The Reason to Become a Hunter

Watching Wei Ke's eyes gradually clear, Bai Wei silently thought, Looks like it has appeared.

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

Ever since meeting Wei Ke, Bai Wei had been suppressing that consciousness as much as possible, but he still could not completely hold it down. Finally, it showed signs of awakening at this moment. Otherwise, Wei Ke would not have said something like that, nor would he have wanted Bai Wei to complete that extremely dangerous trial in his place.

Well, perhaps he should no longer call it "that consciousness."

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

The reason Wei Ke was called a saint by the Wildfire Sect was because he carried a consciousness from Wildfire within him.

That consciousness was also the final step of Wildfire's Ascension Ladder. Once it fully awakened and returned to Wildfire's body, that step would be crossed.

Then, the New God would be born. It would become Him, and no one on this land would be able to contend with Him—not even Bai Wei as he was now.

So the safest method was to kill Wei Ke right here before it completed that final step.

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

Therefore, Bai Wei wanted to make a big gamble with this madman attempting to become a god.

He would let Wei Ke fight Wildfire himself.

At first glance, the relationship between Wei Ke and Wildfire resembled the relationship between Bai Wei and his hosts. Bai Wei guided his hosts into using his power and "falling," and Wildfire did the same.

But they were actually completely different, because Bai Wei and his hosts had always been two independent individuals, whereas Wildfire and Wei Ke were not.

It was not temptation, but assimilation.

The moment Wei Ke's self-perception became identical to Wildfire's, he would become Wildfire—or rather, be assimilated by Wildfire.

That was why Bai Wei had been shaping and reinforcing a new identity for Wei Ke during this time—Hunter.

If you were a Hunter, you could not be Wildfire.

If you were Wildfire, you could not be a Hunter.

These were two utterly contradictory identities. They could not coexist; only when one killed the other could it continue.

"If you really can't do it." Bai Wei patted Wei Ke on the shoulder and smiled. "I can give it a try for you. My injuries haven't healed, and I'm lame too, so there's a ninety-percent chance I won't be able to take it. But for you..."

"...Could you not put it that way?" Wei Ke sighed. "I'm the Hunter. This is my trial. How could I let you take such a risk?"

As Wei Ke spoke, Bai Wei had been watching his eyes closely, but he found none of that earlier abnormality.

It seemed that in the first round, "Hunter" had defeated "Wildfire."

But that was not surprising. Wildfire had only just awakened.

It was a madman trying to become a god, while the "Hunter" in Wei Ke's heart had only been born a few days ago. In terms of raw strength, the two were not even on the same level.

But...

Bai Wei smiled. "That's right. You're a Hunter... so shall we begin now?"

Wei Ke instinctively looked toward the two crossed spears.

They had not yet been activated, but Wei Ke still felt intimidated. It was as if thunderous roars had already begun echoing in his ears.

"I..." Wei Ke said softly. "Can I prepare a little longer?"

There was pleading in his voice.

"Of course." Bai Wei smiled. "Late courage is still courage."

"Rhine!"

Fei Ge shouted, and the four golden holy swords suspended behind him flew toward the Complete Wolf Transformation Wildfire Cultist not far away.

Seeing the holy swords flying toward him, the Wildfire Cultist instinctively tried to block them, only to be stopped by the Rhine Knights on either side.

Then, with a wet squelch.

The Wildfire Cultist's limbs were pierced by the holy swords and firmly nailed to the ground.

He tried to resist, only to discover that the four holy swords carried some unreasonable sealing power that locked down both his brute strength and bestial nature. He could barely maintain his Complete Wolf Transformation.

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

Just as Fei Ge had said, Pedro's Complete Wolf Transformation rapidly faded. Soon, his three wolf heads reverted to the form of a weakened middle-aged man.

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

"What are you talking about?" Fei Ge said flatly. "Rhine and Wildfire are enemies to begin with. Even if we slaughtered every last one of you, there would be no moral issue."

"...Arrogant!" Pedro said. "Rhine, you have always been this arrogant. But it doesn't matter. You won't be arrogant for much longer. All of you... will die here. Every last one of you!"

"Hmm... for you to say something like that, it seems the rumor that Wildfire's leader wants to become a god is not just a rumor after all." Fei Ge said. "I didn't expect us to run into it."

"...Run into it?" Pedro caught Fei Ge's wording and sensed something off. "What do you mean? You didn't come because of this?"

"Of course... not." Fei Ge watched Pedro's expression change with interest. "Did you think we came to stop your leader from becoming a god? Heh, you're thinking too highly of yourselves, Chief Pedro. To be honest, you don't even count as a proper opponent in our eyes. You're just a pack of neighboring stray dogs that know nothing but how to bark."

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

Before he could curse, the Rhine Knight beside Fei Ge raised his sword and stabbed it through Pedro's chest, forcibly cutting off his words.

"Angry, are you? But unfortunately, this is what we truly think of you—barking dogs next door. If you bark too fiercely, we come over and whip you. If you do not bark fiercely enough, we pretend not to see you." Fei Ge said. "After all, you are a bunch of godless bastards, not worth much attention. Frankly, we keep a closer watch on Lyra and Holy Sound, both orthodox sects, than we do on you Esoteric Sect vermin."

Pedro nearly crushed his teeth.

"But you really have surprised us, thinking of becoming gods and all. When I first received the news, I could hardly believe it." Fei Ge smiled. "But seeing that even you, one of Wildfire's Five Great Chiefs, were thrown out here to buy time, it seems it is indeed true."

Pedro said, "I won't tell you anything else."

"Heh, do you think I still need you to?" Fei Ge lifted his head, his gaze crossing countless Wildfire Cultist corpses before landing on the valley ahead. "Your holy ground is already right before my eyes. Tsk, how pathetic. You godless mongrels still need to borrow the power of Senro, a dead god, even now. Even if such a New God truly descends, what could it possibly accomplish?"

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

"Is that so?" Fei Ge smiled. "Then I'll wait and see."

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

The knights following behind immediately stepped forward and cut off Pedro's head. Then everyone charged toward the final destination—the Senro Sacrificial Ground.

"Are you still not ready?"

"I-I'll be ready soon! Let me prepare a little longer!"

"Yes means yes, no means no. What does 'prepare a little longer' even mean... You've already been preparing for ages. It's nearly dark." Yi Weina tilted her head at Wei Ke, who sat beneath the spears. "If you really can't do it, should I do it?"

"You?" Wei Ke looked at Yi Weina in surprise.

"Yeah." Yi Weina nodded. "I tried it before, and I succeeded."

"...If you hadn't succeeded, you'd already be dead, wouldn't you?" Wei Ke's mouth twitched. "But how could you do it?"

"Don't underestimate me... Besides, it's actually not that hard." After hesitating, Yi Weina still pointed at the spears. "Grandmother told me that the Senro God wants a Hunter's courage, not a Hunter's life. So when you dare to grab the Thunder Spear, you have already proven your courage. As long as you don't throw it too far off, the spear will find its position by itself."

"You can do it like that?!"

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

Wei Ke was tempted.

That thought seemed to surface in his mind again.

That's right, let her do it.

She volunteered herself. Even if she fails, that would be her own problem. It has nothing to do with me.

If someone else is willing to bear the risk, isn't that the best possible thing?

Those thoughts grew wildly in Wei Ke's mind like bamboo shoots after rain. He nearly agreed, his body even tilting forward involuntarily.

But then another voice rang out in his mind.

"Now, you are Senro's last Hunter."

Wei Ke immediately pulled his leaning body back.

"Let me do it." Wei Ke said. "I'll prepare a little longer. I can definitely do it."

Seeing Wei Ke draw back again, Yi Weina grew extremely anxious.

Because according to the Wildfire Cultists' requirements, she was supposed to help Wei Ke open this door... but only if Wei Ke made the request.

Although she did not know why that condition was necessary, as long as it could bring her Grandmother back to life, she was willing to do anything.

That was why she told Wei Ke it was not so dangerous. Normally, the Saintess was not allowed to reveal this information to Hunters, lest it affect their courage.

But to her, none of that mattered anymore.

"There's really no need to be so stubborn about this, right?" Yi Weina glanced behind her, and only after confirming Bai Wei was not there did she urge Wei Ke again. "If you're not good at this, just skip it and let me do it. When we run into something you are good at, you can step up then. Don't you want to find that Little Wolf? Are you just going to stay stuck here?"

Even after Yi Weina said that, Wei Ke did not move. He only said softly, "I am Senro's last Hunter."

"So what?" Yi Weina said. "I'm also Senro's last-generation Saintess. What meaning does that have?"

"It has meaning." Wei Ke said. "Because since becoming a Hunter, I haven't accomplished anything at all."

"Huh?"

"Yes." Wei Ke took a small Music Box from his pocket and spoke softly. "Back in Yade Town, I accepted my first commission—to help a little girl find her parents. But her parents were already dead, and even now, I still haven't brought the news back to her."

"I also failed to protect anyone. A De is gone. Ryan, the Old Hunter who gave me Hunter blood and made me a true Hunter, also died protecting me."

"Even on this entire journey, I have been protected by Father Ulu the whole time. You know he is disabled too."

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

Yi Weina opened her mouth, but for a moment, she did not know what to say.

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

"Why did I become a Hunter?"

"Yes. Why become a Hunter?" Yi Weina said softly. "The Senro God is already dead. Why would you still become a Hunter in this era?"

Why become a Hunter?

Yi Weina was not merely asking Wei Ke. She was asking herself as well.

If she and Grandmother had not been bound here by that so-called mission, they would have left long ago.

Then, they would not have needed to eat wild fruit every day, nor guard an empty mountain forest day after day. Grandmother would not have died because she could not be treated after falling ill.

She hated being a Saintess. She hated this mission.

If she could, she wanted to shake it all off and throw everything away.

That was why she did not understand why someone would want the very thing she desperately wished to discard.

Why become a Hunter?

The question struck Wei Ke, because Old Hunter Ryan had once asked him the same question. But back then, Wei Ke had not known how to answer.

Actually, he still did not know.

So why was it?

Wei Ke hugged his knees and began to think.

He should have known the answer.

The world grew quiet.

Gradually, voices began to echo in his mind.

"Little Brat! What did you adopt?! It's a wolf, not a dog!"

"So what?"

"What do you mean, so what? Wolves are wild beasts that cannot be tamed. When it grows up, it will eat you!"

"A De won't. I believe in him."

"Bullshit! I don't believe it! Either slaughter it right now, or get out with it! Wolves are not allowed in this town!"

"Then we'll get out."

"Can you give me something to eat? I can work for it."

"No! Little Brat with a wolf, get the hell away from here! You're not welcome here."

"What is that beside that Little Brat?! My god, what a huge wolf! Kill it quickly! Don't let it bite us!"

Running, exhaustion.

It was as if there was no place in the entire world for them to stand.

Amid the snow filling the sky, he saw a youth in nothing but thin clothes sitting in the snowdrift. Though shivering from the cold, he held no resentment at all, still animatedly showing off a tattered book he had found somewhere.

"I know now, A De! I can become a Hunter. Then you can be my hunting dog!"

He opened the book. On the yellowed title page was a Hunter and a hunting dog in the middle of a hunt.

"Then no one will ever drive us away again!"

He said it with a smile, his teeth as white as snow.

Wei Ke's eyes slowly widened.

He remembered everything.

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

He murmured softly. At that moment, furious thunder suddenly sounded beside his ears. He raised his head and realized that, without knowing when, he had already stood up and triggered the mechanism.

The Thunder Spear appeared before him once again.

It was still so violent, so filled with power that just one glance made Wei Ke's entire body tremble and made him want to kneel.

But he did not kneel. 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.