The boat, crafted from bone, shot out through the aperture in the sky, plunging into the vast expanse of space.
Before Ethan and Lana Mokos could catch their breath, they were struck anew by the sheer enormity of the spectacle before them.
A true leviathan loomed.
It resembled a fish, gracefully gliding through the boundless starlit void.
Moreover, it seemed sentient, nimbly dodging any planet in its path.
Yet more often than not, this creature, as vast as a planet itself, would hover near the stars as if in a deep slumber.
And then, in a sudden awakening, it would open its colossal maw and draw a star toward it with a single inhalation.
Under the influence of a peculiar magical force, every living being within that star would be drained away.
Subsequently, the star would turn desolate -- a dead celestial body void of any life.
This was the very scene Ethan and Lana Mokos witnessed upon their emergence.
Though they now found themselves at a considerable distance from the behemoth, both were acutely aware: should this titan wish to close the gap, it could do so effortlessly.
"We must flee at once!" Ethan declared with utmost gravity.
Instead of speaking aloud, he harnessed his potent spiritual power to communicate with Lana Mokos.
In the vast expanse of space, although magical energy was sparse, it was still present.
Both Ethan and Lana Mokos could harness this magic, granting them a significant advantage.
Concurrently, a unique force was beginning to manifest within them.
But, faced with the colossal creature ahead, they had no time to discern the changes in their beings.
Hearing Ethan's voice, Lana Mokos immediately grasped the gravity of the situation.
"Right now, we're utterly lost in this remote cosmos. To return to our world, we need a sufficiently powerful being to serve as an anchor, so the space gate can pinpoint its location with precision."
"A powerful being?" Ethan murmured contemplatively.
Only those worthy of the title 'deity' fit the description.
Among the deities Ethan knew were a handful: perhaps the golden-haired girl named Aisya, the Original Elf King Sovok, and the High Priest of the Undersea Palace...
"We'll head to the High Priest!" Ethan resolved.
Lana Mokos didn't object.
Instead, she initiated the process to open the space gate.
However, to open a portal spanning such vast distances, Lana Mokos's power alone was insufficient.
Ethan joined in, and through their combined efforts, the space gate was successfully activated.
At that moment, the colossal beast seemed to take notice of Ethan.
It glided towards him. Perhaps 'glided' isn't quite the right term. Luminous rays emanated from the creature, each beam lighting up in succession.
Then, as if by some arcane magic, the behemoth vanished from its position only to reappear near Ethan and Lana Mokos.
Their proximity to the creature prevented them from seeing its full form, offering only a glimpse of its massive head.
However, this close view allowed for a more detailed observation.
"We need to move faster!" Ethan's voice tinged with urgency.
Casting a fleeting glance at the creature, he, with reckless abandon, channeled all his energy into the space gate.
Finally, with enough power infused, they locked onto the High Priest and successfully opened the portal leading to the Undersea Palace.
"We're heading back," Ethan declared once more.
With that, the pair stepped into the space gate.
In the final moment before their departure, Ethan cast another look at the mammoth creature.
In a daze, he spotted an odd protrusion on the creature's skull, resembling a human figure.
No, it was a person.
A chill ran down Ethan's spine.
The figure stood atop the creature's cranium, utterly motionless.
Their feet appeared submerged in the beast's skin.
A faint, crimson light flowed from the creature onto the figure.
The luminescence was so dim that, had Ethan not been so close, he might've missed it altogether.
"What in the world is that creature?" A mixture of awe and terror filled Ethan's thoughts as he plunged into the space gate.
Elsewhere, the soul of the High Priest, who had missed out on two rare Bloodlines, lay dormant within the trident. Just then, ripples in the fabric of space alerted him, accompanied by the unmistakable scent of the Bloodline.
"You two insects, daring to return?" he thundered.
"This time, there will be no escape, no second chances!" With a maniacal laugh, he bolted from the palace, only to come upon the activated space gate and, emerging from it, Ethan and Lana Mokos.
But as he prepared to unleash his wrath, the High Priest suddenly halted. His gaze, aflame with avarice, fixed on the space gate. Unable to contain his excitement, he murmured, "Hold on... there's an even more potent Bloodline present. Perfect! Absolutely perfect! Stellar, Space, Time... a confluence of formidable elements coalescing in this Bloodline. If I could possess such a vessel, even the ancient deities would perish at my hands."
Dismissing Ethan and Lana Mokos as unworthy of his immediate attention, he approached the gate. The last ordeal with the space gate had taught him caution. Peering through it, all seemed benign. On the other side stood a mere wall, barren and unremarkable.
"The essence of this flawless Bloodline seems to emanate from within the wall," he whispered to himself.
With determination, he stepped through the space gate, channeling his power to keep it stabilized. Yet, as he crossed the threshold, a pair of immense eyes confronted him. Moments later, a void of inky blackness materialized before him.
The High Priest barely had time to register shock when he felt his very soul waning, inexorably drawn into the consuming abyss before him.
Seeing this, the High Priest retreated with a countenance grim as death.
Upon returning, he swiftly closed the space gate.
"Cursed whelps! No wonder you dared to return so brazenly; you had such a scheme up your sleeves!" The High Priest was seething.
He could distinctly feel that in that brief moment, half of his soul had diminished.
If he couldn't occupy a suitable vessel this time, death might be imminent.
And the demise of the soul meant utter obliteration.
This was a reality the High Priest could never accept.
Thus, casting a chilling gaze upon Ethan and Lana Mokos, he didn't waste words and directly took action.
Moreover, to prevent them from escaping, he fortified the area with an even mightier barrier.
But then, something that took everyone by surprise occurred.
Ethan wielded the Blasphemous Spear, and with the Unerring Rule upon it taking effect, he effortlessly struck the High Priest's form, sending him soaring away.
Ethan was astounded.
The repelled High Priest was equally stunned. "Impossible!" He cried out, unwilling to believe he'd been thrown back.
At this moment, Lana Mokos shouted to Ethan, "Finish off the High Priest first!"
Ethan instantly realized something had changed within him.
Ba Jogos hadn't lied; within that Scrapyard, or perhaps within the belly of that enigmatic beast, he and Lana Mokos had indeed transcended their physical limits, obtaining even greater power.
But this... this was beyond the pale.
Suppressing the astonishment in his heart, Ethan, alongside Lana Mokos, took action.
The High Priest, having lost much of his power, was no match for Ethan and Lana Mokos.
Yet, the duo couldn't inflict any genuine harm on the High Priest, merely putting him in a state of disarray.
"Hmph, insects will always be insects. No matter how mighty power they have, they remain mere bugs," the High Priest disdainfully remarked.
Ethan and Lana Mokos exchanged glances, an unspoken understanding passing between them without a word uttered. Following that, Ethan stepped forward.
Wielding the spear in his hand, Ethan swung it repeatedly, each stroke imbued with immense force.
While it couldn't harm the High Priest, it effectively prevented him from laying a hand on Lana Mokos.
On the side, Lana Mokos seemed to be perceiving something.
Having discerned the existence of the Language of Nature from Ethan, she successfully grasped a few such languages.
Among them, the Stellar Language of Nature was the most potent, a force emanating from the cosmos.
When invoked, it could conjure stars, leveraging the vast Power of Stellar to oppress foes.
This time, Lana Mokos opted for a different approach.
Just as Ethan had seen the colossal creature, so had she.
Given that this behemoth also hailed from the cosmos, could she perhaps replicate it using the Stellar Language of Nature?
Lana Mokos's intuition proved right. Behind her materialized a downsized phantom of the Stellar Behemoth.
"Ethan, move aside now!" Lana Mokos shouted to him.
She hadn't anticipated that manifesting the specter of the Stellar Behemoth would be so draining. She felt herself teetering on the edge of exhaustion.
Hearing Lana Mokos's call, Ethan positioned himself and once again sent the High Priest hurtling through the air.
And as the High Priest sailed backward, a familiar sight met his eyes: a ghostly giant beast, its mouth gaping wide, advancing towards him.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om