Secret: The undead do not die in the fire

Chapter 397 The Dark Moon is Watching You

In response to Klein's question, Russell chuckled, his words full of confidence:

"You don't have to worry about that. Although I have been dead for hundreds of years, it doesn't mean that I don't have a backup plan."

"Ok?"

Klein frowned. The Intis Empire had been reorganized into the Intis Republic more than a hundred years ago. The order left by Roselle no longer existed. The belief in the 'Black Emperor' had also long since disappeared under the siege of the 'Steam Church' and the Eternal Sun Sect. There was no soil for the believers of the 'Black Emperor' to survive in Intis now!

Yu Jin asked thoughtfully:

"Painting the world?"

Russell nodded calmly:
"Correct."

Klein's expression changed slightly, and a look of understanding appeared in his eyes.

The corners of Russell's mouth curled up slightly, and he said in a slightly melancholy voice:

"During the Intis Empire, under my promotion, the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun also made a deal with the Church of Steam and handed over their painting world to the Church of Steam. I also secretly spread the faith in it, but I don't know how much is left after more than a hundred years."

After a pause, Russell continued:

"But it doesn't matter, because before I became the 'Black Emperor', I stole a painting world from the Storm Church. That painting world should be in Bernadette's hands now."

The Steam Church might betray him and extinguish the faith he had secretly spread. But as her father's little friend, Bernadette would never do the same, right?

Klein reminded:

"For this kind of thing, it's best to confirm it with the person himself."

Russell nodded, but then shook his head:

"Later."

Klein's expression changed slightly. He knew that Roselle still had something to tell them, but it was not convenient for Bernadette to know.

Roselle looked at Klein below the platform and asked:

"Which route did you take?"

"Soothsayer."

Klein told the truth, smiled and said:
"Speaking of which, it's all thanks to you. It was your diary that made me decide to follow the path of a fortune teller."

Russell sighed, his tone somewhat lamenting:

"A fortune teller."

"Sure enough, only by choosing the 'Fortress', 'Apprentice' or 'Thief' path can the 'Traveler' enter 'Source Castle'. By the time I figured out this factor, it was already too late."

"By the way, you are Sequence 0 now?"

Klein shook his head:

"Not yet. I still need to accumulate more fools."

Russell raised his eyebrows and looked at him with a hint of joking:
"Then it seems that I may be able to get ahead of you."

Klein looked at him with a mixture of laughter and tears:
"Is that all you have to say?"

Your daughter is still waiting outside, and you said so much just to compete?
"of course not."

Roselle flatly denied it, turned his gaze to Yu Jin, and seamlessly changed the subject:

"My biggest problem in the first half of my life was being too confident. I always felt like I could start over at any time, and I didn't pay enough attention to many details."

"Back then, Green was contaminated by the strange power on this island. After his death, he returned here and was reborn. Wasn't this the influence of the 'Original Moon'? After I underwent various examinations and carried out corresponding purification, I felt that I was fine. But in fact, I had already been contaminated by the 'Original Moon' at that time, but the contamination was too hidden for me to discover."

"This led to my accidental encounter with Mr. Door, who led me to the moon step by step!"

"This can't be blamed on Mr. Door. His condition may be even worse than mine right now."

Yu Jin kindly reminded:
"Mr. Door is back."

"Huh?" Russell's expression turned suspicious.

Klein interrupted:

"The embers helped Him solve the pollution of the 'Fallen Mother Goddess'. By the way, the 'original moon' you just mentioned is the incarnation of the 'Fallen Mother Goddess'."

"Um?!!"

Russell pointed at the two people with trembling fingers and said angrily:

"In other words, knowing that both Mr. Men and I were contaminated, you chose to save him first instead of saving me?"

Klein was speechless:
"Is it possible that we don't know where your grave is, but Mr. 'Door' can summon it at any time. And the diary recording your grave is in Bernadette's hands. If she hadn't taken the initiative to give it to us for translation, we probably wouldn't have found this island in our lifetime."

Russell's expression froze slightly, as if this was the truth.

But the thing is, we can't blame him for this, right?
If he didn't build the tomb in a more hidden way, what would happen if someone dug it up?
Knowing that he was in the wrong, Russell quickly stopped worrying about who to save first and corrected him with a serious face:
“This is called a mausoleum!”

Klein found it somewhat amusing, while Russell changed the subject once again:
"Let's continue talking about the moon. At that time, I couldn't help but feel a yearning for the moon. This was due to Mr. Men's guidance, but also to the hidden pollution of the original... 'Fallen Mother Goddess'."

Having said that, Russell sighed and said:
"The moon was so strange. I clearly felt the terror, but I didn't think about whether I would be contaminated. Then, I became more and more radical and extreme."

After a pause, Russell continued:

"That's off topic. That's not what I want to talk about. The point is the moon itself!"

Russell glanced at Klein and asked:

"You should know that this is Earth, right?"

“Yeah.” Klein answered frankly.

Upon hearing this, Russell said in a deep voice:

"The Earth is still the same Earth, but the terrain has changed a bit. The Moon is still the same Moon, but because it has been polluted by the 'Fallen Mother Goddess', it now appears as the 'Scarlet Moon'."

"And the thing is, I saw a second moon!"

Klein's eyes flickered, but he was not surprised because he had also seen two moons.

Russell didn't know what Klein was thinking, and said solemnly:
"That was a blue dark moon, somewhat similar to the original moon, but the color was darker, or bluer. The 'Dark Moon' has always been hidden in the shadow of the 'Scarlet Moon', so we on Earth can never see it." "But there is no doubt that the moon is also the incarnation of an Old One, and an Old One of the same level as the Fallen Mother Goddess!"

"There is no doubt about this. The closer to the Earth, the more advantage we will have in future invasions. The fact that the Fallen Mother Goddess was able to overpower many of the Old Ones and occupy the moon has proven Her strength. And that Dark Moon can not only be on par with Her, but can even pollute me just as the Fallen Mother Goddess polluted me."

“Since I was contaminated by the Fallen Mother Goddess on the moon, I have rarely been awake. “Have you seen Get Out? At that time, I felt like I had fallen into a ‘dark pit’, and I could only watch through a small window as another ‘self’ controlled my body.”

"That kind of despair is a nightmare that I can't escape from even now."

Russell laughed at himself. At that time, he even had the thought of committing suicide.

Klein frowned and asked:

"Then how did you get out of that state? I've read your diary, and you should have gained some clarity."

Russell took a deep breath and said in a deep voice:

"That's what I mean. Angels and true gods need to rely on the pollution of faith to fight against the pollution of divinity in order to maintain their humanity. At that time, the only one who could help me fight against the pollution of the Fallen Mother Goddess was another pollution from the past, that round of 'Dark Moon'."

"Only in the confrontation between the two sides can I occasionally get a brief moment of clarity!"

"The Fallen Mother Goddess hopes to manipulate me through contamination so that she can gain an advantage in the upcoming Doomsday. As for the Dark Moon, to be honest, even now I still don't know what He wants to do."

"During that time, the 'Fallen Mother Goddess' manipulated me to do many things, the most important of which was the Blasphemy Card. You should have collected a few of them, right?"

Klein nodded slightly:
“I collected several of them.”

Russell's expression changed slightly, and he asked:
"Is there a 'Mother', a 'Witch', and a 'Moon'?"

“No.” Klein shook his head.

"It's fine if you don't."

Russell heaved a sigh of relief, and facing Klein's inquiring gaze, he said in a deep voice:

"These twenty-two blasphemous cards are themselves a conspiracy of the 'Fallen Mother Goddess'!"

"When I made these blasphemous cards, I was only a Sequence 1 and had not yet been promoted to the Black Emperor. Have you ever thought about how the blasphemous cards made by me, a Sequence 1, could be so difficult for even the gods to find?"

Klein felt a slight tingling sensation on his scalp, but Russell suddenly changed the subject:
"Of course, the Fallen Mother Goddess asked me to make many arrangements, and the Blasphemous Card is just one of them. As long as no one is fooled, these arrangements are actually harmless. Now that I have returned to normal, I can slowly solve these problems."

"In my eyes at that time, Dark Moon seemed to be simply causing trouble for the Fallen Mother Goddess and hindering Her plans. My sobriety was also an obstacle. The reason why I chose to switch to the Black Emperor Path was because of Dark Moon's reminder."

"He told me that among all the twenty-two paths, only the 'Black Emperor' path has the hope of helping me get rid of the pollution."

"As long as I can become a Sequence 0 Black Emperor and be truly killed after going half-crazy, I will have a chance to be resurrected in the mausoleum or in the astral realm. At that time, what will return to me will be pure 'uniqueness' and three copies of Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics, without any contamination or uncontrollable madness."

Russell smiled bitterly and said:

"Of course, it turns out that the horrors of the old days were beyond my imagination, and along with my resurrection came the renewed pollution."

Klein frowned and said in a deep voice:
"Only the Old One can fight against the Old One. Dark Moon has known this for a long time. Did He do it on purpose?"

"Correct."

Russell nodded and continued:
"When I was resurrected, I realized that the pollution would still follow me. I had no choice but to stop the resurrection process and live in this last mausoleum in my current state to prevent the 'Fallen Mother Goddess' from being born in the real world with the help of my body, which would bring about a devastating disaster."

"Obviously, Dark Moon's plan is not feasible. I have not been able to get rid of the contamination of the Fallen Mother Goddess. But the problem is that although I have not been able to get rid of the contamination of the Fallen Mother Goddess, the contamination of Dark Moon has disappeared completely."

"Later, I realized that this was the plan of Dark Moon! The resurrection of the Black Emperor could not solve the pollution of the Fallen Mother Goddess, and of course it could not solve the pollution of Dark Moon either. After all, it was another existence from the Old Ones."

"There is only one explanation, that is, the pollution of 'Dark Moon' has voluntarily left my body."

"He deliberately led me onto the path of the Black Emperor, making me think that I could get rid of the pollution by relying on the resurrection of the Black Emperor. But in fact, this only gave the pollution of the Dark Moon an opportunity to get rid of me!"

"After my resurrection, I wanted to get rid of the pollution, but the Fallen Mother Goddess still wanted to control me, so we have been entangled in this mausoleum for hundreds of years. And Dark Moon did not intend to compete with the Fallen Mother Goddess for my body, so during my "resurrection from the dead", He also took the opportunity to become independent."

Russell's expression was extremely serious, and he said solemnly:
"That is to say, there is an Old One who can be active in this world without restrictions, and this time lasts for hundreds of years!"

Klein's scalp suddenly tingled. If what Emperor Roselle said was true, who knows how many plans this Old One had made in the past hundred years? Moreover, these plans would not only allow him to gain a far greater advantage than other Old Ones at the end of the world, but might even bring the end of the world ahead of time!
But the problem is, didn't Dark Moon ask Mr. Door to pass a message to Ember?
Klein thought about it and asked:

"Could that 'Dark Moon' be someone from Dark Souls?"

"Ok?"

Russell was a little confused. Why are you asking me this question? Isn't Yu Jin standing in front of you? Ask him!

Yu Jin saw the questioning in the two people's eyes and slowly said:

"No."

After receiving Yu Jin's affirmative answer, Klein couldn't help but take a deep breath.

He had asked Yu Jin this question before, but that time Yu Jin did not give an answer. He just said that he had some guesses, but not much.

And now is undoubtedly the worst situation, because since 'Dark Moon' is not a character in Dark Souls, his relationship with Embers is not that close, and he is most likely their enemy!

But if you think about it carefully, it’s actually nothing. There are more than one or two Old Ones coveting this world anyway. Now there is just one more. It doesn’t make any difference - we can’t defeat them anyway. Is there a big difference between one Old One and two Old Ones?

Klein looked at Roselle and warned:

"Then maybe you should be more careful."

Russell was a little surprised:
"why?"

Klein's expression was a little subtle, and he reminded in a low voice:

"Because in the past one hundred years or so, this 'Dark Moon' has most likely been with your daughter."

"Bernadette?!"

Russell was so furious that he almost exploded on the spot.

He should have thought of it earlier!

Dark Moon had been fighting against the Fallen Mother Goddess for so long that he was well aware of his interpersonal relationships. The Fallen Mother Goddess was unwilling to give up on him as her host, so she continued to follow him around like a shadow even after his resurrection.

And since Dark Moon chose to give up, it must be because He found a better host!
And who else could this 'host' be other than his daughter Bernadette?

The anxious old father shouted:

"Quick, call Bernadette back!"

(End of this chapter)