Requiem Of A Failed Hero

A cold silence ensued in the room after this was said.

Everyone looked at their faces and soon began to whisper to one another.

To finally have Rizo at the forefront was what they had always wanted. Everyone in this room looked forward to seeing the so-called strongest hunter in action, so no one objected to the idea.

Not even Bastien who sat leisurely with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed on the table.

Rizo was fast asleep beside him, drooling.

Bastien glanced at him and sighed like he couldn't help it, he folded his legs down and leaned towards the table, tapping the microphone before speaking;

"Uhm, woman. Shouldn't you talk to him about this first?"

"Don't worry, he owes me."

He was left with nothing to say. He didn't want the position for himself. Hell, he hated the spotlight. But this kid here hated it more than he did.

Ruan Zhaohui looked around the room before she resumed talking.

"The damage dealers will be, Sheister…"

'That damn bastard'

Turner smacked his lips at the mention of the name. There was the one person who was the same rank as him and he couldn't beat the shit out of.

"...Turner…"

He grinned as she called his name next. If not for Sheister, he should be the first.

"...Yasmin, Mikhail, Kaiser, and Raven Raith."

There were still two catastrophe-ranked hunters save Raith, however, both of them were more of support types than damage dealers.

"Supporters would be; Olaniyan, Ismael, Hussein, Elbert Blake, Thomas Navarro, Carter, Poonam, Seong Nara, and Mok Jae-Hwa

All of the mentioned supporters were disaster-ranked hunters except the two supporters who were catastrophe-ranked hunters. Poonam, a healer who can regenerate an amputated arm, and Olaniyan who can give powerful buffs to hunters for as long as he is present with them.

He was a crucial part of this raid.

"The others that would be following them are…"

She called a lot of names after that.

As a few more minutes passed, the attendees engaged in formalities and paid tribute to Li Mingwu. With the atmosphere now somber and reflective, the summit eventually came to an end.

Ruan Zhaohui entered her office, situated on the skyscraper's highest floor with a breathtaking view. This was the headquarters of her guild, the world's strongest and undisputedly ranked number 1 in China.

She sank into her chair and rested her head, closing her eyes. As she opened it a couple of seconds later her shadow was standing in front of her.

"Gilly."

"Yes, master."

It appeared as though she knew Ruan Zhaohui was going to call her name. But she had worked for Ruan Zhaohui so much that she knew when to appear and when not to.

"This hunter called Raven… tell me about him."

"Yes mama"

She lowered her head and walked forward, picking up the smart tablet that was on Ruan Zhaohui's table. She took a few seconds to do this and that on it before raising her head, slightly knitting her brows for a second.

But it didn't go past Ruan Zhaohui.

"What is that?"

Hesitant at first, she slowly responded:

"I don't know where to start… but he created a sun?"

"That is impossible. Give it to me."

Ruan Zhaohui demanded, extending her hand to receive as Gilly stepped forward hurriedly.

Immediately she saw the headline of the news, and a frown formed on her face.

"Impossible. Antarctica? He created a sun in Antarctica."

It had just happened a few hours ago, and yet it had made the headlines. The hunters had not noticed it because they were busy with the summit.

But in those few hours, testament from all around Antarctica was making their way to the front page of every news outlet, stating the fact that they had seen what looked like a sun in Antarctica.

Not only that, satellite sensors were picking up radiation from another source. Even though it had a degree of heat radiation that was comparable to the heat of the sun, it wasn't harming the planet.

It just sat there in space, directly looming over the landscape of Antarctica.

It was circulating the internet at a speedy rate.

Ruan Zhaohui's eyes continued to tremble. A person that is capable of creating a sun?!

'Is he that amazing?'

She questioned herself inwardly, biting off her finger.

Gilly stared worryly as she saw her mama bite off her nail. Ruan Zhaohui continually repeated the gesture.

"Mother…"

Gilly said softly, placing her hands over Ruan Zhaohui's.

"Ah… my God."

Ruan Zhaohui chuckled lightly and averted her gaze, not out of shame, but preoccupied with several thoughts.

Of all the torrents of thoughts that filled her head. The only thing she continually pondered upon was the possibility of a new unranked hunter.

'Just how amazing is this Raven Raith guy?'

She had heard few things about him when he fought with Turner and Li Mingwu had to intervene. And she remembered that Li Mingwu mentioned that he seemed very promising.

And Li Mingwu was the kind of senile old man that rarely praises someone.

She looked into him then but over time she got so busy with her guild that she didn't have the time to pay extra attention to him.

"Bring me everything you can find on him. And try to free up my schedule for tomorrow."

"Mama?..."

"Yes, Gilly. We will be making a trip to Antarctica."

—

"Wow. It's all over the place. Raven did it."

Mok Jae-Hwa grinned as he read the news headline over and over again.

"This is crazy!"

"I know right."

He responded to Seong Nara, staring at his phone and giggling.

Rather, his casual response infuriated her more. How can he be so calm about this, someone just created a sun?! That should be something only God can do!

'Wait, does this mean Hunter Raven is a god?'

Seong Nara's eyes lost focus for a moment as she thought about it.

They had forgotten to celebrate themselves for making it to the list of hunters that would be raiding the America gate alongside Rizo. And that was because news of a new sun in Antarctica was everywhere.

"Jae-Hwa-ssi."

"Yes?"

Mok Jae-Hwa responded to her inquisitively gentle tone.

As he turned his gaze to her, she asked:

"Does this mean Hunter Raven is not a catastrophe-ranked hunter, or he was a catastrophe-ranked hunter but now he is stronger than he used to be."

Mok Jae-Hwa was not shocked by her question but acted shocked, his eyes went this way and that way as if he was truly thinking about it.

Since the fight with the wyvern and he had seen what Raith could do with those summoned soldiers of his, he had concluded that Raith was a hunter capable of growth. He also knew the reason why Raith stayed back at the gate was probably to turn the wyvern into his soldier.

If that was the case then as long as his arsenal of summons grew, then Raith would grow stronger.

But this did not explain the creation of a sun, or why Raith was a good combatant despite being a summoner class–at least from his view.

He was beginning to suspect that Raith's true power was something else and it was probably that source that allowed him to be able to summon dark soldiers.

Of course, all this he had never told anyone. And he also didn't plan on doing it.

"Honestly, I can't say…"

His answer was kind of a letdown, she had expected one or two secrets to escape from him after bringing up the topic.

She leaned back.

"I think Hunter Raven will become an unranked soon. Do you know, Hunter Rizo, used to be a rank D hunter."

Mok Jae-Hwa's eyes grew wide.

"What do you mean?"

"The records are all wiped clean now. But some time ago, I was doing volunteer work in Argentina. The place happened to be where he spent his childhood. They said his growth was rapid. After entering a particular gate that claimed the lives of many, he started changing, a month later he was madly strong but became a big sleeper."

Mok Jae-Hwa's eyes were still digesting the likely information he could feel in the story she just spilled, they were out of focus and gazing at the marble floor.

"I am sure your hunter Raven is going to become an unranked. I should court him as fast as I can. What do you think my chances are? Do you know if he's a virgin?"

Mok Jae-Hwa finally looked up, looked at her with not subtle pity, shaking his head as he rose to his feet. He belatedly noticed Balam's absence and asked:

"Where's Balam?"

"Oh, that one… he said he needed to check something."

"Check something? Check what?"

Mok Jae-Hwa sounded frustrated. And Seong Nara could sense it.

She frowned.

"What is this? Don't talk to me in that tone."

"I'm sorry, but leaving Balam on his own is a very very bad idea."

"What's so bad about it? Isn't he a grown man capable of taking care of himself?"

"Ah? Man."

Mok Jae-Hwa exclaimed with a troubled expression on his face.

"Seriously, aren't you overreacting?"

Mok Jae-Hwa exhaled. There's no way she would understand. She can't.

He stormed out hurriedly to search for him.