As he continued down the Sicar Mountain, Xia De realized where he was.
This was the Woodland where he and Mia hid on the night the Orthodox Church encircled and annihilated The Society of Truth.
And if his guess was correct, their destination should be Bena Lake, the ice lake that was once frozen.
Passing through the misty Woodland, following the bloody light and shadow of the two girls, he truly arrived at the shallow beach by the lake again.
The edge of the Woodland was very close to the water, and on the slightly narrow beach, hundreds of figures in black robes were prostrate on the ground.
Numerous slender wooden stakes stood by the lake, adorned with dry corpses of various sizes.
On the stake closest to the center, the dry corpses embraced eight relics, and the Blood Thorns Scepter in Xia De's hand was the ninth.
Grace and Helen stood supporting each other by Bena Lake, looking in the direction where the black-robed figures knelt.
That was the direction of the lake, which in the mist should have been incredibly clear, but in the moment Xia De blinked, it turned completely blood-red.
He blinked again, and it returned to its normal color.
In the center of the lake, an indistinct object floated.
But upon closer inspection, it was clearly a coffin, the same coffin Mr. Bernhardt had purchased at the auction.
Above the heads of the prostrate people, small bat patterns hovered, and each person was softly praying, praying to the blood and the blood moon.
At this time, it was still ten minutes before midnight, and although the dense fog obscured the night sky, if one looked closely, they could vaguely see the enormous red full moon, appearing and disappearing in the white mist.
As he stepped out of the jungle onto the lakeside, all sounds around him ceased.
The lakeside was exceptionally quiet and solemn, and even the omnipresent undead had vanished, leaving only the overlapping murmurs and prayers echoing repeatedly.
The lapping sound of the lake water was the accompaniment to all of this, and the air held not only the scent of fresh blood but also the aroma of wine.
The space here seemed completely isolated from Sicar Mountain.
Suddenly, a crisp bird call broke the silence, and the bird's cry instantly spread throughout the entire Sicar Mountain area.
Amidst the Vibration of the ground and the roaring of the mountain, the Sicar Mountain pass, which had begun erupting earlier, once again spewed out rolling black smoke.
And from within that black smoke, the fiery and beautiful Phoenix spread its wings and flew out, soaring towards the giant cocoon above the City.
"The Phoenix is also here to help, it really seems to be the end... Grace, Helen!"
Xia De rushed over:
"Come with me!"
The prostrate Vampires did not stop Xia De, allowing him to pass through the beach and grasp the cold hands of the two girls.
Their faces dazed, they looked at the lake before them, at the coffin in the center of the water, and were not pulled away by Xia De:
"Mister... please go, we know our Destiny."
They both looked at the calm surface of the lake, and with each blink, the color of the lake water would change between normal and blood-red.
The surrounding white mist was being dyed blood-red even faster, and the blood moon in the white mist became increasingly clear.
Xia De felt that some terrifying gaze had already cast upon Bena Lake, and if he didn't leave now, he truly wouldn't be able to.
"You cannot defeat him, we... the problem of the Gap is about to be solved, our mission is over... is this the end?"
Grace, in the white dress, asked softly.
"This is the end, Sister, it's been over five thousand years, finally, it's going to end."
Helen, in the black dress, said tearfully.
Xia De couldn't believe that the girls, who had originally vowed to stay together forever, would abandon hope of life and willingly become bait for an evil god.
Upon closer inspection, their eyes were actually wine-red, as if reflecting the full red moon:
"This is not the end.
Girls, I saved you thousands of years ago, and I can save you now."
Kissing the ring on his finger, the yellow moon Ling Rune shimmered with spiritual light:
"At least, at least let me try, if the red moon can Bewilder you, then the yellow moon can too — Bewilderment!"
The Moonlight stone ring shimmered with an ambiguous warm yellow light, and Grace and Helen suddenly froze, but then the surrounding blood mist transformed into crimson shackles, firmly binding them.
"I knew it was possible — Moonlight Greatsword!"
Even in his current terrible state, Xia De endured the fatigue and the emptiness of his soul, allowing the silver Moonlight to strike down, shattering the crimson shackles.
However, blood-red marks still clung to both of them; it wasn't that a mortal ritual easily restricted an angel-level relic, but rather that from the very beginning, from that wine party, the god had left marks on them.
"Hurry!"
Xia De grabbed Helen's hand with his left and Grace's with his right, and without time to speak to them as they just regained consciousness, he turned to leave.
However, someone would not let the three of them leave.
The prostrate Vampires were still praying softly, waiting for midnight to arrive.
And from the dense forest, two High-Ring Vampires walked out expressionlessly:
"Mister, what's happening here has nothing to do with you, please leave."
After temporarily letting go of Helen, the greatsword that appeared in Xia De's right hand represented his attitude.
Having come this far, he had to take a chance no matter what.
Helen and Grace couldn't use their powers at this moment, and Xia De knew he couldn't defeat a High-Ring Sorcerer, but he had to at least buy some time:
"Girls, you go first."
The High-Ring Vampires said nothing more, their Eleventh Ring and Tenth Ring Destiny Rings shining brightly in the blood mist.
The blood-colored marks on the black and white dresses became increasingly clear, and Grace and Helen knew what it meant to leave Xia De behind.
They grabbed Xia De's shoulders; since the man before them had already done so much for them, even if their souls shattered at this moment, they would give him their last strength:
"Mister, meeting you, is the most in our lives..."
But before Grace could finish her sentence, a golden light shone from the side.
Within the light, a familiar middle-aged woman's voice appeared:
"Are you giving up just like that? You two leave together, I'll deal with them."
Emerging from the forest was a proud woman in a deep blue dress, looking forty or fifty years old, but still full of charm.
Xia De was stunned, and time seemed to rewind to the last wine party many years ago.
And the twin gods looked at that figure, with heartache, sadness, and grief, all the grievances of their lives contained in this single cry:
"Teacher!"
After an encounter spanning two epochs, tears unconsciously streamed down their cheeks.
The soul that appeared at this moment was the middle-aged sorceress from the God's Wine Party; she became the twin gods' teacher after the party.
She also participated in the Sicar Mountain battle where the twin gods descended in the fifth epoch.
According to Miss Samuel of Zaras Society, she was taken in by Zaras Society after that battle.
Xia De had never expected her to appear here as well.
"My students."
The glowing soul of the sorceress looked at them, her expression very gentle, and her soul was so powerful:
"I am very happy to awaken from the long slumber in the Gap and see you again.
Leave with this Mister; although the path ahead will be very dangerous, I hope you can continue forward."
She picked up a branch, gently stroked it, and then threw it to Xia De.
When Xia De took the branch, it actually transformed into a glowing sword, its power almost comparable to a night watchman in its normal state.
In the fifth epoch, she participated in the wine party for power.
She truly touched the highest achievement of the witch system after that.
"Mister, please protect my students, let the butterflies fly freely."
"Lady, use this."
Xia De threw the Blood Thorns Scepter in his hand to the middle-aged sorceress, who then faced the two High-Ring Vampires.
Despite their extreme reluctance, the tearful Helen was pulled by her sister Grace, and followed Xia De into the dense forest.
"Did your teacher eventually die in Sicar Mountain?"
Xia De asked, and Helen, in the black dress, nodded:
"After the Sicar battle, Teacher was taken in by Zaras Society.
After recovering from her injuries, through Miss Samuel, a witch from the Society, Teacher formally joined the Society and, in the following century, helped establish the prototype of Zaras Academy.
But by then, we had already transformed into disasters wandering the world, unable to see Teacher.
Before her death, Teacher came here and met with my sister and me for the last time... She died in front of us."
She choked:
"Since then, except for each reunion with my sister, I don't remember how long it's been since I cried."
Grace gently embraced her sister, and Xia De silently nodded, leading them through the mountain forest:
"We'll talk about other things later; now let's go to the Natural Church in the City.
The Natural Church is ready to summon the god; as long as we enter the church, even if he truly comes, you will be fine."
With a loud boom, the Sicar Mountain pass, spewing black smoke, seemed to have ejected something.
At the same time, the surrounding mountain forest, covered in white mist, instantly transformed into a landscape of dead trees, but then immediately returned to its normal appearance, as if reality and the Gap completely overlapped for a moment.
"The Gap is making its final resistance."
Grace said, the girl in the white dress holding Xia De's left hand, her sorrowful expression tinged with determination:
"Mister, the path ahead will be very difficult."
Countless white mists drifted from the City and the mountains towards the giant cocoon above Mi Fort, like chains.
And on the surface of that giant cocoon, a huge crack finally appeared, and amidst an eerie roar that only Ring Sorcerers could hear, a black giant hand broke through the crack and extended from the cocoon.
Professor Pigman and the Phoenix immediately launched an attack, easily suppressing that hand, but this was only the most primitive power before the giant cocoon hatched.
Spiritual light simultaneously flickered in the City and the mountains; the Holy Tree Mark ritual had reached its final stage, and once this giant cocoon was dealt with, the ritual would be successful.
Countless streams of light now flew from the mountain peak, mid-slope, and base towards the sky above the City; the Gap's ritual was basically complete, and the main forces were returning to reality to collectively defeat the final undead aggregate.
Perhaps Iluna was also among those streams of light, but unfortunately, Xia De could not participate in this final battle:
"It's okay, it will be okay soon."
He comforted the increasingly weak girls; although they were far from the ritual site, the blood-red color on the ground spread from the lakeside towards the direction they were fleeing.
Blood mist followed closely, and even large groups of bats pursued the fleeing trio within the mist.
blasphemy's silver spiritual light flickered in and out of sight in the air, and the blood color even corroded the power of the Gap.
Between Life and Death was a Level 0 relic, but the bizarre ritual being performed by the lake was a genuine god-summoning ritual.
The Vampires were summoning the evil god - God of Vampires.
Even from within the dense forest, one could observe that more limbs were extending from the giant cocoon above the City.
Not only human limbs, but also animal, Xenomorph creature, and even indescribable terrifying creature limbs.
The giant cocoon was cracking, and almost half of the whisper element of the Gap was continuously being transported to the giant cocoon through these white mists.
The hatching of the giant cocoon was inevitable; once it was born, it could be directly considered a sub-spatial evil creature beyond the Thirteenth Ring.
The light from the Five God Churches transformed into chains, wrapping around the surface of the giant cocoon, slowing its hatching process.
Countless attacks bombarded the giant cocoon, weakening its power before it was born.
Not only the Church's Ring Sorcerers, but even the witches, the Phoenix, and Sister Devlin participated in the battle — Xia De recognized the fireball in the air.
The power of the fifth epoch and the firelight of the mountains unleashed a brilliance that should not have appeared in this era, fighting alongside mortals against the final enemy.
Sister Devlin flew through the air, her right hand still holding the flame-attached ashes, while her left hand held a black scythe derived from the power of the death Chosen One.
Iluna, holding the Night Watchman, flew through the air on a translucent spiritual horse, with the bone whistle hanging around her neck.
The Destiny Ring behind Professor Pigman, the principal of Saint Byron's and "The Watcher," transformed into a silver hue.
The High-Ring Miracle, Silver Key, opened a forbidden space, and an invisible giant hand extending from the void crushed the greenish-blue decaying tentacles reaching out from the cocoon.
But he did not fight wholeheartedly; instead, he subtly observed the City and the mountains, as if anticipating something.
Inside and outside the Gap, inside and outside the City, on and off the mountain, firelight seemed to ignite in every corner at this moment, and the four-element spiritual light illuminated the Mi Fort diocese.
Time was approaching midnight, and the battle finally reached its most intense and final moment.
