< Rage of an Executor (Part 2) >
The punishment continued.
The leader did not easily die, even though all his limbs were crushed. The leader was not able to get up at all, and was simply begging Ramphil, "Please… please… spare my life…don't kill me."
"You know best how begging is meaningless."
The leader had never shown mercy to the people who begged for their lives, and yet he was begging for his life. He continued to beg for mercy.
"I'm just curious. Did you come from the south?"
"Please… please… don't kill me…"
"Were you part of the group from south back then? There might have been some survivors. And they might have built a Slaughterhouse in the north. And they might have been enjoying this hobby all over again. Am I thinking nonsense?"
"Ha… Ha… Mister, there must some confusion. I could not have possibly come from the south."
"It looks like you are strongly denying that you came from the south. You gotta have come from the south." Ramphil stared down at the leader with an evil smile.
"Do you remember me? I don't quite remember your face."
"I don't know… Today's the first time I've seen you… Please… let me go."
"If you don't know me, you should have at least looked at me and said that. You have not even giving me an eye contact and answering?"
—Pow! —
"Aaaaarrrrrrrrgh!"
Ramphil kicked the groin of the leader and busted his balls.
"Now, look at me closely!"
The leader was foaming at his mouth, and tried to focus in the middle of his excruciating pain. The leader's eyes were out of focus, and he was barely able to look straight at Ramphil.
"Do you remember my face?"
"I… I don't know… How could I know the face of a great Wargrave soldier… sir…"
The leader was trying his best to ease Ramphil's wrath. The leader could have been one of the Reavers back when Ramphil was a prisoner in the Slaughterhouse. The leader could have been a survivor after the Slaughterhouse was destroyed. He could have moved up north. There was no way to verify this.
"Well. It really doesn't matter."
What mattered was that Ramphil finally remembered his horrible past as he watched the grisly scene of the arena. Ramphil stretched his hand out toward the eyes of the leader.
"Ah, arrr! Arrrgggh!"
—Bloob—
"G….arrgggh!"
Ramphil pushed his thumb against the right eye of the leader to inflict pain. At the sound of a 'pop', the eyeball of the leader burst and blood came gushing out from his eye.
"Gaaaaagggggh!"
"I was not in a great mood to begin with," Ramphil murmured as he pushed his thumb against the other eyeball.
—Bloob! —
"You scumbags are like parasites living off the Wargrave. Our policy is to not interfere with outsiders, but that is just a policy. It is not an order."
"Gyaaaarrg!"
Ramphil slowly stood up as he watched the leader was foaming at his mouth with his eyeballs burst.
"Sir, please stop… please stop and step away…"
"Mmm?"
One of the Reavers brought a rocket launcher and aimed at Ramphil. The Reaver looked very familiar to Ramphil.
"Please step away… I don't want to shoot…"
He was the Reaver that came to the fortress and talked with Ramphil. He was shaking in fear and aiming the launcher at Ramphil. He had no will to attack. He was begging for mercy in terror.
Ramphil stared at the Reaver. All the other Reavers started to step back as they sensed that a fight was going to break out soon.
"Why, why are you doing this to us… Didn't we agree to coexist in peace? We were going to help each other out… yes? If you find this arena fight unpleasant, we won't hold it anymore… please… have mercy on us. In fact, we didn't want to do it anyways. Right? Hey, guys! Isn't that right, guys?"
As the Reaver shouted in terror, the other Reavers started nodding. They wanted to survive whether the soldier in front of them was crazy or not.
"So, so… as you just told us, Wargrave does not interfere with outsiders. So, I mean… you don't have any reason to kill us, right? We won't annoy you in the future… I'm so sorry… so please…"
The Reavers did not believe that they could overpower Ramphil. As Ramphil finished listening to the Reaver, he stepped on the head of the leader slowly.
—Pow! —
As Ramphil put some weight on his foot, the head of the leader was crushed like a watermelon, and the crushed brains spilled out onto the ground.
"Do I need a reason to clean out the trash?" Ramphil announced.
"It's filthy. That's a good enough reason."
There was no reasoning needed to wipe out the trash. Ramphil did not feel the need to explain.
They were filthy, despicable, and menacing. There were plenty of reasons to rid the world of Reavers.
The time to make a decision arrived. The soldier in front of the Reavers made up his mind. The Reavers had to make a decision was as well. They were five hundred in number. The soldier was alone.
They were thinking about killing the soldier, and running away from the area on their junkwagons. There was no way Wargrave would be able to hunt all of them down.
The Slaughterhouse was a great base, but their survival was more important.
"There is no turning back! Da…"
—Kaboom! —
Before the Reaver could finish his sentence, a huge explosion occurred around him. One side of the cage was engulfed in flames. The explosion killed fifty some Reavers in a split second.
"There is another enemy!"
On top of the trash wall, Zin was staring down at them behind an RPG-7 launcher. Ramphil and Zin looked at each other. They didn't talk to each other, but they knew what was going to happen shortly.
"Take out your tools!"
The Reavers started to spread out.
—Clack! —
Ramphil took out his laser shotgun.
—Snap, pop—
As the dawn came, the Slaughterhouse was in flames.
"Hey, I think it's over now." Zin yelled from the top of the trash wall, and Ramphil nodded as he looked up at Zin. The fierce battle lasted the whole night. Ramphil and Zin were not able to kill all the Reavers. Some of them took off on their junkwagons.
The pile of dead bodies in the Slaughterhouse was a grisly scene.
Zin held his position on top of the trash wall, and shot the Reavers on the ground. There were no other buildings taller than the trash wall, and the Reavers on the ground were at his mercy.
Some Reavers ran into the buildings and fired rifles and launchers at Ramphil. They were not prepared to counter Zin at all, and Zin sniped the Reavers at will.
Instead of charging inside the buildings to fight the Reavers, Ramphil changed the laser shotgun into a saber and cut the pillars of the buildings. The buildings collapsed in no time. The Reavers made the mistake of hiding inside the buildings, and were buried alive under the rubble. The other Reavers then ran out of the buildings to fight against Ramphil.
Even though the Reavers took cover to hide from Zin, Zin was able to walk around the trash wall in circles and snipe them down.
Zin sniped the Reavers from higher ground, and Ramphil searched and killed them at close range. As a result, the Slaughterhouse was full of corpses, with no Reavers left alive.
However, Ramphil was not in good condition.
Ramphil was struck with bullets a couple of times, and he was burned by the explosions from their grenades.
It was not simple for Ramphil to fight against five hundred armed Reavers.
His uniform became a rag, and there were many bullets stuck on his skin. His L-20 was not in good condition, either.
Zin did not get injured at all. There were many Reavers who tried to climb up the trash wall, but they were all shot in the head.
Zin kicked aside the dead Reavers on the stairs and walked down to the ground.
"You look like a bum."
"I will take that over being dead."
Ramphil and Zin overpowered the Slaughterhouse by themselves without critical injuries.
Zin would not have pulled it off by himself. And Ramphil would have been killed by grenade launchers if Zin hadn't suppressed the movements of the Reavers by sniping them.
In the end, both of them were not invincible.
But they were able to create synergy by working together. Both of them executed their parts and exterminated the five hundred Reavers. They were able to accomplish it together.
They were just not the type of people who cheered and gave high fives to each other.
"Now, we've got nothing to loot here."
All the buildings were destroyed, and it would take forever to dig through the rubble. Zin was able to find some ammunition and chipbusters. Ramphil slowly moved towards the prison of the arena where the prisoners were locked in. He didn't destroy that building on purpose.
The prisoners were terrified, and when Ramphil opened the door, they started to walk out slowly.
They were astonished that all the Reavers were killed.
"Hunter. I have a request."
"A request?"
"Can you leave this place untouched?" Ramphil asked Zin, who was checking the corpses. Ramphil pointed to the freed prisoners.
"Are you telling me to share resources with the prisoners?"
"We will need some weapons and chips to survive going forward."
"I didn't expect you to be such a gracious person."
"Not really." Ramphil staggered as he seemed to have problems with parts of his body. "I hope you have some compassion for them."
As Ramphil smiled at Zin, Zin also smiled bitterly, and stood up. "I used up all my 7.62mm ammunition because of you."
"…" Ramphil was out of words, while Zin was complaining about the consumption of the ammunition.
"If you let me use Wargrave's production facilities Wargrave, and leave all this scrap metal untouched."
"Phew…"
It was clear that Zin would come out better if he gave up the 400 chips promised by the Reavers and utilized the Wargrave production facility instead.
Zin always acted based on profitability.
Zin and Ramphil freed all the prisoners. The prisoners were free to live together or go their own ways. Zin and Ramphil did not provide anything more to them. The freedom that Zin and Ramphil gave to the prisoners was the most valuable gift given to them anyways.
Ramphil did not talk about what he remembered. Zin didn't hear anything from Ramphil, but Zin had a good idea why Ramphil acted so irrationally.
The previous attack on the Reavers was out of character for Ramphil. It was not hard to figure out what his lost memories were about.
Ramphil was not feeling guilty. He was wondering how he could possibly forget about his past.
"Is arena fighting a common hobby for the Reavers?" Ramphil asked him, and Zin thought for a while.
"It's not common, but not rare either."
"I see." They were not able to find out if the Reavers actually came from the south.
It was clear that Ramphil was engaged in a fight that was based on emotional revenge, not based on logic and profit.
Ramphil became confused. And for whatever reason, Ramphil started speaking about something that he did not have to.
"Hunter, I want to ask you a question."
"What's that?"
"I got an offer from the Warlord."
Zin quietly listened, as Ramphil spoke while they walked. "The person who destroyed the northern Korea's defense line was an undercover agent sent to the Central Asia Division. The undercover agent has some information that would cause a schism within Wargrave."
Zin already knew about this, and Ramphil was talking to Zin about a subject that he shouldn't be talking to others about.
"And so?"
"If I pursue the undercover agent instead of the devil, and kill the undercover agent, no battle will break out."
Pursuing the undercover agent meant that that Ramphil could possibly prevent a war. But a war might eventually break out from the Central Asia Division anyways.
"I need to look for the witch that is hiding somewhere, or pursue the undercover agent."
Ramphil had to make a choice. The witch was hiding somewhere, and Zin was acting as the devil hunter for Ramphil.
Ramphil realized that Zin was extremely skillful, based on the battles they had taken part in together. It was possible that the witch could be hunted by Zin alone. It meant that there was no reason for Ramphil to continue to hunt the witch. It might be a better for Ramphil to pursue the undercover agent.
"What would you do if you were in my shoes?"
"Hmm…" Zin remained silent for a time before he spoke again.
< To Survive and to Live (Part 1)>
Zin pondered for a while and started talking. "I do think that hunting the devil is the priority."
"Why is that?"
"It is better because there are lesser casualties. An internal division of Wargrave would result in death of soldiers, but a devil will kill many people. And without mercy."
"Is that so…"
"And that war within Wargrave will eventually happen at some point. A war will start whenever there's a good enough reason. If a war is going to happen anyways, it's better for the war to happen when there's no preparation from both sides. If you pursue and kill the undercover agent, a war of larger scale will happen later on."
Zin had lived for a long time, and he looked at matters with a broader perspective. He believed that a lopsided war was better for everybody. A longer war meant that everyone would sustain more damage. If both sides were given more time to prepare, the war would become more destructive and take longer.
Zin believed that it was far better for the war to start and finish as quickly as possible.
Ramphil felt strange that Zin was only talking about the possible outcomes. Zin's explanation made sense, but he was very coldhearted.
"The White Witch is not any ordinary devil."
The appearance of the White Witch could bring a huge disaster that could not be compared to Wargrave's war. Even though it was a single devil, Zin thought that the worst disaster could happen if the White Witch was not taken care of right away.
Zin was trying his best to hunt the devil at all costs.
"So you are saying that if I kill the undercover agent, it would bring more damage to the world?"
"Yes. And by the way, you don't have to think about this too hard." Zin spoke as if it was a trivial matter. "We don't live in a world where we care much about what is right. When we face dilemmas, it's best to attack the common enemy."
Being involved in Wargrave's internal war meant that one had to determine which side was right, and one had to figure out what actions would be beneficial. And usually, it was not an easy decision to make.
It was better to pick the easier choice, such as hunting a devil that was full of hatred towards humans.
Zin's words were not the answers, but they helped Ramphil calm down a bit.
"Wow… I was thinking about this for a long time, but you know too much about Wargrave."
"Well… you know. I am a very interesting man."
Ramphil smiled as Zin showed off. Ramphil brought the subject of the undercover agent, but it seemed like Zin already knew about the full story. However, Ramphil did not press him about what he knew.
Ramphil was able to learn battle skills from Zin. Zin executed attacks that Ramphil was unable to think of. Zin was even able to execute attacks even without discussing with Ramphil.
Zin, the devil hunter.
He was the first ally Ramphil did not have friction with. Ramphil had never met such a comrade in the Wargrave organization, and now he was able to meet one outside Wargrave.
During many battles, Zin taught many battle tips to Ramphil at some point. There were many tips that could not be learned from the books. Ramphil was learning many things while fighting alongside Zin.
Ramphil realized that there were many battle skills that could only be acquired through a seasoned veteran like Zin.
Zin didn't actively teach the skills to Ramphil, but Ramphil was learning the skills from Zin through their battles. Although Ramphil was travelling with Zin to hunt the witch, he realized that it was very beneficial for him to travel with Zin.
Ramphil promised to himself that he wouldn't bother Zin with the policies of Wargrave while travelling with him.
"Hey, you have been gazing at me for a long time. What's the deal?"
"No, it's nothing." Ramphil shrugged as Zin spoke up with an unpleasant look.
It took a single day to take care of the two groups of Reavers in Harbin. A couple of days ago, Zin spent over thirteen hours to hunt down seven Reavers. This time around, Zin killed hundreds of Reavers with the help of the cyborg soldier.
Zin did not always fight with the same strategy. He changed his plan of attack depending on the circumstances. For the last fight, Zin felt the need to be aggressive, and he killed the Reavers aggressively.
After completing his mission, the two of them headed back to the fortress. Zin and Ramphil had to go through an extensive and extra long sanitization process before entering the fortress. They went straight to the office of the Warlord.
Usually, a hunter needed to bring evidence to prove the completion of the request, but Zin didn't need one as he was accompanied by the executor.
"Hmm… that's complicated."
The existing Reavers didn't attack a Wargrave vehicle, and Ramphil and Zin searched and destroyed the Reavers hiding in the south part of Harbin.
The Warlord asked Ramphil, "The existing Reavers… you told me that they collected left hands. Why did you kill them?"
"They were despicable." Ramphil explained his emotions and the reason for the massacre in a single phrase. The Warlord gave Ramphil a strange look, and then he nodded slowly.
"They must have acted inappropriately. Very well then, thank you so much for your help."
The Warlord knew that the policy was just a guideline. If the executor felt offended, it was not an issue for an executor to kill thousands of Reavers.
The Warlord was okay with Ramphil killing the Reavers, even though he didn't know about Ramphil's background.
The Warlord was a soldier who had served at the fortress for all his life. However, there was a bigger problem than the two Slaughterhouses.
"The Group…"
Several groups of Reavers forming a powerful organization. And it was expanding its territory aggressively.
The Warlord was cautious. Wargrave fortress were spread around the world, and many organizations existed near the fortresses.
"Similar to the 'Ragnarligion' and the 'Worshippers of Hunt' groups, the Group may not be interested in us…"
There were fortresses in Southeast Asia where Ragnarligion was located, and in India where the Worshippers of Hunt were located. The two groups did not interfere with Wargrave. Wargrave cared only about internal affairs, and other groups did not interfere with Wargrave.
There was no reason for Wargrave to be wary of the Group, if the Group remained indifferent about Wargrave. Ramphil nodded as he heard about the two groups.
However, they were not Reavers. If the crazy group of people were to form a crazy army, he wondered what kind of insane actions they would take. The Warlord was the person who had to take action against the Group, and Ramphil and Zin were simply the messengers.
"I will have to submit a report for now. Thank you, both of you. Hunter, here is the promised reward."
The Warlord took about a chipbox from his desk and passed it to Zin. Zin received 750 chips, and a chipbox manufactured by Wargrave. A chipbox was a simple expendable good for Wargrave. However, a Wargrave chipbox was an excellent product for the people living in the wilderness.
The chipbox didn't have a self-destruct capability, but Zin put it away with a big smile.
"Warlord, I have a request."
"What is it?"
"The hunter would like to use the Wargrave production facilities, will that be okay?"
In most cases, the Warlord would reject the request, but Ramphil explained the reason behind the request. During the last battle, Zin used up all the 7.62mm ammunition that he had.
"Hmm… so you'd like to manufacture ammunition?" the Warlord asked.
"That's correct."
Access to the production facility was highly restricted. It seemed like the hunter knew how to operate the production machines in the Wargrave facility.
Anything could be manufactured in the Wargrave facility. The machines manufactured anything by using lasers.
It was possible to manufacture a pen or a armored vehicle from the facility. Access to this very important facility was not given to anybody.
"It's at the request of an executor, so I can't reject it… But we would need a technician to accompany you all the time."
Zin nodded, as he understood that the Warlord wanted to make sure nothing was manufactured without permission and then stolen.
The armored vehicle requested by Ramphil was ready, and Zin was ready to leave for the Heavenly Power castle as soon as he finished his work in the facility.
The Group was highly likely to attack the Heavenly Power castle.
"By the way, that little kid."
As the Warlord spoke up, Zin became serious.
"… Did she cause trouble?" Zin would not be surprised if Leona started some trouble.
As Zin had an unpleasant look, the Warlord said hastily, "Oh no, my daughter really likes her."
Zin and Ramphil were not able to understand what was going on. As the Warlord started talking about his daughter, he came closer to Zin and asked, "Are you and the kid related?"
"… no, we are not."
A hunter and a little kid who wandered around the wilderness -
The Warlord was puzzled what the relationship between the two could be.
"I won't ask why you two are travelling together. But, it's certain that the wilderness is a tough place for the kid to live.
"It's dangerous out there, and it's dangerous for everybody. And it's especially true for a kid."
Zin knew what the Warlord was going to talk next.
"Frankly speaking, I think it would be good for my daughter's new friend to stay in the fortress instead of wandering the wilderness."
Similar to how the Warlord of the Seoul fortress took Ramphil with him, it was not difficult for a Warlord to have a wanderer settle on the fortress as a resident.
"What do you think?"
And so the opportunity to settle down came to Leona…
After a long pause, Zin replied, "It's not for me to answer the question."
That was his only answer.
The Warlord didn't expect such an answer from Zin, but he thought that what Zin said made sense. Ramphil and the Warlord remained in the office to discuss other matters, and Zin was planned to head to the production facilities.
She should be at the entertainment facility. It'd be good for you to visit the place, and talk to her about it.
Zin decided to head to the entertainment facility first, as he wanted to let Leona know that he was back from the mission. He wore the Wargrave clothes, and the people did not look at him strangely.
The entertainment facility was pretty big, and people were enjoying the games and taking breaks. There were card games and video games. Wargrave was making every effort to relieve the stress of the soldiers.
People in the fortresses lived in the underground all their lives. Such an entertainment facility was needed in order relieve stress. Residents of the fortresses were confined in the fortress from birth to death.
In fact, Wargrave HQ had a dedicated department to develop games.
People in the Wargrave fortresses had a lifestyle similar to the lifestyle of pre-apocalyptic days. Zin felt strange looking at such a lifestyle. It was not too hard to spot the kids.
"Wow! Look at that! We won again!"
"Sis! You are really good at this!"
From the top of the stairway, Zin found the kids gathered near the area where there were video games. He was not able to tell what games they were playing, but the kids who surrounded Leona were screaming and shouting with joy.
Zin felt strange looking at the children playing. Leona was extremely focused and staring at the monitor. She was using a keyboard and mouse to play the game.
Zin was surprised to find that Leona was as able to use a computer. At the same time, he wondered.
In order to type something with the computer, one needed to know how to read.
Did she know how to read?
Zin felt weird that he hadn't realized this simple fact. Zin had travelled with Leona for a while, but he wasn't curious about her past.
"Hey, hey! Let's form an alliance! If we want to win against Leona, we need to team up!"
"Yesss!"
"Hey, that's not fair!"
The two kids teamed up and the little girl behind Leona started to complain.
The kids who were shouting seemed to be playing a fighting game, and the other kids surrounded the three of them. Leona was sitting in the middle seat and continued to look at the monitor. She was smiling and seemed to be happy.
She wasn't smiling because she felt peaceful or calm. She was smiling because she was purely happy.
"Leona! These cowards need to get beat up."
"Hah! Teaming up will not work. Come and get me. I will kick your butt!" Leona yelled.
As Leona started cussing, the kids started to laugh out loud. Zin was looking at Leona from far away. He knew that she was not shy meeting new people, but he didn't expect her to make so many new friends in a short period of time.
It was clear that the kids were amused watching her, an outsider. The kids did not despise her, but were displaying friendliness towards her.
The little kid who was used to hostility probably didn't expect such goodwill. However, after a couple of days, Leona opened up and mingled with the kids. Zin found it weird that Leona was talking and joking around with her peers naturally. She probably was a good girl at first, but the environment that she was in probably changed her personality.
She probably had to disguise her true identity in order to survive the rough wilderness.
Zin thought that perhaps Leona was a well-rounded kid.
Zin quietly looked at the scene before turning his back.