Hunter Academy’s Battle God

Thanks to her mother, Kim Yunha’s, insistency, EunAh had been doing pilates since she was in middle school.

She’d also done yoga on top of that, so she was even used to intense stretching.

"E-EunAh, I don't want to do this anymore. I'll die if it goes on like this…"

Amy's flexibility was pretty bad, so those kinds of exercises were like torture for her. She collapsed on the floor and let out heavy breaths.

"It's only been 30 minutes."

"This much is enough. I… I want to return to the club room… I want to drink something sweet… Like the fruit milk Sumire makes!"

Amy continued to complain with a red face, but EunAh wasn’t listening to her.

'I managed to get revenge on the Shin-oh family… and cleared up to the 9th floor of the Tower… but why isn't he coming?'

EunAh's annoyance was understandable. She was thinking about his last message.

[Shin YuSung: I'm sorry, but I have to stay in Italy a bit longer.]

News that YuSung had successfully subjugated Sardonyx had spread through both Gaon and all of Korea.

EunAh had thought that YuSung would return immediately, but that wasn’t the case.

'Is Italy that fun…?'

EunAh was annoyed. She'd been waiting an entire day for him to return, but he'd said that he’d stay a bit longer even though the subjugation had ended.

'Doesn't he miss his party members?' She felt sad. 'We miss him a lot…'

EunAh raised a leg, bent her arm back, and wrapped it around her leg as if it were a cylinder.

Although she tried to act as if she were okay, she wasn't.

'You just wait…'

EunAh was annoyed that she hadn’t been able to see YuSung in a while.

* * *

* * *

Arden gave a bitter smile as he sipped some tea in a coffee shop in Volterra.

'Is it too late or too early…?'

Although Winter Witch Luisa had vanished, her castle remained. The Association thought it was odd that they hadn’t eliminated it yet. After all, didn’t that castle carry a dark history for the Association? If so, why hadn’t they gotten rid of it yet?

There was a reason for the castle’s continued existence, and Arden had hidden that reason from Adela. He’d thought she’d forget about it as time passed and that the wounds of her childhood would close.

'I was wrong. If I truly loved my granddaughter… I shouldn't have hidden that from her, even if I knew it would hurt her.'

Still, there was something Arden insisted on. Adela would eventually face a certain situation, and he didn’t want her to be alone when that happened. He couldn’t stand the thought of her suffering alone in Volterra’s winter anymore.

That would tear him apart.

'But now… there's that kid.'

He was kinder and more upright than any hunter Arden had seen before. He was the only hunter Adela had recognized, which was why he wanted to keep YuSung near Adela.

[Student YuSung, I'll tell you how you can do it, but I have a favor to ask of you.]

[Could you take Adela with you when you clear the Tower’s 10th floor?]

[You'll need Adela's strength to cool the egg and get the refrigerant from Louin Castle, so it shouldn't be too troublesome for you.]

That’s why he’d asked him to take her into the Tower with him.

'I hope that child doesn't get hurt anymore.'

Rather than the desire of a legendary hunter, it was the desire of a failed grandfather.

'I hope she can move past those hard times and find happiness…'

Arden put down his cup of tea and stared out beyond the window while making a bitter expression.

* * * *

"Although a normal person can't access it, party members who participated in the Luisa subjugation or their families can access it."

After a short explanation, they were told Adela was able to enter because her surname of 'Ortensia'.

Her steps were heavy.

One step…

Two steps…

With every step she took, she felt that an unknown swamp was trying to swallow her.

"Adela, it's going to get better soon."

She heard YuSung's voice. She might have seemed emotionless at first glance, but her face was a bit pale.

"Thanks."

"I should be thanking you." YuSung smiled at Adela. She was hugging the dragon egg and using her cold abilities to keep it from getting too warm.

It might have looked easy at a glance, but it required a lot of mana and mental strength.

Adela shook her head. "No… this much is nothing for me, and you’re going to help me clear the 10th floor of the Tower."

Tap, tap.

How long had they been walking?

There was something that seemed unreal deep within Volterra’s forest. A beautiful ice castle towered over the frozen trees in the middle of the forest.

"Really…" Adela exclaimed in surprise when she saw the unbelievable scene.

She subconsciously hugged the dragon's egg tighter and felt the heat emanating from the egg. She shook a bit, and YuSung placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Will you be able to enter?"

Adela opened her mouth while her eyes were glued to the ice castle.

"So you already know…"

"A little bit."

YuSung knew what had happened to Adela when she was five years old and what Luisa’s ice castle meant to her.

"Adela, I'm not asking this just out of consideration. I want to respect your choice."

Adela smiled. It was just like him to give her a choice after they had already gone so far and encountered such a scene.

"I see…" Adela put the egg into her Pocket. "Yes. I'll go."

Tap, tap.

Adela slowly began walking toward the ice castle.

Creak.

The huge door opened, and a blue light leaked out. From the outside, it looked really beautiful, but once they opened the door, they were able to see its true appearance.

Just like people turned to stone after seeing Medusa’s face, people Luisa had frozen into sculptures appeared before her.

"This…"

Flowers decorated the ground in front of the frozen figures.

[Belitan Angelon]

[My proud senior. My hero who became Volterra's star.]

Tributes were engraved before the brave heroes who sacrificed themselves to protect Volterra.

Badump. Badump.

Adela's heart was beating faster, and she stopped in her tracks.

She’d already entered and started walking through the hallway. She had to keep moving forward, but she couldn't.

All sorts of questions began racing through her head.

Why hadn't the Hunter Association gotten rid of the ice castle? They’d kept it intact as a tribute to remember those who’d sacrificed themselves to free Volterra.

Then, why hadn't Arden, her grandfather, told her about Louin Castle's existence?

She knew what was going to happen, and her body froze as she was unable to move her feet.

She wasn’t brave enough to face the truth.