A man among dragons, building a mysterious ancient church.

Chapter 323 Aftermath: How could the Emperor have fallen so low?

Damn it! We just let them get away like that?!

Enraged, Yuan Zhisheng punched the A-pillar of the car next to him, bending the high-strength steel A-pillar with a single blow!
The excessive force of the imperial blood shattered the windshield of the car. The clanging sound of glass shards breaking on the ground brought Yuan Zhisheng back to his senses, and he quickly looked around.

He saw the backs of passersby fleeing in panic; he saw cell phones with only their cameras showing through the windows of the surrounding cars;

More than anything, dozens of eyes were fixed on him and Makoto Aso from behind the car windows around them, some with fear, some with excitement, and some even trembling.

This is troublesome. This was the first thought in Genji's mind. The bloody scene of Inse devouring the King just now scared away many passersby, which inadvertently helped the Snake Clan drive away the crowd.

The problem is that many drivers and passengers in the cars that cleared the way around the road didn't have time to escape!

They hid in the car, unaware whether they had seen the whole thing, and even less aware of how many people had filmed it!
If someone were to post the video online, the mixed-race individuals would likely remain undetected, but the fact that someone secretly possesses extraordinary abilities would inevitably spread uncontrollably, sweeping across the entire world like a tidal wave.

The reactions of ordinary people are more difficult to deal with than the attacks of the demons, and could potentially lead to some large-scale social incident.

The thought of future troubles gave Yuan Zhisheng a headache of frustration. His retainer, Yacha, stepped forward and said, "Master, why don't we have the brothers surround this place and confiscate everyone's cell phones one by one?"

This was the simplest, most direct, and most effective idea that Yaksha could think of. Rather than dealing with the public opinion of hundreds of millions of people in the future, it was better to deal with the dozens of people here directly.

Aso Makoto, who was standing nearby, thought to himself upon hearing this, "As expected of someone from the Yakuza family, their methods are simple and brutal: Don't worry."

"In the last incident involving the ancient city and underground river on Bello Island, our Tokyo Diocese was able to guide public opinion toward faith, and we can do the same this time."

Genjiro realized something; no wonder Aso Makoto dared to openly use the Crimson Moonlight to clear the way and make other cars give way. It turned out he had already planned out a follow-up solution and would continue his missionary work.

After a moment's thought, Genjiro ultimately decided to hand the matter over to Aso Makoto's Tokyo Diocese, as the Snake-Headed Eight Family would be too rough in handling it: "Then I'll leave it to Bishop Aso."

Although Makoto Aso was mentally prepared, and often closed the temple doors and used the moonlight to illuminate believers in the past, this time the commotion was so big that her grandmother might find out.

I'll talk to Grandma first when I go back this time.

His worries did not affect Aso Makoto's actions. With light and graceful steps, Aso Makoto walked to the front of the road. A bright, crimson moon hung overhead, illuminating the entire road.

The crimson light fell once more, prompting many of the drivers and passengers, who were themselves believers, to immediately get out of the car and respectfully pray.

Some drivers and passengers who were not believers disagreed: "Are you crazy? Opening the door at this time? Aren't you afraid of being arrested?! Didn't you just see? That masked guy was swallowed up bloodily!"

"You're the one who's crazy! That's not a bad guy, that's Bishop Aso, the archbishop of the Tokyo diocese of the Old Church! This is the moonlight blessed by God! With the protection of the Old Church, we have nothing to fear from that vampire!"

"What old church? Religion is all a lie! No, don't open the car door!"

"Hmph, lying? Go pray for yourself and see the phantom of the god, then you won't say that! I am the true believer of the past!"

"You will regret this!"

"boom!"

In an instant, Aso's crimson moonlight drew the attention of many drivers and passengers, and even passersby fleeing the roadside turned around in twos and threes to gaze at the mysterious crimson moon that had appeared in the daytime.

Aso Shin turned his head and gestured to Inuyama Taro. Inuyama Taro understood and took a few steps forward. When they saw him, many people were still in awe!

Because Ince, who previously devoured the King in the street, was also wearing the same black double-breasted priest's robe as Taro Inuyama!
Unlike Ince, Taro Inuyama has an ethereal voice. Under the crimson moonlight of Aso Makoto, his inspiration increases and his spirit becomes more active. He can soothe people's hearts with just a few words: "Everyone, there is no need to panic."

The lingering anxiety in the air seemed to be soothed by Taro Inuyama, and the driver and passengers who had already gotten off the bus felt very relieved and prayed even more devoutly.

The driver and passengers who hadn't gotten off the bus also felt less afraid and unconsciously lowered their windows a little, just to listen more carefully to those ethereal and comforting words.

"The ancient gods will protect every devout believer when the final end comes."

“What is happening today is a harbinger of the final end times. The angels, saints, bishops, and every temple keeper, including myself, of the old church will strive to ensure the safety of all believers.”

The drivers, passengers, and passersby present all felt a sense of peace from the bottom of their hearts, and their original panic and fear disappeared.

Under the amplification of Aso Mayuki's presence, Inuyama Taro's ability as a soothing sage was enhanced. However, it did not specifically cause a person to lose all emotions and fall into tranquility; it merely spread widely, forming a degraded form of solace.

Even if the reassurance is insufficient, it is effective enough in eliminating fear and panic.

Those who were already church believers began to pray, and those who were not yet believers crudely imitated and followed suit in prayer.

It is foreseeable that these people will become church believers in the future.

Seeing how Inuyama Taro had managed to appease all the passersby with just a few words, the crow couldn't help but feel a little uneasy: "Master, is this really alright?"

The influence of the old church is growing, affecting more and more ordinary people. If this continues, one day, everyone will be a believer.

When that day comes, will the Snake Clan still be able to maintain its independence and self-respect when facing the old church?
Recently, the Snake Clan and the Old Days Church have been cooperating frequently, and Crow has discovered that several underworld members have begun to believe in the Old Days Church.

If this continues, things will get very bad.

Genjiro also harbored such worries. Even now, still naive in nature, he only knew one thing: "Can we confront the Old Church head-on?"

The crow fell silent. This was a consensus within the family long ago. When Genjiro visited the Tokyo diocese, he had already said that the family did not want to clash with the powerful Old Church.

Because the Snake Clan is unlikely to be a match for the Old Church, even if the Snake Clan has royal blood, it would be difficult for them to defeat the Old Church.

Genji turned around and patted Raven on the shoulder: "Don't think too much for now. Our enemies right now are the Oni Clan, Herzog, and the traitor Ince."

Deal with the immediate enemy first, then consider the future.

We can't expect the Snake Clan to turn against the Old Church before we've even dealt with Ince, Herzog, and the Oni Clan, can we?

The crow nodded silently, only able to pray in its heart that the head of the Uesugi family could maintain good relations with the old church.

While Inuyama Taro was still comforting passersby, Asou Makoto, who had already released Hiigetsu, returned to his car. At some point, Kazama Ruri had quietly left.

"He still hasn't kept his promise and hasn't left the information about the Oni Clan as agreed." Aso Makoto frowned. "Genjiro's younger brother, he's not keeping his word."

Considering Erii's relationship with the two brothers, and the trust and favor shown by Genjiro in entrusting the task of calming the crowd to the Tokyo Diocese, Aso Makoto turned to Genjiro.

He confessed about Kazama Ruri.

This was the first time the crow had ever seen the head of the family so out of control!
"What did you say? Chizuru... Chizuru is still alive? And she's the 'Dragon King' of the Demon Clan!"

Aso Makoto thought to himself, "So Kazama Ruri's real name is Minamoto no Chizuru? She really is... true to her name."

Surrounded by his three retainers and Aso Makoto, Genjiro, who had been swaying from side to side as if he were drunk, quickly recovered and gritted his teeth, saying, "It's...it's actually the 'Dragon King' of the Demon Clan?"

"Back then, back then! I was right!"

"Back then?" Aso Mana's previously subsided curiosity surged again: "Back then, you killed your brother and pushed him into an old well?"

Upon hearing the keyword 'ancient well,' Yuan Zhisheng swayed violently again: 'Ancient well, yes, that ancient well, I need to go see it, I need to dig it up.'

"Master..." Sakura Yabuki's worried words made Genji pause in his steps. Yes, he was already the head of the Snake Clan and could no longer act willfully.

He had to return to his family home first, summon all the family heads, and discuss the matters concerning Ince, Herzog, the White King, and the Oni Clan. Even though he was eager to return to the ancient well where the Genji was buried, he had to be patient.

Because this is the responsibility of the head of the family!
Aso Shin had no idea how complicated Genjiro's feelings were right now: "So Kazama, no, Genjiro didn't lie to me, you really stabbed him?"

Genji clenched his fist, then quickly relaxed it again: "Chijo is right. A long, long time ago, I was taken by my father to the Snake-Headed Eight Family for training, while Chijo stayed in that small mountain village."

“I often go back to see him and buy him his favorite toys, but, the bloodline of the young girl is too unstable. Once when I went back to see him, I saw with my own eyes that he had fallen into a demon and killed more than ten girls in the small mountain village.”

"Without a choice, as the demon slayer of the clan, I personally... killed my younger brother."

"?" Aso was genuinely confused. Wasn't it said that the royal bloodline was stable and would not fall into depravity, which was why it was the emperor of the mixed-blood race? How could Genji have fallen into depravity so easily?
When Aso Shin voiced his doubts, Genji was struck dumb, his entire body going numb from head to toe!

"Yes, yes! The young girl... she's also an emperor, how could that be? But I clearly witnessed with my own eyes... no, the young girl fell into demonhood... why would an emperor fall into demonhood?"

Seeing that Genji was about to be driven crazy by Aso Makoto's questioning, Yabuki Sakura quickly stepped forward to help him up, while looking at Aso Makoto with a pleading expression.

Seeing Yabuki Sakura staring at him like that, Aso Makoto, no matter how curious he was, couldn't ask any more questions. He simply turned around and helped Inuyama Taro calm things down.

It's easy to talk things out on the spot; the moonlight soothes the soul and keeps people calm.

In the realm of the internet, their reach is limited.

Someone has already secretly filmed the video and uploaded it to the internet. Because the scene of Ince devouring the King was so explosive, it spread very quickly.

Fortunately, the major dioceses of the old church around the world stepped forward to appease believers. Various forces, while cursing the old church's ostentatious behavior, had no choice but to cooperate with the countries and join forces to suppress the spread of public opinion.

Even before the nuclear missiles were launched during the Bellow Island incident, various countries had already learned of the Black King's terror from various hybrid factions.

While quietly stockpiling highly lethal weapons, they also decided to entrust specialized tasks to professional dragon-slaying forces.

They only need to maintain stability and should not let too many ordinary people know the whole truth, for fear that it will cause various forms of mass chaos and social problems.

Various forces and countries joined forces to suppress public opinion and began to deploy troops to Tokyo!

Whether it's videos taken by passersby or street surveillance footage, they all clearly and accurately convey the most important intelligence to all parties involved!
The White King, the White Emperor who once shared the throne with the Black King Nidhogg, the supreme ruler of the dragon race, is in Tokyo!

Whether it's the White King's Dragon Bone Cross or some other remnant, the Snake Clan has been searching for the White King's legacy for many years, and Dr. Herzog, behind the Demon Clan, also wants to steal the White King's power.

With such a wonderful power, which faction wouldn't want a piece of the pie?
As I said before, the Black King is about to return. From now on, every bit of power is something that all factions desperately want to possess, and they are unwilling to miss any possibility of progress.

The various forces that had long been mobilized by the internal wanted notice issued by the old church began to converge in Tokyo.

(End of this chapter)