All of us are one

Chapter 40 The So-Called Backup Plan

"Ultimately, it will summon a spatial portal, connecting to the world the mage went to before the magical energy dissipated."

President Furen's voice was fervent: "Once this summoning ritual is completed, we will receive the help of mages, and then we will be able to defeat the monsters and achieve a great revival for the Witchers."

"You're insane! You're absolutely insane!" Jiang Yanming said, somewhat annoyed, watching President Fu Lun's busy figure. "You're putting all your hopes on this summoning ritual? If it fails, or summons some terrifying being, then the Demon Hunters will perish!"

"Even if I don't do this, the Witchers will still perish!" Chairman Furen turned around and said angrily. "The Witchers have long been hopeless. This year, only three apprentices are being trained. Who knows if they can become official Witchers?"

"If changes are not made, within thirty years some schools of Witcher will be extinct, and within a hundred years, Witchers will be completely wiped out, existing only in records like Mages!"

"Alright, I don't object to your ritual, but you have to tell me where you learned about it?"

Jiang Yanming rubbed his temples. He couldn't deny that what President Fu Lun said was true, but the problem was that it was really stupid to place his hopes on the so-called summoning ritual!

"It's a book about witchers, of course." Guild Master Furen had already lit all the candles. "I found it by chance in an ancient book while trying to regain my spellcasting ability."

"Are you sure that was really a ritual to summon a spatial portal?" Jiang Yanming sighed softly.

"Confirmed!" President Furen nodded solemnly. "That ancient book is definitely over a hundred years old, and it was left behind by the last Witcher Master."

"To be honest, I still don't believe in that ritual," Jiang Yanming shook his head. "If that ritual really works, why didn't that demon hunter master use it?"

"Because that Witcher Master couldn't gather all the Witchers and a large number of monsters!" President Furen said confidently. "You know what? After reading that ancient book, I made up my mind to perform this ritual. To that end, I sold the book on the Vengeance Ascension Ritual through the auction house to raise funds to buy the headquarters."

Jiang Yanming recalled the phone call President Fu Lun had given him, and his eyes narrowed slightly: "So, you were an accomplice in the deaths of those three demon hunters!"

"This is a necessary sacrifice..." President Furen's voice was low. "For the Witcher to be revived, some sacrifices are worthwhile and necessary."

"You're a madman!" Jiang Yanming exhaled. There was nothing he could do now. Unless he was willing to take action at any cost, it would be difficult to deal with the demons outside.

"Is your ceremony not ready yet?" Jiang Yanming asked coldly.

"It's all ready. Now we can have them retreat to the archives and let the monsters in." Chairman Furen nodded.

"I hope your ritual works." Jiang Yanming glanced coldly at Chairman Fu Lun, then turned to inform the demon hunters to retreat.

Releasing monsters into the fortress is undoubtedly extremely dangerous. If the so-called summoning ritual fails or summons some terrifying being, then all the other demon hunters except him will die here!

woohoo hoo...

Jiang Yanming strode quickly through the fortress, intending to notify all the demon hunters inside to retreat to the archives room.

"What? Move to the archives!"

"What kind of order is this? The monsters haven't even stormed the fortress yet!"

"Fine, since it's Chairman Furen's order, let's retreat."

Despite their confusion, the witchers retreated in an orderly fashion towards the archives.

"well……"

Jiang Yanming walked at the back and sighed softly when he saw that there were only 16 living demon hunters.

All witchers could have lived, even if it was a hard life.

However, with Chairman Furen's actions, more than half of the official Witchers in the Witcher Guild died. Whether the rest can survive depends on whether his summoning ritual goes as expected.

All the Witchers retreated to the archives, including the three apprentices in training, leaving the archives crammed with 21 people.

As Carrot bandaged a Witcher's wound, he asked Jiang Yanming, "Where is Guild Master Furen?"

"It's inside," Jiang Yanming said, pointing to the cave entrance.

"The archives have a secret room?" Carrot looked at the opening with surprise. "What's the chairman doing in there?"

"He's been putting all his hopes into his summoning rituals." Jiang Yanming sighed. "He's pinned all his hopes on them."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the Witchers who heard it were stunned.

"Has he gone mad?!" Tira cried out through gritted teeth, clutching her wounded arm. "He actually... he actually pinned his hopes on the ritual!"

"Damn it! I trusted him so much!" Carrot's face was full of anger as he got up and was about to rush towards the secret room.

"Carlot, don't be impulsive!" Mr. Aruk called out to stop him.

Carrot stopped in his tracks, but couldn't help but shout angrily, "Mr. Aruk, you heard it all! The chairman actually..."

"As you all know, even with our fortress for defense, we still can't stop the monsters' attack. It's only a matter of time before they breach the fortress," Mr. Aruk sighed.

"That's true, but we can kill more monsters by relying on the fortress for defense. Without the protection of the fortress, we're just waiting to die!" one of the witchers cried out indignantly.

"Since we're all going to die anyway, why not put our hopes on the summoning ritual?" Mr. Aruk countered. "What if the summoning ritual succeeds? Wouldn't that turn the tide of battle?"

The witchers remained silent.

Yes, the summoning ritual could potentially turn their defeat into victory, but what chilled them to the bone was that President Furen hadn't been honest with them, instead keeping their hopes pinned on the summoning ritual.

"We are not without a backup plan," Mr. Aruk said calmly. "President Furen and I have planted a large amount of high explosives in the fortress. If the summoning ritual fails, these explosives will blow the entire fortress into the sky. At that time, we will take a large number of monsters with us and die. It's not too bad."

"Fu Lun, you're a fucking bastard!" Jiang Yanming's heart sank when he heard this.

Even if he is a cultivator with magical artifacts at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages to protect him, he still cannot withstand the high explosives that can blow a fortress into the sky. At that time, he can only rely on the protective jade talisman left by the Nascent Soul stage cultivator to save his life.

Using a Nascent Soul stage cultivator's protective jade talisman to withstand the explosion of high explosives is such a waste!

Da da da……

Gunshots rang out from outside the archives. Without even looking, it was clear that monsters had entered the fortress and were clearing the way with bullets to prevent being shot in the back.

"The monsters have entered the fortress." Upon seeing this, Mr. Aruk got up and walked towards the secret chamber.

As Jiang Yanming watched Mr. Aluk's figure disappear into the corridor, he couldn't help but wonder, "Did that old man already know Chairman Furen's purpose?"

……

Outside the fortress.

The two middle-aged men, dressed in bespoke suits, were laughing with glee on their pale, bloodless faces.

"Finally, we've reached the final step!"