The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1748: Tomb of Heroes (2)

Outside of the colossal rock formation, the sunlight above wavered.

A sun stream or a few bent unnaturally, twisting into a vortex, and from within emerged a figure.

Alana manifested from sunlight, hovering above like a goddess.

Under the unfiltered sunlight, the Divine Saintes can see all—and since this ancient construct basked in the sun, Rex’s presence stood out as plainly as a shadow on snow. She saw him the moment he stepped out of the carriage.

Right now, she has her own orders, a hopeful one.

She rushed to her the moment Rex came to view, making sure that she would not fail.

Everything rested on her assessment, and that responsibility weighed heavily on her back.

No matter what, her decision has to point to a future where the Sun Ecclesia survives and grows.

"Tomb of Heroes... An interesting location to pick."

Alana looked down and watched the carriage go away, slipping into a narrow crevice not too far away from the entrance, taking cover from sight. It was her cue that she arrived at the right spot, and it’s time for her to enter.

But then, she stopped.

Her attention was drawn to the other side—eyes narrowing at the approaching presence.

It was still far away, a few hours away, but she already recognized that presence.

"From the moment you arrived at our sanctuary, you’ve always been someone favored by the realm and beyond," She mused aloud, cracking a light smile. "I wonder if it’s luck that helped you sense dangers, or are you coming because of another thing?"

Alana turned away, but another thing stopped her once again.

A shadow that can’t be seen, only felt, appeared.

She descended from the sky and touched the ground with her bare hand, closing her eyes to focus.

Hallucination, that’s what she thought initially.

But what she felt underneath was real, the shadow was real, and it’s heading into the Tomb of Heroes.

"How is this possible...? Unfortunate beings are constantly being dragged into that expanse, turned into fuel—but anyone would’ve died the moment they touched that expanse," Alana muttered as she looked ahead—into the entrance. "But there’s something moving in there. How? How did someone survive being in there?"

No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t think of the answer.

And the only way she would know the answer is by going inside.

Either way, she knew that something big was going to happen, exactly as the Divine Saintess said.

"Blood is thick in the air..." Alana’s brows knitted together.

She flew once again—deciding to hover over the grassy rock formation rather than going through the entrance. If she wanted to take up a good spot to view what was happening below, she needed to have the high ground.

Bang!

Alana recoiled backward, and a small groan escaped her lips.

She hit something, but there was nothing in front of her other than the airspace.

"What’s happening...?" She uttered as she hovered forward again—but this time, she stretched her hand forward. Soon enough, as expected, she touched a wall. It wasn’t hostile, but she couldn’t go inside. "I can’t sense its energy. What is this?"

Not expecting to be blocked by a wall like this, Alana put both hands on its surface.

A Soul Artifact manifested, a translucent gold silk mantilla that rested gently on her head with grace.

And with a surge of power, she fired her life energy into the barrier.

For this attack alone, she borrowed a portion of the Divine Saintess’ power, hoping that she could break in and arrive on time. Sunlight flared from her hands, and it managed to seep into the wall, but that didn’t last long.

In mere seconds, the sunlight inside broke the connection of the sunlight Alana fired from her.

She can only watch as her own sunlight blends with the sunlight within the wall.

"Is it already starting? Does that thing already arrive...?" Alana thought in aghast—flabbergasted at the situation as she wasn’t even a minute late to reach Rex. "No, if that thing arrived, the Divine Saintess’ energy should still work. She’s not a Scion anymore, but there’s still a trace of that power in her."

Alana tried a couple more times.

But every single time, the same exact thing happened.

And only at the fifth try did she realize what was happening.

"Are you kidding me...?" She slowly turned to look at the center of the ancient construct, specifically at the open chamber that was visible from her position. "Someone took ownership of the sunlight beyond this wall? Who? Other than the Scions, who?"

...

Rex stared at the statues with a clear surprise on his face.

From the moment he met the Shade Crawlers, he knew there was a connection between the Spirit Realm and the Mortal Realm. But considering he was talking about two completely different realms, perhaps the connection is subtle.

Maybe a resemblance to the beings in them, or a different mutation.

And due to that, he thought there were only a few Supernaturals that this realm possessed.

For instance, the Shade Crawlers he met.

But this... these statues showed him that the connection ran deeper.

Far deeper than he initially imagined.

"Amanir, how come you never told me about this?" Rex asked, a sliver of anger marring his face.

"I’m considered young in this realm," Amanir refuted. "And mind you, I’m not a nobleborn."

Rex knew that.

His question was more like a rant rather than an actual question.

"That being said, how come there are only four of them?" Rex mused, noting that there are a few missing races. "No Vampires, no the Undead, and for some reason, there are also no Werewolves, even though I crossed them not too long ago."

"Maybe those races you mentioned didn’t make any big feats," Amanir ranted.

Rex’s forehead creased into a frown.

If this were tied to a legendary incident in the past, earning these people a memorial statue, then it should be tied to the incident that Ethan told him about. At the thought, Rex’s eyes scanned the statues around him once again.

On his right was the statue of a Shapeshifter.

A muscular faceless man with armored scales for skin, claws for hands, and a thin, long, and spiky tail.

On the left was the statue of a Demoness, an Archdemoness to be exact.

Her body was longer and bigger than the other statues; a woman with a skulled head. She was humanoid, bare-chested, wearing a long black and red hakama—and had two demonic wings that were shaped like a ribcage and pointed to the ground.

Ahead on the right was the statue of a Dragonman.

A humanoid creature with a dragon-head and black armor skin, a draconic tail thicker than its legs, and two pairs of black fire wings. Its maw was opened, revealing thick and powerful fangs that could rend bones and a flaming breath that could turn anything to ashes.

Lastly, across on the left side of the chamber was the statue of an Angel, an Archangel.

It was a personification of a celestial being made flesh.

A man without a mouth, covered in thin fabric, very long hair that has no end, eight feathered wings, and a two-layered halo—one small and glowing like a normal one, while the other one was bigger and looked like it was made of steel.

Rex knew that these entities were long gone, which was the reason why there were statues of them.

But he can instinctively understand they were incredibly powerful beings when they were alive.

Perhaps far stronger than anything he has ever seen up until this point.

Unlike the other statues that were bare, this Archangel was more decorated.

Rex could see flowers and offerings on the bridges nearest to it.

And for some reason, these flowers and offerings looked like they were brand new.

"Rex, look..." Amanir tugged his arm and pointed forward at the dome. "Is that the empress?"

Hearing the empress being brought, Rex snapped out of the mystery.

He stared at the end of the bridge and saw the empress, as Amanir stated.

Even though he was still quite a distance away from the dome, at least a good half a mile away, he could already make out Empress Morgana’s silhouette within the dome—she was facing away, kneeling, and her hands clasped in a quiet, reverent prayer.

Rex’s eyesight was impeccable, but he could see what was inside the dome clearly.

It was open, had no doors, only marked by pillars, but he could see nothing other than the empress’ silhouette.

Only her silhouette was clear while the others were blurry.

Part of her body was covered by another statue outside the dome, but he could tell that it was her.

It was certainly the empress.

Empress Morgana was now emanating a gentle, warm heat, one that was soothing against the skin.

She was dressed in an all-white royal attire highlighted with golden ornaments and linings.

And her hair... it was now blazing golden.

Rex and Amanir quickened their pace, noting that perhaps the empress had been waiting for them.

Upon nearing the dome, Rex’s eyes locked onto the statue.

It resembled a man, perhaps even a teen, from the slightness of its limbs—draped in a plain stone-colored silk cloak whose hood swallowed its face in an unnatural darkness. Even as Rex drew nearer, that void refused to yield a hint of features.

As if the shadow were a part of the statue.

Both of its arms were crossed tightly over its chest, almost as though it were embracing itself.

Even though it was elevated by a square-shaped platform, it wasn’t that big, only a few feet taller than Rex. But Rex noticed Amanir was looking at the statue warily. It was ominous, yes, but it didn’t exude anything that should scare him like that.

Oblivious to Rex, from Amanir’s position, he can see weapons inside its cloak or even on its hands.

Daggers from the shortness, or maybe knives.

Rex and Amanir were about to get off the stone bridge and step onto the circular platform.

But as they raised their feet, a voice stopped them.

"Stay there," Empress Morgana’s voice echoed, stopping them—dead on their tracks. "Don’t step onto the platform."

Rex and Amanir exchanged a glance, and they decided to heed her warning.

That is, if that was really a warning.

Maybe some kind of defensive mechanism that he wasn’t aware of.

"You Majesty, we’ve come as you requested," Rex said, his tone polite as his gaze drifted to the chests arranged near Empress Morgana—likely the items he had asked for. "But may I ask why you chose this place for our meeting? You didn’t need to deliver the items personally, I wouldn’t mind."

Empress Morgana didn’t answer.

She remained on her knees, facing away, praying to something.

It was only then did Rex made do of what seemed like a figure lying on the table, a corpse to be exact.

He didn’t know what the corpse was, but he used the System to scan it.

<Scanning...>

<Notice: it will take a moment to properly scan the corpse.>

<Scanning: 2%...>

<Scanning: 7%...>

Rex looked at the notifications and frowned; this had never happened before.

Regardless, he needed to keep going, "Beside me here is Amanir, a friend that I’ve told you about."

Just then, Empress Morgana lowered her hands and rose to her feet.

She then turned around slowly, revealing her bright golden eyes—another change to her appearance.

"It’s good to see you again," Empress Morgana said as her lips curled into a smile. "I’ve been waiting."