Chapter 141 : Temple
Chapter 141: Temple
For Joe, being inside a dream did not seem to raise many doubts. He quickly accepted the situation before his eyes.
As for the reason...
“Oh well, archaeology is just like this. We've encountered plenty of strange things before—curses and the like. Quite a few people have died too. But the professor always said that if you're going to do archaeological excavations, you can't be afraid of these things, right? You get used to it.”
“………………”
Levi decided that after returning, he would have a talk with the Old Butler and see whether MI7 could establish some sort of strategic partnership with the Department of Archaeology at the Royal Master Academy in the name of the Exploration & Mystery Editorial Department...
Looking at it this way, this group of people encountered bizarre incidents far more often than ordinary people.
Soon, under the guidance of the Cheshire Cat, the three of them moved forward once more and entered the next Nightmare.
Compared with Joe's strange and complicated Nightmare, this one was much simpler and more straightforward.
“Help...!”
The moment Levi and the others entered the dream, they heard a cry coming from not far away. Everyone raised their heads and looked toward the source of the voice.
“Ah... Now this is a very classic Nightmare.”
Looking at the scene before him, Levi could not help but sigh.
If Joe's Nightmare had been rather troublesome and complicated, then this scene was extremely simple and direct.
Not far away, atop a sheer cliff dozens of meters high, Lavinia Godney, dressed in climbing gear, was desperately clinging to a tree branch with both hands. Beneath her, seawater continuously crashed against the cliff, while reefs standing like rows of white bones waited below.
Come to think of it, Miss Godney had indeed said that mountain climbing was her hobby. For someone who loved climbing, this was undoubtedly a Nightmare.
“Miss Godney!”
Perhaps because he had enjoyed all the strength training along the way, the moment Joe saw Miss Godney, he completely forgot about his own Nightmare. He immediately rushed to the edge of the deck and shouted at her.
“Hang on! We'll save you right away!”
“And how exactly do you plan to save her?”
Levi looked at the muscle-brained Joe with a speechless expression. Although it seemed that the previous Nightmare had not left him with any psychological trauma regarding Miss Godney... he still ought to use his brain a little.
“Uh...”
Hearing Levi's question, Joe froze.
He scratched his head like a gorilla, his face radiating pure, innocent stupidity.
“I'll climb up there and carry her down?”
“Can you even climb up there?”
Although Joe looked very much like a gorilla, Levi did not believe he actually had the abilities of Tarzan.
“Uh...”
Clearly, Joe was not good at this sort of thing.
“If we could fly up there, it should be very easy to rescue Miss Godney.”
Annie spoke up at that moment.
In reality, this was obviously an unrealistic suggestion.
But then again, this was not reality.
The rest was simple. Levi piloted the ship upward, picked up Miss Godney, and the instant both of her feet landed on the deck, the entire Nightmare shattered and dissolved into nothingness.
Compared to the previous one, this had been much easier, allowing Levi to breathe a sigh of relief.
If only everyone's dreams were this simple.
Unfortunately, that bit of good luck only happened once.
When Levi charged into the next Nightmare, trouble immediately followed.
“Well then, I suppose this should be the professor's dream.”
Leaning against the helm, Levi stared blankly ahead as he complained.
The reason he said this was simple. The moment he piloted the ship through the gateway of light into this dream, he slammed headfirst into a stone wall, leaving the ship stranded among a pile of rubble like a dead fish.
Before them stood an enormous underground structure resembling a temple...
It was obviously impossible to continue sailing the ship, so everyone disembarked and headed toward the temple.
In Levi's opinion, the temple appeared extremely ancient. The structure itself somewhat resembled the Parthenon, with a ring of massive, towering stone columns surrounding the exterior. The temple's great entrance stood wide open, while complete darkness filled its interior.
“This looks like the architectural style of southern Corenberg.”
Miss Godney carefully examined the architectural style before speaking.
“Tall supporting pillars, stone construction, located underground... I remember reading about this style in historical records.”
“Southern?”
Hearing this, Joe's expression immediately became serious.
“Could it be... that incident?”
“Do you have any idea what this is?”
Levi looked toward Joe and asked. After all, this was a dream—the memory of its owner. This temple should not have been fabricated out of thin air.
“I've heard a little about it. It happened before I became the professor's student.”
Joe scratched his head before continuing.
“I heard that when the professor was young, he once led an archaeological expedition to explore an underground temple. There was an accident, and everyone on the expedition died except for the professor.”
“Something like that happened?”
Miss Godney was startled, while Joe quickly tried to reassure her.
“That's just what I heard. People from the professor's department told me about it, but I don't know the details either. Anyway, after that, the professor apparently stopped teaching for quite a long time. It wasn't until three years later that he returned to teaching and started taking students again.”
“The professor was the only survivor? Was it really that dangerous?”
“I heard from others that the professor was just unlucky and happened to encounter a once-in-a-century earthquake...”
“But the fact that he managed to survive a once-in-a-century earthquake doesn't mean he was lucky?”
Walking beside them, Levi quietly made a sarcastic remark.
“Uh... When you put it that way, I guess that makes sense.”
“So... this place isn't suddenly going to collapse, is it?”
Miss Godney looked around nervously.
After all, this place appeared to be an underground cavern. The ceiling was covered with ancient stalactites hanging overhead like countless sharp spears. No matter how one looked at it, it was enough to make anyone anxious.
“Anyway, let's find the professor first.”
As Levi spoke, he took the lead toward the temple.
Although they were underground, the surroundings were not particularly dark. Whether it was the braziers before the temple or the torches mounted on the surrounding walls, burning flames illuminated the entire area.
As for who had lit the fires...
Well, it was just like exploring an abandoned ruin in an adventure game where all the lights were somehow still burning—a question best left unanswered.
After all, it was not important, was it?
The temple appeared completely deserted.
However, Levi had already locked onto the location of his target with Soul Sight. Although he could not be certain whether it was the Old Professor, he could at least confirm that several souls were shining deep within the temple.
In any case, they would go inside and see what was happening...
With that thought in mind, Levi stepped into the temple.
But the instant he entered, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
His eyes widened in shock as he stared straight ahead!
Naturally, a temple enshrined a deity.
Of course, unlike the present-day Holy Lord Church, which worshipped only the All-Seeing Eye, what stood inside this temple was not the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye, but a statue of a goddess.
A goddess.
Her eyes were tightly closed. Her pitch-black hair spread outward like a cloak, extending into every corner of the temple. Countless lights, resembling stars, shimmered among her hair...
What was even more shocking was that Levi had seen this goddess before!
And not just once!
“Wow...”
At that moment, the voices of amazement beside him pulled Levi out of his thoughts.
He turned around to see that Miss Godney and Joe had also entered the temple and were gazing around in astonishment.
“This is the first time I've ever seen such a magnificent temple.”
“Same here. I've followed the professor to so many places, but I've never seen a temple like this before.”
“This doesn't look like the architectural style of the Golden Age.”
“The Age of Division, perhaps. Back then, Emperor Arthur hadn't unified the entire continent yet, and every kingdom had its own faith and culture.”
“Come to think of it, this symbol looks a lot like the one at the site we're investigating this time.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, there are indeed similarities between the symbols.”
“Really?”
Listening to Joe and Miss Godney's conversation, Levi was completely bewildered.
To him, they all looked like meaningless scribbles. He had no idea how these people could tell whether the symbols were from one era or another...
Still, they were the professionals, so it was better to hear their opinion first.
“What do you think?”
Watching the two of them crouch beside the goddess statue and examine it closely, Levi asked,
“Have you found anything?”
“Yes, Mr. Levi.”
Hearing Levi's question, Miss Godney cheerfully answered first.
“According to our preliminary investigation, we believe these ruins are related to the Mokhand ruins we came here to investigate.”
“Yes.”
Joe nodded as well, although his scholarly tone felt rather out of place with his muscular appearance.
“The writing is related, and this temple should be even older.”
“Judging from the relationship between the inscriptions, this temple was most likely built before the Kingdom of Mokhand.”
“This statue depicts the Goddess of Night?”
“Yes. According to legend, she later split into the three gods of the Moon, Stars, and Dreams. Strictly speaking, Mokhand, the Nightmare Goddess, is also one of the incarnations of the Goddess of Night.”
“Wait.”
Hearing this, Levi suddenly felt something stir within him.
“The Nightmare Goddess is an incarnation of the Goddess of Night?”
“Yes.”
Compared to Levi, Joe and Miss Godney merely nodded calmly.
“This theory has existed in historical research for quite some time. According to historical legends, during the Age of Division—that is, the early Age of Silver—the various kingdoms across the continent worshipped different gods. Later, because of Emperor Arthur's conquests, those kingdoms were either destroyed or fragmented. Many historical accounts describe how, when those kingdoms fell apart, the royal families carried away a portion of their faith.”
“A portion of their faith?”
“That's right. Take Mokhand as an example. According to legend, the Kingdom of Mokhand descended from a kingdom that worshipped the Goddess of Night. Later, they broke away from that kingdom, founded their own nation, and took with them the Nightmare aspect of the Goddess of Night's faith. From then on, they began worshipping the Nightmare Goddess... That's how the Kingdom of Mokhand's religion came into being.”
“How do you carry away faith?”
The more Levi listened, the more confused he became.
Taking away gold, silver, treasures, or divine artifacts made sense, but how could faith itself be divided and carried away?
It was not as if someone could perform surgery on the Goddess of Night, cut off one piece here and another piece there, then carry them away.
That sounded far too grotesque.
“This...”
Joe and Miss Godney exchanged glances before shaking their heads.
“The academic community hasn't reached a conclusion either. Some believe it's merely a metaphor for the division of a religious belief, while others think there may be other secrets behind it.”
“But judging from what we've seen so far...”
“Ahhhhhhh—!!”
Before either of them could finish speaking, a sudden scream erupted from deep within the temple, abruptly interrupting their conversation.
Hearing the scream, Levi's expression darkened as he tightened his grip on his pistol.
“Let's move!”