Chapter 514: The Shrine Of Light III

Kain continued staring at the huge white sphere for several seconds.

Each pulse created a very weak wave through the space of the sanctuary, and the twelve huge metal rings floating around it slowly moved in the darkness at a fixed distance.

The black lines on the surface of the sphere stretched for a moment with every pulse and then returned to their previous positions; almost like veins moving under the skin of a living creature.

The Celestial Book of Treasure was still open in Lian’s hand.

[Treasure Source is in front of you.]

[Evaluation failed.]

[The structure is beyond the current evaluation range.]

He looked at the sphere again, at least now he knew that the treasure was exactly in front of them.

And if he had to guess, he had no doubt that this was what Region Three had been trying to obtain.

But one question still remained? What exactly was this thing?

He and Kain looked at each other, and both of them made an unspoken agreement through their eyes before stepping forward.

The white bridge under their feet continued toward one of the circular terraces around the abyss.

The farther they went, the more the real size of the sanctuary revealed itself.

What had looked like several bridges and scattered platforms from the entrance was actually a multi-layered structure, with many parts built inside the huge walls of the abyss.

Thousands of kneeling statues stood on different terraces, and all their heads were turned toward the white sphere.

"Are these the same pilgrims?" Kain slowed down as he passed one of the statues, the statues looked exactly like the frozen pilgrims they had seen a few hours ago.

The young Vorhelm looked at the stone robe of the statue, it seemed that these were also like the dried pilgrims outside.

"Yeah, they were humans once too."

They reached a circular platform, part of the wall behind it was still almost intact.

There were very old drawings on the stone, an eye with a drop under it, and in the center of a circle surrounded by twelve rings.

Lian opened the Celestial Book of Treasure again, the inner map of the sanctuary appeared on the page, and the World Memory immediately placed new information on the same map.

[Historical structure identified.]

[Hall of Witness.]

[Recovered information: Incomplete.]

Several more lines slowly appeared on the page.

[Central Artifact Name: Sphere of Witness.]

[Owner: Divine Of Light.]

"So this thing belongs to Divine Of Light himself?" Kain stayed completely silent for a moment and then asked very quietly.

Lian read the line again.

"Apparently."

The thing floating several hundred meters in front of them had once directly belonged to one of the Seven Divines.

Not an artifact made by his followers, not something that was later created in his name, but something that belonged to him directly, this was an artifact that belonged to a godlike being.

Now it was even more clear why Region Three wanted to take it back so badly, but unfortunately for them, they had bad luck.

Kain’s eyes unconsciously moved back toward the sphere.

A different expression appeared on his face; a mix of amazement, obvious greed, and a small amount of caution, which was relatively rare for him.

"I want to touch it." It was as if something inside him was pulling him toward the sphere.

Some of the writings were still there, but most of the lines had been worn away or broken, luckily, some of them could still be read.

[Light does not forget what it has seen.]

[Light is the only witness.]

"First the Tear of Witness and now the Sphere of Witness, what exactly does this witness refer to?" Kain asked with some curiosity.

He had some guesses and felt that it might be referring to Divine Of Light, but why would that godlike being be called a witness?

What exactly did witness mean?

"Witness should refer to Divine Of Light." Lian answered after thinking for a moment, their guesses were the same.

"But why? Why would a godlike being be called a witness? Is it some kind of title? But it doesn’t make sense...."

The young Vorhelm did not answer him immediately, and his own mind also became a little occupied with this matter, he looked again at the sentences [Light does not forget what it has seen] and [Light is the witness].

Could this mean that Light was a witness to everything? That Divine Of Light considered himself the witness of everything?

It was not wrong either, they said Light was one of the first elements to form during creation, something that gave meaning to life, and it could even be possible that it witnessed the creation itself.

Maybe that was exactly what it referred to.

Witness was another title for Divine Of Light, Divine Of Light was the witness of everything.

"For now, we have more important things to deal with, like that sphere." In any case, he did not answer, and instead of answering, he activated True Sequence.

Whatever that sphere was, it was clearly usable like a treasure, so they were not going to leave it behind.

But there was one problem, the black lines on it had a very noticeable similarity to the black spots on the dried pilgrims outside and the same black liquid that had trapped the ships.

Something about the black lines on the sphere had been bothering him from the very beginning, if they were only normal corruption, there should not have been such an organized flow between them.

The world in front of his eyes changed.

Energy paths appeared across the surface of the sphere.

The white light inside the sphere formed a huge and organized network; flows came out from the center, entered the twelve rings, and then returned to the core.

But the darkness had entered it, the black lines moved between the paths of light, and some of them even had their own secondary structure, including flow, density, and transfer.

It was almost like the energy transfer network of a living creature.

Lian’s eyes narrowed slightly, and at that exact moment, something inside his body reacted.

It was a very instinctive feeling, and it was also the first time he had ever felt such a strange feeling, he did not even know what this feeling was.

But it was strangely similar to wanting...as if his body wanted those black veins...?

As if a structure inside his body had suddenly understood that there was something in front of it that it had been made for.

"Did something happen?" Kain noticed the change in his expression.

Lian was still looking at the sphere.

"Those black things, they’re strange, they’re like an energy transfer network. Whatever their source was, they were once part of a living creature, and if I had to make my own guess, they probably belonged to the monster that destroyed this city."

Kain’s eyes moved back to the black lines moving across the sphere, but the shock in his eyes was completely clear.

"How strong would a monster have to be to keep something that belonged to a Divine corrupted even after all these years?"

Lian did not answer, because he had the same question, and before they could investigate more...Thum!

The twelve rings around the sphere shook at the same time.

Kain immediately prepared his Light, and the young Vorhelm also took one step forward and raised his guard.

But surprisingly, no attack happened, instead, the first ring slowly turned, then the second, the third, and in less than a few seconds, all twelve rings started moving around the sphere at different speeds.

The white lines on the bridges and terraces lit up again.

[Internal Ritual activated.]

[Ritual of Witness.]

[First Stage: Witness Identification.]

Kain had not even said anything when a very thin beam separated from the sphere.

The light went directly into his chest, he did not even have time to defend himself, his body became slightly stiff but there was no pain.

The light passed through his clothes for several seconds, and something inside his body responded.

All twelve rings suddenly turned golden.

[Trace of the Tear of Witness identified.]

[Child of Light identified.]

The next notification immediately appeared.

[The Sphere of Witness structure is damaged.]

[External corruption detected in the main structure.]

[The ritual cannot continue without separation.]

At that exact moment, the twelve rings became even brighter, but nothing happened, as if they had become stuck at one stage and could not move forward.

It was clear with just one look, as long as those black veins remained on the Sphere of Witness, whatever this Ritual of Witness was, it was not going to be completed.

"I guess without separating those black veins, we are not going to obtain this sphere." Kain had also noticed this.