Chapter 124 Revealed

Chapter 124 Revealed

Chapter 124: Revealed

Days passed without any sign that something serious had been brewing in the shadows.

The First Hunter Union operated like usual, and hunters were going in and out, returning from missions or just setting out on their voyage to keep the world free from monsters' saturation. A few had lost their lives as life was not that easy, and some had returned with bright smiles as their boons were more than they had anticipated.

That was the normal sequence of events.

Hunter was also back home. Strangely, he was alone in his apartment, so he decided to take care of the three kitties that had become permanent residents of his home by now. He also liked three of them as they seemed intelligent enough to keep watch of his house whenever he went out for a long mission.

Just as he had prepared the food for them, Hunter's presence suddenly disappeared from the union. Confused and alerted, Hunter looked around, spotting a few familiar trees... if he was right, that tree was the one beside his apartment block, yet he stood on the ground, meaning the apartment block was what was gone from it.

Recalling that the yearly exam had taken place in the union's spirit domain, which was after the uninhabited lands of The First Hunter Union before that association had laid out themselves here, Hunter inferred that he was taken to the spirit's domain.

He wasn't off the mark.

'Seems rather forceful... at least I haven't heard of any event like this prior to this sudden teleportation,' Hunter inwardly thought as he looked around. He was now in a jungle, which was an environment not so foreign to hunters. He didn't feel out of place here, but the circumstances behind his presence here left him unease.

All around was the woods, but when he raised his head up, Hunter could spot the first unfamiliar sight.

What was the blue, cloudless sky that had started teeming with clouds that were coming from a black hole that was clearly not something pleasant or desired in this tranquil place? The black hole kept spitting white and dense clouds, which soon created a white carpet stretching far and wide across the sky.

Black dots then popped on it, which were silhouettes of people. Upon a closer inspection, Hunter found the reason for them to be black dots—vast black wings were wrapping them from every direction but the front. Those wings belonged to demons.

Their presence soon descended upon the spirit's domain, drowning it in their might. Hunter felt like his legs would soon give in if he was to do nothing. He strained his origins and exerted strength to stand straight before this show of foreign might.

It wasn't directed at him, which also helped.

'Who is their goal? What's their objective?' Hunter thought, tense.

Soon, however, a violet light found him. It encompassed him from head to toe, then brought him somewhere else, dropping him behind the woman with a violet, long hair. Recognizing the outfit and those streaks cascading down from a glance, Hunter knew he was in safe hands.

"Headmistress!" Hunter shouted, only to notice that all guild leaders were here as well. The familiar guild leader that had given him his first item looked at him with interest, endowed with a faint smile, striking him. The rest was somewhat interested in him, too. After all, he was also chosen to be here for whatever reason.

Meanwhile, Celestia hadn't even spared him a glance, her eyes trained on the demons perched on the dense clouds.

Hunter grew stressed as he had come to understand her more than before. Her ambition, her deeds. He was aware that those demons could possibly have come here only for her. What would he do if everyone were to distance themselves from her? Should he follow the guild leaders or stay behind her?

Hunter clenched his hands.

A demon's voice dropped onto the gathered representatives and Hunter, "I commend you, Celestia. You were prepared for us to come here, weren't you? We originally wanted to come here at night because of your second bloodline, but the barrier around night was well protected by the wind. The same kind of wind that we can't really go against." nOve-Lb-1n

The last sentence was said with a mixture of respect and disgust.

The demon explained the cause of those feelings, "The wind that Brother Lucifer used. The wind you inherited from him as his daughter."

Hunter's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't peeked at others, but it seemed like everyone else was unaware of this news as well, and their eyes all converged on Celestia, who seemed unaffected by the declaration. She stood as imposingly as before but now seemed a little lonely.

She missed Charlotte and Layla's presence. That was what Hunter inferred right off the bat.

The headmistress of the union, Violetta Lux, glared at the clouds, "Do you have anything to prove your words?"

"You believe all lords would have invaded your spirit's domain without solid proof? The presence of all lords inhabiting this world should be enough of a testament to our words. Take it as you wish. The message has been passed. And we will spread it across the whole world, for this bitch is clearly plotting against everyone!"

Violetta glanced at Celestia before continuing the talk, "Plotting against everyone seems like an overstatement, I believe. Yes, Celestia has killed one of my guild leaders, but she had come out with solid proof to expose her connections to your race. Her action was justified. On the other hand, you barge in here without any proof, only your ugly faces. Don't you think you're too presumptuous?"

The demons scoffed.

But that was when Celestia's lips parted, "I'm Lucifer's daughter. My mother was a spirit, a sun spirit whose name was after the god of the sun, Ra."

Those words silenced the entire domain. Even the elven spirit dwelling within The First Hunter Union had gasped and incredulously stared at the dark-haired woman. This entirely put a silence onto the domain as not even wind or forest dared to make a sound.

That statement was more than Hunter could understand.

But he wasn't so stupid enough to not understand that demon and spirit bloodline running in one body was close to impossible. Everyone's reactions clearly told him that Celestia's existence was a miracle. But miracles were too much for people to handle.

Before long, Hunter and Celestia were alone on the scene as the guild leaders and headmistress distanced themselves from them.

Violetta screamed at Hunter, "Come to us, Hunter!"

Those words eluded him.

He smiled at the boss, "You're more amazing than I thought, the boss."

Celestia turned to him and looked into his eyes, an indescribable emotion sparkling within them.

He continued, "I feel like we are somewhat the same... because of what dwells within me, I was destined to be different, right? I was scared of being different, though. I hid my strength and lived like a normal villager. I even tried to become just a normal villager before becoming the hunter of the village, you know... You then threw me into the union, and I started developing myself, but my concerns remained the same. I feared exposing too much of my strength or telling my secrets to others. But that's when I found Aimee and Seraphina, two of them who believe in me. I feel like Miss Charlotte and Miss Layla are the same as you, so I will ensure you're united with them. I won't leave your side."

Hunter didn't decide to be born with the inheritance he had.

The same applied to Celestia; she couldn't choose her parents and what skills she should inherit from them. All was given to her naturally, and she did her best to blend into the community. She lived her own life, and her ambitions surely must have been fueled by the mistreatment, concerns, and fear stemming from her origins.

If she wanted to seal the connection between the spirit world and this one, it meant that those bastards from the sun spirit lineage must have hurt her, too.

Celestia hadn't said anything. Her heart rocked in her chest with the feelings of happiness and sadness. The same feelings she had when she became closer to Charlotte and Layla. She developed such a tender relationship with them that she didn't want them to be pulled into her mess.

Yet, they had followed her as the best friends they were.

The same feelings sprouted because of Hunter, but the sadness outweighed the happiness soon enough.

"I apologize, Hunter," Celestia whispered, "for what I am about to do..."

Her long hair changed colors. It was now black and golden, with red ends. Other than the last color, she had a hairstyle similar to Miss Charlotte's, which had given Hunter so many sweet thoughts. Was the reason Seraphina's sister changed her hairstyle to this to tell Celestia that they were like sisters? That was so cute.

Yet, Hunter was troubled by Celestia's apology.

What was she about to do?

She extended her hand and pointed it at the skies.

At the same time, the madness woke up from its slumber. It flooded Hunter's blood system from the Blood Origin, and its voice in the form of drums rang out in Hunter's mind.

[Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!]

The fact that she could trigger the madness so much was enough to shatter Hunter's feelings.

"What are you doing, Celestia?!" he screamed at her, still wanting to believe in her.

But in the end, he was a piece in her schemes.

"I apologize, Hunter," Celestia said again, her lithe form raising to the skies.