Amid Heiserana's reluctant farewell, directed mainly at Vivian, the group left the sanctuary. Outside, True Athens was still bathed in brilliant sunlight, bustling and peaceful. No one would have imagined that such a thrilling battle had once taken place in the shadows of this seemingly tranquil city. The Demon Hunters had yet to withdraw completely. After the Ancients had driven them from the sanctuary at the cost of their lives, some Demon Hunters established several new bases throughout the city. Those bases would probably remain for over a century, monitoring and suppressing the development of the Shadow Sanctuary. However, the Demon Hunters couldn't launch another attack for the time being—the Shadow Interlayer had restarted, and their casualties in this operation had been substantial as well. By now, they could no longer raise a vast army of churches and exorcists to sweep an area clean as they had in the Mythical Era. They also had to monitor abnormal activity in other parts of the world, so organizing a large-scale operation like today's wasn't easy.
Just as Heiserana had said, everything would continue as usual. The only difference was that a new group of souls had been added to the dead.
Worried that the Demon Hunters in Athens might discover them, the group didn't linger. They completed the necessary procedures and immediately boarded a plane home. There was just one extra person in the group this time: Hesperis had joined them.
"You're sure you can dispel the Demon Hunters' power?" Hesperis was still somewhat doubtful of Hao Ren's promise. She had only agreed to leave Athens with them because Vivian vouched for him. But whenever she thought about the hole in her head, which had tormented her for thousands of years, she felt that this whole thing was rather unreliable.
Hao Ren