Staring at the Dark Gem above him, endlessly devouring all light around it, Charles finally decided to take the risk and seize it.
"You stay here and watch ," he said, turning to Mousie. "If anything happens, use your skill and help right away."
Mousie nodded quickly.
Charles leapt into the air, climbing the massive Serpent statue.
Within seconds, he reached its head.
Now the Dark Gem was less than a ter away.
From this close, the dark energy pouring out of it was overwhelming.
It was so strong that his mind began to blur under the pressure.
He knew he couldn’t waste even a second.
Reaching into his pocket, Charles pulled out the Gem of Light.
Under its protection, he finally dared to reach toward the devouring Dark Gem.
According to his plan, the mont his hand touched the Dark Gem, that imnse darkness would try to force its way into his body.
At that instant, he would draw the Gem of Light’s power into himself too—
letting the two forces collide inside him.
Light and darkness could cancel each other out.
As long as their strength remained balanced, Charles believed he could survive.
The mont his fingers brushed the Dark Gem, a torrent of dark power surged into his body.
He instantly felt the curse invading him, burning into his soul.
Without hesitation, he unleashed the full power of the Gem of Light, absorbing it into his body.
A violent clash erupted within him—
light and darkness tearing at each other inside his very core.
Then, suddenly, Charles’s consciousness was ripped free from his body.
It was as if his mind was floating high above reality itself.
He could see his own eyes shut tight,
his body twisted and distorted by the two opposing forces raging within.
But he couldn’t move.
He couldn’t control his body at all.
"Mousie! Do sothing, quick! Can’t you see my body’s acting strange?!"
Charles shouted anxiously, though only his spirit voice echoed through the void.
Right now, the only one who could save him—
was Mousie, the Dark Demigod.
Mousie had been watching closely.
The instant Charles’s spirit was torn from his body, it knew sothing was wrong.
It stamped a shadow beneath its feet,
then sprang up the giant Serpent statue in one smooth motion.
When it reached Charles,
his body was already twisted beyond recognition—
caught between two powers locked in a deadly struggle.
The hand touching the Dark Gem stretched grotesquely long,
while the one holding the Gem of Light was crushed and shortened.
The reason was simple—
the dark power within the Dark Gem was far stronger.
It was trying to devour everything that ca into contact with it.
That was why the arm touching the gem was being pulled and warped like that.
anwhile, the faint light left in the Gem of Light was desperately resisting the pull,
trying to flee from the darkness’s grasp.
But because its power was too weak,
it could only barely keep half of Charles’s body sowhat stable.
After watching Charles’s condition for a few seconds,
Mousie quickly activated its Dark Demigod state.
In an instant, Mousie’s body transford into a tall, terrifying black figure—
a being radiating a cold, inhuman sense of authority.
The mont the Dark Demigod form appeared,
the pull of the Dark Gem on Charles’s body weakened slightly.
Endless streams of dark energy began flowing out of Charles,
rushing straight toward the Dark Demigod.
The sight completely shocked Charles.
Even though his mind was separated from his body,
he could still observe everything from a detached, floating view.
From what he knew,
the Dark Demigod should possess imnse dark power—
so the Dark Gem shouldn’t see it as an enemy.
Normally, once a Dark Demigod appeared,
the Dark Gem should have flown toward it directly,
not attacked it with waves of dark energy like this.
"Don’t tell everything I learned was wrong...
Did soone hide the truth about the real nature of dark power from ?"
Charles muttered with a frown.
Everything he knew ca from people he trusted—
so he’d never once doubted that information before.
But what he was seeing now completely contradicted that knowledge,
and it made things far more complicated than he’d imagined.
While Charles was deep in thought,
a fierce battle broke out between the Dark Demigod and the Dark Gem.
The gem’s dark power was indeed overwhelming,
but the Dark Demigod possessed an ability far greater—
the power to devour all darkness itself.
Normally, that skill was ant to strengthen oneself, not to fight enemies.
But right now, it was the most effective way to counter the Dark Gem.
As the Dark Demigod kept absorbing the dark energy,
the gem’s glow began to fade little by little.
Charles’s consciousness slowly drifted back into his body.
When his awareness fully returned, he shouted,
"Stop absorbing the gem’s dark power!"
At once, the Dark Demigod turned into a wisp of shadow.
From that shadow, Mousie leapt out and landed beside him.
Now, Mousie’s small body was surrounded by a warm golden light—
a light that clearly carried the aura of the Light elent.
"Did you absorb the Gem of Light’s power?" Charles asked, puzzled.
Mousie shook its head.
"Then what’s going on? You only absorbed a ton of dark energy,
so why are you glowing gold?"
Charles muttered to himself, frowning.
He wasn’t really expecting an answer—
Mousie was powerful, but not exactly intelligent.
It simply crouched on the ground, watching him quietly.
After thinking for a while, Charles ca to a realization.
"Judging by what just happened,
light and dark powers might actually be able to transform into each other.
But that kind of transformation must need so special condition."
He sighed softly.
"I’ve never studied how light and dark interact like this...
but I’ll figure it out later. Once I get into the academy,
I’ll ask the professors there."
Finishing his thoughts, Charles stood up.
"Let’s hurry back to Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis.
The Empress’s curse—
it might finally be ready to break!"
At that very mont,
inside the Great Pyramid at the heart of Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis,
the Serpent Empress’s condition was worsening fast.
Her body was releasing waves of powerful curse energy,
and the entire pyramid had already been swallowed
by the spreading corruption of the curse.
Kent the High Priest and Zara could only guard the entrance of the Great Pyramid now.
Everyone else had already been forced to leave long ago.
"What are we supposed to do now? Why hasn’t Charles co back yet? The curse on Her Majesty is about to spread beyond the pyramid! The whole Serpent’s Eye Lake Oasis could be swallowed by it!"
Kent’s voice trembled slightly as he turned to Zara.
Zara frowned and shook her head.
She was just as worried, but she still believed Charles would return in ti.
Her calmness made Kent feel even more frustrated.
"We can’t pin all our hopes on Charles! We need to find our own way to stop this curse from spreading!"
"Then what do you suggest, High Priest?" Zara replied evenly.
"We’ve already taken out every treasure from the vault, and none of them could contain the curse.
All we can do now is wait for Charles to co back."
Unlike her usual self, Zara stayed calm in the face of crisis—
because she had complete faith in Charles.
Kent, on the other hand, still had his doubts, no matter what he’d said before.
"The vault’s treasures might not work," he said, lowering his voice as he stepped closer to her,
"but as the Serpent High Priest, I still know a few ancient formations that might help."
Zara’s eyes turned cold as she stared at him.
She knew exactly what he ant.
"I won’t allow it. Our strength is already weakened enough.
We can’t afford to lose more Serpent warriors just to power your formation."
Her answer was firm and final.
Kent’s face fell in disappointnt.
He opened his mouth to argue again—
but was cut off by the sudden arrival of General Sost.
"No change in the situation?" the general asked as he approached.
Both Kent and Zara shook their heads at the sa ti.
"And Charles still isn’t back, I see," Sost said quietly.
"Then we’ll just have to make sure this place holds until he returns."
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