Chapter 624 - Origin Of The Manor, Rune of Life Perfected

Black Rain Manor had appeared generation after generation in the surface world, constantly disappearing and reviving. Each time it grew to its peak, it became one of the greatest powers in the world. Top knight-level Hellsing were no weaker than combat artists, and a few among them were elites of the elites at the very summit.

Its stature, its power, and its heritage were all extraordinary, but that was only the projected strength of Black Rain Manor. Its true body in the World of Calamity was surely even more terrifying.

Yet the scene before their eyes almost shattered that understanding. A Dominator Fist was, after all, a Dominator Fist. Its abyss-like ocean of Qi could sweep heaven and earth, bind Black Rain Manor's true body, and suppress it.

A mere thing held in its palm could hardly overturn the sky!

Crack...

A muffled explosion rang out, and the giant hand that almost covered the entire sky slowly closed, gripping the entire horrific ghost face in its palm. The ghost face struggled and screeched madly, causing all manner of strange powers to collide against the hand and detonate, but it could not damage the hand's structure in the slightest.

It could only be compressed smaller and smaller. The ghost face represented the source of energy of Black Rain Manor's true body. So long as Cassius seized and suppressed it, he could control Black Rain Manor.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

It was better than being like the Hellsings of past generations who, no matter how strong or privileged, were merely dogs of Black Rain Manor. The stronger ones simply enjoyed slightly better treatment than the other dogs. In essence, there was no difference.

A giant hand was squeezing down on the ghost face in the Rainy World. The wind howled and clouds rolled. Everyone felt the whole space violently quaking. The Rainy World that represented Black Rain Manor's power resisted and struggled, yet it seemed futile.

Petal-like golden beams of the ritual shone brilliantly across the Anta Mountains as they anchored this special domain. It was like a great, firm net. The ritual, the blood sacrifices, and Cassius's Dominator Fist energy perfectly suppressed the struggles of Black Rain Manor's true body.

"Futile. What lies before you now is surrender!"

A terrifying Will descended, utterly destroying Black Rain Manor's resistance. The ghost face abruptly shrank, becoming a ferocious sigil. The Rainy World's tremors ceased, and everything returned to calm in an instant.

Whooo... whooo... hiss...

A light breeze swept by, carrying the cool rain that fell anew. Around Black Rain Manor, the Golem Sect members and the neo-human righteous alliance all stared at the manor's true body. It was covered by a membrane of black light like an eggshell. The membrane's surface contained countless faint, hideous ghost faces that writhed in pain, screamed, and wept like they were insane.

An extremely eerie aura rippled through the surrounding area. The onlookers could not see the manor's true body inside, but they basically realized that the Golem Sect's master seemed to have succeeded! He had subdued Black Rain Manor!

Moreover, this was no illusionary projection but the genuine true body. The neo-human righteous alliance's scheming had been merely to seize a little initiative early in the projection's revival. They had wished to gain a sliver of leverage to bargain with the manor's projection. Yet the Golem Sect's master had yanked the true body down outright and cowed Black Rain Manor with brute savagery. The Golem Sect's master was terrifying!

This was like a bandit chief abducting his bride, while the maid the neo-human alliance coveted had obediently joined the dowry. The gap needed no further words. At this moment the neo-human powerhouses were filled with mixed feelings. Their hearts felt a tinge of envy yet they dared not indulge in it. They even felt a sliver of grievance.

As the final descendants of the Hellsings, they believed they were the manor's legitimate heirs. They had arrived first, so how had it come to this? The falling black rain felt cold as it struck their faces. Of course, the neo-humans dared not show it or act rashly, since the nearby Golem Sect strongmen stood proudly with their arms crossed. Their faces were vicious as they glared at the neo-humans. Some wolfish and tigerish eyes seemed to glint red in the rain...

Inside the Baptism Chapel of Black Rain Manor, eerie wails echoed in the air as terrifying grotesques darted to and fro.

But A robust human figure draped in a loose black cloak slowly walked out. His arms hung naturally, and the backs of both hands glowed faintly. The platinum Rune of Life mark on his right hand was now perfect, its flaws fully mended as it gave off a golden sheen. On his left hand, an eerie matte ghost face symbol shifted constantly. It was sometimes smiling, sometimes weeping.

It was over. The true body of Black Rain Manor had been taken by Cassius!

At the moment of subjugation, many secrets had presented themselves. The manor's origin, growth, derangement, and end. First, the Black Rain Manor's history was exceedingly ancient and could even be traced back to the era of the Ao Yin civilization. It had been built by the Ao Yin civilization as a bizarre, living complex treasure.

Its main use was warfare, namely, battling dark creatures. Black Rain Manor could devour a dark creature's flesh to restore its structures, thus achieving a perpetual motion effect. Later, for unknown reasons, the Ao Yin civilization had suddenly vanished from the world. Hence, this war treasure was left behind, hidden in a corner of the World of Calamity as it naturally evolved. In this uncontrolled process, certain negative influences appeared and gradually took deep root.

It wasn't until later that the Black Rain Manor was found by an Ultimate Fist and reactivated. That Ultimate Fist was the owner of the broken statue Cassius had seen before. The manor's master was both an Ultimate Fist and a researcher devoted to study. He was keen on exploring the Ao Yin civilization and had discovered Black Rain Manor after following a few clues.

After reactivating the manor, the Ultimate Fist began further experiments to verify his own ideas. He strove to find a thorough means to resolve calamity and applied various ideas and tests to Black Rain Manor.

The Baptism Chapel, Arthropod Hall, Daybreak Hospital, and so on all appeared in this period. The prototypes of many paths and sects, strange and varied, were all that Ultimate Fist's thoughts and notions.

Up to this point, everything seemed to be moving in a good direction. However, the Ultimate Fist then obtained a calamity meteor fragment and tried using it on Black Rain Manor. A change occurred and Black Rain Manor suddenly gained its own Will. However, because of the prior negative influences and its flesh-devouring trait, madness spread silently. Every idea and thought of the Ultimate Fist seemed to turn into the manor's heritage.

Hence, Black Rain Manor grew stronger bit by bit. The process was long and gradual. Slowly, the manor's Will had amassed enough. One day, that Ultimate Fist was wounded by several Ultimate Dark Forms, and returned to the manor to recuperate. Then, he faced backlash from the manor. Unfortunately, the Ultimate Fist fell, and the manor's Will became a little stronger.

The manor nearly collapsed in the presence of the Ultimate Fist's unleashed combat state. It was only able to absorb his remaining Qi and become a sort of fusion being. This caused Black Rain Manor, under the influence of the Ultimate Fist's lingering attachment, to keep running along its original track.

Find dark creatures, capture dark creatures, research dark creatures, and eventually obtain a means to resolve calamity. In truth, it had only ever completed the first half. Since the manor's inherent mad Will obstructed it, the latter research into dark creatures and obtaining a solution simply could not proceed.

Thus, Black Rain Manor thereafter exhibited a bizarre, twisted situation. It mechanically repeated finding and capturing dark creatures. Generation after generation of Hellsings were contracted, rose to a peak, and then perished. After some time, it projected again and repeated the process anew.

In the Baptism Chapel, Cassius stood quietly in the gray mist, observing everything around him. He could almost sense the Ultimate Fist's lingering attachment. It was indeed worthy of an Ultimate Fist. Though dead, his Qi forever carried the absolute Will of humanity's peak.

The desire to find a way to resolve calamity had influenced Black Rain Manor for countless years. Cassius recalled the manor's Will he had felt during his third time-travel. It was mechanical and cold, yet tinged with cruelty and madness. So it had been the result of two Wills fused in struggle.

Gradually, Cassius began to understand the manor's cycles of rise and fall. The latter half could never proceed, causing the power of dark creatures to build up inside, and the mad part of the manor's Will to grow stronger until the manor's madness completely overrode coldness and reason.

All kinds of strange phenomena would appear, and Hellsings would unexpectedly die en masse. The final result was a failed experiment. The manor would then slumber and vanish.

Thus the cycle repeated, generation after generation, again and again. During this process, the true manor in the World of Calamity crazily accumulated energy and gradually sought to suppress the Ultimate Fist's lingering Will. The revival this time was special because the manor's madness had, for the first time, outweighed reason, reversing their strengths.

Rules unchanged for millennia would shift to become more insane, cruel, and evil! Had the manor been allowed to revive unchecked, the new manor and its Hellsings would become a wholly evil force of calamity no different from the Ripple Order or the Totem Temple.

It would no longer be like before, with its own purpose, half-right and half-wrong. After all, despite everything, each generation of the manor had at least eliminated many dark creatures. Since madness had overcome reason, the Hellsings’ missions might become hunting humans instead.

Of course, now that Black Rain Manor had fallen into Cassius's hands, it had no chance to cause mischief. Cassius had violently subjugated the manor before madness could fully eclipse reason. He had made it a thing in his palm to carry out his intent.

"That Ultimate Fist... His fall was truly a pity. Considering he could still retreat after facing several Ultimate Dark Forms, he was no ordinary figure in the Holy Fist realm. Yet he was ambushed by such scum and, helpless, had to fuse his Will with it to counterbalance..."

Cassius's tone held regret and a measure of respect. That Ultimate Fist, even in death, had let his lingering Will entangle and resist the manor's madness for so many years while remaining dominant. That Will must have been refined beyond imagining. In effect, Black Rain Manor had been hijacked by a dead man for ages.

"Can one find a way to resolve calamity completely?" He looked at the chapel's soaring rooftop and murmured. It was a great goal but very hard to achieve. Neither the ancient mighty Ao Yin civilization nor the Southern Dipper lineage had achieved it.

Indeed, reality seemed to be sliding toward the worst. The Hongli Empire's downfall a century or two ago symbolized the broken balance.

It was a long, heavy road ahead...

Cassius slowly raised his left hand and clenched his fist. The ghost symbol glowed at once, and an inaudible screech swept through the manor.

Rumble, crash...

The gray mist rolled back into the earth, and the horrific shapes returned to their places. The buildings slid eerily apart, forming a straight, wide avenue. The road began at the front of the chapel and led directly out of the manor.

Cassius glanced once, and stepped lightly onto it. The smooth ground carried his body like a conveyor belt. It worked like an automatic travelator leading outside the manor. At least Black Rain Manor knew how to show respect and act sensibly. It seemed Cassius's rough suppression was indeed effective for now.

As the ground shifted, a wind brushed his face and gray stone buildings slid backward on both sides. Cassius's gaze was calm as he pondered the manor's future. Without doubt, Black Rain Manor would be useful in what came next.

He had to sweep away the surface world's dark creatures and uproot those calamity organizations. The manor could supply information for that, saving immense effort. He also needed to develop the Golem Sect, raise everyone's strength, and consolidate his influence through the whole Covert Martial Arts world.

It was not long since his time-travel ended. Even with drastic changes, he would need time to see the effects. However, Black Rain Manor could accelerate this phase. After all, purified Soul Power was excellent stuff. He could fully combine the Golem Sect and the manor's mechanisms into a complete process.

The Golem Sect members already planned to purge dark creatures, so why not first take a mission from the manor? When the fight ended, there would be rewards to claim! They would absorb Soul Power, accelerate their Covert Martial Arts cultivation, then continue hunting dark creatures. This positive cycle would continue until dark creatures in the surface world were annihilated! It was like a pinwheel, spinning ever faster.

The Golem Sect members would certainly not face the problems past Hellsings had faced. The manor's owner was their own sect master, so the rules and tasks were set by their own people.

It was as if the athlete, referee, and organizer were all from the same club. With that setup, how could the Golem Sect ever lose?