Chapter 451 - How To Make A Radiant Hunter Willingly Step Down

"Vice Director Mani!" The drunken hunters suddenly stood up. Their nerves had been so dulled by long-term alcohol intake that they only just realized that the newcomer bore ill intent.

Boom...

The gold-trimmed cloak behind Cassius suddenly flared out, and an invisible Qi wave spread like a shockwave, causing the air inside the administrative hall to churn. His overwhelmingly forceful aura perpetrated heavily through the air, leaving everyone around him increasingly hard of breath.

Three or four hunters who tried to rush in his direction stumbled forward, their legs turning weak as though they had been under the influence of drugs all day. Some went pale, while others flushed red.

At that moment, even though their minds had been numbed by alcohol, their bodies instinctively cowered in fear. The last time they had felt such fear was when they followed Director Soul Scythe in hunting down that beast-transformed monster.

No—now, the fear they felt was even more intense than back then!

Thus, these hunters dared not move, nor were they able to. Their joints locked up in an instinctive reaction, as though facing a top-tier predator.

Cassius's blue eyes swept across them in silence. The deep and tranquil shade of blue in his eyes resembled a whirlpool that threatened to draw in anyone who looked too closely. All the hunters present lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.

"Th-this..." From the back, Thomas was startled by Cassius's sudden outburst.

He glanced once at the young man writhing in agony at Cassius's feet, and again at the human chandelier swaying from the ceiling.

He blinked.

After all, these people would be White Aster's subordinates in the future... was this really the right approach? Even if he was trying to establish dominance, did he have to be this brutal...?

Thomas was in the midst of such thoughts when a voice sounded from ahead.

"Look at yourselves right now. I can only describe you all as trash. From today onward, I will replace Soul Scythe as the new Director of the Treatment Ward. Under my command, there is no room for useless waste that offers no value or purpose. So, you can get lost..." Cassius spoke each word without any trace of emotion.

"Ah?" Thomas froze for a moment, then noticed that a few drunken hunters seemed rather bold, or perhaps just too intoxicated.

When they heard Cassius's insulting words, they actually struggled to advance, clearly not learning from what had just happened.

"Hey, you..."

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

An invisible yet surging force suddenly pressed down from midair, like an iron hand pushing on everyone's shoulders. The hunters had no way to resist and dropped to their knees. When their knees struck the dark floor, visible cracks appeared, accompanied by a sharp sound of splintering. No one could tell whether the floor or the kneecaps had cracked, or perhaps both at once.

A dozen or so hunters collapsed to their knees, backs bent and heads lowered. The veins in their necks bulged and their faces flushed with effort as they gritted their teeth. It seemed like they were all trying to fight against the air, which weighed on them like a thousand pounds.

"First, the Treatment Ward doesn't need parasites that serve no purpose. Second..." Cassius's gaze swept the room. "Don't try to test my patience. I gave you the chance to walk out of here, but you'd prefer crawling?"

Right then, another round of cracking noises echoed across the floor. It turned out that those kneeling hunters could no longer bear it. Just as Cassius spoke, they collapsed, lying as stiff as corpses on the ground.

Initially, Cassius had only unleashed his Qi domain, but now he had released a little of his Qi force as well. Sometimes, dealing with small fry did not require hand-to-hand combat.

Using Qi to intimidate them was faster and more efficient. Soon enough, these hunters quickly rolled out of the administrative hall, taking Mani and the young man who had swallowed shards of glass along with them.

Thomas, standing next to Cassius, had witnessed the entire event.

He recalled what the Chief Mechanist had told him before leaving. "White Aster is the new Director of the Treatment Ward. Whatever he wants to do with it, just let him do it..."

Hence, Thomas did not interfere. In truth, he could not interfere once he realized this new Treatment Ward Director was someone who acted in a decidedly forceful manner. No one could impose their will on him, not even lightly; it was he who imposed his will on others.

Once he understood that, Thomas settled into his role without question, promptly doing what an assistant was supposed to do. He went to the Savage Beast Den and located another acting Vice Director.

Additionally, that acting Vice Director happened to be the warden of the Savage Beast Den.

Tap, tap, tap, tap...

A series of footsteps echoed outside the administrative hall. The tall figure standing in one corner of the hall slowly turned around.

Cassius was gripping an empty wine bottle with his thumb over its mouth. His fingertip shifted slightly, and large clusters of deep-purple bubbles suddenly emerged from inside, reminiscent of a child's bubble-blowing toy.

However, these purple bubbles were lethal. Not only would their outer layer explode like bombs upon bursting, but the inner swirling mass of crimson teeth formed a horrifying vortex that could shred steel to pieces.

As Cassius gradually adapted to his Sonic Fang Force, he became more adept at manipulating that power. He even managed to seal the force inside a glass container without damaging it. Similarly, Cassius could coat the surface of an object with the force without harming the object itself, a feat requiring not only tremendous control but also a profound transformation of the force's characteristics.

That extreme power was becoming more and more like Qi. Of course, it was merely similar, not identical.

"Mr. White Aster, I've brought Sigal." Thomas's voice from the doorway drew Cassius's attention.

He looked over calmly and saw a burly figure standing behind Thomas, Or rather, a well-trained man. His entire upper body was balanced and powerful, muscles bulging beneath his hunter uniform. A dense network of scars stretched across the collar area, marking his bronze-colored skin.

He had disfiguring scars on his face, yet his calm eyes carried a bear-like resolve, exuding an aura of remarkable steadiness.

"Excellent..." Cassius felt a sense of admiration bubble up. Perhaps his aesthetic sense was rather distinct, but he found this hunter called Sigal quite pleasing. That physique reminded him somewhat of his own body in bygone days.

"Director." Sigal followed Thomas over, showing respect from the moment he spoke, as though he had been waiting all along for the new director to take office.

Cassius slowly looked Sigal up and down. "Not bad. Much better than that useless Mani. If your attitude and abilities continue to satisfy me, you can remove the 'acting' part from your title as Vice Director..."

Sigal shook his head. "Sir, I'm not strong enough. If you have a better candidate, then use them. My master once served as a Vice Director of the Treatment Ward, and he used to say that every hunter who steps into the Vice Director position must first know if they possess the capability to do so. In fact, the two Vice Directors of the Treatment Ward are like the director's weapons. Weapons must be resilient and sharp enough. Otherwise, they will run into major problems in harsh battles. I don't wish to cause you any trouble..."

After hearing that, Cassius's expression showed a hint of interest. "Who is your master?"

"Odo, the Vice Director from two terms ago," Sigal explained. "Currently, he's in the Savage Beast Den. He managed to avoid disaster by chance..."

"Oh? Can you introduce me?" Cassius asked casually, needing a few managerial talents.

"I'm afraid that's rather difficult. I can't even communicate with him right now..." Sigal explained. "In truth, my master Odo has been confined in the Savage Beast Den as a prisoner. His beast transformation has grown extremely severe, to the point that it affects his ability to think clearly. The only thing he still recalls is that he is a warden of the Savage Beast Den who must guard each prisoner around him so that no one can escape... There were even a few prisoner riots that he helped us suppress..." Sigal wore a wry smile.

Although Odo was his master, letting a prisoner assist in quelling riots in the Savage Beast Den was proof enough of how weak the Treatment Ward had become. That was why he had been yearning for a new director's arrival.

Cassius listened in silence, sensing that Sigal and his master were genuinely devoted to the Treatment Ward and similar divisions of the Hunters' Association. They were like workers who had served one institution for a lifetime and naturally developed a strong drive to protect it.

"How many people do you still have?" Cassius asked.

"Fifteen, all currently stationed in the Savage Beast Den." Sigal replied while starting to lead the two of them onward.

After winding around for about seven or eight minutes, Cassius learned a great deal about the Treatment Ward through Sigal's explanations.

First, beast transformation like that of Sigal's master, Odo, was relatively commonplace within the Treatment Ward. In fact, the likelihood of these hunters succumbing to beast transformation was much higher compared to the average in other divisions of the Hunters' Association.

This was because the Treatment Ward specialized in addressing the issue of beast transformation within the Dark Hunter Organization itself, which involved taking action against their own comrades, a psychologically taxing matter.

Second, those who did undergo beast transformation were generally highly capable hunters, making them even more troublesome once transformed. The danger level far surpassed the average risk of general missions from the Hunters' Association. The severe injuries suffered by the Number Four Shadow Hunter Soul Scythe were the best example of that.

When one looks into the abyss, the abyss gazes back. The more contact they had fighting beast-transformed hunters, the more likely they were to become infected themselves. During his conversation with Sigal, Cassius heard about the same fact the Chief Mechanist had mentioned. The mission that left the former Treatment Ward Director, Soul Scythe, severely wounded had not succeeded!

In other words, the hunter who had undergone an extreme beast transformation had escaped. It was very likely to seek revenge on the Treatment Ward and possibly attack one of its divisions. It had not taken action yet, possibly due in part to recovering from its severe injuries. Perhaps it was also completing the final stage of its dark creature transformation.

Nevertheless, nearly half a year had passed, and the target known by the codename "Blood Shark" would very likely resurface soon. And that was precisely the issue Cassius needed to handle upon taking office.

Aside from that, Sigal also described the Savage Beast Den. Serving as the Treatment Ward's headquarters, it once housed many experts and naturally contained the most dangerous prisoners behind the strongest cells.

All the prisoners within the Savage Beast Den were all in a stage of beast transformation, though not entirely lost to it. They included some aged Shadow Hunters. Some had been captured and brought in, while others were there voluntarily.

According to Sigal, the prisoner who had been locked up the longest in the Savage Beast Den was an old hunter who had held on for ten full years through sheer willpower. When he sensed that he would enter the beast transformation stage, he had voluntarily confined himself within the Savage Beast Den.

For ten years, he had still retained that final shred of reason, sitting in silent austerity like an ascetic monk, neither eating nor speaking. Of course, there were also those like Sigal's master Odo. There were also numerous other uncontrollably dangerous beings in residence.

It was no exaggeration to say that if every prisoner in the Savage Beast Den were suddenly released, the entire Hunters' Association would be thrown into turmoil and forced to devote at least half of its strength to contain the chaos. Even that might not suffice.

Cassius suddenly felt an idea stirring within him. Since the Treatment Ward had been heavily damaged in the previous mission, with nearly nine-tenths of its manpower wiped out, why not set his sights on the Savage Beast Den and free a portion of the prisoners who could still be useful?

These prisoners were more than strong enough, since a large part of their bodies had transformed. They were vicious and affected by calamity with unclear minds. They were also ruthless, once experienced hunters. Rather than letting them waste away in prison, it was better to pull them out and make some use of their remaining capabilities.

Naturally, an ordinary Treatment Ward Director would never attempt such a thing. Each prisoner was like a ticking time bomb, even Sigal's master Odo who only had a sliver of sanity left.

Once they were let out of that prison environment, they might suddenly erupt in violence if they decided they were no longer wardens. But this time, the Treatment Ward Director was Cassius, who, with his Rune of Wisdom, could truly be called an expert in eradicating calamities. Krogg and the other veteran hunters could vouch for that.

Though the prisoners in the Savage Beast Den had all entered beast transformation stages, Cassius believed in his ability to cure them. He always had a way of smacking a few back into sense.

Since a hunter's beast transformation could deepen continuously, by logic, it might also be possible to reverse it. Perhaps the dark creature transformation changes on the body were irreversible, but he could at least reclaim some portion of their sanity.

Cassius didn’t mind having subordinates who bore monstrous bodies if they served their purpose and could fight. Additionally, he hoped to discreetly show off his strategic abilities to the Chief Mechanist and openly draw interest.

Cassius figured that in a force like the Dark Hunter Organization, which suffered greatly under calamities, no one would turn away a doctor able to cure and eradicate them. Well, even if that doctor happened to be a bit too robust, and a bit too ruthless.

Once most people acknowledged him, it would only be natural for him to push aside that man in the suit. It was even possible that the Radiant Hunter Deleshart would voluntarily step down and let Cassius, the miraculous healer, replace him as the Radiant Hunter.