The road to the hidden temple would probably have been long and arduous, though thanks to Celeste's Journeying Domain, they seemed to track through the hewn stone labyrinth with ease, never taking a wrong turn, and never growing tired.

  There weren't any further drows that tried to ambush them. There were plenty of wild creatures, though, seemingly forced underground by whatever happened on the surface. Normally, Celeste's power would have guided them around them, allowing them to bypass these combats, but in the tunnels, there were no other routes to take.

  Fortunately, Martin's power over all beasts effectively meant that he was recruiting these animals as a small army that followed behind the two gods. The Mana muncher was on its way, ensuring that whatever threat might await them at the temple would face a world boss along with two gods.

  As they reached the exit of the tunnels, not only did Martin have a medium-sized horde of creatures following them, but they had also started to hear a low drumbeat.

  Stepping outside, the pure natural beauty of the entire temple appeared. It was situated in what seemed to be an inactive volcano. The brim of the mountain they were in was lush with grass, vines, and moss hanging from the sides. Streams of water flowed over this brim as well. While unnatural, it had a very calming effect that almost forced an inner peace.

  The temple itself was made of some kind of quartz. The pillars holding up a large white roof were see-through in multiple places, as the crystal seemed to catch the sun in just the right way to let the visible spectrum of color dance across the ground.

  Well, it would have been, had it not been for the vandal who had drawn large patterns across the pillars and the ground. The patterns were clearly some kind of magical circle, but neither Celeste nor Martin had any idea what it did. The circle was drawn in some kind of reddish liquid, which Celeste assumed to be blood.

  All around them, at the top lip of the inactive volcano, a horde of dragons were swarming. They looked red in color, though the fact that there was literally thousands of them made it hard to determine if they were a singular color, or if they had any significant patterns.

  This was very overwhelming, but it was the figure that was sitting in the temple, in the middle of the large circle, that drew Celeste's ire. Practically lounging on a pile of dead dragons, whose blood stained the normally white floor of the temple a deep crimson, was a blonde human. A smug, self-satisfied smile on his face, while his dark eyes peered into the soul of anyone who looked at him. Raffael Moordet.

  Martin groaned. "I can just tell from that smug face that there must be some douchebag stat somewhere. I am adding it to the bug list."

  Celeste stepped forward, hoping that she wasn't seeing what her eyes told her. All around her, the large pillars showing the elder dragons had been desecrated. Torn to pieces or vandalised by the magical writing.

  "I hope you like my decorations." Raffael Moordet said, drinking in the horror that must have been showing on Celeste's face.

  "You cannot be here. You were banished. Taken to the demonic plane." Celeste said, instinctively reaching out to see if her rule for teleportation had been broken. It was one of the reasons why gods had a hard time crossing from their home planes to the mortal planes.

  The blonde prick shook his head. "No, you see, I was taken to the demonic plane, and I have granted myself the powers of the archdemons. They play their eternal games against each other, which not even the gods can understand, but... I have managed to trick them into obeying my will." Raffael Moordet grinned, and Celeste highly doubted that the mortal man had managed to deceive the archdemons.

  However, Raffael Moordet didn't seem to let that deter him. "Now, while I have divine powers, I am not a god, and while I had found myself in the demonic realm, I was not dead either. As such, I am not constrained in the same way that normal beings are. I am far greater than any god, and I am bound by none of their shackles." As he monologued, he had stood up, his eyes manic, but his smile never wavering. The crunch of scales underneath his feet was discomforting.

  Celeste raised an eyebrow. This might be worse than she had first expected. If he were allowed to run amok, the world would feel the consequences in a major way. "Then why haven't you taken over the world?" She asked.

  Raffael Moordet seemed to delight in that question, as if it brought him more joy than anything else in the world. "Observant. The answer is simple. The archdemons told me many secrets. Most importantly, the secret of this world. Anything that is too much of a problem will be eliminated. Anything that promotes stagnation will be destroyed. Empires will fall, one by one, not because they cannot sustain themselves, but because the world craves change... because you, the god of gods, demands it to be so."

  The man turned god and displayed his arms in a wide gesture to the temple around him. "I AM HERE NOT BECAUSE I WILL IT! BUT BECAUSE THE WORLD WILLS IT! THE WORLD CRAVES DARKNESS, CORRUPTION, CONFLICT! THIS IS YOUR WORK! I AM JUST THE TOOL THAT YOU USE."

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  His fervour seemed to almost overwhelm him, as he cackled in pure delight. Celeste was actually stunned for a second. It was true that they weren't here to do good, but this... it seemed too extreme. However, with what they had done so far, it wasn't entirely untrue, but she had no rebuttal that didn't boil down to "Nuh uh".

  Martin, on the other hand, was more than happy to answer, and as with most social interactions Celeste had with him, he was short and to the point.

  The words "Shut up" were quickly followed by the loud, echoing boom from his cannon. The sound echoed between the walls of the lush volcano, and while the animals behind him didn't move, the dragons above them went into a frenzy.

  Raffael Moordet clearly wasn't stupid. He had managed to keep one of the quartz pillars that held up the temple roof between himself and Martin. However, as the god of ranged attacks, Martin's shot was divinely infused. The massive cannonball had quite a bit of spin to it, not only kicking up dirt and dust as blades of air hit the ground, but it also seemingly managed to curve in the air, something that Celeste was pretty sure was impossible.

  Even so, with divine might, nothing was out of range for the god of ranged combat.

  This fact clearly seemed to surprise Raffael Moordet, as the manic grin on his face seemed to falter for the first time. His smugness wavered for just a moment as a cantaloupe-sized ball of metal was hurled for his head with a speed that probably would take it clean off.

  However, with less than an inch before it hit Raffael Moordet's stupid face, a hand made of shadows sprang forward, seemingly from every dark corner of the temple. It grasped the cannonball and managed to stop it, though it did buckle from the force it took to stop the shot.

  As the momentum of the massive ball of iron was halted, it fell to the ground, cracking the painted floor, though the hand did not disappear. Instead, all around the temple, darkness kept pouring into it, slowly congealing into a long-limbed form. The more it took form, the clearer it was that it was the shape of an elven woman. Just as the figure would become immodest, a long, flowing yellow dress wrapped its form.

  The dress was incredibly detailed, silver thread not hidden but highlighted by the stitching, and lace patterns inlayed, giving it a look of being light, while still taking up quite a bit of space.

  Everything seemed to solidify, and soon, it was clear that it was a drow that had stopped Martin's attack. Her eyes were vacant, and her lips did not betray any emotions. However, her lack of emotions didn't stop Raffael Moordet's howling laughter.

  "Did you think I was stupid enough to monologue without having some kind of insurance? Let me introduce you to my partner, Lasandra or the Queen of the Night as she prefers. However, mortals know her as the Archdemon of the Night." He seemed to find this endlessly entertaining. However, his laughter stopped suddenly, his face showing nothing but hatred and fury. "YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME? I AM RAFFAEL MOORDET! THE MORTAL WHO DEFIED THE GODS! YOU WILL NOT BEST ME!"

  Celeste looked around to see if the madman had bound the Archdemon in some way. Something the blonde clearly noticed. His look of hatred fading and the smugness returning, as an opportunity to brag seemed to present itself.

  "You must be missing the smart one, but I will be happy to inform you of what is going on. See, this temple has a direct connection to Esselaia, and it turns out that if you sacrifice a thousand dragons on the altar to the dragon goddess, you build up quite a lot of corruptive energy, enough to let an archdemon cross into this world." He laughed with pure joy. "And what is better is that the defenders had been sworn to do no violence, making it so very easy to claim this temple and perform the ritual in peace. Daikia really is devious."

  The Archdemon's brow seemed to furrow just a bit. "Do not mention my mother, " her monotone voice said. It was corrosive and filled with hidden threats that were not spoken, though Raffael Moordet clearly didn't care.

  Celeste had never fought an Archdemon, but she assumed it would be hard, and she was hesitant to dive into a battle that would have such overwhelming consequences for the world.

  The Queen of the Night seemed to sense this hesitation. Her emotionless face seemed to shift ever so slightly as she turned her full attention to Celeste.

  "You have been manipulated by my siblings. The Ilshers have turned you into a pawn in their political games. However, I offer you a way out. I offer you a promise. A souloath, if that is needed. If you allow me to merge with Esselaia, the Ilshers will never be a problem again." She said, not a hint of emotion in her voice.

  Celeste was honestly tempted to take the deal, though she also knew that even if it was what she wanted, the Archdemon might have a way out of any oath she gave. The goddess had no frame of reference for how strong or what abilities this woman had.

  Instead, she pulled on the resources she had stored in her cloak, pulling out a rapidly forming spear with an ebony handle from one of the trees in the ancient forests of Mek and the blade from some mithril she had stored away for a rainy day. The edge was quickly engraved with runes like the dwarves had, an aesthetic choice rather than getting an actual benefit from it.

  She put on a brave voice, the same voice she used to calm down her students when they had become too rowdy. It felt like a lifetime ago since she had been forced to use it last time. "I am the Architect of Reality. You are messing with my grand design. While the others seek progress, I seek stability, and I declare this act of deicide a taboo to reality itself."

  Raffael Moordet howled. "Deicide? No, no no! We are simply looking to merge Esselaia and Lasandra!"

  It was like the world shifted ever so slightly at this declaration, though nothing else apparently happened. Lasandra, the Queen of the Night, gave an imperceptible nod of her head before she sprang into action.

  A maw made from the shadows seemed to flow from one of the dark corners of the temple, and while Celeste managed to parry it using her spear, it was also clear that it had been a distraction, as multiple copies of the Archdemon appeared behind Martin and many of the larger animals. A knife, dripping with poison, was clutched in each of the copies' hands. The knife barely grazed Martin, his skin thick as bark, allowing him to shrug off the damage. However, the animals weren't as lucky, quickly falling one by one.

  The sound of Raffael Moordet's manic laughter echoed through the world as he started to cast a spell. Above him, a large tree seemed to form, its roots wrapping around the temple, yet it seemed to be integrated into the temple. Celeste gasped. She recognised the tree. It was the tree that Esselaia had used to ascend into divinity with.

  It was clear that they needed to win this battle before Raffael Moordet finished his spell.