Chapter 1 Izaks

Izaks placed his hand on Andaher's forehead, a faint green light flickering in his eyes. Profound and obscure demonic runes emerged from his arm, gradually forming a formation that resembled numerous chains circling around Andaher. Ordinary demons required a series of complex rituals and various inducements to extract the soul of a stronger individual, but Izaks seemed to need none of these. He was the most powerful demon king in history, his mastery of the soul surpassing any primate on this planet, making the ritual seem effortless and casual.

Of course, the more important reason was that Andaher was under a debility spell, a critical hit at that…

Hasu, Tutanin, and a few other demon hunters stood guard nervously around Andaher, watching to see if the demon would keep his promise and ensure the ritual's safety—though they had never actually seen an Izaks of this model before. As the ritual progressed, Tutanin muttered curiously to himself, "I feel like his power is different from the demons I've seen."

Hasu analyzed with an expert's air, "He's probably from a minority group."

No one could see what was happening on the soul level, but Andaher's expression did change slightly as the ritual proceeded. A few minutes later, as Izaks slowly withdrew his power, the elder demon hunter's eyes gradually regained their luster. She blinked, finally waking up from her previous stupor, the whole process smoother than Hao Ren had imagined.

For a demon hunter with strong mental and magical abilities, breaking free from mental shackles was not difficult once their own will was awakened.

Andaher took a deep breath. Her eyes refocused, and she suddenly saw a large circle of people around her. She immediately recoiled, her first reaction to reach under her cloak for her weapon and adopt a defensive stance, but she found nothing. Her sacred silver sword was gone from her waist, discarded by herself at some point.

Hasu immediately called out from the side, "Elder Andaher, please relax, there are no enemies here."

"Elder Hasu?" Andaher finally noticed Hasu standing beside her. She shook her head vigorously, still a bit dizzy. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"As you can see," Hasu stepped aside, allowing Andaher to see the situation in the family hall, "still in the Ankatelo family's secret realm. We just found you. What exactly happened here?"

Andaher saw the mess in the hall and finally recalled the scene of carnage that had occurred here a month ago. A layer of gloom quickly spread across her face, but before she could explain, she noticed Izaks and Hao Ren, remembering the phantom of lava and flames that had appeared in her soul just now. "Wait, I remember being awakened by a demon... These people aren't demon hunters?"

Izaks grinned. "I'm that demon."

"They... are currently our companions," Hasu explained awkwardly. But considering that Andaher had come here with Amutula to communicate with the heteromorphs, she must be unusually open-minded about them, so he didn't dwell on it too much. "This is Izaks, this is Hao Ren…"

Vivian stepped forward before Hasu could introduce her. "Vivian Ansester, you should know me. Seeing me here should explain how demon hunters and heteromorphs came together."

Only then did Andaher see Vivian. She was stunned for a moment, then immediately clutched her waist and jumped back. "I have no money!"

Hao Ren had been expecting to see Vivian awe others with the demeanor of an elder, but he never expected Andaher to react like this. He and his companions were dumbfounded. After a long silence, he couldn't help but look at his own penniless friend. "Did you... did something happen between you and this demon hunter before?"

Vivian was still confused. "What could have happened between me and a demon hunter? I can't think of anything other than maybe fighting. I certainly wouldn't borrow money from a demon hunter."

Andaher's reaction had clearly been instinctive, and she hadn't been able to control herself because she was still a bit confused. Realizing that her movements were a bit excessive, she smiled awkwardly and greeted Vivian normally.

"Do I have a grudge against you?" Vivian asked cautiously. She knew her own faults and was afraid that she might have accidentally beaten someone up, or beaten up their parents or grandparents, in some period of her unknown past.

"You really..." Andaher's expression was somewhere between tears and laughter. "Never mind, it's not a big deal. I was young back then, it was too long ago."

"Have you two finished chatting?" Hasu finally couldn't help but interrupt the awkwardness. "Elder Andaher, can you tell us in detail what happened here? Why did you cast a spell on yourself and wander around the Ankatelo family's resting place?"

Andaher composed herself and took a deep breath. First, she asked, "What's the situation outside now?"

Hasu knew what she was referring to. "The Shadow of Chaos has leaked out, and some demon hunters and heteromorphs have been attacked, but there hasn't been a large-scale outbreak yet. We came here to investigate this matter. Also, you've lost contact with the council for a month now, and the situation is very... chaotic."

"A month?" Andaher looked slightly surprised. "I didn't expect so much time to have passed. It's fortunate that those things didn't all escape... Ugh…"

Halfway through her sentence, Andaher suddenly clutched her head and groaned softly. Hasu was immediately alarmed. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, probably the aftereffects of the Shadow of Chaos and the mental shackles," Andaher's face was a little pale, but she gradually recovered. "It's okay. The Shadow of Chaos retreated from my mind after I lost my ability to think, so there's no risk of losing control now."

Vivian frowned. "What exactly happened here? Why was the seal broken?"

"No one broke the seal," Andaher said in a low voice. "We simply misunderstood the relationship between the Shadow of Chaos, the innate hostility, the Sun Wheel, and the 'seal,' as well as their respective natures. Some of our actions just happened to meet the conditions for the Sun Wheel to release the Shadow of Chaos, so it was like activating a system. That thing started running and let the monsters out."

Andaher's words made Hao Ren feel lost. He subconsciously asked, "What actions? How could the Sun Wheel run? Isn't it a sealing device made by the Ankatelo family?"

Andaher looked at Hao Ren in surprise. "The Ankatelo family made the Sun Wheel? Where did you hear that? The Sun Wheel wasn't made by them, they were just guarding it. It's an ancient device, no one knows its origin. All we know is that the Shadow of Chaos has always come out of that wheel, and... we suspect that the innate hostility between the various races is also affected by that wheel."

"Innate hostility affected by the Sun Wheel?!" Hao Ren could care less about other things, but this topic immediately piqued his interest. "Did your Elder Amutula research this?"

Andaher nodded. "Elder Amutula has always believed that the innate hostility between the various races is an external force forcibly implanted deep in our minds, and the Sun Wheel is the medium. So he wanted to sever the connection between the wheel and the outside world."

"Did you screw up?" Izaks said in a muffled voice. "Are you referring to the ritual where you exchanged blood? And where exactly is the Sun Wheel?"

Andaher sighed. "Let the guardians of the Sun Wheel tell you about these questions, if they can still regain consciousness."

Vivian's eyes widened. "Are you talking about the people of the Ankatelo family?! There are survivors?"

"Voguth and some members of the Ankatelo family escaped into the shelter, they should still be alive because they were frozen," Andaher nodded slightly. "But I'm not sure... because I was the one who helped them close the door in the end, and I wasn't quite conscious at the time."

Vivian and Hao Ren spoke in unison, "Where is the shelter?!"

"Actually, it's near where you found me," Andaher said. "I'll take you there."