The First Pope - Chapter 75
Chapter 75
The temples of the gods varied in style. Apart from their similar structures, the rest was entirely up to the gods' preferences.
The God of the Ocean's temple was exquisite and magnificent, while the Beast God's temple was luxurious yet tinged with gloom. The Giant God's temple, by comparison, was much simpler. Oddly shaped boulders were piled directly into the form of a palace, and from a distance, the pitch-black entrances looked more like caves.
Complex black patterns were carved into the floor tiles underfoot, having already merged with the temple itself. Cynthia, who had been to the Beast God's temple, recognized them at a glance as the dark array the Vampires used to destroy temples.
However, what surprised her was that this dark array was not yet complete.
But surprise aside, this was good news. It meant they hadn't arrived too late.
Perhaps because the dark array was incomplete, Edeli hadn't felt it necessary to leave guards behind. After entering the temple, they saw no sign of any third-generation Vampires, only a few fourth-generation ones guarding the other races.
Activating the dark array required the sacrifice of a large number of other races and humans. Although the dark array was not yet complete, the offerings had already been prepared. The first thing Cynthia did upon entering the temple was not to destroy the unfinished array, but to rescue these innocent humans and other races meant for sacrifice.
The Power of Darkness needed for an array capable of destroying a temple was immense, and to activate it, the Vampires had captured a terrifying number of sacrifices.
Besides humans, the most numerous among them were witches and members of the God Race. The number of witches, in particular, astonished Cynthia.
No wonder the witches had been so dejected when Betty and Chelsea brought their people to her. So many of their kin had truly been taken by the Vampires.
Before coming to Pegel, Cynthia had anticipated this situation and prepared a large quantity of materials for teleportation arrays in her Space Gem. Most of the rescued witches were from the Morgan Family. They had studied arrays since childhood, and their understanding of them was more thorough than that of the Garcia and Anderson families. Although it was their first time seeing the modified teleportation array, they quickly grasped the method after Cynthia's explanation.
The witches took over for Cynthia, using the teleportation arrays to send the imprisoned humans and other races away. Cynthia finally had time to investigate the temple.
While Cynthia was teaching the witches about the teleportation array, Avira had run off somewhere. Hanni, however, had stayed by her side, clearing out the Vampires who came to obstruct them.
The temple was vast. As the imprisoned humans and other races were sent away through the teleportation arrays, the place became empty and desolate once more. Rows of statues in earth-yellow armor lined the pillars that reached to the sky, stretching beyond Cynthia's line of sight.
Drawing from her experience in the Beast God's temple, Cynthia remained vigilant for any movement from these statues as she explored.
This was Hanni's first time in a place like a temple. She followed behind Cynthia, looking left and right, curious about everything. Fortunately, she always remembered Cynthia's warnings and didn't touch the statues.
But her curiosity got the better of her when she saw some strange wooden figures next to the statues. She couldn't help but ask, "What are these wooden things for?"
The wooden figures, pieced together from what looked like charred wood, were pitch-black. They wore hats woven from straw and seemed completely out of place in the temple.
Cynthia glanced in the direction Hanni was pointing, her golden eyes narrowing slightly. She caressed the staff in her hand and said thoughtfully, "Perhaps the Vampires left them."
The wooden figures emanated a faint dark aura; they certainly didn't seem to be part of the temple itself.
The wooden figure closest to Cynthia and Hanni slowly began to turn, as if observing something. Cynthia frowned and softly chanted a spell. Golden flames appeared at the figure's feet and engulfed it. The wood was burned to ash by the Power of Light and dissipated into the air.
Cynthia's gaze followed the dissipating ashes. Seeing them attempt to coalesce into a dark shadow, she raised her hand and purified them completely. "These must be the Vampires' 'eyes' for monitoring the temple," she said flatly.
She scanned the wooden figures scattered throughout the temple, waved her staff, and sent specks of golden light flying out to purify them all. Only then did she say, "Let's go. We'll check the center of the temple."
According to the map Avira had given her, the center of the temple was also the core of the dark array. Having witnessed the power of this array in the Beast God's temple, Cynthia had always been curious about it.
Although the Sethite clan was also made up of wizards, Cynthia had learned from Olivia that their focus was not on arrays. They sought to emulate the former Tremere clan, so they had been researching the Power of Darkness and blood magic.
Where they had obtained such a powerful dark array remained a mystery to Cynthia.
Cynthia and Hanni followed a narrow corridor into the next hall. After they left, wisps of black energy emerged from the ground. They consciously gathered together, forming a black, human-like figure. The shadow's features were indistinct, with only two eerie green flames flickering like eyes, staring in the direction Cynthia and Hanni had gone.
"Grand Elder, the other races in the temple are escaping." A somewhat shrill female voice emerged from the shadow. She sounded frantic, her speech unconsciously quickening. "What's going on? Where is Elder Edeli? Don't the Vampires want to destroy the temple anymore?"
"Enough, Sunny." A deep voice interrupted the woman's chatter. The shadow split in two, forming another shadow beside it. "Compose yourself."
The woman called Sunny fell silent for a moment, then exclaimed again, "There's a werewolf in the temple! Who's that with her? A member of the God Race? What are they doing here!"
The Grand Elder chided in a low voice, "Sunny."
Sunny went quiet, and her shadow slowly shrank into a ball.
"Go contact Edeli. See what the Vampires are doing."
Sunny cautiously agreed, then tentatively asked, "And you?"
The shadow gradually elongated, slowly forming limbs. A bone staff materialized in its hand. The Grand Elder's voice came from within, "I will deal with the werewolf and the God Race member here."
His tone was calm, but he was hiding a burning rage—a rage directed at the Lasombra clan.
The Lasombra clan was arrogant, conceited, and condescending. They had withdrawn from Pegel without even telling them. To think of all the effort they had expended to set up this dark array, and now it was all ruined.
...If not for the fact that they couldn't enter the Blood Domain and had to rely on the Lasombra to help them capture Vampires of the Tremere clan, he wouldn't want any connection with these arrogant fools.
When Cynthia and Hanni arrived at the core of the dark array, a bored Avira had already been waiting for them for some time.
"You two are so slow." Avira leaped down from a tall statue, tossing a grayish-black stone up and down in her hand. She walked over to Hanni and deliberately brushed against her shoulder.
A cloyingly sweet scent drifted into Hanni's nose, making her step back uncomfortably. She raised a hand to cover her nose, her gaze darting around. "I-I'll go look over there."
With that, her figure flashed and vanished on the spot.
Cynthia watched Hanni's retreating figure, raised an eyebrow, and said meaningfully, "Hanni only just came of age."
Having just left her territory for training, the simple-hearted Hanni, who hadn't experienced much of the world, was certainly no match for Avira.
How long had it been, yet Hanni's attitude toward Avira had changed so quickly.
Although Hanni still seemed unwilling to acknowledge Avira and often bared her teeth threateningly, Cynthia could see that her attitude was softening.
This was not a good sign, because Cynthia saw no such change in Avira.
Avira leaned in close to Cynthia, her scarlet eyes filled with a teasing smile. She said softly, "I'm not bullying her. She's the one bullying me."
She deliberately pulled her collar lower, her eyes holding a hint of provocation. "Don't you feel sorry for me?"
Cynthia used her staff to push Avira away by the shoulder, smiling gently. "That trick doesn't work on me."
She gestured for Avira to fix her clothes, then turned to survey their surroundings, saying casually, "Know when to stop. Given your status among the Vampires, you shouldn't be lacking for people in your bed."
Although they were joking with Avira now as if they were companions, in reality, they could turn on each other at any moment.
Avira was a Vampire. That fact alone meant they could never truly be allies.
But Hanni didn't seem to see that yet, so Cynthia worried she would be seduced by Avira and fall too deep.
Avira, of course, understood the meaning behind Cynthia's words, but she was never one to change her mind because of what others said. She acted solely based on her mood, and right now, she happened to be interested in Hanni.
Giving up a favorite toy was impossible for her.
"I was going to give you a gift, but now I've changed my mind." Avira toyed with the stone in her hand and pouted. "I told you, I'm not bullying that little wolf."
Cynthia's gaze fell on the stone in her hand. After a moment, she found it familiar. "Is this... a Godhead?"
Avira glanced at her, tossed the stone over, and scoffed, "It's just a crystal containing divine power. Calling it a Godhead sounds ridiculous."
Cynthia had the Beast God's Godhead. She had studied it, but it seemed its only use was to activate arrays; she hadn't found any other purpose for it.
"Where did you get the crystal on your staff?" Avira had long noticed the Light Crystal in Cynthia's hand and recognized it as the Light Goddess's Godhead. But she was certain the God Race had never been to the Temple of Light. She looked up at Cynthia, her gaze profound.
She had never believed the claim that the God Race was created by the Goddess of Light, but the appearance of this Light Crystal made her begin to wonder if the rumor might be true after all.
Cynthia glanced at the Light Crystal at the tip of her staff, thought for a moment, and replied, "I found it."
Seeing Avira's skeptical expression, she chuckled. "It's fine if you don't believe me."
It wasn't the truth anyway.
Of course, she couldn't tell Avira the origin of the Light Crystal.
Cynthia reached out and touched the Light Crystal, remaining exceptionally calm under Avira's probing gaze.
Avira didn't seem to know whether to believe her or not. She took a step forward, about to say something, but her brow suddenly furrowed, and she turned her head to look behind her.
A cold, dark aura appeared abruptly. Hanni, who was wandering nearby, was caught off guard and instantly swallowed by a black mist.
Avira's eyes narrowed. Her figure vanished and reappeared in an instant, grabbing Hanni by the collar and pulling her out.
Hanni was still in shock, her sky-blue eyes staring at the black mist. "Did the Vampires come back already?" she asked in disbelief.
"Not Vampires." Cynthia threw a Light Magic spell to disperse the approaching black mist and said flatly, "This is Dark Magic."
"It's a Sethite wizard." Avira released Hanni's collar, leaped onto a statue's head, and rested her chin on her hand, assuming the posture of a spectator. "Be careful. I won't be collecting your bodies."
Seeing Avira retreat to a higher position, Hanni stomped her foot in anger and gritted her teeth. "Vampires really are shameless, cowardly, and despicable."
The second-generation Vampire, now labeled with a bad name, just smiled nonchalantly. She even deliberately blew Hanni a kiss and said in a suggestive tone, "Be careful, baby. Don't hurt your hands."
"You..." Hanni was so angry she was speechless. Her cheeks grew faintly hot, whether from rage or some other reason.
Cynthia, who was concentrating on chanting a spell, spared a glance for Hanni and sighed inwardly.
Comments
Post a Comment