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

　The investigation team still did not intend to enter the hall at this time.

　Dark took out the "Soul of the Moon IV" magic card and officially summoned it.

　Then the stage was completely handed over to "Soul of the Moon IV" and "Shamy".

　The rotting flesh monster was not at its peak. Although it exuded divinity, it was chaotic, impure, and could not compare to the flesh monster that had "descended from the heavens."

　Its power of rules was almost entirely focused on vitality, barely sustaining its decaying body so it could move.

　There's absolutely no need for us to intervene.

　"Shami" immediately transformed into "Sky Form" and activated his ultimate move "Growth," causing his body to grow larger and increasing his attack and defense by 50% at the same time.

　Wielding the three sacred artifacts, "Soul of the Moon IV" summons the "Temple of the Moon"! Upon its initial summoning, the "Temple of the Moon" indiscriminately grants "Blessing of the Moon Goddess" to all life forms within its coverage area, restoring them to half of their maximum health.

　However, if the summon is performed when both sides are at full health, then the health recovery for both sides will be 0.

　Moonlight bathed the hall, and the "Temple of the Moon" appeared in the air, sacred, magnificent, and luxurious.

　"Soul of the Moon Goddess IV" suddenly raised her right hand, her palm drawing in the moonlight, dazzling and radiant.

　Ultimate move – "Lunar Eclipse"!

　Within the area covered by the "Temple of the Moon", the power of "Eclipse of the Moon" will be multiplied!

　With a smirk, "Soul of the Moon Goddess IV" unleashed a total of thirty-six beams of "moonlight," pouring them down onto the rotting flesh monster!

Chapter 1697 Darkdemon's Temple Exploration Log (3)

　The magnificent connection of thirty-six beams of "moonlight" pinned the rotting flesh monster to the spot, leaving it no choice but to passively endure all the "moonlight" rays.

　The damage was astonishing and terrifying.

　Even though the rotting flesh monster forcibly unleashed all its divine power to resist, it was blasted into a mangled state by the thirty-six beams of "moonlight" with double the power.

　It barely managed to cling to life thanks to the power of the divine rules. But its remaining life force was almost completely exhausted, and the writhing flesh, desperately trying to regenerate, was nothing but cracked bones. Now, it truly became an "undead creature"! "Moon Goddess Soul IV" pressed its advantage, instantly drawing its bow. [Shaymi] and "Moon Goddess Tiger" pounced in succession.

　As the Moon Goddess's arrow was fired, the fierce battle began, but it was already coming to an end.

　……

　The investigation team then entered the hall.

　The lobby area was empty, with only the bones remaining after the rotting monster's death.

　But after the fierce battle, the divine light on those beast bones had been completely worn away, and it was impossible to find even a single intact bone.

　Their value has plummeted to rock bottom, and they can no longer be considered "trophies." Dark expressed great regret about this.

　Unfortunately, the monsters in this temple all seem to be like this; possessing the power of the "life" rule, they will only die after draining the last drop of life force from their bodies.

　Once the last drop of life force has been squeezed out, the monsters' materials naturally lose their value.

　After a short rest in the lobby, the investigation team quickly adjusted their formation and prepared to explore the rooms in the latter half of the hall.

　The lobby was empty, but that didn't mean the rooms were empty too. Darke, equally energized, began his search.

　Not long after, he found two ice statues in the same room. Those two ice statues were, in fact, the very two they were looking for!

　Dark was shocked by the coincidence, but after a careful inspection and finding nothing unusual, he put the two ice statues away.

　Afterwards, he followed the group to the large room at the very back of the hall.

　To their astonishment, they discovered that more than a dozen "divine bodies" were neatly arranged in that room!

　Although not as grand as the temple that served as his residence, this was the second time Dark had seen so many "divine bodies" arranged so neatly.

　He suppressed his emotions, calmed himself down, and then examined each of the "divine bodies".

　Although this hall occupies twice the area of ​​the encampment and has rooms, its location is too far off the edge to be suitable for encampment. The ice coffins containing the dozen or so "divine bodies" can only be excavated when there is time.

　Dak began examining the first "divine body," and when he reached the sixth "divine body," he suddenly sensed the aura of the "Moon Goddess," and immediately revealed a look of great joy.

　The "Soul of the Moon Goddess" appeared almost instantly beside him, also staring intently at the "divine body".

　In terms of the aura of the "Moon Goddess," that "divine body" is in no way weaker than the one in the encampment.

　This seems to mean that as long as the "root divinity" of this "divine body" is drained, it is very likely that it will be able to fulfill its long-cherished wish.

　—Become the "Moon Goddess"!

　The surprise came too fast, like a tornado.

　Dark immediately channeled his waveguide power to locate the ice statue corresponding to the "divine body".

　The "line" extending from the "divine body" points to the other side of the map.

　Dark drew a dotted line on the map, then summoned Arvit to begin excavation!

　The two ice statues that were needed for today's mission have been found. All that's left is to dig out this "divine body" and take it away, and that will be a complete success.

　Alvit smiled and began to help excavate the "divine body".

　After some time, the "divine body" was unearthed intact. Dark sealed it into the "Orb of Truth" and then continued to examine and count the remaining "divine bodies".

　By the time the statistical task was completed, Claire and her maids had thoroughly searched every corner of the hall.

　They gathered in the room, then walked through the corridor back to the lobby, preparing to leave and return directly to their base.

　But as soon as they entered the lobby, they suddenly found that the lights inside had dimmed.

　But it's still clearly daytime...

　Dark suddenly turned his head to look at the wall to one side, and the "Eye of Truth" suddenly opened.

　Although the "Eye of Truth" cannot see through things, it possesses unique perception. His gaze swept across the area, and a grave expression instantly appeared on his face: "We're surrounded!"

　“It’s the statue outside the hall,” said “Magic Beast: Goddess of the Mind’s Eye” in a deep voice.

　“Gargoyles!” Darke blurted out.

　Gargoyles are an indispensable part of exploring ruins.

　The statues outside the temple could not possibly all be gargoyles, but they were clearly similar creatures.

　—They were all monsters that turned from stone statues.

　The condition for triggering this mechanism is likely "entering the temple." When someone or an entire group enters the temple, they will come to life, surround the temple, and kill all those who have invaded it.

　This mechanism is quite common.

　However, if you combine this with the rotting flesh monsters that have already been eliminated in the fountain pool, the danger of being attacked from both inside and outside is far beyond what an ordinary team can handle.

　Moreover, if that rotting flesh monster were to fully resurrect, it would likely be a near-divine being.

　0

　This shows how important it is to scan the image in advance.

　Although the monsters, which can be temporarily called "gargoyles," have surrounded the hall, they do not seem to be about to attack.

　This gave the investigation team the opportunity to observe and deploy their forces.

　Just as Dark was about to send the "Soul of the Moon" to investigate the number of "Gargoyles," Aylvit patted him on the shoulder from behind and said, "This time, leave it to me."

　No observation or formation is needed.

　None of the gargoyles outside the temple could reach the level of "gods"; at most, they were only "demigods."

　However, if one is merely a "demigod" without the power of rules, one would not last a single move against a "Valkyrie".

　In that case, the number of gargoyles becomes meaningless.

　As Alvit walked towards the door, she completed her (armed transformation).

　With the [Capricorn Golden Armor] on her, she transformed into an incomparably sharp divine spear.

　Then came the killing!

　Soon after, Arvit returned in triumph. The group regrouped briefly and then embarked on their return journey.

　After being killed, those "gargoyles" all turned back into stone statues, though they were scattered and broken, they were still stone statues.

　The survey team returned to their base before dusk. Coincidentally, the team that had gone to excavate the two "divine bodies" nearby also returned to their base.

　With the addition of the "divine bodies" that Dak brought back, there are now a total of fifty-one "divine bodies" in the settlement.

　After he fused the two ice statues he had brought back with the "divine bodies" in the camp, only four "divine bodies" remained to be fused with the remaining ice statues.

　One of the "divine bodies" is the one that was just brought back, the one with the divinity of the "Moon Goddess".

　Just in case, Dark decided to wait until he found and fused with the ice statue before absorbing its "root divinity".

　Meanwhile, the "divine body" that best matches the "Pisces Palace" has already completed the fusion of timelines.

　Starting tonight, Alvitt can extract the divine blood from that "divine body" to condense the "Golden Armor" of the "Pisces Palace".

　After dinner.

　Dak began planning his itinerary for tomorrow.

　He first went to the "divine body" that possessed the divinity of the "moon goddess" and injected waveguide power to lock onto the direction of the ice statue again.

　Then draw another dotted line on the map according to the direction.

　The intersection of the two dotted lines successfully pinpointed the location of the ice statue. Judging from the map, it wasn't particularly far from the base; a round trip might only take half a day.

　Of course, that was because everything went smoothly.

　If dangers are encountered along the way, the journey will be further delayed. Tomorrow's itinerary will be finalized soon.

　The team did not set a second objective out of greed; their sole goal was to find and bring back the ice statue.

　Then came personnel changes and reassignments.

　Not all team members were as tireless as Dark's trio. Even Angry and Aquinita couldn't withstand a day of non-stop dangerous exploration.

　However, Angrey's presence is crucial for the investigation and exploration. The team can only try to lighten her workload when assigning tasks, rather than giving her extended leave.

　Once the personnel to depart tomorrow were confirmed, the team that had been traveling back and forth between the temple and its surroundings today finally brought back news.

　The outer path that Dark had been eagerly awaiting had already departed from the academy. It would reach the edge of the snow-capped mountains in two days at most. "Perfect timing."

　Dac felt slightly excited.

　Arvit and Claire exchanged a glance, and Claire said, "In that case, let's postpone the exploration of the central route until two days from now."

　Day Nine of exploration.

　It's June, Tuesday.

　Dark had gradually gotten used to the early mornings and adventures. Every morning after getting up, he would do warm-up exercises with Arvit.

　As the saying goes, "The early bird catches the worm," and his morning exercise during this period has indeed helped him grow a lot.

　His control over his body has significantly improved, and many previously blocked points have been naturally broken through, making him barely worthy of the title "Son of the Valkyrie".

　However, his talent in fists and feet is clearly superior to that in swords and knives, and his training in swordsmanship and spearmanship is still insufficient. He can only gradually improve through daily practice.

　However, his talent for archery was surprisingly good, which was likely due to his exceptional dynamic vision and remarkably steady hand movements. Dark initially didn't care much about archery practice because his favorite bow, the "Lunar Bow," had a guaranteed hit characteristic; all he needed to do was draw the bow. But the "guaranteed hit characteristic" wasn't foolproof.

　After being "not harsh at all" taught a lesson by Aylvit, Dark repented and began to hone his archery skills under her guidance.

　I feel more energetic after morning exercise.

　Dark rejoins the team and continues today's exploration.

　Today's exploration objective is very clear. The direction and distance have been estimated, and the team only needs to follow the map.

　Using the lure of "Magical Beast: Goddess of the Mind's Eye," the survey team advanced at a relatively fast pace, quickly covering half the distance shown on the map.

　However, as expected, they encountered a problem in the latter half of the journey. While passing through a large hall, the group triggered an unknown mechanism within the hall and was trapped inside.

　This main hall is for worship, and it's open from front to back, but it only has tables and chairs, no statues of gods. In other words, there's nowhere to worship.

　After the investigation team was imprisoned in this hall, the first thing that came to mind was the front hall in the real world where the headless statue was placed.

　The second room in the front hall is filled with phantom sounds. But the phantom sounds can be dispelled by praying to the idol three times.

　However, there are no statues of gods to worship in this hall, and it is impossible to replicate them even if one wanted to.

　Arvit attempted to forcefully break through the barrier formed by the power of the rules using the "Capricorn Spear," and the blade did indeed slice through the invisible barrier. But in an instant, the cut was closed, and the tip of the "Capricorn Spear" was also clamped in place.

　Arvit disarmed, but the "Capricorn Gun" did not disappear; it was still trapped in mid-air by that invisible barrier.

　It gives off a very strong sense of malice. And since even the "Capricorn Gun" is useless...