The First Pope - Chapter 162

Chapter 162

Back then, the gods pledged their loyalty to the Earth Mother, willing to sacrifice ninety percent of their divine power to create new races. These races were meant to seal the increasingly audacious monsters and save the crumbling Sitatul Continent. Trusting the gods, the Earth Mother agreed to their plan and expended nearly half of her own divine power to create the Dragon Knights to ensure the plan's smooth implementation. To keep their plan hidden from the monsters, the gods proposed sealing the new races within the temples before taking action. The Earth Mother agreed to this as well, but the Dragon Knights, sealed within the temple, waited for a thousand years, and the day to execute the plan never came.

Their main god had left this continent.

The first Dragon Knights created could never forget how terrifying the Sitatul Continent was during the time before the gods departed. The heavens and earth were tearing apart. Even with their massive bodies and formidable strength, they felt fear in the face of a power that threatened to devour and destroy the entire continent. They were too small; before this power, even the gods were small.

Only the Earth Mother, their Lord, stood before them, her figure as strong as ever.

The Earth Mother intercepted the force that could have destroyed the Sitatul Continent, but the land was still damaged and left in a precarious state. Dawn vanished, and the night began to stretch on indefinitely. The Dragon Knights, sealed in the temple, all waited for the Earth Mother to break the seal and let them out to save the continent. But what came instead was the news that the gods had left.

Their main god would not abandon this continent.

So… something must have happened.

Cynthia, connected to several Sacrificial Arrays, was completely enveloped in a dazzling golden light. She stood at the center of the light, the staff in her hand continuously gathering the divine Power of Light. The sandstorm in the Mentos Desert paused for a moment, then quietly settled. Deep within the Earth Mother's temple, divine power was stirred by this Power of Light, beginning to emanate from the corners and spread toward the temple's center.

The red dragon, pressed against the barrier and staring at Cynthia without blinking, noticed the presence of the divine power almost instantly. Some of the excitement in her eyes faded.

The red dragon turned around. As her massive body landed on the ground, it transformed into a tall, slender figure. Her shoulder-length red hair hung loosely. Ellen shook her head, still not quite used to this form. She squeezed her arm and glanced at her body with disdain, complaining, "This body type looks so weak."

Outside the temple, the might of the divine Power of Light was gradually increasing, while the residual divine power within the temple began to grow restless. Ellen looked up, her gaze fixed on the dragons flying high in the air, observing the situation from a distance. Her voice was clear, but she deliberately controlled it so it wouldn't travel outside the temple. "Suppress the divine power inside the temple. Don't let it affect Cynthia."

The dragons exchanged glances, slowly turned, and flew back into the depths of the temple. As they returned, the divine power within the temple gradually subsided.

Ellen looked at the now-calm temple and nodded in satisfaction. She flew back to the front of the barrier, watching the seal loosen under the effect of the divine Power of Light, her face once again filled with excitement.

No matter what happened, they had to leave this place.

Compared to other elements, the Light element was the most approachable, but that didn't mean it was gentle. On the contrary, the Light element was just as domineering and aggressive as the Dark element; its dazzling golden light merely served as a disguise.

After the sandstorm in the Mentos Desert subsided, the noisy environment instantly fell silent. Only the sound of Cynthia's chanting echoed in everyone's ears. The aura of the divine Power of Light grew stronger and stronger. Olivia and Helen had already led their people back to the edge of the Mentos Desert.

"Cynthia seems to be using the divine Power of Light with even greater ease," Helen remarked, facing the direction of the temple.

Olivia gave a faint "mm," her pale green eyes fixed on the figure within the golden light. The way she frequently caressed her staff revealed that her mood was not as calm as it appeared on the surface.

As time passed, the entire Mentos Desert was enveloped in golden light. Cynthia's chanting began to speed up. The dragons inside the temple and the witches at the desert's edge all watched the golden light nervously. Suddenly, the sound of the incantation vanished from their ears, and time seemed to stand still.

Ellen clenched her fists, her eyes glued to the barrier before her. Then, she saw a crack appear on it, spreading across the entire barrier in an instant like a spiderweb.

Ellen's eyes lit up, and she cheered, "The seal is broken!"

Within the golden light, Cynthia opened her eyes slightly and glanced at the shattered barrier, a small curve forming on her lips. She loosened her grip on the staff, about to separate it from the array beneath her feet, but she suddenly sensed something and her movements paused.

The Sacrificial Array had directly multiplied the Power of Light within her several times over. Aided by this power, Cynthia's sensory abilities had expanded considerably. She looked up, glancing in a certain direction, and the smile on her lips slowly faded.

Helen and Olivia, who were about to approach Cynthia upon seeing the barrier shatter, also sensed something. The former let out a sound of surprise and turned to look behind her. "Is someone fighting nearby? Why did the aura fluctuate so intensely all of a sudden?"

Olivia didn't speak, but her brow furrowed. This level of aura fluctuation didn't seem to be caused by a battle; instead, it was somewhat similar to the leakage of divine power from the God of the Ocean's temple.

Uncontrolled divine power was a disaster, and this intense fluctuation was a harbinger of that disaster.

Helen and Olivia could only vaguely sense the nearby fluctuations, but Cynthia, still standing in the middle of the Sacrificial Array, could sense the changes in aura across the entire Sitatul Continent.

There were more than a dozen places on the Sitatul Continent where the aura had become abnormal, including the Slade Sea Region and Ochester. The former was the location of the God of the Ocean's temple, and the latter was the site of the Beast God's temple.

Cynthia's eyes flickered. She then looked up at the Earth Mother's temple. With the barrier broken, the dragons were all flying out excitedly. Their massive bodies circling in the sky above the Mentos Desert stirred up gusts of sand and dust.

The red dragon, who as the clan leader should have been the happiest, showed little excitement after the barrier was broken. She circled in the air once, then let out a low roar at the other excited dragons. The dragon's cry was deafening and carried a faint threat. The dragons, in their state of excitement, shuddered and, one after another, turned and flew back into the temple.

And as the dragons returned to the temple, the auras across the Sitatul Continent gradually calmed down.

Ellen breathed a sigh of relief only after herding all the dragons back into the temple. The dazzling and powerful golden light outside exuded a faint pressure. She glanced toward the light and met Cynthia's gaze. The other woman was looking at her with a smile, but her eyes held no trace of mirth, which made Ellen shiver involuntarily.

"Thank you, Cynthia." The red dragon transformed into her human form and approached the golden light, her face plastered with an ingratiating smile. "You're truly amazing," she said gratefully.

As Ellen spoke, she lifted her foot, intending to walk to Cynthia's side, but she was repelled the moment she touched the golden light. She gave a dry cough, secretly glancing at the staff in Cynthia's hand, and asked tentatively, "The barrier is already broken. Aren't you going to put your staff away?"

Cynthia also looked down at her staff and said with a slight smile, "No rush. The staff is also needed to reseal it."

Ellen's smile froze. Faintly, she said, "…Let's talk this out."

Cynthia took out a bottle of Holy Water, opened it, and took a sip. With a half-smile, she said, "Go on. I'm listening."

This dragon, who seemed overly simple-minded, had indeed been hiding something from them.

"You must have also discovered that after the seal was broken, the temples all over the Sitatul Continent showed signs of collapse." Ellen reached out and poked the golden light. The burning pain from the Power of Light on her finger seemed to go unnoticed. "Actually, this is because the effects of the gods' departure have not yet disappeared from the Sitatul Continent."

Ellen scratched her hair, looking frustrated. "The gods left too hastily. On top of that, the Earth Mother, who was the guardian god, also left. Their residual, uncontrolled divine power brought many disasters to this continent."

"The Dragon Knights were created with nearly half of the main god's power. Although we couldn't leave the temple, our power is of the same origin as the main god's. So, using the main god's statue as a medium, the Dragon Knights provided divine power, and it took hundreds of years to gradually stabilize this continent."

It wasn't easy to imitate the Earth Mother's power to protect the continent. The first Dragon Knights created had to sacrifice seventy percent of their numbers just to stabilize it. The Dragon Knights born through reproduction were far inferior to the original ones in terms of divine power. It was becoming increasingly difficult for them to keep the temples stable.

Ellen's words made Cynthia's expression turn grave. She knew the Sitatul Continent was unstable, but she had always thought the Vampires were the root cause. She never expected that the effects of the gods' departure had not yet fully dissipated.

Cynthia glanced at Ellen. "You should have said so earlier."

Ellen blinked. "If I had, you definitely wouldn't have let us out."

Cynthia let out a low laugh. "That's true." If she had known about this earlier, she certainly would have thought long and hard about whether to release the dragons instead of making such a quick decision.

As she spoke, she gently moved her staff, and the golden light surrounding her slowly dissipated.

Seeing the light fade, Ellen ran to Cynthia's side and familiarly slung an arm over her shoulder. Chin held high, she said with brimming confidence, "But don't you worry. Whether it's the Vampires or the divine power, leave it all to us Dragon Knights."

"This continent is ours to protect."

Who else could it be, when their Lord was the guardian god of this place? Ellen's heart swelled with pride, but she didn't say the words out loud.

In truth, they didn't have to leave the temple. Their mission was to remain within it, generation after generation, to protect the Sitatul Continent on behalf of the Earth Mother until a new master arrived for this land.

They didn't care if their actions were known, nor did they care if they left any mark on this continent.

They only cared about one thing—whether their Lord had left this place of her own free will.

Ellen didn't think so, which was why they had to get out and find the truth.

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