Apocalypse Hunter - Chapter 31

 

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 his command, arrows started to fly.

 

—whoosh!—

 

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.

 

—bang!—

 

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 overcome.

 

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 place 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 arrows coming her way, but the situation was becoming 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!”

 

—whoosh!—

 

The arrows flew through the air, and Leona shouted frantically:

 

“Stinking hunter! When are you going to come back?!”

 

At her shout, all the arrows froze in mid-air.

 

“What happened?”

 

—thud!—

 

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 places ripped apart.

 

“Wh—who 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.

 

—crack! crunch!—

 

Leona was disturbed by the sound of human bones breaking and crunching underground.

 

“And a demon.”

 

The woman who was emanating a black, red, white, and purple aura laughed 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 was laughing eerily. Soon, the woman was unfazed by the slaughter that had taken place. The woman laid 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—she 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.”

 

—kabam!—

 

“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 place, and someone was shrieking in terror. The witch swiped Leona’s head one time and started walking away.

 

“Wh—who 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—the witch had slaughtered 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 collapse. Zin didn’t know what had taken place in the city, but looking at the destruction that took place, he was able to figure out something.

 

A devil must have come 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 also come 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 a companion, and she felt sorrowful that she had to be alone again. She realized the feeling of loneliness after experiencing companionship. 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 display 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 displayed 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 delay it for a bit. I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep my promise of taking you to a safe place.”

 

Even though he was determined as a devil hunter, Zin had to admit that this stray cat had become 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 place 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 never come 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.