you load the crossbows!¡± ¡°It was the time to check the weapons¡­¡± ¡°¡­ damn it. Put your weapon down, put it down!¡± At the captain¡¯smand, all the guardsid their weapons down. Nobody was smiling. If the arrow had flown a couple of inches to the right, the captain would have been killed on the spot. Unlucky¡­ There were too many bizarre events happening to call it a coincidence. Luck drain¡­ The luck of the captain was getting drained with every passing moment. The sorcery was invisible, but it was certain that it existed. Chapter 46 < Curse y (Part 3) > The captain ran out of the guard post, and went straight to where Zin and Leona were staying. ¡ªBang! ¡ª¡°You son of a bitch!¡± The captain kicked open the wooden door and appeared in front of them. Zin was cleaning his weapons, and Leona was observing Zin. The captain did not pay attention to the parts of the gun. ¡°You bastard! What have you done to me?¡± ¡°I told you, it¡¯s a curse. And you told me that you don¡¯t believe in such things.¡± Zin stared back at the captain as he answered calmly. Zin was able to figure out what had happened to the captain by looking at the wound on his cheek. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be thinking that what you experienced is just a coincidence? If you are getting mad at me, I assume that you do actually believe in sorcery?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± By agreeing to Zin, it would mean that the captain would be admitting his loss. ¡°It¡¯s one way or the other. You could brush it off as a coincidence, or admit that the curse is in effect. If you are admitting that the sorcery is for real, pay me the chips, and get lost.¡± ¡°You¡­ you think I¡¯m going to fall for your hoax?!¡± ¡ªBang! ¡ª ¡°Ouch!¡± As the captain kicked the door and walked out, he seemed to have stepped on a nail and yelled out. Leona started giggling, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t he know that something weird is happening to him? Why is he refusing to admit it?¡± ¡°There are different types of belief.¡± Zin was cleaning his weapons with a cloth, and smiled as he oiled the parts. He had not slowed down with the job while he was talking. In a leisurely manner, he had decided to repair and check all his weapons. He had to efficiently use his down time. ¡°He strongly believes that sorcery is fake.¡± Having blind faith meant that someone either believed in something or did not believe in something, without any question. In a sense, the captain was extreme. As Zin finished checking on his automatic shotgun, he reassembled it and put it back into the void storage. Leona was always fascinated with the weapons that Zin had. ¡°You are not going to show me anymore?¡± ¡°We will get busy soon.¡± ¡°Hmm? We¡¯re going to get busy? What do you mean? Aren¡¯t we done with our job?¡± Zin slowly stood up as he watched the residents passed by the inn. ¡°I am going to start a small gig.¡± ¡°A gig?¡± ¡°What are we going to do during downtime anyways? We should earn some chips.¡± They were not going to be able to leave the castle for the next four days, and Zin was not nning to waste the time doing nothing. Zin grabbed a spot,id a mat, and sat down on it. Leona did not know what Zin was nning to do, but she was able to figure it out when a local woman appeared in front of them, looking scared. ¡°Excuse me¡­ Mr. Sorcerer? Can I talk with you for a brief moment?¡± Leona was able to see what was going on, and Zin answered with a nod. ¡°Come on in.¡± ¡°Thank you, sir!¡± Sorcerers were feared by people. But at times, there were desperate people who needed to visit a sorcerer for help. The woman brought a young kid with her. With a desperate look, she sat in front of Zin, and started talking about her situation. ¡°My kid kept on saying that his tummy¡¯s been hurting¡­¡± ¡°It looks like he¡¯s been hurting for a while.¡± ¡°Right! How did you know?¡± The woman was surprised at Zin¡¯s words. Zin thought to himself, Well, if it¡¯s a minor pain, you would not havee to me in the first ce¡­ you must be visiting me because the pain was persistent. Zin kept on staring at the terrified young kid. It seemed like the kid was going to pee at any given moment. Leona was watching Zin and wondering what he was going to do. ¡°For the next four days, do not talk to the kid. Only feed him food and let him sleep. Treat him as if he didn¡¯t exist. I will notify the lord, so please don¡¯t bring him to daily gatherings such as the dining hall or the night time roll call. Then the spirit will lose interest in the kid and leave him alone.¡± ¡°Will that be sufficient?¡± ¡°That will be enough. This spirit is a weak one. And, I need to perform a simple ceremony over the kid, so please stay outside. Stay away from the building and cover your eyes and ears. If you don¡¯t follow my directions, the spirit may get into your body.¡± ¡°Yes, yes sir!¡± The woman rushed out of the inn, and the kid was left alone. The kid didn¡¯t know what to do, and was edging away from Zin. ¡°Kid. Come closer.¡± ¡°Yes? Okay¡­¡± The kid was about to cry as he slowly walked up to Zin. Zin whispered into the ears of the kid. ¡°I told a lie to your mom.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t act like you are sick.¡± ¡°!¡± As Zin spoke, the kid became frightened. ¡°If you keep on acting as if you are sick, a spirit will indeed get into your body, and you will get very sick. And remember this. A spirit can easily kill a kid like you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡± ¡°You will be able to y freely for the next four days. So go and y as much as you would like. But don¡¯t act like you are sick. If you pretend to be sick, you will actually get sick, and the spirit will put you in pain. And I¡¯m not lying about this. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, yes! I will never do it again!¡± ¡°Okay. Now go out and bring your mom back.¡± The kid rushed outside and brought his mom back. ¡°The ceremony has finished.¡± ¡°What much do I need to pay¡­¡± ¡°Eh, hmmm. Just pay however much you feel like paying.¡± It was widely known that one should not talk with a sorcerer without paying the sorcerer their consultation fee. The woman was in a dilemma as she was not sure how much she had to pay a real sorcerer. She didn¡¯t have much to pay, but at the same time, she was worried that the sorcerer would get mad at the small pay. However, she wanted to be freed from the terror. The woman left five chips, and after saying thank you several times, she left the inn. It was not possible for individuals to save up a lot of chips in the castle, and five chips was not a small amount. As the woman walked out with the kid, Leona looked at Zin in disbelief. ¡°Was this a hoax?¡± ¡°Yes, everything about it.¡± ¡°¡­ Shouldn¡¯t you stop lying? How are you going to deal with the consequences of cheating people?¡± ¡°Pretending to be sick is a very bad habit a kid can have. Didn¡¯t I just solve a problem for the family?¡± ¡°Well, you are really sneaky¡­ But how did you know that he was acting sick?¡± ¡°In Jule, kids also take part inbor.¡± Zin noticed that while observing the castle. Zin was always aware of small details. ¡°It¡¯s natural that kids to not want to work. And the only way to be excused from work is being sick.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± ¡°And it was somewhat obvious that he was acting sick based on his behavior in front of me.¡± Psychic reading depended heavily on intuition. A psychic would be able to infer the facts based on the past habits and present actions. A psychic would gain the trust of the client, and the client would trust in the fortune telling of the psychic. Psychic reading seemed to be a hoax, but it was pretty effective in the post-apocalyptic era. Leona looked at Zin with disgust initially, but then opened her eyes wide and nodded. ¡°Now that I listen to you¡­ mister, you are so cool.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s too bad that you are finally admitting that fact.¡± ¡°¡­ but you are still act like a punk.¡± Leona thought that Zin was amazing to figure out what the situation was about based on different observations. Zin was not the worst con artist, in the sense that he actually solved problems for the people. Leona was wondering whether she should be calling Zin a real hunter or not. In the past couple of days, he had cast sorcery which would cause horrific epidemics, and now he was acting as a psychic reader. There was a reason why Zin was able to still survive even though he had lived for so long! ¡°It is always hard to get the first customer. Now people will start flooding in.¡± At this moment, the guard captain was having trouble with misfortune, and Zin¡¯s credibility had been proven to many people. After the first resident stopped by Zin for help, people learned that Zin was not a sorcerer that ate humans alive. It was only a matter of time before more people were going to visit Zin for help. Many residents had to work on a schedule, but they also had free time avable. Many of them were too afraid of Zin toe visit the inn. Many were frightened by the eerie ceremony that Zin performed thest night. But after the woman, his first client, came back with a bright smile, they started to ask her about Zin. After that, many people started to line up in front of the inn during the free time between dinner and bedtime. ¡°My ankle is sore these days¡­¡± ¡°Grind this ck herb and mix it up with water and a chip. Make a paste out of it, and apply on your ankle for a week. Make sure you use that specific ck herb.¡± ¡°I have been suffering nightmares these past few days¡­¡± ¡°Every night, infuse the water with a chestnut and a jujube, and drink the water before going to sleep. You should eat the chestnut and the jujube right before going to bed. But there should be no lighting into the room. Remember this. No light in the room whatsoever.¡± The psychic reading that Zin performed was unique. He talked about folk remedies with sorcery terms. Words such as ¡®always¡¯ and ¡®never¡¯ represented forbidden acts. Many people believed that such psychic readings were sorcery. ¡®It will never work without it.¡¯ ¡®It should never be done.¡¯ Zin was familiar with how the sorcerers added meaning to their words, and he was able to utilize it to his benefit. For the personined about the soreness in his ankle, Zin was simply suggesting that the person should apply a patch that contained pain relieving ingredients. As for the person whoined about nightmares, Zin was suggesting the person drink warm water to calm down, and close the windows before going to bed. Zin knew that the guards turned on the lights during the night to help patrol, and assumed that the man¡¯s sleep was interrupted by the light. Zin knew many folk remedies that utilized different types of herbs, and the knowledge came in very handy for Zin. People paid Zin in many different ways. People who did not have any chips paid with grains and cotton fabric. Zin started storing all the payments in the inn. As more people started showing up, Leona started to direct traffic for Zin. As the sky was getting darker, Leona went outside the inn and shouted at the people in line. ¡°We¡¯re done for today! Please go back home!¡± As the people started toin, Leona shouted at them, ¡°Don¡¯t make mister sorcerer angry. Go home when I tell you!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just take me as thest client?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for so long!¡± Leona was starting to get upset at the people¡¯sints. ¡°Crap! Go away when I tell you now! You people! Come back tomorrow!¡± As Leona yelled out angrily, the people were surprised and ran away. Some of the residents were whispering and thinking that Leona was not a normal kid. ¡°You know what? I think the little girl is possessed.¡± ¡°I see. That¡¯s why she was so rude¡­ It must be a nasty spirit living in her.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Wow. They are no ordinary sorcerers.¡± Watching the residents of Jule walk away, Leona was speechless about their reactions. The people were interpreting her rude behavior in an interesting way¡­! ¡°Damn. Psychic reading is not a bad gig at all.¡± Leona wondered if she was better off bing a psychic reader instead of a hunter as she walked into the inn. ¡°What is all this¡­¡± Zin had started organizing all the payments on the floor. ¡°I think we are benefitting from the guard captain¡¯s actions today.¡± ¡°I think so, too! We will probably need a wagon to carry all this!¡± Leona saw that Zin had collected grain, and a good amount of chips as well! ¡°I don¡¯t think all this will fit into a junk wagon, either.¡± Zin sighed, ¡°We need to stay here for four more days.¡± Zin was able to collect so many things in one day, he couldn¡¯t imagine how much more he would collect in the next few days. ¡ª¨C Ironically, as the guard captain got into more idents, more people came to visit Zin. In fact, the captain was notorious among the residents. ¡°He only speaks lies, and it¡¯s killing me. I have no other option but to obey his words because he¡¯s the guard captain¡­ Man, curse him.¡± . . ¡°I understand that he¡¯s a talented guard, but I wish he would stop talking about his past glorious days in the wilderness¡­ It¡¯s annoying.¡± . . ¡°Well, he hasn¡¯t been living at Jule for very long. The lord appointed him as the captain because of his fighting talent. Buttely, the lord seems to be regretting her decision.¡± The residents were speaking ill of the guard captain as soon as someone brought up the topic. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should be talking about this. But he asked the lord if he could have one more wife, and he was scolded by the lord. Ever since then, I think he¡¯s had a grudge with the lord. Oh well, I think only some people know about this¡­¡± Zin learned of all the misdeeds that the captain was getting away with. The lord was preventing the captain from doing anything else, but it seemed that the captain had no respect for the residents. ¡°Thinking about it, he deserves to be cursed.¡± The residents were happy that the captain was going through idents and pains. Many residents seemed to be thanking Zin for his acts, and they were probably visiting Zin to thank him. By paying a visit to the sorcerer who had ced a curse on the captain, the people were disying hostility towards the captain. Simr to how the captain was putting political pressure on the lord, the residents were expressing their dislike towards the captain. It was a passive, yet clear expression of will. Zin felt strange whenever he was in the middle of a power struggle. ¡°So,st time, it was really dangerous. He was picking a fight with a soldier¡­ If the lord had not intervened in time, it would have been disastrous¡­¡± The speaker was thest person to visit. He was initially talking trash about the guard captain, and then he talked about the soldier. When Zin heard the word ¡®soldier¡¯, he became abruptly serious. ¡°A soldier? Can you exin in more detail?¡± ¡°Oh, a Wargrave soldier passed by our castle¡­ let¡¯s see¡­ it was about two weeks ago, I think?¡± Zin immediately thought of Charlotte. Chapter 47 < Curse y (Part 4) > She is safe, then¡­ That¡¯s good news. The SMCP fortress was unable to pursue Charlotte because of the surprise attack, and Charlotte seemed to have escaped from the Korean Penins safely. ¡°The captain was looking down at the soldier and started to arm wrestle with him. The captain gave so many stupid excuses after he lost the arm wrestling. Phew, we were lucky that the soldier was a gentle person. We were all so anxious¡­¡± It seemed like the captain tried to pick a fight with Charlotte. Zin didn¡¯t know Charlotte too well, but she didn¡¯t seem to be someone who would get into trouble. It appeared that she had left the castle quietly. And obviously, she had no time to waste getting caught in a fight. ¡°But anyways, he was looking for someone.¡± As the resident talked, Zin was surprised. ¡°He was looking for someone?¡± Charlotte had to hurry back to headquarters, and was not in a situation to search for somebody. ¡°Yeah, so he didn¡¯t stay too long and left soon after replenishing food. Hmm¡­ what did he say then¡­¡± The resident was thinking hard for a while, and then he snapped his fingers as he remembered. ¡°He said that he was looking for a ¡®hunter who uses a dark sword¡¯.¡± The hunter who wielded a dark sword was Zin. Leona was also surprised. ¡°I don¡¯t who know who he was, but that¡¯s a pity. If the Wargrave is looking for him, that can¡¯t be good¡­¡± Is Charlotte looking for me? It was possible that she needed Zin¡¯s help for an urgent matter. Zin asked the resident, ¡°Was the soldier¡¯s hair blonde?¡± The resident shook his head and replied, ¡°Blonde? No, he had dark hair. I remember him being a sharp-looking man with a tidy uniform. He looked like a cold-hearted man, though.¡± The resident looked at Zin and said, ¡°Is that soldier looking for you, o sorcerer?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m not sure about that.¡± Zin knew Charlotte, but he didn¡¯t know who the dark-haired soldier was. The dark sword that the resident talked about was Zin¡¯s Phantomvein. In the vicinity of the Korean Penins, the only people who had seen Zin use Phantomvein were Charlotte, Leona, and the White Witch. No¡­ actually there¡¯s one more. That was not all. Zin thought about the fight with the White Witch, and remembered that there was one person at the battle scene. There was a soldier who was overpowering the witch. During thest moment when Zin shot the witch, the arms and the legs of the soldier had been crushed. Zin thought that the soldier was killed when the witch¡¯s power exploded. But the soldier had received a megaframe procedure, and it was very possible that he had survived¡­ and the soldier whom Zin saw through the rifle scope had dark hair. He had engaged in the battle with the witch in a very calm and cool manner. Is he looking for me? Zin didn¡¯t know his name, but the only person who would possibly be looking for him was that soldier. As Zin was thinking with a serious look in his face, the resident grew frightened. Leona tapped his shoulder and pointed towards the door. The resident left, and only Zin and Leona were left in the inn. Zin left earlier than Ramphil, but since he was travelling with Leona, his pace was slower. They had rested at different ces for a couple of days. It seemed like the dark-haired Wargrave soldier was pursuing Zin. ¡°Oh man¡­¡± Leona muttered. ¡°That¡¯s troublesome.¡± ¡°¡­ that¡¯s right.¡± As Zin and Leona made some stops to take a rest, Ramphil had passed Zin. It was a situation that was hard to exin. Zin thought about the reasons why Ramphil might be looking for him, and determined that it was not going to be dangerous to meet with him. ¡°Hmm¡­ we maye across him.¡± It didn¡¯t matter much for Zin whether he met Ramphil or not. He was getting tired after a long day working as a psychic reader. Leona was organizing all the things that people brought in to pay him. She ced the fabrics in the pile of fabric, and grains in the pile of grains. She also took the items that had no mary value aside. Although the residents were living in a castle, they possessed quite a fortune. Zin earned quite a bit of money, and he was wondering if he should change his job to a psychic reader. Leona sighed and said, ¡°They say people in the castle share all their wealth, but it looks like they get to keep their own wealth.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s rest up. We will have more visitorsing tomorrow.¡± Until the guard captain gave up, Zin was going to work as a psychic reader in the meantime. ¡ª¨C The next day, an ident happened at the morning roll call time. The guard captain who should be gathering all the residents and starting the roll call didn¡¯t show up at all. The lord asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the captain?¡± One of the guards answered with a trembling voice, ¡°Well¡­ he is noting out from his room.¡± ¡°He is noting out of the room?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think anything is wrong with him, but¡­¡± Everybody knew that the captain was acting weird because he was terrified of the curse. The lord was speechless and shook her head. That morning, she went ahead and performed the roll call herself. Zin said, ¡°He should being soon.¡± Leona smiled with her mouth covered. Today was the third day¡­! As Zin expected, after finish eating the breakfast, the captain came running to Zin. He was extremely terrified, and he looked like he was about to pass out at any moment. His eyes were red, and Zin figured that he did not get any sleepst night. Most likely, he was in panic while imagining how he would get killed. And in fact, he had gone through many horrifying and inexplicable idents. He was certain that he could die at any given moment! ¡°Remove this curse from me!¡± ¡°You said that you didn¡¯t believe in the curse. If you die tomorrow, I will win the bet, and if you don¡¯t die, you¡¯ll win the bet. Are you going to give up with only one more day left? That¡¯s a shame.¡± ¡°Remove it right now!¡± ¡°Are you admitting defeat?¡± Zin taunted and mocked the captain, and the captain trembled with anger. Zin was not going to remove the curse until the captain gave up, and the captain strongly believed that he was going to die at midnight tomorrow. Blind faith was easily disproved, and once the blind faith was disproved, a person would start to believe in another thing. ¡°I lost. Sorcery is for real, and you are a real sorcerer. So remove the curse!¡± ¡°Removing the curse is pretty simple. You need to hold this anti-curse item with you.¡± Zin took out a wooden doll made out of the wooden block. ¡°This will take away the curse from you-¡± ¡°Give that to me!¡± the captain yelled desperately, and was ready to take the doll away from Zin. But as the captain stretched out his hand, Zin grabbed and twisted his arm. ¡°Arg! Aaaaaaaarrgh!¡± ¡°Watch your hands, fe. I have something to say to you too, you know?¡± ¡ªBam!¡ª Zin pushed the captain back, and he was thrown down on the ground. Zin stared and looked down at the captain. ¡°I am a sorcerer, and a hunter as well. And you tried to cheat me of a hunter¡¯s reward.¡± Zin smiled and waved the anti-curse item in front of him. ¡°In such situations, hunters usually negotiate for ¡®extra fees¡¯.¡± It meant that there was going to be an extra charge. The lord was not able to pay Zin the rest of the reward, as the captain was against it. ¡°This item will cost you 100 chips,¡± Zin said as he waved the doll. It was an outrageous price for a chiseled wooden block. ¡°What! How could you¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t like it? Then get lost and die.¡± The captain was astonished at the expensive cost for the anti-curse item. ¡°I don¡¯t even have that many chips!¡± ¡°That is not my problem.¡± The captain had two options. He could wait and die, or pay 100 chips for the anti-curse item. Zin had no intention of letting the captain get off the hook so easily. Leona looked at Zin and smiled bitterly. He is one nasty hunter¡­ And Leona liked that specific trait of Zin. Leona and Zin were not the type of people who would allow others to take advantage of them. But the guard captain only stared at Zin. ¡°I see. If that¡¯s the case¡­¡± The captain might have be a person who was now afraid of the sorcery, but he was still the same bully. ¡°Guards!¡± he yelled. He was in charge of overseeing the area, and he did not have to pay the 100 chips. He was probably nning to steal the item by force. ¡°What a moron,¡± Zin sighed, and stood up slowly. ¡ªThump!¡ª ¡°Get him! And take that item away from h-¡± ¡°Stop it! Right now!¡± ¡°¡­ my lord¡­¡± The lord came in with the guards. She was extremely angry, and stopped the guards from doing anything. ¡°I heard that you have a slush fund from embezzling chips from storage. Why don¡¯t you pay him right now?¡± ¡°Lord! What nonsense are you talking about? Do you have any proof of that¡­?¡± The lord frowned at the captain¡¯s excuses. ¡ªp! ¡ª She took off her apron, and slowly walked up to the captain while rolling up her sleeves. She looked like a beast slowly approaching its prey. ¡ªp! ¡ª ¡°Ack!¡± She pped him in the face. The lord¡¯s arms were bulging, and she was staring at the captain, ready to kick his butt. ¡°I have been too lenient on you.¡± ¡°W, What¡­¡± ¡°I am this castle¡¯s lord. And you are a guard captain who is neglecting his duties.¡± Everybody knew about it, but it was problem that people didn¡¯t talk about. ¡°Keep this in mind.¡± The lord talked to the captain as she looked down on him. ¡°Everything in Jule is mine. Nobody will eat a single potato without my permission.¡± The lord let the people have their own way until now. She allowed the people to keep some wealth to themselves. But a lord was still a lord. She made sure that the captain knew that only she was the owner of the castle. ¡°Take him out and tie him up.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord!¡± At the words of the lord, the guards moved in quickly and apprehended the captain. Because the captain was putting pressure on the lord, the lord came to the inn as soon as she heard that the captain conceded to Zin. The lord was also looking for the right time to fire the captain. She started talking to Zin. ¡°I will prepare your reward right away. How much is that anti-curse item?¡± ¡°It¡¯s 100 chips.¡± ¡°Okay, I will pay you 500 chips in total. Please give that to me.¡± Zin passed her the item, and the lord put it in her pocket.¡±Thank you, hunter.¡± ¡°It looks like you don¡¯t n to use it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± It was an extra payment from the lord. She was not nning to give the item to the captain. She was going to take out her political enemy with the help of Zin. The extra 100 chips was a reward for that help. As gentle as she was, she was still a lord. She was the owner of the castle, and she was not going to allow anyone challenging her power to live. ¡ª Later that day, the lord stopped all scheduled tasks, and made an announcement to the residents of the castle. ¡°The guard captain has been disobeying to my orders continuously, and he has been misusing the chips of Jule. This time around, he did not trust my decisions. The hunter that I hired turned out to be a real sorcerer, and the captain has admitted this fact as well.¡± The lord held a leather whip that was made of a monster¡¯s leather. The captain was tied to a execution tform, and he was gagged and unable to speak. The curse y became a method to prove who was right between the lord and the captain, and the captain lost. The loser paid the cost of the loss. The lord stood on top of the execution tform and talked to the residents. ¡°My decision is absolute.¡± The residents were terrified when they saw the seemingly gentle lord shouted out with anger. ¡°And even when my decision is incorrect, you will need to follow my direction!¡± The most important thing that a lord had to do was establish their authority. A castle would be unstable if the lord did not have the authority to rule the castle. And the best method to establish authority in a small group of people was the disy of force. The lord proimed with a serious expression, ¡°The captain challenged my authority, embezzled the property of Jule, and neglected his duties. For his crime, I sentence one hundredshes as punishment.¡± ¡ªCrack! ¡ª ¡°Mmmffffph!!!¡± As soon as the whip cracked, the captain moaned in great pain, and the residents were all astonished at what they were seeing. ¡ªCrack! ¡ª ¡°Arrrrgh!!¡± The lord executed the punishment herself. Without anyone else¡¯s help, she whipped the captain. All the residents watched him getshed mercilessly. The captain disyed his ambition to be a lord, and the lord sensed his ambition. She was not nning to let the captain live after the start of the curse y. The lord was punishing the captain, and warning everyone at the same time. Do not challenge me or disobey my orders. You will end up like him. I will punish you and kill you publicly. A hundredshes meant sure death. It wasn¡¯t easy for the one executing the punishment, either. The lord was soaked with sweat, but she did not slow down the whipping. After the first sevenshes, the captain lost consciousness. His back was ripped apart, with blood all over the ce, but the lord did not stop whipping. After the next twenty or soshes, nobody thought that the captain would still be alive at that point. However, the residents had to remain and watch the scene. The residents were terrified to see the lordsh the dead body another seventy times. The children were so scared that they did not dared not cry out loud. The residents felt terror, and a tangible and visual dread. After the hundredth whip, the lord was soaked with sweat, and her white clothes were stained with blood. The residents did not think that the woman who hadshed the dead body over and over again was a human at all. Leona was watching the unusual scene with her eyes open wide. This was the reality of the environment of a castle. A lord cannot be too nice, and had to appear as an untouchable being. The lord threw away the whip, and bluntly ordered, ¡°Dismissed!¡± At the lord¡¯smand, all the residents ran away from the execution tform. The captain¡¯s body was motionless, and to Zin¡¯s eyes, none of his bones seemed to be sound. The guards took down the body of the captain, and dragged it off somewhere. The lord came down from the tform, and walked over to Zin. ¡°I will bring the rewards to your room. Please take them.¡± ¡°That was quite brutal.¡± The execution was brutal to the captain, residents, and to the lord herself. The lord smiled at Zin¡¯sment. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that was necessary?¡± She had to brutally carry out the execution. Zin understood why it had to be done without saying anything, and Leona figured it out as well. Zin nudged Leona who seemed to be out of it. ¡°Let¡¯s get ready to leave.¡± ¡°¡­ Okay.¡± There was nothing left to do in the castle of Jule. Chapter 48 < Witch and the Hunter (Part 1) > ¡ªPffffffff¡ª Dark smoke rose from the armored vehicles and tanks, and there were dead bodiesying around all over the ce. ¡°Hmm¡­ It looks like our work is done here.¡± Charlotte looked around the area. Everywhere she looked, there were armored vehicles and tanks. All of them were motionless. Wargrave had established a line of defense near the Ap-rock River and the Doo-man River area. The area was the only way out of the Korean Penins into the continent. There were a massive amount of armored vehicles deployed to halt the advancement of the White Witch. Officially, the White Witch was the target. But there was another target. They were stationed in order to kill the spy, lieutenant Charl. If Charlotte were to return to the headquarters behind the Central Asia Division forces, a war would start between the two forces. Therefore, the Central Asia Division established a defense line. They knew about lieutenant Charl, but they did not know about Charlotte De Kaltz. The forces at the defense line were decimated by her. It was not hard for Charlotte to slip past the defense line, but she chose to exterminate all the forces. Charlotte thought that if a war was going to be inevitable, it would be better to weaken the enemy¡¯s forces. So Charlotte went down the defense line, and destroyed all the forces of the Central Asia Division. Charlotte was a gigaframe cyborg with some body parts reced with megaframe parts. She frowned and started stretching as she felt something ufortable. [Teraframe protocol deactivated. Total output reduced by 86.54%] This didn¡¯t work against the White Witch¡­ Charlotte had the powerful software that would boost the Gigaframe¡¯s capability temporarily. She was able to boost output by overclocking the gigaframe operating system. Charlotte had the software even before she received the cyborg procedure. As soon as she received the procedure, she gained power well beyond that of an ordinary executor. She would be getting the teraframe procedure when she returned to headquarters, and she would be the only Wargrave soldier with a teraframe. At that point, she would be ced in the front of the war against the Central Asia Division. Charlotte was able to weaken the forces of the fortresses nearby. As soon as Charlotte aplished her goals, she started heading north. When Charlotte returned to Central Headquarters, bloodshed would happen in the continent. This was a fact. I wonder how the devil hunter is doing¡­ Charlotte was unaware of the battle of the SMCP. ¡ª¡ª Zin was not able to carry all the items that he earned as part of the psychic reading gig. Zin took a certain amount of food with him, and sold all the items, including the fabrics, to the residents of Jule. He earned 800 chips for his hunter¡¯s reward, an additional 100 chips as bonus, and 139 chips while working as a psychic. Zin was able to earn a total of 1039 chips at the castle of Jule! It was a pretty good profit! The lord of Jule had to spend a big sum of chips, but she was happy that the cave ants were exterminated, and that she had solidified her authority at Jule. She got a lot of bang for the buck. She was extra nice to Zin and Leona. Besides washing their clothes, she gifted them leather pants and cotton clothes to them. And she specially gifted Leona a sturdy brown backpack reinforced with ghoul leather. And she even added two bars of soap in the bag! Leona was extremely excited. Leona moved around with her new clothes. ¡°It¡¯s veryfortable!¡± ¡°There must have been a person with great sewing skills,¡± Zin observed. All the people at Jule had great looking clothes. Leona had received leather shorts and long pants, and was wearing the brown leather shorts, because they were easier to move around in. She was ecstatic about gaining daily necessities, and she felt great about receiving the bars of soap. It was the first time that Leona had visited a clean vige, and worn clean clothes. But as she was walking farther away from the Jule castle, she smiled bitterly. ¡°It was a good experience at first, but things went south pretty quick.¡± ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s your first time visiting a castle.¡± A lord was a dictator who ruled a castle, and would do anything to maintain control of the castle. The lord of the Jule castle was pretty good and better than average lord. However, Leona could not forget the scene where the lordshed a man to death with a scary facial expression. The lord did not look happy at all, and she looked very tired in the middle. But she didn¡¯t stop the whipping. Young Leona couldn¡¯t easily understand why the lord had to act in such a way, and it was quite scary. But Leona was an odd one as well, as she didn¡¯t think too much about the whole ordeal. Many kids were trembling in fear and covered their eyes and ears during the execution. But Leona had watched the whole execution from the beginning to the end. And she didn¡¯t dwell too much on it. Leona looked at the wilderness and shook her head as if she had already forgotten about Jule. ¡°So, did all the cave ants die?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably happening as we speak.¡± Although Zin and Leona were not able to see, the epidemic was probably killing the ants underground. Zin also stopped thinking about Jule. ¡°It¡¯s a pity I couldn¡¯t extract the chips from the queen ant, but oh well.¡± There was no point worrying about something that couldn¡¯t be done, so Zin decided to be happy that he was able to take revenge on the cave ants. During his stay at Jule, Zin was able to extend his lifetime by more than 1000 hours. He didn¡¯t have to use any ammunition. It was a perfect hunt for Zin. ¡ª¡ª The weather was getting hotter, but it was not to a point where it hampered their trip. However, it was not easy passing the mountainous area where the castle of Jule was located. The new clothes got dirty pretty quickly, and although Leonained at first about the clothes getting dirty, she didn¡¯t care about it after a while. Time went by quickly as the two walked over a couple of mountains. They had to set up a camp soon because they left Julete in the afternoon. While Zin was preparing a meal using the food obtained from Jule, Leona asked, ¡°Why is Wargrave looking for you, mister?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Charl was a nice person, but maybe Charl is a weird person? Anyways I don¡¯t really trust the Wargrave.¡± Leona was right about Wargrave. But it didn¡¯t mean that Charl was a trustworthy person either. I¡¯m sure he is on his way to hunt the devil. And he probably needs my help. Ramphil was not able to take down the White Witch using the three connected photon disruptor swords. But Zin was able to almost kill the White Witch with the power of the Phantomvein. If Ramphil¡¯s mission was to exterminate the Witch, he would need the knowledge of a devil hunter. But Ramphil was probably further north than Zin and Leona, and it was likely that they would note across each other. Based on the conflict within the Wargrave organization, Ramphil was part of the Central Asia Division, and Charlotte who had hired Zin for help was part of the Central headquarters. After seeing Ramphil on the battlefield, he did not want to fight against him. Zin had never seen someone with such great battle skills. I don¡¯t want to get tangled with him. Zin did not want to ever meet him again. Ramphil was so powerful that Zin was extremely cautious. Zin had to head north to get out of the Korean penins, and once he got out to the continent, it would be nearly impossible for Ramphil to track Zin down. ¡°But if Wargrave has no intention of killing us, isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡± Leona asked Zin. ¡°Why do you think so?¡± ¡°If he needed to hunt the Witch, he could have gotten help from the Wargrave fortresses.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Leona provided a different perspective, and Zin nodded after thinking about it. ¡°You may be right. If there was a tank, we could get to the Heavenly Power castle much faster¡­¡± They were not even halfway to the Heavenly Power castle yet. It would take much longer to get to the castle as Zin would need to earn more chips to prolong his life. It was simr to how he spent extra days at the Jule castle. Is Ramphil under themand of the Central Asia Division? Is he searching for me to hunt the Witch? It was unclear, but if Ramphil had good intentions, it would not be a bad idea to get help from him. Zin and Leona would be able to utilize a tank to move quicker. If I don¡¯t talk about the fact that I¡¯m helping the Central Headquarters, he wouldn¡¯t know that I¡¯m helping out Charlotte. Maybe it¡¯s okay. Zin could decide from two options. He could move up north slowly with minimal risk, or he could move up quicker with some risk. As Leona spoke, Zin thought that it was not a bad idea to coborate with the Central Asia Division. But if he can¡¯t find us, we won¡¯t be able to find him, either. It was not going to be easy to meet each other in the vastnd of the continent. ¡°Let¡¯s think about itter when we meet him.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± There was no point of thinking about it until they met him. Zin was ready to go to sleep. Although the cave ants were most likely wiped out by the epidemics, he did not want to take chances by sleeping on the ground and getting attacked by the cave ants. He stood up and created a temporary hammock using some ropes. Leona was amazed when Zin created a hammock between the trees in a short period of time. ¡°You look so much cooler when you do such things. Much cooler than when you try to show off on purpose.¡± ¡°¡­ You are really good atplimenting and criticizing at the same moment.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s what makes me charming!¡± Zin shook his head as Leona mimicked how Zin joked around. The temporary hammock was sturdy andfortable, and Leonayed down to go to sleep. ¡°This is so nice. Can you make this every night?¡± ¡°Nope. It¡¯s too annoying.¡± Zin did not make a hammock unless it was urgent because making a hammock were tiring. Zin fell asleep shortly, and Leona who was enjoying the new bed, fell asleep as well. ¡ª That night, Leona had a nightmare. Leona woke up in extreme pain, she felt as if she was getting butchered. ¡°Ack! Ah! Hoob¡­¡± Leona stood up from the hammock, and she started feeling nauseated as she remembered the unexinable nightmare. ¡°Argh! Bwarrgh!¡± As soon as Leona fell from the hammock, she started to throw up. Zin immediately woke up and stood up as well. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you sick?¡± ¡°Ah, Aahck!¡± Leona started to shiver after throwing up. Her eyes were ready, her mouth was open. She was not able look straight as she was still out of her mind. Zin looked at Leona, and lifted his right hand. ¡ªSLAP! ¡ª ¡°O!¡± Leona finally woke up, and came back to her senses after the p. She covered her cheeks and murmured, ¡°Ow. Ow¡­ that hurts¡­¡± ¡°Snap out of it.¡± Leona became extremely angry, and she shouted at Zin, ¡°How can you p one¡¯s cheek so hard? I almost lost my tooth!¡± Zin shrugged. ¡°You looked so out of your mind, so I got your mind back in you. You should be thanking me, but you are getting angry?¡± And then Zin suddenly stopped rebuking her. Leona wiped her cheeks as she felt something and said, ¡°Blood¡­¡± ¡°I think you are mistaken.¡± ¡°No, it is actually blood.¡± Leona was bleeding from inside her mouth because she had gashed her cheeks. Chapter 49 < Witch and the Hunter (Part 2) > Devil¡¯s blood! The words echoed in Zin¡¯s head. Drinking a devil¡¯s blood meant that the hunter had to kill the devil. By consuming the blood, Zin would be draining the life of the devil as well. Absorbing a devil¡¯s blood had much more effect than simply drinking the blood. Drinking the blood of Leona would cause the life of Leona to shorten as the source of her life would be drained. And it mattered even if a single drop of blood was consumed. Zin held on to his trembling hands and tried to remain calm. But Leona noticed that Zin was not normal. ¡°M¡­ mister, what¡¯s wrong¡­?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Tell me what¡¯s going on.¡± Zin was barely able to remainposed, and asked a different question. I can¡¯t believe it. I am not even a vampire, and I¡¯m getting excited over blood. Zin felt horrible about himself. Leona started to think about the nightmare that she dreamt, and frowned. And she started talking after she realized what it was about. ¡°I dreamt a nightmare¡­ but now that I think about it¡­ it¡¯s not a nightmare.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a nightmare?¡± She thought she was having a nightmare at first, but after waking up, she was certain that what she saw was not part of a dream. Leona pointed down below. ¡°I was watching the cave ants dying underneath us¡­¡± Leona¡¯s dream was about thousands of cave ants struggling and dying because of the epidemic. It was a horrible scene to watch as the monsters were dying in agony. Leona was thinking that what she saw was not a dream, but something that was happening right now. Leona murmured, ¡°I think I can still see it now.¡± She was not able to sense it as exactly as before, but she was feeling that the monsters nearby were in pain. It was not something that could be easily exined, but Leona was surely getting feedback. Is her empathic power awakening? Zin was not sure if Leona was starting to realize her power because of the many cave ants dying, or because she maturing as a witch. But it was certain that Leona would be a true witch through these events. ¡°Why am I seeing things that I don¡¯t want to see¡­¡± Leona frowned and talked to herself while grabbing her head. Leona still acted like Leona even though she was gaining power as a witch. She was extremely upset that she was sensing the pain of the monsters that she did not care for. She was getting a headache, and she continued to curse and shout. And then she realized something. Leona started to concentrate on the painful feeling she was able to pick up, and focused on the subject that was in pain. She was able to do something that she couldn¡¯t do before. Leona was able to sense a monster that was much bigger than the other cave ants. And Leona had a good memory. It¡¯s a pity I couldn¡¯t extract the chips from the queen ant, but oh well. As soon as she remembered what Zin said, Leona lifted her head. ¡°Mister.¡± ¡°¡­ What¡¯s up.¡± ¡°I think I found the queen.¡± Zin was very surprised at her words. ¡°No way.¡± He cut her off even before she started to speak. ¡°You are thinking about extracting chips from the queen ant, but the tunnels are tooplicated for me to navigate easily.¡± But Leona also remembered the otherment that Zin had made. The tunnels that the cave ants go through are not wide enough for me to crawl through. ¡°I can go through the tunnels.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I can go. The tunnel should be wide enough for me to walk through, right? And I can sense what the tunnels look like.¡± Leona was able to figure out how the tunnels looked like by detecting the dead bodies of the ants, and feeling the emotions of the ants. The power of a witch was unexinable. It wasn¡¯t just a simple mind-controlling power. Zin shook his head, as he was not going to allow Leona go through the tunnels. ¡°You can¡¯t go through the tunnels. There is an epidemic all under the ground.¡± The cave ant tunnels were contaminated with the disease, and if a person were to enter the tunnel, he would get exposed to the epidemic and die. ¡°You are not immune to the epide¡­¡± Zin did not finish his sentence. The current epidemic was caused by sorcery, and such an epidemic would have no effect if one carried an anti-curse item. The epidemic itself was not going to be an issue for Leona. But Zin shook his head one more time. ¡°No, no. The cave ants that are still alive might attack¡­¡± ¡°Did you forget?¡± Leona smiled. ¡°Monsters don¡¯t attack me.¡± Leona was a witch. She was a witch who was trying to extract chips from the dead monsters. As Zin watched the confident Leona, he thought that things were getting weird. ¡°Something doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± Zin started to dig up the location that Leona point out. Although Zin wasn¡¯t feeling easy about it, nevertheless he was digging into the ground at great speed. Zin was immune to the epidemic in the first ce, and was not affected by it. ¡ªRumble! ¡ª As Zin dug up the hole, a cave ant tunnel was revealed. The heat inside the tunnel blew out into his face. Zin was surprised at how Leona was able to point out the location where the tunnel would be, and he came up out of the hole and looked at Leona. ¡°You know, I want to be a hunter as well, so I need to prove my worth so that you could start teaching me the skills. Don¡¯t worry. As long as the tunnels don¡¯t copse, I can pick up the chips easily.¡± She was right about that. It was going to a simple mission, where Leona needed to retrieve chips from the dead ants. Zin was still worried, and Leona nudged Zin in the waist. ¡°Do you really want to be a hunter?¡± Zin asked. Leona was slightly upset. ¡°What. You thought I was joking about it?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I am really going to be a hunter. It¡¯s such an easy job. The monsters wille to me and die willingly.¡± Zin had never heard of a hunter who had the power of a witch, and he had never seen such a witch. In the end, Zin gave Leona a chipbox, chip extractor,ntern, spellstone, and a shotgun. Leona picked up the shotgun and frowned. ¡°This is stinking heavy¡­¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s be clear. If something happens, you areing back up right away. If the tunnel is about to copse, if you have trouble breathing, or if your body doesn¡¯t feel right, you need toe back out. If a monster attacks you, you can shoot this shotgun. The shotgun will recoil and you might hurt your chin or face, so don¡¯t aim and shoot. Just hold it to your side and shoot.¡± ¡°Wow, you are really worried, aren¡¯t you?¡± Leona shook her head as Zin gave her a long sermon. As she was ready to go down the tunnel, she looked up at Zin. ¡°Well, it feels great that you care about me.¡± Leona was still carrying the shotgun, but it was too dangerous for a kid to carry around and use. However, Leona jumped into the tunnel without worrying too much. ¡ªWhoosh! ¡ª As a witch, she did not have to worry about the monsters, and she did not have to worry about the epidemic because she was carrying the spellstone. The tunnel was wide enough for oxygen to flow through, and it had a low risk of copsing. ¡°¡­¡± But Zin could not take off his eyes from the tunnel that Leona had jumped into. ¡ªAh, smells like crap. ¡ª As soon as Leona went under the tunnel, she was grumbling without much fear. Leona had a clear memory of how the cave ant¡¯s tunnel looked. It was a very strange experience. She was not a monster, but a human, but the monsters¡¯ knowledge was transferred to her and became part of her knowledge. At first, she wasn¡¯t exactly sure what she had to do, but after feeling the pain of the cave ants, she was able to gain their knowledge. She was aware where the eggs, food, and the queen were. Leona checked the surroundings with her shlight and kept going down the tunnels. Leona spotted many cave ants that were lying dead in the tunnels because of the epidemic. The cave ants looked like giant moles, and they were covered in blood. The dead bodies of the ants looked horrible, and some were still spasmodically shaking their legs. At times, the tunnel widened or narrowed down, but it was high enough for Leona to walk through it. Real sorceries require this type of ceremony, but you will not remember these forever. It¡¯s because the oue of the sorcery is far more horrible than the ceremony itself. The oue is something that people will remember for a long time. As Leona passed through the tunnels and looked at the ants that were killed horribly, she realized what Zin had meant earlier. The sight of the dead bodies of the ants was gruesome and nauseating. Initially, Leona thought that offering a cow as part of the ceremony was a waste. But after witnessing what the sacrifice of a single cow could cause, she thought that it was crazy that the ants were decimated by it. Leona¡¯s nose was getting numb after inhaling the stench for too long, and she was soaked with sweat because of the heat and humidity inside the tunnel. She was able to breathe fine, but travelling down through the tunnels was physically demanding for her. The ant tunnels were very steep, and it was tough for Leona to get through the steeper sections. Fortunately, the queen was not too far from Leona¡¯s current location. ¡°Oh, aaaah!¡± ¡ªFrrrrrr! ¡ª Leona slipped up, and fell down and rolled down the steep slope. She stood up in pain, muttering, ¡°Crap¡­ why did I volunteer toe here?¡± Leona regretted that she decided toe inside the tunnel. Leona looked up where she rolled down from, and she wondered how she could get back up. Leona passed through the sleeping areas of the ants, areas where the ants were dead in groups, areas where the eggs were turned ck, and food storage where the food was spoiled with a nauseating stench. Ordinary people would have run away from such a horrendous ce, or freaked out in terror. Leona asionally cursed, but she was not frightened at all. Leona¡¯s mother used to be a coward, and Leona despised cowards. She believed that fear and terror was a stumbling block to survive. Leona wanted to exclude such emotions from herpletely. It was not that she was without fear. She did not stop moving on, because there were things scarier than gruesomeness and terror. And as she approached the area the queen was at, she wasn¡¯t surprised looking at the gigantic ant. ¡ªSheeeeeeck¡­ Shhheeeeck¡­¡ª The giant queen ant was a hundred times bigger than a regr cave ant, but it didn¡¯t look like a boss monster. It looked like a bug that had a huge abdomen. It was so incredibly big, but it didn¡¯t seem dangerous. ¡°It¡¯s not dead yet.¡± The queen ant was barely breathing and wasn¡¯t dead yet. Contrasting its gigantic abdomen, its head was very tiny. Eggs wereid from the tip of the abdomen, and cave ants that hatched from the eggs built the huge colony. The queen ant had very thin legs, and was immobile. The queen ant was fed by the worker cave ants that brought food for her. If all the cave ants died, the queen would die as well, because there would be no cave ants to take care of the queen. Leona thought that the queen ant was merely an eggying machine, not the ruler of the ant colony. The queenid eggs like a machine, and the eggs became worker cave ants that assisted the queen and gathered food. The queen ant was looking at Leona. The insect monster did not have any facial expression, and Leona did not know what the queen ant was thinking. But, she was able to feel something. Leona felt bits of emotions here and there. The monster was rying emotions, and Leona was decoding the emotions in her mind. I want to live. My babies My colony is destroyed. It hurts. O great one. I don¡¯t want to die. Save me. O great one. Leona felt waves of emotions flow into her mind just by watching the queen ant. Leona felt the sadness of the monster fill up her heart. ¡°What, what¡­ shut up. Stop talking to me¡­¡± As Leona had a strange feeling when the emotion was ryed to her, Leona felt sorry for the queen ant. She feltpassion for the queen, and sorry for the pain. A skilled witch was able to empathize with the monsterpletely. A witch would be the ruler of the colony of the monsters and control them. It was the same as the monsters bing part of her. As Leona who did not know how to fully control the monsters, she felt helpless at the fact that she was forced to empathize with the queen ant. O great one. Save me. Did they have to die? Did they do anything wrong? Monster is just a monster. Should the whole colony be eradicated to earn couple of chips? Why¡­¡± As Leona was thinking about the reasons behind the whole series of events, she shouted out to snap out of it. ¡°SHUT UP! It¡¯s annoying!¡± ¡ªck. ¡ª With her eyes swelled up, she loaded the shotgun and aimed it at the queen ant. Leona yelled like a mad person and pulled the trigger. ¡°I! am! Not! A monster!¡± ¡ªBang! ¡ª ¡ªBoom! ¡ª A shot was fired off the shotgun, and the queen ant¡¯s abdomen got a hole sted into it. ¡°Ack!¡± Leona was stunned as the gun recoiled, but she held her position and continued to pull the trigger. The automatic shotgun continued to fire one shot at a time. ¡ªBang! ¡ª ¡ªBang! ¡ª ¡ªBang! ¡ª As the shotgun zed with gunshots, body parts of the ant sttered and the abdomen busted open. Leona fired thest shot at the head of the queen that was struggling in pain, and sted it into pieces. ¡°Don¡¯t you ever get into my head.¡± Leona swung the shotgun and smacked the smashed head of queen off the body. The queen ant was dead. Leona walked up to the queen, and stuck the chip extractor into the body of the queen. Leona breathed hard as she gazed at the chips getting extracted from the queen. She was not going to empathize with the monster. She thought that a monster should die to have its chips extracted. Leona looked at the dead queen ant, and spoke as if she was dering something. ¡°I decide what I want to be.¡± She kept on looking at the pile of chips that were getting extracted. As if she was brainwashing herself, she added one more sentence. Simrly to how Zin struggled with dealing with Leona, Leona struggled and promised to herself as she watched the monster, ¡°I am a human.¡± There was no reason for Leona to remain as a human. Leona did not care about it much before. But she was different now. She needed to be a human so that she wouldn¡¯t be alone. Although, Leona was a small kid, she acted like a hunter as she extracted chips from the corpse of the queen ant. And even her serious facial expression resembled that of Zin. Chapter 50, 51 < From Noon until the Break of Dawn (Part 1) > It took quite some time for Leona to crawl out of the cave ant tunnel. Leona extracted the chips from the queen ant, as well as from the cave ants¡¯ bodies. It was the reason that she took extra time toe back out of the tunnel. ¡ªPoof, poof¡ª ¡°Man¡­ I thought I was gonna die.¡± Leona smelled foul, as she covered with fluid from the cave ants and dust all over her body. ¡°You look like a bum.¡± ¡°What. Did you think that I was going toe out after taking a shower?¡± Leona replied snarkilyment to Zin who was mocking her. Leona took many deep breaths, as it felt good breathing in fresh air. ¡°Hold on to the spellstone until you wash your body clean.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± To be safe, Zin had Leona hold onto the spellstone, and received the weapon and equipment back. Zin looked at the muddy Saiga, and became serious. And after looking at the magazine that was empty, he became even more serious. ¡°¡­ Did you use up all the ammunition?¡± ¡°Yeah, the queen was still alive.¡± ¡°¡­¡± The shotgun that Zin cleaned up before at Jule was now dirty, but he was not too upset about it. Leona took out the chipbox from her pocket and passed it to Zin. ¡°Total of 928 chips. The queen ant coughed up about 400 chips.¡± Leona had recovered a huge amount of chips after extracting the chips from the queen ant and the cave ants. As Zin kept on staring at the chipbox, Leona pushed the chipbox towards him. ¡°You can think of it as a tuition fee until I be a real hunter. I am not giving you a single chip after I be a hunter.¡± Leona didn¡¯t go into the tunnels to earn more chips for herself. She went through the hassle to give Zin more chips. Zin put away the chipbox in his coat, and Leonaid down on the hammock. She fell to sleep shortly after, as she was very tired. Zin thought that Leona was acting irrationally, but he was surprised that she was able to extract the chips from the queen ant. Even though there might not have been any threat, it was not a simple task. Zin would have gone through the tunnels reluctantly even if he was as small as her. Going through the dark cave ant tunnel was not something that somebody could easily do. Zin did not feelingfortable receiving chips that he did not earn himself. He started to fill up the hole that Leona came out from. He did not want the epidemic to spread outside the tunnels and cause terrible problems. ¡ª¡ª ¡°Now that I think about it, didn¡¯t we just steal the chips that the people of Jule were going to excavate?¡± Leona asked as the two continued their journey next morning. ¡°Well, sort of. But there are still tons of cave ants left underground, so it¡¯ll be fine.¡± Zin wondered if the people of Jule would even start digging up the ground. They would not be able to locate where the cave ants would be. Zin and Leona did not want to waste any more time, and left the vicinity of the castle of Jule. ¡°We just confirmed the destruction of the cave ant colony, so we don¡¯t have to worry anymore.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± The sorcery proved to be effective, and Zin and Leona were able to verify that the entire ant colony was wiped out. It meant that the area was safe from the cave ants. ¡°So this area is safe from now on.¡± ¡°Well, when a group of predators is wiped out, another group will move in. So we can¡¯t say that conclusively.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± It was hard to predict how the ecosystem would change, and it was especially hard to predict the ecosystem with monsters. Removing a predator did not necessarily make an environment safer. The cave ants were not the most dangerous predator, but they created an environment that was tough for other monsters to live because they stole the prey. Nobody knew what predator would move into the area. As Leona was shaking her head, Zin had a random thought. Then the southern region of the Korean penins¡­ The monsters in the southern region were probably wiped out as the prototype brought them to attack the SMCP fortress. As a result, it was very likely that the southern region of Korea became a monster-free region. The Korean penins probably became a better to live. But at the same time, many people were probably killed when the monsters headed north. The southern region of Korea will be lifeless for some time. The southern region would remain as a quiet and peaceful ce until new refugees settled in the area. It was a paradise that was waiting for new people toe. As Zin thought about it, he looked at Leona. ¡°Would you¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± The southern region of Korea would be the perfect location to live for Leona, who despised both humans and monsters. He thought that it would be good ce for Leona to settle down. The surroundings wouldn¡¯t be dangerous, and there would be many empty cities. However, after looking at Leona¡¯s facial expression, Zin stopped talking. ¡°What were you going to say?¡± ¡°No, nothing.¡± Zin did not think Leona would willingly head down south. Zin would be lucky if Leona didn¡¯t get mad at him breaking his promise of training her as a hunter. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We have a long way to go.¡± ¡°What the heck?¡± Leona shrugged and started walking, and Zin followed her. ¡°If you don¡¯t know where you are going, don¡¯t take the point.¡± ¡°This is the right direction.¡± ¡°You are right, but¡­¡± ¡°Then, just follow me.¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have bothered talking to you.¡± The little kid with an attitude did not seem to be tired and continued to walk ahead of him. ¡ª¨C Zin and Leona walked for many days. The Heavenly Power castle was still days away, and was located near the area formerly known as Yichun city in the Heilongjiang Province. Zin and Leona had a long way to go. Zin did not appear to be taking his time, as he was a hunter who wandered the world by foot and needed to hunt the devil. But at the same time, he was not walking too hastily. It was not because he had to keep pace with Leona, but because he did not have to hurry. When Leona asked why Zin was taking it slow, Zin replied, ¡°It¡¯ll be alive somewhere. If it is dead, that¡¯ll be good too.¡± The devil was probably alive and wandering around, and it was given that it would appear again. Zin was ready to hunt the devil, and he was going to wander the world until the devil appeared again in the world. Nothing had changed much. With limited ess to data, Zin could only wander around the wilderness, and hope to find the location of the devil. ¡°We¡¯lle across the Witch one day.¡± There was no need to rush, as it would be impossible to continuously search for the devil. He would get tired trying to do so. Zin had lived as a hunter for a very long time, and he knew that he had to wait patiently. Zin was certain that the White Witch would not hide for too long, and he knew that he had to focus on the preparation of the hunt. ¡°Where are we so far?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ we are almost out of the Korean Penins. After we cross a river ahead of us, we¡¯ll be in the continent.¡± ¡°Continent?¡± Leona didn¡¯t know where the Korean Penins was, and she did not fully understand what Zin meant. Zin paused and started drawing the map of the Asian continent with his fingers. He drew the Korean penins in the corner. ¡°We walked all the way up to this area, and we are right here.¡± ¡°What, we came only this far?¡± Zin sighed as she realized how big the Asian continent waspared to Korea. And as Zin pointed to their destination location, she was even more astonished. She dreaded that she had to walk as much again as she had travelled so far. ¡°The world is too big¡­¡± Zin only drew the Asian continent, and Leona was amazed at the size of the Earth. ¡°It¡¯s actually bigger. There¡¯s Europe, Africa, and other continents too.¡± ¡°Other continents? Are you telling that there are other continents that are that big?¡± Leona was amazed that the world she was living in was so vast. ¡°How do I get to the other continents?¡± ¡°Well, we can¡¯t go there anymore.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t any ships to take us there.¡± Leona kept on asking different questions, as she was excited to learn new things. ¡°Mister, have you been to other continents?¡± ¡°Yes, a long time ago.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s awesome. I wanna go too!¡± Zinughed at Leona¡¯sments. It was funny to hear a little kid who hadn¡¯t been to the Asian continent wanting to visit the continent of America. ¡°It¡¯s not that much different from here.¡± ¡°But, still, I wanna go.¡± ¡°Well, technically, there is a way to get there.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°We would need to steal a Wargrave battleship. There is a Wargrave navy base near divostok, and we¡¯d need to steal one. And of course, you would need to steer the ship by yourself.¡± ¡°Mister, you always talk about nonsense, huh?¡± As Leona grumbled, Zinughed. In fact, Wargrave had a small fleet of battleships. But it was crazy to even think about stealing a battleship. Then, Leona asked again suddenly ¡°Are there people living there?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about now¡­ but there used to be people living there,¡±Zin answered, and Leona nodded as she listened¡­ ¡ª¡ª After a long walk, Zin and Leona reached the Doo-man River. If they crossed this river boundary, they would be out of the Korean Penins. Zin and Leona climbed up a hill, and from there, they were able to see the curvy river, and the field that was on the opposite side of the river. Leona watched the scene in awe with her mouth open. Without marveling, Zin also started to look around the area to observe the surroundings. Shortly after, Zin and Leona were able to spot some strange things. ¡°¡­ what the heck?¡± ¡°Eh¡­ Things like this always happen.¡± On the other side of the river, there were many destroyed tanks and armored vehicles. There were tanks that seemed to have been destroyed not too long ago, and there were dead bodiesying all over the ce. And the dead people were Wargrave soldiers. Leona spotted something and pointed her finger at it. ¡°I see something over there.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take cover for now.¡± Zin and Leona hid behind some bushes and trees on the hill. There was a group of people scavenging around the destroyed tanks at the area that Leona had pointed out. They were far away, but it was obvious what they were doing. They were going through the destroyed vehicles to loot weapons or parts. They were either scavengers or ughters. They would be enemies if they were ughters, and scavengers were dangerous to deal with. In the wilderness, it was smart to be on guard against strangers, and Zin was cautiously observing them. Zin took out a scope, and started to observe the people. Someone smashed the reactor. Bah, only scrap metals Well, at least we picked up a single reactor. This thing¡¯s a beast. What we¡¯re using now is junk. Everything looks destroyed¡­ I was hoping to get some weapons. How did they get wrecked so badly? How would I know? These scrap metals are still useful. Steel used by Wargrave is pretty good. We should be satisfied with what we got. I know, but still. We could have scored big time today. They were scavengers who had heard about the defeat of the Wargrave troops. They were going through all the tanks to see if there was anything valuable. Zin considered his options as he observed the scavengers. Looks like Wargrave set up a defense line on the Doo-man River, and it was destroyed. Looks like all forces have retreated. What was the defense line for? They could have been set up to prevent the White Witch from moving north, or they were trying to prevent from Charlotte heading back to headquarters. Or was it for both reasons? I see that surfaces of the tanks have melted, and the tanks were physically destroyed. It looks like aser weapon was used. The Witch escaped with a ck hawk, so I don¡¯t think the Witch was here. It¡¯s very possible that a defense line as set up on the Ak-Rock River as well. But the troops were dealt massive damage and the defense line was broken¡­ It¡¯s been at most fifteen days since a battle took ce. I can¡¯t imagine that the Wargrave tanks were looted within fifteen days. Transportation units would be needed to carry looted parts. I see that the tanks and the weapons were destroyed by separate attacks¡­ There were additional explosions after the tanks were immobilized. It possible that Wargrave destroyed the tanks because they do not want the technology to be leaked¡­¡± If the defense line was broken and reinforcement troops were sent to recover equipment, they would have recovered parts including the reactors. As Zin was thinking about many things, he continued to monitor the scavengers. They were going though the destroyed tanks, but they were unable to pick up anything useful. It was possible that the Wargrave troops recovered all the parts while retreating. But Zin thought that the troops were almost annihted. Zin started thinking based on his observations. Wargrave¡¯s Central Asia Division set up a defense line near the Doo-man and Ap-Rock river area. Their goal was to kill both the White Witch and the undercover lieutenant, Charl. Charlotte broke the defense line and continued to head north. Or it¡¯s very possible that she went around destroying all the tanks. A war between the HQ and the Central Asia Division is looming. She probably destroyed the tanks to weaken the Central Asia Division. Charlotte didn¡¯t destroy the Wargrave weapons, nor did the reinforcement troops. A third party was involved here. I¡¯ll leave the scavengers alone for now. I don¡¯t know how many there are. No need to alert them by firing a shot. In Zin¡¯s opinion, the scavengers were not armed with deadly weapons, and Zin was able to strike first. Zin was nning to wait until they passed by. Zin looked at Leona, and sent her hand signals. Zin had taught her hand signs in case of emergency, and she had mastered all the signs. Zin sent a signal to stand by, and she nodded. Just in case, Zin pulled out the M700 Remington and put the silencer on the rifle, acting swiftly while lying on ground. Zin was not too far away from Leona, but he thought that it would be good for Leona to get used to hand signs. The scavengers looked through the corpses of the Wargrave soldiers, but were unable to find anything useful. All the Wargrave weapons, from guns to heavy artillery, were destroyed. Damn, nothing at all. From afar, the scavengers were murmuring. And soon, the scavengers stopped moving, and Zin stayed quiet as well. ¡ªVrrrrrrooooom¡ª A rough engine sound started to roar from a distance. The scavengers were briefly startled, and then they started to scatter to find a ce to hide. All the people in the area knew what the engine sound was all about. Junkwagon. The ughters were approaching. The area near the defense line was an open field, and the scavengers had nowhere to run. The only ces they could hide were the destroyed tanks or armored vehicles. Soon, the group of ughters who were riding the junkwagons started approaching along the riverbed. ¡°Waaaaaaaaang!¡± One crazy ughter who was mimicking the sound of the engine was leading the group towards them. < From Noon Until the Break of Dawn (Part 2) > Zin quickly scouted the ughters for their weaponry. Single action custom made rifles. Each ughter had a rifle strapped on their shoulders. Although the guns were crappy, they were still firearms. The rifles they carried were not of high quality, with low uracy and range. Plus, it was not possible to fire consecutive shots. But they were more than enough to kill a person, and much more powerful than crossbows or arrows. Towards the end of the trail of the junkwagons, there seemed to be a line of chopped off heads skewered on a long string dangling behind. As the junkwagons bumped on the road, the heads bounced off and dragged on the ground. First scavengers appear, and now ughters. Scavengers came to loot the equipment of the Wargrave, hoping for a jackpot, and now the ughters wereing to raid those scavengers. It was a verymon scene. ¡ªVrrrrooooom! ¡ª ¡°Hey, hey, hey! I see footprints!¡± ¡°Look at those footprints! They look so fresh!¡± There were seven ughters approaching, and they stopped as soon as they spotted footsteps near the riverbed. The seven junkwagons stopped, and the ughters got off the junkwagons with their rifles in hand. ¡°They ran away in a rush.¡± ¡°Hahahahaha!¡± The scavengers ran away, but the sands on the riverbed showed their tracks. Therefore, there was no point in hiding. When people are in a pinch, they make irrational decisions. If the scavengers had scattered and run away, at least a couple of them would have survived. One of the ughters yelled, ¡°If youe out now, I will kill you nice and clean!¡± If the scavengers didn¡¯te out from their hiding ces, they would be tortured to death and murdered. The ughters were very aware on how to inflict the most pain to a person. And the ughter¡¯s threat was not just words. However, none of the hiding scavengers responded. They were hiding inside the armored vehicles and hoping for a miracle. Leona quietly watched the ughters. She wondered how the scavengers would be feeling at the moment. They were probably terrified and about to die of a heart attack. They were probably also hoping someone would rescue them. The ughters started giggling and searching the area by following the tracks. Shortly after, they yanked out a terrified scavenger out of a tank. ¡°Ah, aaah¡­ Aaaaaah¡­ Please have mercy, let me go.¡± ¡°Oh man, look at this poor guy. So desperate.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me! I¡¯m sorry! Please!¡± ¡°Yo! What a funny dude.¡± One of ughters smiled, revealing his yellow teeth. He looked at the scavenger who was trembling in fear. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are sorry about, but if you are sorry, why did you hide?¡± ¡ªShank! ¡ª ¡°G¡­aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarggh!¡± ¡°Wow, you must have been eating pretty well. What a great voice you have!¡± The scavenger screamed as the ughter hewed at his leg with a machete. The other ughtersughed at the scavenger who was bleeding and struggling to get away. ¡°Motherf¡ªs¡­¡± Leona cursed in a whispering voice. The ughters were inflicting misery on others, and they enjoyed watching them crawl in pain. Leona attacked others if she needed to, but she didn¡¯t attack others just to see them suffer. She had witnessed such cruelty in Ard Point, but she was still not used to it. The ughters were toying around with the injured scavenger. They were ready to dissect the scavenger alive with a knife. ¡°Ha, hahahaha! Hehehehehe!¡± The scavenger who was trapped seemed to have gone mad as he wasughing like a crazy man. The ughters followed other foot trails to capture the remaining scavengers. Another one was spotted. He did not have the courage to rescue the friend who was being tortured, he was only aware that he had to run away. They jumped out from their hiding ces, and started running away. The ughters looked at them and shouted, ¡°They¡¯re fleeing!¡± ¡°Shoot them!¡± ¡ªBang! Bang! ¡ª ¡°Ack!¡± ¡°Argggh!¡± ¡°Nggaaaah!¡± Shots fired off from the rifles, and three of the five scavengers fell down to the ground. Two of them seemed to have dodged the bullet and kept on running. ¡°Fire again!¡± The ughters were not going to let the scavengers run away, and they started to reload their rifles. Zin was surprised at how the ughters were reloading the rifles. Regr ammunition? The single action rifle looked crappy, but it operated like a bolt-action rifle. They were not using steel bearing balls, but regr ammunition. Steel bearing balls required the use of gunpowder, but regr ammunition could be gained by looting. The rifles that the ughters were using fired regr ammunition. Zin took a closer look at the ammunition that they were loading into the rifles. They are 5.56mm bullets. I can use seven 7.62mm bullets to gain a whole lot of 5.56mm bullets¡­ Zin quickly thought, and held his breath. Not a bad deal at all. ¡ªBang! ¡ª ¡°Whoa!¡± The shot was fired from the M700 Remington with a low sound. Leona was surprised when Zin fired suddenly. The target was about thousand feet away. It was not too hard for Zin to shoot a running target from that distance. Before the gunshot could be heard, a ughter was hit in the head and fell down. ¡°What?¡± The ughters were not sure what was going on as they watched one of the ughter drop down dead. ¡ªck! ¡ª In a split second, Zin loaded the next bullet. ¡ªBang! ¡ª The second ughter went down, and then the remaining ughters realized what was going on and yelled out, ¡°Sniper!¡± ¡°Take cover!¡± The ughters moved swiftly after the two ughters were in a couple of seconds apart. Their reaction time was not too slow. The ughters started to take cover, but they were not able to figure out where the shots came from. Three of the five ughters were able to take cover hiding from Zin shooting, but two were not. One of them hid behind a tank, but unfortunately he was wide open to Zin. ¡ªBang! ¡ª The third bullet pierced through the head of the unlucky ughter. The fourth ughter realized that he was taking cover in the wrong direction, and he jumped to the other side of the tank to hide from Zin. Leona was astonished as she witness the three ughters get taken down in a blink of an eye. ¡°Over there! He¡¯s at the hill of the other side of the river!¡± ¡°Hide inside the tank!¡± The four ughters were able to figure out the sniper¡¯s location based on the deaths of their friends. They all went inside the tank to take cover. However, even if they knew where the sniper was, there was not much they could do about it. Their rifles were weak, with a range of at most three hundred feet. They did not have the means to counterattack. The surrounding area was open, and there were only destroyed tanks for cover. On the other hand, the sniper was in high ground, and carrying a sniping rifle that could reach the whole river bed area. The ughters had to run in the open fields to flee from the sniper. But that meant that they would be in the range of a sniper who had proven able to headshot them A while ago, the ughters were having fun, but now they were panicking, with their lives in the hands of the sniper. They had nowhere to go because of the sniper. The scavengers were not able to run away from the ughters because of the difference in firepower. Now, the ughters were unable to attack or run away from Zin. Leona now realized how important a good weapon was. The sniper who could snipe enemies that were hundreds of yards away would be powerless if he was armed with only a pistol. Life in the wilderness was determined by firepower. The range of the firearm, pre-emptive attack, and strategic locations, such as high ground, were the deciding factors in a gun battle. Zin was able to maintain advantage over the ughters in every aspect. The ughters had nowhere to go. His shooting skill was important, but the equipment, awareness of surroundings, and holding strategic location mattered as well. Zin did not talk. He was teaching Leona how to survive in the wilderness by his actions. The ughters took cover and went inside the tanks. They were smart enough to know how to identify the location of the snipers. The scavengers fled the scene. Zin didn¡¯t exin, but Leona was able to understand what was going on. The ughters were confused until they figured out the direction of the sniper, but now they were waiting. They were going to wait out in the tank until the night came. There was still some time until the sun set, but they were going to wait out the hours to survive. Zin was actively observing the situation. They went inside the tanks, so I can¡¯t snipe them even if I move to a different spot. Using a heat pressure warhead would be a waste. I suppose I can cross the river to take them out¡­ However, the ughters would be on full alert, and they would start a counterattack if they heard someoneing across the river. And there was no benefit in moving to a different spot. Crossing the river would expose Zin to the counterattack of the four ughters. I could go around them, but there is no point in giving up this location. He did not need to search and kill the enemies. Zin was already in a position where he could spot all the movements of the ughters. Crossing the river to attack the ughters was foolishly aggressive. In the wilderness, it was important to be calm and cool. Being defensive and conservative was how people survived in the wilderness. I should wait until they starting out. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll start movinge night. Zin and the ughters decided to wait until night came. Leona did not know what Zin was thinking, but she remained silent next to him. Zin calmly stared at the opposite side of the river. Chapter 52 Chapter 52: From Noon Until the Break of Dawn (Part 3) Humans get tired over time. Even for a sniper who could snipe anything all the time, staring at the same location for several hours was hard. It was getting harder and harder to look at the scope for a long time. And the night would hide the Reavers in the darkness. The Reavers who were looking for a moment to run away and the hunter who was looking to snipe all the Reavers were both waiting for that key moment. All was quiet and peaceful as the river flowed and a light wind blew through the area. However, in the midst of the peacefulness, there was a battle of nerves going on. One party was trying to escape, and the hunter was trying to catch them all. The opposition between the two was invisible, but it was real and the pressure was suffocating. An hour passed, and then a couple more. But there was not a single trace of even an ant. Even though it seemed like nothing was present, there was something going on. As the standoff continued, Leona started to think. Did the Reavers go underground, or did they run away to another ce? What is the point of waiting this long? Can we just charge towards them and exterminate them? It was very hard to be patient as Leona was thinking all sorts of thoughts. However, Zin was staring at the same location from the same position. And fortunately, Zin and Leona had one more advantage over the Reavers. It was the location that the Reavers were in. They were hiding inside tanks that were made with metal, and the weather was very hot. A tank under the scorching sun was heating up like a grill. The Reavers had to hide in the steaming hot tanks to avoid the sniper. The temperature in the tanks was rising and getting hotter by the minute. The Reavers had to decide if they were going to get steamed to death in the tanks or get shot by the sniper. There had to be many thoughts going through the minds of the Reavers. Did the sniper leave the site? Is he still watching us? Is he in the same spot? How can he stay on the same spot in this hot weather? Are we stupid for staying inside the tank for nothing? I think we are going to suffocate and die inside the tank. I think my brain is going to fry from the heat. The Reavers were holding their breath as they wondered what they needed to do. They were hiding inside different tanks, and they were not able tomunicate with each other. It was possible that the sniper had left. If that was the case, staying inside the tanks would be a poor choice. The four Reavers were wondering if they should run away, as it was getting unbearable inside the tanks. About four hours had passed since the first encounter between the two groups. The chicken game started. Someone get out there first. The four Reavers were thinking the same thing. They hoped that someone would go out to check if the sniper was still around the area. This group of Reavers did not have a leader, and there was no one to order the others. And the Reavers were also smart about it. They did not shout out to tell someone to get out of the tank. They knew that the silence would make the sniper confused as well. If the sniper thought that the Reavers died from the heat inside the tanks, he might approach the tanks. And that would be the chance for the Reavers to attack the sniper together. They had to remain silent and wait for that moment. But someone had to verify that the sniper was still out there. It was approaching the sixth hour of the confrontation, and the Reavers could not stand the heat anymore. One of the Reavers started running out of the tank as he thought that he was going to die from the heat. ¡ªBang! ¡ª Nggggaaaaargh! The running Reaver was shot in his head before he took three steps out of the tank. It was an amazing reaction time for a sniper holding his position for five straight hours. It didn¡¯t take a single second for Zin to spot the target and snipe the Reaver down. Zin calmly reloaded his rifle, and continued to observe the opposite side of the river. With the same level of concentration as he had in the beginning, Zin watched the tanks. The Reavers were astonished at the swift sound of the rifle gunshot, but Leona was amazed at Zin. She thought that Zin was truly a monster because he had maintained his alertness for hours straight. Now, there were three Reavers left, and they had confirmed that the sniper was still out there. Running outside the tank was not an option for them anymore. As the scorching sun started to set, Leona began to think up other questions while looking at the silent riverside. She was certain that the Reavers had fried to death in the sizzling tanks. She thought that she would notst even an hour inside the hot tanks. She wondered if Zin was pointlessly observing when the Reavers were already dead. However, Zin remained silent, and watched the other side. The sunpletely set and evening became night. In the dark night, Zin continued to stare at the tanks. In the midst of the dead silence, he spoke few words. ¡°Eat some potatoes.¡± It was not the best time to cook anything, and Leona nodded. She crawled down the hill and took out some potatoes and a knife. She cut the potatoes into small pieces. Then, she crawled her way back up to Zin. Without a word, Leona pushed the sliced potatoes into Zin¡¯s mouth, and Zin ate them quietly. ¡ªChomp chomp¡ª Only the sound of Zin and Leona eating raw potatoes could be heard. Leona cut up two potatoes and ate them with Zin. Leona looked at Zin, and Zin looked at Leona without saying anything. Even though they didn¡¯t speak or make signals, Zin knew what Leona was saying. Want more? Leona was meaning to ask that question, and Zin shook his head.
The area near the tanks was silent even though four hours had passed since the two ate the potatoes. When midnight passed, Leona was certain that the Reavers were dead in the tanks. But she didn¡¯t say anything because it was Zin who made decisions. After 1 AM, Leona became so tired that she fell asleep. It was summer, the temperature wasn¡¯t low, and Leona was very tired after a long day. In the middle of the long silence, Zin wasn¡¯t sure what happened to the Reavers inside the tanks. Even though he didn¡¯t know if they were alive or dead, he remained still. Besides loading up the magazine, he did not move a muscle.
¡ªBang! ¡ª ¡°Ow!¡± Less than an hour before the break of dawn, Leona woke up screaming to therge bang of the gunshot. ¡ªnk¡­ Bang! ¡ª Leona was able to figure out what was going on, and she looked around the area. Without hesitation, Zin reloaded his rifle, aimed, and fired the shot. ¡ªBang! ¡ª Three gunshots were fired, and Zin talked to Leona, who had a very serious look on her face. After finishing off the remaining three Reavers, Zin spoke shortly, ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± Looking at the calm Zin, Leona realized that patience was the most important virtue of a hunter. Zin was in position for a total of thirteen hours. And it took about seven seconds to take out the remaining three Reavers. A hunter was a person who could patiently wait thirteen hours for that seven seconds. Zin stood up, and Leona followed him down the hill. ¡°Why did they all jump out at the same time? Are they stupid?¡± ¡°I let the first one run away for a bit.¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh¡­ I see,¡± Leona nodded as she realized something else. One of the Reavers started running out of the tank, and Zin didn¡¯t shoot him on purpose. The dawn was about to break, and it was the only time left for the Reavers to run away in the dark. As the other Reavers heard their friend run without getting shot, they got out of their tanks and started to run away. When the Reavers were in the open field, Zin took them down one at a time. He let them loose so that they lowered their guards, and he killed them all at once. It was impossible for ordinary people to stay calm after waiting thirteen hours and spotting their prey. But Zin didn¡¯tin or appear tired. ¡°Do you know how to swim?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ yes.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s cross the river.¡± As the hunt was over, they had to retrieve their prizes. This was the best part of the hunt.
There were seven dead bodies, and two dead scavengers. One died of gunshot wounds, and the other died after losing too much blood from the machete wound. The long streak of blood on the riverbed did not look pretty at all. Squeezing out the water from her hair, Leona walked towards the destroyed tanks. Zin searched through the dead bodies of the Reavers for valuable items. All of them were killed by gunshots to the head. Leona seemed to be interested in the crappy rifles that the Reavers were using, and she peeked at them. ¡°Mister, are you going to use this?¡± ¡°No way.¡± ¡°Then, can I take one?¡± ¡°¡­ It¡¯ll be too heavy for you.¡± It wasn¡¯t a big gun. Each gun had different looks, but the guns were reloadable using bolt action. They also used 5.56mm regr ammunition, and they were valuable firearms for most people except Zin. ¡°Stack all the weapons and usable items over here.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Leona and Zin diligently searched and found items around the area. Zin looked through the dead bodies, and Leona went towards the junkwagons. As Leona opened the trunk, she yelled out in fear, ¡°Aaaaah! Crap!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the mat¡­¡± Zin rushed over to where Leona was, and he was able to figure out why she screamed. Leona sighed with a big frown. ¡°Crazy bastards. Really.¡± Inside the trunk, there were dead bodies that were chopped up. The arms and the legs started to decay, and there were many insects on them. Leona covered her mouth as she felt nauseated. Although Leona was used to seeing monster corpses, she got scared when she saw dead bodies in an unexpected ce. And it was her fault for not noticing the blood stains on the junkwagons. ¡°Why the heck do they carry around chopped body parts¡­?¡± ¡°Probably, they carried them to eat them.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you¡­ You didn¡¯t have to tell me,¡± Leona murmured in disgust. Zin went back to the dead bodies, and Leona took a deep breath before she opened the other trunks one at a time. Fortunately, only two trunks were full of chopped body parts. The other trunks had tools, kits, kitchenware, guns, and gunpowder. Zin finished searching through the dead bodies, and then came to check on the items in the junkwagons. ¡°Hmmm, they were wandering Reavers. That¡¯s better for us.¡± Reavers who were settled would have stored the loot back in their main base. But these Reavers carried around all their loot, so Zin and Leona were able to take away all their belongings. Zinid down all the items on the ground except the corpses. ¡°Hmm¡­ they seem to have a lot of ammunition.¡± Their rifles used 5.56mm bullets, but some of the others used 7.62mm bullets. I assume they made the guns based on the bullets. Zin now had the following items: 13 rifles, tools, kitchenware, eighty-seven 5.56mm bullets, twenty-three 7.62mm bullets, neen 9mm bullets, and 293 chips. Zin was able to gain more gunpowder than the seven 7.62mm bullets that he used, and he gained a good amount of 5.56mm bullets as well. They summed up to less than ten magazines worth of ammunition, but it was important because Zin needed ammunition for fighting in the wilderness. Regardless of the amount of chips he gained, Zin was also able to secure a good supply of firearms. After taking the ammunition and chips into his possession, Zin started to look at the guns one at a time. He checked the conditions of the rifles and picked out the ones that were in good condition. The gun that used 5.56mm ammunition had a smooth barrel, and was in good condition. It had the shortest barrel, and weighed the least. And more importantly, the rifle had a mechanical sight on it. Chapter 53-54 < Elite Executor (Part 1) > As soon as Zin loaded the rifle, he aimed somewhere and fired the rifle rapidly. ¡ªBang! ¡ª ¡°Ahhh!!¡± ¡ªnk! ¡ª Zin reloaded the gun again, and he aimed at a different ce and fired again. ¡ªBang! ¡ª ¡°What the heck are you doing Mister?¡± Zin didn¡¯t reply to her, and shot one more time. After firing three shots in the air, Zin walked to the locations that he shot at and checked the targets. He¡¯d shot at targets 50, 75, and 100 yards away. He was checking the uracy of the rifle and the mechanical sight. Zin walked back to Leona, put a strap on the rifle, and gave it to her. ¡°This rifle has an urate range of 75 yards. Beyond that you will have to take a predictive shot¡­¡± ¡°Predictive shot?¡± ¡°Just assume that you will not be able to shoot a target that is beyond 75 yards.¡± Zin was trying to exin to Leona but gave up. It would be better off to not shoot, because even with good aim, the bullet would not hit the target. In any case, the rifle had a better range and uracy than the revolver that Leona was carrying around now, and was much more powerful than a revolver. Zin gauged the distance, and exined how far 76 yards would be to Leona. She listened to Zin with careful attention. ¡°Okay, got it.¡±Leona carried the rifle on her shoulder and started to smile. ¡°If it¡¯s heavy, throw it away.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that heavy.¡± Leona showed off her biceps as she wanted to show how much stronger she had gotten after following Zin. Zin taught the basics to Leona on how to reload using bolt action, and how to aim at targets. ¡°You can shoot three times consecutively. If you shoot more than that, the barrel might explode.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± In Zin¡¯s perspective, the crude rifle was just a toy. However, Leona was so happy that she finally got her own rifle. Although she had the revolver, it was meant to be used for defensive purposes. Leona now carried ten 5.56mm shells, and the revolver. It was enough for her to protect herself in the wilderness. Hmm¡­ a submachine gun would be better for this little kid. However a submachine gun was scarce and hard to obtain. The bolt action gun types were moremon, as it was hard to produce and maintain guns. The sniper rifle and automatic shotguns that Zin carried were extremely hard toe by. Zin thought about getting Leona a better firearm, as it would be not great carrying a gun that could explode at any given time. A pistol was light and easy to use, but Zin thought that it was not useful besides protecting herself. It needs to cover a range of 250 yards at least¡­ I wonder if I could get a bullpup firearm. A rtively lightweight firearm such as a bullpup-style gun or submachine gun would be better for Leona. But, Zin didn¡¯t think he could acquire one for her very quickly. There was a Hunter¡¯s Nest where he would be able to get some firearms, but it was in the opposite direction of where Zin needed to go. Zin needed to get to the Heavenly Power castle as soon as possible. I wonder if I could get some weapons at the Heavenly Power castle. Lastly, Zin extracted the chips in the junkwagon¡¯s fuel tank. Leona was also looking around the area and packing things. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zin opened the hood of the junkwagon and checked the reactor in the engine. This is a reactor designed for the Wargrave. These ughters were killing the scavengers around the area, and using the items looted from the scavengers. They reced their own crappy reactors with the ones that the scavengers found. The ughters were crazy people who rode on their junkwagons, but Zin was astonished that they used reactors made for tanks on the junkwagons. They pretty much used a tank engine on a motorcycle, and Zin was astonished about it. There were four tank reactors in total, and Zin was wondering what he should do about them. The reactors that the Wargrave used were of the best quality. It would easily sell for 1000 chips per reactor at any town, and its market value was probably higher. If it was put on auction where people understood the value of the reactor, it would easily sell for over 2000 chips. In simple words, a reactor was a highly efficient power generator. The reactor was as big as Leona, and Zin would be able to store only one reactor in his void storage. The reactor was the most valuable item from the hunt, but it was the most difficult item to carry around. ¡°¡­ What do I do with this thing.¡± Zin had four very expensive yet hard to carry items in front of him. And Leona gave a short answer to Zin who was still in a dilemma. ¡°We can carry them on a junkwagon, what¡¯s the problem?¡± ¡°I knew you would say that.¡± Zin was thinking about it as well, but he didn¡¯t want to do so. He was wondering if he should give up the 4000 chips in front of him, or take them to the nearby city to sell them. Zin¡¯s dilemma was solved in a very unexpected way. ¡°That is the property of Wargrave. Stay back.¡± ¡°!¡± As Zin turned his head, someone from the hill spoke to Zin and Leona. Zin took out his weapon quickly, and Leona also loaded her rifle. But the person started to walk towards Zin and Leona. Without showing any hostility, the person had their hands up in the air. ¡°I have no intentions of fighting you. I only need to destroy the reactors. So, why don¡¯t you leave quietly¡­¡± And the soldier paused. ¡°¡­¡± Zin also lowered his weapon as he looked at the Wargrave soldier who was walking down the hill with his hands raised up. The approaching soldier was also surprised. He murmured as he didn¡¯t expect to meet Zin at this ce, ¡°You¡­ Devil hunter?¡± The Wargrave soldier was Ramphil. ¡ª¨C Ramphil and Zin saw each other, but had not talked to one another before. Ramphil did not express any hostility, probably because they fought together against the White Witch. And Zin didn¡¯t attack Ramphil who was not showing any hostility. And it would be a huge waste of energy to start a fight with a Wargrave soldier who couldn¡¯t be killed off easily. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to meet you here. I couldn¡¯t find you when I was actively searching for you, and now I find you when I¡¯m on a side project,¡± Ramphil said, and Zin shrugged. ¡°I was a bit surprised to learn that the person who was pursuing me passed me to the north.¡± ¡°How did you know that I was looking for you?¡± ¡°Well, I got to know it somehow.¡± Leona was standing slightly away from Ramphil. She was able to befriend Charlotte, and felt something dangerous about Ramphil. Zin knew that there was some corrtion between Ramphil and the destroyed Wargrave equipment. ¡°Were you the one who was destroying the equipment around the area?¡± ¡°The main base did not have troops to do the work, so I¡¯ve been doing the work instead.¡± Ramphil was cleaning up the area where the Wargrave troops lost the battle, so it seemed the main base was not in a situation to send out separate troops for the job. And ironically, Ramphil was able to locate Zin after being diverted by side missions. Ramphil was working on destroying equipment near the battlefields, and found Zin and Leona after hearing the gunshots. Zin confirmed that Ramphil had no intention of attacking because he didn¡¯t attack them in the first ce. ¡°I am curious why you are looking for me, but I have some matters to take care of first.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± Zin had something more important to take care of in front of him. ¡°This reactor. I found it first. So if you are going to destroy it, I¡¯d like you to pay me a small fee for them.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Is my request unreasonable?¡± Zin was an expert at milking out anything that he could. Ramphil looked at Zin, and answered curtly,¡±This was originally a Wargrave¡¯s item. You have no right to im it at all.¡± ¡°I assume that you don¡¯t need my assistance,¡± Zin replied curtly as well, and Ramphil looked back at Zin quietly. Leona couldn¡¯t figure out what the soldier was thinking. After a long pause, Ramphil asked, ¡°How much do you want?¡± Zin had the upper hand at the moment. Five hundred chips per reactor, that was the final price that the Zin and Ramphil negotiated. Zin was not going to be able to take the reactors in the first ce, so he was happy to take the two thousand chips with him. He stored the chips into the chipbox, and extended his lifetime by another two thousand hours. Zin was in good mood as he was able to negotiate a good deal, and Ramphil didn¡¯t care much how the negotiation went. Ramphil briefly exined the current situation. He talked about the special mission he was given from SMCP, and exined the reason he was looking for Zin as a temporary executor. Although Ramphil was blunt, he was not aggressive. And he was pretty mellow. Even though Zin relieved him of two thousand chips, he didn¡¯t look ufortable. After exining everything, Ramphil continued to speak. ¡°You know how to hunt the White Witch. I would like to know about it.¡± Ramphil was the only person sent out from the SMCP fortress to pursue the White Witch. If Zin didn¡¯t know about Ramphil, Zin would have thought that the Seoul fortress personnel were crazy to send him alone. But Zin knew how powerful Ramphil was. He was able to overpower the White Witch briefly, and he would have defeated her if he wasn¡¯t stunned by her telekic attack. He was so skilled that he was able to overpower her using only photon disruptor swords! He didn¡¯t use any weapon specialized for devil hunting. Ramphil was capable of killing the White Witch. A hunter had to wisely assess his opponent. After observing Ramphil¡¯s battle with the witch, Zin knew that Ramphil could not be underestimated. And Zin knew his own weaknesses. He was weaker than he used to be. It would be a daunting task to face the White Witch alone. If a powerful person like Ramphil fought against the witch, the devil would be taken down much more quickly. And more than anything, Ramphil would not be interested in the blood of the devil. Charlotte was from Headquarters, and she would not be able to assist Zin in this area. But a temporary executor of the Central Asia division would be a great ally who could get the support of the Wargrave. Zin thought that it would be very convenient. The Central Asia division was an enemy of Charlotte, but not of Zin. A hunter simply resolved requests, and did not officially be allies or enemies with anyone. ¡°Why are you hunting the devil? Is it because it¡¯s an order?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Ramphil remained silent at Zin¡¯s question. Ramphil was a soldier, and soldiers followed orders. Ramphil could have answered Zin easily. But Ramphil realized that the answer was not his true intention, and remained silent for a while. < Elite Executor (Part 2) > Ramphil looked for the devil hunter to hunt a devil. But he didn¡¯t think about the reason he was hunting the devil. He left the fortress because he was following orders, but he was not able to easily answer if that was the only reason. Clearly, Ramphil knew that he had some desire in him. It was something that he felt for the first time in his life. After a long pause, Ramphil spoke, ¡°I know there is another reason, but I¡¯m not sure what it is.¡± Ramphil knew that he had another reason to pursue the White Witch, but he was not able to exin the reason. Ramphil was slightly shaken up. His answer was simr to Zin¡¯s answer back when Baek-Goo asked a simr question. When Baek-Goo asked why Zin was looking for the devil, Zin answered that he didn¡¯t think about it. And Zin was confused when he was asked the question back then. He¡¯s an idiot. Zin briefly ssified Ramphil as an idiot. There were many types of idiots, and ording to Zin, Ramphil was not a dangerous idiot. Zin had seen many people through his life. Ramphil looked like a person who lived meaninglessly and finally found the meaning of his life. People who found the meaning of their lives changed drastically. Ramphil was trying to find the meaning of his life by pursuing the White Witch. And although he did not know exactly why, it was clear that he was going to fully cooperate with Zin through the journey. Zin nodded. ¡°Good. I have nothing to lose if I can get support from the Wargrave.¡± Zin hated riding the junkwagons to death, but he always weed riding a safe and fast Wargrave track vehicle. Zin didn¡¯t know how long he would be apanying Ramphil Zin looked at Ramphil and introduced himself, ¡°I am Zin.¡± ¡°Ramphil. I am a warrant officer. Not that it means much to you.¡± They didn¡¯t shake hands, but giving their names was more enough as an ice breaker. ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t know if you guys are doing it on purpose, but why are you guys ignoring me?¡± Leona was grumbling in between the two, and Zin pointed at her. ¡°This kid is Leona. You¡¯ve been warned. She¡¯s loud.¡± ¡°Is she also needed for the witch hunt?¡± As Ramphil asked a weird question, Zin shook his head and answered, ¡°No, she¡¯s just a little annoyance.¡± ¡°Mister, that¡¯s really not nice of you,¡±Leona smiled and shrugged. ¡°Who knows? I may be able to help you out big time.¡± People never knew how someone could be a big help, but at the moment, Leona was just a little kid who had a crappy crude gun on her shoulder. ¡ª¨C As Zin and Ramphil shared the same goal, they did not have much conflict. In this strange group of people, Zin was leading the way, and Ramphil agreed to follow Zin in return for helping hunt the devil. Ramphil was very flexible in a strange way. He didn¡¯t care how badly Zin treated him, or how Zin ordered him as long as Ramphil was able to aplish his goal. Ramphil acted like a machine, and although Zin was wary of his behavior, he didn¡¯t hate his attitude. Zin thought that it wouldn¡¯t be too bad to have Ramphil along, he wasn¡¯t as headstrong as Leona. After finishing up the clean-up work, Ramphil destroyed the three extra reactors and carried thest one on his back. Ramphil didn¡¯t even sweat while carrying a huge piece of metal. While walking, Zin started to exin to Ramphil, ¡°At the moment, I am preparing to hunt the devil.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to know what kind of preparations you are making.¡± Zin exined to Ramphil about the destination they were heading to. He exined how he was nning to extract the sealing power from the immortal¡¯s seal, and use its power against the devil to seal its power. Zin couldn¡¯t fully trust Ramphil, and didn¡¯t tell him about Phantomvein¡¯s power yet. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine.¡± Ramphil was not familiar with the word ¡®seal¡¯, and thought that Zin was talking nonsense. But Ramphil had witnessed the power of Phantomvein, which was more effective than a photon disruptor sword. And he believed that the devil hunter was right. Even if he didn¡¯t believe in Zin, he didn¡¯t have any other choice. Ramphil knew that the photon disruptor sword was ineffective against the witch, and the devil hunter Zin was his only help. Even though it was unbelievable, he had to believe in Zin. Leona might not have been the friendliest person, but she certainly did not avoid people. She was asking Ramphil many questions. ¡°Hey, oppa (brother), are you a good fighter?¡± Ramphil never heard other people ask that question. After thinking for a bit, he answered, ¡°Yes, I am a pretty good fighter.¡± ¡°¡­ Wow, you are so confident.¡± Leona was surprised that Ramphil talked only truth in a robotic manner. Leona was used to Zin who always joked around when he was showing off. Zin wasn¡¯t too surprised, as he determined that Ramphil was an idiot like Leona. And Leona would not have been too happy to hear that¡­ ¡°Isn¡¯t it heavy?¡± ¡°My body was enhanced with a strengthening procedure, and I can lift objects up to 1.56 tons. And I can pull things that weigh up to 3 tons.¡± ¡°¡­ Are you showing off?¡± ¡°I am telling the facts.¡± ¡°It sounds like you are showing off.¡± ¡°I am not sh¡­¡± ¡°Stop it, you two, shut up! I don¡¯t have time to deal with two fools.¡± As Zin looked at both of them, Ramphil shut his mouth, and Leona shrugged. But Zin was still furious, and kept on looking at Leona. It was more like he was staring at Leona. ¡°Why do you call me mister and call him oppa?¡± ¡°¡­ I refer to people based on how old they look. Do you have a problem?¡± And in fact, Ramphil looked pretty young. He had a scary facial expression, but his facial skin looked clean. Leona was out of words and started tough. ¡°You look at yourself. You are over two hundred years old, and you should be thankful that I¡¯m calling you a ¡®mister¡¯.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Do you want me to start calling you gramps?¡± Zin started to get pissed off after hearing the word ¡®gramps¡¯, but he did not say anything as Leona was right about his age. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°But, I think ¡®mister¡¯ sounds better.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± Zin started to walk faster, and Leona quickly following him with a smile. Ramphil wasn¡¯t sure what was going on, and trailed after them. And for whatever reason, since then, Leona started to call Ramphil oppa. There was a reason Ramphil was carrying around a reactor without destroying it. Zin suggested testing the reactor on a destroyed armored vehicle to see if it was still operating. Ramphil had destroyed many armored vehicles, and it took a while for them to find an operational vehicle. But Ramphil was not fully satisfied and kept on searching for other vehicles. ¡°Howe you destroyed all the vehiclespletely?¡± ¡°Of course, I did not think that I would be riding in one.¡± ¡°Ha¡­¡± There was no point inining. They walked along the riverbed, and searched for an armored vehicle. After walking for two days, they were able to find a vehicle that was working. ¡°This one looks like it¡¯s starting fine.¡± ¡ªVrrrroooom! ¡ª After plugging in the reactor to the engine, and turning the engine key, the armored vehicle started and made some noise. Zin who was always cautious looked at the armored vehicle suspiciously. ¡°Make sure you double check if it has any chance of exploding or breaking down.¡± At Zin¡¯s order, Ramphil checked around the vehicle, and came to a conclusion. ¡°The track is fine. All circuit boards are looking good, and there is no oil leak. The armor and the door are partially damaged, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s too bad.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The door on the trunk waspletely torn off, and there was a possibility that someone could fall off because of it. But the vehicle was in pretty good condition with the track intact. However, Zin was still wondering if he should ride in the vehicle. Simr to how the ughters were suffering in the tanks, the inside of the armored vehicle was very hot. ¡ªClick, Click¡­ ¡ª ¡°Hmm.¡± Ramphil continued to touch the controls in the driver¡¯s seat, and started something. ¡ªVwoooom! ¡ª ¡°The A/C is working fine¡­¡± Zin tapped the back of Leona, who was watching Ramphil. ¡ªTap¡ª ¡°Hmm? Why are you pushing me?¡± Zin answered with a short reply, ¡°Get on.¡± Leona hopped into the armored vehicle, and Zin also climbed aboard. ¡°Huh? What the? It¡¯s cold!¡± Leona was surprised that there was cold air blowing inside the hot vehicle. Ramphil looked at the two who just got into the vehicle, and Zin ordered. ¡°Put the A/C to the max.¡± ¡ªVwoom! ¡ª With a loud noise, a gush of cold wind swirled inside the tank, and although Leona did not know what was going on, she was very pleased. It was a very hot and humid day. ¡°I will take that an order to get going?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± As Zin answered, Ramphil started to operate the vehicle As the vehicle started to move, Zin closed his eyes, and enjoyed a cool breeze. Though Zin was an extremely cautious person, he was fully enjoying the cold st of the A/C. ¡°This is so cool!¡± Leona was also enjoying the awesomeness of the Wargrave armored vehicle. ¡ª¡ª The vehicle was not an old model, but Zin asked to move at a slower speed because it was damaged from the battle. Zin guessed that Charlotte had destroyed the defense line, and Ramphil went around the defense line topletely destroy the weapons. The group was travelling on a vehicle that was destroyed twice, and Zin asked Ramphil to slow down when he drove the vehicle fast. ¡ªBump bump bump bump! ¡ª The road was not in the best condition, and Leona and Zin would get ejected out of the open side of the vehicle it they were not careful. They all had the safety belts on, and were bracing themselves. ¡°I am getting motion sickness¡­¡± Leona¡¯s face turned pale as they continued to travel, and she was not enjoying the cool breeze of the vehicle anymore. As Ramphil listened to Leona, he talked while driving. ¡°I think we have a problem with the suspension system.¡± ¡°What do we do?¡± ¡°I only know how to do basic repairs.¡± ¡°What¡­ does that mean?¡± Zin exined in detail as Ramphil answered. ¡°We can¡¯t fix it. We just have to move on.¡± ¡°Uhhhhh¡­ Mister, can you repair?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not impossible for me, but I can¡¯t do it because I don¡¯t have the tools.¡± Zin who was skilled in many areas knew how to repair the armor vehicle, but he couldn¡¯t do much without the proper tools. It was fortunate that the damage to the vehicle did not affect the driving. ¡°We can get to our destination much quicker. We¡¯ll need to endure.¡± ¡°Uh, uh¡­ I am¡­ but¡­¡± ¡ªBumpbump! ¡ª Leona had ridden on a junkwagon without any suspension system before, but it was not easy for her to endure a bumpy ride on the armored vehicle. The vehicle went up and down the hills, and turned several corners. It was a pretty rough ride. ¡°My butt is going to get bruised¡­¡± Leona did not have much strength toin as she was barely hanging in there. She was lucky that the vehicle at least had A/C to keep the temperature inside the vehicle low. ¡°As soon as we get to Harbin, we will be able to switch out the vehicle for a new one. You just need to tolerate it for a bit more,¡± Zin told her. The city of Harbin was located on the way to Yichun city. There was an MCP at Harbin, and there was a fortress wherever an MCP was. Once they got to the fortress, they would be able to switch to a better driving vehicle. ¡°Really? When are we getting there?¡± Leona asked. ¡°Hmm¡­ We are about 300 miles away. We¡¯ll get there tomorrow, or the day after at thetest.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear¡­¡± They were moving at a speed of about 25 miles per hour. If they drove for ten hours, they would be able to get to the destination by tomorrow. Leona was suffering from the bumpy ride, but she knew that walking through the hot weather was worse. The ride was bumpy, but it wasfortable, cool, and fast. Leona thought that it was unfair that the Wargrave possessed so many vehicles like this. Chapter 55 Chapter 55: Elite Executor (Part 3) ¡°Let¡¯s rest up here. I think the headlight is broken, too,¡± Zin said. The sun was setting, and it was hard to drive in the dark with a broken headlight. ¡°We can switch to night vision mode. You don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± Ramphil¡¯s eyes had many features added to them, and he was able to see at night using infrared. He did not have much concern about driving at night. ¡°I know that. But the engine¡¯s sound can be heard further at night. We may draw unnecessary monsters.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ You are right.¡± As Zin suggested, Ramphil parked the vehicle, and turned off the engine. ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± Leona took off the seatbelt, and fell down to the floor of the vehicle. ¡°The ground¡­ is¡­ shaking¡­¡± Zin and Ramphil left Leona in the armored vehicle. Even though Zin didn¡¯t order it, Ramphil gathered firewood, and started a fire. ¡°¡­¡± It was not hard to start a fire using a chip. When a chip was burned, it released blue-ck mes. The blue chip didn¡¯t emanate much heat, but it had a high temperature, and was smoke-free. Zin did not like burning chips because it was inefficient. Zin preferred to use tree branches to start a fire. Some of the tree branches did not smoke, and were good burning fuel. The tree branches that Ramphil brought were the type of branches that did not smoke. Without orders, and on his own, Ramphil started a fire, and the firewood that he brought was the type of firewood that Zin wanted. Ramphil started a fire, and took out cookware from his bag. Ramphil looked at Zin and said, ¡°I am going to prepare the meal¡­¡± ¡°Ah, I have some potatoes. You can use them if you need them.¡± Zin thought that Ramphil could cook a potato soup with some salt added. Zin though that Ramphil would be able to cook a beef potato soup. But Ramphil made an unexpectedment. ¡°Three cans of C-rations should be enough, right? One would be enough for the kid.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Zin was out of speech as Ramphil talked. Zin was thinking what C-ration meant. In the past, the US army referred to them as emergency food, but now it referred to the portable food that the Wargrave soldiers carried around. Combat rations were made to have high calories, and the best ingredients were used for the Wargrave soldiers. In another word, it was the best meal one could hope for in an era where many died of malnutrition. ¡°You didn¡¯t destroy all the C-rations?¡± ¡°I took them to eat.¡± Ramphil waved at Zin, and went to the armored vehicle. He opened the trunk of the vehicle. Zin was astonished at what he saw. Inside the trunk, many boxes of C-rations were stacked. ¡°I just got new ones.¡± ¡°¡­ I knew there was a reason that you were picky about selecting a vehicle¡­¡± Ramphil had been testing the engines of a particr type of vehicles as if he was not fully satisfied. Zin now realized that Ramphil was only testing out vehicles that were used for delivering goods, and looking for vehicles that carried food. Ramphil picked out the vehicle that contained food as he knew that they would be on a long road trip. And so the trunk of the vehicle was packed with C-rations. Zin thought how great of a soldier Ramphil was. Zin was so happy to see all the food boxes in front of him. Zin put his hand on the shoulders of Ramphil who was looking at him and said, ¡°You are an elite.¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°I have never seen an elite soldier like you before.¡± ¡°Ramphil did not understand what Zin was talking about, but he didn¡¯t reply as Zin seemed to be very serious.
Ramphil continued to demonstrate his excellent skill sets. The Wargrave C-ration could be eaten without heating them up, but the food tasted better when it was warm. There was no need to boil water as the box contained a heating agent. And chips were all sources of energy in the apocalyptic days. Chips were used as the heating agent. Ramphil opened the heating agent pouch, and separated the chip dust from it. He was able to gather about a handful of chip dust from three C-ration boxes. There was no need to waste chips in order to start a small fire. It was hard to refine chip dust into a chip, but it was possible to use the dust as a detonator or explosives. Ramphil put the dust into a container and put it in his pocket. Ramphil¡¯s action was something that only truebatants were able to do. Ramphil poured the food into a big pot, and the food started to boil. Leona finally woke up, came out of the vehicle, and watched Ramphil. Leona looked at the food that was getting warmed up. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°C-rations have high level or sodium, so it¡¯s better to dilute it before eating.¡± Ramphil took out meatballs with tomato paste. There were onions and potatoes as well, and there was no problem boiling them altogether. As the pot was heating up, Ramphil took out the ck pepper container from the trunk, and added the pepper to the food. He also took out a peanut snack bar, crushed it into peanut powder, and added to the pot. As Ramphil was cooking, Zin added lemon powder to a cup of water, and passed it to Leona. Leona looked at the yellow liquid, and refused to drink it. ¡°¡­ it looks like pee. Can I even drink this?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask for more after you drink it.¡± Leona started to drink the lemon punch, and shortly after, had a frown on her face. ¡°Wow, so damn sour!¡± Zin was surprised at her reaction, as Leona opened her eyes wider. ¡°This so damn good! What is this stuff?¡± Sweet things were hard toe by, and Leona was so excited to taste such a sweet drink. Zin created a couple more cups of lemon punch and drank with Ramphil. Zin didn¡¯t bother exining C-rations to Leona, and asked her to eat without any questions. He thought that it would be easier to exin by having her eat the C-rations. Leona had lemon punch, biscuits with cheese sauce, dried raspberries, and pound cake. She ate them all for the first time, and she was amazed at what Wargrave could offer to the soldiers. And she was even more amazed when she got to try the meatball stew that Ramphil cooked up. ¡°Can I cry?¡± With a single sentence, Leona expressed all of her emotions. It was the first in her life that she got to try so many different tastes, and she kept on yelling ¡°I¡¯m so lucky to be alive and eat this!¡± as she finished the meatball stew. Ramphil added extra water to make the stew less salty, and added pepper and peanut powder for extra vor. Leona, who was not used to salty or sweet food, was able to enjoy the meal thanks to Ramphil. It had been a while since Zin had C-rations, and he also enjoyed the meal for the longest time. ¡°I¡¯m not going to die tomorrow, right?¡± As Leona spoke up, Zin pointed to the trunk. Leona looked at the boxes of C-rations, and hoped she would live many more days to eat all the food. After the meal, Ramphil cleaned the silverware and cookware with boiling water, and wiped them clean with a cloth. He showed off his elite cooking skills until the end. ¡°Do you eat C-rations like this all the time? I don¡¯t see you as the type of person who would put in much effort.¡± Zin thought that Ramphil was not a kind person. He didn¡¯t think that Ramphil cooked considering the taste buds of Leona. After Zin asked, Ramphil nodded, ¡°I always try to make the best choices.¡± Ramphil tried his best not only on the battlefield, but also during daily routines. To him, there was no reason to have a mediocre meal. ¡°It¡¯s not that hard.¡± He thought that it would be worthwhile if hispanions were going to enjoy a good meal. Zin felt weird as he listened to Ramphil speak in an unexpected way. He thought that Ramphil was as weird as Leona, but he was different in some ways. Zin was able to tell what Leona was thinking even though she could be wild at times, but he was not able to figure out what Ramphil was thinking. ¡°Ramphil, I don¡¯t know if you are a nice or a weird guy.¡± As Leona talked about him, Ramphil shrugged, and went on to do his work. Ramphil seemed to be a perfectionist. But it seemed that his tendencies as a perfectionist was a big help to Zin and Leona. Zin thought that maybe Ramphil was not that bad of a person even though he acted weird. Zin helped Ramphil clean up, and Leona gathered all the trash and burned them in one ce.
That night, the team decided to sleep on the trunk area of the armored vehicle. They ced a nket in a good location where the wind was blocked off by the vehicle. It was a humid night. ¡°Can I sleep with the A/C on?¡± There were people who never experienced the usefulness of the A/C, but once someone experienced it, they couldn¡¯t forget about the A/C. ¡°If you want to freeze to death, go ahead.¡± A simple cold wouldn¡¯t lead to death, but Leona believed in Zin¡¯s joke, and she remained silent. Ramphil was watching Zin and Leona talk and quarrel before they went to sleep. Ramphil questioned himself, but he couldn¡¯t figure out the answer. Why is the devil hunter travelling with a little kid? No matter how he thought about it, he didn¡¯t think it was a wise decision. Little kids were always annoying, and in fact, Leona seemed to onlyin. She didn¡¯t look like a person who could help out Zin in any way. Ramphil would have abandoned an ally who didn¡¯t benefit him in any way. As Ramphil continued to think, he wondered about himself. Did other allies help me out? There was not a single time when his allies helped him out. He tolerated hisrades because they were given orders. Ramphil did not really care about hisrades. He had engaged in many battles withrades who were of no help, and he had to save their lives all the time. He didn¡¯t think that it was okay to let them die. And he didn¡¯t avoid hisrades just because they couldn¡¯t help him. Ramphil admitted that his thoughts about Zin and Leona were wrong. He thought that it was understandable that a devil hunter could be travelling with a weak friend. Ramphil had travelled through many battlefields with hisrades because they were soldiers who were given orders. Ramphil thought that maybe Zin had his own reasons for travelling with Leona. There were many things that were not exinable in the world. Ramphil realized that he didn¡¯t really know much about himself, either. ¡°It¡¯s so hot. I need A/C.¡± ¡°You slept well through the night. What¡¯s the matter now, punk?¡± ¡°Punk? What did you say again?¡± As Ramphil was thinking to himself, he continued to listen to Zin and Leona quarrel. They aren¡¯t bad people. He thought about the times when he fought to protect his weakrades. It may have been inefficient, but it was not a bad memory for Ramphil. He didn¡¯t cry for therades who passed away, but he didn¡¯t feel too bad looking at therades who survived the battles. And the friendly quarrel between Zin and Leona didn¡¯t look bad at all either.
Next morning, Leona was grasping her stomach, and walking back towards the camp. ¡°Damn, it hurts¡­¡± Leona was grumbling and cursing as she was walking towards Zin and Ramphil. ¡°Ah¡­ Damn, damn it¡­¡± Leona ran towards the bushed nearby with tears in her eyes. Leona was used to eating unprocessed carbs and protein. And it was inevitable that she would get an upset stomach as she consumed a lot of food that contained fat, sugar, and processed carbs. ¡°She must have an upset stomach.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ yeah. It¡¯s funny.¡± Ramphil was asking if Zin should actually be worrying about Leona, but Zin shrugged. ¡°She used to be fine eating the ghoul meat. And now she¡¯s getting a stomach ache after eating C-rations?¡± Leona had C-rations which was good food with many nutrients, and it was ironic that she would get sick because she wasn¡¯t used to fatty food. Zin found it amusing, and Leona came back very unhappy. As soon as she saw Zin smiling, she yelled at him angrily,¡±How can you be smiling all happy when I am suffering here, you devil! Ah¡­?¡± Technically, as Leona was the true devil, she felt awkward and started to scratch her head after yelling at Zin. Chapter 56-57 < Territoriality (Part 1) > Ramphil nodded as he understood the pain that Leona was going through. ¡°I know. When I first came to the fortress, I was in the nurse¡¯s room because of dehydration.¡± As Ramphil spoke, both Leona and Zin looked at Ramphil. ¡°You weren¡¯t born in the fortress?¡± Leona asked. ¡°No, I was born outside the fortress. I don¡¯t remember¡­ but it might have been a Point.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Wargrave rarely epts outsiders. That¡¯s news to me,¡± Zin murmured. Wargrave consisted of soldiers, but everyone had different roles. Simr to other military organizations, Wargrave had manybat soldiers, but there were also nonbat personnel as well. Children were born from parents in Wargrave, and they became soldiers. It was verymon for someone to be born into a Wargrave fortress, and live their entire life in the fortress. As Zin questioned him, Ramphil replied as if it was trivial. ¡°The ce that I was born and raised was raided by the Reavers, and I became a prisoner. About two yearster, the Reavers were wiped out by the Wargrave, and I was taken into the fortress to be raised as a soldier.¡± Ramphil exined his life story in a monotone. He was preparing breakfast by cooking the C-rations, Leona asked more questions while eating her portion of the breakfast. ¡°Prisoners? What do the Reavers do with prisoners?¡± ¡°Reavers have as many nasty hobbies as the number of Reavers. They usually put their prisoners into death matches, and such.¡± ¡°You are correct.¡± Zin was surprised when Ramphil confirmed about what the Reavers did to the prisoners. ¡°Wait a sec, so you are saying that you survived the death matches?¡± When Zin thought about Ramphil¡¯s age, it meant that he went through the death matches at Leona¡¯s age, and survived for two years. Ramphil wondered why that was a big deal and looked at Zin, who was so astonished. Leona was also astonished. She had no confidence that she¡¯d be able to fight against adults without any weapons. There¡¯s a reason the Wargrave took him as a soldier. Ramphil was now able to understand why Wargrave, a reclusive group, took Ramphil, a refugee, and trained him as a soldier. A fighter was born to be a fighter. Leona kept on looking at Ramphil, as she was curious how he won through the death matches. Ramphil started to talk slowly. ¡°People die when they are struck on the vital spots.¡± Ramphil spoke as if he was revealing a big secret, but that was all he said. ¡°I know that too.¡± ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t have much else to say. I struck people on the vital spots, and they died.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I see¡­¡± It was a very simple answer, yet a very scary one. A kid who was in his teenage years was able to survive the death matches by striking an adult¡¯s vital points and killing them instantly. And he did it for two years. Leona was disappointed with his exnation and sighed. ¡°I think Ramphil is less interesting than you, mister.¡± ¡°¡­ sounds like you are talking smack?¡± As Zin replied bluntly, Leonaughed out loud and said, ¡°What, mister, are you thinking that you are an interesting person¡­ ow¡­¡± Leona triedughing at Zin, and then she touched her stomach as she felt some pain. ¡°H, Hold¡­ on¡­¡± Leona stood up, and started walking slowly towards the bushes. Zin smiled and started to mock Leona who was walking away, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I am interesting or not, but you are really not interesting at all.¡± ¡°Shut up! Ow!¡± Leona ran into the bushes. It appeared that Leona would need a couple of days to get used to fatty food. Zin was getting even more curious about Ramphil. He was amused that he was originally a prisoner of the Reavers. It seemed like Ramphil had aplex life story, simr to Leona. ¡°Excuse me for asking this question, but did you get hurt by the Reavers?¡± ¡°Why do you ask?¡± ¡°Most of the people who survive the nasty hobbies of the Reavers go crazy.¡± Most of the people who survived as prisoners of Reavers went insane. They was because of sorcery, drugs, or pain from traumatic idents. There could be reasons why Ramphil thought and acted in a weird manner. It was possible that Ramphil was hurt by the Reavers. ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Ramphil answered as he was not sure. ¡°I can¡¯t remember.¡± Ramphil¡¯s answer sounded unnatural. After thinking for a while, Ramphil started to talk again slowly. ¡°I mean¡­ to be exact¡­ I know something happened, but I have no memory of it.¡± ¡°¡­ is that so.¡± Something had happened to Ramphil, but he forgot what. It was possible that the Reavers did something to Ramphil, or Ramphil had suffered a traumatic event. Ramphil tried to think about the forgotten memories on his own. Ramphil struggled to remember his past, but he was not able to do so. He had some memory where he was taken to the arena and then released. He remembered the fighting scene, but he couldn¡¯t remember what the Reavers had done to him. Shouldn¡¯t have asked him in the first ce. Zin regretted asking Ramphil the question, as he was worried that he might get mad, but it was toote. ¡°If you can¡¯t remember, there¡¯s no point of trying to remember it then.¡± With that, Ramphil didn¡¯t think about it anymore. ¡ª¨C Ramphil was thest person to join the threesome, but he was the one who did the most work. He drove the armored vehicle, prepared the meals, set up camp, and scouted the surroundings. He had to do all these by himself because Zin and Leona had to hold on tight to the seats, as they did not want to fall off the vehicle. Without asking for any help, Ramphil volunteered to set up the camp and prepare the meals. He didn¡¯tin at all, nor ask for any help. He didn¡¯t mind all the work, and he was the type of person who would rather do the work himself. The team had to make pit stops frequently as Leona got motion sickness, but they were travelling at a much faster pace then before. Leona was nauseated from her motion sickness and stomach aches, and Zin had to feed her water. She started to feel better after the second day of the trip on the armored vehicle. They were able to arrive near the city of Harbin four dayster than scheduled. However, they were able to shorten the trip duration as they did not have to stop by viges to replenish food and supplies. After approaching the city, they slowed down. That day, they drove into the cityte in the night. The team agreed to rest the night, drive through the ruins and head to the Harbin fortress the next morning. They figured that it would not be wise to attract any monsters with the armored vehicle. They parked the vehicle near the boundary of the city, got out and checked the area. ¡°It looks different around here.¡± Not all ruins were the same, and Leona was amused to see buildings that were in good condition. Zin went inside the old building next to where the vehicle was parked. He went up the building, and checked the surroundings. Ramphil checked the safety of the buildings, and then set up a camp. Leona looked and asked Ramphil who was taking out the food for the day. ¡°Can I have the C-rations menu?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Yesss!¡± Leona especially liked the C-rations that contained meatballs. There was no point in saving the C-rations, as there was tons of food. After looking around, Zin became serious. ¡°I see white bones around here.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it okay?¡± ¡°Hmm, looking at the flies flying around the bones, it suggests that a person wasn¡¯t killed too long ago. That¡¯s a problem.¡± Ramphil was taking out the food, opening the C-ration packages, and separating the chip dust. Zin was sitting down, and getting ready to go to sleep. He acted normal while talking about the corpses. Leona became ufortable. ¡°It may be the ruin of a vige that was destroyed recently?¡± she asked him. ¡°Well¡­ it looks like it, but I can¡¯t tell. It¡¯s hard to figure out the cause of the death because there are only bones left. It¡¯s possible that the corpse hunters and the rats ate the flesh after dying. ¡°If the monsters attacked the vige, they were not interested in meat. And if the Reavers attacked, they were probably not interested in cannibalizing.¡± ¡°Well, they could have cut out all the meat.¡± ¡°¡­ why would they do such crazy things?¡± Leona wondered. ¡°Don¡¯t try to understand how crazies act. Anyways, I saw five skeletons total. I didn¡¯t see any gunshot wounds on the skeleton.¡± ¡°I need to think about this for a bit.¡± Leona thought how weird Zin and Ramphil were. In any case, the meals were prepared as usual, and Zinid couple of nkets down to get ready to sleep. Zin made decisions as a hunter would, and Ramphil acted simrly to Zin. There were five corpses, and there was a possibility that either human or monsters killed them. ¡ª After eating dinner, Zin left the camp to check out the corpses. Ramphil and Leona waited in the camp and chatted. ¡°Ramphil, you are a Wargrave soldier, so it should be no problem to enter the fortress, but can I and Zin enter the fortress?¡± Leona was excited to visit a Wargrave fortress, but she was worried at the same time. ¡°It¡¯s temporary, but I am an executor. I have the power to do so.¡± ¡°What does an executor do? Is that a high rank position?¡± ¡°Executors travel to different fortresses, and they resolve issues in the fortresses. Executors can only be appointed by the generals, and in my case, I¡¯ve been appointed to the role by a Warlord¡­¡± ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t understand anything that you are saying.¡± Ramphil did not know how to use theyman¡¯s term, and Leona did not understand the vocabry that Ramphil was using. ¡°So, the executors are very powerful?¡± ¡°Executors are normally people who were treated with the Gigaframe procedure. But I am not.¡± Ramphil was appointed as the executor temporarily in a rush, and had only been treated with the megaframe procedure. Leona nodded and realized that she would have to guess what Ramphil was saying. Executor. It was a one of roles of Wargrave soldiers, but it a very popr one. Kids who grew up in Wargrave dreamt of bing an executor. An executor was regarded as a problem solver, and a role that the kids admired and aspired to be. Books that were used to educate the Wargrave kids contained many stories about the executors. If kids were asked to pick their favorite role between a Warlord and an executor, kids would always choose the executor. Many soldiers who aspired to be executors had to give up their dreams as they got older and became ordinary soldiers. The elites of the elites became executors. They were smart and knowledgeable in many areas, such as strategy, military nning, andbat skills. Only such talented people were given the chance to be executors. The talented people were then put inpetition to be an executor. The role of the executor was something that everybody dreamt of, but only a few were able to gain the job. Ramphil did not care much about anything, and he was not interested in the role at all. He did not show much excitement when he was given the chance to participate in the executor curriculum by Ramzier. And when he was denied the chance to be an executor because of his status as an alien, he wasn¡¯t disappointed at all. However, since then, hisrades had started to despise him. Hisrades who given up on the hope of bing an executor hated Ramphil, who was given such an opportunity. Ramphil did not have the personality to be liked by hisrades, and it didn¡¯t take long for hisrades to start hating him. And, Ramphil didn¡¯t care about it at all. Ramphil had been living without much goal or meaning. As a temporary executor, he was simply following the orders that were given to him. A temporary executor was different from a regr executor, but he had to aplish many missions and was given the power to do so. Ramphil did not like nor hate his position. After listening to Ramphil for a while, Leona summarized her thoughts. ¡°So you are a Wargrave version of hunter.¡± ¡°Yes, sort of.¡± Wargrave people had many fantasies about the executor role, but there was no better way to describe the role to someone in the wilderness. The two continued to talk, and Ramphil talked with Leona for a long time without knowing why he was talking to her. When Zin finally came back to the camp, Leona was askin Ramphil why he would space out when he was resting. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think about anything.¡± ¡°How can you not think about anything?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember anything because I¡¯m not thinking anything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so weird¡­ I always think about something. But nothing important though.¡± ¡°¡­ You two are just talking about nothing meaningful,¡± Zin sighed as he came back to the camp, and Leona and Ramphil looked at him. Zin sat down, and summarized what he had learned. ¡°The killers were Reavers. I found junkwagon tire marks near the site. All the corpses were missing a specific area of the body. I¡¯m pretty sure that Reavers who are interested in collecting body parts did this.¡± ¡°When you say missing body parts, what you referring to?¡± ¡°Left elbow and beyond. All corpses were missing that body part.¡± Human bones usually got crushed when attacked by monsters, but the five corpses were missing the exact same body parts. And there were junkwagon tire marks nearby. ¡°Reavers who collect left hands¡­¡± Ramphil tried to recall something, but couldn¡¯t. ¡°Bastards, I can see them eating people but why are they so crazy about specific body parts?¡± Leona was disgusted at the senseless actions of the Reavers. < Territoriality (Part 2) > After all, people needed to eat to survive. But for the Reavers to be collecting body parts, it meant that they had creepy inclinations. Leona could not understand why the Reavers would act so disgustingly by collecting certain body parts. ¡°In the past, one of the Wargrave general put some effort in to analyze the crazy actions of the Reavers.¡± ¡°What was it about?¡± ¡°He wanted to know what type of humans became Reavers, and why the Reavers were crazy. But the research failed in the end.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Ramphil was telling them that the research effort to understand the Reavers failed. Leona was interested and continued to press him for answers. ¡°Proceeding with the research was disapproved.¡± ¡°What kind of answer is that?!¡± ¡°Wargrave does not use its chips and forces on unnecessary matters.¡± Leona was left speechless andughed as she was given a stupid answer. ¡°Wargrave¡¯s policy is to not get bothered by the unknown. It is especially true if there¡¯s no threat, or if there¡¯s no benefit to it. ¡°To Wargrave, Reavers are¡­ like flies.¡± Wargrave would be able to massacre the Reavers even if they attacked inrge numbers. There was no point in analyzing such a crazy group of humans. The Reavers might be terrifying to the people in the wilderness, but they were no threat for Wargrave. Ramphil and Leona thought the Reavers¡¯ inclination to collect body parts was some unexinable madness, but Zin thought differently. ¡°I think you are mistaken here. Collecting body parts is a meaningful act for the Reavers.¡± ¡°Meaningful, you say?¡± ¡°It is especially meaningful for Reavers who have a ughterhouse as their base.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± Leona and Ramphil didn¡¯t understand what Zin was exining as Ramphil has not been in the wilderness for long, and Leona was too young. ¡°It is simr how dogs urinate to mark territory.¡± ¡°They are marking their territory?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Leona and Ramphil started nodding as they believed what Zin said. ¡°After killing people, Reavers leave the dead bodies partially damaged in order to disy territoriality to other groups of Reavers. Reavers fight against each other, but they also do not like fighting against crazy people.¡± It meant that the Reavers marked their territory by performing such actions. They could be cutting off the left hand, head, or foot. It was unique among different groups. ¡°Well¡­ they disy their uniqueness in such ways. ¡®The left hand group¡¯, ¡®head collecting group¡¯, ¡®shin collecting group¡¯, and such. You get what I am saying, right?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ that¡¯s damn gross.¡± ¡°Gross indeed.¡± When a certain group of Reavers became powerful, they would naturally be careful in dealing with the ¡®left hand collecting group¡¯, and would avoid them. Reavers who had established a ughterhouse would disy their power and gain infamy through such actions. For hunters, they had to identify the different ughter groups in order to be prepared to fight against them. As Zin and the group were in the main continent, it was clear that they would encounter more ughterhouses. ¡°I didn¡¯t know about that. So it was an act of territoriality, not an act of collecting body parts¡­¡± ¡°Wargrave wouldn¡¯t have known about it because it really didn¡¯t matter to them.¡± Zin was able to figure out such facts by observing the corpses. Looking at Zin, Leona realized that living as a hunter was not to be taken lightly. ¡°But you know, that is not the most important thing right now,¡± Leona started to speak to Zin and Ramphil. ¡°Mister, if you what you said is true, then aren¡¯t we inside the territory of the Reavers?¡± ¡°Yeah. You are right,¡± Ramphil nodded. ¡°Is it okay for us to stand idle here?¡± Leona spoke as she looked at the empty C-ration packages and the camp site. They set up a campsite in the middle of Reaver territory. This was an invitation for trouble. But Zin talked as if he was not afraid at all. ¡°We have a brave and fearless Wargrave executor with us. We have no reason to be afraid of the Reavers.¡± Ramphil felt strange to be hearing what was both apliment and mockery. Zin was not too afraid because Ramphil was with him as apanion. He would not be fighting off the Reavers by himself. To be exact, with the help of Ramphil, Zin would be able to engage in an efficient battle, and he would not have to avoid their enemies. ¡°Well, I hope they attack us. It seems like they are very active around here, and that would mean that they have ammunition.¡± Zin smiled, and Leona became a bit spooked at his evil smile. The weapon that Ramphil used did not require any ammunition. It meant that Zin going to gain all the ammunition after asking Ramphil to fight against the Reavers. Ramphil did not say anything, but Leona murmured in disbelief, ¡°Mister, at times, you can be a real jerk.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the bestpliment that I¡¯ve ever heard. Thanks.¡± Being opportunistic was the best trait that a hunter could have. And therefore, Leona¡¯s words werepliments to Zin. ¡°Phew¡­¡± ¡ª¡ª Zin was not the type of person who would listen to others. That night, Zin stayed up the night on vigil while Ramphil and Leona slept. If the Reavers were to appear, Zin was nning to wake up Ramphil, and provide sniper support while Ramphil fought against them. Zin held his M700 next to him, and watched the night above Harbin. The Reavers did not appear at all that night. Zin was not too tired, as he was used to staying up through the night. But he wasn¡¯t too happy. ¡°These Reavers are disappointing¡­¡± The Reavers did not hunt every day, and it was possible that they hid when they heard the sound of the armored vehicles. On the flip side, it was very dangerous for Reavers to have their base near a Wargrave fortress. Leona was satisfied to have delicious food at every meal, but she was getting worried. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to eat other food when we¡¯re out of C-rations.¡± Leona realized that she was getting used to the taste of processed foods, and she became nervous after thinking about the time when she would be out of C-rations. She had gotten used to the taste of C-rations, and was getting nervous about eating ghoul meat some day in the future. ¡°You are one lucky kid.¡± ¡°Pfft. Can¡¯t I even worry about it?¡± Leona grumbled after Zin spoke to her. The team quickly ate breakfast, cleaned up the camp site, and got into the armored vehicle. The vehicle was so heavy that it risked falling into a sinkhole. Fortunately, there were roads were well maintained, as the Wargrave fortress was nearby. ¡°Why did the Reavers create a ughterhouse near the fortress?¡± Leona asked. Wargrave was capable of wiping out the Reavers easily, and moving in close to the fortress was risky. ¡°They trust the Wargrave.¡± ¡°Trust them?¡± ¡°Usually Wargrave do not care about outsiders as long as they don¡¯t approach the fortress.¡± Wargrave was neither an enemy nor ally. It was a neighbor that wasn¡¯t a threat. The area near the fortress was rtively safe. This fact didn¡¯t matter much for the Reavers, but it mattered for civilians. Civilians thought that it would be safer near the fortress, and they gathered around the area. And the Reavers hunted those civilians near the fortress. Wargrave did not care about things happening outside the fortress, but the existence of a fortress had arge influence on its surroundings. The Reavers picked off civilians utilizing the presence of the Wargrave. Leona was somewhat bitter thinking that Wargrave was partially responsible for this phenomenon. In the meantime, the armored vehicle continued to travel down the road. The road was in good condition, and the vehicle moved quickly through the city. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡ªVrrrrrr¡­¡ª About an hourter, Ramphil slowed down the vehicle as he spotted something ahead. ¡°Do we have a problem?¡± ¡°I see iron wire ahead.¡± Zin quickly moved to the front seat, and looked outside. Although rusted, there were iron wires on the road. Ramphil spoke with a hardened face. ¡°If we move forward, the track will be entangled by wires and will break.¡± It appeared to be regr wire, but if the iron wire got tangled up in the tracks of the AV, it would cause damage to them. Someone had set up the wires on a well maintained road. It was clear that someone set them up to interfere with Zin¡¯spany. And shortly after, someone yelled from behind. ¡ªSet them up! ¡ª ¡ªck ck ck! ¡ª A group of people appeared from the streets behind them, andid multipleyers of iron wire down on the street. After setting the wires up, they ran into the streets. They were obviously nning to trap the vehicle. ¡°Well, we fell into a perfect trap.¡± Zin took out his Saiga from the void storage, and loaded it with shells. There were ruins around the area, and there was no weapon more effective than a shotgun in an urban warfare. Leona also realized that something was going on, and she loaded ammunition in her crude rifle. Although Zin didn¡¯t fully trust her shooting skills, he didn¡¯t stop her. ¡°Can we go through the buildings or go around them?¡± ¡°To get to the HCMP fortress, we need to cross the bridge ahead. There is no other way around. This vehicle is an amphibious vehicle, but with the door ripped apart, if won¡¯t be able to cross the waters.¡± The wires were set up right in front of the bridge, and there was no way around them. It was possible to walk up to the wires and remove them, but it was clear that the attackers were ready to ambush them. The enemy decided to attack the team at this trap location instead of attacking during the night. As a result, Zin and hispany were stuck in the middle of a street in the ruins. The enemy started to move in. Ramphil spotted a Reaver running out into the street and throwing a Molotov cocktail towards the armored vehicle. Ramphil quickly closed the hatch, and hid himself inside the vehicle. ¡ªSmash! Crack, Crackle! ¡ª ¡°I think they are determined to kill us first.¡± The enemies had no intentions of talking to the team. ¡ªYo! Cowards! What are you doing hiding inside! ¡ª ¡ªSmash! Crackle, Pop! ¡ª A couple of Molotov cocktails hit the vehicle, and heating up the armor of the vehicle. Zin quickly asked, ¡°How strong is the armor?¡± ¡°It can withstand cheap chipbusters,¡± Ramphil replied. ¡°Good. Then you wait here,¡± Zin told Leona. ¡°Okay,¡± Leona nodded as Zin gave out orders. ¡°Ramphil, you go out and distract the enemy. What¡¯s your armor defense against bullets?¡± ¡°I can withstand 7.62mm bullets as long as they don¡¯t hit my vital spots.¡± His body was fortified by Megaframe to withstand gunfire. ¡°Good, you head out first. As soon as our enemies are distracted, I will head out, too. While you attack the enemies approaching the vehicle, I will secure a high ground and snipe. Are you ready?¡± ¡°Any time.¡± ¡°Go!¡± ¡ªWhoosh! ¡ª As soon as Zin shouted, Ramphil jumped out of the vehicle. When he got out of the vehicle, he encountered ten Reavers who were pointing their guns at the vehicle, and four Reavers who were holding custom made grenades filled with chip dust. Some were on top of the building, some on the street corner, and some on the open street. The shooters from the roof started firing at Ramphil as if they were expecting him. ¡°Shoot!¡± ¡ªRatatatatat! ¡ª However, Ramphil was not a weakling who was going to get shot so easily. He ran at great speed, and didn¡¯t get shot at all. He moved quickly and erratically. ¡°It¡¯s a cyborg!¡± ¡°Aim correctly! Shoot his eyes!¡± The Reavers were armed with crappy home-made rifles, and were reloading their guns. In the heat of the moment, Ramphil pulled out hisser pistol. There were many system messages popping in front of Ramphil¡¯s eyes. [L-20, Rifle Mode] ¡ªnk, Click¡ª Theser pistol expanded, and it transformed into a rifle. L-20 was the only weapon that Ramphil brought with him when he left the Seoul fortress. It was a very expensive weapon, not produced inrge quantities. But it was always given out to soldiers who were carrying out special missions. The Seoul fortress Warlord gave out their only L-20 to Ramphil. An L-20 was not exclusively given only to executors, but all executors used an L-20. The rifle that Ramphil was holding onto was the symbol of an executor. An L-20 was an ultimate weapon that could be changed into a pistol, saber, rifle, and even a sniper rifle. ¡ªsh! ¡ª As soon as Ramphil aimed and fired the L-20, a blueser beam pierced through the head of a Reaver. Chapter 58-59 Chapter 58-59 < Territoriality (Part 3) > The long range attack of theser rifle dealt a swift death. The Reaver whose head was pierced with theser died on the spot. ¡°It¡¯s aser rifle!¡± ¡°Damn!¡± The Reavers had underestimated their opponents since they were attacking a beat up armored vehicle. They did not expect to encounter a Wargrave executor inside the vehicle. ¡ªRatatatat!¡ª The Reavers started shooting at Ramphil, but he was aware of all their moves. He knew who was reloading a gun, aiming a gun, and shooting a gun. Ramphil quickly took out the Reavers who were throwing the Molotov cocktails at the armored vehicle, and took cover behind the alley. The gunners were all lying low, hiding from theser rifle shots. As soon as the gunfire ceased, Zin moved out of the AV. While taking cover in the alleyway, Ramphil marked the Reavers who were hiding. Zin was moving quickly to take position on top of a building to snipe down the Reavers. Even though Ramphil exposed himself to the attack of the Reavers, he was simply marking the Reavers on the ground. Zin also moved into the alleyway swiftly. There was no reason for Zin to move quietly as he had already been spotted by the Reavers. ¡ªBoom! Boom! ¡ª Zin jumped against the wall of building, bounced off two walls, and sessfully climbed up to the roof of a three-story building. ¡°Ah crap¡­¡± At the rooftop, there were two Reavers who were taking cover from theser rifle attack. As soon as Zinnded on rooftop, he fired with automatic shotgun. ¡ªPow! Pow! ¡ª ¡°Ngaaargh!¡± One was shot in the chest, and the other in the head and died instantly. Zin quickly rolled to the walls of the building to take cover. The buildings surrounding the area had simr heights. Zin had to move to a taller building to spot the enemies hiding in the alleys and rooftops. The Reavers who were hiding were desperate. They didn¡¯t expect to face such powerful foes. One was a Wargrave cyborg soldier, and the other one quickly took out two Reavers by jumping up the side of a building. It was clear that the Reavers had picked on the wrong enemy, they were people that they should not have messed around. Ramphil was controlling ground zero, and Zin was about to control the high ground. The Reavers were smart enough to understand the situation, and they were not dumb to continue a battle that they were going to lose. ¡°Let¡¯s split up and run!¡± As soon as someone shouted, the Reavers started to move. They lowered their bodies, and started to run away through the alleyways. In urban warfare, visibility was very limited because of the buildings. Many Reavers were out quickly out of range. However, Zin was not going to let anyone walk out alive after attacking him. He took out his AKM and started to shoot. ¡ªBang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ¡ª Reavers who moved were exposed and attacked by Zin. Four gunshots were fired, four Reavers were taken down. Zin aimed and shot. And he made it look so easy. Ramphil was also on a rampage. He ran into the alley, and pursued the Reavers by listening for the sound of their footsteps. He adjusted the L-20¡¯s output mode, switching it to spray mode. It lost a bit of range, but he was able to target a wider area. It basically became aser shotgun! Ramphil turned the corner and quickly fired the gun at the back of a Reaver who was running away. ¡ªsh! Booom! ¡ª As soon as the blue light red, the upper body of the Reaver burst into ming pieces. From a distance, theser¡¯s beam attack pierced a hole, but theser gun on spray mode sted the target apart. It was a horrifying scene, and Ramphil continued to hunt down the fleeing Reavers one at a time. From the rooftops, a hunter was sniping, and on the ground, a Wargrave executor was shooting theser shotgun. It¡¯s obvious where they are fleeing. Even though the Reavers split up and ran away, they would be gathering at a point. Ramphil mainly hunted monsters, but Zin had fought against Reavers and monsters many times. Zin knew that the Reavers nned out an escape route in case their attack failed. More than ten Reavers had ambushed Zin and Ramphil. Ramphil continued to chase after them, and Zin was moving towards the gathering point to wipe out all the Reavers, jumping between the buildings. Zin was not nning to go easy on the Reavers who dared to attack him! And right at that moment- ¡ªBang! ¡ª Zin was stunned at the sound of a gunshot behind him. Leona! Zin quickly turned and started running towards the armored vehicle. He was in between the buildings, and was not able to see what was going on near the vehicle. ¡ªBang! Bang! ¡ª The second and the third gunshots were fired. Some of the Reavers were nning to steal the armored vehicle when they saw Zin and Ramphil chasing after the others. And Leona was inside the armored vehicle! Zin hadpletely forgot that Leona was still around. Feeling uneasy, he moved quickly. ¡ªBang! Bang! Bang! ¡ª The fourth, fifth, and sixth gunshots were fired. Next to the vehicle, there was one Reaver who was shot. Zin jumped off the building rooftop, and yelled, ¡°Leona!¡± in desperation, and looked into the back of the vehicle. ¡°Argg¡­uh¡­¡± ¡°Huff¡­ huff¡­¡± Leona pointed the revolver at the head of the Reaver who was lying down, and pulled the trigger. ¡ªBang! ¡ª And she shot once more at the head of the other Reaver. ¡ªBang! ¡ª As soon as Leona killed off the Reavers, she looked at Zin. Zin looked desperate, but Leona looked calm. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Did someone die? No, I mean¡­ yeah, someone¡¯s dead now.¡± Leona shrugged as she looked at the two Reavers dead on the floor. ¡°But not me.¡± Leona was as calm as if nothing happened. Thinking that the armored vehicle was unmanned, the three Reavers ran towards the vehicle to steal it. Leona fired a shot at one of the Reavers who entered the vehicle, and hid herself behind the front seat. The Reaver who was shot yelled that there was a small kid armed with a crude rifle. A crude rifle required reloading, and the two other Reavers jumped into the vehicle to take advantage of the reload time. Leona hid behind the front seat to take cover from their gunshots. When she heard the bullets ricochet against the armor of the vehicle, she shot them down with her revolver. It was a very brief fight, but Leona drew their fire while taking cover. While the Reavers were reloading, she took advantage of the moment to take them down, as they didn¡¯t know the crude rifle was her only weapon. Leona delivered a perfect counter-attack at the right moment. She maintained herposure even though she was attacked by multiple Reavers, and was able to take them all out. She had good decision-making skills, and was able to survive through many dangers while living in the wilderness. Now that she was armed with a gun, she was able to fight back much differently than before. Zin was amazed that Leona had calmly killed three Reavers, and he was feeling sorry that he didn¡¯t remember Leona when he was busy chasing after the Reavers. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I briefly¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± As Zin was trying to speak, Leona stared at Zin. ¡®I¡¯m sorry that I didn¡¯t protect you.¡¯ Leona did not want to hear such words. She didn¡¯t want to be treated like a kid. Leona looked straight into the eyes of Zin and said, ¡°I understand that I¡¯m a burden to you, but I don¡¯t like to be treated as a burden all the time.¡± To be regarded as a burden meant that one had to be protected. Leona knew that she needed the protection of Zin, but she didn¡¯t want Zin to feel sorry for her. ¡°So don¡¯t tell me that you are sorry.¡± epting Zin¡¯s apology would mean that Leona expected to be protected by Zin all the time. Although Leona knew that she needed Zin¡¯s help, Leona did not want Zin to feel obligated to protect her so all the time. Leona wanted to be treated as an adult. ¡°Okay.¡± Zin nodded, he understood where Leona wasing from. ¡°Then, I¡¯m sorry for saying that I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Are you fooling around?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°You are such a jerk!¡± Leona gnashed her teeth, and Zin kept onughing. The two didn¡¯t look like people who were engaged in a gunfight moments ago. Ramphil also returned to the armored vehicle after he heard the gunshots. It was very unlikely that the Reavers would attack again, as they were badly beaten. Zin and Ramphil looted the dead. They found 30 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition and home-made rifles, but they did not find any chips. After removing the iron wire near the bridge, they all got back into the vehicle. Leona was looking fondly at the crude rifle that had saved her life. Zin removed the spent shells from the revolver, reloaded .38 caliber slugs back into it, and gave the revolver back to Leona. ¡°This cute little thing could take down anybody. It¡¯s so amazing!¡± Leona ced the revolver at her waist, concealed under her bag. Zin said, ¡°Those Reavers were pretty aggressive. I didn¡¯t expect them to raid a Wargrave armored vehicle.¡± ¡°I thought that it was strange as well.¡± Ramphil agreed with Zin¡¯s thoughts. Based on Zin and Ramphil¡¯s previous discussion, these Reavers were utilizing the presence of the Wargrave fortress to raid the local civilians. It would be suicidal for the Reavers to raid Wargrave properties. Even if the Reavers seeded in stealing the vehicle, they would be in danger because the Wargrave would retaliate. Ramphil and Zin couldn¡¯t figure out why the Reavers would take such actions. They would not be able to utilize the armored vehicle because of the Wargrave presence, and they had suffered casualties during the ambush. ¡°Anyways, I will have to write up a report.¡± The fortress would take care of the matters once Ramphil submitted a report. Ramphil didn¡¯t know the motives of the Reavers, but the only thing he had to do was write up a simple report. Wargrave did not care much as long as they were not attacked, but they would exterminate any forces that attacked them. In any case, it really didn¡¯t matter to Zin. ¡ª The team dismounted the AV when they were still quite far away from the fortress¡¯ gate. ¡°Wow, totally cool.¡± Leona saw a fortress for the second time, and was awestruck by the height of the fortress wall. The wall was grey and clean. It seemed to represent the reclusiveness of the Wargrave. As the team approached the fortress, a loud rm went off near the walls of the fortress. [Stay away. This is a Wargrave fortress. Trespassing is prohibited.] [If you don¡¯t go back, we will shoot based on our safety protocols.] [Stay away.] The Wargrave did not shoot right away. Ramphil started to murmur near the wall of the fortress. ¡°Code-349-9756-9954.¡± As soon as Ramphil spoke, the rm sound stopped. The process to enter the fortress was simple. There were cameras and voice recognition devices installed around the wall, and Ramphil spoke out his military ID number. The centralputer would then cross-reference Ramphil¡¯s face and military ID number to check if the person was a Wargrave soldier. It appearedplex, but it was quite a simple verification process. [ID verified.] [ess granted.] The automatic turrets were briefly put on standby. Ramphil walked up to the gate, and using an inte, he called the gatekeeper. < Purpose of Executor (Part 1) > Ramphil called out using the inte, ¡°This is warrant officer Ramphil from SMCP fortress. Ie as a temporary executor.¡± [Wee to HMCP fortress, executor. This is Second Lieutenant Dagon in charge of the gate.] ¡°Good to meet you, Lieutenant Dagon.¡± Ramphil was originally a warrant officer, which was a rank below second lieutenant. But the ranks did not matter at the moment, as Ramphil was carrying out missions as an executor. Regardless of their original rank, an executor was treated as a colonel, and depending on the situation, an executor would receive treatment as a brigadier general. A highly ranked executor would be treated even better than that. Although Ramphil was a temporary executor, it would not be a problem for him to look down on any personnel except the Warlord in the fortress. However, Ramphil showed respect to the personnel based on their ranks. He had nothing to lose by showing respect. [Executor. Before I open the door, please exin to me yourpany.] ¡°They will be helping me carry out the special mission. I am nning to take them in, so please bring extra CP protective clothes please.¡± [I need the Warlord¡¯s approval for outsiders visiting.] ¡°I will wait.¡± Ramphil waited in front of the door, and quickly got an answer. It appeared that the fortress was on high alert with an executor visiting. [Visitor¡¯s ess has been approved.] ¡°Good.¡± [I will send out the guide team with the extra protective clothes. The visitors and the armored vehicle cane in.] Ramphil sent a signal, and Zin drove the vehicle up in front of the fortress gate. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to get the approval so quickly.¡± ¡°All the fortresses need an executor¡¯s help. They amodate the executors very well. And an outsider¡¯s visit is not a big deal either.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you a temporary executor?¡± Zin asked Ramphil how he knew about executors so well. ¡°I know how soldiers think about executors.¡± ¡°How do they think of executors?¡± ¡°They look up to them as heroes, and take pity on them as well.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I could see that happening.¡± Many times, an executor had to sleep outside in the wilderness, and fight against monsters and Reavers. Wargrave soldiers who were used to living in afortable environment were afraid of the outside world. However, an executor served the Wargrave organization, and wandered the wilderness. They were regarded as heroes, and at the same time, older soldiers took pity on the executors. Leona was not happy to be inside the fortress, and she looked very ufortable. ¡°This fortress looks overpowering, and I¡¯m getting afraid.¡± The atmosphere unnerved her. Shortly, the gate opened and a squad of soldiers wearing protective clothes came out of the fortress. They saluted Ramphil as soon as they met him. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to see you, executor.¡± ¡°Good to meet you.¡± The squad was wearing protective clothes and masks, and were armed withser rifles. The inner area of the fortress was dangerous because of the dense CP level, and most of the personnel wore uniforms that protected them from CP. Ramphil didn¡¯t need to wear the protective gear because he had received the megaframe procedure, and Zin was also immune to the CP. Zin put on the protective clothes to avoid any suspicion, and Leona also put on the clothes with the help of the guide team. ¡°Oww, it fits too tight on me¡­ O, it¡¯s hot!¡± Leonained as she put on the full protective clothes with the masks. Zin did not take off his coat, and he wore the protective clothes on top of his coat. He looked like an obese person, and Leona found it funny. She looked at Zin and smiled. ¡°Mister, you look like an idiot.¡± ¡°Same goes for you.¡± ¡°Really?¡± The guide team walked ahead of them, and Leona and Zin walked while Ramphil drove the vehicle. The gate door closed behind them with arge thud. There were green mists inside the fortress. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that is, but something doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± Breathing in dense CP would cause extreme pain. Putting on a mask would greatly reduce the risk. The guide team escorted Zin¡¯s party through the green mists and reached a giant elevator. ¡°The vehicle will be taken to the vehicle elevator.¡± A soldier took the AV, and went away somewhere. Shortly after, Zin¡¯s party was brought underground. ¡ªVwoooooooom! ¡ª ¡°Wow! Wow! What is this?¡± Leona freaked out as the elevator went underground, and she was surprised to see the ceiling close slowly. Zin started to mock Leona who was in awe. ¡°Stop making a big deal out of everything.¡± ¡°Kids always get excited when they see new things.¡± ¡°You are not a kid.¡± ¡°Yes, I am a kid.¡± The guide team found the quarreling between Zin and Leona quite amusing, and the guide team started tough. Ramphil stood still without a word, as he usually did, his stare rather nk. The three went through the door at the bottom of the elevator, and took off their protective clothes. ¡°Please take out all your weapons, and check them in. We will return them when you leave.¡± The guide team was talking to Leona and Zin. As Zin took out his weapons, Leona also checked in her rifle and revolver. Even though the people didn¡¯t know about the void storage, Zin took out a lot of weapons. The guide team was shocked to see Zin take out weapons from the void storage. ¡°What in the world is that¡­¡± ¡°Think of it as an old fox¡¯s trick.¡± As the guide team was suspicious about Zin¡¯s actions, Ramphil exined, ¡°It is what¡¯s called a charm. No need to get worried.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± Zin and Leona were outsiders whom an executor had brought into the fortress. The guide team determined that they were trustworthy people. There was a reason Zin took out his weapons. ¡°Since I followed the fortress¡¯ rule, I have a favor to ask.¡± ¡°What would that be?¡± ¡°Does anyone repair firearms?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ we have some technicians who mainly repair artillery.¡± ¡°Can you repair my weapons? And I would like to talk to the technicians. I could repair the weapons myself, but I know that you do not want me to hold onto the weapons.¡± Zin was saying that since he was unable to repair his weapons because of the fortress policies, he was asking the guide team to repair the weapons instead. Zin was nning to take advantage of others as much as possible, using Ramphil¡¯s position as an executor. ¡°Mmm¡­ I will ask around,¡± the team leader answered, and Zin nodded. As they passed through the door, they started the visitor check-in process. Leona found the whole check in process very annoying. ¡°We are starting the disinfection process.¡± ¡ªPsshhhhhh! ¡ª ¡°Aaaaah!¡± A strange-looking white smoke was sprayed at Zin¡¯s party in order to remove any poisonous substances from them. After the first process, they were showered with a disinfectant solution. Then the medical team checked the infection status of Zin¡¯s party. Luckily, they passed the test, as they were not infected with any diseases. They went through several checkpoints, and they were finally admitted after taking a shower and putting on the Wargrave clothes. Their original clothes were sent for cleaning, the guide team promising to return the clothes after cleaning. Zin took out some items that were fragile. ¡°Jule was nothing.¡± Leona got tired of the whole sanitization process. They even ended up taking some pills and getting antibiotic shots. ¡°Do they always go through this whole process every time?¡± ¡°They go through this process even though they wear protective clothes.¡± Leona shook her head after Ramphil replied. As the party entered the fortress, the guide team was waiting for them. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The party soon reached an area that looked like the central station. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Leona was amazed that such a clean ce could exist in this world. The walls were all white, and many people were walking through the station area. Many elevators were moving up and down. Everything looked orderly and tidy. All the buildings and equipments were in excellent condition. The environment was very differentpared to the wilderness. Because Zin and Leona were wearing the Wargrave clothes, they were not in the spotlight. Fortresses usually had poptions of over ten thousand. ¡°Let me guide you to your lodging. Do you know how to look at a map?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯ve notified the managers that we have visitors. You can sleep in the rooms, and meals are served in the cafeteria near the rooms.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Zin knew the structure of the fortress, and he did not need the exnation. The Wargravemunity had a tendency to exclude outsiders, but the guide team members were very hospitable to Zin and Leona, probably because they were allies of an executor. Zin¡¯s party moved into the lodging area, and they were assigned a unit. It was a multi-story unit designed for a family, and was very clean. This was the ce that they were going to stay during their visit to the fortress. ¡°You can eat at the cafeteria at meal time, or you can take groceries to your room and cook as well.¡± The people in the fortress lived ording to a tight schedule, but the Wargrave manager was trying to amodate as much freedom for Zin¡¯s party. There was no reason for them to decline the offer. After the guide leader spoke, the rest of the guide team left, and only the leader remained with Zin¡¯s party. ¡°Executor, are you going to meet the Warlord right away?¡± ¡°That was my n.¡± ¡°Then, allow me to guide you.¡± ¡°Are you guys nning to stay in the room?¡± Ramphil asked Zin and Leona. ¡°Will do, I don¡¯t have any reason to meet the Warlord,¡± Zin replied. Ramphil nodded and walked out of the room. Ramphil was thinking about staying a night or two, and leaving the fortress in a new armored vehicle. Leona was amazed at everything inside the unit. She browsed through the windows, curtains, table, and the bathrooms with bathtubs. She had all seen these before, but it still felt alien to Leona. The living conditions at the castle of Jule was nothingpared to the condition of the fortress. Leona did not know what to do with all the new and clean furniture and surroundings. On the other hand, Zinid down on the sofa and rested. ¡°Mister, you look like you are used to this kind of living.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s because I have lived long enough.¡± Leona knew that an ordinary person could not possibly live longer than two hundred years. ¡°Was the world like this before?¡± Leona asked a vague question, but Zin knew what Leona was asking about. ¡°Pretty much.¡± Compared to the current times when almost everything was in ruins, everything was clean back in the pre-apocalypse days. As Leona looked outside the window and watched the people walk by, she couldn¡¯t believe that so many people were living underground. ¡°They don¡¯t seem to farm at all. What do they do for a living?¡± ¡°If we go further down, there is arge agricultural area¡­ I mean, there are buildings where people can grow food without sun and soil. They produce food down there. Same goes with cattle.¡± A Wargrave fortress collected a huge amount of chips, and the Wargrave were able to automate many farms utilizing the chips. A small group of technicians managed the huge underground agricultural facilities, and raised cattle in order to sustain the economy of the giant fortress. A fortress was designed to be self-sufficient. In the case of the Busan fortress, there were only researchers left, and the fortress operated with minimal personnel and power. But most of the fortresses were managed simr to how the Harbin fortress was managed. Leona could not understand the concept of producing all goods in the underground, but she believed what Zin was exining to her. Some soldiers brought groceries to the room, and Zin left the metallic box that contained food on the table. ¡°That is all this? It doesn¡¯t look like a C-ration¡­¡± Leona shook her head as she studied the cans and boxes. Zin read the letters on the cans, and smiled as he took out something. ¡°You will be surprised that there is more to food than C-rations.¡± ¡°What could that be?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a food that is typically called noodles, and more specifically, this is¡­¡± Zin said with much excitement, ¡°Ramen!¡± With an ecstatic expression, Zin took out the ramen boxes, and put them on the kitchen cupboard. Zin didn¡¯t like the Wargrave much, but he appreciated the delicacies that Wargrave were able to produce. Although these delicacies were not necessary for survival, Wargrave produced them in small batches. And Wargrave produced snacks and instant foods that had been consumed in the pre-apocalypse days. Of course, Leona had never tried noodles before. Zin cooked some ramen for Leona, and unfortunately, Leona was not able to fully enjoy the taste of ramen. Kids could not handle spicy food well, and usually they never had a chance to eat anything spicy at all. Leona cried in pain as she tasted the spiciness for the first time. ¡°I¡¯d rather eat ghoul meat! What is this painful taste?!¡± Leona did not know how to describe the spicy vor, and expressed it as a ¡®painful¡¯ taste. Zin was amused and surprised at Leona¡¯s reaction to the spicy taste of ramen. ¡°Huh¡­¡± He didn¡¯t expect Leona to respond in such a way. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I will eat all of it myself!¡± ¡ªSlurp, Sluuuurp! ¡ª And of course, Zin didn¡¯t worry much about Leona. Chapter 60-62 < Purpose of Executor (Part 2) > Ramphil headed to the office of the Warlord, and started talking to the Warlord after a quick introduction. The Warlord¡¯s name was Hogan, but the name didn¡¯t matter much, and Ramphil started calling him by the rank. Ramphil¡¯s objective was not to spy on the Harbin fortress, but to receive support. Ramphil briefly exined his needs, but the Warlord changed the subject. ¡°I¡¯ve heard about the news. You fought the White Witch alone.¡± The Warlord had received the battle report, and was astonished that such a powerful soldier was stationed in the fortress of a rural area. Seoul Fortress dispatched only a single soldier after receiving the order to pursue the White Witch. It seemed that the Seoul Fortress was defying the order, but after receiving Ramphil¡¯s battle data, the Central Asia division admitted that the Seoul fortress had dispatched a key person for the mission. Even though Ramphil was a temporary executor, the Warlords and the Wargrave high officials were aware of Ramphil¡¯s mission. Ramphil¡¯s battle data suggested that he had power that surpassed the limits of a cyborg soldier who was treated with megaframe. The Central Asia Division did not give out specific orders to the temporary executor. There were rumors that Ramphil was going to be summoned by the general of the Central Asia Division, but it was not confirmed. Ramphil was still on standby and acting independently. He did not know much about the rumors and discussions around him. ¡°In the end, I was defeated.¡± ¡°But I think it¡¯s remarkable that you were able to fight the White Witch face to face.¡± Ramphil only reported the facts, and the Warlord praised him for his aplishments. The Warlord continued to praise him for many things, and Ramphil started to wonder why the Warlord was continuing to tter him when Ramphil was simply asking for a new armored vehicle. The Warlord finally got to the point. ¡°Executor, I understand you are in the middle of an important mission, but I need to bring up something with you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You know that the defense line along the Ak-rock and Doo-man rivers was destroyed. And it appears that the armored vehicle you returned was picked up from there, is that correct?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°That defense line was formed by joint forces from the Tianjin, Beijing, and Harbin fortresses, and divostok naval base.¡± ¡°I see.¡± It was definitely an emergency for Wargrave, as the massive defense line was formed by forces from three fortresses and a naval base. ¡°And as you can see, the forces on the defense line were annihted.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And we¡¯re not talking just about human casualties. We suffered massive losses to the heavy artillery troops.¡± ¡°So are you saying that you cannot provide us with an armored vehicle?¡± ¡°To be exact, we don¡¯t have enough vehicles to operate our internal activities. I did not expect the forces to get annihted.¡± It was natural to think that a target would break through the defense line and go on its way. But in this case, the target moved along the defense line to destroy all the forces. It was unthinkable that a fugitive would start a head-on battle against a defense line. But the fugitive made a surprising attack, and all fortresses that dispatched forces to the defense line were in danger. The naval base was rtively safe as long as monsters did not attack, but the Tianjin, Beijing, and Harbin fortresses were critically short on manpower and firepower to fend off the monsters from the MCP. It was a problem that resulted from the annihtion. Ramphil had sensed the dark and gloomy atmosphere around the Harbin fortress. The people were not panicking, but they were definitely sad and gloomy. The Harbin fortress was not able to send out the clean-up team to destroy the equipment on the battlefield. The Warlord did not even have an extra armored vehicle to spare for Ramphil. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the fugitive to have such power¡­¡± the Warlord murmured with a depressed tone. Ramphil did not care much about the defense line, as it was unrted to him. Ramphil had always done only what he was ordered to do, and he didn¡¯t care about other matters. He didn¡¯t know how the White Witch was created in the first ce. But now as an executor, he had to be proactive, and carefully n out his actions. Ramphil always thought he only needed to learn what he needed. Zin, on the other hand, knew about many things, and utilized his knowledge to his advantage. Ramphil started to change his approach after observing Zin. There was no harm in gaining more knowledge. ¡°Who were we trying to prevent from moving up north past the defense line?¡± It was a critical question. ¡°Of course, it was to stop from the White Witch from advancing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s incorrect. I¡¯ve seen the battlefield and the marks of attack. The White Witch did not attack the forces on the defense line.¡± ¡°¡­¡± The Warlord¡¯s statement did not match with what Ramphil had observed at the defense line. ¡°There was a battle with a Wargrave cyborg soldier.¡± Ramphil was questioning what the Wargrave was trying to stop. The Seoul Warlord had not told the full story to Ramphil, and Ramphil did not ask anything. Nor did he ask about the origin of the White Witch. ¡°I¡¯ll ask you again. Who was the Dooman and Ap-rock river defense line trying the stop?¡± Ramphil was an executor. Ramphil had the right to demand the truth from any Wargrave personnel. ¡°On the surface, the Wargrave was trying to stop the White Witch from advancing north¡­¡± The Warlord had to tell the truth to the executor. ¡°But, in fact, the defense line was formed to prevent lieutenant Charl, the undercover agent, from returning to the main continent.¡± Ramphil had heard the name before. He hadn¡¯t seen Charl in person, but he heard about him. Ramphil was now suspecting that something was going on. ¡°If the undercover agent returns to the HQ, there will be a war between Wargrave groups.¡± That was something new to Ramphil. ¡ª¨C The Warlord exined to Ramphil what the undercover Charl had done, and how it was rted to the White Witch. Ramphil finally understood what was actually going on. The White Witch was an experiment project started by the Central Asia Division, and Charl was the undercover agent sent out to uncover the truth. If such betrayal were reported to the HQ, a war would start. There were many secrets and long history between the two groups, but it was clear what was going to happen. The Central Division wanted to stop Charl at all costs, so they set up a long defense line. An executor was usually treated with a gigaframe that strengthened their power. It was a more advanced procedure than what Ramphil had received. The gigaframe turned the subject into a very powerfulbatant. But it didn¡¯t mean that one would be given the power to annihte heavily armored troops. The undercover agent had a power that was beyond that of an executor. An executor did not have the power to single-handedly annihte a Wargrave defense line and then disappear without a trace. Charl was different than an ordinary executor. And it was clear that a war would break out if Charl returned to the HQ. The Warlord was the leader of the fortress, but he did not know what exactly was going on. The Warlord was simply another cog in the wheel. ¡°Executor, I don¡¯t know what kind of power struggle there is going on between the Central Asia Division and the HQ. And I do not wish to learn about it, either. I don¡¯t know why such an experiment was performed in the first ce.¡± Ramphil knew that he was no different. ¡°After the defense line was destroyed, the Central Asia Division has given up on chasing the infiltrator. As an alternative, they are gathering all the executors to their base.¡± ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the Central Asia Division utilize their executors to pursue the operative?¡± ¡°There were executors at the defense line.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Three executors were killed there.¡± The undercover even killed the executors dispatched to the defense line. There was no point in sending additional executors to chase the agent, they would get murdered in a heartbeat. The impending war was not preventable, and the operative possessed enormous power. Unnecessary pursuit of the agent would only result in more losses, so it was better to start preparing for the inevitable war. ¡°If a war breaks out, there will be massive casualties, that can¡¯t bepared to the losses we suffered at the defense line.¡± Ramphil knew what the Warlord was implying. Ramphil was in the middle of searching for the White Witch. The Warlord wanted Ramphil to search for agent Charl as well. ¡°You are a temporary executor.¡± ¡°I know that.¡± The Warlord¡¯s sentence might have sounded condescending, but the Warlord did not disy any contempt. The Warlord of Harbin was just a soldier who was following orders from his superiors. ¡°No, you don¡¯t know. You don¡¯t know how important you are right now.¡± General Hogan knew his limits and that he had to follow the orders from the Central Asia Division. He didn¡¯t openly defy the orders, but he didn¡¯t actively disy his loyalty either. ¡°All executors are under control of either the HQ or the Central Asia Division. But, executor Ramphil, what about you?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You are the only executor who is not being controlled by any group.¡± Ramphil was a warrant officer from SMCP Fortress who was temporarily given the role of an executor. All executors followed orders from the HQ. But Ramphil was different. He was given the mission to locate the White Witch, and he was not rted to the Wargrave power struggle in any way. ¡°As I told you, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on between the two groups, HQ and the Central Asia Division. Important decisions were made at the Central Asia Division¡¯s base, and I was simply given orders.¡± ¡°I see.¡± The Warlord looked defeated. He knew that he would be used as one of the many chess pieces that were going to be sacrificed. He didn¡¯t cling to either the Central Asia Division or the HQ. ¡°Executor, the reason that I am telling you this long story is simple.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Think, and decide.¡± Hogan did not mention what to think about, and what to decide. Ramphil was the only executor who was neutral. Ramphil¡¯s only goal was to hunt down the White Witch. The executors were not given the freedom to act independently. They were also soldiers, and they followed both the HQ and the Central Asia Divisions¡¯ orders. Ramphil was confused at what Warlord Hogan had said. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are trying to say. I am just a temporary executor, and abat soldier. I don¡¯t get why you are saying that my thoughts and actions are very important.¡± ¡°Haha¡­ Executor, you don¡¯t even realize it, but you are extremely humble.¡± The Warlordughed as he looked at Ramphil. ¡°Within the Wargrave organization, there is no one beside you, Ramphil, who can fight against the White Witch one-on-one. Other executors cannot possibly do so against the White Witch.¡± All the people who looked at the battle data of Ramphil and the witch came to that conclusion. No one else possessed such overpowering battle skills. It was simple as that. He was the most powerful soldier in the local Wargrave. If there was no White Witch, Ramphil would have lived as an ordinary soldier at a rural fortress. He probably wouldn¡¯t have risen up the ranks because of his background. Was the new world in need of a hero? This soldier was about to decide the fate of the Wargrave that was in crisis. Ramphil might have been an uncaring person, but he was no fool. He knew what choices he would be able make, even though the Warlord did not speak. He was the only neutral executor, and he had two choices. He could chase after the agent in order to prevent theing war. Or he could carry out his original mission of pursuing the White Witch. Rank-wise, Ramphil was an ordinarybat soldier. But he was powerful enough to pursue and kill the operative Charl. It was one man¡¯s choice, but it would change the fate of Wargrave. If Ramphil killed the operative, the experiment by Far East Asia Command would remain a secret. The White Witch would eventually get hunted down, and the power struggle between the Central Asia Division and the HQ would remain as it was before ¡°¡­¡± Ramphil remained silent as he thought about the consequences of his decision. Originally, an executor followed orders from the organization that he belonged to. In the case of Europe, an executor was part of the HQ group, and in the case of Asia, an executor followed orders from the Central Asia Division. However, Ramphil was a temporary executor, and was not part of either group. The Warlord was also not a soldier who was loyal to the Central Asia Division. He remained calm even though he needed Ramphil¡¯s help in order to survive. ¡°The time ising when everyone will be responsible for their own survival.¡± The Warlord provided enough hints for Ramphil to think about. It was up to Ramphil to think and act. < Madman¡¯s n (Part 1) > Ramphil couldn¡¯t remember thest time he was in agony. As he thought about the consequences of his decision, he could not make a decision on a whim. The Warlord was not asking for an answer, and Ramphil did not try to answer. The Warlord only started a topic. The Warlord simply wanted Ramphil to be aware of what was at stake. ¡°I have something else to tell you,¡± Ramphil finally spoke up. ¡°And what would that be?¡± ¡°I was attacked by a group of Reavers on my way here.¡± At Ramphil¡¯s story, the Warlord became gloomy. Ramphil¡¯s group came to the fortress on a Wargrave vehicle. The fact that Ramphil was attacked meant that the Reavers attacked a Wargrave vehicle on purpose. The Reavers were beginning to covet the Wargrave equipment. ¡°Were there any losses?¡± ¡°Fortunately, no. But we simply fended them off, so there are still Reavers remaining.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ We didn¡¯t care much about them because they were scavenging trash¡­ but this is a different story, then.¡± The Warlord could not stay still after learning about the Reavers attack on a Wargrave member. If anyone was hostile to Wargrave, Wargrave would swiftly deal with the enemy. ¡°I think they are aware that many troops didn¡¯t return to the fortress. It is possible that the Reavers learned of the defeat of the Wargrave forces and were acting aggressively.¡± The Warlord was furious that the Reavers were ignoring the power of the fortress. But the Warlord was even more furious that the fortress was unable to take action against the Reavers. ¡°As you can see, our hands are full dealing with the monsters in the MCP. ¡°We have no issue in defending the fortress¡­¡± The fortress was safe because there was nothing the Reavers could do about the automatic turrets on the wall. But it was more about the pride of the Wargrave. The Warlord was mad that he couldn¡¯t finish off some rogue Reavers. ¡°¡­¡± But the Warlord couldn¡¯t do much, and bit his lips. But his worry didn¡¯tst too long. In front of him, there was a superb Wargrave soldier. ¡°Executor, I have a suggestion.¡± ¡°Please speak.¡± ¡°We will repair and use the vehicle that you brought in, and we¡¯ll offer you a new vehicle.¡± ¡°Is it a fair exchange?¡± ¡°Yes. Please understand that we are short of vehicles.¡± Ramphil would give up a beat up vehicle in exchange for a brand new vehicle. ¡°As part of the deal, would you be able to wipe out the ughterhouse?¡± The Warlord¡¯s request was reasonable, as executors were usually given such requests. Executors were not usuallypensated for fulfilling requests. However, the Warlord was willing to offer him a new armored vehicle. Whatever choice Ramphil made, he needed an armored vehicle to travel. Ramphil had to discuss the matter with Zin and Leona. ¡°Let me discuss this with my team.¡± ¡°Discuss?¡± The Warlord couldn¡¯t understand why a mighty executor would need to discuss things with his team. Ramphil walked out of the room after speaking. ¡ª Zin was eating ramen, and nodded as Ramphil talked about the situation. ¡°It looks like things are going to get dyed either way.¡± ¡ªSlurrrp! ¡ª Leona was astonished as she watched Zin. Zin was eating his fifth bowl of ramen. Leona was worried that Zin, who usually ate a set portion, was eating too much ramen. And after experiencing the fiery taste of ramen, Leona thought that Zin was not eating but inflicting pain on himself. ¡°It¡¯s going to take some time to repair the armored vehicle anyways.¡± A dy was inevitable, and it was better to ept the request and receive a new vehicle. Zin finished drinking all the ramen broth and looked at Ramphil. ¡°And I am pretty good at that kind of job.¡± Zin looked like a hunter who was ready to score big. He was not going to let a good opportunity to earn some extra chips go by. ¡ª Ramphil went back to the Warlord with Zin apanying him. ¡°This is hunter who I am traveling with.¡± ¡°¡­A hunter¡­ I heard about you.¡± The Warlord quickly scanned the hunter. He looked like an old man, a middle aged man, and a young man at the same time, somehow ageless. The Warlord had a hard figuring out the age of the hunter. But he knew that Zin was definitely experienced based on his impression. Unlike the other Wargrave soldiers, the Warlord did not underestimate this hunter who came from the wilderness. A seasoned hunter was more dangerous and fearsome than an old monster. The Warlord thought that Zin was not someone who should be underestimated. ¡°I am willing to participate in and wipe out the Reavers if you are willing to give me a small reward.¡± ¡°Executor, is this a tough request?¡± The Warlord felt ufortable that an outsider was getting involved with a matter of the Wargrave. Zin also didn¡¯t think that it was necessary for him to get involved. Zin was going to rest up if the Warlord was going to refuse. However, Ramphil gave an unexpected answer. ¡°It¡¯s not difficult. But the hunter has far more experience dealing with the Reavers than I. I am sure that he will be able to provide great assistance in searching for and wiping out the Reaverspletely.¡± Zin was very surprised that Ramphil would speak of him so highly. Ramphil emphasized that Zin wouldpliment him. Ramphil objectively exined that Zin¡¯s role was important, and knew what areas he wascking in after travelling with Zin. As Ramphil stressed that he would be able to kill all the Reavers with the help of Zin, the Warlord pondered. ¡°Hmm¡­ I see your point. You probablyck experience navigating the wilderness because you were just appointed as a temporary executor¡­ That exins why you are travelling with a hunter.¡± The Warlord didn¡¯t exactly know why the executor was travelling with a hunter, but he believed the hunter¡¯s knowledge would help the executor in carrying out his mission. He didn¡¯t question them anymore. The Warlord was willing to allow Zin to apany Ramphil, as long as they could exterminate the pesky Reavers. The Warlord started to get down to business. ¡°How about fifteen hundred?¡± ¡°Good.¡± That short conversation was enough for the negotiation. ¡ª¨C Wargrave was generous with chips, as they had an abundant amount of them. Zin received half of the promised amount, and waited a day for his coat to be cleaned. ¡°So mister. You are going out to smash the ughterhouse?¡± ¡°Yes, sort of.¡± Leona shook her head, as Zin was talking as if he was going out for a simple walk. Leona was amazed that Zin spoke with such confidence. ¡°You wait here.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a burden by following you.¡± Leona knew when to follow and not to follow, and she believed that Zin and Ramphil would take care of the matter without any issues. She was more than happy to continue to stay at such a clean andfortable ce. ¡°Man¡­ why are they staring at me, sheesh.¡± Leona frowned every time when strangers walked by the unit and looked at Leona through the window. Especially kids came right up to the window, and jumped to see the inside of the unit. They were not interested in the visitors. Zin spoke up, ¡°Why don¡¯t you say hello to your fans?¡± ¡°¡­ I am not used to this kind of thing,¡± Ramphil admitted. All the focus was on the executor who had visited the fortress. News quickly spread throughout the fortress that an executor hade there. The kids heard about the news, and came to visit the executor whom they admired. Ramphil did not expect this would happen, and didn¡¯t know how to react. He had never received so much attention before, so he didn¡¯t know how to respond. ¡ªZap! ¡ª Ramphil closed the curtain on the window. Zin promptly started to tease him. ¡°The great executor just crushed the dreams and hopes of the young children. Oh, what a pity.¡± ¡°¡­ I didn¡¯t care much when Leona said that you were a jerk. But now I can see that you are a jerk.¡± ¡°Haha¡­ I didn¡¯t know that you could use such word.¡± ¡°I am a human too, after all.¡± Zin smiled andughed as he saw Ramphil get agitated for the first time. Ramphil crossed his arms, and waited anxiously. Leona saw that Ramphil was shaking his legs, and soon she wasughing too. It appeared that Ramphil was not a cold-hearted soldier. Ramphil was ufortable getting so much attention, and it seemed that the role of the executor was not a good fit for him. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s rest up. We¡¯ll have to leave tomorrow,¡± Ramphil said as he looked to Zin. Zin pointed at the clock in the room. Surprisingly, there was a clock in the fortress. ¡°Executor. We¡¯re not even close to bedtime, yet.¡± As Zin mocked him, Ramphil gnashed his teeth, and dropped his head. He was hoping that this shameful time would pass by soon. ¡ª¡ª The next day, Leona ate A-rations instead of C-rations. She had the chance to taste real cooked food. She was amazed after she tasted food that people used to eat in the pre-Apocalyptic days. She was also astonished to see the fortress kidsin about the food. ¡°This is a problem.¡± Leona was getting worried as she was gettingzier. Simr to the residents at the castle, the people in the fortress went to work after finishing the meal. ¡°People have simr lifestyles wherever they live. There are slight but meaningful differences between groups of people.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Zin and Leona chatted as they were eating. Wargrave never shared any knowledge of technology with outsiders. Leona started to poke Zin as she remembered something. ¡°Can we buy Wargrave weapons?¡± Leona thought that she would be a powerful hunter if she got a handle on the modern weapons of the Wargrave. Zin shrugged as he listened to Leona¡¯s question. ¡°Well, they don¡¯t sell them in the first ce. And they hard to use, and also hard to repair.¡± There was a reason that Zin stuck to firearms. Wargrave weapons were powerful, but it was tricky for Zin, a hunter, to use such weapons. And Wargrave was extremely strict about the distribution of their weapons. ¡°And I don¡¯t like using weapons that expose my location during battle.¡± Laser weapons had the problem of exposing the location of the shooter because of the brightser beam. It was optimal for long range shoot-outs, but suboptimal for ambush attacks. ¡°Good for nothing, then. Maybe Ramphil could help us¡­?¡± Leona shrugged, as she expected such an answer. Ramphil also felt ufortable about providing them with Wargrave firearms. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t.¡± Ramphil was part of the Wargrave organization, and he was strict about maintaining the secrets of the Wargrave technology. It was obvious for a soldier to follow the rules, and Leona shrugged as if she knew about it. Before leaving, Ramphil took out some supplies that he had requested. ¡°I can still supply you with anything that is not a weapon.¡± And Ramphil took out military supplies that were mostly clothes. Leona received new clothes, including pants, bags, and t-shirts. ¡°You will have to return the clothes that you are wearing now, but you can take these out with you.¡± Some of the items were socks, underwear, and new shoes. Ramphil was detail-oriented and prepared five sets of clothes for the group. ¡°This is much better than weapons,¡± Zin spoke up in amazement as he put on boots that were made with synthetic leather. All the items had the Wargrave marks and logos removed. The team quickly changed out of the first clothes they had been given from the fortress. ¡°Awesome!¡± Leona was so happy that she got a new pair of shoes, and jumped around with joy. Zin had a new pair of ck pants, and a t-shirt. Zin always wore his coat, and Leona did not know how buff Zin was. She finally saw how buff Zin was as he wore clean clothes. Leona was briefly amazed and speechless at Zin, who looked so masculine. Of course, Ramphil was not interested in how muscr Zin was. ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go. All the weapons have been repaired, so we just need to pick them up.¡± ¡°Hmm. The repairs are all done?¡± ¡°I gave orders to prioritize the hunter¡¯s weapons first.¡± Ramphil gave out the orders as an executor as he wanted Zin to have his best weapons ready. All Zin¡¯s weapons were cleaned and ready, in excellent condition. ¡°Don¡¯t get hurt.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Leona replied as she watched Zin walk out the door. Zin just nodded quietly and left. The two did not get too worried for one another, but they knew that they cared. ¡ª While the executor and the hunter were on a mission, all that Leona had to do was enjoy life in the fortress. Leona rolled around on the bed, and then stood up all of a sudden. ¡°¡­ soplicated.¡± Leona didn¡¯t know how to express her emotions. She knew that she would be of no help to Zin, but she didn¡¯t feelfortable. It was hard to pick up the ck as part of the team, and Leona knew that Zin was no ordinary hunter. Only someone like Ramphil would be able to help out Zin. In thest battle with the Reavers, Ramphil perfectly carried out the attack that Zin asked him to. Leona thought that she had a long way to go before bing a skilled hunter. ¡°¡­ Feels like crap.¡± Naturally, Leona was getting depressed. She knew that she couldn¡¯t help Zin in any way. Leona kept on rolling on the bed, as she didn¡¯t know what to do. Do I need to leave? Now I am thinking of stupid stuff because I am toofortable and well fed. Leona wanted to scream out loud, but she knew that people would look at her as a crazy kid. ¡ªKnock. Knock¡ª ¡°Hmmm?¡± Leona heard a knock on the door that cleared her mind. ¡°¡­ what is this?¡± Leona opened the door as she thought that Zin returned, but she murmured as she saw a big group of kids gathered in front of the unit. One of the girls who had brown hair and seemed to be the same age as Leona walked up to Leona and started talking, ¡°Hey! Aren¡¯t you a visitor?¡± The girl looked at Leona, and she seemed to be the kid who brought everybody else to the unit. ¡°Um, uh¡­ yeah, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°If you are okay, let¡¯s y together.¡± The kids started to nod. < Madman¡¯s n (Part 2) > The girl in front of Leona and all the kids who were gathered around Leona were very interested in Leona. One of the kids shouted, ¡°You look so pretty! Are all the outsiders pretty? I thought they were all addicted to CP and looked like monsters.¡± ¡°The adults always say that. They lied to scare us.¡± Leona didn¡¯t know what to do as the kids were all shouting at the same time. ¡°So, how do you like the fortress? Is this your first time at the fortress? Let¡¯s all y together! Let me show you around!¡± Leona was wondering why all these kids were showing interest in her. ¡°Um, well¡­¡± ¡°What are you worried about?¡± The girl grabbed Leona by wrist and pulled her out of the unit. There were kids who were merely amicable, but the girl who grabbed Leona seemed to be very friendly. ¡°Let¡¯s y!¡± The girl did not look like she was going to let Leona go. ¡°Uh, wait!¡± Leona did not know how to deal with someone so friendly. ¡ª¨C Zin and Ramphil had to go through another round of checkpoints to get out of the fortress. One of the Wargrave personnel received a radio call, and started to shake his head. ¡°Yes? Oh¡­ hmm¡­ uh-huh. Roger.¡± After finishing the radio call, he seemed to be puzzled. Ramphil gesture him to tell what was going on, and he started to speak. ¡°A group of Reavers appeared outside the walls out of the turrets¡¯ range.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Are they nning an attack? That does not make sense.¡± ¡°No.¡± The Wargrave personnel started to speak slowly even though he knew that it didn¡¯t make sense. ¡°They created a pile of dead bodies and are bowing towards the fortress.¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Zin and Ramphil did not understand what was going on. After a quick discussion, Zin and Ramphil decided to scout and figure things out. Only Zin and Ramphil moved between the inner wall and the outer wall. Zin was trying to figure out the motive of the Reavers, but couldn¡¯t think of a good reason why the Reavers would be acting weird. The Reavers couldn¡¯t hear the warning messageing from the fortress wall, as they were too far away. At that distance, they seemed to be bowing and begging for forgiveness. Zin found the situation a bit amusing because the Reavers who he needed to kill came to him! ¡°I¡¯ve hunted as many Reavers as I have monsters, but I¡¯ve never seen the Reaverse to pay a visit.¡± As Zin spoke out in disbelief, he took off the protective clothes and dumped them into the void storage. Ramphil also knew that it was an unusual situation. Zin pulled out his weapons and said, ¡°Let¡¯s be ready to pull the trigger at any given moment.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± The Reavers seemed to be unarmed, but Ramphil changed the pistol into a rifle on spread mode. A massacre would be waiting for the Reavers if they made a bad move. There seemed to be at least a hundred and fifty Reavers. There were ten dead Reavers in front of them. As Zin and Ramphil came closer to them, the Reaver in the front spotted them, and then knelt down with his head touching the ground. Slowly, Zin was able to figure out what was going on. In fact, he was able to see what the motives of the Reavers were. ¡°Sir! We¡¯ve been set up!¡± As the Reaver in the front yelled out, the other Reavers in the back started to yell as well. ¡ªWe¡¯ve been set up! ¡ª It was a very rare scene. ¡°What a clown act.¡± As Zin spoke, Ramphil nodded with a serious look. Ramphil was in charge of the mission, and Zin stayed back and let Ramphil take care of the situation. Zin did not want to get involved. Holding hisser rifle, Ramphil started talking with the Reaver. ¡°Sir, we have been framed by someone!¡± the Reaver chief shouted loudly. ¡°Why don¡¯t you start exining, then?¡± ¡°Um, yes, sorry for taking your valuable time¡­ I mean, yes!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± ¡°What is ¡®that¡¯?¡± Ramphil pointed his rifle at the Reaver, and the Reaver started talking nervously. ¡°Ev¡­ev¡­evil n. Yes! It was an evil n!¡± The Reaver in front of Ramphil was trying to exin what had happened. He started to exin how they respected Wargrave, and how they were thankful for being protected by the Wargrave before he got to the point. He was part of the Reaver group that had been around for a long time in the area, and he mentioned that the Reavers were living peacefully thanks to the presence of Wargrave. They heard that an armored vehicle was passing by, but they did note close to the vehicle because they didn¡¯t want to interfere with it. But they heard gunshots and explosions and realized that some ident had happened. When they went to the scene, the fight was over, and it appeared that they were part of the group that attempted to raid the armored vehicle. The Reaver exined that his group of Reavers didn¡¯t raid the vehicle, but a different group of Reavers raided the vehicle on purpose so that the Wargrave would attack his group. The Reaver insisted that the other Reaver group tried to frame his group. He further exined that his group killed the Reavers of the other group, and brought the dead bodies to the front of the fortress. ¡°Those bastards were trying to use your power to wipe us out and take over the area. That¡¯s what happened!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°Why would we do anything crazy by attacking the almighty Wargrave? We have been exploiting the¡­ I mean, we¡¯ve been benefiting from your presence. There is no reason for us to attack Wargrave. So, we killed the bastards who attacked you and brought their heads here¡­ So please, don¡¯t get too mad¡­¡± The ten dead bodies were of those who attacked Ramphil. Ramphil looked through the battle data and recognized some of the faces. It seemed like the dead Reavers were indeed those who raided the armored vehicle. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The Wargrave soldiers had a different thought process. They didn¡¯t care whether the Reavers were bad people or not. It was important for Ramphil to find out who was truly responsible for the raid, and punish them. Ramphil thought that it was more important to aplish the true goal of a mission than simply follow orders. Therefore, he didn¡¯t just shoot and kill all the Reavers. He was going to listen to what the Reavers had to say. ¡°We can¡¯t rule out the possibility of the Reavers killing their ownrades to avoid responsibility.¡±As Ramphil spoke, the Reaver was astonished. ¡°That¡­ that could be possible, but we don¡¯t betray our ownrades in such a way. If that was the case, why would we be visiting you? We would have fled the area right away. Look, we are all unarmed.¡± The Reaver¡¯s reasoning seemed to be usible. There were two possibilities. The Reaver¡¯s story could be true and the other Reaver group could have raided the armored vehicle. They did it so that the enraged Wargrave would kill all the Reavers in the area. Or it might be that the Reavers were trying to raid the Wargrave and got scared of the repercussions. It seemed odd that the Reavers would kill their ownrades ande to the fortress to beg for their lives. It would make more sense for them to flee the area. ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Ramphil pondered as he watched the Reavers who were visibly starting to panic. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, are you saying that the other group of Reavers who are trying to take over your ughterhouse has enough men to use twenty-some Reavers as a bait? Did they know that we were moving towards the fortress?¡± If the other Reaver group knew about the movement of the armored vehicle, and were willing to sacrifice twenty-some Reavers, it meant that they were a big organization, simr to an army. As Zin listened to the conversation, he thought of something. Killing someone with the help of others¡­ Ramphil looked at Zin as if he were thinking the same thing. ¡°I¡¯d like to hear the hunter¡¯s opinion.¡± All the Reavers started to look at Zin. Even though the Reavers were useless human beings, Zin did not find the urge to kill all the terrified Reavers right now. He would not gain anything by killing all of them now. Zin did not like killing that did not benefit him. ¡°Hmmm, I don¡¯t think these Reavers were betrayed and sacrificed.¡± ¡°So, you are saying that they are not responsible for the raid?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± These Reavers had nothing to gain by attacking the Wargrave. They had set up a ughterhouse and did not have any reason to attack an armored vehicle. Having an armored vehicle would be nice, but it was not important to the extent that it justified jeopardizing the Reaver group¡¯s existence. The Reavers were crazy people, but not crazy enough to throw away their lives. At the same time, it seemed very unlikely that another group of Reavers was trying to take over the ughterhouse. ¡°Then, we will need to find the group of Reavers that tried to frame you guys.¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°Oh! Yes! Thank you, sir! Thank you for believing in us!¡± the Reaver chief blurted out. The Reavers were so happy that they were ready to bow down in front of them. The rtionship with the Wargrave fortress was important for the Reavers. But Zin could care less about it. Zin walked up to the Reaver who was kneeling down. It seemed like Zin was a thug ready to rob. ¡°This man is a Wargrave soldier, but I am a hunter, as he mentioned before.¡± ¡°Yes! Yes! Sir hunter!¡± was the immediate babbled response. ¡°Shut up, and listen to me.¡± ¡°Yes! We¡¯re listening!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s say we take care of the group of Reavers that put you in trouble. That is a good thing for us, but a good thing for you too, right?¡± ¡°Huh? Um¡­ yeah¡­ that¡¯s true¡­ but why are¡­¡± The Reaver felt uneasy. Zin patted the shoulder of the Reaver and smiled. ¡°How much can you pay?¡± A hunter was motivated only by the chips. Hunter would never do something for free, even if it was a job that he had to do. There was no way that the hunter would let this opportunity walk away. ¡°You know that there is no such thing as a free request to a hunter.¡± The Reaver looked at Zin in astonishment. Zin was ready to milk chips whenever possible, as he had been doing right along. ¡ª¡ª Life at the fortress wasfortable in many ways, including great hygiene. There was plenty of food to eat, clothes to wear, and ces to sleep. Anything beside this improved the quality of life even further. In the fortress, there were educational and medical facilities as well as buildings for leisure activities. When Leona followed the kids into one of the buildings, she was surprised at the scene. There were many big screen monitors disying sport stadiums. People who were on break or done for the day came for entertainment. ¡°What is all this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called a game! Let¡¯s y together!¡± The girl who seemed to be leader introduced herself as Sara. The other kids also introduced themselves, but Leona was able to remember only Sara¡¯s name. Fortunately, Leona was able to read the sentences disyed on the monitors. Unlike other uneducated wanderers, Leona learned to read and write from her mom. There were board games, and programmed video games. Some of the games were boring to the local residents, but there were people who professionally yed these games. The environment to enjoy such entertainment was a privilege. There were not many people in the building, but Leona and the kids who entered the building were going around and having fun ying the games. That day was an off day at school, so they were free to y. What a luxury. I guess they have too much time in their hands. Leona thought that it was foolish to build a huge ce just for entertainment. But Sara thought that Leona was weird to make such ament. ¡°Leona, you talk like an adult. Come over here! I will teach you the rules of the game. When you get familiar with the game, I will also show you how to y the ¡®Wilderness¡¯ game.¡± Saraughed and had Leona sit in front of a board game. It was a multiyer board game that used dice. Leona did not know how to y. but started throwing the dice to y the game anyway. This entertainment facility was a pretty important building in the fortress. The fortress was arge building, but it had a confined space. Life in the wilderness was dangerous, and people living inside the confined area did not know about the life in the wilderness. At some point, people living in the confined space would be sick of living inside such a small area. Entertainment was needed to relieve the stress of the people. After the Wargrave acknowledged the importance of entertainment and started building the facilities, the suicide rate had declined 90 percent. Leona didn¡¯t know much about this fact, and simply thought that the entertainment facility was just a luxury. Different fortresses invented new games, and if the games gained good reviews, those games were distributed to other fortresses. These popr games were necessities for stress relief in the many fortresses. ¡°It¡¯s a six! You¡¯re lucky, Leona!¡± Saraughed as she looked at the dice that Leona rolled. Sara was happy at whatever Leona was doing. Leona didn¡¯t do much, and Leona never met someone who was so nice to her without a reason. And it was the same for other kids. They looked at Leona with curiosity, but they did not have any hostility against Leona. It was the first time that Leona had seen kids who were acting like kids. ¡°Isn¡¯t it hard walking around the wilderness?¡± While ying the games together, the kids and Sara asked Leona questions about the outside world. Leona responded frankly, ¡°Mmm¡­ well it¡¯s crappy.¡± Leona cursed without hesitation, surprising the kids for a moment, But they startedughing again as they thought that people from the wilderness were cool enough to curse. Kids were very curious about the wilderness. At one point, they stopped ying the game, and they asked Leona many questions. ¡°How about monsters? Did you get to hunt a monster?¡± ¡°No, I haven¡¯t hunted one myself.¡± ¡°Are they scary? Were you scared?¡± ¡°Huh? Well¡­¡± Leona did not like the monsters but she wasn¡¯t afraid of them. The monsters did not bother with Leona, so it didn¡¯t matter at all. ¡°Eh¡­ I wasn¡¯t scared at all.¡± Leona¡¯s statement was enough to impress all the kids. ¡°Leona! How are the monsters?¡± What do you mean by that¡­?, Leona pondered when the little kid asked such a question. The little one was probably asking what the monsters looked like. But Leona answered in a different way. ¡°It¡¯s not tasty at all.¡± ¡°!¡± ¡°!¡± The kids were all shocked to hear such an unexpected answer. Leona was definitely the wackiest kid that they had ever met. And therefore, she was quite attractive to the kids who were getting bored of the life in the fortress. Chapter 63-64 < Ramphil, the Vagabond (Part 1) > The Reavers brought a huge amount of chips in their junkwagons to ease the anger of the Wargrave. All the chips they brought became Zin¡¯s. And Zin didn¡¯t finish there. ¡°400 chips. That¡¯s pretty good as a prepayment. Make sure you have the rest of the payment ready at the ughterhouse.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What, you don¡¯t like it?¡± ¡°Oh, no, no, Mr. Hunter! Of course we¡¯ll have it ready for you!¡± The Reavers had their 400 chips taken away by Zin, and once the request waspleted, they were going to get another 400 chips taken away. However, since they were right in front of the Wargrave fortress, they had to listen to whatever they were told to do. ¡°Good. Then, let me ask you some questions. Make sure you answer them urately.¡± Zin started asking about the location of the ughterhouse and the other group of Reavers, and the Reavers answered what they knew. The Reavers were extremely nervous, as Zin looked like he was ready to kill them if they lied to him. Zin didn¡¯t look like an ordinary hunter. Ramphil began speaking as he watched the Reavers dragged their junkwagons away that were now out of fuel. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to receive a request from the Reavers.¡± ¡°If they are willing to gift me, why wouldn¡¯t I receive it?¡± Zin was all about earning chips. Zin assumed that the Reavers were innocent, but Zin and Ramphil did not trust the Reavers. ¡°Do you think they are innocent? I feel like they are making things up and lying.¡± Ramphil questioned the truthfulness of the Reavers, and Zin nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t fully trust the Reavers, but there¡¯s something that I wanted to verify.¡± ¡°Verify?¡± ¡°It¡¯s strange that someone is using the strategy of ¡®killing someone using other¡¯s help¡¯.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The Reavers are known for using this strategy frequently.¡± In the past, the Reavers attracted monsters in order to raid Wargrave transportation units. The Reavers would use this strategy in order to defeat foes that were stronger than them. Zin wanted to verify if there was indeed another group of Reavers that was using this strategy. It was a possibility, and Zin thought it was worth investigating it. ¡°So you are saying that there are two groups of Reavers in Harbin?¡± ¡°Possibly.¡± Zin thought that there was an existing ughterhouse, and another group of Reavers who were trying to take over the area around Harbin. It was not hard for Zin to investigate the group of Reavers who had settled into the ughterhouse. However, the other group of Reavers was most likely hiding in different ces, and Zin would need to thoroughly search the area. Ramphil and Zin were getting involved in a power struggle between two groups of Reavers, and it was clear that Ramphil and Zin would have to search and eradicate the group of Reavers responsible for attacking their armored vehicle. ¡°The existing group of Reavers are ¡®left-hand collectors¡¯, while the new group isn¡¯t disying their territoriality in a specific way. They will probably get rid of the Left Hands and then start disying territoriality with their own symbol. The two groups have not engaged in a war yet, but it seems like that they¡¯ve encountered one another. The new group of Reavers is somewhere in Harbin¡­¡± ¡°We will have to search for their base.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Zin was not able to ssify the unknown Reavers. The existing ughterhouse was located on the northern bank of the Songhua River. The Reavers were using an apartment building as their ughterhouse. This meant that the Reavers had greater influence on the northern side of the Songhua River. In fact, the raid had happened on the southern side of the River, near the bridge. Ramphil was going through his memories to figure out what happened before. ¡°Hmm¡­ If the Left Hand were going to attack us, it would have been better for them to attack us when we were on the bridge.¡± ¡°Correct,¡± Ramphil confirmed. There was a strategic advantage in isting an enemy on top of the bridge. The attackers set up iron wires in order to stop Zin¡¯s group from crossing the bridge. If the attackers were from the Left Hand, they would have set up the iron wires at the other end of the bridge, and trapped the vehicle on the bridge. If the Reavers lied about the story, it would mean that they had also tried to raid the vehicle at a less optimal location. Zin and Ramphil were able to derive that the Left Hand Reavers were not the attackers, and get some extra clues. ¡°The new group of Reavers is probably based on the southern side of the river, and they are probably cautious about advancing to the northern side. That exins why they attacked us when we were still on the southern part of the bridge,¡± Ramphil said thoughtfully. Zin nodded at Ramphil¡¯s conclusion. The Left Hand Reavers, who had no intention of interfering with the armored vehicle, noticed the new group of Reavers raiding the vehicle, and pursued the attackers, killed them, and brought them to the Wargrave fortress. The Left Hand Reavers were obviously desperate to maintain a good rtionship with the Wargrave fortress. ¡°We need to head south,¡± Zin said, Ramphil agreed, and both were happy that they were able to narrow down the search area. ¡ª ¡°I don¡¯t understand, why they would target Harbin?¡± Ramphil asked, as he crossed the bridge that connected the southern and northern banks of the Songhua River. ¡°Well¡­ there are many refugees moving into the bigger cities. The Reavers hunt people all the time, and it was a smart decision to set up a base in the ruins.¡± There was around 150 Left Hand Reavers who hade to the fortress. It meant that the Reavers had a bigger group. The Reavers who spoke to Ramphil acted like the leader of the whole Reavers group, but he was probably not the leader. ¡°The Left Hand probably has at least 500 members. If they sent out 150 Reavers for forgiveness, it means that they are actually muchrger in size.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty big,¡± Ramphill agreed. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Harbin is that good of a city to take over¡­¡± As Ramphil questioned the motive of the other Reavers group, Zin also was not sure if taking over Harbin would be worth for any Reavers group. As soon as Zin and Ramphil reached the southern part of Harbin, they started walking around the city. Harbin had many buildings that were still in good condition. ¡°Can we track them somehow?¡± It was tough searching through a big city. Zin got ticked off as Ramphil asked the question. ¡°Do you think that I¡¯m a jack of all trades?¡± ¡°Hmm, I thought a devil hunter would have a solution.¡± ¡°And unfortunately¡­ I do have a solution.¡±Zin smiled, and Ramphil started to realize that Zin was not simply a cold-hearted devil hunter, but a goofy hunter as well. ¡°But I will need your help, is that okay?¡± ¡°Help?¡± ¡°Do you think my solution is anything special?¡± Zin shrugged. ¡°If they are hiding, we need to drag them out.¡± Zin went inside a random building, and brought out a piece of cloth. The cloth looked so dirty that it did not seem like a good idea to wear it. Zin started to speak. ¡°Take off your clothes.¡± ¡°Hold on, I don¡¯t understand what you are trying to do.¡± ¡°For this point on, you are a vagabond.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Ramphil was upset, but Zin stood there ready to put the piece of dirty cloth on him. ¡ª After an hour, a man with dirty clothes was walking down the road through Harbin under the scorching sun. He had long hair, and ck lines of sweating down his face. At first sight, he looked like a terrible beggar. Zin had Ramphil take off all his clothes except his underwear, and made him roll in the mud. After rolling in the mud, Ramphil looked exactly like a beggar, and he then put on the piece of cloth. It made him look even more like a vagabond and an actual beggar. Zin didn¡¯t want Ramphil to appear too crappy, so he gave Ramphil an aluminum pole to use as a walking aid. Ramphil had given all his weapons to Zin, and only had his radio hidden under his hair. Although Ramphil was a handsome young man, at the moment he looked so bad that anybody would run away from him. ¡°Hunter, I don¡¯t understand why I have to go through all this¡­¡± Ramphil murmured in a calm voice. [Doesn¡¯t it make sense for the stronger man who can withstand ordinary ammunition to be the target?] ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly, but I heard that you have a body strengthened by a boneframe procedure as well.¡± When Ramphil first saw Zin fight against the devil, he thought that Zin was not an ordinary human, but someone who received the boneframe procedure. [Unfortunately, I have a low energy level, and I can¡¯t even survive a single bullet. Why do you think I asked you?] ¡°Well, I can¡¯t trust you even more.¡± Ramphil gnashed his teeth as Zin talked with an evilugh. [When would you experience such a thing as a Wargrave executor? Just enjoy the moment.] ¡°If you were to smell this foul stench once, you would not be saying what you just said.¡± The rotting smell was unbearable, and the dirty cloth smelled very bad. The mud that Ramphil rolled over earlier was not a simple mud. It was mud mixed with monsters¡¯ vomit and dung. Ordinary people would get infected with CP just by touching the nasty mud. However, Ramphil had a megaframe body and was not affected by the mud, so he could not refuse being disguised as a vagabond. He was in a better condition to do the job, and was the first one to ask what to do. Ramphil would not haveined too much if he knew that Zin¡¯s solution was a way to attract the Reavers. Ramphil was walking down the road, and Zin followed him from a distance. A vagabond was a ticking bomb that could turn into a monster at any given moment. The best course of action was to get rid of a vagabond if one appeared. If the vagabond was left alone, it would be a disaster if the vagabond turned into a dangerous monster. Zin¡¯s solution was to have a fake vagabond walk down through the territory of the Reavers, so that they would have to attack the fake vagabond. Ramphil was not in a good mood with the nasty outfit. When the first attacker appeared, he yanked out the attacker¡¯s arm and crushed the head of the attacker. ¡°Hey¡­ I¡¯m attracting weird things.¡± [Monsters are more sensitive to odors. That¡¯s probably why.] Ramphil looked at the headless ratman lying down on the street and sighed. The stench from Ramphil was probably attracting monsters around the area. Instead of Reavers, there were now many monsters surrounding Ramphil. ¡ªZst Zst! Zst! ¡ª The group of ratmen surrounded Ramphil, and started to attack him. The ratmen were monsters as swift as a rat. They were powerful enough to rip out a human¡¯s head off their body. However, Ramphil smacked the head of the iing ratman, and punched another ratman closing in. ¡ªPow!¡ª Ramphil threw a light punch, but the upper body of the ratman blew up as the punch connected. Most cyborg soldiers becent after gaining enormous power and agility. They were mesmerized by their own strength, and becamezy. But in the case of Ramphil, as soon as he received the megaframe procedure, he trained even harder to surpass his limits. ¡ªPow! Crack! ¡ª With a swift punch, the ratman¡¯s head was crushed and spilled out its brain. Ramphil continuously thought how he could ovee the limits of the megaframe. He taught himself how to improve his battle skills utilizing the megaframe procedures. There was a reason why the Warlord of Harbin praised Ramphil as the strongest Wargrave soldier. Ramphil used every part of his body as a killing weapon. He used his hands and feet to crush five ratmen to dead meat, and then sighed as he was covered with fresh blood and gore. [Your disguise even looks better now.] ¡°¡­ I¡¯m hating this,¡± Ramphil grumbled and continued to walk down the road. [But be careful. If you appear to look like a Vegabond, you might scare away the Reavers.] Zin¡¯s words irked Ramphil. Ramphil felt that Zin was jokingly mocking him, but Zin was actually saying all the right things. < Ramphil, the Vagabond (Part 2) > Four dayster¡­ ¡°This disguise is definitely effective.¡± ¡ªCrack! Crush! ¡ª Ramphil ripped apart the monster¡¯s mouth and kicked the monster around. Then he murmured, ¡°I don¡¯t know about the Reavers, but this disguise is attracting only monsters.¡± Ramphil sighed as he finished off another group of monsters. The monster that Ramphil encountered was ten feet tall and had a mouth big enough to swallow a house. Many people would panic if they encountered such a monster, but Ramphil was as cool as ever. [You are pretty monstrous. You finished off that monster so easily.] ¡°You have a problem with that?¡± [You need to shoot the head of that monster to finish it off. Or else it regenerates.] Ramphil had killed the monster with brute force instead of killing it by attacking the weak point. It happened so fast that Zin did not have any time to advise him properly. Ramphil had killed a monster without giving it the time to regenerate itself. ¡°What can I do? It¡¯s the first time I ever encountered such a monster.¡± [True. You killed it, and that¡¯s what matters.] Zin felt that Ramphil was a battle machine with extraordinarybat skills. Ramphil did not hesitate in engaging enemies and killing them off by exploiting their weaknesses. Ramphil¡¯s advantage was not only his outstanding physique, but also his calm during battle. He had the ability to calmly assess the situation and execute an attack without hesitation. Zin was simply amazed at the way Ramphil was able to engage in a fight. It was apparent that the stench of the muding from Ramphil was only attracting monsters. If the Reavers witnessed what Ramphil was doing to the monsters, they would not dare toe close to him. And there were no Reavers to be seen yet. Zin was extremely happy, as he extracted chips from the monsters that Ramphil was killing. Ramphil continued to wander around the streets. Harbin was not a small town, and the search process was going to take a while. In thest four days, he was only able to kill monsters. Ramphil murmured as he fixed the clothes that he was wearing, ¡°I am starting to doubt the effectiveness of this solution.¡± [Oh, Mr. Executor, you need to have more patience than this. Just wait a bit longer. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll hit the jackpot soon.] ¡°Whatever, man¡­¡± Ramphil was too tired to evenin, and he continued to wander around without talking. He continued to kill the monsters that were attracted to the smell. ¡ª¡ª The sun was setting, and the moon was rising. The lonely vagabond was walking through the darkness, and passed by a ruin where the apartments had copsed and formed a wall. The rubble seemed to be set up in a certain way, in the form of a guard post. Inside the rubble, there was a team of Reavers on vigil. ¡°Hey, hey, over there.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a vagabond.¡± A vagabond wearing only rags was passing by the guard post. The Reavers were operating the guard post secretively, as they did not want to reveal their presence. They quietly loaded their crude rifles, and observed the vagabond who was walking slowly past. ¡°That dude. He doesn¡¯t look good at all.¡± It seemed like the vagabond was about to change into a monster at any given moment. The Reavers did not hunt around their bases. The Left Hand Reavers who controlled the Harbin area were eager to hunt down the other Reaver group. Starting a fight near their base would expose their location to the Left Hands, so the two Reavers did not attack the refugees that were passing by their secret hideout. But things were different if a vagabond was passing by. The Reavers knew how much of a nuisance it would be if a vagabond turned into a monster near their hideout. The vagabond might pass by quietly, but if vagabond turned into a monster it might cause great trouble. The monster would continue to crave CP, and would sniff out any chips around the area. It was very probable that the monster would sniff the chips stored in their secret hideout. It was smarter to finish off the vagabond before it turned into a monster. ¡°Let¡¯s shoot and kill him.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The vagabond was in the range of their rifles, and the two Reavers loaded up. ¡°Three¡­ Two¡­¡± They held their breaths, and were ready to pull the triggers. ¡ªShank! ¡ª In a split second, someone slit the neck of the Reaver using a de gauntlet. ¡°Urrb!¡± The person covered the mouth of the other Reaver with his left hand, while ripping apart the neck of the other Reaver. ¡°Arggh!¡± ¡ªSnap. Crack. ¡ª The Reaver helplessly watched hisrade getting his neck twisted and ripped apart. ¡°Kargg! Ngarrgh!¡± ¡ªCrack. Crrraaack! ¡ª In a matter of seconds, the Reaver was dead with his cervical bone yanked out by the de gauntlet. The other Reaver looked up at the man in terror. ¡°Shhh.¡± The man shook blood off his right hand, and started to speak as if nothing had happened. Before the Reavers could count to three, Zin had overpowered them. ¡ª Ramphil had noticed the sounds of the Reavers ahead of time, and he alerted Zin to them. Ramphil could have attacked them directly, but Zin wanted to take care of things quietly, so he attacked the Reavers and overpowered them. If they got off a shot, it would have alerted all the Reavers nearby. One Reaver was dead, and the other was terrified and could not lift up his head. Ramphil went straight to Zin and said, ¡°My clothes, please.¡± Zin took out the uniform from the void storage and passed it to Ramphil. ¡°You really look good on that outfit, are you sure you want to change?¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Ramphil took off the rags and put on his uniform. His body still smelled bad. He had worn the smelly rag for four straight days, and the smell was not going to away so easily. The Reaver realized that he had fallen into a trap, but it was toote. Ramphil changed into the uniform, and fixed his hair. As the Reaver looked at the Wargrave uniform, he remembered the failed raid on the armored vehicle. Hisrades who had participated in the raid were caught and killed. There were still conversations going on within the other group of Reavers. Some had thought that the idea of attacking the Wargrave unit was crazy. In the end, their n failed, and the Wargrave did not attack the Left Hand Reavers, but now they had found out the real culprit of the raid. Ramphil started to interrogate the Reaver. ¡°Now, you will answer only my questions.¡± His voice was extremely calm. ¡°Are you the Reavers who acted like the existing Reavers and attacked the Wargrave armored vehicle?¡± ¡°Please spare my life¡­. Urrb!¡± Ramphil covered the mouth of the Reaver and snapped the Reaver¡¯s finger. ¡°Arrgbbbb! Urb!¡± ¡°I will tell you onest time. Answer only my question.¡± ¡°Huuurb! Hub!¡± Ramphil spoke very calmly for a person who had just broken another man¡¯s fingers. ¡°Are you the Reavers who acted like the existing Reavers and attacked the Wargrave armored vehicle?¡± The Reaver realized that the soldier in front of him was no ordinary person. The Reaver was not able to scream for help, and Ramphil was not going to let him live anyways. Ramphil was going to get the information that he needed from the Reaver and then kill him. The Reaver had to choose if he was going to be killed without pain or get tortured to death. The Reaver nodded, as he did not want to be tortured by the soldier in front of him. ¡°When you pass the next apartment ruins, there is a big tunnel. The tunnel is sealed, but if you go through a small hole, there is a big underground area. All the Reavers are there.¡± . . ¡°They have basic rifles, but they also have chipbusters.¡± . . ¡°There are about a hundred Reavers in total.¡± . . The terrified Reaver answered all that he was asked. He told Ramphil about the location of the base, the size of the group, and the weapons they carried. Ramphil snapped more fingers when the Reaver hesitated to answer, and the Reaver ended up answering in pain and fear. ¡°How many guard posts are there in total?¡± ¡°There are five of them. Two Reavers are assigned to each post¡­¡± As the Reaver was exining things to Ramphil, Zin was checking the dead Reaver and retrieving their ammunition. ¡°Tell me the locations.¡± The Reaver told him the location of the five guard posts, and Ramphil studied the dark ruins of Harbin. ¡°I will take care of the guard posts.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Zin agreed easily. Ramphil asked Zin to take care of the Reaver and disappeared into the darkness. He was going to take care of all the guard posts and attack the main base. It was critical for Ramphil and Zin to take down all the guard posts before the next shift. The Reaver was trembling in fear as he looked at Zin. Ramphil was the person who had tortured the Reaver, but it was Zin who had killed hisrade in the blink of an eye. The Reaver enjoyed killing other persons, but he had never seen someone kill others without any emotion. ¡°Hmmm¡­ hey, I have a question,¡± Zin asked the Reaver casually as he was cleaning up his gauntlet. ¡°Yes, yes¡­ please ask me¡­¡± ¡°Why are the Reavers eyeing Harbin?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Why are you guys trying to take over Harbin? If you needed a base, there is ChangChun in the south, and there are many towns that are unupied by Reavers.¡± There were many ruined cities that no Reavers were living in. There was no reason for this group of Reavers to take over Harbin specifically. Even though a city next to a fortress was better, there was no reason for the Reavers to sacrifice twenty-some Reavers to take over Harbin. Why are they focused on taking over Harbin? ¡°I, I¡­ don¡¯t know. I am telling the truth¡­¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± The Reaver did not seem to be lying. ¡°Many of us were against this n¡­ There was no good reason for us to be hiding like a rat. But our leader was so stubborn¡­ He insisted that we had to take over Harbin¡­¡± It meant that the Reavers reluctantly followed the direction of their leader. There was a reason for this decision, but the underlings did not know what. Zin felt something fishy was going on. There were many things that were unexinable. However, Zin decided to finish what he was requested to do, since he had been paid. Zin did not like to leave anything unfinished. His main goal was to kill all the attackers, but he thought that it would be good to understand the motive behind the attack. I should spare the life of the leader. Zin did not have any other questions to ask, and at that moment, Ramphil came back. ¡°I took care of them.¡± There was no noise, and it seemed like Ramphil had no trouble taking care of all the guard posts. ¡°Good. Then, let¡¯s move on.¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± ¡ªSnap! Crack! ¡ª Zin snapped the neck of the Reaver and stood up. The Reavers was dead in a blink of an eye, and he still had his eyes open. Ramphil moved on as he didn¡¯t really care about the dead Reaver. ¡ª Ramphil agreed to Zin¡¯s suggestion to capture the leader alive. They both wanted to find out what the real motive for the attack was. The Reavers were hiding in a copsed subway station of Harbin. The tunnel was not connected to other stations, and the Reavers were using the confined area as a shelter. There was a small passage under a sinkhole that led to the hidden base of the Reavers. Although it was not visible from the top of the sinkhole, there were guards at the bottom. A battle would start right away if Zin and Ramphil went down the sink hole. The dead Reaver¡¯s information might be inurate, but based on the map of Harbin, the sink hole area led to the underground subway station. There was no real attack n for Zin and Ramphil. They were nning to attack secretively until they were found out by the Reavers. From that point on, they would attack in full force. Ramphil and Zin went down the sink hole as quietly as they could. Ramphil did not have any silencer, so Zin was in charge of any covert attacks. Ramphil¡¯sser gun would create a bright sh with a loud gun sound. Although Zin didn¡¯t use it that often, he held apound bow in his hand. Apound bow was more effective in killing enemies silently. Zin drew an arrow, and slowly walked down the passage. In the darkness, he found two guards who were fooling around. They were probably thinking that nothing was going to happen that night, the same as any other night. Zin signaled Ramphil to stop. The two guards did not spot the silent assassins. ¡ªPsshoot! ¡ª ¡°Karrggk! As soon as the first arrow struck the head of a guard, Zin drew his second arrow and shot again. ¡ªPsshoot! ¡ª ¡°Ack!¡± As soon as the first guard fell to the ground, the second arrow pierced through the head of the second Reaver. In couple of seconds, the entrance of the base was overpowered, and Zin signaled Ramphil toe on down. ¡°Great spot for a hideout.¡± The entrance was so small that only a single person could pass through at a time. It was probable that they found this underground facility first and blocked off the entrance in this way. In the guard post at the entrance, they found crude rifles and crappy grenadeunchers. Chapter 65-66 < Darkness and Light (Part 1) > The chipbuster was made with the dust of blue chips, the grenadeuncher was built to fire the chipbuster. Theuncher itself was a crappy weapon, but the explosiveness of the grenade was not to be taken lightly. Zin recovered his arrows, and gathered the grenades attached on theunchers. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a bow like that before,¡± Ramphil said. Zin shrugged as he was exined thepound bow to Ramphil. ¡°It has a short range, but it¡¯s very useful in situations like this. A gun with a silencer would still make a sound that could be heard within a hundred yards. However, an arrow is as quiet as the wind. Sniping using a silencer would be the best option at long range, but there is no weapon better than a bow at close range.¡± And especially apound bow built for a strong hunter like Zin, powerful enough to take out a person in one shot. The area inside the hole was very dark, but a faint light could be seen from far away. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Zin put the arrow on his bow and started forward again, Ramphil following him not too far away. After walking though a narrow passage, an open space appeared in front of them. The space seemed to be the old subway station. In order to live underground, light was needed, and the Reavers were using a light stand that used chips to brighten up the area. Pfft¡­ Zin and Ramphil stopped and hid behind the dark corner. The Reavers kept the area very bright, and it was not possible tounch a surprise attack in the dark. Zin put away hispound bow and put out his AKM. Watching Zin take out the other weapon, Ramphil understood what to expect and was waiting for his signal. ¡°The tofu dude got dragged out by the rats. These rats are scary, dude.¡± ¡°Damn it¡­ How long are we going to live underground?¡± The Reavers were in one ce andining about their lives. Around them, there were human skeletons lying around on the ground. It seemed that Reavers were dragged away by the monster rats when they were sleeping. The darkness was their biggest enemy, and therefore the Reavers were using the chips to lighten up the area. One of the Reavers rebuked the group as they kept onining. ¡°If you want to get killed by the Left hand Reavers, go ahead and get out of here.¡± ¡°Damn, you think I don¡¯t know about them? Why don¡¯t we go to a different city? What the hell are we doing here¡­?¡± ¡°Who knows what the boss is thinking. I¡¯m sure he has a n in mind. He said to wait a little longer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time before the Lefties get crushed by the Wargrave troops. It¡¯s a pity we lost some of our buddies, but if the Wargrave wipes out the Lefties, their sacrifices would be well worth it.¡± The other Reavers agreed as well. ¡°Yeah, all their stocked chips and equipment would be ours. The Wargrave is not interested in any of the Reavers¡¯ equipment, so it would all be ours, right?¡± These Reavers believed that the Wargrave would be wiping out the Left Hand Reavers. And in fact, if Ramphil and Zin had not talked with the Reavers, the Wargrave would have destroyed the ughterhouse. They did not realize that their n had failed and that they were about to get attacked by Zin and Ramphil. The subway area was pretty big. It was evident that Zin and Ramphil would get attacked from all directions. Zin signaled Ramphil to standby. Zin had to make a decision. Zin thought, It¡¯s too bright inside here, and we can¡¯t hide anymore. They are about 100 in number and are armed with rifles and grenades. If they start sting those grenades, it is going to be a big problem. Fortunately, they have been exposed to the light for a long time, and they can¡¯t easily spot us. How can I wipe out a hundred enemies with the least amount of effort¡­? Zin looked at the interior of the subway where the Reavers were. The most efficient method of attack was an ambush. An ambush would require darkness, but Zin would not be able to ambush them because of the light. On the flip side, it meant that Zin would have to take out the light in order to ambush them in the darkness. Zin thought again, I will have to start a ruckus and then take out themps. I will fire a grenade, and then take out themps while they are confused. After that, Ramphil should be able to take them out. Zin was nning to take out the light and make the underground areapletely dark. The Reavers did not have any night vision goggles. But Zin had night vision scopes, and Ramphil could easily switch his eyes to night vision mode. Zin ryed his n to Ramphil, who nodded. Good idea. Ramphil was thinking of a full-on attack, but he liked Zin¡¯s n. Themps were stationary and it was too hard to shoot them. Zin loaded the chipbuster into the AKMuncher and fired it away. ¡ªTub! ¡ª ¡°Huh?¡± When the Reavers responded to the sound, it was already toote. ¡ªKaabaaaam! ¡ª With a blue sh, five Reavers were instantly pulverized, and the other Reavers around them started to yell. ¡°Damn!!!¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been attacked!!!¡± ¡°What the hell were the guards doing?¡± ¡°Of course they are probably dead, idiot!¡± ¡ªng! ¡ª As soon as Zin positioned himself, he started to shoot. He was not shooting at the Reavers, but themps. ¡ªBang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ¡ª As the AKM sted away, themps were busted, and the underground area started to be darker and darker. After five shots were fired, the subway area becamepletely dark, and Zin hid himself behind the passage. The Reavers did not have time to get to their rifles, and the whole area bepletely dark. ¡°Those bastards busted all themps!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t see anything at all, damn!¡± ¡°re! Bring out the re!¡± ¡°Where is the re?!!? I can¡¯t even see anything!¡± The Reavers were not able to see where the enemy was, and they were not able to see where they were located. They could not fire their rifles, as they couldn¡¯t see anything at all. Precisely at that moment, Ramphil quickly moved into the area. If he used hisser, his location would be exposed, so he turned the rifle into a pistol and put it away in his holster. The Wargrave executor did not need a gun to butcher all the Reavers. He could easily see all the Reavers crawling out in the darkness towards any light. However, there was not enough light for the Reavers to see anything. ¡ªBam! Pow! Crack! ¡ª In the dark, Ramphil cracked the skulls of the Reavers with single blows, and crushed their backs to disable them. ¡°Enemy!¡± ¡°Damn! Run! Run away!¡± ¡ªBang! Bang! Bang! ¡ª The Reavers were frightened as they heard Ramphil silence theirrades. There were some Reavers who started shooting towards the areas where there was sound. However, Ramphil was long gone from those spots. As Ramphil continued to smash all the Reavers, Zin put on his night vision goggles and moved into the area. Ramphil was in charge of melee attack, and Zin was responsible for taking out anymp. As Zin moved into the subway area, he shot at themp in the other corridor. ¡ªBang! Bang! ¡ª As the shots were fired from the AKM, themps were destroyed. The sh suppressor on the AKM limited Zin¡¯s exposure, and the Reavers were able to catch a glimpse of Zin. ¡°There are two! Two guys!¡± The Reavers were finally able to figure out that there was a gunner and a brawler. ¡°So what do we do now!?!¡± ¡°Arrrrgggh!¡± The Reavers were no match for Ramphil. And on top of that, the Reavers had no sight, so it was an impossible fight. The Reavers were all tangled up, and some of them were shooting at each other. It was toote for them to realize that it was a mistake to hide in the underground. ¡ªCrack! Crunch! ¡ª The Reavers¡¯ skulls cracked with a punch, and their ribcages were crushed with a kick. Zin and Ramphil were teaming up as if they had fought side by side for many years. Zin took out themps at each alleyway and Ramphil smashed the Reavers after entering each area. Zin teed up the stage, and Ramphil finished off the enemies. Even though they never fought together before, they overpowered the Reaver base. Ten minutes into the fight, about thirty Reavers were dead. The remaining Reavers were cornered in one of the old tunnels. It was a one-way passage that the subway used to travel, at the deepest area of the subway station. But the tunnel was crumbled and the Reavers were pinned in the corner. Or to be exact, they were retreating. ¡ªZap! Zap! ¡ª The Reavers threw many res around the subway tform area and were able to regain visibility. They were nning to form a defense line by lighting up the area with the res. The leader of the Reavers was able to regroup the Reavers in the middle of the chaos. ¡°It looks like they are preparing for theirst stand.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take our time. They have nowhere to run to anyways.¡± Bam! Ramphil finished off thest Reaver who was not able to run away. The remaining Reavers were forming a defense line in front of the tform area, and were ready to fire at anybody moving down the stairs. Zin and Ramphil cleaned up the area before they nned thest attack. Using a infrared camera, Zin was able to spot the Reavers who were hiding in the restrooms or the copsed wall area. ¡ªTzzzzz¡­ ¡ª ¡°Hmmm¡­.¡± Ramphil and Zin were looking at the burning res at the bottom of the stairs. There were about seventy Reavers remaining, waiting for the attacker toe down. Even Ramphil would not be able to withstand seventy-plus gunshots and shower of chipbusters, he would be dead in a matter of seconds. ¡°We should wait for now.¡± ¡°They probably took somemps with them. It¡¯s not a good idea to wait too long though. They might st the tunnel and make a way.¡± The re wouldn¡¯tst forever, and the Reavers were trapped with nowhere to go. There was no reason for Zin and Ramphil to rush. The Reavers were well prepared. And it would not much sense for the res to burn out because the Reavers hadmps with them. Ramphil couldn¡¯t think of a good idea. They could crush the ceiling and attack from above, or they could blow up the whole underground area to bury the Reavers alive. There were many different ways to kill them. But Zin and Ramphil would be exposed to danger using either method. They might get buried alive together with the Reavers if they chose to blow up the ce. If they surprise attacked from the ceiling, they would eventually have to fight them off directly.] Ramphil looked at Zin hopefully. He knew that Zin could think of a way to make the battle easier for them. Zin smiled bitterly as he noticed Ramphil looking at him. ¡°Yeah. I am like a vending machine thates up with a solution when a chip is inserted.¡± Zin took out two grenades from the void storage. ¡°They are in love with the light, so I should present them with more light.¡± ¡ªClick! ¡ª ¡°I¡¯ll use this because I¡¯m going to be paid handsomely for this request anyways.¡± Ramphil nodded as he watched the item that Zin took out. Zin threw the grenades downstairs, turned his face away from the stairs and closed his eyes. Ramphil also turned his face away and closed his eyes. ¡ªKaboooom! ¡ª As soon as the grenades were thrown, there was a huge st with a bright sh. Zin had thrown a couple of shbangs instead of grenades. Zin threw them at the perfect time, and the Reavers were exposed to the bright light without time to react to the sh bangs. Zin used the darkness to fight against the Reavers, and now he was using the light to fight against them. ¡°Argh!! My eyes!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t see anything!¡± The area was too dark to see before. But now, it was so bright that the Reavers could not see anything. While the Reavers were covering their eyes, Zin and Ramphil moved downstairs and started to attack. The tform area was an open area, and there was nowhere to hide. Zin and Ramphil proceeded to attack at lightning speed. ¡ªsh! ¡ª As theser shotgun sted out shots, the Reavers were popped like balloons, and Zin fired away the chipbuster grenades that he had picked up from the guards. In the heat of the battle, Zin was saving the ammunition of his own weapons. The chipbuster grenades were more effective than an automatic shotgun, anyways. ¡ªBang! Bang! Bang! sh! ¡ª The area turned intoplete chaos. The shbang that Zin used was not for simply disabling the enemies. Some of the Reavers had lost their visionpletely as the sh burned out their optic nerves. The Reavers started to frantically shoot their rifles, but the shots all missed. Some of them hit their own allies. The seventy-some Reavers were showered with grenades andser shotgun sts, and were decimated. It didn¡¯t even take half a minute for Zin and Ramphil to take out all the Reavers. Most of them were dead, and some had suffered critical injuries without hope of surviving. ¡­We have killed them all. As the shbang¡¯s light was dimming down, Zin and Ramphil realized that they forgot to capture the leader alive. Zin carefully watched the tracks. Nothing could be seen with his bare eyes, but infrared cameras allowed things to be seen. The camera that sensed temperature even detected the heat of footsteps on the ground. On the left side of the tracks, there were clear footprints with heat. A single person was moving towards the left tunnel. And Ramphil had just gone down the track to check the tunnel there. Zin yelled hurriedly, ¡°Take cover!¡± ¡°!¡± ¡ªRatatatatat! ¡ª It¡¯s a machine gun! From the inside of the tunnel, tens of bullets hit the area Ramphil was in. Fortunately, Ramphil was able to take cover on the area between the track and tform as soon as he heard Zin shout. The tform area was chaotic, but there was enough visibility because of the light. Ramphil would have been shot multiple times if Zin hadn¡¯t warned him. Only one Reaver who was armed with a machine gun was alive. Ramphil and Zin knew that he was the leader of the Reavers. The leader had the Reavers create a defense line, and was probably hiding in a safe ce and did not get affected by the sh bang. He had hidden in the tunnel and was waiting to ambush Ramphil and Zin with his machine gun. However, his n failed. The standoff couldst longer, but Zin was determined to finish the fight. Zin leaned on the wall of the tform and yelled, ¡°Hey, all your men are dead now. Why don¡¯t youe out now?¡± There was no answer from the tunnel. ¡°I have about twenty ways to kill you. Why don¡¯t you just give up and walk out?¡± There was still no answer. ¡°I can fire a chipbuster, st another shbang, throw a smoke screen, or take out all the lights and snipe you down in the darkness¡­ I can think of more ways. Are you still going to stay there?¡± ¡°I will walk out!¡±came the muffled reply. Zin smiled as he forced the leader to surrender with just his tongue. < Darkness and Light (Part 2) > The Reaver leader had an M60 machine gun with him. He probably gained the status of a boss because of the machine gun. However, at the moment, all of his men had been killed and he was kneeling in front of Zin. He¡¯d tried to take out the other group of Reavers with the help of the Wargrave, but in the end the Wargrave took out his group. The leader was huge in size and seemed to be powerful. But he wasn¡¯t smart enough as a boss. He made the mistake of forming a line of defense beneath the subway tform. He should have known that the enemy, who was utilizing infrared vision, had better equipment than them. Even if he didn¡¯t know the existence of the shbang, he¡¯d made a poor choice by cornering his men. Numbers are important but equipment was just as important in a fight. Five hundred Reavers armed with guns could be wiped out by a single armored vehicle. And in thest battle, the Reavers ended up ughtered because they did not have the equipment to see in the darkness. They were all killed because they were unprepared for the shbang attack. It was important to understand what the enemies were armed with, and Zin always checked for the weapons that the enemies carried before he started the hunt. ¡°It was an excellent idea to attack the Wargrave in order to have them kill the existing group of Reavers. And in fact, if the Left Hand Reavers hadn¡¯t visited the fortress to exin their story, we would have killed those innocent Reavers.¡± ¡°Th¡ªth¡ªthat¡­ I mean, that¡­¡± ¡°Fine. I apud you for surrendering. I¡¯m killing you right away because I¡¯m curious about something.¡± ¡°What is that¡­?¡± ¡°Looking at you, I can¡¯t imagine that you thought of a n to piss off the Wargrave in order to wipe out the existing Reavers. If you were smarter, you would have destroyed the hallway as soon as we attacked you. You should have tried to find an escape route. But you chose to corner yourself under the tform. Isn¡¯t that dumb? If you¡¯re that stupid, I don¡¯t think you thought of the n to take out the existing Reavers.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Zin was saying that the dumb leader could not have thought of such n. The leader was not able to speak as Zin sneered at him. ¡°Who is behind all this?¡± Zin asked the question assuming that someone was behind this plot. He realized that the leader was a coward and an idiot, so he was trying to make the leader confess. Zin suspected that there was a mastermind because the Reaver group was making bad decisions. ¡°Why are you targeting Harbin?¡± The leader reluctantly replied in a quiet voice, ¡°I was invited to join the ¡®Group¡¯ if we took care of the Reavers in Harbin.¡± Zin was shocked at the unexpected name. ¡°Group?¡± ¡°Yes, the Group. I told them that we were outnumbered¡­ and they told me of a strategy¡­¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± ¡°What is the Group? Why are you reacting to that name?¡± Ramphil did not know what the Group was about, and he was surprised at Zin¡¯s reaction. ¡°They¡¯re the allied force of the Reavers. You can think of them as arge group of ughterhouses¡­ As far as I know, their base is in the region of Far Northeast Asia.¡± ¡°The Group is expanding at a rapid pace. The entire northern region is under their control.¡± ¡°They¡¯re expanding?¡± ¡°Yes, they took full control of most of Northern Russia¡­ There are many Reavers that would like to be a part of the Group. The Left Hand Reavers refuse to join the Group since they trust in the Wargrave. So, I reached out to the Group and they told me that they would ept my team if I could take out the Reavers in Harbin¡­¡± After Zin listened to the story of the leader, his face hardened. ¡°Could they be¡­?¡± They¡¯re an alliance of Reavers, but¡­ they are not Reavers. Zin didn¡¯t continue to speak. He felt confused at this wholly unexpected news. Zin remembered a conversation he once had a long time ago. Are you moving into that coldnd? What are you going to eat? Ice? Well, thatnd has only ice, so I won¡¯t be able to kill anything. That¡¯s crazy. There won¡¯t be any humans to hunt. They¡¯ll also learn how to live like human beings. And in fact, look at them. They¡¯re changing. There are some who love to run instead of kill. They¡¯re just mimicking other people. If we¡¯re away from people for a long time, they will be ordinary people. The conversation from the past shed through Zin¡¯s memories. Zin, you don¡¯t have to live like trash just because you were born as trash. You don¡¯t have to die terribly just because you¡¯ve lived a terrible life. I don¡¯t believe that you have to live in a certain way just because you were born in a certain way. I will change these helpless people. Come visit me one day. The woman had a gorgeous smile as she spoke. I will show you the junkwagon racing in the tundra. If you¡¯d like, I can invite you as a racer¡­ I will politely refuse!, he had answered. The woman took arge group of Reavers up to the north. Their numbers reached over ten thousand. Zin calcted the time that had psed. He tried to remember when the group of Reavers decided not to kill people anymore and formed alliances. Ironically, the new group of Reavers forbade allowing Reavers to join. And Zin remembered that at one point, he acted as a hitman when the new group of Reavers went to war against an existing group of Reavers. And Zin tried to remember the year when the woman left for thend of ice after winning the war. It had been a while since the new group of Reavers started protecting the northeastern towns, and had the ambition to make the world a better ce to live. When was that? Zin felt weird when he was told that the northeastern area was a safe ce to live. Was it fifteen years, twenty years, or thirty years ago? Zin couldn¡¯t remember the date. But the Reaver in front of him was talking about the current ¡®Group¡¯, and not the ¡®Group¡¯ from the past. ¡°Do you know the leader of the Group?¡± ¡°I heard that the name of the leader was ¡®Asura¡¯¡­ He had six arms and held machine guns in each hand¡­¡± Zin did not recognize the name. So she must have died. It seemed like her attempt to change the Reavers was futile. In the end, the beasts returned to their old ways. Zin had seen many times when the leader¡¯s mistakes caused major failures. During those times, Zin felt emotions that weren¡¯t necessarily that of sadness or anger. The nature¡­ In the end, she caused the Reavers to be a well-organized army. Traits like goodness, forgiveness, and trust became meaningless for the Reavers. The woman had parents who were Reavers. And she had the determination to not live as one. But her determination only resulted in the Reavers forming a massive army. It was another reason that Zin hated junkwagons. Zin slowly started to talk again. ¡°Okay, so the Group asked you to remove the Reavers in Harbin. And the Group promised to take you on as a member if you seeded?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ in order to be part of the Group, Reavers need to fully control a region or attack a region picked out by the Group. Once you get into the alliance, you gain a massive ally¡­¡± The Group had a very simple way of expanding its power. The Group asked the Reavers who wanted to join the alliance to attack other regions. The Group epted new members after a sessful attack. The Group naturally expanded its power as many more new members joined their ranks. The Left Hand Reavers trusted in the Wargrave, and they probably did not join the Group. The Group then asked another team of Reavers to take care of the Left Hand Reavers. The Group continued to expand, but it did not waste any resources or men. It was a very clever way to manage big groups. The Group was behind the incident. It wasn¡¯t interested in attacking the Wargrave, but it was interested in expanding its control to epass the city of Harbin. The matter had be toorge for the hunter and the executor to handle. A devil hunter and Ramphil alone wouldn¡¯t be able to take down a whole army of Reavers. It was something that the Wargrave would need to discuss. It meant that Zin had aplished the request. When the leader noticed Ramphil and Zin exchange signals, he pulled down the zipper on his vest. ¡°Please spare my life¡­¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The leader was looking for a way to survive. When he unzipped his vest, there were over ten chipbusters attached to the inside. He was wearing a vest full of bombs that would detonate if he pulled a string. It was something that Zin had somewhat expected. ¡°I think it¡¯ll be okay to let this one guy live. What do you think, executor?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Ramphil pondered for a while. Ramphil and Zin could effortlessly killed Reavers, and at the moment, they were deciding the fate of the leader. ¡°Well, now that he knows that we can¡¯t resolve the root cause of the issue, it should be okay.¡± As Ramphil spoke, the leader became happy. ¡°Okay, then. I will start walking out, so you two stay where you¡ª¡± ¡ªPow!¡ª In the blink of an eye, Ramphil punched the Reaver¡¯s head and crushed it. The leader¡¯s head burst into pieces before he even had time to pull the string. Zin took the string from the dead man¡¯s finger as soon as the leader was killed. Zin sighed and stared at Ramphil. ¡°Hey, even if you could kill him in a split second, he could have pulled the string with a twitch of his muscles. You almost got us all killed.¡± If Zin didn¡¯t act fast, the vest could have exploded. However, Ramphil replied with a smile, ¡°I was confident that you would take care of it.¡± ¡°¡­ well, thanks for trusting me. I thought you were going to let him go, but why did you kill him?¡± ¡°I thought that he was going to blow up the tunnel and bury us alive. Was I being too suspicious?¡± Ramphil killed the leader as soon as he said that he was going to leave first. Zin smiled as Ramphil exined his action. ¡°It was a very reasonable suspicion.¡± Ramphil had continued to talk to the leader in order to calm him down, but neither of them had any intention of letting him live. Although the two had different personalities, they had simr thought processes. Earlier, Zin had asked about the location of the Group¡¯s base. As the two returned to Northern Harbin, Ramphil asked, ¡°You looked pretty shaken up when you heard about the Group. Do you have a history with them?¡± Since the Wargrave wasn¡¯t interested in a group of Reavers that had moved to a remote ce, there was no way that Ramphil could have heard about this Group. Zin replied, ¡°If that group of Reavers decided to go back to its old ways of ughtering and raiding people, the past doesn¡¯t really matter.¡± Zin refused to answer the question, and Ramphil did not ask any more about his past. Four days after leaving the fortress, the two had seeded in wiping out the Reavers. They both worked great as a team. They both knew that the other had impressive battle skills, and they also realized that they had a good chemistry going on. ¡°The Group¡­¡± If the Group were to expand aggressively, it was evident that the Wargrave needed to be aware of the threat. ¡°Do you think that we need to keep an eye on this Group?¡± Ramphil asked. ¡°Well. In my opinion, a fortress should be able to take them out, but¡­¡± An army-sized unit of tanks would be enough to wipe out thousands of Reaver junkwagons. ¡°I see. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re acting recklessly, though.¡± It seemed like the Group was acting aggressively for some reason. However, it was hard for Ramphil or Zin to figure out the reason. Zin worried about something important to him. If the northeast region of Russia was under the control of the Group, he wondered if the Heavenly Power castle was still untouched. ¡°This is troubling¡­¡± Zin had to hurry up. He wondered if the Heavenly Power castle was under the control of the Group. He had no way of knowing. Zin did not forget to receive the chips owed him by the Left Hand Reavers. Before they returned to the fortress, he and Ramphil visited the ughterhouse. As Zin looked at the ughterhouse, he was impressed. ¡°It¡¯s the size of a city.¡± The trash wall was set up tall, and seemed almost impossible to climb. The apartment ruins served as a defensive wall around the ughterhouse. ¡°What is the probability that they won¡¯t pay up?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way that¡¯s going to happen. They have a fortress right in front of them.¡± Even though chips were valuable, they were not as valuable as a life. There was no way that the Reavers would attack Zin and Ramphil. If they attacked, the fortress would send out forces to retaliate. ¡°I suppose they have their reasons not to be a part of the Group.¡± The ughterhouse was huge. As Zin and Ramphil walked closer to the trash wall, they wondered if they should be walking through the main gate. Then, they heard a noise. ¡ªVrrrrooom!¡ª Junkwagons were approaching the ughterhouse. Zin and Ramphil instinctively hid themselves. A small group of Reavers seemed to have gone out for a hunt. ¡°yers are entering!¡± The Reavers seemed to have killed some people, and their junkwagons were covered with blood. A man was tied onto the hood of the leading junkwagon. A woman and a kid were also tied to the hoods of the other junkwagons. They were still alive. There was blood dripping out of the trunks of the junkwagons. After all, these Left Hand Reavers were cannibals who hunted humans. It was nothing special that they went out to hunt people for food. Zin and Ramphil wondered why the Reaver yelled ¡®yers are entering¡¯. The group of junkwagons passed by, and the two looked at each other. They weren¡¯t particrly disappointed since they expected these Reavers to continue to kill people for meat. Zin wasn¡¯t a hero who rescued innocent people, and Ramphil was not interested in any matter that was not rted to the Wargrave. ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± ¡°yer¡­¡± Zin and Ramphil sensed something, and they were both debating. ¡°So, how about we look around the ughterhouse?¡± They had no reason to do so, but Zin made the suggestion anyway. ¡°Sure.¡± And Ramphil nodded even though he wasn¡¯t sure if he needed to go to the ughterhouse. Chapter 67 < Rage of an Executor (Part 1) > Even though the trash wall was tall, it was not a problem for Zin and Ramphil to jump over. The wall had many spots for them to step on and climb up. The two climbed up the wall and were at a location where they could view the whole ughterhouse. In the darkness, the Reaver guards did not spot their infiltration. Inside the ughterhouse, there were several buildings that seemed to be used for the armory, kitchen, and barracks. And there were many piles of what seemed to be human bones. There were also corpses of humans who were probably killed not too long ago. The Reavers impaled steel bars to several of the corpses from the anus to the mouth. Several of the corpses were rotting. They don¡¯t seem to have a shortage of food. For the Reavers, humans were food. The fact that they were disying the dead human bodies in this horrific manner meant that they had enough food to eat. The Reavers who went out to hunt returned to the ughterhouse, and they yelled as they took out the dead bodies from the trunks of the junkwagons. ¡°Boss! They were a family.¡± The Reaver was over seven feet tall and muscr. The man, woman, and kid were untied from the hood and started puking as they saw the horrendous interior of the ughterhouse. ¡°Arggff! Baaarrrrrggh!¡± ¡°Please spare our lives!¡± ¡°What? He looks pretty weak?¡± ¡°No, boss! The dad is pretty strong. Three of us had to restrain him to tie him up.¡± ¡°Yo, the guy you said was strong ended up getting killed right away.¡± ¡°Haha, boss, I didn¡¯t realize he was aplete idiot. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s a good one!¡± Zin realized that what he suspected was true. There was a building in the middle of the ughterhouse. A cage built out of scrap metal was about ten feet tall, and the area inside was empty. The Reavers¡¯ hobby was watching death matches in the arena. The Reavers carried the dead bodies into the storage. The kidnapped family was too afraid to lift their heads. The boy and the parents were holding onto each other, fearing what would happen to them. The leader was extremely pleased with the scene. No exnation was needed as to what would happen. ¡°Hey, you did a great job bringing such a lovely family.¡± ¡°Right, boss?¡± ¡°It¡¯s perfect for the forey.¡± ¡°Argg! Aaarrggh!¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t do this! Don¡¯t kill us!¡± As soon as the leader spoke, the parents were taken away by the Reavers, and each of them were dragged to the doors of the arena. ¡°Alright, pick any weapon. Or just grab the weapon that we give to you.¡± The Reavers handed over a rusted machete to the man and the woman. They then locked them inside the cage. The man and the woman looked at the machetes held in their hands, and they didn¡¯t know what to do. Nobody exined anything. ¡°Aaack! No! Nooo!¡± The leader dragged the boy by his hair and pushed him against the cage. ¡°What are you guys doing?¡± The leader shrugged. ¡°Start fighting before I bust up your son¡¯s head.¡± Yeaaaaaah! The Reavers were shouting with excitement as they watched the horrendous scene. The leader held the boy as a hostage and ordered the parents to kill one another. Kill! Kill! All the Reavers gathered around the cage and started yelling like demons. The woman sobbed as she fell to the ground, and the man was terrified. The Reavers were not ordinary killers. They enjoyed the pain and sorrow of others. They put others into agony for their enjoyment. The Reavers felt orgasmic pleasure as they watched these gruesome scenes. ¡°Oh no! Do you want to see your boy die?¡± ¡ªCrack!¡ª ¡°Aaaaack!¡± ¡°No! No! You m¡ª-f¡ª¡ª!¡± The leader twisted the wrist of the boy. The little boy cried out in pain, and the leader seemed ready to yank his arm off. The dad shouted in rage, and the mom ran towards the cage and cried. ¡°Please let him go! Let him go! We¡¯ll do whatever you want! Please! Let him live!!¡± ¡°If you start fighting to the death, I will not hurt this boy. Entertain us! Hahaha! Then I won¡¯t hurt this boy! Mwahahahha!¡± They were not asking for a fight. They were looking to see despair in their eyes. The mom was no longer capable of standing up. The boy was going to die if they didn¡¯t fight against each other. The boy fainted as he gave into the pain. Zin looked at Ramphil. From the top of the trash wall, Ramphil watched the horrifying events happening below him. Ramphil was once a fighter in the ughterhouse arena. He didn¡¯t remember what happened to him back then. Ramphil wondered what he did after surviving the nightmare of the ughterhouse arena. Memories of death shed before his eyes. The screams of past memories. The terror of past memories. The horror of past memories. The despair of past memories. Who¡­. whom did I kill? Ramphil was in shock. He started to remember things that he had long forgotten. From his vague memory, he heard many voices threatening him. He remembered his family crying. He remembered the shouts of the demons from outside of the cage. He remembered the first time he was thrown into the cage. His brother was held as a hostage back then. The Reavers put a knife to the brother¡¯s neck and ordered Ramphil to kill his parents. Ramphil couldn¡¯t move. The Reavers beat up his brother. They beat him up until Ramphil moved. He barely started moving before they sawed off his brother¡¯s left arm. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m so sorry. Ramphil¡¯s father sobbed as Ramphil thrust the steel sword into his body. You need to survive. You need to survive at all costs. Okay? My son¡­ shed to death by her own son, his mother begged her son to survive. Ramphil killed his parents in order to save his brother who was being held as a hostage. He still had to do it even though he knew that his actions could not save his brother. The Reavers were cruel when it came to putting people into extreme conditions, but there was nothing that a person could do. In front of Ramphil, who had killed his own parents, the Reavers started to abuse his brother. His brother died. As the Reavers watched Ramphil, who was utterly in shock, they cheered with joy. They did this to watch Ramphil fall into despair. After that day, the Reavers threw him into the arena. He was so sad that he didn¡¯t want to die. He was so miserable that he didn¡¯t want to die. And he didn¡¯t want to die like this. He killed his opponents and survived every day. He ate the human meat that the Reavers threw at him. Ramphil vowed to survive when the Reaversughed as they threw the meat of his parents and brother to him. He survived by killing. Soon, the Reavers were scared of Ramphil. They were terrified of him. And when the Reavers were thinking about killing him, the Wargrave troops raided the ughterhouse. As Ramphil remembered his entire past, he stared down the arena with a hardened face. Ramphil couldn¡¯t remember how the Reavers disyed their territoriality back then. Minutes had passed, and the man wasn¡¯t able to do anything. The woman kept crying. The Reavers couldn¡¯t do anything to get the fight going. Killing the boy would mean that there wouldn¡¯t be a hostage. The leader who wasughing before became angry. ¡°This is no fun.¡± As the leader spoke, all the Reavers became quiet. The leader threw the boy to the ground and pointed at the mother. ¡°Impale her. Maybe he¡¯ll change his mind if one of them dies.¡± As the leader ordered, the Reavers brought out a sharpened steel bar. As the woman looked at the corpses pierced around the arena, she knew what her fate would be. The defeated or the ones who didn¡¯t follow directions ended up dead. They were impaled and disyed near the arena. ¡°Nooooo! Please don¡¯t kill me! Save me! Honey!¡± ¡°Aaaaaaaah¡­¡± The man was unable to do anything either. The Reavers opened the gate of the cage and were ready to kill her. Kill her! Pierce her! The man stood in front of the woman. ¡°Stop now.¡± A calm voice could be heard from the background. The leader and all the Reavers looked back to see who was speaking. Behind them, a Wargrave soldier was looking at them. The leader and the Reavers were frightened when they saw him. They didn¡¯t know when he came in, and they didn¡¯t notice him approaching at all. Everybody froze and didn¡¯t move. ¡°Oh, Mr. Soldier, what brings you here¡­?¡± The boss was not the Reaver who had visitedst time. He probably received a detailed report from his men and thought that things would get resolved within a few days. Zin observed the situation from the top of the trash wall and sighed. Ramphil went through the Reavers, and took out the man and the woman and threw them near their son. ¡°Get out.¡± ¡°Yes¡­?¡± ¡°Thank you for s¡ª¡± ¡°I told you to get out.¡± As Ramphil finished talking, the man lifted up his son and started to run away. The couple fell down to the ground a couple of times, but they stood up again and ran as hard as they could. Nobody was willing to stop Ramphil. A Wargrave soldier was in front of them. There was a fortress nearby, and attacking Ramphil would mean the instant retaliation of the fortress. The Reavers were overpowered by the soldier that had walked in, and they stayed silent. As Ramphil verified that the family had run away from the ughterhouse, Ramphil turned toward the leader and stared at him. ¡°I know a little about the fights in the arena.¡± Ramphil looked at the giant leader who was at least two feet taller than him. ¡°You really enjoy fighting, so why don¡¯t you fight me?¡± ¡°What¡­ no¡­!¡± It was a death match to fight against a Wargrave cyborg soldier. The giant leader couldn¡¯t speak as he was so intimidated by Ramphil. Ramphil started to walk towards the leader, who was helpless to do anything. ¡°Now that I think about it, you don¡¯t get to choose.¡± ¡ªPow!¡ª ¡°Ngarrrrg!¡± Ramphil punched the leader in the stomach, grabbed him by the hair, and dragged him into the cage. Ramphil tossed him to the other side of the cage and looked around. ¡°What, isn¡¯t this the fight that you¡¯ve all wanted?¡± There was a dead silence. Nobody was cheering and yelling at all. The leader slowly stood up and looked at Ramphil in horror. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re doing this¡­ This is just a game for us, I¡¯m sorry if this made you feel bad. I¡¯m sor¡ª¡± ¡ªCrunch!¡ª ¡°Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!¡± Ramphil¡¯s kick twisted the leader¡¯s knee into a weird angle. The leader grabbed his knee and rolled on the ground. Ramphil stared down at him. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that you¡¯re sorry for making me feel bad¡­¡± ¡°Ughhh¡­ sorry! Sorry, Mr. Soldier!¡± Ramphil swiped his hair and looked at the leader who was terrified. ¡°So you do realize that you pissed me off. But¡­¡± ¡ªBam!¡ª ¡°Arggh!¡± ¡°So you piss me off, and you think you can get away with a simple apology?¡± ¡ªPow!¡ª Ramphil wasn¡¯t trying to kill him. He was slowly beating up the leader to inflict as much pain as possible. The leader was getting beaten up by a single Wargrave soldier in front of five hundred Reavers. They were all terrified, and yet nobody dared to stop him. They were scared that they would also get beaten up if they pissed Ramphil off. Chapter 68 Chapter 68: Rage of an Executor (Part 2) The punishment continued. The leader did not easily die, even though all his limbs were crushed. The leader was not able to get up at all, and was simply begging Ramphil, ¡°Please¡­ please¡­ spare my life¡­don¡¯t kill me.¡± ¡°You know best how begging is meaningless.¡± The leader had never shown mercy to the people who begged for their lives, and yet he was begging for his life. He continued to beg for mercy. ¡°I¡¯m just curious. Did youe from the south?¡± ¡°Please¡­ please¡­ don¡¯t kill me¡­¡± ¡°Were you part of the group from south back then? There might have been some survivors. And they might have built a ughterhouse in the north. And they might have been enjoying this hobby all over again. Am I thinking nonsense?¡± ¡°Ha¡­ Ha¡­ Mister, there must some confusion. I could not have possiblye from the south.¡± ¡°It looks like you are strongly denying that you came from the south. You gotta havee from the south.¡± Ramphil stared down at the leader with an evil smile. ¡°Do you remember me? I don¡¯t quite remember your face.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Today¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen you¡­ Please¡­ let me go.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t know me, you should have at least looked at me and said that. You have not even giving me an eye contact and answering?¡± ¡ªPow! ¡ª ¡°Aaaaarrrrrrrrgh!¡± Ramphil kicked the groin of the leader and busted his balls. ¡°Now, look at me closely!¡± The leader was foaming at his mouth, and tried to focus in the middle of his excruciating pain. The leader¡¯s eyes were out of focus, and he was barely able to look straight at Ramphil. ¡°Do you remember my face?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ How could I know the face of a great Wargrave soldier¡­ sir¡­¡± The leader was trying his best to ease Ramphil¡¯s wrath. The leader could have been one of the Reavers back when Ramphil was a prisoner in the ughterhouse. The leader could have been a survivor after the ughterhouse was destroyed. He could have moved up north. There was no way to verify this. ¡°Well. It really doesn¡¯t matter.¡± What mattered was that Ramphil finally remembered his horrible past as he watched the grisly scene of the arena. Ramphil stretched his hand out toward the eyes of the leader. ¡°Ah, arrr! Arrrgggh!¡± ¡ªBloob¡ª ¡°G¡­.arrgggh!¡± Ramphil pushed his thumb against the right eye of the leader to inflict pain. At the sound of a ¡®pop¡¯, the eyeball of the leader burst and blood came gushing out from his eye. ¡°Gaaaaagggggh!¡± ¡°I was not in a great mood to begin with,¡± Ramphil murmured as he pushed his thumb against the other eyeball. ¡ªBloob! ¡ª ¡°You scumbags are like parasites living off the Wargrave. Our policy is to not interfere with outsiders, but that is just a policy. It is not an order.¡± ¡°Gyaaaarrg!¡± Ramphil slowly stood up as he watched the leader was foaming at his mouth with his eyeballs burst. ¡°Sir, please stop¡­ please stop and step away¡­¡± ¡°Mmm?¡± One of the Reavers brought a rocketuncher and aimed at Ramphil. The Reaver looked very familiar to Ramphil. ¡°Please step away¡­ I don¡¯t want to shoot¡­¡± He was the Reaver that came to the fortress and talked with Ramphil. He was shaking in fear and aiming theuncher at Ramphil. He had no will to attack. He was begging for mercy in terror. Ramphil stared at the Reaver. All the other Reavers started to step back as they sensed that a fight was going to break out soon. ¡°Why, why are you doing this to us¡­ Didn¡¯t we agree to coexist in peace? We were going to help each other out¡­ yes? If you find this arena fight unpleasant, we won¡¯t hold it anymore¡­ please¡­ have mercy on us. In fact, we didn¡¯t want to do it anyways. Right? Hey, guys! Isn¡¯t that right, guys?¡± As the Reaver shouted in terror, the other Reavers started nodding. They wanted to survive whether the soldier in front of them was crazy or not. ¡°So, so¡­ as you just told us, Wargrave does not interfere with outsiders. So, I mean¡­ you don¡¯t have any reason to kill us, right? We won¡¯t annoy you in the future¡­ I¡¯m so sorry¡­ so please¡­¡± The Reavers did not believe that they could overpower Ramphil. As Ramphil finished listening to the Reaver, he stepped on the head of the leader slowly. ¡ªPow! ¡ª ¡°!¡± As Ramphil put some weight on his foot, the head of the leader was crushed like a watermelon, and the crushed brains spilled out onto the ground. ¡°Do I need a reason to clean out the trash?¡± Ramphil announced. ¡°It¡¯s filthy. That¡¯s a good enough reason.¡± There was no reasoning needed to wipe out the trash. Ramphil did not feel the need to exin. They were filthy, despicable, and menacing. There were plenty of reasons to rid the world of Reavers. The time to make a decision arrived. The soldier in front of the Reavers made up his mind. The Reavers had to make a decision was as well. They were five hundred in number. The soldier was alone. They were thinking about killing the soldier, and running away from the area on their junkwagons. There was no way Wargrave would be able to hunt all of them down. The ughterhouse was a great base, but their survival was more important. ¡°There is no turning back! Da¡­¡± ¡ªKaboom! ¡ª Before the Reaver could finish his sentence, a huge explosion urred around him. One side of the cage was engulfed in mes. The explosion killed fifty some Reavers in a split second. ¡°There is another enemy!¡± On top of the trash wall, Zin was staring down at them behind an RPG-7uncher. Ramphil and Zin looked at each other. They didn¡¯t talk to each other, but they knew what was going to happen shortly. ¡°Take out your tools!¡± The Reavers started to spread out. ¡ªck! ¡ª Ramphil took out hisser shotgun. ¡ªSnap, pop¡ª
As the dawn came, the ughterhouse was in mes. ¡°Hey, I think it¡¯s over now.¡± Zin yelled from the top of the trash wall, and Ramphil nodded as he looked up at Zin. The fierce battlested the whole night. Ramphil and Zin were not able to kill all the Reavers. Some of them took off on their junkwagons. The pile of dead bodies in the ughterhouse was a grisly scene. Zin held his position on top of the trash wall, and shot the Reavers on the ground. There were no other buildings taller than the trash wall, and the Reavers on the ground were at his mercy. Some Reavers ran into the buildings and fired rifles andunchers at Ramphil. They were not prepared to counter Zin at all, and Zin sniped the Reavers at will. Instead of charging inside the buildings to fight the Reavers, Ramphil changed theser shotgun into a saber and cut the pirs of the buildings. The buildings copsed in no time. The Reavers made the mistake of hiding inside the buildings, and were buried alive under the rubble. The other Reavers then ran out of the buildings to fight against Ramphil. Even though the Reavers took cover to hide from Zin, Zin was able to walk around the trash wall in circles and snipe them down. Zin sniped the Reavers from higher ground, and Ramphil searched and killed them at close range. As a result, the ughterhouse was full of corpses, with no Reavers left alive. However, Ramphil was not in good condition. Ramphil was struck with bullets a couple of times, and he was burned by the explosions from their grenades. It was not simple for Ramphil to fight against five hundred armed Reavers. His uniform became a rag, and there were many bullets stuck on his skin. His L-20 was not in good condition, either. Zin did not get injured at all. There were many Reavers who tried to climb up the trash wall, but they were all shot in the head. Zin kicked aside the dead Reavers on the stairs and walked down to the ground. ¡°You look like a bum.¡± ¡°I will take that over being dead.¡± Ramphil and Zin overpowered the ughterhouse by themselves without critical injuries. Zin would not have pulled it off by himself. And Ramphil would have been killed by grenadeunchers if Zin hadn¡¯t suppressed the movements of the Reavers by sniping them. In the end, both of them were not invincible. But they were able to create synergy by working together. Both of them executed their parts and exterminated the five hundred Reavers. They were able to aplish it together. They were just not the type of people who cheered and gave high fives to each other. ¡°Now, we¡¯ve got nothing to loot here.¡± All the buildings were destroyed, and it would take forever to dig through the rubble. Zin was able to find some ammunition and chipbusters. Ramphil slowly moved towards the prison of the arena where the prisoners were locked in. He didn¡¯t destroy that building on purpose. The prisoners were terrified, and when Ramphil opened the door, they started to walk out slowly. They were astonished that all the Reavers were killed. ¡°Hunter. I have a request.¡± ¡°A request?¡± ¡°Can you leave this ce untouched?¡± Ramphil asked Zin, who was checking the corpses. Ramphil pointed to the freed prisoners. ¡°Are you telling me to share resources with the prisoners?¡± ¡°They will need some weapons and chips to survive going forward.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be such a gracious person.¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Ramphil staggered as he seemed to have problems with parts of his body. ¡°I hope you have somepassion for them.¡± As Ramphil smiled at Zin, Zin also smiled bitterly, and stood up. ¡°I used up all my 7.62mm ammunition because of you.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Ramphil was out of words, while Zin wasining about the consumption of the ammunition. ¡°If you let me use Wargrave¡¯s production facilities, I will leave all this scrap metal untouched.¡± ¡°Phew¡­¡± It was clear that Zin woulde out better if he gave up the 400 chips promised by the Reavers and utilized the Wargrave production facility instead. Zin always acted based on profitability.
Zin and Ramphil freed all the prisoners. The prisoners were free to live together or go their own ways. Zin and Ramphil did not provide anything more to them. The freedom that Zin and Ramphil gave to the prisoners was the most valuable gift given to them anyways. Ramphil did not talk about what he remembered. Zin didn¡¯t hear anything from Ramphil, but Zin had a good idea why Ramphil acted so irrationally. The previous attack on the Reavers was out of character for Ramphil. It was not hard to figure out what his lost memories were about. Ramphil was not feeling guilty. He was wondering how he could possibly forget about his past. ¡°Is arena fighting amon hobby for the Reavers?¡± Ramphil asked him, and Zin thought for a while. ¡°It¡¯s notmon, but not rare either.¡± ¡°I see.¡± They were not able to find out if the Reavers actually came from the south. It was clear that Ramphil was engaged in a fight that was based on emotional revenge, not based on logic and profit. Ramphil became confused. And for whatever reason, Ramphil started speaking about something that he did not have to. ¡°Hunter, I want to ask you a question.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I got an offer from the Warlord.¡± Zin quietly listened, as Ramphil spoke while they walked. ¡°The person who destroyed the northern Korea¡¯s defense line was an undercover agent sent to the Central Asia Division. The undercover agent has some information that would cause a schism within Wargrave.¡± Zin already knew about this, and Ramphil was talking to Zin about a subject that he shouldn¡¯t be talking to others about. ¡°And so?¡± ¡°If I pursue the undercover agent instead of the devil, and kill the undercover agent, no battle will break out.¡± Pursuing the undercover agent meant that that Ramphil could possibly prevent a war. But a war might eventually break out from the Central Asia Division anyways. ¡°I need to look for the witch that is hiding somewhere, or pursue the undercover agent.¡± Ramphil had to make a choice. The witch was hiding somewhere, and Zin was acting as the devil hunter for Ramphil. Ramphil realized that Zin was extremely skillful, based on the battles they had taken part in together. It was possible that the witch could be hunted by Zin alone. It meant that there was no reason for Ramphil to continue to hunt the witch. It might be a better for Ramphil to pursue the undercover agent. ¡°What would you do if you were in my shoes?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zin remained silent for a time before he spoke again. Chapter 69 - To Survive and to Live (Part 1) Chapter 69: To Survive and to Live (Part 1) Zin pondered for a while and started talking. ¡°I do think that hunting the devil is the priority.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°It is better because there are lesser casualties. An internal division of Wargrave would result in death of soldiers, but a devil will kill many people. And without mercy.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­¡± ¡°And that war within Wargrave will eventually happen at some point. A war will start whenever there¡¯s a good enough reason. If a war is going to happen anyways, it¡¯s better for the war to happen when there¡¯s no preparation from both sides. If you pursue and kill the undercover agent, a war ofrger scale will happenter on.¡± Zin had lived for a long time, and he looked at matters with a broader perspective. He believed that a lopsided war was better for everybody. A longer war meant that everyone would sustain more damage. If both sides were given more time to prepare, the war would be more destructive and take longer. Zin believed that it was far better for the war to start and finish as quickly as possible. Ramphil felt strange that Zin was only talking about the possible oues. Zin¡¯s exnation made sense, but he was very coldhearted. ¡°The White Witch is not any ordinary devil.¡± The appearance of the White Witch could bring a huge disaster that could not bepared to Wargrave¡¯s war. Even though it was a single devil, Zin thought that the worst disaster could happen if the White Witch was not taken care of right away. Zin was trying his best to hunt the devil at all costs. ¡°So you are saying that if I kill the undercover agent, it would bring more damage to the world?¡± ¡°Yes. And by the way, you don¡¯t have to think about this too hard.¡± Zin spoke as if it was a trivial matter. ¡°We don¡¯t live in a world where we care much about what is right. When we face dilemmas, it¡¯s best to attack themon enemy.¡± Being involved in Wargrave¡¯s internal war meant that one had to determine which side was right, and one had to figure out what actions would be beneficial. And usually, it was not an easy decision to make. It was better to pick the easier choice, such as hunting a devil that was full of hatred towards humans. Zin¡¯s words were not the answers, but they helped Ramphil calm down a bit. ¡°Wow¡­ I was thinking about this for a long time, but you know too much about Wargrave.¡± ¡°Well¡­ you know. I am a very interesting man.¡± Ramphil smiled as Zin showed off. Ramphil brought the subject of the undercover agent, but it seemed like Zin already knew about the full story. However, Ramphil did not press him about what he knew. Ramphil was able to learn battle skills from Zin. Zin executed attacks that Ramphil was unable to think of. Zin was even able to execute attacks even without discussing with Ramphil. Zin, the devil hunter. He was the first ally Ramphil did not have friction with. Ramphil had never met such arade in the Wargrave organization, and now he was able to meet one outside Wargrave. During many battles, Zin taught many battle tips to Ramphil at some point. There were many tips that could not be learned from the books. Ramphil was learning many things while fighting alongside Zin. Ramphil realized that there were many battle skills that could only be acquired through a seasoned veteran like Zin. Zin didn¡¯t actively teach the skills to Ramphil, but Ramphil was learning the skills from Zin through their battles. Although Ramphil was travelling with Zin to hunt the witch, he realized that it was very beneficial for him to travel with Zin. Ramphil promised to himself that he wouldn¡¯t bother Zin with the policies of Wargrave while travelling with him. ¡°Hey, you have been gazing at me for a long time. What¡¯s the deal?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Ramphil shrugged as Zin spoke up with an unpleasant look.
It took a single day to take care of the two groups of Reavers in Harbin. A couple of days ago, Zin spent over thirteen hours to hunt down seven Reavers. This time around, Zin killed hundreds of Reavers with the help of the cyborg soldier. Zin did not always fight with the same strategy. He changed his n of attack depending on the circumstances. For thest fight, Zin felt the need to be aggressive, and he killed the Reavers aggressively. Afterpleting his mission, the two of them headed back to the fortress. Zin and Ramphil had to go through an extensive and extra long sanitization process before entering the fortress. They went straight to the office of the Warlord. Usually, a hunter needed to bring evidence to prove thepletion of the request, but Zin didn¡¯t need one as he was apanied by the executor. ¡°Hmm¡­ that¡¯splicated.¡± The existing Reavers didn¡¯t attack a Wargrave vehicle, and Ramphil and Zin searched and destroyed the Reavers hiding in the south part of Harbin. The Warlord asked Ramphil, ¡°The existing Reavers¡­ you told me that they collected left hands. Why did you kill them?¡± ¡°They were despicable.¡± Ramphil exined his emotions and the reason for the massacre in a single phrase. The Warlord gave Ramphil a strange look, and then he nodded slowly. ¡°They must have acted inappropriately. Very well then, thank you so much for your help.¡± The Warlord knew that the policy was just a guideline. If the executor felt offended, it was not an issue for an executor to kill thousands of Reavers. The Warlord was okay with Ramphil killing the Reavers, even though he didn¡¯t know about Ramphil¡¯s background. The Warlord was a soldier who had served at the fortress for all his life. However, there was a bigger problem than the two ughterhouses. ¡°The Group¡­¡± Several groups of Reavers forming a powerful organization. And it was expanding its territory aggressively. The Warlord was cautious. Wargrave fortress were spread around the world, and many organizations existed near the fortresses. ¡°Simr to the ¡®Ragnarligion¡¯ and the ¡®Worshippers of Hunt¡¯ groups, the Group may not be interested in us¡­¡± There were fortresses in Southeast Asia where Ragnarligion was located, and in India where the Worshippers of Hunt were located. The two groups did not interfere with Wargrave. Wargrave cared only about internal affairs, and other groups did not interfere with Wargrave. There was no reason for Wargrave to be wary of the Group, if the Group remained indifferent about Wargrave. Ramphil nodded as he heard about the two groups. However, they were not Reavers. If the crazy group of people were to form a crazy army, he wondered what kind of insane actions they would take. The Warlord was the person who had to take action against the Group, and Ramphil and Zin were simply the messengers. ¡°I will have to submit a report for now. Thank you, both of you. Hunter, here is the promised reward.¡± The Warlord took about a chipbox from his desk and passed it to Zin. Zin received 750 chips, and a chipbox manufactured by Wargrave. A chipbox was a simple expendable good for Wargrave. However, a Wargrave chipbox was an excellent product for the people living in the wilderness. The chipbox didn¡¯t have a self-destruct capability, but Zin put it away with a big smile. ¡°Warlord, I have a request.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°The hunter would like to use the Wargrave production facilities, will that be okay?¡± In most cases, the Warlord would reject the request, but Ramphil exined the reason behind the request. During thest battle, Zin used up all the 7.62mm ammunition that he had. ¡°Hmm¡­ so you¡¯d like to manufacture ammunition?¡± the Warlord asked. ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ess to the production facility was highly restricted. It seemed like the hunter knew how to operate the production machines in the Wargrave facility. Anything could be manufactured in the Wargrave facility. The machines manufactured anything by usingsers. It was possible to manufacture a pen or a armored vehicle from the facility. ess to this very important facility was not given to anybody. ¡°It¡¯s at the request of an executor, so I can¡¯t reject it¡­ But we would need a technician to apany you all the time.¡± Zin nodded, as he understood that the Warlord wanted to make sure nothing was manufactured without permission and then stolen. The armored vehicle requested by Ramphil was ready, and Zin was ready to leave for the Heavenly Power castle as soon as he finished his work in the facility. The Group was highly likely to attack the Heavenly Power castle. ¡°By the way, that little kid.¡± As the Warlord spoke up, Zin became serious. ¡°¡­ Did she cause trouble?¡± Zin would not be surprised if Leona started some trouble. As Zin had an unpleasant look, the Warlord said hastily, ¡°Oh no, my daughter really likes her.¡± ¡°?¡± Zin and Ramphil were not able to understand what was going on. As the Warlord started talking about his daughter, he came closer to Zin and asked, ¡°Are you and the kid rted?¡± ¡°¡­ no, we are not.¡± A hunter and a little kid who wandered around the wilderness ¨C The Warlord was puzzled what the rtionship between the two could be. ¡°I won¡¯t ask why you two are travelling together. But, it¡¯s certain that the wilderness is a tough ce for the kid to live. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous out there, and it¡¯s dangerous for everybody. And it¡¯s especially true for a kid.¡± Zin knew what the Warlord was going to talk next. ¡°Frankly speaking, I think it would be good for my daughter¡¯s new friend to stay in the fortress instead of wandering the wilderness.¡± Simr to how the Warlord of the Seoul fortress took Ramphil with him, it was not difficult for a Warlord to have a wanderer settle on the fortress as a resident. ¡°What do you think?¡± And so the opportunity to settle down came to Leona¡­ After a long pause, Zin replied, ¡°It¡¯s not for me to answer the question.¡± That was his only answer. The Warlord didn¡¯t expect such an answer from Zin, but he thought that what Zin said made sense. Ramphil and the Warlord remained in the office to discuss other matters, and Zin was nned to head to the production facilities. She should be at the entertainment facility. It¡¯d be good for you to visit the ce, and talk to her about it. Zin decided to head to the entertainment facility first, as he wanted to let Leona know that he was back from the mission. He wore the Wargrave clothes, and the people did not look at him strangely.
The entertainment facility was pretty big, and people were enjoying the games and taking breaks. There were card games and video games. Wargrave was making every effort to relieve the stress of the soldiers. People in the fortresses lived in the underground all their lives. Such an entertainment facility was needed in order relieve stress. Residents of the fortresses were confined in the fortress from birth to death. In fact, Wargrave HQ had a dedicated department to develop games. People in the Wargrave fortresses had a lifestyle simr to the lifestyle of pre-apocalyptic days. Zin felt strange looking at such a lifestyle. It was not too hard to spot the kids. ¡°Wow! Look at that! We won again!¡± ¡°Sis! You are really good at this!¡± From the top of the stairway, Zin found the kids gathered near the area where there were video games. He was not able to tell what games they were ying, but the kids who surrounded Leona were screaming and shouting with joy. Zin felt strange looking at the children ying. Leona was extremely focused and staring at the monitor. She was using a keyboard and mouse to y the game. Zin was surprised to find that Leona was as able to use aputer. At the same time, he wondered. In order to type something with theputer, one needed to know how to read. Did she know how to read? Zin felt weird that he hadn¡¯t realized this simple fact. Zin had travelled with Leona for a while, but he wasn¡¯t curious about her past. ¡°Hey, hey! Let¡¯s form an alliance! If we want to win against Leona, we need to team up!¡± ¡°Yesss!¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not fair!¡± The two kids teamed up and the little girl behind Leona started toin. The kids who were shouting seemed to be ying a fighting game, and the other kids surrounded the three of them. Leona was sitting in the middle seat and continued to look at the monitor. She was smiling and seemed to be happy. She wasn¡¯t smiling because she felt peaceful or calm. She was smiling because she was purely happy. ¡°Leona! These cowards need to get beat up.¡± ¡°Hah! Teaming up will not work. Come and get me. I will kick your butt!¡± Leona yelled. As Leona started cussing, the kids started tough out loud. Zin was looking at Leona from far away. He knew that she was not shy meeting new people, but he didn¡¯t expect her to make so many new friends in a short period of time. It was clear that the kids were amused watching her, an outsider. The kids did not despise her, but were disying friendliness towards her. The little kid who was used to hostility probably didn¡¯t expect such goodwill. However, after a couple of days, Leona opened up and mingled with the kids. Zin found it weird that Leona was talking and joking around with her peers naturally. She probably was a good girl at first, but the environment that she was in probably changed her personality. She probably had to disguise her true identity in order to survive the rough wilderness. Zin thought that perhaps Leona was a well-rounded kid. Zin quietly looked at the scene before turning his back. Chapter 70 Chapter 70: To Survive and to Live (Part 2) ¡°So, executor, did you think about it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The Warlord asked Ramphil whom he was going to chase ¨C the White Witch or the undercover operative. Ramphil told the Warlord that he needed some time to think about it, and the Warlord asked Ramphil to see if he had made up his mind. Ramphil thought that it was good that he asked the devil hunter for advice. Ramphil calmly looked at the Warlord and answered, ¡°I am going after the White Witch.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± It meant that the war was not avoidable. As Zin had evaluated objectively, Ramphil determined that it was better for the war to break out sooner and finish as soon as possible. And even if the Central Asia division were destroyed, it didn¡¯t matter to Ramphil. The Warlord was not in a position to give an order to Ramphil. And the Warlord had no intention to do so, anyways. ¡°Personally, I was hoping that you would choose to go after the operative.¡± The Warlord would have to deal with the war as the leader of the fortress. It was clear that the war was going to be fierce and that his family and the fortress could bepletely destroyed. During the times of war, the kids would think that the adults went out for a short trip. The Warlord felt pain as he imagined the kids ying andughing without realizing that their parents and siblings would die in the war. The Warlord felt terrible picturing how the kids would react to the death of their loved ones. The Warlord thought how much more sorrow would be in thend. So he made a suggestion to Ramphil. However, Ramphil, the executor, was not someone who could be swayed. The Warlord could talk to Ramphil, but could not give orders to him. The Warlord also agreed that the White Witch was a real, dangerous, and imminent threat to the world.
Zin hurried to the control room of the manufacturing facility. Zin was inside the 52nd control room, the smallest facility in the fortress. It was not one of the main production facilities, and small parts such as bolts and nuts usually were manufactured here. The huge devices were cutting the parts needed for the repair of the armored vehicle. The manufacturing devices were built based on 3D printing technology, building models based on input data. Zin would be able to make anything as long as he had the materials. Wargrave was able to repair and maintain all their equipment at this humongous facility. ¡°How do you know how to handle this machine?¡± As Zin operated the machines, the technician was amazed at Zin¡¯s skill. Zin was able to smoothly operate the Wargrave production machines, simr to how he operated the recovery device in Busan fortress. ¡°It¡¯s something that I picked up along the way.¡± The technician didn¡¯t believe his words, but he didn¡¯t interfere with the hunter. Only Zin and the technician were in the control room. As Zin input values into the machine, the cartridges were cut by the machine, and the chipdust and powder filled the cartridges. There were plenty of materials, and Zin quietly watched the bullets stack up. Zin did not talk and sat down silently.
Leona enjoyed ying with the kids, but she was happier that there were a lot of entertainment at the Wargrave fortress. ¡°Leona, are you sure this is your first time ying this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I must be talented, right?¡± Leonaughed back and continued to look at the monitor. ¡°That is so¡­¡± ¡ªTap, Tap! ¡ª Sara was amazed at how fast Leona was moving her hands while using theputer keyboard and mouse to y the games. Residents of the fortress usedputers, and Wargrave cedputers for ying games. Theputer was the best and most efficient machine to install several games on. Initially, Leona wondered why Wargrave would even build such a device, but soon she was having fun ying the games on theputer. It was amazing how much she picked up in such a short period of time. All the kids except Sara were sitting on a chair and ying video games. Leona and the kids were ying the ¡°War of the Wastnd¡±, a PvP real time simtion game. It was not a simple game but was simr to a war game, and it was the best selling game in Wargrave. The original game was used to test the strategy skills of the Wargrave officers, before being converted to a video game. It was a single yer game where the yer yed as a Wargrave executor. The Wargrave executor had rtively higher stats than other characters. The war game closely reflected the abilities of different characters. There were three groups in the game: Wargrave, people of the wastnd, and monsters. There were many factors in game y. The Wargrave group had the strongest base, but it was not possible to expand its base. The yer would lose if its Wargrave base was destroyed. Each Wargrave unit was powerful, but required a lot of resources to produce. The Wargrave was powerful in the early and mid stage of the game, but it became rtively weaker in theter stage of the game because it was not able to expand to multiple bases. The monster group produced units in bulk, and it could summon a powerfulrge monster in the middle stage of the game. It was also immune to environmental factors. When monsters utilized the skill ¡®consume¡¯ to kill an enemy unit, the yer gained extra resources. The yer would lose if all their bases were destroyed. The wastnd people group was the weakest group. Nobody really yed using this group. The Wargrave group was the strongest group, and many people yed using that group. The yers enjoyed ying the monster group because the monsters were powerful and a quick expansion was possible. Compared to the two groups, the wastnd people group was extremely weak. The units were weak and vulnerable to the Reavers, the NPC units. The wastnd people were able to utilize resources that the other groups couldn¡¯t. However, they needed to find ruins in order to upgrade their skills. The only reliable unit was the ¡®hunter¡¯ unit. The wastnd people group needed to utilize this unit in order to survive the early stage of the game. The losing condition of the wastnd group was the death of all the units. However, the hardest part was surviving the early and mid stages of the game. If the yer was able to survive the early stage of game, the yer was able to use nuclear weapons, the most powerful weapons in the game. The wastnd people group usually ended up being the strongest group towards the end of the game as they were able to harvest the most resources. The yer could wipe out strong enemy units using nuclear missiles. Wargrave fortresses were taken out by nullifying their anti-air defense system, and then attacking with nuclear missile and bunker busters. In theory, the wastnd people group was the strongest group in thete games, but a Wargrave yer would usually initiate the attack earlier. Leona tried ying with all three different groups as soon as she saw the game. After that, she only yed using the wastnd people group. The other kids advised Leona to use a different group because the wastnd sucked, but Leona continued to y using the wastnd people group. And she kept on winning many times. Although Leona was good at the game for someone who yed it for the first time, objectively speaking, she was not the best. The other kids did not y great against Leona. The kids only knew how to collect resources and attack at once. As Leona learned how to make strategic moves, the kids were not able to defeat her. As an example in the game, Leona defeated the Wargrave¡¯s infantry battalion with a troop of hunters. Even though Leona had never seen aputer, she was ying the game at an expert level. The wastnd game was the perfect game for Leona. Everybody knew about the War of Wastnd game, and most of the fortresses held a game league. The game was popr and enjoyed by everybody. Kids including Leona, teenagers, and adults yed the game in front of theputer. Sara was marveling at how fast Leona was using her keyboard and mouse. ¡°Why do you always y as the wastnd folks? Try ying with the Wargrave or the monsters.¡± Sara mainly used the monster group, and she was suggesting Leona to use the group, but Leona stuck to her group. ¡°I just like them.¡± As the game dragged on, Leona focused on the game even more and yed. A wastnd people unit became a vagabond if the unit was exposed to the polluted environment for too long. The unit would be an NPC monster that attacked their former allies. The wastnd people group seemed to be unable to use them. However, Leona used this to her advantage. If a unit was about to be a vagabond, she would put the unit on a junkwagon, and crash the junkwagon into the enemy troops. The vagabond that would turn into an NPC attacking the enemy troops. Sometimes, Leona raised the poison level of her units and fought against the enemies. Enemy troops woulde out to take Leona¡¯s vagabonds. Then Leona¡¯s small troop of vagabonds turned into monsters and destroyed therger enemy troops. The game was heading into thete stages. Leona felt bad for winning the game so many times, so she was nning to lose on purpose. Although she had the power to wipe out the other yers¡¯ troops, she was letting the opponents win the game. ¡°Hahahah, sis! This time, I¡¯m going to win!¡± ¡°You thought that you would be winning all the time, right?¡± Leona would have gone easy, except for certain people. The two little kids started to provoke Leona, as they were winning the game. Leona knew that they had no bad intentions. However, Leona was starting to get pissed off, as the kids continued mocking her. ¡°Hah, you will need to stop right now.¡± ¡°Huh? You don¡¯t even have any units¡­¡± ¡°Shut up, kids!¡±Leona yelled as sheughed with an evil smile, and shocking the kids. ¡°You guys are getting cocky now? I will finish you all off.¡± After yelling at the kids, Leona started to y the game again. She gathered more units and resources. However, Leona had lost some units previously, and her army was weak. Damn¡­ On top of that, there were enemy units that were a pain in the butt. They were the final boss units. The monster and the Wargrave groups each had a boss unit. In the case of the Wargrave group, the executor was the boss unit. The executor unit could be produced at a faster pace in multiple numbers. The monster group¡¯s boss unit was the ¡®devil¡¯, and a yer could only produce one devil unit. The unit consumed no resources, provided useful buffs to its ally units, and possessed the capability to summonrge monsters. The unit even regenerated after death. On the other hand, there was no boss unit for the wastnd people group. I don¡¯t want just nuclear missiles. I want a boss unit! Leona was getting mad as the enemies¡¯ devil and executor units massacred her units. The little kids only attacked and didn¡¯t enter othermands. They usually brought all of their units into attack. Leona retreated and drew in the enemy executor troops. ¡°What? What? What happened?!¡± ¡ªKabooom! ¡ª The sh filled up the monitor, and the nuclear missile instantly wiped out the Wargrave units in a split second. Leona lured the enemies to where the nuclear missile wasunched, and killed many units, including her own units. ¡°This does not make sense!¡± One of the kids started to cry, as the kid¡¯s remaining units were sniped and wiped away by the hunter units. Chapter 71-72 < To Survive and to Live (Part 3)> The Wargrave group is now taken care of¡­ The monster group had depleted its troops while fighting against the Wargrave group, and Leona overpowered the monster group with her missile and junkwagon troops. ¡°Oh man! You¡¯re pissing me off!¡± Leona utilized the fast junkwagon troops to attack the monsters and dealt consistent damage. Her junkwagon troops were upgraded to detonate when the unit was taken down by enemy units, dealing massive damage to them. Leona was able to develop most of the skills, and her units were very powerful. She murdered the Wargrave¡¯s executor troops, and she was out to hunt down the monster¡¯s boss unit, the devil. The devil unit was an extremely powerful unit, but the kid who was ying as the monster group overestimated the power of the devil unit, and did not bring in any support units. Things were not looking great for Leona at the moment. While Leona¡¯s main forces were fighting against the monsters, the devil unit was destroying Leona¡¯s base by itself. Leona was not able to counter the devil with her main forces, so she gathered some hunter units to fight against the devil. Hunter units were generally strong against a monsters unit, but it was not the case against the devil units. A devil unit was very powerful in that it required at least twenty executor units to bring it down. The devil unit had already regenerated for the third time during the game. Leona quickly brought in the hunter troops to fight against the devil. The hunter units quickly engaged and starting shooting at the devil. However, the hunter units were not strong enough to fight against the devil. The devil dashed towards the hunter troops. Leona calmly used several hunter troops to aggro the devil unit. Fortunately the kid was focusing on the battle of the main forces, and was not actively controlling the devil unit. Leona was observing the two battle scenes and controlling units on both sides. Sara was amazed at the speed with which Leona was controlling the units. Although Leona took some damage on her main forces, she was able to hunt down the devil with her hunter units. ¡°Oh no! My devil is dead!¡± The kid yelled as she realized that her boss unit was killed. Leona smiled confidently. Leona had destroyed the strongest units of both the Wargrave and the monster groups. Now, all she needed to do us slowly take down both bases. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate my skills¡­ huh?¡± As Leona was celebrating her victory, she saw a message pop up on the bottom right corner of the monitor. [You have seed in hunting the devil with only hunter units.] [¡®Devil Hunter¡¯ unit is now unlocked.] ¡°What the heck is that?¡± Leona was staring at the message that popped up. Initially, she thought that it was weird for the wastnd people group to not have any boss unit. The nuclear missile was avable, but it was not categorized as a boss unit. The wastnd people group indeed had a boss unit avable. It just so happened to be that the requirements to unlock the devil hunter unit were tricky. The entire tech tree had to be fully upgraded, and the devil unit had to be killed with only hunter units. There was no manual for the page, and nobody knew about the in game secrets. It was nearly impossible to hunt the devil unit with the hunter units alone. Leona was able to hunt the devil unit because the other yer was not paying attention. Not many yers knew about the devil hunter unit. Anyways, Leona was able to unlock the devil hunter unit. She started to produce the devil hunter unit. She could have finished the game, but she wanted to see the boss unit. In a short period of time, the devil hunter unit was made. The game did not have the best graphics, but it was a solid RTS game, and each unit was portrayed urately. The devil hunter unit looked ordinary. It did not have fancy weapons like the other boss units, the devil and the executor. It looked very simple, and it almost looked like a regr hunter unit. However, as she looked at the devil unit closely, she found the difference between the two. ¡°¡­ What?¡± The devil hunter wore a ck long coat. And she spotted the massive grey sword on the back of the devil hunter. It was Phantomvein! Mister? Other kids would not have noticed, but Leona recognized the person. Leona was puzzled why the devil hunter she knew was portrayed in a Wargrave video game. Leona was shocked after finding someone familiar in a video game. ¡ª¨C Leona came back to her senses after she heard someone talk from behind her. ¡°You look like you¡¯re having fun there.¡± It was Sara, not Leona, who was surprised. ¡°Wow! It¡¯s mister executor!¡± ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Ramphil?¡± The kids gathered around Ramphil, who had an executor badge on his uniform. Ramphil didn¡¯t know how to react as all the people came up to him all of a sudden. As Leona noticed that Ramphil was by himself, she became anxious. Leona¡¯s face paled, and she asked Ramphil, ¡°Where¡¯s mister hunter? Why are you by yourself?¡± ¡°The hunter went to the production facility to use the manufacturing machine. He will arrive soon.¡± ¡°Oh, ah¡­ really?¡± Leona breathed a sigh of relief. Ramphil smiled as he watched her. ¡°The hunter would be so happy if he saw you now.¡± ¡°Would you stop fooling around? But anyways, what¡¯s up?¡± The kids were surprised to see Leona talk casually to Ramphil. An executor was all kids¡¯ role model, and Leona talked to an executor casually! The kids knew that Leona was not ordinary, and Sara and the kids looked up to Leona. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Warlord. He seems to want to talk to you.¡± As Ramphil spoke, Sara, not Leona, became very happy. ¡ª¨C Zin was back from the manufacturing facility and taking a break in his room. He was nning to leave the fortress as soon as the armored vehicle was ready. He wanted to leave as quickly as he could because things could getplicated if the Heaven Power castle was taken by the enemy. However, Zin sat down on the sofa quietly. He had many thoughts he kept to himself, but he could not think of good answers to his problems. After a while, Leona came back. As soon as she saw Zin, she greeted him with a big smile. ¡°You must have aplished the mission without a problem.¡± ¡°Mmm. Yeah. As usual,¡± Zin replied normally. ¡°Is Ramphiling?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, he got caught by some kids.¡± The kids who were curious about the executor did not let Ramphil go. Just outside the room, Ramphil was answering their questions. It was a funny situation, but Zin did not smile. Leona stopped smiling as soon as she saw Zin with a serious look. There was a long silence. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± At times, the two spoke freely when they travelled together, and they also travelled without talking to each other at all. They didn¡¯t talk to each other because they did not have much to talk about. It was the first time that Leona couldn¡¯t start a conversation, because she felt intimidated. Leona looked at Zin for a long time, and finally started to talk. ¡°I visited the Warlord.¡± ¡°Oh, okay¡­¡± Zin replied, and remained silent again. Zin also didn¡¯t like the fact that he didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°You asked me to train you as a hunter.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I believe that you want to be a hunter because you want to protect yourself from danger while wandering the wilderness.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Zin continued to talk. ¡°You told me that you were afraid of being alone.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Leona did not deny it. Zin did not know what the Warlord and Leona talked about. ¡°If you stay here, you will not have to be a hunter to protect yourself.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If you stay here, you will not be alone.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If you stay here, you will be able to think about how you are going to live moving forward. You will not have to worry about survival.¡± ¡°¡­¡± The environment at the fortress was a blessing for someone longing for a safe environment. It was a great blessing to not worry about survival. As Zin watched Leona happily smile while ying with the kids, he told Leona about this. There were no threats in the fortress. There was little hatred or scorn. The children in the fortress were kind to outsiders. Zin thought that it was the right thing for Leona to remain at the fortress. Leona looked at Zin with a hardened face. Zin did not directly ask Leona to remain at the fortress, but he was strongly advising her to do so. Zin took out the chipbox from his pocket. ¡°I will give the chips back to you because I didn¡¯t fulfill your request to train you as a hunter.¡± Zin had acquired enough chips to give back to Leona. Leona looked at the chipbox that containing about 5000 chips, and dropped her head. Her eyes were getting teary. Leona thought about the conversation she had just had with the Warlord. The wilderness is a scary ce. I know¡­ but¡­ Leona, as much as it¡¯s dangerous to you, it is also dangerous for the hunter as well. ¡­ The wilderness is a tough and dangerous for someone to be actively protecting others. And you know that too. ¡­ Leona felt terrible as the Warlord reaffirmed what she had been thinking about all this time. The rtionship between Zin and Leona did not benefit anyone. Zin knew that it was illogical to take Leona with him into the wilderness. And he was not able to easily ask her to follow him. Leona knew that she was not much of a help to Zin, and she was not able to tell Zin that she was going to venture together with him into the wilderness. Both of them were not able to speak what they had in mind. Zin calmly looked at Leona, and Leona looked back without crying. Leona knew that crying did not help solve any problems, so she didn¡¯t cry. Leona lifted her chin up, and looked at Zin. ¡°Is that all you have to say?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is that really all?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Leona bit her lips. ¡°Mister.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you know something?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You always let me decide how I should live my life¡­¡± While travelling with Leona, Zin never forced her to do anything. If Leona decided to settle at a ce, Zin would tell her to do so. If Leona told Zin to go away, he would go away as she said. Zin did not try to dictate how Leona should live. He just tagged along with her. And even now, Zin only suggested Leona settle down at the fortress, and allowed Leona to make the decision. ¡°And frankly, I am not happy about it.¡± Leona didn¡¯t always like how Zin treated her. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are trying to say.¡± Zin knew what she was trying to tell him, but he replied calmly anyways. Leona continued to talk with a sad smile. ¡°I hate people who try to manipte others, but I feel so¡­ sad when someone seems to not care at all.¡± It was the best way that Leona could express her feelings. Zin knew what Leona meant, but he couldn¡¯t say any more. < To Survive and to Live (Part 4) > It was ironic that neither Zin nor Leona was able to say ¡°Let¡¯s go together. We are all in this together.¡± Zin knew that Leona would live a miserable life in the wilderness, and Leona knew that she would be a selfish person to tag along with Zin because she was not of much help to him. Zin and Ramphil were nning to leave the Harbin fortress as soon as the armored vehicle was ready tomorrow. Leona¡¯s original goal was to seek a ce where she could settle down, and the fortress was the perfect location. ¡ª¡ª Leona and Sara were sitting on a bench together. Other kids were still asking the executor different questions. It was funny to see Ramphil be so distressed, but Leona couldn¡¯tugh. ¡°Leona, you are going to stay with us, right, right?¡± Sara smiled and asked. Sara was such a nice, polite and friendly girl. If she didn¡¯t approach Leona first, Leona would have stayed at the room idly. Sara helped Leona enjoy her time at the fortress. Sara looked certain that Leona was going to stay at the fortress. The monsters could not possibly harm Leona, so Leona could live at the fortress if she hid her true identity. Although Leona enjoyed life at the fortress, when she looked Sara who seemed so happy, Leona felt uneasy and out of ce. The kids at the fortress never had to worry about their safety, and they were content that they were living happily at the fortress. They thought that Leona was an interesting friend because she lived through tough environments. Leona felt strange when she looked at the kids who had no hostility toward her. She felt inferior and superior at the same time. Leona felt superior because she gone through many more tough moments than these kids had. But she felt inferior because the kids were pure and innocent and they did not have to worry about survival. Leona had killed many people in order to survive. She was impure and felt uneasy looking at such innocent kids. Leona realized that she would not be able to assimte with the kids after looking at Sara. Sara lived in a world where she could gain what she wanted. On the other hand, Leona did not have ess to many things, and she had to fight for her life every day. They are good kids. They are good people, Leona thought and was truly happy. However, she did not want to be with them. She wondered if they would treat her the same way once they found out her bad nature. Leona had witnessed too much of the sinful nature of human beings. Not just Reavers, she had seen many people who killed other people without remorse just to steal some cash. Leona suspected that the people in the fortress were bad in nature as well. She thought that they were simply hiding behind a mask that covered their true identity. As Leona struggled, she could not easily answer Sara. ¡ª¨C That night, most of the lights in the fortress were turned off. Life in the underground was different than the wilderness. The main lights were turned on and off to control the day and the night. Walking outside a home during night time was prohibited, and everyone had to go to sleep. Ramphil, Zin, and Leona were inside the room. Ramphil went to bed earlier, and Leona was also lying down on her bed. Leona would be able to have her own home and room if she stayed in the fortress.Not many people would reject this opportunity. Leona knew that Zin did not need her help. She knew that it would take at least another five to ten years of training to be a hunter that could be of help to him. The fortress had all the things that Leona was looking for as a home. But Leona was not able to go to sleep. Zin was going to leave tomorrow. Leona felt troubled. ¡ªCreaaaak¡­¡ª Leona walked out to the living room to drink a ss of water, as she couldn¡¯t fall asleep. ¡°¡­¡± And she saw Zin, who was sitting on the sofa and looking at her. ¡°Oh¡­ I couldn¡¯t go to sleep¡­¡± Zin nodded. Leona sat down on the sofa across from Zin. As she sat down, Leona thought that the fortress was not a bad ce to live. Maybe it was okay to finally settle down¡­ Just as she was thinking, Zin started to talk. ¡°You¡¯ll remember that I have lived a long life.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Zin looked at Leona and started to talk slowly. ¡°I¡¯ve met many different people.¡± He helped others, and fought along with others. He received help from others, and he became an important person to others. Zin didn¡¯t exin the people he met in detail, but Leona could understand Zin¡¯s feelings. Memories shed in front of Leona¡¯s eyes. Mr. Hunter! Thank you! A kid held his mother¡¯s hand and waved at Zin. Fast-forward ¨C in the middle of the ruins, Zin was looking at the corpses of the kid and the mom who were savagely killed by monsters. Zin always saved others. He saved and protected people from monsters and humans. However, the people who he protected appeared again as goners in front of him. Or Zin was not able to meet them again, as they were killed. Humans always died. Zin was painfully aware of this truth. Hunter! Please rescue us! People were screaming for help in the middle of the monsters. Hunter! Little children who were fleeing away from the junkwagons were killed by the Reavers. I don¡¯t want to die. Someone had his lower body torn apart and died in agony. Please, at least save my child¡­ please. And there were people who were begging Zin to save their newborn babies. Zin protected all of them at one point. Zin witnessed their deaths or did not get to see them again. Many viges that he rescued became piles of ruinster on, and Reavers feasted on the vigers that he once helped out. He even saw people whom he saved be Reavers. Why did people cling to chips? It was not just because they prolonged the lives of people, Leona was finally able to realize. In the eyes of Leona, Zin was a perfect hunter but he was an imperfect human being. He faced many failures in rtionships and friendships. He was not able to protect anybody, and he did not get to see anyone live happily ever after. And he even had to kill his loved ones with his own hands. The world was a cruel ce for Zin who couldn¡¯t gain any happiness. Zin was not able to stop the sadness at the ces that he left. Zin only seeded in surviving. Zin became numb to the failures. He chose to remain as a hunter, as hunting was the only thing that he could do. Zin gave up living as a human being in the cruel world. He wanted to remain a hunter. And Zin only cared about getting more chips. He thought that it was less painful to pursue chips. If he didn¡¯t love anybody, and if he didn¡¯t care about other people, he would not get hurt by the loss of other people. Killing a couple of devils will not change anything, a blonde man murmured as he looked at the dead body of a woman shredded by a monster. Next to her was a crushed monster¡¯s corpse. I will quit being a devil hunter. The image of the man faded, and a new image appeared. You are going to miss me. In the dark hall of a castle, a wounded and bloody woman was talking while kneeling down. I don¡¯t believe that a person should ept her identity as she is. A glimpse of a smiling woman riding on a junkwagon faded away. In a brief moment, Leona nced at the hundreds of memories passing by. She was not able to understand everything, but she felt a deep sadness. It felt more like despair than sadness. Zin didn¡¯t know what Leona was looking at as he watched her. Leona wondered what Zin had be after he numbed his feelings for so many years. Leona couldn¡¯t fully grasp all his emotions, but she felt emotional just by ncing at all the memories. She wondered how a person could possibly live through that pain. How could a person stay alive after going through all these events? How could one even live even after experiencing all those painful events? Could he continue his path with someone else along? Zin was fully aware that all rtionships led to destruction and despair. At the moment, Zin was walking with Leona, even though it was brief. Leona was able to understand why Zin was keeping some distance with her, why his face hardened when they were getting friendlier, and why he wanted to drop her off at a safe location. And she was not able to ask Zin to go together on the journey. Zin looked at Leona and said, ¡°I came across too many deaths of too many people.¡± A hunter had to go to ces where there was tragedy, and this was Zin¡¯s fate. Zin was smiling but it was a bit unusual. His smile seemed to be mixed with despair. ¡°Leona.¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°Back in Hewl-Jin, you said that I was a coward.¡± You are a coward, mister! Back then, Leona yelled at Zin as he was leaving her. Leona wanted to bite her tongue as she brought up the past conversation. And Zin nodded. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a coward. I am afraid of many things.¡± He was not afraid of monsters or Reavers, but he was afraid of people. He was afraid of people who got close to him. Zin was more afraid of Leona than the White Witch who was lurking around. Zin was afraid of Leona. ¡°I had failed too many times, and I made¡­ too many mistakes. I do not¡­ want to face any more failures.¡± Zin sounded very gentle, yet sad. Zin was telling Leona that all people would die, and that Leona was not an exception and she would die at some point. He didn¡¯t want to see Leona dying in front of him. Zin spoke in such a way because he realized that it was impossible to protect the people dearest to him. He was afraid that Leona would die in front of him. And therefore he was afraid of Leona. Leona knew that she would hurt his feelings if she asked to go together. However, as Leona faced the deep despair of Zin, she bit her lips. She didn¡¯t only read Zin¡¯s past memories. She realized that the old hunter was also afraid of being lonely, simr to how Leona was afraid. Zin lived in the middle of loneliness, but he didn¡¯t like it. He admitted his fate, and moved on. ¡°Mister, you are lonely too.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You need me.¡± Zin didn¡¯t reply. ¡°I could stay here, and I know that it¡¯s going to be better for me. But¡­¡± Leona slowly but firmly spoke again, ¡°I am not needed in this ce.¡± The people of the fortress could wee Leona, but she was not needed by them. ¡°But, I need you, mister.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And, mister, you need me too. I¡¯m certain of it. So, that is the reason¡­ that we are talking like this.¡± If they didn¡¯t need each other, there was no need for this conversation. Parting and going their own ways would be enough. However, Zin was stating the reason that he had to leave Leona behind, and Leona worried about Zin and could not ask to follow him. They both needed each other, but they were only saying the reasons that they had to part. Leona had to make a decision. She could live afortable life where nobody would need her help, or she could live a dangerous life where she would live together with someone who would need her help. People would make different choices, but Leona had made up her mind. Her will was getting stronger as she came across Zin¡¯s past memories. ¡°Once you said that it¡¯s worth more thinking about how to live one¡¯s life than simply surviving each day.¡± ¡°I sure did.¡± Zin wanted Leona to live afortable life at the fortress by pursuing other goals in life. Food and weapons were needed for survival. However, Leona pondered what else would be needed to continue to live. Leona looked at Zin and spoke truthfully without any lies or pretense, ¡°I do not want to stay here to survive. I want to be next to you in order to live my life.¡± Zin was not able to respond to what Leona said. Leona simply wanted to follow the lonely old hunter. As Leona learned why the hunter was trying to push her away, she couldn¡¯t leave him. Leona believed that Leona and Zin could be a bigger help to one another. ¡°¡­¡± Zin closed his eyes in front of the foolish yet wise kid. After a long pause, he opened his eyes, and started to speak slowly. ¡°Leona, I¡¯ve lived a life that was full of mistakes and failures.¡± His voice was trembling. ¡°So¡­¡± Zin continued to talk as if this was his destiny, ¡°I think it¡¯ll be okay if I make another mistake along this journey.¡± Zin knew that he might fail again, but nevertheless, he made a decision that would put him in misery. He didn¡¯t care if he got another scar on top of all the scars he received in the past. He spoke as if a scar was not a big deal. Leona knew Zin had made a tough decision. She knew that Zin had faced many failures, and he chose a rtionship that he knew would fail and cause him pain. Leona knew how tough it was for Zin to make that decision. ¡ªDrop¡ª Tears started to fall down from Leona¡¯s eyes. She tried to wipe away her tears, but they continued toe out. Leona covered her tears quietly without making much noise. ¡°Arg¡­¡± Leona knew that crying would not help in solving any problem. Even though she knew the fact, there were times when one could do nothing but cry. Chapter 73-74 < Devil Hunter and Wargrave (Part 1) > The next day¡­ The armored vehicle was ready to go, and it was time for the team to depart. Leona did not look happy or sad. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be saying bye to your friends?¡± ¡°Eh. Not really.¡± Leona was nning to leave without notice. And she did not know how to handle farewells. However, as Zin was finishing up with packing, he said to Leona in a serious tone, ¡°Make sure you say goodbye to them.¡± ¡°¡­ Why?¡± ¡°You will regretter on.¡± Zin was strongly suggesting that it would be better to say goodbye whenever there was a chance. It was better to bid farewell so that Leona would not regret on skipping it. It was an advice from someone who had experienced many farewells, and Leona nodded as she looked at Zin. She believed that what Zin said was true. ¡°Okay then¡­ I¡¯ll be right back.¡± ¡°Come to the armored vehicle station. People will give you directions when you ask them.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Leona nodded and headed outside the room. It was not too hard to locate Sara. She was on schedule, and it was break time right after breakfast time. Sara was near Leona¡¯s room and was waiting for Leona toe out. ¡°Leona!¡± Sara stood up, and all other kids walked up to Leona. The kids loved listening to Leona¡¯s stories about the wilderness. They asked many questions as Leona talked about her stories. ¡°Let go to school together. It will be fun.¡± Sara was nning to take Leona to the school where the kids were educated. Children at the fortress were assigned to different roles based on their skill sets. Sara looked certain that Leona was going to remain at the fortress. But Leona already made up her mind. However, she was not sure how she would break the news to Sara and the kids. ¡°I am nning to leave.¡± ¡°¡­¡± As Leona finished talking, there was a long silence. ¡°You are lying, right?¡± Sara asked in disappointment. ¡°No, I can¡¯t stay here.¡± Leona didn¡¯t exin her reason in detail, nor could she, really. The decision that she made was illogical. Sara asked Leona again with a trembling voice, ¡°Did you not have fun with us? Is it much better out in the wilderness?¡± ¡°No, I really enjoyed ying with you all. I mean it.¡± ¡°Then, why are you trying to leave out to the wilderness?¡± Sara was not able to understand Leona. She wondered why Leona was leaving a good environment behind and opting to head out to the tough wilderness. As Leona looked at Sara, who was not able to understand what was going on, Leona realized that she was very different from these kids. These kids only worried about the entertainment they enjoyed, and they were different from her. And even though she knew that she shouldn¡¯t be thinking this way, she thought that the kids were too na?ve. Sara started to tear up and held Leona¡¯s hands. ¡°Please don¡¯t go, yeah? If you stay here, you can get all the things you want. You told me that the food here was great, and that you loved all the games here.¡± But Leona shook her head. ¡°I have something more important.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ exin it exactly though.¡± Leona was not confident that she would be able to clearly exin how she wanted to be next to Zin. Leona smiled bitterly as she said, ¡°But I don¡¯t have that something here in the fortress.¡± Leona had something more important outside in the wilderness, so she determined that she could not remain in the fortress. Leona held Sara¡¯s hands and said, ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Leona was speaking from the bottom of her heart. Leona looked at the kids and smiled. She had a smile that resembled that of an adult. ¡°I really mean it.¡± The kids were attracted to Leona who was an outsider and a kid. And although the kids could not describe their feelings, they knew something was different. Thank you, and I mean it. It was not something that a kid would express to others. The kids thought that Leona was a kid more mature than them, a mature adult. Sara and the kids were not able to tell her to stay in the fortress anymore. The stranger from the wilderness was simply a stranger. They realized that Leona was someone from a different world. Leona thanked each kid and said goodbye. Leona was following Zin¡¯s direction by bidding farewell to each kid. ¡°Sis, bye¡­¡± The youngest kid waved his hand and started to cry. Leona smiled and shook his hair with her hand. ¡°Stop crying, you crybaby.¡± Leona tried to smile even though she felt sad. As the first kid started to cry, the rest of the kids started to cry as well. Sara looked gloomy, but she didn¡¯t scream or yell. Sara was a good natured girl. She wanted to be with Leona, but she thought that it was right to let Leona go if she had to leave. ¡°Goodbye¡­¡± But Sara was a kid after all, so she couldn¡¯t hold back her tears. Leona thought that she was going to bete if she stayed too long tofort the kids. ¡°Thank you so much everyone, I will miss you all.¡± Leona felt the warmth from these kids. Leona was leaving the fortress, but she was going to remember their brief time here. ¡°I believe that this world isn¡¯t such a bad ce after seeing you guys.¡± Leona talked liked an adult as she was talking to rtively younger kids, and was sincerely thankful. These were people who did not have any animosity. Leona was d that she was able to meet such people at the fortress. ¡°Okay, bye for now!¡± Leona turned around and started running. Sara and the other kids did not run after Leona. They all stood still and watched her go away. The kids were meant to stay inside the fortress, and Leona was determined to go outside to the wilderness. And although it was a brief time together, the kids realized that they could not live together with outsiders. Just as Leona learned something by meeting the kids, the kids also learned something by meeting Leona. The kids and Leona learned about rtionships through their farewell. ¡ª¡ª Leona arrived at the armored vehicle station, and was amazed at the lines of armored vehicles and tanks. Many people were fixing and doing maintenance work on the vehicles. Zin first spotted the approaching Leona. Ramphil, Zin and the Warlord were observing the maintenance work on the armored vehicle. ¡°Did you get to say goodbye to your friends?¡± Zin asked. Leona replied with a bright voice,¡±Yeah!¡± The Warlord looked bitter as he nced at Leona, who was getting ready to leave. But he didn¡¯t talk. He respected the decision of the executor, as well as Leona¡¯s decision. Once the armored vehicle was lifted up by the elevator, it would mean time to bid farewell to the fortress. The AV now had loading section as well as a new turret operated by a person. ¡°Our technicians worked all night to install a sma gun. Even if the energy is used up, you can refill by using a chip. I hope this will help with your journey.¡± The sma gun was strong enough to blow up any monster. It was great that they had acquired a new vehicle and a new weapon. ¡°Thank you so much, Warlord.¡± The technicians finished thest inspection and came down. Ramphil thanked them personally. Leona got into the vehicle, followed by Zin. Their luggage was already loaded into the vehicle. ¡°Executor, I hope you aplish what you n to do.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope so.¡± The executor gave up pursuing the undercover operative in order to hunt the White Witch. Ramphil had to aplish what he was ordered to do. Ramphil saluted, and the technicians and the Warlord returned it. Leona was amazed at the scene for a split moment. ¡°Let¡¯s go now,¡± Ramphil said as he climbed aboard. A conveyor belt started to move the vehicle to the elevator. Their stay at the fortress was short, but Leona felt like she had been there a couple of months. She realized that she would probably nevere back to this ce. ¡°This ce should be safe, right?¡± Leona asked worriedly, and Zin replied with his arms crossed. ¡°Probably.¡± A fortress was the safest ce in the wilderness. It was still the safest ce in the middle of a war. Leona was not used to parting ways with good friends, and she kept on looking back at the station through the doors. ¡ª¨C The team was heading up north after they left the fortress. She sat in the storage area, and looked unhappy. ¡°This vehicle is still bumpy. How is this different from the previous one?¡± she demanded crossly. ¡°¡­ What did you expect?¡± Zin shot right back. The ride was going to be bumpy on a dirt road even though the vehicle had perfectly fine suspension. ¡°Oh well. This is bearable.¡± Leona could bear the bumpy ride this time around. The team was fully replenished and ready to head to the Heavenly Power castle. While Leona was moving around in the vehicle to feelfortable, Zin took something out from the void storage. ¡°Take this.¡± ¡°¡­ What is this thing?¡± Zin passed over an aluminum box. Inside the box, there were several objects wrapped with white cloths. Leona couldn¡¯t figure out what they were. Zin unwrapped the objects, and started to assemble something. As Leona looked at what Zin was assembling, she was able to figure out what it was. ¡°Is that a gun?¡± she asked softly. ¡°Yes.¡± The assembled gun was an AKM with a detachable stock. Zin passed the assembled AKM over to Leona. ¡°Now throw away your old crappy rifle.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ are you giving this to me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The custom AKM was smaller in size, and the stock was shorter. And more than anything, it was very lightweight. It was too small for an adult to use it, mostly because the AKM was not a rifle for adults. ¡°It¡¯s made out of carbon fiber reinforced stic, and it¡¯s going to be very light. But it¡¯s less sturdy, so you can¡¯t shoot in bursts. You should be able to carry it around and shoot it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s really¡­ light.¡± Leona lifted up the rifle and was surprised at how light it was. ¡°But you made this?¡± ¡°Yes, at the Wargrave manufacturing facility.¡± Zin didn¡¯t just replenish his ammunition. He hypnotized the technician who was following him with sorcery, and created an AKM. He hid the AKM in his void storage, and did not get caught. It was a gun that was custom-built for Leona. ¡°It really feelsfortable. It¡¯s great!¡± Rifles were usually heavy. However, the new rifle was made with lightweight material. Technically, the rifle could be fired in burst mode, but it was not rmended because the barrel would not be able to handle the burst shots. Leona looked at the new rifle and Zin. She thought it was funny that Zin made this new rifle and still suggested she remain at the fortress. ¡°Mister¡­ you are really not honest with yourself.¡± ¡°¡­ Shut up.¡± Zin seemed to feel shy about the situation, and he avoided eye contact with Leona. Ramphil naturally saw everything, but didn¡¯t seem to care about the fact that Zin used the manufacturing device without authorization. He kept on driving the armored vehicle without a word. Leona¡¯s AKM was built to use 5.56mm ammunition. Its size was more like a sub-machine, with a longer barrel. Zin taught Leona how to disassemble and reassemble the rifle. He skillfully disassembled and reassembled the rifle in the back of the bumpy AV. ¡°A rifle will not operate at all if it¡¯s missing any single part. So be careful to not lose any parts.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Zin taught her how to assemble and disassemble the rifle, how to remove a stuck bullet in the barrel, and how to clean it. Leona knew about all this from watching Zin, and she learned quickly. Zin ordered Leona to disassemble and reassemble the rifle first. ¡°Why do I need to do this?¡± Leona did not understand why she had to repeat these steps. ¡°If a kid like you is carrying around a rifle, people will be attacking you to steal the rifle. This will be especially true when you are travelling in a city. Make sure you disassemble the rifle and put it in your bag. Assemble the rifle when you need to use it.¡± ¡°I guess you are right.¡± A kid carrying around a rifle visibly was an open invitation for others to steal the rifle. Zin wanted Leona to learn how to disassemble the rifle so that she could hide it when she was travelling. ¡°That¡¯s the bolt carrier, that¡¯s the hammer, and this is the barrel¡­¡± ¡ªBump! ¡ª ¡°Oh no! It¡¯s rolling away!¡± It was a chaos trying to teach Leona while on a bumpy ride. In the end, Zin had to stop the training after letting Leona try a couple of times. Zin was worried that Leona would lose valuable parts of the rifle. ¡ªck! ¡ª Leona cocked the rifle, and tried aiming it. She was trying to get used to the rifle as much as possible. A gun was a very important weapon for survival, and there was no harm in getting used to using a gun. Zin was also nning to teach Leona how to zero in on a target once they got to a safe ce. After inspecting the rifle for a while, Leona said, ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°¡­ Very unlike you.¡± Zin avoided eye contact with her, and Leona scratched her cheeks as she was getting shy as well. Then, Leona thought of something and shouted, ¡°That¡¯s right! Mister, do you know about this game, ¡®War of the Wastnd¡¯?¡± ¡°¡­ What is that game?¡± Zin replied as he didn¡¯t know what she was talking about. As Zin was puzzled, Leona shouted at Ramphil. ¡°Ramphil! Do you know about the game?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a video game in the fortress. I never yed it though.¡± ¡°¡­ All ordinary people seemed to have yed that game in the fortress?¡± ¡°Well then. I must not be an ordinary person.¡± Leona was rendered speechless after listening to Ramphil¡¯s simple reply. < Devil Hunter and Wargrave (Part 2) > ¡°So, why are you asking me about that game?¡± Zin asked Leona, and Leona started to exin what kind of game the ¡®War of Wastnd¡¯ was, what the objective of the game was, and how the groups were different. ¡°So the wastnd people group- ¡°Just as Leona was about to exin about the units, Zin cut her off. Zin knew about RTS games. He wondered how long it had been since he had yed a video game. Some rich people collected video game consoles from the pre-apocalyptic days, and tried to y them. However it was nearly impossible to possess and y video console games unless the person had a great deal of money and time. Although Wargrave built recreational facilities, Zin did not have time to enjoy ying video games. ¡°Hold on, get to the point.¡± As Zin was tired of listening to the long story, Zin cut Leona off again. Leona became upset and shouted, ¡°You mister came out as a unit in that game!¡± ¡°¡­ What?¡± Zin didn¡¯t expect to hear that. ¡°There was a boss unit named devil hunter. So I produced one, and the unit looked exactly like you.¡± ¡°¡­ How did it resemble me?¡± ¡°You know that sword, Phantomvein? It carried it behind its back. The overall appearance seemed like you.¡± She was not able to try out the unit¡¯s skills, but the unit looked like Zin. There were not many strange people who carried a giant grey sword around. Zin became serious, and Leona continued carefully. ¡°I heard that it used to be a war game before¡­ and that it was modeled after that¡­ At least, that¡¯s what I heard.¡± And as Zin listened to Leona¡¯s exnation, he raised his head up suddenly. ¡°War game? I see¡­¡± Zin slowly nodded as if he was knew the answer. ¡°What is a war game?¡± Ramphil answered instead of Zin. ¡°It¡¯s a war simtion. Each troop¡¯s data and factors are set, and the simtor system predicts what the oue of the war is going to be.¡± Leona was not able to understand what Ramphil was talking about. ¡°Ramphil, sorry, I don¡¯t understand what you just said.¡± Ramphil was not helpful at all, as he was exining to Leona with terms that she didn¡¯t understand. ¡°It¡¯s not too different from the game that you were ying. It¡¯s used to imitate a war.¡± And in fact, the war game was nothing too fancy. Leona was still unsure, but she had no urge to understand everything about it. Zin thought for a bit and said, ¡°If the video game was modeled after a war game, it¡¯s not surprising that the game had data about a devil hunter¡­ But it seems weird that the game developer designed the devil hunter unit to look like me.¡± Zin looked unpleasant, but he wasn¡¯t mad at Leona. Leona continued to ask some more questions. A devil hunter like Zin was probably notmon. And Leona thought that Wargrave had nothing to with devil hunters. Leona was very curious about something, but she didn¡¯t know how to ask. Zin watched Leona thinking to herself. ¡°You are wondering how Wargrave exactly knows the appearance of a devil hunter, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just the appearance. They probably know everything about my body, skills, and everything.¡± Leona was surprised that Wargrave knew a whole lot more about him. She didn¡¯t expect that at all. ¡°Mister, you must have been very close to the Wargrave people.¡± Zinughed out loud, as Leona was talking like Zin was high school buddies with a military organization. Leona figured that Zin had gone through many events in his life because he had lived for a long time. And in fact, Leona did see sh of Zin¡¯s memories. It wouldn¡¯t be too strange if Zin had business with Wargrave. ¡°Mmm¡­ I am not sure if ¡®very close¡¯ is the right word.¡± ¡°Then, how do they know about you and the devil hunter¡¯s data?¡± A war game needed exact data about the people and monsters. The data on skills and abilities had to be properly input into the game. Leona wondered why a war game would have all the data about the devil hunter. Zin simply answered, ¡°Well, that¡¯s because the devil hunters created the Wargrave organization.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Ramphil blurted out. ¡ªCrrrreeeeak! ¡ª ¡°Ahh!¡± Ramphil was more surprised than Leona at Zin¡¯s answer. Leona was breathing hard as she was hung onto the seat belt, and Zin sighed as he looked at Ramphil, who was in utter shock. ¡°I figured that you would be hearing this fact for the first time, but man, that was a violent reaction.¡± ¡°I¡­ I want to listen more in detail.¡± Ramphil got off the driver¡¯s seat, and stood in front of Zin. Zin shrugged as if he thought it was not a big secret. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have much to tell you, but Kaltz was a devil hunter. And really that¡¯s about the whole story. There should be data about devil hunters in the war game, and that video game probably reused the data of the devil hunter unit.¡± Zin was slightly curious about the unit unlocking requirements, but he didn¡¯t care much about it. The video game was just a byproduct of the Wargrave developers. But all that was not important to Ramphil. Ramphil wondered what kind of person Zin was as he said the name of founder of the Wargrave. The first executor, the great general Kaltz. He was the legend of Wargrave, and Ramphil did not expect Zin to say that name. Leona was amused at the whole conversation, and Ramphil was astonished. Zin was amused at their different reactions. Ramphil said, ¡°I want to hear more.¡± But Zin shook his head. Zin didn¡¯t want to talk about it anymore. However Ramphil wanted to hear more from Zin after hearing him speak about the facts of Wargrave that nobody else knew about. ¡°You can¡¯t just stop talking now.¡± Leonained and Zin smiled. ¡°Well, I can now.¡± ¡°Wow you are so annoying¡­¡± ¡°I will tell you one more thing then.¡± Zin smiled and started talking again. ¡°In the case of Kaltz, he was a dragon hunter.¡± ¡°A dragon hunter?¡± Leona did not know what a dragon was. Zin told the two a fact that not many people knew. It sounded outrageous, and it felt like he was talking nonsense. Leona already knew that Zin was a devil hunter and he specifically hunted witches. But he was saying that Kaltz, the founder of Wargrave, was a dragon hunter. ¡°I will tell you the rest of the story when I feel like it. Let¡¯s get going.¡± Zin started a topic that could not be easily understood, and both Leona and Ramphil were wondering what this story was all about. They were slightly annoyed that Zin didn¡¯t tell the full story. ¡°A storyteller never tells the full story in one sitting.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s what storytellers do. It bugs the heck out of the listeners, you know!¡± Ramphilined as he started to drive the vehicle. ¡ªVrrrruum! ¡ª The vehicle started moving violently, and Leona screamed, ¡°Ouch!¡± ¡ªVrrrrrroooooooo! ¡ª ¡°Eaaaaaaaaaaassy!¡± Zin had his arms crossed calmly, and even though he was at fault, Leona was the one suffering. Although Zin was smiling, he soon became serious as the vehicle continued to move. So, they put the data of a devil hunter into a war game, and then made it into a video game? Even though Zin talked as if it was not a big deal, he felt uneasy about it. I sense some hostility here¡­ Zin wondered why the devil hunter¡¯s data would be input into the war game, and he wondered why the devil hunter unit was created based on his own appearance. Kaltz had obviously entered the devil hunter¡¯s data based on Zin into the war game. Why did he do that? It was possible that they entered the devil hunter information to run simtions when the devil hunter was an ally. Or it could have been to run simtions in the case where the devil hunter was an enemy. Or it could have been for both situations. Zin wondered if there was any way to run a simtion with an unpredictable ally like a devil hunter. I don¡¯t know¡­ Whatever the motive was, it was not important. And it didn¡¯t matter if the video game was developed for a specific reason. Kaltz became an ordinary human after running away from his fate, and Wargrave, the organization that Kaltz created, remained as his legacy in this world. Zin ,who remained as a hunter, continued to live in this crazy world. It was impossible to know what his original motive was. After the Apocalypse, the world was always in turmoil. But as Zin thought about the past, it seemed like the past was rtively peaceful. The worst devil had appeared in the world, Wargrave was about to engage in an inter-continental war, and the Reaver group in Siberia was rapidly expanding its territory. It seemed like troubling times were quickly approaching. A nightmarish time was approaching, simr to how the devils were running rampant in the past. ¡ªVrrrruuumm! ¡ª The vehicle sped toward the Heavenly Power castle. And just as Zin had been doing for years, he had to wait for what was toe. ¡ª¨C The vehicle was fully fueled, and the road to their destination was in good condition, mostly open field, with clear visibility. There were not many trees along the way, but several stretches of brush. The in was clear and there was a wide sky in front of the team. Leona was amazed as she looked at the wide and blue sky in front of her. Leona sat in the turret and was looked at the scene around her. ¡°Wow, look. I can see the sky in front of me!¡± ¡°I see.¡± As Leona heard Zin¡¯s unenthusiastic tone, she became annoyed and said, ¡°What an awesome reply¡­¡± Leona had lived in the Korean penins where there were not many ins, and she was amazed when she saw new sceneries. Having great visibility meant that objects could be spotted from far away. It meant that anybody could spot the moving car in the middle of the in. Monsters attacked any moving objects, but they behaved like animals. As the vehicle made a lot of noise, the monsters became restless. Leona spotted something moving near the bushes, and shouted, ¡°I see enemy at 2 o¡¯clock!¡± She yelled again as six monsters run out from the brush. Zin taught Leona how to call directions with the needle of a watch, and Leona was able tomunicate appropriately. But there was no point, even if there were monsters. The monsters ran away from the AV as soon as they spotted the vehicle. Leona looked at the monsters running away and shouted, ¡°The enemies are retreating!¡± ¡°Stop fooling around ande down now,¡± Zin said to Leona sternly and Leona came down. ¡°¡­ Okay.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no fun. The enemies are running away, and I had no chance to shoot the weapon. Why are they running away even though they do not know what an AV is?¡± The monsters ran away from the vehicle as they heard the booming sound of the engine. This was the reason Zin let Leona fool around at the turret. ¡°Would you be willing to hunt something metallic that is making a loud noise?¡± ¡°¡­ Yeah, I suppose that you are right.¡± The moving metallic monster was threatening in the eyes of a monster. It was natural instinct for the monsters to run away from the AV. The ride was very smooth, but unfortunately there was no reason to use the sma gun. ¡ªVrrrrruumm! ¡ª ¡°It¡¯s pretty quiet.¡± Leona seemed to be bored as she could only hear the sound of the vehicle. She continued to y with her AKM. Zin sighed and murmured, ¡°It¡¯s better when things are quiet.¡± ¡°I know that too,¡± Leona replied with a hard face, ¡°I just feel ufortable that things are too quiet.¡± Leona was worried that something was going to happen, she didn¡¯t like the silence at all. On the other hand, Ramphil the driver shouted out, ¡°If we continue north, we¡¯ll reach a city. Are we going to go around it?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zin thought for a while. The Group had expanded its presence to Harbin, and based on the words of the Reavers, the area north of Harbin waspletely controlled by the Group. ¡°There is no reason for us to check if the city is under the control of the Group. Let¡¯s go around the city.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Ramphil passed the city of Suihua, and continued on the path to Yichun city. There was no reason for the team to check the status of a city. Their main goal was to reach the Heavenly Power castle as soon as possible. ¡°What is the Group?¡± Leona didn¡¯t know about the Group and their presence in northeastern Asia. ¡°I don¡¯t know much, but pesky Reavers seem to be controlling this area. There is no reason for us to fight them, so we are avoiding them and going around.¡± ¡°Mmm¡­ really?¡± Leona did not understand what Zin meant. ¡ª¨C A week after the team left Harbin, they were able to arrive at the city of Yichun, where the Heavenly Power castle was located. Compared to other cities, the ruins of Yichun seemed to be different. They all got off the vehicle and looked at the Heavenly Power castle. ¡°What¡­ what is this¡­?¡± Leona was astonished at the surprising scene in front of her. The city of Yichun should have been on a in, but there was a high teau in front of them. Chapter 75 Chapter 75: Strange Omen in the Land of Sorcery (Part 1) Thend around the Heavenly Power castle was raised high up in the sky in a cylinder shape. The castle was about three hundred yards from ground level. It was not going to be easy to climb up to the castle. ¡°Such a weird terrain,¡± Ramphil thought aloud as he looked at the high wall. The way the castle was high up in the sky seemed supernatural. ¡°There is a reason why the castle is called ¡®Heavenly Power¡¯ castle.¡± Leona looked up at the castle in amazement. The name of castle seemed to indicate how great the castle was, but Leona didn¡¯t know the meaning of the castle¡¯s name. The castle looked formidable because the whole ground around the castle was raised high up. ¡°I am amazed how and could be shaped like this.¡± Ramphil wondered how a castle could exist on a weird terrain like this. Ramphil and Leona knew that there were many strange thing that could not be exined, and they thought that this castle was out of this world. ¡°Yes, this is something unusual, and that¡¯s because the environment was created with sorcery,¡± Zin told them. ¡°Sorcery?¡± ¡°What?! Something like this is possible with sorcery?¡± Ramphil and Leona were questioning the possibility. Leona had witnessed the power of sorcery, and Ramphil thought that sorcery was performed as part of shamanistic ceremony by people in the wilderness. They knew that the power of the sorcery existed through Zin, but they couldn¡¯t believe that someone could change the terrain by performing sorcery. But Zin talked as if it was not a big deal. ¡°Thend was raised by a high-level sorcerer, this is not a hard job for that sorcerer.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°I am referring to a sorcerer who has reached the highest level.¡± ¡°Why did he create such an environment?¡± Ramphil wondered why a sorcerer would need to do this. ¡°This is a ce where the Immortal is sealed, and it would not be good to be easily essible by people.¡± The Heavenly Power castle was set up to be a ce people could not easily attack. Ramphil thought that such work would be impossible for Wargrave to pull off. ¡°The world¡­ is full of strong people.¡± Ramphil was amazed that a single sorcerer could pull this off. Wargrave was an organization that didn¡¯t care much about what was going on in the world. Ramphil wondered if Wargrave should be more aware of what was going on. Leona brought up a question, ¡°So, how are we getting up there?¡± ¡°¡­ Hmm, good question.¡± The vehicle would not be able to climb up, and there were no stairs leading up to the castle. Zin pointed at the wall without hesitation. ¡°We are going to climb up. We¡¯ll leave the vehicle down here.¡± ¡°¡­ What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that hard, you know?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a matter of easy or hard¡­¡± Leona was terrified, and Ramphil was astonished at Zin¡¯s suggestion. ¡°The castle was built so that it is not easily essible. It would be stupid to expect a gate to be there.¡± A couple of minutes ago, the team was marveling at the scene of the castle, and now they were dreading about the thought of climbing up the wall. They were not able to take the vehicle with them. Leona was worried, and she looked at the vehicle. ¡°Can you put the vehicle inside the void storage?¡± ¡°You are not making any sense.¡± ¡°What if someone steals the vehicle?¡± ¡°There is a password lock. Someone could smash the vehicle, but they cannot drive away with it.¡± However, it meant that if someone smashed the vehicle, the team would lose their means of transportation. ¡°The main purpose of the vehicle was to take us to this castle. If we lose it, so be it.¡± Zin tapped his hands as he walked towards the cliff. He did not any equipment for rock climbing, but it was not going to be too difficult for Ramphil or Zin to climb up the cliff. Zin put most of his items into the void storage, and wrapped his ck coat around his body. Leona and Ramphil were surprised at what Zin was doing. ¡°I don¡¯t like doing this either. Now get on my back.¡± ¡°Oh, Okay¡­¡± Leona piggybacked on Zin and held on to him. Ramphil and Zin were able to climb the cliff, but Leona was not able to. So, one of them had to carry Leona. Zin was wearing a coat that could be used as a strap, and Leona was dangling on the back of Zin like a baby. Leona seemed to be in good mood, andughed, ¡°Wow, this is so convenient!¡± ¡°You will regret what you have just said. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± As soon as Zin and Ramphil grabbed the rocks, they started to climb up the cliff. Leonaughed for about a minute while hanging on the back of Zin, and then she became astonished when she looked down below. ¡°This is crazy¡­¡± They were moving further away from the ground. Leona grabbed the neck of Zin and murmured, ¡°M-Mister. This is toooo scary!¡± Leona was terrified. She was being carried by Zin, who was climbing up the cliff without any safety equipment. As Zin continued to climb up the cliff like a spider, Leona felt like she was going to faint. ¡°Can you go slower?!¡± Leona was screaming in fear, but Zin and Ramphil continued to move up. After about five minutes, Leona closed her eyes and held tight to Zin. She couldn¡¯t even speak anymore. ¡°Damn¡­ Crazy¡­ Son of a bitch¡­¡± With her eyes closed, Leona was spitting out all the curse words that she knew.
It took about an hour for them to climb up the cliff. Zin and Ramphil were dusting off their clothes as if they had done routine exercise. Leona fell down on the ground as soon as Zin unstrapped his coat. She couldn¡¯t stand up for a while. Leona slowly talked as she was out of breath. ¡°Ah¡­ I think I peed my pants¡­¡± ¡°!¡± Zin was surprised and touched his back. His back was warm but it not wet. ¡°Eh, it¡¯s just sweat.¡± Zin sighed with a relief. Carrying someone on his back was not easy, but being carried by someone was not easy, either. Leona crawled away from the cliff, and could barely stand up. She was having a hard time walking, as she seemed to be out of it. ¡°Wow¡­ the castle looks very different up here.¡± From the top, the castle was in a basin area. There were several wooden houses lined up on the grass area. The vige looked very peaceful and calm. The people seemed to be without fear or sadness as they walked around the fields. Nobody seemed to be armed. To be exact, it seemed to be a point rather than a castle. The people seemed to be living in a point where there were no outside threats. Leona was amazed at the scene. The wooden houses were not built in a straight line, but they were looked beautiful with the nts in the background. There were many nts growing, and people did not seem to have any issue growing food. Zin started walking ahead. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°So there are no guards or gates here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they would need them.¡± ¡°I think they will be on guard.¡± ¡°We just need to exin our situation. Follow me.¡± Zin led the way, and Ramphil and Leona followed behind. The people of the Heavenly Power castle did not seem to realize that some outsiders had arrived. In the forests that surrounded the basin area, there were even animals. There was nothing special about the basin, but there were squirrels, cats, pigeons, and other small animals in the area. ¡°Something¡­ feels odd.¡± Leona felt strange that the area was well maintained. Although the ce was vast, nobody could get into the ce or get out of the ce. She was amazed that such an ecosystem was preserved. She figured that all of the area was man-made. After they passed the forests, there were many farnds where people were growing food. Many nts were growing in the fields: bean, barley, rice, potato, and many other nts. And as the three went through the forests, they came across a woman. It wouldn¡¯t be strange to see the woman get scared of outsiders, but she smiled and greeted them. ¡°Hello, visitors. It looks like you have climbed up the wall to visit us. The Heavenly god must have protected you.¡± Ramphil and Leona were taken aback by the way the woman spoke, and stood still. Zin started to walk towards the woman. ¡°The way of the Heavenly Power seems to be in full force. I thank the Heavenly god. And please pardon my rudeness for disrupting the peace of the castle that touches the sky.¡± ¡°It is rare indeed to see a visitor who knows the way of the Heavenly Power. What brings you here?¡± The woman was smiling all the time. Even though she wore clothes that were old, her posture andnguage suggested that she was not an ordinary woman. ¡°I would like to ask the lord about the seal.¡± When Zin mentioned seal, the woman became serious. It looked like she did not have the authority to talk about the matter. The woman bowed and said, ¡°I will not be able to assist you on that subject. The lord is in the great temple right now.¡± After finishing talking, the woman went back to the fields to work. Zin signaled Ramphil and Leona to get going. The three carefully walked past the fields without stepping on the crops, and headed towards the center of the Heavenly Power castle. ¡°What did you two talk about?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand, something feels funny about this ce.¡± ¡°They are people who don¡¯t panic in any circumstances. The woman we met is a trained person.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are saying. What kind of ce is this?¡± Leona was surprised to see that all the people were too calm even though they were seeing Leona, Zin and Ramphil for the first time. ¡°Hmm¡­ you could think of them as monks who are training in the temple.¡± ¡°Are these religious people?¡± Ramphil couldn¡¯t think of a better way to describe them. Religions still existed around the world. ¡°It¡¯s simr to a religion. Their main goal is to train their inner soul.¡± ¡°It sounds like they don¡¯t care about living?¡± Zinughed at the way Leona described the people. The people of the Heavenly Power castle passed them, and simply greeted the team with a smile. However, Leona and Ramphil still felt uneasy about the way the people acted. Ramphil was especially uneasy about the atmosphere. ¡°Hmm¡­ well, they are not weird people. They don¡¯t only train their minds and souls.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°We refer to them with a different name.¡± Leona and Ramphil stared at Zin as they wondered what the name was, and Zin sighed, ¡°Sorcerer.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Zin was saying that all the people of the Heavenly Power castle were sorcerers?! Leona was astonished, she couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°If you think about it, thisnd was lifted up into the sky by a high-level sorcerer. Wouldn¡¯t it be strange for ordinary people to be living here? Wouldn¡¯t you expect sorcerers to live here?¡± ¡°I mean, yeah that makes sense¡­¡± Leona wasn¡¯t surprised that all the people in the castle were sorcerers. It was just that expected sorcerers to wear skeleton nes and walk around with staves decorated with strange ornaments. However, the people that Leona that met all looked ordinary. ¡°This is pretty amazing.¡± As Leona talked, Ramphil nodded in agreement. ¡°What a crazy ce.¡± Ramphil and Leona were learning that there were many strange things in the world. Most of the buildings in the castle were made out of wood. The people drank rainwater and ate the crops that they farmed. ¡°It is peaceful in a different way than the fortress.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because the standard for abundance is different.¡± Fortresses had an abundant amount of resources, and there were many facilities to improve the quality of life. Life in the fortress was veryfortable. Life in the Heavenly Power castle was perfect in a different way. Leona thought that while the fortress had all the necessities, people in the Heavenly Power castle seemed to be content with what they possessed. There was no abundance of resources, yet there was no shortage of resources. People looks rxed with peace of mind, and Leona thought that this was a good ce where people were mindful enough to act nice towards strangers. In that sense, the Heavenly Power castle seemed to be a good cepared to the fortress. Leona thought that even if the world was a crazy ce, there were still ces where people were nice. ¡°Now that I think about it, I see things that are rted to sorcery!¡± Leona eximed. ¡°¡­ I have no idea about that,¡± Ramphil said. ¡°Look! Look at those things over there.¡± Leona was able to figure out that there were items rted to sorcery around the castle. However, Ramphil who didn¡¯t know anything about sorcery, didn¡¯t understand what Leona was saying. There were golden chains around the doors, and there were items shaped like lions around the door knobs. They were objects that were rted to sorcery. ¡°I don¡¯t get how those items mean anything¡­¡± Ramphil shook his head as he didn¡¯t recognize how the signs and items were rted to sorcery. Zin was amazed that Leona was able to spot objects that were used for sorcery. ¡°I never taught you about sorcery in detail, how did you pick it up?¡± It was possible that Leona was sensing energy from those objects because she was a witch. Leonaughed and said, ¡°They look so out of ce. So it probably means that they are there for a reason.¡± ¡°¡­ That¡¯s an interesting point of view. I suppose you are right!¡± Zinughed, amazed at how Leona came to that conclusion. Chapter 76 Chapter 76: Strange Omen in thend of Sorcery (Part 2) ¡°¡­ You are a quite smart girl¡­ you know¡­ I feel so dumb¡­¡± Ramphil felt stupid as he couldn¡¯t think what Leona was able to observe. And, Leona thought that the objects that were out of ce were sorcery items. And they were in fact items used for sorcery. The objects were used as charms to protect against evil spirits. While the team was amazed what Leona was able to observe. The three kept walking towards the grand temple in the middle of the basin. The temple was a three storied wooden building, and even though it didn¡¯t look fancy, it was built with sorcery in mind. There were four doors in the four directions, and statues of the four guardians were ced on each door. At the corner of every roof, there were statues of the phoenix. Leona was amazed as she looked at the statues of the four guardians ¨C Azure Dragon of the East, Vermillion Bird of the South, White Tiger of the West, and ck Tortoise of the North. ¡°These all look so pointless and useless. But they really put some effort to carve these statues. I guess they are all important sorcery objects?¡± ¡°You are correct.¡± Leona was so good at figuring things out, and Zin thought that she could pose as a fake sorcerer. But as soon as he imagined this witch performing sorcery as a fake sorcerer, he became terrified. He imagined Leona performing simple sorcery and causing havoc. Leonaughed and said, ¡°I think I am very talented, right?¡± Yeah sure¡­ Zin didn¡¯t reply to Leona¡¯sment. As they went inside the temple, there were kids who were sweeping the floor. The kids were surprised to see visitors. The kids were probably not trained enough to handle unexpected guests, but Leona felt morefortable seeing kids who reacted naturally. The oldest kid ran inside the temple, and the other kids stood still and kept on looking at the team. Shortly after, the door of the temple opened up, and an old man with grey robe started to walk out. He had a long white beard that touched his stomach, and he had a very polished look. He appears to be a wise man or a master. He was old and seemed to have trouble moving around. But he looked very calm with poise. Zin looked at the old man, and the old man continued to walk slowly towards the team. He moved very slowly and gracefully. The old man started to speak. ¡°¡­ The Heavenly god must have allowed us to meet for the second time.¡± ¡°I am surprised that you became a lord, but I am more surprised that you are still the lord.¡± ¡°That is because the Heaven still wants me to serve the people. It appears that you haven¡¯t aged sincest time we met, master hunter.¡± The old man and Zin seemed to know each other, and they continued to talk. Zin stretched out his hand that didn¡¯t change in appearance for years, and the old man stretched out his skinny and wrinkly hand. ¡°Long time no see, lord.¡± ¡°Long time no see, master hunter.¡± Zin remember the young man¡¯s face as he looked at the old man¡¯s face. The old man looked at Zin and realized how Zin hasn¡¯t change much. Although an eternity had passed, it seemed like only a season passed for the master hunter in front of him. Leona and Ramphil didn¡¯t join the conversation of the old man and Zin. Zin looked at the temple as he was recollecting memories. ¡°Has it been fifty years¡­?¡± ¡°Yes. And fortunately, the previous lord had lived a good long life.¡± ¡°Right.¡± There was no better blessing than living a life to its fullest. In that sense, the previous lord was a lucky man. ¡°Is it too greedy for me to expect that this meeting will bring more good fortune?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to meet your expectations. Let¡¯s go inside and talk. ¡°Yes. Please bring out some tea for us.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± The kids started to move around, and Zin, Leona and Ramphil followed the lord into the temple. ¡ªPzztt! ¡ª Ouch! But as Leona tried to walk inside the temple, a blue light sparked, and Leona was thrown away from the temple. The lord became startled at the scene. ¡°Hmm? What is going on¡­?¡± ¡°Ow¡­ That hurts like a mother¡­ damn!¡± Leona felt a brief pain, and she became teary in pain. There was a blue curtain of light drawn around the temple. Then, Zin finally realized what he was forgetting about. ¡°Oh, I forgot. Lord, please deactivate the temple¡¯s energy force.¡± ¡°What is going on? I don¡¯t understand why the force field would react¡­?¡± The lord was puzzled. Zin pointed at Leona and said, ¡°That kid is a witch.¡± ¡°What?!¡± The lord who was rarely shocked by anything shouted out. Zin¡¯s statement was shocking for the lord. ¡°What, what did you just say? And, Ramphil who heard this for the first time also was in great shock.
The temple was surrounded with a high level force field that prevented any evil being entering into the temple. It was not a surprise that the force field reacted as Leona as entering the temple. The lord of the Heavenly Power castle was able to understand Zin¡¯s story about the emergence of the new witch, but the lord was not able to ept Leona. If Zin was not present, the lord would have captured or killed Leona. But Zin was in control of the situation. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the devil as you do, master hunter. I believe you have a reason for travelling together with her.¡± The lord knew about Zin very well, and he trusted that Leona was not going to be a threat. But more than anyone, Ramphil was shocked about the news. Ramphil was in pursuit of the white witch, and he couldn¡¯t believe Leona was a witch. And he wondered why Zin kept this as a secret all this time. ¡°Why did you keep this as a secret all this time?¡± ¡°You never asked.¡± Ramphil remained speechless at Zin¡¯s response. Leona felt guilty and she didn¡¯t know what to do. Zin tapped Ramphil¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°It was a tricky matter to exin to you in detail. Anyways, I¡¯m sorry about it.¡± ¡°Phew¡­ okay, fine.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go in.¡± As the lord waved his hands, the blue colored force field disappeared. Ramphil was shocked that Leona was a witch, but he was more shocked that a force field could be created without the help of technology. He never imagined that such power would exist without technology. He was witnessing a non-technical power for the first time. ¡°I am not even sure what I should ask at this point.¡± Ramphil seemed to be puzzled, and he followed the lord and Zin into the temple. Leona also slowly entered the temple. Everyone took off their shoes and walked into the temple. The temple had a high ceiling, and there were scrolls and altars inside. It had a very mysterious feel. Zin found the ce very messy and unorganized, but the rest of the team thought that the ce looked very mysterious. There was burning incense that smelled good, but Leona seemed to be ufortable. ¡°I don¡¯t feel good¡­¡± ¡°You are an unclean being, and it¡¯s natural for you to feel ufortable when you see these items.¡± ¡°¡­ Hey, that is not very nice of you to say.¡± Leona became very angry because Zin referred her as an ¡®unclean being.¡¯ And as usual, Zin smiled and said, ¡°That was on purpose. If you were upset by it, I apologize.¡± ¡°You are pissing me off even more!¡± Leona was yelling at Zin, but she couldn¡¯t do much about it. As the lord watched the two interact, he wondered what their rtionship was. Zin was the most persistent, nasty and cruel devil hunter of all. Even though the lord had not seen Zin hunt down devils, he heard many stories about Zin ying devils without mercy. Zin was a humane person, but he did not show mercy to the monsters and devils. The merciless hunter was fooling around with a kid whom the hunter referred as a witch. The lord found the situation very strange. The kid must not be dangerous. The lord was observing Leona carefully, and he drew that conclusion. The kids brought hot tea to the four people who were sitting down. ¡°If there is one joy about the Heavenly Power temple, it is drinking tea. Let¡¯s drink some tea and talk.¡± The people of Heavenly Power castle enjoyed drinking tea. People of Wargrave drank different type of energy drinks, but they did not drink any tea. Heavenly Power castle was the only ce on Earth where people could drink tea. Ramphil didn¡¯t really care about people drinking tea. And Leona looked at the things prepared and asked, ¡°What is tea?¡± ¡°You add hot water to the tea leaves and drink.¡± ¡°Is it good?¡± ¡°It depends on who you are.¡± The lord picked some tea leaves, and he was getting prepared to brew some tea. Zin was amused as he looked at the lord. ¡°It would be great to see how much the Heavenly Power temple¡¯s tea ceremony has improved.¡± ¡°Haha¡­ you are putting me on the spotlight, master hunter.¡± ¡ªDrip¡ª The green tea was brewed, and the lord poured tea for everyone. Leona blew air out of her mouth to cool the tea. ¡ªGulp! ¡ª Ramphil didn¡¯t think much and he drank all the tea in one gulp. Ramphil was a cyborg so he didn¡¯t get his mouth burned, and after drinking all the tea in a second, Ramphil looked at Zin. Ramphil always gave out his honest opinions, and he also provided his opinion about the tea. ¡°It¡¯s interesting.¡± ¡°¡­ Hey, you don¡¯t drink tea like that. You need to drink it slow, and enjoy it.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know at all.¡± ¡°Wargrove people are such dorks.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Ramphil was mocked as a ¡°dork¡± for the first time, and he stared right back at Zin. But as Ramphil how the lord was drinking the tea, he had to admit that he was acting like a dork. The lordughed and poured another cup of tea, and this time, Ramphil slowly took a sip. ¡°¡­Interesting.¡± Ramphil answered exactly the same as before. Leona also drank a sip, and she shook her head with her tongue sticking out. ¡°It reminds me of the poisonous dog meat. It¡¯s¡­ not that great.¡± Leona didn¡¯t know how to express the bitterness of tea, and she expressed the taste that way. Both Leona and Ramphil did not seem to like the taste of tea at all. Zin smiled and said, ¡°My lord, please excuse them. They are not sophisticated enough to drink tea.¡± ¡°Haha¡­ People have their own preferences. As long as they are open-minded to try a new thing, that¡¯s good enough.¡± The lord was not particrly disappointed at them. Zin took another sip as he smiled. Zin enjoyed the aroma of the tea, and then he put the cup on the table. ¡°It feels good that some things don¡¯t change even after many years. It¡¯s good.¡± Zin was praising that the tea tasted better than thest time. The lord smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s a great honor.¡± Zin finished drinking his cup of tea. Even though the civilization was regressing, there were other things that were improving. It was just a cup of tea, but Zin was happy to see what some things were getting better. Leona finished drinking her cup of tea, but she couldn¡¯t understand why Zin was enjoying it. ¡°It¡¯s like alcohol.¡± ¡°¡­It is very close.¡± Leona remembered the times when her hometown¡¯s vigers drank cheap and smelly alcohol. She was able to figure out how valuable the tea was. At least, the tea didn¡¯t smell bad like alcohol, and it smelled pretty good. Leona was right in a sense that the tea and alcohol were items of personal preference. Zin slowly looked at the lord in order to start to talk him. ¡°This conversation will take a while.¡± ¡°A long conversation is more than weed in this solitary ce where life is peaceful.¡± Leona thought that the way the lord spoke was strange, but she also thought that it was cool as well. Leona had only seen old men who were addicted to alcohol and drugs and lived painful and meaningless lives. And most of the men died before getting old. Leona was amused at the old man who acted like a gentleman. Zin started talking to the lord, but he was also intending to tell Ramphil as well. ¡°Couple of months ago, at Ard Pointe, a small vige in the Korean penins, I received a request.¡± Zin started to tell his story from the beginning.
Zin started talking all the things that happened. He talked about how he received a request at Ard Pointe, and how he met Leona at the city of Zado. How he left Ard Pointe, and came back. How he left Leona, met Charl, and then came back to Ard Pointe. Leona could not take her eyes off Zin, as she was amazed at Zin who was talking every single story about Zin and Leona. Ramphil was also listening carefully to Zin¡¯s story. Ramphil was astonished to hear about the rtionship between Zin and Charl, and how the White Witch was created. For the first time, Leona learned that the White Witch was created by the Central Asia Division, and that Leona was probably the offspring of the prototype that escaped from theboratory. The lord, Leona, and Ramphil learned about new facts after listening to Zin¡¯s story. Zin exined the powers that the White Witch possessed, and what power he wascking while fighting against the witch. And he finished talking after exining the trip to the Heavenly Power castle. ¡°¡­I can¡¯t believe that the White Witch was a Wargrave experiment¡­¡± Ramphil did not know about the truth. Leona had an idea that her mother was a witch, but she was shocked to learn about the story about her mother. She remembered the conversation she had when she met the White Witch for the first time. Kiddo. Did you know that your psychowave is very loud? I¡¯m getting a massive headache. Is Elle¡­ dead? Leona was finally able to understand what the sad White Witch was meaning. Chapter 77 Chapter 77: Strange Omen in thend of Sorcery (Part 2) Leona vividly remembered the moment when the White Witch was looking at her as if she knew who she was. The witch was drawn by Leona¡¯s psychowave, and so she approached her. Leona did not know the name of her mother. Her father had always called her a bitch. Leona knew that this insult wasn¡¯t her mother¡¯s name, but Leona didn¡¯t want to find out either way. Her mother¡¯s name was Eiel. Leona thought it was a strange name, and she felt strange that the White Witch was showingpassion to her because of the name and her mother. In the end, Leona was able to survive because the White Witch had helped her out. ¡°The only way to defeat her is to seal a portion of the White Witch¡¯s power, and then y her with the Phantomvein.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s why you need the power of a sealing force.¡± The lord nodded in understanding. Zin was unable to cast sorcery powerful enough to seal an Immortal. ¡°What is the current state of the seal?¡± ¡°It entered into a stage where the soul has already disappeared a long time ago.¡± The lord and Zin were talking in anguage that Leona and Ramphil couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°Then, it won¡¯t be a big deal if I borrow a portion of the power.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ but I doubt that you could seal such a dangerous devil with just a portion of the sealing power.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have much choice. I don¡¯t know where the sessor of the emperor is.¡± ¡°Are you referring to the sessor¡­?¡± The lord sighed. He wasn¡¯t sighing because he was missing the emperor. He was feeling miserable to be exact. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°In fact, about a year ago, a person who reached the higher levels visited the temple.¡± ¡°¡­ I assume you¡¯re talking about the high-level sorcerer?¡± ¡°Yes. And he imed that he received the power of the emperor.¡± It was considered as great news that there was someone who received the power of the emperor, also an Immortal hunter, as a sessor. But the lord looked gloomy instead. ¡°¡­ Please tell me what you saw.¡± ¡°He indeed had the power, but he didn¡¯t seem to be a mature person who could have possibly gained the power.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Could you exin what you mean by that?¡± ¡°He was asking for the Heavenly Wind. He was iming for his right as the sessor of the emperor¡­¡± ¡°Heavenly Wind¡­ Isn¡¯t that the charm that the emperor left at the temple?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ But I didn¡¯t expect the sorcerer to abruptly demand it¡­¡± The lord seemed to be upset about the experience he had. ¡°He said that he was going to sell it and buy some drinks with the money.¡± ¡°¡­ Who is this crazy bastard?¡± Zin was visibly upset as he yelled in anger. Leona had never seen Zin speak in such anger before.
The Heavenly Wind was not an ordinary item for one to joke around with. Zin asked the lord again, ¡°So, did you give it to him?¡± ¡°Yes, I had to give it to him because he was the rightful sessor.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zin¡¯s face had turned red with anger. ¡°Damn it¡­¡± ¡°What is that Heavenly Wind thing, mister?¡± Feeling very curious, Leona looked at Zin and asked the question. Zin took a deep breath, and started to answer her. ¡°It¡¯s the greatest charm that an Immortal hunter can use. It¡¯s as powerful as my Phantomvein.¡± The Heavenly Wind was the charm that the emperor, a high-level sorcerer and Immortal hunter, carried with him. The Heavenly Wind was one of the most powerful charms that contained enough power to destroy the devils. Zin wondered who¡¯d be crazy enough to sell that powerful charm. But Leona was curious about the charm itself and asked, ¡°What is it about that charm that would make it as powerful as your Phantomvein?¡± ¡°If an experienced sorcerer wields it, he can control the weather at his own will.¡± The Heavenly Wind was a charm made with a dragon¡¯s pearl, an Immortal¡¯s skin, and a Vampire¡¯s tendon. The charm contained the power of a dragon, and a high-level sorcerer could draw immense power using the charm. Leona couldn¡¯t understand how the charm could control the weather. ¡°No way, how is that even possible¡­?¡± Ramphil didn¡¯t finish his sentence. He remembered the mysterious blue force field around the temple from before. The Heavenly Wind was used to maintain a good climate for the Heavenly Power castle. The emperor used the charm to call for rain when there was a drought, and to clear up the sky when sunshine was needed. Although there weren¡¯t any high-level sorcerers in the temple to utilize the full power of the charm, the charm was a very important item for the temple. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you think that he had other motives? I can¡¯t imagine someone selling the charm to buy some drinks¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. He mentioned his reasons, and he appeared to be enough of a loser that¡¯s capable of doing such thing.¡± There were no monsters in the castle so it wasn¡¯t possible to gain any chips. And in fact, people in the castle did not use any tool that required energy. They lived among nature without the help of technology. It was not possible for the lord to pay up the sorcerer who was demanding the charm. In the past. I will leave my Heavenly Wind here in order to tame the power of the Heavenly Power rock. If my sessor needs the charm, please give it to him. The emperor told the lord that he will leave the charm on one condition. You should give the charm no matter what the reason is. The emperor said that the lord needed to give up the charm when the sessor came back to retrieve it. However, the lord did not expect to hear such a lousy reason from the sessor. Zin was extremely upset, his head facing down as he shook in anger. ¡°Okay, whether that punk sold the charm or not, I see that he¡¯s not going to be helpful at all. That¡¯s good enough to know.¡± Zin was upset that he learned about the sessor. He was in shock that the sessor to the Immortal hunter had turned out to be an idiot. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the seal.¡± Zin was not the type of person to stay hung up on matters that were out of his control. He started to move to aplish his original goal. Zin stood up, and the lord followed him. ¡°Are the two guests also apanying us?¡± The lord asked Zin, and Zin nodded after looking at their faces. ¡°It won¡¯t be the best experience, but it will be worth it. Follow me.¡± The lord was okay with the outsiders entering the seal as long as Zin gave permission. Leona and Ramphil wondered what Zin had done for the lord. Even though Zin was very demanding, the lord had epted all of his requests. The lord took a torch that somehow didn¡¯t look like an ordinary torch. It gave off a pleasant scent. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this is going to be enough¡­¡± The lord pulled the door handle located behind the temple. ¡ªCreeeak!¡ª Leona was surprised by the sound, causing Zin to smile and say, ¡°I think we need to rece the hinge?¡± ¡°Haha¡­But it alerts us when other people enter the temple. Sometimes, old things are better than newer things. Master Hunter, you know about this truth.¡± Aged items had a power that newer items didn¡¯t have. Zin smiled as he listened to the lord¡¯s wise words. ¡°Lord, you¡¯re now showing off your wisdom in front of an old man as well.¡± ¡°Haha, did I, Master Hunter?¡± Zin and the lord started to walk down the stairs, with Ramphil and Leona following behind them. Leona looked at Ramphil and started to whisper to him, ¡°Zin is starting to talk more like an old man after meeting that lord.¡± ¡°I think so, too.¡± ¡°¡­Zin is great at socializing with people of different age groups.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± As Leona giggled from behind, Zin sighed. He thought that it would be best to ignore the kid. ¡ªFrrrrr! ¡ª The lord lit the fire on the torch, illuminating the dark passageway. The underground passageway was barely wide enough for four people to walk side by side. And the passageway was shaped in a spiral towards the underground. The team couldn¡¯t believe that there was such a passage leading down. Then the lord¡¯s face hardened. ¡°Master Hunter, would you please exin about the fortune and curse to the group?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do so.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°From this point on, I prohibit you from taking any unlucky actions.¡± As Zin talked in a serious manner, Ramphil and Leona became slightly nervous. ¡°We are now entering a very important ce. Any small, unlucky action could cause harm to the seal. And I¡¯m saying this so that we¡¯re careful about our actions.¡± Leona wanted toin and ask why Zin brought them here in the first ce, but she remained silent and continued to look at him. ¡°Don¡¯t turn on any othernterns and don¡¯t illuminate other ces because it¡¯s dark. Don¡¯t spit on the floor. Don¡¯t drag your feet on the ground. Don¡¯t talk unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary. And you especially, Leona, don¡¯t curse at all.¡± ¡°Oh, okay¡­¡± Zin continued to talk about things to be aware of. He said that if someone sneezed, that person needed to sneeze two more times in a row. He talked about many things that made Leona question whether they really had to be careful about them. After Zin finished talking, he started to walk forward. ¡°W¡ªwhat happens if we make a mistake?¡± ¡°Nothing will happen.¡± ¡°¡­ What? Then why did you exin all those things earlier?¡± ¡°It is foolish to act in a way that could possibly bring disaster even though you know that there will be no disastering. It¡¯s an unwritten rule among the sorcerers when they¡¯re about to deal with sorcery. And we¡¯re in a ce where a powerful level of sorcery is at work. We need to be extra careful.¡± Zin was saying that they had to be careful even though nothing was going to happen. Leona couldn¡¯t understand what he was trying to say, but Ramphil was able to understand Zin¡¯s intentions. He was simply saying that there was no harm in being extra cautious. Of course, Ramphil and Leona did not want to cause a disaster, and they carefully walked down the passageway. After some time, nobody in the group was talking as they were following the torch in front of them. There was a heavy silence, and the group continued to march down. There was a reason the Heavenly Power castle was at the top of the ground. Leona had a feeling that the Immortal was sealed in the middle of the Heavenly Power rock. She thought that it should be hotter because they were heading underground, just like how she¡¯d entered the cave ants¡¯ hive. But instead of heat, Leona sensed a chill in the surroundings. She wondered if she would hear the voice of the Immortal, but luckily she didn¡¯t sense that. Ramphil was thinking about many different things as he walked down the mysterious yet suspicious passageway deep under the ground. He thought about the Heavenly Wind charm that could control the weather and the mysterious power of sorcery. Ramphil was always surprised to find unknown and new powers during his travels with Zin. And he was still confused by the fact that the White Witch was a byproduct of a Wargrave experiment. The Wargrave organization, which normally didn¡¯t care much about what happened in the wilderness, had been fully aware of the White Witch. Ramphil was mindful of his abilities and his position in the Wargrave. He had no intention to live for justice. Anyone iming to work for justice was an idiot brainwashed by the Wargrave¡¯s propaganda. It was not possible to live for justice. But Ramphil wondered why anyone would choose to live an unrighteous life. He wondered what the Wargrave was nning to do with the White Witch. The Central Asia Division had conducted the experiment in secret, causing an internal conflict of the Wargrave organization as a result. Ramphil was more affiliated with the CAD than the HQ. The Warlord Ramzier who gave orders to Ramphil was under the control of the CAD. Ramphil had no reason to live a righteous life, but he considered it pointless to live an unrighteous life. As he thought about the White Witch, he realized that she was just a victim. The White Witch went on a rampage to kill people because she was furious about the experiments conducted on her. Ramphil wondered if it was even right to hunt the White Witch. The White Witch was created because of the Wargrave, and that White Witch killed many people. Who could say that the Wargrave wasn¡¯t at fault? A couple of days ago, Ramphil had killed the Reavers who put the family into the cage because Ramphil had felt obnoxious. However, now that he¡¯d learned about the Wargrave¡¯s deeds, he wondered how their organization was any different than the Reavers¡¯. If the order is hical, or if the HQ is corrupt, what should a soldier do? ¡°Ramphil!¡± ¡°!¡± Ramphil lifted his chin up as he heard the cry. Ramphil realized that he was lying down on the ground and Zin was holding onto him. The lord was waving the torch around him vigorously. The darkness was shrieking as the torch¡¯s light brightened the area around Ramphil. He was astonished to see the darkness running away from the light. Gwaaaaahahhahahaha! As the lord swung the torch, the light ripped apart the darkness, and Ramphil continued to watch the scene. And shortly after, Zin yelled again. ¡°Wake up!¡± ¡ªp!¡ª Leona pped Ramphil¡¯s face with all her might. He slowly stood up, his cheek bright-red. ¡°Why¡­ why am I lying down?¡± ¡°Possession. Not even a minute has passed. Stand up now.¡± ¡°All sorts of spirits are wandering about because the Heavenly Wind is missing¡­¡± ¡°We can¡¯t do much about it.¡± The lord sighed, feeling distressed. In a split second, Ramphil was possessed by an evil spirit. Leona grabbed his throat and checked him here and there. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°Yes, except for my cheek.¡± Ramphil rubbed his cheek with his hand and stood up. ¡°It was brief, but you were possessed. Your powerful body may be safe from bullets, but you¡¯re not immune from possession.¡± ¡°I know that¡­ But I¡¯ve never experienced this in my life¡­¡± Originally at the Seoul fortress, Ramphil was part of the counter-spirit troop. He was used to fighting against ghosts and spirits, but he¡¯d never experienced a possession. ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯ve only ever encounteredrge ghosts that only attacked in full force. You¡¯ve probably never encountered a sly and sneaky spirit.¡± Ramphil was still feeling disoriented, but the group was safe since the lord scared away the spirits. ¡°This kiddo saved you. You need to thank her.¡± ¡°What? Me?¡± As Zin exined how Ramphil was safe, it was Leona who was surprised, not Ramphil. ¡°The spirit that possessed Ramphil ran away because you yelled out loud.¡± Leona knew what Zin was talking about. Ramphil lost his consciousness and fell down to the ground, and as soon as Leona shouted at Ramphil, it surprised the spirit and ran away because of the power of the witch. ¡°Thank¡­ thank you¡­¡± Ramphil thanked Leona, and he couldn¡¯t believe that she saved him. Leona scratched her cheek since she didn¡¯t expect to hear Ramphil thank her. ¡°You were just unlucky. As long as you¡¯re fine now, I¡¯m good.¡± Leonaughed, and Ramphil also smiled as he tried to bnce his body. Luckily, Ramphil was possessed for a very short period of time, and there were no issues with his body. ¡°That¡¯s amazing. I can only fend off spirits, but she was able to scare away the spirits with a single cry¡­¡± The lord seemed amazed at witnessing the power of the witch for the first time. Chapter 78 Chapter 78: Treacherous Spirit The lord was only able to fend off the evil spirits by swinging his torch, but Leona could scare them away with just a yell. ¡°What were those spirits?¡± Although it was unlucky to talk about spirits, Zin thought that it would be good to exin them to Leona. ¡°They are spirits that enter the mind of an agitated person. It enters their body and turns them insane. If you don¡¯t pay attention, you will get possessed. As Zin talked, he looked at Ramphil in warning, and Ramphil nodded in response. He had been thinking of various things, allowing the spirit to enter his mind. ¡°If you have any worries, think about them outside. Only focus on what¡¯s in front of us.¡± ¡°Got it. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± The lord began to lead the way again and the group moved in single file. Ramphil then realized why only the lord was carrying the torch. It was not only meant to brighten the passageway but also to act as a charm to fend off evil spirits. That was the reason the lord could chase off the spirits by swinging the torch. The lord continued swinging it to fend off other spirits. Ramphil didn¡¯t fully understand sorcery, but he believed that its power could be trusted. ¡°Isn¡¯t this ce considered sacred to sorcerers? Why are there so many spirits roaming around?¡± Ramphil thought that Heavenly Power Castle should be a ce where spirits couldn¡¯t easily approach due to the charms and force fields. He couldn¡¯t believe that there would be so many spirits in the most important area of the castle. ¡°What the heck are you talking about?¡± Zin responded as if he had asked a stupid question. ¡°This Heavenly Power Castle is a ce where a devil is sealed and this is the entrance to the seal. This ce is far from being a sacred ce.¡± Numerous charms decorated the castle in order to prevent evil spirits from escaping the castle¡¯s heart. The spirits were not actually drawn into the sacred ce. Heavenly Power Castle even had a device called the ¡°Heavenly Power Big Rock¡± that keep evil energy from spreading to surrounding areas. Evil spirits were also drawn around the castle. The people of the castle had to install many devices and charms in order to live there. One would assume the castle to be a ce free of evil spirits, but in reality, it was surrounded by the greatest amount of evil energy. ¡°¡­Why are you so close to me?¡± Zin quickly nced back and saw Ramphil and Leona right behind him. It didn¡¯t seem like they were willing to be any farther away from him.
As the group traveled further down the passageway, the torch¡¯s light became weaker. It wasn¡¯t because the oil had run out, but because the darkness had be denser. It stayed around the light, refusing to dissipate easily and swirling with the consistency of mucus. Although the darkness wasn¡¯t a spirit, it moved like a living organism. Light would normally cast it away, but in this ce, the darkness retreated very slowly. It looked unnatural and somewhat freaky. It became darker as they continued. Everyone gathered around the torch in the lord¡¯s hand. ¡°The absence of the Heavenly Wind is causing the spirits to freely roam.¡± Zin said. ¡°Yes¡­I thought that the charm was only used to control the weather, but it appears that it was a big factor in containing the evil spirits inside the temple.¡± The area near the sealing force was extremely dark. The lord and Zin were silent. They were in a very dangerous situation. If the torch was extinguished, the animated darkness would start attacking and devouring the group. As part of the environment, it was not an actual monster. Although the light was fending off the darkness, the darkness itself was an inanimate object that had the desire to destroy living things. ¡°Light!¡± ¡ªFrrrh! ¡ª As soon as the lord yelled, the torch started to burn stronger, but the darkness only receded by about a foot. The group could stave off the darkness temporarily, but they would end up being engulfed sooner orter. ¡°There are only three torches left,¡± the lord said worriedly. Leona slowly shook her head. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you bring more?¡± ¡°It was made with great effort by using a birch tree struck with lightning. The tree is soaked in golden orange oil. I¡¯m afraid this is all I have. I¡¯m sorry.¡± The torch he had brought was not an ordinary torch but a tool used to enter the prohibited area. Such a special torch was difficult to mass produce. ¡°I came down here a year ago, but I didn¡¯t expect things to get worse,¡± said the lord. He didn¡¯t think that the darkness would be more dangerous within the span of one year. It seemed ready to devour the torch at any moment. ¡°What are you going to do, master hunter? We can still return.¡± The group had two options: one, they could use the three remaining torches to go down the dark passageway or two, they could head back up and wait until they had enough torches. Zin didn¡¯t want to take any risks, but waiting to create more torches would take forever. They didn¡¯t have the Heavenly Wind to create storms, so it would be impossible for lightning to strike a birch tree in the near future. ¡°Hold on. I will go by myself.¡± ¡°Wait, Mister!¡± ¡°Stay here.¡± Zin retrieved Phantomvein from the void storage and ran into the darkness. Leona¡¯s gaze followed him, but she couldn¡¯t see anything. The lord also looked into the darkness worriedly. ¡ªShank! Kyaaaaah! Kweeeeeeh! ¡ª Not for after, a shriek resounded throughout the cavern and Leona became terrified. The monsters¡¯ cries continued, but Zin returned. He seemed to have killed something, although there was no blood on his body and his Phantomvein was clean. ¡°As soon as we move away from the torch, the darkness begins to form a living organism,¡± Zin murmured with a serious expression. The lord also became solemn. ¡°It¡¯s a Treacherous Spirit of Darkness. We will not be able to move farther.¡± Only swirling darkness could be seen, but as soon as the light was gone, it would form into the shapes of various monsters and then attack like a living being. ¡°Hmm¡­ I can¡¯t believe a Treacherous Spirit settled down here.¡± The lord murmured with a serious expression. ¡°What is a Treacherous Spirit?¡± Leona asked. ¡°It actually refers to an unclear, abnormal phenomenon. In this case, the whole cave¡¯s darkness became the cause of the abnormal phenomenon.¡± In the post-apocalyptic world, there were not only monsters but also strange phenomena. Treacherous Spirits were more dangerous than regr monsters. It was also trickier to fight against. The Treacherous Spirit of Darkness that dwelled only in dark caves was blocking off the passage to the sealing force. It was ready to attack the group as soon as the cave became dark. Moving forward was too dangerous with that type of Treacherous Spirit lurking in front of them. It was suicidal to do so and fight against an enemy whose power was significantly magnified. ¡°We will not be able to defeat it without an exorcism. Let¡¯s head back up.¡± The lord couldplete an exorcism, but performing such powerful sorcery required a powerful item as well. The group decided to head back and return at ater time. Suddenly, Leona grabbed Zin¡¯s coat. ¡°I will go.¡± ¡°I knew you would say that, but no.¡± ¡°If that thing is simr to a monster, then it won¡¯t attack me, right?¡± It was clear that Leona, a witch, would not be attacked by a strange phenomenon or a monster. However, Zin gave her a stern look. ¡°Stop,¡± he said. ¡°You can¡¯t do anything down there. How are you going to find the way? You can¡¯t go down only by touching the wall.¡± Ramphil nodded in agreement. ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t see anything with my night vision. I don¡¯t know why you won¡¯t get attacked, but I am against you going down by yourself.¡± The dark path appeared dangerous and Ramphil shook his head. Nevertheless, Leona didn¡¯t back down. ¡°Trust me. Just tell me what I need to do. Mister, you can wait up there.¡± As long as the others waited in the area outside the Treacherous Spirit¡¯s influence, the group would be okay without a torch. The only problem was theck of visibility. The passageway did not branch, so there was no risk of getting lost. It would obviously take a long time before they could return. ¡°I want to help too.¡± Leona wanted to contribute to the team in some way and she was the only person who could help at the moment. She was willing to do it, no matter cost. Zin knew that Leona was ufortable about being protected all the time. He also knew that she had to only be careful of the darkness. She wouldn¡¯t be threatened whatsoever. However, he was still hesitant to send her into the darkness, even though doing so was the best option at the moment. ¡°¡­¡± Leona was such a troublesome kid. She could have chosen to quietly head back up with the rest of the group. She knew in which situations she had to step up, but it was a particrly tricky situation. ¡°The seal needs to be handled with extreme caution. I cannot let you do it.¡± It was something only a person skilled in sorcery should manage. Letting Leona do it was like letting a kid control a nuclear reactor. When she became gloomy, Zinid his hand on her head. ¡°Sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I would entrust you with the task if you could handle it, but not this time. I¡¯m not being overly protective.¡± ¡°¡­Okay.¡± Leona nodded, knowing that the task was something outside her capabilities. Zin¡¯s apology moved her. ¡°Got it.¡± Leona smiled awkwardly and the group started to head back. The Treacherous Spirit surrounded the seal, so Zin had to figure out a way to get to it. Not all problems could be easily solved.
The group had to return to the temple. The lord used another torch on the way and he had only one left. ¡°In order to get to the seal ande back safely, we¡¯ll need over twenty torches.¡± He had brought six torches with him and had to use four of them. They would need many more, considering the fact that the darkness became denser the deeper they traveled into the cave. ¡°But now it will be tough to make new torches.¡± There was no way to procure lightning-struck birch trees. It was foolish to just wait for lightning to strike. The path to the seal being blocked off by darkness distressed the lord. ¡°We should probably perform the exorcism,¡± Zin suggested. ¡°Yes, we will need to. An ordinary ceremony will not banish the Treacherous Spirit.¡± It would be possible for Zin to head down to the seal if the ordinary torch could fend off the strange phenomenon. The Heavenly Power Temple had many books about sorcery as well as the right environment to conduct the exorcism necessary to defeat the Treacherous Spirit. For Leona and Ramphil, what Zin and the lord talked about seemed to be something from another world. Ramphil remained silent and listened to the conversation, but Leona wasn¡¯t like him. ¡°How do you perform an exorcism?¡± she asked. ¡°First, you need to pray for over a month in order to avoid disasters,¡± answered the lord. ¡°After that, you need to start making the tools used in the ceremony, which will take another month.¡± Sorcerers would usually be vulnerable to the ceremony that they performed. The Heavenly Power Castle was a ce for sorcerers to learn how to perform sorcery safely. All sorcery required time for preparation. ¡°Why does it take so long?¡± Leona asked. The lord smiled bitterly. ¡°A Treacherous Spirit is an extremely dangerous, rare, and powerful monster. It will take a long time to get rid of it.¡± Obviously, such a ceremony would take a long time to prepare. More than two months of preparation were needed. The cause of all of this trouble was one person. ¡°It¡¯s because of that idiot,¡± Zin murmured angrily. The defensive power of the Heavenly Power Castle was weakened because the crazy sessor took the charm with him. The area around the seal was full of evil spirits and more than anything, the Treacherous Spirit was lurking near the seal. Unfortunately, the team would be held up for over two months. Zin was in a hurry and it was stressful for him to waste that much time. He wandered around the temple gloomily. Suddenly, he realized that there was a simple solution. ¡°Right! If I can retrieve the Heavenly Wind, I can solve the issue.¡± He would be able to call lightning to create more torches and the lord could also quickly perform the exorcism using the charm. Zin made up his mind on what to do next. ¡°If the sessor sold it, someone would have it. He could also be carrying it with him.¡± ¡°However, the original promise was to return the charm to the emperor¡¯s sessor. If we retrieve it, that would break the promise.¡± The lord tried to stop him, but he only smiled angrily. ¡°If that idiot sold the charm, then I am simply retrieving and returning it to the temple. How is that breaking the promise with the emperor?¡± Zin clenched his fists as he imagined kicking the sessor¡¯s butt. ¡°And it doesn¡¯t matter even if he is still holding onto it. The emperor might have asked you to give it to the sessor, but he didn¡¯t prohibit you from stealing it back.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± ¡°Am I wrong?¡± Zin was not necessarily incorrect. Leona and Ramphil realized that he was going to do anything to get the charm back. ¡°Please bring out the ¡®Eight Diagrams,''¡± Zin ordered the lord without hesitation. The lord was still puzzled. He continued, ¡°At this moment, we will track down the Heavenly Wind.¡± Zin decided to go to the main continent to track the charm instead of waiting at the castle for two months. He smiled, looking forward to dealing with the Immortal hunter¡¯s ill-mannered sessor. Chapter 79 Chapter 79: Sessor of the Emperor (Part 1) The lord had no choice but to bring out the Eight Diagrams. He had also realized that it would be better to retrieve the Heavenly Wind after seeing what had happened in the cave of the Heavenly Power Rock. Afraid of breaking the promise with the emperor, he worriedly revealed the Eight Diagrams. Although the lord was usually calm and collected, he was having quite a rough day due to various circumstances. He disyed the Eight Diagrams in the temple garden. The Diagrams was a big picture that contained numerous symbols and letters. ¡°What¡¯s all this?¡± Ramphil asked. ¡°It¡¯s a drawing that detects magical energy in the area.¡± Zin replied. ¡°Is that simr to radar?¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± Ramphil quickly understood what the drawing was for. The lord positioned it so that the cardinal directions matched the drawing. ¡°There are many uses, but I¡¯m going to use it now as apass.¡± There were innumerable spells that could be performed using the Eight Diagrams. It wasn¡¯t directly used as part of sorcery, but rather to understand and detect something. Each diagram on the Eight Diagrams disyed the cardinal directions. As soon as the lord positioned the Eight Diagrams correctly, he cleanly spread it out on the floor. Leona and Ramphil quietly observed from the side. The Heavenly Power Castle was the home of sorcery. There were few sorcerers who could activate the Eight Diagrams force field perfectly. It was something that could only be done in the Heavenly Power Castle. The lord sat in the middle of the Eight Diagrams, murmuring. It seemed to be a spell or just some sort of babbling. His voice echoed around the temple. ¡ªVwooom¡ª Suddenly, all the letters except the diagrams disappeared from the drawing and ink slowly smeared the yellow paper. ¡°The location where the lord is sitting is this castle,¡± exined Zin. It was a map that disyed many characters around the castle. The characters indicated many things¡ªsuch as harm, small luck, conflict, disaster, spell, etc.¡ªand were drawn in different sizes. They represented different activities going on around the castle. For example, the many ¡°harm¡± characters in the north represented the Group¡¯s territory. Hostile Reavers upied the north, so Zin was able to figure out what the characters meant. He nned on using the Eight Diagrams to track the Heavenly Wind, first scanning the drawing and getting a sense of what was happening around the castle. A particr red character on the southwest corner of the drawing drew his attention. ck characters covered the drawing, so the single red one looked strange. ¡°Great evil.¡± That character implied that there was something beyond what the drawing could detect. The lord seemed to feel something. He closed his eyes, sweat dripping from his face. He wondered what the character ¡°great evil¡±¡ªnot ¡°harm¡± or ¡°disaster¡±¡ªmeant. I don¡¯t know exactly where she is, but the White Witch is in the southwest. Although she was very far away from the castle, the ominous energy was powerful enough to be detected by the drawing. Just like how the White Witch¡¯s location was marked on the drawing, Leona¡¯s was as well, at the center of the drawing. It was a ck ¡°evil¡± character instead of ¡°great evil.¡± The Eight Diagrams had simply disyed the danger each one posed. Her power has not fully awakened. That¡¯s probably why. Leona didn¡¯t know how to handle her power as a witch, so the drawing didn¡¯t warn about her. Zin believed that Leona not knowing how to interpret the characters on the drawing was a good thing. Her presence was disyed as just a small character. He feared that her presence would be significant due to her innate power. While there were multiple characters on the Eight Diagrams, Zin focused on the ones around the castle. Confirming the location of the White Witch was just an added bonus, but at the moment, his priority was to determine the location of the Heavenly Wind. ¡°Heavenly Wind should be disyed as a ¡®great charm.¡¯ Please look for it carefully.¡± Zin¡¯s void storage was disyed as a ¡°charm¡± and the Treacherous Spirit was a ¡°disaster.¡± The Eight Diagrams drawing portrayed the situation around the castle quite urately. As Zin looked at the tiny characters around the map, he sighed. ¡°Mmm¡­I don¡¯t see a ¡°great charm.¡± Could the sessor have moved far away?¡± The drawing did not show a ¡°great charm.¡± That meant they couldn¡¯t use the Eight Diagrams to track the Heavenly Wind. Zin felt helpless. ¡°So can I assume that each character represents an entity?¡± Ramphil asked him. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. It acts as a map from the perspective of the Heavenly Power Castle, showing how each entity could affect it.¡± The drawing determined if something would be beneficial or harmful to the castle. Reading the Eight Diagrams provided some useful information. Ramphil was amazed and continued to look at the drawing. ¡°Hmm¡­how are ordinary people and cities disyed?¡± ¡°Well, since they have nothing to do with the castle, they will probably be ¡®middle¡¯ or ¡®peace.''¡± The drawing actually did contain quite a few of those characters. They were rtively smallpared to other letters. Ramphil looked at the Eight Diagrams andpared it to his map. He figured that he would be able to understand something byparing the two. ¡°Interesting. This seems like science, not sorcery.¡± The fact that that sorcery could act as a technological radar amazed him. ¡°Extreme opposites have something inmon.¡± ¡°I suppose¡­¡± Ramphil was mesmerized and couldn¡¯t take his eyes off of the drawing. Then he spotted something unusual. ¡°Something¡¯s not right,¡± he said. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°The Eight Diagrams map is disying areas that cover Manchuria in the south and Russia¡¯s Belogorsk in the north. This region is quiterge.¡± He had cross-referenced the two maps byparing the Eight Diagrams to his map and checking the coordinates of different cities. The Eight Diagrams covered an area that was slightlyrger than the Heilongjiang area. It was impossible for a radar map to cover such wide area with detail. ¡°All the characters rted to the terrain. There are characters that mark the ruins where people live. Even Harbin, the city that we just visited, is disyed over here.¡± ¡°Sure, that makes sense.¡± The Harbin Wargrave fortress was marked with a big ¡°neutral.¡± Areas where the Reavers could be living had ¡°harm¡± characters. The spot that Ramphil thought was strange was northeast of Yichun city. ¡°If I remember correctly, this used to be Russia¡¯s Birobidzhan. It¡¯s not a big city, but there are plenty of ruins where people could live. However, as you can see, the map doesn¡¯t disy a character there.¡± Just like he said, there was no letter in that area. Zin nodded, also thinking that to be strange. ¡°I don¡¯t know enough about sorcery,¡± Ramphil began, ¡°but perhaps a skilled sorcerer can hide himself from this map.¡± Although it was a guess, he was pretty urate with his analysis. ¡°Mmm¡­It¡¯s very possible that he could have settled in a ce where the power can¡¯t be detected.¡± ¡°The undetectable ce is a good ce to search. You keep wisepany, master hunter.¡± The lord slowly nodded. Birobidzhan was notrge, but it wasrge enough for several small Points. The Points could have been raided, but if that was the case, then the Eight Diagrams would have detected death and spirits. However, there was nothing disyed in Birobidzhan. It seemed like a hole in the map. ¡°It¡¯s not too far away and will be worth traveling there.¡± Zin epted Ramphil¡¯s analysis. There was no sign of a ¡°great charm¡± on the Eight Diagrams, and he didn¡¯t have any better options. ¡°Well, if we don¡¯t find anything, we can think the trip as a hike or something.¡± The team would have to start the exorcism if they couldn¡¯t find the Heavenly Wind. They had time to spare while the lord prepared the ceremony. ¡°The lord will begin praying for the ceremony and we will head to Birobidzhan.¡± As soon as they had arrived at the Heavenly Power Castle, they had more things to do. When the lord stood up from the Eight Diagrams, the numerous characters returned to their original positions in the drawing. It appeared as if keeping the Eight Diagrams active required energy since the lord looked exhausted. Leona asked an important question. ¡°So how are we going down?¡± She was terrified at the idea of climbing down the cliff. ¡°Yes,¡± Zin answered. ¡°We¡¯re going to do what you think we¡¯re going to do.¡± ¡°Damn it.¡± They had to climb down where they had climbed up. What else were they going to do?
The team spent a night at the castle. It was dark at night because there were no blue chips and no way to get them. There were also no guards since the threat of invasion was nonexistent. The castle was a different environmentpared to the wilderness. ¡°This tastes nd.¡± Leona didn¡¯t hate the food, but she shook her head as she ate it. ¡°You have been eating salty C-rations this entire time. It¡¯s natural for you to find this unsalted food nd.¡± Leona had been eating salty and sweet food for some time, so she thought that the castle¡¯s food was just okay. However, she didn¡¯t leave any food on her te. ¡°This ce isn¡¯t too bad.¡± After finishing the meal, she looked around the calm castle. She liked the abundant life in the fortress, but she also liked the leisurely life at the Heavenly Power Castle. It seemed like the people would wee her settling down there. She cast Zin a brief look. ¡°Well, I am just saying that this ce looks nice,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not saying I want to settle here!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything.¡± ¡°¡­You punk.¡± Ramphil became interested in sorcery. After checking in at his room, he observed many items and devices rted to it, but he was not able to figure out to use them. The team enjoyed a break for one night. They could gain the power of the seal if they retrieved the Heavenly Wind. Even if they couldn¡¯t get the charm, they could get the seal by performing the exorcism to drive away the Treacherous Spirit. Therefore, there was no reason for them to be nervous. The only thing they needed to look out for was the Group of Reavers. They also didn¡¯t know if the emperor¡¯s sessor was either dangerous or an idiot. In fact, there were quite a few ¡°harm¡± characters around the castle. Zin knew that it was better to expect the worst on any given task. Nothing could be resolved easily and taking things lightly was dangerous. He had a feeling that the uing trip would not be easy. ¡°I guess not all devil hunters are like you, mister,¡± Leona remarked. ¡°Of course not.¡± People and things changed over time. Devils disappeared and a long time passed since their disappearance. It would be strange for things to remain the same. Zin also thought that it would be strange for people not to change when their circumstances had. Chapter 80 Chapter 80: Sessor of the Emperor (Part 2) The next day, the team headed to the forest to leave Heavenly Power castle. The residents of the castle continued to do their work, and they briefly said goodbye to the team. It was a friendly yet reserved response. The residents seemed ready to wee the team back again, and at the same, they seemed to not care if the team never came back. Only the castle lord came out to say goodbye. He took out a ted wooden block. ¡°This¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s an Eight Diagramspass.¡± It was apact device that looked simr to the Eight Diagrams. People used the device to detect the feng shui in a particr region. ¡°It can¡¯t detect the area as urately as the Eight Diagrams, but it will react to any signs of sorcery or evil spirits. The device will alert you, Master Hunter, if there are any traps or dangers rted to sorcery.¡± The device couldn¡¯t detect all the minor details like the Eight Diagrams, but thepass was still a great tool that reacted to nearby sorcery. Zin felt amazement as he looked at thepass. ¡°The sorcery of the temple has be quite advanced.¡± ¡°Haha, we don¡¯t have much else to do here. I wish you a safe journey, Master Hunter.¡± ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll beat that idiot up and bring back the Heavenly Wind.¡± ¡°That¡¯s really not necessary. Well, then, I will start with the prayers today¡­¡± The lord walked away from the team, and Zin put thepass in his pocket. ¡°So it¡¯s like apass.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The Eight Diagramspass was certainly a useful device. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The three started to run past the forest, and they reached the cliff once again. Leona sat down on the ground and peeked at the bottom of the cliff. ¡°Oh, man¡­ oh man¡­¡± Leona started to panic. It was a cliff with an endless drop, and she couldn¡¯t see the ground. It might have been possible to climb up the cliff, but going down it seemed like a crazy thing to do. However, Ramphil and Zin started preparing their descent. ¡°Oh, man¡­ reallllllllly¡­!¡± Leona yelled and was about to cry, but Ramphil and Zin simply ignored her.
Point Weedle. It was a small vige where about a hundred people lived. However, the vige had all the necessities for survival. The farnd was fertile, and there were many houses constructed from the ruins. There was a river flowing nearby, which meant an abundant source for drinking water. The trash wall around the vige served as a defense from enemies, and the guards were armed with crude rifles. Their defenses were strong enough to fend off Reavers or monsters. The vige was not the best ce, but it was considered a great ce for the hundred or so residents living in it. The vige onlycked energy, as well as insufficient manpower to hunt monsters outside. The vige couldn¡¯t afford to turn on theirnterns during the night, and the problem only grew worse since nobody could go venture out from the Point. ¡°I hope those guys from the Group don¡¯t show up¡­¡± One of the residents of Weedle murmured, feeling worried. The other residents started to talk as well. ¡°What would theye here for? What reason would they bother with our poor vige¡­?¡± ¡°Do you think they kill people to steal things? They kill because there are living people.¡± ¡°But they must not be interested in this vige. Only the other viges ended up raided by the Group.¡± ¡°That is fortunate¡­¡± Based on the conversation of the residents, it appeared that the northern region waspletely upied by the pack of Reavers called the Group. And the Group was continuing to expand its territory. The two men who were sitting on a rock looked at a staggering drunkard. ¡°Man, what are the ghosts doing? Why aren¡¯t they taking that guy away?¡± ¡°He must have drunk a lot.¡± ¡°He drinks every single day¡­¡± ¡°What a pitiful life. He still looks young.¡± The young man had long, loose hair, and his eyes were out of focus. He wasn¡¯t walking straight as he seemed to be drunk. He was carrying a leather pouch with his right hand, and as he staggered forth he would gulp down alcohol from the pouch. Everybody at the Point would bring this up, implying that the drunkard would the biggest problem in the vige. He only knew how to ferment grain to make alcohol, and people weren¡¯t too happy that he was using up precious grains to make alcohol. But the young man harvested his own grain, so the people couldn¡¯t me him outright. He was quite a character, so much so that the residents didn¡¯t know what to do with him. ¡°It¡¯s somewhat amazing that he knows how to efficiently farm thend.¡± ¡°I know. It would be awesome if he only stopped drinking alcohol.¡± Even though the young drunkard seemed to barely work on the farnd, hisnd always yielded a rich harvest. The man even donated a portion of the harvest to themon storage. Except for his habit of drinking too much, he did everything else right. The residents would suggest to the man to stop drinking, but he always declined and said, ¡®How would I live past a single day in this damned world without drinking?¡¯ The man was adamant, and the people couldn¡¯t continue to rebuke him. The young man came to the vige about two years ago. Initially, he asked for a piece ofnd where he could farm, and the residents epted him to the vige. But at some point, he started to make alcohol, and he wouldn¡¯t stop drinking. There were many incidents involving his drunkenness, but the people gave up on him in the end. Although the residents hated his drunkenness, they epted him as one of their own since he was diligent in his farm work. They cared for him, and would asionally check up on him if he wasn¡¯t seen for a couple of days. They were thankful that the man was addicted to cheap drugs. In fact, some vigers would visit his house to drink together. The residents of Weedle both hated and liked the young man at the same time. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± It appeared that the two men were hoping to get some drinks from the young man.
The drunkard staggered into his hut andy down on the floor. The smell of yeast filled his his room. He happily took out a bucket of alcohol from the jar and drank it. The man lived as he wanted, and he seemed to be quite the character as not many people drank in this apocalyptic world. ¡°Kaaaaah¡­¡± The man finished his drink and started to feel tipsy. With his face flushed from alcohol, he was ready to go to sleep. However, the drunkard was always thinking about something. You look toofortable. There¡¯s no time to be drinking all day long. Ah, what¡¯s the matter, sis? It¡¯s okay. You should take it easy and enjoy your life. You nasty bastard. It was foolish of me to expect something out of you. Hahaha, what did you expect? Just go with the flow. Nothing really changes in this world. Why do you try so hard? Why do you worry too much? Do you have no intention to inherit the relic at all? Well. I don¡¯t need an item that seems useless. Then, give it to me. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t because of the promise with the master. And I don¡¯t even have it. You always use the master as an excuse. Haha¡­ is that anything new? Anyway, would you like a drink? Phew¡­ I don¡¯t want to talk to you anymore. It looks like you¡¯ll die in this ce drinking. I¡¯m so done with you. Take care, sis. I won¡¯t walk out and send you off. About a year had passed since he saw her. Her eyes were brimming with ambition and greed. The man thought that it would be better to live as a fool. As the man was about to fall asleep, the door of the hut opened. ¡­Creeeeeaaak¡­ The hinge creaked, and someone who the drunkard did not recognize entered the hut. ¡°¡­ You really look pathetic.¡± The man with a ck coat looked like a hunter, and he didn¡¯t look friendly at all. The drunkard scratched his stomach and sat against the wall. In response to the visitor¡¯s hostility, the drunkard had a hardened face. The young man started to speak in an unfriendly tone. ¡°This vige doesn¡¯t wee visitors.¡± ¡°The residents sure did wee me.¡± The residents had weed the visitor¡¯spanions after they handed out a couple of chips to the residents. But the drunkard talked as if he didn¡¯t care. ¡°That¡¯s the vigers¡¯ problems.¡± The young man continued to stare at the visitor as he seemed to be getting sober. ¡°If you were able to reach the vige by getting through the Disguising Sorcery that was set up at the entrance, you¡¯re definitely not wee.¡± Weedle Point remained safe from the Group because the Reavers couldn¡¯t find this ce. The young man activated the Disguising Sorcery in order to keep the vige safe from an outsider¡¯s attack. Naturally, no visitors came to the vige, and the visitor in front of the young man was someone who had managed to find the hidden vige. Therefore the young man could not wee the mysterious hunter in front of him. ¡°How did you find the ¡®Gate of Life¡¯?¡± The Disguising Sorcery created several gates, and all the gates led to a ¡®Gate of Death¡¯. In order to get to the Gate of Life, one would have to avoid the fourteen Gates of Death. It would be impossible for someone to find the Gate of Life by ident. ¡°I know a little bit about sorcery as well.¡± The hunter was saying that he knew how to solve the trick behind the Disguising Sorcery. The Eight Diagramspass had helped Zin big time, but he wasn¡¯t about to mention that to the young man. Zin sat down in front of the drunkard and stared at him. The young man waspletely sober at that point. ¡°Are you the sessor of the emperor and the high-level sorcerer?¡± Zin looked ready to twist the neck of the young man if he gave a stupid answer. The young man was astonished to hear the word emperor from the visitor. Zin browsed the odorous hut and clicked his tongue as he looked at the drunkard in front of him. ¡°You look like a total bum. You look totally worthless.¡± ¡°¡­What do you want?¡± ¡°I heard you took the Heavenly Wind. Give it to me.¡± ¡°You must havee from the Heavenly Power temple.¡± The drunkard slowly stood up and turned away from Zin. ¡°I sold it a long time ago to get myself some drinks.¡± ¡°You think I¡¯m fooling around here?¡± ¡ªPow!¡ª ¡°Arggh!¡± Zin grabbed him by the neck and pushed him against the wall. The old hut started to shake and dust fell off the ceiling. Zin was pissed and was ready to kill the man. ¡°Alright¡­ I will give you one more chance.¡± ¡ªBam!¡ª ¡°O!¡± Zin threw him away and the man rolled on the floor. The young man seemed to be a drunkard, and he didn¡¯t look like a high-level sorcerer at all. ¡°I need the power of the seal.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? What in the world would you need the power of the seal for¡­?¡± ¡°You call yourself a high-level sorcerer, and you don¡¯t even know what¡¯s happening in this world?!¡± Zin was extremely angry. Although the young man wasn¡¯t like Zin, he was a person with great power. Zin was treating the man differently than other people. Zin was furious that a person with great power was wasting his abilities. The young man was not even a viin but a drunkard. Then something unexinable happened next. Zin grabbed the young man and threw him out of the hut. Sitting next to him, Zin wanted the young man to sense what was going on in the world. It had been a while since the young man had performed any powerful sorcery. The sky was clear, and the young man quietly focused his attention to sense the energy of the sky. In a brief moment, he felt as if he a dagger had stabbed him in the heart. Star of Disaster! A heinous energy that had never been seen before swirled around the sky. Chapter 81 Chapter 81: Sessor of the Emperor (Part 3) The drunkard was speechless when he sensed the ¡°Star of Disaster.¡± He had nevere across anything of such magnitude. ¡°How-how is this even possible?¡± Even seeing the character ¡°harm¡± caused his hand to shake in fear. He had never before sensed such an ominous energy. ¡°I have no intention of stopping you from living a pathetic life. I just need a small portion of the sealing power at the Heavenly Power Temple. However, a Treacherous Spirit is currently blocking our way to the seal and we need the power of the Heavenly Wind. If you hand over the charm, I will leave you alone,¡± Zin said. He didn¡¯t expect anything from the sessor. Although Zin had hoped that he could be of some help, he gave up that notion after noticing the stench of alcohol. He decided to just get the charm and leave. The drunkard soon realized that his violent visitor was not an ordinary person. This visitor knew that he was a skilled sorcerer. He also had visited the Heavenly Power Temple, and had solved the Disguising Sorcery. The drunkard realized that this visitor was an expert in the field of sorcery without being a sorcerer himself. This was no ordinary situation. ¡°Visitor, who are you?¡± Zin sighed when he saw the drunkard¡¯s willingness to talk. ¡°I am a witch hunter.¡± ¡°Im-impossible!¡± He bolted up in astonishment. This visitor was someone to whom the drunkard should be talking while sober. ¡°Are you the witch hunter of the Sessors? Zin cringed at the name. ¡°Hearing that always feels awkward, but yes, that¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°I-I am Cho-Yul. It¡¯s an honor to meet you, grandmaster.¡± It was strange to be referred to as ¡°grandmaster¡± by the drunkard. There were many types of devil hunters. Immortal hunters utilized sorcery and trained like monks, so they frequently referred to others as ¡°master.¡± The drunkard unseemly disy before Zin was the of the greatest disrespect. He knew that he was wrong to be drunk in front of a grandmaster. Zin calmed a bit at his change in attitude. ¡°I suppose you know how to respect your seniors. However, I am not here for your respect. Tell me where the charm is,¡± Zin demanded. ¡°The Heavenly Wind¡­I tainted it,¡± Cho-Yul said with a gloomy expression. ¡°What?!¡± Zin yelled furiously. Cho-Yul had said that he was the one who tainted the charm. It wasn¡¯t done so by others. Zin was about to explode in anger. ¡°Hold on, hold on! Please listen to me. I have my reasons.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s not a valid reason, I¡¯m going to snap your neck.¡± Cho-Yul hesitated for a moment, then started to speak. ¡°It¡¯s because of my fellow apprentice¡ª¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°My master, Goo-Yun, had two students.¡± Cho-Yul¡¯s words surprised Zin. Some devil hunters traveled with a sessor, but some didn¡¯t. It was unusual for a master to train two people to be sessors. Cho-Yul began telling his story. His master, Goo-Yun, had two sessors: Cho-Yul and SoSeoLan. Cho-Yul felt inferior to SoSeoLan as a student. ¡°She was a very skilled sorcerer. On the other hand, I was unmotivated and not as talented. I started to learn sorcery when my master adopted me. My fellow student was a formal apprentice, but I wasn¡¯t.¡± Cho-Yul was a refugee who had lost his family. Goo-Yun had pitied him and adopted him. Cho-Yul began learning sorcery with SoSeoLan. ¡°She was extremely talented and had a great passion for sorcery. She was the perfect pupil.¡± ¡°Was there a problem?¡± ¡°She was overly greedy.¡± SoSeoLan was jealous of Cho-Yul all the time, vying for their master¡¯s attention whenever he tried to help Cho-Yul. Sometimes she would bully him when their master wasn¡¯t around. If you have no will to learn, then leave. Stop bugging me. Get lost and die, you piece of crap. Pig. You only like to eat and drink. SoSeoLan was a studious person, but also a jealous one. Although their master knew about this, he couldn¡¯t do much because he didn¡¯t want to give up a talented pupil. Cho-Yul didn¡¯t leave the master even though he was constantly persecuted by SoSeoLan. He continued to train. ¡°She was able to attain the highest level of sorcery at seventeen, but I wasn¡¯t able to do that even after my master passed away. I was only able to get there two years ago.¡± Zin remained quiet and listened. SoSeoLan often said that she would be a great hero once she went out into the world. She believed that she could utilize her skills to the fullest potential. Goo-Yun didn¡¯t particrlyment about her beliefs. His two students had opposite personalities. SoSeoLan wanted to make a difference in the world with her power while Cho-Yul wanted to remain in the background without drawing attention to himself. They didn¡¯t get along. When Goo-Yun passed away, he left an inheritance for both of them, but he didn¡¯t tell them what the other had received. ¡°As soon as my master passed away, she demanded my inheritance, saying that she would make better use of it.¡± ¡°What a greedy woman,¡± Zinmented. ¡°I ran away from her.¡± Even though Cho-Yul didn¡¯t care much about the happenings of the world, he didn¡¯t tell her where the inheritance was. ¡°Was the Heavenly Wind what you received?¡± Zin asked. ¡°Yes.¡± As the second pupil, Cho-Yul was given the Heavenly Wind. It wasn¡¯t too difficult to deduce what SoSeoLan received. She must have Darkborn. It wasn¡¯t possible to split Darkborn into two, she was most likely the true sessor. ¡°When did the master pass away?¡± ¡°About ten years ago.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­Didn¡¯t you go to the temple only a year ago to retrieve the charm?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Then what were you doing during the first nine years?¡± ¡°I had no intention of getting it. I didn¡¯t think it was an important item for me.¡± ¡°Mmm¡­Fine. I will ask you a question.¡± Cho-Yul believed that he didn¡¯t need excessive power, but there was no reason for him to live as a drunkard. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that you are not skilled. What kind of bullshit is that?¡± Zin realized that Cho-Yul was hiding something. ¡°You do realize that what you said is nonsense, right? A sorcerer who has reached the highest level is both skilled and powerful.¡± Zin had also been able to gauge Cho-Yul¡¯s ability as a sorcerer when he had nced at the sky to sense the evil energy. ¡°You reached the highest level after the master passed away. That means you are slightly behind her when ites to sorcery, but not by too much.¡± She reached that level when the master was alive, and Cho-Yul reached it after the master passed away. Reaching that level was a great achievement in and of itself. Cho-Yul had to be very talented. ¡°You are one of the emperor¡¯s sessors. Why are you living like this? Is there a reason you¡¯re a drunkard?¡± Cho-Yul had no reason to live as a bum. He might enjoy drinking, but Zin wanted to know what he was hiding. ¡°Well¡­¡± he paused for a moment, unable to continue because of his shame. ¡°¡­My master taught both martial arts and sorcery. She excelled in these areas, but I wasn¡¯t good at martial arts. However, I was more talented than her in sorcery. Cho-Yul had a miserable expression. ¡°I am afraid of her.¡± ¡°You¡¯re afraid?¡± ¡°Yes. She was always keeping tabs on me. She hated seeing me learn more skills. She loathed me. I wasn¡¯t able to overpower her with strength. If she felt unhappy, she would beat me up under the pretense of sparring.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying that you got scared of her and hid your true power?¡± Zin shook his head as he looked at Cho-Yul. ¡°It was a life or death situation for me!¡± he yelled, his face bing red. ¡°Herpetitive spirit and jealousy are not what you think they are, grandmaster!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± SoSeoLan kept beating him up, he realized that he had to act dumb in order to survive. He acted as if he didn¡¯t understand the master¡¯s teachings. During training, he also made mistakes on purpose. SoSeoLan would despise Cho-Yul, but she wouldn¡¯t beat him as if she was going to kill him. I-I don¡¯t understand what I learned today, sister. Master is going to test us tomorrow. What should I do? You idiot! You don¡¯t even understand this? Get lost and don¡¯t interrupt me! I really don¡¯t know! I don¡¯t want to get kicked out. Please show me how it works. Oh, really? Then take my ce and go work on the farm. Oh, okay! Cho-Yul acted dumb to survive. SoSeoLan treated him like a fool, but she didn¡¯t show jealousy whenever he acted dumb. ¡°She believes that I will be a dangerous person. I haven¡¯te across her in some time, but I can sense that she is keeping an eye on me through sorcery. She¡¯s full of confidence, thinking that no one can stop her besides me, someone who trained under the same master. Therefore, this is my only way to stay safe.¡± Cho-Yul lived as a bum because he was afraid that she would kill him at any given moment. ¡°What a pain in the butt sessor¡­¡± In the post-apocalyptic world, Immortal hunters were generally dangerous, avaricious people. They had Darkborn and possessed the ability to castplex spells. Cho-Yul tried his best to stay under SoSeoLan¡¯s radar by acting like a fool. ¡°So why did you take the Heavenly Wind with you? Why did you taint it?¡± Zin asked. ¡°About a year ago, she visited me in person. It seemed like she was plotting something very evil. It didn¡¯t feel normal.¡± A year ago, she had stopped keeping an eye on him and visited him directly. When he saw her, Cho-Yul freaked out. He had been able to speak bravely because he was drunk, but he had actually been scared to death. ¡°If I had the charm on me, she would have taken it from me.¡± Cho-Yul didn¡¯t have the charm at that time. Had he not mentioned the master, she would have killed him to find out the location of the inheritance. She didn¡¯t know what the inheritance was, and figuring that out would take a while. Cho-Yul became scared when it seemed like she was actively searching for his inheritance. He wondered why an already powerful woman would want the charm. For the first time, he decided to take action. He returned to the Heavenly Power Temple and retrieved the charm with the intention of preventing SoSeoLan fromying her hands on it. Furthermore, he tainted it, fearing that she would steal it from him. He then gave it to other people so that it would be touched by many unclean people. As the charm passed from person to person, it lost its holiness. If a charm wasn¡¯t properly taken care of, then it would lose its power. ¡°If you search the vige warehouse, you¡¯ll find it somewhere. However, I verified that it has lost its power as a charm.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zin couldn¡¯t bring himself to be angry at him. What Cho-Yul had done was his way of standing up to the abusive SoSeoLan. Zin could not rebuke his actions, because he did not give up the charm to an evil person. It was sad that he couldn¡¯t do much, being a weak person. Zin knew what Cho-Yul had to do next. ¡°Your evil master¡¯s corpse deserves to be dug up and beheaded,¡± Zin muttered with a bitter smile. ¡°¡­¡± All of a sudden, he had started cursing Goo-Yun. Even though Zin had cursed his master out of nowhere, Cho-Yul was not angry. He knew what he needed to do. ¡°Yes, I was used as a puppet to kindle thepetitive spirit and jealousy of my fellow student so that she could reach her full potential.¡± Cho-Yul might have acted like a fool, but he was no such thing. A man should be considered smart if he acted dumb in order to survive. Goo-Yun did not intervene when his two pupils were fighting because of jealousy and hatred. More specifically, he should have stopped SoSeoLan from beating up Cho-Yul, but he didn¡¯t. SoSeoLan gave her best because she was fiercelypetitive. Cho-Yul¡¯s enemy was not only her, but his master as well. The master told him where the Heavenly Wind was, but he didn¡¯t give it to him. ¡°However, the fact that my master gave me a new life doesn¡¯t change.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It makes me sad that you would speak of him in such a way.¡± He knew that he had been used as a puppet, but he didn¡¯t want to deny that fact. ¡°You are a rare type of a fool,¡± Zin criticized harshly. ¡°Well, this world needs my kind of a fool, you know,¡± Cho-Yul chuckled. Zin smiled at the joke. There were some sorcerers who acted like morons. At first, he had been both astonished and furious when he heard what the emperor¡¯s sessor had done. Although the fact that the charm had been tainted was painful, Cho-Yul didn¡¯t seem to be the horrible person Zin had originally thought he was. There was no reason to criticize a person who lost because hecked talent. At least, Cho-Yul tried his best under his circumstances. ¡°Let me ask you one more thing.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Even though Cho-Yul¡¯s master had used him as a puppet, SoSeoLan was an uncouth and hot-headed person. She was most likely very evil. ¡°So what is your fellow student trying to do with the power of an Immortal hunter?¡± Zin asked. Cho-Yul became gloomy. ¡°Have you heard her name mentioned elsewhere?¡± ¡°No, I haven¡¯t.¡± ¡°I see. As far as I know, she leads the Group, a group of Reavers.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°I think they are causing quite a disturbance these days. I activated the Disguising Sorcery for that reason. I think she¡¯s called by ¡®Asura¡¯ these days.¡± Zin was astonished as he listened to what Cho-Yul was saying. He remembered that name. He had heard that name when he was mopping up the Reavers couple of days ago. I heard that the name of the leader is ¡°Asura.¡± He has six arms and held machine guns in each hand¡­ Back then, he had disregarded how the Reaver leader had described the appearance of the Group¡¯s leader. Now that he thought about it, it was a very unique name. Asura. The name sounded quite magical. Chapter 82 < Breaking an Old Habit (Part 1) > The identity of the Group¡¯s leader wasn¡¯t important. At the moment, Zin needed to gain the sealing power to fight the witch. There were many crazy fools in the world and he knew that he had no time to waste dealing with them. He immediately asked Cho-Yul to bring the Heavenly Wind to him. Cho-Yul obeyed and ran out of the hut. After a couple of minutes, he returned. ¡°Is this the Heavenly Wind?¡± Zin asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Cho-Yul brought a folding bamboo hand fan that was missing the cloth. The fan only had its bamboo frame left and the frame itself had a spiderweb of cracks. It was a useless fan. An item was hard to make but easy to break. The Heavenly Wind was no exception. The charm had not been maintained properly and was tainted when many people had used it. It had be a useless piece of junk. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I didn¡¯t expect this to happen,¡± Cho-Yul bowed his head and apologized. It was a shame that the charm was ruined but at the same time, it wasn¡¯t a huge deal. ¡°Saying sorry is not going to cut it,¡± Zin replied. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You will need to take responsibility.¡± Although the charm was ruined, Cho-Yul was still a skilled sorcerer. ¡°You wille with me to the temple and exorcise the Treacherous Spirit,¡± Zin ordered. He had fortunately found an alternative solution. When he heard Zin¡¯s words, Cho-Yul became serious. ¡ª¨C While Zin was preaching to Cho-Yul, Ramphil and Leona were getting some food at a restaurant. They had C-Rations to eat but thought that they could do the townspeople a favor by spending some chips. Although the residents hoped to earn some chips, most of them didn¡¯t approach Leona and Ramphil. Ramphil wore a Wargrave uniform and they had an armored vehicle. Leona and Ramphil obviously frightened them. The townspeople were alert, but they became less fearful when they saw the two eat and pay the bill with the chips without causing any trouble. Zin met up with Leona and Ramphil without bringing Cho-Yul. ¡°How did the conversation go?¡± Leona asked Zin. ¡°Good. We probably can¡¯t use the charm, but he is going to help us out instead.¡± It wasn¡¯t a big deal for Cho-Yul to travel to the Heavenly Power Castle and return in a couple of days. His only concern was that SoSeoLan could be lurking around the area. However, he wasn¡¯t scared enough to ignore Zin¡¯s request. Zin thought that Cho-Yul was a coward and a fool. He had expected him to refuse. After all, Cho-Yul was a person who lived in fear despite the power he possessed. Zin had been ready to abduct him if he refused to go. When he had asked him to go to the temple, Cho-Yul became serious. Can you give me a day to think about it? Zin hadn¡¯t expected to hear such an answer. Cho-Yul wanted some time to prepare to go back. ¡°He said that a day would be enough. So let¡¯s wait and see,¡± Zin said. Ramphil and Leona nodded. They had plenty of ces to sleep, such as the AV or the vige¡¯s empty buildings. People of Weedle were curious as to why the three outsiders had visited the vige, but nobody could ask them directly. They were careful not to offend the outsiders because they knew that the monstrous-looking AV could destroy their whole vige. Zin was a stingy man, but he would sometimes spend chips without thinking twice. He walked up to some residents who had been avoiding him. ¡°Is there a ce we could stay?¡± he asked them. ¡°Yes? Oh¡­we need to ask our leader, but you could go into any empty building. Yeah.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± There were plenty of empty buildings and it was okay for the team to sleep in any one of them. Zin wasn¡¯t shy about spending chips when he had to, but he refused to do so if it wasn¡¯t necessary. ¡ª¨C The residents of Weedle considered Cho-Yul the drunkard to be an outsider. He didn¡¯t have any close friend, and the residents treated him as a fool. Nobody paid him much attention because he was drunk most of the time. Therefore, an outsider paying him a visit was strange. Some residents came by his hut to ask about the outsider, but Cho-Yul closed the door and didn¡¯t reply to anyone. He had sobered up, assembled a small table, and sat down on the floor. Next to him was a sack made of hay that was full of rice. He usually used the rice to make alcohol by adding yeast, but this time, he wasn¡¯t going to do that. Cho-Yul picked up a handful of rice. ¡ªWhoosh! ¡ª He threw it onto the table and counted the number of rice grains that were on it before wiping them off. He then picked up another handful of rice. ¡ªWhoosh! ¡ª He continued to repeat these actions. Cho-Yul used the rice to tell his fortune. He kept throwing the rice until the sack was empty. By then, the floor was covered with rice and the moon was high in the sky. Cho-Yul was covered in sweat. The result of the fortune telling is always urate. His master, Goo-Yun, had said this when he had taught Cho-Yul sorcery. It is a matter of how the result is interpreted. Whenever someone told a fortune multiple times, they would get three different patterns. The rice grains might have scattered into different shapes, but if they can interpret it correctly, they would read the same result. A sorcerer could read the key point. ording to Goo-Yun, a skilled sorcerer could interpret the result of the fortune telling urately. Cho-Yul tried to interpret the fortune telling that he had performed. SoSeoLan was also an excellent sorcerer, so they had something inmon. They didn¡¯t believe in Heaven¡¯s Will. However, there was a slight difference between them. SoSeoLan took action to prove that Heaven¡¯s Will did not dictate the world. On the other hand, Cho-Yul hid from her in order to mock and disprove it. He mocked Heaven¡¯s Will for allowing a skilled sorcerer to hide from the world. Cho-Yul and SoSeoLan denied the existence Heaven¡¯s Will. However, things had changed. A witch hunter had visited Cho-Yul and asked him for a favor. Heaven¡¯s Will had found its way to Cho-Yul, urging him to take action. He wondered if he needed to take action because of it. Cho-Yul performed two fortune tellings. He wanted to see what would happen if he followed the hunter and if he didn¡¯t. The result for when he followed was strange. His destiny became intertwined with another¡¯s and disappeared. He would apparently be following someone¡¯s path. Cho-Yul realized that if he left the vige, he would not return. It would be a turning point in his life. That¡¯s an interesting result. The oue both surprised and amazed him. ¡°I will die in a dangerous and harmful ce,¡± Cho-Yul said slowly, reading the fortune. ¡°I will travel with someone who always wanders so I won¡¯t die peacefully on a bed. I will travel with a one who is not human and will encounter Treacherous Spirits wherever I go. I will be walking a path full of danger. There is no need for me to read any further.¡± Cho-Yul would evidently be traveling to ces where there was nothing but danger and pain. The result of the fortune telling strongly implied his death. Once he left the vige, there would be no turning back. Death waited at the end of the journey. Choosing this path would be a foolish thing to do. The oue of him staying in the vige was simple. He would continue to live a meaningless life. There were two options in front of him: a stormy ocean of the unknown or a barren wilderness. The fortune telling was performed in order to avoid harm and seek luck. Depending on the selection, a person¡¯s luck would change. Cho-Yul could continue living as a drunkard. He could hide and stay safe even when the Star of Disaster struck the world. However, when the world was covered with disaster, he would have no ce to flee to. ¡°¡­¡± After interpreting many fortunes, he started to read those of the other people who would be involved in his life. As he interpreted the many conflicting andplex results, he started to cry quietly. Even though Cho-Yul would end up dying at the end of the path, he realized that he had to leave. ¡°I can hide from the waves of destruction, but I will have nowhere to go.¡± Cho-Yun sobbed when he realized that nobody could run from their own fate. Making a decision was impossible. Even though Cho-Yul had decided to live a life in which he would be making alcohol in a barrennd, he would not be safe from the impending disaster that the Star of Disaster clearly foretold. Even if Cho-Yul chose to live as a loser, he realized that he could not escape his fate. He knew he would inevitablye across his fellow student, SoSeoLan. Cho-Yul could do nothing but cry. After a long time, he stood up resolutely, believing that this was his first and only opportunity to take a stand. He didn¡¯t hope to change the world. After making the decision to move on, he couldn¡¯t sit still. ¡°Phew!¡± Cho-Yul dragged a jar of alcohol he had been storing out of his hut. Since he wasn¡¯t in the best shape, he had trouble carrying such a heavy thing. After he set it on thewn, he went inside and brought out another. He was sweating and shaking and beginning to tire. The three big jars were things thatforted him. He was able to drink the sorrow away. All the jars stood on thewn in front of the hut. Cho-Yul brought out his stone pillow and lifted it. ¡°Haaaaaaah!¡± ¡ªng! ¡ª Without hesitation, he swung it at the first jar, which broke into pieces. The grain alcohol flowed out of the smashed jar. Cho-Yul moved on the next jar and smashed it as well. ¡°Haaah!¡± ¡ªPow! ¡ª The second jar also broke into pieces. The smell of the yeast and alcohol permeated thewn. Without paying attention to the flowing alcohol, he smashed the third jar. ¡ªBam! ¡ª Alcohol flowed from the three broken jars and Cho-Yul turned them upside down to dump out the remaining alcohol. ¡°Huff¡­ Huff¡­¡± The alcohol flowed all over the ground. Cho-Yul threw the pillow away and watched the scene in silence. The drunkard of Weedle had smashed all his jars of alcohol in the middle of the night when no one was around. Cho-Yul was wet with sweat and alcohol. Then he started tough like he had neverughed before. Chapter 83 < Breaking an Old Habit (Part 2) > The next day, Cho-Yul exited his hut with a new and different demeanor, surprising the residents of Weedle. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the young man who¡¯s drunk all the time? ¡°I think so.¡± There was a reason why they were surprised. The Cho-Yul who used to stagger around in a drunken stupor was walking straight. He no longer had messy hair or an unclean appearance. He had tied his hair up and looked as if he had taken a bath. Despite wearing an old grey robe, he looked very attentive. More than anything, Cho-Yul actually approached and greeted his neighbors instead of ignoring them like before. ¡°Sir, I apologize for the things I¡¯ve done during my stay here.¡± ¡°Huh? What? Are you really the Cho-Yul I know?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll be leaving the vige to go on a long journey and I¡¯d like to bid you farewell.¡± Cho-Yul didn¡¯t stop at one person. He visited every single resident of the vige and greeted them. All the people whom he visited also wished him good luck on his journey. Many of the residents were surprised by his sudden departure. They hadn¡¯t expected him to change so much in just a day. The residents soon realized that Cho-Yul¡¯s sudden change was because of the outsiders. When many of them heard that he had be a different man, they asked him what had happened. ¡°I have something I need to take care of,¡± Cho-Yul replied. He didn¡¯t go into detail with them, however. Cho-Yul visited the vige leaderst. The middle-aged man stood up when he saw a different Cho-Yul walk into his home. ¡°Cho-Yul, what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I came to bid you farewell, sir.¡± The leader had heard many requests from the residents to kick Cho-Yul out before, but he had refused to do so because there would be no ce other than the wilderness for Cho-Yul to go. Even though the leader would asionally reprimand him, Cho-Yul could live in Weedle because of the care the leader gave him. Before the leader could talk him out of leaving, Cho-Yul spoke. ¡°My true identity is that of a sorcerer.¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°The Group cannot find this vige and are confused because I set up the Disguising Sorcery. They have passed by the vige at least four times today.¡± ¡°!¡± He began exining the topic of sorcery and the workings behind the Disguising Sorcery to the leader, who didn¡¯t know the first thing about it. ¡°You should prohibit anyone from leaving the vige. You won¡¯t be able to use chips for some time. The Disguising Sorcery¡¯s area of effect is within a one-mile radius of the vige. At the moment, you¡¯ll have to find a way to survive by cultivating crops.¡± Cho-Yul also added that it would be best for the vigers toy low until the Group¡¯s power lessened. The leader was still in shock, not certain if Cho-Yul was telling the truth. If what he had said was true, that meant that he had been protecting the vige from the Reavers. There were other things the leader thought was odd. The climate around Weedle had never been good and the vige always had food shortages. However, in the two years since Cho-Yul¡¯s arrival, harvests had been bountiful. The people could grow more than enough food and didn¡¯t care about Cho-Yul making alcohol with the excess grain. The vige had also been blessed with great weather for the past two years. People were thankful for the great weather. ¡°Was it you who¡ª¡± The leader began. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal for me to control the climate. Anyway, thank you for the two years you¡¯ve allowed me to stay here.¡± The leader then realized that the pain-in-the-butt drunkard had actually been the most important person in the vige. That drunkard was also about to leave said vige. He couldn¡¯t speak as he watched Cho-Yul turn around and walk away. Cho-Yul had transformed into a different person. ¡ª¨C ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± Cho-Yul said as he approached the team. ¡°Why were you walking around all over the ce? You looked like you were saying goodbye for thest time,¡± Zin scolded. ¡°A personal rtionship should never be taken lightly.¡± Cho-Yul didn¡¯t tell Zin about the oue of his fortune telling and Zin didn¡¯t ask. Nevertheless, both knew something that Leona and Ramphil didn¡¯t. Cho-Yul had made up his mind, deciding to leave the vige for good. Zin could somewhat read Cho-Yul¡¯s determination. Since he was fully prepared for their long journey, Zin didn¡¯t ask him any questions. ¡°Now you look like a real sorcerer,¡± hemented instead. ¡°Thank you,¡± Cho-Yul replied with a smile. The team greeted each other briefly. ¡°Are you from Wargrave? I¡¯m Cho-Yul. Nice to meet you.¡± Cho-Yul was not afraid of Ramphil, who wore a Wargrave uniform. He stretched out his arm, which Ramphil grabbed and shook in greeting. ¡°I¡¯m a temporary executor, Ramphil. Nice to meet you as well,¡± Ramphil replied. ¡°I¡¯m Leona,¡± Leona piped up. ¡°And a witch,¡± Ramphil added abruptly. ¡°Huh, what?¡± Cho-Yul was surprised by his suddenment. ¡°Why did you tell him when he didn¡¯t even ask?¡± She turned to Ramphil, who just shrugged. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me because I didn¡¯t ask you. I am telling Cho-Yul so that he doesn¡¯t get caught by a surprise.¡± ¡°¡­You loser. You¡¯ve been mad about it all this time?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Ramphil answered matter-of-factly. ¡°H-hold on¡­ Can you exin to me in detail?¡± Cho-Yul asked, extremely surprised. He couldn¡¯t understand how a witch could be traveling along with a witch hunter. Cho-Yul looked as Zin, who sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll exin on the way.¡± ¡ª¨C After listening to the long story, Cho-Yul nodded. ¡°I see what happened.¡± There were many stories that were intertwined. Cho-Yul could now understand the meaning of his fortune telling. He realized that the character ¡°harm¡± had appeared because Leona was a witch. Many years had passed since devils roamed thend. People had forgotten what a devil was. They knew the word ¡°devil,¡± but had forgotten what it meant. Cho-Yul, the descendant of a devil hunter, had also forgotten about the people¡¯s hatred toward a devil. He was surprised that the little kid in front of him was a witch, but he didn¡¯t think that she was someone who had to be killed. ¡°Leona, are you able to use a witch¡¯s power?¡± Cho-Yul inquired respectfully. His extra-polite attitude made her feel quite awkward. ¡°Hey, can you talk naturally? I feel awkward here.¡± Leona didn¡¯t like talking formally and would prefer to converse naturally with Cho-Yul. ¡°I feel morefortable talking this way, but you could talk however you like,¡± he answered. ¡°¡­You¡¯re annoying in a different way than Ramphil,¡± shemented. ¡°Well, we are a team of weirdos, so what did you expect?¡± Zin cut into the conversation. ¡°And you are one of those weirdos, mister.¡± Leona turned to look at him. ¡°Nah,¡± Zin rejected curtly. ¡°Mister, you know that you¡¯re the weirdest of all of us.¡± There was nothing more special than a devil hunter who had lived for over two centuries. Zinughed as Leona scolded him while Cho-Yul looked on in amazement at the devil hunter and the witch fooling around. In the past, it was said that a devil hunter is treated on par with a devil. The witch hunter in front of him was one of the devil hunters who had been regarded as ruthless hunters. Cho-Yul couldn¡¯t easily picture the current Zin as being one of them. After goofing around with Zin for a bit, Leona looked at Cho-Yul. ¡°Oh, you asked about a witch¡¯s power, right? I don¡¯t really know how to use it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Sometimes, I sense the power within me, but it¡¯s very hard to control.¡± Cho-Yul nodded as Leona exined her powers. It was his first time meeting a witch. He had studied them before but had never met one. Zin was the only person who had encountered devils and hunted even them. ¡°She is a little slow and dumb, so you¡¯ll have to cope with her,¡± Zin joked. Leona pouted. ¡°I know you¡¯re making fun of me. Stop it, mister.¡± ¡°Haha¡­easy, everyone. I didn¡¯t mean to create a feud here¡­¡± Cho-Yul thought that it was rather fortunate that the witch couldn¡¯t control her power to the fullest. Zin looked around at each team member and thought about how they would work as a team. ¡°What a team. Feels like the end of the world,¡± he murmured after a short pause. Cho-Yul had his doubts about traveling together, wondering exactly what would happen. However, the thought did not terrify him because he had already decided to go on this journey. A team consisting of a Wargrave executor, a witch hunter, a witch, and a high-level sorcerer was ready to embark. The AV started to move across the ins. ¡ª¨C ¡°It was a good decision to join you,¡± Cho-Yul mentioned as he looked at the pile of C-Ration cans. He had tried many new food and desserts and was amazed at the luxury. He thought about how the meal would taste much better with a bottle of alcohol, but if he drank even a single sip, Zin would beat him up. ¡°I never epted you as a team member officially. What makes you think you¡¯ll be traveling with us?¡± Zin looked at him with a grimace. ¡°This is the will of the heaven, grandmaster,¡± Cho-Yul replied. ¡°You sorcerers, always using that to rebut all arguments,¡± Zin sighed. Many sorcerers referred to the will of the heaven to exin the cause of any event or action. One could not out-argue a sorcerer when they brought up the will of heaven. ¡°The world of sorcery is deep and mysterious. Even though you disagree, things will happen as the will of heaven wants, grandmaster.¡± ¡°Did you only learn such bullshit from your master?¡± ¡°Haha, my apologies. This is all that I learned, grandmaster.¡± ¡°You sorcerers¡­¡± Zin shook his head when he heard that. Leona and Ramphil looked on in amazement at their chat. ¡°Alright, fine. It¡¯s all good. But stop referring to me as ¡®grandmaster,¡¯ will you? It bugs me,¡± Zin said. He really didn¡¯t like to be called ¡°grandmaster.¡± It made him feel like an old man. ¡°Then what should I call you?¡± ¡°Call me Zin. I don¡¯t like being referred to as an elder.¡± ¡°But I can¡¯t I refer a grandmaster by his name¡ª¡± As Cho-Yul spoke, Zin became furious, clenching his fist until his knuckles turned white. ¡°If I hear you say ¡®grandmaster¡¯ one more time, I will rip you into a thousand pieces.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not funny at all¡­but okay, I got it.¡± Cho-Yul nodded, realizing that Zin was not in good mood. On the other hand, Leona was surprised by his anger. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to be called an old man, you should stop joking around like one,¡± she chided. ¡°Well, you have to understand. The hunter has lived a long life,¡± Ramphil added. Zin became even more furious as both Leona and Ramphil mocked him. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to be funny.¡± He tried to talk back, then stopped. Leona smiled and both she and Ramphil nodded. They didn¡¯t speak anymore. ¡°No, really! I¡¯m not trying to be funny,¡± Zin insisted, bing embarrassed. ¡°Okay, I understand.¡± Leona drank her fruit punch and nodded. ¡°Yeah it happens,¡± Ramphil agreed. ¡°¡­¡± In the past, he had mocked Leona many times and Ramphil still remembered when he had to roam around the city of Harbin with a smelly rag. It was their payback time. ¡°Damn,¡± Zin grumbled in frustration. It appeared that their team would not be having a friendly and harmonious road trip together. ¡ª¨C A couple of dayster. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± They had arrived at a spot where the Heavenly Power Rock was in view. Ramphil stopped the AV when they reached the hill. He backed up a bit and hid behind a rock. ¡°I see Reavers,¡± Ramphil reported. ¡°What?¡± Zin jumped out of the AV and Ramphil followed him. They bothid down on the ground and observed the Reavers with the binocrs. A group of Reavers camped near the Heavenly Power Rock could be seen. Chapter 84 < The Time of Evil Spirits and Storms (Part 1) > Arge group of Reavers surrounded the Heavenly Power Rock. They didn¡¯t appear to be an ordinary group. Zin and Ramphil knew that a ughterhouse couldn¡¯t deploy so many Reavers, enough to look like an entire army. The team was far away and couldn¡¯t be spotted from their position on the hill. ¡°It¡¯s the Group,¡± Zin said. Ramphil nodded in agreement. Leona and Cho-Yul exited the AV to observe the situation. Cho-Yul became nervous when he heard the word ¡°Group.¡± He had sensed the ¡°Star of Disaster¡± and knew that he would cross paths with SoSeoLan at some point. However, he hadn¡¯t expected the meeting to happen so soon. ¡°It looks like they have some business with the Heavenly Power Castle,¡± Zin remarked. ¡°That¡¯s impossible! There¡¯s no way SoSeoLan knows about the castle. My master only told me about it.¡± The emperor had built the castle when he wasn¡¯t yet associated with other Immortal hunters. The Heavenly Power Temple and the Immortal hunters didn¡¯t have any ties between them and the hunters rarely visited. Not many knew about the seal on the Immortal. Goo-Yun only told Cho-Yul about the temple¡¯s existence and location. He had known about SoSeoLan¡¯s ambition and thus didn¡¯t tell her about the temple¡¯s existence. This current situation in which the Group led by SoSeoLan surrounded the temple was strange. Cho-Yul didn¡¯t know what was going on. ¡°They¡¯re probably not after the Heavenly Wind,¡± Zin exined. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The Heavenly Power Temple is the heart of sorcery. It¡¯s a strategic point.¡± The Heavenly Power Rock standing high above thend looked both grandiose and suspicious at the same time. The Group would be interested in taking it over even if they didn¡¯t know about the existence of sorcerers. It seemed like Asura wasn¡¯t aware of what the Heavenly Power Rock possessed. It wasn¡¯t a coincidence that the Group was nning to take over the castle. Its appearance and importance as a strategic location made that inevitable. ¡°What timing. What an inconvenience,¡± Ramphil muttered with a wry expression. Even though the team had a Wargrave AV, the Reavers were heavily armed. Zin and Ramphil continued to observe the Group¡¯s movements. ¡°They are well prepared.¡± They were armed with heavy artillery as well asunchers and bombs. Their camp was also in a good location. A Wargrave AV would turn into scrap in a matter of seconds if the Reavers started firing their rocketunchers. The Heavenly Power Rock had two main strategic advantages. First, it stood high above the ground, providing a better view of the surroundingnd. Second, it was an ideal ce to perform sorcery, which would benefit the Group¡¯s leader, SoSeoLan. If she controlled the temple, she could then utilize stronger sorcery. ¡°Can¡¯t we negotiate with them?¡± Leona asked, lying down next to Zin. ¡°If we tell them that an Immortal is sealed in the rock, wouldn¡¯t they run away?¡± ¡°They are a tough group to negotiate with,¡± he replied. ¡°It¡¯ll be almost impossible. They are an army of crazy Reavers after all.¡± The army of Reavers was most likely very cruel and violent. They would attack as soon as the team moved within firing range. Approaching them would be an act of madness. They had to figure out a way to make the Reavers retreat. ¡°Strange. Even though are camped near the rock, they can¡¯t do much,¡± Zin noted. The Reavers would find it extremely difficult to climb up the cliff face. Even if they were to climb up, the castle¡¯s residents could easily kick them off. Additionally, the castle was self-sufficient and the residents could survive even if the Reaversid siege to the castle. They couldn¡¯t possibly starve the castle into surrendering. Zin and Ramphil closely monitored the camp. Conquering the castle was a difficult feat, but destroying it would be easy. The Reavers were drilling holes into the cliff. ¡°Crazy bastards!¡± Zin cursed as he observed their actions. ¡°Are they going to destroy the whole cliff?¡± Ramphil asked. ¡°It looks like it.¡± Zin began thinking as he observed the Reavers¡¯ attack. The Group is trying to take over the Heavenly Power Castle. They¡¯re armed with rocketunchers, rifles, and grenades. They n topletely destroy the castle if they can¡¯t take it over. This is more of a threat. They are threatening the castle into surrender. If the Heavenly Power Rock crumbles, there is a risk that the seal on the Immortal breaks. That will be a huge problem. The Heavenly Power Temple won¡¯t be able to fend off that many Reavers. We can¡¯t negotiate with them. They probably won¡¯t listen at all, but we can¡¯t overpower them either. We can¡¯t charge toward them. This is an open field with no ce to take cover. We won¡¯t be able to take them down. Is SoSeoLan there? I¡¯m not sure, but it seems like she isn¡¯t. That¡¯s fortunate. The team would be able to enter the castle if they fended off the enemy. The only way to do that was to fight the Reavers, but victory was unlikely. The team could attack with the AV¡¯s sma gun, but the Reavers would focus their fire on that. At the same time, they couldn¡¯t possibly wait it out. Zin continued to think. We don¡¯t need to kill them all. We just need to make them retreat. If we kill them, more Reavers wille. It will be better to fend them off with bad weather. If SoSeoLan is not here, they won¡¯t be able to counter sorcery. Looks like we¡¯ll need Cho-Yul¡¯s help here. After assessing the situation, Zin looked at Cho-Yul, who was nervously watching the scene. ¡°You have some work to do,¡± Zin said. ¡°What work?¡± Cho-Yul asked. ¡°Send them a storm. I¡¯m sure they will run away if there¡¯s lightning striking down on them. You can do it even without the Heavenly Wind, right?¡± It wouldn¡¯t be much of an issue for an expert sorcerer like Cho-Yul to call a storm. He could cast a stronger storm with the charm, but it wasn¡¯t impossible to call a weak one. Cho-Yul pondered for a while as Zin talked to him. Shortly after, he nodded with a serious expression. ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± Making the Reavers retreat with a storm was their best option at the moment. The team could only hope that the Reavers would leave when faced with stormy weather. Ramphil and Leona refused to believe that Cho-Yul could call a storm when the sky was clear. Cho-Yul prepared to summon the storm. The Reavers were focused on drilling into the cliff face and were not aware of what was happening. ¡°Do you need anything to cast the spell?¡± Leona knew that performing sorcery required preparation. Summoning a storm was probably not a simple task. However, Cho-Yul washed an empty C-Ration can and filled it with water. When Leona saw the can of water with oil floating on the surface, she thought that it seemed mysterious. ¡°As a sorcerer bes more skillful, they need less preparation time and materials,¡± Zin answered Leona¡¯s unvoiced question. Cho-Yul, an expert sorcerer, didn¡¯t need much preparation. Leona nodded. ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect that holy water would be reced with water in a C-Ration can,¡± Zin clicked his tongue in amazement. Cho-Yul prayed in front of a can filled with oily water. Usually, sorcerers prayed in front of a bowl of pure water in order to prepare for their spell. Using oily water instead of holy water was quite unthinkable. ¡°We don¡¯t have the proper items for the prayer or any other options,¡± Cho-Yul exined, then closed his eyes. His expression calmed as prepared to summon a storm. ¡°Let¡¯s not disturb him,¡± Zin advised. The three of them backed away from Cho-Yul and continued observing the Group. The Reavers were still drilling holes into the rock. If they were to detonate multiple bombs in it, the Heavenly Power Rock would copse. ¡°Is it hard to cast storm?¡± Leona asked, curious. ¡°Well, performing a ritual for rain is amon task for sorcerers. It should be simple.¡± ¡°Can any sorcerer do it then?¡± ¡°There is a saying,¡± said Zin, smiling bitterly, ¡°that the ritual for rain willst until it rains.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t hard to perform the ritual, but if it is performed by an amateur, the ritual will take longer to have an effect. Most of the time, natural rain would fall before the ritual works.¡± ¡°That does not make sense at all.¡± Leona shook her head. ¡°There are some sorcerers who im to have cast the rainstorm even though the ritual had not yet taken effect.¡± Sometimes, it took months for the ritual to be effective. There were many fake sorcerers who would ¡°cast spells¡± even though they didn¡¯t know how to perform a ritual. As Zin continued to exin, Ramphil cut in. ¡°What, so are you saying that a ritual is useless?¡± he asked in disbelief ¡°Usually, yes,¡± Zin replied. After a ritual is performed, it could take a while before rainfall. Ramphil and Leona began to doubt the practicality of sorcery. ¡°This is the perfect opportunity to see if Cho-Yul is different from all the fake sorcerers out there,¡± Zin smiled. He wondered how a high-leveled sorcerer¡¯s ritual would differ. ¡°To be exact, Cho-Yul is not performing a ritual for rain. He is casting a powerful spell that is summoning both storm and rain,¡± Zin exined as he curiously observed the Group. He watched them in amused anticipation. It took five hours for Cho-Yul toplete the summoning. A powerful spell took many hours of preparation, even if a high-leveled sorcerer cast. Cho-Yul opened his eyes and threw the water out of the can. ¡ªWhoosh! ¡ª The ¡°holy water¡± sprayed out into the air and evaporated into white mist, rising up into the sky. Night fell and Cho-Yul sighed as he finished the ceremony. ¡°I¡¯m tired¡­¡± ¡°Did it go well?¡± ¡°Yes. Fortunately, heavy rain is in the forecast. It will seed because of the power of water in the surrounding area. Also, it looks like SoSeoLan isn¡¯t around.¡± Even though Cho-Yul was a high-leveled sorcerer, he had to perform a five-hour long ceremony. ¡°A storm wille soon. Let¡¯s go inside,¡± he said. Zin thought that five hours was a short period of time to cast such a big storm. All was quiet. Only the sound of drilling could be heard. ¡ªClunk! ¡ª The four members went inside the AV and waited for the storm to arrive. ¡ª¨C A couple of days ago, a suspicious person visited the Heavenly Power Temple and demanded that the lord surrender. The person wore the mask of Asura and looked vicious, with a voice that sounded like grinding metal. As soon as the person arrived they had threatened the lord. This ce is both strategically and spiritually important. I am going to use it as a capital and base of operations for my empire. Who are you? What sort of absurdity is this? You should surrender now. If you surrender and join me, I will let you all live. How does that sound? Keep in mind that the mountains andnds in the north are all under my control. Please go away. The Heavenly Power Temple is a ce of peace. It will never be used as the center of chaos. Are you rejecting my offer? There is no point in considering it. Even though this ce is elevated above the ground, it is still part of the earth. I will return just before you are about to be crushed. The person left the temple like the wind. It seemed like they were confident that the temple would be easily overpowered. A few dayster, arge number of Reavers surrounded the castle and began drilling holes into the rock. They were calling for the castle to surrender. The Heavenly Power Castle was a ce that should not be controlled by an evil power. The lord believed that a disaster would ensue if someone with evil intent discovered the secret of the castle. The castle¡¯s residents were unarmed, but the lord had to do something against the intruders. They were skilled in sorcery since they were responsible for protecting the seal on the Immortal. They couldn¡¯t perform strong spells that a high-leveled sorcerer could, but had invented many more spells than the Immortal hunters. They could use sorcery to attack. Without knowing that Zin¡¯s team was nearby, the people of the Heavenly Power Temple prepared to defend against the Reavers. ¡°My lord, everyone has gathered at the temple.¡± ¡°Does that include the children?¡± ¡°Yes. We are all ready and should be safe from evil spirits.¡± All of the temple¡¯s had entered the temple itself. They didn¡¯t have anything special nned, only preparing to protect themselves from what was about to happen. ¡°Let¡¯s show these Reavers what we¡¯re made of.¡± What the lord nned on doing was bad, but he believed he could only endure in this current state of emergency. He stood before a giant headstone on the templewn, situated at the center of the temple. It was an important structure of the castle. The lord stretched out his hand. ¡ªVoooom¡ª Soon, the headstone started to vibrate and the characters on it began to move. The Immortal was sealed in this ce. Many evil spirits were attracted to it. Additionally, the absence of the Heavenly Wind had lured the Treacherous Spirit. ¡°As the lord of the Heavenly Power Temple, I order the Heavenly Power Stone to cease its duty.¡± The headstone was the key structure that prevented evil energy from invading the castle. Now it was about to cease its function. If the evil energy perforated the area, many evil spirits would evidently get drawn to the energy. Therefore, the lord had gathered all the people inside the temple, where a strong force field had been set up. ¡°After everything is over, we will need to perform many exorcisms.¡± The headstone changed in appearance and began to emit dark energy. The temple would remain safe from the evil spirits while the Reavers would be devoured. ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t make the wrong decision,¡± The lord murmured as he looked at the headstone. He wasn¡¯tfortable making such a radical decision. A high-leveled sorcerer had summoned a storm. The lord of the temple had summoned a group of evil spirits. The time of evil spirits and storms was quickly approaching. Chapter 85 < The Time of Evil Spirits and Storms (Part 2) > ¡ªCrack! ¡ª Dark clouds covered the sky and a bolt of lightning struck the ground. Shortly afterward, heavy rain began to fall along with gusts of fierce wind. ¡ªDribble drip drip drip! Krrrrooooom! ¡ª ¡°What the?¡± ¡°It¡¯s starting to pour!¡± ¡ªCrack! With a sh of lightning, a heavy storm hit the area around the castle. Not a minute passed before heavy rain began pouring from the sky. The sudden change in climate, which resulted in their tents being blown away, astonished the Reavers. Their camp of thousands soon devolved into a chaos. Lightning descended from the sky and some debris blown around by the wind injured a few people. Night had already fallen and there was limited visibility. ¡°What the hell is this!?¡± One of the Reavers yelled, but the sound was dampened by the powerful storm. On such an open field, the Reavers didn¡¯t have anywhere to find shelter from the storm. The wind blew from all different directions. It definitely wasn¡¯t an ordinary storm.. They began to regret attacking a spiritual ce, thinking that the storm was a form of punishment for their actions. It was so strong that even opening their eyes was an impossible feat. The only ce the Reavers could hide in was the small caves they had drilled into the rock. They couldn¡¯tmunicate with each other as they crawled inside. The holes were wide enough for a person to crawl through, so many Reavers pushed at each other to fit inside. ¡°Stop pushing! Stop pushing, damn it!¡± ¡°Stop! My foot! My foot!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡­breathe.¡± The storm continued as the Reavers fought to fit inside the caves. Most of them leaned against the cliff where the holes had been drilled. The area became very crowded. ¡°Damn¡­What the hell is going on?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had a bad feeling about this ce since the beginning. We¡¯re being punished for trying to attack this holy mountain!¡± The Reavers leaning against the cliff were screaming. They had simply been following Asura¡¯s orders but were hesitant to attack the Heavenly Power Castle. As superstitious people, they believed that spiritual ces were off limits. The idea that the storm was retaliation for attacking the Heavenly Power Temple circted through the group. Since the storm didn¡¯t look like it was going to subside any time soon, many Reavers believed they were about to die. ¡°We need to get away from here!¡± To survive, they had to flee from this hellish storm. In the midst of the chaos, it was impossible to find the field officers. The Reavers¡¯ thoughts then turned toward the junkwagons. Although driving away on a junkwagon in such weather was a crazy idea, many of them thought that it would be better than getting killed by the storm. Some ran to where the junkwagons were parked. Others ran in the wrong direction. The running Reavers who fell down because of the strong wind started crawling toward the junkwagons. Some smart Reavers found the bigger junkwagons and hid in the trunk. As they did so, other Reavers took the junkwagons and drove away without realizing that some of theirrades were inside. The sudden storm frightened all of them. Those who drove away on the junkwagons thought about hiding in whatever ce they could find¡ªrocks, cliffs, old buildings, ruins, anything. That was their n. ¡ªAaaaaaaaaaaargggh! ¡ª ¡°What the¡ª!?¡± Before they could drive very far, something swarmed toward them from the darkness. ¡ªKyahahahahaha! ¡ª A wave of evil spirits approached the Reavers. The storm had sent the army of Reavers into a blind panic, and now a wave of spirits was closing in attack them. ¡ª- The group of evil spirits that had been drawn by the seal covered the area surrounding the Heavenly Power Castle. So many ghosts rarely gathered in one ce, but the evil energy emanating from the seal was so powerful that it could even draw ghosts from far away. Just like moths to a me, ghosts were attracted by strong spiritual energy. The location of the Immortal¡¯s seal produced a great amount of energy, which attracted many ghosts. A wave of ghosts arrived at the castle and more were on their way. They instinctively began attacking the Reavers. ¡°Nggaaaaargh!¡± The ghosts prated the Reavers¡¯ bodies, which then copsed onto the ground. They attacked with rage, and although they couldn¡¯t inflict any physical damage, they could cause pain to the Reavers¡¯ souls. Terror reigned. The ghosts inflicted pain on the Reavers as they ripped apart their souls. Although the ghosts also roamed around the Heavenly Power Castle along with the base of the cliff, the castle was prepared because there were people hiding inside. The force field prevented the ghosts from entering, so they moved on to ces where they could inflict damage. ¡°Hehehehehehe¡­ehehe!¡± ¡ªRatatatatatat!¡ª The possessed Reavers started shooting their rifles. ¡°Diiiiiiiiiiiiiieee!¡± ¡ªClick! ¡ª ¡°Yoooou craaaaaaazy baaaaaastard!¡± ¡ªKaboooom! ¡ª Some of the Reavers inside the cave blew up their chipbusters and died in the explosion along with other Reavers. Others died from hundreds of bullet holes as the ghosts took over their heads. Possessed Reavers killed each other and themselves. The area had be a hell as the rainstorm continuing to pour down. ¡°What¡¯s going on over there?¡± Ramphil murmured with a nervous expression. Zin and the team were waiting inside the AV to avoid the storm. They paid attention to the ghost sounds echoing all over the ce. Luckily, Cho-Yul had set up a force field inside the AV that the ghosts could not prate. He concentrated on maintaining the force field. ¡°It looks like the Heavenly Power castle hasn¡¯t been idle.¡± Zin knew of the existence of the Heavenly Power Stone and the effect it had. He briefly exined to the team what was happening outside. What the castle had done might be a bigger issueter on. The ghosts wouldn¡¯t go away even if they reactivated the Heavenly Power Stone. Once the Reavers were defeated, the sorcerers of the castle would need to perform a massive amount of exorcisms. Sorcerers were not people who exorcised spirits. They usually only utilized them. ¡°Are you able to hold it?¡± Zin asked Cho-Yul. ¡°Yes, thankfully there are only weak ghosts.¡± Even though he had set up the force field in a hurry, Cho-Yul could keep the ghosts out of the AV. Leona could feel the evil energy outside and worriedly remained quiet. The situation had changed. Most of the Reavers would have survived if it had only been rainstorm since they could have driven away on their junkwagons. However, with the ghosts¡¯ attack, they began killing each other and blowing things up. As a result, most of the army had died. This didn¡¯t bode well in the long run. It was clear that the Group would return to exact vengeance on the castle. Their attack would only be postponed until ater date. ¡ªDribble. Drip! Drip! ¡ª The heavy rain continued to hit the AV as multiple explosions sounded at the base of the cliff. However, the team couldn¡¯t hear the sound of the motorcycle engine because of it. In order to fight against a sorcerer, a person had to learn how to use sorcery. The Reavers knew how to kill people, but they didn¡¯t know how to kill ghosts. They had no way of retaliating. Their weapons had no effect against the ghosts as they continued toy waste on the Reaver army. However, there was at least one person who knew how. The person riding the motorcycle in the middle of the storm heard the explosions and the cries of the ghosts. ¡°¡­¡± They couldn¡¯t see the chaotic scene. The person wore an Asura mask and a ck leather jacket with ck leather pants. Their long, ck hair streamed out behind the mask and the curvature of their clothing meant that she was female. She had ordered the army to take over the Heavenly Power Castle and was on her way back after visiting other cities. She governed many regions so she couldn¡¯t stay in one ce indefinitely. However, she hadn¡¯t expected the Heavenly Power Castle to counterattack with powerful sorcery. ¡ªBuzzzz!¡ª The several ghosts that rushed toward her were vanquished in a sh. She continued to observe the scene in silence, not outright disying any emotion, yet her aura revealed her fury. Something is strange. She kept traveling through the storm and the enraged ghosts. It¡¯s impossible for someone other than a high-leveled sorcerer to cast this kind of spell. She dismounted and walked toward the cluster of ghosts. Is there another high-leveled sorcerer besides me and my fellow student? If that¡¯s the case, then the world is full of surprises. She slowly took off the mask, revealing a pale face and red lips. Or he could be fooling around here. She wondered why that drunkard would be interfering with her ns all of a sudden. She couldn¡¯t think of a reason. Perhaps there was a hidden secret in the Heavenly Power Castle, which she was trying to conquer for strategic purposes. Asura took out a scroll from her leather jacket. As a sorcerer, she had recorded numerous spells. Unlike Cho-Yul who had been hiding his powers, Asura had studied methods to maximize and urately utilize her power. She thought of a line of spell and dark ink floated into the air. The Godly Fighters would be perfect for handling the ghosts. Dark ink from the scroll formed multiple humanoid shapes, which rose up holding spears, swords, and other such weapons. These figures used to be Godly Fighters in the past. They had previously been part of myths, but were no longer so, and had the power to fight against the ghosts. Many sorcerers traveled the world in search of the forgotten Godly Fighters. Some were able to find them and use them as protection against ghosts. However, Asura used as a means of attack. Having a single Godly Fighter was already considered a blessing for a sorcerer, but Asura had more than a hundred Godly Fighters under her control. They became both her protectors and attackers when she traveled to dangerous ces. The Godly Fighters were limited in physical fights but were extremely helpful against ghosts. The hundred figures lined up in front of Asura. ¡°It¡¯s a mess in front of me. Clean them all up,¡± she ordered. They nodded without reply and leaped forward on steeds made of spirits. ¡ªGallop! Gallop!¡ª Kyaaaaaah! Keeeeeeeh! The galloping of the horses could be heard. Shortly after, the Godly Fighters began ying the ghosts. Asura was no ordinary expert sorcerer. She continued training and had invested much time in creating new charms. Next, she retrieved a murky yellow marble from her jacket. While staring at the marble, she murmured a spell. ¡°Dragon Pearl, go and deactivate the spell.¡± As soon as Asura finished speaking, the marble became bright. Many shockwaves shot out of it. ¡ªKabooom!¡ª As the shockwaves spread around the area, the rain stopped and the sky cleared. In a short moment, the rain had stoppedpletely and the clear moon shone down upon the earth. Only the ghosts remained, all of them quickly killed off by the Godly Fighters. Asura surveyed the area where the rainstorm had been. The Dragon Pearl. Asura had traveled to thend of the sleeping dragons in order to find the charm. She had originally gone there to get dragon blood, but that had been impossible. Instead, she was able to gain the Dragon Pearl. It was an extremely valuable and powerful charm and was well worth the trip. [Darkborn Energy ¨C 19.94% Reaching limit of recement energy.] [Unable to replenish energy level using recement energy.] [Please search for the blood of a devil] Asura had to use energy in order to activate the Dragon Pearl. She became annoyed by the message that appeared in front of her eyes. It wasn¡¯t possible to search for something that no longer existed, but it was okay if she couldn¡¯t find any yet. She stood up under a clear, night sky. The Reavers near the cliff were confused by the sudden stop of the rain. She put on the mask again. ¡°Your king is here!¡± Asura shouted. The Reavers who had been terrified a couple of minutes ago became happy once more. ¡°The king is here!¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to be okay now!¡± They ran toward Asura as if they had met a savior. Chapter 86 - Kalpa (Part 1) Chapter 86: Kalpa (Part 1) The heavy storm passed. The ghosts were being shed by the Godly Fighters, but more were heading to the area surrounding the castle. Asura wouldn¡¯t be able to camp here for long. There was a limit to the number of Godly Fighters she could summon. On top of that, many of their equipment blew away in the storm, so it was difficult to continue their work. Asuramanded the Reavers to retreat to an area north of the Heavenly Power Castle. Most of the junkwagons wouldn¡¯t even start because of water damage, so the Reavers gathered whatever they could and began their retreat. Certainly, Asura referred to herself as the king, but in a matter of minutes, the king was alone in the Heavenly Power Castle. The Reavers didn¡¯t mind leaving the king by herself. They had no doubt that their king was the most powerful. Frightened by the great force of the Godly Fighters, the ghosts were busy fleeing as they were getting wiped out. Asura mounted her motorbike and started to head somewhere. There were three people standing at her destination. She took off her mask and slid it to the left side of her head so that it sat there a little tilted. ¡°Alright¡­ this seems like a good time for a chat.¡± ¡°¡­¡± All had an intense look of suspicion, except for one. ¡°Why are you interfering? Do you want to die, brother?¡± All color drained from one of the member¡¯s face. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Asura snickered as she checked out Zin and the gang and said, ¡°Have you made some new drinking buddies since thest time I saw you? They don¡¯t look like regr folk.¡± One appeared to be a hunter, and the other, a child. The child aside, Asura saw at a nce that the hunter was not a typical hunter. More importantly, their possession of an AV indicated that there was something out of the ordinary about this group. Despite sensing this, SoSeoLan remained calm. A deeply ingrained fear is hard to get rid of. The other two remained silent as they observed the scene. ¡°S-sis¡­¡± Cho-yul started to stutter. Other than mumbling a few words, he couldn¡¯tmunicate. At least in the past, he had been able to even in his drunken stupor, but now, facing her menacing attitude, he looked as if he had just peed in his pants. As he watched Cho-yul¡¯s reaction, Zin let out a sigh of grief. Fortunately, their opponent was conceited and had full confidence that she could easily handle all three of them at any time. There might be some room for negotiation. ¡°I¡¯ll get right to the point,¡± Zin started to speak. ¡°I¡¯m talking to my brother. You, I didn¡¯t give permission to talk,¡± SoSeoLan cut Zin off instantly as if to say that she had better things to do than listen to him. He felt his forehead veins bulging, but he knew better than to start a fight. ¡°I don¡¯t need your permission to talk¨C¡± ¡°I said, I¡¯m not talking to you!¡± yelled SoSeoLan. The whole ce reverberated. Zin winced at her booming voice. After a moment of silence, Leona opened her mouth to speak, ¡°What a crazy bitch you are!¡± ¡°W-What?¡± SoSeoLan¡¯s eyes widened as she didn¡¯t anticipate a child, whom she hadpletely dismissed in her mind, to direct profanity at her. Leona continued, ¡°You should listen when a person talks to you. Why the hell are you yelling, you crazy bitch?! Aw, man, my ears hurt.¡± She wiggled a finger in her ear as if her eardrums had been blown. Zin found this funny and turned his face away for a moment to chuckle. Cho-yul was shocked and looking like he was in a daze, heughed weakly. He could barely speak to SoSeoLan, so he was shocked to hear Leona use swear at her. ¡°H-how d-dare¡­ you! You, little brraaat!¡± SoSeoLan was red-faced, having never expected to be demeaned by a child still wet behind the ears. ¡°You must want to die at once¨C¡± ¡®Zzing!¡¯ But before SoSeoLan could finish her sentence, she sensed an ominous presence aiming at her neck. Someone hade up behind her without her noticing and was now pointing asersaber at her. ¡°You¡¯re quite a harsh chick,¡± with an icy expression, Ramphil whispered to her. SoSeoLan bit her lips at being called a ¡°chick.¡± Having spent enough time with Zin, Ramphil knew just how to push people¡¯s buttons. For someone deluded enough to think of herself as king, nothing would be more infuriating than being called a chick. ¡°A-a chi-chick?!¡± SoSeoLan shuddered in anger but couldn¡¯t move. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C SoSeoLan could take thesersaber, but it was noteworthy that he had approached her without her realizing it. She wasn¡¯t sure how he had managed it, but she had sensed nothing until he had her. And for some reason, the hunter and the girl appeared to not be threatened by her at all. SoSeoLan was confident in her abilities, but underestimating her opponents wouldn¡¯t be wise. Some could be, others not. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you managed to manipte my brother, but you¡¯ll regret this for sure.¡± ¡°We have our reasons, so why don¡¯t you, the Street Lord of the North, just calm down.¡± ¡°Street lord?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. I said street lord,¡± Zin taunted mockingly, and SoSeoLan¡¯s face turned even redder. As the shit-talking continued, Cho-yul grew more anxious. Atst, SoSeoLan was ready to blow. ¡°I¡¯m not going to stand here and be humiliated like thi¨C.¡± ¡°He¡¯s the Grandmaster, sister!¡± Cho-yul blurted out just before SoSeoLan was about to blow. ¡°What did you say? The Grandmaster?¡± ¡°Yes! He¡¯s the devil hunter of the previous order. Please, c-calm down.¡± As ridiculous as it was, Cho-yul¡¯s statement gave her pause. She was furious, but considering the lineage of the devil hunters, he wasn¡¯t someone she could mess with. Both the code of honor and his level of skill demanded her discretion. But the first devil hunter? That was hard to believe. ¡°Is this true? If you¡¯re really the devil hunter¨C¡± ¡°Are you trying to bring up the DarkBorn? I¡¯m sure I know more about that than you do.¡± Only the devil hunter could¡¯ve said what he had just said. Cho-yul had no knowledge of it, so the person in front of her could be the devil hunter. When Zin briefly exposed some ck energy rising from his fingertips, she had no reason to doubt him anymore. ¡°¡­ How do you do, Grandmaster?¡± SoSeoLan reluctantly bowed her head. Zin chuckled out of embarrassment as he said, ¡°The Emperor seems to have trained his pupils well.¡± Not all devil hunters were like this, but the Emperor had always put a lot of importance on his students showing proper respect to fellow n members. Thanks to the Emperor, Zin had the upperhand in this situation. However, SoSeoLan was unique among all of the Emperor¡¯s students. She lifted her head and, with a cold expression on her face, began to speak, ¡°You should know in advance that I don¡¯t like the devil hunters of the previous order or any devil hunters for that matter.¡± Looking straight at him, she continued, ¡°Don¡¯t expect me to pay any more respect to you than as my senior.¡± SoSeoLan, indeed, was special. She was notorious for her impudence. ¡ª- But since learning that Zin was the Grandmaster, she assumed a posture that was less hostile and more open to negotiation. ¡°Ramphil, put down your saber.¡± Following Zin¡¯s instruction, Ramphil deactivated hissersaber and walked closer to him. For a moment, SoSeoLan stared at the stoic Wargrave soldier. She wanted to break his neck foring at her from behind. Zin didn¡¯t want to have a long conversation with a delusional psycho ying king, so he got right to the point, ¡°I¡¯m not sure what shenanigans you¡¯re up to here, but let me make a request.¡± ¡°OK.¡± ¡°Leave the Heavenly Power Castle alone. This ce is not for you to mess with.¡± ¡°My n is to take over the Heavenly Power Castle as the capital city of our group. Is there a good reason for your request?¡± ¡°The Immortals are sealed here.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Which means that you ancestors hunted here. I¡¯m sure you already know that you shouldn¡¯t turn a ce like this into a hub of war. If the forcefield dampening evil energy gets destroyed, all kinds of ghosts will be attracted to this ce. Are you sure you want this ce as your capital city?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I better make sure it is my capital.¡± Zin¡¯s grimaced upon hearing that statement. ¡°Thoserge number of spirits could be used as my defense against attacks, so that¡¯s not a reason to not make this my capital, and I may be able to channel some of the evil energy leaking out of here for my sorcery, so that¡¯s all the more reason that this ce should be my capital. I don¡¯t see why it shouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If this is the ce where the Immortals are sealed, then it belongs to my mentor, the Emperor. Doesn¡¯t it make sense that I, his sessor, take it over?¡± ¡°You talk a good game.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just talk.¡± SoSeoLan¡¯s gaze was full of hatred. It was apparent that she didn¡¯t like the devil hunters at all for some reason. ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t take advice from someone who sells his power for a few chips.¡± ¡°Is that why you sell your power to the cannibals? What an auspicious act that is?¡± Even SoSeoLan¡¯s rudeness was no match for Zin. Tit for tat, they continued for awhile. This was a precarious situation, and no one was willing to budge. ¡°OK, let¡¯s recap. A deluded maniac, who ims herself as the leader of the Reavers, wants to dere the Heavenly Power Castle, the most strategic point and a powder keg, as the capital city of her new nation. Is that the situation?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Would you let that happen?¡± Unless the person was bat-shit crazy, any reasonable person would agree that that shouldn¡¯t happen. However, SoSeoLan seemed unaffected. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to understand, and I have no desire to exin myself.¡± She was only speaking her mind. Her opponents were a devil hunter, a Wargrave soldier, and a high-level sorcerer with whom she trained. There was no telling what her opponents were capable of. There were only four of them but there could be a lot more than what meets the eye. SoSeoLan knew she shouldn¡¯t risk confrontation if the victory was uncertain, and that it was time to retreat. ¡°This is a warning, not a ploy to persuade,¡± she continued. ¡°When I return, you won¡¯t be able to fend my army off with a cheap spell.¡± SoSeoLan seemed to have no problem disparaging sorcery even though she herself was a sorcerer. ¡°Choose your actions wisely. At that time, I won¡¯t show mercy, even to a devil hunter.¡± With this statement, she focused her gaze briefly on Cho-yul, who hurriedly looked down to avoid it. He couldn¡¯t tell what kind of look she was giving him. Soon after, SoSeoLan turned around and walked away. She would return with her massive army to take over the Heavenly Power Castle and, at that time, she would not retreat. Everything that stood in her way would be demolished. From the beginning, she had no intention of convincing anyone. ¡°Let me tell you one thing,¡± Zin smirked as he watched her walk away, ¡°There have been other devil hunters with a dream.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°But they all just turned out to be pipe dreams.¡± Only a devil hunter would understand Zin¡¯s ambiguous statement. Because Zin was Zin, he could somewhat understand SoSeoLan, and because SoSeoLan was SoSeoLan, she could understand what he had meant. However, as if to say she couldn¡¯t care less, SoSeoLan walked away. Zin did not make a move, so Ramphil stayed put. Looking at Zin, Ramphil asked, ¡°Are you going to let her go like this?¡± It was the perfect opportunity to get rid of the king, and SoSeoLan would not give up the Heavenly Power Castle. ¡°If we fight now, more than one of us will die.¡± Victory was uncertain, but it was also certain that someone would die. Zin didn¡¯t make a move because there was a high probability that either Cho-yul or Leona would get killed. Each had their reasons for not fighting now. But what aboutter? SoSeoLan would bring her massive army to take over the Heavenly Power Castle. They had only managed to dy the war. The Godly Fighters that had been destroying the ghosts returned to SoSeoLan. ¡®Vvroom!¡¯ SoSeoLan got on her giant motorbike, and the whole gang sped off in a frenzy without looking back. The four focused their gazes on SoSeoLan until she disappeared from sight. Chapter 87 - Kalpa (Part 2) Chapter 87: Kalpa (Part 2) Once the Reavers left, the Heavenly Power Castle reactivated the Heavenly Power Stone, and the ghosts were no longer attracted to the ce. But many that had managed to escape the grasp of the Godly Fighters still remained, both at the top and at the bottom of the castle where Cho-yul had been working to get rid of them. ¡°You don¡¯t look like the rock-climbing type. How did you manage to get up there before? Do you have a spell to make you fly?¡± Leona asked Cho-yul. ¡°I weaved a basket that carried me up,¡± replied Cho-yul with a smile. Leona soon found out what he meant. As soon as Cho-yul finished chanting a spell, a giant basket appeared at the top of the Heavenly Power Castle and made its way down. ¡°I¡¯d been thinking about it since I got here, so I finally had toe up with a new spell.¡± Since the Heavenly Power Castle was a spiritual ce that made spells more powerful, Cho-yul could create a spell for a makeshift elevator that was both primitive and ingenious. The rope that was attached at the top of the castle would progressively get shorter and carry the basket up along with the person inside it. Cho-yul made four of these baskets, one for each of them, and they all climbed in. Of course, when Ramphil got in his basket, his hefty weight stretched the rope to its max. But the basket, made by the high-level sorcerer, didn¡¯t break easily. Compared to the previous time, they reached the top of the Heavenly Power Castle rtively easily and quickly. ¡°Spells are so useful. Can you make anything you want?¡± asked Leona, her teeth chattering from nervousness. ¡°Technically, this is fake. It doesn¡¯tst very long,¡± said Zin. If it were real, it would be a creation. This kind of spell was possible only because they were at the Heavenly Power Castle; even here, however, it wouldn¡¯tst long. When the basket arrived at the top of the mountain, everyone climbed out and looked toward the dark forest. ¡°What¡¯s going on? What is that noise?¡± They had anticipated the ce to be quiet and subdued after the recent attack, but they were greeted with a cacophony of sounds. ¡ª¡ª- At the top of the Heavenly Power Castle, a shamanic ritual was in progress. Some of them were quiet, some were loud, but the the scene at the moment was of near pandemonium. Bells, gongs, and various instruments were ying a dizzying tune. At the center, was a giant fire pit, and men and women dressed in white were performing a chaotic dance around the fire. ¡°W-what is this? Have they lost their minds?¡± ¡®Bong, bong, bong, bong!¡¯ During their first visit, the ce had been very calm and peaceful, but now they couldn¡¯t imagine a ce louder and more disorderly than here. The vigers passed the rice cakes around while watching the performance. It almost seemed like a festival. Leona thought it was no time for a festival. ¡°They¡¯re performing a dance to cleanse the evil energy left by the ghosts that were here. The ritual is on a bigger scale because they¡¯re doing it for many ghosts, not just one.¡± ¡°¡­ In another words, you¡¯re saying this is sorcery.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Leona.¡± Even though Cho-yul was a sorcerer himself, he seemed fascinated by this kind of sorcery and couldn¡¯t keep his eyes off the dance. Upon realizing that Zin was back, the lord stood up from his seat and walked toward him. ¡°When I saw the storm, I knew you were with the Emperor¡¯s sessor.¡± Thanks to Cho-yul¡¯s thoughtful arrangement, the top of the Heavenly Power Castle was minimally affected by the storm. The grounds were wet, but none of the structures were destroyed. Zin smiled bitterly. ¡°Exorcism rituals are a rare sight, but I believe we have more important matters to discuss.¡± ¡°Yes, I believe so.¡± The lord had a worried look on his face. They not only needed to talk about what had happened, but also about the future of the Heavenly Power Castle. Zin turned to face Leona and Ramphil. ¡°You guys stay here and enjoy the ritual.¡± ¡°Uh, are you sure?¡± ¡°Ha, I feel like you¡¯re treating me like a kid.¡± ¡°This discussion isn¡¯t appropriate for you guys anyway.¡± Ramphil was hesitant, but since a part of him wanted to stay and watch the dance, he didn¡¯t insist on joining them. Leona didn¡¯t even try to hide her excitement and nodded enthusiastically. They sat in a corner and watched the ritual dance being performed to the head-spinning music. There was a huge age difference between the two, but both shared a child-like innocence. Ramphil wasn¡¯t a child anymore, but since he never had a childhood, it seemed as though he was bing more like a child every day. ¡°Shall we head out?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The lord led the way to the temple. ¡ª- The lord was curious about Cho-yul, whom he had previously thought of as a bum but now seemed refined. In contrast to the rags he was wearing at the time he came to demand the Heavenly Wind, he now looked as elegant as any nobleman. The lord talked about Asura¡¯s visit and Zin shared with him how he met Cho-yul at Weedle. ¡°Two pupils¡­ I didn¡¯t expect that. But, I understand your situation.¡± ¡°I apologize for my behaviorst time. I¡¯m sure my misjudgement created some concerns here.¡± Taking the Heavenly Wind was the right move at the time, but there were some consequences. Cho-yul lowered his head in sincere apology. ¡°No, no. If you hadn¡¯t done that, the master hunter would not have found you; therefore, it was the Will of the Heavens.¡± ¡°Ha¡­ is that so?¡± ¡°What an ironic twist,¡± Zin said. Had Cho-yul note to the Heavenly Power Castle in search of the Heavenly Wind, he would¡¯ve never met the high-level sorcerer who was even more valuable than the Heavenly Wind. A charm was just a charm. In the end, a brilliant sorcerer was more helpful. In addition, without his timely arrival and the Great Rain and Storm spell that drove out the Reavers around the Heavenly Power Castle, the castle would have been either destroyed or taken over. Everything was interconnected and every action led to a result. Cho-yul¡¯s actions saved the Heavenly Power Castle. If the castle had been destroyed or taken over, Asura would¡¯ve gotten the Great Charm of Heavenly Wind. Contaminating the Heavenly Wind had seemed like a foolish decision at first, but in the end, it had produced positive results. ¡°Hmm¡­ The Will of the Heavens?¡± as he reflected, Cho-yul smiled bitterly. One thing had led to another, and everything had worked out in ways he couldn¡¯t have imagined. Does the world really operate ording to the Will of the Heavens? Everytime he came upon realizations like this, he felt uneasy. ¡°But how could the Emperor¡¯s pupil do something like that? That¡¯s hard to believe.¡± The lord couldn¡¯t believe that a devil hunter of such caliber could do such a thing, but Zin nodded in understanding. ¡°The devil hunter types are susceptible to falling to their dark side, especially now that there is no karma in the world. It¡¯s only natural to want more power.¡± Asura would return with herrge army. She would block the sorcery and would try to destroy the Heavenly Power Castle. She would destroy it unless they surrendered. Zin was deep in thought as he tried to figure her out. ¡°She¡¯s not just greedy for power, and that makes her even more dangerous.¡± ¡°May I ask what you mean by that?¡± asked Cho-yul as he scanned Zin¡¯s face for clues. If a maniac who wanted to be king was not motivated by greed for power, then what?¡± ¡°You guys trained together, yet you can¡¯t figure her out?¡± ¡°Uh, th-that¡¯s because¡­¡± ¡°That woman has a strong belief in something.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Often those with a desire to make things right in this word have that look in their eyes.¡± ¡°A desire to make things right?¡± ¡°Yes, a so-called ¡®great cause.¡¯ The fools who believe that they can make the world a better ce.¡± That meant that SoSeoLan wasn¡¯t just about grabbing power by bing the king of the looters. And as Zin had said, that made her even more dangerous. ¡°People like that don¡¯t know when to stop. And that¡¯s why they¡¯re dangerous.¡± People with great faith were hard to predict. Power-hungry pigs just wanted more power. They didn¡¯t put themselves in danger. But this was a different case. ¡°They are the toughest to deal with because they¡¯re not afraid of sacrificing themselves for the cause.¡± The ones willing to sacrifice themselves for the great cause would willingly walk into the fire pit of hell. Zin had known many of these types. ¡®Jayeon¡­ I don¡¯t know how you died, but the person who came to power after you is just like you.¡¯ Zin had no idea how the leadership had changed within the group. But what an idealist brought forth was always the same. A group that had been led by an idealist was again under the control of an idealist. He saw that clearly in SoSeoLan¡¯s eyes and her righteous demeanor. He had seen many like this. As well as their ends. ¡ª- The group would return, and that would be the end of the Heavenly Power Castle. First off, they were considerably outnumbered. Second, Asura had enough men and resources to counteract any and all attacks and defense measuresing from the Heavenly Power Castle. There was no point in even thinking about the possible oues as the situation was hopeless. As for Zin, what he had to do was simple. He could have the high-level sorcerer fend off the Treacherous Spirit to get to the Sealed Orb. Since his original goal was to get the Sealed Orb, once he got it, he could leave. But the situation was different for the people at the Heavenly Power Castle. ¡°Our n exists to protect the Seal. Whatever happens to the castle, we need to face it, head-on.¡± Even if they couldn¡¯t protect it, they would never give it up. That was why they remained there, living in peace, for a very long time. The Emperor¡¯s sessor was nning to destroy what the Emperor had built. The lord¡¯s face turned grim. The lord didn¡¯t expect Zin¡¯s help. How could he ask him to join a losing fight that would surely lead to death? Besides, Zin¡¯s mission was even more important than protecting the Sealed Orb. Given the gravity and reality of the situation, Zin should not join the fight. Even with him, they would lose the fight for sure. Everything, including supplies, military strength, and conditions, was not in their favor. Zin knew it was foolish to even consider it. All things considered, it wouldn¡¯t be wise to fight against a group that was the size a small country. He had earned the chance to extract the sealing force from the Sealed Orb and leave since he had already driven off the Reavers once. ¡®I can¡¯t let this opportunity go to waste.¡¯ ¡°Let me discuss this with my team,¡± said Zin to buy some time. The lord nodded in agreement. Staying there would be suicide, so it was easy to guess what the team¡¯s decision would be. Zin stood up from his seat. His face was rigid. Cho-yul didn¡¯t look any better as he stood up. For now, they had to get to the Sealed Orb and take care of the urgent matter at hand. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C Cho-yul, the lord, and Zin started their walk down toward the Sealed Orb located under the castle. ¡°Is there a reason why you need to separate the sealing force from the Sealed Orb after weakening it?¡± Since Cho-yul could do powerful sorcery, they wouldn¡¯t have to separate the Sealing Force. Cho-yul could use the sealing force to achieve what Zin wanted. ¡°I¡¯m not going to stop you if you want toe along, but I can¡¯t guarantee that you¡¯ll live until the final showdown.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s not very pleasant to hear.¡± ¡°Think of it as a practical insurance policy.¡± If something were to happen to Cho-yul, no one else would be able to seal the immortality of the White Witch. In that case, the only card left would be using the sealing force itself. Despite Zin¡¯sment, Cho-yul was bing more and more convinced that there would be no turning back for him. SoSeoLan was up to something, and the world was under a much bigger threat than he had previously thought. Knowing what he now knew, it would be impossible for him to return to the idle life of an alcoholic. Since he had already started, he had to move forward. He was realizing that not utilizing his powerful sorcery skills would be a sin. If there was a reason why that power was given to him, then he must act. Cho-yul¡¯s mind was already made up. This time, Zin had antern instead of a special torch. Cho-yul defended them against any threats in the darkness. With just a wave of his hands, the spirits cowered and retreated. ¡°I have to ask. What is the Darkborn?¡± Cho-yul had been curious about it since SoSeoLan had mentioned it. ¡°It¡¯s kind of a special weapon only the devil hunters possess.¡± ¡°A weapon?¡± ¡°Yes, it operates by consuming the blood of the devil. Then, it bes as powerful as the devil.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ is that so?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why only the devil hunters can hunt devils.¡± ¡°But¡­ the devils are not around anymore.¡± ¡°Chips work, too, although it¡¯s weaker. If I have enough chips, I can continue living even if my physical body dies, so I guess that¡¯s a plus.¡± Zin¡¯s physical body had died a long time ago. He was extending his life forcibly by using the energy of the Darkborn. The reason why the devil hunters trained students, even though the devils were not around anymore, was simple. They needed chips in order to extend their lives after the death of their physical bodies. Supplying chips longterm like that was no easy task. Of course, Zin wasn¡¯t the only devil hunter without students. Cho-yul stared at him, so Zin continued, ¡°Compared to how strong I used to be, I¡¯m pathetically weak now. Your fellow apprentice probably has a higher power output than me.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, couldn¡¯t you just use the blood of the Immortals?¡± There was an Immortal sealed in the temple, so Zin could absorb its blood. Cho-yul thought that if Zin could regain his strength, then it might be possible for him to defend the Heavenly Power Castle. ¡°Those stick figures don¡¯t have any blood left. I would¡¯ve done it a long time ago if that was a viable option.¡± ¡°Oh, I see.¡± If things were that easy, Zin would not be working as a witch hunter for chips. Anything that had any useful blood left had all been sucked dry. Cho-yul also thought about Leona. There was devil¡¯s blood right in front of his nose, but Zin acted like it didn¡¯t exist. Since Cho-yul didn¡¯t have the Darkborn, it was hard for him to imagine what Zin was thinking. ¡°What¡¯s under here is just an empty shell of what it was. Right now, it¡¯s nothing more than a glob,¡± the lord exined, and Cho-yul nodded in understanding. The Immortals had evesting life and could not be killed. They woulde back to life again and again even if they were killed. That¡¯s why the devil hunters chose to seal them inside an orb. How was it sealed? Cho-yul had heard stories, but he didn¡¯t exactly know how it all worked. When they reached the center of where the Treacherous Spirit roamed, Cho-yul focused his attention and started to chant the spell of Pharma. As he chanted the mysterious spell made up of Buddhist sutras and incantations, the Darkness in all directions started to react. ¡®Grrrrr!¡¯ As if frightened, the Darkness retreated. The lord needed a special torch to do this, but Cho-yul was able to do the same with just a few incantations. Even the Treacherous Spirit was no match for a high-level sorcerer. The air felt cool, and the three continued their descent. With the Treacherous Spirit out of the way, they reached the entrance to the Sealed Orb without much trouble. ¡°The Darkness is gone.¡± ¡°The Treacherous Spirit can¡¯te near the Sealed Orb.¡± Luckily, the Treacherous Spirit only blocked the path and did not affect the area near the Sealed Orb. Not only was the Darkness gone, but there was light emanating from where the Sealed Orb was. When the three reached the space at the center of the Heavenly Power Temple, they saw the Sealed Orb. Surrounded by numerous charms, a perfectly round boulder stood at the center. The boulder waspletely transparent. The cave was lit by the boulder reflecting the rays of light emanating from the many charms that surrounded it. The surreal scene looked more like a giant art instation than a Sealed Orb. ¡°Uh¡­ is that a diamond?¡± ¡°Yes, it is.¡± At the core of the Sealed Orb was an enormous diamond. The diamond boulder was as big as a house. Cho-yul stared at the shapeless beings swimming inside it. What seemed spirit-like and ephemeral was wavering inside. He sensed that the world inside the enormous diamond was much bigger than its actual volume, seeming as though there was an entirely different universe trapped inside. Chapter 88 - Kalpa (Part 3) Chapter 88: Kalpa (Part 3) What Cho-yul was seeing in front of him wasn¡¯t a fish bowl with something trapped inside, it was an entirely different universe. Because Cho-yul knew sorcery, he could sense this and realize what an incredible work of sorcery it actually was. Even though both Asura and Cho-yul were high-level sorcerers, they were different, and so were the Emperor and the other two. Recognizing the genius of the Emperor¡¯s sorcery, Cho-yul felt humbled. ¡°It¡¯s Kalpa, the Sealed Orb. Please take a moment to admire the Emperor¡¯s greatest work.¡± ¡°Some also refer to it as ¡®Aeon.''¡± ¡°Aeon?¡± asked the lord. ¡°Aeon as in eternity,¡± said Zin. Observing the specks swirling inside the Kalpa, Zin continued, ¡°Because Immortals can¡¯t be killed, their egos need to be obliterated. That is what this device is designed to do. It annihtes the will of the Immortals with the weight of time.¡± Crushing them with the weight of extremelypressed time was the only way the Immortals could be dealt with. ¡°One year is a hundred years inside the orb. Time is sped up a hundred times. Not quite a kalpa¡­, but this is the most powerful time prison made by the Emperor.¡± A kalpa was 4.2 billion years. Sorcery couldn¡¯t do the work of God, but the Immortals had been trapped there for about 10,000 years. ¡°W-wow, I¡¯m speechless.¡± Cho-yul couldn¡¯t believe the intricate and miraculous work that was happening inside the orb. ¡°The Immortals are already in a nonexistent state. Not only are their egos destroyed, they¡¯re not even aware of their existence.¡± As the Emperor intended, the Immortals had forgotten their existence under the weight of Time. Because the space inside the Orb was boundless, the Immortals were isted, far away from each other, and had never encountered each other in the 10,000 years they had spent inside it. With their empty shells trapped and their physical bodies and their minds annihted, the Immortals had already turned into an ¡°Immortal Blob.¡± The Orb was designed to trap what couldn¡¯t be killed and put it in a state equivalent to death, which was perfect for dealing with the Immortals. Being trapped inside the Sealed Orb was terrifying, even for the most heinous devil. Nothing could be more horrifying than eternal loneliness. ¡°Just sealing them inside wasn¡¯t enough, huh?¡± ¡°A seal can be broken. If that were to happen, the process would need to be repeated. The Sealing Orb had to destroy the Immortal. This was the best choice.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± The Emperor understood this simple truth. The Sealed Orb could trap the Immortals, but if the seal were to break, the Immortals would be active again. Trapping them inside would only be a temporary solution. So, the Emperorpressed time inside the Sealed Orb as a way topletely stamp out the Immortals. Once their awareness and existences were destroyed, the Immortals would only exist as emptiness, even if they were released back into the world. They wouldn¡¯t be able to regain power as their desire for power would¡¯ve been erased. Immortals from all around the world were trapped inside the diamond orb. The orb had been prepared specifically to trap the Immortals, and it was doing exactly that. ¡°Lord, please extract the Sealing Force.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± They would remove a portion of the Sealing Force from the diamond orb. With that, Zin would neutralize the White Witch, seal her immortality and then kill her physical form. Once she waspletely sealed at the Heavenly Power Castle, the mission would beplete. Delicately handling the spiritual devices, the lord controlled the force of the Sealed Orb. The lords of the Heavenly Power n were trained not only in sorcery, but also in controlling the Sealed Orb. As if he had foreseen what would happen, the Emperor had also passed down the knowledge of removing a bit of the Sealing Force from the Orb. How deep was the Emperor¡¯s foresight? The three wondered, but no one had the answer. After much work, the diamond seemed to liquify, and then a marble small enough to fit in one¡¯s hand appeared. The lord handed it to Zin. ¡°You should be able to activate the Sealing Force with this simple orb. This is all you need for that, but if you want to put the Immortal in a state of nonexistence, you have toe back to the temple.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± The lord couldn¡¯t quite finish his sentence. Zin¡¯s face also turned grim. Would there still be a temple to return to by the time they got the White Witch? Would the Sealed Orb still be here? ¡°This orb is small, but unless it¡¯s destroyed, the seal will remain active. However, In order to prevent such mishap from happening, please keep it with you at all times.¡± The seal would work even if they didn¡¯t return to the Heavenly Power Castle. There was no info on the devil¡¯s chimera. If the seal broke after a part of the White Witch was sealed, would she regain all of her power? Or just half of her power? Without knowing what would happen, nothing could be said for certain, but for now, what they had gone there for was done. They could only trap the immortality part of the witch, but the orb was ready. ¡°¡­ Let¡¯s go.¡± They had no reason to stay at the castle anymore. They had to decide whether to join the fight or not. ¡ª¡ª¡ª- When Zin and Cho-yul returned after a long while, the shamanic ritual was nearing its end. ¡°Man, these people¡­ don¡¯t they ever get tired?¡± Leona was getting exhausted from just watching the people dance without showing any sign of slowing down. ¡°Hey, hunter, you don¡¯t look so good,¡± Ramphil said, looking at Zin. ¡°There¡¯s something we need to discuss.¡± There was no reason for Zin to stay and fight. Ramphil stood up without hesitation. Leona stood up more slowly with a confused look on her face. The lord looked calm, as if to say that he would bear no hard feelings even if they decided to leave. The lord told them to talk freely and walked off to watch the ritual. The team walked toward the entrance of the vige where the music wasn¡¯t as loud and sat down at the edge of the dark forest, exchanging nces. ¡°We got what we came to the castle for,¡± Zin reported. ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Ramphil, nodding his head. Soon, there would be an all-out war in the area surrounding the Heavenly Power Castle, and they needed to decide whether they would join the fight. However, no one could say much. Fighting would be foolish, but not fighting didn¡¯t sit right with them. They all had the desire to do more in this harsh world, but Zin was the exception. He was quite sensible. ¡°Since step one isplete, we need to discuss the other part.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Step one was getting the Sealing Force from the orb. The other was restoring the power of the Exorcism Sword, Phantomvein, to its original state. But the only person who knew how to carry out the second part was Zin, and he had not shared it with anyone. The devils were hunted even before there was Phantomvein. If Zin¡¯s Darkborn could regain its original power, devil hunting would be possible, but Zin kept that to himself. ¡°Phantomvein works by absorbing the blood of the devil and using that power to exorcise it.¡± Having just heard what Zin said, Leona, naturally, turned rigid. ¡°The Exorcism Sword can be reactivated by killing a powerful monster, but that could take time. Also, locating a monster powerful enough to activate the Phantomvein is not easy.¡± More and more, Leona felt an eerie, chilling sensation around her neck. ¡°The devils are not around anymore, which makes activating the Phantomvein difficult. But, there is one other way.¡± Even though Leona knew that nothing was going to happen to her, she felt a chill down her spine, and her hands began to shake. The others also looked apprehensive as they stared at Zin. Feeling their stares, he continued, ¡°Which is killing a devil hunter.¡± No one expected to hear that. ¡ª¡ª¡ª Everyone was shocked by that unexpected suggestion, but Zin continued, ¡°Devil hunters are able to absorb the blood of devils and use their powers against them. In other words¡­ they are living, breathing Phantomveins. ¡°In the past, when the devils ran rampant, people used to say that there was little difference between devils and devil hunters.¡± Because of their viciousness, cruelty, and fear-inducing ability, as well as the numerous acts of terror they hadmitted, the devil hunters had often been feared more than the devils. ¡°But that¡¯s a misunderstanding,¡± Zin revealed the chilling fact quietly, ¡°devil hunters are actually devils themselves.¡± How could devil hunters, who drink so much of devils¡¯ blood in search for power, be human? They say that the devils were not around anymore, but that wasn¡¯t exactly true. Devil hunters, the world¡¯sst remaining devils, were still alive. People just didn¡¯t know. They already had more devil blood flowing in their veins than human blood, so were they still human? ¡°That¡¯s why killing a devil hunter would have the same effect as killing a devil.¡± The first part of the prep was obtaining the sealing force from the Sealed Orb, the second was killing a devil hunter with Phantomvein. That was why Zin had held off on sharing the second part until they were ready to face the situation. Leona was relieved to learn that her life was no longer in danger, but she was shocked to hear Zin identify himself as a devil. It was unclear whether he had meant that literally or metaphorically out of self-pity. What was clear was that the mission could bepleted by killing a devil hunter. ¡°B-But¡­ aren¡¯t the devil hunters¡­ your friends?¡± ¡°A lot of time has passed. Many things are not like the past.¡± Right now, there was a lineage of devil hunters, and all were walking different paths. Carltz built Wargrave, the Emperor¡¯s sessor proimed herself as the King of the North. Leona wondered about the other devil hunters. Zin might be the only devil hunter who remained a hunter. ¡°The reason why you¡¯re bringing this up now is¡­?¡± sensing something, Cho-yul asked Zin. Ramphil and Leona could also guess why Zin was mentioning that now. ¡°Killing SoSeoLan can reactivate the Phantomvein.¡± Logically speaking, the fight should be avoided. But Zin had a different idea. If Phantomvein could absorb SoSeoLan¡¯s Darkborn, the Exorcism Sword would regain its strength. Zin could also absorb SoSeoLan¡¯s Darkborn, but for some reason, he chose to discuss activating the Phantomvein instead. In any case, with that, they would have everything they needed to hunt the devil. The reason why Zin decided to share some of his secrets was simple: ¡°Killing a devil hunter is not something to be engaged lightly. I don¡¯t know about other circumstances, but right now¡­¡± Zin was serious, and the others listened with bated breath, ¡°consider whether SoSeoLan deserves to be killed or not.¡± ording to Zin, it wasn¡¯t about whether they could kill SoSeoLan but whether she deserved to be killed. Ridding the world of a devil hunter was a grave act that required careful consideration. ¡°What are your thoughts?¡± asked Zin as he studied the looks on Ramphil¡¯s, Leona¡¯s and Cho-yul¡¯s faces, consecutively. Zin had always thought about things by himself and had made decisions alone, but now, he was asking his three teammates. If SoSeoLan was someone who needed to be killed, the team would have to confront the Group. Although, that didn¡¯t need to happen at the Heavenly Power Castle. If the answer was no, they would leave. Rather than discussing the odds of victory or defeat, Zin presented a whole new perspective, and that approach felt strange to all. Chapter 89 - What Becomes of the Long-lived Devil Hunter? Chapter 89: What Bes of the Long-lived Devil Hunter? ¡°What do you mean by ¡®deserve to be killed?''¡± asked Ramphil. ¡°You¡¯re asking a philosophical question. We don¡¯t have time for that,¡± said Zin as he shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m asking because I don¡¯t know what to think.¡± Ramphil was confused as he had never considered the difference between those who deserve to live and those who should be killed. He was desperate for some pointers. ¡°¡­ How about you all develop the ability to think on your own? There could be many reasons,¡± Zin sighed then continued, ¡°think about the negative impact she could have our mission, your feelings toward her, the loss of many innocent lives, your feelings toward the Heavenly Power Castle. It¡¯s not that hard. Just think.¡± ¡°Then, we should kill her, for efficiency,¡± Ramphil answered matter-of-factly. There was no need to look any further as the possibility was right there. If the power of the Phantomvein could be awakened, then they should get rid of SoSeoLan andplete their mission. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know,¡± said Cho-yul slowly and with his head down. He spoke with a tremor in his voice, as if he was trying to control his emotions. ¡°I¡¯m afraid of my sister and I hate her¡­ but I think she must have her reasons. I know too little about her to make a decision.¡± Cho-yul had been trying to figure out the Group¡¯s motivation, but he couldn¡¯te up with an answer. Therefore, he had to say no. In Leona¡¯s case, she had a dilemma. ¡°Um¡­¡± ¡°Yes, go on,¡± said Zin as he gazed at her with interest in what she had to say. ¡°Is the Group really that bad?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just that¡­ I¡¯ve never actually seen anyone get killed or any city get destroyed by the Group.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Since they had been avoiding the areas where the Reavers were, it was logical that they had not seen much bloodshed. The Group had been trying to expand their territory by using their military-like force to take over ces like the Heavenly Power Castle. Just recently, they had been drilling holes on the walls of the Heavenly Power Castle. But, in the end, the castle didn¡¯t suffer any damages, and the Reavers were the ones ughtered by a powerful spell. And although the people of Weedle Point were afraid of the Group, there weren¡¯t any actual reports of damages done by them. The Group felt like a threat, but how much did they really know about the Group? What had happened to their leader and why had Asura taken over? Why were they trying to expand their territory beyond the Eastern Lands? They had no answer. The fact that they didn¡¯t know much was disturbing. ¡°Well¡­ I tend to think that anyone who doesn¡¯t value the life of others doesn¡¯t deserve to live long,¡± said Leona. She liked to think in simple terms. However, she was also quite perceptive, so she looked straight at Zin and said, ¡°but for you, isn¡¯t the matter of killing a devil hunter super, duper serious? ¡°Yes.¡± Killing a devil hunter with Phantomvein meant that a devil hunter would bepletely erased from the universe forever. Therefore, in this case, what Zin was feeling had to be different from a wanderer, a reaver, and a monster. A wrong decision could lead to another tower of regret. That was why he was having a serious discussion about this. ¡°I think we should try to figure out what they want first.¡± If killing a devil hunter was a serious matter, then it needed a thorough investigation. It was not the time to make a decision. They needed to know more about the Group. All decisions should be made after they had all the facts. Leona might have noticed a sh of fear in Zin. He knew too well how a wrong move could change the world and cause regret and suffering. Leona was the only one who somewhat understood Zin and was suggesting a course of action that was best for him. ¡°¡­ Sometimes, you do things that make me feel ufortable,¡± Zin grumbled as he was not used to considerate acts by others. ¡°That¡¯s my charm,¡± Leona responded as she giggled. Does the Group¡¯s leader just want to be crowned King? Zin knew very well that that wasn¡¯t the case. Whatever the great cause SoSeoLan believed in, he knew it would eventually lead them to danger. Still, he couldn¡¯t honestly say that she needed to be killed immediately. ¡°But in order to recover the power of Phantomvein, some devil must be killed,¡± said Ramphil. ¡°Just so that you know, I don¡¯t want to give up my life. I¡¯m not going to give it up even if you beg me,¡± Leona blurted, seemingly out of nowhere. ¡°We didn¡¯t say anything.¡± ¡°I know. I just had to say it because I¡¯m scared.¡± Leona¡¯s utter honesty made everyoneugh out loud. ¡°Hey, hunter, you need to tell me one more thing.¡± Ramphil had another question. ¡°Speak.¡± They hade upon SoSeoLan by ident. The suggestion to kill her had also been a spontaneous solution. ¡°Who was on the chopping block originally?¡± Zin wasn¡¯t wandering at random. He had had a clear goal in mind. Not too long ago, Zin had said that Carltz, a member of Wargrave, was a devil hunter. And that his legacy was being passed down through his students, not by rank, but by inheriting the Darkborn. That meant Zin¡¯s target could be one of the current members of Wargrave. ¡°I see what you¡¯re worried about. I did have a ce in mind. But Wargrave wasn¡¯t it.¡± There was another target, but it was not someone Ramphil was worried about. Ramphil couldn¡¯t allow Zin to kill a member of the Wargrave. Even if the Wargrave were responsible for the White Witch, he was still a soldier. A devil hunter killing a member of the Wargrave couldn¡¯t happen. Still, Ramphil had suddenly be curious. If the devil hunter decided to, would it happen? There was no way to know. Therefore, Ramphil kept his worry to himself. ¡°In a situation like this¡­ if this is as serious a matter as you say, killing the one who should be killed would be a better way to go. Who is your original target? If that guy is worse and more dangerous than the Group¡¯s leader, isn¡¯t it better to kill that guy?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± If someone had to die, then it would be better to kill the one that would cause the most damage to the world. Deciding that was no easy task. The four here knew that thinking about it was a luxury, but they were discussing it anyway. ¡°I¡¯ll be frank,¡± said Zin as if he had no choice. ¡°Killing SoSeoLan would be easier than killing that guy.¡± What he was saying was that even though SoSeoLan was a high-level sorcerer with numerous charms, the Godly Fighters and thousands of foot soldiers, she would be the easier target. Realizing this, the team went nk. SoSeoLan was a formidable monster, yet the original target was worse than her. How could someone who was not even a Wargrave soldier be that dangerous? ¡°But¡­ it¡¯s true that the original target is worse than SoSeoLan. No one would disagree with that.¡± Someone everyone believed should die. A devil hunter who should be killed without any hesitation. With a grim face, Zin continued, ¡°Do you know much about BH?¡± ¡°The Betrayer¡¯s Hut? Isn¡¯t that thend of the outcasts?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ that is thend where the outcasts roam. The ce where no one dares to enter, and a ce so atrocious that even monsters cannot survive.¡± It was and where only outcasts could survive. ¡°If a drug user turns into a monster, he¡¯s an outcast. If a hunter turns into a monster, he¡¯s called a Vagabond. Then¡­¡± The story was slowly taking shape. ¡°If a devil hunter turns into a monster, what is he?¡± No one spoke. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what to call him, but he is in BH.¡± The Hut Keeper, the King of the Outcasts, the Nightmarish Tyrant. He had many names, and there were numerous rumors and terrorizing stories. No one knew of his existence, and no one cared to see him anymore. But to Zin, what he represented was simple: a devil hunter who had turned into a monster. Is he a devil or worse than a devil? ¡°He definitely deserves to be killed more than SoSeoLan,¡± said Zin with a bitter smile. ¡°What did he hunt?¡± asked Ramphil. ¡°He was a Vampire Hunter,¡± answered Zin. ¡°A hunter turns into the most vicious monster¡­¡± Cho-yul started to mumble the phrase people always say when talking about Vagabonds. He didn¡¯t finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he was going to say. Then, what about a devil hunter? Wouldn¡¯t a hunter who turned into a monster while hunting the devil be the most gruesome and hellish monster? Even though it seemed perfectly logical, the fact that they hadn¡¯t known that a devil hunter could turn into a monster left them speechless. Should they hunt the one that¡¯s more difficult but feels right? Or should they hunt the one that¡¯s rtively easy but they might regret killing? It wasn¡¯t an easy choice. ¡°First, we need to find out what the Group wants,¡± said Ramphil. They were back to square one. After all that talk, the conclusion was still that they needed to learn more about the Group. They needed to find out SoSeoLan¡¯s end goal. There was one more thing to discuss. Should they wait for the Group at the castle or should they leave in search of them? The Group had already expressed their intention to take over the castle by force. ¡°A siege warfare is out of the question,¡± said Zin. If the Reavers start to drill again, then the Heavenly Power Castle would literally be destroyed in broad daylight. However, since SoSeoLan wants the castle to be her foothold, that would be herst choice. Any strategies involving spells would be neutralized by Asura. And that wasn¡¯t the only problem. ¡°If they bring high-powered weapons, then they can st the castle with high-angle guns and get in.¡± The Heavenly Power Castle was situated high up, but the Group could reach the castle and rain down bullets. The castle, on the other hand, had no such weaponry. In fact, both the location and the weapons favored the Group, and the castle was nothing but a sitting duck. Even if they decided to join the fight against SoSeoLan, defeat seemed certain. The discussion was long, but what was obvious was that fighting should be avoided at all costs. No one disagreed with that. They had seen many viges get destroyed and they were under no obligation to put their lives in danger. They had no reason to give up their lives at the Heavenly Power Castle. Yet, no one felt great about having to flee. Everyone seemed to understand what needed to be done, so Zin didn¡¯t say the decision out loud. That would make them feel even worse. ¡°I¡¯ll go and say goodbye. You guys wait for me by the castle wall.¡± Feeling uneasy, the team stood up to leave. ¡ª¨C When the shamanic ritual came to a close, and darkness started to descend on the vige, Zin stood in front of the lord. The lord did not want Zin to stay and fight. He knew that if the Master Hunter were to die there, killing the White Witch would be more difficult. Considering that, Zin really should not remain at the castle to fight. The lord was going dissuade him if Zin¡¯s decision was to fight. Nothing needed to be said, however. Exchanged nces were enough. ¡°Yeongmun.¡± ¡°Yes, Master Hunter.¡± ¡°Keep in mind that surrendering is an option,¡± said Zin. ¡°¡­¡± The lord did not reply. ¡°Having lived this long, I¡¯vee to realize¡­¡± The Heavenly Power Castle would lose, so not fighting was a wise choice. ¡°¡­ that only the living can make things happen.¡± No matter how much humiliation and degradation one had to endure, one needed to stay alive. Even an honorable death would have no meaning. Once a person was dead, they were gone. Then, that would be the end. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if they would leave us alone.¡± Even if they surrendered, the probability of those cannibals leaving them alone was low. The Reavers had suffered a big loss previously from a group of evil spirits. Since they had been seeking revenge ever since, it wasn¡¯t likely that they would let them live once they surrendered the castle. ¡°Asura knows the value of the Heavenly Power n even if the Reavers don¡¯t.¡± The Heavenly Power n, with their deep knowledge of sorcery and high intelligence, was a valuable asset that shouldn¡¯t be wasted. Since it was going to be a difficult fight, a fight they would surely lose, not fighting was a good strategy. You have to endure the disgrace of going against tradition and befriending the enemy. The lord smiled bitterly, ¡°How difficult it all is.¡± ¡°It always is.¡± Suffering humiliation and disgrace was not easy. Choosing to stay alive despite that was not easy. But, only the living could make things happen at ater time. ¡°I¡¯ll go now.¡± ¡°Take care, master hunter.¡± Zin turned around and walked away. Yeongmun couldn¡¯t move an inch. It was as if he had been nailed down to the ground. He contemted for a long time on what would be the best course of action to follow when total defeat was certain. Since bing the lord, he had never been as tormented as he was now. At the prospect of seeing the end of his n during his leadership, he sighed in grief and said, ¡°I¡¯ve lived too long¡­¡± Yeongmun suddenly felt his old age. As he thought of Zin, who must have lived in that harsh, heavy-burdened world at least three times longer than him, he felt his throat tighten. How much hardship and suffering had he endured? Yeongmun felt the heaviness of time on his shoulders and couldn¡¯t imagine what Zin must have had to live through. Zin must have felt horrible for having to leave the Castle behind. ¡®At the end of this long struggle, what is there for you?¡¯ For what was he enduring all of that? Yeongmun couldn¡¯t know. The Master Hunter had left. Chapter 90 - The King and The Group (Part 1) Chapter 90: The King and The Group (Part 1) When the team reached the bottom of the hill, they went into the AV, and Ramphil revved up its engine. They needed a new destination. Leona and Cho-yul looked stiff and distressed. Leona was feeling guilty. Her past¡ªthe time when Ard Point was under attack by the Reavers, but she couldn¡¯t do anything¡ªshed in her mind. ¡°Why do these things happen to good people?¡± asked Leona feeling her chest tighten. ¡°Who knows.¡± That was all Zin could say. After all, the four were turning their backs on good people. They were choosing to ignore the tragedy of the people who had weed them. He didn¡¯t dwell on it. The Heavenly Power Castle would have to face what was meant for them to face. Whether they chose to surrender or fight was out of his hands. There was no use in thinking about something he had no control over. With time, one understood that disappointments and letting things go were part of life. Zin knew this better than anybody. He was also the first one to speak up. ¡°Let¡¯s go north. We need to find out more about the Group.¡± Primarily, they needed to know more about SoSeoLan. If they were to decide that she deserved to die, the devil hunter would take her life no matter what. For now, they weren¡¯t ready to confront SoSeoLan. Although, Zin had always hunted in the most impossible conditions. He was a hunter, and hunters did not engage in war. It was time to find out whether Asura was a worthy prey, and whether the Group¡¯s interestsy solely on power. ¡®Vroom!¡¯ Ramphil stepped on the elerator. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C One weekter¡­ As promised, Asura returned to the Heavenly Power Castle with her troops of thousands. They were heavily armed with high-powered weapons piled on junkwagons. Two thousand junkwagons appeared on that nd like the mounted troops of ancient times. ¡®Vvroom, vrooom!¡¯ The loud roar of the engines reverberated throughout thend, and at the helm, was Asura mounted on her monster bike, gazing at the castle. ¡®Today, I build my empire on that auspiciousnd.¡¯ Whether the Grandmaster was there or not, she was ready for a confrontation. If he were to stand in her way again, she would kill him. Obtaining his Darkborn would be icing on the cake. She wasn¡¯t on that path for sentimental reasons. She would crush everything that stood in her way, even Heaven itself. All sorcery would be ineffectual, and the Godly Fighters were ready to handle the ghosts. If they had been looters, they would¡¯ve destroyed the castle, but the Group was about ruling, not looting. ¡°My King,¡± said themander seated next to Asura on an AV, ¡°the troops are waiting for yourmand.¡± His speech was polished for a Reaver, and his skin was gray. He was the head of the gray-skinned people and themander of the army. Asura had picked her defense team herself. ¡°Prepare all weapons, but hold fire.¡± Themander couldn¡¯t quite understand why the King would prepare the weapons, but not shoot. ¡°Since I¡¯m making a personal appearance here, let¡¯s show them how benevolent I can be.¡± The King had the final word. Soon, themander sent signals, and guns went up around the castle. However, even before the setup wasplete, Asura smiled underneath her mask. Numerous white gs were blowing in the wind at the top of the Heavenly Power Castle. The people standing at the edge of the cliff never looked more pitiful. ¡ª¨C Asura went up to the Heavenly Power Castle by herself. She didn¡¯t need any security or other entourage. The troops watched their King float up in the air and cheered. The powerful king was brilliant and could perform many miracles; she deserved to be their leader. Asura was willing to ept surrender, but insisted it had to be done properly. Everyone at the Heavenly Power Castle gathered in front of the temple with the lord leading the way. There were many n members in the crowd, but no one dared to open their mouths. Asura sat on the steps of the temple as if it were her throne and looked down on thousands of vigers gathered in front of her. The lord began to speak. His old body was heavy with sadness. ¡°We surrender. Please, I don¡¯t care what you do to this old man, but please, don¡¯t hurt my people.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just what I wanted to hear,¡± said Asura behind her mask. ¡°I intend to rule the world, so I¡¯m willing to show a little mercy. I¡¯m d that there wasn¡¯t any bloodshed. However, what happened to those guys?¡± Yeongmun knew of whom she meant. ¡°They left.¡± ¡°I see.¡± She wanted to pay back the humiliation she had suffered thest time, but their absence mattered little. Sweating the small stuff would be a distraction from her Great Work. Those four would be nothing but a nuisance, like flies buzzing around the house. ¡°The lord shalle and bow to me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Yeongmun slowly walked toward Asura, got on his knees in front of her, and bowed his head. The grim-faced vigers watched their aged lord bow to the young king in silence. ¡°You are no longer the Heavenly Power n. I will rearrange all established practices and ranks. From this moment on, all old rules and regtions are meaningless. ¡°I sense that you feel burdened by your sense of duty. Let that go. All responsibility and power lies with me now. You will wear, eat, and live as I say. ¡°You¡¯ll bow to me nine times to signify your eptance of me as your king. But, I don¡¯t wish for all of you here to bow to me. ¡°You, the lord, out of respect for the authority you held until now, can bow to me, alone, as a way to formalize the transfer of power and authority. ¡°Your bowing is not for me, but for your people to see. ¡°Do nine bows, and make sure the sound of your head hitting the stone floor is audible to everyone here. ¡°After that, I¡¯ll ept everyone at the Heavenly Power Castle as my subject.¡± She didn¡¯t make everyone bow to her, just their leader. By making the people see that, she was publicizing the transfer of power, which was far more sinister than making everyone bow to her. Yeongmun stood up slowly and raised both of his arms. He kneeled down and ced his head on the ground. ¡®Kong!¡¯ The sound of Yeoungmun¡¯s head hitting the stone steps reverberated. The defeated had to face humiliation for avoiding death. The people watched the old man bang his head against the steps without a peep. ¡®Kong!¡¯ As the sound filled the air, some cried in sadness and some cried out in anger, but Asura didn¡¯t seem to mind. With the cries of his people in the background, the old man stood up after banging his head on the steps nine times. Yeongmun had made up his mind, and he was ready to endure pain and humiliation. Asura took off her mask revealing a soft face that almost looked otherworldly. Everyone stared at her stoic face. ¡°Do it again,¡± the King said quietly. ¡°¡­¡± Submitting, Yeongmun started again. The sound of his head hitting the steps filled the air once more. After another set of nine bows, Yeongmun¡¯s head was already starting to bleed, but he lowered his head without wiping the blood off. ¡°Do it again.¡± . . ¡°Do it again.¡± . . ¡°Do it again.¡± . . The Kingmanded without giving a reason. No one knew how many bows Yeongmun had done or whether he was even alive anymore. The King didn¡¯t say why she wasn¡¯t satisfied. She only ordered him to do it again. Even as this frightening scene continued, there wasn¡¯t even a hint of emotion on the King¡¯s face. Some begged to take the lord¡¯s ce, but the King ignored them. Just a nce from the King was enough to freeze those who volunteered take his ce. By the time Yeongmunpleted nine series of nine bows, only the whites of his eyes were showing and he could barely stand up. Those who had been crying no longer had any more tears left. Everyone just wished for that frightening and vicious scene to end. Some even wished for Yeongmun to copse so that he wouldn¡¯t be able to get up. The King spoke softly, ¡°I appreciate your attitude to endure.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You may stop now since no one is crying anymore.¡± With that, the King stood up from the stone steps. People finally understood why the lord had to continue bowing. Anger and sadness had disappeared from everyone¡¯s faces, and only the fear for the King remained. That¡¯s what Asura had wanted. When she saw fear in everyone¡¯s faces, she ordered the lord to stop. ¡°Clean up the temple and build nine columns. We¡¯ll perform a ritual before every major event. Build a king¡¯s chamber in front of the temple, but do not decorate it or perform any sorcery. The floor should be wood, but do notcquer it. I¡¯m going to stay there when I¡¯m here,¡± said Asura as she carefully scanned the terrorized faces. After giving out her first order, she continued, ¡°You are my people now.¡± Yeongmun listened with his head down. His beard quivered. The King let everyone live. But, to Yeongmun, it seemed as though many things had died already, and he was full of sorrow. ¡ª¨C While the Group was taking over the castle, Zin¡¯s team was on the border of China and Russia. In the past, the ce was called goveshchensk,but now it was a free city named Shane. The AV could bring unnecessary confrontation, so the team hid it among the abandoned wreckage near the entrance of the city before heading into it. ¡°I don¡¯t think just going in without a definite n is a good idea,¡± said Ramphil. Zin shrugged and said, ¡°We just have to see what happens. If the Group¡¯s aim is to be a country, they¡¯re not going to be hostile toward foreigners. They shouldn¡¯t ostracize wanderers, or that wouldn¡¯t even be possible. ¡°It would be one thing to want to live in thep of luxury, but being a king muste with a lot of headaches.¡± Zin was sure that SoSeoLan hadpletely lost her mind. As they had anticipated, when the team arrived at the entrance of the city, the guards stopped them, but didn¡¯t attack. ¡°This is the territory of the Group. What¡¯s your business here?¡± asked the border patrol who didn¡¯t think they looked like outcasts or refugees. He was quite heavily armed with an assault rifle, and the crude tattoos all over his body indicated that he was a Reaver. Ramphil had taken off his uniform as a way not to attract any attention and was wearing his regr clothes instead. ¡°We¡¯re looking for a ce to rest,¡± said Zin. The border patrol scanned the team with his eyes and then signaled for them to go in. ¡°If you cause any problems inside the Group¡¯s territory, it will be seen as a hostile action toward the Group. Keep that in mind.¡± With that warning, the team was free to enter. No one hadid a finger on them or charged a tariff. No one was following them. The ridiculously easy entry to Shane left the team feeling unsettled. ¡°That went too well,¡± said Leona. Cho-yul nodded in agreement. As it was at every free city, many people were going in and out of the city. It was hard to believe that this was Reaver territory. The city wasn¡¯t very lively, but it wasn¡¯t all that depressing either. It looked like any other city. ¡°What should we do?¡± asked Cho-yul with a hollowed expression. He had not expected things to be this way. ¡°We need to find out what¡¯s under the surface. Let¡¯s get a room.¡± It was too early to decide. Because free cities were full of people going in and out, and because Shane had quite arge poption, no one treated Zin¡¯s team like foreigners. There were armed Reaver guards roaming about the city. As one would expect, the citizens instinctively avoided them¡ªa natural reaction to flesh-eating cannibals. But strangely, the citizens acted like, although they feared the Reavers, they did not hate them. The team entered an old apartment building. It seemed as though the expanded ground floor was being used as a restaurant, and a few people were eating inside. The owner raised four fingers quietly, and Zin handed the chips. ¡°It¡¯s thest room on the right on the second floor. Meals cost the same.¡± One chip for one meal seemed reasonable. Perhaps for security, there was an armed Reaver in the building with his back leaned against a wall. He locked eyes with Zin briefly, but quickly walked passed them. The room was big enough for all four of them for one night. Since what was left were abandoned buildings, the lodging business was easy to get into for anyone with an established ownership of a building¡ªas long as the person had the balls and means to deal with or stamp out any troublemakers. After unpacking their luggage, the team gathered in the living room. ¡°It seems the Group is patrolling the city,¡± said Zin, and everyone nodded. Since they controlled the territory, that wasn¡¯t anything out of the ordinary. However, the fact that they were all Reavers was a problem. ¡°Right, there seems to be at least one armed Reaver in every building,¡± Ramphil shared what he had noticed from a quick scan of the ce. The Group that stood for destruction and bloodshed was now protecting something? That seemed like an oxymoron. ¡°It¡¯s an upside-down world¡­¡± For a moment, the thought that the Group might not be a dangerous organization shed in everyone¡¯s mind. ¡°Let¡¯s split up and gather more information. Leona, you¡­¡± Thinking that Leona wouldn¡¯t be able to gather much info, Zin was about to tell Leona to stay and wait. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that there are things only a kid can do?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°For one thing, kids don¡¯t lie.¡± Leona wanted to gather info from the children. It was true that kids would answer more honestly when asked by a kid rather than an adult. ¡°She¡¯s got a point,¡± said Ramphil, but Zin didn¡¯t say much. ¡°Fine, you gather info from the kids. Find out what kind of organization the Group is, how they are controlling the city, and whatever else you can find out.¡± ¡°OK.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go around the stores.¡± Ramphil already had an idea of where he was going to gather info. ¡°I¡¯m going to have a drink. I¡¯m sure there is some liquor or at least some beer in a city this size.¡± ¡°It seems like you¡¯ve been waiting for this.¡± ¡°Ha, no way¡­¡± Zin wanted to say something to Cho-yul about him wanting to drink as soon as there was an opportunity, but dropped it since drinkers liked to talk. Everyone had a mission: Leona would talk to the children, Ramphil would talk to the store merchants, Cho-yul would talk to the drunkards to get information. ¡°I¡¯m going to do what I do best.¡± Zin was a hunter, and hunters were problem solvers. That was a good enough reason to meet the powerful people in the city. ¡°We meet back here when the sun goes down. Now, go.¡± They didn¡¯t have a lot of time to investigate, so they had to move quickly. Chapter 91 - The King and the Group (Part 2) Chapter 91: The King and the Group (Part 2) Once she was out on the streets after splitting from the group, Leona started thinking. ¡®Hard to say¡­¡¯ The Reavers were casually roaming the streets, and the Group didn¡¯t seem all that evil. It seemed rather generous of them to use their troops to protect the citizens. But having prejudice wouldn¡¯t serve any purpose. Each had a mission to fulfill, and Leona was going to do everything she could toplete hers. She had been bullied in her hometown, but she was actually a kid with a lot of experience. As such, it was easy for her to tell where the kids hung out with just a casual scan of the big, free city. It was often the case that adults didn¡¯t see children as other people, but to children, adults were definitely other people. The world belonged to the adults, and the children were acutely aware that they lived in the grown-ups¡¯ world. The children understood very well that their world was being controlled by the adults. Leona didn¡¯t think like that, but she was smart enough to recognize the logic behind people¡¯s behaviors. The behavior of children under the control of the adults was predictable. They desired their own little world, free from adult control. People¡¯s desires didn¡¯t change much, and the children were the same way. Children wished for a hideout, a secret ce only they knew about to hang out at. In that ce, they would create their own little world and share it with other children. Just like Leona and her friends had used an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city as their hideout, the children here would be doing the same. Since she was a kid herself, it was easy for her to spot the best hideout locations. Quite simply, they were ces that she, herself, would use as a hideout. A concealed underground space just outside the city was best, but if the ce was too deep in the ground, there wouldn¡¯t be much sunlight, and that would be no good. The children didn¡¯t have the resources to pay for electricity. As Leona walked around the city of Shane, she carefully scanned the periphery. When she reached an area away from the sanitation wall with many abandoned buildings, Leona felt confident. ¡®This is the ce.¡¯ Because the buildings were not habitable, people were not around. And because the area was filled with wreckage from demolished buildings, ess seemed difficult. Those things would make that ce off-limits to adults. On top of that, thick piles of rock blocked the view of anything that was happening inside the abandoned buildings, which was an ideal setup for a hideout. Leona climbed to the top of the rock pile and entered an abandoned building. Getting there was difficult, but once she was inside, the path was t. She scanned the area as she passed through the structural remains of the building. She had not seen anyone, but her sixth sense told her that she was on the right track. ¡®Something is definitely here.¡¯ Then, she noticed a child¡¯s head poking out and retreating through an opening in the alleyway. His movement was quick, like a child removing his hand from a hot stove after burning his hand. Leona smiled widely. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a genius.¡± She guessed that the child, who had just quickly run off, was the look-out for the hideout. Farther in, Leona saw a narrow passageway in between the two abandoned buildings. There was enough lighting through to distinguish the objects around, and the path seemed to widen as she walked along it. Soon, a small, dim, open space appeared. Rising dust in the sunlight made the ce look like a scene out of a film noir. About twenty kids were inside. They were all watching Leona with either their backs leaned against a wall or their heads cocked to one side. At the end of the alley, was a boy sitting on top of an army supply container with his legs wide open, his elbows over his knees, and his chin cradled on top of his inteced fingers. A ray of sunlight was hitting just below his chin. He posed like a mafia boss from an old movie. The other kids stared at Leona with weary or nervous looks on their faces, but no one dared to speak before the boss kid opened his mouth. The boy looked about fifteen or sixteen years old. With his voice lowered and a se look on his face, he said, ¡°What are you doing here, kid?¡± Because the boy was trying very hard to sound like a grown-up, Leona had to bite her lip with everything she had. She could burst outughing at any moment if she were not careful enough. But the boy, with what he thought was the meanest look on his face, continued, ¡°I know everyone around here. Are you a foreigner?¡± ¡°Y-Yes¡­¡± Trying to suppress herugh, she stuttered, but the gang thought she was acting that way out of fear. The boss boy seemed happy to see her afraid. ¡°Don¡¯t be scared. We¡¯re not bad people.¡± ¡®Perhaps not bad but weird¡­¡¯ She bit her lips even harder so she wouldn¡¯t blurt out what she was thinking. However, the boss and the gang were starting to have a silly snicker on their faces as they took her silence for her trepidation. ¡°Everyone, rx. Don¡¯t look so mean.¡± Instantly, everyone¡¯s faces turned more cheerful. Leona found that strange but also funny as hell. ¡°Excuse us. We¡¯re on edge these days,¡± said the boy, having grossly misread Leona¡¯s response. ¡°Oh¡­ OK.¡± On edge these days. Feeling very proud for having used that phrase, the boy stroked his imaginary beard as he stood up. He walked very slowly toward Leona. ¡°So, what¡¯s your business here, foreigner?¡± ¡°U-Uh¡­ N-Nothing¡­ W-We¡¯re staying in town for a few days.¡± Leona decided to use the gang¡¯s misunderstanding to her advantage. Boys like him had big egos and didn¡¯t like their imagined authority threatened. A frighten child would be easier for them to ept. If she were to behave in her typical foolhardy way, it would only result in fights, and she wouldn¡¯t be able toplete her mission. Ordinarily, she would¡¯ve blurted out something like, ¡®You bastards, what the fuck?!¡¯ and then run off, but this was different. She had a mission toplete and she shouldn¡¯t let her filthy mouth get in the way. ying along wouldn¡¯t be too hard. Leona lowered her gaze a little and considered her words carefully. ¡®They¡¯re really trying hard to act like adults. Can¡¯t stand them, but I can manage. It doesn¡¯t seem like they have any weapons. Maybe knives at best. I have my gun so I¡¯m set¡­ ¡®What should I say? Let¡¯s y? No, they wouldn¡¯t like that because that¡¯s what kids do. They¡¯ll tell me to get lost. I want to be a member of your gang? Nah, that may seem suspicious. I just told them that I was only here for a few days, so they¡¯ll think I¡¯m lying. ¡®If they want to act like adults¡­¡¯ Leona organized her thoughts. No one had taught her how, but she had been learning a thing or two. She was bing more like Zin and was able to evaluate the situation like him. ¡®If I need to befriend them and boost their egos¡­ then, it would be better to act serious and sincere. I don¡¯t want to be the one to say it, but oh, well¡­ I guess I¡¯m just being really honest¡­¡¯ With a serious look on her face, she stared at the boy and said, ¡°I need information on Shane.¡± The smiles disappeared from the children¡¯s faces, and Leona¡¯s face began to look more like the face of a Wargrave soldier carrying out a top secret mission. Actually, her facial expressions resembled Ramphil¡¯s. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Naturally, the gang wasn¡¯t too receptive at first. ¡°Information? Why does a foreigner need info on Shane?¡± ¡°My teammate is a hunter. He needs to know what kind of ce Shane is in order to carry out his mission smoothly.¡± She wasn¡¯t lying, but it would, no doubt, sound like a lie. Having heard so much about hunting, she could throw the words around easily. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, we¡¯re staying at the four-story hotel over that way. You cane check it out.¡± Of course, they wouldn¡¯te. The children had their own world here, but once they were outside, they would return to being children. It was important that she gained their trust here. The gang mulled over it momentarily. The boy, who seemed to have the final say, said, ¡°I don¡¯t quite trust you. If you were me, would you give up information to someone who just burst into the scene?¡± ¡®Son-of-a-bitch, he¡¯s being difficult.¡¯ Leona¡¯s insides were starting to turn a little. ¡°OK, what if you gave me some time to gain your trust?¡± Since the gang let her hang out with them, she did her best to act like an adult. Zin would probably decide to stay there for a few days to gather info. Rather than rushing and messing up, it would be better to move cautiously. Besides, she could learn what she needed to know from just hanging out with the children. Since they didn¡¯t want to hand over the info, she needed to buy time until they would. Give a little to get a little. It was a simple strategy. The boy considered it with a serious look on his face, and then nodded in agreement. ¡°Fine. It¡¯s not polite to be rude to our guest. We¡¯re not like the others.¡± Leona winced. ¡®There are others besides them?¡¯ How could there be more than one gang like this in Shane? For the first time, Leona suddenly became concerned about the future of the free city she was visiting. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C While Leona was ying along with the children¡¯s street lord, Cho-yul was heading to a bar. He had just borrowed some chips from Zin for research purposes. ¡°Ah,e on¡­ this is it?¡± Cho-yul sighed before going into the bar. Zin had only given him two chips. ¡°This would be enough for one drink, right? Two chips would get you at least one drink even if it¡¯s overpriced.¡± ¡°Ah, but if I want to hang out with the others¡­¡± ¡°Use it wisely.¡± Zin was firm, and Cho-yul didn¡¯t have the charms to change his mind. How ironic that a high-level sorcerer who could make rain fall from the sky had to bemoan over a few chips. However, he had to make this work, so he carefully pushed the door open and went inside despite feeling unsure. It was daytime, but there were already a few groups of people seated at the tables, drinking and talking amongst themselves. In a free city, the citizens were free to do whatever they wished, so hanging out in bars was OK as long as they had enough chips. As expected, even in a bar, there was a Reaver. He was seated in the corner with his arms crossed, yawning, seemingly bored out of his mind, and didn¡¯t seem to care much for his work. The sour smell that filled the bar was a scent that Cho-yul loved. An alcoholic who had drunk every day wouldn¡¯t have lost his taste for alcohol that quickly. The owner of the bar saw Cho-yul approach him and said tly, ¡°Beer. A chip for a pint, and I don¡¯t negotiate.¡± They only had beer, but that would do. ¡®I can have two pints.¡¯ With a smile of satisfaction on his face, he handed the owner a chip. Soon, a pint of beer was served in a dirty stainless ss. But when Cho-yul peered into his ss, he couldn¡¯t help but frown. He had seen his share of bad service, but not only was the ss only half-filled, but the beer also had no foam, and weird things were floating inside it. ¡°Mr. Owner, is this it?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, throw it out and leave. No refunds.¡± The owner already had the money, and he wasn¡¯t going to give it back. Cho-yul stared at the miniscule amount of beer that was in his cup, and then stared at the owner. He thought about the insights he had gained and wondered what would be an appropriate response from a sorcerer to this shoddy service. Speaking hisnguage seemed like a wiser choice. ¡°Based on the way you conduct your business, you must do very well.¡± ¡°Ah, you tter me.¡± The owner of the bar smiled. Doing business in a free city meant serving visitors who were only there for a short time. The owner wouldn¡¯t feel obligated to provide good service to them. The ones the owner would be nice to were his main consumers, the townspeople. He had no idea that the high-level sorcerer had just given him a back-handedpliment. It wasn¡¯t a curse, but there would be a few misfortunes in his future. However, a bad service didn¡¯t warrant a curse, so Cho-yul grabbed his ss and sat down at a table. His n was to listen to the conversations around him, assess the situation, and then sit with a group. If he had had enough chips, he would¡¯ve bought drinks for everyone to win them over, but that wasn¡¯t possible at the moment. But first, it was time for him to taste his cheap beer. He took a sip, and then his face twisted into a grimace. ¡°¡­ What the hell is this?!¡± It was bitter, but he wasn¡¯t tasting the bitterness of alcohol. While living an idle life as a wanderer, he had grown many different grains and made alcohol with them. Once his master passed away and he had separated from his fellow apprentice, as a way to appear like an idiot, he had traveled far and wide to get a drink and often received a severe beating. Through many ups and downs, he had tasted many different types of alcohol and he even had the knowledge to make some when the conditions were right. Looking around, he noticed that the bar wasn¡¯t loud. The people were conversing with each other quietly. At first, he thought it was because of the Reaver monitoring the ce, but he now realized that it was because the people were not drunk; because they had been drinking fake beer. He had tasted all types of beer and fake beer had been no exception. Cho-yul was usually an easy-going guy who didn¡¯t like to confront people, but there were some things he could not forgive¡ªlike duping paying customers with fake beer. ¡®Skrrreek¡¯ Cho-yul stood up from the old wooden chair indignantly, walked toward the counter holding his ss, and then put his ss in front of the bar owner. Yet, he didn¡¯t wish to make a scene. He stared at the owner menacingly, but the owner didn¡¯t flinch. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°Did you think that anything that tastes nasty could pass for a beer? You may be able fool others, but you can¡¯t fool me.¡± Cho-yul slowly expressed his anger. He knew all too well that there were merchants who sold fake beer in ces where there was no established drinking culture. The owner¡¯s face cringed slightly. Cho-yul grabbed the back of his neck like a person who¡¯s about to have a stroke and continued, ¡°You took my money and made me drink urine, so you better make it right.¡± Making faking alcohol required many different ingredients, but making fake beer only required urine. Naturally, human urine. Chapter 92 - The King and The Group (Part 3) Chapter 92: The King and The Group (Part 3) If Cho-yul were to talk loudly about how they¡¯d been drinking urine in front of the unsuspecting customers, there could be a riot, so he kept his volume low. ¡°U-Uh, why don¡¯t we go inside? Let¡¯s have a talk inside, sir. Hey, you! You take care of customers while I talk to this man.¡± The waiter, who had been sitting at the far corner of the bar, came over and stood at the counter. The owner wouldn¡¯t be violent because there was a Reaver monitoring the bar. Cho-yul quietly followed the owner into a room behind the counter. Theyout of the inner chamber was unique. Past the door was what looked like a motel hallway with many rooms on each side. The building turned out not to be abandoned, but a makeshift building put together with whatever materialsying around instead. Once inside, the owner started to bow repeatedly to Cho-yul. ¡°Please, forgive me just this one time. I¡¯ll refund your money. My inexperience must have ruined your appetite¡­¡± The owner apologized for his inexperience in making beer. He fumbled around and handed a chip to Cho-yul. Cho-yul put the chip in his pocket, but his facial expression showed that he still wasn¡¯t happy. ¡°The fact that there¡¯s no alcohol is not because of yourck of experience.¡± When it came to alcohol, no one could fool Cho-yul. He looked straight at the owner and asked, ¡°How did you find the freshwater sea cucumber?¡± ¡°H-How?!¡± The owner turned pale, but Cho-yul continued, ¡°Do you think that I haven¡¯t had a fair share of fake alcohol?¡± Making fake beer required careful nning. It wasn¡¯t something just anyone could make without any nning. Only three ingredients were required: water and urine as the foundation, and one other crucial ingredient. The crucial ingredient was the skin of a freshwater sea cucumber. Freshwater sea cucumber sounded like an oxymoron, but no other name would fit this marine creature. They were rtively safe, but they polluted the water. The fact that the contaminated water smelled simr to alcohol had sparked the interest of shysters. Many attempted to make fake beer with it until someone¡ªafter much trial and errors¡ªseeded in doing so. The freshwater sea cucumbers were curious creatures that stayed alive even when they were cut apart. And even after they had been dehydrated to a crisp, they woulde back to life with just a little bit of water. If you put a slice of freshwater sea cucumber in water, and then urinate on it, the freshwater sea cucumber would metabolize the urine and produce a liquid that tasted and smelled like beer. In other words, what you were really drinking was the excrement of the freshwater sea cucumber after it had feasted on human urine. Even if it tasted like alcohol, it wasn¡¯t alcohol because it didn¡¯t make one feel drunk. Selling that to someone as alcohol was an atrocity. The freshwater sea cucumber was also good business because it grew back to its original size after some time, and it could be resold to another would-be crook for a very good price. The owner had to have gone through a lot of trouble to obtain the skin of a freshwater sea cucumber, and that meant that it wasn¡¯t a mistake. It would¡¯ve been his intention to sell fake beer all along. As his deviant n was being unraveled in front of him, the owner looked more and more desperate. ¡°I-I had to in order to eat! Please, have mercy on me and forgive me!¡± The owner knelt down in front of Cho-yul. If Cho-yul were to tell other customers about the fake beer, there was no telling what the customers would do, let alone the patrolling Reaver. Cho-yul stared at him nkly, and the owner continued, ¡°T-They took everything from me. I had no choice!¡± ¡°¡­¡± Cho-yul grimaced. ¡®They took everything?¡¯ ¡°Are you telling me that the Group took everything from you?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Tell me more in detail.¡± His initial n was to get information from the drunks, but he had found an unexpected source. The owner looked ufortable, but he sighed and then raised his fingers to point toward the rooms in the back. ¡°Uh¡­ I¡­ used to be a drug dealer.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Cho-yul was stunned. How did a drug dealer end up owning a bar? The owner¡¯s statement had piqued Cho-yul¡¯s interest in his story, but it also confirmed his suspicion that the bar owner was the lowest of the low. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- ¡°This is very good.¡± ¡°That is good?¡± ¡°For sure, of course,¡± said the woman as she handed a bunch of medicinal herbs for CP addiction to Ramphil. Ramphil was being very straightforward and direct. ¡®How are you doing these days?¡¯ he would ask as if he had known the person for a long time. But since they had never met before, he woulde across very direct. He had been casually asking that question as he picked up some useless object or two at the various stores he visited throughout the city. That was the only thing he could ask without raising any suspicion from the Reavers. The merchants had been saying that things were better, but because there were Reavers keeping an eye at every store of decent size, Ramphil didn¡¯t fully trust their answers. However, here was a youngdy selling things out of her sacks at a street corner. Her store was so small, there wasn¡¯t even a Reaver around. ¡°We know who to pay now, so that makes things easier.¡± ¡°Pay?¡± ¡°You know, the tax.¡± ¡°Oh, right¡­ the tax.¡± Free cities were free market ces, but the merchants were required to pay taxes or fees to security forces or unions. Without those organizations, keeping peace in a free city would not be possible. Ramphil didn¡¯t know anything about that, but he pretended like he understood. ¡°In the past, three different gangs were in control of the same districts in Shane.¡± ¡°Three?¡± ¡°Yes, one was a security force led by the sheriff, and the other two were gangs. They were always in turf wars, and we would have to pay taxes to the sheriff one day, to the Skull Family the next day, and then to the Shandoo Tribe the next. That was such a pain, so it¡¯s good that we don¡¯t have to deal with that now.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ that soundsplicated,¡± said Ramphil as he tilted his head. Thedy handed him another bunch of herbs. He understood what that meant, so he handed her a chip to purchase another bunch of medicinal herbs he didn¡¯t even need. ¡°It¡¯s not thatplicated. We only have to pay the Group now. Case closed. That¡¯s a lot better for someone like me. But do you know what I can¡¯t stand? The kids must have thought that the gangs were cool. They hang out in groups and act like the gangs. Seeing that is both funny and upsetting to me. What can they gain by acting tough, causing trouble and belittling others in a country this small? It just makes things more difficult for us.¡± Ramphil wondered if thedy was giving him info in exchange for the chip or if she was just someone who liked toin. The Group had just taken over this area, so the kids¡ªlike the ones Leona had run into¡ªwere actually imitating the three gangs of Shane from before the Group. ¡°Turns out they were just big fish in a small pond. Once the Group came, they had to put their tails in between their legs and plead for their lives. Seeing that was the greatest moment of my life.¡± Thedyughed out loud as she reminisced. ¡°What happened to the three gangs?¡± ¡°What do you think? They were cleaned up.¡± ¡°Cleaned up? Do you mean they were killed?¡± ¡°Not exactly. Asura came. I guess we¡¯re not such a small city after all. And yeah, she was definitely scary.¡± There was both respect and fear in the woman¡¯s face as she remembered Asura. As if she were recalling Asura¡¯s every word from memory, she continued with a nk look on her face. ¡°Now that you are my people, I¡¯ll be the judge of your rank. All traditions, rules and organizations are meaningless now. You must keep peace. That is not a suggestion. That is the firstw I¡¯m putting into effect as your new King,¡± After repeating those words, the woman had a soft smile on her face. Ramphil felt a strange energy from her. ¡®She remembers that too well.¡¯ Even her pattern of speech sounded different when she was repeating Asura¡¯s words. ¡®Is she¡­ under a spell or something?¡¯ Only a spell could exin the strange energy he had felt, but the woman kept talking excitedly, ¡°She said those words while she made the three gang leaders kneel in front of her and bang their heads on the ground in front of everyone. That was so cool. After that, the three of them were in bed for days.¡± The woman continued talking enthusiastically for a while. Because he had been running around the city, he was able to run into this talkative woman andplete his mission. The Group had left a small group of Reavers in charge of the territory. The leader of the Group controlled the city. Their weaponry was so much more powerful than that of the existing groups that no one even dared to fight against them. He also found out that the Group sometimes collected food and chips from the citizens, but that that was nothingpared to the heinous acts of the old gangs. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°But, why do you want to know these things?¡± asked the woman when she got tired of talking. Ramphil had no idea of what to say. It would not be good if she were to report him to the Reavers as a spy. Killing her would be the easiest solution, and the thought shed in his mind. That was the only way to avoid problems, and it would be easy since they were on the outskirts of the city. After some thought, Ramphil pointed to the pile of medicinal herbs. ¡°I¡¯ll buy all of it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± He didn¡¯t say anything more. He was purchasing all of her herbs so that she would not ask any more questions and would keep her mouth shut. The woman understood and smiled sheepishly. ¡°That wasn¡¯t my intention, but thank you.¡± They silently exchanged bribes. The woman would not report the nice spy who bought all her herbs to the Reavers. For two people who had never met before, theirmunication had gone splendidly. As Ramphil stood up to leave, she mentioned something casually, ¡°It may just be a rumor, but¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I heard that Asura rules over life and death.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. It could just be a rumor¡­ something people say because they¡¯re scared.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± said Ramphil and left. With a parcel of medicinal herbs on his back, he started to organize his thoughts as he made his way back to the hotel. Because thedy was a bbermouth, he had learned a lot. ¡®Originally, Shane was a ce filled with strife due to the three different gangs fighting over the control of the city. Given that even kids are acting like those gangs, they seem to have had a long history in Shane. ¡®The Group broke up the gang and became the new power, and the citizens are rtively happy that they only have to pay one group, regardless of the amount. ¡®The reason for the Reavers to patrol the city is not only for keeping peace, but also for keeping tabs on the gangs¡¯ activities. ¡®The Group left behind a group of Reavers of certain size and power at the colony. The leader of the Reavers is acting as the mayor or the city administrator¡­ ¡®That would all be difficult for the Reavers to carry out¡­ Yet, I don¡¯t feel any resistance in the Group. Is Asura¡¯s charisma powerful enough to convince the Reavers to go against their nature? What is this thing about her ruling over life and death? Is that some sorcery again? Damn! ¡®I¡¯m starting to think that everything I don¡¯t understand is sorcery.¡¯ Ramphil wasn¡¯t too pleased with himself for thinking that way, but it was true in a way. Ever since he became mixed up in that sorcery business, he started realizing that he wasn¡¯t such a perfect human being, and that realization was both inconvenient and unsettling. On the other hand, there were some pluses, too. ¡®My teammates should¡¯ve found out something useful, too.¡¯ One major progress was that once he realized that he wasn¡¯t perfect, he became more open to trusting other people. Although, right now, it appeared more like he was dumping his responsibility on them. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- Zin¡¯s approach was even more direct than Ramphil¡¯s. As soon as he left hotel, he went straight to the Reaver who was patrolling the area. ¡°I¡¯m a hunter.¡± ¡°So what?¡± replied the guard with a gun when Zin suddenly introduced himself. ¡°What should I call you? A Boss? Brother? Leader?¡± The Reavers had many names for their leader, but the mostmonly used one was ¡®boss.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t clear whether the Group had the same practice. ¡°I would like to have a constructive discussion with whoever is in charge. How about it?¡± Others might have chosen a more subtle approach, but Zin had decided to leverage his hunter status and take a more aggressive approach. As expected, the Reaver showed as much excitement as he would have for some cold leftover rice. It was unlikely that their leader would meet with a hunter just because he had requested it and highly probable that the request would not get past the guard. ¡°We¡¯re doing fine on our own.¡± No self-respecting organization of their size would need a hunter¡¯s help to handle their businesses. The guard¡¯s response showed confidence as it should. However, Zin was a virtuoso, adept at creating demand for his services. A virtuoso might be a strange way of putting it, but he could easily have the guard wrapped around his fingers. ¡°I know you have high-powered weapons, but isn¡¯t there a problem you guys can¡¯t manage?¡± The Reaver¡¯s gaze turned cold. ¡°¡­ If you don¡¯t shut up, things could get ugly¡­¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t you guys had to fight the ghosts recently?¡± The guard¡¯s facial expression froze. They could shoot and kill most monsters and they had been protecting Shane by doing so. Just recently, however, when the headstone at the Heavenly Power Castle was deactivated, the ghosts of surrounding areas started being sucked there. Zin knew that Shane¡¯s sky would¡¯ve been filled with all kinds of ghosts flying by. The ghosts didn¡¯t do any damage to the city, but the Reavers should¡¯ve imagined the worst. How would they fight a legion of ghosts when their guns didn¡¯t work against them? Did that terrify the Reavers? ¡°Even if things are fine, I can at least teach you guys how to fight ghosts. The more you know, right? Even if they didn¡¯t have any problems now, they would want to know how to fight the ghosts. Creating a demand was a simple matter. Everyone feared something, and his job was to find it and amplify it. ¡°¡­ I will ask and see. Follow me.¡± The Reaver remembered the terror he had felt then and started heading somewhere. Chapter 93 - The King and The Group (Part 4) Chapter 93: The King and The Group (Part 4) Zin was taken to a building at the center of the city. Because the building had been used by the sheriff¡¯s gang, it was rtively well-maintained and well-suited for security teams as it contained many racks for weapons. All Reavers were armed with an assault rifle and carried out duties that had been assigned to each of them. They basically seemed like an army. There were Reavers returning to the base on one side, and Reavers adjusting their weapons on the other side. Their actual numbers were less than a hundred, but given their high-powered weapons, that was plenty for the purpose of controlling the free city. ¡®They look just like a real army.¡¯ Although the Reavers looked like themselves on the outside, they were not acting like their normal selves. ¡°Damn, I¡¯m so sick and tired of only eating potatoes.¡± However, theints they blurted out from time to time revealed that they weren¡¯tpletely cut off from their desires, but that they were merely suppressing them. They were tired of not eating meat, and by meat, they meant human meat. An army consisting of time-bombs was a rather radical sight. The Reaver who brought Zin went inside the building while Zin waited outside. Looking closely, the situation appeared ideal. The psychos were tamed and were being used to protect the citizens. Apparently, the Reavers were just carrying out their assigned duties and not harassing the citizens. ¡®I might be witnessing the world¡¯s first sessful case of a devil hunter¡¯s deviant n.¡¯ Every n up to now had failed, but that didn¡¯t mean that it would be like that forever. SoSeoLan might be a unique case of sess. There was no way to tell why the Group had left the Eastern Land or why there had been a change in their leadership, but it seemed to have had a positive effect. They seemed to desire to rule rather than to destroy, and as a result, the Group was not engaging in any senselessly cruel acts. Based on everything he had seen at Shane so far, the city looked like a free city with a formidable army. The Reaver returned and said, ¡°The City Administrator wants to see you. Follow me.¡± As Zin followed him, he thought, ¡®City Administrator?¡¯ That wasn¡¯t such a weird term for someone who managed the city, but addressing a Reaver by that title seemed strange and awkward to him. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- Inside the Administrator¡¯s office, was a well-built Reaver with bulging muscles. He was sitting at a desk with papers and ledgers in front of him. ¡®Ha! I never thought I¡¯d see something like this¡­¡¯ Zin could not believe that he was seeing a Reaver, who at one time must have feasted on human flesh, doing paperwork. ¡°Are you the hunter?¡± ¡°Yes, I am.¡± The Reaver stacked the papers, pushed them to one side, and then pointed his chin toward an old couch across from him. What was happening was like seeing a death-row inmate suddenly be the mayor, and seemingly doing an excellent job. He looked pale, like someone who had been buried in drudge work. He seemed to be in good health, though, and had a stoic expression on his face. ¡°First, let me introduce myself. I¡¯ve been appointed by the King as the City Administrator,¡± said the Reaver as he extended his hand. His voice and his facial expressions were full of pride. ¡°As you already know, I¡¯m Zin¡­¡± The moment Zin¡¯s hand touched the Reaver¡¯s hand, he froze. ¡®Why is his hand so cold?¡¯ But without showing his surprise, he continued, ¡°¡­the hunter.¡± After the brief handshake, Zin was left momentarily speechless as he reeled from the astonishment and tension dripping down his back. The Administrator¡¯s face looked pale. At first, he had thought it was because he was overworked, but that wasn¡¯t the case. He talked and moved like a human, but he didn¡¯t have any body heat like a normal human being. Others might have thought that the Administrator was sick or in poor health, but not Zin. ¡®He¡¯s a corpse.¡¯ The Reaver in front of him was a corpse. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C ¡°One day, we¡¯re going to rebuild the Family.¡± Leona had been hanging out with the children. To be urate, she was just engaging in their private conversation. They talked about revenge, and how the Group was going to pay for having humiliated them. During the process, Leona learned about Shane¡¯s history and how it came to be controlled, and what the life was like for the citizens afterward. It turned out that they were not just some children ying at being street lords, but the actual members of the Skull Family, one of the three gangs that used to control Shane. Once the three gangs were broken up, everyone in the Family had to be a member of the city. The Group ouwed all group activities, so the gangs either had to stay quiet or find something else to do in order to survive. The children of those gangs couldn¡¯t stand a situation like that. That was the reason why the children had organized themselves into three groups, while the adults stayed silent. Leona, of course, thought the children¡ªwith their half-formed brains¡ªwere merely ying mobsters, but she went along with it anyway. It just so happened that when a group shared amon goal, they didn¡¯t talk to each other about it much. The best thing in that situation was being an ignorant outsider. If you started asking questions, they would start telling you this and that to convince you or themselves. All Leona had to do was ask. ¡°Why do you need to get it back?¡± ¡°Getting it back is not what¡¯s important.¡± ¡°What then?¡± The boy spoke with a stiff expression on his face, ¡°Those bastards tarnished the Family¡¯s reputation. This is not about getting our territory back. It¡¯s to clear our name.¡± Shuddering at the memory of submission, the boy¡¯s eyes glinted in anger. His reaction made the other boys turn somber as well. The Family¡¯s new leader had to kneel down in front of Asura and bang his head on the ground¡­ Until she said stop. The pride of the three gangs was obliterated at that moment. The group¡¯s history¡ªthe constant fighting, or the fighting they believed would end only when their opponents were wiped out or crushed¡ªwas over as if it had been a lie. The three gang leaders had to stand in line and bow to the King nine times. The citizens rejoiced, and the gang members realized that everything they had built until then had been a sham, but the children refused to ept that reality. ¡°We have toy low for now, but one day we¡¯re going to get rid of the Group and the other two as well, and the Family will rule Shane once again. The would-be gangster was burning with passion. ¡®Yet, all you guys do is y gangsters in an alley.¡¯ Leona thought they were at least ten times more foolish than average fools. She wanted to say something, but forced herself to keep her opinions to herself. What she had learned would be enough as far as her mission was concerned. As Leona was getting up to leave, the boy asked, ¡°Hey, you¡¯re Leona, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, why?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that your teammate is a hunter?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Are you guys leaving soon?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ We¡¯ll be leaving in a few days.¡± ¡°Is that so? Hmm¡­ I think the fact that you¡¯re here could be our opportunity. ¡°An opportunity?¡± ¡°Tell him, Turian, the heir of the Skull Family, wants to talk to him.¡± Leona¡¯s eyes widened with surprise. ¡°I have a proposal.¡± Leona was no longerughing at them. They weren¡¯t just children ying gangsters. They were quite serious. And if they were that serious, she shouldn¡¯tugh at them. The boy was young, but he was a crucial member of one of the gangs that used to rule the city. ¡ª¡ª¡ª- Havingpleted their missions, the team returned to the room at sunset. Everyone shared what they had learned with each other. There were some ovepping stories as well as new information. Cho-yul had information on how the Group was controlling the city, and he was the first to share, ¡°This city was initially under the rule of three different gangs. They mainly fought over the control of the drug trade. When the Group took over Shane, they confisticated all types of drugs and destroyed them, leaving every person in the drug business in the surrounding areas without jobs. A few of them are making fake beer and selling it, but that doesn¡¯t seem sustainable.¡± ¡°Why did they confiscate the drugs?¡± asked Zin. Cho-yul smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I was told that Asura said, ¡®The citizens do not have the freedom to dirty their bodies and minds with those things.¡¯ It was Asura¡¯s orders. That sort of business being the only thing they knew, the ones in the drug trade had turned to fake beer. The gangs first lost theirnd, and then lost their financial resources when drug manufacturing and trafficking werepletely cut off. Something like chain-reaction bankruptcies were happening in Shane. Once the Group cleared the drugs from Shanepletely, they flogged anyone caught illegally manufacturing drugs. The reason why the surveince was so heavy in Shane was not only to prevent the gangs from reorganizing, but also to prevent drug deals from happening in the dark corners. What Ramphil found out was simr. ¡°I don¡¯t know about the gangs, but the citizens are really happy about the gangs being broken up. They fear the Reavers, but they breathe easier knowing that they only have to pay taxes to one group.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t drugs create ouws?¡± Those addicted to drugs turned into ouws. As a city, having a widespread drug issue would be a serious problem, so it was weird to Leona that the gangs would take that chance and distribute drugs in the city. ¡°It seems that the gangs were incarcerating those who were heavily addicted in order to prevent them from turning into ouws, and then using that as an excuse to take their chips or create debt.¡± When the drug addicts became a problem, the gangs took care of them and requested chips in payment. If someone didn¡¯t have chips to pay them, they had debt to pay. Then, the addicts would have to work hard in order to repay the debt, but when things got better, they would eventually shoot up again. So the vicious cycle continued. In other words, once someone touched drugs, they would be the gang¡¯s ve forever. ¡°Wow, they sure are smart m-fuckers,¡± blurted Leona, feeling amazement and disgust at the same time. She suddenly realized what a ballsy kid that boy, Turian, was. ¡°Once the gang disappeared, all debt became meaningless. There were no more gangs, and the elite¡¯s assets were seized, so no wonder the citizens were happy.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Leona as she nodded in agreement. It was like one problem was being substituted for another, but they had to just wait and see. Ramphil added onest bit, ¡°Regardless of how the citizens feel about it, I don¡¯t understand how the Reavers can suppress their instincts and get used to the Group¡¯s system. I can¡¯t say for sure whether Asura is that powerful, but¡­ there¡¯s a rumor that she rules over life and death. If that fear is what¡¯s driving the Reavers to obey, I may be able to make sense of it somewhat.¡± ¡°That is somewhat true,¡± said Zin. ¡°That¡¯s true?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about life, but she certainly does have power over death. I might have an idea of how Asura is controlling them.¡± Just a moment ago, Zin had received a small payment of chips in exchange for meeting with the City Administrator and teaching him how to manage and deal with the ghosts. It was a rather lengthy process that required verification procedures to see if the method actually worked. Asking directly would raise suspicion, so Zin had asked about what was going on in Shane to get a sense of how things were being controlled. What he found out wasn¡¯t all that different from what the others had said. The Group controlled Shane as one city. When necessary, they collected materials and chips from the citizens. Their long-term goal was to expand their energy base by creating production facilities and manufacturing nts, but that wasn¡¯t going to happen for a while. He found out something more important than that, however. ¡°Asura is using the Dead Spirit spell.¡± Leona and Ramphil only tilted their heads, but Cho-yul knew what it was and abruptly stood up from his seat, ¡°No, that¡¯s ridiculous! She wouldn¡¯t dare such a thing!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes, so sit down.¡± Zin began to exin calmly, ¡°Shane`s City Administrator, sent by the Group, is a corpse that has been revived with the Dead Spirit spell.¡± Upon hearing this, not only Cho-yul¡¯s, but also Leona¡¯s and Ramphil¡¯s jaws dropped. Chapter 94 - The Kid Gang鈥檚 Conspiracy Chapter 94: The Kid Gang¡¯s Conspiracy The Dead Spirit spell, the most evil and offensive of all spells, was not very well-known, even among sorcerers. As a result, no student of the Emperor had been trained in that heinous and vicious spell. The fact that his fellow sorcerer was practicing that spell was unthinkable to Cho-yul, and he had no idea where she could have learned it. At this point, it would be more correct to call Asura the Commander of the Dead, or a necromancer more than a sorcerer. ¡°I don¡¯t know how it happened, but she knows the Dead Spirit spell. What I am about to tell you is just my guess.¡± No one had a choice but to listen to what Zin had to say. ¡°For whatever reason or because of some event, Asura became the leader of the Group. We don¡¯t know if Asura killed the previous leader to take over the Group or if some kind of internal fight led to the leader¡¯s death, and she took over the Group.¡± That was Zin¡¯s biggest question, but this wasn¡¯t the right time to ask it. ¡°However, the Group isn¡¯t really a centralized group. Rather, it¡¯s a confederation of Reavers consisting of many different Reaver groups.¡± It wasn¡¯t that the original groups were destroyed and then a new group came to be; the original groups still existed, but they were under a new leader. It wasn¡¯t a monarchy. It was more like a nation of states. ¡°Asura killed the leaders of the Reavers, and then brought them back to life as her puppets,pletely under her control.¡± In other words, she had turned the leaders of the nation states into ves. If every leader leading a group of Reavers turned into one of Asura¡¯s ves, everyone in that group would have to follow Asura¡¯smands. The Reavers had a clear chain ofmand. Of course, mountingints would blow up some day, but the Reavers thought differently. Asura would¡¯ve chosen to use the spell only on those she needed. Creating arge number of puppets would take too much time. ¡°They seem to believe that bing a corpse is Asura¡¯s blessing.¡± ¡°Whoa¡­!¡± ¡°If you think about it, if you¡¯re already dead, then you¡¯ve just be immortal, and you don¡¯t even have to eat.¡± So, when the Reavers saw their leaders be something not human, they were awed by Asura¡¯s power. Thanks to Asura¡¯s blessing, they became more powerful, something beyond human. Therefore, hoping to be that one day, they obeyed Asura fully rather thanin. Even though he was a living corpse, the City Administrator was fully capable of making his own decisions and acting on those. From a broad point of view, he seemed no different than a living being. A mix of fear of Asura¡¯s mysterious power, and the hope of being the beneficiary of that power was driving the Reavers to fully obey their leader. Her ruling style was simple, yet absolute. ¡°That kind of power¡­ shouldn¡¯t exist in the world.¡± Unable to believe that his fellow student had fallen that low in order to have ess to that power, Cho-yul shuddered. He was scared of SoSeoLan, but he had been secretly happy. They were different, but he had started to think that she was actually trying to create a better world for the people. As he walked around Shane, he had been leaning toward Zin not killing her. Even though he hated her, they were colleagues. What she was nning didn¡¯t seem all that bad, and he had been relieved. However, it was an entirely different matter if she was using a spell that no one should be using. With the Dead Spirit spell, one could chain the soul of the dead and mutte the corpses. It was too grotesque for a human, and it was too heinous to even talk about. ¡°I heard that if you use the Dead Spirit spell, your mind eventually bes polluted, and you turn into a monster.¡± Cho-yul looked to Zin for confirmation and he nodded, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true.¡± Apparently, controlling the spirit of someone who¡¯s been killed or dead corrupted the mind. The inevitable result of wielding such enormous power was that that power eventually destroyed you. You be the monster leading the army of the dead. How can anything be more sinister? ¡°We need to stop her before that happens.¡± Cho-yul believed she needed to die if she was willing to use that kind of force. After a long silence, Zin said, ¡°I agree with you.¡± They needed to find a way, but he continued, ¡°But think about what would happen if SoSeoLan died now? If the Group were feasting on human flesh in their colonies, then I would¡¯ve said the same thing and killed her. However, the Group is managing their territory with care and reorienting themselves under Asura¡¯s rules. There is no piging or cannibalism.¡± ¡°When Asura dies, the living corpses will return to being dead corpses again.¡± ¡°That means¡­¡± Realizing something, Leona became pale. ¡°The Reavers would go crazy when they lost their bases and their leaders,¡± said Ramphil. Corpses aside, if the Reavers were to lose their leaders, after some brief confusion, many would start acting crazy again. Right now, they were suppressing their desires in a state of half-hope and half-fear, but when all the leaders disappeared, only the armed soldiers would remain. What they might do was not difficult to imagine. When time bombs started to blow up one after another, many deaths would certainly follow. If those Reavers were to get together, things could get even uglier. Together or alone, there would be problems. Cho-yul realized that it wasn¡¯t such a simple problem after all. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C They still had no idea of what SoSeoLan¡¯s end-goal was with the Group, although the team was getting a better sense of what was happening. What they had found out wasn¡¯t all that bad, and it was bing clear that killing SoSeoLan would create a big chaos. ¡°The problem¡¯s be even more of a headache,¡± said Leona with vexed expression. Everyone agreed. The hard decision had be even harder. Killing the devil hunter headed toward her own destruction would create a whole new problem. ¡°Oh, right! The kid I met today said that he¡¯d like to meet you. He said he had a proposal.¡± The boy was older than Leona, but she still called him a kid. ¡°A proposal?¡± Zin tilted his head in confusion and surprise. Leona exined that the kid was the heir to one of the gangs that used to rule Shane. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be interested, but I had to ask, just in case.¡± Knowing Zin was fond of chips, she was covering her bases. Shane was a fairly big city, so the heir to the mob that used to control a third of the city would be loaded with chips. Even if their assets were impounded by the Group, organizations like that always hid away their assets, so getting paid would be no problem. ¡°Let¡¯s hear what they have to say. We¡¯ve got nothing to lose.¡± In order to figure out what to do about Asura, they needed to stay in Shane for a few more days anyway. Zin had been hired by the Reavers, so he had no reason decline the child¡¯s request. In the end, it didn¡¯t matter who the client was as long as he was getting paid with plenty of chips. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- That night, Cho-yul peered nkly out the open window. What was the Dead Spirit spell? It was the most evil and sinister of all spells. Even Cho-yul had only heard about it and didn¡¯t know how to acquire such a spell. He knew some spells that worked with the spirits and, since he was a high-level sorcerer, he also knew a lot about rituals and ceremonies. However, using spells to bring the dead back to life as zombies and using them as ves was hard for him to ept. As Zin got up from his seat, he noticed Cho-yul standing by the window. ¡°Having trouble sleeping?¡± It was just the two of them in the bigger room; Leona and Ramphil were sleeping in another room. ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯m having trouble epting the use of the Dead Spirit spell.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Among sorcerers, using spells that controlled the dead was the taboo of all taboos. It was so sinister that it was the closest thing to being evil. Of course, not all sorcerers were good, and some had attempted to use the Dead Spirit spell before, but Cho-yul was a master sorcerer, and masters avoided taking the corrupt path, choosing to achieve their goals by going through a lengthy process. But what SoSeoLan, his colleague, was doing was far more horrific than anything other fallen sorcerers had ever done. It was obvious that Cho-yul was confused. Zin spoke up, ¡°It¡¯s unclear when sorcery started to gain power, and it¡¯s the same for the Dead Spirit spell.¡± When the world was destroyed, and science was near extinction, people went back to believing in superstition, and the superstitions became powerful after some time. Cho-yul couldn¡¯t figure out why Zin was telling him this. ¡°Sorcery may havee into being after the world became what it is now, or it may have always existed, but we just didn¡¯t understand its power. There could¡¯ve been sorcery back when people were painting on cave walls. ¡°What are you¡­ trying to say?¡± ¡°In any case, once sorcery came to be, the Emperor was the best of the best. He, the first immortal hunter, had the best set of skills and was the most knowledgeable.¡± The Emperor knew almost all of the spells and had the widest range of sorcery in the world. ¡°I¡­ am really not sure why you¡¯re telling me this¡­¡± ¡°The Emperor was the best sorcerer. Don¡¯t you know what that means?¡± As Cho-yul¡¯s pupils started to quiver, Zin continued, ¡°The Emperor was also the best at using the Dead Spirit spell.¡± ¡°That¡­ that¡¯s ridiculous!¡± Cho-yul was shocked beyond belief when he heard those wordse out of Zin¡¯s mouth. The teachings that had been passed down from the first immortal hunter had been good. They rejected the use of the Dead Spirit spell, and it was imprinted on him that anyone who used it should be torn to death. ¡®But he was actually the one who had reached the highest level of the Dead Spirit spell?!¡¯ With a bitter smile, Zin stood up and focused his gaze on the moonlight falling on the dark street. ¡°There were only seven devil hunters.¡± There were seven hunters corresponding to the seven devils. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°But what about the devils? Each one of them represented a species.¡± ¡®Each of us had an obligation to exterminate one species, but how would one carry out that impossible task in reality?¡¯ The seven demons each met their end, and not just because of the seven devil hunters who had been active. The devil hunters, however, had yed a central role in it. ¡°We didn¡¯t always fight fair. Shotguns were not the only things we used.¡± The devil hunter was telling him the most brutal truth. The devil hunters were basically outnumbered and weaker in strength, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine what sort of terrible things they had to do in order to win. The Emperor had resorted to using the Dead Spirit spell. When he was fighting with his men, if any of them were killed, he would bring them back to life so that they could keep fighting. That sort of thing was the norm as the devil hunters¡¯ hunting methods werepletely devoid of morality and ethics. Hearing that directly from his teacher¡¯s friend put Cho-yul in a dismal mood. ¡°The Emperor had students, but he never taught the Dead Spirit spell to them.¡± He had chosen not to teach them it because he knew how much the spell was destroying him. By the time the training was almost over, the Emperor was half-mad as a result of using the insidious Dead Spirit spell. ¡°But as it often is with great power, therees a time when it¡¯s needed.¡± ¡°You mean¡­?!¡± Although the Emperor did not want to teach that spell, he also didn¡¯t want the knowledge to be lost forever. ¡°The Emperor made a book of all Dead Spirit spells.¡± The spell had been hidden somewhere in the world. Zin spoke slowly and with a stiff expression, ¡°He shared the location with me before he died. I don¡¯t know how, but it looks like your colleague may have found the book.¡± The only one who knew the location was Zin, but that didn¡¯t mean no one else would be able to find it. ¡°Guess that makes her the most perfect sessor of all times.¡± Zin gave him a wry grin. Since she had almost all of the power of her teacher, she would be the best one among his students. Having been exposed to so much secret information, Cho-yul¡¯s head was spinning. The Emperor was actually a master of the Dead Spirit spell, and he had written it down somewhere, and SoSeoLan had found it. ¡°I really don¡¯t know what to do.¡± The spell that SoSeoLan was using was evil, but what she had achieved with it wasn¡¯t evil. It was an ironic situation where she could not be left alone, but also could not be killed. Zin was waiting to make his decision, and Cho-yul also had a big decision on his hands as well. ¡°What¡¯s important is what you do.¡± In this situation, it wasn¡¯t Zin or anyone else¡¯s decision that mattered. It was Cho-yul¡¯s choice that mattered the most. ¡°Yes.¡± Cho-yul understood what Zin was talking about and nodded. As a high-level sorcerer, he knew the ritual of life, but he needed to wait to see if that was absolutely necessary. Zin went back to bed, but Cho-yul couldn¡¯t fall asleep for a long time. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª The next day¡­ They had a good amount of info on Shane, but Zin decided to stay for at least one more day. He wanted to hear the child¡¯s proposal and also give Cho-yul some time to think things over. Leona led the way to the children¡¯s secret hideout. Zin was dumbfounded as he watched Leona skillfully circle around the outskirts of the city and move her way through the abandoned buildings. ¡°How did you manage to find this ce?¡± ¡°Children are so freaking predictable,¡± said Leona with a smirk, and Zin chuckled. ¡°You mean that, because you¡¯re a child, you know how they think.¡± ¡°You have a way of making things sound awful,¡± grumbled Leona as she diligently made her way across the ruins. She had been through that road only once, but she was able to find the exact same route she had taken the day before. Her sense of direction was rather keen. Naturally, in addition to having a sharp sense of direction, Zin thought she was bright. ¡°Shane is definitely a good ce to live.¡± ¡°Why do you say that?¡± ¡°If children can get together and y mobsters in a ce like this, it definitely means the living is good in the city.¡± ¡°Guess that¡¯s true.¡± Zin¡¯s logic that only the children living in a good city could get together to do stupid things seemed fairly reasonable to Leona. However, strictly speaking, the children ying street lords were actually the children of the powerful gangs of the past. Other kids were hanging out with each other or already working and didn¡¯t have the freedom to do it. So, not everyone was doing great. ¡°It¡¯s over there.¡± Leona spotted the same entrance from the day before and pointed toward the area where the lookout had quickly disappeared. ¡°Alright, shall we go meet the little boss?¡± Zin smiled as if he was excited to hear some crazy ideas. He didn¡¯t seem to be taking things seriously at all. Leona protested, ¡°Don¡¯t belittle them. They have really big egos.¡± For whatever reason, the much younger Leona was giving Zin a warning. Zin shrugged as if to say that there was nothing to worry and said, ¡°To a hunter, pleasing the client is easier than breathing.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still not taking this seriously¡­¡± Leona was already regretting bringing him along. Chapter 95 - The Kid Gang鈥檚 Conspiracy Chapter 95: The Kid Gang¡¯s Conspiracy As they reached the hideout at the end of the alleyway, they saw the boy sitting on top of the steel container in a ck cloak. He was in the same pose as the day before and calmly observing Zin. Leona quietly switched positions and pointed toward Zin. ¡°As I said yesterday, I brought him here.¡± ¡°Are you the hunter?¡± ¡°That much is true.¡± Seemingly ufortable with an adult¡¯s presence in their hideout, the children stared at Zin with hostility. However, it was the boss¡¯ decision, so his cronies couldn¡¯t say anything. With his head cocked to the side, the boy rested his chin on his inteced fingers as he watched Zin. ¡®Haven¡¯t I seen that guy many times in noir movies?¡¯ Just like Leona had done, Zin had to bite his lip. The scene was funny because the boy was imitating the awkward pose and mood of noir films quite well. ¡°Are you good? I heard that there are many fake hunters.¡± ¡°Well¡­ how about I show you something like this?¡± ¡®Zing!¡¯ Out of thin air, Zin grabbed the anti-aircraft gun NTW-20. The overwhelming size of the gun shocked the children. ¡°Whoa! It¡¯s magic!¡± surprised, some kid blurted out unknowingly. The boss, Turian, shot a sidelong nce at the boy who yelled that. The boy became pale and covered his mouth. He would sufferter for having acted like a child during a serious moment. ¡°It¡¯s so big, it looks more like a toy. But that interesting trick was the real deal. Fine. I¡¯ll trust that you¡¯ve got what it takes.¡± The boy didn¡¯t act surprised at all even after seeing Zin pull out a weapon out of thin air. He was a fool, but he sure could keep hisposure. Zin put away his anti-aircraft gun, and the children were spellbound as they watched him. ¡°I¡¯m Turian, the heir of the Skull Family.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Zin, the hunter. Nice to meet you.¡± The boy nodded without shaking his hand. ¡°Let me get to the point.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°The payment is 1000 chips.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite a sum.¡± The amount was more than most jobs. ¡°I¡¯d like you decide whether you¡¯re going to take this job or not right now. The payment should be good enough.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know how hunters work, do you?¡± Zin quickly refused and added, ¡°Hunters don¡¯t work like that. We find out what the payment is and the details of the job before we make the decision.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Only gamblers would take a job based only on payment.¡± Apparently, he was a hunter and he wouldn¡¯t take a job without knowing what it was just because it paid a lot. Turian nodded in understanding. ¡°But this is aplicated matter that I can¡¯t just share with an outsider. Try to understand that this is a special case¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing that you¡¯re going to ask me to kill the leader of the Reavers, no?¡± ¡°H-how?!¡± Unable to keep hisposure this time, the boy¡¯s eyes widened to the point of almost ripping his skin. And because his surprised reaction had already confirmed that Zin¡¯s guess was correct, he grimaced and bit his lip. ¡°You would need to get rid of the Group in order to rebuild the Family. You wouldn¡¯t dare ask me to kill everyone, and that would be enough to create chaos.¡± ¡°¡­¡± The boy¡¯s face was bright red perhaps because his n was exposed. ¡°OK. Now that you know, I have no choice. My request is that you kill the City Administrator. The payment is 1000 chips, agreed?¡± Monsters were not the only thing that hunters hunted. Just like Zin had obtained a request to destroy the Reavers at the fortress, hunters did many things as long as there was payment. Many hunters would¡¯ve excitedly nodded to this deal since it paid a lot. ¡°But even if you kill the City Administrator, there are the guards¡± asked Leona wondering if that was enough. Not happy to be challenged, the boy frowned. ¡°Would you understand if I were to tell you that we¡¯ve created a temporary harmonious alliance for the grand finale?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Leona couldn¡¯t understand the boy and tilted her head. ¡°When the hunter kills the Group`s Administrator, we¡¯re going to take advantage of the confusion and kill all the dirty Reavers remaining and make Shane ours again.¡± ¡°With this number of people?¡± asked Leona as she looked around, somehow feeling a little confused by Turian¡¯s confident reply. There were about twenty of them, but that was all. On the other hand, there were more than 100 Reavers stationed in the city. ¡°They don¡¯t know Shane¡¯s geography. We have a chance if we use guerri tactics.¡± Because they had the home ground advantage, he was predicting a win. ¡°What do you mean by harmonious alliance?¡± asked Zin. ¡°We decided to join hands with the other two gangs. Guess you could say that we¡¯re working together in order to defeat our biggest enemy.¡± ¡°Whoa, this is a historical moment.¡± Zin brushed his chin and nodded in admiration. Just as Turian was the sessor to the Skull family, the two other sessors¡¯ groups were ying street lords. The adults had epted reality out of fear, but the children were still wishing to rebuild. They were being naive, but what they were nning wasn¡¯t very naive, and it had the potential to bring deadly results. ¡°What are you going to do when theye after you?¡± Turian smiled at Zin¡¯s question. ¡°I won¡¯t put down my weapon without a fight likest time, at least.¡± ¡°Do you think the Group would ept surrender likest time?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯d probably get killed, but I would rather die than lose my honor. The adults gave up their honor for tomorrow¡¯s bread. That¡¯s why they¡¯re living like dogs and pigs and shooting up the drugs they had hidden. When the gangs take possession of thisnd again, I¡¯m going to rid the city of the despicable men whoid down their weapons.¡± Turian¡¯s words sounded rather noble, and the boys lowered their heads, feeling solemn. They were passionate about the cause. The boys had been feeling ashamed of the adults who had surrendered without a fight. They were willing to give up their lives in the fight to regain thisnd. Impressed with their passion, Zin was briefly at a loss for words. In his ce, Leona spoke up, ¡°Huh¡­ you stupid bastards, really?¡­¡± Leona muttered in a fit of agitation. She was about blow her lid. ¡°What?!¡± Shocked by the sudden curse word, Turian doubted his hearing and looked at Leona as if he wanted her to repeat it. Naturally, Leona wasn¡¯t scared. ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t know about this yesterday, but were you guys selling drugs?¡± ¡°It was our main source of ie.¡± ¡°Did you guys lock up the drug addicts, extort money from them, and treat them like ves?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Turian was speechless, and Leona continued through her clenched jaw. ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t that so freaking honorable of you?¡± Everyone got her sarcasm this time. Leona was getting fed up with the little boss. ¡°I don¡¯t know what this honor is that you¡¯re talking about, but if it means selling drugs, selling people and extorting money, what¡¯s the use? I wouldn¡¯t want that even if you handed it to me.¡± The children¡¯s faces were getting bent-out-of-shape. They looked ready to jump her at any moment. Zin was watching, but did nothing to stop Leona. ¡°You¡¯ve got quite a mouth. I guess you think the hunter has your back. It was my mistake for discussing honor with someone who doesn¡¯t¨C Naturally, Leona didn¡¯t have the patience to listen to the boy¡¯s rebuttal. ¡°Before you talk about honor, reflect on what you bastards did. You lived off by sucking on someone else¡¯s blood. Is that honor? That¡¯s what mosquitoes do. You don¡¯t have any shame, do you? Now, you want to kill everyone else. The boy looked pissed because Leona kept going on without giving him a chance to talk. ¡°You¡¯ll regret having said all that.¡± ¡®Pist¡¯ When they heard the signal, all the children pulled out their knives. Their eyes were full of animosity, as if they were ready to stab her unless she shut up. They surrounded Leona and Zin in a sh, but Zin still didn¡¯t react much. ¡°You¡¯ve just insulted Turian, the sessor to the Skull family.¡± Not caring, Leona searched her bag. ¡°Bitch, there¡¯s a price to pay for insults¡­¡± Then all of a sudden, all of the children became pale when they saw what Leona had pulled out, and Turian was no exception. ¡®Click!¡¯ ¡°Well, go on.¡± Leona held a fully loaded AKM in her arm. ¡°I believe you called me a bitch?!¡± Because the boy said she needed the hunter to watch her back, Leona pulled out her assault rifle and watched the children back away slowly. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I said go on, you asshole.¡± Staring into the opening of the gun barrel, Turian could no longer threaten her. Zin let out a deep sigh as he watched Leona growling at the frightened children. ¡°Ha¡­¡± She had trumped twenty or so knives without shooting a single bullet. Guns were powerful even when they were not fired. ¡ª¡ª Zin couldn¡¯t just stand there and watch all night, so he decided to step in. ¡°Let¡¯s stop the war of nerves. You put down your gun, too, Leona.¡± ¡°Pish.¡± Leona lowered her gun, and the boys dropped their knives as well. Zin had effortlessly taken the power out of Turian¡¯s hands. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll apologize for her harsh words.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Turian still looked unhappy. He didn¡¯t want to ept the fact that a single gun was enough to defeat them. His pride was even more hurt by the fact that it wasn¡¯t even the hunter, but a child¨Ca very young girl¨Cwho had overpowered him. ¡°To get right to the point, I¡¯ll not take this job. Killing the leader of the Reavers is not a difficult task, but I¡¯m afraid there would be many lives lost if I were to help you boys.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know the hunters had morality and ethics.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that. I just don¡¯t take jobs that lead to unnecessary deaths.¡± All things considered, he had no choice but to refuse. ¡°Pretend-y is fun when it stays as pretend-y. I¡¯m telling you this as an adult, not as a hunter.¡± ¡°Pretend-y?¡± Having been insulted again, Turian¡¯s eyes glinted in anger. With a stiff expression, Zin continued, ¡°Have you ever sold drugs yourself? Controlled a gang? Kidnapped a drug addict, beat him and locked him up to get money? Stabbed anyone in a turf fight? Or have you ever been stabbed?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never once lived as a gang member. Why do you think you are one? That¡¯s why I¡¯m saying this is a pretend-y. You¡¯re just imitating what you imagine the adults do. Real gangs are dirty, nasty, and pathetic. They have no honor.¡± ¡°Bullshit¡­¡± ¡°They talk about honor because they¡¯re making a living out of doing the least honorable thing. The ones who talk about honor have always been groups of murderers or gang members like your parents. Turian clenched his jaw. That was the brutal truth. He had only been exposed to snippets of cool things and not the dirty deeds of the organization. The children here were all rtives of gang members, but none had actually lived that life. Also, the ones who talk about honor justified themselves by creating stupid rules and regtions. So, honor had always been used as an excuse by the least honorable ones. In a way, Zin was insulting them even more than Leona by telling them that they were merely imitating what they thought was cool. ¡°Imitating is not bad. But it bes a problem when you take it outside. So, just let pretend-y be y if you don¡¯t want any regrets.¡± The children¡¯s faces became stiff as Zin drove the point. He turned around to leave, and Leona followed him out to the alleyway. She never looked back. Chapter 96 - The War at Shane (Part 1) Chapter 96: The War at Shane (Part 1) On their way back, Leona poked Zin¡¯s side and said, ¡°You were pretty hard on them, Mister. They¡¯re just kids.¡± ¡°¡­ Did you forget what you said?¡± Zin retorted by saying that it was she who cursed at them, but Leona just shrugged it off. ¡°But I¡¯m a kid just like them.¡± She was saying that it was OK for her to be hard on them because she was a kid herself. Zinughed at her ridiculous logic. ¡°Kids heading in the wrong direction should be straightened out fast.¡± The children needed to be woken up from their fantasy in order to prevent many people from getting hurt. Leona nodded in agreement. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s toote for you, but there is still hope for those boys.¡± ¡°Why are you picking a fight with me again?¡± asked Leona with her face bright red, and Zin just grinned. She didn¡¯t realize that Zin was teasing her because he found her reactions funny. She was still just a kid, after all. The proposal turned out to be a waste of time. And since they weren¡¯t going to take the job, it seemed that their time in Shane wasing to an end. ¡°It bothers me a little,¡± Leona mumbled nervously. Zin looked at her, and she sighed in grief. ¡°I¡¯m sure you know it, too.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Children can be dangerous when they¡¯re angry.¡± ¡°That is true.¡± He nodded and nced at Leona. Whenever she genuinely shared her feelings¨Cregardless of whether she was upset or not¨Cit scared Zin. Of course, what they were talking about now was something different. He knew very well that when you believed in something as a child, it didn¡¯t change easily, and that they often thought nothing of giving up their lives if it would serve their beliefs. ¡°Whatever happens, it wouldn¡¯t involve us,¡± said Zin as he put his hand on Leona¡¯s shoulder. Wishing that to be true, she nodded. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- After Zin and Leona left, the boys were silent. No one could say anything, not only because they were angry at the fact that the honor they believed in was ripped apart, but they also felt humiliated that they couldn¡¯t get a word in before being hushed by a gun. To be more urate, the boys kept their mouths shut because their boss, Turian, was quiet. After a long silence, Turian said cooly, ¡°Those cowards had some mouth on them.¡± The boys nodded in agreement. With that, everything Leona and Zin had said turned into an excuse for their cowardice. ¡°Right? Why didn¡¯t they just fess up to being afraid rather than saying all that?¡± ¡°Yeah, didn¡¯t he seem like a fake hunter?¡± ¡°The hunter we sawst time wasn¡¯t like him.¡± ¡°If only we had brought our guns¡­ We could¡¯ve killed them.¡± Once Turian spoke, the boys,one after another, started to rally against Zin and Leona. The hunter didn¡¯t take the job because he was afraid. Therefore, everything he said was invalid. People had always learned to justify themselves this way. Denying the gang was denying their essence, and that was near impossible for the children. The children slowly recovered their confidence by saying ludicrous statements bordering on cognitive dissonance. By joking around with each other andughing, little by little, they bounced back from the humiliation the hunter had made them feel. ¡°We can do it on our own,¡± dered Turian. ¡°Send someone to the sheriff and Shandoo. We¡¯re going to open the vault and drive out the Reaver assholes tonight.¡± Sadly, rather than realizing the contradiction, the children of the gangs overcame the contradiction to carry out their will. There was one thing that Zin had misjudged: the children had not banded together after the Group had taken over Shane. The kid gangs had always existed. Their resources were a lot more advanced than what one would expect from street lords. They had real weapons. The only reason they couldn¡¯t shoot Zin and Leona was because those were stored somewhere else. The adults¡¯ weapons had been taken away, but ironically, the children¨Cwho were under rtively less surveince¨Chad kept theirs. The kid gangs were the only gangs in Shane that had weapons. ¡°This means war,¡± said Turian in a grave tone, and no oneughed. With serious facial expressions, all the boys nodded. Whatever the reason or logic, the children had decided to fight for their honor. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Upon closer inspection, the gangs were Shane¡¯s ruling ss, and there were only a small number of them. Most kids were the children of merchants and farmers, and as the children of their underdog parents, they had studied how power dominated. The strong dominated the weak, and the strong in Shane were the gangs. Having learned from their parents who grovelled at the feet of the gangs, those children also grovelled to the children of the gangs. The number of children in the gangs was small, but the civilian children were many. However, the power structure of the adults had naturally passed down to the children, and the gangs¡¯ children became the leaders of all children. They knocked around any kid who was annoying or disrespectful, and no one could say anything. Even adults could not get involved in their world. The gangs¡¯ children hung out together and talked about honor, but underneath the surface, it was a matter of survival. The gangs ruled the adults, and the gangs¡¯ children ruled the children. However, when the Group entered Shane, that power system waspletely disintegrated. Still, the adults couldn¡¯t challenge the gangsters due to their deep-seated fears, and although they thought about revenge, they couldn¡¯t actually carry it out due to the Reaver¡¯s surveince. The children, on the other hand, had had a rtively short time to learn fear. In the end, children were physically simr to each other, whether they were in gangs or not. The underdogs had be equals, and the children who had been under control quickly realized that they were a majority. The revenge of the underdogs was quite cruel. The children of the weak began to band together, and whenever they caught one of the gangsters¡¯ children walking alone, they swarmed and attacked them viciously. Some children had broken arms and legs, and some were killed and buried in secret. Once the new power structure began to take shape, a ss system emerged among the weak kids and the children of the gangs were forced to stay put in their hideouts. The reason the children of the three gangs were monitoring the ground around their hideouts wasn¡¯t because of the other gangs, but because they were afraid of the kids they had treated with contempt in the past. They had to hide from the underdogs, who were constantly seeking revenge, and travelled in groups in order to protect themselves from attacks. ¡°Hey! The little rice pups are passing by. Get out of the way.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, my brothers! Are you here? Safe travels to you!¡± The children who couldn¡¯t even look at them straight in the eye before were taunting them now. The children of the gangs were furious, but couldn¡¯ty a finger on them. Their numbers weren¡¯t high enough for the gangs¡¯ children to dare to dream of revenge, even when one of their members was lynched. The bottom-dog had be the top dog. When the strong be weak, they cannot help but dream of being the top dog again. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be able to breathe in response to what they had done. Some were already dead, so honor this and honor that was just a mere cover-up. They had to fight in order to survive. They had to make the city their own once again. Even if they were going to die after sessfully taking over the city, they had no choice but to choose that path. The Group merely ruled, but too many things had changed in Shane. The existence of a unified ruler, alone, had fundamentally changed the world. ¡°Are you ready?¡± The three gangsters who had gathered in the abandoned building exchanged nces with each other under the night sky. There had been a long history of animosity and fighting between them. What united them now was that they were in a weakened position. They also shared the reality that the adults were afraid of revenge and were hanging out in the basement of their homes, shooting up the drugs they had hidden in despair. There was no hope for the adults. The heads of the two other gangs nodded to answer Turian. Turian was the youngest here, but he was the most determined. It was Turian who had united the other two gangs. The leaders of the other two gangs, Shandoo Tribe and Sheriffs, were taller than Turian, but, deep inside, they respected him. If they were to seed in taking Shane back, they might split up again, but based on the way things were going right now, unification also seemed possible. The gangs¡¯ children were fed up with the war just the same. There was a growing sense in everyone¡¯s mind that there was no reason not to have a grand reconciliation. The sense ofradery they felt as the underdogs was opening the children¡¯s minds. Everyone was armed with the weapons they had hidden. The weapons they had were not single-shot, high-wire guns, but something simr to the M1s or the Mosin-Nagant, which could fire multiple shots. They could¡¯ve killed any child who threatened them with a gun, but since it was clear that they would get arrested by the Reavers if they were to shoot someone, they saved the use of their guns to the very end. And that end was now. When the adults fought, the children had hated each other, but by sharing the same crisis, they had developed a sense ofradery. Each of them exchanged nces with one another under the collective delusion that they were doing something noble. In the moonlight, Turian stretched out his hands with a gun on his shoulder. ¡°Today, we are going to reim ournd.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± ¡°I had no idea we would be doing this together.¡± ¡°No one could have guessed. However, let each of us put aside our differences for now¡­¡± The three of them joined hands, and the surrounding children watched as if mesmerized by the scene. After holding each others¡¯ hands together for a while, Turian said, ¡°Now, I¡¯ll go over the n.¡± The war was real now. ¡ª ¡°So, we need a safety measure for dealing with Asura¨C¡± ¡®Ba¨CBang! Bang!¡¯ Jin and his party, who were talking to each other in the middle of the night, lost their words when they heard a distant gunfire. ¡®Rat-tat-tat-tat! Bang! Bang!¡¯ As if that was just the beginning, the sound of gunshots starteding from all over the ce. Zin mumbled with a frown, ¡°¡­ Oh, Christ!¡± ¡°What could it be?¡± Ramphil went over to the open window and looked around. ¡®Rat-tat! Bang!¡¯ All around, were sounds simr to beans getting pan-fried over a stove. ¡°It¡¯s an attack! Get the tools!¡± ¡°Get the citizens to safety!¡± ¡°Come on, move!¡± The Reaver guards appeared on the street one by one, and everyone looked around with stiff faces. Leona, who had been sleeping, came running down with her disheveled hair. ¡°Wh¨CWhat? Did it start?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± ¡°What is this about?¡± Zin quickly exined the children¡¯s ns for a coup, and Ramphil¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Well, that¡¯s ridiculous.¡± ¡®Rat-tat-tat! Bang!¡¯ Regardless of whether it was an effective n or not, it was happening. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they have weapons¡­¡± Because his gun had silenced the kids, he had thought they had been poorly armed. He had misjudged the situation and he had had no idea that they would start this daring attack. It turned out that it was Leona who had correctly predicted the situation. Leona had seen something that he had failed to see. She knew how foolish and stupid people could be. ¡®Kaboom!¡¯ ¡°They have chipbusters, too?¡± The children not only had guns, but they also had chipbusters, which could blow up the entire metropolitan area. ¡°What do we do?¡± asked Leona. Zin remained silent for a moment. The Reavers on the street started heading in the direction the gunshots wereing from and getting shot by a sh of bullets from the roof of the building. ¡°Aah!¡± A bullet hit a Reaver¡¯s thigh, just missing an artery. The Reaver copsed, and Zin noticed a young boy on the roof of the building aiming at his next victim. Anyone could shoot a gun, but hitting a target wasn¡¯t so easy. It seemed like the boy had practiced shooting many times. The boys¡¯ shooting skills were on point, but the Reaver troops began to retaliate. ¡®Rat-tat-tat-at!¡¯ People held their breaths inside their houses. Once his location was exposed, the boy was shot by an assault rifle instantly, and he fell off the building with a huge hole in his body. ¡®Thunk!¡¯ The boy¡¯s corpse contorted in a strange manner, and when the Reavers flipped it over, they grimaced. ¡°It¡¯s a freaking kid.¡± ¡°What the hell?¡± muttered the Reaver unable to believe that a child was involved in that chaos. He isted the fallen soldier and began first-aid treatment. ¡°It¡¯s a mess.¡± Just as it was with hunting, the ones who struck first had the advantage in war. The mere fact that the children began their attack on the exposed enemy¨Ceven if their overall conditions were insufficient¨C was extremely advantageous for them. The number of Reavers that controlled Shane was only a hundred in total, and the number of the three gangs was about that as well. Even though the Reavers¡¯ firepower was superior, the children, born and raised here, could effectively use the terrain, including Shane¡¯s alleys and routes that moved through the abandoned buildings. The children, who were born and raised here, versus the ones who controlled the unfamiliar city with high-powered weapons. It was hard to say who had the advantage, and this wasn¡¯t Zin and his team¡¯s war, so there was no reason to fight for either side. ¡°We better just watch¨C¡± Zin stopped talking abruptly. ¡°Something¡¯sing this way.¡± The change in Ramphil¡¯s eyes indicated that he understood. When Zin pointed to the wall by the door, everyone understood it, and they pressed their bodies against the wall near the door. Leona grabbed her weapon, and Zin, too, took out his Saiga shotgun. ¡®Tak-tak-tak¡¯ Leona could hear a few footstepsing up the stairs, and she suddenly remembered that she had let the children know where they were staying. ¡°It¡¯s the children. Three of them.¡± Because of the rtively light sound of the footsteps, Zin could tell who wasing. While the children nned the coup, they had also prepared a small revenge on the hunter and his teammate who had insulted them. Since they had their backs against the wall, they could avoid getting shot. As if to say ¡®let¡¯s wait and see what our opponents are going to do,¡¯ Zin held up his hand to silence everyone. Their opponents weren¡¯t just simple gang kids anymore. They were enemies armed with guns. Then, the enemy swiftly went into action. ¡®Crreeak¡­¡¯ As soon as the lockless door opened quietly, something rolled in through it. ¡®Tk, tk, tk¡­¡± It had a blue gleam emanating from it, and it was clear that it was about to explode any minute. The enemy had chosen to blow up the room to pieces rather than take them down by force. It was a very wise, and at the same time, deadly tactic. ¡°Fuck!¡± Leona was first to react with her voice, and the next person to move was Ramphil. ¡®Whoop!¡¯ Ramphil snatched the chipbuster in front of him with animal-like reflexes and threw it precisely out the window. It was a perfect defensive move with no wasted movements. ¡®Ba-Ba-Bababam!¡¯ The chipbuster that flew out of the window exploded and shook the air. With no time to react to Ramphil¡¯s quick response, Zin looked at Leona. Leona understood and nodded. Zin kicked the door and went outside, and Leona followed behind him right away. Before the three children¨Cwho were far from the door to escape the explosion and didn¡¯t expect anyone toe through the door¨Ccould even grab their weapons¡­ ¡®Boom! Boom!¡¯ ¡®Bang! Bang!¡¯ The Saiga red twice and blew off the head of one child and the shoulder of another, and Leona put two bullets into the other boy, one in his philtrum and the other in his neck. Two children died before they could even scream, but the child with his shoulder blown off started to scream. ¡°Ah! Aah! M-My arm!¡± The child, whose right arm waspletely detached because his shoulder was blown away, had lost his gun and was iling with his feet in the air. Chapter 97 - The War in Shane (Part 2) Chapter 97: The War in Shane (Part 2) Zin slowly walked up to the boy and put his foot on the boy¡¯s head. Leona ced the AKM, which had done its duty, on her shoulder. ¡°You guys y rough, little boy.¡± ¡°Fuuuuuuck!¡± The child iled and groaned, but could not free himself from Zin¡¯s foot on his head, ready to crush him. As soon as Cho-yul came out, he turned pale at the sight of two corpses iling: one without its head, and the other with holes in its face and neck. Ramphil, having rolled on the floor, brushed the dirt off his clothes as he came out. ¡°You sons of a bitches! You¡¯re all fiiiiniiiished!¡± the boy yelled with all his might, either to escape the pain or from rage. Leona crept up slowly, biting her lips, and looked at Zin. He understood and removed his foot. The boy locked eyes with Leona, who was looking down on him. ¡°Fuck you, crazy biiitch! You¡¯re gonna die now!¡± The boy, feeling his ending, yelled. That was the only thing he could do. ¡°The only people dead here are your friends.¡± Without hesitation Leona pulled the knife out of her arm and inserted it into the neck of the little boy having a fit. ¡°Huh! Uhh! Huh-uh!¡± ¡°There. It¡¯s a little quieter now, finally.¡± ¡®Bleh!¡¯ With his left hand grabbing his neck, the boy spat blood and twitched for a long time before he stopped breathing. Leona wiped the blood off her face, brushed the knife against her clothes to get the blood off, and put it back in its sheath. Ramphil and Zin were fine, but Cho-yul was shocked to see Leona kill someone without any hesitation. Leona looked at Cho-yul with a big grin on her face. ¡°Didn¡¯t you know? This is the real me,¡± she said like there was nothing to be surprised about. Of course, that statement shocked Cho-yul even more. Thanks to Ramphil¡¯s quick reflexes, they were saved from the explosion, and Zin¡¯s quick-witted judgment and Leona¡¯s smarts had quickly incapacitated the three attackers. They never even talked about it, but the three people carried out each of their duties like clockwork. Cho-yul was beginning to understand why the three travelled together. After Leona got her gun, she became an important member of the team. It was much better for two people to shoot than just one. However, it was a strange coincidence that Leona understood Zin¡¯s intentions and that the two guns were never aiming at the same thing. It might be Leona¡¯s growing empathy that allowed her to read Zin¡¯s intentions during a battle, when there was extreme psychological distress. If that was true, then Zin and Leona would have all the necessary ingredients to be the perfect duo when working together as a team. While they retrieved the bullets from the dead bodies, they heard gunshots everywhere. Leona mumbled, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± This was a battle between experience and firepower, and it was hard to guess who would win. ¡®Bang, bang!¡¯ ¡°The kids seem to have the advantage,¡± after hearing the gunshots, Zin stated and Ramphil nodded. Leona was puzzled, so Ramphil exined, ¡°If the Reavers had the upper-hand, we would hear the continuous shots of the ARs, but what we heard was a single shot, which means that the Reavers haven¡¯t even figured out where to shoot.¡± That meant that the enemy was continually switching its location as they attacked the Reavers. In other words, the Reavers were in a bad spot. The guests at the inn were trembling in fear and didn¡¯t dare go out the door. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Leona looked at Zin and asked. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Our location has beenpromised.¡± After packing quickly, the group went down to the first floor. The innkeeper was shaking in his boots. Perhaps the boys had pointed their guns at the innkeeper to ask where the hunter and his team were staying, and he probably told them the answer out of fear. Afraid that he might get in trouble for that, he was shaking with his head down under the counter. Everyone in Zin¡¯s team went outside without even looking at the innkeeper. However, as if he had remembered something, Zin went back to the counter. The frightened innkeeper looked like he was going to pee when the hunter returned with a serious look on his face. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Oh, my! Please don¡¯t kill me. They threatened me with their guns, and I¡­¡± But what Zin said to the innkeeper, who was begging for his life, was something very unexpected, ¡°We didn¡¯t end up staying tonight, so I think you should give me the money back.¡± It wasn¡¯t exactly wrong, and the innkeeper didn¡¯t dare to challenge the hunter holding an automatic shotgun. ¡°Oh, yes! Here it is.¡± ¡°OK, keep up the good work.¡± Zin, with four chips in his pocket, returned to his confused teammates. ¡°Did you really have to do that in this situation?¡± Even though Leona tried to give him a hard time, Zin replied in a serious manner, ¡°If you want to be a hunter, keep this in mind: calcte your expenses urately.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ OK.¡± With a sour face, Leona nodded. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Meanwhile, the Reavers were taking their positions in the city government building and continuing their hide and take cover operation. ¡°Help! Help me! Somebody¡¯s shooting at me!¡± ¡®Ba¨Cbang! Bang!¡¯ A child emerged from a site with a lot of gunfire, and one of the Reavers shouted, ¡°Hey, you little boy! Get over here! Quickly!¡± The toon leader was the one who shouted at the frightened boy, and the boy quickly ran to where the Reavers were gathered. The children were shooting at civilians as well as at Reavers with abandon. It was surreal to see a Reaver fighting and hiding to protect civilians. ¡°Help meeee!¡± As soon as the boy arrived at the Reaver¡¯s hideout, he put his hand into the vest and pulled a cord. ¡®Zip!¡¯ Inside the vest were four chipbusters just starting to ignite. The boy wearing the bomb vest yelled with hatred, ¡°Die, you bastards!¡± Not a moment too soon after the boy¡¯s face changed, the Reavers¡¯ faces twisted. ¡°What the F¨C¡­¡± ¡®Ba¨CBa¨CBa¨CBam!¡¯ Both the boy and the whole squadron of Reavers were incinerated in a blue sh. ¡ª¡ª The children were angry to the point that they had suicide bombers. This was not just a war to regain honor, it was an angry cry against the Group, who had taken everything from them. They were thinking it was better to be burned alive with the enemy honorably, than to live under persecution from the kids who had been nothing before. Children who believed in something strongly were sometimes scarier than adults. Although the Reavers had better weapons, they were helpless against the guerri tactic of the children, who knew the streets very well. The damage quickly spread, and the Reavers gathered at the central government office to get into hydro formation. However nearly half of the Reaver¡¯s power had already been damaged when the raid began. Originally, the purpose of the operation had been to oust the Group, but as the war turned favorable, the guerri¡¯s actions changed dramatically. ¡°Do¨CDon¡¯t kill me!¡± ¡°Ha, when there are no Reavers around, you¡¯re like this! Yet, you walked around like you were some bigshot.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you think, you bastard.¡± ¡°Kill them.¡± ¡®Bang!¡¯ Once the children tasted blood, they suddenly started to retaliate against the civilian poption. They would open the doors with grenades, go inside, and kill the kids who had belittled them and beat them up as well as their families. Because the Reavers had already gone back to the central office in order to regroup, Shane had turned into awless ce. All the dead Reavers¡¯ weapons were taken by the children, and the unarmed citizens were exposed to the gueri¡¯s indiscriminate retaliatory activities. ¡°Crazy bastards¡­¡± The body of a child who had been stabbed hundreds of times and was nearly unrecognizable shocked Leona. The child who had been stabbed with a bay until he died after being forcibly taken from his home looked more like a lump of blood. The bodies of his family members were also strewn about, full of holes. The dead child had been the leader of the children, and the one who had gathered the civilian children to take personal revenge against the gangs¡¯ children. The bloodshed had led to bloodshed and that bloodshed had led to more bloodshed. The Reaver¡¯s temporary retreat created the illusion that the children had won, and the children took control of the whole city, except for the central office, for a short time. Following the Group¡¯s orders, all citizens had been unarmed and were now helpless. The gunfire was now the sound of attacks against civilians instead of Reavers. ¡°It¡­ it¡¯ll never be forgiven.¡± Cho-yul was shaking with clenched fists. The three, not including Zin, had their hearts filled with anger, as they watched the war turn into a civilian massacre. Cho-yul held the bloody hands of the dead child and muttered in an eerie tone, ¡°Tonight, anyone who kills the innocent will be punished ording to the Will of Heaven.¡± It was a quiet chant, but everyone who heard it would know that it was a powerful curse from a high-level sorcerer. Then, suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the area around Cho-yul. It was only for a brief moment, but even the air around him turned cool. Leona, once again, felt a gust of wind around Cho-yul, and it started spreading around her. ¡®Tonight, anyone who kills the innocent will be punished ording to the Will of Heaven.¡¯ ¡°Uh, what is this?¡± Ramphil and Zin could also hear what Leona was hearing. The wind that brushed over Leona whispered in her ear like an echo. Having never experienced anything like that before, Leona was confused. ¡°A curse only works when it is announced.¡± Even after Zin exined, Leona and Ramphil still couldn¡¯t understand what that meant. Cho-yul stood up slowly with his face frighteningly stiff. Zin started to walk, and everyone followed him. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is, but¡­ I think we¡¯re screwed, right?¡± When Cho-yul, the quietest, became angry, even the air changed. Feeling goosebumps, Leona looked at Zin, and he smiled bitterly. The wind that Cho-yul had invoked was spreading across Shane. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª There were many kinds of curses. As for Zin, he had had to use sacrificial offerings to start the gue. However, things were different for Cho-yul. In some cases, sacrificial offerings could be used, while in others, curses could be made through rituals. Cho-yul¡¯s curse was a little different. The kind he had activated worked by setting the taboo and punishing anyone who broke it. The more difficult it was to break a taboo and the more unholy it was, the stronger the punishment. As a high-level sorcerer, he had put a strong spell on thend. It was more of a powerful taboo than a curse, and taboos had four sections. ¡®Tonight. In Shane. Anyone who kills the innocent. Will be punished.¡¯ The ritual was easier when a specific time and ce were set, and in a way, Cho-yul was using the victims¡¯ blood, the many innocent deaths surrounding him and the vengeful minds of the children as a form of sacrificial offering. And taboos had to be announced. Most sorcerers called everyone together to set taboos, but Cho-yul released his into the wind and blew it all over Shane. The wind would touch everywhere where there was air, and the whisper of the high-level sorcerer could be heard throughout the city. ¡®Tonight, anyone who kills the innocent will be punished ording to the Will of Heaven.¡¯ Everyone heard the announcement as if they had been hallucinating. ¡°What is this?¡± Not only the children who were killing the civilians, but also those who were hiding and the Reavers, they all heard the whisper. The children looked around, but they couldn¡¯t determine where the sound hade from. They only felt the wind that had passed them by. The taboo had been announced, and anyone who vited it would be punished. However, even after hearing the whisper, the children who had already tasted blood did not stop. They knew that some spell had been activated, but if they could be scared off by something like that, they would not have thought to start a war with the Group. Although it was questionable whether the dying were truly innocent or not, killing those who were not involved in the fight was enough to satisfy the conditions of the taboo. ¡®Tick!¡¯ ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s stuck!¡± The child who had just finished an execution was trying to reload his gun, but his gun was stuck. He pushed and pulled his gun¡¯s breechblock, but the trigger was stiff and wouldn¡¯t budge at all. Three children checked their guns while standing in front of the dead bodies. The fear of blood long-gone, the children were lost to the pleasure of revenge, and their eyes burned with the desire for blood. ¡°Let me see.¡± Losing his patience, one boy snatched the M1 and put his hand into the bullet clip. ¡®Click!¡¯ As soon as the boy put his fingers in, the breechblock retreated and jammed them. ¡°Aah! Aahh! ¡°Shit! What is it?¡± The boy, with his index and middle fingers caught by the breechblock, screamed, but the hard metal had already blown off his two fingers. ¡°Hey! Are you OK?¡± ¡°My fingers! My fingers! Fingers!¡± the boy, whose two fingers had been blown away, was shaking his right hand and shouting. Those who kill the innocent will be punished. And this was just the beginning. Chapter 98 - The War in Shane (Part 3) Chapter 98: The War in Shane (Part 3) Killing someone with just a curse was very difficult. But, if you established a taboo and allowed Heaven to punish those who vited it, sometimes people died. Just as a curse and a taboo were different, so were a curse and a punishment from Heaven. ¡®Bang!¡¯ ¡°Argh!¡± ¡°Wh¨CWhat? What¡¯s wrong!¡± A wayward bullet hit one of the gang members, and a bullet exploded and blew off the eyeballs of a boy who had been aiming his gun to shoot. There were too many misfortunes happening all at once to think that it was just due to equipment malfunction. The children shooting at the civilians felt a strange cool air was surrounding them. ¡®Whirl! Bang!¡¯ ¡°Ahh!¡± ¡°Wh¨CWhat¡­¡± A gust of wind, seemingly out of nowhere, knocked over a stone from the roof of an abandoned building and fell on a boy¡¯s head. Seeing theirrade dead with a broken head made the children drop their guns and tremble in fear. The children who had killed the innocent were dropping dead all over the ce. Faced with many terrible things happening all around them, the children remembered the voice of the wind that had just whispered in their ears. ¡°Wh¨CWhat?¡­ Could it be because of that whisper?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way¡­ It can¡¯t be¡­¡± The children tried to ignore the chilly voice stuck in their heads. They had killed many innocent people, and now the punishment wasing their way. Each of the children scattered all over Shane was confused in their own way. They did not fullyprehend what was happening, but what was clear was that they were cursed. Out of nowhere, stones would fall from the sky, a perfectly fine building would copse, and their guns would jam. They would see a Reaver from afar, shoot and then find out that he was actually one of the members of their team. Sudden hallucinations were rampant, and the Heavenly Punishment came to all, either through reality or through their minds. The children were either going crazy or dying one by one by the hands of the Heavenly Punishment, and not from the Reaver¡¯s counterattack. In the wild confusion, the children fled from the mysterious curse and headed to their respective leaders. The leaders were leading their own groups and surrounding the central government in a triangle formation. The Reavers were all on guard, with their machine guns installed next to open windows, ready to shoot any gang members approaching the building. The central government in its current state was an impregnable fortress, but at the same time, the Reavers were like rats trapped in a jar. If they could take over the central government, the gangs would win the fight against the group. ¡°Turian! Something¡¯s attacking us!¡± ¡°I heard¡­¡± The leaders were gathered in the basement of an abandoned building near the Central Government Complex, and the other children were arriving one after another. There was a noticeable decrease in the numbers. Since the leaders had arger goal and weren¡¯t distracted by revenge, the Heavenly Punishment had note for them. Turian had felt something attacking them when he heard the whisper in the wind, and he had just been notified that there was significant damage. ¡°It¡¯s because you guys cared about something so petty. I will judge all of your behavior ording to the family¡¯swter.¡± Turian growled feeling annoyed that the important work had been dyed due to such a trivial matter. Once the first guerri operation was sessful, the members were supposed to gather at a rallying point, but they were being dyed because they were wasting time on unimportant things. The two young sessors of the other two gangs were annoyed as well, and they scolded the members of their teams in a simr manner to Turian. More than fifteen people were killed by the mysterious misfortunes, and not from the fight against the Reavers. But for now, at least there were more children remaining than dead. ¡°It looks like everyone who¡¯s supposed to be here is here¡± ¡°I think so, too.¡± ¡°True for us, too.¡± Whether they realized it or not, the other two gang leaders were acknowledging that Turian was now in control. Everyone knew that it was foolish to fight at the location. ¡°From now on, engaging in private retaliation is prohibited. If anyone does anything stupid, I¡¯m going to pull their eye out. Everyone nodded at the chilly remark. There were about sixty children gathered at the second rally point. Some held the AR they had stolen from the Reavers, but most had the usual five to seven long-range guns. ¡°Listen carefully. Their weaponry is way above ours. There is no chance of winning in an all-out war.¡± Turian remained calm while judging the situation. ¡°The only way is to blow up the building and bury them in it.¡± The best way was to neutralize the Reavers was to destroy the ce where they had gathered. There was no other alternative, and direct confrontation was a long shot. However, that strategy was uneptable to at least one person. ¡°No.¡± ¡°What?¡± It was the sessor of the Sheriff¡¯s gang who opposed Turian¡¯s n. ¡°That¡¯s where our organization¡¯s history is. I can never agree to blowing it up.¡± The sessor of the Sheriff¡¯s gang shook his head with his face grim and twisted. In fact, even though they had lost the Central Office Building to the Group, it was still the most important building to them and a symbol of the Sheriff gang¡¯s control over the city. ¡°Do you have another idea? If you have an alternative n, let me know. They¡¯ve set up the machine guns at the front. Are you going to face them head-on?¡± ¡°Shut up! If we were going to destroy your family¡¯s house, you would say no, too. I know that you¡¯re suggesting this without hesitation only because it is not your building.¡± It had taken only a moment for a crack to appear in the fragile solidarity they had been able to maintain. As the heir to the Sheriff¡¯s gang became angry, the children of that gang started to turn hostile as well. ¡®Click!¡¯ ¡°Watch your mouth.¡± ¡®Click-ck!¡¯ ¡°You guys are talking nonsense. We¡¯vee this far, but you cannot give up this one building?¡± With their guns pointed at each other, the air around them froze cold. It was natural to want to get back what you had originally, all in one piece. However, if the sacrifices were focused on a single group, it would be psychologically difficult to ept. With victory just around the corner, the excited children had forgotten what was really important, and in the midst of themotion, no one noticed that a ck shadow was heading for the central office. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- There was no shooting, but the atmosphere was tense. It was the sessor of the Shandoo faction that put it to rest. He stepped in to mediate and de-escte the situation by encouraging all sides to make small concessions. They would destroy the Central Government Office, but Turian would give the Skull Family¡¯s building to the Sheriff gang to use it as their headquarters, and the Shandoo gang would search and build a new headquarters for the Skull Family. Everyone had to give a little. Fortunately, there was no internal friction, but they had lost time. The operation was simple. The Sheriff gang would use the underground passageway to gain ess to the basement of the Central Office and blow up the building by installing time bombs on each pir. When the building started to copse, the Reavers would have no choice but to leave it. And if any Reavers seeded in getting out of the building, the gangs would ambush them. The Group would bepletely wiped out. Simple, but possible only because they knew theyout of the enemy¡¯s headquarters well. The Reavers were waiting because they knew that engaging in Shane¡¯s street battles would be disadvantageous to them. However, that decision was about to wipe them out in one fell swoop. The head of a the Sheriff gang, who knew the building well, started to lead his team toward the underground passageway. Since killing civilians was banned, there was no more punishment from Heaven. Each of the gangs took their positions, where the machine gunman of the Central Building could not see them, and waited for the right moment. Any enemies who escaped the building copse would be destroyed in the open za. Holding their breaths, the children surrounded the area around the Central Office. Each person had chosen a unique spot to hide: in the abandoned buildings, under the buildings, on rooftops, etc. But then, the children surrounding the front gate clearly saw someone walking out on the za. There was only one person, and all the children knew who that person was. Hisrge build, gray skin and the gruesome tattoos on his face all revealed that he was the Chief Administrator of Shane and the leader of the Reavers. For whatever reason, he had walked out alone from the walls that had been protecting him. In his muscr arms was an enormous M134, or the moremonly called mini-gun. Its weight aside, the mini-gun had a huge drum magazine attached to it. He stood alone in the square, holding the mini-gun that would not be usable without superhuman strength. The gangs were already enemies of the Group. Perhaps thinking that there was no need formunication, he stayed quiet. The Reavers already knew that the gangs had surrounded the building and were looking for an opportunity to attack. They just didn¡¯t know where the children were hiding and couldn¡¯t shoot. A thought shed in the minds of the children, especially the leaders of the gangs. If one of them were to shoot and kill the brave brute, the honor of killing the leader of the Group would go to that person and his gang. However, it was possible that the enemy was waiting for that moment. There was no way to know whether the Chief Administrator was a decoy, but what was clear was that an all-out firefight would begin the moment they shot him. ¡®Couldn¡¯t I just shoot him quickly and run away? Let¡¯s shoot. Shoot first, thinkter.¡¯ The desire for fame made the children¡¯s eyes glint. If he fell, the Reavers would be practically destroyed. Some children thought of a far future. Children knew that they could not win the war against the Group. If the Group were to return, no one would make it out alive. If they were going to die anyway, why not be heroes before dying? Why not free Shane now and then die, instead of just being a statistic among those who were killed in the war? The thought was not only in the leaders¡¯ minds, but also, in the minds of many other members. Shane¡¯s Chief Administrator just stood there. It was almost as if he was daring them to shoot, and as Turian watched his gutsy move, he had a sh of insight. When he realized that the other people would be thinking the same thing he was thinking about, he reflexively thought they should not shoot. It was a trap. ¡°Wait, don¡¯t shoot¡­¡± ¡®Bang!¡¯ Already, a spark had gone off on the roof of a building. That was the beginning. ¡®Rat-at-at-at-tat! Rat-at-at-tat!¡¯ As soon as one person fired, others joined in, shooting a barrage of bullets. Blinded by their desire for fame, the children had voluntarily given up the advantage they had had in hiding. As if they believed that one more bullet would make them the one who killed the Chief Administrator, they fired their guns for a long time. At the end, they looked at where the bullets hadnded. Even considering the possibility that some bullets might have missed because it was night, there shouldn¡¯t be even a piece of flesh left after getting hit with that many bullets. Although Turian didn¡¯t make an announcement, he couldn¡¯t believe the sight before him. ¡°W-w-what?¡± The Group¡¯s Chief Administrator was standing tall, in tattered clothes and with numerous holes all over his body. He had clearly been shot, and there were even bullet holes left intact on his body. It wasn¡¯t even the case that he had died standing up. ¡°Th-That¡¯s¡­ What the hell is that¡­?!¡± Turian was looking at the Chief Administrator, who was incredulously turning his head to check the location of the gunshots. The power to escape death given by Asura. For the first time, they were witnessing something that was already dead and could not be killed. And since their locations had been revealed, they were expecting the Central Government to fire back, but the ce was chill-inducingly quiet. Just as everyone believed the Administrator would sort out the situation. He aimed the mini-gun, not toward the location where the children had been hiding, but at the buildings themselves. ¡®Wi-ii-ii-ing!¡¯ The mini-gun started spinning. ¡®Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa!¡¯ The 7.62mm bombs wereunched. ¡®Bo-bo-bo-boom!¡¯ They weren¡¯t regr bombs. Every bomb exploded with a blue sh of lightning as soon as it hit the building. The bombs in the mini-gun were the same as Zin¡¯s 7.62mm Buckshot. The bombs were filled with blue chip powder inside a tan jacket and would create a grenade-level explosion with every hit. The Group¡¯s financial resources allowed such expensive ammunition for a mini-gun, and the Administrator was given the monster mini-gun along with the 7.62 millimeter buckshot wing. With the mini-gun, even a regr bullet was enough to turn arge monster into a honebed pool of blood. This 4,000-shots-per-minute monster was spitting out buckshots not at monsters, but at the buildings, and shredding them apart like paper. ¡®Booom! Boooom!¡¯ ¡°Ahhhhhh! ¡°The building¡¯sing down!¡± The building, with its roots of pirs destroyed, crumbled and crushed the children who were hiding inside. The Chief Administrator just pointed his mini-gun and tore down the surrounding buildings. ¡®Bo-bo-bo-boom!¡¯ In a massive explosion, the buildings copsed one after another. He was just swinging his mini-gun filled with explosives. The surroundings werepletely destroyed, and the children were buried before they could run away. Since the time of the gangs, the buildings around the Central Government Office had already been destroyed as a way to prevent assaults, and no one lived in the neighborhood. As a result, there was no loss of civilian life. The cost of the children¡¯s rebellion that day was that them confronting the Group¡¯s power, its weapons, and its financial resources and losing their lives. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- The children in the underground passageway were aware of the trouble above ground. The pressure of having to carry out their mission quickly made the children impatient. Fortunately, the underground passage was known only by the family of the Sheriff heir-apparent, and it seemed that the Group had not even bothered to clean up the basement of the Central Office, which was full of junk and trash. The task was simple. Install explosives on each underground pir,y out a long fuse, ignite the bombs, and then leave quickly. The Sheriff¡¯s sessor, Jarot Sheriff, was still feeling reluctant about what he was going to do. It was hard to ept the reality that he had to destroy the symbol that had stood for their family¡¯s domination over thisnd for a long time, but the children were carrying a lot of equipment and following him. ¡°Once we get rid of the Group, the first thing I¡¯m going to do is beat up Turian.¡± It had never sat well with him that a young guy was acting like he was the shit just because he had some intelligence and some balls. Once this war was over, there would be another war. He guessed that the other people were probably thinking the same thing. Bitter enemies in the same boat could notst forever. It was only logical to assume that the leaders woulde up with a different agenda once they drove out theirmon enemy. However, Jarot was already thinking about it even before the win. ¡®Boom! Bo-Boom!¡¯ ¡°I think things are bad, boss.¡± ¡°Crazy bastards! They¡¯re not supposed to fight! Why the heck are they fighting? He gritted his teeth because he felt like the two other leaders were ruining the n. The underground was wet, and the air was sticky. Jarot wanted toplete his mission as quickly as possible and get out of that unpleasant, humid ce. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± When Jaroth arrived, he whispered to his men following him, ¡°We don¡¯t know what¡¯s in there, so take out your weapons.¡± ¡°OK.¡± ¡®Clunk!¡¯ With a nervous look, all the children pulled out their weapons, meant to protect themselves against the Reavers in hiding, but it seemed like Jarot had something else in mind. ¡°Creeeeak!¡± They pushed the bookcase in the narrow crevice blocking them and descended to the third basement level of the Central Office. The space, which had been used as a parking lot in the past, was now filled with a lot of junk and concrete byproducts. And most of all, there were white bones all around. Of course, the children turned pale at the sight of the white bones strewn all around them. A nce was enough to tell that there was an enormous number of white bones in the area. ¡°Uh¡­ Wh-what is this ce?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you see? The Group must have buried the people they killed here.¡± It was a lie. This was the ce where the Sheriff gang had disposed of corpses. This was where they had thrown away the ones who had defied them, owed them a lot of money or were hopelessly addicted to drugs. Because the area was usually locked, and the entrancepletely blocked, only a few members knew about the existence of this space. Chapter 99 - The War in Shane (Part 4) Chapter 99: The War in Shane (Part 4) With a serious look, Jarot checked his surroundings using hisntern. Suddenly, the dead bodies all over the parking lot became clearly visible. ¡°¡­ What are those?¡± the children mumbled with a puzzled look. Although the limbs were torn from the bodies, the children could tell that those were not bodies of human beings. ¡°Monsters?¡± ¡°¡­¡± The fresh blood flowing from the monster¡¯s bodies revealed that they had just been killed. The monsters were none other than the corpses of ghouls. ¡°Why would there be any monsters here?¡± The other children looked around the monsters¡¯ bodies using theirnterns, but there were only a few scattered bodies in the ravine, and all were dead. Jarot clenched his jaw. The use of light was necessary to see things in the dark. However, the light was also revealing the exact location of the team to the enemies in hiding. ¡®Whoosh! Phat!¡¯ ¡°Aah!¡± ¡°Wh-What?!¡± Something came up in the dark, and a boy¡¯s head flew across the air. The total number of children who had followed Jarot was ten, and one was dead already. The boy¡¯s neck twitched as if it had been ripped off by something. ¡°There¡¯s something here! Shine the light! Shine the light! ¡°I don¡¯t know where!¡± There were many columns in the underground parking lot, and it was difficult to tell whether there was a monster or a person standing behind the pir. No matter how bright thenterns might be, they could not shine behind the pir. Then, as thentern passed by the area, something suddenly popped out of the dark. ¡®Whoosh! Phat!¡¯ ¡°Arrgh!¡± The children clearly saw something strike a boy really hard, and then the boy split in half, from his shoulder to his right leg. And the thing that had struck the boy hid itself back in the darkness incredibly fast. They couldn¡¯t even see what had attacked the boy. ¡°A monster, a monster¡­ It¡¯s a monster!¡± One had lost its head, and the other was split in half. It was hard to keep one¡¯s sanity after seeing something horrific like that. Being killed by guns and getting killed something else felt qualitatively different. ¡°Boys! Stay sharp!¡± ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± ¡®Ba-ba-ba-ba-bang!¡¯ Even though Jarot shouted at them, the boys were already in a daze and shooting at anything. But the thing behind the column wasn¡¯t being affected by such careless shooting, so the children gathered around. ¡®Whoosh!¡¯ And once again, something attacked them and flew across. ¡®Phat!¡¯ This time, the two kid gangsters who were standing within range were sliced from their waist. ¡°Ahhhhhhh!¡± After the four children got killed in an instant, Jarot could no longer keep hisposure. The monster in the dark was attacking them slowly as if he were preparing a meal. The children were dying without knowing what was attacking them. Firing guns at random was the only thing they could do to fight back. Fear had a way of paralyzing reason and making judgement poor. The children chose the most foolish way of fighting back and made a poor judgment call to stay together rather than spreading out. Something that had killed the ghouls here was tightening the noose on the children. ¡®Whoosh!¡¯ After seeing a boy¡¯s head crack from the philtrum and burst like a watermelon, Jarot yelled, ¡°We-We surrender! We surrender!¡± He cried out desperately, hoping that the opponent might be human rather than a monster. They had already run out of bullets and could no longer shoot. ¡°No, put your weapons down! Down, I say, boys!¡± The remaining five children hurriedly threw the gun away as if it were the key to their salvation. ¡°Don¡¯t kill us! We surrender! We Surrender!¡± Faced with the fear of death, Jarot¡¯s pants were already dampened. Being prepared to die and facing the fear of death werepletely different issues. They lowered their weapons and put down theirnterns. Confronted with something horrible that waspletely impossible to fight, the children were forced to do so as they held on to thest straw. ¡°That¡¯s disappointing.¡± The hunter¡¯s voice spread slowly in the dark. When the hunter waved his hand, the snake-like iron rails spread across the floor flew in the air and took the shape of a sword in the hunter¡¯s hand. ¡®Whoosh!¡¯ The weapon, called ¡°Wire de,¡± was a kind of a conversion weapon that could be used as a knife or as a whip. The significantly high-powered wires had an enormous amount of destructive power that could tear everything that came in contact with it like a shooting bullet. Though not used as often as guns, Zin used it quite a bit in closebat because it allowed him to not use bullets. And all non-firing weapons were perfect for use in the dark because they did not give off light. Because the children had lowered theirnterns, they could not identify the bizarre human form that had been hunting them. They were just relieved that the enemy had stopped the attack. ¡°First of all, kneel.¡± The children kneeled at once, and Zin approached them slowly. ¡°You should be punished for taking your y too far.¡± The children were kneeling out of fear. Considering the victims of their mischievous act, Zin could not go easy on them. The children felt insulted that all of their actions were being looked at as y, but they could not say anything in front of the scary hunter. After he captured the children, Zin started to walk in front of them while holding a rope that tied them up. The children were walking in a row, like a string of yellow corvina. For whatever reason, the hunter had been waiting for his enemies in the basement of the Central Office instead of leaving Shane. ¡°I can understand you running a corpse disposing facility, but I was surprised to see that cadaver hunters were being bred for cleaning.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Jarot could not say anything, but he gave him a miserable look. ¡°When a dead body starts to rot, it stinks, and in some unfortunate circumstances, it can bring contagious diseases. Plus, if you were to burn it, it creates smoke, so throwing them away as food was a neat strategy.¡± Not only was the Sheriff Gang using the deepest basement of the central government as a corpse disposing facility, but they were also feeding corpses to the ghouls they had captured and brought here. The cadaver hunters could go a long time without eating, and they could easily swallow most bones whole, or lick the bones clean after chewing and gnawing on them, so as long as they could be properly locked up, they were excellent cadaver handlers. Because of this, Zin had to suffer when he went down to the basement and faced the unexpected cadaver hunters. The children were shocked that the Sheriff Gang was involved with such an operation. And they were starting to understand why Jarot had opposed using the underground passage to blow the building up. The honor of the organization was on his mind, but he was also anxious about fighting the ghouls underground. However, since they had had guns, he had made the brave decision to deal with them. But what had been waiting there wasn¡¯t ghouls, but the hunter who had destroyed all the ghouls. Wasn¡¯t what they were doing too heinous for people who talked about honor? The fact that they had been feeding people to monsters was horrific. The only thing one heard about the people who were disposed like that was that they had either gone missing or had be victims of another gang¡¯s retaliation, but they had been tossed as food for monsters all this time. Zin opened a tightly closed secret door that rose to the top of the corpse disposal area. The conflict above was over, and the children¡¯s ns to destroy the building had gone down the drain. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª There were gueri fighters who survived, including Turian. Even if the surroundings of the Central Government had copsed, there were gaps through which a few could get out. Turian was meticulous when it came to the operation, and he had designated primary, secondary, and tertiary points of contact. Even if the Sheriff¡¯s operation were to seed, most members of the Skull Family and the Shandoo Tribe had been killed. Regardless of the sess of the operation, all nning and execution would be in the hands of the Sheriff Gang, even if the Group was annihted. However, Turian thought it would be impossible to bring down the Reavers, even if the Sheriff¡¯s operation seeded. It was inconceivable to him that they could beat an organization that had a man who couldn¡¯t be killed by gunshots as their leader. It was all over. The children had put an end to the gangs¡¯ history. They had acted absurdly in their optimism, thinking that they could defeat their enemy without knowing their enemy fully. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°Is everyone here?¡± The number of people gathered at the third contact point did not even reach fifteen all together, even though it included the members of the Skull Family, Shandoo Tribe and the Sheriff Gang. ¡°Suran¡­ He¡¯s dead¡­¡± Some of the members of Shandoo Tribe were sobbing. The leader of the Shandoo Tribe was crushed by a copsing building. Even though they didn¡¯t yet know that the Sheriff¡¯s mission had failed, no one was feeling optimistic anymore. Having seen the walking tank, the City Administrator, the defeat was clear regardless of whether the central government building copsed or not. Turian stated, ¡°The gangs are finished. Now, the organization doesn¡¯t mean anything.¡± He had regained hisposure once he realized that had to think of the next step. There would be plenty of time for despair and remorse. The Reavers would be pouring out of the Central Office Building to destroy the survivors, and now was the time to make a choice. ¡°Listen, all of you. You¡¯re getting out of Shane with me.¡± Luckily, they had weapons. Therefore, they could shoot a decent-sized monster. The organization was no longer there, and the organization that had been maintained by the children was nowpletely gone. The children had to get out of Shane in order to survive. The children were dazed by the sudden need to leave the city in which they were born and raised. ¡°Now is the time for survival.¡± That statement reverberated in the children¡¯s minds. They had failed, but Turian was telling them that something else was in the works. They were going to flee now, but they woulde backter. They would build up the strength to get Shane back. Turian¡¯s words had created huge waves in the children¡¯s minds. All the children, regardless of n membership, nodded in agreement. ¡°OK, there¡¯s no time to lose. We need to get out of here before the Reavers get here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this,¡± said someone going down to the abandoned building they were hiding in. ¡°!¡± The man with the icy expression continued calmly, ¡°You guys areing with me.¡± All the children picked up their guns and aimed at Ramphil, but when they were about to shoot him, he was no longer there. ¡®Crack! Puck! Boom! Bang! Crack!¡¯ Ramphil moved through the children as fast as lightning and broke their arms, smashed their knees, destroyed their shoulders, and struck their napes. In an invisible hand-to-handbat, he had moved like water through the children and made each of them incapable of fighting. The children agonized without being able to shoot their guns as they were overly contorted. And that brief agony was a luxury in front of Ramphil. The children were all scattered on the floor while Truan hesitated for a moment. Ramphil smoothed his clothes and patted his body. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°Huh! Ahhh!¡± The children were lying on the floor, crawling like bugs. Not a single shot was fired. Turian fired his small pistol at Ramphil, who was looking at him like an insect. ¡°What are you?!¡± ¡®Bang!¡¯ Ramphil was able to avoid the bullet just by guessing the direction of the gun and turning his body. It was not difficult for abat soldier with a skill like Ramphil¡¯s to know when the moment of fire would be based on the movement of the person¡¯s finger. ¡°Die!¡± ¡®Ba-ba-ba-ba-bang!¡¯ The AR fired in rapid session, but Ramphil was already gone. He grabbed Turian¡¯s gun and stared down at the boy-leader with cold eyes. Turian lost his cool in this extreme situation, and he looked up at Ramphil with fear and anger. ¡°The house y is over, kid¡± ¡®Whack!¡¯ Ramphil crushed the AR with his hand and grabbed Turian¡¯s head. ¡°Aah!¡± ¡°Now, you have to pay.¡± ¡°Aaahhhhh! Ramphil left the third contact point holding the head of thest remaining gang leader and dragging him out like an animal. Soon after Ramphil¡¯s departure, the Reaver guards rushed into the third contact point. Chapter 100 - The Black Magic Curse (Part 1) Chapter 100: The ck Magic Curse (Part 1) Afterpletely thwarting the one-night coup, Zin sat in front of the City Administrator, who was pulling bullets out of his body. ¡°Thank you for everything. If it wasn¡¯t for you, we and our entire headquarters would¡¯ve been blown.¡± Zin had not left Shane. He wasn¡¯t the type to miss such an event, so he had gone to the Central Office to warn the Reavers about the danger. If the gangs were organized, they would have secured an emergency route in case of a disaster, and the fact that the Central Office had been used by the Sheriff Gang in the past was a big clue. To ovee being outnumbered, the children might resort to bombing, so Zin seeded in getting a gig from the Reaver Administrator. There would be no payment if nothing happened, but if something were to actually happen, he would get paid. ¡°We¡¯ll pay an additional two hundred chips for the arrests of the remaining gueri members on top of the five hundred chips that was promised to you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re quite generous, Administrator.¡± The City Administrator took the chips out of the safe, and Zin scooped them up. All the insurgents were either killed or arrested. Ramphil and Zin were the ones actually involved in the operation. Zin took control of the underground, while Ramphil was in charge of tracking down the enemies who escaped. For Ramphil, who even had night vision, tracking down the fleeing children was no big deal. ¡°As the Administrator of the Group, I express my gratitude to you, hunter.¡± The third basement level was a ce the Reavers had had no knowledge of, so without Zin, the Administrator could¡¯ve been the only surviving Reaver in Shane. Even though Zin knew that the Administrator was a corpse, he could feel that the free will given to him was quite substantial. The insurgents were taken care of, and the Reavers would be busy collecting corpses off the streets of Shane. ¡°What will happen to the captured ones?¡± ¡°The king will make decisions on everything.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Whether it was because of his loyalty or simply that he was being mentally controlled by Asura was difficult to determine, but in any case, the Administrator didn¡¯t seem to have any anger toward the insurgents. His attitude was more like that of it being just another day at the office, and he was only doing what needed to be done. Zin got up to leave since their rtionship didn¡¯t make for long conversations. ¡°The king could use a hunter of your caliber. Why don¡¯t you stay here? The king will be here soon.¡± The king would be here to decide what to do about the ones involved in the coup, and the Administrator would report Zin¡¯s contribution to the king. He seemed to think that the king, then, might assign the talented hunter to an important position in the Group. He was a corpse, but his thinking was alive, and he could think and make judgements on his own. Zin suddenly had a strange feeling. The Emperor had always treated the corpses like corpses, but SoSeoLan was different. Of course, Zinughed off his suggestion. ¡°I don¡¯t want toplicate my family tree.¡± The Administrator didn¡¯t understand what that meant, but Zin left without saying anything more. Zin was watching the Reavers moving quickly about as he walked out of the Central Office Building. In reality, the Reavers had tried to protect the citizens, and it was the gueris who had killed the residents. But on the inside, they were repressing cruelty and violence. There was no way to tell whether it was due to the intoxication of their lives as guards or their fear and obedience to Asura, but when the gueri war started, the Reavers tried to protect the citizens. Zin felt strange as he watched the citizens and the Reavers working together to remove the dead bodies and move the injured. All Reavers were human. The Reavers were originally humans, but Zin thought that the process of humans bing Reavers was irreversible. As he watched the scene, he couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of the age-old question: ¡®Can Reavers be human again?¡¯ Without an answer, Zin had no choice but to leave Shane as he watched the scene y out in front of him. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C Outside of Shane, his three teammates were waiting for him, and all headed to the ce where the armored vehicle was hidden. It was the middle of the night. ¡°SoSeoLan will be here in a few days to take care of things. It would be best for us to leave as soon as possible. It wasn¡¯t a hostile rtionship, but it wasn¡¯t a good rtionship either, so it was best to avoid bumping into each other. Although he could have escaped from Shane, Zin lent a hand in the suppression and got paid in chips. Even though his goal was to get chips, he ended up helping the Group. He had helped the Group while agonizing over whether to kill SoSeoLan. Everyone knew what that meant. Zin took a quick look around Shane and just added a briefment, ¡°Many things started with good intentions.¡± Various thoughts passing through Zin¡¯s mind revealed how well he was aware of where good intentions ended up. Wargrave created the devil. Some demon hunters became monsters. All good intentions eventually degenerated. But after saying that, Zin added, ¡°However, if we were to judge everything just based on results, only meaningless things would exist in the world.¡± If results were everything, all lives, events, and struggles would be meaningless. Why live when you would die, and why would you have to live at all? Humans have no choice but to live even though they know that everything will end in the tragedy called death. Just as Zin¡¯s wandering around the world without belonging to any group was his struggle, what SoSeoLan had chosen might be her struggle. ¡°We¡¯re going to leave the Group as is and head to B.H.¡± They couldn¡¯t support the cause, but they no longer wanted to stand in the way. Everyone was sympathetic to what Zin was saying and nodded. When they arrived at the armored vehicle, they decided to sleep. Driving an armored vehicle in the middle of the night was not a good idea, so they were going to leave at dawn the next day. They set up camp and, since they were hungry, they ate a simple meal. ¡°I¡¯m afraid,¡± Cho-yul said nervously after the meal. ¡°What are you afraid of?¡± Leona asked him. ¡°I can¡¯t estimate the amount of damage that the Death Command will bring¡­¡± Cho-yul looked at Zin and continued, ¡°You said that the devil hunters were also devils, so don¡¯t you think there could be devils like the one we¡¯ve seen or something worse?¡± Devil hunters were devils. Then, there would be little difference between the cmities that would result from SoSeoLan or the White Witch. Both had the potential to change the world as they knew it. ¡°Yes,¡± Zin agreed. Nevertheless, Zin decided to leave SoSeoLan alone even though she was holding a ticking time bomb. Killing SoSeoLan would release all the mad dogs from their leashes and cause them to run wild in the world. Cho-yul stood at a crossroads, where he needed to decide whether or not to leave SoSeoLan alone. Zin repeated what he had said before, ¡°As I said the other day, the choice is yours.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s your decision?¡± At Leona¡¯s question, Zin spoke slowly, standing in front of the bonfire with a stiff expression, ¡°There is something called ck magic in sorcery¡­ a ritual.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± This time, it was Ramphil who asked. ¡°The curse of death.¡± His answer made everyone freeze. There were endless ways to kill people with sorcery. It could make people sick, cause idents, set taboos, strike people with lightning or even hurricanes. But ck magic was on a different orbit. That curse killed people. It just killed without any reason, prelude or need. ¡°Well, then. We can kill the devil with it.¡±¡± Leona tilted her head as if she didn¡¯t understand why they were wasting time when there was such a spell. Zin sighed and added, ¡°¡­ First of all, the White Witch is an immortal, so we can¡¯t use the curse. Even if we decided to, we would need to trap her inside the seal first.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ yeah.¡± ¡°But if there is a spell that could kill anyone, that would make sorcerers the most powerful, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± Ramphil asked with curiosity. Instead of Zin, Cho-yul answered, ¡°The sorcerer who uses that curse will also die.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± Zin exined further. Using magic wasn¡¯t always convenient. For great results, there was a sacrifice and a price to pay. ¡°Even sorcerers not as advanced as this guy here could use the curse, but that person would need to dig a hundred graves and kill ny-nine people, and then get in thest grave.¡± But, since Cho-yul was a high-level sorcerer, he could simply use the curse in exchange for his life. All sorcery attacks could be defended against by sorcery. It wouldn¡¯t be long before Asura neutralized a curse after it went into effect. But, if the sorcerer performed the ritual in exchange for his life, even Asura would not be able to neutralize it. The ck Magic Curse, therefore, was very powerful. Cho-yul was agonizing over whether or not he should kill SoSeoLan at the cost of his life. He couldn¡¯t just wait and see as she ran toward nned destruction, especially when it involved the lives of countless people. Zin said as he watched Cho-yul, ¡°Think about using the curse as thest resort. This is not the time to kill the SoSeoLan.¡± There mighte a time for that, but for now, everyone agreed that this wasn¡¯t the time. However, since they needed to travel to somewhere far from there, they worried that news of SoSeoLan losing her mind would not reach them in time if that were to happen. ¡°Now, you have two options.¡± ¡°What are those?¡± ¡°First, getting power equal to SoSeoLan¡¯s.¡± Cho-yul could go where the Book of the Dead was and learn the same Death Command she used. When the group became a giant organization, the high-level sorcerer, Cho-yul, could use the Death Command and fight against them. Guns for guns, sorcery for sorcery. If the Group¡¯s leader were to go crazy, Cho-yul, the new Death Commander, could face SoSeoLan. Of course, Cho-yul expressed his reluctance, ¡°Well, that power¡­¡± ¡°The devil hunters were a tribe that fought evil with evil. If you¡¯re trained by a devil hunter, then you should be willing to do that much.¡± In the end, regardless of whoever won, both would die. Even if Cho-yul won, he would eventually go crazy for using the spell. Cho-yul lowered his head without saying anything. ¡°What¡¯s the second option?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple.¡± The second option was simple. ¡°Go work for Azura. And when she goes crazy, you can kill her and take control of the Group.¡± After hearing this, Cho-yul became even paler. ¡°Th-That¡¯s ridiculous! You already know how much she hates me!¡± Cho-yul shook his head vigorously, and Zin frowned. ¡°Are you pretending or do you really not know?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°How can you be that stupid and call yourself a high-level sorcerer?¡± Leona gave Cho-yul a subtle look, as if to say even she knew. ¡°Now that I think about it, Cho-yul is really stupid.¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± Cho-yul asked as he couldn¡¯t understand. The one who answered was not Zin or Leona, but Ramphil, ¡°Do you think that she would let the only person who could kill her stay alive if she really hated you?¡± Shocked, Cho-yul¡¯s face hardened. Chapter 101 - The Black Magic Curse (Part 2) Chapter 101: The ck Magic Curse (Part 2) Cho-yul felt ashamed for not noticing something that even Ramphil, the least emotional among them, knew. Now that they had found out about the ck Magic Curse, Leona and Ramphil knew that SoSeoLan didn¡¯t hate Cho-yul. Of course, Leona had understood it emotionally, and Ramphil had figured it out through spection based on the amount of risk SoSeoLan was willing to take. Although their reasoning processes were different, they had reached the same conclusion. ¡°I can understand. What you¡¯ve been through since you were a child has been imprinted in your mind, so it¡¯s understandable.¡± It was possible that he could not even think of such an idea because of the days when he had been beaten and when he hadn¡¯t been able to breathe out of fear. Sometimes, imprinted fear made it impossible for someone to see things rationally. ¡°That¡¯s because¡­ She believes that I don¡¯t have the guts to use ck magic.¡± Confused, Cho-yul started rambling, but Ramphil cut him off. ¡°It¡¯s a simple matter of taking the risk or not, and the choice is obvious. And as far as I can see, Asura seems like the type who doesn¡¯t take risks.¡± Ramphil guessed the emotions from the perspective of rational judgments and practical benefits. In some ways, Ramphil was making an effort to understand. Zin found this funny andughed. Then, he turned to Cho-yul, who was still confused, and said, ¡°To put it simply, you¡¯re the only risk SoSeoLan is taking.¡± If he still didn¡¯t get it, there would probably be a serious problem with his intelligence. Of course, there seemed to be a bit of a problem already, but there was no way he still could not see it. Zin knew from the beginning that Asura didn¡¯t hate Cho-yul. ¡°What would be the reason for letting the one person who could kill her anytime, anywhere, stay alive? Because you guys trained together? If she took her training that seriously, she would¡¯ve bowed to me when we ran into each other.¡± But SoSeoLan was quick to mention that she hated devil hunters. Zin continued, ¡°For her great mission, she is even willing to use the Death Command, which could destroy her. She¡¯s willing to cut out or do what needs to be done, so why would she keep you alive? She doesn¡¯t even need to use fancy magic. She could¡¯ve just stabbed you.¡± ¡°Bu-But¡­ She¡¯s¡­ She¡¯s been keeping an eye on me¡­¡± ¡°Oh, man! You¡¯re really thick-headed.¡± ¡®Thump, thump!¡¯ Leona thumped her chest as if to say that she had never seen such a thick-headed person. Seeing her like that, Cho-yul didn¡¯t know how to react. ¡°Do you really think that was surveince?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Cho-yul couldn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Quite simply, she probably wanted to make sure you were doing well. But you took that as her keeping an eye on you.¡± Whenever SoSeoLan tried to monitor the area around Cho-yul using her sorcery, Cho-yul had been able to feel it and been afraid of it. Because he had thought his life had been in danger, he kept retreating back into his shell. ¡°Do you still think SoSeoLan hates you?¡± Zin asked again as if to say that he should really see it now. ¡°Come on, admit it. All of the terror and fear you feel toward her are just delusions caused by fearful memories of your childhood.¡± Cho-yul could not respond. All the doubts and fears he¡¯d been struggling with were in fact delusions caused by his trauma. He had lived as a drunkard when there had been no need to. ¡°Of course, I agree that SoSeoLan is a terrible choice. I¡¯m sure there was a lot of greed and jealousying from her. But I¡¯m sure her feelings for you now are not what you think, no matter what they used to be in the past.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Cho-yul would need some time to calm down. ¡°So, if you decide to work for her, she¡¯ll ept you for sure.¡± In the end, Zin was trying to clear Cho-yul¡¯s misunderstanding in order to say this to him. ¡°Wa-Wait¡­ Wait a minute. Let me think this through.¡± Cho-yul was silent, and the other three did not try to speak to him. Zin, however, was not very happy to clear the misunderstanding that Cho-yul had had. Zin knew very well that clearing the misunderstanding might end up being the cruelest thing for Cho-yul. ¡ª¡ª¡ª- In the middle of the night, while everyone was asleep, Cho-yul was sitting alone on top the armored car, organizing his thoughts. His teammates were right. Now that he realized that his fears were just delusions, everything fell into ce. He had thought that SoSeoLan had let him live because his acting had been perfect. As a result, he had tried to live even more like a hopeless drunk. In fact, her feelings for him were the only usible reason for her keeping him alive. Why would anybody with a great mission to carry out take that risk? The magnitude of the risk that SoSeoLan was willing to face must be equivalent to the amount of feelings she had for him. ¡°I thought I had been trained to know many things, but I didn¡¯t even notice that.¡± It didn¡¯t make him feel good to know that she, who had only given him painful memories, had feelings for him. Wait, were they really all painful memories? ¡°My god, you idiot. If you don¡¯t learn this, we¡¯ll have to repeat the lesson tomorrow! Listen very carefully.¡± Sometimes, when he pretended to not understand something he already knew, she would be really angry with him, but she¡¯d teach him anyway. More specifically during martial arts, he had thought he had only had memories of getting beat up, but that wasn¡¯t true. ¡°You bastard! You can¡¯t even do this? Watch me! Like this, like this!¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right! Yeah, yeah. Oops! It would be faster to teach a dog nunchucks than to try to teach you something.¡± ¡°Ah! Oh, it hurts! He was hit many times, but she had never given him a fake lesson. ¡°Why did you make so much rice? Do we have enough to spare?¡± ¡®Well, th-that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to eat this much, so you eat more.¡± Now that he thought about it, he could remember the moments of delicate exchanges between them. As the veil of terror and fear lifted, Cho-yul started to see things more clearly. It might have been just that she was awkward. She might have been greedy and jealous. But undoubtedly, humans wereplex, and some acted aggressively when a lot of emotions were mixed up. It was probably because she was young. By the time they grew up, she was probably set in her ways because she¡¯d been used to them, but she probably regretted acting like that. People acted in ways they didn¡¯t want to, all the time. Cho-yul knew that his fate was bound up with hers. He had cried about that without understanding exactly what it was. He had felt a deep sorrow, without knowing where it wasing from, but he was beginning to understand it now. If SoSeoLan¡¯s feelings toward him weren¡¯t hate nor loathing, but something more affectionate¡­ And if he had to do something. Some day, he would have to kill her with his own hands and take away everything she had built. So, what Zin had told him was the cruelest truth. SoSeoLan would lose her mind, and he would have to kill her. In order to do so, he would have to join the Group. He either needed to learn the Death Command or join the Group, the oue was clear. ¡°Why couldn¡¯t you have been nicer to me?¡± Looking up into the night sky feeling sorrow, Cho-yul spoke to someone who couldn¡¯t hear him, ¡°Sister¡­¡± Just like SoSeoLan couldn¡¯t help herself while hating him, Cho-yul couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for her while being afraid of her. And he knew better than anyone that thepassion he felt for her resembled another feeling. At the end of the day, they had only had each other in that lonely, cruel world. Cho-yul felt sorrow for many things. Among them, the cruel fate granted to him was the saddest of all. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C ¡°I¡¯ll stay here,¡± Cho-yul told his teammates the next day. Since he did not ask Zin for the location of the Death Command Book, he was essentially saying that he was joining the Group. ¡°OK.¡± Now that they had the Sealed Orb, they did not need Cho-yul¡¯s power anymore. It was better that he stayed and stayed with SoSeoLan. Cho-yul wasn¡¯t simply joining the Group, but he was also agreeing to everything he needed to do after joining the Group, which included his intention to take matters into his own hands, no matter what happened in the future. Of course, terror and fear would not disappear easily. ¡°Are you sure you can handle it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not confident, but I must.¡± They had breakfast together for thest time. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that this is thest C-ration I¡¯m going to have.¡± Cho-yulughed lightly, thinking it could be hisst proper meal. ¡°When the Group takes over one of the Fortresses, you¡¯ll have a feast.¡± As Zin said that, Leona¡¯s face soured. ¡°¡­ I think you forget sometimes, but I¡¯m with Wargrave,¡± Ramphil gave Zin a side-eye and grumbled, wondering whether the hunter needed to say such things. Zin grinned back at him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you still very loyal? I thought you had switched over to hunting.¡± ¡°No way. I¡¯m a soldier,¡± Ramphil muttered resignedly, and Leona breathed a sigh of relief. In actuality, Ramphil didn¡¯t belong anywhere. He knew this, and that was why he grumbled instead of arguing strongly with Zin. After the meal, Cho-yul packed up his things to leave. If you wait in Shane, Asura wille, and then, you can join the Group. Their short time together was ending. Cho-yul¡¯s fate had changed drastically by meeting Zin, and although he wasn¡¯t traveling with them anymore, Cho-yul was a changed man. ¡°We¡¯d better not see each other again.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too bad. I was hoping we could meet again.¡± ¡°Tell you what, I¡¯ll see you if youe alone.¡± The shorter the goodbye, the better. ¡°Feels like something¡¯s missing¡­¡± Leona smiled awkwardly as if disappointed to leave one of her teammates. The expression on her face, neither crying or smiling, was that of a child not fully grown. ¡°Take care of yourself,¡± she said, and Cho-yul smiled back. ¡°Leona.¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Be happy. Please.¡± ¡°I¡¯m OK.¡± Normally Leona would¡¯veined that it was corny, but she smiled wide, showing her teeth and added, ¡°I¡¯m already happy.¡± Cho-yul smiled back. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Cho-yul said goodbye and watched the armored vehicle leave. The members were back down to three from four. In Zin¡¯s opinion, Cho-yul was destined for high-level work, not for their short journey; plus, there was a limited number of things he could do. Therefore, him staying with the Group as a kind of security measure was the right decision to prevent greater sacrifices. In the rocky armored car, Leona asked Zin with sad face, ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll ever see him again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible if the Group takes all of Asia and goes south.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, but you mean that it¡¯s not likely.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Zin nodded. Even if they took over all of Asia, the direction Zin was heading to was the arena of struggle among the world¡¯s powers. This time, Ramphil, who was driving, asked, ¡°Hunter, in your opinion, where does the Group¡¯s power stand whenpared to the Wargrave¡¯s?¡± ¡°Well¡­ In the past, I would¡¯ve bet that Wargrave¡¯s was superior¡­¡± If the Group had been simply an organization of Reavers, the difference between the Group and the Wargrave would have been huge, but the story changed when Asura¡¯s Death Command was considered. Plus, now that they had one more high-level sorcerer in the mix, it was safe to say that their powers had been upgraded. Fighting in a war in which the dead rise again to be your enemy was difficult to imagine unless one had experience. In situations like that, when a single ally died, you didn¡¯t just lose one ally, but you gained a new enemy. ¡°I am not sure.¡± Nevertheless, the Wargrave had an overwhelming advantage in weaponry, so it was hard to say that the Group was superior. However, it was a bad sign that another powerful organization appeared on the scene when they were only expecting war from the Wargrave. Asia bing a sea of mes was a surety, but there was a growing possibility that the war would be between three organizations. Leona became depressed when she thought of the possibility that Cho-yul would y a central role in the war. Although it had been a short journey, she had grown attached to him. Chapter 102 - SoSeoLan鈥檚 Thousand Troops and Horses Chapter 102: SoSeoLan¡¯s Thousand Troops and Horses A weekter. The reports of the coup d¡¯etat and its suppression reached Asura, and she arrived at Shane with her team of escorts. In reality, there had been no need for the King to go to such a ce. This time, however, suspicious sorcery had been involved, and the Group¡¯s control over the region wasn¡¯t yet stabilized, so Asura needed to take matters into her own hands. After the coup in Shane, not only the remaining gueri members, but all of their family members were also arrested and imprisoned in the Central Government Building¡¯s detention room. ¡°The King is here!¡± a resident shouted, not one of the Reaver guards. The vigers gathered in the streets like clouds to see the King. Obviously, it was quite the contrasting reaction to the Group¡¯s first appearance. The vigers watched the King¡¯s procession with a mixture of expectation and goodwill. The reason was simple: the Group devoted its time and effort to restoring the city and managing the dead, and the massacre of citizens had left the residentspletely disgusted with the old ruling forces. In fact, the existing gangs were arrested because of the possibility of revenge killings. This coup had resulted in residents having a positive reaction to the Group. The King in her demon mask walked out, surrounded by ten guards. People did not shout the King¡¯s name, but they stepped aside from the main road to look at her. The mask of the devil reeked with eerie energy. No one knew that it actually was more than a mask, that it was a magical instrument. Still, no one dared to stare at the mask, bowing their heads instead. ¡°There¡¯s too much evidence of a fight,¡± Asura mumbled in a husky voice when she saw the copsed buildings near the Central Government Building. ¡°We lost forty-onemon soldiers and seven were seriously injured,¡± said the Administrator, who had been apanying her from the entrance. She nodded. ¡®Half?¡¯ For the King¡¯s arrival, the criminals had been gathered and tied in the square. The King sat on the steps of the Central Government Complex, and the people gathered around the square like clouds to see the execution of the criminals. At the head of the prisoners, was Turian, the mastermind who had made many victims, kneeling and with a gag in his mouth. ¡°Mmm! Mmm! Mmmm!¡± As if he had something to say, Turian mumbled with his eyes wide open. Asura looked down at him and said, ¡°Even prisoners should be able to speak up for themselves. Untie the muzzle.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± A Reaver rushed to untie the muzzle from his mouth. They had expected to hear self-justification, but what came out of Turian¡¯s mouth was totally different. ¡°This is ournd! Get out with all of your dirty cannibals!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Didn¡¯t I ask you to plead? If not, there¡¯s no reason for your tongue to move. Shut up.¡± The eyes inside Asura¡¯s mask glowed red suddenly, and when Turian locked eyes with her gaze, his tongue froze. ¡°You seem to think that what you¡¯re doing is courageous. Ah, you should know that what you¡¯re doing is reckless bravado. Courage must be guaranteed with action, but this act of yours is just recklessness with nothing to show for.¡± Turian felt as if he was suffocating. At that moment, it was impossible for him to exhale or inhale unless Asura allowed it. Asura continued, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about the ¡®smallmotion¡¯ you guys caused. That armed children were killing many others. I told you that all the rules and regtions that had been in ce before we took possession of this ce were now gone, as well as all of the past sins. Didn¡¯t I say that? That is why I only lightly punished even those who had sold drugs and deceived the citizens. I did not call this mercy, but an understanding. However, I¡¯m not the one to go lightly on punishments. Now, I¡¯ll let you know your crime. ¡± Asura¡¯s words were strangely quiet, but everyone in therge square could hear her. Her voice was being carried by the wind, just like Cho-yul¡¯s. ¡°You coveted the power you had in the past, so I will call that your first crime.¡± Asura slowly announced the crimesmitted by the sinners. ¡°You have harmed the military and the people, so that is your second crime.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Which means, you have vited thews that I had dered, so that is your third and biggest crime.¡± Asura looked at the people tied up. ¡°The crimes of the rebels have been determined to be true. Tie them to the poles until the crows peck their bodies into white bones.¡± Asura calmly announced the death penalty for all guerri members. Their parents¡¯ eyes were about to flip back into their heads, and the muffled screams of the children could be heard throughout. ¡°However, it is my policy not to punish those who are guilty-by-association, so punish only the participants.¡± What was crime and what was justice? In a world where words like those had been long forgotten, Asura was establishingw again in front of the people. Asura examined the families, not the guerri members, and said, ¡°I have ouwed drugs that cloud the mind, but I see people with hazy eyes here. That is also a vition of my rules and, therefore, a crime.¡± Asura, who could judge whether someone was under the influence of drugs or not, looked like a God to people¡¯s eyes. A king had to be fundamentally different from a human being. That was the only way people could justify being under control. That would be true even in a single castle, but King Asura, who wanted to build a new nation, needed to be beyond imagination. ¡°Listen, Administrator.¡± ¡°Yes, my King,¡± answered the Administrator with his head bowed down before Asura. ¡°Find the hidden drugs and dispose of them. There will be ten floggings each to those using, and if anyone makes themselves impure with drugs again, give them the maximum sentence.¡± ¡°Your orders are mymand.¡± They would be punished appropriately for breaking the royal decree. ¡°Execute them.¡± With that, Asura untied Turian¡¯s muzzle. And red-eyed, he shouted, ¡°I will curse you even in death! You cannibals!¡± ¡°To curse me, it wouldn¡¯t be enough even if your soul returned as the Original Spirit. I¡¯d like to see you try.¡± Unfortunately, Asura was a high-level sorcerer who could defeat most spirits with just a flick of her finger. The children fought desperately to get out, but could not escape the heavy grip of the Reavers. The executioners waited with knives in their hands. At the Administrator¡¯s signal, the necks of all the surviving gueri members were chopped at once. After a brief pause, one of the vigers shouted, ¡°I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re dead, you devils!¡± That was the beginning. ¡°They should all be killed, too!¡± Someone pointed to the remaining gang members, and then the residents began to roar and shout. ¡°The King is the best!¡± ¡°I feel satisfied!¡± ¡°Rotten tumor-like bastards!¡± People were screaming and raving, and soon, the other criminals were undressed and flogged in the square. After the trial, the King went into the Central Office. ¡°Additional personnel will be provided to you in the near future. Wait a little while.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°By the way, the whole city is filled with ck magic energy. Did something happen?¡± When she entered Shane, she noticed some signs of sorcery having been used in the city. It was faint, but what remained was not ordinary. ¡°Let me read you.¡± Asura looked at the Administrator, and he knelt before her. ¡°Yes, go ahead.¡± He was such a huge man that, even on his knees, he almost reached Asura¡¯s neck. Asura put her hand on his head as if there was nothing more to say. The ck energy rose from her hand and transferred his memories to her. Instead ofplicated reporting procedures, she was able to get updates by reading the memories of anybody she had control over. ¡°The Witch Hunter?¡± When she came upon his memory of meeting Zin, she couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. The devil hunter she had met before had been in Shane for some reason. ¡®Was he here to collect information?¡¯ She should be careful, but he was not a scary opponent. Then, she read the memories the war taking ce in Shane, of Zin¡¯s help, and of the taboo set in the city. For some reason, the devil hunter¡¯s team had helped during the fight to protect Shane. The hunter seemed to have left after receiving his payment, and it all seemed like a normal transaction of payment for services rendered. However, when she read the next memory, her eyes widened. After taking her hand off the Administrator¡¯s head, Asura asked about it again, even though she knew the answer. That¡¯s how much the King was confused. ¡°Is¡­ my brother here?¡± The Administrator nodded, ¡°Yes. He didn¡¯t seem like a liar, so we let him stay here.¡± The Administrator had met Cho-yul, who had separated from his team. At first he had doubted Cho-yul when he suddenly said that he knew the King, but once he revealed his knowledge of the Death Command and other sorceries, there was no reason to doubt him anymore. As the King was arriving soon, the Administrator believed that, as the King, she would be able to see him when she arrived, and arranged for Cho-yul to stay in the Central Office. ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t make a mistake.¡± The Administrator¡¯s words were full of loyalty and concern. Asura nodded slowly. She could read those that she controlled, but it didn¡¯t work the opposite way, so the one being controlled couldn¡¯t read the King¡¯s thoughts. ¡°I`m d you didn¡¯t act in haste. I¡¯ll see him right away.¡± The Administrator led the way, and the King followed him, but her walk seemed uncharacteristically rushed. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- When Asura opened the door, the man inside saw her and jumped up from his seat. ¡°Oh, si-sister¡­¡± ¡°Wait outside for a while.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The Administrator went out, and only the two were left in the room: Cho-yul and Asura. Asura took off her mask and faced Cho-yul with her bare face. Now that he was facing her, perhaps out of nervousness, his face stiffened and cold sweat appeared on his forehead. Having read the memory, Asura already knew what Cho-yul was here for. ¡°Do you want to be with me? What do you mean by that, brother?¡± ¡°Well, th-that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Has the hunter been talking to you?¡± That was true, but in the end, it was Cho-yul¡¯s choice. ¡°I asked you why the person who¡¯s been avoiding me all this time suddenly wants to be with me.¡± Strangely, when she was with Cho-yul, the King was not a king, but SoSeoLan. Even Cho-yul¡¯s lips were trembling, and he could not speak. Her relentless interrogation had brought his old fears to the surface, and he couldn¡¯t open his mouth. Looking at him like that, her veins started popping up on her forehead. ¡°You idiot! Why don¡¯t you say anything? How long are you going to stay inside your shell like the wife of a mouse in the corner of the room? Do you think you¡¯re still a ten-year-old child? You¡¯re old enough!¡± she yelled at Cho-yul, who could only manage to move his eyes in fear. Trembling at her scolding him, he shouted back without realizing, ¡°Si-sister, it¡¯s because you scream at me all the time!¡± ¡°What?¡± Cho-yul was surprised to utter those words, and SoSeoLan¡¯s eyes widened with astonishment at hearing them. ¡°Di-di-did you¡­ you¡­ just¡­ yell at me?¡± Confused, she let out an empty chuckle. Now that he had started to speak, Cho-yul firmly balled his hands into fists, ready to die. ¡°Yes, I did! You, sister, you bully me around like I¡¯m a baby, so it¡¯s hard for me to say anything. You made me this way, but now you say I should be more assertive. Do you think that¡¯s easy?¡± Now that the speech gate had opened, he vented with his eyes filled with tears. All the beatings he had received as a child had made him act small, but now she wanted him to act assertive, and that was absurd. ¡°Huh, h-how rude! You¡¯re being so rude.¡± ¡°I was trying to be polite by staying quiet, but you screamed at me to speak.¡± Neither of them hade to argue, but somehow, the topic had gone in a very strange direction. SoSeoLan growled at Cho-yul, ¡°It almost seems like you would dare to hit me.¡± ¡°Why would I? If I do, I know you¡¯ll hit me back ten times over!¡± ¡°Still? You bastard!¡± ¡°Yikes!¡± Reflexively, SoSeoLan raised her hand, and Cho-yul retreated in the dark. Watching him act as if he had already been hit, she looked at her raised arm and the frightened Cho-yul, one after the other. ¡°Uh, hmm¡­¡± Embarrassed, SoSeoLan put her hand down, and he lowered the hand he was using to cover his face. Frowning a little for having overreacted, she asked again, ¡°Well, now that you can talk, let me ask again: Why do you want to be with me? For what reason? As you¡¯ve seen, I¡¯ve learned the Death Command. And since you were with the hunter recently, I can guess that your intentions are not very pure. ¡± She thought that since Cho-yul had eyes, he could see that the Administrator was a moving corpse under the Death Command. ¡®I like the governance of the Group. I want to devote myself to the great cause. As I¡¯ve thought it over, I like the way the Groups is being managed.¡¯ SoSeoLan was thinking of all the usible things he could say. No doubt, he was acting foolishly, so he would say some nonsense he didn¡¯t mean. SoSeoLan was upset at the hunter most of all for having filled her brother¡¯s head with poison. Cho-yul was mumbling once again, and her patience was running out. ¡°You¡¯re really testing the limits of my patience!¡± It seemed like she was about to strike, so he shouted reflexively, ¡°Si-sister, I want to be with you!¡± ¡°What¡­ what?!¡± And realizing what he had just said, his face turned extremely pale, almost blue. ¡°Well, uh, it¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re insane. What the heck are you talking about?¡± She had expected to hear some persuasion or a logical argument, but when something totally unexpected came out of his mouth, she was shocked and unable to speak. Her face turned red with anger and for other reasons. ¡°Uh, huh¡­ well¡­ you crazy fool! You¡¯re speaking¡­ nonsense¡­¡± She chuckled as she trembled from her lips to her fingertips. He knew what white noise he had just said, so he was shaking like leaf as well. ¡°Si-sister, you misunderstand me. Wh-what I¡¯m t-trying to say is¡­¡± ¡°If not that, what do you mean? Are you kidding me?¡± As Cho-yul tried to gloss things over, SoSeoLan retorted with her face in various shades of red. ¡°Kid you?! No! No! I¡¯m sorry for offending you!¡± ¡®Bam!¡¯ He even knelt down and lowered his head. When he realized that it could¡¯ve seemed like he had been joking, he naturally knelt down. As she watched him plead his innocence, she sighed with pity. ¡°Please, sister! It really wasn¡¯t like that!¡± ¡°Ha¡­ When are you going to act like a human being?¡± She shook her head as if in agony. ¡°Get up.¡± ¡°A-Are you going to forgive me?¡± ¡°Shut up and get up!¡± shouted SoSeoLan, and Cho-yul jumped up like a bouncing ball. She approached him slowly, and he retreated, unable to confront her energy. He had his back against the wall, and SoSeoLan came right up to his chin. He was actually taller than her, so she was looking up at him. He tried to avoid her gaze, but she was staring deep into his eyes. At that point, the two were almost touching. Just a moment before she was about to touch his chin with her lips, she clicked her tongue and said, ¡°You stupid man.¡± She smiled. ¡°How dare you entertain such a thought?!¡± Perhaps having read something in his eyes, she moved away from him with an evil-looking, but charming, smile on her eyes. Cho-yul was about to lose his mind after smelling her lingering scent on his body. SoSeoLan spoke, ¡°Be mindful of what you say and do from now on.¡± ¡°Yes, what?¡± Cho-yul asked back with a puzzled look. Somehow, her grimace was now gone, and there was a permanent smile on her face. ¡ª ¡°Up until now, I considered you my brother and that is why I¡¯ve been lenient with you, but saying such things like you want to be with me could be considered as slight to the King.¡± She came back, grabbed Cho-yul by the neck and dragged him toward the door. ¡°Wo-whoa, there!¡± ¡°You listen carefully. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re up to, but if you are up to no good, I¡¯ll turn you into a corpse.¡± ¡°Geesh, are you serious?!¡± After hearing that, he suddenly became anxious, wondering if he was heading down the wrong way. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m the one who uses people, not the other way around.¡± That was an expression of self-confidence, and she was essentially saying that, try as she might, the King understood that not everyone would be loyal to her yet, but she still took the role of King. In that sense, SoSeoLan had enough qualities to be a king. ¡°Si-sister! But this¡­ Can we let go of me?¡± Cho-yul begged as he was being dragged, but SoSeoLan continued, ¡°I¡¯m not your sister, I¡¯m the King. Address me properly.¡± The King, with a happy smile, dragged Cho-yul and her thousand horses and troops out of the room. Chapter 103 - New Hong Kong (Part 1) Chapter 103: New Hong Kong (Part 1) ¡°Am I finally out of the desert?¡± someone resembling a vagrant mumbled as she turned her back to look at the wide desert behind her. She was wearing rags and her blonde hair stuck out through the cloth-turban she was wearing on her head to protect herself from the sun. First Lieutenant Karl, or Charlotte, was just reaching the border of former Kazakhstan from Mongolia and looked quite different from when she escaped from the northern part of the Korean Penins. She seemed to have thrown away her military uniform somewhere and was wearing rags with dirt on her face. ¡°It¡¯s far¡­¡± If she was out of Mongolia, it would be safe to assume that she had just narrowly escaped the Central Asian Army¡¯s territory. She was now standing in the middle of Asia, continuing her long journey to Moscow. The desert was uninhabited, and the fights and battles with the giant beasts who lived in that uninhabitednd had been slowing her down. As evidence of the battles, there were bodies ofrge and small monsters sprawled along the desert road that she had been taking. More than anything else, if she were to meet the Desert Specter, she would have no choice but to run away as she had no way to deal with it. As expected, there were no viges in the uninhabitednd, and the Fortress under control of Central Command was still a long ways away, so reinforcement was unlikely. Charlotte had never felt like the world belonged to the monsters more than she did now. She didn¡¯t care about the Wargraves, but she was desperate to defeat the numerous monsters on her path and move forward. Confronting monsters that she had never heard of or seen before was amon urrence, and she would often get caught off-guard by them. As she headed back to Moscow, Charlotte was gradually learning thews of survival without even realizing it. ¡®Boo-boo-boo-boo-boom!¡¯ Then, as if to test the wanderer for onest time before she left the desert, a giant scorpion, as tall as seven meters, appeared. ¡°Kwahhhhhh!¡± The scorpion roared and shook its eerie giant ws and tail from side-to-side. Charlotte clenched her teeth and pulled out a lightser rifle. Having been overused, the weapon was close to breaking down at any moment. ¡°Damn¡­¡± ¡®Boom!¡¯ Avoiding the scorpion, Charlotte fired her rifle. ¡®Zap!¡¯ The area she struck was red, but the scorpion¡¯s hard upper body did not break. With gritted teeth, Charlotte rolled on the ground and stepped back to avoid the scorpion¡¯s attack. Exhaustion and pain filled her eyes. The monsters were the masters of the world. She hadn¡¯t known that. The world was too dangerous for anyone to survive alone. ¡®Have you been living in this world for two hundred years? How the heck?¡¯ the thought repeatedly crossed her mind as she fired theser at the scorpion¡¯s joints, which were its weakest parts. ¡®Zap!¡¯ How did he manage to live in this world for that long? ¡®Boom!¡¯ Only after she hadnded fiveser shots, did the giant scorpion¡¯s ws fall, causing dust to rise up. ¡®Pow!¡¯ ¡®Ugh!¡± But the scorpion¡¯s tail wrapped itself around Charlotte¡¯s tired body and flung her in the air. Shended far away, rolling as she did. ¡® What are the mega frame and giga frame?¡¯ ¡®What do they mean by highly-skilled monsters appearing at MCPs and that highly-skilled monsters are more dangerous than monsters on the outside?¡¯ The Wargraves knew nothing about the outside. The world was still full of dangerous monsters. Charlotte was at her limit because she couldn¡¯t lie down and rest. Rather than the short, explosive battles, the long marathon of battles that had pushed her to her limit were exhausting her. ¡®Ah¡­ Ugh!¡¯ Charlotte raised herself, forcing herself to remain conscious. Even her shoes were worn out, and her white, bare feet could be seen through them. Dressed like a vagrant, Charlotte was struggling on her return journey. There was still a lot of uninhabitednd to cross, and there would be more monsters. She didn¡¯t think it would be too difficult, but she wasn¡¯t sure if she would stay alive to reach Moscow. ¡®Zap!¡¯ The L-20, converted into aser saber, shed across the scorpion¡¯s heavy tail. ¡°I have to go back!¡± Death wasn¡¯t an option for her. So, Charlotte, with her red eyes, swung her sword out of desperation. On the lonely, exhausting journey back, the burning sun was shining on Charlotte. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- Because there were many big cities withrge poptions in the former China region, there were many MCPs, and as a result, many Wargrave Fortresses. That was why it was not difficult to re-provision at a Fortress by using Ramphil¡¯s executive post. However, Zin was adamant about not making a stop at the Fortress. The area was under the control of Wargrave¡¯s Central Asian Army. Last time, they had to stop by to repair their armored vehicle, but now, every time they entered a Fortress, Wargrave would try to persuade Ramphil to join them. It was clear that they would tell him to forget the White Witch and return to help the war effort or to take on another mission. ¡°Well, it¡¯s your choice, but from now on, every time you go to a Fortress, they¡¯ll bother you.¡± Thest Fortress¡¯ Warlord had still respected Ramphil¡¯s opinion, but there was no telling what other Warlords would be like. The Central Asian Army had already suffered great damage from the destruction of its northern defenses on the Korean Penins. They definitely needed reinforcements, and the government was in a position to persuade Ramphil, the strongest soldier, to remain an ally. Of course, things could have been different in the past, but now, Ramphil agreed with Zin. ¡°I think it¡¯ll be better to do what you said.¡± Ramphil already had a grudge against Wargrave¡¯s Central Asian Army, responsible for creating the White Witch. Ramphil¡¯s identity as a Wargrave soldier was starting to fade away. As such, Ramphil had be somewhat sensitive to such moral aspects after regaining his childhood memories. It wasn¡¯t that he was going to stick with headquarters, but he felt that his mission was to hunt the witch. He had not thought about what to do next. The Group¡¯s power would have been strengthened by then, and there would be no stopping SoSeoLan with Cho-yul at her side. In addition, she would¡¯ve absorbed the Heavenly Castle¡¯s knowledge on sorcery, so it would be safe to assume that the whole area of the Great Wall and the area north of that would be the Group¡¯s. Currently, Zin¡¯s team was heading to the BH near southwestern Asia, but they were now on their way to southern China and were taking a break midway. ¡°Hold your breath¡­ OK. In that state, carefully aim at the target and pull the trigger slowly. Slowly.¡± ¡®Tick!¡¯ ¡®Phew¡­¡¯ Leona sighed with the sound of the ball. There were already beads of sweat on her forehead. ¡°I can¡¯t tell because I¡¯m not really shooting.¡± Leona was being trained to aim and shoot under Zin¡¯s leadership. Holding one¡¯s breath and pulling the trigger after aiming at the target seemed simple, but it was natural to feel tired when she had been shooting lying down, sitting down and standing up. In his spare time, Zin had been teaching Leona how to handle firearms like that. He was not a good teacher, but he was a meticulous one, and even Leona took the lessons seriously. ¡°It would be better to use live ammunition, but we can¡¯t do anything about that because we don¡¯t have enough bullets.¡± ¡°I know, but¡­¡± When the enemy was in close proximity, just pointing was enough to hit the target, but for hunters, hitting the target from a long distance was the most important. Zin had been trying to groom Leona into a serious hunter since leaving Harbin Fortress. And, in fact, Leona had actually used a gun to defeat an enemy in the Battle of Shane. She needed time to develop her skills, but she already possessed the most important qualities of a person who needed to engage in battles for a living:posure, audaciousness, and discernment. Those were important enough qualities to be considered as essential inbat, and they were not a matter of training, but, in fact, a matter of talent. Leona already had those abilities. What Leona had was something that only came after a fair amount of actual experience. She just needed to learn how to shoot and the technical aspects ofbat and fighting. There was no question that she would be an excellent hunter after training because she already had the most necessary qualities. Leona was already doing her part when it was necessary. That was why Zin was teaching her the most basic elements. Of course, Ramphil also had a thing or two to teach Leona and, in reality, no one could match Ramphil¡¯s skills in closebat. Therefore, Leona, who was very motivated, asked Ramphil for advice on this and that. After practicing aiming and shooting, Zin said it was enough, and Leona asked Ramphil about closebat. Ramphil was not too stingy about sharing his knowledge. ¡°Well, let¡¯s suppose there¡¯s an enemy over there.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, you¡¯re going toe up like this and¡­¡± ¡®Bam!¡¯ He rushed at an incredible speed, grabbed the enemy from behind and took him down. ¡°¡­ This is how you do it.¡± Thinking that it wasn¡¯t even worth it, Leona grinned rather than be angry. ¡°Nevermind. Get out of here.¡± Ramphil should¡¯ve shown her something a human could do, but he was a bad teacher because he seemed to think that anyone could do what he could. ¡°What the heck? You asked me to teach you,¡± said Ramphil with a shrug. ¡°You didn¡¯t teach me anything. Rather, it seems like you¡¯ve learned something useless from me,¡± Leona retorted. Ramphil¡¯s words and actions were changing gradually as he spent time with her. He was learning Leona¡¯s foulnguage. ¡°If I could teleport like that, would I have asked you in the first ce?¡± ¡°I could do that even before I had the frame procedure.¡± ¡°Am I the same as you?!¡± Leona grumbled with a sad face at Ramphil¡¯s words. ¡°He¡¯s not a human being. Don¡¯t think about learning anything from him.¡± In the first ce, their standards formon sense were different, so teaching someone was impossible for Ramphil. A man would die if his vital parts were stabbed, and a human could kill a man by stabbing vital parts, so he couldn¡¯t be rebuked. He was only sharing what he could do anyway. ¡°Hey, hunter, I believe I¡¯m the only human here,¡± Ramphil said with a sullen look, thinking Zin had mentioned his past as a ve. ¡°Actually, you¡¯re right,¡± Leona nodded as if she agreed after thinking about it. Leona was a witch, and Zin had recently admitted that he was a devil. However, Zinughed it off like he was speaking nonsense. ¡°You¡¯re not a human being because you¡¯re a cyborg with metal in your bones.¡± ¡°That¡¯s harsh.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that true?¡± Leona looked at Zin, Ramphil, and herself andughed as if dumbfounded. ¡°Now that I think about it, none of us is normal,¡± she said and burst into a sadugh. Cho-yul, who had traveled with them until recently, was the only pure human being. ¡°It doesn¡¯t do us any good to bite each other¡¯s head off. Let¡¯s stop.¡± Zin grinned bitterly, and everyone nodded as if sympathetic. Now that they had finished eating, it was time for them to start on their journey again. ¡°How long is it to New Hong Kong?¡± ¡°At this rate, I think it¡¯ll be two weeks,¡± Ramphil answered to Zin¡¯s question. Currently, they were on their way to Shanghai. Obviously, it wasn¡¯t the best time to go there. Their chosen destination was the ce where they could hunt the most powerful monster in the BH. And that wasn¡¯t so easy to do. There was a lot of work to do in preparation for the hunt, and there was the hunt itself. There were only three big cities left in the world, and one of them was in Shanghai, in the south. They were heading for thend of money and pleasure, where a little bit of the life before the copse was being maintained. Its location was Shanghai, but for some strange reason, people called it New Hong Kong. Having heard about the ce from Zin, Leona was excited and couldn¡¯t wait to get there. ¡°What are we going to do there?¡± However, Zin had not spoken about what they were going to do in the megalopolis yet. ¡°There is a Hunter¡¯s Nest there. Since it¡¯s in a big city, it¡¯s bigger than the others.¡± ¡°A nest?¡± There was no better ce than the nest to look for the professional equipment needed by the hunters, and there were usuallyrge-scale Hunter¡¯s Nest in megalopolises. ¡°It¡¯s amunity of hunters.¡± It was a ce for hunters to get the goods and information they needed, and it was also a ce for them to rest in safety. Many hunters used nests as their bases, though not Zin. ¡°So there must be a lot of hunters there, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Leona was looking at Zin with twinkling eyes. She had already been plenty excited, but it seemed like her excitement was growing evenrger. ¡°I¡¯m curious about hunters other than you.¡± ¡°They are not much different, really. To each their own. Now, let¡¯s get on the road.¡± They headed for one of the world¡¯s only three megalopolises. The Shanghai area was where the megalopolis was for most people, but to a Wargrave, it was different. It was also the location of the Wargrave¡¯s Central Asian Army Headquarters. Zin was heading there to make a stop at the nest. However, Ramphil could not erase the feeling that he was heading toward the center of a dark government that created the devils. ¡°I have a bad feeling about this.¡± Ramphil hoped that the visit would end with just a simple stop at the nest. Chapter 104 - New Hong Kong (Part 2) Chapter 104: New Hong Kong (Part 2) How a megalopolis named New Hong Kong came to be was simple. The area, which used to be heavily popted in the past, had four MCPs: Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou. Due to the Wargraves¡¯ penchant for building fortresses on MCPs, the four Fortresses had been built rtively close to each other, and the link between the four Fortresses was the start of the Wargrave Central Asian Army. Naturally, the four Fortress systems of cooperation brought about security and stability to the area. Thanks to this, civilians had flocked there, and people who leveraged safety had gathered to form the New Hong Kong that it was now. In fact, the Wargraves had no interest in civilian lives, but a big city had eventually been created. Still, on the surface, the Fortresses and New Hong Kong had nothing to do with each other. However, it was obvious that the Wargraves were somehow meddling in the affairs of the megalopolis. No one knew how it was being done. New Hong Kong was also the ce where hunters were most active, so chips were constantly in cirction. The fact that the megalopolis was a ce people could live without worrying about monsters was a good enough reason for it to grow. The production facilities were there, and the factories were in operation. The service industry still remained there. As such, the megalopolis was a unique ce for the people of the wilderness. Since it was also Wargraves¡¯ territory, Zin¡¯s team had to park the armored vehicle at the entrance to the city. Although there was a risk of theft, it was better than letting the Wargraves hear about an unidentified armored vehicle having appeared in the city. ¡°Let¡¯s walk from here.¡± Fortunately, the armored vehicle could be hidden under the rubble, where no one would look for it. The three got out of the car and started walking toward New Hong Kong. Where there was bright light, there was always shadow. There were no monsters in the megalopolis, but there was violence, and rampant high-pressure extortion, robbery, murder, theft, and crime. The only force that could maintain the security of such a huge conglomeration was the Wargraves, but they were not interested in that. The Reavers who had been happy eating human flesh in the fields clumsily became civilized and, in turn, became huge organized gangs, and the gangsters waged war to take control of the city. There were shootings and people dying in broad daylight. After the apocalypse, the monsters had be the enemies of man. But from the time, before the apocalypse, as well as at the time of the barbarians and the primitive people, man¡¯s greatest enemy had always been man, and this fact was also being recreated in this barbaric metropolis. As the Wargrave andrge city coexisted, the city¡¯s rulers kept changing. There were many ways in which this bizarre world could be experience, and the people who came to the city for the first time could see things that had once ruled the world but were now gone¡­ [All of you can use Odin Corporation¡¯s products! Guns and Bullets! Come see all of our products at a low price!] ¡­ They were advertisements. [Experience Atomic Chemical¡¯s Excellent Medication Now! It¡¯s incredibly fast, incredibly thrilling, and incredibly safe!] Although they had not yet walked past the border of the city, a number of advertising slogans could be seen. In big cities, there were corporations that were the darlings of capitalism. And corporations used the medium of advertisement to endear themselves to the public. What had been a normal in the past had be a strange scene. The signs were oveid with letters written with a redcquer or scraped by a steel pen. [Stop Odin Corporation¡¯s Ownership of War!] That was written on the Odin Corporation billboard. [Atomic Chemical, stop dumping industrial waste at Taeho! We can¡¯t live with dirty water that smells like medicine! (What ourpany released in Taeho was a disinfectant which is harmless to the human body and neutralizes the CP concentration in the water. We¡¯ll be happy to answer any further questions you may have at your office. ¡ª P.R. Manager of Atomic Chemical)] The Atomic Chemical billboards had been scraped by a steel pen, and the objections to the criticisms were written there as well. Of course, if anyone was to visit the office for real, he/she would not be happy with what awaited there. Leona was able to discern some of the realities of Shanghai¡¯s megalopolis just by reading the billboards. ¡°I¡¯ve lost my desire to go in there now.¡± Leona, who could already foresee many troubling issues, shook her head. As she watched the gray fog flowing over the distant horizon, she could feel that she would be experiencing events beyond her expectations again this time. There was no ce in the world that had no problems. In front of their eyes was the sight of the tallest building in the towering metropolis in the distance. Ramphil, who had perfect vision, could see the shing sign and even the letters on the top of the building. [The Odin Corporation is always with you!] ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Rampil didn¡¯t feel like the words were somehow positive. ¡°With you¡­?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Ramphil walked on, but for some reason, the letters of the huge building stayed with him. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C ¡°Wow¡­¡± Leona couldn¡¯t keep her mouth shut as she observed the shing neon signs and countless people on the street. [Avatar Noodles] [Fork and Injection] [Epsilon Meatballs] Leona pointed her fingers to this and that as she walked through the streets with shing letters she couldn¡¯t quite understand. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that over there?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a restaurant. It sells food.¡± ¡°That one?¡± ¡°Ummm¡­ I think it¡¯s a ce that sells synthetic meat.¡± ¡°Synthetic meat? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fake meat that¡¯s been artificially made to taste like meat¡­¡± Zin replied and stared at Leona. ¡°Stop asking about everything like you¡¯re some country bumpkin. Just understand that that¡¯s the way it is.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s true that I am a country bumpkin. How can I not act like one?¡± Zin frowned even though she had a point. Ramphil didn¡¯t make it too obvious, but he too was mesmerized and was scanning the area quickly. The passers-by wore things that looked shabby, but they were still properly dressed, and some were wearing faded suits. It was certainly a sight that couldn¡¯t be seen anywhere else. Since this was the ce where all the chips in the neighborhood gathered, the ce was quite abundant with energy. In addition, it was the only ce that had newly constructed buildings after the apocalypse. [Sigma Security¨CWe guarantee your safety.] There were private security corporations everywhere. Where there were a lot of chips, there were also people trying to steal them, so by paying a certain amount, one could get a security guard. In fact, some rich-looking people were travelling together with their personal bodyguards, but others were sitting in an alley, staring sideways at the roads. It wasn¡¯t very difficult to figure out that they were looking for people to steal from. Some walked along the boulevard with bodyguards, some peeked out of the alley for someone to pickpocket, some were drunk on something, some were on the streets, badly beaten, with people unable to discern whether they were dead or alive. There were a great deal of people talking all around. ¡°Please, if I can¡¯t work here, I¡­¡± ¡°Tomorrow, it¡¯s going to be at Zone 49B. Don¡¯t forget.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not making payments on time. It¡¯s not going to be pretty if you keep this up.¡± ¡°You have to at least pay the interest regrly. Isn¡¯t it your fault for using the money with the high interest rate?¡± ¡°Today, this drug is all I have¡­¡± ¡°Please, forgive me this onest time.¡± ¡°Hey, mister, do you have a lot of chips?¡± Leona was feeling dizzy from listening to the words loaded with personal stories. She could not understand the emotions of the words she was hearing without wanting to and she felt dizzy. Zin walked on cooly, without looking anywhere. As if he was familiar with the city, he went about his way while looking around. And perhaps because of such familiarity, he didn¡¯t attract the attention of pickpockets and robbers even though he was traveling with two visitors. Ramphil, who had been walking for a long time, asked, ¡°How much longer until we get there?¡± There were men and buildings everywhere in sight, and beyond that there were cities. It was difficult to reach the destination by walking. Zin looked around and when he spotted a sign, he said, ¡°Just a little further.¡± Zin was pointing to a sign that said: [! Station 34] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Leona¡¯s eyes widened when she saw the subway station. The sight of countless people standing outside the rail had, of course, peaked her curiosity. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like a railway. It¡¯s simr to the one used to transport goods inside fortresses.¡± The megalopolis was quiterge and not easy to get around. The railway, which was built by renovating and repairing the railroad lines and facilities that existed in the past, was designed to facilitate travel throughout the megalopolis region. As goods were made by demand, and with a substantial production base in the megalopolis, the railways were in operation, albeit at a lesser capacity whenpared to the past. Zin lined up at the ticket booth and waited for his turn. He looked at the route map and said, ¡°Three to Station 43.¡± ¡°That will be nine chips, sir. Please board at Line Four.¡± There was no electronic card, so one had to buy a ticket to get on the rail. The ticket agent greeted Zin with a warm smile. ¡°Thank you for using the Odin Corporation¡¯s train today.¡± As they were greeted in the friendly but business-like manner, they walked passed the ticket office and went inside. Ramphil and Leona followed Zin like baby birds chasing after their mother. Both of them did not even understand what was going on. ¡°Stay together. If you got lost, it would be a headache.¡± ¡°Uh-huh, OK. I was just thinking the same thing.¡± There was a sudden panic as she thought about getting lost in that crowded ce, where she could end up being a lost child. Leona grabbed the ends of Zin¡¯s coat. Of course, Zin could understand that much. ¡°¡­ Um¡­ What are you doing?¡± To Zin¡¯s right, Ramphil was grabbing his arm. ¡°I don¡¯t want any problems, either.¡± Zin sighed and headed for tform number four with the two people hanging on to him. The train wasn¡¯t an underground subway system, so one could see outside, but in order to prevent people from entering the station over the walls, there were fences all along the station limits and armed guards patrolling the area. Many people were waiting to board the train, and everyone had a stressed-out look on their faces. Ramphil was looking around and reading the advertisements. Zin sinctly exined the principle and utility of advertising, while Leona and Ramphil nodded. The train stations were facilities with a significant transient poption and, therefore, a very effective ce for advertisements. The cost of maintaining such arge facility would be too high to cover with just fares alone, so the main source of ie was likely advertising. And as such, the countless advertisements at the station were enough to mesmerize people. Ramphil was in deep thought for a while, before opening his mouth and asking, ¡°Does the Odin Corporation control the railway?¡± ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say that they control it¡­ Um, but, I guess that¡¯s not totally off base. Sure.¡± Somehow, Zin found Ramphil¡¯sment funny andughed. After all, the two were country bumpkins although Zin wasn¡¯t. ¡®Chug, chug!¡¯ It was only natural that their eyes were turned over once again at the sight of the training in. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C It had been a long time since Zin visited New Hong Kong. The big cities were constantly changing, and Zin was seeing most things for the first time as well. In the case of the railways, they had be worse and slower than in the past. Many corporations had either disappeared or were newly formed. Everything changed in big cities. Although there were numerous advertisements and facilities from corporations that had never existed before, Zin was familiar with the city so it wasn¡¯t difficult to get around. Some progressed and some regressed. Leona asked questions in the heavily turbulent train. As if she had decided to ept things as they were, Leona gave herself up to the flow. The city was so full of things she had never seen, and if she were to be surprised by everything she saw, she might die of a heart attack. ¡°So, there¡¯s no lord or a leader here?¡± ¡°No, because it¡¯s too big.¡± Thews of free cities and castles were not enforced at all, and there were corporations here, which was a concept that didn¡¯t exist anywhere else. The biggest force in the big city was the corporations. And ces like Harlem and the slums were dominated by gangs. The atmosphere of the city itself changed ording to the situation of the corporations. Each corporation had a different area of influence. And urbanized Reaver gangs dominated the slums that businesses didn¡¯t care about. ¡°So, even Reavers can¡¯t do much to the corporations?¡± asked Raphil, and Zin nodded. ¡°The difference is as big as the difference between an army and street gangs.¡± In order to protect themselves, corporations trained security guards very simrly to the military, and the scales were big because it was a big city. Naturally, even though the Reavers were brutal, they could not stand up to the corporations. ¡°It¡¯s almost like a symbiotic rtionship.¡± Sometimes, corporations used gangs to do their dirty work. Gangs sometimes took over ufortable matters that were difficult to do in the name of a corporation, even though there was now in the first ce. Rather, gangsters were sometimes servants of the corporations here. ¡°The hands of power change all the time, so it¡¯s difficult to tell, but there are groups that are strong in every region.¡± In some cases, even if it was not a corporation or a gang, a wealthy group holding the capital of the surrounding area could control half of the region. The big city was apetitive arena for many capitalists. Even though there was no war, it would be more fair to see it as a collection of hundreds of free cities where the rulers changed from time to time. ¡®The city is divided into hundreds of sections. Each has a group or an individual in charge of an area, even if not a ruler.¡± ¡°What a mess¡­¡± One empire, a big city was a stressful ce even as a member. ¡°So, in the end, there are a lot of leaders in different regions, not just one?¡± At Leona¡¯s question, Zin nodded. ¡°Yes. Except for one ce.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Where we¡¯re going now.¡± Zin pointed toward the direction they were heading nonchntly. The only ce in the big city that was not on anyone¡¯s side and belonged to no one. A perfect neutral zone. That was the hunter¡¯s nest. The group got off at Station 43, returned their tickets and went back to the street. People wereing and going, but there were certainly fewer people there than at anywhere else. The word ¡°neutral¡± itself was a curiosity. ¡°But why do people leave this ce alone? In the first ce, how do you choose an area to control?¡± ¡°If you have a zone under control, you can exert influence on all the chips thate and go from there. In a big city, a rich man is a powerful man, and you can make more money if you dominate a certain area. This is not the only ce that was neutral, but it¡¯s the only ce that¡¯s left.¡± ¡°Why?¡± If you took over any region, you became the money. Anyone who had a nest full of chipmakers like hunters would want to have them within their grasp. ¡°Well, what happens when you try to collect taxes from people who make a living out of killing things?¡± It didn¡¯t take both of them long to realize it wasn¡¯t worth asking. Chapter 105 - New Hong Kong (Part 3) Chapter 105: New Hong Kong (Part 3) In fact, the area around the Hunter¡¯s Nest did not have a single one of the billboards that weremonly seen everywhere else. ¡°Actually, in the past¡­ There was a time when the corporations tried to get into the Nest because hunters bought a lot of weapons and needed ammunition and other things all the time. They tried to shove money and troops into the Nest.¡± There was no better way to do business than to turn a huge group into your loyal customers. That much was good. After all, hunters only cared about getting supplies and weapons at lower prices, rather than ethics and morality. The way the corporations entered the Nest was in the form of capital diversion, not violence. They offered weapons and ammunition at a low price until other, smallerpetitors closed their businesses. ¡°What do you think they did after they took over the Nest¡¯s market?¡± Of course, there was no way Ramphil and Leona could predict such inevitable consequences. It was a difficult question for the two people who had just learned about the corporations, so Zin exined as he walked, ¡°The price of all goods were raised to five times their original.¡± After aggressively buying out all stores in the Nest and swallowing up the entire market, their intention to make enormous profits from the hunters was revealed. Because all other stores were shut down, the hunters had no choice but to get ripped off. ¡°What? What bastards!¡± said Leona with a frown. ¡°So, what happened?¡± ¡°Well, hunters don¡¯t like to be taken advantage of.¡± When the corporations showed their true colors, the hunters did not show their anger at the time. ¡°The corporate headquarters copsed the next day. Um¡­ Fenriar¡­ Corporation or was it Industry?¡­ Anyway, something like that.¡± After the huntersunched a massive terror attack, thepany disintegrated. For daring to take advantage of the hunters, the owner and the executives were thrown alive to the hunting hounds. Thepany¡¯s security team, which wasrge enough to control the megalopolis at the time, was hunted down helplessly by the hunters. The mere fact that they had be the targets of many hunters who were good at shooting, assassinations, and orchestrating terror attacks was enough to bring down thergest conglomerate in a single moment. That was the moment when everyone in the big city learned what would happen if they were to handle their business with the hunters in a careless manner. It was true that the corporations had approached the hunters with bad intentions, but it was also true that the hunters¡¯ response was more cruel than necessary. ¡°After that, the Nest became a perfect neutral zone.¡± Everyone agreed to keep the Nest as a perfect neutral zone in order to prevent the same mishap from happening. It was impossible to know what kind of crazy tactics the hunters would use if anyone acted recklessly. After hearing that, Ramphil and Leona stared at Zin. ¡°You yed a part, didn¡¯t you?¡± asked Leona with a subtle look, and Zin shrugged. ¡°Let¡¯s pretend you don¡¯t know anything.¡± The two found it surprising that Zin yed a role in destroying apany, but it was even harder to understand why Zin had chosen to react in such an extreme way. Zin felt their gazes and sighed. ¡°Well¡­ they were not just trying to monopolize the market. Their long-term n was to use the whole group of hunters as their mercenaries. To put it simply, they were going to ce every hunter under a contract and use them as they pleased. They had even killed the store owners in the Nest who had refused to sell their stores to them.¡± They had been willing to kill for their aggressive business expansion, and their long-term agenda had been to enve all hunters. It was the punishment for a reckless enterprise and also a warning to the entire metropolitan area. Don¡¯t mess with us. That was the message they were trying to convey. The fact that hunters defended themselves and were not affiliated with anyone was both the truth and a basic principle that was being announced to the world. The Hunters¡¯ Nest was not huge, but there were many shops, including gun shops and weapons dealers. Only arge sign hung on the arch of the entrance to the street without the ubiquitous advertisements. [Hunters¡¯ Nest ¡®Red Dragon¡¯] Inside, the hunters were walking up and down the street. The roomy coats, sharp eyes, and the ease with which they carried their weapons revealed that they were undoubtedly hunters. ¡°Can only the hunters enter the Nest?¡± ¡°Not exactly. There are many shop owners who are not hunters.¡± Leona¡¯s eyes brightened as if she found it interesting that the peopleing and going had an entirely different air about them. Ramphil also watched the people since he had never seen any hunters besides Zin. Whatever their abilities might be, their sharp-edged senses were palpable to Ramphil. The Hunters¡¯ Nests sold handmade, special ammunition, as well as the weapons they needed most. They also had the biggest customizations. [Red Dragon Academy] That was written on the tallest building in the middle of the street. Ramphil pointed to the building. ¡°Could that be¡­¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Zin looked at the huge building as if he hadn¡¯t seen it in a long time. There was a dull sounding from the inside. ¡°¡­ It¡¯s the training ground.¡± The Nest had the very special function of cultivating new hunters. Zin put his hand on Leona¡¯s shoulder. From inside the training facility, an indelible sound reverberated constantly. ¡®Bang! Bang! Bang!¡¯ It was none other than the sound of guns. ¡°Shoot as much as you want.¡± Zin shed his rare smile, and Leona was so surprised that she stared at him with her eyes wide open. But that was only for a short moment. ¡°OK!¡± She grinned widely. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C Large cities were naturally governed by the rules of market. And as such, since the ce had high levels of production, it was easier to get supplies here than anywhere else. Other regions had to rely onndfills, but things were being produced here. Therefore, it was easier to get bullets than anywhere else, and those bullets were very cheap. Somepanies were even building and selling guns for self-defense purposes. The hunters-in-training learned about their job and how to use guns at this ce. Zin and his team entered the Academy and passed by a ss in progress. The Academy had dormitories for students and also sleeping quarters for active hunters. It was a system designed to encourage students and real hunters to interact with each other. Aspiring students earned their own education by working at the Hunter¡¯s Nest. They cooked, cleaned, didundry, and even farmed if they were not stationed in a big city. They were learning that there was no free meal in the world as they trained to be hunters. ¡°So are all teachers hunters, too?¡± Leona asked, and Zin nodded. ¡°Usually, they¡¯re retired hunters volunteering their services.¡± The hunters became teachers when they got tired of hunting or were no longer able to fight. There could be no happier oue for a hunter. ¡°It¡¯s amazing that the hunters are volunteering.¡± It seemed as though Leona couldn¡¯t quite understand that the people who normally didn¡¯t lift a finger unless they were paid would be volunteering their service for free. ¡°They¡¯re the types who¡¯ve grown tired of it. It might be the natural course of things.¡± Because they had grown tired of a life where they only did things to get paid, they decided to volunteer as they neared the end of their lives. Leona listened to a retired hunter¡¯s lessoning from a ssroom as she walked behind Zin. ¡°The important thing to remember when your taking the gun apart is¡­ ¡± ¡°Shoot first, attack is the best¡­¡± ¡°When you¡¯re fighting Reavers¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t just pass by on object you see in the field¡­¡± Ramphil had a question. ¡°Can this ce really be self-sufficient, though? The ce is pretty big¡­¡± Surely, because the Academy was in a big city, the number of students they had here couldn¡¯t evenpare to other Nests. Just feeding all of the students would be impossible to achieve with just simplebor. ¡°The teachers and students work for the Academy, and the rest is handled by donations made by hunters.¡± ¡°What an amazing ce¡­¡± Finding it impossible to believe that Zin made donations, Ramphil and Leona had a confused look on their faces. It didn¡¯t make sense that the ce where they were teaching students not to work for free was being operated by donations and that the hunters were actually making donations. ¡°That just shows you what a very special ce the Nest is for hunters.¡± The Nest was the only ce where hunters, who wandered around the world fighting for survival, could let down their guards and rest for a little while. And since it was the only ce where hunters felt epted, they readily donated their money to support the training of new hunters. The hunters were born of many different ces, but they were usually reborn as hunters in the Nest. Of course, there were special cases like Zin. In the end, the Hunter¡¯s Nest seemed like it was financiallyfortable thanks to its location within a big city, and the quality of the sses also seemed quite high thanks to the considerable number of hunters that gathered here. Zin headed to the Dean¡¯s Office. The Dean of the Academy, of course, was an old-time hunter who yed a senior role not only within the Academy but also in the Nest itself. He was not a leader, but he was involved in both big and small affairs of the Nest, and people acknowledged his strong influence. The position of leader was recognized, but not enforced. And that worked fine for the hunters. ¡°I¡¯m going in alone,¡± said Zin, so Leona and Ramphil waited outside. There was no need to take the two, who were clearly not hunters. ¡®Knock, knock!¡¯ ¡°Come in,¡± a voice answered from inside. When Zin opened the door, an old man with a calm facial expression and white hair neatlybed back was sitting on a chair. The three vertical rows of scarring over his right eye added the look of a seasoned hunter to his cool demeanor, and even though his face was wrinkled, his bright left eye revealed that the old man still hadn¡¯t lost his wild animal instincts. Zin noticed that his left arm was loose in the sleeve. ¡®One-eyed, and one-armed.¡¯ His features showed why he had to retire. The Dean smiled softly, and Zin smiled bitterly. ¡°It¡¯s been about forty years since the Penrier Industry gig. I was expecting to see you again.¡± The Dean recognized Zin, and Zin recognized him as well. It was not difficult for Zin to see the face of a young hunter in the old man¡¯s face. The intelligence in his eyes had now turned into wisdom, but the Dean had lost his left arm and right eye during that long stretch of time. ¡°Where did you leave your left arm?¡± To Zin¡¯s question, he pointed at his feet. ¡°I was ambushed at the hybrid. I barely made it out alive.¡± ¡°The Hive? You¡¯ve found that ce?¡± ¡°Well, yes¡­ but as you can see, I failed.¡± And after that statement, he intentionally changed the subject. His face seemed to say that it was painful for him to simply remember that time. ¡°You haven¡¯t changed a bit, as I¡¯d expected.¡± ¡°Ha-ha, not exactly.¡± Those who met Zin more than once always had the same thought. They felt the cruel passage of time as they realized that they had gotten old while the other person remained the same. And this also reminded them of the people who were no longer alive and with whom they couldn¡¯t reunite ever again. Zin approached him and reached out his right hand, and the Dean shook his hand with his only hand, the right hand. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re still alive, Tae-hon.¡± ¡°So am I, Zin.¡± The two exchanged a powerful handshake as they reunited after forty years. The names of the people he had fought with never came out of Tae-hon¡¯s mouth. That alone said a lot to Zin. Of all the people who knew Zin, Tae-hon was the only one still alive. Either that or they had gone to a far away ce, but Zin wanted to believe the former and didn¡¯t ask any questions about it. Not talking about the dead was an unspoken rule among hunters. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C Zin and his team were personally assigned lodging under the guidance of the Dean. The Academy was made up of several buildings, and Zin headed to a building that was being used as sleeping quarters and inn. Hunters could get free amodations at the Nest. Of course, it was customary for hunters to pay for their own food and lodging, so the money paid to the inn actually served as donation to be used for maintaining the Academy. ¡°It¡¯s still big.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a well-built building, so it doesn¡¯t require much maintenance, which is good.¡± Leona¡¯s jaw dropped seeing the lodging that was almost like a hotel, and Ramphil also had a look of satisfaction on his face, as if he liked the ce. Tae-hon never asked about Zin¡¯s twopanions. Hunters tend to respect each other¡¯s privacy and did not ask each other about their missions. In the huge hall, the hunters were sitting down and eating their meals, and everyone was sitting alone. Hunters were not the type to get together and talk loudly, and they usually liked to be alone. Hunters liked to draw clear lines between themselves and others, and that made them seem lonely and secretive. The bartender, who was also the innkeeper, greeted the Dean, ¡°Hello, sir.¡± ¡°Please prepare a nice room for them. They are really valued guests.¡± ¡°Very well. Attendants, please clean up Room Nine for the guests.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The three boys who had been standing by, quickly went up somewhere. The children, who looked about Leona¡¯s age, were now acting as the attendants of the inn. Each had a set working schedule, and the rest of the time was spent in training. ¡°Would you like to have a meal?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll prepare a meal for three. If you need anything, please ask the children ore to the Dean¡¯s Office.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Oh, no. This is hardly enough.¡± The bartender thought it was strange that the old dean was using a respectful tone with the hunter who looked way younger than him, so he stared at the both of them, but didn¡¯t ask any questions. Sitting at a table in therge hall, the three waited for the meals. Leona sat closer to Zin and whispered her question, ¡°Do you know that grandpa?¡± ¡°Well, yeah. The Nest is a big ce, so you¡¯re bound to run into someone you know, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Is there anywhere you haven¡¯t been in the world?¡± Zin chuckled at Ramphil¡¯s strange question. ¡°Not unless it¡¯s a far away ind across the ocean.¡± That meant that he had been to all parts of the continent. ¡°It¡¯s rare to run into people you know, but this is a special ce in many ways.¡± ¡°But even the Lord of the Heavenly Castle knew you.¡± Was there anyone else who knew people all over the world? Zin didn¡¯t say that there used to be a lot more people he knew, but that they were all dead now. The meal was soon ready, and it was a simple meal, made up of manufactured goods, perhaps because they were in a big city. Although the quality was certainly worse than the meals at the Fortress, it was much better than the ones at other ces, which served a single potato. ¡°I¡¯m sure that if I lived in a ce like this, I¡¯d eat very well.¡± ¡°You must have a lot of chips for that.¡± ¡°So true.¡± It seemed like Leona and Ramphil were beginning to understand the big city as they talked about this and that. Other hunters paid little attention to Zin and his team. But Leona was looking at the other hunters and looking at the numerous leaflets on the wall. She seemed more interested in checking things out than eating. The leaflets that covered the walls were divided into three main categories, and a few hunters who were not eating were standing in front of them: [Monsters] [Reward] [Gigs] The Nest was full of hunters, but it was also filled with people who wanted to hire hunters. Once a request was ced here, one of the resident hunters could simply satisfy it. In the leaflet, was a brief description of the client¡¯s residence, payment amount, and the mission objective. Leona poked Zin¡¯s ribs and asked, ¡°I understand the monster category, but what are the other two?¡± ¡°Everyone you¡¯ve seen so far is a monster hunter. Most hunters who roam remote areas are monster hunters. They are also the most widely known. But strictly speaking, hunters are divided into three different categories.¡± ¡°There are categories of hunters?¡± ¡°What they focus on is different.¡± Unlike the hunters in remotes areas, the hunters in big cities could pick and choose what their main focus would be and decide what kind of hunter they were going to be at the beginning of their career. ¡°Those who kill monsters and get paid are monster hunters, those who collect bounties after tracking down criminals are bounty hunters, and private detectives who handle unsolved cases for payment can also be considered hunters, although those only exist in big cities. The work of the hunters changed depending on the environment. Chapter 106 - Chips, and More Chips (Part 1) Chapter 106: Chips, and More Chips (Part 1) ¡°So, if you kill monsters, you¡¯re a monster hunter; if you hunt people, you¡¯re a bounty hunter; and if you work on cases, you¡¯re a private detective?¡± ¡°Yes, themon denominator is that they¡¯re all hired on a case-by-case basis.¡± That was possible only because this was a big city. Some hunters were not ordinary bounty hunters, but closer to assassins for hire instead. But of course, such things were considered taboo, and they were ostracized within the hunters¡¯munity. In the Nest, unless reward was on the table, people were not to be hunted. ¡°The three types of hunters are different from each other because the nature of their work is different. Make sure you know that.¡± Even those grouped together in the same category were vastly different. Hunters in the wilderness were different from hunters in the big cities in that same way. ¡°But if there are monster hunters, does that mean there are monsters here, too?¡± Leona asked as if she couldn¡¯t understand how there could be monsters in a city where so many people lived. ¡°Of course. There are monsters in ces like alleyways or underneath the rubble of abandoned buildings, where people don¡¯t look. Nobody is going to just take care of them.¡± More than anything, eradicating hidden monsters that humans couldn¡¯t find or reach was nearly impossible, so there was always plenty of work in the big city for monster hunters. While reading the numerous flyers waiting for a response, Leona could imagine a little bit about the lives of the hunters. She read each flyer she could see from far away: [44-B Area Underground Monster Sweep] Monster Type: Undetermined Total Payment Amount: 100 chips Client: Harold at 44-C 23. Predictive Risk Level: Low [Wanted] Name: The Hoakside Brothers Name: Murder and Robbery Bonus: 170 chips per head Last Seen: 23-C 554, Underground Club (7/22) Client: Small Chamber of Commerce and Industry Particrs: Alive or dead unconfirmed [The Dhiad Family Murder Case] Client: 36-G 1 Eric Dhiad Requirement: Victim specific and/or execution Payment: 500 chips The flyers for bounty hunting included sketches along with the essential information. No details were given on the job posts for detectives, and although the fees were high, actually solving the cases seemed difficult. The hunters were standing in front of the flyers, scanning jobs that all seemed challenging in some way and asking the bartender about the jobs. The bartender was no ordinary bartender. He knew pretty much every job and advised the hunters on how to proceed on the requests. In fact, he served as the manager of the inn as well as the clients¡¯ broker and adviser. After the meal, the team went up to the room. The neatly organized room was clean, and theundered sheets were also clean. It was time for everyone to rx, but Zin had something to do. ¡°What are you going to do here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple.¡± Zin¡¯s business in the city wasn¡¯t anything grand. ¡°Many chips gather in big cities.¡± Except for the two other big cities, no other city had as many chips as here. ¡°We have to fight the most dangerous monster in BH. To do that, my Darkborn powers need to be restored to a certain extent, if not topletely full.¡± But the reason for his visit hadn¡¯t been to get rid of a great monster. ¡°We have to make money.¡± The energy of the Darkborn had to be restored to a minimum of 5 percent. The reason why he hade here was none other than to acquire the energy needed in preparation for the fight at BH. The sooner the chips were collected, the sooner they could leave. As such, Zin had not decided to go to BH with a light heart. ¡°How much do we need?¡± ¡°A minimum of two hundred thousand.¡± ¡°Whaaaat?!¡± eximed Leona in disbelief. Collecting that much would restore nearly 5 percent of his Darkborn energy, and they would need that much in order to confront the ruler of BH. ¡°I¡¯m going to make this Golden Dragon Nest my base as I work for a while.¡± Big cities were flooded with requests, and everyday, new jobs were arriving and being updated with things that hunters could not solve by themselves. That meant that the city was overflowing with clients. ¡°That seems physically impossible.¡± In order to collect two hundred thousand chips, he would need to solve two thousand cases that paid a hundred chips. Even if he solved a case per day, it would take two thousand days. Ramphil was astounded by how much time was going to be wasted in the city. ¡°I have an idea for that. It won¡¯t take that long. And it¡¯s not going to be just me.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± asked Leona, and Zin looked at Ramphil. ¡°Why waste time being idle? You should take a job, too.¡± ¡°¡­ What?!¡± Naturally, Ramphil scowled at the sudden suggestion. ¡°Being a hunter doesn¡¯t require a license or anything.¡± In fact, anyone who could solve cases could be a hunter. Just like anyone, not just professionals trained at the Academy, could post jobs, anyone could take jobs as well. ¡°Starting today, you be a hunter.¡± It wasn¡¯t possible for Leona to engage in realbat, but Ramphil already had the skills to do the work of the hunters. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C Ramphil could withdraw funds as an executive officer, but as Zin mentioned earlier, going to the Fortress right now would be like asking them to capture him. That was why funding had toe just from solving cases. There were a myriad of ways to make money in big cities, but the options were limited for the weapon lovers. Monster hunting didn¡¯t pay well, but the cases could be solved immediately. Detective work or bounty hunting took rtively longer to solve, and the payoff was weak when the time invested was factored in. They tried to get some training for Leona at the Academy with other aspiring hunters, but she refused it without a second thought. ¡°Why? You could learn so much from the teachers here.¡± ¡°I think it would be better to see you in action than to get lessons from the teachers.¡± ¡°Ha¡­ Well, that¡¯s not entirely wrong.¡± Staying at the Academy when Zin was about to engage in real battle?! Leona knew better than anyone what would be more helpful to her. Eventually, they decided that she would practice shooting with real bullets at the Academy and, if not dangerous, she would follow Zin. Ramphil and Zin agreed to take separate jobs, since they didn¡¯t need to travel together. It wasn¡¯t the Nest¡¯s concern who took a job, but the bartender was quite sharp. ¡°You don¡¯t look like a hunter. Well, but since the Dean put a word in, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do well.¡± He concluded at a nce that Ramphil was probably someone good at handling weapons, but that he was not a hunter. Each took a flyer and headed to the subway station. In other ces, there weren¡¯t even functioning carts, but there, they had huge vehicles that ran on gas. Leona didn¡¯t know how many more days she¡¯d be there, but she suddenly felt like she would not get used to things until the day she left. ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Now that it was time to separate, Ramphil suddenly called out to Zin. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You gotta at least tell me how to do this.¡± In front of the ticket booth, Ramphil looked as if he was faced with the biggest crisis of his life. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C There were monsters in big cities. Actually, there were more monsters lurking in the dark than out in the fields and the wilderness. Every night, just as many people were killed by monsters as those killed by gang members, murderers and robbers. In the field, there were only open spaces, but in the city, visibility was quite limited, and there were plenty of ces to take cover and hide. What was food for humans was often food for monsters, and monsters also ate humans, so big cities were literally food heavens. Humans were killed by humans. However, humans in big cities didn¡¯t eat people. But the discarded corpses were eaten by mice and filled by maggots. Naturally, some were attracted to those corpses. The corpse hunters would eat the corpses of those killed by robbers, maneaters would eat what was left behind by the corpse hunters, and spirits would attach themselves to the maneaters. Thanks to the chain of events carried out by these monsters, the big cities had thergest number of humans in the world, and it was also the ce for the most amount of monsters. In the end, the monsters that gathered here even built an underground ecosystem. If there was an ecosystem based on capital and chips above ground, there was an ecosystem controlled by the logic of power below. ¡°It¡¯s called the Hive.¡± ¡°The Hive?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s like an urban legend that floats around in big cities. You know, to scare the kids.¡± ¡°To scare the kids?¡± ¡°Yes, they try to scare the children by saying, ¡®If you don¡¯t listen to me, the monsters from the Hive are going to get you.''¡± Leona looked as if she couldn¡¯t understand why anyone would be scared of that. Of course, it was more likely that she was the weird one, and not that the kids were fools. Most children didn¡¯t be happy just by the thought of shooting real bullets. ¡°Not just the children. Many adults get scared, as well.¡± ¡°How?¡± Everyone knew about the Hive, but no one believed it was true. ¡°You know, some believe in doomsday scenarios like, ¡®The day the monsterse out of the Hive is the day the city gets destroyed.''¡± ¡°What is a doomsday scenario?¡± ¡°¡­ There were things like that.¡± Suddenly, Zin felt funny about what he¡¯d said. Talking about doomsday scenarios in a world where the Apocalypse had already taken ce was some nasty, darkedy. The two arrived at their destination by subway and headed to the appropriate address. ¡°Some people believe that the Hive is just a rumor.¡± ¡°If there was a group of monsters like that, there would be no one left on Earth,¡± was people¡¯s logic. Leona tapped Zin with her elbow as if she had thought of something funny. ¡°So, anyway, is there such a ce called Hive?¡± ¡°Yes, if the Dean is right.¡± The hunter at the Golden Dragon Nest had lost his arm and his eye while hunting the king of the Hive. It seemed like a lot, but it was only that much. If his injuries were that severe, all those who were with him should have turned into guests who would never return. ¡°So, if I can control monsters properly, I use all my power right here to bring it all down?¡± Zin stared at Leona with a confused look. ¡°Yes, you¡¯d need to do that without making a single mistake.¡± Because he sounded serious, Leona, who was initially ying, turned a little pale. ¡°Why, why do you have such a serious look? I wasn¡¯t going to do it for real. I was¡­ just wondering¡­¡± The monsters hiding underground did note up voluntarily. However, there was one witch who could control the will of the monsters and bring them to surface. This vast expanse ofnd would be destroyed in a single day. There were many different reasons why devils were called devils, but witches also had interesting powers. And sometimes they were more dangerous than devils. ¡°Don¡¯t say things like that.¡± Zin walked away without looking at Leona. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Words have power, and sometimes what you say can make things happen when you don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°OK¡­¡± Words had power, just like incantations did in real life. Chapter 107 - Chips and More Chips (Part 2) Chapter 107: Chips and More Chips (Part 2) Some believed in the Hive and some didn¡¯t. But the Hive might be real. There could be an ecosystem of monsters that killed each other in a huge colony. Zin had not seen it, but he believed in its possibility. Ironically, the monster who had been attracted there by humans had ended up creating an ecosystem of monsters. But the really dangerous monsters never came outside. Therefore, the Hive existed, but the people were only getting a glimpse of it. The big cities were maintained within such perilous tightrope walk, with a greater number of humans and monsters than any other ce. When Zin arrived at the client¡¯s house, he handed the flyer to the client. However, rather than weing the hunter, he looked at Leona standing next to him. ¡°Don¡¯t mind her. She¡¯s a shadowing student.¡± ¡°A shadowing student?¡± he responded in lukewarm manner, but nodded as if he understood. His ce was an old apartment, but the fact that he had a house with a certain amount of privacy showed that he was fairly secure financially. Having a house meant one of two things: either he bought it from the original owner or he got rid of the owner without anyone knowing about it. Since rights were not protected in this era, protecting one¡¯s assets was just as important as acquiring them. Zin asked point-nk, ¡°What are the details of the job?¡± ¡°Follow me.¡± There was no detailed information on the flyer, so it had been necessary to meet the client. The man got ready to go out and headed out to a locked single-story building. ¡®Click! Click!¡¯ He grumbled, opening a fewyers of padlocks. ¡°I just bought this building because it was cheap and I had no idea that there was a problem.¡± There was no useining to Zin and Leona about the details, but he mumbled as he shook the key in a tight lock. ¡°I waspletely swindled. I had no idea that the rats had built their nests underground.¡± He had nned to open a restaurant after buying the cheap building that had juste on the market, but the story was that there was a monster living underground. ¡°I should have suspected when I noticed that they kept the building locked.¡± However, the seller disappeared after selling it in a hurry, so there was no way to get in contact with him. In the end, the seller was in the wrong, but it was also his fault for not checking the building thoroughly before purchasing it. In a world where no one could be trusted, it was foolish to buy something just because it was cheap. ¡®Ping!¡¯ ¡°My goodness!¡± To make matters worse, the key broke off in thest lock. With his face red, he sighed deeply and looked at Zin. ¡°Nothing¡¯s going right. Wait. Let me get the cutter¡­¡± ¡®nk!¡¯ Zin held the lock in his hand and forced it open. Then, he said to his dumbfounded client curtly, ¡°I won¡¯t charge you extra for that.¡± ¡°¡­ I think you¡¯ve got the proper skills. Come in.¡± The owner, who saw Zin crumple the lock with his bare hands, nodded with a puzzled look. Leona also shook her head in disbelief of Zin¡¯s powerful grip. The client touched the switch, and the light soon came on in the dim interior. The reactor-based, self-generating energy system was widespread in the big city. It was up to the individuals to use the energy. The room wasrge enough to be used as a shop. ¡°This is a good ce. The location is good, and the store will do well once the monster is gone. Are you interested? Since you¡¯re a hunter, you can handle monsters no problem.¡± Zin smiled at his client. ¡°I prefer the hills.¡± Once Zin expressed that he was not interested in real estate, the clientughed as if he wasn¡¯t being serious. Zin stood before the cleverly hidden underground stairs. ¡°There¡¯s another iron gate down there. Thest time I went down, I almost died, so I don¡¯t go down anymore. If you clean it up, I¡¯ll give you a hundred chips, no questions asked.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like half the money now as an advance.¡± ¡°Here it is.¡± The client handed over the chips as if already aware of the terms. ¡®Ching-ching.¡¯ Zin checked that there were fifty chips in the bag the client gave him and then put it away. Leona had seen Zin take jobs and solve cases before, but this business-like scene was quite strange to her. It seemed like dry and mundane work for the hunter. It was a usual day, with no excitement or tension, but the reality was that he was about to kill something. To Leona, seeing Zin like that was strange, but it was also amazing. ¡°Are you going to wait here?¡± ¡°Sure, I have nothing to do.¡± He had to also want to make sure the hunter did his job properly. The heavy iron door was chained, and as Zin started unchaining it, the client turned pale. Come to think of it, being there meant that the hunter would begin his hunt, and if he were to miss one, it woulde up to surface. ¡°Hey, K-kid. Are you going to be OK?¡± the client stammered, stunned that Leona could just calmly stand there and observe what Zin was doing. Leona shrugged as she couldn¡¯t rte to the client. ¡°What¡¯s there to be so scared of?¡± The client was shocked by her fearless attitude, and shocked again when he saw her take out a rifle from her bag. She had just been amazed by Zin¡¯s tranquility, but she went ahead and checked the bullets in the case, put the rifle together, then pulled the safety lock. ¡®Chi-ching!¡¯ She looked calm, like someone who had used that gun many times. ¡°Whoa¡­¡± ¡®Even the students are on a different level,¡¯ he thought and then he said with a puzzled look, ¡°Well¡­ Actually, I-I¡¯ll just wait for you at my ce.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡®Clunk! Clunk!¡¯ The client hurried back home even before Zin had finished removing the chain. ¡°It¡¯s good to be ready, but we won¡¯t shoot.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°If we waste bullets on small things, our productivity will drop. We¡¯re doing this to save money. Just use it for self-defense for now.¡± ¡°OK.¡± Leona nodded. They needed to collect two hundred thousand chips, an amount that had never been attempted, and to gather that amount quickly, they had to keep all hunting expenses at a minimum. The iron gate led underground, and the basement was blocked by another chained iron gate. They heard a small noise as they approached. ¡®Squeak! Squeak!¡¯ ¡°He¡¯s right about the rats.¡± Judging from the sharpness and loudness of the sound, he could tell that it was a monster-like rodent. Oftentimes, clients would describe monsters as smaller or weaker than they were, so what they said couldn¡¯t always be trusted at face value. If the request was too dangerous, many hunters would not take the job, so this became a problem. Once the chain was removed, the squeaky sound from inside became louder. ¡®Clunk! Clunk!¡¯ ¡°Step away from it a bit.¡± With his right hand holding the rifle sword and his left hand wearing a ded glove, Zin arranged the door to be opened at any moment. Leona backed away about three steps and observed him. ¡®Creeak¡­¡¯ Then, he opened the door to only a slight gap to looked at the interior. Inside were brown rats the size of children, bearing their fangs and growling at Zin. ¡®Grrrrr¡­¡¯ It was hard to believe that rats were making those eerie and sharp sounds. They were monster rats who could devour a human in ten minutes, leaving only bone fragments behind. Rather than attacking, the rats stayed alert. Their red eyes seemed to say ¡®get lost¡¯ to Zin, warning him that nothing good woulde out of him entering. ¡°To be urate, I think they¡¯re some type of mole.¡± Monsters had their own way of thinking, and although the intelligence level varied from one to another, those were simr to beasts. Those moles had formed a group of nests underground. Attacking an animal¡¯s nest was a do-or-die situation. The nest had babies, so they would try desperately to kill Zin in order to protect them and never run away. Zin pondered for a moment. It would be convenient and easy to use his equipment, but now was the time to be bold. ¡°Wait here.¡± ¡°What do you¡­¡± ¡®Gulp!¡¯ ¡®Crazy!¡¯ ¡®nk!¡¯ Zin flung the iron gates open, nudged himself in, then mmed the gates. Leona was shocked because she thought Zin, who had always insisted on winning unconditionally, would¡¯ve never resorted to this kind of method. ¡®Grrrr!¡¯ The sound of rats swarming the enemy who had broken into their nest reverberated. ¡®Wham! Smack! Smack!¡¯ And then, the sound of something being struck and the sound of something being smashed was heard. ¡®Squeak! Squeak!¡¯ ¡®Whack! Bam! Whack! Leona didn¡¯t look confused, but she felt like she could see the mess going on inside. About ten minutester, the noise died down, and the iron gate opened slowly. ¡°Mister, are you all right?¡± ¡°This is nothing. I¡¯ve been taking the easy route so far.¡± Hunting by shooting waszy hunting. Zin would have to slowly get used to this way of hunting again. Leona was dumbfounded when she saw the lot of dead meat inside. Even though they had been just rats, he had cleaned out their nest at once and without using a single bullet. ¡°Well, if you can do this, why bother with the other method?¡± The hunting they had been doing up until now, which had required them to wait patiently for that one shot at the crucial moment, somehow seemed less exciting. Zin pointed at himself. ¡°¡­ Take a look at me.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Zin was covered in monster flesh, saliva, bodily fluids, and blood, and looked like a ghost. ¡°I see.¡± Surely, regardless of what was possible or not, the way he looked was awful. Surely, the end result of a hand-to-handbat wasn¡¯t very attractive. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see a client like this. Get the client and ask for a change of clothes. I need to clean up the rest.¡± ¡°The rest? What else is left¡­¡± ¡®Whack! Whack! Squeak!¡¯ He looked like he would get shot by the guard if he tried to get on the train. Leona tilted her head wondering what he had meant by the rest, but she soon found out what it was. ¡®Thud! Squeak!¡¯ Zin was stomping the baby rats in the nest. Every time one was trampled to death, there would be a pitiful squeal that spooked Leona, so she quickly went upstairs. It had to be done because it was a part of the job, but it wasn¡¯t a pretty sight. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C The client was shocked when he saw Zin, and shocked again when he saw the many giant rats that he had killed. ¡®Ah-Are you done already?¡¯ ¡°Not quite. The ones that went outside through this tunnel haven¡¯t returned yet. They are more than the ones you have here.¡± ¡°W-Well, then what should I do?¡± Since the nest was there, there were many tunnels dug by the rats. The rats that went out looking for food had not returned yet. However, what was important was that the nest had been destroyed and the basement reimed. Although the hunt was over, Zin instructed the client on additional measures that needed to be taken. Many people went away once the job was over, but Zin was the type who finished the work properly. Zin scooped up the rat carcasses all over the basement and pointed out the tunnels dug by the rats. ¡°Don¡¯t burn the rat carcasses. Shove them all down here because this is the deepest tunnel. After that, block the hole with cement, and that¡¯ll finish the job. ¡°Don¡¯t get rid of the bodies, but instead throw them in here? That¡¯ll attract scavengers. Even if I cover it with cement, they might get through. ¡± It was a reasonable thing to ask if the smell of dead monsters would bring more monsters. ¡°What do you think will happen when the group of rats see scavengers biting their babies?¡± When they return, they¡¯ll see that all the babies are dead, and that the rats that had been protecting the nest were torn to death, and that the scavengers are eating their friends¡¯ bodies. ¡°Whoa¡­ Would they fight?¡± ¡°Yes, if two monsters fight in this cramped hole, one of them will win, but the scavengers are a pack, and the rats will return one by one, so the scavengers will catch all the rats. They¡¯ll go somewhere else once they get their food, so you don¡¯t have to worry about them. They don¡¯t nest, so they¡¯ll move on to the next corpse after they clean out the nest.¡± He was going to use another monster to catch the monsters he couldn¡¯t catch. Because he had never thought about it, the client nodded his head in amazement ¡°Yes, I see!¡± He smiled widely as the hunter not only did his job but also told him what he could do to solve the problem that might ariseter. ¡°You should get to it right now. The first thing to do is cover up the holes.¡± ¡°Oh, yes! I better do that now.¡± The client tried to leave the room in a hurry because he needed to block the holes before the rats returned. ¡°You should pay me before you go.¡± ¡°Oh, my! I almost forgot. Thank you, hunter!¡± The client rushed out after paying Zin. He had to move quickly to get the cement and begin stering. Zin and Leona were back on the street. After changing into the clothes the client had brought for him, he put the bloody clothes in a backpack. ¡°Let¡¯s move on to the next assignment.¡± ¡°More?¡± asked Leona, and Zin looked at her as if to question why she was even asking that. ¡°We have to do at least ten jobs like this in a day. We don¡¯t have time to rest.¡± Only then, did Leona realize that it had been a mistake to follow him. But Zin was already searching for the next job, flipping through the handful of flyers he had brought with him. Chapter 108 - Dominator (Part 1) Chapter 108: Dominator (Part 1) ¡°Lately, we hear the sound of someone weeping every night in the attic¡­¡± ¡°My next-door neighbors took off in the middle of the night, and I don¡¯t know what they did, but now, there are maggots and slime everywhere. There¡¯s also a really foul smell. ¡°My parents passed away, and not long ago¡­ Yes, they¡¯ve be zombies¡­¡± ¡°A spider hasid its eggs in the shed!¡± . . . ¡°I will start going to the academy tomorrow.¡± Only when thest train was about to leave, did Leona and Zin return to the Nest. There wasn¡¯t much Leona could do, but she watched how Zin go about his hunting missions in a business-like manner. After solving five cases, he had acquired a total of 930 chips and extracted 98 chips from the monsters. That meant that his total revenue was over 1,000 chips, an impressive haul for a single day. It was obvious that Zin was qualitatively different from other hunters. Whatever the request was, he knew the exact solution. Having spent the day with Zin, Leona realized that she had misunderstood something about the hunter. Even after spending quite a bit of time together, her preconceived ideas had still been there. Zin did kill while on jobs, but he often chose solutions that didn¡¯t involve killing. In the case of ghosts, he wrote and ced holy prayers all over the house to drive them out. ¡°If you kill a ghost recklessly, it can lead to more damage. It¡¯s just sobbing for now, but more dangerous ones couldeter. So, make sure to put these up for about a month, and this house will be immune to ghosts. At first, the client didn¡¯t fully trust him, but after witnessing Zin drive out ghosts with a demon-busting flute, he had no choice but to believe. Zin was a hunter, but he understood that just killing everything could lead to bigger problemster. Rather than just addressing the problem at hand, he tried to find solutions to the problem on a fundamental level. Once he got rid of the maggots and slime, he found out why they had been there. The maggots had been there because of the dead body buried under the floor. This led to the discovery that a neighbor who had suddenly gone missing had actually been killed by the ones who had left in the middle of the night. He had inadvertently solved the missing persons and was paid an additional two hundred chips from another client. In the case of the spiders, he threw a lit bunch of dried poisonous herbs in the shed and used the poisonous smoke to kill them. That was a very effective solution because the smoke reached and killed thervae hiding in every corner. After putting the zombies that hade back to life to sleep, he insisted that there needed to be a proper burial in order to prevent that from happening, and he and the client conducted the funeral in ordance with shamanistic procedure. Watching the process, Leona had a strange thought. ¡°The hunter is so different from who I thought he was.¡± All four cases could have been solved through violence, but Zin only used violence when needed. The only time he had used the knife and fought had been when trying to clean out the mice during the first job. In other cases, he looked more like a pseudo-doctor or shaman, more well-versed in folk remedies than a hunter. ¡°You should always try to reduce the risk.¡± Zin never fought when he did not have to fight, to the point that it was better to call him a quarantine officer or rescue worker. ¡°Anyone too quick to fight is not a hunter, but a warrior. And probably a novice.¡± More experienced hunters knew how to solve things without a fight. As much as knowing how to fight, knowledge and experience were important to hunters. ¡°Now that I think about it, you¡¯re right. Using violence when you don¡¯t need to seems like something fools would do.¡± Clearly, this time was useful and beneficial as Leona was learning tips she could use in real battles. She thought that although Zin¡¯s style was boring andcking in urgency, it was clearly a good one in terms of safety and efficiency. Honestly, trying to solve everything by fighting was foolish. When Leona said so, Zin suddenly said something different. ¡°Don¡¯t be so harsh.¡± ¡°Hmm? What?¡± ¡°You know that there¡¯s someone like that among us.¡± ¡°What?¡± But even before Leona could think of someone who approached everything head on, Zin pointed ahead. ¡°There he is.¡± Ramphil looked at Zin and Leona, who were returning in frayed clothes. ¡°¡­ Why are you looking at me with those eyes?¡± Apparently, they¡¯d been busy solving cases here and there that day. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C Zin took Ramphil and reported the jobs he had solved that day. It wouldn¡¯t have been a big problem not to mention it, but it would not hurt to report them to the Nest. Zin had finished five cases, and Ramphil had finished three; all were monster hunts. The clothes Ramphil had been wearing that day came back like rags, so Zin had to finally get him some clothes that hunters wear in the Nest. The good things about big cities were its advanced technology and that they could use water from water tanks. Zin, Ramphil, and Leona washed themselves clean with soap and changed into their new clothes. ¡°How do you like working on jobs?¡± ¡°The monsters in the city seem much smaller and more annoying than the big, strong ones.¡± Small monsters inevitably dug into every corner, so they couldn¡¯t hurt much, but your clothes got ruined. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t too bad. I¡¯m sure that once I get the hang of it, my clothes won¡¯t be ruined.¡± Ramphil had impressivebat capabilities, so he took the approach of beating everything up without any hesitation. If ghosts showed up, he could deal with them with the photon sword. If Zin solved cases the hunter way, Ramphil did it the warrior way. Anyway, Zin and Ramphil were both very skilled in very different ways, so solving cases was not a problem. ¡°Let¡¯s settle our earnings.¡± Zin¡¯s earnings that day totaled 1,038 chips, and Ramphil brought in 653 chips. Zin had considerably more thanks to the extra earnings. Leona wagged her tongue at the pile of chips in front of her eyes. ¡°This is crazy.¡± It was literally a sweep. Three hundred chips of energy use per month was equivalent to the electricity consumption of a well-appointed point. In just one day, they had collected enough energy to run one of those viges for five months. ¡°Mister, you should¡¯ve just done jobs in big cities. Why did you move around?¡± Leona suddenly became curious as to why he wandered around the world, leaving such arge city full of clients behind. She was asking about the rtionship between Zin¡¯s life, the Darkborn, the chips and life. Zin said with a sullen look, as if to say he knew that all too well, ¡°If you do it for a long time, you¡¯ll end up attracting negative attention.¡± In reality, the jobs were not in infinite supply. If one hunter were to monopolize the easy and fast tasks, even though hunters usually did not interfere with other hunters, friction would ur, making everyone ufortable. In fact, Zin was doing the work of five people in a single day. ¡°There¡¯s a certain amount ofmercial morality that even hunters must abide by. Although, for right now, I can¡¯t help it. I have to do it.¡± In order to make a lot of chips in a short amount of time, they had to inflict a certain amount of civil abuse on the hunters around them. In fact, whenever his remaining energy was low, Zin visited a big city to do a big job and prolong his life. But Leona and Ramphil also knew that what he had said was just an excuse. Zin was someone who could never settle down in one ce, so he was constantly pushing himself out into the world. No other hunter would be able to pull off fifteen hundred chips a day. ¡°Now, we only need to collect 198,309 more.¡± ¡°¡­ Why are you trying to upset me?¡± Suddenly, Ramphil brought them back to reality, and Leona stared at him. ¡°I¡¯m just stating a fact.¡± Even if fifteen hundred chips were collected per day, at that rate, it would take at least 130 days. It was hard to know if they had that much time, and it was also conditional to having that many jobs. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it won¡¯t take that long.¡± Zin grinned as if he had something up his sleeve. ¡°Why? You got something?¡± ¡°Word-of-mouth advertising is powerful.¡± Solving a case didn¡¯t end with receiving a payment, especially in big cities. As time passed, rumors would spread throughout the city about an excellent hunter appearing in the city. And that would remind someone in the city of a case they really wanted to solve, but had given up on. ¡°There will be a big one soon. We just have to pick out some of them.¡± Two hundred thousand chips was a lot of money, but there were far more chips circting big cities. If you collected like an ant, you were an ant. Zin had lived for more than two hundred years, so he knew quite well how to build a fortune. It wasn¡¯t the preferred method, but getting arge sum in a short time would be difficult without doing it. Already, Zin¡¯s clients and Ramphil¡¯s clients were telling everyone about the hunters who had solved their cases. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C Zin solved cases as an excellent hunter who utilized the best tricks in all situations. Ramphil solved cases by randomly squashing everything with his impressivebat abilities. Their methods were totally in contrast with each other, but they were both solving cases, and the rumors of these two hunters spread. It wasn¡¯t intentional, but they were each satisfying clients who wanted something different. ¡°You solved the case already?¡± That was what Rampil heard most often. He would go in after saying he would take care of the monsters, and after a few punching sounds, he was done. ¡°Whoa, what kind of method is this?¡± was what Zin heard most often. It was a reaction to the imaginary way he solved the cases and the fact that he made it look easy. After surviving the first day, Leona received live-fire training and education at the Academy. Thanks to the Dean¡¯s consideration, Leona wasn¡¯t ostracized even though she didn¡¯t get along with the other students. The hunters who were staying at the Red Dragon¡¯s Nest also became aware of Zin and Ramphil. The hunters here ranged from modest veterans to novices, and no one else was able to absorb work like those sponges. After two weeks, fliers began to be rare in the monster hunting category, the one they were focusing on. The bounty hunters and those that did detective work did not pay much attention to them, but one of the monster hunters approached Zin and Ramphil while they were having dinner after work. ¡°Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?¡± a sharp-looking hunter with deep-set eyes asked Zin. ¡°Speak, I¡¯m listening,¡± Zin replied while eating potato sd. ¡°I know you¡¯re good. But this is causing a bit of a problem.¡± As if he was speaking on behalf of all monster hunters, he sat across from Zin and carefully selected his words. Everyone knew that the two people sitting in front of him were highly skilled. However, they couldn¡¯t stay silent any longer because their ie would be affected if Zin didn¡¯t put the brakes on at least once. They had heard that he knew the Dean, so the monster hunters had to approached him carefully. ¡°It¡¯s not good to take all the work. It¡¯s quite difficult for hunters these days.¡± Zin looked at the hunter on the other side as if he didn¡¯t understand what he meant. ¡°What¡¯s difficult?¡± That sounded strange to Zin. He wasn¡¯t simplyining, but saying that things were difficult for the hunters instead. Zin was lost in thought for a moment. Surely, many people had taken away much of the bounty hunting and private detective requests, but when it came to monster hunting, not many new ones were added, and only a few people were taking the jobs. ¡°The number of monster hunting jobs is shrinking. So, it¡¯s hard enough for us to make a living without you taking all the jobs? Let¡¯s not do this when all the monster hunters have left. When all the work disappears, there will be nothing for us to do.¡± The reason there had seemed to be a lot of requests at first was because the monster hunters had left the big city once they noticed that their work had been dwindling. Zin asked again, ¡°What do you mean less work?¡± ¡°¡­ You must be new here.¡± He sighed understandingly as if he had not known. ¡°Because of Dominator, the monster hunting requests are getting thinner.¡± Looking at the hunter¡¯s face full of woe, Zin sensed that something else was happening in the bustling metropolis. Ramphil asked, ¡°What¡¯s Dominator?¡± ¡°It¡¯s apany that specializes inbating monsters. If you put in the request, they take care of the monsters right away.¡± Since it wasmercialized, it was cheaper than the Nest and much faster than waiting for a hunter with no set date of arrival. Because the service was new, some people still used the Nest as they had in the past, but even they would be increasingly dependent on Dominator. Therefore, the sharp hunters who sensed that the monster hunting jobs would soon dry up had already left the big city or switched careers. ¡°So, for monster hunters, what is there is all that is left to do. If you take it all¡­ Do you know what I mean?¡± Having heard him, Zin nodded slowly. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Why don¡¯t you tell me a little bit more about Dominator? I¡¯m curious.¡± The hunter continued with a firm expression on his face, as if he was satisfied with the way the conversation was going. ¡°They¡¯re trying to monopolize the monster hunting business. That¡¯s why they¡¯re expanding even though they¡¯re losing money.¡± People would no longer use hunters if monsters could be taken care of at a low price. And when there were no more monster hunters, Dominator would raise the fee, leaving the people with no choice but to use it. They would have no choice but to get ripped off when they were up to their neck in monsters. ¡°Thepany must have someone big backing it if it¡¯s willing to do that while losing money.¡± The hunter nodded in response. ¡°It¡¯s Audin Corporation.¡± That kind of capital was no problem for the biggest corporation in the city. Chapter 109 - Dominator (Part 2) Chapter 109: Dominator (Part 2) ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I should say this, but¡­ A few went to work for Dominator after getting paid a lot of money. After announcing that they were leaving, the captain there as well¡­ mmm, nevermind, I shouldn¡¯t have said anything.¡± He became quite, and Zin didn¡¯t continued probing. It seemed that even hunters had moved from the Nest to Dominator after getting recruited. The life on the road was a better fit for hunters, but it wasn¡¯t bad that some chose to live another way. Each person was different. That was the reason why monster hunters had disappeared from the Nest. ¡°From the very beginning, the Nest gets attacked left and right.¡± In the past, there had been forces that had tried to monopolize business in the Nest, and now a corporation was trying to take jobs away from hunters. Although many hunters gathered there, hunters were individual people, and it was very rare that they got together to do something. In addition, they were not attacking the Nest directly, but operating their own business, so there were not enough grounds for attack. Even though it made their blood boil, there was no good reason to attack Dominator. More than anything, the fact that they were backed by Odin Corporation could have made people shy away from fighting back. ¡°Hmm¡­ Is that so?¡± Zin nodded slowly. The hunter went away after he had finished speaking, and Ramphilmented, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the right situation for us to keep working.¡± ¡°That seems to be the case¡­¡± There was apany that offered hunting services at a low price. If there was a big job, the client would most likely go to Dominator, not hunters but well-organized, instead of Zin. The initial idea of obtaining big cases through word-of-mouth advertising was being crushed. ¡ª¨C ¡°Why the long faces on both of you?¡± Leona, who had just returned from evening shooting practice, cocked her head as she saw the two seated with a stiff expression on their faces. ¡°We have a problem.¡± Ramphil gave a rough exnation of the situation to Leona. Once she heard everything, she grimaced. ¡°Those bastards are messing up our n.¡± Originally, they were only going solve almost all of the monster hunting requests for a little while. After that, they were going to move onto bigger, private jobs, but that wasn¡¯t going to happen now, thanks to Dominator. ¡°Can we just destroy them?¡± The cause really didn¡¯t matter, and these days, no one mentioned things like that anyway. If someone was taking jobs away, that person needed to be destroyed. But this wasn¡¯t the kind of thing you could do just because you wanted to. ¡°That¡¯s not possible.¡± The opponent was apany specialized in hunting. That meant that its level of weaponry was the same as an army. And most importantly, someone had thepany¡¯s back. ¡°Taking Dominator on is like taking on the Odin Corporation, which means turning half of New Hong Kong into the enemy.¡± All three had been there for over two weeks. They had a good sense of how much of the city was actually being controlled by the Odin Corporation. The Odin Corporation¡¯s main focus was ammunition and manufacturing of firearms. The guns made by Odin Corporation were up to their own standards, so one had to buy bullets from them only. They made it impossible to use even regr bullets. That was a nervy move, but people bought from them because they were cheaper than other ces. In addition, they had expanded to food and railway businesses, as well as housing and security services for the rich. It was no exaggeration to say that the Odin Corporation had its hand in everything in the big city. ¡°They can use people from their security business, so I guess it must have been an easy transition for them.¡± Therefore, attacking Dominator, which was backed by Odin Corporation, was a deathwish. If they had taken all the jobs away, then all of the hunters would have protested, but in this case, it was just the monster hunting jobs that had been taken. So the bounty hunters and private detectives weren¡¯t affected that much and were not paying much attention. ¡°Something smells fishy¡­¡± Zin was lost in thought with his arms folded. There was definitely something that Odin Corporation was doing beyond the hunting business. But he knew it was ignorant to respond to them evenly. ¡°Does bounty hunting yield better profits?¡±¡± The detective work required many hours on a case. Bounty hunting required just as much time. No other was as honest as monster hunting. Perhaps things could¡¯ve been different if they had more time, but for now, they had to raise money quickly. Taking on Dominator was too much of a risk. They had to find another way to make money. That¡¯s why Zin and Ramphil were so lost in thought. ¡°Hmm?¡± And all of a sudden, Ramphil narrowed his brow as if he had realized something. ¡°When you mentioned bounty hunting¡­ I thought of something.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that there were many gangsters here, along with businesses?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ OK.¡± Ramphil nodded slowly, but said nothing else, remaining deep in thought. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª The next day, he couldn¡¯t just sit around, so Zin left the hotel. Several hunters were walking toward the train station as if they had a job to do. ¡°The ce does seem empty¡­¡± He hadn¡¯t noticed anything different the day before, but now that he had heard the story, things seemed quite different. Certainly the number of hunters had decreased, and the hunters looked more somber than calm. Having had the conversatation with the hunter the day before, he picked up only two flyers. Ramphil had gone somewhere at dawn, and since Leona was at the Academy, Zin walked alone toward the train station. He still had a long way to go until he umted two hundred thousand chips, but the brakes had already been put on him. Therefore, Zin had to consider thepany called Dominator. Still, confronting them directly was out of the question, so he was thinking of ways to put a brake on their corporate activities. ¡°Can¡¯t think of anything¡­¡± There was no reason for people to hire hunters when there was a cheaper, more efficient, and faster way to solve their problems. In many ways, the current group of hunters was lesspetitive than Dominator. The way of the world was that those who couldn¡¯tpete, died out. And in this big city, hunters would eventually die out. Due to the inherent differences between groups and individuals, the hunter¡¯s Nest might disappear altogether. When he entered the station, Zin saw a man in ck standing in front of him and stopped. ¡°Excuse me.¡± ¡°Do you have business with me?¡± The suit that the man was wearing was a little worn out but washed clean, and around him stood two armed guards standing firm. ¡°I¡¯m Course from Dominator¡¯s Sales Department. If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to talk to you for a few minutes.¡± ¡°You look quite suspicious for someone who just wants to talk.¡± Zin smiled at the two armed guards with stiff facial expressions. ¡°But I¡¯d dly listen to what you have to say.¡± Zin had a sense of what the suspicious fellow would suggest. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- ¡°I guess it¡¯s true that Dominator is a subsidiary of Odin Corporation.¡± The ce the sales agent, Course, had brought Zin to was an office inside Station 43, and the bodyguards apanying him were also guards from Odin Corporation, who had been expelled from the railway station. He smiled at Zin¡¯s words. ¡°I won¡¯t deny it.¡± ¡°So, what is it you want to talk about?¡± ¡°We¡¯re building a hunting business system right now. The business will expand, and soon, it will be a massive organization that covers all of New Hong Kong.¡± ¡°That seems to be the case.¡± Course grinned before getting to the point, seemingly satisfied that they couldmunicate fairly well. ¡°We need talented people and we still have a lot to improve on. I¡¯d heard that someone who could help us with that had just appeared.¡± Dominator was not just expanding their businesses. In actuality, they were also highly responsive to any news in the industry. As a result, they not only knew of Zin¡¯s reputation, but also what he looked like. ¡°I heard you have excellent technique.¡± He smiled and took a chip box out of his arms, handing it to Zin. ¡°And we need it.¡± ¡°Humm¡­¡± The chipbox contained two thousand chips. ¡°You¡¯re going to hire me. Is that it?¡± ¡°To be exact, we want your knowledge. We know that experience and knowledge are worthy of respect. Also, we don¡¯t hesitate to put a high price on it.¡± Themercialized hunting business needed Zin¡¯s know-how. If that were to flow into the organization and systemized, they would be able to resolve all requests from clients with near-mechanical uracy and speed. ¡°I want you to know that Dominator always pays a fair price for what it wants.¡± The man looked at the chip box and added, ¡°This is not a down payment, it¡¯s a gift. If you¡¯ll just visit our headquarters, I¡¯ll give it to you right away.¡± When Course told Zin that he would give him two thousand chips for a visit, Zin couldn¡¯t help but be startled. Dominator had some deep pockets. The hunters in the Nest were cold toward Zin and Ramphil, who had taken all the jobs. However, it was Dominator who really recognized the value of Zin, the person taking their jobs. ¡°That¡¯s ironic¡­¡± As he grabbed the chipbox, Zin was smiling bitterly on the inside. Hunting required caution, but when you had to make a move, you had to go for it. In fact, no one had bigger balls than Zin. ¡°Visiting would be a good experience for me.¡± He might have just made the choice to walk into the lion¡¯s den. However, Zin had already been inside the mouth of a dragon. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Meanwhile, Ramphil was nearing Harlem. There were people everywhere, scattered like dirty filth and trash. Ramphil looked straight ahead as he walked, but in reality, he was observing everything around him. The backpack on his back contained a pile of leaflets. The ce did not have many visitors, and the residents were drug addicts and lowlives working in brothels. It showcased just how the losers were living in the big city, and ordinary people did note near it. Ramphil had gone there deliberately, passed through alley after alley, and taken a piece of paper and read it. What Rampil was looking at was a map of therge city, which he bought for three chips at a store. However, the ce he was in was not even properly recorded on the map. ¡°That was a waste of money¡­¡± Grunting silently would not get his money back. Ramphil diligently walked through the alley. Since the map was no help, he was just walking around without a proper destination. The people who looked like bums did not care who was walking around. The sound of people hacking could be heard from here and there. It seemed like they were barely managing to survive. In fact, in big cities, drug addicts often became street tramps. That was why, in Harlem, the drug addicts were as dangerous as the cadaver hunters in the alley. At least, those who were in habitable ces did not wish to smell the rotting corpses in Harlem. But wherever there were people, there was someone who wanted to control them, and that rule applied to those alleys as well. Those ces were subject to gang rule. ¡°Hey, I think you¡¯ve taken a wrong turn.¡± Two men, arm in arm at the entrance of an alley, pulled pistols out of their arms and looked at Ramphil. Of course, the gangsters patrolling the area would have noticed someone they had not seen before walking around. Ramphil gave a short reply, looking at the two gangsters who were ready to shoot at any time, ¡°No, I think I¡¯m in the right ce.¡± And the next moment. ¡®Bam!¡¯ ¡°Ahh!¡± ¡°Ahh!¡± Ramphil already had his hands around their necks. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª After about an hour¡­ ¡®Bang! Ba-bang! Boom!¡¯ ¡°Ugh! Ugh! Ah!¡± The family house was in shambles, booming with loud gunfire. However, that was alsoing to an end. The family house that had been cleaned up was full of incapacitated gangsters randomly hanging from the railings and the stairs. ¡®Boom!¡¯ When he stormed through the main gate, he saw the boss there staring at the monster that had just burst in with a puzzled look. Trembling, he fired the Odin Corporation pistol in his hand. ¡®Bang!¡¯ ¡°Hmm.¡± But Ramphil avoided the bullets just by moving his head slightly. The surprise onlysted for a moment, and he soon fired his gun continuously. ¡®Babang! Bang! Bang!¡¯ Ramphil had already moved from the area he was shooting, however, and snatched away his pistol. ¡®Crack!¡¯ Ramphil broke the pistol by twisting it and stared at the pale-looking boss. ¡°You, you, what are you?! Are you the hitmen from Gorgio?!¡± ¡°Hitman? I don¡¯t know what that is, but are you the boss of the Giodan Family?¡± All the gang members in the family had been attacked by only one person. It seemed like he had been shot as he had holes in his clothes, but the opponent didn¡¯t even seem hurt by such things. Instead of exining who he was, he poured out numerous wanted posters from his bag. Then, he took out a poster that matched the description of the boss and handed it to him. The reward was three thousand chips. ¡°Almost everyone here had a bounty on their necks.¡± ¡°Huh, a bounty hunter? Crazy! Do you know what you¡¯re doing?¡± Gangs were often entangled in grudges, and they often had bounties on them. But bounty hunters usually didn¡¯t touch gangsters, as there would be retaliation from gang members. So, the rewards were usually just a pie in the sky. Unfortunately, however, not for Ramphil. ¡°I could take your neck and get the reward money, but I¡¯m not a regr hunter.¡± Ramphil had thought this through. After all, the goal was money, not the job itself. There was no need to be bound by the rules of the hunters. Ramphil filtered out the gang members of the Giodan family from the flyers, leaving the boss not understanding his current situation. All the wanted men on the battlefield had something inmon: all of them belonged to the gangs. There were a total of twenty-five wanted posters on the board. Ramphil pulled out the poster and asked the boss, ¡°How much will you pay for the life of those twenty-five, including you?¡± If he didn¡¯t pay more than the reward, he was going to take their heads and get the reward. Ramphil was not a hunter, which meant that that he didn¡¯t know and didn¡¯t want to know about hunters¡¯ rules as long as he could achieve his goal. In desperate times, Ramphil hade up with the crazy and unprecedented idea of robbing gangsters. The head of the Giodan Family didn¡¯t know whether to feel relief or despair over the fact that his family had been destroyed over a petty matter like that that wasn¡¯t even a gang war. ¡°W-Whoa¡­ You crazy bastard¡­¡± Still, he couldn¡¯t help but quickly calcte how much money the family had at its disposal. Chapter 110 - Dominator Chapter 110: Dominator While Ramphil was breaking the gang¡¯s sign, Zin was visiting Dominator¡¯s headquarters. ¡°They¡¯re armed to the teeth¡­¡± Dominator¡¯s headquarter was a newly built brick building with troops stationed on site and a rooftop equipped with machine guns. They looked like a militant group doing monster hunting on the side rather than a ce of monster-hunting business. All armed with Odin Corporation¡¯s weapons, they not only had simple firearms, but also high-powered, panoramic-ranged weapons, including the chipbusters. ¡°Can¡¯t beat that.¡± Trying to gain control over Dominator would be like trying to knock down a well-organized fortress. Zin judged that it would be impossible to fight them unless there was very good means and strategy. Course exined, ¡°We¡¯re still at the point of using weapons to handle monsters. They¡¯re effective in taking them down, but theyck the range of a professional.¡± Dominator knew their inadequacies well. ¡°We also have a lot of employees who used to be hunters that are passing on their know-how in different areas, but it¡¯s been difficult to systemize that. That¡¯s why we don¡¯t spare any money when recruiting workers with a hunter background.¡± They were not just aggressively expanding, but they were also making an investment to increase efficiency. In fact, that was the natural course of action for a corporation withrge capital. Course certainly seemed to be a high-ranking person within thepany, as the guards saluted him vigorously when he passed through the entrance. ¡°We determine the size of the team based on the mission. At least two or more, and as many as five members. It hasn¡¯t happened yet, but I¡¯m also thinking of setting up a tactical base to carry out a massive operation. Individual teams woulde together to carry out a joint operation.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ systemized.¡± At Zin¡¯s words, Course nodded and smiled. It seemed like they were adding hunters¡¯ techniques on top of the Wargrave¡¯s. The headquarter was more like a city block rather than a building, and there was employee training in progress everywhere. Coursemented as he walked past each of the employee training sites, ¡°Many were guards, so they¡¯re not very good at dealing with monsters yet. That¡¯s why all of the training is being done by those with a hunter background.¡± That part was actually taken from Academy¡¯s system at the Nest. As he toured Dominator¡¯s headquarters, Zin couldn¡¯t help but be impressed. Unlike Nest¡¯s freestyle, Dominator was perfectly systemized. ¡°These guys are serious¡­¡± After all, hunters needed toplete the job, and it was the Academy that trained such people. To build a perfect system, Dominator remained humble and continually thought about the areas that needed improvement. It was an organization that strove to operate perfectly without any fault. That was Zin¡¯s assessment after touring Dominator¡¯s headquarters. The Red Dragon Nest would soon lose all monster hunting to them. They were impossible to beat in terms of capital, scale and structure. ¡°Come this way, please.¡± After the tour, Course took Zin to the drawing room. The well-decorated drawing room smelled of dry paper, and for a simple meal, perfectly baked cookies were ced in front of them. The food prepared for the guests was quite generous, and that was also a show of their capital. But Zin didn¡¯t touch the cookies. As he watched Zin, Course slowly started to discuss business. ¡°I wish you, Zin, would join Dominator. You¡¯ll get the best amodations, and our partnership with Odin Corporation gives you free ess to all kinds of weapons and equipment. The sry is six hundred chips per week, and incentives would be provided based on the number of resolved cases.¡± Assuming five weeks a month, the monthly payment would be an incredible 3,000 chips. That was how high of a value they were putting on Zin, the hunter. ¡°I get why hunters are abandoning Nest anding here.¡± As such, the goods offered by Dominator were enormous. Above all, all the services offered by Odin Corporation would be avable for free or at a significantly reduced price. Right away, the subway would bepletely free. ¡°If you were to join hands with us, the first order of business would be to develop a training program rather thanpleting a mission. You¡¯d also be involved in a very important project that we¡¯re working on, which would provide you with more incentives.¡± They needed his knowledge rather than his ability to hunt, so they intended to produce a hunting field training manual. When a training manual containing a number of real-life scenarios was produced, the educational system would be even more robust. ¡°Humm¡­¡± But Zin shook his head after hearing all of the ideas. ¡°Thanks for the offer, but I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t like being tied to something.¡± No matter what the offer was, Zin had had no intention of epting it. Course didn¡¯t show any signs of disappointment, despite the fact that if Zin were to refuse the offer, he would have simply given him two thousand chips. ¡°I thought you¡¯d say that. I didn¡¯t think you were an ordinary hunter. Are you just passing by? ¡°Yes, I have somewhere to go.¡± He acted as though he had anticipated Zin¡¯s answer. Even hunters who liked money had limits. Dominators¡¯ staff, Course, regarded Zin to be a hunter on another level. He knew very well that such people could never be tied down. In that respect, Course was a pretty good negotiator. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll suggest something else. Actually, a job proposal.¡± Throw a heavy offer, followed by a slightly lighter one. And in this case, it wasn¡¯t a contract but a referral. And it was closer to the main point. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about the project I just told you about.¡± With a smile on his face, Course stared straight at Zin as he talked, ¡°Soon, we¡¯re going to destroy the Hive.¡± There were many reasons for why they needed a true veteran hunter, but the most important reason was actually that. ¡°Please join us in the search-and-destroy operation.¡± Zin winced at the words. He hadn¡¯t expected to hear that. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡°I understand you have a friend. It looks like you two are working separately, but¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± ¡°If he joins us, too, we¡¯ll give you 2.5 times the amount I mentioned.¡± Judging from the fact that Ramphil and Zin had appeared at the same time, they had even guessed that the two of them were together. However, they had to approach Zin first because Ramphil had gone out too early. Zin didn¡¯t answer right away, returning to Nest instead. In addition to the tour, Zin roamed about Dominator¡¯s headquarters freely. Though not perfect, the training to reach near perfection was quite impressive to him. Dominator was in the process of infiltrating the market with its overwhelming capital, and it was making quite an investment to offer contracts to hunters. The amount they had offered Zin was literally enormous. It was no more and no less than ten thousand chips. If it were a single request, paying such amount would make no sense. Even with Zin¡¯s long hunting history, he could count only a few that were for this level ofpensation . And, if he were to work with Ramphil, it would be twenty-five thousand chips. Although he had long journey ahead, that kind of request was certainly enticing. ¡°If I include the chips I could get from the monsters in the Hive¡­ it would be even more.¡± In fact, the reward would be greater if one considered the chips extracted from the monsters. But there was something that Zin just couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°Why are they trying to destroy the Hive?¡± The monsters pouring out as hybrids were definitely a threat. But threats were good for the hunting business. The possibility of destroying the Hive aside, once the Hive was destroyed, the source of regr work in the big city would disappear. In the long run, Dominator would be carrying out the operation that would slice its own throat. As Zin was organizing his thoughts, Ramphil returned to the room. ¡°Did bounty hunting go well?¡± ¡°Well, I couldn¡¯t close the case, but it doesn¡¯t matter because I earned some money, right?¡± Ramphil pulled a chipbox out, and Zin, who checked the number of chips, frowned. ¡°¡­ You didn¡¯t rob the financial sector, did you?¡± In front of Zin, the chip box was showing exactly how much energy it had. If it weren¡¯t a Wargrave chip box, it would not have been big enough to fit everything in it. Zin wondered if Ramphil had attacked a ce and robbed someone¡¯s personal safe. [13,629 Chips] Ramphil had made thirteen thousand chips in a day. ¡°I put the three organizations in order¡± ¡°What nonsense are you talking about?¡± ¡°I got them under my control and then asked if they¡¯d like for me to collect their rewards when they were dead or if they¡¯d like to pay me more than that now. They all chose thetter.¡± ¡°¡­¡± He had neutralized threerge gangs in the city and told them that they would live if they coughed up more money than they had on their necks. Of course, since their lives were more valuable than precious chips, the heads of the gangs had opened their safes and offered their chips. As if he were popping a cork, Ramphil had pulled a ridiculous feat and emptied the gang¡¯s pockets. With his hands on his forehead, Zin pondered whether he should praise Ramphil or what. ¡°I guess there are about eight more of them. I can finish collecting by the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Zin was even more troubled when he spoke as if he were collecting money owed to him. Because they had to earn an absurd amount of money, it seemed like Ramphil had lost his good sense. Zin replied nervously, looking at Ramphil who was staring at him with a sour look, as if to say, ¡®What¡¯s wrong?¡¯ ¡°Well¡­ Good job.¡± Zin had no intention of fighting Dominator, but his belief that they would inevitably lose had to be changed to some extent. If there was a monster ahead, anything was possible. It had been fifteen days since they came to the big city, and the amount of chips they had collected was now approaching thirty thousand. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C ¡®Bang! Bang! Bang!¡¯ ¡°Hoo-hoo¡­¡± After shooting, Leona exhaled and checked her gun. ¡°You certainly have a talent for shooting.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re very calm and cautious. And most of all, you know how to shoot depending on the situation.¡± The instructor looked at Leona and praised her, and the other children admired Leona¡¯s uracy. The children were shooting for the first time there, but Leona had already shot in realbat. In essence, she was relearning something she had learned out in the field, so she was fundamentally different from other children. ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± Leona smiled, the instructor smiled back and then went away to teach the other children. That day¡¯s schedule was over, and it was gettingte. Leona waved when she saw Zin waiting outside the shooting range. ¡°Mr. Hunter! Did everything go well?¡± ¡°Yes, you know the drill.¡± Ramphil had also waited standing next to Zin. Both had been watching Leona from afar, and Leona felt something when she saw Zin and Ramphil waiting for her. She didn¡¯t know what it was, but it was her first time experiencing that warm feeling in her heart, which was filling her with happiness at the same time. Leona walked beside Zin. ¡°Let¡¯s eat. I¡¯m hungry.¡± Zin nodded at Leona¡¯s words. ¡°Yes. For now, we have somewhere to go.¡± Once Zin had picked up Leona, they had something to do first. The ce Zin went to was none other than the Dean¡¯s office. The Dean rose from his seat when Zin entered. ¡°Oh, Zin, what brings you here?¡± ¡°I have something to discuss.¡± ¡°Please, have a seat here.¡± Leona, Ramphil and Zin sat down, one after the other on the seats the Dean had suggested, and the Dean took a seat opposite of them. In actuality, the Dean was in charge of the Academy, so he didn¡¯t really interfere with the hunters¡¯ work. So, except for the first day of their visit to the Nest, they had not seen each other much. Only Leona had, on asion, been in a ss taught by the Dean. He spoke to Zin as if he knew what he was about to say, ¡°I think it¡¯s about Dominator, right?¡± ¡°You are well informed.¡± ¡°Now that you¡¯re here, I thought you¡¯d find out by now.¡± With a look of anxiety, he heaved a deep sigh. ¡°Is Nest not taking any measures?¡± ¡°¡­ No. Unlike the Fenriar incident, Dominator does not have direct contact with us.¡± So, the hunters had no cause to rally. Chapter 111 - Terror Sleeping Underground (Part 1) Chapter 111: Terror Sleeping Underground (Part 1) In the past, hunters had united when other organizations had interfered directly with the Hunter¡¯s Nest. But this time, they were just doing their business. ¡°And most of all, they are only negatively affecting monster hunting, so the hunters in other categories are not very motivated.¡± Theck of direct motivation for groups in other categories was also a problem. Hunters were naturally interested in their own affairs. Even at the Academy, they were taught not to work based on altruism andpassion. That was why they couldn¡¯t ignore Dominator, but they also couldn¡¯t do anything about them. ¡°Yes, there¡¯s the problem, but¡­ They told me that they want to destroy the Hive.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Hearing Zin¡¯s response, a worried look deepened in Taehone¡¯s face. ¡°I have a feeling you knew this already.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ It¡¯s actually not that unexpected.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think destroying the Hive is not a good idea on any ount?¡± Hunters were the ones who lived on misfortune, and destroying the Hive was tantamount to cutting off the hand that fed the hunters. Apart from the danger and the uniqueness of the Hive, the Hunter¡¯s Nest also had to consider its need. That¡¯s why Zin, when he had first arrived there, had been surprised to learn that Taehone had lost an arm and an eye while trying to destroy the Hive. He would not have gone alone but with arge group, instead, and they would have gone underground to the Hive. Zin didn¡¯t think there would have been any reason for that, but asking about it would¡¯ve been somewhat disrespectful in the hunting industry, so he had not asked about it. But now, he needed answers. Dominator had ns to destroy the Hive, and the Dean of the Nest had suffered injuries in the Hive. There was a good chance that there was a connection between the two, or at least, the Dean knew something about the Hive. For example, the reason why the Hive had to be destroyed. With hesitation, Taehone started to speak slowly. ¡°¡­ I was injured ten years ago.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± ¡°Yes, after that¡­ As you can see, this is how we¡¯re doing.¡± He was saying that it had been a decade since he¡¯d begun training other hunters in the Nest. Some had remained in the big city, and others had left for the world. ¡°It was a job,¡± said Taehone. ¡°Odin Corporation had put up a job with an unprecedented amount as the reward,¡± he continued to talk calmly with a look of regret as he recalled that time. Odin Corporation had offered the Red Dragon Nest a hundred thousand chips at the start and nine hundred thousand uponpletion, for a total of one million chips. That was a huge sum of money, enough to build and operate a decent-sized business within the big city. Since they controlled most of the big city, they had a massive amount of capital and could afford to offer such an amount for a job. The job was simple. ¡°Find the Hive.¡± Odin Corporation had put up arge amount of money for what they believed existed, though it had been unclear whether it did or not. They could have deployed their own security team, but they had had no experience with monsters, just people. Odin Corporation had relied on the experts to find the Hive. Of course, the job could not have been done by a single hunter, so the Nest had gathered a group of the most elite hunters and divided up the work. The huge sum of one million chips would be enough to share with others, so the hunters had dly signed up without hesitation. Taehone, who had been the most experienced among all of the active hunters, also jumped at the opportunity. ¡°I was curious on whether the rumored Hive was real, and about what was in it.¡± The hunters had been attracted by therge amount of chips, but at the same time, they had been tempted by the secrets of thend they had been living in. It had been uncharted territory, which had long existed only as a legend, and it had remained unreached, while at the same time affecting them. Chips had been important, but more than that, their curiosity and the fame associated with the work had also been important. The title of Hunter Who¡¯s Been to the Hive had been enticing enough for some. A total of five hundred hunters had signed up for the job. It had been a big deal for everyone one of them because each of them would have received two thousand chips uponpletion. ¡°Nearly all the hunters in the Red Dragon Nest searched the emptynd, the underground, and the ruins.¡± Clearly, there were ruins in the big city, and the hunters had dealt with misceneous monsters and destroyed their nests as they roamed the underground passages of the ruins. They had roamed through destroyed roads and underground spaces to find the source of the monsters and killed them. They had been trying to find a hidden passageway to the Hive. But finding a way to the Hive had been a difficult task. ¡°After about a month, Odin Corporation suddenly canceled the request.¡± ¡°Did something go wrong?¡± ¡°Actually, Odin Corporation didn¡¯t have much interest in the Hive itself,¡± the Dean said, smiling bitterly. Zin¡¯s expression hardened, as if he knew what wasing, and Taehone continued, ¡°They knew that once they had made the request to find the Hive, the hunters would havebed through the ruins. And we were roaming all over the city in search of the Hive, cleaning, organizing, and clearing the way through the deep, dark underground.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°And arge portion of seemingly abandonednd and a number of ruins were actually owned by Odin Corporation.¡± It had been almost as if all hunters from the Red Dragon Nest had cleaned up Odin Corporation¡¯snd. A hundred thousand chips was only two hundred chips each for of the five hundred hunters, and two hundred chips a month was not much. In the end, Odin Corporation only had to paid the hundred-thousand-chip starting fee. The actual cost of what the hunters had been doing would have been at least five hundred chips, so thepany had a huge profit. The hunters had searched basements and made records of ces with no underground tunnels. Those records had been as good as reports about the sites¡¯ safety to Odin Corporation. ¡°They started developing thend we¡¯d cleaned up. Factories, houses, offices, stores¡­ things of that sort.¡± Odin Corporation was able to develop the area safely because the hunters had already cleared the ce and proved that it was safe. They had sessfully manipted the hunters. They had used the hunters very cheaply. Of course, the hunters would normally have been angry. Ironically, however, that hadn¡¯t been important to the hunters anymore. They could have gotten angry at being used and retaliated against Odin Corporation, but the majority of hunters had no longer been concerned with the job. They had nearly reached the Hive. They had had one foot in the area that had remained unknown since the construction of the metropolis¨Can area that had existed but that no one had been able to find. Just like Odin Corporation had not been interested in the Hive in the first ce, now that the hunters had reached the Hive, they had lost interest in Odin Corporation. Those who lived by hunting could end up getting drunk in their own madness. For Zin, the reason for why he had been wandering around in the devilless world in search of evil could also be exined by his madness in some way. The hunters of Red Dragon had been intoxicated by the idea that they could¡¯ve built a unique territory. The hunters had gone down and down, finding hidden and dark tunnels in homes and mapping them. Then, as they went further underground, they dealt with misceneous minions and killed monsters. They had opened up blocked roads by digging up the rocks and had eventually reached the Hive. Rather than reaching it, saying that they had fallen in would be more correct. They had fallen into the Hive all of a sudden, when the weakened ground copsed. The hunters, who had fallen into the water, had barely been able to crawl the water¡¯s edge. The liquid hadn¡¯t in fact been water, but old sewage made of the bodily fluids of the monsters that had already rotted. What had unfolded before their eyes had been an immense world, one they had never seen or experienced before. ¡°It was and of despair.¡± The expression on Taehone¡¯s face was grim, and there was even fear in his eyes at that moment. What had been seething in the vast underground space had been a battle between enormous terror against multiple fears, something they had had no idea of how do deal with. A grotesque scene in which different species interbred, gave birth, and where the young ate their parents had yed out in front of them. As soon as they had reached the Hive, countless hunters had tried to escape the ce they had worked so hard to reach. Unfortunately, the monsters had been hostile to everything, and the hunters had been no exception. Not only had there been strange creatures that they had never encountered before, but there had also been inanimate objects that had produced only malice and fear without form around them. Within the food chain of a ce where only the things that they had never seen or experienced before existed, the hunters had been too insignificant of a thing to even warrant a look. And that had been rather fortunate. The hunters had had to fight for life and death against things that had been like insects in a hive. Countless hunters had died while fighting the mysterious organisms of the Hive. To get out of the area with the monsters, the hunters had held their breaths and tried to escape. Each monster in the Hive had had its own territory, and all the hunters had been able to do had been to use the pathways made by tentacle monsters, which the giant monsters didn¡¯t use. With the structure of the Hivepletely unknown to them, they had been forced to survive by hunting and chewing on the mysterious monsters they had been hunting. In the meantime, many hunters had died, and when only fifty hunters had remained, they had had to face the real terror: The Ruler of the Hive. When it appeared, all the monsters escaped with their breaths held. ¡°If there such a thing as a demon, I think that would be it.¡± Faced with a dead-end, the hunters had had no choice but to fight. They had fought by using chip busters, grenades and bullets that they had been saving. But the monster had eaten up the hunters without a problem. Talking about the moment when he had had to flee using other, dying hunters as shields, Taehone became somber. He had run and run like a madman to get away. He didn¡¯t know how he had managed to escape, but when he had finallye to his senses, he had been wandering through the burrows used by insects and had suddenly reached a cave he recognized. He had not even realized that his arm and his eye were gone. ¡°And after I came up, I never went down there again and I never told anyone about it.¡± In return for trying to explore an area that nobody had been able to reach, Taehone had not only lost an arm and an eye, but a countless number of his hunter friends along with them. He couldn¡¯t tell anyone that he had been down to the Hive and hade back. Such terror and such despair were not something that could be exined in words. Just for having told Zin, Taehone seemed to have aged ten years and had dark circles under his eyes. He had suffered great pain and despair and was under a lot of mental pressure. Nevertheless, there was something that bothered him even more. ¡°I¡¯ve lost so much, but I don¡¯t know what they are, why they exist, or what to call such monsters.¡± Even though he had lost much, he hadn¡¯t been able to get much info, which is why Taehone felt guilty for surviving. It was painful to live with something like that, but for the sake of the dead hunters, he chose to stay in the Nest and train the generations toe. Zin nodded slowly with a firm look. He had not thought that the Hive would¡¯ve been that dangerous. It was difficult to imagine the ce just from listening to the story. ¡°Is it an entirely different ecosystem of monsters?¡± Not every monster in the world was known. There were a lot of monsters living in the world that even Zin had never seen before, and some had even gone extinct. Zin asked something else, ¡°Then, why is Dominator trying to destroy the Hive?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the only one who survived the Hive.¡± Countless hunters had died during the job, but two had survived. ¡°Do you remember Yoohwan?¡± ¡°Him? He was¡­¡± ¡°Yes, he was a neer from Penrrier Industries. You know, he had the sniper rifle¡­¡± Zin was able to recall a rookie hunter who had had a considerable talent for handling the sniper rifle from an early age, and who had been able to handle quite arge number of enemies. The fact that he remembered him despite it being a long time ago meant that the hunter¡¯s talent was superb. ¡°He also survived, like me.¡± A lot of time had passed since then, so the rookie would be a highly experienced veteran by now. ¡°No way¡­ Then, is he?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Taehone nodded at Zin¡¯s question. ¡°Yoohwan is the leader of Dominator.¡± Zin could finally understand why Dominator had offered him such an outstanding deal. Chapter 112 - Terror Sleeping Underground (Part 2) Chapter 112: Terror Sleeping Underground (Part 2) If the hunter with whom he had carried out the operation for Fenrier Industries was the head of Dominator, naturally, he would have recognized Zin¡¯s value. Taehone remained in the Nest, but the other hunter who had survived had left the Nest to form a military group. ¡°Why must the Hive be destroyed?¡± ¡°The monsters of the Hive¡­ They definitely throw up more chips than any other monsters.¡± Taehone gave an ount of how many chips could be extracted even from microbes in the Hive. That was how many chips the monsters of the Hive had in their possession. ¡°With that superficial reason, they might have convinced Odin Corporation.¡± They had manipted the corporation by using the chips as bait. However, he thought that the real goal might be something else. It was a no-brainer. Most likely, it was revenge. One would be hard-pressed to find a hunter who didn¡¯t hold hatred toward monsters. So, hunters taking revenge on monsters was not out of question. Among those who had died there, there could¡¯ve been someone special to him, or maybe it was just to get back something he had lost. ¡°Is he all right?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not crippled, but¡­ He was infected with the poison, and his face is messed up. It seems like he wears a mask now.¡± Zin could somehow understand why Taehone was having a difficult time deciding on how to respond to the Dominator situation at hand. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C Few knew that the monster hunters had been massacred. The Hive search had been carried out in strict secrecy, and the subject was taboo in the Nest. The tragedy was buried quietly because neither of the two survivors were willing to share their heroic journey. Odin Corporation could not care less about the deaths of the hunters. They were bent on their own business and had no interest in those who had seen blood after provoking the Hive. After returning from the Hive, Taehone and Yoohwan had both been traumatized and had stayed away from everyone. By the time Taehone had gotten himself back up and started teaching at the Academy, Yoohwan had left the Nest with his face in bandages. Yoohwan had headed for Odin Corporation. They hadn¡¯t been interested in what that has-been hunter wanted and tried to chase him away. However, Yoohwan had been desperate. Figuring out what apany wanted was, in fact, simple. They needed someone who could make them a lot of chips and someone who could open up new markets. Yoohwan was going to throw the bait at Odin Corporation. It was about a huge business, the profits expected from that business, and the size of the market that could be controlled. Yoohwan was a hunter, but at the same time, the fact that he was a city hunter made him different from hunters of other areas. He knew how the enterprise worked and could clearly exin, at any moment, how his ideas could yield huge profits. But he had overlooked one important thing: no one wanted to talk to a leper too hideous to look at. He was beaten up even before he had a chance to exin his grand n. However, Yoohwan hadn¡¯t stopped there. He had knelt in front of Odin Corporation¡¯s headquarters, had had his head on the ground, and had begged them to have a conversation with him. The guards had chased him and beaten him, but he had not backed down, begging for a conversation. No one had paid any attention to him¡­ Except for one. Luwin, the fourth son of Odin Corporation, had been the one interested in Yoohwan. He had been interested in his pockmarked face and his pathetic appearance. ¡°Him being the fourth son of Odin Corporation meant that he was able to lead a well-to-do, luxurious life, but at the same time, was in an impossible position to be the close to Mr. Odin.¡± Enterprises in big cities were like empires, and the big ones, like Odin Corporation, were the empire itself that dominated New Hong Kong. The fourth son of the emperor, Luwin, took Yoohwan in. Everyone wondered why the emperor¡¯s son was taking on a dirtbag, but it was only seen as something entric, which was the norm for that tribe of people. It was easy for people to assume that being generous to such people was a new hobby of his. But Yoohwan wasn¡¯t able to start his business and, instead, became Luwin¡¯s personal bodyguard and martial arts instructor. With a mask covering his face, Yoohwan became Luwin¡¯s shadow. That was ten years ago. And five years ago, Luwin became emperor. The brothers were all dead, and Mr. Odin was also killed under mysterious circumstances. There was no circumstantial evidence that a murder had beenmitted. Because there was no evidence, people knew that Luwin had murdered all of them. However, without proof, people had no choice but to fear Luwin¡¯s power. No one opposed his rise to the emperor¡¯s throne. He was the youngest chairman in the history of Odin Corporation. ¡°Mr. Odin, the Guardian is here.¡± ¡°Tell him toe in.¡± Buildings with elevators and automatic doors were rare in the big city, too. However, Odin Corporation had a considerable amount of electric power and automation in their facilities. In the first ce, if there had been no elevators in such arge building, there would have been a prerequisite to hire employees with strong thighs. A skyscraper standing tall in a big city, Asgard Tower, that was the name of Odin Corporation¡¯s heart. ¡®Whiing.¡¯ When the automatic door opened, a man with an iron mask appeared. His body looked strong, and one could feel the tight muscles rippling under his suit. He stood in front of the chairman and bowed his head. ¡°I¡¯mte, Mr. Chairman.¡± ¡°I feel ufortable with your saying that when you¡¯re ten minutes early.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Yoohwan had been his bodyguard from the moment he met Luwin. Of course, that had been on the surface. The pock-faced person that everyone ignored at the time was just a nasty leper to others, but Luwin recognized his essence. At that time, the pockmarked person getting beaten by the bodyguards in front of the building had been one of the two best monster hunters in that wide region. He had been a killing machine that could¡¯ve twisted the neck of three guards beating him up in just three seconds. Luwin had been able to see that. One had saved his face, but lost his eyes and arms, and the other had an unblemished body. What was a hunter? He was a hunter. Did it matter that his face was messed up? His skill wasn¡¯t affected. Luwin had raised him up and smiled at Yoohwan, who had been wearing shabby bandages soaked in puss. ¡°You haven¡¯t lost anything, so why are you acting like the world has abandoned you?- ¡°¡­¡± At those words, Yoohwan had lowered his head, and Luwin had ced his hand on Yoohwan¡¯s puss-filled cheeks. ¡°From now on, you shouldn¡¯t lower your head anywhere.¡± Since then, Luwin had made him his right-hand man, and Luwin¡¯s judgment had been correct. He had proved without a doubt that while he had lost his face, he had not lost his ability. There was no one among the executives who did not know that Yoohwan was Luwin¡¯s hitman, and that he had yed the biggest role in making Odin Corporation Luwin¡¯s. But because there was no evidence, people were afraid of Yoohwan. Luwin swiveled his chair over to the window. He could see the city at night. It was a view that could only be seen in three ces in the world. And it was a view that only someone who had climbed to the top could enjoy. ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡± ¡°The market takeover is in good shape. When the Hive is destroyed, people will know the power of Dominator, and the market will bepletely transferred from the Nest to Dominator.¡± The Hive¡¯s destruction would have two effects on Odin Corporation: One, they would get a huge amount of chips by destroying monsters in the Hive, and Odin Corporation would take possession of the numerous chipsying dormant in the Hive. Second, by Dominator seeding in something that the hunters had failed to do in the past, they would get a huge marketing boost. That would cause the Nest topletely lose its credibility in the monster hunting arena, and Dominator would be able to take full control of the monster hunting market when that happened. Luwin had promised to listen to Yoohwan¡¯s request when he became chairman, and the promise had gone into effect two years ago. Yoohwan had organized a group of hunters called Dominator, and although the organization was still in the red, the prospect was that it would be in ck within a few years. Yoohwan was operating Dominator with confidence and stability, utilizing his past experiences to his advantage. The organization became stronger and added more staff. Yoohwan was a loyal henchman, and when Luwin authorized the creation of Dominator, he even wept under his mask. No one was more suitable as a silent supporter. Yoohwan asked, ¡°How was your meeting today?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Luwin turned the chair, and his face was the same as the salesperson¡¯s that Zin had met that day, Course. ¡°It felt good. I also understood why he wanted to get to the Hive ahead of time.¡± Luwin had a pleasant smile on his face. Yoohwan had reported Zin¡¯s appearance to Mr. Odin, who had gone to check out Zin face-to-face himself. And of course, it was rare for Mr. Odin to go out and see someone. However, Yoohwan¡¯s report had made it worth it. ¡°He was the key figure in the Fenrir Industries case.¡± ¡°¡­ If I remember correctly, I think you¡¯re talking about the hunter who took down Fenrir Security Company by himself. Is that right?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t he old by now? That happened before I was born. Although, I do know from looking at you that one¡¯s experience only makes them better¡­¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t grow old.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°Exactly what it sounds like.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. You know I hate riddles, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a¡­ a devil hunter.¡± ¡°¡­ I¡¯ll have to see it for myself. After hearing that, Luwin could no longer sit at ease. As much as Mr. Odin was serious enough to take the matter into his own hands, at the same time, he was cautious. After Fenrir Industries copsed, Odin Corporation was actually able to be the strongest yer in the big city. So, Zin, a key figure in the Fenrir Industries meltdown, could, in a way, be regarded as a benefactor of Odin Corporation. ¡°When I¡¯m judge someone, I definitely need to see the person in person.¡± Zin, whom Luwin met, was quite an interesting person. Hunters were money-driven, and sometimes, chips were some hunters¡¯ sole purpose. But Zin also had that uncanny look of a hunter with an attitude that said that chips were just a means to an end. ¡°I have something additional to report.¡± ¡°Oh, about the other hunter?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Luwin had met Zin, but he had also instructed Yoohwan to find out about Ramphil, whom he could not meet. ¡°Today, that guy crushed the three gangs of Giorgio, Jordan and Gruzza.¡± ¡°Oh, you mean those useless bastards? Do you mean to tell me that he did that alone?¡± The reason why the gangsters that ruled Harlem were considered worthless was because Odin Corp had the resources and the power to wipe them out with a simple gesture. And some of those gangsters were tied to Odin Corporation whether they knew it or not. At Luwin¡¯s question, Yoohwan nodded. Apart from being surprised by whether it was possible, Luwin was curious about something else. ¡°Why did he do that?¡± ¡°He asked if they¡¯d like to pay him the reward money with death, or pay him more than that now, and then took their chips.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± At the exnation, Luwin tilted his head. ¡°So, he ripped off the gangsters¡­ Is that what you mean?¡± When the chairman of Odin Corporation used the words ¡°ripped off,¡± Yoohwan felt a cold sweat, but he was not exactly wrong. Rather than being surprised by the act, Luwin had made a different judgment. He knew well that there was no point in being surprised by such things. ¡°Well, as a hunter, he must have been after the reward money, but he got paid more money than that to leave them alone. What do you think about that, Yoohwan?¡± ¡°In my opinion, he¡¯s definitely not a hunter.¡± Yoohwan, who had lived for a long time as a hunter, knew that that wasn¡¯t the way of a hunter. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Not only was he not a hunter who was engaging in bounty hunting, but he was also doing things hunters wouldn¡¯t do in order to get more chips. What that was pointing to was simple. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I guess he needs a lot of chips.¡± Even Zin had said that he had a ce to go. Where they had to go, no one knew, but there was a good chance that they hade to the city to collect a significant amount of chips before going there. Not surprisingly, chips were their goal. ¡°OK. Tell them not to retaliate on that.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Gangsters were sometimes useful longterm pawns for businesses, and Odin Corporation was able to control them. ¡°Isn¡¯t that our talent?¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Luwin blurted out as if he had a great idea, ¡°If they need chips, then we can give it to them.¡± With that said, Luwin dismissed Yoohwan. After Yoohwan left, Luwin called his secretary. ¡°Tell them to keep investing and report back on the movements of Zin, the hunter. In addition, look into that guy named Ramphil.¡± Luwin looked out of the window, as if he had a feel for something. Beyond the nightscape of the city was a dark space with no lights on and no buildings around it, like a circle. No one went around the thick wall, surrounded by the circle. ¡°That guy is definitely not human. If needed, you can make contact.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Even after the secretary had left, he kept on gazing at the huge wall. That always silent wall had made this big city. And the wall seemed to still to have no interest in the world. It seemed like it didn¡¯t. ¡°The devil hunter¡­ and another¡­¡± He smiled like a child waiting for something exciting to happen. Chapter 113 - A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss (Part 1) Chapter 113: A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss (Part 1) Three dayster. Ramphil was able to clean up all the remaining gang organizations, and including the chips collected from them, so far, the chips he had collected had reached seventy thousand. ¡°This is the first time I regret being a hunter.¡± Zin sighed as he looked at the chips Ramphil had brought. Ramphil¡¯s method was violent and reckless, but it was definitely effective. Now that the gangs¡¯ pockets were emptied, his method was useless, but they only needed to collect another 130,000 chips. The sudden appearance of a madman had paralyzed the gangs¡¯ activities altogether. Ramphil was now notorious in New Hong Kong, to the point that the gangsters he had visited at the end had surrendered without even thinking of fighting. ¡°The problem starts now¡­¡± It was true that he had gathered chips faster than expected, but now that the gangs¡¯ pockets were empty, he had no one else to rob anymore. ¡°Must we consider destroying the Hive¡­?¡± Coborating with Dominator would bring substantial rewards, and also the chips that woulde from the Hive¡¯s monsters. ¡°That seems to be the only choice we have right now.¡± Surely, they had reached the end of the line with the monster hunting requests. Taking more of those jobs would be like asking other monster hunters in the Nest to starve to death. There were many difficulties because they had to keep a certain kind ofmercial morality in the Nest. ¡°Isn¡¯t that too dangerous?¡± asked Leona. The three were now eating on the first floor of the academy¡¯s lodge. Leona was thinking that entering the Hive would be a very dangerous option, considering the death of countless hunters in the past during the Hive search-and-destroy mission. ¡°If you think about what this guy did in the first ce, we¡¯re already a little out of line,¡± said Zin. What Ramphil had done was so brutal that they would have nothing to say even if the gangs formed a coalition and attacked the Nest right now. For the people of Harlem, who were persecuted and oppressed by the gangs, Ramphil was almost treated like a saint, but the praise of those people actually meant nothing. Although no one knew, the gangs were not able to make such an attempt due to the intervention of Odin Corporation. With his mouth full of fries, Ramphil mumbled at Zin, who was giving him a hard time, ¡°It¡¯s not like we had other options.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡± Should they take on the dangerous task of the Hive¡¯s destruction? They had no more outlets for getting more chips. However, it was unclear whether their cooperation with Dominator¡¯s Hive destruction effort would resolve that issue. When it was time for taking risks, one had to take risks, but the decision to take that risk needed to be made with caution. Leona pped her hands as if she had thought of something. ¡°Why don¡¯t you open a business?¡± Since they had seed money, the idea was to collect two hundred thousand chips by doing business based at the bottom line. Zin looked alternately at Ramphil and Leona. ¡°This goes for me, too, but first of all, don¡¯t you think it would be impossible for this guy to sell anything?¡± ¡°¡­ That¡¯s true.¡± They would be lucky a if they didn¡¯t get swindled. From the start, a pine caterpir should eat pine needles, since they had never managed a business before, there was no guarantee of sess if they were to start now. And it wasn¡¯t a simple problem. Zin knew that if the Hive destruction mission were to be sessful, that would be the end of the monster hunters in the Nest. Large-scale propaganda would be possible, and just by mentioning that the Hive had been destroyed, Odin Corporation would project an image that they were far better than the hunters in the Nest, both in terms of expertise as well as practicality. Thanks the Nest¡¯s image being based on its long history and tradition, people still didn¡¯t trust Dominator. That was why the Nest still had a small supply of requests. Zin and Ramphil¡¯s coboration with Dominator might bring the end of the Red Dragon Nest. ¡°My head hurts.¡± Hunters were always confronted with difficult choices. The more talent you had, the more ability you had. The bigger and more difficult the problems you faced, the more situations you would face where you were forced to make decisions. Then, suddenly, there was amotion near the door. ¡°How dare you show your face here?¡± A few hunters rose from their seats abruptly and guarded the door. ¡°Move over. I¡¯m here now as a client with a request. Are you guys selective with the requests now? ¡°A request? From you, the CEO of Dominator?¡± Even though they were talking to each other calmly, the atmosphere was filled with aggressive tension. Naturally, Zin, Ramphil and Leona looked in that direction. There stood a man with an iron mask on his face, and he was a head taller than everyone else. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s why I came without an escort. Get out of the way.¡± ¡°Get the hell out of here, unless you want a hole in your hideous head.¡± The hunters were ready to take out their guns at any moment, as if making to shoot him at once. Yoohwan was the one who had betrayed all hunters after leaving the Hunter¡¯s Nest, and Dominator, which he created, was taking jobs away from those hunters. In fact, it was natural for them to get angry when the man who had taken the jobs away from the monster hunters had gone there with a request. ¡°I told you to get out of the way,¡± said Yoohwan coldly, and everyone clenched their jaws. Even as a traitor, Yoohwan was a hunter with a career equal to Taehone¡¯s, the Dean of the Academy there. Unlike the retired Taehone, everyone also knew that Yoohwan was still active. If he decided to showcase his talent, there was no telling what would happen. ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± A calm voice bated the tension-filled air. Upon hearing those words, everyone bit their lips and backed away slowly from Yoohwan. It was Taehone, the Dean of the Academy and the Elder of the Nest, who came in slowly. ¡°He said that he came here as a client, so take it as is.¡± That was urate, and the Dean¡¯s words had to be respected in the Nest, even if it was not thew. The hunters retreated slowly with clenched teeth. Looking down at the rtively short Taehone, he said, ¡°A long time no see, Taehone.¡± The two went on their separate ways after they got out of the Hive. Although their positions were different now, they were the only two in the world to share the same experience. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s been a long time, Yoohwan.¡± ¡°May I attend to my business?¡± Yoohwan acted dignified, and that dignity did not include rudeness. He was polite to Taehone, and Taehone also did not hold Yoohwan ountable for the actions of Dominator. Knowing each other¡¯s feelings, they could notugh or despise each other. ¡°Very well. But since there is a situation, I¡¯d like to be present when you make your request. ¡°¡­ As you wish.¡± However, Taehone wanted to monitor Yoohwan, and Yoohwan did not put up a fight. Although the two old hunters did not show hostility to each other, the two old hunters were clearly engaged in a war of nerves. Although Taehone was old, his spirits were still high, and Yoohwan¡¯s energy emanating from his giant body was powerful. And Yoohwan was heading exactly toward where Zin was. ¡°The atmospherepletely blows,¡± muttered Leona with her head lowered, as if her insides churned when she saw the two men in serious moods approaching. There were four people with minds that transcended ordinary human beings, so Leona could not tell which ones were stranger. Yoohwan stood in front of Zin¡¯s table and bowed his head forcefully to Zin, who was eating silently. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in a long time, Zin. I pay my respects to you.¡± All the hunters in the area were shocked by his actions. Who was this guy that made not only Taehone but also Yoohwan, who was no longer a hunter, pay respects to him? Although they knew that he was a serious hunter who could kill many monsters in a day, everyone felt curiosity and awe toward the hunter named Zin, who could make even those who left the hunting business bow their heads to him. Of course, Zin made it even worse. Without even addressing the greeting, he pointed to the chair with his chin. ¡°Have a seat.¡± People were even more surprised at his informal behavior. Even though they were unfriendly toward Yoohwan, they were still afraid of him. But Zin acted as if he didn¡¯t care about how he treated Yoohwan. He still spoke to him without giving him a nce. ¡°The little kid grew up a lot.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time.¡± ¡°OK, what¡¯s your business?¡± Zin said, as if he would listen while eating his meal. Taehone also sat silently beside Zin¡¯s table. ¡°Before we destroy the Hive, we¡¯re nning to do a reconnaissance mission.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°We¡¯re putting together a recon team. Please join them in the mission. This guy here as well.¡± Yoohwan was pointing to Ramphil. Dominator believed that they needed to analyze the Hive¡¯s current strength before they go went with destroying it. And most of all, there were Mr. Odin¡¯s orders to give some chips to Zin and Ramphil. ¡°I¡¯ll pay you ten thousand to start, and ten thousand when it¡¯s done. For each of you, not the two of you together.¡± If Ramphil were to join, that would make this a forty-thousand-chip job. Spending that much on a job that was just recon and not the actual destruction mission meant that the job was less important than the intention to hand them the chips. The job wasn¡¯t a destruction mission, it was reconnaissance. They could juste back when it got too dangerous. Above all, even if they failed toplete the mission properly, they would still get twenty thousand chips. The amount was too huge for them to decline, and the risk was rtively small. That was why even Taehone simply continued to listen. ¡°How many people are joining the reconnaissance?¡± ¡°It would be a small number. First of all, myself and then you two along a special team.¡± Since it was a reconnaissance mission, limiting the number of people to less than ten was the right move. If they were to hold hands with Yoohwan here, then it would make sense to leave the Nest. Since Zin was a hunter, he wanted the Red Dragon Nest to remain intact, but at the same time he needed more chips. If Dominator were to lead the Hive¡¯s destruction, their position would be instantly elevated. There was clearly a way to prevent that from happening while epting the request. ¡°All right, but there¡¯s one requirement.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± ¡°We will have four people in the reconnaissance team. You, me, Ramphil here¡­¡± Zin pointed to an old man with a calm expression and added, ¡°¡­ and Taehone goes with us.¡± ¡°Wh-What?¡± ¡°!¡± Taehone opened his eyes wide, and Yoohwan looked appalled. If Taehone, the symbolic CEO of the Nest, went to a reconnaissance mission with them, even if Dominator destroyed the Hive, the Nest would have yed a part in it. So, politically, the Nest would not lose its public imagepletely. Yoohwan, of course, expressed his disapproval. Zin¡¯s intention aside, Taehone was blind in one eye and had only one arm. ¡°Ramphil is going to be in front when there¡¯s a fight. You two are just going to be observing, so it doesn¡¯t matter whether one can fight or not.¡± With that logic, Zin shut Yoohwan up even before he had a chance to object. ¡°What matters is what you think. How do you feel about it, Taehone?¡± The old hunter with the firm look was silent, but then, he managed to heave a sigh. ¡°I still have an eye to see the enemy and a hand to pull the trigger.¡± Taehone somehow seemed pleased with Zin¡¯s suggestion. Unfortunately, it was Zin and Ramphil who had leverage right now, not Dominator. At the end, Yoohwan nodded with a deep sigh. For now, Mr. Odin¡¯s orders to hand the chips to the two were the priority. ¡°Yes, let it be so.¡± Yoohwan had enough discretion to decide on that much. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡°The Hive seems like a pretty dangerous ce. I¡¯m not sure if we¡¯ll make it,¡± Ramphil said as he walked to his room after Yoohwan had left. Leona was also fidgeting, worried about having only four people go to such a dangerous ce. ¡°I agree. Even though you and Ramphil are very good¡­ I¡¯m a little scared.¡± Leona looked up at Zin, and he shook his head with a smile on his face. ¡°I don¡¯t have to collect two hundred thousand chips to be strong.¡± The words gave Leona and Ramphil a look of realization. ¡°We can use the chips collected so far as capital for the Hive reconnaissance.¡± The more chips he absorbed, the more Zin became stronger. Absorbing about seventy thousand chips would increase his energy by more than 2 percent. That would be enough to respond to most crises. At that level, he could utilize the power of Dark Born in case of an emergency. In fact, it was Zin, with his Dark Born power, and Ramphil who were entering the Hive. They might not be able to destroy the Hive, but they could handle reconnaissance. ¡°So, don¡¯t worry,¡± said Zin, and Leona shed him an awkward smile, feeling anxious but somewhat reassured. Currently, the total number of chips they had collected was 70,000, and with the 40,000 that would be obtained from the Hive reconnaissance mission, their total would go up to 110,000. Although not intended, Zin¡¯s team was somehow rapidly approaching the target amount. Chapter 114 - A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss (Part 2) Chapter 114: A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss (Part 2) The Hive reconnaissance mission didn¡¯t need much preparation. Four members were on the team, and they knew the location of the entrance. Therefore, it took only four days for Taehone to prepare the weapons and organize his knowledge. Meanwhile, Zin and Ramphil talked about the possible risks and how to mitigate them. The hunters of the Nest were unhappy with Dominator and the fact that the Dean of the Academy was going to join the mission, but they were forced to ept it because they knew what it would bring to the Nest. [Alternative Energy Absorption ¨C 72,370 chips] [Operation time extended ¨C 72,370 hours] [Darkborn Energy ¨C 3.06%] [All functions except for biological activities are deactivated. Energy remaining 3,748 days, 12 hours and 9 seconds.] [Need more Devil Blood] Zin swallowed countless chips as if he was inhaling air and then heaved a deep sigh. He felt as though his dead body was being rejuvenated, although not to its full extent. Leona observed the huge amount of chips disappearing in front of her eyes as if she were confronting disaster. ¡°W-Wow, that is¡­ something¡­ I don¡¯t even miss the chips.¡± The sight of chips that could have bought the lives of hundreds of people disappearing in just a few breaths was also radical to Ramphil. However, all those chips had only recovered about 2.46 percent of Zin¡¯s energy. His life expectancy had increased by nearly a decade. To Zin, chips meant life, and he had always extended his life this way. It would be safe to say that there was no living being as inefficient as him. Zin put on his coat and looked at Ramphil. ¡°Is everything ready?¡± ¡°Not much to do.¡± He shrugged, as if there wasn¡¯t much to prepare, and Zin looked down at Leona. ¡°It¡¯ll be a few days.¡± ¡°Both of you, don¡¯t get hurt.¡± Leona, who found it hard to joke around or y games at times like these, looked at Zin and Ramphil alternately with nervous eyes. Although she tried, she could not get used to feeling miserable during times like these. The two left the room, and Leona just stood there, facing the door. One day, she would be in a position to help, but she was sad knowing that that day wouldn¡¯t being soon. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- The fact that having just one arm cut hisbat proficiency by half couldn¡¯t be exined. Once he was disfigured, he was forced to retirepletely. Sometimes, Taehone envied Yoohwan, even though he knew he shouldn¡¯t. He had lost his face, but not his abilities; whereas, Taehone had lost his ability to fight. Because skill was everything to a hunter, he lived in a state of self-loathing. He knew very well that his fighting days would nevere again. His body was getting old, and with its concrete limitations, Taehone was barely able to survive thanks to his glorious past. He definitely knew that his fighting days were over and had epted that hunting was for those who came after him. But Taehone kept up his study of fighting techniques. And not ready to let his old body go, he always tried to keep it in the best shape possible. ¡°Hu-h¡­¡± In his room, Taehone was doing push-up handstands with one hans. His shirtless upper body was bulging with animal-like muscles. The retired hunter¡¯s body was still very much a hunter¡¯s body. The hunter who had lost his left arm had trained his remaining right arm to the extreme. He had never given his body a chance to grow old. He had done this knowing that he would never be able to fight again. He knew that it came from desperation, but he did it anyway. That was the only way he could avoid feeling sorry for himself. His healthy and powerful body remained, and his muscles were getting tighter and tougher with each passing year. He knew better than anyone that it was a pointless endeavor. He knew he could just sit in his chair and carry out his duties as the Dean, but he continued his meaningless training. But it wasn¡¯t all pointless. After a long time, the devil hunter hade back, and the devil hunter had given the old hunter another chance, an opportunity to save himself from despair. ¡°Phew¡­¡± After ny push-ups, Taehone skillfully rose back up with just the one arm. Maintaining his tense body and spirit, he washed himself with cold water. Scars covered his entire body¡ªsome were from monsters and some were from humans. The mere fact that he might add a new scar to the old scars made the old hunter smile as he sshed himself with cold water. After he cleaned himself up and shaved, the old hunter checked the weapon ced on top of his desk. A rifle could be used with one hand, but it would yield poor results. Just because it was possible, it didn¡¯t mean that it should be done. But using a pistol was a better. In front of him, were five ink-colored revolvers. Although therge barrel revolver that used 0.500 Magnum bullets had a tremendous rebound, he had been steadily training his remaining arm and shoulders to control it. It was only training, and not live battles however. The five revolvers bore many handprints, but they had never been used in a real hunt. Only the worn-out handles of the revolvers revealed how Taehone had been handling them. If reloading was inconvenient during an emergency, he could use more than one gun. One by one, he put four revolvers in the holsters around his waistband, and thest one on the holster by his left chest. He loaded different ammo in each revolver. One had a buckshot, the other had white coal pellets, another one had slugs, and another had a monster called busting shot. Tahone had custom made the rarely manufactured .500 Magnum bullets as well as the other special bombs. And they finally had a purpose. Taehorn looked at the ck coat hanging on a hanger. He slowly took it out and put his one arm in. He was d to feel the heavy weight of the quick loader in the sleeve. He had not expected this moment toe. But this was the moment he had been waiting for. The old hunter wearing the coat started to walk with a firm expression on his face. Suddenly, with their backs leaning against the wall, he saw Zin and Ramphil were standing in the hallway. ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°Ready as I¡¯ll ever be.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited,¡± joked Zin, and Taehoneughed. ¡°If I do, please hit me in the back of the head like you used to.¡± The devil hunter grinned at the old hunter¡¯s sly response. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The three left the Nest. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C Taehone, Ramphil and Zin left the Nest and headed to Dominator. The hunters were still busy with their own work, and Leona went to the Academy for her sses. Then, someone opened the door to Zin¡¯s empty room and walked in. He was a retired hunter who taught at the Red Dragon Nest as the academy trainer. However, there was no reason for him to enter the room of Zin¡¯s team. Nevertheless, he walked in as if it was the most natural thing to do, closed the door and looked around the room. Some people in the Nest were already working for Odin Corporation. Hunters believed that only disillusioned hunters went to Dominator, but there were few who had not. They stayed at the Nest and reported the hunters¡¯ activities in real time. Such proxies existed among the hunters, but few were actually instructors who lived in the Nest. Retired hunters generally could not earn as many chips as those on active duty. Some hunters enjoyed luxury and pleasure, and when they retired, they were bored by the ascetic life in the Nest. For them, the chips offered by Odin Corporation were wonderful and fascinating. Soljian was one of those who had started working for Odin Corporation for that reason. He received four hundred chips a month for simply reporting on what was going on. And this time, very simply, the task was to search the new hunters¡¯ quarters and find out anything out of the ordinary. There wasn¡¯t much to find in their luggage. All parties carried their weapons, and Zin kept the most important things in the void. So, all he could find was just some extra clothes and Leona¡¯s toiletries. ¡°Well, I guess I just have to report that there¡¯s nothing.¡± He hadn¡¯t thought that they¡¯d leave anything out of the ordinary in a room that anyone could just walk in, in the first ce. He looked around, and as he put things back in their ce, the only odd thing he noticed was the soap that Leona carried around with her. But thest thing he touched was Ramphil¡¯s bag, and it contained somethingpletely unexpected. ¡°¡­ What is this?¡± In rare cases, troops from the Fortress came into the big city, so he knew what the clothes meant. It was a Wargrave uniform. Since he could tell by looking at the bags who the owner was, Soljian had a good feeling as to whom this uniform belonged. ¡°Is one of them not a hunter, but a Wargrave Soldier?¡± There was no telling why he was traveling with them. However, the military uniform suggested that it was possible. With a smile of satisfaction on his face, he quickly organized the clothes, arranged them as they were, and left the room. ¡°This is awesome.¡± It was only natural that Soljian was smiling from ear-to-ear when considering the additional payment he would receive just from reporting the information. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª When they met Yoohwan at Dominator office, he was already fully armed. He was a corporate-sponsored hitman, so all the equipment he had was impressive. ¡®Click-ck.¡¯ ¡°I guess you guys are ready. I¡¯m ready, too.¡± Although it was an operation in which Dominators¡¯ leader, Yoohwan, was directly participating, he was waiting at the entrance as if he disliked the ostentatious ceremony. That was only possible because he was proud and confident in his ability. Zin looked at Yoohwan and said, ¡°What a sight to behold.¡± He was wearing a metal exoskeleton suit and abat helmet. His left and right arms even had mounted weapons. ¡°It¡¯s in test phase right now, but once it¡¯smercialized, Dominators¡¯ firepower will jump five times from what it is today.¡± The tough looking protective suit seemed to have tremendous firepower. Taehone said to Yoohwan, ¡°It looks like you¡¯re going to war, not reconnaissance.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt to be ready for anything. Well, first of all, here¡¯s the advance payment.¡± He revealed two chip boxes containing exactly 10,000 chips each. Zin and Ramphil epted the payment and put it away. There was little reason for headaches when dealing with corporations as they always handled the payments properly. Only four people were to scout the Hive. ¡°The mission is simple. My goal is to use the built-in camera on my helmet to scan the entire Hive. Then, it will store the overall structure of the Hive, and based on it, we will be able to digitally map its structure and use that to create a detailed n to destroy it.¡± Odin Corporation¡¯s technical expertise was considerable. Such a n was possible because they had the technical skills to back it up. Ramphil remained still, but Taehone was surprised that this was possible. Of course, Zin was also surprised, but it was because a system like that had to be rebuilt. ¡°Couldn¡¯t we use a drone?¡± asked Zin. If they could use a drone, they wouldn¡¯t need to go in the Hive. ¡°What¡¯s a drone?¡± ¡°¡­ Nevermind.¡± They were developing technology in selective areas and not as a whole, so even though some areas were advanced, other parts remainedpletely unknown. It didn¡¯t seem like Odin Corporation was thinking about artificial intelligence at all. They were only four. The fact that one was the head of a private securitypany and another was the leader of the Hunter¡¯s Nest was a crediblebination. The gatekeepers of Dominator were excited that the Guardian, who was the symbol of fear itself within Odin Corporation, was going on the mission and respected the Guardian for being active at that age. One of the most ostensibly armed was the Guardian with his exoskeleton reinforcement suit. The other one was a devil hunter with a devil-hunting weapon called the Dark Born, and the other was a cyborg fighter who had undergone a cyborg procedure in Wargrave. Things were not always what they seemed. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll show you to the entrance of the Hive.¡± Yoohwan and Taehone took the lead. They still remembered the ce where they had had to confront unforgettable fear and despair. However, their backs did not seemed frightened for people who were returning to the abyss from which they had fled in the past. ¡°Hunters are strange,¡± said Ramphil as he walked. Hunters worked a job after receiving payment, but Ramphil was starting to think that that was something more to it than that. ¡°When someone does one thing for a long time, it can mess with their minds,¡± said Zin. ¡°I don¡¯t think someone who¡¯s been doing the same thing for two hundred years should say something like that.¡± Zin grinned when Ramphil responded as if questioning his self-deprecation. ¡°I have nothing to say.¡± It hadn¡¯t been self-deprecation. Rather, it was a statement from a person who had epted such a part of himself. Chapter 115 - Hive (Part 1) Chapter 115: Hive (Part 1) Mr. Odin, who had been working up to that point, tilted his head as listened to his secretary. ¡°What was that? Say it again.¡± ¡°ording to the report I received, it seems that Ramphil may be a Wargrave soldier. A Wargrave uniform was found in his luggage.¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it possible that he picked up the uniform somewhere? Or perhaps it¡¯s for camouge.¡± ¡°It¡¯s unlikely given the rank and the badges.¡± ¡°Why would a Wargrave soldier travel with a hunter? If he needs something done in the first ce, there are plenty of Wargrave Fortresses around.¡± Mr. Odin frowned at the report that didn¡¯t make much sense. If that wasn¡¯t the case, it could not be ruled out that the hunter was traveling with him at the request of Wargrave. Whatever his intentions were, there was no way he would not have known about a highly-skilled Wargrave soldier wandering around. ¡°Is Wargrave nning something? No¡­ if that¡¯s the case, his actions are too reckless.¡± Disrupting the gangs was too noticeable to be a secret. Rather, it was more likely that it had little to do with the nearby Wargrave. If he needed to collect chips, there were many Fortresses around that he could¡¯ve gone to for support. Collecting chips without doing so pointed to the fact that it was unlikely that it had anything to do with Wargrave. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is, but it¡¯s very unpleasant¡­¡± Whether it had anything to do with the fortresses, simply not knowing enough about it was enough to offend Mr. Odin. ¡°Get in touch with them. I need to talk to them.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± At Mr. Odin¡¯s instructions, the secretary quickly fiddled with something that made something at Mr. Odin¡¯s desk ring. Ring! Ring! It was the phone. Communication represented enormous power in this era, and it could not be used just by anyone. In addition, Mr. Odin had established an in-housework, but forbidden thework to be avable outside. Telmunication in that massive city, therefore, was only avable at Odin Corporation. Of course, the telmunications was also being used in ces outside the big city. [Long time no see, Mr. Odin. It¡¯s been a long time since you rang personally.] ¡°Good afternoon, Commander. It¡¯s been a long time.¡± The person on the other line was none other than the general leader of the Wargrave Central Asian Army. The big city¡¯s rulers and all of Asia¡¯s Wargrave were close enough tomunicate with each other. Although it seemed perfectly reasonable, thismunication between all parties had been established just recently. ¡°At the risk of embarrassing myself, I¡¯ve called you for information.¡± [What do you want to know?] ¡°Do you know anything about a Wargrave soldier named Ramphil? He has been involved in a lot of things in the big citytely. Honestly, it¡¯s not a question for the Commander, but I¡¯m calling to see if you know anything.¡± Sometimes, it was better to confront the issue head-on rather than thinking about it. It would be suspect if the Commander were to answer that he didn¡¯t know anything about it, but if he were to find out the answer for him, that would reaffirm his loyalty. However, the Commander¡¯s reply waspletely unexpected. [Ramphil? Did you just say Ramphil?] ¡°What? Ah¡­ Yes, I did, but¡­¡± [I¡¯d like you to borate a little more.] ¡°Hmm?¡± Having received apletely unexpected response, Mr. Odin tilted his head. Sensing his hesitation, a nervous voice came forth from the receiver. [This is very important to us. Where did you see the Enforcement Officer? ¡°Enforcement Officer?¡± Luwin guessed that there was something strange going on. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- District 83. Ramphil, who walked a long way from the 82nd District because there were no trains running that way, said,¡±There¡¯s something different about this ce.¡± Unlike other ces that were full of dazzling signs and shing advertisements, District 83 had an eerie atmosphere, its buildings intact but devoid of people. The only creatures seen on any of the streets, including the main road, were rats. And somehow, green-colored mist wafted over the far-off edge of the street. ¡°It used to be the site of a pharmaceutical factory,¡± replied Yoohwan. He was moving carefully in his exoskeleton suit. In the distant past, there had been several pharmaceuticalpanies here, and thanks to the factoryplex, District 83 had been crowded withborers, as well as merchants with businesses that catered to thoseborers. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°There was a pharmaceutical gas leak at apany called Grimpills. The factory was the biggest around, so there were big repercussions,¡± said Taehone. ¡°Was the leak dangerous?¡± ¡°Maybe for generic drugs, but this used to be a big drug industrialplex to be exact. So, they cleaned and stored CP from chips. Using the right amount produced low-risk, reliable drugs.¡± Factories from simr industries had gathered there to form an industrialplex that became the 83rd District. As the exnation lengthened, Zin cut it short, ¡°So, arge CP gas storage tank exploded? Am I right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Both nodded at Zin¡¯s words. The CP gas tank in the drug manufacturing nt had exploded. That meant that super-high levels of CP gas had spread to surrounding areas. ¡°How did it happen?¡± ¡°Some say that Grimpills was attacked by some sort of industrial espionage agent, and some say that it was a terrorist act by citizens outraged by drug sales. Or it could¡¯ve simply been poor maintenance.¡± Yoohwan kept walking. ¡°But the important thing was that when the gas tank exploded, countless people working in the area, as well as in the factory, were exposed to ultra-high levels of CP.¡± ¡°¡­ That must have been terrible.¡± Everyone in the group knew what would happen to a person heavily exposed to Chaos Poison. They either died or became vagrants. Taehone stiffened as he recalled that time. ¡°Thousands of people in the area who had inhaled CP had their lungs melted or developed acute responses to be vagabond. In District 83, a group of vagabonds hit another gas tank, and they created a chain reaction explosion that covered the whole area, as well as the surrounding areas. Back then, the hunters were having a hard time trying to clean up the area.¡± Since then, the vagrants in District 83 have been cleaned up by hunters, but no one has been able to live on thend or in the buildings that were contaminated with ultra-high concentrations of CP. The area became a ce where no one could live and has been left in ruins ever since. Of course, there had been times when people who had been beaten and beaten and, unable to live in Harlem, had somehow managed to live there and be drifters. After he said that, Taehone stopped walking, and everyone did the same. The green haze could already be seen. Taehone took the gas mask out of his coat and skillfully put it on with one hand. Guardian helmets also functioned as gas masks, so Yoohwan only had to activate the purifying function. Looking at Zin, Yoohwan said, ¡°Starting from this area, there is a high concentration of CP. It would be better to wear a gas mask.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°So am I.¡± Zin and Ramphil did not wear gas masks. By now Zin, had recovered a considerable amount of energy, and Ramphil was a cyborg that was immune to CP. The two had no further questions or didn¡¯t argue when it came to Zin and Ramphil. The team walked into the green mist. ¡°We searched everywhere to find the entrance to the Hive, and this was thest ce we looked, District 83. It was a dangerous ce, so we couldn¡¯t just walk in.¡± After searching the whole city, thest ce they had visited was there, District 83, and they had found their way into the Hive among the abandoned buildings. It was a hole in the big city and a dangerous ce, but people were living in areas that were about half an hour away. Ramphil thought that was strange, but could also somewhat understand it. The intact buildings were saturated with Chaos Poison, but nothing seemed changed. He was watching, in real time, the unusually high concentration of CP with his eyes. At this level, the area was close to the Mass Confusion Point. If it was that bad outside, the inside would be even worse. Taehone and Yoohwan were constantly checking the exact location of the ce as they wandered around. The fog was not very thick, but it limited visibility, and all gradually became silent. ¡®Caww, Caww¡¯ Far away, a sound wasing from something that was neither human nor animal. However, the team just took out their weapons without stopping. Naturally, there would be some non-human things in that abandoned space. Everyone walked slowly and on high alert. Without having to say anything, they stood in a line. The order was Yoohwan, Taehone, Ramphil and Zin, and they advanced slowly, each with a watchful eye on the front, left, right and rear. Three were veterans, and Ramphil was a soldier. Getting in that kind of formation required no discussion. When patrolling the streets, one had to check above, not just the front. Without any conversation, they advanced cautiously and slowly. ¡®Tap, tap¡¯ The sound of footsteps and something moving around the building was heard. The monsters were moving as cautiously as the reconnaissance team. The slow advancested about ten minutes, and then Yoohwan, in the front, raised his hand. ¡°I think he¡¯s gone.¡± Whether it was a monster or a vagrant, the source of the sound had disappeared. Enemies didn¡¯t always attack. Since they were also living creatures, they backed down when the opponent looked dangerous. In this case, something had lurked around but eventually given up the attack and disappeared. ¡°I¡¯m going to speed things up a little.¡± Yoohwan moved faster, and the three followed. Nevertheless, they diligently monitored their surroundings all the while. Whether there had been rumors of a recon team in the residentialplex, or because they were sensing something dangerous, the sound of monsters running away could be heard wherever they passed. That meant that they were creatures with some intelligence, and that they were running away after sensing danger. After however long, Yoohwan suddenly stopped walking. ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± ¡°¡­ This is too much.¡± All of a sudden, the fine buildings suddenly turned into ruins. The buildings had copsed almost in a circle and were vividly disying the effects of the huge explosion from that time. CP, extracted from a lump of energy called a chip, was both poison and energy. It was only natural that the leakage of such a huge mass of energy would have affected arge area. There would be no trace of a factoryplex left in the center of the explosion. Ramphil said, ¡°We should disinfect thoroughly when we leave.¡± Even though they would not turn into vagrants, the concentration of CP was so dense that they would cause damage to the surrounding areas. But Yoohwan said as if there was nothing to worry, ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared a disinfecting team for us at the station.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Zin once again realized the eternal truth that money made things convenient. The reconnaissance team roamed around the 83rd District, where the ruins began. The entrance of the Hive, not exactly the entrance, but a sort of tunnel revealed by the rupture in the ground, was more like a passage that took you to the entrance of the Hive. The tunnel was huge enough not to copsepletely by the impact of the massive explosion. It was the first time seeing it for Zin and Ramphil, but Yoohwan and Taehone stared at the pit, looking stiff as a stone. They had lost everything there, and they had never thought they would ever be able toe back. Yoohwan, the hunter, had be the right-hand man of Odin Corporation as he stood here again, and Taehone had be crippled. The two had hardly encountered each other since then, but for now, they shared the horror of that moment and the sense of defeat. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Taehone spoke up, and Yoohwan nodded. They re-entered the huge hole that had once swallowed everything they had. Following them, were the Devil Hunter and the Wargrave Officer who hadn¡¯t been there at that time. Chapter 116 - The Hive (Part 2) Chapter 116: The Hive (Part 2) The huge cave wasrge enough for ten people to walk in together, and the current situation could be surmised from the many ces that had copsed and caved in. ¡°Whoever built this cave must have relocated or died.¡± In the dim tunnel, everyone was using night vision. shing lights in the dark would be a foolish move. ¡°Are we going to the entrance? Or to the exit?¡± Zin was asking whether they were going through the route they had entered the cave or from where they had exited it when they made their escape in the past. ¡°We¡¯re going through the exit. The entrance is on a cliff with no exit.¡± Going through the entrance would be unwise since they had fallen in rather than reaching the Hive through a crack on the ground. Even though their escape was hectic, the two remembered the exact route they had used to pull it off. Some memories could never be forgotten, and this one had left a powerful impression on both of them. There would be instant panic if the citizens found out about a web of caves beneath the city, and if monsters came from the tunnel made by a giant monster, they would wreak havoc on the city. There should also be a lot more exits and entrances they didn¡¯t know about, and most of those should be unusable by humans. Yoohwan moved about with his attention on the camera, looking here and there, perhaps to store data in his helmet. They were going toe up with a n to destroy the Hive using that data. Perhaps due to the CP that even monsters could not withstand, the inside of the tunnel was silent and solemn. Grasping the situation, Zin asked, ¡°Yoohwan, is your objective to destroy the Hive?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve lived just for that.¡± ¡°Howe?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Even after betraying the hunters, he had gone on his own path. ¡°Because I lost too much here, that was all I could think about.¡± He had experienced things that didn¡¯t evenpare to having pockmarks on his face. Although he didn¡¯t speak out, Taehone knew how Yoohwan felt. He had lost a student he had trained to hunt with him, a colleague who had been with him for as long as his career. Hunters sometimes teamed up to do jobs, especially more so in the city. Taehone had had a partner like that, and now, Taehone and Yoohwan were that to each other. Because they had lost everything overnight, life had not progressed a single step from there. Every move made after that was made toe back here. But it didn¡¯t just end with theming back here. For now, they had toplete the reconnaissance without dying and return to the city. ¡°Do you remember what the Hive was like?¡± ¡°It was very messy and¡­ dirty. I couldn¡¯t understand how there could be such a big underground space,¡± answered Taehone. ¡°You¡¯ll soon see it for yourself.¡± Yoohwan walked on as if it would be faster to see. Perhaps because of the enormous toxicity here, there were no monsters, and they had no encounters with wanton enemies until they reached the entrance of the Hive. Between the cracks in the tunnel, there was a hole from where it seemed possible to slide down. ¡°It¡¯s still here.¡± Taehone and Yoohwan had climbed up desperately like insects. Without hesitation, one by one they slid down to the real Hive.
¡°Even the air seems different.¡± They could feel the heavy, sticky air swirling around their necks. It had seemed to be just a cave that had been cut through a rock, but as they came down, Zin and Ramphil could already tell that something had changed. ¡®Caaaaw¡­¡¯ A threatening sound, seemingly from nowhere, reverberated. In the distance, sounded a strange noise that could be the monsters fighting or the monsters mating. They were quiet, but the sounds in the distance were something that Zin was hearing for the first time. On the wall, were dried up things that could be membranes or mucous, and mysterious underground nts were covering the area like vines, moving slowly, like living creatures. The vines that were all over the ce made the underground space look like a cave upied by a huge tree. The breathing underground nts also looked like tentacles. Both Taehone and Yoohwan became as stiff as stones. Taehone¡¯s only hand was twitching slightly. Because the air and atmosphere had changed, it was almost as if the four of them had entered a different world, and the two who had experienced that other world needed time to reflect on their fears and ovee them. ¡°From here on, I stand at the front.¡± The guiding was over. Therefore, Zin, who was now the most capable of dealing with the situation, took the lead. Zin took out his Phantomvein and put it on his back, while his right hand held the AKM assault rifle with shells filled with buckshot. From then on, there was no telling what could happen, and he had to pay attention to the environment with his entire body. ¡®Ca! Ca! ck!¡¯ The passage leading down was spacious, and the sounds from the distance seemed to resonate on the walls as Zin looked around. It was impossible to know whether it was dug up, or whether that huge underground space had been created by the colonies. The wriggling of living walls was a horrible sight that would scare most people. Zin walked slowly, checking everything in sight. The others followed behind him carefully. ¡°I imagined there would be a Hive, but it¡¯s such a weird space¡­ The wall seems to be moving, almost alive. There are strange creatures out there, but they don¡¯t live underground like this¡­ Fortunately, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s harmful.¡± If making a fullp wasn¡¯t possible, they were to retreat. While considerable autonomy was guaranteed in the operation, Zin could already feel thepeting world of countless monsters in the distance. Ramphil was thinking the same. ¡°What the hell is this ce?¡± The ce seemed too strange to see it as just an ecosystem of monsters made up of countless colonies. The odour in the air, the strange vegetation that covered the surroundings, and the branching roads that seemed like they had been made by drilling the ground, all of those things felt like they had always existed. When there was a fork in the road, Zin didn¡¯t waste time thinking. The way back was being kept in his head anyway. All he had to do was to go back the way he came, so Zin followed every path whenever there was a fork. ¡®Ca! Ca!¡¯ ¡®Shuush¡¯ Suddenly he heard a sound nearby, so he raised his hand and stopped his team. In front of them, was a corner they had to go around. ¡®Chom! Chom!¡¯ ¡®Shreeeek! Shreeeek!¡¯ It was the sound of a predator having a meal. Zin prepared his weapon and slowly approached it alone, thrusting his head into the corner. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± A human monster with nasty tentacles all over his body was hunched over and feverishly chomping on something. It was the grotesque nt that made up the wall. ¡®Gaaaak! Gaaaak!¡¯ But the nt shrieked and bled dark red blood every time the vicious tentacle monster bit into it, as if it were alive. Zin couldn¡¯t even guess where the noise wasing from or where the monster was biting it. At Zin¡¯s signal, others stayed in ce and didn¡¯t budge. Zin had never seen such a monster before in his life. That was why thinking was unnecessary. The answer to dealing with things you didn¡¯t know was simple. You had to fight it. [Darkbone active, 1 second.] -Phat! As soon as the ck mist came out of his body, Zin disappeared from where he was standing. -Whap! And in the next moment, Zin¡¯s Phantomvein struck the head of the tentacle monster. -Whack! In one blow, the monster that had been struck in what had seemed like its head, exploded rather than being sliced. Zin did not stop, striking the remains of the tentacle monster several times. In a way, he was mincing rather than slicing. -Boom! Boom! Boom! ¡°Crazy¡­¡± After hitting it four times in just a second, Zin looked down at the monster that had quickly turned into a piece of meat. The meat was wriggling, but it was certainly dead. ¡°It¡¯s over. Come on.¡± The other three came slowly. It was quite bizarre to see the body of a monster and the nt that it¡¯d been eating wiggling. ¡°I-I can¡¯t believe you just killed the monster so¡­ so quickly.¡± Taehone looked stunned, and so did Yoohwan. ¡°Why do you have a funny look on your face when you took care of it?¡± But Ramphil asked something else. Although the hunt had been sessful, Zin¡¯s face was grimly hardened. ¡°Even though I activated the Darkbone, I had to attack it four times to kill it.¡± He had approached at a moment¡¯s notice and had surprise attacked the monster in the middle of a meal. But as soon as the sword had struck it, the tentacles on the body had be entangled and hardened. He had sensed and reacted to the attack in that short period of time. That¡¯s why Phantomvein hadn¡¯t cut the monster but destroyed it. Yoohwan stretched his right hand toward the wriggling tentacle. ¡®Swooosh!¡¯ A torrent of blue mes burned the tentacles. The tentacles wriggled in the zing heat of the fire and soon became a lump of charcoal, unmoving. ¡°When you run into the ones that have tentacles here, you have to treat every tentacle as individual creatures. They all move individually.¡± ¡°The tentacles are noting out of the body. Rather, we have to consider that it¡¯s another creature called the tentacle that¡¯s attached to the monster.¡± Therefore, each tentacle as a separate organism could sense danger. So, in fact, what Zin had killed had not just been a monster, but a collection of tentacles. Zin¡¯s face was hardened by the fact that even such a small monster couldn¡¯t be killed in a single strike while Darkborn was activated. ¡°The tentacles grow and shrink arbitrarily.¡± Taehone spoke of the tentacle-type monster, which wasmon in the Hive. The tentacles grew and shrunk freely, but the most important thing was that they could also make themselves thin. Just like they had just witnessed, their strength could change as well. ¡°Because they can make themselves into whips or des, it¡¯s better to shoot the tentacled ones from afar.¡± How Zin had just handled the monster was a fairly dangerous way. The tentacles could turn into a spear to attack the enemy, and at the same time, a shield to protect themselves from attacks by covering the body and adding to its defense. ¡°Even if you shoot from a distance, the reflexes of these tentacles are fast enough to respond to bullets.¡± A bullet was always faster than sound, unless you use subsonic bullets. However, the reflexes of the tentacles were quick enough to react to iing bullets. And the two said that the tentacle monster was the mostmon type of monster he¡¯d find. Most of them had tentacles, although they differed in size and shape. Even monsters at the bottom of the food chain, eating nts on the wall, had reflexes that went beyond the speed of sound. Zin muttered with a bitter smile, ¡°Maybe people have been delusional so far.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°It might be ridiculous to think that monsters from the Hive havee up to the surface.¡± It could be that the monsters in the big cities were from an entirely different ce, and the Hive might just be a settlement, and no single monster had evere up from it. If these monsters were toe up, no ordinary hunter would be able to take them down. Existing monsters might simply have lived on the surface or in the city in from the start, and the Hive could¡¯ve been discovered by ident and had had nothing to do with the monsters on the surface. Taehone and Yoohwan also nodded solemnly, as if they considered that statement to be true. If damage on the surface had nothing to do with the Hive, then there was no reason to destroy the Hive. ¡®Or, do they have even more reason now?¡¯ Destroying the Hive would not get rid of the monsters on the ground, so there might be a reason for Dominator to go through with their ns. Despite Zin¡¯s anxiety, the reactions from Yoohwan and Taehone were the opposite. They had to wage a great war of nerves to catch one of these monsters, and sometimes, a few hunters were sacrificed. But with Zin, even if he said that the monster was powerful, it didn¡¯t change the fact that he had destroyed it in a second. Naturally, Zin had a scary look on his face, to put it mildly. ¡°Tentacles¡­¡± An unpleasant feeling was already climbing up his back.
While scouting the Hive, the reconnaissance team avoided the enemy as much as it could be avoided. There was no need to raise awareness by unnecessarily attracting the attention of the monsters. Even with the silencer, the shots were rtively loud, so they tried to avoid attacking as much as possible. Fortunately, Zin knew how to be out of the enemy¡¯s sight, even in ces he had never been before. It was somatic empirical knowledge only permitted to those who had walked countless times through unchartednd. Taehone and Yoohwan couldn¡¯t help but admire Zin as they watched him calmly continue the covert operation. From a vantage point where they could see the enemies but the enemies couldn¡¯t see them, they moved about, definitely focused entirely on reconnaissance. The monsters did not see the the reconnaissance team, and Zin knew better than anyone how to move silently. The Hive was a space that had many paths and huge spaces. There were, of course, rtively more monsters in huge spaces. The Hive was certainly a massivend that included a significant amount of space. There weren¡¯t just the tentacle monsters. The deep darkness, which was detected by infrared cameras, suddenly started to wiggle like smoke from all over the ce before engulfing the monsters. ¡®Whoa!¡¯ Just like that, the tentacle monsters swallowed by the ck smoke staggered and, suddenly, began to shoot tentacles all over the ce. ¡®Boom! B-Boom!¡¯ The tentacles controlled by spirits began to be destroyed for no reason, and the other monsters who saw that fled. ¡®Spirits¡­¡¯ Evil spirits, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and vented enormous fear toward their surroundings, were merely spreading insanity around the surrounding space. Taehone and Yoohwan seemed to remember the time when they were seized by that fear and shot their colleagues. Other than Zin, the other three were susceptible to such fears. The evil spirits had not yet detected them, but if they were to face something like that in the future, they needed a n to deal with it. Zin signaled for the group to move closer to him. Hiding behind the rock, the four gathered together, and Zin took out spell wand. ¡°Using the letters Myeong, Kyung, Ji, Soo, I¡¯ll use the clear mirror spell.¡± Usually that required a ritual, but with the energy of the Darkbone, such process was unnecessary. Chapter 117 - The Hive (Part 3) Chapter 117: The Hive (Part 3) As soon he activated the wand, darkness poured out of the letters on the wand and swirled around the four, including Zin. ¡°We¡¯ll be able to resist the evil spirits to some extent with this,¡± Zin whispered, and everyone nodded. Thanks to the protection spell, even if the evil spirits were to discover them, they would not be helpless. All streets of the Hive were big enough for any mid- torge-sized monster, and there were just as many giant monsters. All wasn¡¯t well just because they could fend off the spirits from of all of the monsters. The number of monsters was sorge and varied that even the tentacle monsters were dismissed as a side problem. -Boom! Boom! Arge monster walked in through a huge passageway. At the sound of its footsteps, many monsters, as well as ghosts, began to flee. The little monsters who ran away hid themselves in the cracks or fled into the tunnel, and the cave was empty in no time. -Boom! The reconnaissance team watched the monster with bated breath. The monster, whose flesh was falling off as if it were going to copse at any minute, was huge and looked to be about fifteen meters tall. Its heavy arms and legs were decaying where exposed. The monster, who seemed barely alive, banged its head into a huge rotting pool in the center of the cave. -Gulp! Gulp! Gulp! The huge monster was drinking the venom created by the monsters who could transmit poison just by touching. And as it drank, the rotting flesh of the monster regenerated at a terrifying speed. The flesh was brought back, and the scales were reattached to it. When the monster, who soon regained its original figure, raised its head, Zin could not help but open his eyes wide when he saw it. It was true that he had never seen a monster like that before, but the head was an exception. ¡°A dinosaur¡­ Theropoda, at that¡­¡± Thergest of the monsters were dinosaur-type monsters, and each one was terribly dangerous as well. And this one had the head of the most ferocious meat-eating dinosaur. -Grrrrrrrr¡­ The threatening tail of the regenerated dinosaur had sharp scales, and the rotting eyes were now showing some of the brightness of life. Then, the monster lifted its thick tail and smacked it down on the ground. -Bam! -B-b-boom! A violent force, like an earthquake, struck the area. -Eeek! Eeeek! And because of the vibrations, the tentacle monsters hanging from the ceiling began to fall to the ground. The theropod monster did not wait for them to fall offpletely. -Gulp! The head of the dinosaur swallowed a falling tentacle monster. -Wham! And a tentacle monster smacked by its tail was crushed to the ground, bing a bloody pancake. -Bam! Bam! Bam! The dinosaur ran around madly, with incredible agility for a monster of such enormous size, and quickly devoured the tentacle monsters that had fallen on the ground. The enhanced tentacles of the tentacle monster were crushed, unable to withstand more than the thousand teeth in the dinosaur¡¯s mouth. The dinosaur, who finished its feast in an instant, moved its huge body and slowly headed for another junction. He didn¡¯t know the name of that monster, but it was definitely a dinosaur. And it looked more dangerous than any dinosaur monster he knew. ¡°That¡¯s enough to be a predator in this hell¡­¡± The tentacle monsters with sound-sensitive reflexes being eaten helplessly was a chilling sight. The Hive was a jungle of monsters with a totally different ecology, and at the same time, it was hell. Thanks to the protection spell, the other three were able to remain calm, but apart from that, they spent the whole moment silent, even holding their breaths.
Even for Zin and Ramphil, the Hive was a breeding ground for grotesque monsters, and they could not be sure of their survival if they were to be attacked. Dinosaurs were one thing, but the biggest feature of the monsters here was¡­ ¡°It¡¯s rare to see one of them with a symmetrical body.¡± Some had three arms, one leg, and the reverse was true for others. Most of the creatures had symmetrical organs around the spine. Living things had that structure because it was advantageous for survival. Therefore, the subjects of the observation were those who didn¡¯t have symmetrical structures. Of course, mollusks and ghosts were not affected by the body¡¯sposition, even if they are not symmetrical. In fact, the huge ck slime they had just passed subsisted on lower-level monsters by spraying poison and sucking molten body fluids. But if that kind of ecology was at work here, only the symmetrical monsters should have survived ording to thew of the survival of the fittest. But that wasn¡¯t what the recon team was witnessing. The fact that asymmetrical monsters, which are rtively vulnerable to predation, still existed was suggesting another perspective. ¡°Monsters are constantly being produced in the Hive¡­.¡± It meant that iplete monsters were being made through breeding or through special means such as MCPs. Like a kind of solitude spell, monsters were continuously created, and generational shifts between monsters happened through survival of the fittest. In fact, Taehone said that new monsters had been created there through crossbreeding of other species, so it wasn¡¯t so far-fetched. ¡°It¡¯s worse than I thought¡­¡± The Hive was vast, and reconnaissance was not going to end in a day or two. The ghosts were driven off with spells, and the small monsters were destroyed quickly by Zin. The Hive was still but noisy with the murmur of monsters at the same time, so unless it was a gunshot, they could avoid attracting attention. Yoohwan and Taehone also calmly wandered about, unlike in the past when they had fled frantically, allowing them to see the reality of the Hive a little more clearly. It was impossible to bring the Hive down with four scouts, but it might be possible with a group of Dominators in exoskeleton suits. And with the demon-hunter named Zin¡¯s help, they could be safe from ghosts, which were the most problematic for them. Yoohwan was d that the uncertainty of the Hive¡¯s destruction n was bing more and more clear through the reconnaissance, and so was Taehone, who had previously been in a state of desperation. But Zin¡¯s ideas were totally different. -Grrrraaawr! There was something attached to arge tentacle monster, like a flock of flies. The flies were each the size of a bear, and they only looked small because they were stuck to a rtively gigantic monster. The four-legged creature crawled on the floor like a spider and then sunk its teeth into the body of the tentacle monster. -Puck! P-Puck! Puck! With its tentacles, the monster tried to get rid of the attacker that was clinging to its body, but the attacker avoided it quickly when the monster came at it. Almost as if it were a joke, it repeatedly thrust its head into the monster¡¯s torso. Zin looked closely at the monster. Using its unusually long arms and legs, it crawled like a spider and it hadrge eyes with ovepping lids on its head. Also, there was a sharp needle attached to its mouth. The monster, which was a mixture of a mosquito, a fly and a spider, leapt up into the sky like a flea and thrust its needle into the body of the tentacle monster. Even for a hunter who was used to strange things, it looked so horrible that Zin thought he might feel sick when he saw that strange monster. Size didn¡¯t always mean victory. With its fluid sucked out by the swarm of mosquitoes, the tentacle monster gradually shrank in size and was covered by numerous little monsters until only the limpid shell was left. Dozens of mosquitoes had hunted the tentacle monster in no time, and each one of them floundered around with its bulging belly and went off somewhere. Some monsters worked in teams to hunt down monsters that could not be hunted. Zin beckoned them to move while pointing to the area where the fight had taken ce. ¡°That¡¯s strange¡­¡± It was true that they were weird monsters¡­ monsters that he had never seen anywhere. But it was strange. Zin clenched his jaw and moved slowly. Since they could not tell where the Hive ended, they might have to create a safe zone and spend a few days there. ¡°Let¡¯s take a break.¡± Zin looked around and found a closed cave that had been covered up and had no tunnels around it. It was the perfect ce to rest for a while because it was a dead end, and there would be no monsters. Each one of them took out something to eat and had a simple meal. ¡°It seems like this would be a very useful ce for little monsters to hide in safety. Let¡¯s get some rest and move on quickly.¡± ¡°My thinking exactly.¡± Such a perfectly sealed space would be an attractive space for other monsters as well. Therefore, it should only be used as a ce to take a short break, rather than a continuous rest area. But Ramphil¡¯s face was seriously hardened. ¡°¡­ The ce is too strange to be considered useful.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ramphil looked around the cave. There were a lot of breathing vines all over the Hive. That¡¯s what the Hive¡¯s herbivores ate. ¡°This space¡­ it¡¯s too contrived.¡± In fact, the solitary cave was narrow at the entrance but wide on the inside. Thinking that it might be an artificially dug shelter by some monster, Yoohwan said, ¡°If it¡¯s small enough to use this little space as a resting ce, we could probably handle it, so¡­¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I mean. I¡¯m not just talking about here.¡± Ramphil pointed outside, to the huge cave. ¡°This huge underground space itself is so¡­ It¡¯s too¡­ too far-fetched.¡± What was the reason for such a huge underground nt? This would¡¯ve required arge number of monsters. Why create such a space, and why such monsters? Zin nodded as if he agreed with Ramphil. ¡°There¡¯s a reason why I want to take a break.¡± The whole group looked at Zin when he said they were taking a break not because they were tired but because there was a reason. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to organize my thoughts. I think I understand what Ramphil is saying and I agree with him.¡± Zin, however, spoke slowly, as if he would speak his mind first. ¡°All the monsters here don¡¯t exist above. If most are things that I¡¯ve never seen before¡­ then, I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t have to say more about that.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°However¡­ Although I¡¯ve never seen them before, I know of things like them.¡± ¡°When you say simr¡­¡± Because Zin had lived for a long time, he realized something when observing the monsters here. ¡°Look¡­ Although they are very different from each other, these guys have their own characteristics. There¡¯s a lot of mix up, but¡­¡± Zin slowly shared what he had realized, ¡°The monster with the tentacles, the ghosts, the dinosaurs, the ones with the ck poison, the ones who suck body fluid¡­¡± Zin did not say what he realized. But the two hunters who were veterans, and Ramphil, who had been traveling with Zin for a long time, knew what he meant. ¡°Those are the hallmarks of devils.¡± ¡°!¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± The monster with tentacles (aliens), the ghosts (phantoms), dinosaurs (dragons), the monsters with ck poison (demons), and the blood-sucking monsters (vampires). Although each had a bizarre shape and appearance, they each strangely possessed the characteristics of real devils, even the lowest-ss monsters. ¡°And Ramphil, this is a contrived space, as you say. A huge space like this cannot be created by nature or monsters. Therefore¡­ It¡¯s not really contrived. It¡¯s artificial.¡± When one considered the devils there, and where they were, the answer was obvious. More than anyone, Ramphil knew it very well. Ramphil was also recording the Hive¡¯s structure using a built-in biologicalputer. And as he recorded it, he realized something strange. As Zin looked at Ramphil, he began to speak slowly, as if he didn¡¯t want to admit it. ¡°The area we¡¯ve patrolled so far is about 38 percent identical in structure to a Wargrave Fortress.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nonsense¡­¡± Fortresses around the world were usually built the same way. Although there was variation depending on the function of the fortress, the main structure was the same. Although the overallposition had changed and different roads had been added after the monsters took over, Ramphil grew more and more certain of his hypothesis as he continued to scout the ce. Zin tore off the tentacles that covered the floor inyers. -Eeek! Eeek! Eek! A thick stream of biological trees was pulsating and screaming, but Zin didn¡¯t stop. After ripping off severalyers of grass wrapped around the floor, Zin showed everyone the dirty, rusty floor. It was definitely an old, rusty, iron-ted floor. Ramphil bit his lips as his eyes confirmed his idea. Pointing to the floor, Zin said, ¡°The Hive seems like a facility where the Wargrave were studying devils.¡± Somehow, it was abandoned now, but there was no doubt about it. The Central Asian Army Command, a dark arm of devil studies, was nearby, and chimera resembling devils were being seen in an underground facility that resembled a Fortress. So, that was the only answer. Chapter 118 - The Hive (Part 4) Chapter 118: The Hive (Part 4) The convergence between the Wargrave Fortress and the Odin Corporation hadn¡¯t happened that long ago. Three years might¡¯ve passed by this point. The Fortress had suddenly sent a secret message saying that they wanted to build a good rtionship with the Odin Corporation. It would¡¯ve been extremely difficult for him to refuse Wargrave¡¯s request since they could exercise military force, along with their immense influence in the area. Besides, it wasn¡¯t necessary to do so. Once the undergroundmunication began, the Fortress presented Odin Corporation with something they had desperately wanted: advanced technology. The technology that the Fortress possessed was so superior to that of the Odin Corporation that it would be enough to make Odin¡¯s seem like a pile of junk. For now, there was no way to know their intentions, but it was important that they had a taste of that sweet honey. Of course, Wargrave¡¯s Central Asian Army had sensed the atmosphere of war and was trying to make Odin Corporation their ally, but Luwin could not know as much. Simply, he understood it in his own way: ¡®There is no free lunch in the world.¡¯ When you give something, you get something in return.. That¡¯s obvious. But for now, he didn¡¯t know what Wargrave was supposed to get. Mr. Odin was with themander of Central Command. Perhaps because of the urgency of his business, he had gone in person and with just a few guards on hand. That meant that the matter was important enough for him to leave Fortress. There were only three guards, but Mr. Odin knew the escorts were of very high caliber. ¡®Those three guys are monsters strong enough to knock this building down.¡¯ He knew very well that even if the technology of Odin Corporation was excellent, it would fall far short of the Fortress¡¯s technology. Those three cyborg soldiers should not be regarded simply by their numbers. They were bodyguards of the Wargrave Commander of the Central Asian Command, General Francis. The rank of general was held by only two in Wargrave: the chief of staff andmander of Central Command. So, they were bodyguards not to be underestimated. Each of the bodyguards also held ranks above a colonel. Standing in front of him, Mr. Odin exined the Ramphil¡¯s story, mentioning Dominator at the same time. And because there was a question about their current location, he had no choice but to bring up the Hive. The ultimate goal of the small project he had started recently was to destroy the underground facility called the Hive, and Ramphil had gone there at his request on reconnaissance. That was the story. ¡°Did you say you¡¯re aiming to destroy the Hive?¡± ¡°Yes, I did.¡± General Francis had always spoken directly to Mr. Odin over the phone, but this was the second time they were meeting. He sometimes looked dull, and at other times, like an ordinary old man. No, he even looked a little stupid, to be exact. That was why Mr. Odin was wary of Francis. When a man of his caliber could look dull, that meant that he knew how to hide his edges. Francis¡¯ ever gentle look hardened, and he replied curtly, ¡°That would be difficult.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Did you say that it would be difficult?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Suddenly, the demeanor of the ruler of Asia¡¯s Wargrave changed. ¡°Stop it.¡± It was more of an order than a favor. His demeanor suddenly changed from a gentle and agreeable manner into that of a soldier giving orders, which implied that this mare was important enough for him to bear his fangs, and that it was also time to sort out the pecking order. But, Mr. Odin was also quite skilled at that kind of push and pull. ¡°Is our rtionship close enough for this kind of talk?¡± The biting answer shot out, and General Francis¡¯ eyebrows twitched. Before he could say anything, Mr. Odin threw another statement into the mix, ¡°But, if you provide me with a good reason, it might be possible.¡± He bit back at the general, but then, he took his words back before his opponent could show his anger, all the while maintaining an agreeable attitude. Francis was an old beast. He kept his ws hidden until the opponent got too close, then he trapped them in one pounce. But, Mr. Odin was a fox. While pretending to be magnanimous, he taunted his opponent. ¡°I guess it wasn¡¯t just luck that put you that seat.¡± Francis thought so, and Mr. Odin smiled. ¡°I¡¯m beginning to understand what a soldier is.¡± Mr. Odin was beginning to realize that businesses with military groups were on a different level than anything he had done so far. They were sensitive to hierarchy. So, the moment you found yourself at the bottom, it was all over. It was necessary to have a n of action that gave the impression of not wanting to be on top, while at the same time, letting them know that you were not someone to be messed with. Francis, again, hid his ws. ¡°That¡¯s the ce where we did our ¡®little experiment,¡¯ Mr. Odin. I¡¯m asking you to stop not for our sake, but for yours. .¡± Mishandling the beehive could cause a catastrophe. That was the superficial statement. But, the real message was more like a warning not to touch their dirtyundry. Francis did not borate. ¡°I can fully understand your view. But, Commander, we¡¯re people conducting business.¡± Mr. Odin smiled calmly andined, ¡°When we¡¯ve made an investment, we expect to get a result that matches it. We put a lot of money into organizing Dominator. We¡¯ve put in capital, including the expected return of destroying the Hive.¡± ¡°I understand what you mean.¡± Francis smiled back. Francis was not opposed to dialogue andpromise, and Mr. Odin¡¯s intentions were obvious: Because of your external pressure, we¡¯re going to suffer a loss. Therefore, give me something to make up for that. Francis, however, was rather straightforward in negotiations. ¡°Would the sma gun design n be enough?¡± ¡°You have a great instinct for business. That¡¯s admirable.¡± Mr. Odin smiled broadly. The fact was that Dominator¡¯s forces would be preserved, and he had obtained a sma gun design n for free. However, that was also not a loss for Francis. If Odin Corporation were to arm themselves with Wargrave sma guns, their military power would be strengthened, and they would face theing war with that strengthened force. They would¡¯ve spent their money producing weapons for the Wargrave War, but they were blowing their noses without using their hands. Francis was a straightforward negotiator, but he was not a simple negotiator. It was a very satisfactory negotiation agreement, with each walking away with a pleasant result. ¡°But why are the whereabouts of Executive Agent Ramphil important to you?¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s an internal matter.¡± Francis assumed the posture of not wanting to tell him, and Mr. Odin wasn¡¯t the type to push for answers on things like that. Now that they exchanged the destruction of the Hive for sma guns, Ramphil was virtually useless to Mr. Odin anyway. As things were in a constant flux, it was generally not a good idea to hold on to them. ¡°In any case, we¡¯ll take care of that matter once Executive Agent Ramphil arrives.¡± ¡°Yes, of course.¡± To Luwin, that was strange to hear when considering Ramphil wasn¡¯t even his own man, and no matter how he looked at it, it didn¡¯t seem like they had much power over the agent named Ramphil. But, whatever the case might be, from that point on, the matter was in their hands. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Even after discovering the shocking facts, the recon team scouted the Hive a little more. The monsters in the Hive were either byproducts of or chimeras of a devil production experiment. Unfortunately, a chimera¡¯s demonic traits didn¡¯t recharge Darkborn¡¯s power. Zin, however, leaned on a different possibility. The chimeras had the characteristics of devils, but not the blood of devils. However, if he were to look through that huge experiment facility, he might be able to get some of Wargrave¡¯s data or even devil¡¯s blood. However, Wargrave was a tough opponent. After the search, he realized that they had retrieved or destroyed all the data. And as it became a monster¡¯s nest, no such electronic data remained. Even the facility was bare-boned. He had expected that, so Zin wasn¡¯t terribly disappointed. But when the recon team went down to the deep underground of the Hive, they discovered something entirely new. ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± As they went deep underground, the vines that covered the entire Hive became increasingly rare, and they discovered a huge open space. As rtively less nts covered the space, they could see its shape in full. Taehone and Yoohwan didn¡¯t know, but Zin and Ramphil knew. ¡°Bio Port¡­¡± The capsules filled the wall like eggs, and Ramphil blurted out, ¡°¡­ This is crazy.¡± Most of the capsules had a uniform size for exactly one person. The space, which had countless capsules, had columns touching the ceiling in various ces, and the capsules were attached to each of those columns. That was done to take advantage of the small space. And all the capsules were already broken, as if they had already hatched. ¡°So, this is the space where the monsters of the Hive were created. Is that it? If so, that would mean that the total number of monsters was fixed. ¡°To be exact, it¡¯s the ce where the earliest monsters were made.¡± Subsequent ecosystems would have risen through biological evolution through breeding, but a very obvious conclusions could be drawn from what was visible: Asia¡¯s Wargrave hadid the foundation for devil creation here, the means of which was human experiments. ¡°Why¡­? Why did they experiment on humans?¡± Yoohwan stared at the overwhelming number of capsules, seemingly unable to wrap his mind around it. Zin said, ¡°Not necessarily humans.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Look over there.¡± Zin pointed to huge ports that obviously weren¡¯t made for human use. And there were also ports that were too small for humans to enter. Some capsules were asrge as humans, while others capsules wereparablyrger or smaller. Obviously, non-human things had been used in the experiments as well. However, it was also true that most of them had been human beings. ¡°Well, then, why did they have to use humans?¡± ¡°They were easy to get,¡± Zin easily came to the very cruel conclusion. Large cities had more people than any other ce in the world, and hundreds of people were killed or disappeared every day. This was just a huge experiment that needed life, and the easiest things to capture were not monsters, but humans. That was why Wargrave had collected countless human beings around them and used them as a material for their experiment. Humans became monsters by bing vagabonds as well. So, the reasons for using humans as materials for devil testing were many. In the first ce, there were demons among human beings. People disappeared every day, so no one would bat an eye when someone went missing. The space they saw in front of them wasn¡¯t the end of it. There was a facility beyond the long passageway. The ce, once Wargrave¡¯sboratory, had served as a hatchery for the giant monster¡¯s nest, but now, it appeared to have lost its function. It would be safe to say that the monsters born there, fighting each other and surviving, had created the current Hive, which meant that most of the monsters there were either offsprings of monsters that had once been human, or humans that had be monsters. This avant-garde yet overwhelming sight angered everyone except Zin. Above all, was the fact that the Hive was not a natural disaster, but an artificially created one. Zin silently observed the scene. Rather than conscience and ethics, it was evil that triggered some of the essential parts of man. It was, of course, to Ramphil that the truth came most cruelly. The grimly stiff-faced Ramphil was hardened like a stone, unable to say anything. After a long silence, Ramphil opened his mouth, ¡°This is terrible.¡± ¡®What have I been engaged in?¡¯ The question was beating against Ramphil¡¯s brain. ¡°Let¡¯s go back now.¡± They hadn¡¯t scouted every part of the Hive, but they had found out what they had most needed to know. Now the hive was just a shell, and there was nothing Zin wanted there. No one raised any objections as they all wanted to get out of that unpleasant ce quickly. Beyond mere fear and terror, the ce instilled unpleasantness. ¡®They were the first to create a witch¡­¡¯ Zin now understood how that had been possible. The entire map of the Hive was notplete, but even with what they had, the recon team¡¯s mission had to be deemed a sess. Also, the areas that they weren¡¯t able to explore could be fleshed out using the structural map of the Fortress. Which monsters were dominating which space were already mapped in Zin¡¯s head. Passing through rtively less dangerous ces would safely get them out of the Hive, even if it was a little bit of long way around. The two old hunters marveled at the devil hunter, who moved quickly and carefully as he searched for safe routes without a moment¡¯s dy. It was impossible for them to use the knowledge they had just gained so skillfully. Continuing the hide and cover maneuver, the reconnaissance group moved quickly in a line, following Zin¡¯s signal. When there was a group of monsters, they would wait until they had passed, and if they were forced to confront those monsters, they had to deal with them as quickly as possible. The problem, however, urred when they were quickly passing through the rtively less dangerous, huge open space. In the center of the hollow cavity was a pool of rotten water, like a pond, and they were moving away from the huge pool. ¡®Eeek!¡¯ ¡°?¡± Ramphil quickly turned his head like lightning at the sudden sound that came from behind him, and the whole party stopped. There was a water-dwelling dinosaur that looked to be only fifty centimeters long gazing at Ramphil with its head tilted. ¡®Eeek?¡¯ Of course, the fearless Leona would have said it was cute, but no one in the recon team could rte to that feeling. The little dinosaur did not seem ready to attack yet, so Ramphil looked at Zin. His eyes seemed to say, ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Zin pointed silently forward, a sign that meant, ¡°Just ignore it.¡± The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!