Chapter 156: Magical Item: Heart of the Moon Goddess
Mountains of the Moon, Blood Sacrifice Valley
"Wuwu..."
Within the mist-shrouded forest, a monster resembling a werewolf growled in a low voice. A large section of its left shoulder had caved inward, clearly showing signs of injury.
"Dragon King Aegon!..."
"Don't come over! This creature is incredibly powerful. Fall back and protect Lady Jeyne Arryn!"
After shouting at the subordinates who wanted to rush over and help, Aegon stripped off his equipment. The creature's speed was extraordinarily fast; if it were allowed to charge toward Jeyne Arryn and the others, the consequences would be unimaginable.
This creature, which resembled a werewolf, appeared horrifying. Madness flickered within its beastly eyes, blood dripped from the corners of its mouth, and its exposed fangs radiated a chilling aura.
Its claws were as sharp as blades. At this moment, it crouched low against the ground, seemingly preparing for another assault.
Only then did Aegon notice that the caved-in portion of its body seemed to be recovering bit by bit.
He had not expected this creature to possess such terrifying regenerative abilities. Seeing it twist its body, Aegon immediately charged forward.
The moment it saw Aegon move, the werewolf launched its own attack. Its speed resembled lightning itself, reaching Aegon in an instant.
However, Aegon showed no fear of that terrifying speed. Instead, he immediately threw a punch, intending to meet the werewolf's claws head-on.
The Iron Gauntlets on Aegon's hands had been forged from the finest steel and fit perfectly. Although he still wasn't entirely sure of the werewolf's physical strength, Aegon had complete confidence he could deliver a fatal strike with these gauntlets.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
As fist and claw collided, a series of ear-piercing metallic sounds rang out between Aegon and the werewolf. In a single instant, Aegon blocked three of the werewolf's strikes and inflicted damage upon its claws.
After this exchange, Aegon realized that while the werewolf's strength was astonishing, it still fell slightly short compared to his own.
Aegon immediately began exploiting this advantage and targeted the werewolf's joints. Without the burden of armor, Aegon's speed was now nearly equal to the werewolf's.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
"Wuwu..."
The battle dragged on for quite some time, and the werewolf remained unbelievably resilient, as if it had taken some kind of stimulant. Every time Aegon shattered one of its limbs, the creature quickly recovered.
Its ability to instantly switch to a four-legged stance left Aegon speechless; it felt like trying to catch a dog that completely ignored broken legs. He simply could not pin it down.
As time passed, Aegon gradually became irritated. This thing was truly obnoxious. If not for the items and skill books it carried, he would never have wasted so much effort.
According to the system's information, this creature had been labeled as the Moon Goddess. Its five core attributes all fell slightly below Aegon's, except for speed. Without that speed advantage, Aegon likely would have slaughtered it long ago.
If this thing had been released outside, there was probably no creature capable of defeating it. Aegon simply did not understand why it had remained here all this time.
"Haah..."
Realizing he could not allow this to continue, Aegon charged directly at the creature. During the previous exchange, he had damaged its right leg joint, and it now sprawled awkwardly on the ground.
"Boom..."
Perhaps because its life had been threatened, some hidden potential awakened within it. Aegon's killing blow failed to land cleanly as the creature managed to dodge at the last moment.
That movement caused Aegon's strike to smash directly into a nearby tree. The trunk, as thick as a basin, instantly exploded upon contact with Aegon's iron fist.
"Whoosh, whoosh... Crack..."
Because the creature had dodged so quickly, its back was suddenly exposed to Jeyne Arryn. Having restrained herself until now, she naturally would not let such an opportunity slip away. With a wave of her slender hand, a piercing cold wind slammed directly into the werewolf called the "Moon Goddess."
Dense ice attacks forced the werewolf to dodge repeatedly, but it had clearly underestimated the power of the assault. Under Jeyne Arryn's tremendous magical strength, the blizzard's destructive power became absurdly overwhelming, instantly transforming the surrounding hundred square meters into a forest of ice pillars.
The werewolf Moon Goddess struggled desperately to break free from the frozen prison and looked utterly miserable. Aegon knew this was the result of magic triggering a critical strike, tripling its original power.
Aegon seized this opportunity and rushed directly before the werewolf, delivering a heavy punch toward its skull.
"Bang..."
Hit by Aegon's blow, the werewolf Moon Goddess flew backward. After smashing through several trees, Aegon immediately chased after it.
"Haah..."
Aegon clenched both fists and unleashed a rain of blows upon the dazed werewolf. Unable to resist Aegon's assault, the creature could only endure one strike after another landing upon its head.
"Bang... Bang... Bang..."
Repeated impacts caused the werewolf's skull to cave inward. Under this endless barrage, its horrifying regenerative speed finally began to weaken dramatically.
As Aegon continued attacking, the werewolf's head sank lower and lower. It had completely lost the ability to retaliate and could only endure Aegon's merciless beating.
"Puchi..."
With Aegon's final punch, the giant werewolf's head exploded into pieces. Blood-colored liquid and black crystalline fragments scattered in every direction.
"What is this?!"
Looking at the bizarre corpse before him, curiosity immediately rose within Aegon's heart. This thing did not seem like a biological creature at all. Instead, it resembled some strange magical construct.
"What exactly is this thing?"
Jeyne Arryn also looked curiously at the werewolf's remains. This was her first time seeing such a bizarre creation as well.
Aegon glanced at the glass-like fragments on the ground that resembled dragonglass, then picked up some of the blood-like liquid and sniffed it.
"This doesn't smell like blood. It smells more like some kind of concentrated plant substance."
After catching the strange scent, Aegon immediately gave his judgment.
"It seems this power is related to the Children of the Forest. Their ability to wield ice and fire surpasses ours. We can only create Glass Candles, but they can use magical creations like this to cast spells."
After picking up a dragonglass fragment from the ground, Jeyne Arryn shared her own thoughts.
"That means there might be a heart tree here!"
Thinking of this possibility, Aegon immediately ordered Frodo and the others to collect the creature's remains. To ensure it could never revive, Aegon personally held onto its half-shattered head.
Led by Aegon, the group traveled through the forest and eventually reached a strange region. Just as Aegon had expected, a heart tree indeed stood here—though it was already dead.
Because heart trees did not decay naturally, the massive pale tree with a carved face still stood among the surrounding rubble. Looking at the strange vortex-shaped arrangement of symbols covering the ground, Aegon realized some kind of mysterious summoning ritual had likely once been performed here.
Moreover, these symbols differed from those he had encountered before. Near the stone piles, he noticed several human skeletons.
Apparently, the things left behind by the Children of the Forest had not been entirely forgotten. At the very least, these mountain tribes still remembered how to use them, and perhaps the wildlings Beyond the Wall remembered as well.
After examining the situation, Aegon summoned the item rewards from this encounter.
Item: Heart of the Moon Goddess
Traits: Lycanthropy (Transforms the user into a werewolf, increasing all five attributes), Infection (Control ten creatures and grant them nearly half of the host's power), Descent (Grants the host Skinchanger abilities)
Buffs: Strength +10, Mana +10, Immunity to critical strikes, 50% damage reduction
Item: Book of Swiftness
Trait: Swiftness (Increases the host's speed by 20%)
Both items had been manifested by the system after extracting the creature's power. After researching the system for a long time, Aegon had gained a basic understanding of some of its characteristics. That was why he had come here after learning rumors that ancient gods once possessed power within the Mountains of the Moon.
"Did you get something good this time? You look quite excited!"
Years spent together had allowed Jeyne Arryn to understand Aegon very well. For him to show such an expression, he had undoubtedly obtained something valuable.
"Hahaha, with this treasure, our plans in the Vale will become much safer. This little thing can be given to Timett. That should make things much more interesting!"
The Heart of the Moon Goddess could instantly grant someone terrifying power. It would be especially useful for someone like Timett, who was already strong. With this item, he might even gain the ability to run up walls.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'll let you take a look first! And our gains this time aren't limited to this. I've thought of a way to revive our dragon eggs!"
Aegon spoke directly as he handed the Heart of the Moon Goddess over to Jeyne Arryn.
After hearing Aegon's words, Jeyne Arryn's curiosity toward the Heart of the Moon Goddess immediately diminished. Instead, she turned toward the heart tree with a thoughtful expression.
"Although the power of these things is great, they seem far too dangerous to me. Nothing will go wrong... right?"
Jeyne Arryn seemed to have already guessed part of Aegon's plan and directly voiced her concerns.
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