East Prit, Tivian.
Above Tivian, a dark red storm began to constantly blow through the space, sweeping all around, and the entire sky gradually became enveloped by a deep crimson shadow, making people feel extremely oppressed.
The Dream World phantom that was originally suspended above Tivian was now becoming extremely distorted and unstable. Visibly, the Woodland scenery within the phantom was also undergoing drastic changes. Dark red thorns broke out of the Dream World's soil one after another, extending upwards and wrapping around the giant trees, seemingly like parasitic plants intent on strangling them.
And in the center of that Dream World phantom, the formerly pure white dream cocoon was now covered in grotesque dark red patterns. Greedy, ugly spiders bit into it with their venomous fangs, seemingly sucking out the nutrients within.
"How… how could this happen… the Queen of Pain… is starting to devour the divinity of the Holy Cocoon… She wants to claim the throne of the Lord of Dreams for herself. We must stop her immediately, otherwise this world…"
Beside Dorothy, the floating Black Cat spoke his warning to the Dragon beside him amidst extreme pain and struggle. At this moment, he was gradually unable to speak completely normally.
However, facing the Black Cat's warning, Dorothy, who was still in her Dragon form, did not immediately do anything. Facing the Spider Queen's sucking of the Holy Cocoon, she did not immediately fly towards the Dream World to try and stop her. At this moment, she seemed to be waiting for something.
With a silent and solemn expression, Dorothy turned her head and looked at two places: one was the main venue of the opening ceremony not far away in East Tivian, on Ten Thousand Nations Plaza, and the other was the direction of the distant Main Continent, directly facing the center of the Main Continent, which was the location of Holy Mountain.
...
Rewinding time slightly, just as the mist covering the entire city of Tivian had dissipated, Grego, who had been rushing towards the main venue of the East opening ceremony with all his might, finally got rid of the confusion of being unable to find his way and rushed with all his might to support the direction guided by the'Scholar' in his mind.
Finally, at the critical moment, Grego, dressed in An Yin Bureau attire, arrived at the designated location. After seeing the girl who always felt somewhat familiar rushing towards the Crystal Palace, he decisively took action and intercepted the enemy who was about to attack her, the person he was supposed to protect.
The current most famous Princess of the Prit Kingdom, Princess Isabel. Although Grego had received information before that on the day the war began, this Princess might also be a threat, he was still very surprised when he actually fought with her.
This surprise was not only due to the fact that Princess Isabel was indeed a chess piece of an evil god, but also due to the strength Princess Isabel possessed. Before, Grego had heard that Princess Isabel was an Extraordinary but not of a high rank, only at the level of an Apprentice. But now, fighting with her, Grego found that the other party was far from being as simple as an Apprentice… even far from being as simple as a typical Extraordinary!
Controlling wind blades for long-range attacks, transforming into bats to escape and ambush, splitting into phantom clones to confuse enemies… These various Extraordinary abilities, which seemed to belong to different paths, were miraculously combined together at this moment and appeared on the same Extraordinary. Moreover, they all seemed to be very close to the level of Chalk. This was the first time Grego had encountered such an enemy.
With a cruel and extremely indifferent expression, Princess Isabel continuously launched attacks at Grego. All sorts of swift and deadly moves came at Grego in a torrent. Grego was completely suppressed from the start of the battle, almost unable to fight back.
Fortunately, the current Grego was also a Chalk Vampire, possessing the ability to transform into a bat, which allowed him to barely entangle with this absurd enemy for a while. But this entanglement could not last long. During one bat transformation escape, Princess Isabel seized the opportunity and almost wiped out half of his bats in one go, nearly finishing him off. Fortunately, at this time, Dorothy had people perform a ritual in the chapel of the Twilight Devoted Shadow using the Crown of the Moon, amplifying the influence of the Mirror Moon and significantly reducing the Spider Queen's control in Tivian.
The ritual of the Crown of the Moon naturally also affected Princess Isabel, but unlike other members of the Prit Royal Family in Tivian who were affected by the Spider Queen, Princess Isabel did not immediately completely shake off the Spider Queen's influence after the ritual of the Crown of the Moon was performed. Instead, she occasionally showed symptoms of what seemed like a headache during the battle, as if undergoing some kind of will struggle.
It seemed that for Princess Isabel, the degree of the Spider Queen's erosion was somewhat higher than that of some other Royal Family members, to the extent that even after the ritual of the Crown of the Moon, the Mirror Moon's influence in Tivian could not completely allow her to break free from the Spider Queen…
However, although the ritual of the Crown of the Moon did not successfully help Princess Isabel break free from the Spider Queen's control, it severely affected Princess Isabel's offensive actions, making the release of her various abilities extremely sluggish. This also greatly eased Grego's offensive pressure, allowing him to catch his breath slightly after the damage of half his bats being destroyed.
After the ritual of the Crown of the Moon, Grego was finally able to barely hold off Princess Isabel, but this good time did not last long, and an extremely bad situation occurred again.
After the change somewhere in the distant and hidden otherworld, the Spider Queen's influence on the current realm of Tivian surged again, so much so that not only did Princess Isabel immediately return to normal, but Grego's side also immediately had problems.
When the sky was being stained dark red, and millions of lives throughout the city of Tivian began to praise the evil god's name in unison in their dreams, the pain as if his head was split open also exploded from Grego's head. Countless fine whispers sounded in his ears at once, and he felt his spirit being pierced by a thousand sharp needles. The pollution from the source of blood darkness, under this round of the Spider Queen's power amplification, seemed to have been able to extend to the lower end of paths like Chalk…
"This is… Ahhhh!!!"
Clutching his head, Grego almost instantly lost his combat ability and fell to the ground, screaming in extreme pain. On the other side, Princess Isabel also almost immediately returned to her original state of being completely controlled by the Spider Queen. When her expression completely returned to coldness after being in a daze, she stared at Grego with sharp eyes filled with killing intent.
Facing Grego, who had no ability to resist, Princess Isabel tightened her grip on the court longsword in her hand and rushed towards the fallen Grego at high speed, preparing to deliver the final blow.
Just then, another being joined the battlefield. As Princess Isabel was rapidly attacking Grego, in mid-air, countless soul fires suddenly lit up. Accompanied by the decrease in the surrounding temperature, the countless appearing soul fires followed a certain guidance and surged rapidly towards Princess Isabel, drilling into her body.
From the sky, Naifnis, wearing a veil, white clothes, and gold ornaments, was slowly descending. After completing the observation assistance task that Dorothy had assigned her earlier, she immediately rushed to other places for support, and this battlefield was the place that needed manpower the most!
Mobilizing the countless souls that had been summoned before to guard Grego, Naifnis attached them all to Princess Isabel's body after she actively approached. Under the attachment of countless souls, Princess Isabel's movements were slightly delayed, but then she counterattacked by slashing her hand with a sword, attacking the souls within her body in a way that attacked herself, causing them to scream and detach from her body one after another.
Seeing that Princess Isabel was rapidly forcing the souls out of her body and was about to completely regain her freedom of movement, Naifnis's expression became serious. With a wave of her hand, immediately after Princess Isabel forced out all the attached souls, Naif guided another soul to directly enter and attach itself to Princess Isabel's body. This time, Princess Isabel was unable to force it out immediately.
Standing still, Princess Isabel's eyes were wide open and she trembled slightly. With this slow movement, Princess Isabel further used the rapier in her hand, which contained Spirituality, to pierce her arm, trying to force out the soul attached to her. Although the soul appeared extremely unstable under Princess Isabel's coercion, with the risk of collapsing at any moment, it was still struggling to hold on.
'Wake up… child… Despenser… should not continue to be manipulated by the evil god like this…'
Inside Princess Isabel's body, the attached soul was now speaking with an old voice. This was the voice of Charles IV. The soul that Naifnis had just guided in was the soul of the recently deceased Charles IV!
"Get lost! Useless Old thing…" Biting her teeth, Princess Isabel squeezed out words from the corner of her mouth in an evil, low tone. At this moment, Princess Isabel, supported by the Spider Queen, was desperately trying to expel the soul of her once beloved father, and Charles IV's soul indeed could not last much longer under such expulsion.
And at this moment, Naif had a new move. Facing Princess Isabel, who was about to completely break free from control, Naif took out a wine cup decorated with a skull from her body with a very serious expression, held it in front of her, and then let go. The wine cup floated calmly in front of her. This was the former national treasure of Adus, the "Silence" divine artifact, minyin zunzhan.
"Please, both of you!"
Looking at the minyin zunzhan floating in front of her, Naif murmured seriously. As soon as her voice fell, behind her, two translucent figures slowly appeared. One was a general wearing armor in a North Wu exotic style. The other was an elder wearing a colorful robe in the New World style and a feather headdress.
These two were Lakhman, the former deceased of Adus as a dead spirit, and Uta, the Tupa Tribe Shaman from the New World as an out-of-body living spirit.
After the souls of these two appeared behind Naif, they immediately surged towards Naif's back together, directly overlapping and attaching themselves to Naif's body. In contrast, the minyin zunzhan in front of Naif began to emit an unusual radiance and started to spin rapidly with slight tremors. At this moment, dense patterns similar to a magic circle also appeared on Naif's body.
At this moment, Naifnis was using the minyin zunzhan and the ritual she had prepared on herself beforehand, which came from the original owner of the minyin zunzhan, Lakhman, to overload her abilities. At the cost of severely damaging the minyin zunzhan, Naif could break through the limitations of her realm in a very short time, approaching the realm of Scarlet.
"Dual Soul Attachment… Fusion…"
As the minyin zunzhan spun faster and faster, Naif's serious eyes couldn't help but emit an unusual radiance. With the temporary breakthrough, Naif began to simultaneously attach two different souls within her body, and the abilities they gave her were now beginning to be fused by her.
Suddenly, Naif took a big step forward, suddenly walking in front of Princess Isabel, who was about to completely break free. She placed her hand on Princess Isabel's shoulder, and after making contact, Naif spoke again in a deep voice.
"Bloodline Channeling… Ancestral Soul Summon!"
"Ugh…"
Suddenly, beneath Princess Isabel's feet, a huge and complex "Silence" magic circle formed out of thin air. Powerful Spirituality erupted from it, and a pale radiance burst forth from the magic circle, combined with the drastically dropping temperature, illuminating the surrounding scene eerily.
In Princess Isabel's astonished eyes, within that magic circle, one shadow after another slowly emerged and floated around. These shadows had different faces, but they were all wearing similar luxurious clothes and robes, and wore crowns. Several of them were wearing ancient armor. After being summoned, they first looked around blankly, and after seeing the abnormal sky of Tivian, they all showed solemn expressions.
These shadows were the successive kings of the Prit Hyacinth Dynasty, and also the successive Secret-Keeping Monarchs of the Despenser Royal Family! Naif, by fusing the bloodline power from Lakhman and the channeling power from Uta, combined them into Bloodline Channeling, which could greatly enhance the bloodline medium. Through Princess Isabel, she channeled and summoned the past kings of Prit!
In the legends among the New World tribes, the great soul is the place where all souls are born and eventually return. After anyone experiences various deaths in the mortal world, their souls will descend to the Netherworld, returning towards the great soul. Once they reach the great soul, the souls of the dead will rest there and be stripped of all memories. After returning to purity, they will have the opportunity to return to the human world and be reborn.
Therefore, under this cycle of reincarnation, theoretically speaking, people who have been dead for a sufficient amount of time cannot be channeled, because they have likely already been reincarnated back into the human world. Although souls cannot be channeled, "Memory Shadows" can.
All spirits will have all their memories washed away in the great soul, but these memories will not disappear. Instead, they will be recorded and stored within the great soul, and extremely powerful channeling techniques can channel these memories, still in the form of "spirits", from within the great soul, becoming what are called Memory Shadows. They are almost identical to human spirits and can be special existences that are a reflection of a person's life. The Prit kings that Naif is now channeling are all Memory Shadows.
Of course, in order for Neff to successfully commune with enough former kings of Preet, Dorothy also had the newly awakened Anna, in her capacity as the Protector of the Nation, bestow upon Neff the title of Preet Historical Scribe, giving her an identity as an interface to connect with Preet's legal principles. Dorothy even specifically used the power of these legal principles to strengthen Neff, enhancing her influence.
Although the source of Preet's legal principles seems to be contaminated now, legal principles are ultimately the domain of 'enlightenment'. This contamination cannot spread as quickly as the contamination of the branch path abilities themselves. As long as the 'enlightenment' God is not in trouble, the overall domain of legal principles will generally not have problems.
"Great former kings of Preet, you have seen it now, haven't you? Your great enemy has extended its claws towards the Throne of Wind, and the evil god is gnawing at this kingdom. Now, please fulfill the duty history has bestowed upon you, using the bodies of your descendants as vessels to complete that ritual!"
Facing the kings of Preet slightly floating above the magic circle, Neff said to them with an extremely serious expression. The one at the head, a king wearing armor, after looking around, spoke with a questioning tone.
"Judging from the current situation, the ritual of secrecy has failed, and the great enemy has obtained the secret it desired. In this situation, does the ritual still have meaning?"
"Yes, King Baldrick, please believe me. Even though the secret is known, the ritual still has meaning. Please share this body and begin the ritual! The temple is over there!"
With a solemn expression, Neff said to the "Rightful Successor" Baldrick before her. Upon hearing Neff's certain reply, Baldrick couldn't help but fall silent for a moment, then slowly floated up and possessed Isabel. The spirits of the other former kings also followed Baldrick's movements, quickly possessing Isabel one after another.
Finally, under the collective possession of the former kings of secrecy, Isabel slowly broke free from the Spider Queen's influence once again.
Then, under the possession of the ancestral kings, Isabel fell into a brief silence. After the silence ended, she slowly raised her head and looked at the Crystal Palace not far away. In her eyes, there was a mysterious depth and complexity, and the voice that came out of her mouth sounded like a chorus of many different people's voices.
"Follow the ancestral teachings..."
...
Main Continent Central, Holy Mountain Summit, Holy Spirit Grand Chapel.
While Tivian Neff was in contact with Isabel, performing the bloodline summoning ritual, within the magnificent Grand Chapel, the remaining two Shining Light Church saints guarding Holy Mountain, Amanda and Klama, were still in the Grand Chapel, observing the situation in distant Tivian.
Using the floor screen of the Holy Mountain Grand Chapel, which could display the situation in distant locations, Amanda and Klama together paid attention to the current state of Tivian, looking at the dark red abnormality covering the sky above Tivian, and sensing the extremely abnormal evil aura that was spreading outwards with Tivian as the center. Both Amanda and Klama's expressions showed a hint of severity.
At this moment, they could clearly see that the situation in Tivian had not improved; on the contrary, it seemed to be developing towards an even worse situation.
"What's going on? Such a severe divine abnormality has appeared... Why is this happening? Haven't the Holy War Cardinals arrived yet? What in the world happened!?"
Looking at the aerial view of Tivian on the screen and reading the extremely abnormal readings detected, Klama said with a frown, while Amanda, standing on the other side, also looked at the phenomenon before her with a serious expression.
"The Holy War Cardinals... perhaps they encountered some accident in the otherworld, an accident that can even affect communication... In short, it seems they cannot reach Tivian in time.
"With such a powerful divine abnormality in Tivian now, I'm afraid what is happening there is much more serious than we previously judged..."
Looking at the scene on the screen below, Amanda said slowly and seriously. Her eyes were full of solemnity at this moment. She had realized that the severity of the situation in Tivian far exceeded their previous expectations.
"We must send more people to Tivian immediately! Immediately! We can't go from the otherworld this time!" Klama continued, while Amanda on the other side retorted.
"Given the current situation in Tivian, there is clear interference from a higher divinity. Sending anyone below Golden rank now will be useless and will only lead to unnecessary deaths!"
"If we don't send anyone, then do you mean you want to hand Preet over to the evil god? If the Holy See returns later, who can bear this responsibility!" Klama retorted, speaking out. Due to the Church's strict rule that at least two Cardinals must remain at Holy Mountain at all times, they two couldn't move now. If they didn't even send forces below Golden rank, then it would be tantamount to tacitly allowing the evil god's actions and surrendering Preet.
Assuming the Pope might still return, Klama didn't dare to do nothing and directly give up Preet. At the very least, he had to show some effort. He had to send some people, even sacrifice some, to show that he had tried his best, and losing Preet was unavoidable, thus reducing his responsibility.
Amanda's idea, on the other hand, was more direct. With such abnormal divine interference in Tivian's current situation, sending people below Golden rank was simply sending them to their deaths. In a losing situation, there was no need to send extra people to increase casualties.
Just like that, Klama and Amanda began a new round of argument over whether to continue sending reinforcements to Tivian. At this moment, in another corner of the Grand Chapel, behind Amanda, the white-robed Sister who had been kneeling on the ground with her eyes closed in a praying posture, seemed to sense something and suddenly opened her eyes.
In a hurry, Vanya quickly stood up from the ground and ran towards the center of the Grand Chapel, then directly interrupted the argument between Amanda and Klama.
"Huff... Your Eminence Amanda, Your Eminence Klama! Please stop arguing! Please listen to me, I have a way to solve the current crisis in Preet!" Facing the two Cardinal Archbishops before her, Vanya said loudly and directly with a slight gasp. Upon hearing Vanya's voice, both Amanda and Klama paused, then simultaneously turned their gaze towards Vanya, who had suddenly appeared again.
"You heretic Sister! Why are you still here! Get out! The time for your accountability has not yet come!" Facing Vanya, Klama said sternly. On the other side, Amanda, after a slight raise of her eyebrows, spoke directly.
"Vanya... tell me about your method?"
Hearing Amanda's words, Vanya directly ignored Klama and spoke seriously again.
"Please... hand over the Holy Staff for me to operate now, I will use the Holy Staff to resolve Preet's current crisis!" Vanya said solemnly, while turning her gaze to the other side, where the luxurious and exquisite white wooden staff was still floating in mid-air. Upon hearing Vanya's words, the two Cardinals immediately showed different reactions. Klama's face clearly showed anger, while Amanda slightly furrowed her brows.
"You... want the Holy Staff?! Hmph! Wishful thinking... As long as I'm here, you heretic won't even touch the Holy Staff! Don't think of playing any tricks with this opportunity, I will add a charge of coveting a holy artifact to your future trial!"
"I don't believe your lies!" With obvious anger, Klama pointed at Vanya with his finger, speaking with an extremely resolute expression. His firm attitude seemed to leave no room for compromise or negotiation.
Seeing Klama's resolute refusal, Vanya's face couldn't help but sink, then she turned her head and looked at Amanda on the other side, waiting for her reply.
At this moment, Amanda was frowning, and her expression did not seem to support Vanya's intention...
"Sister Vanya... you must understand that the Holy Staff is a precious treasure left by the Holy See, extremely valuable. Not to mention you, even we Cardinal Saints cannot easily use it..."
Amanda said slowly like this, and hearing the clear refusal implied in her words, Vanya's face couldn't help but sink even more severely.
"You should know that to use the Holy Staff, it requires the unanimous agreement of at least half of the Cardinals in the Cardinal Council or the temporary Cardinal Council, and the selection of one Cardinal to operate the Holy Staff. And now here, there are only me and the Justice Cardinal, two Cardinals. According to the Church rules set by the Holy See, we cannot pass the resolution to use the Holy Staff..."
With the same serious and solemn expression, Amanda said slowly to Vanya before her. While listening to Amanda's words, Vanya's heart became more and more disappointed, and then she couldn't help but blurt out again.
"But, Your Eminence Amanda... given the current situation, I must use the Holy Staff..."
"According to the rules, you can never use the Holy Staff... Sister Vanya..." Facing Vanya's plea, Amanda continued to speak with a stern expression. Facing Amanda's refusal, a hint of despair appeared in Vanya's eyes, while in Klama's eyes on the other side, there was a calm arrogance, and he relaxed completely.
While relaxing, Klama said this.
"Hmph... the Disaster Relief Cardinal can see the big picture after all, I'm glad you didn't always favor this heretic Sister. Alright, now arrest Vanya for me... Ugh!"
Just as Klama saw Amanda's stance and was about to confidently order Vanya's arrest, a rapid afterimage suddenly flashed before his eyes. Caught off guard, Klama saw that Amanda, who had been standing far away, had suddenly rushed in front of him, her eyes staring at him with a hint of coldness.
"Bang!"
Just as Klama was about to say something in astonishment, he suddenly felt a violent impact on his right cheek. While Klama had just relaxed and hadn't fully reacted, Amanda had already moved much faster than him, raising her leg and delivering a high side spinning kick, kicking Klama hard in the face. Along with the extremely exaggerated deformation of Klama's face, he was sent flying straight out by the tremendous force.
"Boom!"
With a booming sound, Klama's flying body directly shattered the thick door of the Grand Chapel, and he was sent flying out of the Grand Chapel, disappearing into the distance. Amanda remained in place, standing calmly and gracefully, silently watching the direction Klama had flown, as if nothing had happened before.
"Uh..."
Looking at everything that had suddenly happened, Vanya was stunned in place, her eyes wide. For a moment, she didn't know how to react to what had just occurred. She had never expected that the usually calm and dignified Amanda would suddenly act like this, and her target was another Cardinal Archbishop.
This... is she that ruthless?
Vanya stared at the scene before her with a look of astonishment, and at this moment, Amanda turned her head and said to Vanya in her usual calm tone.
"According to the rules, as long as Klama is here, you can never use the Holy Staff, so, I'll go deal with him..." After saying this, Amanda stepped out directly, flashing out of the Grand Chapel and rushing towards the direction where Klama had been kicked away. For a moment, only Vanya was left in the entire Grand Chapel.
Amanda knew that the revelations Vanya received were all given by those who seemed to be 'enlightenment' followers of the Judge of Heaven. Since they had already given a warning once, but the Cardinal Council did not heed it, leading to the severe deterioration of the situation in Preet, this had largely proven the value of the information they provided. Now that they had given a second piece of information, given the extremely bad situation, Amanda also felt it was necessary to listen this time, even if it required using some forceful means that would lead to serious consequences.
Watching Amanda leave, Vanya, who had been in a state of astonishment, suddenly woke up. She couldn't help but murmur softly towards the direction Amanda had left.
"Thank you, Your Eminence..."
After quietly expressing her gratitude, Vanya immediately got up and ran towards the center of the Grand Chapel, where the Shining Light Church's holy artifact, the divine treasure belonging to the Pope, the Holy Radiance Oracle Staff, was slowly floating in mid-air.
After looking at the staff for a while, Vanya took a deep breath, then reached out and held the staff in her hand.
Then, a strong dazzling light shone from the staff. At the same time, a strange airflow swept through the entire Grand Chapel, causing Vanya's Sister's robe to rustle loudly.
At this moment, Vanya, holding the Holy Staff, fell into a wonderful sensation. She felt her vision infinitely expanding, able to pierce through all barriers and look towards extremely distant ends. At this moment, Vanya could feel that she could easily see any point on the entire Main Continent... and even half the world. She could see the boatman in Adria, tens of thousands of miles away, paddling a small boat through the city's intricate waterways, see the gamblers in Moncarlo's casino frantically raising their bets, and also see the scene of the crisis in Tivian. If Vanya's rank were higher, perhaps she could see the situation in every corner of the entire world.
Even more novel was that Vanya could see the endless torrents of faith surging towards the Holy Mountain from all over the world. These torrents of faith, like mighty rivers, converged on the Holy Mountain from all directions, then surged upwards along the mountain body, like a pillar reaching towards the sky, towards the undetectable, unseen Highest Point of Heaven.
Besides perception, at this moment, Vanya also discovered that she seemed to have a wonderful connection with the most brilliant celestial body in the sky. Following this connection, Vanya could feel an immense and majestic power that was incredibly distant from this world, but also extremely grand and vast. That was... the sun!
Upon feeling the sun's power, Vanya felt a sudden sense of great fear. Even the subtle feeling transmitted through the connection almost made her drop the staff.
The essence of this Holy Staff's ability is to control, to a certain extent, the light the sun casts upon this world. The purifying light that dispersed the mist of confusion in Tivian earlier was also projected from the sun.
"What... what immense power..."
"Can I... really manipulate such power?"
As she felt the sun's power, Vanya couldn't help but exclaim with emotion. Then, she focused her energy even more, using the connection of the Holy Staff, leveraging the vast faith of the Holy Mountain, and exerting her utmost effort to control a tiny sliver of the trillions of rays of light the sun projected onto this world.
"Sun Disk... please heed my words..."
Murmuring, Vanya manipulated the sunlight projected onto East Prit.
"Using this feels... unexpectedly smooth..."
...
Above Tivian, at this moment, a dark red storm had already brewed, and the entire city was instantly shrouded in a dark red sky. As the Spider Queen's influence rapidly grew here, her power was beginning to infiltrate more and more directly.
The entire Tivian was now beginning to undergo Netherworld transformation. The Spider Queen, who could basically declare victory at this point, had no intention of letting go of the powers in this city that had repeatedly ruined her schemes, especially the Mirror Moon's chess pieces!
Beneath the dark red sky, all sorts of chaos began to erupt, and the very fabric of space seemed to become unstable. The Spider Queen now intended to drag the entire Tivian, along with its millions of inhabitants, into her domain, as an insult to the Light and a foundation for her future reorganization of the mortal world's cults, while also capturing any force that resisted her in one fell swoop.
Under the dark red sky, eerie winds howled, and hundreds of sleepwalkers praised the evil god's venerable name in their dreams. At this moment, Tivian was like the end of the world.
"Haha! You're finished! This city is finished! This kingdom is finished! Praise my great queen, you have finally succeeded!"
On the battlefield of the Church District ruins, the monstrous Goskina was shouting and laughing madly while brandishing various weapons held in her multiple arms, launching even more ferocious attacks on her enemy, Atcherly. Facing Goskina, whose strength had surged further under the Spider Queen's amplified influence, Atcherly could only struggle to hold on.
"Your doomsday has arrived. In these final moments, let me enjoy this. You poor worms played in the palm of the Queen's hand! Hahaha!!!"
And just as Goskina was reveling in her mocking screams, a brilliant light suddenly flashed in the sky. As the light shone down from the sky to the ground, the scarlet storm was instantly dispelled by the pure, clean beam of light, and the sky over the entire Tivian instantly returned to a clear state of bright sunshine and boundless blue sky. The original dark red color completely vanished without a trace.
"Did those Light Worshipping Zealots make a move again?
"Hmph, but if that's all, it's far from enough to stop the Queen..."
Looking at the changes in the sky, Goskina was slightly surprised at first, but then she spoke scornfully and directly.
Goskina knew the general situation of the Shining Light Church. With the Pope absent now, the remote projection ability of the Shining Light Church's power was greatly weakened and very limited. As long as they didn't actively attack the Holy Mountain, there wouldn't be any major problems.
And just as Goskina was thinking this and preparing to continue her offensive, the anomaly in the sky occurred again.
In the clear and cloudless sky, the originally dazzling sun, under the control of some power, suddenly dimmed. Its originally blinding radiance visibly weakened rapidly, and the entire Tivian began to grow dark again.
The brightness of the Sun Disk reigning at the zenith of the sky was rapidly decreasing, and as the sunlight weakened, certain things that were already in the sky also quietly appeared at this moment.
That... was a perfectly round Moon, a thin and blurry Moon disk that was somewhat difficult to see in the sky, a full but dim full Moon! Upon seeing that Moon disk, Goskina's expression couldn't help but show immense horror.
"What?! How is this possible! How can there be a Moon... in the sky right now!"
Facing the dim Moon disk that appeared in the sky, Goskina was incredibly astonished, while Dorothy, who was currently flying, responded with a deep voice in her heart.
'Because the Moon was there from the beginning, it just wasn't seen...'
Yes, the Moon was there from the beginning, it's just that no one could see it.
Today was the daytime of the Moment of the Nether Moon, which theoretically was the time when the Mirror Moon Goddess's influence was weakest in a month, because the Moon could not be seen at all today.
However... the truth was that the Moon had never disappeared, it was always there, it's just that the Moon during the Moment of the Nether Moon was in the daytime, hanging high in the sky with the Sun Disk. Because the Sun Disk's radiance was too dazzling, people couldn't see the Moon. However, if the sun's brightness were to decrease at this time, the Moon would reappear in the sky, and in the form of a full Moon...
Now, Vanya, far away on the Holy Mountain, was manipulating the sunlight projected onto East Prit through the Staff of Holy Radiance's Decree in her hand, refracting it to other places, causing the sun's light here to dim, and making the Nether Moon Phase, which should have been invisible, appear in the sky.
The Nether Moon... is also one of the Moon phases. It is a phase that appears to be nothing but still exists. Back in Glamorgan, Dorothy also traveled to the Mirror Moon Temple by passing through the Nether Moon Gate that only opened during the day.
After the Nether Moon phase appeared in the sky, Vanya in the Holy Mountain Chapel once again began to manipulate the sunlight in this area, adjusting the angle of refraction so that the sunlight that should have gone towards the ground was reflected back into the cosmic space above the sky, striking the Moon surface. Under the illumination of the sunlight, the originally dim Moon surface suddenly increased in brightness at this moment, forming moonlight that seemed even stronger than during the full Moon.
At this moment, the full Moon disk finally hung high in Prit's sky, and the silvery white moonlight finally began to spread equally to every corner of this vast city.
"The time has come... the ritual begins..."
On the Kingdom Square in East Tivian, within the standing Crystal Palace, beneath the vast and exquisite dome, before the complex magic circle. At this moment, Princess Isabel of the Preet Kingdom's Royal Family stood there, looking with focused eyes at the moonlight refracted and scattered from the glass dome, murmuring. Her words seemed to contain the echoes of countless people.
Then, Isabel, possessed by countless previous kings, withdrew her gaze, and then bowed slowly and respectfully towards the other end of the magic circle. Opposite Isabel, on the other side of the magic circle, there was an exquisite chair placed there, and on the chair sat a small girl with long silver-white hair, white skin, and delicate like a doll. At this moment, she seemed to be in a peaceful sleep, her eyes closed and motionless.
After bowing to that girl, Isabel silently walked to the center of the magic circle, drew the sword in her hand and stabbed it into the circle, then knelt on one knee, silently lowering her head towards the girl in front of her.
Then, within Isabel's body, the successive kings of Prit. The successive Sealing Kings, together with Isabel, began to chant together, jointly reciting the ritual prayers they had jointly inherited.
"Collector of all secrets... Maiden of Mysteries... Empress of the Night Sky... We, the Lords of Burton... are here as promised... to pray to Captain..."
The Sealing Ritual inherited by the Prit Sealing Kings is divided into two parts: the first is to amplify the influence of the Mirror Moon Goddess and guide the power of the Mirror Moon Goddess to descend here. The second part is to use this power to maintain the secret itself and guard the secret.
Although the secret of the Sealing Ritual has now been learned by the Spider Queen, this does not mean that the entire ritual is completely useless. At least... the part that guides the power can still be used.
Under the joint guidance of the successive Prit Sealing Kings, the ritual in this Crystal Palace finally restarted, and the time it was held was absolutely correct! And they also had an object of worship that was even more useful than any Mirror Moon statue!
The impact of such a ritual was enormous. As soon as the ritual began, the Spider Queen, who was still focused on digesting the Wind Master's legacy and absorbing the Dream Master's divinity, immediately sensed something was wrong. Then, she used her greatest existing influence to directly interfere with the present world.
Suddenly, in the sky above the Crystal Palace, the originally calm space suddenly shattered and exploded. Then, from within the shattered space, several giant scarlet spikes hundreds of meters long directly pierced out and shot towards the Crystal Palace at high speed, wanting to completely shatter it.
At this moment, a roar came, and a Dragon flew to the sky above the Crystal Palace, blocking the path of those giant spikes.
However, even though the Dragon's body was huge, compared to these giant spikes hundreds of meters long, it still appeared very small. This giant spike, imbued with divinity, was something that even a Dragon could absolutely not contend with.
Fortunately, what the Dragon had to do was not to contend.
Facing the incoming spikes, the Dragon opened her mouth and roared out a long sound.
"—TIID—"
The Dragon's roar came from her mouth, and the original runes vibrated space. The Dragon here ordered the surrounding river of time with an ancient voice, telling it to temporarily slow down its endless rush.
Therefore, at this moment, time in front of the Dragon slowed down, became sluggish, and consequently, the speed of the giant spikes piercing down also slowed down instantly, failing to destroy the Crystal Palace within the time they should have arrived.
And within the Crystal Palace, the successive Sealing Kings had completed the necessary part of the ritual through coordinated chanting. The huge magic circle beneath them had begun to emit a soft glow, resonating with the brilliant Nether Moon in the sky.
Finally, under the resonance of the Moon Crown Ritual on the Twilight Devout Shadow and the Sealing Ritual, under the blessing of the full Nether Moon, under the blessing of the successive Prit Sealing Kings, and under the witness of the most suitable idol. The Moon Divine Power from a distant region was finally guided to the Wind Stone Kingdom.
The divinity of the night sky began to illuminate the city like moonlight.
Just as the giant scarlet spikes broke through the Slowing Spell and continued to pierce towards the Crystal Palace, about to strike the Dragon blocking its path.
From the full Nether Moon, a thick, bright silver light shone down in silence, directly illuminating the Dragon's body. Instantly, the Dragon's entire form was enveloped by this Moon God Silver Light.
Bathed in the waterfall-like silver light, the Dragon's form began to undergo tremendous changes. Her scales, which were coarse and tough like hard stone, began to become as clear and fine as arranged crystals, and their color turned into sparkling silver-white, emitting a metallic sheen. The Dragon's body began to rapidly expand, her original seventy-meter-long body quickly growing to a super-giant size of over three hundred meters.
The Dragon's originally powerful, solid, and thick physique began to become slender and elongated. Her original wing-hands transformed into complete wings, and a pair of true Dragon claws began to grow, changing from a bipedal form to a quadrupedal one. The terrifying spikes on her back turned into crystals, her tail became longer, the Dragon horns on her head spread out even more exaggeratedly like growing branches, and her rough Dragon head also became soft and beautiful.
In this series of changes, her entire body became more feminine and graceful. The original barbaric and wild aura faded, replaced by a sense of elegance and softness.
Finally, behind this silver Dragon, a circular halo symbolizing divinity and emitting moonlight glow was spontaneously generated and appeared, suspended behind the Dragon.
Thus, the Night Sky Dragon God, under the Nether Moon, finally descended.