Six hundred and sixty-sixth moment
In the Palace of the Goddess, during the Banquet of Audience, music drifted through the air, and the dance was filled with vigor. In this traditional grand feast of the Fa La Luo court, the confrontation between Adele and Sanderlina continued to unfold, reaching its climax amidst the dancers’ movements.
Amidst the dazed and wooden gazes of countless spectators, Adele and Sanderlina stood on their respective stages, performing their dances. Their stages were not far apart; they could see each other across a single hall, exchanging deep-seated hostility in their eyes.
After ascending the second stage depicted by the fountain water spell, Adele’s enhanced stage presence matched Sanderlina’s power. The strength of these Extraordinary Beings on the Path of Desire diffused invisibly into the space, affecting everyone present. The desires dominated by Sanderlina in the audience were challenged by Adele, causing those who had been under her control to freeze in place, unable to be manipulated freely by Sanderlina’s power anymore.
The situation became deadlocked. Sanderlina could no longer influence everyone unchecked. Meanwhile, Doro decisively intervened, controlling her Zombie Puppets to quickly gather at the edge of the viewing stand, aiming their guns at Sanderlina, who was dancing on the stage below.
Sanderlina’s abilities were largely suppressed by Adele, making it difficult for her to manipulate the guests. However, she was not unprepared. Amidst the chaos, several dark-skinned guards around the stage stepped forward, their expressions vacant as if they were controlled puppets.
“Bang!”
With a loud gunshot, Doro’s controlled Zombie Puppet pulled the trigger, sending bullets flying towards Sanderlina. The guards, with their empty eyes, jumped up and blocked the bullets with their bodies. After blocking the bullets, these guards slowly stood up again, looking at the Zombie Puppets on the stands, then opened their mouths, releasing a swarm of Flying Insects that buzzed towards Doro’s Zombie Puppets and Adele, who was dancing on the fountain. After the insects flew out, the guards collapsed to the ground, motionless, as if they had lost all life.
Facing the swarm of insects, Doro’s Zombie Puppets had no immediate countermeasures and were surrounded, struggling as the insects invaded their eyes, ears, and mouths. Seeing this, Doro allowed the insects to cover the bodies of the Zombie Puppets and Adele, transmitting an electric current to them.
A series of sharp crackling sounds echoed continuously, like an electric flyswatter buzzing. The insects crawling on the Zombie Puppets and trying to climb onto Adele were scorched and fell to the ground, filling the air with a pungent odor.
Seeing that the direct attack was ineffective, the swarming insects withdrew. Some flew back into the guards’ mouths, reviving them, while others circled around Sanderlina, protecting her. The rest directly attacked Song Sang on the main guest platform.
“This… These are puppets controlled by parasites? As expected, Hui Lan has invested in this operation…”
Doro thought to herself. She immediately instructed all her Zombie Puppets to drive away the insects on the main guest platform. Some of the guards, acting as insect nests, quickly climbed onto the main guest platform, engaging in a chaotic battle with Doro’s Zombie Puppets.
The scene became chaotic due to the insects, but this did not affect Adele and Sanderlina’s dance. Their invisible struggle continued.
In fact, Adele and Sanderlina’s confrontation was not entirely balanced. Both were Extraordinary Beings on the Path of Desire, and theoretically, their powers should have been equal with one stage each. However, Adele was not an ordinary white chalk; she inherited her teacher Dalena’s spirit, making her stronger than typical Extraordinary Beings on the Path of Desire. Her advantage came from a reinforced white chalk and a stage, giving her more power than Sanderlina, who was merely a regular white chalk.
This advantage existed, but it wasn’t significant. Although Adele’s power subtly overpowered Sanderlina, it didn’t show much in practical terms. This slight advantage was not decisive but was close to being so.
Now, Adele needed just one more push to turn the tide completely and defeat Sanderlina.
Although Sanderlina was at a disadvantage, she remained calm because she knew that among the three stages in the Palace of the Goddess, the first stage was the most important. It was more crucial than Adele’s second stage.
Based on their long-term research of the Palace of the Goddess and the documents left from the time of King Charles, Sanderlina knew that the first stage gained significant power during the twilight hour of the Banquet of Audience. When the specific moment of dusk arrived today, her first stage would surpass the other stages. This was why King Charles chose this time to hold the Banquet of Audience.
It was already dusk, and the moment of increased power was very close. As soon as the right moment arrived, her first stage would surpass Adele’s second stage, allowing her to regain control of the situation.
“Come… Come… The moment of the King Charles’ control! Come… Come to me, let me become the true ruler of this Palace of the Goddess!”
Looking at the dim light pouring through the entrance, Sanderlina silently wished. Her wish was soon answered as the sun gradually set, and a huge colored projection slowly moved from the back of the stage toward the circular puzzle stage, eventually overlapping it. The originally chaotic colors began to form a regular pattern.
From a high vantage point, one could see a blurry, multicolored seven-petal lotus shadow reflecting on the stage, merging with the original seven-petal lotus. At the moment of overlap, Sanderlina suddenly felt a surge in her Path of Desire powers, rapidly increasing and soon catching up to and surpassing Adele’s strength.
“It’s here!”
As Sanderlina became excited about the timing, somewhere far away, Doro looked up at the sky of the Palace of the Goddess. She watched the sunset reflecting off the glass dome hall, muttering softly.
“If the King Charles’ hidden stages in the Palace of the Goddess are the broken stage, the water-changing stage, then the third must be the blurred-light stage…
“The third stage, the stage of light and shadow, and the same kind of light produced by the sun appears only once a year, which is why the Banquet of Audience happens annually…”
Doro mused, already knowing where the third stage was located within the Palace of the Goddess. That stage was hidden within the glass dome hall, intricately designed with complex glass patterns.
The glass dome hall was made up of numerous colored glass pieces, seemingly chaotic and disorganized, creating a dazzling effect on the hall below. However, the meticulous King Charles would never allow such chaos in his design. This chaos had meaning.
When the sun was in the right position in the sky each year, sunlight would shine through the glass dome hall at a precise angle, illuminating specific areas. Although the colored glass seemed chaotic, when the light hit correctly, it formed a complete pattern—a full seven-petal lotus.
The sun’s position varied with the seasons, changing the shadows it cast. The predetermined moment was during the twilight of the Banquet of Audience, when the setting sun’s light slanted onto the dome hall, projecting eastward and aligning perfectly with the stage in the eastern singing hall. The halo lotus and the broken lotus would merge at this time.
Thus, at this moment, the first stage and the third stage overlapped, doubling the stage’s power. This caused Sanderlina’s power, standing on the first stage and dancing, to surge rapidly, soon surpassing Adele, who had once suppressed her.
“See! Adele, this is the true legacy of King Charles, the true power of this Flower Temple!”
Standing on the stage, with her power surging, Sanderlina shouted madly at Adele. At this moment, her power surpassed Adele’s, and she focused her efforts to influence her opponent, aiming to end the confrontation.
Just as Sanderlina felt victory was within reach, she didn’t know that far away in the Palace of the Goddess, a silver-haired girl raised her hand towards the darkening sky.
“The shadow of the sun, turning into a blooming lotus… Generally, the sun is the brightest object in the sky, outshining stars and the moon except in certain situations where its brilliance is unparalleled.”
Gazing at the dark sky, Doro thought, then she swung her arm downward. A force that had been accumulating in the sky erupted with her movement.
“Boom!!”
Lightning! A massive, winding bolt of lightning split the heavens, descending from the sky to the earth, tearing open a brilliant gash in the sky, momentarily illuminating the entire area around the Palace of the Goddess with blinding white light.
Doro summoned a thunderbolt, aimed at the Palace of the Goddess, but it struck the eastern edge of the palace grounds rather than the main building. Her intention was not to k*ll, but to challenge the sun’s brilliance!
At this moment, the setting sun had lost its midday brilliance. When the pale, shimmering light descended upon the palace grounds, it instantly overshadowed the dim evening light. For an instant, the dominant light was the powerful thunderbolt.
The lightning struck the eastern part of the Palace of the Goddess, rewriting the shadows after overpowering the western sunlight. The colored dome of the glass hall, receiving light from the east, projected new light towards the west. Doro’s lightning passed through the colorful dome, transforming into a new light that traveled westward, passing through the open archway and illuminating the Dawn Fountain, merging with the water lotus on the stage.
With the thunder striking and successfully challenging the sun’s light, the halo on Sanderlina’s first stage dimmed almost to invisibility, returning the stage to its normal state. The power she had gained from the third stage vanished instantly. Adele’s second stage, blessed by the lightning, overlapped with the redirected third stage for a brief moment, granting Adele two stages.
The lightning lasted only an instant, but that was enough for Adele. Already having an advantage over Sanderlina, she now had the final push to overpower her. Conversely, Sanderlina lost her third stage and her power dropped.
“The outcome is decided!”
“What…”
Seizing the opportunity, Adele concentrated all her power on Sanderlina. Suddenly, Sanderlina was overwhelmed by the powerful Path of Desire ability. With two stages and the inheritance of Dalena, Adele broke through Sanderlina’s desire protection and fully controlled her desires.
“Adele… I will k*ll you now!”
At this moment, Adele ignited Sanderlina’s desire to k*ll her, overwhelming her rationality. Sanderlina opened her mouth wide, eyes blazing, and attempted to tear Adele apart.
Driven by rage, Sanderlina, now irrational, charged down her stage towards Adele on the fountain stage, attempting to tear her apart with primal force.
Facing Sanderlina’s frenzied charge, Adele gracefully waved her hand, redirecting Sanderlina’s desire target from Adele to herself. Although the lightning had passed, Adele no longer had the third stage’s boost, but Sanderlina had no stages at all, rendering her powerless against Adele.
Sanderlina, whose desire target was redirected, suddenly stopped in the center of the glass dome hall, her eyes wide and arms trembling as she slowly raised them to grab her head. Despite her madness, a trace of fear shone through. She laughed, opening her mouth, and spoke in a frantic tone.
“No… Don’t… Please save me… My Lady… My Lady…”
After finishing her words, Sanderlina twisted her neck forcefully, snapping it with a crack, and then slowly collapsed, lying still on the floor tiles of the glass dome hall.
Having finally defeated her enemy, Adele slowly ceased her dance and looked complexly at the fallen Sanderlina, murmuring.
“My Lady…
“In the upper echelons of the Three Teachings of the Womb, is there such a title?”
