The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　The space beneath the "oil snake" was silently divided into nine sections, creating a unique spatial effect that covered the space from bottom to top.

　The grid of squares cut out by the spatial rift suddenly opened downwards like a cave trap, and the irresistible gravity crushed down, swallowing the "oil snake" that had been sleeping there for some unknown reason and had transformed into such a huge creature in one gulp!

　"Got it, the oil snake!"

　Professor Lily raised her right hand, and the "Fantasy Cube" instantly contracted, condensing into a 3x3 Rubik's Cube in her palm.

　This time, she cautiously peered into the Rubik's Cube for a long time. Only after confirming that the "oil snake" was still asleep inside the Rubik's Cube did she raise her head and reveal a smug smile.

　The breathing of this "oil snake" is like thunder, capable of damaging one's spirit.

　The snake oil secreted from the body can deflect force and corrode magic, spirit, and matter.

　Fortunately, it remained asleep for some reason, and even after being struck by Ollie's sword, it showed no signs of waking up.

　Even after being placed inside the "Fantasy Cube," it remained dormant.

　Seeing that it had been taken away, everyone cautiously entered the temple.

　However, the temple had no roof, and it was connected to the grottoes on all sides, so it could not be seen from the outside.

　Inside, the stone pillars were long gone, and the graphic runes on the surrounding walls had been worn away. Only the innermost stone platform remained, and the jade statues of the sun god and the moon god... were completely undamaged!

　"Could it be that this 'oil snake' is still protecting the statue?"

　The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, then looked towards the "goddess of the heart."

　"Magic Beast: Goddess of the Mind's Eye" frowned as it looked at the statue. Its third eye on its forehead was wide open, the purple pupil unmoving, and a beam of divine light shot out, illuminating every part of the statue.

　After a while, it withdrew the "Eye of God" and said, "Both statues are still intact, but the divine aura inside the statues is extremely weak, and the divine power is nowhere to be seen. They need divine power to nourish them in order to recover."

　Dark said, "In that case, we just need to move them to the front hall, where they can be nourished by the divine power of the two statues in the front hall over a long period of time, and they should be able to recover."

　The "Goddess of the Mind's Eye" nodded slightly and smiled, "The primordial divinity remains within these two statues, but once extracted, they need to be moved to the front hall as soon as possible."

　Upon hearing this, Dak was overjoyed.

　The "Soul of the Moon Goddess" behind him quickly stepped forward and carefully touched the statue of the Moon Goddess.

　The power of the idol is too weak to manifest any visions.

　The "Soul of the Moon Goddess" used its own power to guide the absorption of the primordial divinity from the statue of the Moon Goddess.

　In this way, its path to reforging its divinity has been further advanced by 1%.

　[Moon Goddess (2%)] → [Moon Goddess (3%)]!

　Unfortunately, it could only absorb the primordial divinity of the moon god, not the primordial divinity of the sun god. Therefore, it could only regretfully leave behind the primordial divinity within the statue of the sun god.

　"Next..."

　Dak took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

　"It's almost ten o'clock. Should we continue our operation, or rest here? This temple, without the 'Oil Serpent,' is actually a good place to set up camp."

　……

　Dak, always a proponent of democracy, immediately raised the issue and sought everyone's opinion.

　"The Goddess of the Mind's Eye" spoke first: "The next temple is extremely far from here. At our previous speed, it would take at least three hours to get there, which would be past midnight. We would be too exhausted by then, so it would be best to go tomorrow."

　But it has no voting rights.

　So Lily immediately decided, "Of course we'll continue! Who stops halfway through a challenge? We're archmages, it's normal for us to go three to five days without sleep, isn't it? Besides, there's no day or night underground, with me here, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

　Inspired by her, everyone expressed their own opinions.

　Aurora whispered, "It's better to be cautious. I agree with setting up camp here..."

　Ollie: "Safety first."

　Angry: "I second that."

　Therefore, the vote ratio was three to one.

　Dak still did not vote.

　Lily suddenly felt like she was being targeted.

　She looked at her companions with suspicion, but couldn't detect anything unusual on their faces.

　Amidst laughter and chatter, everyone set up camp on the spot.

　They cleared the ground, pitched their tents in front of the idol, placed a lamp in the middle of the tent, and then crawled into their sleeping bags, whispering around the lamp.

　Sleepiness gradually crept in, and the barrier outside the tent glowed faintly.

　Three elf wielders had the same dream.

　……

Chapter 781 The Demon God said, "Let there be light."

　There is a type of dream called a "lucid dream".

　Dreamers can have the same thinking and memory abilities as when they are awake in their dreams. Some people can even make their feelings in their dreams so real that they are no different from those in the real world, but they know that they are dreaming.

　At this very moment, Dark felt something similar.

　He knew he was in a dream, but he did not feel the urge to wake up.

　In fact, in these kinds of dreams, once the thought of "wanting to wake up" arises, it's basically the time to wake up.

　He observed his surroundings with exceptional clarity of mind and found himself standing inside a palace.

　Memories I'd never had before kept surfacing in my mind.

　This made him realize quickly that he was not standing in front of the statue in the right hall, but in another, larger and more magnificent hall.

　Behind him should stand statues of the sun god and the moon god—not the statues we saw before, but larger and taller ones.

　He was standing in front of the statue, seemingly playing the role of a bishop. But his status was higher, and people who came to worship would occasionally call him "the messenger of God."

　God's messenger, God's apostle, God's agent on earth.

　This is a word that appears very frequently in some novels.

　But in an era when gods truly existed, the so-called "messengers of the gods" or "disciples of the gods" were actually the gods' secretaries.

　When there's work to be done, the secretary does it; when there's nothing to do, they do it...

　The simple, weary worshippers poured in through the three main gates of the temple, eventually converging on a small area in front of the statue.

　Or stand to the side, cup your hands in your heart, and bow your head in prayer.

　Or they kneel in the center, bowing and kowtowing three times and calling out the name of God.

　Thus, Dak finally learned the race and names of the sun god and the moon god.

　Both of these gods are beast gods.

　The sun god is the "sun-devouring lion," whose divine name is "the god of fire and the rising sun."

　The moon goddess is the "Moon-Eating Wolf," whose divine name is the "God of Ice and Eternal Moon."

　Both are extremely domineering mythical beasts that have become gods.

　And they are indeed a couple.

　The followers who worship these two gods include humans, beastmen, and all sorts of half-human, half-beast subhumans, making them extremely diverse.

　These races, who would likely fight tooth and nail if they stood alone, are now "coexisting peacefully" under the rule of these two gods.

　As for whether they were coerced or forced... it's not obvious at least on the surface.

　In that era when gods were everywhere, most intelligent beings were already doing their best just to survive, and perhaps didn't have the energy to engage in racial conflicts.

　If one could find a guardian deity who was powerful enough and not too wicked, that would probably be the greatest fortune at the time.

　Clearly, although the "Sun-Devouring Lion" and the "Moon-Eating Wolf" are beast gods, they are not inherently evil.

　They do not eat people, only livestock. They have little interest in gold and treasures, nor do they like tall buildings stained with blood. Their sexual preferences are completely different from those of humans and subhumans. Moreover, they are a pair of partners and do not become hysterical due to loneliness, solitude, or emptiness like some gods.

　Moreover, they are powerful enough to provide believers with strong protection.

　The only problem is that their wild nature makes them need some hot blood as a spice.

　They have a particular fondness for "gladiators".

　……

　But in that era, to gain protection at such a cost was something many people longed for.

　Strong life forms roam everywhere, while weak life forms struggle to survive in the cracks.

　The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is brought to its extreme.

　However, when Ragnarok arrives, even powerful gods like the Sun-Devouring Lion and the Moon-Eating Wolf cannot withstand the pollution and devouring from the abyss.

　……

　In dreams, one is unaware of the passage of time.

　In the blink of an eye, spring, summer, autumn and winter have passed.

　The "serpent" appeared in the divine kingdoms of the "Sun-Devouring Lion" and the "Moon-Eating Wolf".

　They initially transformed into humans, covered their eyes with bandages, and blended in with the believers.

　Later, they used money to sway people, words to divide them, spread rumors and plagues, and caused the Kingdom of God to gradually decay.

　As a divine messenger… Dark observed coldly from the perspective of a divine messenger, watching chaos and plague corrode the divine kingdom, watching hunger and famine reap lives, watching darkness and filth gradually seep into the divine kingdom's belief system, infiltrating through the weak connection between believers and gods. Little by little, it accumulated, little by little, until it finally transformed into a deadly poison.

　He saw everything, but offered no warning.

　Because he had already been corrupted and tainted.

　……

　Although the gods of that time could build divine kingdoms and protect their believers, it was actually just a structure similar to a bandit leader building a stronghold to protect his bandits. The gods themselves, as bandit leaders, did not feel that there was any necessary connection between themselves and their bandits.

　Their power comes from themselves, not from faith to godhood, and there is no concept of "the fire of faith".

　They never imagined that a virus would infiltrate, pollute, disintegrate, or plunder their divine authority through a "faith network" that is utterly useless to them.

　By the time they realized it, Ragnarok had arrived, and the "serpent" from the abyss opened its mouth wide enough to devour the world.

　The kingdom of God collapsed in a single night.

　Countless "snakes" poured into the divine kingdom.

　The corrupted believers clutched their own throats in agony, and black snakes emerged from their bellies, bursting through their throats, swallowing their brains, and crawling out of their mouths to join the army of "snakes."

　The entire divine kingdom was submerged.

　As the final moment of the apocalypse approached, the divine messenger, sensing something stirring within his abdomen, looked up at the sky with empty, lifeless eyes.

　The fiery clouds and snow, seemingly about to split the sky in two, were rapidly approaching.

　The "Sun-Devouring Lion" and the "Moon-Eating Wolf," as the rulers of the divine kingdom, have finally descended upon it.

　But deep within their eyes, darkness has already corrupted them.

　……

　The scene shifts, and Darke is suddenly awakened.

　Like most dreams, even "lucid dreams" cannot be fully remembered after waking up.

　Most of his remaining memories were of standing before the statue, watching people come and go, witnessing the changing times. But the epic, awe-inspiring experience of witnessing a divine kingdom rise and fall still left him with a profound sense of loss, unable to find peace for a long time.

　A moment later, he turned his head and suddenly found that Ollie had already woken up and was already by his side.

　A warmth filled his heart, and he instinctively wanted to say something. But what finally came out was simply, "What time is it?"

　"A little past four," Ollie said softly.

　"Hmm," Dark responded, then fell silent again.

　He began to recall the details of his dream.

　The figures seen in the dream were rapidly blurring, with only the appearances of a few people who had had close contact with the divine messenger remaining in memory.

　But those are all people who have already died, so even if they leave an impression... well, they still have some use.

　He gradually recalled a snake charmer named "Spira".