What happened in the territory of Ancattero would be a potential turning point to the otherworldlings on Earth. Though it was still difficult to tell how things would develop at this stage, as Hasse said, the seed had been sown, and it would take root.
When Hasse brought back the news about the Plane of Dreams and the Sin of the Divine Blood to the council of elders, the demon hunters’ position in the eternal war would be shaken. Vogus broke the news of what he knew to other otherworldling families and the heads of sanctuaries, the ancient demon hunters who had lived since the Mythological era should be able to make sensible choices in the face of the new situation.
They would not immediately make known the truth of the Sin of the Divine Blood to every otherworldling, but as Hao Ren and Hasse had discussed, only to the heads of various forces. These high-level leaders must make the corresponding response.
No matter what kind of reaction there would be, the deadlock of the past 10,000 years would undoubtedly begin to ease.
Other than the long-term covenants, they had come to some interim agreements before Hao Ren left. The demon hunters, led by Hasse, would guarantee the safety of the Ancattero territory and the demon hunters would stay away from this area. Hesperides, on behalf of the Athens’ sanctuary, promised Vogus to provide support to the Tannaeans to help them rebuild the mysterious realm. Vogus vowed to share information with Hao Ren, that if and when he found more information about the Gilded Disc in the family records, he would contact Hao Ren.
At the same time, Hasse and Hesperides also recognized Hao Ren’ status as a neutral observer. Especially Hasse, after witnessing the Gilded Disc and the Sin of the Divine Blood, the stubborn senior demon hunter had finally changed his tone. He was willing to cooperate with Hao Ren and share a certain degree of intelligence. For Hao Ren, this was the most significant progress he had made.
Hao Ren had finally opened a communication channel with the demon hunter groups, at least with some of them. Hasse was very influential among the demon hunter groups. That was why Hao Ren believed that this old demon hunter would be a valuable medium.
All covenants and verbal commitments were made in the presence of Hao Ren and Vivian. Although no one had expressly said it, Hasse and Hesperides regarded Hao Ren as a special ‘force’ that sided with neither the demon hunters nor the otherworldlings. He was neutral and playing a witness’ role. This ‘authority’ was attributed to Vivian’s own ‘ancestral majesty aura’ and Hao Ren’s Divine Blessing and his interpretation of the Sin of the Divine Blood.
After leaving the Ancattero territory, tacitly, the demon hunters and otherworldlings did not say goodbye to each other. Instead, they went in different directions and quickly disappeared from each other’s sight. Nevertheless, incredible cooperation should have left an impact on their hearts.
Vivian had declined Hesperides’ invitation to visit the Athens’ sanctuary. Outside the town, Hao Ren and his team watched as Hesperides and Wayne hustled away in a taxi to the airport. Wayne paid for the ride because Hesperides had only found out that she had lost her wallet after talking to Vivian for a while. Unfortunately, this historic event wrapped up with the ending scene of the superheroes departing unceremoniously, which you do not get to see in other places.
“I didn’t expect Hasse could be easygoing.” Vivian looked up. A bus, coming out from the other side the town, had a logo of a travel agency pasted on its body. The demon hunter group was traveling under the disguise of tourists of South American low-cost travel packages. “I thought he was the most stubborn one,” Vivian said.
“He is indeed stubborn, but the Sin of the Divine Blood and the Gilded Disc has affected him greatly,” Y’zaks said with emotion. “If you could see when that forces struck, you’d know I saw an infinite abyss illusion. So when going against these forces, I don’t think it matters anymore who I work with. I think Hasse also thinks so,” he said.
Vivian pouted. “Unfortunately, I still don’t feel a thing no matter how hard you try to describe it to me, nor can I understand why Hasse has made such a big change,” she said.
“Why did Battie not respond to the Sin of the Divine Blood?” Lily asked curiously. After hearing about their encounters in the Calamity Cloister, the husky regretted that she had not been able to join the fun and even more lamented that Hao Ren did not bring back a brick from the maze for her as a souvenir. She was now very curious as to what had happened in the maze.
Hao Ren stroked Lily’s hair and said, “Needless to say, Vivian and the blood on the disc are relatives.”
Lily and Vivian’s faces looked like “Really?”
“The Goddess used blood to create Vivian. She is special. And I guess, yeah, the Goddess used her blood. The subject of sin is also the blood of the Goddess. So don’t you think they are relatives? In terms of seniority, Vivian is the elder sister as she was born two or three days before the sin was. Once figuring out this logic, I’m not surprised anymore by Vivian’s reaction in the maze.”
Lily suddenly looked at Vivian with a strange expression. “Battie… get away from me!” she said.
Vivian’s eyebrows arched. “The problem is with the blood on the disc; I’m not tainted!”
“Not necessarily,” Lily said. She was the most clever when it came to squabble. “Have you forgotten that you would go crazy now and then? Every time you went hibernating, you’d punch the nursing home and kick the kindergarten. Are you sure the original sin hasn’t tainted you?”
Hao Ren was listening in amusement initially. Now, what Lily said had stunned everyone.
Everyone was silent and solemn, but Lily seemed not to know what was happening. “What’s wrong? Am I not right?”
“Vivian, I need to check your blood sample against the blood stain on the Gilded Disc when we’re back at home,” Hao Ren said, his face serious. “Besides, I need to consult Raven 12345 about it.”
Vivian became very nervous. She nodded hard. “Okay.”
“Is Battie contaminated by the original sin?” Lily scratched her hair. “I was only joking. You see, she had a bodily form and been separated from the divine blood.”
Hao Ren said nothing, but a horrifying thought was lingering in his mind.
Vivian was conscious divine blood, but apart from her consciousness, she and the blood stain on the Gilded Disc were not substantially different. Even if the Goddess used some other means to create Vivian, at least the two were homologous: they were the same ‘blood’ coming from the Goddess.
Now the blood on the Gilded Disc had been tainted to become the original sin carrier. The cause of corruption was the deicidal process. This process was an occult symbolism of behavior, which was the source of corruption. Could Vivian avoid this corruption because she had come to Earth beforehand?
Recalling her occasional moments of hibernation, loss of control, mania and killing power, Hao Ren had a white-knuckle thought: Could Vivian be the original living sin?
This scary thought had him realizing that he should not linger here anymore. He immediately returned home, let Lily, Y’zaks, and Y’lisabet stay back home, and then brought Vivian to meet Raven 12345 in her mansion.
Hao Ren took Vivian and the Gilded Disc corrupted by the divine blood to the ‘heavenly kingdom.’ The place had returned to normal, the Greek temple building that was extracted from the original memory of the evil spirit had gone. What he saw was the familiar garden, the fountain, the small square, and the beautiful blue-roofed mansion. It was as if he had an illusion again, this mansion was somewhat new and seemed to have been rebuilt just a couple of days ago.
As usual, Raven’s arcane servant appeared out of nowhere and without saying a word, the servant brought Hao Ren and Vivian into the mansion. The one waiting inside was not the neurotic boss that Hao Ren was familiar with.
A dignified and graceful silver-haired woman was receiving Hao Ren and Vivian in the reception hall. Though she looked identical to Raven 12345, her temperament and attitude were not something that the neurotic could pretend. Hao Ren immediately knew that this was some new Goddess before him, that his boss must have shift-swapped with someone. So he tried to say hello, “Raven 23333? 12580? 10086?”
The graceful Goddess returned with a gentle smile. “No. 12345 is my senior. She has business to attend to in the divine realm. I am Raven 15433516836. What can I do for you?”
Hao Ren was speechless.
