Chapter 97: The Prophet (1)
Zaid shuddered and turned abruptly toward the top of the Sacred Temple.
There, a figure loomed against the unusually dark sky and lunged toward the Temple.
’Uncle!’
Even from a distance, he managed to recognize him. And only now did he realize just how enormous he was. That tail was no longer submerged in the black water of a strange, peculiar underground river—it was now completely behind him.
It stretched out like a serpent hundreds of meters long, but its tip was split into seven dragon heads, all staring intently at the temple. It was so huge that even the massive Sacred Temple seemed insignificant in comparison.
A curse had been cast upon the Sacred Temple of the Seventh Night!
’Or should I say that a blessing rose up over the Cursed Temple?’ Zaid found himself hoping that his uncle would be able to destroy the temple. He prayed in his heart that the attack would not be thwarted.
But his prayers went unanswered.
His uncle’s attack dissolved into thin air when a small female figure appeared, floating up from the ground until she was hovering in the sky.
All the beasts and creatures around them trembled in his presence. Even Zaid and Valia sensed mortal danger. The urge to kneel and worship arose naturally.
The beasts could not resist this impulse. They all fell to their knees, every single one of them—those that were fighting and those that were calm, the Rank C and B beasts, and even the newborn Rank A beast...
The only beasts that did not worship her were those on the ramparts. They looked at the woman who had appeared over their shoulders.
’There’s no doubt about it... That woman is the goddess.’
’This divine power is unmistakable, but do you think your uncle can do anything?’
Zaid hesitated. ’When my uncle disappeared, he was a Rank S, around level 69 or even at the very limit, level 70. And now he’s become this... I’m afraid his power may have diminished. If it did increase, I don’t think it went much beyond that.’
’At most, he’d be at levels 71–80... That would be a Divine, right?’ Valia asked.
Zaid nodded. ’If that woman is a true goddess, she’s in the tenth Rank. Level 91–100. On par with the Monarchs...’ However, Zaid had his doubts about this.
Honestly, he didn’t understand such high levels.
’Let’s stop thinking about nonsense. Let’s get out of here.’ Zaid wanted to escape immediately when he saw that all the beasts were busy.
However, just then, the sky shook. He felt dizzy and fell to the ground, his hands clenched into the earth.
Dizzy. Stunned...
’W-what the hell is this?’ The pain in his heart was suffocating.
And the battle in the skies had only just begun.
Destruction... that was what awaited this place.
With Valia’s help, Zaid managed to get to his feet and run among the beasts that were kneeling and prostrating themselves. However, getting out proved impossible once again. The gates were closed, and the beasts on the wall continued to watch.
They had to return to the hotel to wait for dawn.
However, the moment they set foot inside their room, the door closed before they could do anything. A solitary figure stood at the window, watching them.
His holy robe and white hood, along with the golden headband peeking out from beneath the hood, were his distinctive features.
He looked at them, then turned back to watch the battle.
Zaid and Valia tried to run away, but the door wouldn’t open...
’No. We’re trapped in a separate space,’ Valia said immediately.
’A separate space? That’s not easy to create... They say only extremely special items can do that.’
’This guy must have one. I can’t get out of here, and I can’t even go back inside you.’
Zaid frowned and looked at the man sitting by the window. His strength was at least at the A-Rank level.
’We’re really in for it today, huh... From B-Rankers eager to fight, to the birth of an A-Ranker, and now to a smart A-Ranker...’ Zaid sighed.
"It’s not very smart of you to go back to the place where you originally stayed." The feminine, yet strangely masculine voice sent a shiver down Zaid’s spine.
He had heard that voice before.
Where?
’Where did I hear it?’ He tried to remember with all his might, but couldn’t pinpoint it. His mind circled around the idea and found no similarities, even though he felt certain he had heard it before.
"You don’t speak? You used to be so eloquent."
Zaid frowned. "Do we know each other?"
"I’m sure we do." The man laughed. "Don’t you want to see a good fight? Come closer. You’ll be safe for now. I’ll give you one last glimpse of a loved one."
Zaid frowned. ’Does this bastard know about my uncle?’ His eyes flashed.
"You’re the prophet..." he murmured.
"Wow, you’ve gotten pretty good at guessing. I thought you hadn’t seen me in my prophet form."
Zaid ignored the fact that this guy was talking to him as if they’d known each other before today.
"Why are you doing all this?"
"Doing what? Worshiping our goddess? That’s normal. We’re very devoted to her."
"You don’t seem like a devout person."
"Hey, don’t insult me." The man laughed. It was a chuckle that was a little hard to hear, as it struck a nerve in Zaid by reminding him of something he couldn’t recall. "I’m clearly very devoted... to very few things, but I am devoted."
"You guys are killing..."
"If you ask questions you shouldn’t, you’ll end up uncovering things that will kill you before your time. Didn’t anyone tell you that?"
Zaid grunted. He felt like he’d heard that a lot lately. Why was everyone so obsessed with saying that?
RUMBLE!
The tremor disoriented Zaid again, but he managed to grab hold of a wall to get his bearings back. That tremendous power was a headache when it reverberated through the ground.
"Oh..." The prophet laughed and said something that neither Zaid nor Valia could hear. He seemed amused as he spoke, but they didn’t care much.
They both ran to the window to see what was happening...
Elijah was getting up off the floor with such force that he knocked the Goddess right to the ground.
"Ohoh... You’re really good..." Once again, the prophet’s words were cut off mid-sentence. Neither Zaid nor Valia could hear what he was saying.
But they didn’t seem interested in knowing either. In fact, why had they come to such a dangerous place?
’How strange...’ Valia felt that this was normal. But why?
Zaid didn’t question anything.
"Aren’t you curious to know what I said that you didn’t hear?" Suddenly, the effeminate, masculine voice snapped Zaid back to the present.
"I’m not interested in what you have to say, to be honest." Zaid was blunt, even though it might get him killed.
"How rude..." The man sighed. "To tell you the truth, I haven’t said much either. But I’m in a good mood. Why don’t you ask me a few questions before the eighth one falls? Come on, we have 30 minutes," he said after glancing at his watch.
"I think your goddess is the one who’ll fall first."
The prophet burst out laughing. "You sure have a lot of faith in Elijah. He’s not as good as you think."