Returning to the Mysterious Era-Chapter 265 - Whos The Real Monster? (1)

At George's Poker Casino in Grimm District.

"Ah!"

A scream rang out as a figure was flung against the ceiling by a tremendous force. The sound of shattering crystal echoed through the room as the chandelier swayed before hitting the ground together with the body.

The glistening crystal chains smashed across the floor with an ear-splitting crash. Sticky blood coated the ground amid the wreckage. The area had dimmed slightly with the broken lights but it didn't matter. George's Poker Casino had many such chandeliers. The remaining lights were enough to illuminate every corner of the scene.

A few minutes ago, there were over thirty members of the Blood Spirit Society, including armed humans, Decay-Rank members, and robed Undying-Rank members. Now, all of them lay on the ground like dead dogs.

A single individual had killed them. The two sides weren't even in the same league. Powerful pistols and submachine guns were useless, and the Dead Blood's prized immortality seemed to have met its nemesis. Wherever that man walked, their members were slaughtered one by one. Even the graceful and leisurely way he killed gave the impression that he was an artist creating a masterpiece. But the paint he used was the blood of his opponents.

The resolve of human gunmen around him was wavering with the pressure he gave off. However, attempting to flee only made it easier to kill them. He did not allow a single enemy to leave the casino grounds; he had marked all of them as prey.

After several minutes of this agonizingly slow slaughter, everyone, except for a lone green-haired figure in the corner, was dead.

The body he occupied was once named Lance, but he was now Xilan. At this moment, Xilan could no longer muster the words to ask Cassius to be his servant. His confidence had been shattered, just like the chandelier that was now scattered across the floor.

Xilan leaned against the wall, watching the crimson figure strangle his last Undying-Rank companion among a sea of corpses and blood. His expression was obscured as a thick, blood-red mist shrouded him. The only noticeable change was that the crimson mist around him had grown denser and heavier over the course of the slaughter

Bang!

A corpse was hurled into a red-and-black gambling table. The crimson figure began walking toward Xilan as the body slumped to the carpeted floor.

"Where's that backup?!" Xilan tried to gather what little strength remained in his body. He still wasn't sure why the man hadn't killed him yet; they had only clashed once.

The other Blood Spirit Society members had been injured or killed upon contact, their limbs and muscles torn apart by a strange force. But Xilan had only been temporarily rendered incapable of fighting, since the man had struck his joints and pressure points. That was the only reason he had survived until now.

Yet, as Cassius came closer, the sense of impending danger grew stronger. He had no choice; he had to use his last-resort Dead Blood ability, Amalgamation, which merged multiple Dead Blood bodies into a larger entity.

This form would allow him to fight enemies without needing a human shell. His immortality would also strengthen to the point of becoming virtually indestructible. Since his body was composed entirely of blood, it could morph into various shapes suitable for combat.

This ability could only be used by a complete Dead Blood, meaning those at the Undying-Rank or higher. However, it came at a price. The main body would suffer severe side effects, while the merged bodies would experience mild side effects. Since there were many corpses littered around the casino containing Dead Blood, the conditions were ripe. Xilan gritted his teeth as Cassius walked closer.

He opened his mouth and emitted a high-pitched screech. It was at a frequency that humans couldn't hear, but other Dead Bloods could sense the vibrations and respond with their own high-pitched cries, before quickly merging into one entity.

The high-frequency sound waves instantly spread across the room, and yet the surroundings remained eerily silent. He could only hear the muffled, wet thud of boots stepping on the blood-soaked floor. He could not hear the calls of his companions, nor the resonance or fusion that should have come.

Xilan froze in disbelief. What was going on? How come nobody responded?

Thud.

A set of black boots came to a stop in front of him. A moment later, a large hand pinned Xilan’s face to the wall.

A cold, emotionless voice rang out. "Twelve years ago, in the Year 98 of the Hongli Federation, do you remember the sect you attacked in Beiliu County?"

Xilan struggled briefly, unwilling to respond. But then he felt a powerful vibration shoot through his forehead and across his body. His body involuntarily started vibrating in retaliation, clashing fiercely against the invading force.

The terrifying part was that it was not just the human body he possessed that was affected, but even the Undying-Rank Dead Blood in that body was forced to resonate. He felt the very essence of his being gradually being consumed.

At that moment, he understood why none of his companions had responded. It wasn't out of fear, nor cowardice—they were all dead, killed by a vibration they had never encountered before. The vibration didn't affect their undead attributes. Instead, it targeted their core essence. It was an absolute poison for dark creatures!

Xilan felt fear course through him like a raging river, paralyzing his limbs.

"Are you ready to talk now?" The cold voice rang out again.

Minutes later, Cassius got what he wanted. Xilan had lived through those events, so he began to spill every little detail.

Firstly, he divulged the whereabouts of the seventy-five Dead Bloods who participated in the massacre twelve years ago. All of them were involved in the operation around the Tulip Antique Exhibition. The Dead Bloods' activities were primarily concentrated in the six eastern counties, where they had various strongholds. However, they had mobilized this time to seize the Kupan Demon Box. The box was extremely important to the Dead Bloods, though only the highest-ranking members knew why. Xilan’s understanding of its significance was limited.

Secondly, he explained the reason behind the Dead Bloods' targeted assault on the Wind Elephant Sect. Back then, the Dead Bloods' strongholds in Beiliu County were oblivious to the existence of the human Covert Martial Arts forces. It was a strange phenomenon: although both sides operated in the same region for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, they had rarely intersected. The bodies of Covert Martial Arts Practitioners should have been the Dead Bloods' most coveted resource, since they made for perfect vessels. However, the two worlds had remained parallel, yet isolated from each other.

It wasn't until twelve years ago, when a human made contact with the Dead Bloods' upper echelons in Beiliu County, that things changed. No one knew what they had discussed. However, after that conversation, it was as if someone had strongly suggested that they target the sect. Thus, they quickly set their sights on the Wind Elephant Sect and attacked, leading to the tragic massacre of the Wind Elephant Sect.

Cassius’s subsequent interrogation revealed a name that Xilan had heard once, twelve years ago: a man named Xiadu.

"Xiadu?!" Cassius hissed quietly, a trace of shock in his eyes. He recalled overhearing a conversation in the real world between Peacock and his assistant at the Mensa Church. There seemed to be a high-ranking core member of the Gate Organization named Xiadu!

The Gate Organization! What exactly were these people planning? They were the only organization classified as S-level by the Black Ops Agency. The only thing that was known about them was that they searched far and wide for ancient, legendary antiques. Then there was the mysterious Threefold Gate the Soma myths mentioned. Everything else was shrouded in mystery.

However, all Cassius needed to know was that the Gate Organization was connected to the Dead Bloods, and thus indirectly linked to the massacre of the Wind Elephant Sect. He took a deep breath, his aura growing darker.

"Ahhhhh..." Xilan, held in Cassius's death grip, screamed, his eyes widening in terror. "You can't kill me! You don’t want to harm this body! I know it belongs to your friend! This body should’ve died ages ago! If my ability stops sustaining it, it'll immediately collapse! All that will be left will be a pile of ashes! Don't kill me!"

"I know." Cassius's tone softened slightly, and Xilan breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the pressure on his head ease a touch.

Xilan's thoughts raced as he started plotting how he might escape from this situation, or perhaps even turn the tables and kill Cassius. However...

Crack! Crack!

The hand on his forehead suddenly tightened, and a tsunami of vibrations burst out from Cassius's right arm, pouring into Xilan like a waterfall.

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Xilan's entire body began to tremble violently. His bloody eyes shone desperately at Cassius as his quivering lips barely managed to form the words. "Wh-why?"

Xilan didn't get his answer, as the powerful vibrations coursing through his body killed him once and for all. Lance's body went limp, and just as Xilan had predicted, the body he had kept alive for over a decade began to deteriorate. The once porcelain-like skin was rapidly becoming coarse, showing clear signs of decay.

Cassius silently lifted his third senior brother's body and laid it gently on a gambling table in the center of the casino. He placed his hand on his senior brother's chest. After the fierce battle earlier, Cassius had accumulated around twenty units of life vibrations, several of which were of high Undying-Rank quality. They pulsed strongly within him.

The energy swirled faintly inside him, and then slowly dissipated. He activated his Golem Covert Martial Arts, channeling the gathered vibrations into his arm. He started to infuse the vibrations into Lance's body.

It was not the standard vibration frequency generated by Golem Covert Martial Arts, but a refined vibration beneficial to any biological life force. When Cassius forcefully invaded Xilan's body with his Golem Covert Martial Arts, he had discovered two life forces within the shell. One was withered and broken almost beyond repair. The other was intact and powerful, though distinctly inhuman.

The latter clearly belonged to the Dead Blood, while the former was the body’s life force, kept alive purely by the Dead Blood's power. Cassius knew his Senior Brother Lance had died twelve years ago and could not be resurrected. All he could do was preserve the body and keep it from rotting too quickly.

Cassius planned to bring all the people he had been close to, including Lance, to the back mountain of the Wind Elephant Sect so he could bury them alongside his sister, Li Chu.