Chapter 782: Subscribe for More – Dusk Demon and the Sun and Moon Shine Together
“Boom!”
Flames suddenly erupted above the three corpses of the [Divine Guardians], burning them to ashes in an instant.
Dusk took a half-step back and heard the mechanism of some device turning.
He thus summoned the Flame Sun Elemental, whose intense light illuminated the walls that had not been reached by the [Great Sunlight (Pride)] spell. A massive stone wall, two meters thick, was slowly rising, revealing a dark passage behind it.
The divine aura emanating from deep within the passage was astonishingly strong.
Dusk couldn’t help but frown: “This is indeed the space created by the Sun God and the Moon Goddess, isn’t it?”
Although this place was extremely perilous for those who could not control the powers of the sun or moon, it was equally perilous for those who could!
Not to mention the first room, which required knowledge of the language and script of that era to answer its questions, even the [Divine Guardians] in the second room were not something ordinary people could defeat.
But if someone truly entered here as a divine envoy or disciple, perhaps the [Divine Guardians] might become quite friendly.
The arrangement of these two rooms seemed to be confirming whether the entrants were the servants of the [God of Fiery Sun and Dawn] and the [Goddess of Icy Moon and Eternal Night].
If this logic continued…
The next room likely contained items left by the [God of Fiery Sun and Dawn] and the [Goddess of Icy Moon and Eternal Night] for their disciples.
“If that’s true, it’s quite intriguing.”
Dusk shared his thoughts with the group, and they all found it plausible. They began speculating on what items the [God of Fiery Sun and Dawn] and the [Goddess of Icy Moon and Eternal Night] might have left behind.
“I can sense a powerful divine aura there, very terrifying,” said the [Goddess of Heartful Eyes]. “Perhaps it’s the remains of the [God of Fiery Sun and Dawn] or the [Goddess of Icy Moon and Eternal Night].”
“This is possible,” Aurora said seriously. “But I think it’s more likely to be a divine artifact, since it was left for a disciple.”
Lily’s eyes lit up as she said, “If it’s remains, maybe it can be like the [Wisdom Deity] at the academy… Of course, a divine artifact would also be great.”
Dusk smiled and said, “Anything is possible… It might even be a key to resurrection.”
…
Perhaps because Dusk’s guess about the space’s purpose was too reasonable, or perhaps because killing the three [Divine Guardians] was too easy, the atmosphere among the group became much more relaxed.
They chatted and laughed as they passed through the tunnel behind the stone door and arrived at the third—and final—room!
And what appeared before them was indeed a set of remains!
But not the remains of the [God of Fiery Sun and Dawn] and the [Goddess of Icy Moon and Eternal Night]; instead…
Dusk suddenly looked up and saw a giant snake’s remains much larger than the previous [Oil Snake]!
The head alone was as big as a house, coiled on the ground over ten meters high, with the entire body exceeding two hundred meters in length.
Its head lay on the ground, eyes closed, showing no sign of breathing.
Yet, it emitted a faint glow that dispelled the darkness in the third room.
The third room was vast enough to comfortably accommodate such a giant snake.
Upon emerging from the tunnel, Dusk and his companions stopped abruptly, their faces showing caution as they prepared for defense or attack—but nothing happened.
One reason they weren’t overly tense was likely due to the fact that the snake’s skin wasn’t pitch black.
Though it sounded strange, this detail was crucial.
Whether it was the snakes encountered after entering the temple or those seen in dreams, they were all black.
Strangely, the temple worshipped lions and wolves, yet the most frequent encounters were with snakes, including the remains hidden in this mysterious space.
Dusk adjusted his breathing and cautiously observed the giant snake’s remains.
First, the divine aura they sensed came from the remains of this giant snake.
Second, the snake’s body was red with a white belly and blue patterns, making the overall color quite vivid and beautiful.
Dusk deliberately looked at the snake’s head but did not find any protruding “horns.”
Finally, he sensed both the “Sun” and “Moon” auras on this giant snake!
…
The group stood at the entrance of the tunnel for nearly two minutes, ensuring the giant snake showed no signs of sudden revival, before carefully moving forward.
The light emitted by the giant snake dispersed the darkness around it but did not illuminate the entire room.
Dusk used the method of transferring Ibut and Ditto’s consciousness to awaken new [Magical Beasts: Ibut] and [Magical Beasts: Ditto], then used [Mimic] and [Ice Transformation] to release [Great Sunlight (Pride)], illuminating every corner of the room.
After some time, he discovered a stone tablet near the tail of the giant snake.
The tablet was inscribed with text using the script of that era, which Dusk could not fully translate based on his dream memories.
Finally, with the combined efforts of three people, they barely deciphered the meaning of the text.
“When the sun and moon shine together, the divine gate opens…”
“This is the method to open the gate!” Lily exclaimed excitedly.
Dusk nodded, “It should be. When the sun and moon appear together, the divine gate will open… Does it mean we need to unleash the power of the Flame Sun Elemental and Ice Moon Elemental simultaneously?”
Aurora said, “Our Ice Moon Elemental is still asleep…”
Dusk smiled, “If it’s just a literal interpretation, we don’t necessarily need to wake the Ice Moon Elemental. Let’s look for anything useful first; we can’t come here for nothing.”
Aurora nodded, “True. Since we’ve found the method to open the gate, there’s no rush to leave. We might not be able to come back once we go out.”
Lily immediately raised her hand, “Can we take that snake with us?”
Dusk hesitated, “If we can…”
But Lily sighed, “If only we had a [Illusion Faerie Dragon]…”
Dusk replied, “With a [Illusion Faerie Dragon], we could put the giant snake’s remains into the [Fantasy Magic Cube] and take it away.”
Lily nodded vigorously, “For now, we can only wait and see how big the gate will be when we open it!”
Dusk: “Let’s explore separately.”
Everyone agreed and began exploring individually, each using their own methods to illuminate the area.
Though the room was large, there was very little of actual use.
The four walls were almost entirely white, and the ceiling depicted only the symbols of the sun and moon.
The only thing resembling a diagram was a large circle surrounding the giant snake’s remains.
Inside the circle were intricate and mysterious runes, which looked strangely familiar.
Before finding the stone tablet, Dusk had already noticed this circle. Now, he walked directly towards it, summoning the [Mana Book] to record all the patterns inside the circle meticulously.
Once everything was recorded, he felt a stir of recognition: “Yes, the patterns inside this circle bear a strange resemblance to the frescoes on the walls of the Moon Goddess Temple. From this angle, this pattern looks like farmers celebrating a harvest under the sun; this one looks like people dancing around a bonfire under the moonlight; and this one depicts countless devotees kneeling before a stone tablet inscribed with the symbol of the sun; then there is this pattern…”
“Considering the immense divine power still within this giant snake’s remains after enduring countless years in this divine space, it must be due to the effect of these patterns.”
“It has a similar function to the frescoes inside the Moon Goddess Temple.”
“If these patterns could be converted into magic runes, perhaps they could further refine the [Capital Sin IV].”
“…But there are so many symbols representing the sun and moon within these patterns. Could it be…”
“In any case, I’ll try it out when I return.”
“But if my suspicions are correct, does this mean that this snake…”
Dusk pondered for a long while, then closed the [Mana Book] and activated a [Flight Spell], flying towards the giant snake.
Moments later, he landed on top of the giant snake’s head, squatting down to feel it with his hands.
“Indeed, it possesses the divine power of both the sun and the moon!”
“Moreover, unlike the statues outside, the divine power of the sun and moon within this giant snake has a hint of [Pride] and [Bliss].”
“Regardless, let’s draw a sample first!”
Excitement surged in Dusk’s eyes as he took off his backpack, retrieving the [Mana Dropper] and [Thought Bottle]. He attempted to extract [Pride], or perhaps [Bliss], from the giant snake’s remains, much like drawing [Bliss] from the statue of the Moon Goddess.
To his slight surprise, the divine power of the sun and moon within the giant snake was not mixed together.
He easily distinguished between them, extracting a full drop of [Pride]!
This was the first time he had drawn [Pride] from somewhere other than his own mind.
After drawing [Moon Goddess Version Bliss], he quickly discerned the quality of this drop of [Snake God Version Pride].
—Despite the immense divine power remaining in the snake’s body, the extracted [Pride] was not of higher quality than the [Moon Goddess Version Bliss].
In other words, roughly three drops of [Snake God Version Pride] equaled one drop of [Dusk Version Pride].
However, the divine power remaining in the snake’s remains was indeed substantial!
But after carefully sensing the drop of [Pride], he couldn’t help but frown.
This drop of [Snake God Version Pride] gave him a bad feeling.
The [Moon Goddess Version Bliss] drawn earlier, though uncontrollable, was relatively gentle in nature.
But this drop of [Snake God Version Pride] carried an indescribable sense of primal and ferocious energy.
Just as Dusk was pondering, the [Soul of the Moon Goddess] flew up.
He asked, “Nothing?”
The [Soul of the Moon Goddess] shook its head in disappointment, “No.”
Dusk comforted her, “There’s no way to help it. Perhaps it’s due to the passage of time, or someone else has taken it, or maybe it never had divine essence in the first place.”
Dusk frowned, thinking of another possibility: “Could this giant snake be a primordial life form that naturally possessed the powers of the sun and moon? Rather than a divine beast like the [Sun Devouring Lion] or [Moon Devouring Wolf] that gained their powers later?”
“After all, why would the [Sun Devouring Lion] and [Moon Devouring Wolf] leave the remains of this giant snake in this divine realm?”
“This giant snake possesses the power of both the sun and moon, whereas the [Sun Devouring Lion] and [Moon Devouring Wolf] each only possess one. No matter how you look at it, the status of this giant snake should be higher than that of the [Sun Devouring Lion] and [Moon Devouring Wolf].”
“Then, could this giant snake be the… ancestor of the [Sun Devouring Lion] and [Moon Devouring Wolf]?”
Thinking this, Dusk subconsciously shook his head and muttered.
“Given the current situation, it seems more likely that the [Sun Devouring Lion] and [Moon Devouring Wolf] obtained the divine powers of the sun and moon from this giant snake’s remains, gradually gaining divine authority and forging divine cores.”
“In that case, we need to find a way to bring this giant snake’s remains out.”
“Hmm, what’s Lily doing?”
Dusk’s eyes twitched as he suddenly stood up to look.
…
At that moment, Professor Lily was flying up to the giant snake’s left eye.
Due to her proximity to the snake’s eye, Dusk couldn’t see what she was doing, so he moved closer to the snake’s head and bent down to observe.
“Heave-ho!”
Professor Lily exerted force suddenly, lifting the giant snake’s left eyelid forcefully, revealing a huge snake eye!
(Snakes don’t have eyelids, but this snake is different.)
Almost as soon as she lifted the eyelid, golden-orange light shone out.
Fully lifting the eyelid, the opened snake eye resembled a great sun, instantly radiating beams of light.
Lily felt no fear, but rather more excitement.
Dusk narrowed his eyes and saw her fly to the other side, lifting the right eyelid of the giant snake.
Immediately, cold moonlight shone from the right snake eye, illuminating the other half of the room.
“The left eye hides the sun, the right eye hides the moon; even the Candle Dragon wouldn’t compare!”
Dusk thought to himself, but suddenly felt the ground tremble, causing him to change color.
But he quickly calmed down.
It wasn’t that the giant snake had suddenly come to life; rather, the divine gate… had opened!
Sun and moon shining together.
The divine gate opened.
…
…
[Busy with tax issues all day, managed to update this chapter before midnight. Adjusting tonight, will update again around noon tomorrow.]
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