The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 901

Chapter 901: A Temporary Victory

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

No one had noticed how many attacks Y’zaks had deflected with his head. Everyone was too occupied with the Shades of Chaos that kept coming from the hall. No matter how many shadows Y’zaks and Y’lisabet had smashed, the shadows just kept pouring out like a mudflow. The only thing that limited the shadows’ attack ability was their lack of intelligence. The Shades of Chaos took followed the shortest route, so the space between the hall entrance and the line of defense on the demon hunters’ side was where blockade was necessary.

As Hao Ren was now in the open space, he no longer had to worry that the use of the psionic weapon would unintentionally harm his teammates. He immediately pulled out his gun. Bright blue beam cut through the air, hitting the small square in front of the family hall with a series of explosions. The Shades of Chaos that crept on the square instantly turned into crystal dust. For a moment, Hao Ren was able to kill more shadows than Y’zaks and the little demon combined.

The psionic weapon could kill or destroy anything it hits regardless of the target’s nature and the protective mechanism. It could inflict real damage to anything that was describable as well as indescribable in the world. It was powerful energy almost equal to the power of God. Even only a small gun in the hand of an inspector, the characteristics would not change. Though the nature of the Shades of Chaos was bizarre, it had no match for nor defense against psionic energy.

The only problem was that there seemed to be an infinite number of Shades of Chaos. The psionic gun had limited range of attack, the Shades of Chaos was unstoppable no matter what they did. The shadows had now pushed the battle frontier close to where the sacred-flame defense perimeter was.

There was a strange pungent smell as the sacred flame barrier burned hotter and hotter. The Shades of Chaos had finally come face-to-face with the demon hunters.

Y’zaks and Y’lisabet had retreated to the line of defense. Though the duo was mentally tough enough to withstand a short period of mental attack of the Shades of Chaos, they were cautious not to come into direct contact with any of them.

Now, Vivian was joining them. Her eyes turned blood-red. She summoned chilling energy that spun like a cyclone to carry her into the air before calling out a swarm of bats out of thin air around her. These bats were different from the physical creatures that she used to summon; this version was like a chaotic air mass and energy formed by icy ashes and darkness. These translucent bats flickering with a light inside swooped down at the Shades of Chaos and turned the shadows to become a part of them through assimilation and devouring.

The bats of ash and darkness and the sacred flames of the demon hunters began to intertwine and form a weird black-and-white battle scene. While keeping the bats in motion, Vivian turned around her head and asked Hasse loudly, “When are you going to end the ritual?”

“Just a few minutes more!” Hasse replied loudly, and then looked at Vivian’s bats that flew in the flame. The flame was now different in characteristics with the one used on the evacuation path in earlier. To fight back the Shades of Chaos, it was a lot more violent and destructive. “Does your shadowmancy conflict with the sacred flame?”

“Do they look like there’s a conflict?” Vivian rolled her eyes. “I’m even wearing crosses my body, mind you!”

“That’s not what I mean—” Hasse felt that something was not right, but a sudden scream interrupted him.

A young demon hunter at the defense barrier was screaming.

Hao Ren turned his head around and saw there was a breach in the defense barrier where the demon hunter was. The demon hunter’s shadow was flickering, and the magic shield on his body lit up under his windbreaker. Though White Flame had quickly filled the gap remotely from a distance, it was a little too late; the Shade of Chaos had gotten the warrior.

The warrior was fighting back, but keeping the sacred-flame barrier up had drained him. When the Shade of Chaos attacked, he was defenseless. After a few seconds of trepidation, he suddenly turned to look at a companion closest to him. His eyes were cloudy and void of rationality.

The warrior pulled out his silver dagger and attacked his teammate; fighting began to spread starting with him as the center of chaos.

“This is the worst moment I’ve always feared,” Hesperides said. She took a huge mace with blades and nails out of nowhere and then engulfed herself in flame before lunging at the deranged demon hunter. “Everyone, hold the line. Let me deal with this kid!”

Hasse’s jaw dropped to the ground as he saw Hesperides confronted the enemy with a mace. The demon hunter looked at Vivian. “Hasn’t she recovered from her head injury?” he asked.

“She has got back her character but not her combat style. She has lost the original style for good,” Vivian explained embarrassedly. “After you shot her in her head, she had modified her twilight wand into a mace. After she returned to her normal character, she had no other suitable weapon, so she kept using the mace.”

The scene reminded Hasse when he first met Hesperides in Olympus thousands of years ago. Back then, the nymph was a chicken; she was wielding a wand but timid and lack of combat skill. But fade had changed her. The senior demon hunter shuddered. “What goes around comes around,” he lamented.

The deranged demon hunter was no slouch even before the shadow possessed him. Now he had gotten even stronger after losing his mind. The demon hunter was able to hold off Hesperides and turned the fighting into a stalemate.

Hesperides was glowing so hot that even the ground around her softened, but the deranged demon hunter did not feel a thing. He dodged the attacks from Hesperides by performing a continuous spatial shift and using arrow and rune spells to drain Hesperides’ patience and energy. Seeing the situation, Vivian became a little unsettled. After sending a swarm of bats to deal with the Shades of Chaos, Vivian came to the help of Hesperides.

“Try to catch him!” Hesperides shouted. “The spatial shift of this son of a b*tch is f*cking elusive!”

Vivian transformed into a massive swarm of bats. The bats, filled with lightning, swooped down at the demon hunter from all directions. The demon hunter was about to do another spatial shift, but Vivian had anticipated that. Through the bats, she emitted a directional, ear-piercing whistle at the deranged demon hunter, breaking his sequence of movement. A bright light followed immediately and lit up the entire scene.

The light subsided, and the bats regrouped. The electric shock had immobilized the demon hunter, leaving him standing still like a statue on the spot.

Hesperides strode up to the demon hunter about to knock him out.

Before she could do that, the cloudy layer in the demon hunter’s eyes disappeared, and he regained his consciousness.

The Shade of Chaos had left him.

The joint exorcism of the demon hunters was finally coming to its last stage. It ended with a loud peal. Bright lights burst out of the demon hunters and shrouded the entire building following with the runes above the family hall crumbling down.

When the bright light finally dissipated, Hao Ren found that the family hall was still standing intact, but the Shades of Chaos had gone.

It seemed that the demon hunters were superior compared to the otherworldlings, at least in dealing with various negative forces.

---

Chapter 902: Strange Clues

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

After the glaring white light had dissipated, a hollow echo reverberated for several minutes in the air. There was energy hovering over the family hall, but it could also be an illusion, as the Shades of Chaos had dissipated under the intense light. Hasse ordered the demon hunters to maintain the sacred-flame barrier for a while as he and White Flame went out to check out the situation. A moment later, he declared the situation as safe.

“Phew…” Lily breathed a sigh of relief, her puffy tail shrank. “It was exhausting,” she said.

Hao Ren looked at the husky with a wry face. “Were you not just sitting by and watching all the while?” he asked.

Other than a pair of claws, Lily knew nothing about magic. Her brute strength was useless against the Shades of Chaos. The only thing she could do here was to be a cheerleader. She had wanted to help when Hesperides and Vivian were trying to restrain the deranged demon hunter, but it was all over before she could do anything.

Holding her head high, the husky bragged, “My battle cry had given you buffs!”

Hao Ren thought for a moment, sneering. If her bark were a battle cry, he would have at least gotten three bars of buff over his head if he were to take a tour at a canine breeding ground.

“Is it over?” Hao Ren looked at the direction of the family hall. The shadows had completely disappeared. The darkness inside the hall had dissipated. The massive exorcism ritual had cleared the inside and outside of the building of the negative energy and a sense of sacredness in the form of a milky white halo was floating above the dome. “Wow, that was a freaking powerful ritual, eh?” he said.

“It is of the demon hunters,” White Flame said as the flame on her body went out slowly. She looked a little tired but other than that she was fine. “It seems that our exorcism is better than your shadowmancy, but of course, your gun is quite powerful too,” she said.

Hesperides carried a dark demon hunter over and dropped him before Hasse. “Your man has got lucky today; he’s still alive. But if he couldn’t recover from his deranged mind, I will finish him myself,” she said.

It was the demon hunter possessed by the Shade of Chaos. After getting bombarded by 100,000 volts of current and bat swarm of Vivian, the demon hunter’s body was as black as coal. His body occasionally twitched with the electric current still flowing under his clothes. Hasse immediately bent down to examine the warrior’s condition. Aside from visible wounds on the outside, the warrior seemed fine mentally.

“He has healed?” White Flame was astonished. “How?”

“How?” The last thing Hesperides wanted was to talk to Hasse and White Flame, but since White Flame had asked, she replied, “With some good beating.”

Hasse’s face looked somber while he used magic to examine the injured demon hunter. Hao Ren sensed something was wrong. “How is he? Shouldn’t he have recovered?”

“This has never happened before. Normally, it requires a very complicated ritual to dispel the Shade of Chaos out of a person,” Hasse said without looking up. “A month ago, some demon hunters were attacked by these shadows. Since then, we have somewhat found the treatment according to some ancient records though the method is pretty troublesome. But I have never heard of anyone could heal a deranged person by giving him a good beating,” he said.

Lily interjected. “I saw on TV that the possessed people would recover after getting a good beating,” she said.

Hao Ren shot Lily a look. “As you said, it is a TV program; it is not real,” he said.

The MDT came out and muttered, “In fact, I know a person who can do that, but he is not here.”

Hasse did not hear what the MDT said as he was too engrossed with Hesperides and Vivian. “What have you done?” he asked Hesperides.

Hesperides thought for a while. She remembered she was wielding a mace and swung it indiscriminately at the possessed demon hunter, but she could barely hit the target. So she raised her finger pointing at Vivian. “She was the one making the last strike.”

“It’s the electric shock,” Vivian replied. “It’s the lightning discharge of the bat swarm. To me, it is a common move. It does not possess any exorcism power.”

“Electric shock? An electric shock could relieve frenzy?” White Flame muttered, incredulously. “I’ve never heard that striking someone with lightning could treat mental derangement.”

At this time, the injured demon hunter struggled to get up. Black smoke puffed out from his mouth when he said, “No… she struck me more than once…”

He then lay back down and twitched.

While Hasse and White Flame were engrossed in their thoughts of whether lightning could heal people from the Shades of Chaos possession, Hao Ren was thinking something else. Having learned a great deal about Vivian, he began to link the healing to the unique life of this bat demon. “I’m afraid it has nothing to do with the lightning. Maybe it was Vivian that expelled the Shade of Chaos,” he said.

Hasse had no idea what Hao Ren meant, but there was a weird reaction on Vivian’s face. “You mean… Hell no! How are those strange things have anything to do with me?” she asked.

Hao Ren remained silent while Lily rolled her eyes. “Because you’re the weirdest one in the house.”

“What are you guys talking about?” White Flame looked at Hao Ren, bewildered. “The power of Countess Vivian has suppressed the Shades of Chaos?” she said.

“Ahh, no, nothing, it’s just my wild guess,” Hao Ren said, giving a superficial response knowing that it was not easy to sort out the matter. “Vivian was one among the ancient gods who sealed the Shades of Chaos thousands of years ago. So I wonder if she still retains the influence over the shadows,” Hao Ren said.

Hasse looked at Vivian in surprise. “Is what he said true? Are you one of the persons who built the seal?”

Vivien nodded, embarrassingly. “Yeah, I guess, but I can’t remember that.”

Hao Ren then explained the origin of the seal to Hasse and then steered the conversation back to the Shades of Chaos. “How did the shadows appear? Any clue?”

White Flame’s brows pulled together as she recalled, “They just appeared suddenly. I didn’t know how. Wasn’t your assistant who alerted us about it?”

“If the Shades of Chaos also suddenly appeared in the hall one month ago, then it would be easy to explain what happened to the Ancattero family and the demon hunters,” said Hasse in a low voice. “They would have no time to react because as soon as one person began to lose his mind, the situation would immediately get out of hand.”

Everyone knew how they would end up if not for the heads-up from the MDT. With so many people gathered in a confined space, even the most experienced demon hunters would fall in the hands of the Shades of Chaos. The mind-attack that drove people into insanity posed the biggest threat, and it worked the best in a crowded space. So it was not difficult to imagine how the Shades of Chaos was able to cause a catastrophic chain reaction when Amatura and his fellow demon hunters were meeting with the Ancattero family in the hall. “Did anyone do, move, see or felt anything unusual at that time?” Y’zaks’ low-pitched voice sounded calm and reassuring. “We want to find out if there is anything that has disturbed the shadows.”

Everyone began to rummage in their memory. The MDT had a visual record of what happened at that time—much more detailed than anyone could describe verbally.

Each of them had told what they did, see or felt right before the shadows emerged, but there was nothing particularly suspicious. It seemed that the Shades of Chaos just appeared out of nowhere for no reason.

While they were scratching their head, White Flame suddenly spoke, “I don’t know if this is relevant, but those shadows began to appear when I let down my guard.”

Hasse looked at his disciple. “Is that your guts feeling?”

“Well, at least I think it matters,” White Flame said, nodding her head slightly as she explained what was in her mind. “When I completely let down my guard against Hesperides, the shadows appeared.”

White Flame’s words reminded the other demon hunters, and they began to recall the incongruence at that time. Even Hasse and Hesperides had their moments when they let down their guard. “There was a moment when I have forgotten that Hasse is my enemy,” Hesperides said, very honestly.

---

Chapter 903: Andaherr

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

Save for Hao Ren and a few others, who were not affected by innate hostility, the demon hunters and Hesperides had communicated with each other, and all found that they all had lost their vigilance at the same time while in the hall.

Or more specifically, everyone lost their innate hostility at the same time.

The younger generation of demon hunters and otherworldlings had experienced the weakening of innate hostility since a few months ago, but this phenomenon did not affect the ancients like Hasse and Hesperides due to their bloodlines. The innate hostility of both of them had also gone without them realizing it, and it was at that moment that the Shades of Chaos emerged.

For this reason, it was hard not to link both incidents together.

Hao Ren scratched his chin. “Among the two, which one is the cause? Was it that the lack of vigilance had led to the appearance of the Shades of Chaos, or that the activity of the Shades of Chaos had caused you all losing your innate hostility?”

“It’s the nature of the Shades of Chaos to cause conflict and disorder, not suppress them. So we can rule out the second scenario,” Vivian said, shaking her head. “As for the first scenario, though there is no obvious contradiction, why did the innate hostility of everyone disappear suddenly in the first place?”

Hesperides glanced at Hasse with a somber look on her face. “When you look at me right now, do you feel like killing me?” she asked.

There were not many expressions on Hasse’s face. “No, I don’t,” he replied.

“Well, I do,” Hesperides said with her arms crossed, “but it has nothing to do with the innate hostility. It’s just that I don’t like your face,” she said.

“It seems that everyone has lost the innate hostility,” Vivian said, her eyes scanning the other demon hunters, who looked confused and uncomfortable. Though without the innate hostility they were less nervous before Hesperides and Vivian, they somehow felt it weird. The unnatural feeling was understandable. They had been living with the innate ability for all their lives; it had become as natural as breathing. Vivian only shook her head. “It all happened in the critical juncture. Anyway, I think the loss of the hostile instinct is related to the activity the Shades of Chaos. Those shadows attack the mind; especially when everyone has no vigilance.”

Her theory sounded plausible, but there was still no explanation as to why the hostility instinct of everyone disappeared spontaneously. The only reason they could think of was that there was something in the hall.

“Let’s get back in and check it out,” Hasse said. “There may be something in the hall that is capable of eliminating the hostile instincts.”

They immediately returned to the hall. Hasse said to White Flame, “Contact Teuton with your magic and ask him about their situation. Tell him what has happened here and warn him about the Shades of Chaos.”

The hall remained the same as before. The exorcism ritual had not changed the hall physically, and it only affected the Shades of Chaos which were shadows on the object surface. As the dust had settled, scattered furniture and dead bodies were the only things left inside. A faint white light, which carried a hint of sacred aura, was lingering in the air. The investigators began searching around for anything that might have residue of magic or ritual, while Hasse stood in the center of the hall, looking up thoughtfully at the hole on the dome.

Hao Ren went over and asked Hasse, “What did you find?”

“Nothing, I am just not used to it,” Hasse said, sighing. “You know, killing instinct has been with me for thousands of years, as natural as the feeling of hunger and pain, but now it’s gone…”

Nearby, Lily heard what Hasse said. She bared her fangs. “I don’t feel a thing. It’s better not to have that instinct,” she said.

Hao Ren had almost forgotten. The husky possessed a certain degree of hostility towards other races too, just like the normal otherworldlings. Though hers was very weak, it occasionally manifested in things like squabbling for food with Vivian.

Hasse, who rarely showed any emotion, laughed. “Maybe, the younger generation like you is lucky. At least you can control your mind more easily, and are more adaptive than an old man like us.”

Hao Ren had never had a good impression of the senior demon hunter. He always had the feeling that Hasse was cold and old-fashioned, and had a deep-rooted prejudice against the otherworldlings. However, Hao Ren had sensed a touch of humanity in Hasse this time. He did not believe that this change was the result of the disappearance of the killing instinct, but he also did not like to poke his nose in other’s lives, so he gave a perfunctory reply.

“If what happened just now is anything to go by, we can infer what happened a month ago,” Lily said, looking around. “Look at these banquet tables, the demon hunters that Amatura brought were having a good time with the Ancattero family. Probably, they also lost their hostile instinct, just like us, before the Shades of chaos appeared,” she said.

Hasse nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Hesperides called out, “Look at this!”

Hao Ren and the others went over only to find Hesperides was standing in front of a banquet table at one end of the hall, holding a beautiful but weirdly huge golden cup in her hand.

“Is there a problem with the cup?” Hao Ren asked curiously. They had been busy checking the dead bodies and signs of battle in the hall and entirely overlooked the banquet tableware that had strewn everywhere.

“Do you think people normally drink from such a huge cup?” Hesperides flipped the cup bottom up, revealing a series of complicated runes and patterns on the circular base. “It seems like a ceremonial vessel,” she said.

Then she pointed to the marks next to the banquet table and other strange items scattered on the ground. “Looks like they had a ritual. These cups and candlesticks are different from those on the other tables, and usually not used in a banquet.”

Vivian took the golden cup in her hand. She saw some residue—the dried red wine. She could smell the suspicious scent. “It smells the blood of the demon hunters. They mixed the red wine with blood,” she said.

Then she found another cup under the table. “It’s true. It tastes like the blood of the Ancattero family member,” Vivian said.

“They came here to swear in as bothers?” Lily asked.

Vivian stared at the husky. “Though I feel that what you said is possible, could you please shut up?”

“It was a communion, but the scene has been destroyed,” Hasse said, bending over to examine the banquet table that laid on the ground with two broken legs. There were some subtle traces of runes on the table, but the rest of the table was charred. “Otherwise we could know what this ritual was all about—”

Before Hasse’s voice trailed off, White Flame suddenly broke in. “Teacher, Master Teuton is back, and—”

Hasse looked up, noticing White Flame’s unusual expression. “What happened?” he asked quickly without waiting for White Flame to finish.

“They found Elder Andaherr, but she seems a bit weird.”

Hasse immediately let them in. Hao Ren saw Teuton and two demon hunters walking into the hall with Wayne following from behind. In the middle was a small figure draped in a deep-purple cloak.

Wayne nodded to Vivian before Hesperides pulled him to a side, asking him what happened. Meanwhile, Hasse came up to the short figure and carefully lifted the hood off the figure’s head. “Elder Andaherr?”

Hao Ren looked at the person, a woman in her thirties with long gray hair and an Asian face. Though she was an ancient of the same period as Hesperides, like other long-living races, age did not catch up on her face. The only weird thing was that this Elder Andaherr was strange, just like what White Flame had said.

She looked inert and did not respond to her surroundings. Even though Hasse greeted her, she just looked up and could not say anything.

Looks like she lost her mind.

---

Chapter 904: Mind Shackle

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

Wayne had found Elder Andaherr the demon hunter, but the elder seemed not right mentally. She was demential, inert, and did not respond to things around her. Hasse tried to talk to her, but she only returned with meaningless, unintelligible word and then stood still.

While examining Andaherr with various magic measures, Hasse asked Teuton, “Where did you find her?”

“Under the tower. She was already like this when I found her loitering in the open space next to the tower,” Teuton replied.

Hasse stretched out his hand and waved it before the eyes of Andaherr; there was only a blank expression on her face. After a while, she suddenly walked away, came before a broken banquet table, and rummaged through a pile of rotten food on the ground.

Hao Ren was startled for a while before he realized that she was ‘foraging.’

Hasse immediately stepped forward, stopped Andaherr. He gave her a packet of his ration. Andaderr did not respond to Hasse, but instinctively took the food and skillfully opened the package and wolfed it down her throat.

Hasse handed a bottle of water to her. She took it and knew how to open the lid.

“She could still take care of herself, but seemed to have lost most of her sensory and communication ability.” Vivian had noticed the cues. “It seems that she has been in this condition for a month,” she said.

“How is that possible?” Y’zaks was surprised. “Doesn’t the Shade of Chaos only drive people insane? It makes people stupid?”

Lily wagged her tail, and a funny thought came to her mind. “She’s also the ancient one. So could she be having dementia like Battie?” she asked.

Vivian glared at her. “Don’t drag me into that! I am only forgetful, not demential!” she said.

While Lily and Vivian had a shouting match, Hasse had found something on Andaherr using his diagnostic magic. “Wait a second. The Shades of Chaos didn’t cause her condition, it was the Mind Shackle spell, and the spell caster was Andaherr herself,” he said.

Hao Ren was stunned. He looked at Andaherr, whose face emotionless. “Mind Shackle?” Hao Ren asked.

Vivian hemmed, and then said, “It is a mind-retarding spell.”

Though it sounded funny, the mind-retarding spell was a real and common spell, which the demon hunters, some human sorcerers, and the otherworldlings known as the Night Demons practiced. This kind of magic was used against intelligent creatures to interfere with their perception and weaken the ability to think. A more powerful spell caster could even make the subject to lose their thinking ability completely. The effect of this magic varied greatly depending on the skill of the caster and was also affected by the mental resistance of the subject. It was not a strong spell, because the subject might suddenly think of his or her spouse or other people’s spouse, and got free from it.

However, when a spell caster used the magic on him- or herself, the effect would be long-lasting because self-suggestion had suppressed mental resistance right from the beginning.

The mind-retarding spell caused Andaherr’s condition and she was the spell caster.

“Why did she even do that to herself?” Y’lisabet grabbed her horn with a strange look on her face. “Did she beat herself up when she couldn’t find anyone else after the Shades of Chaos deranged her?”

“No. She did it to herself because she didn’t want to hurt others!” Hao Ren said. “Do the Shades of Chaos affect people with an unsound mind?”

“It seems they won’t,” Hasse said. He finally figured it out. “The danger of the Shades of Chaos is that they could infinitely magnify the sense of anger and hostility in people. When one cannot even think, then the shadows would not be able to inflict their influence.”

“Is it possible for a third party to disarm the Mind Shackle spell?” Y’zaks asked.

Hasse’s brows knit together. “It would be difficult. The most special thing about this spell is that its effect is not only dependent on the skill level of the spell caster, but also influenced by the mental resistance of the subject. It is something purely to do with the mind. There used to be cases where a defenseless beggar had successfully resisted the magic of a master demon hunter. There was also a case where a cold-blooded killer succumbed to the Mind Shackle spell of an apprentice and became a retard for the rest of his life. Andaherr cast her spell. When her sense of resistance was zero at that time, the effect of the spell would be the strongest. I’m afraid that there is no way to defeat the spell from the outside.”

Hasse took the hassle to explain in detail the function and principle of the Mind Shackle spell to make a point of the level of difficulty in lifting this spell. Y’zaks, however, saw a glimmer of hope. “That is to say, the subject could still be capable of resistance, but the consciousness is blocked, right? So as long as she could actively invoke her conscienceness, she could still become sober, right?” he asked.

“In theory, yes.” Hasse looked at Y’zaks with a puzzled look. “What are you going to do? Her soul is locked away in the depths of her soul, and she can’t hear outside voices.”

A uniquely green evil fire rose in Y’zaks eyes when he guffawed with a hoarse voice. “If you don’t mind—I can speak directly to her soul.”

“You mean extracting?” Hasse and Teuton were stunned when they understood what Y’zaks meant. Teuton objected. “No! Working with the otherworldlings is an unprecedented compromise. Letting a demon disturb the soul of our elder would be crossing the red line.”

“No extraction,” Y’zaks said slowly. “Dive into her spiritual world and say a few words to her. I guarantee that this female demon hunter would be safe, and I wouldn’t do anything to her soul.”

Y’zaks was sincere, but the problem was his appearance; he had a face only a mother could love, and it was scary despite his kind words. Both faces of Hasse and Teuton turned green; neither of them dared to consent to the suggestion.

Blame it on the notorious reputation of the demons. Though there were various types of demons in the worlds, they all shared a similar character and behavior. They all were good at fiddling with people’s souls, especially like to use their talent evilly. There had never been any demons, when had a chance to fiddle with people ‘s soul, would leave it alone undisturbed, let alone during a psychic ritual. A kind-hearted demon like Y’zaks, whose only daily routines were reading the People’s Daily and carrying old ladies crossing the streets, was lucky enough to have been adopted by Hao Ren. Otherwise, he would have been sent to the lab for scientific dissection.

Vivian became impatient with Hasse. “Do you have any better solutions?” she asked.

“I’m thinking.”

“We can’t afford to waste time.” Vivian turned aggressive. “You have thirty seconds. Hao Ren, start the countdown,” she said.

Hasse forced a smile. “You are being—”

“Twenty-five seconds.”

At this time, White Flame interrupted. “Teacher, I think we should give it a try,” she said.

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you say that power is just a tool and tool is neutral, good or bad, it all depends on how we use them?” White Flame said in a serious tone of voice. “If the situation calls for it, demon hunter may use poisons and surprise attacks to save lives. Then why can’t we use its psychic power in saving lives?”

Hasse did not answer. Vivian patted White Flame on the shoulder. “You’ve got a bright future, lass. At least, you’re more open-minded than your teacher,” she quipped.

Hasse did not expect that his student would embarrass him at a crucial moment. But deep inside he knew White Flame was right; he had taught her that. He could only nod. “Then let’s give it a try. If things go wrong, stop it immediately,” he said.

The other demon hunters began to doubt his decision, but Hasse just shook his head. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. We should first let Elder Andaherr recover.”

While saying, he looked at Vivian, hinting that the living fossil was the one making the ultimate decision. The demon hunters noted. They gave in. No one wanted to go against Vivian’s will because the last thing they wanted to hear was Vivian yelling “When I whacked your father, grandfather, great grandfather, they didn’t even complain!”

Of course, a more important reason was that the hostile instinct had disappeared. The demon hunters could think more rationally, unlike in the past where they would have an entirely different reaction.

As there were no more objections, Y’zaks immediately began to perform the psychic ritual on Andaherr.

---

Chapter 905: They Are Still Alive

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

Y’zaks pressed his hand on Andaherr’s forehead, a faint green flame filled his eyes, and his hands were full of incomprehensible demonic runes. A chain-like circle appeared around Andaherr. Usually, a demon would need a series of complicated rituals, seductions, and preparations to extract the soul of the stronger subject, but Y’zaks did not have to do that. He was not retrieving her soul, and what was more he was the most powerful demon king in history. He was the best of the best when it came to the business of the soul, ahead of all other intelligent beings on this planet in this field. That was why he made light work of the ritual.

Of course, a more important reason was that Mind Shackle spell had affected Andaherr.

Hasse, Teuton, and several other demon hunters were nervously waiting beside Andaherr and at the same time. They had never seen demon like Y’zaks. During the ritual, Teuton was a little curious. He said to himself, “His power is different from those of other demons I’ve seen.”

Appearing like an expert, Hasse said, “Maybe he’s of the minority.”

No one could see what was at the soul level, but Andaherr expression did change slightly as the ritual progressed. After a few minutes, Y’zaks slowly retracted his power, the elderly demon hunter’s eyes were full of spirit again. She blinked and woke up from her inertness. The whole ritual was smoother than Hao Ren had expected.

For demon hunters with strong mental and magic abilities, it was not difficult for them to break free from the Mind Shackle spell as long as their consciousness was awake.

Andaherr took a deep breath. When her eyes adapted to the environment and saw the people around her, she stumbled backward. Her first reaction was reached into her cloak for her weapon, but she found it was not there. The silver dagger she always carried on her waist was gone, probably she had dropped it somewhere.

Hasse called out at her, “Andaherr, easy. There are no enemies here.”

“Elder Hasse?” Andaherr recognized him who stood by her side. She tried to shake off her grogginess. “You guys are… Where am I now?” she asked.

“As you can see,” Hasse stepped aside so that Andaherr could have an overview of the hall, “you are still in the secret realm of the Ancattero family. We just found you. What happened here?” he asked.

Andaherr saw the chaotic scene in the hall and finally remembered the scene of carnage that happened here a month ago. Her face turned downcast. She first noticed Y’zaks, Hao Ren, and the others, and remembered the phantom of lava and flame that appeared to her in her soul. “Wait a minute. I remember a demon woke me up. They’re not demon hunters, are they?” she asked.

Y’zaks grinned. “I am that demon,” he said.

“They are with us at the moment,” Hasse explained, figuring that since Andaherr came here with Amatura to have a friendly meeting with the otherworldlings, she might have an open attitude towards the otherworldlings, so he cast aside his doubt. “This is Y’zaks. This is Hao Ren—”

Before Hasse continued, Vivian stepped up and introduced herself. “I’m Vivian Ancestor. I guess you already know me. Since I’m here, you should know that the demon hunters and the otherworldlings are working together now,” she said.

Only now Andaherr noticed Vivian. She was stunned, covered her pockets with her hands and stepped backward. “I don’t have any money!” she said.

Expecting that Vivian would impress Andaherr with her senior aura, Andaherr’s unexpected reaction caught everyone by surprise. Hao Ren froze and looked at his pauper tenant. “What happened between you two?”

Vivian could not wrap her brain around it. “What could happen between us except a fight? You can’t seriously think that I borrowed money from the demon hunters,” she said.

Andaherr’s reaction was purely instinctive. She was still in confusion. Now, realizing that she had overacted, she came up awkwardly to Vivian.

“You have grudges against me?” Vivian asked carefully, thinking that she must have unwittingly beaten her or her parents up in the past.

“You…” Andaherr pasted on a smile. “Forget it. It’s no big deal anyway. I was still small at that time, and it happened a long time ago.”

“Have you two finished yet?” Hasse finally could not help but interrupted. “Elder Andaherr, can you tell us more about what happened here? Why did you cast a spell on yourself, and why did you wander around the Ancattero family resting place?” he asked.

Andaherr’s face looked serious. She took a deep breath and asked, “What is the situation on the outside?”

“The Shades of Chaos have escaped, there are reported cases of attacks on the demon hunters and otherworldlings, but the situation is not epidemic yet. We are here to investigate the incident. The Council of Elders have lost contact with you lot for a month, and now the situation is chaotic,” Hasse said.

“A month?” Andaherr was a little surprised. “I didn’t expect it’s been a month. Anyway, it could be worse if all those things escape in the open,” she said.

Andaherr suddenly moaned, burying her head in her hands as if in pain. Seeing her condition, Hasse became worried. “What happened to you?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Maybe it’s just the sequelae of the Mind Shackle,” Andaherr said. Though looking pale, she recovered gradually. “Doesn’t matter. The Shade of Chaos left me alone when they found that I had gone insane. I’ve no danger of losing control,” she said.

Vivian’s brows pulled together. She asked, “What happened here? Why is the seal destroyed?”

“No one destroyed the seal,” Andaherr said with a low voice. “We misunderstood the essence and relationship between the Shade of Chaos, innate hostility, the Solar Roulette, and the ‘seal.’ Coincidentally, our behavior triggered the Solar Roulette to release the Shades of Chaos,” she said.

Now Hao Ren was confused. “What behavior? How did the Solar Roulette work again? Was it not a seal made by the Ancattero family?” he asked.

That question, in turn, baffled Andaherr. “Ancattero made the Solar Roulette? How do you know? They didn’t make the Solar Roulette, it was only in their custody. It’s an ancient device, which no one knows its origins. We only know that the Shades of Chaos came from the roulette, so we suspect that the roulette is affecting the innate hostility between the races.”

“The Solar Roulette affects the innate hostility?” This one thing aroused Hao Ren curiosity. “Amatura found out this?” he asked.

Andaherr nodded. “Elder Amatura has always believed that some outside forces have implanted the innate hostility in the minds of the various races, and the Solar Roulette is the medium, so he wanted to cut off the connection between the Roulette and the outside world.”

“Then thing went wrong?” Y’zaks asked with a hoarse voice. “You mean the communion? Where is the Solar Roulette?”

Andaherr let out a sigh. “I think it’d be better for the custodians of the Solar Roulette to tell you that—if they could recover their consciousness,” she said.

Vivian was wide-eyed. “Are you talking about the Ancattero family? They’re still alive?” she asked.

“Vogus and some members of the Ancattero family fled to the sanctuary. They probably are still alive, but they are all frozen,” Andaherr said, nodding her head gently. “But I’m not sure. I last saw them before I shut the door behind them, and I wasn’t exactly at my best mental state at the time.”

Vivian and Hao Ren asked in unison, “Where is the sanctuary?”

“It’s near where you guys found me,” said Andaherr. “Let me show you the way.”