Chapter 1 He Feels Uneasy

The more Hao Ren heard Wayne's introduction to the Shadows of Chaos, the more concerned he became. He didn't know if it was his sixth sense warning him, but from the various attributes of the Shadows of Chaos, he vaguely felt clues related to the origin of the Other.

"Drives people mad?" Hao Ren interrupted Wayne. "How does it drive them mad?"

Wayne remained patient despite the interruption. "They indiscriminately attack others, but after going mad, the targets are still limited to supernatural races. However, these are all recorded in ancient books, so it's not certain."

The Shadows of Chaos only attacked special races with supernatural powers—or, in other words, the stowaways from the Dream Plane. Those attacked by the Shadows of Chaos would also fall into a state of indiscriminate madness, their targets still limited to Others. This extremely strange nature made Hao Ren vaguely realize something: it was very similar to a more primitive form of "innate hostility," a tendency to attack that only existed among Others.

What was unclear now was why Izhaks and his daughter had also been attacked: although they were considered supernatural races, they were not from the Dream Plane.

Hao Ren suppressed this doubt for the time being, listening to Wayne continue to explain the situation.

"The origin of the Shadows of Chaos is a mystery. It was a matter of ancient times, and few people know about it now. All I know is that the Ancatro family in South America has been responsible for guarding the seal for many years. I think the elders present should know more about this than I do."

As Wayne spoke, he looked at Hesperides, who was sitting in the corner. The latter nodded slightly and stood up: "The last time I remember the Shadows of Chaos appearing was in the early Olympus era. It caused a great disturbance in the Roman region, triggering a civil war between several families of gods. Finally, with the joint efforts of several ancient families, the Shadows of Chaos and their source of power were sealed together and transferred to a mountain in South America. The families responsible for constructing the seal have changed several times since then, and the Ancatro family eventually took over."

The others present should already know these basic facts, so Wayne and Hesperides' words were basically all explanations for Vivian and Hao Ren, who had just arrived. After Hesperides sat down, Vivian coughed slightly with some embarrassment: "Ahem, well... do you know who was responsible for building the seal back then?"

As she spoke, she looked around nervously, but it was obvious that none of the people present knew about it, even Hesperides, the most experienced one, shook his head: "I was young at the time, and the Olympus family didn't directly participate in that matter. I just heard from my elders that there was a battle in the wilderness, and then the matter ended inexplicably."

Vivian gave an "oh" and turned her face away with a strange expression: "Well, maybe, probably, possibly, perhaps... I mean, maybe, I participated in sealing the Shadows of Chaos back then."

As soon as these words came out, the scene fell silent. Wayne, who had just been talking eloquently to introduce the situation to Vivian, almost fell to the ground again. The old monsters really didn't expect that the Anastasia countess, who didn't know anything when asked, was actually a party involved back then—instead, she came here to have a group of juniors introduce the situation to her. In a daze, the people in the council hall were quiet for several seconds before they reacted, and then they tried to cover up their momentary gaffe. Some pretended to drink water, some pretended to look at their watches, and some pretended to look at documents. Various coughs and conversations that tried to hide the truth rang out. These people were too embarrassed to suggest to Vivian to take some supplements, but Vivian herself was still quite self-aware. She sighed: "Just laugh if you want to. I really forgot everything. I only heard the name Ancatro from you just now. But I think since this is something I sealed back then, I should be responsible when they run out again."

She turned to Wayne and said, "Does your family maintain contact with the Ancatro family? What exactly happened to them?"

As soon as this question came out, the council hall fell into a strange silence. After a few seconds, Wayne opened his mouth with a serious expression: "The Ancatro family has lost contact with the outside world. Their family's secret realm has been completely closed since last month. Several investigators who were sent to check the situation only had one survivor return after being missing for a week. He was seriously injured and insane. According to the investigator's chaotic words, the Ancatro family is probably completely destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Vivian's eyes widened. "Doesn't their family have any other members outside?"

"The Ancatro family is a very, very conservative secluded family. They have never had family members active outside. They retain one of the few remaining extra-dimensional territories in the contemporary era, living a semi-self-sufficient life. Only a very small number of human dependents are active around their family, but those human dependents know even less," Wayne shook his head. "The Ancatro are very mysterious, rarely communicating with people since ancient times. Our family only has minimal trade activities with them. They produce high-quality rune items."

Izhaks hadn't said a word from beginning to end, but suddenly interjected at this time: "I just heard you say that this matter is related to the Demon Hunters?"

"We have no evidence," Wayne shrugged, raising his finger and pointing to a sturdy black man some distance away from him. "The Hólfenlī family says they have evidence."

"Hogwulf, leader of the Hólfenlī werewolves. We met once on the battlefield of Troy three thousand years ago," the tall, sturdy black man nodded slightly to Vivian as a way of introducing himself. "Our family is currently active in Western Australia, but last month our family encountered Demon Hunters by chance when negotiating with the Aiben werewolf family in South America. Family warriors who retreated back said that those Demon Hunters were active near the Ancatro family. In terms of timing, the Ancatro family lost contact with the outside world around those few days. So I suspect that the Demon Hunters attacked the Ancatro family and stupidly destroyed the seal."

Before Hogwulf finished speaking, a pale-skinned, gloomy-looking woman in black sitting opposite him snorted softly: "I don't think the Demon Hunters would ignore so many families in South America and suddenly go to destroy the Ancatro. Aren't they usually colluding with each other? Your information is probably wrong. Warriors who retreated? They were actually deserters who were beaten back. In order to escape punishment, they would definitely exaggerate the situation as much as possible."

The black-clothed woman's words angered Hogwulf. This experienced werewolf leader did not conceal his temper just because he was in the venue. He slapped the table in front of him, creating a large crack: "Hela, you mixed-blood descendant are not worthy to stand here! Your knowledge is as shallow as your bastard father!"

Hespera immediately glared at the crack that Hogwulf had made: "That table costs sixty thousand!"

The black-clothed woman called Hela also slapped the table: "Hogwulf, do you think I don't know that you just want us to go and die at the hands of the Demon Hunters? Your family's activities in South America have long been known to the world!"

Hespera jumped up and down, pointing at Hela and Hogwulf: "You two each pay half!"

Hogwulf and Hela finally noticed the movement next to them. The two of them were stunned at the same time, staring at Hespera: "How can it be so expensive? Are you robbing us!"

It was a daily occurrence for these Others to quarrel when they met. No one around tried to mediate the dispute. Hao Ren curiously asked Gene Lucas, who was sitting closest to him: "Are these two enemies?"

"Hela is a survivor of the Odin family. Her father, Loki, once tricked Thor into using a lightning bolt to ignite a laurel tree on a high mountain to test the accuracy of magic, but he accidentally killed a giant wolf under the laurel tree. That giant wolf was Hogwulf's distant nephew," Gene Lucas explained in a low voice. "Although it was more than two thousand years ago, and Loki and Thor have already died, the surviving family members have been feuding until now."

Fortunately, Hela and Hogwulf didn't start fighting on the spot—partly because of Hespera's interference, and partly because they were concerned that Vivian, a super ancestor who was half a mother to whoever stood in front of her, was present. In the end, the two angry old monsters sat back down and wrote IOUs to Hespera for the furniture with collapsed expressions. After the scene calmed down, Hao Ren asked: "Hela just said that the Ancatro family colluded with the Demon Hunter families? What's going on? Are there any Others in the world who collude with Demon Hunters?"

"Various rumors," Wayne Walter said with a wry smile, "and there are so many families in the world, there will always be a few special ones. The Ancatro family has always been very low-key in the age of mythology, never participating in any battles. They didn't even appear during the decisive battle with the Demon Hunters, and after the end of the age of mythology, they almost completely escaped the strangulation of the Demon Hunters and the human church unscathed, so it's hard to guarantee that some people will suspect something."

Although Wayne's words did not explicitly confirm it, they seemed to indirectly corroborate the rumor that the Ancatro family had some kind of "tacit understanding" with the Demon Hunters. Hao Ren could only be very surprised by this.

There are all kinds of birds in the forest. Is it true that there are Other families in this world that can communicate with Demon Hunters? What about the supposed innate hostility?