Chapter 400

The moment he first clashed with Jin Taekyung, the black knight knew instinctively.

He’s strong.

The young human before him was extraordinarily powerful. Even if the black knight fought with everything he had, victory was far from certain. His opponent might even be stronger than he was.

As the battle seesawed back and forth, that conviction only deepened.

This will be a difficult fight.

But the black knight neither feared him nor retreated.

He was his lord’s most loyal servant, charged with carrying out his commands.

This was a battle between warriors who had transcended their limits. Even the slightest difference could decide the outcome.

If I don’t give up, an opportunity will come.

The black knight knew that well.

He had repeated those words to himself ever since his childhood training. By surviving countless battles, he had grown into a mighty warrior.

…Me?

Confusion struck again. The moment his thoughts faltered, his movements became erratic.

And his opponent was neither weak nor careless enough to let such an opening pass.

Whoosh! Slash!

The spearhead tore through dead flesh.

Boom!

Blue flames slammed into his chest.

Amid the almost tangible heat, the black knight suddenly felt something.

Pain.

What is this…?

What unsettled him was not that he could feel pain, but that a sensation which should have been utterly foreign felt so terribly familiar.

What are these memories…?

His chest throbbed. His head pounded.

As the black knight staggered beneath the relentless barrage, memories belonging to someone he could not identify flashed rapidly before his eyes.

Th-This can’t be!

“His mana adaptability is incredible. It’s the highest figure we’ve ever recorded!”

“He must be enrolled in the Zhonghua Development Training program immediately!”

Humans dressed in dazzling white clothes chattered excitedly. Among them stood a middle-aged man in a dark, sharply tailored uniform.

“Zhonghua Development Training? You intend to raise that child as a Hunter?”

“Of course. He is only thirteen, yet his mana adaptability is comparable to Faye Chen’s. He has more than enough potential to become an S-rank Hunter—the greatest Hunter in our nation!”

“I refuse.”

“Pardon?”

“No, Comrade Lieutenant General. What do you mean? This child…”

“Enough.”

The middle-aged man continued in a subdued voice.

“He is my only nephew. I promised my sister I would make him happy, not turn him into a Hunter and put him in danger.”

“Being a Hunter is a noble calling. If that child becomes an S-rank Hunter, it will be a blessing to all our people!”

“I know how noble their work is. But that was how my brother-in-law…”

The middle-aged man suddenly stopped and shook his head.

“Nothing you say will change my mind. If not for the directive from above, I would never have allowed him to be tested. We’re leaving. The rest is up to you.”

“Comrade Lieutenant General! Comrade Lieutenant General!”

Leaving the shouts behind him, the middle-aged man strode over, forced a smile, and held out his hand.

“You’ve been waiting a long time, haven’t you? Come on. Let’s go.”

The black knight—or rather, the person whose memories these seemed to be—took the middle-aged man’s hand.

His own hand was small and pale.

Then a child’s clear voice rang out.

“Uncle.”

“Yes?”

“I… I want to become a Hunter.”

A host of emotions crossed the middle-aged man’s face.

He stared at the child for a long time, biting his lip. When he finally released a troubled sigh, the others approached with markedly brighter expressions.

“Zhonghua Development Training is a project we designed with the utmost care. Its safety measures are rigorous, and its effectiveness is proven. Wu Heixing is the same age, and he’s doing well.”

“If the child changes his mind, we’ll stop the training at any time.”

The oldest-looking man placed a hand on the middle-aged man’s shoulder.

“Please trust us and leave him in our care, Comrade Lieutenant General Wei Fenghu.”

Wei Fenghu. Wei Fenghu…

The name echoed endlessly through the black knight’s mind.

It was so familiar.

He had missed it so much.

Boom!

Did his chest ache because of the blow he had taken, or was there another reason?

As the staggering black knight stared ahead, more memories appeared before his eyes.

“You think you’re the best just because the adults praise you?”

A boy in a bow tie and black suit glared at him with sharp eyes. His polished shoes gleamed.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m the best. You’re second!”

The black knight’s vision tilted to one side, and then an innocent voice rang out.

“Okay. Let’s do that, then.”

“What?”

“I don’t mind being second. Third is fine too, and I wouldn’t care if I came in last.”

The sharp-featured boy’s mouth fell open.

“Are you stupid? You want to be even worse than Zhang Wei, the lowest-ranked trainee in the whole training camp?”

“But Zhang Wei is kind, and he’s always helping others. He’ll become a great Hunter.”

“Y-You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”

“Huh? No. I just meant that if that’s what you want, then I’m fine with—ah!”

Crash!

It took only an instant to subdue the boy who had suddenly lunged at him. Pinned beneath him, the boy thrashed and shouted.

“I’m the best! Wu Heixing is the best at everything!”

As one memory faded, another surfaced, as though someone were tossing stones one after another into a still pond.

The memories of that unknown person continued to throw the black knight’s mind into confusion.

“Top trainee, ■■■■, step forward.”

A small number of people filled a vast space.

For some reason, he could not make out the name being called, but his body moved on its own.

Step. Step.

His disciplined strides were long, and his vantage point was much higher.

He had grown into a young man. An older man in uniform approached and pinned a medal to his chest.

It was a familiar face—the same man from the first memory. He leaned closer and whispered.

“Are you certain you won’t regret this?”

“I have no regrets. I never have, and I never will.”

“Most people will never know you exist. You may have to spend your entire life in the shadows.”

“I was taught that a Hunter is also a guardian. Remaining unseen does not diminish my honor.”

“There is something I have not been able to tell you until now.”

The older man’s grip tightened on his shoulder.

“I’m proud of you. Thank you for growing into such a fine man.”

“Thank you, Uncle. No… Father.”

The older man smiled brightly, his eyes glistening with tears.

The instant a single tear rolled down his wrinkled cheek and struck the platform, another memory surfaced.

“Hello? Is anyone here?”

The place he visited on that warm spring day was a small flower shop. As he looked around at the vibrant flowers and peered farther inside, she approached him.

“Welcome!”

Her steps were light and buoyant, her eyes prim and feline.

Her voice was so cheerful and bright.

And she was so beautiful…

The black knight—or rather, a man who had passed through his youthful years and grown more mature—felt his heart pound.

“Are you a customer?”

“N-No, I… I came to buy some fl-flowers.”

“For your parents? Or your girlfriend?”

“My parents. Strictly speaking, they aren’t my parents. It’s my uncle who raised me…”

“I see. You speak so formally, though. Are you a soldier?”

“S-Something like that.”

It was a strange memory. His words kept breaking off, and everything before his eyes repeatedly turned white.

When he came to his senses, he was walking dazedly into a hospital room with a bright bouquet in his arms.

“You fool. I told you there was no need to come when it’s only mild pneumonia… What’s that?”

At Wei Fenghu’s question, he answered blankly.

“Flowers.”

“Is that a get-well gift?”

“Yes.”

“So you bought me chrysanthemums as a get-well gift?”¹

“Yes… Huh?”

“You ungrateful brat! Hey, you!”

Smack! Smack!

The man laughed even as he was beaten with the bouquet. A quiet laugh escaped him at his own stupidity, and he could not help laughing because she looked like chrysanthemums.

After that, the memories sped by.

He visited the flower shop every day.

“H-Hello!”

“Welcome—oh, you’re back again?”

“Haha.”

“Chrysanthemums, right? The pure white ones.”

Spring, summer, autumn, winter.

By the time all four seasons had passed, they were no longer merely a flower-shop owner and her customer.

“I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Will you marry me?”

“…Oh.”

“I’ll make you happy.”

Of all the memories he had seen, that one lasted the longest.

After a silence so long that a single second felt like ten years, or even a hundred, she finally opened her mouth.

“I have something to tell you too.”

“No, before that, give me your answer…”

“I’m pregnant.”

“What?”

Thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump-thump!

The man’s heart hammered wildly, and the black knight writhed in agony.

“Aaah… Aaaaaah!”

His head hurt as if it were splitting apart, and it felt as though someone were wringing out his insides with their hands.

Along with pain beyond anything he had ever imagined, another memory forced its way into the empty space.

“Waaah! Waaah!”

“Th-This child…”

“Congratulations on becoming a father, honey.”

The birth of a new life.

And its growth.

“Dada. Dada-da!”

“Honey, honey! Did you hear that? Our baby’s already saying ‘Dada.’ Could our baby be a genius?”

“Could you change the diaper?”

“Wait. Let me hear it one more time.”

“Dada! Momma!”

“Hahaha! That’s right! We’re your daddy and mommy!”

The day the baby, bundled in a swaddling cloth and squirming helplessly, succeeded in rolling over.

The day she first crawled on all fours.

The day she took her first steps…

The man was as happy as if the entire world belonged to him.

But it did not take long for those dreamlike days to become a nightmare.

“The magical power level in Gaoping District has spiked!”

“Gaoping District? Keep trying to contact them, and mobilize and deploy the Second Regiment as a precaution.”

“D-Director, we’ve lost communications.”

“What?”

Disaster struck without warning.

The man hurriedly assembled the forces under his command and headed for the source, only to find an unbelievable sight awaiting him.

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

“E-Everyone, run—guh!”

Crunch! KABOOM!

Flames billowed into the sky above the once-peaceful city, while countless monsters slaughtered people on the ground.

Before that unbelievable scene of carnage, in a land overflowing with screams and death, the man drew his sword.

“Public Security Armed Forces Department!”

Zzzzt!

An aura blade surged around his sword, shining brilliantly.

More than a thousand Hunters answered his cry with a deafening roar.

They were humanity’s shield and guardians.

They could not retreat a single step.

“Wipe them all out!”

“Waaaah! Long live the People’s Republic of China!”

With the Five-Starred Red Flag emblazoned on their armor, they surged forward like a wave—only to break apart in sprays of blood instead of white foam.

“Perish in the flames of hellfire. Fire Rain.”

Kiiiiing.

The ash-gray sky opened its maw.

Beneath the falling rain of fire, the man thought of his beloved wife and five-year-old daughter.

And then he came face-to-face with that being.

“If you had run, you could have lived.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“How noble. What is your name, human?”

“I am…”

“…Lei Fei?”

At the sound of Jin Taekyung’s voice, the black knight’s body went rigid.

The dam burst, and everything began to reassemble.

Thirty-six years of memories from his life as a human crashed over him like a tidal wave, blotting out his vision.

—I am… I am…

What in the world was he?

As the black knight trembled in confusion and pain, a thunderous voice rang through his mind.

—You are my most loyal servant and the supreme commander of my legion. Your lord commands you: fulfill your duty until you crumble into ash!

—……!

It was a word of power he could not resist.

The red light in his eyes, wavering like a candle in the wind, suddenly blazed.

The black knight—no, Lei Fei—had fallen with only one strike left to finish him.

Now tremendous magical power erupted from his entire body.

KRAAAAAASH!