Chapter 458: Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

He ignored Kadi Er's gaze at the madman and kept speaking to himself:

"Under the gaze of my Lord, any resistance you muster is futile."

"For example now, the senior steward of the Mechanical Heart you're still awaiting will never appear in Pass River Valley; if you lead the Steam Church away now, you might still have a chance to see him before he acquires extraordinary traits."

"Do you have any spare hands to intercept the incoming reinforcements?" Kadi Er murmured gravely, his words emphatic, his brows furrowing into a knot.

At Mo Yi's speed, he still hasn't appeared; most likely something went wrong. As a saint, as long as he isn't pulled into a hidden space and loses my Lord's gaze, the danger should not be great.

But that means he may not arrive in time to aid; we can only hope the members of the Eternal Blazing Sun Church react quickly, for they have always been the most proactive in striking the Aurora Society.

Amid swirling thoughts, he saw the extraordinary being who had been silently following behind Leo Mast make a move; he removed the black cloth covering the frame, revealing a distinctive portrait inside.

"A Meng!" Kadi Er exclaimed in shock.

His smooth forehead furrowed into several creases, his expression wavering.

Leo Mast shifted silently, stepping into a backlit shadow nearby, and said in a hoarse voice:

"I'd advise you to decide quickly; you can still take the believers who have been swayed and leave now. If you wait until the Yindisi military is dealt with, even securing this church will be difficult."

Kadi Er's chest heaved violently; it was his first time being threatened so directly by a cultist.

He inhaled deeply, tilted his head slightly toward the crimson blood moon, his gaze steady—its influence not fully blocked, and the Primordial Moon's followers were also moving? Tonight's Pass River Valley was unusually lively.

Gradually lowering his gaze, Kadi Er's eyes brushed the portrait of A Meng in Si Nuoman's hand, then fixed steadily on Leo Mast merging with the shadows, and said evenly:

"Until the true outcome emerges, I will remain in the church, and you will have no chance to withdraw and join conflicts elsewhere."

"Heh, I trust our allies." Leo Mast chuckled.

In the river bathed in the deepest scarlet moonlight, milky‑white tendrils rose from the water, each tipped with a mouth bristling with sharp teeth, all emitting a low, piercing whine.

In midair, a massive pure light sphere entwined with countless holy flames shed sheets of golden‑red fire, like a scorching rain, drenching each tendril and producing a sizzle as the oil ignited.

Yellow‑green smoke quickly billowed from the seared tendrils, drifting outward on the night wind.

Where the smoke passed, life surged instantly; plants and animals alike sprouted and multiplied rapidly.

The Prophet's Avatar, floating silently in the air, frowned at the scene; though unsure what the yellow‑green smoke was, he reined in his spirit, causing the blazing miniature nurturing sphere above to vanish.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

As the all‑consuming flames faded, the river's tendrils, as if catching their breath, shot out of the water from all directions, assaulting the hovering Prophet's Avatar.

The Avatar raised its form without expression, its eyes turning silver‑white, as if gazing into the river of fate.

Moments later, the silver faded, replaced by a slowly flowing pale blue.

Specks of pale blue light gathered at his feet, swiftly outlining a deep‑blue gate etched with countless mysterious patterns; beyond it lay a dark, abyssal expanse like a black sea.

Moments later, several thick emerald vines protruded, intertwining with the lower tendrils, twisting together.

The emerald vines were quickly overpowered, torn and pulled by the tendrils out of the deep‑blue gate; countless vines fell limp, and from them emerged a headless knight astride a warhorse, its body clad in black armor.

Three fissures glowing with eerie green light split the headless knight's chest and abdomen—two small, one large—resembling a twisted, snarling visage.

"Woo! Woo!"

The massive mouth‑like fissure at the knight's abdomen gaped wide, emitting a low, piercing sound that struck the soul and stirred emotions.

The hovering Avatar, deafened by the sound, sealed off its external perception while continually raising its form.

The river's protruding tendrils seemed to endure extreme agony, coiling together, their tooth‑laden mouths opening and closing as if gasping.

The river gradually turned pitch‑black, no longer reflecting the crimson moon; the darkness spread outward, and the once milky tendrils sprouted uneven black spots, a foul, twisted aura instantly pervading.

The spotted tendrils mutated swiftly, black nodules sprouting from their sides, intertwining into larger or smaller ebony limbs that tore against the still‑normal tendrils.

A subtle spiritual ripple raced along the river, causing every nearby creature to undergo uncontrollable mutations.

The milky tendrils sprouted pale‑yellow pustules that burst, spilling nauseating pus, and the tendrils melted into a repulsive slurry.

The infectious fluid then contaminated the blackened river surface and the mutated tendrils.

The headless knight, clad entirely in black armor, stood silently on the river, its warhorse, merged with its rider, rearing and emitting a roar closer to a scream.

The surrounding black water churned instantly, dense darkness surging and merging with the corrupted tendrils, forming grotesque black beings that launched reckless assaults outward.

In the surrounding pale‑yellow pool, half‑bodied giants quickly coalesced, grotesque constructs of rotting flesh and sickening pus.

The black and pale‑yellow merged, each contaminating and assimilating the other.

In midair, the Avatar raised a hand, forming a voided "Eye of Secrets" sigil; its spirit flowed like water, leaving sparkling stars that outlined an indifferent eye reflecting the layered gates.

The surrounding space swapped rapidly with another locale; the Avatar's form twisted, becoming Lei Ke Dun clad in a sage's robe.

A dazzling golden sun rose abruptly in another direction, its bright glare briefly overwhelming the blood moon's light.

A figure bathed in scarlet moonlight materialized near the golden sun; enduring a burning sensation, he stretched out both hands, conjuring an ethereal, misty gate etched with numerous mysterious sigils.

The "Summoning Gate", meant to link with the spirit realm, underwent a bizarre mutation; a strange creature emerged, bearing an alluring human female face, while the rest of its body resembled an enormously enlarged locust.

The moment the figure appeared, it let out a terrified scream; being so close to the miniature sun, its body ignited, spewing illusory golden flames and teal‑black smoke.

"Ah! Ah! Woo"

It screamed in terror, but the sound was none of the known languages of the northern or southern continents.

A blood‑red long arrow suddenly pierced its chest from behind, fired by the summoner who had brought it forth through the Summoning Gate.

The golden flames flared even more violently; before the creature's body could fall, it abruptly exploded, its flesh blown to powder.

Crimson light separated from the gore, swiftly covering the golden miniature sun, infiltrating it eerily.

The scorching sun twisted and writhed strangely, as if something were about to burst from its shell.

Zzz! Zzz!

The golden sun peeled away like an eggshell, revealing a towering humanoid of pure radiant gold; its head split by two fissures, emitting a glow akin to the blood moon, eerie and twisted.

Did a trace of contamination from the Primordial Moon slip in through the Summoning Gate? Crossing the original barrier in this way, the Seven Gods could not have missed it.

Lei Ke Dun, gazing at the scene, withdrew his sight; a premonition rose within him—tonight's major events would involve not only the ground but also the sky above.

His eyes shimmered with deep‑blue‑purple light, swiftly suppressing his swirling thoughts, placing himself in absolute rationality.

The Eye of Secrets scanned the surroundings but found no true form of the hidden Primordial Moon devotee, or perhaps the devotee was everywhere.

Everywhere, this guy can't be dismembering himself at the cellular level, can he?

As the thought drifted, his eyes suddenly deepened, resembling the sea surface before a storm. The condition didn't last long—perhaps a breath or two—and his eyes cleared again.

Lei Kedun stared at the long river below, where black and pale yellow intertwined and stained, letting out an indistinct sigh. Then he stretched both hands forward, pulling from the void a dense, unmelted, heavy shadow, which he hurled straight into the river below.

The dense shadow, bearing the forces of decay, filth and the realm of mutation, quickly seeped into the river water, causing the two sides, previously in a stalemate, to lose their balance.

(End of chapter)