Chapter 87: It's the old man again...

“Is that the treacherous Goddess? The Venus Goddess Temple?”

Mo Mei spoke without any politeness. Rommel had endured countless hardships only to die in despair, which utterly shamed Venus’s reputation. She had no good feelings for Venus whatsoever.

Ophelia didn't know Rommel's story, so she immediately shook her head and retorted, “Venus was indeed a Goddess who initially bestowed blessings, but later, for some unknown reason, the Goddess’s blessing suddenly mutated. Everyone who entered turned into Nightmares and Zombies, and then…”

Her voice gradually lowered, becoming less confident with each word, until she finally mumbled like a mosquito, lowering her head, leading to an awkward silence…

The GBL cult believed that Venus was still watching her devout followers from somewhere, but why did she turn a blind eye to the mutated blessings and refuse to save those followers who turned into Nightmares? Why did she allow Lotus to run rampant without intervention?

Nightmares are irrational, physically distorted monsters. Most of their skin is brown, with a few deeper mutations being black and red. Their legs are thick and powerful, their forelimbs have sharp claws, and their limbs and back are covered in sharp barbs. Their faces are grotesque and terrifying.

Siate rubbed her arm, which had already developed goosebumps, and said with disgust, “Ugh~ Are we going? Whoever goes in mutates. It sounds pretty scary.”

“No, our target is an Apostle, not some Goddess.”

Ye Lin slowly shook his head in refusal. As The team leader, he had to make crucial decisions at critical moments. Moreover, the Tian Wei Giant Beast’s wails beneath their feet were becoming more frequent. That was Behemoth resisting Lotus’s mental attacks.

“Then we have to pass through Purgatory. Purgatory is the lowest point on the Tian Wei Giant Beast’s back, full of dark elementals and Undead Zombies, and also Nightmares…”

Ophelia hadn't finished speaking when she saw everyone staring at her with strange looks.

“Your Tian Wei Giant Beast, it really has abundant resources…” Yuena expressed everyone's thoughts.

After passing through the Tree Spirit Jungle, the terrain began to slope downwards towards Purgatory. If Purgatory’s location on the Tian Wei Giant Beast were to be shown, it would be a canyon within the mountain range, the lowest point of the ruins.

“Normally, we would travel through donier, but now the GBL cult followers have mostly dispersed, and Jizhou (Polar Day) should have fallen.”

Ophelia’s steps suddenly halted. The ruins in front of them had collapsed, and the passage to Purgatory was blocked by a massive pile of architectural debris, completely full. Clearing it would take a huge amount of effort.

“Still up to no good, twin tails. If I’m not mistaken, the Goddess Palace has a shortcut to the First Spine, right?”

Ophelia paused for a moment, then pointed at herself and blinked, “Are you asking me? It seems so, Uncle Marcel seemed to have mentioned it…”

“Boss, I’m also twin tails!” Mo Mei raised her hand, pouting her lips as if very displeased.

“Your cute point is the bun, twin tails are just a bonus. Let’s go to the Goddess Palace!”

Ye Lin suddenly changed his mind. Venus’s curse sounded terrifying, but if Venus and Held were linked, it wouldn’t be so scary anymore.

Held needed “sharpened blades” to kill Apostles, and it was almost certain that she had a hand in the ruins on the Tian Wei Giant Beast. The Goddess Palace might hold unexpected discoveries for Adventurers.

Moreover, Barn had already ascended the Tian Wei Giant Beast ahead of them. If he killed Lotus first, it would truly be a situation where one couldn't cry or laugh.

The GBL Goddess Palace, unlike the outer perimeter of the temple, had walls built around the entire temple, so the clouds floating around the Tian Wei Giant Beast were not visible. As soon as they stepped in, a chill immediately seeped into their bodies.

“Look at these murals at the entrance, why do they seem a bit familiar.”

The content of the mural in front of Siate was very strange: a black-clad Goddess with a blurred face stood in the center of an orange-yellow flower, with several respectful followers beneath her hands, wearing large robes and stone masks.

“Our clothing and mask customs were learned from here.” Ophelia hugged her arms and shivered. She had actually entered the Goddess Palace, which was called a forbidden area.

Just then, a roar and a sharp wail suddenly came from deep within the Goddess Palace, followed by intense sounds of battle.

“Van Zhelis! And Isha Dula!”

Ophelia’s eyes lit up. Van Zhelis was the captain of the GBL cult’s assault team, and Isha Dula was the curator of the Library.

“Is the Princess here too?” Mai Lu whispered.

“It’s Isha Dula, not Isabella. Originally, these two should have been in the Arad branch, so it really has changed…”

Ye Lin seemed to be talking to himself. His confidence in being able to have a good talk with Lotus had increased a bit.

They quickly rushed to the depths of the Goddess Palace, where dead Nightmares and Undead Zombies were visible everywhere along the way. Finally, they saw two surviving followers and the corpse of a massive, fallen Nightmare.

“Ophelia… you, you brought back reinforcements?”

Van Zhelis seemed to be injured. He Held a golden cup inlaid with rubies in his left hand, and his right hand was supported by Isha Dula, appearing to be severely wounded.

“This is Venus’s Holy Grail! I snatched it back from the fallen Asol. With this, we will surely defeat the Apostle!”

The Holy Grail trembled with Van Zhelis’s excited shaking, but what was astonishing was that the cup appeared empty, yet dark drops of water constantly fell from its rim.

“A cursed Holy Grail, tainted with the aura of the black nightmare. That makes sense, the Tian Wei Giant Beast is indeed a good place for convergence.”

Ye Lin pressed his hand to his forehead, speechless. The mutation of Venus’s blessing was actually the old man’s doing. His shadow was truly everywhere, and the nightmare seed was truly persistent.

“With all due respect, if you hold that thing for much longer, you’ll be completely finished.”

Lotus’s mental control was already despair-inducing, and now Van Zhelis had pulled out a black nightmare. Wasn’t he just tired of living?

Van Zhelis’s eyes were feverish, subtly entwined with black aura. The grip on the Holy Grail showed that he wouldn’t easily discard something he had obtained with such difficulty.

GBL cult records state that the great Lais first conceived the idea of exploring ancient ruins and gathering all knowledge because of the Venus Goddess Temple.

“Knock him out, idiot.”

Isha Dula tried to stop Siate, but he glared at her fiercely, and she obediently shut her mouth and quieted down.

“It’s already a miracle that you two aren’t dead. You still want to run over and offer your heads to Lotus, want to be possessed by an octopus, all slimy?”

He scrutinized Isha Dula from head to toe. Not only was she beautiful and virtuous, but her large purple robe also couldn't conceal her shapely figure. Her wine-red long hair and purple eyes exuded an indescribable charm.

Such a beautiful mature woman, and then an one-eyed octopus crawling on her? A hentai plot?

…

Ophelia timidly whispered, “Ancient texts say that Venus’s Holy Grail has the power to bring people back from the dead…”

“Heh…”

Ye Lin sneered and poked the Holy Grail with his katana, then looked up at Ophelia and Isha Dula. “The Holy Grail can’t even protect you, and Venus turns a blind eye to your followers’ calamities. Could it be that ‘bringing back from the dead’ means people die, and Nightmares are born?”

He glanced at the Goddess statue embedded in the wall. Venus’s face was serene, her eyes subtly smiling, but beneath the statue, the horrific corpses of Nightmares were scattered everywhere.

Isha Dula carefully tugged at Ophelia’s sleeve, “We found your master… Aden Bard, on the only path to the First Spine.”

“Shouldn’t Master have left the Tian Wei Giant Beast?”

Ophelia instantly lost her voice. Aden Bard, as the most likely candidate to become the GBL cult leader, should have been expelled a long time ago for his worship of forbidden magic.

“He secretly hid and killed many followers, preparing some kind of sacrifice ritual…”