The tragic scene on the streets kept them on their toes. As they continued to explore deeper into the Golden Manor into the area where the Ancattero family hall was, the scene became even more gruesome.
There were more bodies and damaged buildings. The central area of the Golden Manor had turned into a battlefield, where collapsed and melted buildings were seen everywhere, riddled roads damaged by explosions were covered in the brownish yellow blood of the Tannaeans as their bodies strewed the place and rotten smell of the dead filled the air. Vivian, who had seen countless deaths, could not help but pull her brows together. The site was not supposed to be a battlefield; it was a sanctuary for a group of recluses, who had never done anything overly evil even during the Mythological era where the otherworldlings were unleashing their brutality at humans. Somehow, they were met with such a brutal end.
They came to the heart of the Golden Manor, where the huge golden buildings suffered less damage than elsewhere. There were lightning and strange sounds in the surroundings, and an aurora-like strange sight above. These factory-like structures suffered less damage simply because there were less populated, which once again proved Hao Ren’s point:
The people, not the city, were the targets.
They saw more dead bodies as they went. Lily wrinkled her nose and dispelled the chill in the air with her Flamejoy as she weaved through the dead in the Scene of Carnage. “All the dead are Tanna… I mean the members of the Ancattero family. There is no trace of the demon hunter.”
“Well, this is a civil war.” Y’zaks nodded slightly. “I wonder why they had gathered in the inner city and left the outer zone empty.”
“I am afraid that this has something to do with the shadows,” Hao Ren said, judging from the characteristics of the Shades of Chaos. “Those things could inflict the mind. The most efficient way to make people kill each other is, of course, to gather everyone in one place.”
“But we didn’t see any shadows on the way in,” Y’lisabet said while grabbing her little horn. She then held up a shadow orb that was bigger than her head and tossed it in her hands. “I’ve been nervous.”
Wayne looked at the little girl who had suddenly summoned a shadow orb, face green. “You shouldn’t fiddle with it. That’s dangerous,” said Wayne.
“That’s not funny, Y’lisabet.” Hao Ren shot Y’lisabet a glance. “We still need you to be our main battle force, together with your papa.”
Hao Ren and his entourage did not come unprepared. They had encountered the Shades of Chaos before and obtained information at the Athens’ sanctuary. They knew the weaknesses of the Shades of Chaos: divine things, higher-order shadowmancy, mirrors, and strong light. The knowledge had boosted their confidence a little though only the shadowmancy was the most reliable. Hao Ren’s Jade Vase and the Purple Red Gourd were the only binding artifacts, which he had not revealed to Wayne. Light could only weaken the shadows but not destroy them. Y’zaks’ magic-mirror bouncing trick was not that usable. If the Shades of Chaos were to emerge now, only the shadowmancer could stop them.
Vivian, Wayne, Y’zaks and his daughter knew shadowmancy and were the main force against the Shades of Chaos. Hao Ren and Hesperides, who had shield and Solarmancy respectively, belonged to the invincible MT category. Though Lily possessed no particular skill that could restrain the shadows, the fact that she was lack of brain meant that she was resistant to mind-control at +1 level. The team would be perfect, Hao Ren thought, if he had brought Nangong Wuyue. The half-baked healer was even more resistant to mind control as it could be seen from how she had turned the mind-control assault from the brain monster into a buff.
Y’zaks’ brows knit together as he kept an eye on the surroundings. His eyes scanned every corner where the Shades of Chaos might appear but found no traces of them. He summoned several shadow orbs around him so that as soon as the Shades of Chaos appeared, he could immediately capture and throw them into the Shadowy Dimension. Nearby, Y’lisabet was still playing with her shadow orb despite Hao Ren’s admonishment. It made Wayne and Hesperides nervous and were prepared to flee at an instant the moment the little girl made a mistake and stumbled.
Lily thought of the mirror trick of Y’zaks. She curiously asked, “How did you find that mirror could deflect the Shades of Chaos?”
There was a weird expression on Y’zaks’ face. He appeared evasive. “By observation, no big deal,” he replied.
Lily was very curious, so she pressed on. “As a guy, you carry a mirror with you all the time?”
At this time, Y’lisabet suddenly interrupted. “The shadow hit on my dad’s bald head and was deflected!” she said.
They were all shocked. Lily was even scared the dialect of out her. “Arf?”
Y’zaks looked into the distance with a poker face. “Ahem, it doesn’t matter what color the cat is as long as it catches mice. So could you all not look at me like this, please?”
Lily’s eyes were on stalks. “So you went bald just for the extra combat strength?”
At this time, Wayne, who was walking in front, suddenly cut in. “There are traces of the demon hunter here!”
Hao Ren ran up to Wayne, who was kneeling beside the body of a dead Tannaean and bending over to pull out a blood-stained silver-white dagger. “A sacred dagger with triple-layer Letta runes—standard equipment of senior demon hunter.”
“Demon hunter killed him,” Vivian said, after checking the body and confirming that the sacred silver dagger was the weapon. “He died instantly. The dagger cut off his main artery, and magic power shattered his internal organs. It was quick and efficient—a signature demon hunter’s approach. This dagger is a short- to medium-range throwing weapon. Judging from the direction in which the body fell, the dagger should be coming from…”
While saying, Vivian looked up. “It was from that direction,” she said.
There were no traces of the demon hunter in the direction where Vivian was looking, but there was a glaringly red blood stain. Red blood stood out like a sore thumb in a sea of dark-yellow blood of the Tannaeans. Lily followed the blood trail and finally found the first dead demon hunter in the distance.
The dead demon hunter was a young man in a black trench coat, lying behind a golden pillar. His neck was almost entirely scorched by high-energy weapon, and a leg and an arm were charred. Not far away, a Tannaean was lying face up with a weird weapon that looked like a crystal rod in his hand. The demon hunter but his people did not kill this Tannaean.”
This scene alone was enough to let them guess what kind of chaos was happening a month ago. Y’zaks could not help but whisper, “It’s a mess.”
Feeling disgusted, Wayne wrapped the sacred dagger and tucked it in his coat. He then got to his feet and pointed to a domed building not far away. “That is the family hall, the Ancattero family’s meeting place and reception area.”
Hao Ren and Lily came to the domed building. Hao Ren nodded to Lily before Lily reached out and pushed the heavy door open.
A loud bang ensued as the heavy door fell open inwardly and hit the ground. Lily waved off the dusty air in front of her frantically. “The door was damaged. An explosion earlier must have weakened it.”
Wayne looked on, stunned and muttered, “The door opens outward.”
