The Temple of the Three Goddesses.
Under the moonlight, the Holy King, who had made his way here in silence, pushed open the main gate. After passing the verification of the defensive Magecraft array, with the surrounding air rippling like water, he stepped inside.
Hiss...
Beneath the bright moonlight came the rustle of scales scraping across marble. Hearing the movement, the massive purple-black serpent slithered out from the cool shade behind Medusa's statue, shrank its body, and affectionately rubbed against the back of its creator's hand.
Samael patted the little thing on the head and smiled faintly. Then, recalling a secret ritual from his previous life, his expression turned solemn. He raised his right hand, extended it straight ahead, and curled his fingers into a fist.
Pfft!
His fingertip pierced his palm. The divine blood that dripped down, driven by his will, formed obscure, profound Chants, spreading across the floor beneath his feet like crimson ink and constructing a dense circular Magecraft array.
Sensing a faint resonance from somewhere unseen, the Ancient Serpent seized the moment and, following the [Revelation] granted by the Authority of destiny, parted its lips and began to chant divine words.
"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill.
Repeat the cycle five times.
Yet when fullness is reached, that is the moment of abandonment.
I declare.
Your body shall answer my command, and my fate shall rest with your sword.
Let blood be the pact that binds us. If you would follow this will and this principle, then answer.
I swear here.
I shall bring about all the good in the world.
I shall strike down all the evil in the world.
I am the cause of the past, the fruit of the future, the one who pries at fate. You are the Seven Days bound by the Three Great Words of Power, the Guardian from the Ring of Deterrence, keeper of the Scales!"
As the final stroke was completed amid the flowing smear of blood, a surging tide of Ether whipped up a fierce gale inside the great hall. A crimson-black glow shot into the sky, resonating with the divine patterns of the 88 constellations on the dome above, and both began to tremble and flash together.
Crack!
In an instant, a string of thunderclaps exploded across the heavens. Branching arcs of gold-violet lightning spread and forked, taking the shape of an olive tree as it sprouted and grew.
Hum!
A moment later, countless stars shone together. Their gathered radiance linked point to point, line to line, plane to plane. The scales of justice smashed through the lightning tree's crown and began to tilt.
Creeeak...
But right after that, a gold-blue celestial bow was violently drawn open with a grating shudder that set teeth on edge. A massive dark-red spear wheel loaded itself like a revolving chamber, transformed into an arrow, and shot out with a scream, instantly shattering the scales overhead.
Yet the broken thunder and starlight regrouped, tangled together once more, and took shape as a Valkyrie wielding spear and shield, hacking furiously at the celestial bow and spear wheel.
In an instant, the exploding radiance lit up half the sky, forming a dazzling riot of light. Surging Ether clashed and washed across the heavens above all of Athens without end, and even from the depths of the earth below came increasingly violent tremors.
Aaaaa!
At that moment, a sacred hymn like a song rose from nowhere and seemed to return nowhere. Amid the crash of briny seawater, pure azure surged forward with overwhelming force, sweeping away all that blinding radiance in its path.
Samael stared, dumbfounded, the muscles in his stiff face twitching violently without him noticing.
So this Summoning is... whoever wins gets to come out?
Hss...
Just as everything was about to settle, the purplish-red sacred serpent coiled at Samael's feet began swelling and shrinking in turns, its skin giving off a faint tremor like cloth being torn.
Pfft!
A purplish-red blade flashed. From within the splitting, peeling snakeskin, a small figure took flesh and solidified.
At the same time, the thunder, starlight, celestial bow, spear wheel, and even the azure waves all began to fade along with the blood-red array on the floor, until every last phenomenon vanished into nothing.
Under the cool moonlight, Samael stared at the hooded purple-haired little girl before him, only half a man's height and holding a chained bladed scythe. He remained blank for quite a while before finally reacting and speaking in a tentative, low voice.
"An... Ana?"
Bang!
Before he could finish, the purple-haired girl crashed into his arms. Her slender arms wrapped tightly around the Ancient Serpent's waist and held on for a long while, her little buried head nuzzling against him like a homesick puppy. Her moving lips let out a murmur full of relief.
"Welcome back, Samael..."
The Ancient Serpent's hand, which had paused midair, slowly came down and gently patted Ana's back. In his lowered gaze was a soft warmth, carrying both remembrance of the past and joy in the present.
One large and one small, the two stayed like that for a moment before gradually coming back to themselves and separating a little, collecting their emotions after this long-awaited reunion.
"Looks like you won this round. Nicely done, little Ana."
The corner of Samael's lips lifted as he teased her with a chuckle.
Sure enough, when it came to slipping in and stealing a march without making a sound, this Goddess of Serpents had already perfected the art.
"That's because they were too greedy. They wanted to descend in their complete forms. I used our shared nature as serpents as the medium, then transformed a Divided Spirit through it. Of course I could arrive one step sooner."
Under the moonlight, the purple-haired young girl's serpent-like vertical pupils blinked quietly, pure and clear, as she stated the fact in all seriousness.
"That makes sense. Athena calls herself clever, but she didn't lose unfairly."
Samael clapped his hands lightly and laughed in amusement. Then he stretched, raised his hand, and prepared to continue the ritual.
"Alright. Let me haul the others out one by one first, then we can take our time catching up."
But when he tried again, the crimson Magecraft array gave no response at all. Even the statues of the three goddesses seemed to have lost a trace of their former spirit.
Some latent power, hidden somewhere beyond perception, appeared to have severed that faint connection that had existed moments before.
"It's useless..."
Ana gently pressed down Samael's arm and shook her head.
"We can feel it. That gate can only allow one more target to descend before it closes. That's the limit of what it can support..."
"It?"
"The power that exists in the Inner Sea of the Planet..."
"Can you be more specific?"
"I don't know. I was only a Divided Spirit split off in an emergency, and when I passed through that gate, a lot of information was filtered out and blocked. So my senses and memories are incomplete. I only have vague impressions of many things. And now my connection to the main body has been severed too, so I know even less about what's happening inside..."
"Then what's going to happen to them?!"
Samael's heart tightened. In his panic, he immediately grabbed Ana by the shoulders and questioned her anxiously.
"Don't worry. They'll be fine. In ten days, the [Gate] will open completely, and Athena and the others will return. I only used the opportunity of your Summoning to descend ahead of time."
Thankfully, Ana's words finally let Samael breathe again, and the heart he had been holding in suspense settled back into place.
"So all that commotion was just because you wanted to meet me ten days early?"
The Ancient Serpent came back to himself and looked at Ana with a helpless, amused expression.
"It wasn't just for that!"
Ana was briefly flustered, her little face reddening, but she quickly pulled herself together. Reaching out, she grabbed Samael's arm, her expression turning grave.
"Samael, because ten days from now, the world will move toward sunset, and the gods will meet their twilight!"
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