All of us are one

Chapter 43 The Monsters Retreat

"Guidance from the Heart's Blood?" Jiang Yanming raised his left hand, looking at the crimson mark in the center of his palm, and his heart sank.

Being targeted by a powerful demon is not a good thing, especially since the demon has left a mark on him.

"Is this an anchor point?" Jiang Yanming looked at the crimson mark, thought for a moment, and decided not to cut off the hand.

That demon was definitely not ordinary, and the mark it left behind was the same. It couldn't be removed by simply cutting off the hand; otherwise, the demon wouldn't have left that mark in the first place.

"What's going on...?"

Jiang Yanming suddenly felt a burning sensation in his left palm, followed by a burning sensation in his entire palm, which then spread throughout his body.

what!

Jiang Yanming exhaled a breath of hot air. He felt very hot, as if his body was filled with boundless power, giving him an urge to vent and destroy everything.

"Damn it!"

Jiang Yanming clenched his left fist and slammed it into the ground with far more force than before.

boom!

The stone slabs paving the ground were broken, and the array symbols that were originally indestructible on the stone slabs were completely destroyed as the stone slabs broke.

hum!

Suddenly, the protective jade talisman in Jiang Yanming's right hand flashed with a faint light, and a stream of clear energy flowed into his body, suppressing the inexplicable heat and the urge to destroy everything.

"The protective jade talisman of a Nascent Soul cultivator is still the most effective..."

Jiang Yanming stood up to examine the protective jade talisman he was holding in his right hand. He noticed that its luster had dimmed slightly, unlike its previous bright shine.

"Judging from its luster, the protective jade amulet has lost some of its energy, but fortunately it should still be usable."

Jiang Yanming put the protective jade talisman into his storage ring, and then checked on the situation of Chairman Fu Lun and Mr. Aruk.

Both of them were affected by the demon's murmurs and delirium; it's unknown what their current mental state is.

……

Outside the fortress.

"It seems like something's wrong!"

Sir Curaçao sensed the fading magical energy and immediately looked solemnly at the fortress gate.

"The magical energy has faded, as if it's been diluted due to a lack of source, and it's still weakening," Sir Klar said coldly, voicing his guess. "The ritual seems to have been stopped."

"How is that possible!" Sir Curaçao exclaimed in disbelief. "That was a summoning ritual that sacrificed hundreds of thousands of people. The demon summoned was definitely no ordinary being; it couldn't be stopped so easily!"

"Gentlemen, if the ceremony is indeed aborted, I think there is only one possibility," the burly man behind them said, offering his opinion.

"Speak!" Sir Curaçao turned and said coldly.

"I think it's related to that Tiger Faction Demon Hunter, Jiang," the burly man hurriedly said. "He's from the Divine Martial Kingdom. Although I don't know how he became a Demon Hunter, what if he has a powerful figure from the Divine Martial Kingdom backing him?"

"The Divine Martial Kingdom..." Sir Curaçao's words contained anger, but also a hint of fear.

"Let's retreat. The powerful figure from the Divine Martial Kingdom who can stop the summoning ritual is no weakling; he's at least a baron," Sir Klar said calmly. "The Divine Martial Kingdom also has a viscount-level expert in charge; they're not someone we can afford to provoke."

"Let's go!" Sir Curaçao said, turning around and quickly heading back the way he came.

The vampire clan has a strict hierarchy of power: knights, knights, barons, viscounts...

Curaçao and Klar are only knights; even if they joined forces, they were no match for a baron. Naturally, they dared not provoke the Divine Martial Kingdom, which had a powerful viscount in charge. Retreating now was undoubtedly the best option.

"Waaah..."

Upon seeing the two knights depart, the burly man immediately let out a wolf howl, calling for his people inside the fortress to retreat.

……

Fortress, archives.

Da da da……

Using makeshift fortifications, the witchers fired their rifles at the narrow doorway, preventing the monsters from breaking into the archives.

After a while.

The witchers realized something was wrong; the number of bullets coming from outside was far too small, to the point that they were negligible.

"Ceasefire! Ceasefire!" Carrot shouted, raising his hand.

Upon hearing this, the Witchers stopped firing and instead changed magazines or loaded bullets.

"The gunfire outside seems to have stopped."

"The monsters are quiet now, have they retreated?"

"I don't know, something feels off."

"Yeah, the monsters had such a huge advantage, why did they retreat?"

"Could it be...?"

All the Witchers turned to look at the secret passage, clearly remembering that Master Furen was still inside performing a summoning ritual.

"How about we go in and take a look?"

"We need to be wary of monsters. What if they don't retreat?"

"Let someone go in and take a look."

Upon hearing this, Carlot turned to Tira, who was enduring the gunshot wound in her arm as she loaded bullets into the magazine, and said, "I'll go in and check. You keep watch for me."

"Teacher, I'll go instead." Tira threw down her tools before Carrot could answer and ran towards the secret passage.

Upon entering the secret room.

Tira smelled sulfur, and there were many burn marks and bloodstains on the ground, suggesting that a fierce battle had taken place.

"Jiang, what's going on here? Did the ritual fail?" Tila asked anxiously.

After checking on Chairman Furen and Mr. Aluke and confirming that neither of them was dead, Jiang Yanming stood up and explained, "We succeeded, but the result is worse than failure."

"Could it be that some kind of monster has been summoned?" Tira asked with a grim expression.

"It's a demon, and a terrifying one at that, more powerful than any demon ever recorded." Jiang Yanming sighed and shook his head. "Fortunately, we managed to stop the demon's descent, otherwise..."

Jiang Yanming didn't finish his sentence, but Tira, as a formal demon hunter, understood perfectly well that if the demons successfully descended, it would be an absolute disaster, and the entire world would likely face a demon invasion.

"Thank goodness we stopped it." Tira breathed a sigh of relief, then couldn't help but curse, "I knew the ritual was unreliable!"

"What's the situation outside?" Jiang Yanming turned to look at the passageway.

If the Witcher can't hold out, he will have to fight his way out on his own or drive the monsters away completely.

"The monsters seem to have retreated," Tira replied.

"Something's strange!" Jiang Yanming frowned upon hearing this. "Logically speaking, these offerings alone are far from enough to summon a powerful demon."

The demon that has not yet descended is terrifying, but the unknown entity that possessed Chairman Furen before is definitely more terrifying than that demon. And how many sacrifices has Chairman Furen prepared?

The number of monsters that died was estimated to be at most four or five hundred; this amount of sacrifice was far from enough to lure such a powerful demon to descend.

"We'll know when President Furen wakes up." Tira also sensed something was wrong.

According to the records of the Witcher, summoning a demon requires the sacrifice of at least several hundred people, and for a demon even more terrifying than those records suggest, the number of sacrifices would be astronomical.

In this day and age, where do so many offerings come from?