Six Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Chapter: Mirror Moon
Under the night sky at Twinkling Star Lake, under the full moon, Gethsmoor, with eight limbs and eight eyes, was flying swiftly across the lake surface, rushing towards the almost incapacitated Mirror Moon Statue in the distance. Although she was covered in bl**d, her wounds had mostly healed thanks to the syringe supplements. The series of injuries transferred by Doro had been largely recovered.
With a cold gaze, Gethsmoor flew close to the water’s surface at high speed, causing ripples on the water below as she charged forward. After Francesco fell, it seemed no one could stop Gethsmoor now. She needed to go to the temple to settle everything tonight.
Standing atop the fallen statue, Audric gazed at the rapidly approaching Gethsmoor. With his already furrowed brows, he sighed and spoke slowly.
“Originally decided to end here, but I’ll help you a bit more.”
As he spoke, Audric controlled the Mirror Moon Statue once again, launching an attack against the incoming Gethsmoor. Since Audric’s spirituality was nearly at his self-set safety threshold, using any more would exhaust his emergency reserves, so he didn’t waste too much spirituality to make the statue stand up again. Instead, he activated its ability to create invisible wind blades aimed at Gethsmoor.
Instantly, countless wind blades like raindrops assaulted Gethsmoor at high speed. Gethsmoor immediately began dodging in mid-air, avoiding one blade after another, while sharp wind sounds whistled past her ears. Gethsmoor used her bl**d Piercer to shatter some wind blades, but fortunately, the pain from these continuous manipulative skills did not transfer, and the Mirror Moon Statue was unaffected, similar to when it controlled tornadoes.
Compared to Francesco’s fireballs, the wind blades released by the statue were numerous and fast. Even Gethsmoor had to expend more energy and effort to dodge them, occasionally getting slightly scratched or grazed, but the wind blades didn’t have the powerful destructive force of fireballs that could knock her out of the sky.
While dodging the wind blades, Gethsmoor continued to fly toward the statue, though her speed was somewhat hindered but still not slow, quickly reaching the statue.
“Boom!”
At this moment, an unexpected explosion suddenly erupted on Gethsmoor’s body, causing a burst of flames. One side of her body was torn apart, and one arm was severed. Gethsmoor momentarily lost balance and plummeted toward the bloody lake surface, her face showing clear shock.
“Mm!”
The sudden explosion left Gethsmoor disoriented. She didn’t know how the explosion happened, seeing no fireball-like objects heading toward her. Statistically, the wind blades shouldn’t explode.
Despite the surprise attack, Gethsmoor didn’t dwell on it. After searching in vain for the attacker, she reattached her severed arm. Once her injuries were mostly healed, she resumed dodging the wind blades and flying toward the statue. Soon after, another explosion occurred on her body, severely damaging her abdomen, nearly knocking her down again.
“What… is this!?”
Facing two consecutive explosions, Gethsmoor’s widened eyes reflected immense anger and confusion. She didn’t understand where these explosions came from; she hadn’t sensed any projectiles other than the wind blades.
These explosions were actually caused by Doro using the Full Moon Water Nymph and magnetic bombs. Inside the temple, Doro controlled the zombies on shore to use iron sheets and explosives to create magnetic bombs, then manipulated them to fly toward Gethsmoor. Doro’s magnetic flight bodies weren’t fast, but combined with the effects of the Full Moon Water Nymph, they were different.
When Audric controlled the statue to launch numerous wind blades at Gethsmoor, she focused all her attention on dodging them. Subconsciously, she believed the only projectiles she needed to deal with were the wind blades. Meanwhile, Doro had the zombies release magnetic bombs into the air and activated the Full Moon Water Nymph’s abilities, making Gethsmoor ignore other projectiles, allowing the magnetic bombs to approach and detonate near her. Under Audric’s wind blade barrage, Gethsmoor’s movements were restricted, giving Doro a chance to locate her.
These two successful sneak attacks left Gethsmoor in a difficult situation. However, she wasn’t entirely foolish. After being attacked twice, she had some ideas.
“This… is an illusion! It’s the same illusion! That monster is behind it!”
After regaining control of her body, Gethsmoor created several bl**d needles, but instead of attacking the statue, she stabbed herself.
Immediately, a pain far stronger than usual began to torment Gethsmoor’s nerves. As a high-ranking member of the Eight Pinnacles, Gethsmoor was familiar with pain and quickly endured it, barely making a sound.
“Hah… Hah… Under the cruel gift of the Deep Web Queen… there is no room for any illusions…”
In the Eight Pinnacles, those who suffered were not just captured criminals. Due to the cruel and unique dominance system, torture among extraordinary beings was common, often for pleasure rather than punishment. High-level extraordinary beings tortured mid-level ones, who in turn tormented low-level ones, ultimately resulting in suffering falling on slaves. Every extraordinary being from low to high in the Eight Pinnacles experienced layers of torment. As a seer, Gethsmoor even bore extreme punishments from the will of the Spider Queen during large ceremonies.
Thus, the pain Gethsmoor endured was enough to cause others to faint, but for her, it was bearable. She could even use this extreme, continuous pain to stimulate her mind, using it to resist illusions.
Sure enough, after applying the bl**d needles, Gethsmoor could see the bomb guided by magnetic forces heading toward her. She clenched her teeth and continued to dodge the wind blades and fly toward the statue. Although the pain affected her mental state, making her more confused and reducing her evasion capabilities, the wind blades couldn’t k*ll her.
Using pain to stimulate her mind, Gethsmoor overcame Doro’s attacks and continued to approach the statue. However, this series of struggles wasted a lot of time. While Gethsmoor’s mental stimulation allowed her to temporarily avoid illusions, it also greatly interfered with her actions, slowing her charge toward the statue, giving Doro more time to prepare.
Inside the Mirror Moon Statue, Dorothy sat silently in the ritual balance, facing a statue resembling her own face. She closed her eyes, meditating deeply.
Dorothy was attempting something bold—using the Writer of Tricks’ abilities to manifest a legend, a tale once widespread throughout Prit.
“Once, Arthur and his friends killed an evil spirit by the mirror lake. When the leader of the evil spirits fell, waves rose in the lake, and a fairy rose from within, rewarding Arthur and his companions with three gifts…”
“Once, a foolish farmer fell in love with a princess living in a castle. He heard she was very beautiful but never saw her due to the strict guards. Inspired by a mirror, he went to the lake where the princess often visited, hoping to glimpse her reflection…”
“Once, in the forest, a mighty tiger ruled over the beasts, believing itself invincible until a fox told it about a similarly powerful beast seen in the lake…”
Dorothy silently recited many ancient and modern folk tales of Prit. Each story had its own theme—praising kings, singing of love, absurd and comical tales, punishing villains, and warning the blind…
These tales from different eras were quickly recited by Dorothy, some from her childhood, some from her past, and some from research materials gathered by Duke Barret. Though their content varied, they all shared a common character—the Lake Fairy.
The image of the Lake Fairy appeared frequently in various legends throughout Prit, despite the Radiant Church’s efforts to suppress and transform these stories. Even after centuries of modification, remnants remained. In modern Prit, although the Lake Fairy legend was nearly extinct in major cities, it persisted in small towns and villages, stories Dorothy often heard as a child.
For ordinary people, the Lake Fairy stories were merely tales. Scholars studying the secret history of Prit knew the Lake Fairy originated from the main deity of the dominant faith, the Mirror Moon Goddess. Since the beginning of the Fourth Era, the Radiant Church had been erasing Mirror Moon myths.
Could such deep-rooted beliefs be easily erased? After being stripped of religious and mythological elements, the faith in the Mirror Moon Goddess transformed into the image of the Lake Fairy, spreading throughout Prit. People were unwilling to forget their goddess but dared not openly oppose the powerful Radiant Church. Thus, they converted the Mirror Moon Goddess into the Lake Fairy, continuing to believe in secret.
However, nothing could withstand the passage of time. Initially, the Lake Fairy replaced myths, but later became just a legend.
Yet, it was precisely because it was just a legend that Dorothy could utilize it. Dorothy recited numerous Lake Fairy tales collected by Barret from various parts of Prit, extracting their essence to manifest through the Writer of Tricks’ abilities.
As Dorothy rapidly recited each tale of the Lake Fairy, translucent, intangible threads appeared in the air, slowly converging and weaving into the image of a young girl.
Dorothy was creating the body of the Lake Fairy through these tales. A single story wasn’t enough; multiple overlapping tales were necessary to extract their essence. At this moment, Dorothy was using all remaining Lake Fairy legends in Prit to manifest an ephemeral form of the Lake Fairy to counter Gethsmoor.
Of course, relying solely on this ephemeral form to defeat Gethsmoor was challenging. But Dorothy knew it wouldn’t be just an ephemeral form.
Finally, Dorothy completed the last story, and the ephemeral form took shape—a floating teenage girl around seventeen or eighteen, dressed in white, with fair skin and silver hair, barefoot with a blurred face.
Facing the ephemeral form she had painstakingly created, Dorothy didn’t rush to manipulate it. Instead, she stood up, raised her head, and looked at the sky through the opening in the dome above, gazing at the full moon.
“Empress of the Night Sky… I’ve created your greatest legacy in Prit. If you’re watching, perhaps you can do something with this…”
Looking at the moon, Dorothy murmured. Her mind recalled the gentle silver light she saw during her recent promotion ceremony, thinking it should belong to someone.
Dorothy’s words were followed by immediate disturbances. The ground shook violently, and the Mirror Moon Statue began unnatural tremors.
“What…”
Audric, controlling the Mirror Moon Statue, suddenly found himself losing control. The giant statue, which had been lying in shallow waters, floated up mysteriously and began deforming, retracting its limbs, transforming back into the original Mirror Moon Church.
“Whose power is this?”
Audric marveled at the sight, while Gethsmoor gritted her teeth and increased her speed.
“Not trying anything else!”
Under incredible circumstances, the Mirror Moon Statue returned to its original church form and hovered above the lake, basking in the moonlight.
In the balance chamber, it reverted to a chapel. Dorothy saw a gentle silver light descend from the opening in the ceiling, surrounding her ephemeral form and seeping into it.
The ephemeral form of the Lake Fairy glowed faintly with silver light, and its blurred face quickly became clear, resembling the face of the statue in the chapel and almost identical to Dorothy’s.
With a face, the ephemeral form of the Lake Fairy slowly turned, looking at the astonished Dorothy, speaking in a cool yet reassuring voice.
“To divinity, the convergence of stories can only strengthen connections, not serve as containers for expansion.”
Hearing these words that seemed to soothe her soul, Dorothy was momentarily stunned and replied.
“So, what is a container?”
Dorothy asked this question to the presence before her, then smiled slightly. Suddenly, her entire body dissipated into silver light, converging toward Dorothy.
Before Dorothy could react, she was enveloped in silver light. At this moment, her consciousness became clear.
In the clarity of her consciousness, Dorothy saw her body rise amidst the silver light. Under strange forces, her original clothing gradually disappeared, her silver hair spread out, and her small body rapidly grew, seemingly aging three or four years.
The silver light enveloping Dorothy transformed into delicate veils, covering her n*ked body. She saw her skin gradually becoming as transparent and crystal-like as a mirror, undergoing mysterious changes, especially the outer layer of her skin, which was transforming into a surface with countless angles, like a mirror.
“Boom!”
At this moment, the chapel’s tightly closed doors shattered with a loud noise. An eyeless shadow dashed into the hall, directly piercing the floating silver light!
“d*e!”
Gripping a long, sharp bl**d Piercer, Gethsmoor charged into the light, aiming to pierce the ice-like body.
Just as Gethsmoor’s bl**d Piercer was about to penetrate the enemy, an endless darkness suddenly expanded around her, engulfing everything.
