The funeral was held in what used to be a park, now converted into Safe Zone Seven's memorial ground.
Rain fell steadily from grey skies, turning the grass to mud and the gathered mourners into black-clad shadows beneath umbrellas.
The temperature had dropped, autumn shifting toward winter, and everyone's breath misted in the cold air.
Ash stood with Angela near the front, both wearing black. H
is suit was borrowed from Association supplies, standard funeral clothes kept on hand for occasions that came far too often.
He leaned heavily on crutches, his body protesting even this small effort.
A week unconscious had left his muscles weak, his chest still aching where the Warlord's claws had torn through flesh.
Angela wore a simple black dress, her white hair with black tips pulled back tight, bandages hidden beneath long sleeves.
Her face was pale, exhaustion showing in the dark circles under her eyes.
Before them stood three graves. Three hunters who'd died in the Manhattan gate operation.
Jake Torres's grave was at the center, his name carved into a simple stone marker.
JAKE TORRES. B-RANK HUNTER. MENTOR. FATHER. HERO.
To Jake's left stood another marker, "C-RANK HUNTER. DIED WITH HONOR."
The hunter who'd been torn apart in the night attack.
To Jake's right, another "D-RANK HUNTER. GAVE EVERYTHING."
The young hunter who'd been speared during the shield wall fight.
Three graves.
Three lives.
Three families who would never be whole again.
Director Kim stood at a podium set up under a canopy, her voice carrying across the rain-soaked gathering through speakers.
The rain drummed steadily on the canvas above her head, a constant rhythm that underscored her words.
Water ran in small rivers through the grass, pooling around the fresh graves.
"We stand here today to remember what it means to be a hunter in this broken world," Kim began, her voice steady but heavy with emotion.
"Before the fall, we were ordinary people living ordinary lives.
Then the rifts opened, and everything changed."
The wind picked up, sending sheets of rain across the gathering.
Umbrellas tilted against the gust.
Someone's flowers blew from their hands, scattering across the wet ground. Kim's suit was soaked, her hair plastered to her head, but she didn't move from the podium.
She paused, looking at the three graves.
Rain poured over the fresh stones, washing across the carved names.
"Jake Torres chose to teach.
He could have stayed safe, could have thought only of his three children waiting at home.
But he chose to train new hunters, to pass on his knowledge.
He died protecting his students. He died doing exactly what he believed in."
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
The grey sky darkened further, and the rain intensified.
Cold water soaked through clothes, ran down faces, and turned the memorial ground into a sea of mud.
But no one left. No one moved.
Kim gestured to the other hunters' graves, rain running off her outstretched hand.
"These two hunters held the line when creatures attacked in the night.
They fought so their teammates could live.
This is what it means to be a hunter, standing between the darkness and the people who can't defend themselves.
It's about sacrifice."
Her voice strengthened, carrying over the sound of rain and distant thunder.
"To the families of the fallen, your loved ones were heroes. The Hunter Association will honor them.
We will support you.
We will make sure their sacrifice is remembered."
Lightning flashed somewhere beyond the safe zone walls, illuminating the gathering in harsh white light for a moment.
In that flash, Ash could see every face, grief-stricken, exhausted, but resolute.
This was their world now.
Rain and mud and graves and the determination to keep fighting anyway.
She raised her voice to address everyone.
"To the hunters who survived Manhattan, you carry their legacy now.
Honor it. Train harder. Fight smarter. Protect each other."
The rain fell harder, as if the sky itself was mourning. '
Water streamed down the stone markers, pooled in the fresh-turned earth, and ran in rivulets through the crowd.
Kim's voice cut through it all, clear and strong.
"We honor their sacrifice by continuing the fight.
By protecting what remains.
By making sure their deaths meant something.
Rest well, hunters. Your watch has ended. We'll carry it from here."
She bowed her head in respect, rain streaming off her like tears the sky was crying for them all.
The silence stretched, broken only by the downpour and quiet weeping that mixed with rain until you couldn't tell which was which.
Then, slowly, people began to move forward.
Filing past the graves, leaving flowers that immediately became soaked, or standing in silent respect with rain washing over them like a baptism of grief.
Ash watched hunters he recognized.
Helen Park stood near the back, her usual tablet tucked away for once, her face showing raw grief.
She caught Ash's eye across the crowd and nodded slowly, respect, maybe understanding.
Lin Wei stood by the C-rank's grave, her usual confidence gone, replaced by quiet sadness.
She looked up as Angela and Ash approached, rain running down her face. "He was proud of you both," she said quietly. "Jake. He told me the night before we went in. Said you were going to change things."
Angela's breath caught, but she just nodded. "Thank you."
The crowd began to thin as people paid their respects and left, returning to whatever remained of their lives.
But Jake's family remained, his wife and three children standing by his grave, holding each other in the rain.
"Come on," Angela said softly.
They moved toward Jake's family together, Ash's crutches sinking deep into the mud with each step.
The woman looked up as they neared, tired eyes meeting theirs. Rain streamed down her face, mixing with tears.