"I what? Derek, are you drunk or what?" Cedric asked as his brows pulled together, feeling that something was off.
He didn't realize it before because he was distracted after surviving the battle against the Demon King. But now he noticed that all these Hunters before him were looking at him with serious, unkind expressions.
He could see them tightening their grip around the handles of their weapons while their eyes became focused. All these signs only happened whenever they were about to engage in battle, which didn't make sense since this was supposed to be a moment of happy reunion unless…
"I have never been more clear-headed, Cedric, especially since our mission involves taking you down before you could threaten humanity," Derek said in a gruff voice as the others exchanged glances.
"Enough with the jokes, Derek. I am not in the mood for this," Cedric said as his tone turned serious. Even though he said these words, Cedric felt these guys weren't playing around.
Lenny's expression also became solemn as he said, "Cedric, I am sorry, but this is no joke. The WHA has decided that you should be put away. The other Hunters had voted for the same as well. Honesty…this was a very hard and tough decision, but considering the circumstances, we have to do this."
"What circumstances?!" Cedric's tone became unfriendly as he asked with a glare.
Derek stepped forward and said, "The Oracle had passed down a new prophecy, and it mentions your name and that you will one day bring about doom in this world. The Oracle has never been wrong and never will. We already know how powerful you are, and this prophecy made us realize that one day you will lose yourself in bloodlust and power. It isn't that surprising since Hunters in the past had fallen prey to themselves. But you are different…You are already the strongest among us, but if we let you grow even more, then nobody in this world can stop you. It is the will of the heavens that the Oracle was able to pass down the prophecy before it was too late."
Cedric dryly chuckled as he shook his head with a look of disbelief, "Aira, do you hear the nonsense they are spouting? Tell me—" Cedric forgot his words when he saw Aira slowly walking away from him with a lowered head while covering her face.
"A-Aira?" Cedric didn't want to believe what he was seeing but seeing her silently walking away from him made him feel like his world was starting to crumble down.
Aira's expression was continuously faltering as she meekly looked at him with watery eyes, "I-I am sorry, Ced…I—"
"That is enough, Aira. You don't have to stay here any longer. Come with me," A woman in her late thirties, clad in armor, stepped forward and grabbed her wrist to lead her away. She was one of Aira's friends, Lena, and someone Cedric was friendly with as well…until now.
"Lena, don't you dare bring her away! Aira, what the fuck are you doing?!" Cedric still didn't want to believe what was going on. Even if everyone else were to turn on him, the last person he expected to turn on him was his girlfriend, whom he had known since childhood.
He had lived, fought, and bled alongside Aira for the most part of his life. He and she were there for each other through thick and thin, no matter the situation. They were practically inseparable…or so he thought.
Aira stopped in her tracks as her figure trembled, but she still had her back turned towards Cedric.
Cedric, who had his arm extended in her direction, had his eyes quivering in disbelief, sadness, and dismay. But then she continued to walk away as Lena led her away, and her figure began to fade in his vision.
"Aira…no…why…" Cedric mumbled as his voice cracked. The pain of his injuries seemed to bother him the least now. But it was the pain of his heart being slowly torn apart that was hurting him the most.
Why would his own lover betray him? Did he imagine her love for him all this time? No…This cannot be…
"Don't be angry at her. It is only best for her that she walks away. Associating with you any longer would only make her a target as well," Derek said without a change in his expression.
She left me to save herself? Was she really that selfish and cowardly? All because of a stupid prophecy?
'Heh…what a joke…So your promise about living and dying together was just a line to fool me?' Cedric wryly thought as he remembered something that had happened more than a decade ago.
"It's time, Cedric. This is it," Derek said as he lifted his heavy hammer with both his hands while the other Hunters began to slowly surround a devastated Cedric.
"Don't worry…You will still die as a hero, and your legend will live on. There are countless Hunters who would be willing to die to leave their mark in history. You should consider yourself lucky," Lenny said as he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the most unnerving battle of his life.
"Shut up…all of you cunning dogs…" Cedric mumbled with an empty look as he lifelessly drew out his blade.
"Do not fight back, Cedric. You are outnumbered, 25 to 1, and your injuries are another story. Just let this end quickly, and you won't even know any pain," Derek said with a narrowed gaze.
"Pain? You think I haven't felt enough already? I trusted you all…especially you two…my own team…You two even invited me to stay and have food with your family countless times. But I should have known all of you were just opportunistic dogs waiting to backstab me like cowards," Cedric said as his gaze became frigid.
Lenny swallowed his saliva as his heart thumped nervously. Even for a Catastrophic Level Threat, the World Hunter Association never sent more than ten Hunters to take care of it or two teams.
But for Cedric, they sent 25 Hunters whose ranks ranged from A to S class like Derek. However, Lenny wasn't that surprised as he knew how powerful Cedric was, especially since he was at the peak of S rank. Even if he was now in an injured state, Lenny had no doubt some Hunters would surely fall.
"I will take you all on!" Cedric said as his blade began to shine with a blinding golden light and charged forward with a resentful shout.
All twenty-five Hunters charged at him at the same time as well with a battle cry, ready to take down the strongest Hunter in the world.
….
30 minutes later…
"Ha…ha…How pathetic…You don't even have the balls to face me alone," Cedric said in an exhausted tone as he continued to bleed profusely all over his body while kneeling on the ground and holding onto his glaive for support.
"Cough…cough…you were not even in your best state, and yet you killed twenty of us. Even Lenny is barely standing," Derek coughed out blood as he wiped the blood off his lips with a grimace. One of his eyes was a bloody hole as blood trickled down his face. He was severely injured and standing before Cedric, yet not in a state as bad as Cedric's.
Dead, bloodied corpses were lying around Cedric while the battlefield was a scorched mess. Half of the mountain was wiped out, while the rest was just scorched land.
"This only made me realize how really dangerous it would have been for all of us if we had decided to let you live," Derek added with a wary glint in his eyes as he slowly lifted his heavy hammer with a grunt to deal the finishing move.
"Just get it over with…you piece of shit," Cedric said with a vengeful look as he looked up. He was no longer worried about dying since he realized that there was nothing to live for. The WHA whom he had loyally served since the beginning of his Hunter career, his friends, his own team, and even the love of his life had betrayed him. What was the point of struggling? It was best to let go…
Cedric saw the heavy hammer coming down on him slowly as it filled his vision. And before he knew it, he was plunged into a cold dark abyss.
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