The Reason to Become a Hunter

Watching Wei Ke's eyes gradually clear up, Bai Wei thought to himself... It seems it has appeared.

The third consciousness besides Wei Ke and A De, and also the most troublesome one.

After meeting Wei Ke, Bai Wei had been trying his best to suppress this consciousness, but he still couldn't completely suppress it, and finally, at this moment, it showed signs of awakening. Otherwise, Wei Ke wouldn't have said those words and wanted Bai Wei to complete that extremely dangerous trial in his place.

Hmm, perhaps we shouldn't refer to it as "that consciousness" anymore.

To put it bluntly, "it" is... Wildfire.

Wei Ke is called Saint by the Wildfire Sect because he carries a consciousness from the Wildfire within him.

That consciousness was also the final step in Wildfire's Ascension Ladder. Once it fully awakened and returned to Wildfire's body, this step would be considered complete.

In this way, New God is born, and it becomes Him. Then no one on this land will be able to contend with Him, not even the current Bai Wei.

Therefore, the safest approach is to kill Wei Ke right here before it completes its final step.

But that only slightly slowed down its path to godhood, because it could still send out a second Wei Ke, a third Wei Ke, while Bai Wei would get nothing.

Therefore, Bai Wei wanted to have a big fight with this madman who was trying to become a god.

That means letting Wei Ke fight the Wildfire himself.

At first glance, the relationship between Wei Ke and Wildfire seems somewhat similar to that between Bai Wei and the host. Bai Wei induces the host to use his power and "fall," and Wildfire is the same.

But in fact, this is completely different, because Bai Wei and the host are always two independent individuals, while Wildfire is different from Wei Ke.

It is not seduction, but assimilation.

The moment Wei Ke's self-perception became the same as Wildfire's, he became Wildfire, or rather, was assimilated by Wildfire.

So during this period of time, Bai Wei has been shaping and reinforcing Wei Ke's new understanding of the Hunter.

If you are Hunter, you cannot be Wildfire.

If you are Wildfire, you cannot be Hunter.

These are two completely contradictory identities; they cannot coexist, and only by one killing the other can the relationship continue.

"If you really can't do it," Bai Wei patted Wei Ke on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Then I can try to help you. Although my injury hasn't healed yet, and my leg is lame, so there's a high chance I can't do it, but for you..."

"...Could you please stop using that kind of language?" Wei Ke sighed. "I am Hunter, this is my trial, how could I let you take such a risk?"

While Wei Ke was speaking, Bai Wei kept staring into his eyes and didn't notice the earlier unusual look.

It seems that in the first round, "Hunter" won against "Wildfire".

But this is not surprising, after all, the Wildfire have only just begun to ignite.

It's a madman who's about to become a god, while the "Hunter" in Wei Ke's mind has only been born for a few days. Judging from their strength on paper, the two are not even in the same league.

But...

Bai Wei smiled and said, "Yes, you are Hunter... So, shall we begin now?"

Wei Ke subconsciously looked at the two intersecting spears.

It hasn't been activated yet, but Wei Ke still feels a little scared, as if he can already hear the roar of thunder echoing in his ears.

"I..." Wei Ke said softly, "Could we prepare some more?"

The voice carried a plea.

"Of course," Bai Wei said with a smile, "Late courage is still courage."

"Rhine!"

With a shout, Fei Ge sent the four golden holy swords hanging behind him flying toward the Wildfire Cultist Complete Wolf Transformation not far away.

The Wildfire Cultist saw the holy sword flying towards him and instinctively tried to defend himself, but was stopped by the Rhine Knight on either side.

Then, with a "pfft".

The Wildfire Cultist's limbs were pierced by the holy sword, pinning him firmly to the ground.

He wanted to resist, but he discovered that the four holy swords also carried some kind of unreasonable sealing power, which firmly sealed off his brute strength and bestial nature, making it difficult for him to even maintain his Complete Wolf Transformation state.

"Give up, Pedro Chief Wildfire." Fei Ge strolled leisurely toward Pedro. "I know your bodies are immune to magic, but this is not magic. It is the power bestowed upon us by the great Rhine God. No matter how you transform into a beast, you cannot resist it."

Just as Fei Ge had predicted, Pedro's Complete Wolf Transformation was rapidly fading, and soon his three-headed wolf face returned to the appearance of a weak middle-aged man.

"Rhine!" He stared intently at Fei Ge. "This is an invasion!"

"What are you talking about?" Fei Ge said calmly. "Rhine and Wildfire are enemies by nature. Even if we kill you all, there won't be any moral issues."

"...Arrogant!" Pedro said. "Rhine, you've always been this arrogant. But it doesn't matter, your arrogance won't last long. All of you... will die here, all of you!"

"Hmm... for someone to say something like that, it seems the Wildfire leader's ambition to become a god isn't just a rumor," Fei Ge said. "We didn't expect to run into him."

"...You ran into him?" Pedro noticed Fei Ge's choice of words and sensed something was off. "What do you mean? Didn't you come here for that reason?"

"Of course...no." Fei Ge watched Pedro's expression change with interest. "You think we came here to stop your leader from becoming a god? Heh, you're overthinking it, Chief Pedro. To be honest, you're not even a real opponent in our eyes, just a bunch of barking neighbor dogs."

Pedro's eyes widened. "You..."

Before the curse could even be uttered, the Rhine Knight beside Fei Ge raised his hand and pierced Pedro's chest with his sword, abruptly silencing him.

"You're angry, aren't you? But unfortunately, this is our true opinion of you, the neighbor's barking dogs. If you bark too loudly, we'll give you a good thrashing; if you don't, we'll pretend we didn't see anything," Fei Ge said. "After all, you're just a bunch of godless bastards, not worth our attention at all. To be honest, we monitor the Lyra and Holy Sound, who are also orthodox religions, more than you, who are Esoteric Sect."

Pedro's teeth were practically grinding to powder.

"But you guys are quite surprising, actually thinking of becoming gods. I couldn't believe it when I first heard the news," Fei Ge said with a smile. "But seeing you, one of the Wildfire Five Great Chiefs, being thrown out like this to buy time, it seems it really is true."

Pedro said, "I'm not going to tell you anything more."

"Heh, do you think I still need it?" Fei Ge raised his head, his gaze passing over the countless corpses of Wildfire Cultist and landing on the valley ahead. "Your holy land is already before my eyes. Tsk, how pathetic. Godless bastards, even now you still need to borrow the power of Senro, the god of the dead. Even if such New God were to descend, what could he possibly accomplish?"

"You'll find out!" Pedro roared hysterically, "The Lord will kill you all... all of you!"

"Is that so?" Fei Ge said with a smile. "Then I'll wait and see."

With that, Fei Ge stepped over Pedro's head.

The Knight who followed immediately stepped forward and beheaded Pedro, and then everyone rushed towards the final place— the Senro Sacrificial Ground.

Aren't you ready yet?

"The horse is almost here! Let me get ready a bit more!"

"It's either yes or no. What's the point of preparing... You've been preparing for ages, it's almost dark." Yi Weina tilted her head, looking at Wei Ke sitting under the spear. "If it really doesn't work, then let me do it?"

"You came?" Wei Ke looked at Yi Weina with some surprise.

"Yes," Yi Weina nodded. "I've tried it before, and I even succeeded."

"...If you hadn't succeeded, you would have been dead." Wei Ke's lips twitched. "But how did you manage to do it?"

"Don't underestimate people, okay...and this isn't actually that difficult." After hesitating for a moment, Yi Weina pointed at the spear and said, "My grandmother told me that the Senro God only wants the Hunter's courage, not Hunter life. So when you dare to grab the Thunder Spear, you've already proven your courage. As long as you don't throw it too far off course, the Thunder Spear will find its own spot."

"You can actually do that?!"

"Of course," Yi Weina said. "If you don't believe me, let me do it."

Wei Ke was tempted.

The thought seemed to resurface in his mind.

Yes, let her come.

She's already volunteered herself, so even if she fails, it's her own problem and has nothing to do with me.

Isn't it the best thing if others are willing to take the risk?

This idea sprouted like bamboo shoots after a spring rain in Wei Ke's mind, to the point that he couldn't help but agree, and his body involuntarily leaned forward.

But then, another voice rang in his mind.

"Now, you are the last Hunter of Senro."

Wei Ke immediately pulled back from his forward-leaning position.

"Let me do it," Wei Ke said. "I'll prepare a bit more, I'm sure I can do it."

Seeing that Wei Ke had retreated again, Yi Weina was very anxious.

According to the Wildfire Cultist, she was to help Wei Ke open the door... but only if Wei Ke made the request.

Although she didn't know why this requirement had to be made, she was willing to do anything to bring her grandmother back to life.

That's why she told Wei Ke that it wasn't that dangerous. Normally, the saintess wouldn't allow this information to be revealed to the Hunter, so as not to affect the Hunter's courage.

But none of that mattered to her anymore.

"There's really no point in arguing about this," Yi Weina said, glancing back to make sure Bai Wei wasn't behind her before trying to persuade Wei Ke again. "If you're not good at this, then skip it and let me do it. You can come up with something you're good at later. Don't you want to find that Little Wolf anymore? Are you just going to stay stuck here?"

Even after Yi Weina said that, Wei Ke didn't move, but simply said in a low voice, "I am the last Hunter of Senro."

"So what?" Yi Weina said. "I'm still the last Holy Maiden of Senluo, what's the point?"

"Yes," Wei Ke said, "Because I haven't accomplished anything since I became Hunter."

"Ah?"

"Yes." Wei Ke took a small Music Box out of his pocket and said softly, "Back in the Yade Town, I took on my first job, to help a little girl find her parents. But her parents are dead, and I still haven't been able to get the news back."

"I didn't protect anyone either. A De is gone. The Old Hunter Ryan, who gave me Hunter blood and made me a full-fledged Hunter, also died protecting me."

"Even along the way, I have been protected by Father Ulu, who is disabled."

"So..." Wei Ke lowered his head, "I want to try and see if there's anything I can do. If I can't do anything, even if I find A De in the future, I won't be able to protect it anymore."

Yi Weina opened her mouth, but for a moment she didn't know what to say.

After a long pause, she spoke again, "Why did you become Hunter?"

Why become Hunter?

"Yes, why become Hunter?" Yi Weina said softly. "The Senro God is already dead. In this era, why do you still want to become Hunter?"

Why become Hunter?

Yi Weina wasn't just asking Wei Ke, she was asking herself too.

If it weren't for being bound here by some so-called mission, she and her grandmother would have left long ago.

In that case, they wouldn't need to eat wild fruits every day, wouldn't need to spend their days guarding the deserted mountains, and their grandmother wouldn't have died because she couldn't get treatment after falling ill.

She hated the identity of a saint, and she hated this mission.

If she could, she would want to get rid of it all, to throw it all away.

So she didn't understand why someone wanted to have what she was desperately trying to get rid of.

Why become Hunter?

This question was asked of Wei Ke, because the Old Hunter Ryan had also asked the same question, but Wei Ke didn't know how to answer it at the time.

Actually, I don't know now.

So why is that?

Wei Ke hugged his knees and began to think.

He should know the answer.

The world fell silent.

A voice gradually began to resonate in his mind.

"You brat! Look what you've adopted! It's a wolf, not a dog!"

"So what?"

"What do you mean, 'what if'? Wolves are wild beasts that can't be tamed. They'll eat you when they grow up!"

"A De won't, I believe it."

"Get out! I don't believe it! Either you kill it now, or you get out with it! This town doesn't tolerate wolves!"

"Fine, I'll get out then."

"Could you give me some food? I can help you with the work."

"No way! You brat with a wolf, get out of here! You're not welcome here."

"What's that kid with?! Oh my god, a huge wolf! Kill it, or it will bite us!"

Tired and exhausted.

It seemed as if there was no place for them in the whole world.

Amidst the swirling snowflakes, he saw a boy dressed only in a thin shirt sitting in the snow. Despite shivering from the cold, the boy showed no resentment and instead proudly displayed a tattered book he had somehow found.

"I understand, A De! I can become Hunter, and then you'll be my hound!"

He opened the book, and on the yellowed title page was a picture of Hunter and his hounds hunting.

"At that time, no one will drive us away anymore!"

He spoke with a smile, his teeth as white as snow.

Wei Ke's eyes widened little by little.

He remembered everything.

"So that's how it is..."

He spoke softly, when suddenly a violent clap of thunder sounded in his ear. He looked up and realized that he had unknowingly stood up and triggered a mechanism.

Then the Thunder Spear reappeared before him.

It was still as violent and powerful as ever, making Wei Ke tremble and want to kneel down just by looking at it.

But he didn't kneel. Instead, his body seemed to move on its own as he leaped high into the air and grabbed the thunder spear.

The next second.

Thunder shattered the darkness.