High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1578: Chapter 322: The Ancient Game

The Moon Council is one of the three major pillars of the Mage Alliance, with an upper and lower chamber.

The lower chamber operates based on family units; any dark creatures that can form a family and possess a small piece of territory may gain a seat in the lower chamber after council deliberation.

The upper chamber is structured by clan units, with seats exclusively reserved for the five most powerful clans within the Moon Council.

Currently, the upper chamber seats are held by the five major clans—Qingqiu Fox Clan, Blood Race, Zombie Clan, Werewolf Clan, and Ghost Tribe. The five upper house representatives are Qingqiu Fox Clan’s Su Shijun, Blood Race’s Milton Karen, Zombie Clan’s Gongsun Bing, North American Werewolf Clan’s William Talbot, and the Dark Blue Castle’s Ghost Tribe’s Silent Souls.

Among them, Milton and William have long been the most fervent pursuers of Su Shijun, while Silent Souls’ sister, Soul Unchanged, is Su Shijun’s confidant. Coupled with Gongsun Bing’s perennial silence and indifference to miscellaneous affairs, this witch from Qingqiu, the least experienced among the five upper house members, has paradoxically become the most influential voice in the upper chamber.

Many wizards have privately speculated that, if there were a ’President’ position within the upper chamber, it would surely belong to the Qingqiu Su Family.

Of course, while the upper house members represent their clans, this does not mean these members are the most powerful individuals within their respective clans. They cannot fully dictate their clans’ positions and status within the chamber.

For instance, of the five upper house members, only Gongsun Bing, Silent Souls, and Su Shijun have truly advanced to the tier of Grand Wizards. Milton and William can merely rely on certain secret techniques to temporarily access Grand Wizard-level powers; in essence, their actual tier remains that of registered wizards—a fundamental disparity that does not impact the equal authority of the five members within the upper chamber.

Just like now.

In the spacious yet ornate lounge, Milton and William, Silent Souls and Gongsun Bing sat across from each other, each radiating magical fluctuations belonging to Grand Wizards.

Milton’s eyes bore dark bruises, while William had a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. Silent Souls and Gongsun Bing’s faces remained spotless, though one was staring absentmindedly at the chandelier on the ceiling, and the other was transfixed by the runes on the Persian carpet below—clearly lost in their own worlds. Their positioning opposite each other seemed more likely to prevent Milton and William from completely losing control.

The witch silently sighed.

This has long been a tradition before Moon Council upper chamber meetings: Milton, of Blood Race descent, and William, of Werewolf lineage, always have to fight first to demonstrate their mutual animosity.

This animosity stems partly from the historical feud between the Blood Race and Werewolves, as well as reasons tied to Su Shijun.

The witch had thought that, after having children, those two would calm down a bit—but evidently, she was overly optimistic.

The sound of the door opening suddenly altered the atmosphere of the prior standoff.

William Tapott, sprawled across the sofa with legs crossed, turned his head with a cheerful grin: ”Yo, Junjun, you’ve arrived!”

In a blink, he vanished from the sofa and reappeared by the witch’s side, holding a bouquet of blue roses in his hands, amicably smiling: ”...I picked these at Aunt Katherine’s garden while visiting Uncle Morton. Supposedly they can...”

His ”supposedly” was cut short.

A slender streak of green lightning tore through the void, descending heavily upon Mister Wolfman’s head, electrocuting him until his fur stood on end and his fangs involuntarily extended. As for the roses, they dissipated into a plume of ash under the lightning’s strike.

Su Shijun shot him a warning look.

”I’ve already warned you,” the witch said in an unusually cold tone, ”...don’t use that damn nickname in my presence, or next time I’ll rip off your head and kick it like a ball!”

William opened his mouth, releasing a few scorched white smoke rings, then grinned, exposing his teeth, his face dusted black: ”If you enjoy kicking balls, I can cut it off myself... Want me to pickle it with the voodoo secret method? After the flesh shrinks, it won’t hurt your foot when you kick!”

The witch’s lips trembled, abandoning any intention of communicating further with this idiotic dog.

But her silence didn’t mean no one else would speak.

As soon as William’s words fell, a warm voice came from Su Shijun’s right: ”I can arrange for Su Su to accept it on her behalf...”

”Crack!”

Another bolt of green lightning struck.

Duke Milton was treated to the same fate as Mister Tapott. Unlike the werewolf who willingly embraced the lightning, the Duke frantically dodged in a confined space, teleporting multiple times before finally evading the lightning’s chase.

Even so, the Bordeaux glass he was holding ended up with barely visible cracks along its edge, and the crimson liquid inside trickled down, leaving ugly streaks along the glass.

Vampire Mister frowned and twitched his pinky.

A cluster of sprites dressed in black uniforms glided silently from the lounge corners, taking the flawed glass from Milton and replacing it with a new one.

By now, Su Shijun had made her way to the center of the lounge.

Gongsun Bing raised his head, revealing a pale gold visage and lifeless eyes. Silent Souls shifted his gaze from the chandelier to the witch.

The Bronze Armored Zombie maintained his usual indifference, merely nodding slightly in acknowledgment.

The Ghost Mister waved at her amiably: ”Long time no see... Unchanged misses you dearly. When will you visit Dark Blue Castle? She just bought several new dresses.”

”Awful small talk.” The witch shook her head, but, remaining responsible toward the council, she reminded: ”I’ve just returned from Danghag after rejecting a proposal from the Alliance... They might make things difficult for you regarding the Dark Blue Castle case.”

The Ghost Mister let out a dreary sigh.

”It’s alright,” he reassured, ”they weren’t planning to let us off easily anyway... Which brings us back to the original discussion: only by mastering the power of destruction can we survive within destruction.”

Saying this, he pointed at the pitch-black world beyond the window, then at himself, adding: ”Be it this damned war or Danghag’s investigation into the Dark Blue Castle.”

The subject was heavy enough to stifle the lounge’s mood.

Duke Milton approached the coffee table holding his new wine glass, poured it full of fine wine, and raised it: ”Survival and destruction... It’s an ancient game. Like the ever-occurring events in the world outside this black void; like the tides surging all around the school outside Black Prison... This game is omnipresent, with all players involved.”

”Do you know something about this?” Su Shijun tilted her head, casting him a glance: ”Rumor has it you’ve developed a cozy relationship with that newly-formed Dark Council?”

Milton immediately forgot about the wine in his hand.