Chapter 307: Foe from the Past
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Meanwhile, in another corner of the City of Shadows...
On the hill where the Lucas Family was based, three silhouettes stood and looked down upon the burning city—two tall men and one petite woman, all draped in black wind coats. The guy had short, grey hair, a face with scars, an eye mask on one eye and a huge, sophisticated crossbow hanging over his shoulder as he stared coldly at the ferocious fire.
Standing next to him was a dark-skinned man who tall and bald. He looked like someone of South American ancestry. His eyes were shut as though he was listening to news from afar. When he opened his eyes, looked at his leader. "Elder Hasse, our attack in the west has been thwarted."
"The west... the vampires from the Hessianite Family?" Hasse, the one-eyed elder nodded. "It seems like these vampires are different from the rest. They're a little difficult to deal with."
"They have machine guns, bunkers, tanks, cannons, mines, howitzers and biochemical weapons that are all blessed with magic," said the black man, looking confused. "It's like battling humans, not vampires. They have a large number of light and heavy arms. Intel from the frontline indicates that those vampires are resistant to holy power. The use of holy water and exorcisms are not effective against them."
Hasse was surprised. "They're resistant to holy power? That reminds me of an ancient one... I hope she has nothing to do with this..."
"Who are your referring to?"
"Nothing. Never mind"—Hasse shook his head—"maybe it's not her. She's not a real vampire. She can't pass the power in her blood to so many people. Just scale up the attack in the west; those vampires may have figured something out after spending thousands of years in the sanctuary. We can't just sit by and let them spread their influence to other otherworldlings."
"But, do we really have to burn down the entire city?" After remaining silent the entire time, the female demon hunter suddenly spoke. She looked 19 at most, but she had eye-catching, long white hair and a matching pair of white eyebrows. She gazed at the burning city below as her quirky face was mixed with a slight hint of sympathy. "They haven't been a threat to others for thousands of years."
"Keep your sympathy to yourself, White Flame," said Hasse indifferently. His face was solemn as he glanced at the white-haired maiden. "They've killed more people than all the people you've known in your entire life. They've quieted down for the last couple thousands of years simply because they haven't found a chance to kill again."
"It's a pity that the whole city is paying the price," White Flame, the young demon hunter tried to explain herself, "as there must be some civilians in there."
"When Mohenjo-daro was destroyed, no one came forward to plead for the civilians; it was the same for Knossos. They were condemned just because their sacrifices were not fresh enough or one of them didn't make it to worship in the temple on time." Hasse' arms were crossed over his chest as he continued to stare indifferently at the burning city. "The creatures and races in this city deserve no mercy. My only regret is that their death has come 3,000 years late."
White Flame lowered her head in silence while she listened to Hasse. The black guy beside her glanced at her and said, "White Flame, you're the most talented demon hunter in history, but you have a weakness—sympathy. Perhaps, it's the law of balance; but your sympathy is your Achilles' heel. Be mindful and don't let this strange thought ruin your life."
White Flame bowed and said, "Yes, your teaching is duly noted, Master Teuton."
Hasse looked on and frowned as his right-hand man, who had been working with him for years taught the talented yet problematic prodigy. He knew White Flame had a curiosity for the otherworldlings. He also knew that many new generation demon hunters had doubts about their missions. But, this girl was just too brilliant that she stood out. The sages had observed this anomaly and covertly conducted a survery 100 years ago. They found that in certain generations, about 50 % of the demon hunters would have an anomaly in their faith; it usually happened in the seventh or eighth generation. The fact that this phenomenon occurred in the last two generations on a global scale could not be explained away by educational or environmental reasoning; the cause was more of internal than external.
Perhaps, there was an anomaly in their bloodline.
Or perhaps, it was just as the heretic, who was sentenced to death last month said: "the anomaly in their bloodline was being corrected."
Hasse shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought, which sent chills down his spine. He had been alive for too long and something was deeply rooted in him—kind of like a truth. However, he chose not to believe it, even ignoring the possibility that this truth may just collapse on himself one day. Nonetheless, he wanted to test out his theory. With his authority as an elder, he took a tremendous risk and entered into a deal with the evil otherworldlings of the city. He wanted to know if the new generation of otherworldlings had also experienced the same phenomenon. He was disappointed, but he took comfort in knowing that at least the shadelings had not changed: like their ancestors, the new generation of shadelings were just as greedy and cunning, extremely cruel to other beings outside of their own kind.
Sure enough, the demon hunters and otherworldlings were fundamentally different. Although the new generation of demon hunters had the anomaly, it proved the purity of their bloodline.
As one of the oldest demon hunters, Hasse chose to believe in this explanation. Once the city of sin burned down and the sacred item was retrieved, the absurd farce and ridiculous "test" of his would be put to rest.
"Elder"—all of a sudden, the guy known as Master Teuton interrupted Hasse' train of thought— "do you think the shadelings are sincere?"
"No"—Hasse shook his head indifferently—"they're not sincere. But, they're useful. We should make use of those who are useful—I speak from experience after going through the toughest time of my life. Sometimes—"
Suddenly, the coarse voice of a woman interrupted Hesse. "Useful? You will be useless soon..."
Before her voice trailed off, a searing light flashed in the air. A big mace appeared out from the light and headed straight for Hasse' head.
Boom
The impact left the hill covered in scorching light and billowing smoke. Rock, even soil and sand had turned into smoldering lava as the hill's vegetation were vaporised. The silhouette of the three demon hunters in the air were covered in a bright light-shield, which had insulated them from the scorching heat. White Flame appeared shocked. Hasse frowned when he spotted the silhouette of a woman emerging from the smoke. "Hesperides, I knew you were still alive.
"But you'll be dead today!"
An earth-shattering battle erupted. White Flame and Teuton came up to them, trying to help their elder against the crazy woman, who had popped out of nowhere. However, they were quickly stopped by the ancient ones who had also seemingly appeared from nowhere.
The battle between the ancient goddesses and demon hunters was ignited for the first time since the Mythological Era.
Meanwhile, Hao Ren and Hessiana had arrived in a strange place.
In theory, they should have arrived in the same ruins in the other dimension. The energy storm had subsided but the structure and scene in the dimension looked totally different.
It seemed that Bethanos may have triggered something when he fled into the ruins. Perhaps the tunnel beneath the Fortress of the Shadows, which led to the ruins was also a passage to some deeper part of the dimension. What appeared in front of them was not a sea of clouds and the cloud temple, instead...
It was a desert.
Lily squatted on a sand dune and howled. "Awooo—which way next?"