Stop Hypnotizing Me, Villainous Princess!

Chapter 176: The Moon Goddess of Ten Thousand Years Later

The clear moonlight streamed in like a gurgling spring, flooding the entire grand hall in an instant.

The Witch of the End raised her head slightly, her brows furrowing as she gazed at the scene before her. This was the power of the Moon Goddess—serene yet brimming with hidden peril.

"…Beatrice?"

The witch softly murmured, her voice filled with doubt.

She couldn't fathom what had driven the other party to act this way. For ten thousand years, no divine power had been displayed within the Pantheon, and Xiya, the Progenitor God, had maintained a policy of sealing and waiting for the Sword of Damocles to descend. Meanwhile, the Witch of the End, bound by the Chains of Order, could not affect the outside world. The two sides were like parallel lines, destined never to intersect.

But now, the balance had been disrupted by Xiya’s forces.

What had her followers done in the past to bring about this change?

Despite her confusion, the Witch of the End could not tolerate such an affront to her domain. Though she was still burdened by several seals and had grown weak from the temporal interference spanning ten thousand years, she was not a foe to be trifled with.

A tide of crimson surged forth, perceiving the moonlit divine power as helpless lambs ripe for devouring.

How ridiculous.

In these ten thousand years, without divine backing, did they think they could roam arrogantly before her without consequence? If not for her current weakened state, they wouldn’t have had the chance to exploit this situation.

As divine powers clashed and surged, red and white light divided the space evenly, locking in a stalemate. Seeing this, the witch's gaze turned cold.

The next moment, the tide shifted abruptly.

The crimson power of the End gathered behind her, forming a colossal wheel engraved with countless divine symbols and markings. It resembled both the grave of the gods and a supreme artifact capable of controlling the laws of time and space.

As the wheel slowly turned, an invisible force of order began to ripple.

Boom!

Throughout the Pantheon, statues of countless gods trembled, and the remaining chains binding the Witch of the End clattered ominously. It seemed that at any moment, this sealed evil deity might break free and plunge the world into chaos once more.

Through the ethereal moonlit power, the witch's eyes discerned a figure—a goddess cloaked entirely in pure white, serene and tranquil.

Yet, to the witch, this tranquility seemed like nothing more than pretentious theatrics.

If they dared provoke her, they would have to leave something behind.

In a flash, her figure disappeared. Her right hand, with fingers sharpened into crimson claws, slashed through the void effortlessly.

Rip!

With a sharp sound and a muffled gasp of pain, the delicate balance between red and white light shattered.

Victory came swiftly.

In mere moments, the boundless power of the End swept across the hall, tearing and devouring the remnants of the moonlit divine power with ferocious intensity.

Soon, the space fell silent once more.

The chains rattled faintly as the witch, clad in her tattered black gown, landed lightly on her bare feet, returning to her original position.

She opened her palm, revealing a strand of hair resting in her delicate hand—a trophy from the brief confrontation.

Unlike her pale hair, this strand was as radiant as moonlight, faintly glowing with an otherworldly shimmer.

Despite her apparent victory, the witch’s face showed no joy. Instead, her gaze turned colder.

“Clink… clink…”

Raising her wrist, she studied the seals binding her. The cracks caused by Lynn’s earlier meddling with fate had vanished, replaced by even heavier chains of order.

It seemed this was the Moon Goddess’s true purpose—to reinforce the seal.

But why?

What memory from ten thousand years ago had prompted her to act so boldly, even risking a direct confrontation?

The absence of Xiya or Shirina among the divine forces revealed that this memory belonged solely to the Moon Goddess. It was an event involving only her followers and the goddess herself.

The witch's eyes flashed with restrained anger. She longed to reach into the past and uncover what had occurred, but the reinforced seal and her weakened state rendered her powerless.

Besides, such temporal communication was inherently one-sided.

As she resided in the future, she could not initiate contact with the past unless Lynn sought her out or lowered his guard.

It was like during the demon battle in the Soren Mountains—only through the effect of a relic and his call for help could she pull him into her influence.

…

The witch's thoughts were restless, her chest heaving with emotion.

Beatrice.

She repeated the name in her mind, searching through distant memories for a clue she had overlooked.

After a moment, she detected a peculiar discrepancy.

The Moon Goddess, as an elf, had been known as Tiya Yuhesti—not Beatrice.

Something had happened, something significant enough to make her change her name.

The Witch faintly furrowed her brows.

In her recollection, she had spent most of the Succession Ceremony unconscious, only regaining consciousness near its conclusion. By that time, Tiya had already adopted the name Beatrice.

So, that's how it was.

Upon closer thought, the current Moon Goddess was, in fact, the second incarnation. Tiya Yuhesti, in a sense, had been nothing more than a prepared vessel, a body crafted in advance.

The original Moon Goddess had suffered unspeakable corruption, forcing her to split off part of her consciousness and abandon her divine body. She descended into the preselected vessel, carving out an unconventional path to ascend as a deity once more.

As fragments of memory and clues resurfaced in her mind, the Witch began to piece together the full picture of what had transpired back then.

If her calculations were correct, it would soon align with a critical juncture in her follower's timeline—less than a week remained until the triennial Moonlight Festival of the Silent Church.

At that time, Beatrice would descend into Tiya’s body, assuming the identity of an elf as she resumed her journey to divinity.

It all started to make sense.

In truth, whatever Lynn was doing now was entirely futile. The reforged, heavier seal on her wrist was proof enough.

No matter what he said or did, it would only affect Tiya as an individual. But Tiya was just a mistake—a small consciousness accidentally born within the goddess's vessel.

Her fate was already sealed: she would be assimilated by Beatrice’s boundless divine power. To put it plainly, her existence would be obliterated.

Yet, to be precise, "assimilation" wasn't quite accurate. Since Tiya’s consciousness wasn’t derived from the Moon Goddess herself, there was no true fusion to speak of.

If one had to describe it, Tiya was akin to an impurity—much like Lynn himself.

And impurities were destined to be eradicated.

Indeed, for Tiya Yuhesti, a misstep born of serendipity, her end was not even death. It was erasure.

When the Moonlight Festival arrived, her consciousness would be obliterated, leaving behind memories for Beatrice to inherit.

The entity that emerged thereafter could no longer be called Tiya. It would be the Moon Goddess in her entirety.

Such was the truth of the matter.

Expressionless, the Witch slowly seated herself on the steps.

It seemed the force of narrative correction—fate’s inexorable hand—was far stronger than she had anticipated.

For someone like Beatrice, who had endured since the Age of Divine Wars, Lynn was far too inexperienced and powerless. He stood no chance of altering the destiny of a god.

Thus, the path to unraveling the Chains of Order binding the Moon Goddess was clearly a dead end.

And the alternative paths seemed even more daunting.

The road to breaking the seal was now in complete deadlock, leaving even the Witch momentarily at a loss.

Fortunately, she had faced despair countless times before and had grown accustomed to it. There was no anger or hopelessness in her demeanor.

Even so, the disruption to her long-laid plans caused her mood to waver slightly.

After a while, a cold sigh echoed through the grand hall.

"Can you create another miracle?"