[Inside the Hunter's Building Hall]
After the awakening prospects entered their chamber, the hall became serene, the sound of a distant clock ticking echoing through it.
Benedict relaxed his posture slightly and turned to face Asura. "Why is your face like that, Asura?"
Asura glanced at him from the corner of her right eye. "Nothing. I just didn't like what you and those old bastards are doing to these kids."
Ben exhaled through his nose. "You know the government has been on edge ever since they appeared. Even though we got rid of them, they won't want that to happen again."
He slipped his hand into his pocket and brought out a fog pill. The moment he broke the vial with his teeth, fog escaped his lips, and green mana coated his fat form.
He stretched his hands out, and two green chairs formed in front of him.
"As you know," he said as he sat down, "when most hunters with strong skills see the freedom and money that comes with being an Aberrant, they end up changing sides."
Asura sat on the other chair and crossed her legs, leaning back until her face tilted toward the ceiling. She sighed. "Don't try to cover up for them, Ben. If they didn't treat hunters the way they do, I doubt anyone would become an Aberrant. Now that they don't control fog and more powerful awakened keep showing up, they don't just want to reduce potential strength. They want control too."
She tilted her head toward Benedict. "You know that without entering the rift world, those kids won't pass level 30, let alone gain supremacy. Besides, the deal with the storm dragon could end up being the downfall of humanity."
Although Asura said this, she understood where Benedict was coming from.
During her own generation, the one who awakened the most dangerous talent wasn't her, but her best friend.
Unlike Asura, she didn't become a hunter. Instead, she became the leader of the greatest Aberrant crew to ever exist, the same group that gave the government several sleepless nights.
The only reason the government was able to kill her and her crew was because of their deal with the storm dragon.
By exchanging the talent of the newly awakened, the government gained another way to awaken people, control those who awakened, and wield the power to kill 'them'.
The only extra condition of the deal was that no awakened should be allowed in the rift world, since entering it destroyed the dragon's connection to his contract, allowing awakened who used his pill to grow past their limits. Once they did, they slipped from his control.
For someone like her, who was obsessed with both fighting stronger opponents and protecting humanity, this was a death sentence. Even so, it wasn't like she could go against them.
Asura sighed again. "I need a cigar."
Both she and Benedict sat there in complete silence before the door of the building shot open, and a man in a black suit with thick glasses rushed in.
He was panting, carrying the smell of sweat mixed with paint.
Asura's head snapped toward him as he came to a stop, hands planted on his knees.
"Sir! Your Excellency! There is news from the people who were put at the port." His voice rose and fell without direction as he tried to rush the words out, but he ended up panting instead.
Benedict immediately stood up. "Slow down and tell me what happened. Did someone attack our men? Didn't I tell Kevin to stay there? I doubt just anyone can win against a level 53 hunter."
"Sir, Kevin is dead. He was split in half, and from the attack and the state of his body, it seemed the strike was too fast for him to react. And it definitely came from a rapier."
"A rapier!" Asura sprang to her feet at the sound of the weapon, her fists clenching at her sides. "Did you just say a rapier split him clean in half?"
Sweat gathered on Benedict's forehead. His feet tapped roughly against the ground as if he were trying to break it. His teeth gnashed together, nails scraping against the inside of his palm.
"It must be a coincidence, Asura. There is no way that…"
Before he could finish, the man in the suit cut him off. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but Her Grace is correct. Not only did the attack match 'her' style, but there was something written on the wall that resembled the documented handwriting of their fourth member."
Benedict swallowed hard. "And what did it say?"
The man in the suit took a breath. "Open the rift, you old farts."
Benedict froze for a second, then laughed. It was so loud that anyone who heard it would feel genuinely sorry for him.
"Someone must have wanted to prank us. If it was really 'her', then she wouldn't care what we do with our future hunters, since it would mean fewer insects for her."
Asura placed her hand under her chin. "I have to agree with that." She turned to the man with a frown. "How sure are you that it was her and not just a group of fanatics?"
"Ninety percent, ma'am, because underneath the writing of the fourth was another set of words written in the ancient language known as 'English', and it was her writing."
Both Benedict and Asura froze as he continued, speaking as if he were reading the words written with Kevin's blood straight off the wall.
"If any of you mongrels dare mess with our youngest and my love's big day, we will hunt you till your last breath."
His gaze sharpened despite his obvious trembling.
"The Night_Hawks are back."
Benedict's knee nearly buckled. "What kind of sick joke is this?"
The main reason they had even made a contract with the dragon was to kill them, but they had underestimated what a level 77 could do.
Asura, however, wasn't scared. Instead, a mad grin formed on her face as her cheeks flushed deep red. She panted heavily, rubbing her thighs together.
'I knew you couldn't die that easily… Bee.'
"Your Excellency?"
Asura cupped her cheeks and let out a moan, as if she were experiencing an orgasm. "I knew you wouldn't leave me in this boring world alone."
Finally, after twelve long years, they were back. The people who made her boring life interesting. Her best friend, and the only reason she could sleep well at night.
The Night_Hawks had returned.