Chapter 1 Madness

In the past few days, what had happened within the Demon Hunter organization could only be described as utter chaos. For such a well-organized combat group, a collective change in temperament among the higher-ups wouldn't normally cause such widespread disorder. However, when all the elite combat teams at the top also went crazy, it became a disaster. And with them controlling the very foundation of the Demon Hunters, it was enough to pull everyone into the vortex. Bai Huo had personally experienced all of this, but she still found it difficult to explain the whole situation clearly to Hao Ren and the others: there were too many specialized terms to explain, too many organizational secrets to consider, and on top of that, there were many things she herself didn't understand yet. So she could only give a general overview of what happened, to give Hao Ren a rough idea of the whole situation.

As she said, the situation first started to become abnormal after Hasson returned to the Demon Hunter headquarters from the territory of Ankh-tero. The Demon Hunters' supreme commanders seemed normal at first and treated the information Hasson brought back with due importance. But in just a few days, those top-level Demon Hunters known as "Saints" changed their temperament one after another, and unexpectedly arrested Hasson, a high-ranking organizational cadre. Then, they began a mentally deranged internal purge. At first, their targets seemed to be only Demon Hunter warriors who, like Hasson, had doubts about the "hunting instinct." But soon, the targets expanded illogically, and finally, the situation evolved into an all-out internal war between the entire Elder Council and the lower-level Demon Hunters.

After Bai Huo had roughly explained the situation, Hao Ren began to ask about those unfamiliar terms: "'Saints' and 'Elder Council,' what are they?"

Bai Huo said solemnly: "'Saints' are the highest rank of Demon Hunters, the supreme commanders who founded the Demon Hunter organization..."

"Founded the Demon Hunter organization?" Hao Ren raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying they're all old guys who've lived since the early Mythological Era?"

Bai Huo nodded: "That's right. Each Saint is one of the earliest ancients, almost from the same era as the Red Moon Countess."

"What are they like?" Lily asked with curiosity. "Sounds like there's a lot of them?"

"There are thirteen Saints in total, each one extremely powerful and possessing all the secret knowledge passed down from ancient times. They can be said to be the most powerful and learned beings on this planet. But in reality, not many Demon Hunters have seen the Saints in person—they are very mysterious, usually living in seclusion in the upper levels of the Spirit Clock Tower. They haven't personally intervened since the end of the Mythological Era," Bai Huo said, unable to help but show a look of fear on her face when talking about the "Saints," as if she were talking about some unknowable, indescribable beings. "Apart from the leaders of the Elder Council, only Elder-level Demon Hunters can see the Saints, but even in that situation, the Saints all wear masks and communicate with people in ways other than language. So for the vast majority of Demon Hunters, 'Saints' are almost a legendary concept. Although everyone knows they are their leaders, almost no one has the opportunity to contact them. Most of the time, the Elder Council relays the Saints' will, and we are only responsible for executing orders."

Hao Ren couldn't help but be a little stunned when he heard this: "...Seriously, so mysterious, wearing masks even when meeting their own people... my boss is a God and he's not this arrogant. Are they having problems?"

Bai Huo quickly shook her head: "No, there's a reason for this. It is said that the Saints came into contact with too much forbidden knowledge during the long mythological wars. The mysteries from beyond the mortal world twisted them, making their faces grotesque and their voices carrying negative power that could drag people into the abyss, so they act like this. And it is said that the first of the Saints, the 'Nameless One,' was the most twisted. He locked himself in a secret room on the top floor of the Spirit Clock Tower, completely cutting off contact with the outside world. No one has even seen him for thousands of years, and the other twelve Saints rarely mention him. Some Demon Hunters even speculate that the 'Nameless One' has already fallen..."

These chilling secrets were only known within the Demon Hunters, and even half-baked individuals like Nangong Wudi and Nangong Sanba were unaware. Hao Ren's first reaction upon hearing them was that a kind of obscure and goosebump-inducing feeling permeated from the bottom of his heart. This kind of contact with inhuman things was really unsettling: "I see... sounds creepy. So that 'Nameless One' is the original founder of the Demon Hunter organization? Sounds like it's hard to be sure he's still alive. What does the 'Elder Council' do?"

"They are the most elite Demon Hunter combat teams, directly under the command of the Saints, usually stationed in Corpus—Corpus is the Demon Hunter headquarters. The Elder Council are all powerful warriors who have survived from the Mythological Era, and the leader of each brigade is at least an 'Elder'-level Demon Hunter. A 'Master'-level Demon Hunter like me can only be considered a small captain in their combat teams," Bai Huo said, shaking her head. "Since the Middle Ages, the Elder Council has never engaged in large-scale combat. I never expected them to take up arms again, but against our own people."

"Have the Saints and the Elder Council gone mad?" Vivian asked seriously. "What are their 'symptoms' of madness? Is it related to the Chaos Shadow phenomenon we encountered before?"

This situation of collective madness and indiscriminate attacks was somewhat similar to the chaos caused by the Chaos Shadow. After hearing Bai Huo's description, Vivian and Hao Ren both thought of this possibility. But Bai Huo shook her head: "I suspected it too, but it's clearly different from the mania caused by the Chaos Shadow. The Saints and the Elder Council have not lost their minds—according to the situation of the few high-level prisoners we managed to capture, they are all clear-headed and logical. They know exactly what they are doing, but their... how should I put it, their entire worldview seems to have completely changed. The way they judge good and evil is extremely extreme, and they can promote their new worldview in a very clear and meticulous way. And this situation is more obvious among the higher-level Demon Hunters. The 'rebels' at the lowest level do have some symptoms of mental confusion, but it is still different from the frenzy caused by the Chaos Shadow."

"So... it doesn't seem like the influence of the 'Original Sin of Divine Blood'," Vivian said softly, lost in thought. "Then something else has influenced their thinking. Do you have any clues?"

"No," Bai Huo shook her head, reaching into her arms for something. Finally, she took out a delicate platinum box and handed it to Vivian. "But before things happened, a Saint seemed to have foreseen something. He left this thing and told me to give it to 'the Countess who summoned the Red Moon.'"

Vivian was immediately taken aback: "Huh?! Give it to me?"

Bai Huo nodded vigorously: "Yes, to you."

"Um," Vivian took the platinum box and muttered with a twitching mouth, "To be honest, I think a Demon Hunter commander must have already had something wrong with his mind when he asked you to bring something to a vampire... Hmm? This isn't..."

The platinum box opened, and a crystal-clear blood-red crystal lay quietly inside, like a drop of blood, yet also like a gemstone, radiating a mesmerizing glow.

Hao Ren and Lily craned their necks to look and exclaimed at the same time: "Blood Crystal Stone?!"

"This was really given to you by your so-called 'Saint'?" Hao Ren suddenly turned to look into Bai Huo's eyes. "Didn't you say that only Elder-level Demon Hunters can meet the Saints?"

"It was given to my mentor by Saint Bedolis after their first meeting. Not long after, my mentor was arrested, and this thing ended up in my hands," Bai Huo explained. "I don't know why he would have this."

Bai Huo's face showed genuine curiosity, and she obviously couldn't imagine how a Demon Hunter commander would contact a vampire ancestor. But Hao Ren suddenly thought of the era in which Vivian lived: she was already running around before the Demon Hunters declared war on the alien gods. With that kind of seniority, it seemed like anything could be explained...

And more importantly, the Blood Crystal Stone was right in front of them. Everyone already knew the use of this crystal. If they really wanted to figure out what was going on, there was only one thing Vivian needed to do.

She pinched the blood-colored crystal and slowly brought it to her mouth. Seeing this, Hao Ren tugged at her: "Are you sure you really want to absorb this?"

"It's already been confirmed that it's a Blood Crystal Stone I left behind," Vivian nodded lightly. "Since it's a memory I left behind, it must be intended to be awakened one day. There's no problem."

Hao Ren frowned, instructing the data terminal to activate a medical bay in case of accidents. At the same time, Vivian had already put the blood-colored crystal into her mouth.

Bai Huo watched this scene blankly, blinking her eyes: "...So it's edible?"