All of us are one

Chapter 41 Warning from the Unknown

Outside the fortress.

When two middle-aged men in bespoke suits burst into joyful laughter on their pale, bloodless faces, a burly man standing behind them looked quite puzzled.

"Gentlemen, I have a question," the burly man couldn't help but ask.

"Go ahead and say it." The middle-aged man on the left was in a good mood.

"Sir Curaçao, the Witchers are already cornered. Aren't you afraid they'll drag their comrades who stormed the fortress down with them?" The burly man asked, puzzled. "In that case, we won't be able to obtain the organs of the remaining Tiger and Owl factions of Witchers, and the two sirs won't be able to hold their revenge promotion ceremonies."

"A vengeance ascension ceremony?" Sir Curaçao laughed upon hearing this, his laughter laced with disdain. "Do we, the noble vampires, need such a thing for ascension?"

"We're not here for the revenge advancement ceremony?" The burly man was taken aback by the question, and felt an itch on his scalp, so he involuntarily reached out to scratch it.

"Of course not," the middle-aged man on the right said calmly. "That so-called revenge advancement ceremony is nothing more than bait laid out by the Witchers to lure us into a full-scale attack."

"If it's bait, why did we come?" The burly man looked bewildered, completely unable to understand the two knights' thoughts.

"Klar, may we tell him?" Sir Curaçao asked his companion.

"Suit yourself. The Witchers can't cause much trouble. We can always take matters into our own hands," Sir Klar replied calmly.

Sir Curaçao, seeing the foolishness in the burly man's clear eyes, couldn't help but laugh and say, "Since you want to know, then I'll tell you."

"The noble bloodline has a long history, while we are just an insignificant branch of the bloodline."

Sir Curaçao spoke softly, "Before the magical energy dissipates, we vampires have long lifespans. Even the lowest-ranking knights can live for hundreds of years and can nurture offspring through the Embrace."

"But as magical energy fades, not only is our lifespan greatly reduced, but we also need to reproduce in the most primitive way, just like mortals."

"My ancestors were unwilling to accept this, so they tried to change it. They wrote a book in imitation of the last master of the Witcher and left a ritual in it."

"Next, we began to implement another plan, spending over a hundred years gradually taking control of several mortal kingdoms in the Northern Continent, while secretly supporting the separatist warlord forces."

"Are you aware of the war currently raging in the Northern Continent?"

At this point, Sir Curaçao turned to look at the burly man behind him, and seeing that the man's eyes were still so "clear," he could only shake his head helplessly.

"The current war in the Northern Continent is being instigated by us!" Sir Clare added from the side.

"Huh?" The burly man was startled by this and couldn't help but ask, "Why do you do this? Wouldn't it be better to control those mortal kingdoms?"

"To fulfill our ancestors' plan!" Sir Curaçao spread his arms and sneered, "We have long ago secretly laid numerous sacrificial formations throughout the Northern Continent. The hundreds of thousands who died in this chaotic war on the Northern Continent will become sacrifices in that ritual!"

"Which ceremony?" the burly man asked, still puzzled.

"Of course, it's the ritual we specifically reserved for the Witchers!" Sir Curaçao's expression stiffened, and he couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "What a muscle-bound idiot!"

The burly man's gaze remained unchanged, as if he hadn't heard the insults directed at him at all.

"Curaçao said that our noble bloodline has a long history, which has allowed us to know many secrets. Even though our branch was accidentally left here and faced a terrible situation of degeneration, we still found a way to break the deadlock."

Sir Clare said calmly, "A summoning ritual is performed by offering a large number of souls as sacrifices, thereby achieving the goal of returning magical energy."

"I see." The burly man suddenly understood, then asked with some confusion, "Then why don't we hold the ceremony ourselves, but instead have the Witchers do it?"

"Because we need an anchor point," Sir Curaçao said coldly. "Using us alone isn't enough; adding those damned Witchers would be safer. Besides, do you think there's no danger in performing a summoning ritual?"

"Since there's danger, it's always better to send the Witchers." The burly man nodded in agreement, looking up at the fortress built against the mountain in front of him.

……

Fortress Archives.

"Finally... finally, we've reached the last step!"

President Furen stood by the altar, looking at the burning candles on the altar and the ground array nodes, his eyes filled with an uncontrollable fervor.

"Master, the monster is approaching the archives. You may begin," Mr. Aruk reminded from outside the array. "If the summoning ritual fails, I will immediately detonate the buried explosives."

"Believe me, we won't fail!"

President Furen retorted vehemently, kneeling on one knee before the altar and chanting the incantation for the summoning ritual, "Praise be to the radiance, praise be to time and space, praise be to the abyss..."

As the summoning ritual proceeded, the array symbols carved on the ground emitted a faint glow, the flames on the candles burned more intensely, and a mysterious, invisible fluctuation slowly circulated within the array symbols.

President Furen continued chanting the incantation, finally kneeling respectfully on the altar: "Hear my plea... Descend!"

boom!

All the candles in the sealed room burst into flames and then went out, leaving only faint red dots on the wicks.

boom!

All the oil lamps in the secret room burst into flames and then went out like candles, plunging the room into complete darkness, making it impossible for any outside light to penetrate.

Jiang Yanming leaned against the wall at the entrance of the secret chamber, quietly waiting for the result of the summoning ritual. Suddenly, he felt a strange chill, followed by something indescribable emerging from the secret chamber.

"What is this?" Jiang Yanming stood up straight and turned to look at the secret passage.

He felt inexplicably comfortable, as if he had been thirsty for a long time and then drunk a sip of sweet spring water, feeling extremely refreshed.

"Could it be that we succeeded?" Jiang Yanming felt a little relieved.

Judging from the current situation, he shouldn't need the protective jade talisman of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

Jie Jie Jie...

A strange, low laugh suddenly rang out, as if whispering in one's ear, penetrating the eardrums and reaching the depths of the mind, with undisguised malice seeping into the bone marrow, causing everyone to involuntarily shiver.

Swish swish!

Everyone in the archives stood up with a chill, looking around frantically, trying to find the source of the laughter, but to no avail.

"What was that laughter just now?" one of the witchers couldn't help but ask.

"No!" Carrot turned his head sharply, his eyes fixed on the secret passage. "That laughter seemed to be..."

"I knew that summoning ritual was unreliable!" Tira said angrily, getting up to walk towards the passage.

"Don't make any rash moves!"

Jiang Yanming reached out to stop Tila, his eyes fixed intently on the darkness inside the passage.

Snapped!

The sound of something being crushed echoed in the dark chamber, followed by a strong smell of blood.

Apart from the three apprentices still in training, everyone else present was no ordinary person; their sense of smell had been enhanced, and they were especially sensitive to the smell of blood.

"not good!"

"Something's happened inside!"

"Damn it, what the hell did that ritual summon?!"

The witchers' expressions changed drastically. Everything inside the secret chamber was unknown, while outside the archives was an army of monsters. They were now caught in a pincer movement.

"I'll go in and take a look."

Jiang Yanming couldn't care less about anything else. Compared to the monsters known to the outside world, the unknown inside the secret room worried him more.

As soon as he entered the passage, he felt his vision dim, and he could only see his own palms. The darkness became more pronounced the deeper he went.

When Jiang Yanming entered the secret room, he could no longer see anything, and his nostrils were filled with a strong smell of blood.

call!

Jiang Yanming circulated his spiritual energy, and a ball of flame immediately ignited in his palm, but it could only illuminate his body.

"President Furen!"

"Mr. Aruk!"

Are you still alive?

Helpless, Jiang Yanming had no choice but to call out.

"That's interesting..."

It seemed to be Chairman Furen's voice that rang out.

"President Fu Lun?" Jiang Yanming turned his head to look to the side, and the voice seemed to be coming from that direction.

"In a world without magical energy, you can still cast spells... hmm... no, that doesn't seem to be spells, nor alchemy, but rather a spell-like ability." The voice said with interest, "That doesn't seem to be spells, nor alchemy, but rather a spell-like ability."

"You're not Chairman Fu Lun, who are you?" Jiang Yanming's eyes showed a hint of wariness.

In this dark environment, he could only illuminate his surroundings with the flame in his palm, but the other party seemed to be able to see him in the dark, which was definitely not an ability that Chairman Furen possessed.

"President Furen? You mean this body?" the voice said calmly. "This body is too weak, only slightly better than an ordinary mortal."

"You've taken over President Fu Lun's body?" Jiang Yanming's expression changed slightly.

He had always thought this summoning ritual was unreliable; failure would be a good outcome, but he was afraid of summoning an unknown entity!

"He called to me. Hmm... This world is unfamiliar, and I became slightly interested, so I borrowed his body to take a look." The voice said calmly, "By the way, you still haven't told me what system you cultivate?"

Jiang Yanming's mind raced, and he instantly recalled the records in the books about demon hunters. He couldn't help but ask, "Are you a demon or a devil?"

"Now, it's your turn to answer my question!" The voice sounded somewhat impatient.

"A cultivator." Jiang Yanming answered after a moment of silence, while taking out a protective jade talisman left by a Nascent Soul cultivator from his storage ring.

"That thing in your hand is interesting." The voice noticed Jiang Yanming's movements but said nonchalantly, "Hopefully it can help you survive, provided you can find a way to stop him."

"What do you mean?" Jiang Yanming's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Alright, now, your Chairman Furen will be returning." The voice carried a faint smile. "I hope we'll have a chance to meet again, provided you survive and stand before me..."

call!

The darkness rapidly contracted, instantly coalescing into a single point before vanishing without a trace.

Jiang Yanming, illuminated by the flames in his palm, saw Chairman Fu Lun, who had collapsed.

Jiang Yanming didn't check if Chairman Fu Lun was alive; instead, he followed the smell of blood to its source.

On the altar was a mass of unknown flesh and blood, which looked like it had been formed by an explosion, yet it was confined to a range of less than half a meter, which was eerie!

"What happened?" Mr. Aluk, who was lying in the corner, woke up, shaking his head to try to clear his head. "I think I just..."

"You and President Fu Lun both fainted just now," Jiang Yanming explained with a frown, then went to the unknown mass of flesh and blood, squatted down and examined it carefully.

After thinking about it, he decided not to reach out and touch it. It was best not to touch things of unknown origin.

The words of the unknown entity that possessed Chairman Furen just now were still echoing in his mind: if he wanted to survive, he had to stop that so-called "him".

"Did the ritual fail?" President Furen also woke up and struggled to get up.

"I don't know." Jiang Yanming stood up and stared at President Fu Lun. "President Fu Lun, you should tell me the entire summoning incantation now."

"I..." President Furen was just about to speak.

boom!

A distorted vortex formed above the altar, or more precisely, above the unknown flesh and blood, and an unknown energy continuously emanated from the vortex.

The unknown energy spread extremely quickly, instantly filling the entire secret room and continuously spreading along the passageway towards the archives outside.

When Jiang Yanming came into contact with that unknown energy, he felt as if his parched body had been nourished, a feeling of relief after a long drought, which made him feel extremely comfortable.

To his surprise, his body involuntarily absorbed the unknown energy. As the unknown energy surged into his body, the spiritual power residing in his dantian seemed to sense the provocation and immediately began to expel and devour the invading energy.

"It's magical energy!" President Furen also sensed the unknown energy and became incredibly excited. "Haha... I succeeded!"

The unknown energy continued to spread, passing through the archives and passageways, all the way to the outside of the fortress.

"This feeling..."

Sir Curaçao closed his eyes, a smile of immense joy on his pale face.

He felt the unknown energy nourishing his body, a feeling that made him feel incredibly comfortable. The noble blood that seemed to have dried up inside him flowed through his body once more.

"It's magical energy. The Witcher succeeded." Sir Klara looked at his companion calmly, even with a hint of seriousness. "Curaçao, should we risk waiting?"

"Just wait and see. We're direct subordinates, and we've done a great job, so we should be fine..." Curaçao was a little unsure. "Besides, even if we try to escape, we might not succeed. Instead, we might anger them."

"To be honest, if there were no other way..." Sir Clare stopped mid-sentence.

"Yes, after all, it is a demon from the abyss!" Sir Curaçao nodded in deep agreement.

……

The fortress, the secret room of the archives.

The mass of flesh on the altar was writhing, mirroring the slowly expanding vortex above, sending chills down the spines of the three people in the secret chamber.

"Furen! How do we stop the summoning ritual?!" Jiang Yanming reacted quickly and immediately asked President Furen upon seeing the situation.

"Wait, let me think!" President Furen also sensed that something was wrong.

A faint smell of sulfur emanated from the vortex…