Chapter 79 - The Shrine and What's Hidden There

The cacophony of cracking and scraping intensified, reverberating through the air like the ominous prelude to a storm. My heart raced as I caught sight of those unsettling voids where eyes should have been—dark, fathomless pits that seemed to absorb the very light around them. With a slow, deliberate motion, it turned its head toward the lions, an eerie grace that sent shivers down my spine. In that moment, the ground trembled beneath us, and I watched in disbelief as massive chunks of stone began to fracture and break away from the lions, cascading to the earth like fallen stars. Suddenly, the entire area erupted in a blinding azure glow, a surreal and almost otherworldly light that enveloped everything in its path, leaving me momentarily disoriented and awestruck by the sheer intensity of it all.