Or more specifically, everyone lost their innate hostility at the same time.
The younger generation of demon hunters and otherworldlings had experienced the weakening of innate hostility since a few months ago, but this phenomenon did not affect the ancients like Hasse and Hesperides due to their bloodlines. The innate hostility of both of them had also gone without them realizing it, and it was at that moment that the Shades of Chaos emerged.
For this reason, it was hard not to link both incidents together.
Hao Ren scratched his chin. "Among the two, which one is the cause? Was it that the lack of vigilance had led to the appearance of the Shades of Chaos, or that the activity of the Shades of Chaos had caused you all losing your innate hostility?"
"It's the nature of the Shades of Chaos to cause conflict and disorder, not suppress them. So we can rule out the second scenario," Vivian said, shaking her head. "As for the first scenario, though there is no obvious contradiction, why did the innate hostility of everyone disappear suddenly in the first place?"
Hesperides glanced at Hasse with a somber look on her face. "When you look at me right now, do you feel like killing me?" she asked.
There were not many expressions on Hasse's face. "No, I don't," he replied.
"Well, I do," Hesperides said with her arms crossed, "but it has nothing to do with the innate hostility. It's just that I don't like your face," she said.
"It seems that everyone has lost the innate hostility," Vivian said, her eyes scanning the other demon hunters, who looked confused and uncomfortable. Though without the innate hostility they were less nervous before Hesperides and Vivian, they somehow felt it weird. The unnatural feeling was understandable. They had been living with the innate ability for all their lives; it had become as natural as breathing. Vivian only shook her head. "It all happened in the critical juncture. Anyway, I think the loss of the hostile instinct is related to the activity the Shades of Chaos. Those shadows attack the mind; especially when everyone has no vigilance."
Her theory sounded plausible, but there was still no explanation as to why the hostility instinct of everyone disappeared spontaneously. The only reason they could think of was that there was something in the hall.
"Let's get back in and check it out," Hasse said. "There may be something in the hall that is capable of eliminating the hostile instincts."
They immediately returned to the hall. Hasse said to White Flame, "Contact Teuton with your magic and ask him about their situation. Tell him what has happened here and warn him about the Shades of Chaos."
The hall remained the same as before. The exorcism ritual had not changed the hall physically, and it only affected the Shades of Chaos which were shadows on the object surface. As the dust had settled, scattered furniture and dead bodies were the only things left inside. A faint white light, which carried a hint of sacred aura, was lingering in the air. The investigators began searching around for anything that might have residue of magic or ritual, while Hasse stood in the center of the hall, looking up thoughtfully at the hole on the dome.
Hao Ren went over and asked Hasse, "What did you find?"
"Nothing, I am just not used to it," Hasse said, sighing. "You know, killing instinct has been with me for thousands of years, as natural as the feeling of hunger and pain, but now it's gone..."
Nearby, Lily heard what Hasse said. She bared her fangs. "I don't feel a thing. It's better not to have that instinct," she said.
Hao Ren had almost forgotten. The husky possessed a certain degree of hostility towards other races too, just like the normal otherworldlings. Though hers was very weak, it occasionally manifested in things like squabbling for food with Vivian.
Hasse, who rarely showed any emotion, laughed. "Maybe, the younger generation like you is lucky. At least you can control your mind more easily, and are more adaptive than an old man like us."
Hao Ren had never had a good impression of the senior demon hunter. He always had the feeling that Hasse was cold and old-fashioned, and had a deep-rooted prejudice against the otherworldlings. However, Hao Ren had sensed a touch of humanity in Hasse this time. He did not believe that this change was the result of the disappearance of the killing instinct, but he also did not like to poke his nose in other's lives, so he gave a perfunctory reply.
"If what happened just now is anything to go by, we can infer what happened a month ago," Lily said, looking around. "Look at these banquet tables, the demon hunters that Amatura brought were having a good time with the Ancattero family. Probably, they also lost their hostile instinct, just like us, before the Shades of chaos appeared," she said.
Hasse nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Hesperides called out, "Look at this!"
Hao Ren and the others went over only to find Hesperides was standing in front of a banquet table at one end of the hall, holding a beautiful but weirdly huge golden cup in her hand.
"Is there a problem with the cup?" Hao Ren asked curiously. They had been busy checking the dead bodies and signs of battle in the hall and entirely overlooked the banquet tableware that had strewn everywhere.
"Do you think people normally drink from such a huge cup?" Hesperides flipped the cup bottom up, revealing a series of complicated runes and patterns on the circular base. "It seems like a ceremonial vessel," she said.
Then she pointed to the marks next to the banquet table and other strange items scattered on the ground. "Looks like they had a ritual. These cups and candlesticks are different from those on the other tables, and usually not used in a banquet."
Vivian took the golden cup in her hand. She saw some residue—the dried red wine. She could smell the suspicious scent. "It smells the blood of the demon hunters. They mixed the red wine with blood," she said.
Then she found another cup under the table. "It's true. It tastes like the blood of the Ancattero family member," Vivian said.
"They came here to swear in as bothers?" Lily asked.
Vivian stared at the husky. "Though I feel that what you said is possible, could you please shut up?"
"It was a communion, but the scene has been destroyed," Hasse said, bending over to examine the banquet table that laid on the ground with two broken legs. There were some subtle traces of runes on the table, but the rest of the table was charred. "Otherwise we could know what this ritual was all about—"
Before Hasse's voice trailed off, White Flame suddenly broke in. "Teacher, Master Teuton is back, and—"
Hasse looked up, noticing White Flame's unusual expression. "What happened?" he asked quickly without waiting for White Flame to finish.
"They found Elder Andaherr, but she seems a bit weird."
Hasse immediately let them in. Hao Ren saw Teuton and two demon hunters walking into the hall with Wayne following from behind. In the middle was a small figure draped in a deep-purple cloak.
Wayne nodded to Vivian before Hesperides pulled him to a side, asking him what happened. Meanwhile, Hasse came up to the short figure and carefully lifted the hood off the figure's head. "Elder Andaherr?"
Hao Ren looked at the person, a woman in her thirties with long gray hair and an Asian face. Though she was an ancient of the same period as Hesperides, like other long-living races, age did not catch up on her face. The only weird thing was that this Elder Andaherr was strange, just like what White Flame had said.
She looked inert and did not respond to her surroundings. Even though Hasse greeted her, she just looked up and could not say anything.
Looks like she lost her mind.