The heavy door panels closed, shutting out the furious roars of the strange beast.

In the pitch-black darkness, Erin sat dazedly on the ground. After a moment, she jumped up and called out uneasily, “Grace?”

A white light appeared behind her. A Light Ball bounced around Erin, illuminating the surrounding darkness. She quickly turned and saw the blonde bishop right behind her, and her racing heart slowly calmed.

Tang Qiu seemed to possess a kind of magic that made Erin feel that no matter what happened, everything would be fine as long as she was there.

“…How did this door open?” Erin grabbed a Light Ball and held it in her arms. She walked to the door, gave it a tentative push, and asked in confusion.

The door wouldn’t budge after it closed; Tang Qiu had already tested it.

The excellent vision of vampires and werewolves allowed them to see clearly in the dark. Tang Qiu scanned her surroundings while answering Erin’s question, “How the door opened is what I wanted to ask you.”

Vogt’s light magic couldn’t even breach the door, yet it opened the moment Erin leaned against it.

Erin looked bewildered. She pressed her face against the door and thought hard for a moment, then suddenly reached out and pulled out the little furball that had gone back to sleep in her hood.

The little furball opened its eyes and looked at her. Erin met its gaze for a moment and said suspiciously, “Was it you?” She remembered the furball had come out of her hood and stood on her head, and the door had opened not long after.

The little furball looked at her innocently, curled up, and lay down on Erin’s hand, ready to sleep again.

Erin: “…”

Tang Qiu glanced at Erin. Seeing that she couldn’t figure it out either, she shook her head slightly. Instead of pressing the matter, she said in a low voice, “We’re inside the palace now. Don’t wander off. Be careful.”

The palace was vast and empty. A single glance revealed nothing noteworthy besides gilded pillars and a flight of stone steps that seemed to stretch on endlessly.

Tang Qiu walked to the stone steps, tentatively stepping on one. She turned to Lucille, who had come to her side, and said, “Shall we go up and take a look?”

This was the interior of the temple. The top of the stairs might be even more dangerous than the outside, but they couldn’t just stay here.

And the Godhead… Tang Qiu hadn’t forgotten her purpose for coming here.

Lucille looked up toward the top of the stairs, which seemed to be shrouded in a black mist. Her eyes narrowed slightly. She moved from behind Tang Qiu to stand in front of her, taking the first step onto the stairs to lead the way.

Tang Qiu watched Lucille’s back, a smile gracing her lips. She turned her head to Erin and said, “Let’s go.”

Erin stuffed the little furball into her sleeve and hurried a few steps to follow Tang Qiu up the stairs.

The top of the stairs seemed to connect with the sky. Erin, with her average constitution, was panting and out of breath after climbing for a while.

Tang Qiu looked back at her and asked, “Are you okay?”

Erin was too tired to speak and just waved her hand. She rested for a moment, then took a bone staff from her Space Gem. After chanting a spell, a stark white skeleton appeared beside her.

Erin commanded the skeleton to pick her up and continue the climb.

Tang Qiu raised an eyebrow at the skeleton and said with a smile, “I thought you could only summon that little mouse.”

Erin gave a dry laugh, patting the skeleton’s skull. “I just don’t like using dark magic.”

Using dark magic always reminded her of Glanna, because Glanna had taught her these spells personally.

Even the longest flight of stairs has an end. For a vampire and a werewolf, the exertion was nothing. With the skeleton carrying her, the latter part of the climb was easy for Erin as well. The three of them passed through the thin black mist and finally saw the scene beyond the stairs.

It was a magnificent and grand hall. A bright moon hung overhead, providing faint light. Mist swirled around, and on both sides stood giant statues, dozens of meters tall. The statues, each with a different form, stretched from where Tang Qiu’s group stood all the way to the end, thousands of meters away.

At the very end was a golden throne.

Tang Qiu surveyed her surroundings, her gaze lingering on the statues on either side. Because they were so tall, she could only see their arms even when she tilted her head back.

The statues had various forms—some were slender, some burly, and some were half-human, half-beast, with human torsos and snake tails. Tang Qiu examined them one by one, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

Erin had the skeleton put her down and joined Tang Qiu in observing the statues. Her expression grew increasingly strange. She stopped in front of a beast-shaped statue, raising a hand to her chin as if trying to remember something.

Tang Qiu noticed Erin’s odd behavior. She stopped and turned to look at her, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Erin bit her finger and thought hard for a moment before saying uncertainly, “I think I’ve seen these statues before.”

“Oh?”

“…In Witch City.” Erin frowned; her memories of living in Witch City were ones she least wanted to recall. “I was young then, so my memory might be a little jumbled.”

“There’s a forbidden area behind Witch City. Vera and I went in once, and there were a lot of statues there too.”

The forbidden area in Witch City was off-limits to witches. To be precise, there was a barrier that prevented witches from entering.

Erin and Vera had stumbled into it by accident. To get out, they had worked together to repair a damaged dark array inside. After they left, Vera told her that the array they had fixed was for summoning the Dark God.

At the time, Erin had mistakenly thought the Dark God was a being like the Light Goddess. Not only did she review the array with Vera, but she also gave her the Dark Key they had found inside.

Later, after Erin left Witch City and her dream of becoming a priest shattered, she realized how terribly wrong she had been. She started scheming to get the Dark Key back, but she hadn’t succeeded yet.

Seeing the similarities between the temple’s interior and the forbidden area in Witch City, Erin suddenly had a bad feeling. She grabbed Tang Qiu’s arm and asked stiffly, “You don’t think that dark array Vera and I figured out was really for summoning the Dark God, do you?”

They were only eleven or twelve at the time. To be honest, looking back, Erin hadn’t taken the array that seriously; she was mainly concerned with the Dark Key.

But now, it seemed very likely that the forbidden area behind Witch City was the Dark God’s temple.

Seeing her panic, Tang Qiu said reassuringly, “Probably not. Didn’t Vera’s dark array fail?”

Tang Qiu also felt that an array to summon the Dark God couldn’t possibly be set up by a few white-robed witches.

While the two of them were talking, Lucille, who had been surveying the area, suddenly sensed something. She sharply turned her head to look at the statues on the left.

A muffled thud, like a forehead hitting stone, came from that direction. Tang Qiu, who was talking to Erin, stopped and flashed to Lucille’s side, exchanging a look with her.

Lucille cautiously approached. Walking around a statue, she found a young child huddled there, trembling, their long silver hair trailing on the ground.

“…A human?” Seeing Lucille stop, Tang Qiu also went over for a look and said in surprise.

The aura emanating from the silver-haired girl was very weak, similar to a human’s.

Hearing Tang Qiu’s voice, the girl lifted her head from her knees. Her eyes were teary, and there was a red, swollen bump on her forehead. Seeing Tang Qiu and Lucille staring at her, her lip trembled, and she began to cry softly.

Tang Qiu: “…”

The crying attracted Erin. She craned her neck to look at the little girl, blinked, and said, “…Where did this kid come from?” It was too strange for a child to be here.

Tang Qiu didn’t answer. Lucille sized up the little girl and said coolly, “Silver hair and golden eyes. She must be a descendant of the legendary God Race.”

There weren’t many records about the God Race descendants on the continent. The only recorded traits were their distinctive golden eyes and dazzling silver hair. However, this description had never been verified, so it was unclear if it was true.

Neither Tang Qiu nor Erin knew much about the God Race descendants. The former lowered her gaze to observe the little girl, while the latter tentatively walked toward her.

The little girl was frightened by Erin and tried to dodge to the side. When she couldn’t, she scrambled to get around the other side of the statue, but Lucille was standing there. Terrified, the girl got up and darted behind Tang Qiu, hugging her leg tightly and refusing to let go.

Tang Qiu froze for a moment, then turned her head to look back, but could only see the top of the little girl’s head.

Lucille’s expression was a bit strange. She looked down at the little girl clinging to Tang Qiu, and the hand hanging at her side began to itch.

While Tang Qiu’s group was feeling bewildered by the little girl who was possibly a God Race descendant, a fierce battle was raging outside the palace.

The strange beast had launched an attack on the intruders. Since Vogt happened to be in the same area as the beast, he was bearing the brunt of the pressure.

The awakened Holy Knights and bishops gathered around him. The bishops waved their staves, using light magic to help Vogt try to trap the beast, but a single charge from the beast sent them flying again.

Vogt was also knocked back by the impact. He fell to the ground and watched the beast rushing toward him, his pupils constricting. It was too late to cast a spell; he could only raise his arm above his head, hoping the bracer on his wrist could block the blow.

Although he wore a lot of protective gear, if he couldn’t create distance from the beast, he would sooner or later be crushed into a pulp by its claws.

Vogt was waiting for the beast to trigger the defense on his bracer, but its claw never came down. He looked up in confusion and saw a white-haired werewolf standing in front of him, blocking the beast’s attack.

The beast was sent flying by the white-haired werewolf, its body kicking furiously in mid-air. It righted itself, about to pounce on Vogt again, when two golden rays of light shot toward it from different directions. One wrapped around its front claws, the other around its hind claws.

The beast’s body stiffened, and it crashed straight to the ground with a loud bang.

Reese and Audrey glanced down at where the beast had fallen and raised their staves once more.