Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys Chapter 1644 - 568: The Goddess's True Form (Part 2)

"Different from the Goblin Princess Amora's approach, the Goddess avoided using the sub-key to trap the Fiend Demon's avatar. Then, where might the enemy have hidden the sub-key?"

By piecing together the fragmented accounts, Rein caught a faint clue.

"Hold on, why opt for sealing? Why not just eliminate them?"

"In theory, these Giant Beasts' power falls way short of Goddess Matilda's, who even triumphed over the Fiend Demon and Evil God, so what's the point of sealing?"

All at once, a bolt of insight struck Rein's mind, ripping apart the haze.

"If I were in her position, with mighty believers at my side, I'd only pick sealing if my own power wasn't enough to slay those Giant Beasts."

"Lacking power?"

"Was she perhaps wounded?"

"Exactly, that has to be it! Even if not exactly wounded, she definitely couldn't unleash her complete strength."

"Did the sub-key of the Key of Time serve to hold back her injuries?"

Rein's gaze sparkled brighter and brighter.

To put it another way, the second sub-key probably rests right next to the sleeping Goddess.

"Or perhaps... the entity sealing the Giant Beasts across the lands wasn't the real Goddess, but merely her Avatar—that accounts for every oddity perfectly."

"It's at least a solid theory."

Rein leaped to his feet abruptly, brows shooting up in thrilled fervor.

"Thus, the crucial interval lies between the Goddess's clash with the Fiend Demon and Evil God ending, and her sealing escapades starting. Where exactly did Goddess Matilda head?"

Rein hastened to the silver chest, yanking out various ancient books, diaries from ages past, and weathered sheepskin rolls—all chronicling key timelines.

"Post the godly war, the Goddess bestowed grace upon the realm...starting at Meist County's shore... Magic-tailed Three-headed Sea Dragon..." Rein murmured from the aged sheepskin scroll he clutched.

...

Moments later, Rein's form blurred and vanished from the study room.

Upon rematerializing, he hovered high in the heavens, distant from the Imperial City. After adjusting his bearings anew, Rein blurred once more, landing at Meist County's coastline.

Thanks to devouring the fifth Divine Fragment, Rein's spirit force had surged ahead, stretching his teleport limit farther.

A span that once demanded half a day via swift airship got crossed in mere dual blinks.

Gazing upon the well-known shoreline, a wave of fond memories surged within Rein.

Before, twin subterranean portals stood, yet now just scant Empire troops patrolled, clearly signaling this spot's diminished significance after the prior Magic-tailed Three-headed Sea Dragon breakout and Menia showdown.

The instant after, Rein materialized in the known underground chamber.

The enormous bronze Sealing Gate loomed ajar and deserted, though traces of the Magic-tailed Three-headed Sea Dragon's presence clung stubbornly, refusing to fade swiftly.

With a swift scan of the area, Rein shifted focus to the cavern floored in pale cyan tiles.

His spirit energy erupted from him, delving straight down in exploration.

"Should my hunch hold true, it ought to lie nearby, or conceivably..."

"Right underneath!"

...

The formidable spirit force at Full Moon Wizard tier plunged earthward like a burrowing drill!

Fifty meters below ground.

A hundred meters...

Two hundred meters...

"Eh? Empty... Did I misjudge?" Rein wrinkled his forehead, mulling deeply within.

Three hundred meters...

"Got it!" Joy exploded across Rein's features!

The very next instant, his silhouette winked out again, reappearing far deeper underground.

Within a hidden vault untouched for likely myriad years, a lofty, lithe silhouette emerged.

Rein's initial sight fixed on the central rectangular stone dais, the quartet of massive Luminous Pearls, and the striking woman's form sprawled upon it.

Though a Cock Crown Helmet and faded azure antique Battle Armor veiled her visage, the pronounced chest plating swell and draping skirt edges of the armor screamed femininity.

Still, what seized Rein's focus foremost were the duo of Key of Time sub-keys gripped in her grasp.

Its top hollowed into a ring, the base plunging sword-straight, matching precisely the sub-key Rein seized from Goblin Princess Amora.

Moreover, Rein sharply spotted the glowing sand-resembling specks lining the sub-key's ring base nearly depleted, with barely a tenth remaining.

"Eh? What's this!"

As Rein drew nearer, an astonishing vista revealed itself, stunning him utterly.

Through the gaps in the Goddess Armor's skirt hem, beneath the gentle halo's shield, wisps of evil qi were faintly visible.

"This is... tainted by evil qi?"

Shock flashed across Rein's face, yet after a careful inspection, he confirmed that if the form standing before him truly belonged to the Seasonal Wind and Ocean Goddess Matilda herself, then she had surely been corrupted by the Fiend Demon prior to slipping into her deep slumber.

"Even with a True God's power, is the Fiend Demon's corruption impossible to purge?"

Rein's eyebrows knitted tightly together, his dread toward the Fiend Demon mounting ever higher.

A True God from thousands of years in the past, Goddess Matilda appeared to surpass his own Full Moon Wizard rank by a full level.

"Yet luckily, thanks to the sub-keys of the Key of Time, the Fiend Demon's corruption hasn't completely taken root..."

Peering from the neckline seam of the ancient Battle Armor, Rein noted that Goddess Matilda's neck skin gleamed fair and radiant, perfectly normal, bearing no signs of evil qi corruption.