Chapter 786: Minotaur
At the mention of this, Sendros could not help but look worried. High Priest Rogge was comparable to Geresco, and the rest of the Darkness Shrine was still inferior to him even before their fall. However, he still did not manage to stop things from happening…
“Are these two things related?” Upon hearing his words, Lin Li couldn’t help but muse to himself. How unlucky of the Darkness Shrine to experience a huge disaster right after their comeback. Although Pope Rosario had been tortured by Viper’s poison for decades, he actually managed to wait until Lin Li, a pharmaceutics Guru, appeared. On top of that, Prophet Willen and Rodhart of the Brilliance Shrine had also suffered huge blows. That was extremely unlucky.
Sendros naturally didn’t know what Lin Li was musing about. After hearing Lin Li’s question, he continued, “Well, lately, we feel that there have been some strange issues with the magical waves of the Night Canyon. After some investigation, we found out that the abnormalities stem from the Eternal Darkness Altar, which is the first place of worship for the G.o.d of Darkness. However, High Priest Rogge made it a forbidden place at one point. Only members of the Darkness Council would be granted access. We headed to the Eternal Darkness Altar to look for the reasons for the abnormalities, but we ended up finding a scepter that had been discarded for many years.”
“Did it belong to High Priest Rogge?” Lin Li asked carefully, worried that Sendros would mention the Darkness Incarnation again. However, when he heard those words, he began to get curious. Since the Eternal Darkness Altar was the forbidden area of the Darkness Shrine, not everyone could enter, and it seemed that High Priest Rogge was the most likely to be the person who’d left the scepter there.
However, Sendros shook his head, and simply refuted Lin Li’s guess. He explained, “It was a scepter from the Brilliance Shrine which only archbishops are qualified to use.”
“Does the disappearance of High Priest Rogge actually have something to do with the Brilliance Shrine? Actually, it seems that it is indeed possible since you guys and the Brilliance Shrine are rivals. The people of the Brilliance Shrine reached your forbidden ground, and even made your high priest go missing. It’s no wonder that no one knows about this,” Lin Li said in shock.
“At first, we did think that this might’ve been a conspiracy of the Brilliance Shrine, but later on, we found out through the negotiations with the Brilliance Shrine that the owner of this scepter was Prophet Willen who disappeared hundreds of years ago.” Prophet Willen was known as the Son of The Holy Light, and was also a legendary figure of Anril. Even Sendros was extremely emotional at the mention of him.
So it was Willen’s scepter! Lin Li looked at Sendros, but didn’t interject. Willen and Rodhart had once gone to the Darkness Shrine together, and it was recorded in the records of the Brilliance Shrine. However, the purpose of their visit was not mentioned. He wondered if there would be any relevant records in the Darkness Shrine.
“There are records of Prophet Willen’s visit to the Darkness Shrine. Besides, he wasn’t alone, and he actually came with his brother Rodhart, who used to be the Referee of Heresy. According to the information, the two of them had indeed gone deep into the Eternal Darkness Altar when they arrived at the Night Canyon. However, we have no idea what they did there and why the scepter was there.” The important figures of the Brilliance Shrine had entered the forbidden area of the Darkness Shrine, but Sendros didn’t say anything about it.
“Isn’t the Eternal Darkness Altar the forbidden place of the Darkness Shrine? You guys actually allowed them to enter freely?” Lin Li asked, not trying to make fun of them or anything. However, it was the Darkness Shrine, after all—although they did not have a powerhouse like Rogge, they had already recovered most of their power after hundreds of years of recovery. Hence, they were strong enough to fight the Brilliance Shrine. How could they easily allow the people of the Brilliance Shrine to enter their forbidden grounds?
“Although the Eternal Darkness Altar is a forbidden area of the Darkness Shrine, it was said that they had the token of the first high priest Rogge at that time. Those who owned the token would be granted access to everything in the Darkness Shrine as long as they did not utter blasphemies towards the G.o.d of Darkness,” Sendros explained patiently.
Everything was making sense again after being put together. Willen and Rodhart actually had the token of High Priest Rogge. It was no wonder that they were allowed to enter the forbidden Eternal Darkness Altar. Lin Li’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly asked Sendros, “Since the Darkness Shrine allowed them to enter, would there be a more detailed record of their entry into the Eternal Darkness Altar?”
One reason Lin Li came to the Darkness Shrine was Sendros’ invitation, and another was his desire to read the Darkness scripture. However, there was also another very important purpose of his visit, and that was to get a clear idea of what had happened to Willen and Rodhart, especially how Rodhart became a Retribution Knight.
However, after hearing Lin Li’s question, Sendros shook his head, and said, “According to a high priest who led them to the Eternal Darkness Altar, they got into a dispute after going deep into the Eternal Darkness Altar, but no one knows what it was about. We only know that Rodhart disappeared suddenly after the dispute. No one knows where he went, and he only appeared again 10 days later.”
“Were there any changes to him after he appeared?” Lin Li asked as he vaguely felt that the matter of Rodhart disappearing for 10 days had something to do with him becoming a Retribution Knight later on.
“No one knows that. After Rodhart appeared, the two of them left the Eternal Darkness Altar, but shortly after that, a disaster fell upon the Darkness Shrine. Only a few survived, and many things that happened then were thus erased from history,” Sendros said regretfully. If it weren’t because of the disaster, there would at least have been some useful information.
“Could that disaster of the Darkness Shrine have been caused by the two of them? It sounds like they killed the witnesses to stop them from spreading news. What happened during the disaster? Given the Darkness Shrine’s power, it shouldn’t have ended up in such a terrible state even if the Brilliance Shrine and the Supreme Council had colluded with each other,” said Lin Li, who was rather interested in the disaster that had caused the Darkness Shrine to decline.
Sendros had no choice but to smile wryly at hearing Lin Li’s a.n.a.lysis. He said, “We don’t know the details of the actual event, but Rodhart became a Retribution Knight later, and manipulated Death Knights to cause a stir in the Breezy Plains. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the Eternal Darkness Altar, but Willen was the one who purified him in the end. As for the disaster of the Darkness Shrine…”
“Oh, if it has nothing to do with the matter this time, let’s forget about it,” said Lin Li, who noticed that Sendros seemed a little hesitant to speak. Although he knew that it might be a very important secret of the Darkness Shrine, he still felt a little unhappy. He thought, The problem is, why did you invite me here? You claimed that you needed my help for something important, and yet you stopped at the critical juncture. We do have some ties with each other, but you can’t make me die for you without letting me know anything.
Sendros was also a little embarra.s.sed after hearing Lin Li’s words. Although Lin Li refused to admit it, he had already identified Lin Li to be the Darkness Incarnation. Hence, there was no need to keep it a secret from Lin Li. At the thought of this, Sendros said, “That disaster is considered a secret because if word about it spreads, it will likely cause panic among the believers of Darkness.”
That reason was the same as that of the Brilliance Shrine for keeping the news of Rosario’s poisoning under wraps. However, the incident had happened hundreds of years ago, so why would they panic now? Lin Li said, “Master Sendros, don’t worry, I don’t like telling stories to those who are uninvolved.”
“The disaster that happened back then was not caused by any force in Anril. It actually stemmed from the beasts from the ancient times. They appeared in the Night Canyon, and the Darkness Shrine was the first to bear their attacks. We were almost completely razed to the ground. The Darkness Shrine was outnumbered and outcla.s.sed, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it was a disaster that wiped out almost the entire Darkness Shrine.”
What? The ancient beasts!? Lin Li panicked, and frantically asked, “Was it the prehistoric magical beasts?”
“Yes,” Sendros answered with a nod. Although he looked calm on the surface, there was a tinge of anxiety in his eyes. He continued, “To be precise, it was a group of Minotaurs which held giant axes and rode three-headed Lion Scorpions. Every one of them had at least Legendary power. Under the attacks of the group of Minotaurs, the past Darkness Shrine was destroyed before they could even resist.”
d.a.m.n it, so it was a herd of Minotaurs. Those were well-known and powerful amongst the prehistoric magical beasts. Besides, they also rode Lion Scorpions, and formed a powerful army comprised of Legendary individuals. It would probably be a piece of cake for them to wipe out the entire Anril. Even if the Brilliance Shrine was involved, they wouldn’t be able to survive the attacks by the Minotaurs.
Although Lin Li had never fought against the real prehistoric magical beasts before, he had still seen the battle between Geresco and the Evil Eye Tyrant through the Beacon of Time and s.p.a.ce in Tutankhamun’s hut. He had witnessed how terrifying the prehistoric magical beasts were, and it’d definitely be the end of the entire continent when those horrendous creatures scurried to Anril.
At the thought of this, Lin Li suddenly remembered what he had heard about the Black Current, the magic tides, and the cracks in s.p.a.cetime in Tutankhamun’s hut. It was said that at the end of the Dark Age, there were three Black Currents that sparked the development of the magical civilization in Anril. Lin Li managed to see the first during the battle between Geresco and the Evil Eye Tyrant using the s.p.a.cetime Beacon Spell. Of course, there were also four other prehistoric magical beasts like Chimaera. According to Stephen of the Dark Blade, the second time was the one which gave the Darkness Shrine a huge blow. However, there were still some discrepancies on both sides compared to Sendros’ news. The third time was the time when Rosario got poisoned, and it was also said to have been the most intense one in history. The Brilliance Shrine worked with the Darkness Shrine to kill off all of the descendants of the prehistoric magical beasts before the Black Current struck. They only managed to contain the terrible disaster by doing that.
In the past, Stephen from the Dark Blade mentioned that thousands of powerful magical beasts poured out of a crack in s.p.a.cetime and attacked the Darkness Shrine. The Darkness Shrine was stained with blood overnight, and numerous elites died after being attacked by the magical beasts. The battle lasted seven days and seven nights, and the Darkness Shrine eventually killed all of the magical beasts, but they also paid a terrible price.
According to Sendros’ account, the Darkness Shrine failed to persevere and push through during the attacks of the Minotaurs, let alone kill them. Of course, in comparison, Sendros’ words were definitely more reliable. After all, Stephen might have had a high and authoritative status in the Dark Blade, but he was nothing in the Darkness Shrine. How could he know more about the truth than the chief high priest Sendros? However, after comparing both their statements, the question in Lin Li’s mind surfaced again. Since the Darkness Shrine did not stop the Minotaurs at all, why didn’t the latter launch an attack on the entire Anril after the destruction of the Darkness Shrine?
“In that case, who was the one who destroyed the Minotaurs?” Lin Li asked to raise his doubts. Even if the Minotaurs had been eventually wiped out, their appearance would have definitely still been recorded in history. Since there were no records, that meant that the matter only affected the Darkness Shrine. What were the insider details, then?
“Destroy? No.” Sendros shook his head gently. He continued, “After they destroyed the Darkness Shrine, they seemed to have gotten suppressed by some kind of force, and were not able to break out of the Night Canyon. Instead, they returned to the crack in s.p.a.cetime. That crack is located just below the Eternal Darkness Altar, and has been suppressed by the first high priest Rogge with a seal. Hence, we suspect that this crack and those prehistoric magical beasts have something to do with High Priest Rogge’s disappearance.”
“There’s a s.p.a.cetime rift under the Eternal Darkness Altar?” Lin Li asked in shock as he thought about the high priest Rogge, Willen, and Rodhart. He reckoned that they had probably found some things in there, and that High Priest Rogge’s disappearance, Willen’s disappearance, and Rodhart’s becoming a Retribution Knight probably were more than a coincidence.
However, it was not bad news for Lin Li. If the Eternal Darkness Altar had nothing to it, he wouldn’t want to see it. After all, there was too little information about Willen and Rodhart. If there was no useful information even in the Eternal Darkness Altar, the leads that Lin Li had could be considered broken off, and he might not be able to find any other clues.