A bone-chilling dark aura filled the overly spacious room. The already dim light within the temple vanished completely, plunging not only Cynthia’s but also Hanni’s vision into utter blackness.

A cold, domineering Power of Darkness enveloped them, seemingly pinning their bodies in place. The oppressive atmosphere made it hard for Hanni to breathe. Unable to bear it, she let out a low growl and transformed directly into a white wolf, charging toward the source of the dark power.

Her body was suddenly seized by an invisible force. Hanni couldn’t break free, her form frozen in mid-air for a few seconds. Then, a dense black fog slammed violently into her. The white wolf was sent flying, her body tracing a white arc through the darkness.

The darkness robbed Cynthia of her sight, and the rapidly surging Power of Darkness interrupted her incantation. Gripping her staff, she took two steps back and simply closed her eyes, using the Power of Light to perceive her surroundings.

Hanni was thrown against a wall by the black fog before she came to a stop. She fell to the ground, taking a moment to recover before slowly getting back up. An invisible domain spread out from her as its center. The white wolf shook her body, bared her fangs at the densest part of the darkness, and let out an angry snarl.

The Wolf Race were skilled fighters who grew fiercer the longer they fought. Even when facing enemies stronger than themselves, they never retreated. Unless they were killed, they would tear their enemies to shreds with their fangs and sharp claws.

Although Hanni was kind-hearted, the ferocity of the Wolf Race was still in her bones.

Avira shifted her position atop the statue, her gaze lowered to the ferocious-looking white wolf. Her red lips curved slightly. When fighting werewolves, she particularly disliked these fierce creatures, but now, seeing Hanni transformed into a white wolf, she found it rather interesting.

The werewolf domain Hanni unleashed dispersed some of the darkness. The Power of Darkness that had been converging on Cynthia sensed Hanni’s threat and surged toward her instead.

A dazzling golden light suddenly erupted in the darkness. The Power of Darkness rushing toward Hanni was halfway there when it was scattered by the abrupt burst of Light. The black fog in the temple thinned somewhat, and their stolen vision was returned.

On the other side of the temple, a black shadow holding a bone staff floated silently in the air. It looked in Cynthia’s direction, two eerie green flames flickering incessantly within it.

Cynthia raised her eyes slightly. Illuminated by the golden light, she quickly spotted the black shadow’s presence. She waved her staff in its direction and said with a smile, “Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

The black shadow was silent for a moment before a deep voice emanated from within. “You’re the one from the God Race who can use the Grand Light Spell?”

The Vampires’ and Sethite wizards’ impression of the God Race was still stuck on the Grand Light Spell.

Cynthia smiled at the black shadow and said softly, “You can call me Cynthia.”

“I have no interest in the names of the dead,” the black shadow said coldly. It suddenly waved its bone staff, and dark flames erupted before it. The black fog began to spread through the temple once more, devouring the scattered Power of Light bit by bit.

Her vision was once again obscured by darkness. Unhurried, Cynthia took a step back and began to chant softly. A golden whirlwind churned the black fog, and a transparent barrier suddenly appeared before her, blocking the encroaching dark flames.

This wizard’s Dark Magic was arguably the most powerful Cynthia had ever encountered. Light and darkness were each other’s nemesis, and Cynthia could already feel her Power of Light being suppressed as she tried to channel it.

If this continued, it would be extremely disadvantageous for her. She had to find a way to escape this predicament.

Protected by the barrier, Cynthia chanted her spell while calmly observing her surroundings by the glow of her Light power. Her gaze paused for a moment when it fell upon the statues scattered in the corners of the temple.

Light Magic spells emerged one after another, but without exception, they were all devoured by the Power of Darkness. The black shadow, holding its bone staff, slowly advanced. While this God Race member’s strength had reached a level that surprised it, this was as far as she would go.

Although the dark array within the temple was not yet complete, the Power of Darkness was already omnipresent. This was no place for a member of the God Race to run wild.

The black shadow watched the figure being gradually submerged by the Power of Darkness, sneered, and continued its incantation.

Suddenly, a white figure lunged from the right. Sharp claws tore the black shadow in half. Enduring the discomfort of the Power of Darkness corroding her body, Hanni had finally managed to get close to the shadow.

She tore at the black shadow’s body, her sharp claws ripping it to shreds. The bone staff fell to the ground with a crisp clatter.

After being torn apart, the black shadow turned into black smoke and slowly dissipated. With its target gone, the white wolf landed on the ground and turned to look at the spot where the shadow had vanished, a hint of confusion in her sky-blue eyes.

Behind the white wolf, the Power of Darkness silently coalesced into a new black shadow. The shadow flexed its arm, then summoned the bone staff back to its hand.

“What a barbaric race,” the black shadow said coldly. It then swung its bone staff, and the chilling Power of Darkness sent Hanni flying once again.

The white wolf hit the ground with a painful whimper, her white fur stained red with blood. She struggled to get up but had to give up due to the pain.

The black shadow glanced at the incapacitated white wolf and coldly averted its gaze. Its patience exhausted, it raised its staff, intending to finish off the silver-haired God Race member as well. But when it looked in her direction, it froze.

The silver-haired God Race member, who had been on the verge of being swallowed by the Power of Darkness, had vanished.

Where did she go?

For some reason, a bad premonition suddenly arose in the black shadow’s heart. It clutched its bone staff and retreated slightly, its gaze sweeping rapidly across the surroundings. Finally, it spotted Cynthia’s figure among the group of statues in the temple’s corner.

The statues in the Giant God Temple were much taller than those in other temples. Standing among them, the silver-haired God Race member looked as tiny as a speck of dust.

Cynthia, who had already prepared her Light Magic, saw that the black shadow had found her and even gave it a polite wave with her staff.

Seeing the smile on Cynthia’s face, the black shadow seemed to realize something. Its tone darkened. “What are you doing-“

Before it could finish, a blinding golden light exploded in the center of the statues. The powerful, indiscriminate Power of Light attacked everything around it, and the entire temple shuddered.

The black shadow quickly chanted a spell to dissolve the Power of Light that was nearly upon it. Just as it finally consumed the Light, a massive stone fist came crashing down on it.

The statues within the range of the Light Magic attack were awakened by the Power of Light. They moved their stiff limbs, bending down to search for the intruders in the temple.

Although they had been struck by the Power of Light, from the statues’ perspective, the black shadow was also an intruder.

Avira, who had been sitting on a statue watching the show, was also caught up in it. She leaped down from the awakening statue and deftly moved through the others to reach Hanni’s side.

She reached out and stroked the white wolf’s head. A red light flashed in her palm, and under its glow, the white wolf slowly transformed back into her human form. The heavily injured Hanni struggled to open her eyes, the image of the red-haired vampire blurry in her vision.

Avira bent down and picked her up, dodging the pursuing statues. She even found a moment to lower her head and lick the blood from the corner of Hanni’s mouth. The sweet taste made her lips curl up involuntarily.

Carrying Hanni to the edge of the temple, Avira first glanced back at the statues, which had been left far behind, then began to search for Cynthia.

Avira hadn’t expected Cynthia to suddenly awaken the statues. And since Cynthia had been standing right in the middle of them when she did it, Avira had expected to see a silver-haired God Race member scrambling to escape. To her astonishment, however, Cynthia was standing right next to a statue, and it wasn’t attacking her.

This God Race member… what exactly is her identity?

The black shadow shared Avira’s confusion. Destroying a temple was no simple matter, especially since these seemingly harmless statues were, in fact, extremely dangerous.

The black shadow had been consciously keeping its distance from the statues, confining the battlefield to the open space. It never imagined this God Race member would deliberately awaken them.

At first, the black shadow thought this God Race member was insane, because once the statues awakened, they wouldn’t be able to leave either. But… the statues weren’t attacking her.

Moreover, only after the statues awakened did it realize there was also a Second Generation Vampire hiding here.

The black shadow no longer knew which revelation was more shocking.

The statues ignored Cynthia’s presence, directing all their attacks at the black shadow. Soon, the shadow was pummeled into dissipation, and the dense Power of Darkness slowly faded.

After the black shadow vanished, the statues turned their attention to Avira and Hanni. Seeing the statues charging toward them, Avira chose not to fight head-on and instead temporarily retreated from the temple.

Once Avira’s and Hanni’s auras disappeared, the statues searched the temple a few more times. Finding no targets, they turned and returned to their original positions.

Cynthia watched as a statue walked back to stand beside her, turning into a cold stone figure once more. She raised an eyebrow, her heart filled with curiosity about these statues.

One statue stopped abruptly behind Cynthia. Hearing the sound, she turned to look. The statue bent down, its eye sockets glowing with a grayish-black light. It tilted its head, resting it on the floor so its gaze was level with Cynthia’s.

Her own reflection was visible in that grayish-black light. Cynthia stroked her staff, pondering for a moment before tentatively placing her hand on the statue.

She had originally wanted to see if this statue bore any traces of the Light Magic she had seen in the Beast God Temple. However, after holding her palm against it for a long time, she “saw” nothing.

As expected, finding traces of Light Magic again wasn’t going to be that easy.

It was a matter of chance, not something one could seek out.

Cynthia shook her head slightly. Just as she was about to pull her hand back, the statue, which had been watching her obediently, suddenly shifted its head. With the movement, her palm landed on its eye.

Her fingers touched the grayish-black light. A cold sensation made Cynthia uncomfortable. She frowned, trying to retract her hand, only to find she could no longer control her body.

The scenery around her began to change. The heavy, dark clouds above the temple suddenly parted, and dazzling sunlight streamed in. Under the sunlight, the rigid statues underwent subtle transformations—their facial features became more vivid, and their armor grew more lifelike.

Cynthia was momentarily stunned by this sudden change. She scanned her surroundings, a sense of vigilance rising within her.

The statue in front of her had vanished, but Cynthia still couldn’t control her body, and the cold, numb feeling in her fingertips had not disappeared.

She still had her sense of touch, but her surroundings had become unfamiliar. Cynthia thought for a moment and quickly realized she must have fallen into some kind of illusion.