Chapter 612 - The Manor Revives! A Mysterious Descent

For a moment, Demon Man and Shark Tooth even began to suspect each other. A dangerous air and an uneasy mood filled the warehouse. The same thought surfaced in both of their minds.

Could the guy opposite me have betrayed me?

White Skull and Blood Sand had planned only a few days ago, with fixed locations and headcounts. If both sides had acted according to plan, no leak should have been possible unless one side had betrayed the other. For instance, by throwing them to the neo-human righteous alliance led by White Tower and setting an ambush in the Anta Mountains!

Could it be that their subordinates had already—? Was this rendezvous itself also a trap? Had they been lured here while powerful ambushers lay hidden all around the farm?

Demon Man and Shark Tooth grew suspicious of each other, their faces turning wary and grim. They narrowed their eyes as though staring at each other, yet used their peripheral vision to watch every stir of wind and grass around them.

In truth, in that split-second they had also considered other unexpected possibilities. But they were also ruthless villains. They instinctively assumed the worst scenario, thought the worst of the other, and judged any partner with maximum malice... That was simply standard procedure.

Paranoia, in fact, was a basic quality for many leaders of dark factions. Without constant alertness and paranoia, one would have long since been killed by one's own men. Only the fiercest survive among a pack of wolves! Therefore, Demon Man and Shark Tooth's wariness was only natural.

The lighting inside the warehouse was a dim orange, and feed was piled in the corners. The air carried a turbid scent of fodder, at once grassy and slightly pungent.

Demon Man broke the silence. "Shark Tooth, we've known each other for about twenty years. Two or three years after I founded White Skull, you founded Blood Sand in the neo-human underworld as well. Over the past dozen years, our White Skull and your Blood Sand have had conflicts and cooperations alike. On the whole it's been more cooperation, since those so-called righteous forces are our common enemy. This operation as well... is built on that basis, isn't it?"

"Of course." Shark Tooth nodded without expression.

"So then, between our two factions, surely no one would, at this critical time of the Black Rain Manor's revival, suddenly break faith and defect to the righteous alliance under White Tower! What do you think, Shark Tooth..." A dangerous gleam flashed in Demon Man's narrowed eyes.

Shark Tooth likewise examined Demon Man. "How could that be? You and I are still ranked one and two on the wanted list, and the hands of White Skull and Blood Sand are stained with the blood of countless neo-human righteous factions. Even if we wished to surrender, those righteous neo-human factions would never accept us..."

The two sized each other up, as if trying to read something in the other's blank face.

"Fine." Demon Man suddenly withdrew his gaze and looked around the warehouse. "In a moment, there won't suddenly be a swarm of your people or your experts rushing out to surround me, right? I'm all alone right now, and I'm just a tiny bit scared..."

Shark Tooth exhaled and let the muscles on his body relax slightly. "You said exactly what I was about to, Demon Man."

That conversation had in fact been a veiled probing, a confirmation between them. Once they were more or less certain, Demon Man broke the matter openly like a joke, and Shark Tooth voiced the same idea. The two temporarily reached consensus that neither had betrayed the partnership.

Immediately, Demon Man and Shark Tooth both breathed easier. A tiger cooperating with another tiger was most dangerous since one never knew when the other might try to eat them. A flock of sheep, lacking the skill and ambition to devour each other, managed cooperation far more easily.

Both felt they had just had a false alarm.

"It seems we truly have been allies from start to finish."

They took a deep breath and slowly extended their hands to shake. A handshake would express mutual sincerity. Yet right then, doors all around them burst open!

Ka-cha, ka-cha, ka-cha, ka-cha!

The iron doors on all four sides, east, west, south, and north, were ripped off their hinges by brute force. One burly black-clad figure after another appeared, radiating a dangerous aura.

Closest to Demon Man and Shark Tooth, a black-haired youth with a lazy expression leaned against the east door. A cigarette dangled from the corner of his lips, its red ember flickering as a wisp of smoke coiled upward.

The youth glanced sideways at the two inside the warehouse. His eyes carried a merciless, icy intent, as if watching the dead. An extremely dangerous aura radiated from the black-haired youth.

The two extended hands froze. Almost simultaneously, they clenched into fists and hurled savagely toward the other. Demon Man and Shark Tooth's fierce gazes clashed, twisted with rage as though they would devour each other.

"Demon Man! You said you had no ambush prepared!"

"Shark Tooth! You said you had no ambush prepared!"

"Want to kill me? Daydream on! You'll die first!"

Both of them roared together. Their fists shot out in a flash, carving deadly after-images through the air before smashing into the other's body at incredible speed!

Bang! Bang!

Blood spattered as Demon Man and Shark Tooth tore into each other. At the east door, the elegantly posed Simone stiffened, his blank face turning puzzled. He shifted from leaning on the frame to standing upright as he plucked the cigarette from his lips.

At the other doors, the Golem Sect members' terrifying grins faded into blank confusion. A few bald muscle-bound fighters rubbed their smooth heads. They hadn’t a clue what was happening.

We rushed here to kill you, and before we could even start, you began killing yourselves?

The Golem Sect crowd suddenly felt deep respect. This was truly worthy of these backwater, unheard-of little factions. They were incapable of success and obsessed with infighting every day! With so little power and intelligence, they still dreamed of competing with top organizations worldwide, and of someday controlling all of Black Rain Manor. A bunch of oddballs fond of daydreaming—that was the crowd's verdict.

A few minutes later, Simone's right foot stepped on the bruised and groaning Shark Tooth's face outside the large farm's barn. Beside his left foot lay another mangled figure. It was uncertain whether he was alive or dead. Simone held a lit cigarette between his lips. It seemed the whole process had cost him little effort.

Tap.

The boot lifted and came down on the grass again. Simone glanced at the two and wordlessly waved his hand.

"Take them all away."

A group of burly men stepped forward at once and stuffed the two notorious neo-human evil faction leaders into feed sacks from the farm's warehouse. Then, they hoisted them onto their shoulders and headed into the distant darkness.

In truth, Golem Sect had little desire to bother with the feeble schemes of White Skull and Blood Sand. However, these ants had interfered with Golem Sect's own plans. Thus, they were promptly erased.

Within a single day, the two underground organizations that had dominated the neo-human scene for two or three decades were annihilated. Yet the righteous alliance led by White Tower knew nothing of this news. They still followed their original plan, guarding against dark factions that might leap from the shadows at any time. Little did they know the foes they braced for had already evaporated.

Late at night, the sky was only lit by faint moonlight. A campfire burned in a forest clearing while dark figures stood among the gaps in the trees. They remained motionless, like hard, terrifying statues, silently keeping watch. Even the birds and insects around had fallen silent as if cowed by a dangerous Qi field. An extraordinary quiet reigned, broken only by stakes being driven in the ground.

On the northeast side of Anta Mountains, a metal pillar taller than two men had been driven into the ground. A glass vessel within held a pale golden liquid. A mysterious array centered around the pillar covered a large stretch of ground. Dense trenches spread out like clusters of patterns. It resembled an eye.

Several black-clad strongmen hammered the pillar into the earth. Their movements were meticulous, not allowing the least carelessness.

Ding!

The pillar sank fully into the ground with the last strike. An unknown ripple of aura then spread through the space. It swept quickly across the whole mountain range, linking with pillars at other sites. The pillar shone faint gold, but the light vanished in the next instant.

If one was watching from the sky, the entire Anta Mountains was covered with a brief shower of golden specks. In other words, the mysterious array laid by the Golem Sect had blanketed almost the whole mountain range. What on earth were they planning?

Just then, in the camp, someone slowly came to...

It was the captured Demon Man, thinking the same thing.

"What exactly are you trying to do?!" He shouted.

"A prisoner dares crave such knowledge? Noisy wretch, shut up!" A nearby Golem Sect guard knocked him unconscious with a hand-blade strike. He grabbed the prisoner's hair, lifted him, and dragged him aside like a swine.

The core creed of White Skull was that humans were inferior; pigs to be slaughtered at will. Their Demon Blood Ritual sacrificed human lives and blood. Yet now, the founder himself was treated like a dead dog. It was a colossal irony.

At the campfire, Simone's figure slowly emerged from the shadows. He glanced at the metal pillar near the big tree, a trace of doubt crossing his eyes. In fact, Simone did not know what it was for either. However, the Sect Master had ordered it, so everyone obeyed without question.

At present, the only person who knew what the pillars, glass vessels, and the array spanning the Anta Mountains were for, was probably none other than Golem Sect's master, Cassius.

But Simone could vaguely sense it. The plan concerning Black Rain Manor seemed anything but simple. At the very least, it differed greatly from the manor's past revivals.

There was a special timing, special plan, special arrangement, and special people—this revival was destined to be different.

***

Night passed and bright daylight emerged.

It was September 20, the special day. The many gathered factions were already eager and watching like tigers in the Anta Mountains. Each became a vast hidden current, advancing from every direction at the mountains' borders toward the interior.

Blue Star Manor lay near Mokarensa Waterfall in the Anta Mountains. It was here that Cassius, after his third time-travel ended, had collided with White Skull as they conducted their Demon Blood Ritual while he surveyed the real world.

He had slaughtered three captains of White Skull at Blue Star Manor and subdued their Number Five captain, Shockwave. Now, Blue Star Manor had been purchased by Golem Sect. Many of Golem Sect's powerhouses had assembled there, awaiting the appointed time. At Cassius's command, they would burst forth like unleashed hounds, sweeping across the Anta Mountains and clashing with every faction.

Around nine in the morning, a solitary figure stood expressionlessly amid the weeds of the back wall of Blue Star Manor.

Two meters before him, a bronze pillar's remnant lay deeply embedded in the ground. Corroded and rusted, it looked like worthless scrap metal. A breeze stirred the weeds, and the hem of the man's black coat fluttered.

Suddenly, as though a destined moment had finally arrived...

Vmmm.

The bronze remnant glowed green; mottled rust flaked off, revealing fresh patterns. The patterns crept up the pillar and even into the air. They rose, forming a hollow cylindrical outline with a decoration atop like a hanging lantern.

When the light dimmed, there was a brand-new, intact bronze pillar.

On the pillar was written: Carriage.

Vmmm, vmmm, vmmm, vmmm...

Wave after wave of bizarre ripples imperceptible to ordinary people emanated from deep in the mountains. The bright sky dimmed as clouds amassed overhead. Sunlight was blotted out, lending the world a nocturnal stillness.

A cold, drizzling rain began to fall across the Anta Mountain range. Driven by gusts, the rain traced wave-like paths across the sky, pattering on the forest leaves.

Before the bronze pillar, Cassius raised his head and gazed deep into the Anta Mountains. His sight seemed to pierce the heavy rocks and dense trunks, beholding a vast manor descending into existence!

"This time, I will become your true master. Black Rain Manor..."