Chapter 95: The Black Moon

Conner charged forward to meet one of the nightmares, while the other knights took a slow, methodical approach, moving to corral the agitated goblins.

Rachel’s attention wasn’t on the contest as they met; the audience heard horrific sounds of veiled figures in the dark mist, but something else stood in the air, far above them, that took Dionysus’ tight smile—his nightmare.

There stood a bronze-skinned elder of a god, rippling with bright lightning dancing around him. The old god’s muscular bare chest flexed with his judging, illuminated eyes on the lesser god. In his hand was a golden bolt of energy that created rumbles that shook reality.

"Zeus... How pathetic you are when I wield this kind of power."

* -- * -- *

[Grade Advancement - Mental Acceleration II Unlocked]

[Grade Advancement - Strategic Mind II Unlocked]

[Grade Advancement - Bestial Instincts II Unlocked]

* -- * -- *

[Lunar Pool - Advanced to C-tier]

[Divine Lunar Surge - Advanced to D-tier]

[Divine Beast Empowerment - Advanced to A-tier]

[Lunar Cap - Advanced to C-tier]

[Bringer of Misfortune - Advanced to B-tier]

* -- * -- *

Rachel could hardly see whatever image of the elder god that Dionysus sneered at; through the Infernal Energy filling her, the true visage of what embodied the Black Moon took Zeus’ place. Overlayed on the golden shape of a man was shimmering garnet hair, flowing like flames behind a woman with burning, coal-like eyes, which lingered on the lesser god.

Instead of howls and shrieks, a gentle, pulling whisper caressed Rachel’s ears from the harrowing nightmare.

"Bring me your soul,

"Bring me your fear,

"In my name, you will create;

"Bring me your hate,

"Bring me your pain,

"In my name, you will destroy;

"I am that nightmare which you cannot face,

"Hope, your road to ruin;

"I am your undoing..."

Cerridwen’s baleful smile drifted to Rachel, the eye-like ruby gem attached to her chest moving on its own, as Rachel’s body began to morph. The world faded into the sadistic mist that surrounded her.

Darkness welled within Rachel’s heart as she tasted the hope of those around her, veins rushing with their need for survival and filling her with strength. She was drawn into her inner world without her notice, where Cerridwen’s cold, maroon-lipped smile met her among the swirl of Infernal flames, bubbling out of a night-black cauldron.

"As I told you," she spoke, words like the smooth tingle of fingers across fine silk as the goddess glided around her. "The mythickin fairy and unicorn would guide you to me, and here you are..."

Rachel looked down at her white skin, painted black with a smoky substance, fur spreading across her figure. She resonated with the pulsing lunar waves radiating out of the goddess; it awakened a suppressed side of her. It was a cruel, sadistic subtlety and cold, rational vibe that reflected a piece of the two Feats the woman had blessed her with at the start of her journey. Misfortune linked with nightmares, stoic resolve, and cunning design.

While Conner fought for glory outside in the sight of the lesser god that supported him, she met with the sadistic goddess of eternal rebirth, death, and transformation that had provided the opportunity for this very Legend Quest to exist in the first place.

Holding up a hand to observe her darkening skin and bristling fur, Rachel created a mirror in the void to observe the transformation this unique celestial object brought. Her features shifted without form, taking on horrific visages from deep nightmares that twisted her now only-partial hare figure.

The previous lunar orbs Rachel had experienced were nothing like the kind of strength and cold joy she felt from this ominous Infernal sphere, and perhaps that was the correct term for it. She had become the misfortune that personified the living nightmare of transformation: the Reaper of Hope.

"And what is it that you want?" Rachel asked, voice shifting octaves with her aberrant changes. "I can see why Eostre would be too terrified to refuse you."

Cerridwen brushed back her flowing locks, revealing the black crescent moon on her brow, and she stopped in front of her, holding eye contact.

"What is my purpose in blessing you with insight and wisdom? To hasten our meeting and gather hope to provide you a way forward. I do not have much time, but enough to give you an option. Certainly, there will be lesser moon deities that will try to reach out to you, hoping to eat off the scraps on the floor you’ll toss them, but what these short-sighted fools can provide is fleeting...and you will pay the price of their greed."

"Hehe." Rachel’s frigid, horrific smirk widened beyond normal, showing rows of fangs. "And you are better than these fearful lesser deities scrambling for this...mysterious Seed? You can give me answers where they cannot?"

Daggers gleamed in the nightmarish underworld goddess’s burning vision as she pulled away to gesture around them, the ruby eye on her chest widening; Rachel’s vision broadened with a sight that opened inside, revealing cosmic destruction on a scale she couldn’t comprehend.

Nightmares, mortals, immortals, and deities beyond anything she’d imagined were swallowed in an infinite and vast flood of blood and gore.

"You will see I have already set you on that path for us both. Many moons, I’ve lingered lonely, lost in the maddening void that separates our dimensional lines, descending into the Red Sea to seek an answer to the lost dreams I had overseen... And I ascended beyond The Real to be granted the Curse of the Wise... I was given the sight to see The End...and your next potential patron that will help us prevent this calamity."

Rachel’s wide jaw twitched as the flashing palm of the Scarlet Hand imploded within the bloody destruction. "A patron... I can do just fine on my own without your help."

Cerridwen turned to the side, smoky dress pressing against her figure in the universal wave of gore that absorbed eternity. "You are not wrong, Bringer of Misfortune... Karma’s Gift. But you could accomplish so much more by accepting my offer."

Placing a clawed hand on her hip, Rachel’s toothy grin stretched with her barbed ears, mirroring her smile. "An offer that I have yet to hear; your respect is noted, though. You are as limited as the lesser gods since there are those stronger than you within the 7th dimension and those beyond that, whatever they may be."

"Indeed, you are correct again," Cerridwen whispered, still showing a knowing half-smile. "If I were to offer merely my own services, it would be quite the lopsided partnership...but, as I mentioned, what if I could offer you the support of much more powerful deities than I?"

The woman’s flaming eyes peered through her before meeting her gaze again. "There are things I long to teach you; nonetheless, I do not expect you to make your decision now. I have already given you my resume in this very show, and a glimpse into the services I have already provided as an introduction."

She glanced toward Nike’s pinned figure, which appeared above them, dripping golden blood. "Moongmor will be selected during your first round; I suggest you think carefully about how to complete the item he is most assuredly going to select... I hope I am right about you, and you will use the opportunities to walk down these roads I have paved in this Legend Quest."

Cerridwen dispersed into black smoke with a few parting words as the ominous sight of the Black Moon returned to Rachel’s view. "I hope you live up to everything I was told. Enjoy."