The Six Hundred and Twenty-Third Starfire
On the Twinkling Star Lake in the night, the Mirror Moon Statue controlled by Audric continued to battle against two Crimson Axe Spears. After much effort to force the Mirror Moon Statue to relinquish its control over the Storm Prison, Gethsmoor finally managed to assist his ally, Ed, in escaping. After successfully rescuing Ed, Gethsmoor hurriedly flew toward the Mirror Moon Statue.
Upon seeing Gethsmoor rapidly approaching, Ed, who had just escaped and was panting heavily, was momentarily startled. Once he heard what Gethsmoor was saying, his expression turned serious, and he murmured.
“Weaponized? Understood…”
As he spoke, Ed activated his own Spirituality, transforming his still weakened body into bl**d mist once again. This time, rather than dispersing widely, the bl**d mist contracted inward, condensing into a slender spear-like object. When the bl**d mist had fully contracted, it took the form of a crimson axe spear.
Once Ed had solidified into the crimson spear, it automatically surged in the direction of Gethsmoor. As the two drew near, Gethsmoor reached out and grasped the shaft of the crimson axe spear. A dark red hue began to rapidly spread from the point where Gethsmoor held the spear, soon enveloping her entire body. This strange dark red substance transformed into armor, equipping Gethsmoor as a spear-wielding noble knight.
In response to Gethsmoor and Ed’s actions, Audric was already prepared. He commanded the Mirror Moon Statue to unleash a storm of invisible wind blades, followed by a swift punch aimed at Gethsmoor.
The storm of wind blades quickly enveloped Gethsmoor, but thanks to the protection of the bl**d mist armor around her, she was unharmed. This degree of wind blade could be perfectly blocked by the bl**d mist armor. When the Mirror Moon Statue’s fist, resembling a giant wall, came crashing toward her, Gethsmoor made a desperate maneuver, narrowly avoiding the blow, and took the opportunity to swing her crimson axe spear, aiming for the statue’s outstretched arm.
In Gethsmoor’s hands, Ed’s bl**d spear rapidly elongated, and the spear tip expanded swiftly, transforming into a massive blade far larger than Gethsmoor herself. With this exaggerated weapon, Gethsmoor delivered a fierce slash to the Mirror Moon Statue’s arm. Amidst a roar and a cloud of dust, the axe blade carved a large gash into the stone arm.
Having successfully struck the giant stone arm with her massive weapon, Gethsmoor immediately began to pour her and Ed’s Spirituality into the attack. Under the powerful corrosive effects of the “Shadow” enchantment, numerous fine cracks spread out from the wound on the statue’s arm, causing the solid rock to shatter into tiny fragments. The speed at which these cracks proliferated was astonishing, apparently capable of eroding the entire section of the massive arm within no time, leading it to break.
“Completely weaponizing oneself to enhance another’s power, is this the strategy of the Crimson Crown during cooperative combat? Not only can ordinary attacks be magnified, but they can also inflict such powerful ‘Shadow’ corrosion… This has opened my eyes…”
Seeing this, Audric quickly summoned the power of his “Stone” Spirituality to reinforce the strength of the statue’s arm, barely managing to suppress the myriad cracks from spreading. He then commanded the Mirror Moon Statue to counterattack, using its massive arm to slam Gethsmoor away.
Although Gethsmoor’s body endured a tremendous impact, thanks to Ed’s bl**d mist armor, she was not smashed to pieces. Her bl**d mist armor was shattered, but the fragments quickly reassembled after a brief float, forming a new intact armor. Steadying herself in mid-air, Gethsmoor donned her fresh bl**d armor and gripped the crimson axe spear, charging again toward the Mirror Moon Statue.
Subsequently, Gethsmoor engaged in a fierce battle with the Mirror Moon Statue. With Ed’s bl**d mist armor, she turned the tide, significantly boosting her defensive capabilities. Not only did she almost negate the damage from the wind blades, even a direct hit from the statue’s fist could be mitigated, restoring most of her health. Moreover, the enlarged bl**d axe spear increased the damage she inflicted on the statue, while the enhanced corrosive ability allowed her to effectively bypass the statue’s defenses. Coupled with Gethsmoor’s innate agility, her predicament against the Mirror Moon Statue improved dramatically.
Audric, controlling the statue as it fought against Gethsmoor, found her much more challenging now. The statue’s attacks were no longer capable of landing lethal blows on Gethsmoor, who could continuously strike against the statue with her bl**d axe spear. The highly corrosive slashes required Audric to expend significant Spirituality to suppress their effect; otherwise, the statue would soon be unable to withstand Gethsmoor’s relentless onslaught.
Amidst the battle, Audric frowned slightly and reached into the pocket of his coat. He pulled out a handful of sand, letting it trickle through his fingers until it transformed into dust floating in the air. In his hand remained three small stone chess pieces: a knight, a castle, and a bishop. The knight and castle pieces had nearly two-thirds of their volume turned to sand and scattered, leaving only the bishop piece intact but covered in numerous fine cracks.
All signs indicated that Audric’s Spirituality was growing increasingly strained. As a severely crippled golden entity, he lacked the abundance of Spirituality that Gethsmoor and Ed, both complete Crimson Tiers, possessed. Relying on his superb skills, Audric exhibited an incredible efficiency in utilizing his “Stone” Spirituality, yet even so, the energy consumption required to animate and control the statue was tremendous. Now, to suppress Gethsmoor’s corrosive power, Audric needed to invest even more Spirituality in fortifying defenses, which accelerated the depletion of his already limited resources.
While Audric had some control over the stored Spirituality within the temple, most of this energy was of “Shadow,” with relatively little “Stone” available. By the time Audric animated the statue, the temple’s “Stone” had largely been exhausted. Now, the Spirituality maintaining the statue mainly came from himself.
Although the combat had reached a stalemate, with Audric holding a slight advantage, this situation could not last long. Audric’s Spirituality reserves were quickly dwindling, nearing the safety threshold he had set for himself. Once he reached that limit, he would have to cease controlling the Mirror Moon Statue. Given the current circumstances, the rate of Spirituality depletion was alarmingly rapid; Audric could not guarantee he could hold off Gethsmoor until Doro completely finished her ritual.
To conserve Spirituality, Audric began to actively limit the capabilities of the Mirror Moon Statue, shifting from attack to defense to buy more time. Gethsmoor quickly noticed this change.
“Ha! This guy is slowing down! Keep it up, Ed!”
With a proud laugh, Gethsmoor quickened the pace of her attacks, swinging the colossal bl**d axe spear down upon the Mirror Moon Statue. The reversal in the battle’s momentum caused her laughter to grow more unrestrained, and under her frenzied offensive, Audric’s Spirituality was rapidly depleting.
At that moment, an unexpected disturbance occurred. In the dark night sky, a bright orange star appeared, quickly intensifying until it transformed into a massive fiery pillar descending from above, speeding toward Gethsmoor’s location.
Suddenly aware of the impending danger mid-attack, Gethsmoor evaded at high speed. She narrowly escaped the searing hot pillar that brushed beside her, crashing into the Twinkling Star Lake below, instantly boiling the surrounding water due to the intense heat. The proximity of the explosion left Gethsmoor with a painful burn.
“What! What is happening…”
As Gethsmoor wondered in shock, more fiery pillars descended from the sky one after another. Gethsmoor managed to dodge each one, but realized that rather than disappearing, the pillars remained in place, slowly forming a fiery prison around her, seemingly intent on trapping her within.
Realizing the urgency of her situation, Gethsmoor understood she could not linger in this area and hurried toward the largest gap in the unfinished fiery prison. Just as she was about to escape, a massive stone fist barreled toward her like a wall. Caught off guard, Gethsmoor turned to evade, narrowly avoiding the statue’s attack but missing her chance to escape the fiery prison, becoming trapped as the final pillar fell.
“This intensity of Spirituality-infused flames… How is it even possible…”
Gethsmoor marveled incredulously at her encirclement of fiery pillars. At that moment, a greater crisis loomed above her. From the pinnacle of the fiery prison, a bright orange star shone overhead, its luminescence growing stronger, indicating another fiery pillar was about to descend.
Ultimately, the descending light was not another pillar but a meteor! A fiery meteor far larger and more formidable than the previous pillars! Within the constrained space of the fiery prison, the blazing meteor, trailing a long tail of flames, plummeted rapidly toward Gethsmoor, who stared wide-eyed at the approaching threat.
“Heavenly fire… Saint!”
Gethsmoor gritted her teeth in disbelief as she gazed at the fiery meteor headed straight for her. In a moment of desperation, she glared at the fiery prison walls and transformed her crimson axe spear into a shield, charging toward the wall of the fiery prison.
Instead of taking the full brunt of the impact from the meteor, Gethsmoor chose to push through the fiery prison itself, mitigating the burn damage while avoiding the blunt force.
After a decisive moment, Gethsmoor thrust the shield forward and charged through the wall of flames. Although her entire body was scorched in the process, she finally broke free from the fire.
Just as she emerged from the flames, the rapidly descending meteor, as if possessing a will of its own, adjusted its trajectory upon witnessing Gethsmoor’s escape. It veered sharply, continuing to pursue her while trailing blazing flames. Gethsmoor, realizing the urgency, no longer focused on extinguishing her own flames but instead executed an evasive maneuver to avoid the rapidly approaching meteor.
In the end, Gethsmoor narrowly avoided being hit directly by the meteor, which would have obliterated her under its intense heat and pressure. However, as it zoomed past her, she still felt a glancing blow from its immense energy, sending her flying far away and crashing onto the shore of the Twinkling Star Lake, while the fiery meteor impacted a nearby hillside.
“Boom!!!”
The explosion sent shockwaves across the land, and amidst the deafening roar, the hill struck by the meteor disintegrated. In its place stood a massive, molten crater, glowing red-hot with heat where a figure slowly rose from its depths.
Clad in heavy paladin armor decorated with wings and a solar motif, a towering knight wielding a burning longsword stood up in the center of the crater. Behind him flowed a cloak made of special material, intricately embroidered with sacred patterns that were typically reserved for high-ranking clergy in the Church.
Former leader of the Holy Crusade Knight Order and now Archbishop of Prit, Francesco rushed to the scene after receiving urgent reports from the expedition sent to investigate the heretic ruins. Now, he had finally arrived.
On the opposite side of Twinkling Star Lake, Gethsmoor, with her bl**d mist armor shattered and her body blackened and singed, stumbled to her feet from a small pit she had created. She gazed at the distant hill scorched by the fire and the imposing Mirror Moon Statue still looming above the surface of the lake, her expression filled with confusion and anger.
“Why… Why is the Heavenly Fire Saint here!? Did that little nun report to her superior? But it’s impossible for them to arrive this quickly!
“This is absurd… Just one thing after another… And now even the old deity follower has intervened, huh? You all… should not underestimate me!”
As she spoke, confusion faded from Gethsmoor’s tone, replaced by seething rage. Despite facing at least two powerful Crimson Tiers, she had no intention of retreat. She was confident in her ability to handle everything before her, for she was no ordinary Crimson Tier… but a Witch, a Spider Queen’s Witch.
With this identity alone, even facing two more Crimson Tiers wouldn’t frighten her!
“I originally just intended to resolve this with my extraordinary ability, but it looks like that won’t work… d*mn you all, this is forcing my hand!” Gethsmoor thought to herself, then slowly closed her eyes, beginning to pray silently.
“O revered Queen of the Deep Web, God of Shadows and Assassination, Ruler of Torture and Pain, Lady of bl**d… I, Gethsmoor Archik, your most loyal servant, your Witch, the door to your realm in the present world, pray to you now.
“Please, open me. I will become the opening to your lair. I… crave your power to flow through me…”
…
Inside the Mirror Moon Statue, within the steady gyroscopic space, Doro sat in meditation before the statue that belonged to her… or to the Mirror Moon Goddess, silently completing her ritual.
Finally, amidst the flickering of the candles surrounding the magical array, a purple glow appeared and vanished above the array of “Enlightenment.” A trace of purple light danced across the cover of the “Navigation of the Literary Sea” placed at the center of the array, and its nature subtly changed.
Sitting beside the array, Doro picked up the “Navigation of the Literary Sea,” caressing its surface. After sensing the deep changes within, she murmured.
“Success…”
Another ritual was completed. Under her promise to herself, she blessed the “Navigation of the Literary Sea” in her identity as Akasha, transforming it into a Divine Blessing Object, a Divine Blessing Object of “Enlightenment.”
Now, Doro had successfully gathered all six Divine Blessing Objects needed to ascend to the Crimson Tier.
It was time to begin the final ritual!
