Chapter 650: The Upside-Down and the Temple

In the Star Association’s Apex Spire, between the Starry Dome.

The image on the massive stone platform surrounded by the Homecoming Seers was blurred beyond recognition, revealing nothing of what it displayed.

Three of the six seats were vacant.

The only ones remaining were Elder Commissioner Elrith, the sole female commissioner Halia, and Wicks, who stood in direct opposition to the Maze Repairer Motas.

Orion and Garzak paid little attention to this trial; upon seeing the platform’s image glitch, they left their seats.

Motas, as the most directly responsible repairer for this trial, had entered the maze to restore the image.

Wicks spread his hands.

He struck the massive stone platform twice with his knuckles, sending the star-dust on its surface trembling.

“I’ve always said this thing is a scam—five million Jin Along? I don’t know how much Motas skimmed off the top.”

He had always been at odds with Motas.

Whenever he got the chance, he would launch into a tirade before Commissioner Elrith.

Commissioner Halia, ever the diplomat, always played the role of the nurturing older sister.

She smiled and said, “Perhaps it’s due to the maze—Garzak already checked, and the star-dust platform is fine.”

The platform’s image had begun to blur since Luo De defeated the Blue Dragon.

They knew nothing of what was happening inside.

Two hours had passed, and only two candidates had been eliminated—far too few for the usual intensity of the trial.

Moreover, those two eliminated candidates were nearly ousted the moment they entered, so their knowledge was extremely limited.

The six Homecoming Seers in the Starry Dome were indeed concerned about the maze’s condition.

But actively contacting those inside would mean the situation had slipped beyond their control.

Bound by the dignity of their high rank, they never considered activating the communication magic stones—and thus never realized the stones had failed.

Negligence was inevitable.

But this maze had been under Starling control for too long; while its environmental rules were odd, its difficulty level was quite ordinary.

Their long-standing disregard was hard to overcome.

Wicks snorted but refrained from speaking harshly to Halia.

“Motas had better fix the maze quickly—these trial participants are all strong. If something goes wrong, when will the Starlings’ glory ever be restored?”

“The Magic Web Veil—magic has evolved from being born of spirituality to now being symbiotic with it. It’s natural the maze is affected. I say, you two should make peace already. How long have you been fighting?”

Wicks was about to speak when he suddenly froze—his magic stone vibrated.

It was Motas’s contact stone.

He activated it with a scowl and turned on speaker: “Do I know you well? Why are you contacting me?”

Halia watched, silent, then chuckled—these two bickered fiercely when they argued, yet they contacted each other constantly in daily life.

Motas’s voice came through the magic stone.

【Do you think I want to contact you? I was just afraid of disturbing Miss Halia. Commissioner Elrith, Miss Halia—I’m going in. The fluctuations inside are strange; communication stones won’t work. Please monitor the memory-transfer stone I left—it’ll periodically send back scenes from my viewpoint.】

Halia smiled: “Understood. Be careful.”

【Don’t worry, it’s just minor issues. Miss Halia, when I return, I’ll treat you to dinner.】

“Alright, alright.”

The communication ended.

Halia shook her head with a smile.

After a short wait.

The first image came through Motas’s memory-transfer stone.

—A massive impact crater surrounded by seven concentric stone circles.

“The central altar’s location… why is he going there?”

Wicks rarely entered this maze and knew little of its details.

Halia explained: “The 【Chaos】 rule—only there is the maze’s one fixed point, so we’ve placed nearly all our rituals there. Huh? Where’s the altar?”

Accompanied by Motas’s panicked off-screen exclamation: “Damn it!”

The image rose upward.

A pale moon hung above a bundle of tangled, desolate black vines—like ropes.

They wrapped around the ruined base of a white obelisk, hanging the altar upside down, its tip four or five meters above the ground.

Where the altar once stood remained only a deep impression.

Within the impression, faintly visible, was a buried, dried, gray-white heart.

The obelisk’s surface was covered in vein-like crimson patterns, continuously dripping blood that nourished the gray-white heart.

In the Starry Dome, Commissioner Elrith, who had said nothing until now, suddenly paled.

He leapt to his feet in disarray, shouting incoherently: “Bring Motas back immediately!!!”

“But communication is down.”

It was too late.

As Motas’s spell in the image touched the altar, the blood pool in the impression halted, then exploded violently.

From the burst of blood, a dark shadow shot into Motas’s chest at blinding speed—screams filled the entire Starry Dome.

The image rapidly retreated, then cut off abruptly.

In the room, everyone stood frozen.

Only the blurred image on the platform, formed of star-dust, emitted a low hum of magical friction.

Wicks felt a chill crawl up his spine. He stared stiffly at Elrith.

“Commissioner, what was that?”

Elrith’s face was ashen, utterly grim.

“The Moon God’s Fallen Temple?”

Luo De twisted aside, avoiding a short knife wrapped in fluorescent green energy.

The Dance Wraith had appeared to be merely a hollow, metallic-armored entity, its true form unseen, wielding a spinning scythe-claw, surrounded by various floating, whirling weapons.

These weapons were enveloped in fluorescent green supernatural energy, moving and striking enemies without physical contact.

Now, the Dance Wraith’s armor seams were filled with deep blue, translucent, jelly-like substance.

It did not slow him at all—instead, it granted him considerable magical ability.

The 【Burning Hand】 burst into flame, sparks flying—Luo De stood his ground, raised his hand, and unleashed a full-power 【Repulsion Technique】.

BOOM!!!

A powerful repulsive force spread in a fan shape—a visible, icy-bladed white aura shattered the entire 【Burning Hand】.

The Dance Wraith leapt hard but was caught in the blast; his left calf was crushed into pulp.

“Yes, the Star Association has scholarly manuscripts on the Pale Corridor. Through fragmented inscriptions on three artifact structures, it’s revealed to be a temple built by an ancient lizardman tribe in the First Era, worshipping the Moon God.”

Haley’s wand flared.

Spikes of rotating stone erupted from the ground, forcing back the Dragon-Beast hybrid that had tried to ambush Luo De.

The Dragon-Beast was a quadrupedal creature named for its dragon-like head—it was not a true dragon.

After fusing with its master, it grew a Starling’s head on its rear, allowing it to move swiftly in either direction—grotesque and nauseating.

The Starling’s head suddenly turned toward Haley, drooling and snarling.

It prepared to charge.

Luo De cast a gravity spell—【Gravitational Wave】—yanking it back and slamming it into the wall of the Moon-Gazing Hall.

(End of Chapter)