NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 361: The First Appearance of Moon
Jeremy stood frozen, staring blankly at the spot where Bonnie had just been, utterly stunned by what had happened.
"Is this the reaction speed of a level 66 monster? I didn't even catch its movement before it took Bonnie away," he muttered to himself, trying to process the situation.
Yet, despite what he had seen, Jeremy didn't believe Bonnie had been destroyed. If she had been, her equipment would have immediately appeared in the place where she had last stood. Instead, it seemed the creature had only taken her away.
"What's going on? What exactly was the purpose of that creature? Could all these traps have been set just to isolate me?"
Questions swirled through Jeremy's mind, leaving him uncertain about his next steps. Initially, he had suspected this attack was orchestrated by Kean. However, Jeremy knew enough about Kean to have doubts. If this were Kean's doing, he would have already launched his follow-up moves. Kean was desperate for revenge against Jeremy, and if given the chance, he wouldn't hesitate to attack.
Since Kean hadn't shown up, that meant this assault wasn't his plan. Aside from Kean, the only other potential enemies Jeremy could think of were the architects of the apocalypse game. He had faced some of them directly before, but the power displayed by that fiery monster didn't match anything he'd seen from the apocalypse game's creators.
Although the blazing flames bore some resemblance to the power associated with [The Sun], Jeremy knew that [The Sun] had not yet fully revived. Without a complete resurrection, even the strongest apocalypse game planners wouldn't be capable of orchestrating something like this.
As Jeremy grappled with these questions, the sun in the sky rapidly set, and darkness engulfed the world. In the deepening night, a bright Moon appeared directly overhead, casting an eerie glow over everything.
Gazing up at this luminous Moon, Jeremy felt a flood of conflicting emotions. He couldn't shake the feeling that all his previous efforts had been utterly pointless.
He felt as if his very existence in this world was superfluous. He even thought that he should end his own life immediately, believing it was the only way he could truly repay his companions.
Such dark, despairing thoughts weighed heavily on Jeremy, filling him with unbearable pain. Gripping his weapon, Mortal Combat, his face twisted into a look of finality. He was prepared to use Mortal Combat to end it all. Read exclusive chapters at empire
But just as he was about to act, he froze. A sudden awareness dawned on him—these despairing thoughts weren't entirely his own. Some external force had planted and amplified these feelings in his mind, leading him toward this darkness.
The moment he realized this, he looked sharply at the sky. The luminous Moon, while outwardly peaceful and calming, filled him with an inexplicable sense of malice.
"Could the Moon in the sky be my enemy too? And if so, what does Moon represent?" Jeremy whispered, filled with confusion and uncertainty. He knew there would be no easy answer.
Not far from him, Bonnie, too, gazed up at the bright Moon, her face clouded with deep guilt.
"It's all my fault. If I hadn't insisted on being with Jeremy, we wouldn't have been attacked. If we hadn't been attacked, we wouldn't be caught in such a dire situation," she murmured, repeatedly apologizing to Jeremy, even though he wasn't within earshot.
Her mind was completely dominated by a flood of negative thoughts.
"You're right. I should take responsibility for everything. I shouldn't even exist in this world. I must atone," she continued, her empty gaze fixed on the ground as if she were apologizing directly to Jeremy.
Bonnie was in no state to fight; in fact, she couldn't even establish contact with him. She was utterly trapped in her own spiral of remorse.
And it wasn't just Jeremy and Bonnie. Every living creature bathed in the Moon's eerie light began to change in disturbing ways. Creatures that were once normal slowly morphed into monstrous beings, while existing monsters gained a noticeable boost in power. However, this newfound strength came at a cost: every enhanced monster became a follower of the Moon, drawn to it with a fervent, almost obsessive devotion.
These creatures roared in ecstasy, chasing the Moon's light as they ran wildly across the land, entranced by its glow.
Everything had taken on a nightmarish, surreal quality, as if the world itself had been warped under the influence of the Moon's sinister gaze.
In this area bathed in moonlight, only Jeremy could barely maintain his clarity of mind.
After all that he'd been through and a careful survey of his surroundings, Jeremy came to a grim conclusion: Moon was indeed the source of all the chaos.
"If my guess is correct, Moon must be the embodiment of yet another apocalypse game planner. I just don't know this planner's true name yet," Jeremy murmured to himself, feeling as if he were on the verge of uncovering the truth.
He knew that to find a way to defeat an apocalypse game planner, he needed to first discover their true name. Each planner in the apocalypse game had a name that encapsulated their essence. Without this knowledge, any attempt to harm a planner would be futile.
Moon might very well be this planner's name, but until he could be sure, Jeremy couldn't deal any meaningful damage. In this twisted game, any uncertainty in one's heart about a planner's name allowed the planner to redirect any attack through the powers they controlled. Only with an unwavering belief in the planner's true name could an attack possibly affect them.
Determined to confirm if "Moon" was indeed this planner's name, Jeremy resolved to use The Eye of Omniscience. However, using The Eye of Omniscience on an apocalypse game planner was incredibly risky. When The Eye of Omniscience probed a planner, the planner could use its detection to directly target Jeremy, turning the knowledge against him.
To mitigate this risk, Jeremy prepared meticulously.
First, he created a decoy for himself. He infused a paper figure with his own aura, making it a plausible stand-in. Then, using his powers as The King of Time and Space, he opened a portal nearby.
His plan was intricate. He would activate The Eye of Omniscience to gather information about Moon. The very instant The Eye took effect, he would enter the portal, using it as his escape.
The portal would transport him roughly a kilometer away.
Meanwhile, the paper figure infused with his aura would remain in place. If the Moon above truly represented an apocalypse game planner, that planner would likely lock onto the paper figure as its target, buying Jeremy precious time to avoid the attack and gather the information he sought.
With everything prepared, Jeremy sprang into action. As soon as The Eye of Omniscience activated, he stepped directly into the portal.
Despite Jeremy's speed, he couldn't entirely evade the incoming attack. The Eye of Omniscience did indeed reveal the information he needed about Moon, but in doing so, it also locked Jeremy into Moon's deadly focus.
Moon's power was so overwhelming that it pierced through the portal itself, tearing at Jeremy's very soul. He could feel a part of his essence being seized, pulled away from him and held under Moon's control.
In that critical moment, Jeremy activated a unique skill tied to his weapon, Mortal Combat. He opened its special spatial domain, transporting both himself and a distant, ordinary animal into the isolated space. This unique dimension temporarily shielded him from Moon's influence, giving him a chance to regroup.
Inside Mortal Combat's spatial domain, Jeremy finally had a moment to examine the information provided by The Eye of Omniscience.
Just as he had suspected, the Moon in the sky was indeed an apocalypse game planner, whose true name was, in fact, [Moon]. As an apocalypse game planner, Moon wielded powers of both repentance and soul manipulation. Moon could inspire blind worship in any creature, granting them a portion of its power to transform them on a spiritual level. Moon could also tear apart a creature's soul; if it held even a fragment of a soul, Moon could gradually convert that being into a fanatical follower.
While Mortal Combat's spatial domain offered Jeremy some protection, he knew it was only temporary. Moon had locked onto him completely. If Jeremy couldn't quickly devise a way to reclaim his lost soul fragment, he would inevitably become one of Moon's ardent followers, consumed by a forced and absolute loyalty.
Jeremy furrowed his brow, racking his brain over what his next steps should be.
Yet, no matter how hard he tried, a solution eluded him.
"What exactly is the method to reclaim a soul?" he murmured. "I don't have any soul-related abilities. Am I supposed to perform a séance… on my own soul?!"
Despite the immense pressure, Jeremy managed to cling to a fragile sense of calm. Still, he had no clear idea of what to do next. His mind swirled with thoughts, each one more desperate than the last.