Chapter 429 - Scarlet Fang Gun, Double Power

On the second floor of the Library of Misfortune, Cassius gave Iron Knight and Ghost-Man a task. They were supposed to recruit as many top-tier knight-level Hellsing as possible.

They would do their best to conspire against Black Rain Manor and take as many of its members as they could. If they managed to poach half of Black Rain Manor's top combat forces, and if Cassius could take the top hunters of the Dark Hunter Organization, they might even be able to launch a formal declaration of war against the Gate Organization?

Cassius had long been aware that he would inevitably face off against the Gate Organization in the future, so he figured he might as well use this time-travel trip to find out what trump cards the Gate Organization had, what the upper limit of their combat power was, and just who their leader Xiadu truly was.

Was Xiadu an extreme combat artist who had uncovered the secret of immortality? Or was he some ultimate existence among the dark creatures? Cassius planned to challenge him once he had resolved the original lingering attachment.

After the three of them had a discussion, they soon left the Tower of Refuge.

That day, they did not head to the Howling Canyon. Instead, following Cassius's lead, they returned to the Graveyard of the Undead, where the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist trial grounds lay. Once the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist reached twenty-two acupoints, it naturally progressed into the third stage. He was thus able to enter the second floor of the trial grounds.

There were more exquisite fist technique imprints left behind by the ancient sages on the second floor. Practicing martial arts was never just about fighting and killing. It also required learning from the wisdom and experience of those who came before. Anyone training in isolation would find it terribly difficult to reach the pinnacle of martial arts.

Cassius had long considered refining his self-created Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist techniques, and now that he was on the second floor of the trial grounds, it was the perfect chance to find a style that truly belonged to him.

After several hours of traveling, the group arrived at the small town for the second time. Cassius headed straight for the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist trial grounds, while Ghost-Man and Iron Knight used the town as a base to hunt dark creatures outside. They would retreat back to the town and wait for Cassius's support whenever they encountered danger.

It was dim inside the second floor of the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist trial grounds. However, two crimson figures resembled extremely vicious birds of prey swirling wildly through the vast area as they fought and chased each other.

When their limbs collided, they made a sound like clashing metal, causing the air to reverberate with booming noise.

Screech!

A piercing cry powerful enough to shatter stone echoed as one of the raptors lunged skyward. Cassius dove sideways and pointed with one finger. His scarlet forefinger landed on the forehead of the fist technique imprint incarnation, and a spiral force bore straight down.

Pop!

It felt as if he had flicked the cap off a beer bottle. The incarnation of the fist technique imprint froze mid-attack, its entire head run through by that single finger, revealing a gaping hole that ran from the forehead to the back of the imprint’s skull. It then collapsed, scattering like crimson mist across the air.

Cassius drew a gentle breath and slowly retracted his finger, letting it rest by the outside of his right thigh.

Even though the lighting was dim, he could still see clearly. Although the scarlet spiral around his right forefinger had vanished, the surrounding air continued to form a small vortex under the powerful rotational force. It went on for three or four seconds before gradually dissipating.

"Whew..." He let out a soft breath and raised his left palm again. His left forefinger glowed faintly red, and scarlet spiral force started to rotate around it. It looked just like a high-speed drill.

"This is a deeper application of the Death's Fang Force... It can be called the Spiral Finger Gun or the Scarlet Fang Gun. Its piercing power is at least double that of the original Spiral Finger Gun. Indeed, for ordinary ultimate moves, as long as one clearly designates the attributes of one force to be primary and another as secondary, one can significantly enhance its power..."

"The ultimate secret move would require fusing both force attributes equally. That can only be done with extensive insights and a profound understanding of fist techniques. I hope that one day, I can also create an ultimate secret move of the Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist that is comparable to the Blood Vulture's Beak..." Cassius appeared enlightened, and the red Qi around his body swirled rapidly.

***

On July 29, the dawn light filtered through drifting wisps of clouds at 7:30 in the morning, illuminating the capital city of Florence. Layer upon layer of polished roof tiles reflected golden rays, and the surrounding trees glowed emerald.

People in light clothing passed by on the streets of bustling shops, and horse-drawn carriages whizzed past. Everything ran in an orderly fashion, except the traffic jam around the central garden of Florence's District Four.

That area had been cordoned off and no vehicles were permitted entry, reportedly because there had been a murder there. Guards stood outside the barricade, while cleanup crews from the Dark Hunter Organization worked inside. After a full day of work yesterday, they had removed the majority of the dark creatures' corpses, and they would finish the remainder that morning.

In the square, personnel wearing hunter badges sorted the mangled corpses into various wooden boxes. On the nearby steps, a blonde female with braids was recording something.

"Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine..." She wrote in her log.

Humanoid dark creatures: thirty-nine.

Wild Beast level: thirty-six.

Savage Beast level: three.

Aside from that, there were other sections for cataloging beast-type dark creatures, parasite-type dark creatures, aberrant-type dark creatures, and so on. It was all meticulously documented. Finally, she summed up all the figures in the center of the page. The female recorder glanced at the results and filled in the final number.

Three hundred and thirty-four in total. She felt a jolt of shock, realizing that if even Florence, as the capital, had so many dark creatures lurking in the shadows, one could only imagine what it was like in other cities.

Three hundred and thirty-four, plus a few dark creatures that had barely escaped, likely totaled around four hundred. Thus, each feeding in Florence would have cost four hundred human lives! No wonder there had been more and more disappearances in recent years...

"Three hundred and thirty-four..." A pleasant female voice suddenly rang out from behind her. She turned around quickly to see a woman wearing a Dark Gold Hunter badge standing behind her. The newcomer had a graceful figure and alabaster-like skin, with features that possessed a subtle allure, compelling others to feel drawn to her.

"Claire the Siren." The recorder immediately recognized who it was and blurted out her name.

Claire smiled and nodded but said nothing further. Instead, her beautiful eyes roamed over the numerous black boxes stacked around the square. Everything here had been the doing of that person two nights ago. She still vividly remembered the scene of carnage, as though mountains of corpses had risen through seas of blood.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Brutal, overbearing, forceful... White Aster had been far too vicious. It was as if he was a man-eating whale that had devoured all dark creatures swarming from across Florence without discrimination!

No matter how bizarre their abilities might have been, he gobbled them all up. He had absolute confidence in his own strength, brutally transforming an encirclement into a slaughterhouse. Not to mention, he had killed many formidable dark creatures.

Furthermore, Lion King Soss and Solomon the Thorn had both set their sights on two notorious Savage Beast aberrations, only to have them butchered in an instant. Claire's target had been a werewolf, which had also been drawn by the black bait wood. If Cassius had not noticed that his own target had arrived, leaving him no time to deal with the werewolf, Claire might have had to repeat that tragic assessment assignment.

That morning, when Claire left headquarters, she happened to run into Soss and Solomon heading out on a mission. Both of them wore expressions as dark as a scorched pot, as though they were mourning their dead mother. They looked like two pathetic losers...

At that moment, Claire inexplicably recalled some words of caution spoken by Aunt Elaine when she had visited veteran hunter Herb's home.

"Never face White Aster head-on. He never holds back and has no pity for women. He's ruthless with anyone!"

Now, as she looked at all these dark creature corpses, Claire recalled what Grandpa Rudy had said.

You should avoid going against White Aster in the upcoming contest for the Shadow Hunter seat. Let him deal with the royal family's Soss and the council's Solomon, while you simply watch from the sidelines like a salted fish...

The thought sparked in her mind, and she instantly felt much more at ease. Claire had initially been apprehensive about Cassius's crushing strength and letting down the people who supported her...

But now, she had come to understand. She was inherently lazy and did not possess a particularly strong drive. Although becoming a Shadow Hunter would have raised her strength and status, it also meant taking on heavier duties and constant work. She would have been swamped and perpetually faced greater dangers. It was better to retreat today to advance tomorrow, see the competition through to satisfy her backers, and call it a day. After all, she could not possibly defeat White Aster.

Claire's eyes flickered, and she turned to walk toward headquarters. Meanwhile, in another corner of the central garden, Solomon stood in a dark corner, wearing a grim expression as he brooded over the sight before him. He had been an orphan from childhood and was raised by the council. He always understood one principle: one must fight for everything they wanted!

He was not the only gifted supernatural force reared by the council; naturally, there had always been fierce competition. All of the council's resources, teachers, and live training depended on competitive rankings. They could never rise to the top without fighting hard!

Solomon had fought his way through it all to become the council's sole representative in vying for the Shadow Hunter seat. His ambition and drive were on a completely different level compared to Claire's. Even if Cassius displayed overwhelmingly superior strength, Solomon still wanted to fight!

If he could not defeat him openly, he would have those backing him strike from the shadows to seize the advantage. He might not have trusted Zhu Hun and that group's character, but he had never doubted their strength. They dared to plot against even the Dark Hunter Organization, so was there anything they would not dare?

When Solomon failed his second mission and met Zhu Hun, the latter had given him a firm promise. Zhu Hun's associates would take it upon themselves to send White Aster to his doom. That statement was a dose of reassurance, as Solomon knew Zhu Hun's group was nearly omnipotent, and every one of his members was a top expert. White Aster would be doomed.

"

Heh heh heh...

" Solomon let out a sinister laugh in the shadows. "To get ahead in this world, you need power and connections. You can't go far all by yourself..."

Time flew by and dusk soon arrived. The setting sun sank behind the western hills, and the golden haze spread through the clouds like rolling waves. The temperature dropped drastically as day turned to night, and the winds were strong. The clouds drifted quickly, like sails heading south.

In District Six of Florence, there stood a detached house near the riverside. The house was simple and dignified. Though not luxurious, it had a certain elegance. A low white wall surrounded it, with green trees peeking over the top. The wooden front gate was entwined with slender green vines. A few green leaves decorated with pink blossoms trembled lightly in the breeze.

Beyond the gate lay a stone walkway, three or four flowerbeds, and a lawn. At the center stood two buildings, one tall and one short. They were built with blue and white tiles, lending them a warm ambiance even at dusk.

This place belonged to the veteran hunter, Iron Face Jem, who served as the head of the Fort County branch. When he used to be Number Five Shadow Hunter, he had bought this secluded home by the riverside of District Six to live in. Whenever he returned to Florence on business, he stayed here for a week or two to meet up with his old friends.

Today, this normally quiet house was exceptionally lively. It was all because of Cassius's incredibly meticulous treatment via his fists that had expelled all the calamity within the group of veteran hunters.

How could they not be overjoyed? Though the process had been somewhat brutal and painful, the outcome was certainly positive!

Butcher Krog, Warblade Kames, Blood Axe Herb, Wind Whisperer Elaine, Iron Face Jem, and Executioner Rudy all felt an unprecedented relief, as the mental tension from constantly resisting calamity had finally eased.

The six elderly folk either chatted or snacked on fruit as they conversed inside the first-floor hallway of the residence with its black-and-white checkered tiles with renewed vigor.

"If you ask me, that kid White Aster really ought to go to the Treatment Ward. After all, they keep a lot of extremely dangerous, crazed hunters locked away in its underground cells," Krog said, stretching his arm casually.

"Indeed. He's the only one capable enough for it," Kames agreed with a nod.

Rudy, whose aged but rosy face carried a slight smile, said, "He really should go to the Treatment Ward, it suits his specialties. They used to just lock up hunters who had gone too far into beast transformation, but now he can purify them on the spot with his fists. Those hunters, once purified, would surely be deeply grateful to him. Regardless of what happens, they'd feel appreciative..."

"That way, his reputation and influence would also grow rapidly." Behind Jem's mask, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"We could also help push him to a higher position." Ilene wore a smile on her face, appearing a few years younger.

As soon as she finished speaking, the old hunters present all chuckled. They were showing Cassius the way forward, which served both their own interests and his, and also benefited the Dark Hunter Organization. It was a surefire win for everyone.

"Krog, how's your recovery going?" After the laughter subsided, Rudy suddenly asked.

"In the end, I'm old and feeble, so I've only gotten back to a normal Shadow Hunter level," Krog said, shaking his head. Though he spoke regretfully, he was grinning.

He glanced around at the other five old hunters. "Never mind me, you're all the same. Although the hidden injuries in our bodies and the decline of our vitality are inevitable with age, what really limited our strength was still the influence of calamity. Putting everything else aside, returning to the threshold of Shadow Hunter level is no longer an issue..."

Krog spoke brimming with high spirits, his imposing aura billowing. It was as though he had returned to the time, decades ago, when he had been the Number One Shadow Hunter.

The evening breeze swept away traces of lingering heat. It was around five in the afternoon, and the sun had turned a hazy yellow. In the residential area of District Six, a tall figure in a black robe walked steadily along a cramped, secluded alleyway. His robe was loose, revealing only a pair of hands that looked like they were wreathed in flames.

Yang Yan strode toward the riverside with an impassive expression, while over a dozen newly created test subjects trailed him from the shadows. When striking at a snake, you would obviously aim for its vitals. Who was closest to White Aster in the entire Dark Hunter Organization? Naturally, it was those veteran hunters whose power had waned!

Without a doubt, they were White Aster's weaknesses...