Chapter 1018: The Ceremonial Hall

Hao Ren had no idea what the Thirteen Sages had released and what ritual they held. But something was inevitable: when Hasse brought back news of the Sin of the Divine Blood from the Ancattero territory, the sages freaked out. They must have known about this sin or at least had some prior understanding of it. That was why they took action hastily. They found a sacred relic from the ancient ruins of Coldpath and activated it in the ritual. But the ceremony had unexpectedly awakened a “monster” from its nightmare and “infected” the entire garrison of the Coldpath dimension without warning.

The influence happened deep down in consciousness and was imperceptible. It did not rigidly control the thoughts of the sages and elders. Instead, it allowed the controlled to change their mindset while staying awake, so that they would think that they were sober and sensible even after doing a series of unreasonable actions, such as arresting the elders, including Hasse, and the mass-cleaning up of factions that they deemed as heretics.

The sages never left the ceremonial hall during the process. They conveyed their instructions via the heralds and attendants outside the hall. No one knew their conditions in those few days, no one knew whether they had broken down and succumbed to the voice in their minds. Judging from their orders, their temperament at that time had totally changed, but they had never left the hall. According to the last words of Beetholis, Hao Ren believed that the purpose of them staying in the hall was to keep the ‘thing’ at the site of the ritual inside the hall.

“This sounds self-contradictory,” Vivian said, doubting the possibility. “They followed the ‘instruction’ to stir up the civil war in one hand and staying in the hall to suppress the ‘monster’ in another? So were they being controlled or not being controlled?” she asked.

Hao Ren looked at Claude. “Where is the ceremonial hall? We’ll know the truth when we get there,” he said.

“On the top of the tower, the place closest to the first sage’s residence,” Claude said. “It is the energy hub of the Netherrealm Clock Tower as well as the knot of space and time in Coldpath. When rituals are held, there will be strong and mysterious energy focused on the top of the hall. I think that energy should still be there. So only a small number of people would enter. Otherwise, it would cause a vortex and collapse.”

Lanina reminded, “We have secured all the energy nodes of Coldpath.”

“The energy of the ceremonial hall is provided by the Netherrealm Clock Tower,”

Claude said. “Though we don’t know where this energy comes from, it has been very stable for thousands of years. We use it to power most of the facilities in the upper levels of the tower,” he said.

“I just couldn’t wrap my brain around how you guys could use the gadget for thousands of years without even knowing its origin, how it worked and how powerful it was,” Hao Ren said, shaking his head. He then looked at his mates around him. “Vivian, Lily, Y’zaks, White Flame and Teuton, follow me. I hope six of us wouldn’t be too ‘many,’” he said.

Claude blinked and said, “That would be fine, as long as you don’t use overly destructive magic or fire at the ceiling.”

Lily and Vivian looked at Hao Ren in unison. Hao Ren flinched and asked, “What?”

“Don’t simply blow things up,” Y’zaks said, patting Hao Ren on his shoulder. “I don’t play with meteorite nowadays.”

Hao Ren pointed to himself. “Mine is a high TNT job but always very precise!” he said.

Being left out of the action, Y’lisabet was not very happy. But the little demon girl was very sensible, after all, she was a genius and the future successor to her papa to rule Helcrown. She accepted the arrangement quietly and stayed back to search the rest of the tower with Lanina.

Leaving the ghostly ballroom, Claude brought Hao Ren and his team up a secret spiral ramp to the ceremonial hall. Hao Ren looked at the shackles on Claude’s body. “Seriously, do you really have to wear this set of things? It doesn’t help in combat,” he said.

Claude raised his hands; most of the chains on his body had been removed. Only his two arms were still restrained with the heavy rune shackles. “Up until now, I still feel the urge to kill every one of you. The reason I can still suppress this impulse is simply that its influence has dissipated slightly. These runes drain my magic power, and only when I am weak, would the ‘thing’ in my mind calm down. I guess that ‘thing’ depends on magic or leeches on the host’s vitality to live,” he said.

“You were highly dangerous, and your magic was stronger than everyone else. That’s why Lanina used this special method to restrain you. It seems that by doing this she has gotten a lucky hit and dispelled the ‘thing’ in your mind,” Y’zaks said, grinning. “But, hey, this method won’t last long.”

“Let’s hope we can end this mess right in the ceremonial hall,” Hao Ren said, sighing. A thought came to his mind when he saw Teuton who was walking behind him. “Wait a minute, now I remember; did Beetholis hand over Vivian’s bloodstone to you guys before this incident?” he asked.

Now it struck home that the beginning of his and his buddies’ involvement in this mess started from the bloodstone. They had come to this place only because White Flame had risked her life escaping and handed the bloodstone to Vivian.

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So Hao Ren was wondering if Beetholis knew that things would come to this stage even before he held the ritual with other sages.

But something did not make sense was why Beetholis did not stop his companions but proceeded to hold the ritual together with them.

“Every sage has a special power. Sage Beetholis could see the future, though that premonition was sketchy and vague, he did have that hunch,” Teuton said and sighed softly. “However, his ability was not enough to change the destiny. I believe that he has foreseen the disaster, but he didn’t know that the problem would arise at the ritual. Probably he even thought that the ritual was the key to avoiding disaster. Anyway, it has happened, and he has done everything he could and left us a glimmer of hope. We couldn’t ask for more,” he said.

The secret passage to the ceremonial hall was very long, as if it had no end and extending into the darkness. Due to the spatial distortion, Hao Ren was unsure whether he was going up or down walking in the secret passage. Since he was bored now, he talked to Claude. “You showed violent tendency when you saw Vivian. But we have never seen it happening to other demon hunters of the Council of Elders,” he said.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know what’s going on,” Claude replied, shaking his head. “I know, Countess of the Crimson Moon, but I have no grudges against her, except the impulse of the killing instinct. This was the first time I met the legendary vampire, but I felt an urge to kill her—it is kind of a mission, an impulse that is more terrible than killing instinct. It completely occupied my thought. Frankly, I don’t want to experience it for the second time. I have felt that I can’t control my body for the first time in my life. It is a terrible experience,” he said.

“The biggest difference between you and other soldiers of the Council of Elders is that you were a close attendant of the first sage and the only person who had direct contact with him,” Vivian said faintly. “Staying next to those figures would be enough to make you stand out. You might be more susceptible to mental attacks and synchronized with the mind of the sages. When they were attacked during the ritual, you were also wounded indirectly. By the way, do you still remember why you went to the front line alone? You were the attendant of the first sage, and it did not make sense for you to join the battle. Supposedly, you should have stayed here and become one of the walking dead,” she said.

Claude shook his head. “I don’t remember. All I can recall is that an impulse to ‘purify the heretics’ had controlled me. This impulse was getting stronger and stronger. Probably it was the reason that drove me out of the tower,” Claude explained.

“Your violent tendency against Vivian is a dangerous symptom. I suggest that you cooperate with us after this incident ends and do some medical examinations,” the MDT suddenly came out of Hao Ren’s pocket and said. “We have connections with many super-living beings that could affect your mind. If you don’t like to have any surprise leftover elements in your mind, you’d better undergo a comprehensive physical examination.”

Claude was shocked by seeing the MDT. “What the heck is this?”

“A high-tech gadget. But you can ignore it,” Hao Ren said. He then grabbed the MDT back. At the same time, he found that they were about to come to the end of the passage. “Is the ceremonial hall in front?”

At the end of the passage was a small doorway with faded ancient stone pillars supporting a dome above. On both sides of the door was a bottomless abyss. This terrain was not that strange anymore, especially in this already bizarre tower.

Greeting them was a huge iron door inscribed with intricate patterns.

“There is energy field behind the door, very powerful, level three alert,” the MDT said as it used a blue light beam scanning the door. “I have also detected signs of spatial skew. Initial analysis shows that there is a continuous portal opening, perhaps it is transmitting energy for the hall.”

Hao Ren lowered his voice spontaneously. “What about signs of life? Brainwaves or any other signs of consciousness?”

“No. No signs of life, no any form of intelligent activity.”

Y’zaks slowly form shifted into a flame demon. He strode with heavy footsteps to the front of the door and asked, “Is the true body of the ‘monster’ itself still inside?”

“Perhaps it is something devoid of thinking ability, or not even having the characteristics of life, almost like a natural disaster. Haven’t we solved such things before? Remember the vengeful spirit?” Hao Ren said and stepped forward. He pressed his hand on the door. “Lily, stuff as many Spicy Sticks as you can in your mouth. Vivian, get ready your Lightning Strike. White Flame and Teuton, you two will be in charge of remote support. But be careful, don’t attack unless you are attacked. The monster may still be controlled by some kind of ritual, but the last thing we want is to let it escape.”

After saying this, Hao Ren took a deep breath and stared dead at the large iron door.

The monster that the sages had released from the nightmare could be ensconced in the hall behind the door. How would the unknown, powerful monster that might have come from the day of the deicide look like? What kind of existence would it be? Could it be a creature? Or non-living thing? Or just a curse?

Hao Ren and Y’zaks pushed the door in unison. The heavy iron door made a terribly loud squeak as it opened slowly.

“MDT, contact the battleship, we may need some technical support.”