Apocalypse Hunter

Ramphil felt stupid as he couldn’t think what Leona was able to observe.

And, Leona thought that the objects that were out of place 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 placed 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 – Azure Dragon of the East, Vermillion Bird of the South, White Tiger of the West, and Black 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.

Leona laughed and said, “I think I am very talented, right?”

Yeah sure…

Zin didn’t reply to Leona’s comment. 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 more comfortable 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 since last 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.

—Pzztt! —

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 accept 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 explain 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 place very messy and unorganized, but the rest of the team thought that the place looked very mysterious.

There was burning incense that smelled good, but Leona seemed to be uncomfortable.

“I don’t feel good…”

“You are an unclean being, and it’s natural for you to feel uncomfortable 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 relationship 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 slaying 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 place 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.”

—Drip—

The green tea was brewed, and the lord poured tea for everyone. Leona blew air out of her mouth to cool the tea.

—Gulp! —

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 lord laughed 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 particularly 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 the last 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 villagers 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 welcomed in this solitary place 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 village in the Korean peninsula, 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 relationship 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 the laboratory. The lord, Leona, and Ramphil learned about new facts after listening to Zin’s story.

Zin explained the powers that the White Witch possessed, and what power he was lacking while fighting against the witch. And he finished talking after explaining 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.