‘A mouse without a gate?’

  Struggling to hide his shock, the pantheon looked at Luna with newfound curiosity and caution. With his third eye, he often saw things that most divine beings couldn’t. And as he stared at this mortal, he didn’t believe what he was looking at!

  As a Pantheon from the Heavenly court of warriors, he was tasked to protect Her Lordship’s Garden and be the final defense of the Silent Pond since Artemis’s Garden was connected to so many places in the Divine Realm.

  At the time, he was unaware of the growing conflict in the Divine Realm because he was a faithful servant of Her Lordship. He believed in the moon and loved her Lordship with all his heart.

  So when her lordship commanded him to stay here and detach himself from the outside world.

  He agreed because it was his purpose to serve the goddess. He was blessed and loved the moon and the Prisoner here almost took what he loved the most from him.

  The goddess had explained to him that the Prisoner was a high-level threat to the Balance between the realms. If he ever got out of this Divine Prison, a Holy War would begin and everything he held dear would be wiped out.

  In other words, the fate of the divine realm and his goddess was in his hands.

  And for thousands of years, he went on believing that he was serving her lordship and protecting the realm. He believed he was important for the first time in his life as a servant.

  However, as time went by, so many mortals found their way to this Prison—all of them searching for power like every mortal. Seeing this, he could only assume that something had happened to her lordship because only the Moon goddess’s power was capable of opening pathways to this prison.

  These mortals had found a way of manipulating the pathways with their power.

  It always angered him, so he often killed them in the worst ways possible before they even made it to the Silent Pond.

  When he confronted the prisoner about what was going on, he learned of her lordship’s passing and the conflict that destroyed almost everything in the divine realm and that they were only alive because this Tower was located outside the Divine Realm.

  He also learned that his Master had perished at the hands of her Servant, The Moon Saint. That bastard was his commander for centuries!

  He was devastated for centuries because he wasn’t alongside his goddess when the conflict happened. But later came to terms with reality and accepted this fate.

  He was just a Pantheon and the Moon Saint was almost as strong as Her Lordship. In the end, the difference between him and the Moon Saint could be compared to heaven and earth.

  With that fact in mind, he decided to protect what was left of his master. It was painful at times because he adored her lordship so much and the fact that she no longer existed pained him. But he endured and stayed loyal to what the gods represented…Balance.

  “The Era of the gods will end. New gods will be reborn through the mortals.”

  Those were the last words The Prisoner shared with him after their first and last encounter.

  That pathetic fool thinks that mortals will succeed the gods! These beings were below them. They were easy to break, they had short lifespans. In the blink of an eye, they’re dead!

  How could they ascend?

  Those were his thoughts before he recently encountered that Witch from the frozen wasteland. They fought once and he was convinced that she was as strong as him and her flames were almost equal to those of the sun god’s servants.

  ‘Is this Mortal like her? No.’

  In his third eye’s vision, Luna’s entire body was covered in a weak golden light. This was golden color the color her life essence had chosen.

  It wasn’t powerful. But it was so pure and bright like the beautiful flame he once saw the Supreme One project eons ago. She was similar, and yet, very different from the Crimson-Eyed Witch.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  He was both impressed and frightened by this woman’s potential. And because of that potential, he needed to get rid of her before she even opened her First Gate.

  She was a threat to the Balance.

  ‘I can’t allow a mortal like her to ascend. Divine power belongs to those of heavenly birth-rite.’

  With a thought, all his eyes widened and the forest hummed. Wind gathered around him, trees shook in the wake of something incredible. He unleashed his pressure and the wind howled as his domain came to life.

  He wasn't going to let a mortal upset the Balance.

  ***

  On Neptune

  Kaigen flapped his wings with might as he controlled the blizzard with ease. His dragon body was covered in scales which protected him from the effects of the cold despite being so high up in the sky.

  He stared at the skyline with intelligent eyes as he flew below the clouds while Rita slept on his back. The young enchantress had been exhausted after the last battle, pushing herself beyond her limits to ensure their survival. Kaigen had offered to let her rest, and though she had stubbornly refused at first, sleep had claimed her within minutes of the flight.

  A week had passed since the army entered the Dungeon. They had already crossed the Blood Desert and finished off the cursed creatures in their way, including the Emperor Snake that ruled the Desert at night and hid in the sand during the day.

  Killing an emperor-ranked cursed creature wasn’t an easy task, of course. But against five powerful sorcerers, it stood no chance. It had put up a good fight that lasted for two days. Even now, the remnants of that battle clung to him—scars hidden beneath his thick scales, the lingering sting of venom that had tried and failed to cripple him.

  Kaigen still remembered the taste of the Emperor Snake’s foul, corrupted blood. It made him regret choosing his teeth as a weapon in battle.

  The next powerful creature they had to fight was a large fog-like being that appeared when they first arrived on this floor. The battle was intense and the army's great size fell by a lot due to the single fact that the creature could switch between incorporeal and coproal states and create illusions with the fog.

  This was taken care of by the Phoenix and Moon Siren since they were resistant to illusions.

  Fortunately, they made it passed the snowy wasteland without any more resistance and were about to reach the orange light thanks to Mao Feng's influence on the world.

  Kaigen flapped his massive wings once, sending a gust of icy wind spiraling below him. His sharp eyes scanned the frozen wasteland, taking in the countless remnants of a war long past.

  Temples, once grand and revered, now stood in ruin—cracked pillars reaching toward the heavens in silent agony. Weapons of divine craftsmanship lay scattered across the landscape, their owners long turned to ice-covered husks.

  And the creatures…

  Kaigen’s gaze lingered on the monstrous figures entombed in the crystalline ice. Some were beasts of legend, their sheer size a testament to the battles that once raged here. Others bore human-like forms twisted by corruption, their expressions frozen in fear, rage, or despair.

  He exhaled, releasing a cloud of frost from his nostrils. For someone who has seen so many dead creatures and human bodies over the years, Kaigen still found this scene horrific to look at. He wondered what happened to the people of this world. What kind of conflict was this? And who was strong enough to do this much damage?

  After a while, Rita stirred awake and yawned. This was the first time she had slept since they entered the tower for the second time. She was the guide and the job was exhausting--even with scouts.

  “Are we almost there?” she asked, yawning and rubbing her small eyes. To keep herself warm, she was in a military cloak created from nanoskin.

  “Yes. I am about to descend, have you had enough rest?”

  Rita smiled gently and nodded. “Yes, I have Lord Kaigen. You should get some too,” she added, feeling concerned for the sorcerer.

  “I consume less energy while in this form. So I barely need any rest, maybe some food will do.”

  ‘No wonder you like keeping in your dragon form.’ Rita thought.

  “Do you know where they are?”

  Rita shook her head. “No, I see nothing beyond the walls. Something has limited my Aura.”

  “I SEE.” His deep voice reverberated across the sky. Not even the wind was strong enough to overpower his audibility in this form.

  Seeing no need to talk anymore, Kaigen shifted his attention to what lay ahead. He flared his wings, slowing his flight as he approached the colossal wall. It was impossibly massive, stretching so high that even from his vantage point, it seemed to merge with the clouds.

  He beat his wings once more, hovering in place as he observed the structure. Its icy surface was smooth, too perfect; as if it had been sculpted by divine hands rather than mortals.

  And beyond it...

  The White Tower.

  Kaigen narrowed his eyes at the dark mass swirling above it. The very air around the tower seemed to shift unnaturally like a mirage refusing to be understood. Flying over the wall wasn’t an option. Not unless he wanted to risk whatever force lay waiting above.

  With a low growl, he angled his body downward and descended toward the base of the wall.

  ***

  In the deep parts of Artemis’s garden.

  As the distant battle caused massive rumbling noises, Len and the rest of the cohort were running for their lives.

  Behind them, trees kept bending and breaking as the persistent monstrosity kept chasing after them. Its green eyes were fixed on them and it never once lost track of them despite it being night.

  The creature resembled a mammoth with a long black elephant nose and ivory horns that it used to rip trees from the ground.

  When they were sure they had made some distance, Len was the first to stop as the rest continued running ahead.

  Her eyes changed to an azure blue when she tapped into her second gate. The zenshi in her body awakened and her body suddenly transformed into a cold fog.

  Immediately, the others used the cold fog to split and hide their presence from the mammoth while Lena kept hers active to draw the creature’s attention.

  As expected, the Mammoth stayed running in a straight line and was swallowed into the fog.

  Now that she could control how powers better, Len extended her fog and let it spread even further to confuse the mammoth. It ran for a while until it finally stopped to look around. The fog was everywhere and because this fog was Len, her presence was everywhere. It tried to sniff her out and strike with its trunks. But everywhere it struck, a tree or rock would break or shatter.

  The forest was silent for a moment before—

  ‘Swoosh!’

  A light arrow cut through the fog and landed on its side.

  The mammoth cried in pain as it struggled to keep its footing after the spear exploded and left a hole right where it pierced.

  It was about to stomp on the ground and use its divine gift when Darkness appeared above it and hit it with a very powerful gravitational force that kept it in place by pushing it into the ground.

  Once it was pinned down, Snow jumped off a tree and out of the fog with his forged weapon in hand and second gate open. He twisted his body into a spinning swing coming from up.

  At the same time, Darkness dismissed her gravity and freed the creature. It almost rejoiced its freedom when Snow’s battle scythe easily cleaved between its flesh and bone like it was made from paper.

  Its death came instant and both its parts split with a mushy sound and fell in different different directions. The smell of blood filled the air once the battle came to an end.

  The fog reduced and Len walked out of it. She looked at the corpse of the mammoth with an indifferent look and sighed.

  ‘I can’t believe this is what welcomed us.’

  “Is everyone okay?” Snow’s voice cut through the night like a double-edged sword. It was odd they all ended up in the same place.

  Well…apart from Luna.

  Darkness jumped off a tree branch out and landed with force. She let out a relieved sigh. “I am.”

  “Yep,” Gail responded. His hands were still sparkling with golden light.

  Just when Len was about to speak, she noticed someone in their group was missing. Immediately, she had a bad feeling that made her entire body shiver as though she was cold.

  “Where is Valentine?”