Apocalypse Hunter

< 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 planning 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 regret later 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 to come 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 planning 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 planning 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 explain 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 playing 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 naïve.

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… explain it exactly though.” Leona was not confident that she would be able to clearly explain 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 be late if she stayed too long to comfort 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 place after seeing you guys.” Leona talked liked an adult as she was talking to relatively younger kids, and was sincerely thankful.

These were people who did not have any animosity. Leona was glad 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 relationships through their farewell.

——

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 glanced 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 plasma gun. Even if the energy is used up, you can refill by using a chip. I hope this will help with your journey.”

The plasma gun was strong enough to blow up any monster. It was great that they had acquired a new vehicle and a new weapon.

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“Thank you so much, Warlord.”

The technicians finished the last 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 accomplish what you plan to do.”

“Let’s hope so.”

The executor gave up pursuing the undercover operative in order to hunt the White Witch. Ramphil had to accomplish 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 never come back to this place.

“This place should be safe, right?” Leona asked worriedly, and Zin replied with his arms crossed.

“Probably.”

A fortress was the safest place in the wilderness. It was still the safest place 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.

—–

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 feel comfortable, 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 plastic, 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 feels comfortable. 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 recommended 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…”

—Bump! —

“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.

—Clack! —

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 planning to teach Leona how to zero in on a target once they got to a safe place.

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 Wasteland’?”

“… 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 played it though.”

“… All ordinary people seemed to have played 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 explain what kind of game the ‘War of Wasteland’ was, what the objective of the game was, and how the groups were different.

“So the wasteland people group- “Just as Leona was about to explain about the units, Zin cut her off.

Zin knew about RTS games. He wondered how long it had been since he had played a video game. Some rich people collected video game consoles from the pre-apocalyptic days, and tried to play them.

However it was nearly impossible to possess and play 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 playing 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 explanation, 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 simulation. Each troop’s data and factors are set, and the simulator system predicts what the outcome 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 explaining to Leona with terms that she didn’t understand.

“It’s not too different from the game that you were playing. 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 not common. 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.”

Zin laughed 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 flash 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.

—Crrrreeeeak! —

“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.” Leona complained 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!” Ramphil complained as he started to drive the vehicle.

—Vrrrruum! —

The vehicle started moving violently, and Leona screamed, “Ouch!”

—Vrrrrrroooooooo! —

“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 simulations when the devil hunter was an ally. Or it could have been to run simulations 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 simulation 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 relatively 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, similar to how the devils were running rampant in the past.

—Vrrrruuumm! —

The vehicle sped toward the Heavenly Power castle. And just as Zin had been doing for years, he had to wait for what was to come.

—–

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 plain 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 peninsula where there were not many plains, 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 plain.

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 to communicate 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 and come 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 plasma gun.

—Vrrrrruumm! —

“It’s pretty quiet.” Leona seemed to be bored as she could only hear the sound of the vehicle. She continued to play 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 uncomfortable 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 was completely 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 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 plain, but there was a high plateau in front of them.