WITCH OF THE END

Seeing no need to lie, Luna nodded in response to Diana's question. The News had already been made public.

The Crimson Tower was actually between threat levels four and five. The strange structure had fallen from a Category A Gate a few months ago. It landed in the Southern Reach of the continent and led to an immediate evacuation due to the mystical toxin it produced. The strange energy was known as Black Ether, which was an unknown energy from the divine realm that was capable of infecting mortal minds and turning them into very powerful mindless corpses.

But aside from that, the tower remained dormant after arriving. No cursed creature emerged from the upright tower, so the federal army and government failed to give it a worthy threat level. However, since the gate that brought it here was a high Category, The Crimson Tower was predicted to be above level 3 because nothing good came from a Category A gate. And to make matters worse, no one could enter or destroy it thanks to the strange red material used to construct it. All they could do was deploy a small army to keep an eye out for any abnormal activity.

For two months, the Crimson Tower had remained silent until three days ago when it unleashed a shockwave that shook half of the continent as if announcing its wake. Immediately after the earthquake, another gate appeared at the entrance of the Tower--shocking the world and every soldier at the scene.

In short, the tower was calling for challengers.

Luna had no plans of going for obvious reasons, she had no plans of playing heroine any time soon. But she couldn't say the same for her mother and Len. The pair, along with the strongest members of the Clan and its vassal houses, were going to have a meeting concerning the matter before marching to the Southern Reach. The Eastern Settlement was Feng's responsibility so the Crimson Tower was their problem too.

Luna was also called for this meeting, and she didn't feel so happy about it when she received the call. She only came to terms with it after she gave herself time to give it some thought.

"Calamities mess with the natural order. I bet that place is going to become unhabitable after the subjugation." Regan spoke. His crimson eyes glared at Luna as he continued. "There is no level of technology that has succeeded in reversing the effects of things that affect our realm."

"No technology, yet." Diana corrected him.

"The world right now isn't the same as before. We have fewer resources, the air outside the settlements is poisoned and most land can't support agricultural produce. Most food supplied to this settlement comes from the South due to the somehow stable weather and good soil. Sigh, We're about to lose some of that good soil. The occupants of that small state will move to the next district and the land being used for agriculture will be cut down significantly to accommodate the refugees."

After Regan's detailed explanation, the whole room was drowned in silence. He was right, every single word he had said was right.

'That's a legacy for you.' Luna shook her head and continued with the cleaning. She didn't care much about what was happening to their world. They were already doomed, to begin with.

***

Luna didn't have to go all the way back home since Hanshoo was a powerful district of its own with a full military headquarters in the city. She was picked up from the academy by a large armored vehicle that drove her straight to the Hansho Military Division headquarters.

After a short while, the armored vehicle stopped at the entrance of the division's headquarters. Luna sighed, feeling nervous as she stared at the small buildings that made up the military base. She rubbed her sweaty palms and sighed even louder. Her stomach turned when the fresh air hit her nostrils. 'Why am I so nervous all of a sudden?'

Soldiers in nano-tech suits were scattered everywhere, from the rooftops to around the buildings to keep the security tight as much as they could. But it was pointless.

'There are few things in the world that can harm Mao Feng and the clan's ascenders. These men and women are wasting their time.' Luna thought briefly. She pushed the door open and stepped out of the armored vehicle with her sword gripped in her right hand. Immediately, all the soldiers nearby bowed as they let her walk to the main building.

On reaching, she was surprised to see that someone was waiting for her. It wasn't just anybody though….

It was her cousin, Captain Snow.

He was standing at the entrance, his chest raised and his brown eyes staring at her with indifference. He was pale, just like her, and had fluffy dark hair, which was quite common from her father's side of the family.

"Well if it isn't the great Captain Snow."

Instead of bowing, the two embraced each other.

"You shouldn't call me captain, cousin. That's beneath you." He spoke through her ear and freed her almost immediately. "Congratulations on the professor gig. Who knew that you would be teaching students at seventeen?"

Feeling proud, Luna crossed her arms and nodded with a proud smile on her small lips. "I just couldn't wait for fate to take me where it wants. I chose to take hold of my own fate and make it do as I wish." She shamelessly quoted a stupid line she heard from a game she once played.

"Anyway, how's the army? I bet the Crimson Tower thing is causing chaos for you first-division captains and Generals." Luna asked as she followed Snow into the main building.

He nodded. "We've already lost a lot of normal human soldiers who tried to stop some creatures from trying to escape. We exterminated the creatures, of course. They were undead."

'Undead? Like Zombies!' Luna mused.

"Seeing that the cursed beings are undead, it's safe to assume that the being ruling the tower is a Devil with a power similar to that."

"I see. So my sister and mother wish to fight this Devil?" Luna asked.

Snow nodded. "Our technology is telling us it's a Master. But we need someone as powerful as her with us in case it's a scythe or sovereign."

The mention of a Sovereign made Luna shiver. Sovereign-ranked devils were rare and extremely powerful in terms of Corrupted deities. In the past fifty years, only four sovereigns had been spotted. One of those four died in the battle for the Northern Settlement while the other three only came down to cause chaos by opening gates. No one knew what they wanted from the Mortal Realm but they were undeniably both evil and mysterious.

"I see."

After walking for about three minutes, the pair made it to a room that looked so out of place with walls made of synthetic cream paper and wood.

Luna didn't need zenshi to sense the monstrous pressures waiting for her beyond the thin paper walls.

Snow slid the doors open for Luna and everyone inside turned to see who had arrived.

Before anything else though, Luna's eyes landed on her mother and sister. Both were seated in front of the room, on the floor like everyone else.

She was about to bow, but her mother interrupted:

"You look well, Dark Blade."

Luna smiled weakly. Dark Blade was the name her father gave her when she chose a weapon made from black steel. Hearing that name warmed her heart with nostalgia.

"Thank you, mother."