Chapter 270: Wake Up, Old Friend!

Tafmann truly had not expected the situation to develop like this. Right now, people on both sides were already starting to fight.

Nio stood, preparing to use this opportunity to head deeper into the Palace of Remembrance.

Tafmann also rose. His right fist clenched. More urgent than showing himself to stop the meaningless conflict between the two sides was first dealing with the man before him. He could not allow this man to truly obtain the Covenant Conch and awaken Torathos.

As for why Tafmann had accompanied the man so far, even Tafmann himself did not know. Perhaps he had only wanted to see the plan clearly. Perhaps it had only been curiosity. Or perhaps he had been tempted by the Phileas family treasure.

In any case, it could not have been because, in that moment, his heart truly stirred for Light.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

"Oh, right." At that moment, Nio suddenly turned around. At the same time, he took a milky-white sphere from inside his clothes. The sphere was covered in dense holes. "Do you know what this is?"

"What?"

"A nest of Curse Insects."

Tafmann's gaze tightened. He was almost certain the man before him was the host of Phileas, and the Curse Insects aimed at the Darkmoon clan had originally been cultivated by Phileas.

Just then, light appeared in Nio's palm. The insect nest began to spin, and Nio hurled it directly at Tafmann. "Catch!"

Tafmann instinctively reached to catch it, but the nest exploded midway, scattering outward.

"Light—Incineration!" A sea of flame immediately appeared before Tafmann, sealing off the entire area where the nest had burst. As the flames of Light contracted, the insects that had flown out were easily annihilated, without even the slightest struggle.

These were not Curse Insects. They were ladybugs.

When Tafmann looked back at Nio, he found that the man had already vanished.

Although Nio's body had once been filled with those insects, that had been ten years ago. How could he possibly have such insects around him now? But that did not prevent him from using this to scare this "traitor."

***

The Palace of Remembrance was a sacred place on Darkmoon Island, not only because it symbolized Ancestor Bernard's moving and tragic love story, but also because it was his burial place.

A towering statue of Poelle stood there. Beneath her feet was a channel that was about a meter wide, circling once before flowing into the pool ahead. What flowed in it was not mountain spring water, but redirected magma.

So the Palace of Remembrance was only what most people of Darkmoon Island called this place. In truth, it had many other names, some related to fire, because Poelle had been most skilled in fire-attribute power, and Ancestor Bernard had specially designed this place for her.

Bernard's coffin had not been buried underground, but was directly on the platform. Around the platform was a protective barrier, shielding it from wind and rain day and night.

According to Darkmoon Island's moving love story, this was because Ancestor Bernard had been unwilling to leave Poelle behind and enter the earth alone, so he remained above ground forever to accompany her.

Fortunately, guards were stationed here all year round, so there was no need to worry about tomb raiders.

Of course, except today.

Nio walked up the steps and arrived before the coffin. His hands were trembling rapidly. Strands of Light thread extended from his ten fingers and sank into the surroundings of the coffin.

At this moment, the captain looked as though he were playing a piano, but in truth, he was breaking the defensive barrier around the coffin. "Bernard, tell me if this is funny. The ritual arrays you were so skilled in were still learned from me. Even if you added Darkmoon elements of your own, the core of the ritual array never changed."

As he cracked the ritual array, the captain's gaze turned to the enormous statue ahead. There were many statues of Poelle on Darkmoon Island. After all, she was the heroine of the love story, but the one here was the largest, the most finely carved, and also the most vivid. One could clearly sense the personality conveyed by this statue. Proud, free-spirited, and full of confidence.

"I once thought it was a great regret that you, Miss Poelle, did not end up with Bernard. But the truth is that Miss Poelle may have long since seen Bernard's true side."

The captain's ten fingers abruptly stopped, then pulled back sharply.

Buzz! The protective barrier that had guarded the coffin for more than a hundred years was completely broken at this moment.

This coffin was so confident that it had not even used coffin nails. In other words, although the lid and coffin fit together so perfectly that there was almost no gap, in essence, the lid merely rested on top. There was no other fastening.

With one push, the coffin lid could be moved aside, but when the captain's hand had only reached halfway, it stopped. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Bernard, I know what kind of person you are."

Just then, Tafmann appeared behind the captain with a fist that smashed directly toward him.

The captain seemed to have sensed Tafmann's approach in advance. Faced with this punch, he dodged sideways, then vaulted over to the other side of the coffin. His left hand immediately pushed hard against the coffin lid.

Tafmann's body leapt directly upward. His fists were wrapped in Darkmoon power as they came smashing down toward the captain again.

The captain retreated and dropped straight down the steps of the coffin platform. At that exact moment, under the force of the previous push, the coffin lid was opened more than halfway.

Boom! A massive cloud of black smoke suddenly rose from within the coffin. Immediately afterward, a malicious spirit appeared inside the smoke. It opened its mouth and bit directly at Tafmann, who was currently closest to the coffin.

Tafmann had not expected such a scene to appear from the opened coffin at all. His body was instantly swallowed by the malicious spirit, but in the next moment, blazing power of Light burst from his body and forcibly propped open the spirit's mouth. He quickly retreated.

After taking that bite, the malicious spirit's form immediately dispersed.

Dense black spots appeared all over Tafmann's body, and every black spot contained terrifying malignant corruption. He drew in a deep breath and clenched his right fist. The black spots on his body began to move rapidly, eventually all gathering on his right arm. In an instant, the black spots elsewhere on his body vanished, but his right arm had turned completely black.

Tafmann raised a Darkmoon Blade in his left hand and chopped directly at his right arm.

Pfft! The right arm fell away.

"Light—Purification!" The power of purification struck the blackened arm, yet it was unable to erase it.

The captain, who had stood far away in advance and had not been affected by the malicious spirit, shouted at this moment, "It can't be purified. Use a seal."

Tafmann immediately condensed a sealing Art with his left hand and struck the right arm. The arm was covered in a layer of white frost.

"You are even stronger than I imagined. Your mastery over the power of Light is also greater than I expected."

Tafmann swept a cold gaze toward the captain.

"But do not feel fortunate that you avoided it. I understand the malice of your ancestor better than you do. Of course, I was also deceived quite badly before. This kind of spirit corruption is not something you can stop simply by cutting off one arm. It has already entered your soul. You can hold out for a week at most, then your soul will be possessed by the spirit."

Earlier, although breaking the coffin's protective ritual array had taken some time, the captain could still have opened the coffin before Tafmann arrived, but had hesitated and refrained from doing so.

That was because he understood Bernard too well.

With Bernard's temperament, how could he possibly not have arranged one last layer of protection over his own coffin? Whoever dared open his coffin would die.

The captain walked toward the coffin, but Tafmann, left with only one arm, once again blocked his path. "Phileas, I know the grudge between you and my ancestor, and I am clear that my ancestor wronged you back then. But I am sorry. Even though I myself command the power of Light, in my heart, I am still a member of the Darkmoon clan.

"I cultivate Light only to protect Darkmoon, to protect my clan and my people. I will not allow you to awaken Torathos."

"The earlier you would have been very troublesome. I could not even be certain I could defeat you. But the current you no longer have the ability to stop me."

"I know." Tafmann nodded.

Then, his left hand pressed against his chest. A black shadow surfaced again, forming a malicious spirit's face over his chest. It was the spirit corruption hidden in his soul, but now Tafmann had actively dragged it out, even though this choice would accelerate the spirit's invasion of his soul.

"I may truly be unable to stop you now, but I can at least make sure this corrupts you too."

"Awakening Torathos is for the sake of Light."

"I told you. I do not believe in Light."

"What about the treasure? Do you not want it?"

"Would you give it to me?" Tafmann asked in return. "Would you divide half of it and give it to Darkmoon Island, Phileas?"

"You may touch the pocket on your chest. Inside there lies half of the Reincarnation credits I shared with you earlier."

"Do not waste any more words, Phileas. I cannot possibly trust you. There is not the slightest possibility of cooperation between us."

The captain looked somewhat troubled. "That makes this very awkward. It seems I really cannot fool you."

"Heh." Tafmann laughed. Although he had just lost an arm and had already been afflicted by soul contamination, he could not hate the man before him.

When killing Light vermin, he could show no mercy at all, yet this person, Tafmann merely found him interesting. Somewhere in the unseen, he felt that the man was very similar to him.

And the truth was indeed so. One was Light that believed in Darkmoon. One was Light that believed in Order. Both of them shone with light, but the colors deep down in their hearts were not white.

At this moment, the sounds of fighting outside gradually quieted. Clearly, both sides, whose heads had heated because of the explosion earlier, had gradually realized the fight had begun inexplicably and were beginning to stop.

Soon, the Darkmoon guards would come over.

"How irritating. This was originally such an interesting matter, but in the end, you are still going to stop me. That makes me very unhappy."

Tafmann said, "The commotion here may well alert the archbishops of the two great churches and bring them over as well. If you flee now, there is still time."

The captain also smiled. "The general who commands Darkmoon Island's offshore fleet is actually Light vermin. Are you not afraid I will spread this matter?"

"If my identity can no longer be concealed, I can willingly choose suicide. Can you?"

"I can’t. I only came here to look for amusement, not death."

At this moment, Darkmoon guards had already appeared at the perimeter and were rushing toward them.

The captain began retreating.

"Look at how stifled Darkmoon Island has become because of the negotiations between the two orthodox churches. It is like a land long stricken by drought, urgently in need of Torathos's roar to bring rain. Truly, you cannot give me a chance?"

"There is truly no need for you to continue wasting time on this issue, because it is fundamentally impossible."

"Oh, fine. Then I am leaving." The captain took out a scroll and threw it to the ground. In an instant, fierce winds rose. This was a scroll for concealing Arts, used to escape and cut off pursuit.

Tafmann saw the man disappear into the gale and let out a long breath.

"General!"

"General!"

Two Darkmoon guard captains led their subordinates to Tafmann's side. All of them carried injuries, and the blades of many still had bloodstains on them. Their disheveled hair scattered wildly in the great wind.

This matter had been a misunderstanding, but Tafmann knew that, in the end, they would still need the Church of Order to step forward and mediate. Otherwise, the Church of Reincarnation would certainly not let things rest.

In the final analysis, Darkmoon Island was the host. Maintaining the safety of participants was Darkmoon Island's responsibility.

"General, your arm—" As one guard captain spoke, he moved to pick up the frost-covered arm on the ground.

"Do not touch it!"

"Yes, General."

"I will negotiate with the people of the Church of Reincarnation. All of this was... was a provocation of Light vermin." A self-mocking expression appeared on Tafmann's face.

But just then, within the great wind not far away, the figure that had vanished earlier actually reappeared.

Tafmann froze.

He saw the man place both hands before his mouth as if holding something and blowing into it.

But there was no Covenant Conch in his hands. Tafmann was certain the other party had never truly touched the thing inside the coffin.

Yet at that moment, the long sound of a conch rang out.

Tafmann's eyes widened immediately, and he roared an order, "Put the coffin lid back! Quickly!"

The captain continued blowing. To sound the Covenant Conch, one did not necessarily need to hold it in one's hands. The essence of sound was vibration.

That scroll had not been for helping him escape. It had been to create an environment suitable for performance, an environment suited to transmitting vibration.

He did not need to hold the Covenant Conch in his hand at all. He only needed... the coffin lid to be open, so the sound would not be isolated.

The Darkmoon guards pushed the coffin lid back into place, and the sound coming from within the coffin instantly disappeared.

Tafmann shouted at the captain, "This is not close enough. Have you forgotten the distance between the Palace of Remembrance and the Ancient Marshpool?"

The captain also stopped blowing at this moment and lowered his hands. He first looked at Tafmann and said, "Oh, that was something I lied to your ancestor about."

"..." Tafmann.

The captain turned and faced the direction of the Ancient Marshpool, slowly saying, "It is time to wake up, old friend."

***

Karon and Ophelia were still walking.

As the host of Darkmoon Island, Ophelia had promised Karon she would take him around the island properly.

The first scenic spot Ophelia chose was the Palace of Remembrance, but Karon refused.

If Ophelia had not come to find him today, then he probably would have gone to meet up with the captain in the afternoon and see whether he could help. Although the captain had not assigned him any specific task, his meaning had been that he hoped Karon would come lend a hand.

But Ophelia had stopped by, and Karon could not very well take her to the Palace of Remembrance now.

Taking a walk with a girl felt quite pleasant.

Taking a girl along to dig up her ancestral tomb was somewhat unkind.

Karon had already made this clear to the captain beforehand. He would not make use of Ophelia’s status to help draw the guards away from the Palace of Remembrance, and the captain had understood and accepted it.

Naturally, Karon could not give that as his reason for refusing Ophelia. The excuse he offered was that he was not yet ready to face him. The closer he came to his homeland, the more timid he became on an emotional level.

In the end, it was Karon who suggested they go to the Ancient Marshpool. That was Torathos’s resting place, and also a place of exceptional beauty.

His thinking was simple. Though he could not go to the Palace of Remembrance to help the captain, if the captain succeeded, he would still be able to witness the sight for himself at the Ancient Marshpool.

Karon and Ophelia were currently seated on a hillside before the Ancient Marshpool. One side of the hill was a slope, while the side facing the pool was a steep cliff. The two sat at the edge of the cliff as though they were truly admiring the scenery ahead.

The evening sun cast down a mellow golden light, reflecting off the pool until it looked extraordinarily beautiful and gentle. The pool resembled a dressing mirror bearing a tender mood, like a vast blue amber fallen into the mortal world.

Ophelia looked at Karon and asked, "Is it only on Darkmoon Island that we can sit this close together and look at the scenery?"

"We are friends. Good friends."

"I hope you are not about to say something cliché, like that you only see me as a younger sister."

"I wouldn’t. You seem to be older than me."

"Heh." Ophelia laughed and pointed toward the pool below. "Karon, the feeling you give me is like this pool. It seems as though not the slightest ripple will ever rise across you. Always so smooth and composed."

“Sigh, I told you before, I matured a little too early. Perhaps because of certain special reasons, I do not have the impulsiveness and carefree boldness someone my age ought to have.”

"But if you had those things, I might not have developed feelings for you. In truth, I very much like your elegance and propriety."

Very well. So you are into older men.

Ophelia sighed, her expression somewhat forlorn.

"Perhaps coming late simply means coming late. There is already no room left on the deck."

Karon did not speak.

Ophelia asked, "I thought you would answer me by saying that I could wait for the next ship."

Karon shook his head and said, "Thank you for once waiting at the pier for me to dock. It was beautiful."

"But destined to be only scenery?"

"I will remember it. Truly."

"Is that so? You will remember it. That is why I feel that no matter what I do, I cannot truly move your heart. Your heart is like this pool, surrounded on all sides by towering mountains. The wind that belongs to me cannot blow in, so it remains forever calm toward me."

Boom! A terrifying rumble suddenly came from the ground, followed immediately by a horrifying violent tremor.

Then, the mountain collapsed.