When the team reached the bottom of the hill, they went into the AV, and Ramphil revved up its engine. They needed a new destination.

Leona and Cho-yul looked stiff and distressed.

Leona was feeling guilty. Her past—the time when Ard Point was under attack by the Reavers, but she couldn’t do anything—flashed in her mind.

“Why do these things happen to good people?” asked Leona feeling her chest tighten.

“Who knows.” That was all Zin could say. After all, the four were turning their backs on good people. They were choosing to ignore the tragedy of the people who had welcomed them. He didn’t dwell on it.

The Heavenly Power Castle would have to face what was meant for them to face. Whether they chose to surrender or fight was out of his hands.

There was no use in thinking about something he had no control over. With time, one understood that disappointments and letting things go were part of life. Zin knew this better than anybody. He was also the first one to speak up.

“Let’s go north. We need to find out more about the Group.”

Primarily, they needed to know more about SoSeoLan. If they were to decide that she deserved to die, the devil hunter would take her life no matter what.

For now, they weren’t ready to confront SoSeoLan.

Although, Zin had always hunted in the most impossible conditions. He was a hunter, and hunters did not engage in war. It was time to find out whether Asura was a worthy prey, and whether the Group’s interests lay solely on power.

‘Vroom!’

Ramphil stepped on the accelerator.

—————–

One week later…

As promised, Asura returned to the Heavenly Power Castle with her troops of thousands. They were heavily armed with high-powered weapons piled on junkwagons. Two thousand junkwagons appeared on that flatland like the mounted troops of ancient times.

‘Vvroom, vrooom!’

The loud roar of the engines reverberated throughout the land, and at the helm, was Asura mounted on her monster bike, gazing at the castle.

‘Today, I build my empire on that auspicious land.’

Whether the Grandmaster was there or not, she was ready for a confrontation. If he were to stand in her way again, she would kill him. Obtaining his Darkborn would be icing on the cake.

She wasn’t on that path for sentimental reasons. She would crush everything that stood in her way, even Heaven itself.

All sorcery would be ineffectual, and the Godly Fighters were ready to handle the ghosts.

If they had been looters, they would’ve destroyed the castle, but the Group was about ruling, not looting.

“My King,” said the commander seated next to Asura on an AV, “the troops are waiting for your command.” His speech was polished for a Reaver, and his skin was gray. He was the head of the gray-skinned people and the commander of the army.

Asura had picked her defense team herself.

“Prepare all weapons, but hold fire.”

The commander couldn’t quite understand why the King would prepare the weapons, but not shoot.

“Since I’m making a personal appearance here, let’s show them how benevolent I can be.”

The King had the final word. Soon, the commander sent signals, and guns went up around the castle. However, even before the setup was complete, Asura smiled underneath her mask. Numerous white flags were blowing in the wind at the top of the Heavenly Power Castle. The people standing at the edge of the cliff never looked more pitiful.

—–

Asura went up to the Heavenly Power Castle by herself. She didn’t need any security or other entourage. The troops watched their King float up in the air and cheered. The powerful king was brilliant and could perform many miracles; she deserved to be their leader.

Asura was willing to accept surrender, but insisted it had to be done properly. Everyone at the Heavenly Power Castle gathered in front of the temple with the lord leading the way. There were many clan members in the crowd, but no one dared to open their mouths.

Asura sat on the steps of the temple as if it were her throne and looked down on thousands of villagers gathered in front of her.

The lord began to speak. His old body was heavy with sadness. “We surrender. Please, I don’t care what you do to this old man, but please, don’t hurt my people.”

“That’s just what I wanted to hear,” said Asura behind her mask. “I intend to rule the world, so I’m willing to show a little mercy. I’m glad that there wasn’t any bloodshed. However, what happened to those guys?”

Yeongmun knew of whom she meant.

“They left.”

“I see.”

She wanted to pay back the humiliation she had suffered the last time, but their absence mattered little. Sweating the small stuff would be a distraction from her Great Work. Those four would be nothing but a nuisance, like flies buzzing around the house.

“The lord shall come and bow to me.”

“…”

Yeongmun slowly walked toward Asura, got on his knees in front of her, and bowed his head. The grim-faced villagers watched their aged lord bow to the young king in silence.

“You are no longer the Heavenly Power Clan. I will rearrange all established practices and ranks. From this moment on, all old rules and regulations are meaningless.

“I sense that you feel burdened by your sense of duty. Let that go. All responsibility and power lies with me now. You will wear, eat, and live as I say.

“You’ll bow to me nine times to signify your acceptance of me as your king. But, I don’t wish for all of you here to bow to me.

“You, the lord, out of respect for the authority you held until now, can bow to me, alone, as a way to formalize the transfer of power and authority.

“Your bowing is not for me, but for your people to see.

“Do nine bows, and make sure the sound of your head hitting the stone floor is audible to everyone here.

“After that, I’ll accept everyone at the Heavenly Power Castle as my subject.”

She didn’t make everyone bow to her, just their leader. By making the people see that, she was publicizing the transfer of power, which was far more sinister than making everyone bow to her.

Yeongmun stood up slowly and raised both of his arms.

He kneeled down and placed his head on the ground.

‘Kong!’

The sound of Yeoungmun’s head hitting the stone steps reverberated. The defeated had to face humiliation for avoiding death. The people watched the old man bang his head against the steps without a peep.

‘Kong!’

As the sound filled the air, some cried in sadness and some cried out in anger, but Asura didn’t seem to mind.

With the cries of his people in the background, the old man stood up after banging his head on the steps nine times. Yeongmun had made up his mind, and he was ready to endure pain and humiliation.

Asura took off her mask revealing a soft face that almost looked otherworldly.

Everyone stared at her stoic face.

“Do it again,” the King said quietly.

“…”

Submitting, Yeongmun started again. The sound of his head hitting the steps filled the air once more. After another set of nine bows, Yeongmun’s head was already starting to bleed, but he lowered his head without wiping the blood off.

“Do it again.”

.

.

“Do it again.”

.

.

“Do it again.”

.

.

The King commanded without giving a reason. No one knew how many bows Yeongmun had done or whether he was even alive anymore. The King didn’t say why she wasn’t satisfied.

She only ordered him to do it again. Even as this frightening scene continued, there wasn’t even a hint of emotion on the King’s face.

Some begged to take the lord’s place, but the King ignored them. Just a glance from the King was enough to freeze those who volunteered take his place.

By the time Yeongmun completed nine series of nine bows, only the whites of his eyes were showing and he could barely stand up. Those who had been crying no longer had any more tears left. Everyone just wished for that frightening and vicious scene to end. Some even wished for Yeongmun to collapse so that he wouldn’t be able to get up.

The King spoke softly, “I appreciate your attitude to endure.”

“…”

“You may stop now since no one is crying anymore.”

With that, the King stood up from the stone steps. People finally understood why the lord had to continue bowing.

Anger and sadness had disappeared from everyone’s faces, and only the fear for the King remained. That’s what Asura had wanted. When she saw fear in everyone’s faces, she ordered the lord to stop.

“Clean up the temple and build nine columns. We’ll perform a ritual before every major event. Build a king’s chamber in front of the temple, but do not decorate it or perform any sorcery. The floor should be wood, but do not lacquer it. I’m going to stay there when I’m here,” said Asura as she carefully scanned the terrorized faces. After giving out her first order, she continued, “You are my people now.”

Yeongmun listened with his head down. His beard quivered.

The King let everyone live.

But, to Yeongmun, it seemed as though many things had died already, and he was full of sorrow.

—–

While the Group was taking over the castle, Zin’s team was on the border of China and Russia. In the past, the place was called Blagoveshchensk,but now it was a free city named Shane.

The AV could bring unnecessary confrontation, so the team hid it among the abandoned wreckage near the entrance of the city before heading into it.

“I don’t think just going in without a definite plan is a good idea,” said Ramphil.

Zin shrugged and said, “We just have to see what happens. If the Group’s aim is to be a country, they’re not going to be hostile toward foreigners. They shouldn’t ostracize wanderers, or that wouldn’t even be possible.

“It would be one thing to want to live in the lap of luxury, but being a king must come with a lot of headaches.”

Zin was sure that SoSeoLan had completely lost her mind. As they had anticipated, when the team arrived at the entrance of the city, the guards stopped them, but didn’t attack.

“This is the territory of the Group. What’s your business here?” asked the border patrol who didn’t think they looked like outcasts or refugees. He was quite heavily armed with an assault rifle, and the crude tattoos all over his body indicated that he was a Reaver.

Ramphil had taken off his uniform as a way not to attract any attention and was wearing his regular clothes instead.

“We’re looking for a place to rest,” said Zin. The border patrol scanned the team with his eyes and then signaled for them to go in.

“If you cause any problems inside the Group’s territory, it will be seen as a hostile action toward the Group. Keep that in mind.”

With that warning, the team was free to enter. No one had laid a finger on them or charged a tariff. No one was following them. The ridiculously easy entry to Shane left the team feeling unsettled.

“That went too well,” said Leona.

Cho-yul nodded in agreement. As it was at every free city, many people were going in and out of the city. It was hard to believe that this was Reaver territory.

The city wasn’t very lively, but it wasn’t all that depressing either. It looked like any other city.

“What should we do?” asked Cho-yul with a hollowed expression. He had not expected things to be this way.

“We need to find out what’s under the surface. Let’s get a room.”

It was too early to decide. Because free cities were full of people going in and out, and because Shane had quite a large population, no one treated Zin’s team like foreigners.

There were armed Reaver guards roaming about the city. As one would expect, the citizens instinctively avoided them—a natural reaction to flesh-eating cannibals. But strangely, the citizens acted like, although they feared the Reavers, they did not hate them.

The team entered an old apartment building. It seemed as though the expanded ground floor was being used as a restaurant, and a few people were eating inside.

The owner raised four fingers quietly, and Zin handed the chips.

“It’s the last room on the right on the second floor. Meals cost the same.”

One chip for one meal seemed reasonable. Perhaps for security, there was an armed Reaver in the building with his back leaned against a wall. He locked eyes with Zin briefly, but quickly walked passed them.

The room was big enough for all four of them for one night. Since what was left were abandoned buildings, the lodging business was easy to get into for anyone with an established ownership of a building—as long as the person had the balls and means to deal with or stamp out any troublemakers.

After unpacking their luggage, the team gathered in the living room.

“It seems the Group is patrolling the city,” said Zin, and everyone nodded. Since they controlled the territory, that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. However, the fact that they were all Reavers was a problem.

“Right, there seems to be at least one armed Reaver in every building,” Ramphil shared what he had noticed from a quick scan of the place.

The Group that stood for destruction and bloodshed was now protecting something? That seemed like an oxymoron.

“It’s an upside-down world…”

For a moment, the thought that the Group might not be a dangerous organization flashed in everyone’s mind.

“Let’s split up and gather more information. Leona, you…” Thinking that Leona wouldn’t be able to gather much info, Zin was about to tell Leona to stay and wait.

“Don’t you know that there are things only a kid can do?”

“Hmm…”

“For one thing, kids don’t lie.”

Leona wanted to gather info from the children. It was true that kids would answer more honestly when asked by a kid rather than an adult.

“She’s got a point,” said Ramphil, but Zin didn’t say much.

“Fine, you gather info from the kids. Find out what kind of organization the Group is, how they are controlling the city, and whatever else you can find out.”

“OK.”

“I’ll go around the stores.” Ramphil already had an idea of where he was going to gather info.

“I’m going to have a drink. I’m sure there is some liquor or at least some beer in a city this size.”

“It seems like you’ve been waiting for this.”

“Ha, no way…”

Zin wanted to say something to Cho-yul about him wanting to drink as soon as there was an opportunity, but dropped it since drinkers liked to talk. Everyone had a mission: Leona would talk to the children, Ramphil would talk to the store merchants, Cho-yul would talk to the drunkards to get information.

“I’m going to do what I do best.”

Zin was a hunter, and hunters were problem solvers. That was a good enough reason to meet the powerful people in the city.

“We meet back here when the sun goes down. Now, go.”

They didn’t have a lot of time to investigate, so they had to move quickly.