991 Moon Temple
The bright moon was looking a bit brighter than usual. It was like ripples from the illumination in a pond. The spaceship entered into a strange gravity as they approached the moon landing.
People at Emperor level or above descended from the spaceship, led by Lifa. Elysia was the exception in the group since she was the critical element in this visit.
‘Don’t use any space and time magic here. The moon temple by all means simple.’ Rhea reminded once again.
‘Heh, you are the most profocient one in that kind of magic, right? Won’t your combat power be cut in half if that’s the case?’ Xero grinned sarcastically.
‘Not really. I’ve learned many new things from my host master.’ After saying that, Rhea ignored Xero and walked alongside Elysia.
‘Ely, the gravitational force around the moon temple is a bit strange.’ Elena reported what she found.
‘Yeah… The surrounding place has minimal gravitational force, but around that moon temple… It’s like the normal gravitational force in Vrelenia.’ Elysia also noticed it, but she thought everything was okay.
After all, the moon temple itself was a mysterious divine holy artifact. Even Lifa, as the most senior among the Gods in the past, couldn’t fully uncover the unknown variables of that artifact when the previous era’s strongest Gods were still alive.
Lifa and Nell brought some materials and artifacts using levitation magic. And the three dragons teamed up to carry a white coffin exuding a holy aura and several other large items.
“I never expected the day that I, the ancient dragon overlord of the extreme north, would become a porter.” Lixue grumbled, but he still carried a lot of items tied to his mid-sized dragon body.
“Hmm.” Gio and Cherub had no opinion since those items were not a big deal for them to carry. They didn’t even need to use their most superb form for this task.
Elysia waved her hand at the spaceship as it slowly flew away from the moon.
‘We’ll be monitoring the situation from a safe distance.’ Lynn glanced at Elysia, and everyone on the moon, then gave a command to the spaceship interface. Elysia and the Goddesses entrusted a huge responsibility to her, and she served as the leader of this spaceship team.
‘Lynn, don’t be nervous. This is not the first time you have been entrusted with a great responsibility.’ Luna cheered on her daughter happily.
‘This situation is different, mother. I am now worried whether our spirit’s telepathy could be overheard by the Ruvoid Gods or not. Regardless, we’ll cover and assist everyone’s escape route. I will do foresight every two minutes. Please be safe.’ Lynn clasped her hands and regulated her breath. She was nervous, but she couldn’t let Elysia and everyone down.
‘Take it easy. It might go smoother than we thought.’ Elysia smiled, then turned around. Her face instantly turned into a neutral cold, void of any expression. “Let’s go.”
Elysia was at the forefront when she and her group stepped closer to the moon temple. The distance between their current position and the destination was only one kilometer. Still, the suppression felt more and more suffocating with every step they took.
The moon temple was a seven-story white pagoda-like building surrounded by seventeen silver torii and eleven little shrines that served as sealing formation cores. One hundred and eight statues of hermits were placed every three meters. Still, more than half of them had already crumbled into incorporeal lumps.
“Mental suppression, deception exclusion.” Nell cast mental protection to reduce the suppression of everyone by faking their presence and threw the pressure somewhere else with another bait suppression.
“The sealed ground is inside that white pagoda. Allow me to check around for a moment before we enter there. Please don’t touch or break anything, or the consequences will be disastrous.” Lifa looked back, warning everyone. She then hopped over to a nearby little shrine and inspected whatever she could find.
Xero and Oceanid also conducted a quick inspection to find any clues about the strongest God, Zadtris, and the second strongest Goddess, Hera, before they entered the pagoda.
‘Ely, see what might be hidden inside the pagoda. It condensed an extraordinary curse energy. The seal is cracked, on the verge of collapse, but why is everything so quiet?’ Ai observed deep into the pagoda from Elysia’s shadow. She didn’t see everything clearly, but she could tell the terrifying mass of curses inside.
‘That’s because they had expected our arrival and wanted to welcome us.’ Elena had expected this situation. She was pretty happy because there was no pretentious welcome.
“…” Elysia paused and scanned the white pagoda from top to bottom.
Her sacred vision was obstructed a bit, but she had already entered the advanced rank since her physical body was already at Saint-level. She could see most of the layout in there.
Even though it looked multi-floor, there was only one hall inside. A large stone pillar shaped like a coffin was placed vertically in the hall’s center. Hundreds of talismans and formation sealing cores were placed there, but most had already been reduced to ashes.
Elysia got an inexplicable feeling that. Her inner self was saying the two Gods Lifa was looking for had performed a sacrifice-sealing ceremony. They used their flesh, blood, and bone to seal the Ruvoid Gods within the stone coffin.
Even so, that was just Elysia’s hunch, and she couldn’t say the truth for sure before confirming everything. Apart from that, she was more concerned about Number One.
Zera continues to observe Number One’s every move, and the latter looks like he wants to destroy something to quickly enter the pagoda.
According to information from Zera, each formation core was difficult to destroy and would significantly damage the curse-bearing creatures that came into contact with it.
“…” Number One looked for an opening to do something, but Zera was intimidating. She ended up convincing herself to be patient for a while. She was already so close to returning to her almighty lord.
“Hmm…” Elysia averted her gaze to study the magic structures and laws of each sealing formation core.
The girls and three dragons just waited behind Elysia in silence.
After fifteen minutes had passed, Lifa couldn’t find any clues about the fate of the two people she was looking for. She then opened the pagoda’s gate with her divine law of order. “The Life of Nature and the Will of the World. The moonlight shall open the path for the sovereign to enter.”
*Rumble* *Rumble*
The gate was enveloped in moonlight, and the entrance slowly opened. Black cursed smoke oozed out from within, but the gate sucked every energy back inside.
“Hurry in now.” Lifa called out to everyone. The entrance could only be opened briefly, and everyone rushed inside immediately.
“Such a foolish decision for you to visit this sovereign. Since you came, then there is no way out!”
An intimidating deep sound echoed from all directions. A thick black cursed aura with doom enveloped the hall, and the entrance gate slammed shut.
“Hahaha, my almighty lord has awakened! This is the end for you all. You will become the nutrition to hasten the awakening of the almighty from the deep slumber!” Number One burst out laughing. She respectfully ran towards the stone pillar and bowed before the boundless darkness vortex. “Ruvoid Avatar, Number One, meet the almighty lord.”
pAnDa (nov)e1
Yuuki and Luna rushed to stand guard near Elysia, and Rhea stood at the front as a shield.
“You have degenerated into a useless servant and even lost my fragment of power. Such a useless thing is not worthy of being this sovereign avatar. Perish and return to your origin.” A gruff voice echoed from within the cursed vortex of darkness, sending the command to Number One and Zera.
“Aarghh!” Number One screamed in agony. She was glad to return to her origin, but for some reason, she was in anguish, as if her life was stripped under torment.
“I warned you. The invader only knows to devour, and you should be on my master’s side as protector.” Zera smirked and sighed. She took out a shard of black crystal before Number One was utterly wiped out of existence.
*Zap*
Number One’s spirit seed and soul fragment were sucked into a shard of black crystal in Zera’s hand, but the body was gone to the curse origin.
“My apologies, this weak command will have no effect on me because I have been enlightened and converted to a new belief. I would rather worship a beautiful and benevolent Goddess than an ugly formless thing like you.” Zera put the shard of black crystal into her pocket, then swept away the useless cursed mist trying to do something to her.
“This sovereign commends your courage to defy the fate and destiny. But will you have the power to resist when the almighty one descend upon the world? It will not be the same as it was a hundred thousand years ago. No one can stop me, even if you have the World Tree, the World’s Will, or even the otherworldly variables by your side. All of them simply have a destiny to be devoured by this sovereign.” The gruff voice grew quieter, but the pressure increased with every word. The curse exploded and aimed for the highest possible threat with great malice.
Everyone couldn’t move for that split second. Rhea couldn’t even notice the invisible attack from approaching Elysia.