Lila’s POV
The deeper we went into the cavern, the stronger the reek of disinfectant and decay beca. The air was even tainted with a nauseatingly sweet and tallic tang—the sll of blood mixed with so unknown chemical.
My heart began to race. The Moon Power inside , as if sensing sothing, started to stir restlessly in my veins. Each pulse brought a sharp sting.
"Be careful." Jasper suddenly slowed down. His voice was hushed, but it carried an unprecedented gravity. "The energy field ahead is chaotic."
Kael walked at the very front, his Werewolf instincts making him exceptionally alert. His nostrils flared slightly, and a low growl rumbled in his throat. We passed through the dilapidated stone structure and arrived at the end of the cavern.
There, incredibly, stood an altar.
The altar was built from massive black stones, forming a strange crescent moon shape—the legendary Dark Moon Altar. Its periter was engraved with ancient runes I couldn’t understand, which were now emitting a faint purple glow, flowing across the stone surface like living things.
And in the center of the altar stood a man.
His back was to us. He wore a filthy white lab coat and held a tal container that flashed with a red light. He was thin and gaunt, yet he exuded a suffocating, oppressive aura.
"Derek."
Kael gritted his teeth, forcing the na from deep in his throat.
The man slowly turned around. His face was pale, gaunt, even twisted. His eyes were sunken deep in their sockets, his pupils an unnatural grayish-white, as if veiled by the aura of death.
"You’re finally here."
Derek’s voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping across a tabletop. He looked at us, his lips twisting into a bizarre smile. There wasn’t the slightest hint of panic at being caught; instead, he radiated a... pathological fanaticism.
"I’ve been waiting a long ti for you." He raised the tal container. Inside, a dark red liquid sloshed gently. "Especially you, Lila. Moon Priestess."
"What the hell are you trying to do?" I demanded, my gaze locked on the container in his hand. "You murdered the Wolf King of the Sand Sea Tribe and caused all this slaughter, just to hide in this godforsaken place?"
"Slaughter?" Derek laughed, his laughter sharp and piercing. "No, no. This isn’t slaughter. This is evolution! This is a sacrifice!"
He abruptly thrust the tal container high, holding it toward the illusory shadow of a dark moon above the altar.
"Do you see?! This is the Wolf King’s blood!" he roared. "Once this blood is sprinkled on the altar, the seal will break! The Ancient Wolfman Ghosts, imprisoned for hundreds of years, will see the light of day once more! They will be my army! The cornerstone of my dominion over this world!"
"Madman!" Kael roared, lunging forward in a flash.
"Don’t!" Jasper yelled, but it was too late.
The mont Kael stepped within the altar’s bounds, the runes on the ground erupted in a blinding purple light. An invisible barrier shot up, sending him flying backward.
"Pfft—!" Kael spat out a mouthful of blood as he crashed heavily to the ground, his face instantly turning deathly pale.
"Foolish beast," Derek sneered, lightly tapping the container. "I’ve already reactivated this altar. No one gets near it without my permission."
"Then I’ll turn you to ash."
Jasper’s voice turned impossibly cold. He let go of my hand and strode forward. With each step he took, I was shocked to feel the aura around him undergoing a monuntal change.
"Derek." Jasper stopped just three ters from the altar, his golden eyes locked onto his target. "Put the container down. I’ll make your death quick."
Derek froze for a second, then burst into laughter as if he’d heard the funniest joke in the world. "Haha... A cursed half-breed dares to spout such nonsense to ?"
"Is that so?"
Jasper offered no rebuttal, simply thrusting his hand upward. In an instant, the temperature plumted. Countless black blades of wind materialized from thin air, shrieking as they tore through the air and slashed violently at the altar’s barrier.
BOOM—!
The purple light and the black wind collided with a deafening roar. The entire cavern trembled, rubble raining down from the ceiling.
The color finally drained from Derek’s face. He never expected Jasper’s power to be so imnse that it could shake the altar’s defenses.
"Damn it!" he snarled, a vicious glint in his eye. "If you’re so eager to die, then you can die with !"
He wasted no more ti on words. He yanked the stopper from the container and moved to pour the dark-red liquid onto the altar.
"Stop him!"
I scread as the Moon Power inside erupted. Without a mont’s hesitation, I ford a hand seal. A beam of silver moonlight shot from my palm straight toward Derek’s wrist.
"Ah!"
Derek cried out in pain. His wrist, seared by the moonlight, was instantly charred black. The tal container flew from his grasp but didn’t fall, instead hanging suspended in mid-air.
Because the altar’s seal had been triggered.
ROAR—!
A bloodcurdling roar echoed from beneath the altar. Black mist spewed from the cracks in the stone, rapidly coalescing above the altar into a massive, wolf-like phantom. It was an Ancient Wolfman Ghost. Its eyes were hollow white voids, filled with endless resentnt and a thirst for slaughter.
"It worked! It worked!" Derek laughed maniacally, ignoring the pain in his wrist. "My army! My king! Kill them! Tear them all to shreds!"
The Ancient Wolfman Ghost turned its head, its hollow eyes locking onto us. It opened its massive maw, and a foul, chilling wind washed over us.
"Kael, fall back!" I yelled, focusing all of my Perception on the Moon Mark. "Jasper, keep it busy!"
"Don’t worry."
Jasper’s figure shot forward. He didn’t transform, but instead t the massive ghost head-on in his human form.
"Courting death!"
The Ancient Wolfman Ghost swiped its claws, which were wreathed in black Ghost Energy.
Jasper neither dodged nor evaded. He thrust up his right hand, a ball of pitch-black mist coalescing in his palm. He caught the ghost’s claw head-on, the imnse impact knocking him back several ters, his feet carving two deep furrows into the ground.
"Tsk. Not bad, for strength," he said, shaking his numb arm. A bloodthirsty smile touched his lips. "Again!"
He charged forward again, his movents as swift as a phantom’s. Each of his attacks landed precisely on the ghost’s joints. Though they couldn’t inflict substantial damage, he successfully restricted its movents.
"Damn... Damn it..." Derek stamred from behind the altar, a flicker of terror in his eyes as he watched. He clearly never imagined Jasper could go toe-to-toe with an Ancient Wolfman Ghost.
"Derek!"
I suddenly appeared in front of him, the Moon Mark in my hand pointed at his throat.
"It’s your turn."
The color drained from Derek’s face. He looked at , a crazed light in his eyes. "Kill ? You think killing will end all this? The altar is activated! The ghost is out! None of you are getting out of here alive!"
Is that so?
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The Moon Power inside began to burn wildly, pushing to a limit I had never dared to approach.
"In the na of the Moon Priestess, I command you: return to nothingness!"
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