Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo

If I really answered "inconvenient" here, would you just let me go home? That thought crossed my mind, and then I replied, "It's convenient."

Although I wanted to go home to check on Mazao's condition first, the choice to communicate with Zhu Shi was different from the earlier decision whether to re-enter the cave. It wouldn't sever my connection with the "Firefly."

On my way to this forest, I had already sent out a few "Fireflies" to go back home in my stead to check.

"You just said, this monster is a Fallen Demon Hunter?" I didn't miss Zhu Shi's reference to the Demon, "Does that mean it's actually... human?"

In other words, could this Demon be Mazao? Impossible. The Mazao of now, let alone bouncing around, even walking on flat ground had a chance of falling over.

The suspicion of Mazao being a Fallen Demon Hunter (serial killer) could be ruled out.

"That's right. You didn't know before that it was human?... It's probably for the best. One shouldn't be merciful when dealing with such evil creatures. If you knew it was human, maybe you would have found it difficult to take direct action..." Zhu Shi first nodded thoughtfully, then moved towards the Demon lying on the ground, "You must have heard from elsewhere, there's been a serial killer recently in Saltwater City. Actually, eight months ago... hm?"

Suddenly, she hesitated, her gaze lingering on the Demon.

The Demon was motionless.

"What's wrong?" I grew alert, sensing through the residual fire on the surface of the Demon's body.

Zhu Shi moved forward again, first circling the Demon twice, then bent down to touch its chest, afterwards uttering a sound of surprise, "It's..."

"... dead?" I also reached a conclusion, "Did you kill it?"

The Demon was now completely breathless.

This wasn't feigning death; I would have detected that performance. Now it was less a living being and more a chunk of dead, charred meat.

"No, I didn't," Zhu Shi shook her head, "I only knocked it out before."

"I just destroyed its skin and some muscle, without harming any vital organs or other lethal areas," I explained, "Even though I blew its legs apart, I quickly cauterized the wounds with flames, so it didn't lose much blood – it couldn't have died from excessive blood loss. Could it be burn shock? Did it die from shock?"

If the cause was me, does that mean I killed someone?

I tried to find a sense of guilt within me, but couldn't muster even the slightest bit, let alone a sense of reality. This Demon didn't look human, nor did it burn like one; I had a hard time feeling like I had killed a person.

"Impossible, a Physical Enhancement type demon hunter like him wouldn't die from such levels of physical damage in such a short time as long as the brain and heart were fine..." Zhu Shi shook her head again, then stepped forward, "Anyway, we should have the organization come to retrieve the body, and then perform an autopsy analysis afterwards."

Hearing her mention an autopsy, I withdrew all the residual fire from the body.

Before doing so, considering there was a one in ten thousand chance that the Demon on the verge of death had suddenly mastered the art of feigning death, I sensed again, very carefully. This Demon—this Fallen Demon Hunter—not only had no breath but also no heartbeat, and the blood was not flowing normally; there was no life force to be felt.

I judged that it was indeed dead, without even that one in a million chance being true.

Zhu Shi's approach was even more direct; she drew the sword from her back again.

With a flash of the blade, she chopped off the Fallen Demon Hunter's head on the spot; then she thrust her sword into the chest to mash up the heart, completing a perfect "Life and Death Check"—by personally ensuring its death, even an incorrect death conclusion became correct.

Brutally simple, yet it revealed the cruelty and efficiency of a professional, suggesting she had done this more than once. Unlike me, a novice just getting involved in abnormal combat, she was already very skilled.

She then swung her sword cleanly through the air, shaking off the bloodstained blade onto the ground before sheathing it once more.

-

Zhu Shi took out her cellphone and made a call. Before long, some people in grey uniforms arrived at the scene. After loading the Demon's body into a vehicle, they left.

She then led me to another secluded spot. On the way, I studied her outfit closely. The straw rain cape, the bamboo hat, the sword—coupled with her beautiful looks, she appeared like the female protagonist in a period martial arts drama.

Did this distinctive attire signify something special, or was it just the standard uniform for Luo Mountain combat personnel? Whatever the truth was, this outfit appealed greatly to my taste, and I couldn't help but glance several times. It wasn't that I liked martial arts-like garb; it's just that on such an unrealistic night, her unrealistic attire didn't clash with the situation. Instead, it heightened my excitement.

Thinking back to her ruthless efficiency in "finishing off" the Demon, she displayed the battlefield style that, in my eyes, a "hunter of Demons" should possess.

The only imperfection was that beneath the straw rain cape, one could vaguely see her everyday casual wear and short boots, a "blooper" that would be criticized in a period drama. But perhaps there was a benefit in that too, finding beauty in the discordant; I convinced myself of that.

Not only was I looking over Zhu Shi back and forth, but she was also doing the same to me.

Despite her constantly composed demeanor, the disbelief she initially showed must have reflected her true feelings. Even now, she seemed unable to accept it, her gaze on me as if searching for some flaw to prove that I was not the Zhuang Cheng she remembered.

Although I couldn't fathom her feelings to the same extent as she did, I wasn't entirely incapable of understanding. To think that a friend's sister turns out to be a demon hunter dealing with abnormalities within a supernatural organization, such an incredible and coincidental tale seems to be found only in stories. Tonight truly feels like a night out of a dream.

"You just said that I'm also considered a demon hunter—what do you mean by that?" I was the first to start the conversation.

Zhu Shi paused to collect her thoughts before replying, "It's exactly as it sounds. A person who wields power related to the abnormal is called a demon hunter."

"Can I understand it like this..." I pondered out loud, "Let's say there's a supernatural power user who just has superpowers and has never hunted demons, nor does he have the intention to, and his abilities aren't even suited for combat... Would he still be classified as a 'demon hunter'?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Isn't that a bit strange? Why not just call them supernatural power users or Magicians, or like in online novels, Transcendents?" I wondered.

"I don't know either, that's just what everyone calls them," she responded nonchalantly.

After a moment of thought, a flurry of unformed ideas occurred to me.

She clearly didn't intend to dwell on this trivial matter of titles and went straight to the point, asking, "Zhuang Cheng, when did you start to become a supernatural power user?"

You usually call me "Senior Brother Zhuang," why the sudden formality... I swallowed the thought.

Zhu Shi used to address me that way, and it always felt like she was holding me up on a pedestal, which made me somewhat uncomfortable. I had suggested that it would be better to use my name; now that she was actually doing it, I felt uncomfortable for a different reason. I really am a troublesome person.

But those were minor details, and I replied to her as normally as I could, "My awakening superpower occurred over four years ago."

"Over four years... so, right when you started high school? Or maybe a little before that, when you were about to graduate from middle school... I see now; no wonder you've always been..."

Gradually, she seemed to come to a realization on her own.

After pondering for a moment, she asked, "Judging by the injuries from the Fallen Demon Hunter, your superpower is related to flames, isn't it?"

"My superpower allows me to summon and control flames," I shared generously.

"To think you managed to take down that Fallen Demon Hunter with such a common ability?"

She seemed surprised, but was that really necessary?

Flame Ability might indeed be the most unsophisticated in the realm of superpower combat comics, but compared to transforming into a massive, muscle-bound monster, I feel mine has at least a bit more style. In the many combat stories I've read before, characters like the Fallen Demon Hunter with their large physiques and physical attack traits usually only served as early-stage villains. And if the refined main villains ever resorted to enlarged, monstrous forms, it was as good as announcing their upcoming defeat, often not even leaving their bodies intact.

Yet, I was also keenly aware that I knew nothing about the abnormal world or how Luo Mountain rated the power of demon hunters. Relying on half-baked story knowledge for reference was futile. Maybe other Flame Ability Users were unexpectedly weak, making Flame Ability seem like an all-show-no-go thing in others' eyes.

"Can you tell me the whole process of what happened?" Zhu Shi pressed on.

"Sure."

I recounted the entire series of events, from my encounter with the Fallen Demon Hunter to Zhu Shi's intervention, including all the skills I had used in combat.

Zhu Shi took out her phone from the inside of her cape-like garment again, using it as an impromptu voice recorder for my narrative.

For a supernatural power user like me, if it were just for self-preservation, it would be better to keep my combat style hidden. However, I hoped to make a good impression on Luo Mountain through Zhu Shi. Perhaps in the future, through this officially recognized supernatural organization, I could obtain more reliable clues to abnormal events and thus encounter a more diverse array of abnormalities.

In my heart, the importance of contacting Luo Mountain even surpassed that of Mazao.

To put it further, if I could join Luo Mountain and become one of them, then Mazao would no longer be necessary to me.

Luo Mountain is a vast organization, and there's a saying, "You can run from a monk, but you can't run from the temple." Now that I'm aware of Luo Mountain's existence, there will be plenty of ways to get in touch with them in the future.

But what about Mazao? Not only does she have a firm intention to leave, but she even claims to have the power of Space Transfer. Assuming her claims are true, once she has recovered, she could directly move to a place unknown to me. Although it's not impossible to continue tracking her and bring her back based on supernatural powers, I seem to already have a better option now.

Of course, I have another even better option.

And that is "I want it all."

There wasn't much to say about my confrontation with the Fallen Demon Hunter; it was largely a one-sided suppression on my part. Soon, I had explained the entire process to Zhu Shi clearly.

As I began describing my abilities, Zhu Shi silently put away the phone she was using as a temporary voice recorder, and a look of uncontrollable shock gradually appeared on her face.

"You can ignite targets with your gaze, and the fire can burn targets even outside your vision... Fire that can't be extinguished, continuing to burn no matter where the opponent flees?" After a brief moment of stupefaction, she couldn't help but exclaim loudly, "What kind of 'ordinary control over flames' is this?!"