Wizard: Stronger through Marriage

Chapter 861: Chapter 386: Cognitive Contamination

Lucia was swept up by the powerful energy, her silver hair billowing without wind, emitting a dazzling light like electric sparks.

Amid the misty light particles that formed clouds, she suddenly touched a scene in her memory that had been erased yet truly existed.

The First Pope was standing at the spot where they were now, inserting a key carved from his rib into the void, in that instant!

This image was dreamlike yet vivid as a phoenix, etching deeply into her heart.

“This is the key!” Lucia exclaimed.

“This is the way to open another state of existence, and it was an important tool used by the First Pope to open some door, conveying power and knowledge!”

However, it was not that simple.

As the two gazed at the key in the void, they also felt the surrounding spatial energy fluctuating intensely, an indescribable unease spreading through their bodies.

“We must find the source of this power,” David clenched his fist, “otherwise we can’t move forward or unveil the First Pope’s true intentions.”

“Maybe this key has another meaning,” Lucia added.

“If it leads us to a higher level, then perhaps it will eventually reveal more about the true nature of the Church and belief.”

The two focused again on the key in the void, trying to find a way to connect with it.

Yet amid all the changes, they felt like they were standing before a giant wave, where everything in the future depended on how they explored going forward.

“Let us concentrate, resonate with this space through belief,” David whispered.

He stretched out his hand, holding Lucia’s. It was a flow of information transcending physical connection, each heartbeat binding them tighter together.

Instantly, they sensed a change in the aura around them, with no more fear, only an upward pull drawing them towards the spot glimmering with faint golden light.

They closed their eyes, diving deep into their hearts, seeking the unknown truth within the hope born from endless darkness.

As time passed, they began to hear a deep but pleasant new melody, flowing like a trickling stream, reminiscent of an ancient civilization echoing, guiding them to transcend continuously.

Then, a new picture emerged: those immortal memories formed by the faith of past pilgrims, constantly weaving and colliding, causing the entire cosmos to tremble slightly.

“This is… history!”

At that moment, their consciousness connected like an electric current, countless historical fragments appearing before their eyes.

From ancient human civilizations, to the most primitive mysterious rituals, to contemporary understandings of struggles behind belief…

Each fragment was an important inquiry into the eternal struggle between life, death, redemption, and hope.

At this instant, under an incredible surge of information, they radiated brilliant golden splendor, like dawn warming the Earth.

A powerful energy surged into their chests from a hidden place, leading them to break through obstacles, and as the final seal shattered, they finally saw a huge door slowly open…

“There is a chamber here!”

Lucia’s voice carried a hint of excitement as she pressed the Holy Emblem into the emerging keyhole, and the walls flowed away like water, revealing a mysterious chamber.

In the center of the chamber floated a bronze star disc, its surface glimmering with ancient and mysterious runes emitting a faint glow.

As David and Lucia approached, they discovered the positions of the twelve constellations were all replaced with human body sculptures in suffering; those twisted and despairing bodies displayed various agonies and struggles, sending chills down their spines.

David felt a tightness in his heart, suddenly realizing it might be related to the pain inflicted by the Church on its followers.

“These people… were they sacrificed?” he asked softly.

At that moment, he felt the Silver Moon Mark on his body suddenly burning, a strong sense of discomfort washing over him.

Simultaneously, the bronze star disc erupted with piercing bright light, revealing a phantom of the First Pope within the glow.

It was a man with a fiery beard, a severe and sorrowful face.

He was stripping away his nerve pathways.

Streams of crimson, interwoven consciousness seemed to flow from his body, injected into the heads of twelve kneeling disciples at his feet, reverent yet writhing in pain.

“He uses pain to convey divine messages,” Lucia whispered, clutching the Moonlight Dagger tightly, her gaze fixed firmly on the core of the star disc.

“This was the method the First Pope attempted to influence his followers through body and soul. He transformed his own agony into power, compelling them to embrace his will.”

Without hesitation, she plunged the dagger into the core of the star disc, and in that moment, a deafening roar erupted!

As the dagger pierced deeper, the chamber’s dome suddenly revealed an incomparably brilliant and vast star map, with the positions of the three main stars of Orion directly corresponding to the coordinates of the Church’s three sanctums.

“These… these coordinates!” David realized the significance of the matter.

He looked up at those bright, diamond-like points, “If we find these three sanctums, perhaps we can fully uncover all the secrets hidden by the First Pope and the Church!”

Yet right at that moment, the entire Holy Mountain seemed to moan from the discovery, the Earth beneath their feet shaking violently as if a raging tide was swaying everything around.

As the tremors intensified, a deep chasm appeared beneath their feet, opening like a mouth of darkness, isolating them completely from the chamber.