Chapter 2858: Ancient Hunter and the Brand of Sin

Although the atmosphere and environment were abnormally oppressive, after the doctor was completely wrapped in the black cocoon, except for the black light emitted by the entire ritual and the fine whispers around, there were no more abnormalities here. Xia De waited quite vigilantly for changes at first, but after half an hour, everything here had not changed, so his thoughts dispersed a little.

Glancing at the long sword in his hand, he asked in his heart:

"What exactly is the so-called 【Demon King】?"

"From the information currently contacted, it is not a god."

"She" answered softly, and Xia De also agreed with this answer:

"But if it is not a god, then isn't this existence similar to the mermaid currently in Moon Bay?"

He had actually been thinking about this question a long time ago:

"The power displayed by that mermaid is extremely powerful, but before I met it, wasn't it sealed in Cold Water Port for hundreds of years by a drop of divinity? In other words, no matter how strong an existence below a god is, as long as I have divinity, the so-called 【Demon King】 or 【Desire】 is not a terrifying enemy that cannot be solved."

"She" smiled gently:

"Then, do you know how to use divinity to seal something?"

"Hmm... in the state of divine combustion, can't I just use the Lost Lock - Kiss of the Tree?"

Xia De's eyes continued to stare at the motionless cocoon.

"Then the next question, why was it that during the Battle of Moon Bay, according to the Witches, during the period you 'died,' that mermaid could face a blow from the Evil Dragon God, and showed no signs of injury afterwards?"

"This..."

Xia De really couldn't answer this question, but the sealing of "Desire" was indeed something that had happened. In other words, the power of divinity could only be effective against such weird and powerful existences through appropriate methods, but Xia De didn't know how to do it specifically.

Of course, whether "Desire" and the "Demon King" could be compared together was just Xia De's guess. Perhaps the power gap between the two was as large as that between Xia De and Little Mia, but this did not prevent Xia De from viewing them as the same kind at this time.

Rustle~

In the silence, the sudden sound became exceptionally obvious. Xia De immediately looked around, but the sound did not come from the ritual in the clearing, but from outside the clearing.

As the sound of footsteps and the sound of pushing aside bushes got closer, a man carrying two long swords, dressed in hunting gear, with an obvious scar on his face, walked out of the woods. But this was not a living person; his body presented a transparent feeling that emitted blue light. And even if they were nearly thirty meters apart, Xia De could feel the strong whisper elements on the other party.

After the man appeared, he did not enter the ritual range, but frowned at the scene before him. Then his gaze shifted to Xia De, and he walked towards him:

"Young man, is this demon-man the one accepting the trial?" (Dra Rian Common Language)

He asked Xia De like this. Xia De also saw the same transparent 【Demon Hunting Seal】 on his hand and the bright demon hunter marks on his buttons, so he understood immediately:

"Are you the ancient demon hunter summoned from the 'Demon Hunter's Notes'?"

"Not summoned."

The man corrected:

"What you see of me is just an echo from the past remaining in that notebook. Whenever someone wants to accept the inheritance, those echoes will be triggered. Perhaps this face really existed, but I am not him; I am the sum of all the echoes left in the book... Is what you are holding 【Night Watcher】?"

"You recognize this too?"

Xia De waved his sword and found that the hunter was not afraid. The other party shouldn't be the kind of spirit residing in a book in stories. That the book could be held by Xia De and carried back and forth through the "Space Maze" had already proven this point.

The expressionless hunter nodded, looking more interested in Xia De than in the doctor:

"No demon hunter does not recognize this sword. In order to fight those evil spirits, we forged a total of three most powerful weapons—

【Night Watcher】, we are hunters guarding the night of the world, we need sharp long swords;

【Demon Hunter Encyclopedia】, demons are immortal, so we need methods to contain and seal them. This book can seal those demons whose power is completely exhausted and close to rebirth, which is the most reliable prison;

【Path of No Light】, this is a compass used to track demons. As long as the identity and power characteristics of the demon are known, the compass can accurately point the way for the hunters."

He didn't look at Xia De when he spoke, but continued to look at the sword Xia De was holding:

"The birth of these three weapons allowed intelligent creatures to barely maintain their tribes from extinction in the terrifying Third Era. And after that era ended, we borrowed the chaos of history and time during the era change to bury their names and meanings, hoping that they could perish together with the evil spirits. The existence of these weapons themselves has been linked to too many terrifying things."

After speaking, he looked up and asked Xia De:

"Since you are recognized by it, why not destroy this demon-man?"

The strange hunter pointed to the large cocoon in the center of the ritual again. Xia De shook his head immediately:

"You should be able to feel it, right? The one who opened the trial of the 'Demon Hunter's Notes' is the demon-man you mentioned."

"I can feel it, but obviously you are more suitable than him. So, he wants to possess the power of both a demon and a hunter?"

"He wants the power of a hunter to help him balance the power of the demon he was forced to possess."

Xia De corrected:

"There are many stories in this, and some stories, even if I say them out, make me feel like I'm helping him walk towards a doomed ending. But he is my friend, and I will take the responsibility to ensure the worst result does not happen, so I will not destroy him."

The hunter was expressionless:

"I can feel that he has hunted many demons; he is indeed different from a demon-man. But I also felt that most dangerous power. He is a container, right?"

Xia De could only guess his meaning:

"If you are talking about that first demon, yes."

"Do not mention its existence lightly."

The hunter warned Xia De again, but he did not oppose passing on the power because of this:

"The power of a hunter can indeed suppress the power he contains. If it is because of this, I will help him complete the ritual. But young hunter, do you understand the fate you have accepted when you hold this sword?"

"It wasn't me who opened that book. I don't want to become a hunter for the time being, sorry."

Xia De continued to shirk. The girls around him all opposed him doing this, so he would absolutely not accept this "second profession."

He thought this expressionless hunter would continue to persuade him, but unexpectedly, he gave up immediately:

"But 【Night Watcher】 is in your hands; you will eventually understand."

He turned and was about to step into the ritual in front of him. The blue glowing light on his body swayed like a flame blown by the wind.

Xia De suddenly asked again at this time:

"I would like to ask a question. That existence that cannot be mentioned, at the beginning of its birth, was it sealed by a man without wishes?"

The hunter turned and shook his head at him:

"No one knows how that existence was born. All the stories currently circulating are just stories. Young hunter, do not over-explore the origin of that existence. If it has never revived in your era, then just assume it does not exist."

As he said this, he turned to leave again, but Xia De embarrassedly called him back:

"I am truly sorry, actually there is one more thing. It is not easy to run into someone like you who knows everything... Do you know the mermaid named 'Desire'? Which of the two of them is actually stronger?"

This time, although the hunter still stopped and turned around, he did not answer immediately. Just as Xia De thought he was being too excessive to make things difficult for a past echo, he finally said:

"To humans, they are actually the same."

"But they are ultimately not the same existence, are they? Although both are terrifying and powerful, there should still be some differences."

The hunter's eyes looked at the sword Xia De was holding again, which made Xia De think that if 【Night Watcher】 were not here, the hunter would absolutely not answer this question:

"A mortal once asked a god the same question in the Third Era. The god said—

【They were born because of the world, but the Great Sin Brand is broken. Although they approach the Supreme, they ultimately do not become the Supreme.】 (Third Era unknown ancient language)"

"Hmm?"

Xia De blinked, but the hunter did not give Xia De another chance to ask questions this time. He turned and transformed into a blue light, diving into that large black cocoon in one go. The cocoon expanded and contracted violently as if a heart were pumping blood, but it soon returned to calm.

His way of leaving so quickly was actually very correct, because Xia De did indeed want to ask about the book and the compass. If he could find those two items, perhaps the doctor could hunt and pursue devils more efficiently in the future.

"Approaching the Supreme... the term 【Great Sin Brand】, didn't I hear about it last year?"

He asked in his heart, and "She" still gently gave the answer:

【At the end of last summer, when you first saw "Desire" in the basement of the Aurora Manor, she once said "If you could be born in the First Era, you would be qualified to compete for the Great Sin Brand".】 (413)

"Did the god's answer in the Third Era mean that if the Great Sin Brand were not broken, then Desire and the devil would still have the possibility..."

But this time no one could answer his question. Too much time had passed since the end of that ancient era of flourishing civilization. Even if the audience under the stage could occasionally see some broken sentences and fragments from the corner of the performance, they could ultimately not piece together all the truths of history.

"After I killed the ancient 【Mimic】 in the secret room of the Golden Music Hall, I did get a 【Greed Brand】. I don't know if there is any connection between them... I hope everything goes smoothly next."

He sighed slightly, watching the blue patterns on the black cocoon slowly outlining the Witcher's symbol, and continued to wait with his sword.