Chapter 154 In Fact

Actually, when Claude said that the First Saint didn't exist, Hao Ren wasn't as shocked as Bai Huo and Tutan.

He had suspected it for a while now—the First Saint was so mysterious that even within the Demon Hunter community, she seemed too bizarre. A legendary figure who hadn't shown her face for thousands of years, a leader who only communicated through heralds and attendants, an extreme recluse who never left her room. With these unconventional traits, who would dare swear that the First Saint was real?

Who could say that this wasn't just a spiritual symbol used to appease people, or merely for self-consolation?

Bai Huo and Tutan showed the greatest agitation. Unlike Hao Ren and the "outsiders," they were genuine Demon Hunters, ironclad members born and raised in the Arctic Fortress. From childhood, they had heard stories of the Saints' Order, and the impression of the First Saint as immortal, powerful, and omniscient had been deeply ingrained in their minds. As orthodox Demon Hunters, Bai Huo and Tutan had never imagined that any of the Saints would ever disappear, let alone the legendary First Saint, said to be more powerful than all the ancient gods and as immortal as the planet itself.

Yet the First Saint had never existed in the first place—she had fallen long before the War of the Gods even began.

But now, twelve Saints had already been reduced to ashes in the ritual to activate "Darkness," and the impact of this event seemed to have given Bai Huo and Tutan some buffer. After their initial shock, they regained their composure and looked at Claude sternly, saying in unison, "Do you swear that what you're saying is true?"

"I swear by any name," Claude said expressionlessly, "including the bloodline of my family, in the name of every ancestor. The First Saint fell six thousand years ago, during the most glorious era of the Mythological Age, when the Demon Hunter community had just emerged, even before the first hunting operation. The First Saint was perhaps the only Demon Hunter who didn't participate in the War of the Gods—she had already departed before that."

Hao Ren and the others exchanged glances. He suddenly realized that this time seemed critical: "You mean, before the Demon Hunters officially declared war on other races? So the Demon Hunters already existed before that, but you didn't declare war on other races?"

Claude simply nodded.

"You only started the hunting operation after the First Saint fell?" Hao Ren pressed, "Are these two events related?"

"Chronologically, that's correct," Claude didn't answer directly, "However, the hunt was destined to begin."

Hao Ren suddenly felt like he had a lot of questions to ask, but he didn't know where to start. He frowned deeply: "Six thousand years ago... I thought the history of the War of the Gods was earlier. After all, the Others have been on this planet for ten thousand years."

Vivian explained the misunderstanding from the side: "The ten thousand years is counted from when the first Others arrived on Earth, but we didn't start fighting then. For the first few thousand years, everyone was trying to adapt to this world, or trying to get rid of the after-effects of crossing the Wall of Reality. Plus, the 'landing points' of each race when they arrived on Earth were very scattered, so the early days were spent in chaos and peace. The Demon Hunters first became active six thousand years ago, and they didn't attract much attention when they first appeared, because they were just doing small-scale things, and their range of activity was very narrow. All the alien races at that time had some friction, so the Demon Hunters' activities didn't attract attention. After a while, when the ancient Others discovered that the Demon Hunters' goal was to eliminate all supernatural races, it was too late. The Demon Hunters subtly and cunningly weakened the power of each 'god system,' and when they suddenly launched an attack, the whole world suffered Ragnarok."

While Vivian spoke, Claude watched silently from the side, not knowing what he was thinking. After Vivian finished, Claude casually added, "The Demon Hunters lived in seclusion in the Northern Lands before the hunt began, for a full four thousand years. Only a few people knew about our race."

"And then, as soon as you showed up, you started fighting," Hao Ren waved his hand. "Let's talk about these ancient wars later. Let's get back to the First Saint. Since she died before the War of the Gods began, why did you keep it a secret until now?"

Because the translation plugin automatically translated Claude's words into Chinese, Hao Ren didn't realize until now that the other party used the female pronoun "she" when mentioning the First Saint.

"The First Saint was the greatest leader of the Demon Hunter clan. She led us to find Corpus, giving the Demon Hunters, who were wandering in the frozen soil at that time, a home. She was almost the hope and spiritual support of that generation," Claude explained. "Many years ago, she was seriously injured. In her dying breath, she supported her body and returned to the Spirit World Clock Tower. In the years before her death, in order to stabilize people's hearts, we have been claiming to the outside world that the clan leader's body is recovering—this is a lie that must not be exposed, because the War of the Gods broke out, because the hunt began, because our foundation was not as stable as it is now, so we must have a wise, powerful, and immortal leader to lead everything. And in order to make this lie more perfect, the other twelve elders of the clan put on masks, reduced direct communication with the outside world, and allowed their bodies to be twisted and corroded by magic, so as to form a second disguise, making the clan leader's 'seclusion' more reasonable and credible."

Bai Huo exclaimed in surprise: "So the claim that the Saints were distorted in body and mind by forbidden knowledge and unable to communicate with the outside world is actually false?!"

"Not entirely false," Claude shook his head. "Forbidden knowledge does distort the body and mind, and ordinary Demon Hunters will be eroded by magic if they communicate too much with the Saints, but the situation is not as serious as the legend says. It was just to cover up the fact that the First Saint had fallen that they had to do this: when the thirteen leaders are all reclusive for the same reason, everyone's attention will be diverted."

After hearing this, Hao Ren didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "This huge lie... you don't really need to go to this extent, especially since this lie has continued to this day."

"Indeed, there is no need to continue it for so long," Claude actually partially agreed with Hao Ren's statement. "There was no need to continue after the end of the Mythological Age and the Demon Hunters' status was stabilized. But revealing the truth also comes at a price. In the first thousand years, we relied on the belief that 'the clan leader is still alive' to survive the most difficult years. A lie lasts for a thousand years, so the smartest thing to do is to treat the lie as true. For a thousand years, the Demon Hunters have become accustomed to the reclusive leaders and the clan leader never showing up, and the twelve Saints have indeed been eroded by forbidden knowledge, so it is better to just let everything continue like this."

"Once it continues, it continues to this day," Izhaks grumbled in a rough voice. "This kind of thing is not uncommon."

History is made up of countless coincidences and countless inevitabilities. No matter how bizarre the final result is, no matter how unbelievable some things become in the end, you must be clear that this matter has at least one seemingly legitimate reason at every stage of its development, and a series of legitimate reasons make up an absurd situation.

It couldn't be more appropriate to use this to evaluate the secrets of the Demon Hunter upper echelons.

Vivian frowned and stared at Claude: "There's nothing wrong with these stories you're telling. The only problem is—how do you know these things?"

"I am the First Saint's attendant," Claude answered naturally. "And the First Saint doesn't exist, so I am the one who has access to the highest secrets of the Demon Hunters. Attendants of all ages have undergone heavy tests to learn these secrets. Although I am young, it is not surprising that I know these things."

"You don't just 'know' these things," Vivian raised an eyebrow. "I've lived for more than ten thousand years, and I've seen everything. Reciting things you've read in books is one thing, recalling personal experiences in your mind is another. Your eyes, tone, and some small habits when you talk about these things can't hide from me. You're not just reciting from a script, but recalling your own memories. Claude is a young, new-generation Demon Hunter, but the one who just told us the story... is an ancient one."

Vivian's statement was a little obscure. Hao Ren was stunned for a moment before he realized what she meant:

After Claude looked at Vivian thoughtfully for a while, he seemed to make some kind of judgment. He nodded: "That's right, Claude is a young, new-generation Demon Hunter, but the one who told you the story is an ancient one. Ansester, now that the dust has settled, please allow me to take you... and your friends to a place."