OBS Chapter 3586 Ending the Blacklight
Chapter 3586 Ending the Blacklight
Chapter 3586 Ending the Blacklight
The group didn't walk too far up the snow-capped mountain. Before they even reached the halfway point, the old man turned towards the eastern snow slope. After climbing the slope, an ancient temple, seemingly embedded in the rock face, appeared not far away, nestled in the shadows of the mountain.
It was a complete gray stone building, with eight stone pillars supporting the portico in front of the main entrance, while the main entrance itself was currently closed.
"is it here?"
President Le Norman asked the old man Zarathustra, who was holding a child, and the latter nodded solemnly:
"Yes."
Compared to its prestigious name as an ancient god's temple, the temple's exterior didn't appear particularly ornate. However, Shad had seen temples of different ancient gods in different times and places, and aside from cathedrals of the scale of the "Golden Music Hall," the temples of the ancient gods were generally of this understated and rustic type.
When the group crossed the snow slope and arrived at the temple, the giant snake patterns wrapped around the eight stone pillars in the portico and the complete ouroboros emblem carved on the closed stone door came into view.
President Le Norman said softly:
"Something's wrong."
"Is there anything wrong?"
Miss Eden asked, and the fortune teller, wearing a monocle, frowned deeply:
"While snake decorations are indeed appropriate for Mr. Huan's temple, having a large snake coiled around the pillars at the entrance is a bit too much. It's not that we haven't found the ruins of past temples; this temple seems more like a temple of a snake god than a temple of the god of fate."
Stella, who had been silent until now, spoke softly as she stood behind Shad:
"Snowflakes told me that the giant snake coiled around the pillars was not originally part of this building."
Was this the work of that 'Mr. Snake'?
Since the group had arrived here without encountering an attack, and the temple hadn't vanished into thin air, it meant that their enemies were deliberately waiting for them. Therefore, before approaching the entrance, they stopped to prepare for battle. Shad looked at the nun, his voice echoing in her mind:
"I didn't sense any trace of the Primordial Flame. I originally thought it would be in this lost temple."
The nun shook her head slightly, clearly not sensing any trace of fire either. Sister Beren of the Fifth Age had taught them the ability to sense the flames of the First Flame over a wide area. Although they couldn't pinpoint the exact location in the snowy mountains, Sister Shad and Sister Daphne would definitely have a special sense if the flames were truly right in front of them.
Of course, Shad thought there were many other things in this lost temple. For example, the key to the Ice Castle, but he didn't know if the key was there until he went inside. He was actually quite interested in Chloe's living area on the fifth floor of the castle.
After a brief preparation, Xia De stepped forward and laboriously pushed open the two stone doors, each about two people high. As the light from the snow-capped mountains illuminated the interior of the temple, the pale yellow candlelight also seeped out from within.
The temple's interior space is not large. Four pillars, similar in design to those of the outer colonnade, support the ceiling amidst rows of long stone benches. On a high platform in front of the wall directly opposite the entrance, a giant obsidian serpent statue seems to be "watching" the group of people coming from outside.
The giant serpent statue has two yellow gems in place of its eyes, and its body is slightly tilted forward, with its head almost touching the ceiling.
On the surrounding walls, murals from a distant past depict what appears to be the seven-day story of "Mr. Ring's" final divine descent. This temple was indeed the focus of this chosen one's ceremony; if the candidates hadn't each had their own backgrounds, and if Shad hadn't happened to hear from Winnie about the stone tablet Chloe had discovered, the ceremony probably wouldn't have proceeded so smoothly.
A subtle sense of wonder emanated from within the temple, yet even so, those who entered instinctively remained silent. The solemn and awe-inspiring atmosphere left no doubt that this was once a place where mortal believers worshipped the god of destiny.
It was only then that Xia De realized that although he had come into contact with so many temples and shrines of the ancient gods—such as the Temple of the Night, the Golden Music Hall, and the Temple of the Sun God in the [Golden Sands]—the building he was in at this moment was the most complete.
However, when he touched the door just now, he did not activate the [Ancient Voice], which means that the temple underwent several renovations after the end of the Mythical Era. Although the style may not have changed, most of the materials should not have come from the original era.
Beneath the black serpent statue is an offering table, and the statue itself seems out of place in the rest of the temple. It has a chaotic array of four elements, and its shape doesn't seem to belong to the deity "Mr. Ring" at all.
"That's blasphemy."
President Le Norman remarked that the fortune teller, who had never shown much emotion before, now had a somewhat angry expression on his face:
"The temple of fate only enshrines holy symbols or ouroboros reliefs. What is this?"
The statue was inanimate; no one present sensed any biological activity from it. So a small group remained outside the temple. As those who had entered continued to walk inside, the door behind them slammed shut, and then the giant serpent statue's eyes lit up—
hum!
Two thick black rays swept towards the doorway. Shad had originally intended to summon the [Night Seal], but he sensed a familiar power emanating from those two rays:
"Similar to the [Black Moon Symbol]."
He hurriedly reminded him:
"The power of destruction!"
Of course, Shad wasn't the only one who could discern the nature of the power contained within the black rays. Miss Eden pulled her colleagues back with both hands, then stepped forward and stomped her right foot on the ground, revealing the [Sun Emblem]. Then, a phantom angelic halo flashed above her head and disappeared, and the golden [Heaton Sign] appeared in a way completely different from other ring sorcerers.
The golden light flowing across the shield of the sign forms a complete scripture symbolizing the supreme power of the "sun." The fine golden characters themselves constitute the shield's body, while the runes form an image of an angel with outstretched arms on the front of the shield.
President Le Norman squinted his right eye, and the crystal monocle in front of his right eye immediately fell off, followed by a blurry crystal light blocking the way in front of the group.
The flowing light seemed to be able to twist everything; the meaning of "all things are nothing" is, in a sense, also the meaning of "the end".
Shad, who had initially intended to stop casting and dodge, realized that the girls behind him might not be able to completely evade. So, he continued to form the Nightfall hand seal with his left hand, and as the inky blackness symbolizing night appeared, his right hand pointed forward at his shield:
"【Black Moon Symbol】!"
The power of destruction is almost unstoppable, yet destruction itself can annihilate destruction. Moreover, the [Nightfall Seal] and the [Black Moon Mark] both belong to the powers of night and the moon, and they are perfectly fused together at this moment.
And so the sacred golden light, the ethereal iridescence, and the profound night sky were all struck by the destructive ray. Fine cracks rapidly spread across the surface of the miraculous golden light, and blackness increased within the iridescent glow. While the profound, light-swallowing night sky remained intact and unstained, Shad's body slid backward little by little, as if being pushed backward by a tremendous force.
Stella instinctively reached out to support Shad's back, but was stopped by Megan, who had followed her in:
"Don't touch him."
The destructive power had spread to Shad's body. Although Shad could withstand this kind of power, anyone else who dared to touch it would immediately turn into dust.
The three people casting the spell were struggling, but the [Calamity Card - Shadow of the Deep Sea] in Shad's pocket was being manipulated to float out. The huge black mermaid on the card glowed slightly, and then flew to Sister Daphne's side.
The nun naturally understood Shad's meaning, and her flaming finger touched the spinning card:
"Dark magic".
Thick darkness spread forward from the card, then merged with the night sky before Shad, who was slowly retreating. The dark power from the apocalypse greatly amplified the intensity of the night, and the power of the apocalyptic evil was completely unafraid of the "power of destruction."
These apocalyptic evils sealed by the Staff of the World Tree are themselves part of the "End".
Shad stopped retreating, and the night rapidly spread outwards. The expansion of the sign relieved the pressure on the other two thirteenth-ring warlocks beside him, and after a burst of energy lasting half a minute, the rays in the snake's eyes finally disappeared.
The instant the night disappeared before Shad, Sister Daphne flew forward, her dark golden scythe slashing down and cleaving the giant serpent statue in two with a single blow. The rubble didn't even fall to the ground before the statue crumbled into dust and scattered across the earth.
The disappearance of the statue finally revealed the ouroboros emblem hanging on the wall behind the platform. The golden ouroboros, with its head and tail joined, symbolizes fickle fate, which is what this temple should truly be dedicated to.
Sister Daphne landed back on the ground, and the others prepared for the second wave of attacks. But no further attacks followed; only applause echoed through the temple.
Just when Shad thought that the "Stone Mirror Demon - Goethe" who always appeared with applause was about to show up, a middle-aged man in a black priest's robe walked out from behind the wall where the holy emblem was hanging, clapping his hands.
He came from the back area of the temple, and while clapping, he wasn't afraid that so many people were aiming at him and preparing to cast spells.
Claire saw that the man's shadow resembled a long, thin snake, and the ordinary-looking man's eyes also resembled the vertical pupils of a snake.
But Claire, Sylvie, and Megan all knew this was definitely not human. Although the witch's curse had been triggered, it was only slightly. This meant that the body before them might be real, but it didn't belong to the consciousness currently controlling it, and the body had long since decayed due to being possessed. Witches indeed wouldn't have a strong connection to a corpse.