Chapter 93: The Descent of the Goddess

"Well, that’s enough talk." The prophet turned away and ignored the prisoners. "We have good prisoners today; don’t let your heart be troubled, Marcellus. Everything will turn out all right."

He walked to the center of the room and stopped right next to Alice. He stared at her as she slept. No one knew what was going through his mind.

After a moment, he kicked her in the back, sending her rolling to the center of the altar.

Alice opened her eyes in pain; they were red—not a natural red. She wasn’t really sleeping. She was trying to channel magic any way she could, but the restraints holding her back prevented her from doing so.

She couldn’t even summon her System.

Her gaze fell upon the crowd of prisoners; as if she had done it on purpose, she found herself face to face with her companions.

When she saw them there, she was frightened and trembled. She desperately searched the crowd for one face in particular... and when she didn’t find it, she sighed with relief. Although she had heard them talk about Zaid’s escape, she didn’t trust any of them. Now that she had confirmed it with her own eyes, she somehow smiled.

The archbishops, bishops, guards, and all the believers gathered here realized that the moment had come.

"It’s time for the ritual to begin," Marcellus exclaimed, drawing upon the depths of his mind and taking charge of his subordinates.

Meanwhile, the prophet knelt before the altar. He placed one hand on his chest and held his staff in the other. The dragon’s head at the tip of the staff pointed forward, and he prayed in silence.

At the same time, Marcellus arranged the believers in rows facing away from the prisoners. There were only 144 believers, including cardinals, archbishops, bishops, guards, and a few chosen believers.

They all knelt down and calmed their breathing, waiting patiently for the prophet’s words.

Something similar was happening in all the nearby villages and outside the ritual hall. All the believers knelt down and worshiped in silence.

A few minutes later.

The prophet spoke. "O Great Goddess of the Night, who is glorified over our bodies and souls; she who reigns in the darkest night and whose throne rests upon the tumultuous clouds; she whom chaos does not affect, Mother of the Night, our Mother, and our Goddess. Grant us, on this Seventh Day, your glorious majesty and presence!"

"Great Goddess of the Night, Mother of us all, grant us your majesty and glorious presence as you enfold those wretched souls in your holy mantle!"

The unanimous cries of the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, guards, and all kinds of believers shook the very corners of the room. Suddenly, a mystical, red energy descended from the ceiling, piercing the concrete through cracks. Immediately, the colorful designs above began to glow.

The energy, which had barely entered, quickly traveled along the pillars of the altar, reaching the altar itself in an instant and expanding in all directions until it completely filled the room.

BOOM!

A sudden explosion above the altar caused everyone below the rank of Cardinal to prostrate themselves face down on the ground, without ceasing to worship their goddess.

A mystical and divine energy swept through the room once... Twice... Three times... Up to seven times.

On the seventh time, the Prophet rose and raised his hands, causing the mystical and divine energy to sweep through the room an eighth time, and then it vanished.

For a moment, the room was plunged into silence.

BOOM!

A silent explosion—one that everyone could hear—came from a specific part of the room.

The prisoners frowned and turned toward the site of the explosion, confused.

Another explosion followed shortly after.

In the same spot lay a pool of blood and the remains of two bodies that had begun to dry out from the loss of blood and wither away as if something were slowly draining them—but they were already lifeless.

There were a thousand pieces of a body.

A terrifying scene that left a lasting trauma on anyone who witnessed it.

But that was just the beginning.

The bodies of all the prisoners, now filled with courage, began to explode one after another in a set order.

Blood began to flow toward the altar, where finally a huge shadow settled and covered it completely.

Some prisoners vomited their guts out. Everyone was terrified.

But not many had the chance to think.

Body after body exploded into a thousand pieces. The chunks of flesh scattered throughout the room were consumed and slowly vanished. The shadow over the room grew larger, and when more than a thousand prisoners had died, a figure appeared, floating above them.

Everyone remained kneeling, except for the prophet.

He smiled freely at them, though he kept his face covered.

"Great Goddess, it is an honor to see you again," he whispered, with a strange hint of infatuation in his words.

The woman he called "Goddess" wore garments as black as the void. They reflected light only with great difficulty, revealing a voluptuous body. However, like the prophet, her face was covered by black robes. Her tiara was extraordinarily beautiful, and she wore it over the dark robes that concealed her face.

She floated until she was a few centimeters above the ground, looking at the woman there. Then she let her gaze wander over all the prisoners as they exploded one after another.

"Can your work continue with me here?" The Goddess turned her attention to the Prophet and spoke to him as an equal. She did not appear haughty, though her words revealed pride.

"Certainly, my Goddess."

"Curious." The Goddess laughed beneath her black robes, though only she and the Prophet understood the reason for that laughter. "Let them come into my embrace. Night is falling."

The prophet nodded and, without even pausing for a second, unleashed his power in all directions, shaking everyone with a terrifying force. They all fell backward, unable to move.

"A-at least Rank S..." Martin tried to get up, but just then he felt several explosions nearby. "Shit, damn it..."

He braced himself and tried to fight back... but it was in vain.

BOOM!

Finn’s blood splattered on him...

BOOM!

His own blood splattered on Khan.

Khan, the last to fall, stared intently at the prophet.

"You seem familiar to me, prophet... I wonder, who are you really?" His eyes widened as something terrifying washed over him from his feet and raced up to his head in a split second.

Then...

He exploded.

---

At the same time, in the seemingly endless hallway beneath the mountain.

Elijah felt the tremor occur.

"Goddess, goddess... We’ve fought so many times, but you still refuse to back down. But this time you’ve struck a nerve you shouldn’t have."

The black water to his left vanished in a matter of seconds, and the "river" dried up. It all flowed into his body, which seemed cursed, yet revitalized.

He looked at the cursed fish and the terrifying beasts...

"My little pets, I’ll bring you food soon. Be patient," he whispered.

---