Chapter 133 A Beginning

Hao Ren didn't know what the Thirteen Saints had released, nor did he know what kind of ritual they had performed, but some things were certain: the news about the Original Sin of Divine Blood that Hasse brought back from the Ankhatra Territory had terrified the Saints. They must have known about this Original Sin for a long time, or at least had some understanding of it, so they acted in such haste. They found a "holy artifact" from the ancient relics of Corpus and activated it, but this ritual caused an unexpected "monster" to awaken from a nightmare and "infect" the entire garrison of the Corpus space before anyone could react.

This influence was deep and subtle. It didn't crudely control the minds of the Saints and Elders, but rather altered their thinking patterns while they remained conscious, causing them to make a series of irrational actions while believing themselves to be clear-headed and rational. These actions included capturing demon hunter elders like Hasse and purging all heretical demon hunter factions.

Throughout this entire process, the Saints never left the ritual hall. All their instructions were conveyed through messengers and attendants waiting outside the hall. No one knew what state they were in during those days, and no one knew whether their minds had completely collapsed and succumbed to the voices in their heads. Judging from the orders they issued, their temperaments had changed drastically, but they never left the hall. According to Bedoris's dying words, Hao Ren guessed that their purpose in staying in the hall was to trap "that thing" at the ritual site.

"This is contradictory," Vivian said, full of confusion after hearing Hao Ren's analysis. "They were both following 'instructions' to start a civil war and staying in the hall to suppress the 'monster'? Were they controlled or not?"

Hao Ren looked at Claude. "Where is the ritual hall? The truth will come out when we get there."

"At the top of the tower, closest to the First Saint's residence," Claude nodded. "It's the energy center of the Spirit Realm Clock Tower and the spacetime nexus of the entire Corpus. When various rituals are performed, powerful arcane forces focus directly above that hall. I think those energies haven't dissipated yet – so only a few people can go in. Too many people might cause the vortex to collapse."

Lanina reminded him from the side, "We've already taken care of all the energy nodes in Corpus."

"The energy in the ritual hall is provided by the Spirit Realm Clock Tower itself," Claude shook his head. "Although we don't know where this energy comes from, it has been stable for thousands of years. We use it to power most of the facilities in the upper levels of the tower."

"It's amazing you guys could use something with such an unknown origin, unknown principles, and unknown power for thousands of years with peace of mind," Hao Ren shook his head, looking at the people around him. "Alright, Vivian, Lily, and Lao Wang, the three of you come with me, and also Bai Huo and Tu Tan Yin. Six people in total, shouldn't be 'over the limit', right?"

Claude blinked. "No problem, just don't fire any magic or weapons that are too loud at the ceiling."

Lily and Vivian immediately looked at Hao Ren in unison. The latter shrank his neck. "Why are you looking at me?"

"Don't blow things up indiscriminately," Izhaks patted Hao Ren on the shoulder. "I don't even smash meteors as much anymore."

"I..." Hao Ren pointed at his nose. "What I do is technical work, okay! I have a large yield, but I'm always very precise, okay!"

Little Elizabeth was a little unhappy after finding out she was excluded from the group, but the little demon girl was sensible. After all, she was a genius child who could replace her father in ruling the Demon King's city. In this situation, she knew what was important and stayed behind obediently, searching the rest of the tower with Lanina.

Claude led Hao Ren and his party out of the gloomy banquet hall, heading to the place where the ritual was held via a hidden spiral ramp. After leaving the hall, Hao Ren looked at the shackles on Claude's body. "Seriously, do you really have to wear those things while we're moving around? It's not suitable for combat."

Claude raised his hands. Most of the chains on his body had been removed, but only his arms were still wrapped in heavy rune shackles. "Even now, I still have the urge to kill every one of you. The only reason I can suppress this urge is because its influence has diminished slightly. These runes are constantly draining my magic, and only when I'm in a state of considerable weakness can the thing in my head calm down a little. I guess that thing relies on magic or the host's... vitality to operate."

"You used to be a dangerous element, with magic stronger than anyone else. That's why Lanina used this special device on you. It seems that it accidentally dispersed that thing in your head," Izhaks chuckled. "Hey – but this method won't last long."

"Hopefully, we can completely end this mess in the ritual hall," Hao Ren sighed, suddenly remembering something when he saw Tu Tan Yin walking behind him. "Wait a minute, I suddenly remembered, Bedoris gave you Vivian's Blood Crystal Stone before the incident?"

He reminded everyone that the beginning of him and his companions getting involved in this matter was that Blood Crystal Stone – Bai Huo risked breaking through the siege and gave it to Vivian, which triggered the subsequent series of events.

Had Bedoris foreseen all of this before holding the "ritual" with the other Saints?

Then why didn't he stop his companions, but instead held the ritual with them?

"Every Saint possesses a special power. Saint Bedoris could see the future, very chaotic, very obscure, but he did have premonitions," Tu Tan Yin sighed softly. "However, his ability was not enough to change fate. I believe he foresaw this disaster in advance, but he didn't know the problem would arise in that ritual – perhaps he even thought the ritual was the key to avoiding disaster. In any case, things happened, and he did his best to leave a glimmer of hope. We can't ask for more."

The secret passage leading to the ritual hall was very long, stretching forward into the darkness as if it had no end. Due to some spatial distortion, Hao Ren was even a little unsure whether he was moving up or down while walking in the passage. Bored, he continued to ask Claude some questions: "You showed a strong tendency to attack Vivian when you saw her, but the other demon hunters we caught didn't have this reaction."

"To be honest, I don't know what's going on," Claude shook his head honestly. "I know about the 'Countess who summons the Red Moon', but I don't have any extra hatred for her... except for the hunting instinct. Today is the first time I've met this legendary vampire, but as soon as I met her, I felt like I had to kill her. It's a mission, an... impulse even more terrifying than the hunting instinct. It completely occupied my entire mind. Honestly, I don't want to experience it a second time. For the first time in my life, I felt like I couldn't control my own body. It was a terrible experience."

"The biggest difference between you and the other Order warriors is that you've been serving the Saints for many years, and you're the only demon hunter who can directly talk to the First Saint," Vivian said calmly. "Being around such figures is enough to make you different. You might become more susceptible to mental attacks because of it, or you might synchronize with the Saints' minds. When they were impacted during the ritual, you also suffered 'internal injuries'. Speaking of which, do you remember why you ran to the front line alone? You're the First Saint's attendant. Logically, you shouldn't have had to go to the front line yourself. Theoretically, you should have stayed here and become one of those living dead."

Claude shook his head. "I don't remember. I only remember being controlled by an urge to 'purify heretics'. This urge became stronger and stronger. Perhaps that's what drove me to leave the tower."

"In any case, the extra aggression you showed towards Vivian is a dangerous symptom. This unit recommends that you cooperate with us for some... medical examinations after this incident is over," the data terminal suddenly popped out of Hao Ren's pocket. "We've dealt with various super-beings that can affect the mind. If you don't want to leave any unexpected surprises in your brain, it's best to get a comprehensive checkup."

Claude was shocked when he saw the data terminal. "What is this!?"

"A... high-tech device, don't worry about it," Hao Ren grabbed the terminal back. At the same time, he realized that the passage had come to an end. "Is the ritual hall ahead?"

The end of the passage was a small doorway, with ancient, faded stone pillars supporting a towering arch. On both sides of the doorway were bottomless dark abysses: in this strangely structured tower, this kind of terrain wasn't surprising.

And in front of everyone was a huge gate cast in metal, engraved with complex patterns.

"There are indeed energy fluctuations behind the gate, very powerful, level three alert," the data terminal projected a blue light to scan the gate. "Also detected signs of spatial distortion. Preliminary judgment is that a continuous space gate is opening, perhaps to transmit energy into the hall."

Hao Ren subconsciously lowered his voice. "What about life signs? Mental fluctuations or other traces of consciousness?"

"No, no life signs detected, nor any form of intelligent activity."

Izhaks slowly transformed into a fire demon, stepping heavily in front of the gate. "Is the main body of that 'monster' really still in here?"

"Perhaps 'it' has no thoughts, or even no life signs. Something close to a natural disaster. We've solved these kinds of events before, haven't we? Like the Angry Spirits," Hao Ren also stepped forward, placing his hand on the door. "Lily, stuff some spicy sticks in your mouth. Vivian, prepare lightning. Bai Huo, Tu Tan Yin, remote support is up to you. But be careful, unless attacked, don't act rashly – that monster may still be controlled by some kind of ritual. We have to prevent accidentally freeing it completely."

After saying these words, Hao Ren took a deep breath, staring at the huge metal gate in front of him.

The monster that the Saints released from the nightmare was probably entrenched in the room behind the gate. An unknown, powerful monster, possibly from the day of the Godslayer. What would it look like? What kind of existence would it be? Was it a creature? A dead object? A phenomenon? Or just a curse?

Hao Ren and Izhaks pushed the door open at the same time. The heavy metal doors made a terrifying, loud noise as they slowly opened.

"...Terminal, call the warship. We might need some technical support."