Chapter 610 : Moon Phase

In the hidden dimension on the inner realm of Lake Starbind, Glamorne, Dorothy stood in the spacious sanctuary of the Mirror Moon Cathedral. While gazing at the statue of the Mirror Moon Goddess—whose face bore a striking resemblance to her own—she stroked her chin, deep in thought about how she could bring the cathedral into the real world.

“With Mom’s ring, I can switch the entire cathedral between this realm and the real world at any time by inverting the inside and outside—transposing it onto Lake Starbind’s surface. But doing so will surely alert the Eight-Spired Nest. Even though the cathedral will be protected by concealment barriers once it’s in the real world—hiding it from ordinary people and most Beyonders—it won’t fool that Crimson-rank old man, especially not while he’s keeping a tight watch over this place…

“So if I want to bring the cathedral into the present world, I’ll have to time it right—strike only after understanding those guys’ movements. Ideally, they’d give up after failing to find the entrance and withdraw. Then, once they’re gone, I can safely manifest the cathedral and perform the ritual. That would be the perfect scenario. But looking at things now, the Eight-Spired Nest isn’t going to give up that easily…”

Dorothy thought silently to herself. Given the current situation, transferring the cathedral to the real world would require clear intel on the Eight-Spired Nest’s activities. For Dorothy in the past, spying on a Crimson-rank from the Nest would have been extremely dangerous—but now things were different. She was inside a hidden space, and just like the Temple of Revelation Runes in Yadith, the rule here was: the outside couldn’t see in, but she could see out. Dorothy could fully exploit this spatial trait to observe the Nest’s actions.

And since the Mirror Moon Cathedral’s functions were preserved more completely, Dorothy’s ability to monitor the outside from within the hidden realm would be even more effective. The entire area of Lake Starbind, as well as a small surrounding region, was within her range of perception.

“I really need to grasp the full situation before I make any moves…”

Muttering softly, Dorothy chose not to rush the ritual under pressure from the Eight-Spired Nest. Instead, she patiently waited.

…

Time passed quickly, and a full day swiftly slipped by.

Above the real-world Lake Starbind, the sun gradually sank beneath the western mountains. As the evening glow faded, the moonless night shrouded the entire sky. Beneath the shadow of darkness, the city of Glamorne gradually fell silent. Once the boats on the lake had returned to shore, the surface grew tranquil.

Beneath the peaceful night, an invisible blood mist once again cloaked the entire lake. Upon the unseen, pitch-black water, countless chittering sounds rang out—emanating from flocks of dark bats.

Flying low over the surface, the massive swarm of bats glided across the wide, dark lake. It resembled a swarm emerging from a cave to hunt—but these bats showed not the slightest interest in the small flying insects above the lake. Instead, they seemed focused solely on sweeping across every inch of the lake’s surface, tirelessly searching for something.

It was night. As usual, the vampires of the Eight-Spired Nest had transformed into bats, scattering into the blood mist above the lake, tirelessly searching in an attempt to uncover the lake’s hidden secret.

Meanwhile, on a remote lakeshore, an elderly, stooped man with sparse hair stood beside a tall woman holding a wine glass filled with red liquid. They both gazed intently at the darkness over the lake. They were none other than Boade, the Priest of Fangs of the Eight-Spired Nest, and Gossmore, who claimed the title of "Witch Regent."

“A moonless night, huh… Looks like there won’t be any new findings again tonight…”

Gossmore swirled the red wine in her glass, murmuring quietly as she looked up at the moonless sky. She then took a sip from the glass. Hearing her words, Boade slowly responded.

“The moon… is the divine domain of the Queen of the Night Sky. The mirror… is Her symbol. The prayers we received from Tivian mentioned that the entrance to the temple lies within the divine domain reflected in the mirror. If ‘mirror’ refers to this lake, then the moon’s reflection on its surface must be the key point for entering the temple…”

Boade spoke slowly. Gossmore, wiping a red stain from the corner of her lips, replied with a hint of impatience.

“You’ve said all that before… And on the nights when there was a moon, didn’t you check the reflections already? Did you find anything? No~”

“That’s because the lake is too vast. From different positions, the moon’s reflection appears in different places. Moonlight scatters across the lake; the reflections are everywhere. I couldn’t pinpoint which one is the actual entrance.”

Boade calmly explained. Gossmore, tone tinged with mockery, continued.

“Oh… So what you’re saying is: all this time, you’ve made zero progress?”

“That’s not quite true… Gossmore, while we haven’t uncovered the temple yet, I have made some important strides.”

Boade furrowed his brows slightly before continuing.

“Lately, I’ve shifted some of our focus away from the lake itself. I sent extra people into nearby towns to gather intelligence, and today, we finally obtained some valuable leads.

“For instance, among the common folk here in Glamorne, there are some rather interesting legends. Fishermen in this area observe a strict taboo: they absolutely never fish at night during a full moon. They say that any fisherman who does—no matter how experienced or seasoned—will become lost on the lake. If they’re lucky, they might return the next morning. If they’re not… they vanish forever.

“Because of this, the locals believe there’s a monster in the lake—something that only appears during full moons. They say it lures people into confusion, clouds their minds, then drags them underwater. They call it the ’Full Moon Lake Demon,’ thinking it favors the full moon.”

Boade slowly explained the intelligence he’d gathered. As she listened, Gossmore’s brows furrowed, and she immediately spoke again.

“Just some foolish little tales passed around by commoners. We’ve already scoured the entire lakebed and didn’t see any water monster. What’s the point of bringing this up, Boade?”

“I don’t mean to suggest the monster is real. These stories may sound absurd, but they likely aren’t baseless. Legends like these often have some kind of origin—and that origin might relate to the lake’s secrets.

“Don’t you remember what the prayer said? That on the night of the full moon, the temple shall arise without a key. Combine that with the fishermen’s legends, and it suggests the hidden temple in the lake undergoes some special change on the full moon—causing anomalies on the lake’s surface that get noticed by the fishermen, eventually evolving into these tales…”

Boade continued patiently explaining to Gossmore. Hearing his analysis, a glimmer of interest flashed across Gossmore’s expression.

“A full moon, huh… So you’re saying the lake will undergo some sort of special change when the full moon comes, and that might be our chance to find that moon-bitch’s temple?”

“Precisely. The full moon marks the moment when the moon is at its brightest and most complete—sacred time for the Queen of the Night Sky. It holds great significance for Her followers. If the Queen of the Night Sky truly has a temple hidden within this lake, then during the full moon, it is highly likely the temple will resonate with the moon above. When that happens, we might be able to locate it.”

Wearing a solemn expression, Boade spoke beside Gossmore. After listening to his words, Gossmore slowly nodded.

“…Makes sense. Not bad—your analysis this time isn’t half bad. When the full moon comes, there might indeed be an opportunity to find something. But unfortunately, we’ll have to wait another half a month… What a pain.”

Gossmore said this, taking another sip of the crimson liquid in her wine glass, her gaze turning toward the lake’s surface. Under the starlight, she and Boade’s reflections danced on the water.

…

On the mirrored underside of Lake Starbind—within the inverted, colorless hidden realm—Dorothy floated at the edge of the colored surface, gazing at the elderly man and woman reflected on the lake.

From behind the mirror, Dorothy watched Boade and Gossmore as they stood on the shore of the lake in the real world, conversing until they eventually left. Her gaze even briefly met theirs—but in the end, they did not sense anything amiss.

Through this hidden mirror realm, Dorothy had successfully gleaned crucial intelligence from the Eight-Spired Nest, but her expression showed no sign of relief. On the contrary, it was heavy with concern. Clearly, what she had just overheard was far from good news.

“So those two are the ones the Eight-Spired Nest sent to search for the Mirror Moon Cathedral? One of them is even a familiar face… The Priest of Fangs. Could that one be the real body this time…?”

Dorothy thought solemnly. She remembered the old man’s face vividly. It was the very same Crimson-rank priest she had encountered at Duke Barrett’s estate earlier in the year—the very reason she chose to go abroad afterward. She hadn’t expected to run into him again after more than half a year.

Dorothy had seen the terrifying power of the Priest of Fangs’s avatar, so if this one was the true body, he deserved serious caution. But aside from him, the woman who was conversing with him also piqued her concern.

“That woman called Gossmore… She spoke to Boade as an equal. Her tone and posture showed none of the respect normally expected toward a Crimson-rank. Judging from that, she might be on the same level of authority within the Nest. Which means… the Nest sent not one, but two Crimson-rank individuals to Glamorne…”

Dorothy analyzed grimly. She had suspected this possibility when analyzing the volume of blood mist above Lake Starbind, but now that it was confirmed—now that she knew for certain there were two Crimsons involved—the pressure was immense.

“Damn… Two Crimsons holding the line. Looks like the Eight-Spired Nest values this cathedral far more than I anticipated. Even the Savior’s Advent Sect only deployed one Crimson-rank to pursue their plan for all of Addus. Yet here, for one temple, the Nest sent two of them to this tiny town. They clearly intend to take it no matter what…”

Dorothy furrowed her brows in deep thought. The presence of two Crimson-rank figures from the Nest placed enormous strain on the execution of her plans. And worse, the most troubling piece of news was that they intended to wait for the full moon!?

“The restrictions shrouding Lake Starbind follow the ceremonial cycles of the old Mirror Moon faith. According to the prayer, the temple automatically surfaces into the real world each full moon to receive worship from ordinary citizens.

“While the temple’s automatic shifting function has since been suppressed, its mystical system still reacts to the full moon—thinning the veil between realms and projecting certain functions into the real world.

“This is primarily to recharge the temple’s mystic systems. Without clergy to maintain it, the cathedral and its associated hidden realm can only rely on moonlight for spiritual power. So during the full moon, the temple instinctively draws closer to the real world to extend its reach and absorb the strongest moonlight of the month, extracting Shadow from it. During this phase, the lake’s surface in the real world will exhibit anomalies, and anyone on the lake might be affected. That’s probably the origin of the so-called Full Moon Lake Demon legend.

“This spiritual intake mechanism is a vital part of the temple’s autonomous mystical system. And with just this ring, I don’t have the authority to stop it.

“Which means… when the full moon arrives, the temple will draw near to the real world, interfere with the lake’s surface, and absorb moonlight. I can’t prevent this. If those people are truly committed to waiting for the full moon, they will notice the lake’s abnormality. That could give them a breakthrough—maybe even a way to pierce the mirror and enter this space…”

Floating above the mirrored lake, Dorothy frowned in deep contemplation. Given the situation, she had to come up with a thorough countermeasure.

From now until the full moon, she had half a month. These fifteen days were not just a countdown—they were her only time to prepare.