Chapter 163: The Zodiac Codes

Allen's friends were just as shocked as he was. The renowned top Hunter of Paradise was the leader of a group of mercenaries who happen to be serving people's desires to get revenge.

"If we rely too much on the Bearers, we won't be getting anywhere," Wesley said. "That's why I took it all on myself that we should be moving up on our own, doing our best in order to create a better life."

"So, you're doing this because you wanted to overthrow them?" Allen asked. "Do you think this is the right thing?"

"And the Wandering Trader did the right thing?" Wesley asked, shutting Allen out instantly. The man placed his hands on his desk and sighed. "We can't have all the good things in the world. We must sacrifice something. This also goes as we can't be good at all times and just doing good deeds. We must do something bad in order to be good sometimes."

Allen was speechless from what Wesley was saying. Because primarily, the man was right. If he did the Wandering Trader plot, the he doesn't have a say in what they were doing when they were only doing something like him.

"I'm sorry," Allen said. "It's just that, your method is too harsh that I think it gets out of hand."

"Our method is just right," Wesley said. "The Code that was blessed to us by our savior is the right path for us to reach our peak and take over the tyrants that are the Bearers."

This made Allen's eyebrow quirk up. "What do you mean savior? Who is your savior?"

"Take them to the altar," Wesley said, turning around once more. "I'll follow you in just one moment."

Nathan nodded and he did as was told. He led Allen's group out of the room and into the ground floor where they stood in front of a rock. Nathan knocked on the rock twice, once, and then two more times, making a large boulder roll out of the way to reveal a path.

"Shall we go?" Nathan asked, gesturing for Allen to walk first. "We're going to the path where our sabior sends us prophecies. We use these prophecies to determine which person is willing to sell their lives for justice."

"Sell their lives?" Jeremy was the one who asked this time. Albeit they know that the Soul Burners would steal as much EXP as they could from their victim, they didn't know what was the end of the deal for their clients. How these people pay these Soul Burners were a question that was still unanswered.

"When a person seeks revenge and justice, we seek them through this device. This detects the desperation and distress signal in all the camps of Paradise," Nathan said. "When we can confirm this, we will send people in that person's aid. We help them seek justice."

Allen was now even more skeptical about this. He hasn't heard of something that would detect desperation and stress signals from a world that was as large as three times the size of Earth. How could these people possibly achieve this?

"Here we are," Nathan said.

They entered a giant marble stone cave which had the map of Haven. The cave itself is a map and each Hunter that was in the map was represented with a green dot of light. The green lights dominated the map, but there were also yellow and red lights.

"This is the savior," Nathan said. "This tells us which people need our aid. That is why we can see who wants to seek justice."

"How is this even possible?" Allen could only trail off as he walked closer into the map. "This is something that's too complicated to be built by humans."

"When the Grand Burner was lost in the forest one day, he encountered this cave," Nathan said. "Then he said that he got a Code and a prophecy from another world."

Allen and Jeremy looked at each other after hearing this. From what they knew, they were the only ones that had contact from another world. No one else has reported such anomaly. But then, it would be dangerous if they did.

"I want to speak to Wesley," Allen said. "This is something of importance, so please tell him to meet me now."

"Don't fret," Wesley entered the cave. He was now wearing a suit and tie unlike the large grandiose cloak he wore earlier. "I am here. Mr. Dante, what do you want for us to talk about?"

"What Code did you get?" Allen asked without any more hesitation. This took Wesley aback, making the man narrow his eyes and look at Allen weirdly. "What Code did you get?"

Allen and Jeremy chorused when they summoned their Codes that they got from the cave. The Great Diamond Sword Code and the Great Emerald Spear Code. They raised their weapons, making Wesley gasp.

"What are those?" Wesley asked. "This is the Code that I got."

Wesley waved his hands in the air, conjuring a black whip that had bluish white dots in them, sparkling like the stars. The handle was made of a transparent blue crystal, the same glowing white dots present in the handle too.

"I have the Zodiac Capricorn Code," Wesley said in shock. He looked at the weapons of Allen and Jeremy, shaking his head to see if they have the same kind, but no. "They're not from the same world."

"They aren't," Allen said. He raised his sword and stared at it, his eyes wide in shock. "So, there are more than one other worlds that have been here. Then– I don't know anymore."

"I am as lost as you are," Wesley sighed. "But don't worry. I won't try to kill you for them. I know that these Codes would lower their power when received by another. I don't need a lot of weak Codes. I need more strong allies."

"But what exactly is your goal?" Allen asked. "The mission of the Soul Burners is still very vague for me and I'm having a hard time understanding your ideals."

"We collect the EXP and burning them into this altar so we can have more of the Soul Burning Code," Wesley said. He led them towards the center of the cave where a small altar stood. The altar was a small column that had a hole in the middle.

The hole had a sphere of yellow light, hovering above the column as it spun in a clockwise motion. Wesley placed his hand on the sphere, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. "Here, I am going to burn EXP for a Code."

The man then took his hands off of the sphere of light and offered it to Allen. "Take a look and see."

Allen took the hand and Wesley gave him the Code.

<Soul Burning>

Grade: Grand

Type: Skill

Effect/s: (1) Soul Burn - Active - The user shall steal 90% of the target's max HP. This skill has a 300 second cooldown.

(2) Passive - The user shall absorb all excess EXP after the limit is reached. The EXP surplus will return after the user would go out of the limit.

(3) Passive - Each time the user would reach the EXP limit after using Soul Steal, their EXP limit will be increased by 20%.

Allen was shocked after reading the skill's description. How come such Code existed? This was a Code that was terrifying and very dangerous when fallen into the wrong hands.

"The Code…" Allen trailed off. "What is this?"

"That's the Code we use for our jobs," Wesley replied. "What it did not tell you is that if we burn enough EXP in this altar, then we will have an ultimate power."

"What kind of ultimate power?" Allen asked, but Wesley shrugged in response. "You don't even know?"

"The message said that we can have a duplicate of the first generation Zodiac Codes," Wesley said. "When that happens, I will level them all up and face the Primordial Beast Bearers. I will show them the true meaning of power."

–

"They know already," the woman spoke to a man as they faced the hill. "They now know of our existence, Leo. What shall we do?"

"Let them be, my dear Virgo," the man said. "Capricorn tried to betray us and created that altar, but it won't be long before we destroy it."

"They haven't even know of its true powers," another woman, a woman who was half horse and half human said. "I can feel it. The true power of the Zodiac Map is still unlocked."

"Then we will move when it's released," Leo said, smirking. "Can I count on you on that, Sagittarius?" 

"Of course," the woman bowed and stepped back into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Virgo walked over to Leo and placed her hands on his chest. "We will rule these worlds together, right?"

"Of course," Leo grinned. But in his peripheral view, he was looking at another person. A figure in the darkness that was also looking at them. "My love, we will rule."