CA – Chapter 117
Chapter 117
In the southeastern part of the temple, Delphine led her people deeper inside, cautiously observing their surroundings. She was determined to obtain the Godhead, but she also had to ensure the safety of her kin.
The loss of any single companion would be a heavy blow to the Elf Race.
But the harsh reality of their situation forced Delphine to lead her people on this dangerous venture.
Elves were born with a natural talent for sensing the earth element, so they quickly noticed something unusual about the statues beneath the stone pillars. Delphine signaled for her people to halt, then walked to one of the statues herself. She looked up, observing it carefully, and muttered thoughtfully to herself, “This seems to be a type of earth-based forbidden technique.”
The Elf Race possessed inherited memories. Although the incantations for forbidden techniques had long been lost, the earth-based forbidden technique in Delphine’s memory was one that summoned these kinds of earth puppets.
Elves were the darlings of nature; only they and the gods possessed the gift of sensing natural elements. Just as the ultimate form of light magic was a forbidden technique, so too did nature magic have its own forbidden techniques.
However, after the gods withdrew from the continent of Statu, the forbidden techniques of nature magic were lost. Only those of light magic remained, and only the Pope was qualified to study them.
A god could cast a forbidden technique with a flick of a finger, so it wasn't strange for this temple to contain earth puppets left behind by the Earth Mother. Delphine didn't dwell on the matter and planned to lead her people around them.
But just as they were leaving the statues’ vicinity, Delphine sensed a familiar fluctuation of aura several thousand meters to their rear right. She stopped in her tracks.
An elf looked back and mumbled softly, “It seems to be that annoying bunch.”
“Let’s just ignore them.”
“…If we ignore them, what if they die?”
“Yeah, this place looks really dangerous.”
“But…”
The elves gathered and discussed for a while but couldn't reach a consensus. Seeing that Delphine remained silent, they fell quiet and looked at her expectantly, waiting for her decision.
Delphine frowned, pondered for a moment, and said in a low voice, “Let’s go take a look.”
After all, the Dark Elves were also her people. She had never considered Patricia and the others to be enemies of the Elf Race.
Delphine led her people in the direction of the aura fluctuation and found that it was indeed Patricia’s group of Dark Elves, who were fending off an attack from the statue knights.
The Dark Elves had been stripped of their talent for sensing natural elements at birth, so they hadn't noticed anything unusual about the statues. In their attempt to breach the palace gate, they had activated these earth puppets.
Although the Dark Elves couldn't use nature magic like the Elves, the Power of Darkness had strengthened their bodies and granted them the ability to sense dark elements, making them much more agile in single combat than the Elves.
The earth puppets were tall and clumsy, but the armor on their chests was not so easily pierced. The Dark Elves abandoned their bows and instead relied on their agility to engage the puppets in close combat.
But because they were so few in number, facing puppets that outnumbered them by half, the pressure was immense, and they were unable to escape their predicament.
Continuing this close-quarters battle of strength against the puppets would be disadvantageous for them. Patricia frowned, kicked her legs against an earth puppet's chest, and used the force to pull back and create distance. She took out her stowed black longbow, drew it to a full string with her left hand, and her silver-gray eyes narrowed slightly as wisps of black energy gathered on the bowstring.
Her robes billowed without a wind. Patricia glanced indifferently at the earth puppets before her, moved her longbow up an inch to confirm her aim more carefully, and the arrow formed from condensed black energy radiated a powerful aura.
An earth puppet sensed the danger and turned to walk toward Patricia. Patricia took a step back and then released her hand. The long arrow flew out like a bolt of lightning.
The sound of something tearing through the air rang out twice, one after the other. Behind the black long arrow, a streak of emerald green overtook it, piercing through the earth puppet's armor first. The earth puppet's body froze. It was about to raise its hand to grab the emerald arrow protruding from its body when the arrow condensed from the Power of Darkness followed closely behind, piercing through its forehead.
With a bang, the earth puppet fell to the ground.
The arrow that had pierced the puppet did not dissipate but flew toward a second target…
Three consecutive bangs sounded as three more earth puppets fell to the ground. The emerald arrow had already flown toward its next target, while the black arrow had slowly dissipated.
Without the assistance of the black arrow, the emerald arrow was grabbed by a puppet as soon as it pierced through its armor, and it too slowly dissipated.
Delphine's hand, gripping her longbow, tightened slightly. Seeing that her arrow had lasted longer than Patricia's, she couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile, a flash of pleasure in her light green eyes.
She glanced at Patricia's expression, but to her disappointment, Patricia remained as indifferent as ever.
The Elves moved out from behind Delphine, forming groups of two or three to take on the remaining earth puppets. The besieged Dark Elves finally had a moment to catch their breath. Those who were unwilling to fight alongside the Elves turned to help their own companions. With the cover fire from Delphine and Patricia's arrows, they spent a considerable amount of time finally dispatching all the earth puppets.
After dealing with the earth puppets, the Dark Elves and Elves spontaneously returned to stand behind Patricia and Delphine, respectively, and the two sides once again faced off faintly.
Delphine stroked the string of her longbow, pondering what to say to ease the atmosphere, when her peripheral vision caught Patricia already turning to leave. She couldn't help but call out to stop her, “…Wait, Patricia.”
“I think we should consider joining forces.”
Neither of their groups held an advantage against the Holy See alone, but if they united, they would have a fighting chance. Besides, the temple was so dangerous that joining forces could also reduce casualties.
But Delphine's proposal was rejected by Patricia. She slung her longbow over her back and said coldly, “There’s no need.”
She led the Dark Elves away without a hint of hesitation. Delphine watched their backs and sighed, a look of helplessness flashing across her face.
“Your Majesty the Queen, what should we do next?” an elf asked, stepping forward.
Delphine frowned in thought for a moment. Just as she was about to answer, the ground beneath her feet suddenly shook violently. She used her longbow to steady herself and looked around with a grave expression.
She could feel a terrifying aura appearing around them.
Delphine flashed toward the direction the aura was coming from, her gaze quickly locking onto the sky-high stone pillar over a hundred meters away. The terrifying aura was emanating from there.
Her attention was so focused on the pillar that she didn't notice a giant stone tablet to her side suddenly begin to wobble.
The tablet swayed a few times, then slowly began to fall…
“Your Majesty the Queen!” The elves spotted the tablet toppling in Delphine's direction. Their eyes widened instantly, and without a second thought, they all lunged toward Delphine, trying to pull her away from the falling tablet.
Delphine was snapped back to her senses by the elves' shouts. She glanced up at the falling tablet and was about to dodge away when her peripheral vision caught the elves recklessly rushing toward her…
Delphine: “…”
She helplessly halted her retreat. After the elves had gathered around her, just a second before the tablet was about to crush them, she used wind magic to fly away with the other elves, escaping the tablet's range.
With a loud bang, the heavy stone tablet smashed a giant crater into the ground.
The Dark Elves had instinctively turned around upon hearing the elves' panicked cries. Seeing Delphine about to be crushed by the tablet, they subconsciously took a step in that direction, but then they caught themselves, their feet freezing in place.
A silent and subtle atmosphere spread among the Dark Elves.
One Dark Elf bit her lip and awkwardly turned her head away, disgusted with her own almost instinctive reaction. They were the kin abandoned by the Elf Queen, so why couldn't they control their worry for her safety?
Was it just because Delphine was the Elf Queen, and they were, in essence, still elves?
How annoying.
Patricia slowly lowered the longbow she had halfway raised, turned around expressionlessly, and said, “Let’s go.”
Patricia was about to lead the Dark Elves away when the temple suddenly changed again. A fierce wind kicked up sand and dirt from the ground, the earth beneath their feet slowly sank, and a stone pillar in the corner abruptly collapsed. Sharp earthen spikes shot up from the ground, trapping them in the center like a cage.
Delphine turned to protect the elves behind her, her eyes fixed on the collapsed pillar. A golden light suddenly appeared on the monstrous beast carved into the pillar. As the golden light flickered, the beast broke free from the pillar's restraints and leaped out. It was dozens of meters tall, and a mere shake of its head caused an even more violent tremor. The beast tilted its head back and let out a roar.
It blocked the sun, and the sky instantly darkened.
The beast's roar accelerated the temple's sinking. This wasn't just happening to Delphine's group; the Vampires and the Holy See had encountered it as well.
Evan had led Delia and Eric along more remote paths to avoid Delphine, but even so, they couldn't escape the fate of being besieged by the suddenly "living" statues.
The Vampires' extraordinary strength and speed made dealing with the statues easier for them than for the Holy See and the Elves. Evan vented all his anger on the statues. After smashing several of them with a single punch, his suppressed rage finally subsided a little.
They hadn't triggered many statues; Evan alone had taken care of most of them. To conserve her strength, Delia stopped after dealing with one statue. She retreated to the side, rubbing an arm that had been struck by a longsword, and turned her head to examine the nearby palace.
The heavy doors did not look like they could be opened easily.
A clod of earth suddenly fell before her eyes. Delia froze for a moment, then looked up, her eyes widening slightly. A stone pillar was silently tilting toward them.
“…Elder Evan.” Delia flashed away from her spot and turned to shout at Evan, “The pillar!”
The moment she finished speaking, the pillar came crashing down. The impact sent Delia flying. Eric was unlucky enough to be crushed directly underneath it. The pillar fell right toward the palace, and its impact smashed a hole in the heavy doors.
Evan had nimbly dodged the moment Delia shouted. He stood to the side, looking at the pillar lying before him like a mountain, his expression turning grim.
The ground beneath his feet suddenly began to shake. From behind the pillar, a huge shadow was walking toward Evan. The monstrous beast shook its head, the sharp tusks on either side of its mouth like longswords. Delia, who had landed near the palace, watched the beast's approaching figure with a surge of panic. She clutched her chest and stood up. Her peripheral vision caught the crack in the door smashed open by the pillar. She narrowed her eyes and, ignoring Evan's shouts from the other side of the pillar, ran directly toward the palace.
The beast leaped over the pillar and came before Evan. It lowered its head to look at the tiny human, its intermittent roars sounding like mockery.
Evan's mood, which had just brightened, turned gloomy again. He raised a hand to erect his Blood Domain and turned, intending to flee. The beast seemed to know his plan, stomping its paw on the ground and sealing off the area.
His escape route cut off, Evan was both furious and forced to dodge the beast's attacks, looking no better than when he was being besieged by the Holy See and the Elves outside.
Compared to Evan's miserable state, the situation on the Holy See's side was slightly better. The beast's appearance wasn't sudden; like with the elves, there were warning signs.
The Holy See's group had just finished dealing with all the statue knights and were drinking Holy Water of Light to recover when the tremors began.
Because Tang Qiu and the others were not far from the stone pillar, they were the first to notice that the monstrous beast carved on it was trying to break free.
Reese and Audrey simultaneously raised their staffs and chanted. Ropes of condensed white light wrapped around the stone pillar, layer by layer, attempting to seal the beast completely within it.
Tang Qiu stroked her staff, her expression grave as she watched the still-struggling beast. She said slowly, “…The temple guardians.”
So the monstrous beasts carved on these four pillars were the true temple guardians. They had all misunderstood before.
Earthen spikes shot up from the ground all around them, and the earth beneath their feet was constantly sinking. Tang Qiu turned to the bishops beside her and said in a low voice, “Attack these spikes. Don’t let them surround us.”
As she spoke, she raised her staff. A blade of light condensed from the Power of Light shot toward an earthen spike, slicing it in half.
Seeing this, the bishops beside her raised their staffs and joined her in dealing with the spikes that were sprouting like mushrooms after a rain.
The inability of the earthen spikes to form a cage made the beast in the pillar even more agitated. It struggled more fiercely, and the ropes of light wrapped around the pillar snapped in unison. The pillar came crashing down.
Because the Holy See's team was too close to the pillar, its collapse sent a powerful shockwave that threw Reese and the others into the air. The beast leaped out from the pillar, stomped its four paws hard on the ground, and the earth instantly cracked. A bottomless fissure split the area in two.
A howling gale blew out from the fissure, carrying rubble and ravaging everything in its path amidst the beast's roars. Reese gripped her staff and climbed up from the ground, chanting in a deep voice. A golden light condensed at the tip of her staff, and a barrier centered on her enveloped the surrounding Holy See personnel, shielding them from the raging wind.
Reese lowered her staff, glanced up at the beast, then looked around, searching for the blonde bishop.
Audrey, who had fallen not far from her, stood up, her face as dark as water. She walked over to Reese and, seeing her searching for something, frowned and asked, “What’s wrong?” After speaking, she also scanned the area and said in a heavy tone, “Archbishop Vogt is gone?”
Not only was Vogt gone, but the blonde bishop was also missing.
Reese didn't speak, instead staring intently at the other side of the fissure. The dust kicked up by the wind obscured their vision, so she couldn't see the situation over there clearly.
“Trouble’s here,” Reese said in a low voice, tucking a strand of wind-blown hair behind her ear.
This beast didn't look easy to deal with. If it got close, not even a Red-robed Archbishop, perhaps not even the Pope, could escape.
Reese clicked her tongue. Taking advantage of the fact that the beast was still on the other side of the fissure and couldn't cross, she gripped her staff, turned, and began to put more distance between herself and the beast while searching for a relatively safe position. Audrey glanced at her back and went in the opposite direction.
By positioning themselves separately, they could cover each other when fighting the beast.
When the beast leaped out of the pillar, it landed right where Tang Qiu was. The impact sent her flying. Before she could get up from the ground, the fissure spread toward her and, before she could react, swallowed her whole.
Vogt witnessed the moment Tang Qiu was swallowed by the fissure. He didn't even have time to raise his staff, subconsciously beginning to chant a spell toward the fissure. But faster than his light magic was a flash of red. Vogt only saw the person's profile before the red-haired woman leaped into the fissure without hesitation.
“Grace!” Erin, wearing a large cloak, appeared from nowhere and ran directly toward the fissure. She knelt on the ground, peering into the chasm, her face filled with anxiety.
Just as she was filled with unease, not knowing what to do, Lucille and Tang Qiu leaped out of the fissure. The two didn't linger by the edge. The latter bent down, hoisted the still-dazed Erin onto her shoulder, and flashed away.
Although Tang Qiu left quickly, Vogt, who had been watching the area, still noticed that the blonde bishop's hair had turned snow-white.
Vogt lowered his gaze slightly. He seemed surprisingly unsurprised by this change in the blonde bishop.
The space in this area had been locked down by the beast. They couldn't leave without breaking its domain. Tang Qiu could only temporarily pick an empty, unoccupied spot. She put Erin down and was about to take a cloak out of her Space Gem to cover her hair when Lucille beat her to it, draping a cloak over her.
Lucille tied the cloak's straps and carefully tucked Tang Qiu's hair into the hood. The faint scent of blood drifted to her nose. She lowered her head, leaned close to Tang Qiu, and sniffed, her brow furrowing slightly.
Tang Qiu paused, asking in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
Lucille grabbed Tang Qiu's arm, pushed up her sleeve, and looked at the cut on it from a sharp stone. She said softly, “Blood.” As she spoke, she lowered her head, her cool lips pressing against the wound, carefully licking the bloodstains clean.
A werewolf's healing ability was very strong. The wound healed almost as soon as the blood was licked clean, but even after the wound had closed, Lucille continued to lightly lick that patch of skin.
As if confirming Tang Qiu's existence.
Tang Qiu raised a hand and stroked Lucille's hair, saying softly, “I’m fine.” After falling into the fissure, she had transformed into a werewolf, so she had quickly grabbed onto a protruding rock on the cliff face to stop her descent.
By the time Lucille jumped in to find her, she was already preparing to climb out.
Erin, who had wanted to ask if the blonde bishop was hurt, had been waiting for a long time without finding an opportunity to interject. When she saw Lucille grab Tang Qiu's arm and start kissing it, she grew even more awkward and averted her gaze.
Their location was right in front of the palace. Erin took two steps back and leaned against the palace's heavy doors, sighing faintly.
Her gaze would occasionally steal a glance at Tang Qiu and Lucille, her expression subtle, her thoughts unknown.
When she leaned against the door, she forgot that Little Fur Ball was sleeping in her hood. Squeezed by the door, Little Fur Ball slowly woke up. It crawled out of the hood and stood on top of Erin's head. As if sensing something, it looked up, gazing somewhat confusedly in the beast's direction.
The growling beast suddenly paused, turning its head in confusion to search for something. But because Little Fur Ball was too small, the beast found nothing.
Little Fur Ball withdrew its gaze from the beast and turned to look at the door that had squashed it. It raised a paw, placed it on the door, and gave a gentle push. The door opened just enough for one person to enter.
The door suddenly opened, and Erin, losing her balance, let out a cry and fell backward into the building.
Tang Qiu and Lucille turned their heads at the same time. Seeing the opened door and Erin, who had tumbled into the palace and disappeared, a flash of surprise crossed their faces. They exchanged a look and, in the instant before the door closed, they slipped inside.
Lucille and Tang Qiu's figures vanished behind the door, and the heavy doors slowly closed again until they were sealed shut.
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