Towards evening, before the final bell rang at Sobu High School, Yu drew the scattered Power of the Moon to himself. The Power of the Moon activated instantly, causing Yu's figure to disappear directly from the classroom.
When he reappeared, Yu was already on Sardinia.
At that moment on Sardinia, the last traces of the sunset hung on the horizon, dyeing the entire visible sea a brilliant orange-yellow. Accompanied by the sea breeze, the ocean surface shimmered with light, creating an exceptionally enchanting scene.
However, in the midst of that boundless sea, a small island had suddenly appeared, and upon it stood an altar built from sea crystal. Four figures stood on the altar.
"Has Master not arrived yet?"
The Moon God Envoy carrying a massive axe looked at his companion beside him, made several hand signs, and asked the question.
"I don't know."
The other Moon God Envoy, who carried a greatsword, shook his head.
He had already contacted Lord Master, and the reply he received was that he would come when the Power of the Moon spread across the land.
But now quite some time had passed, and he still could not sense Lord Master's aura.
"Could Master be sleeping?"
The Moon God Envoy with the axe looked at his companion, and a human-like expression of doubt appeared on his rigid moonstone face.
"I'm not sure. And next time, practice your sign language before talking to me."
Shaking his head once again, the Moon God Envoy with the greatsword replied in sign language, though a sense of helplessness could be felt from his movements.
"The Box of Gluttony... is that it?"
At that moment, Yu's voice suddenly sounded behind the two Moon God Envoys.
Hearing it, both of them trembled, then turned around and immediately saw the young man standing behind them, his attention completely focused on the leather box atop the altar.
Upon seeing the young man, the four Moon God Envoys did not dare delay. They quickly bowed and knelt on one knee before him.
"You've done an excellent job. Where is Exile?"
Looking at the four Moon God Envoys, Yu lightly raised his hand.
The wind blew upward and helped the four Moon God Envoys rise to their feet, after which he asked about the divine artifact Exile.
After Yu's question, one of the Moon God Envoys quickly removed a strange weapon from his back.
It was forged from blue stone and at first glance resembled a bolt of lightning.
He handed it to the young man.
"So this is Exile?"
Upon seeing Exile, Yu took it without hesitation.
There was nothing particularly remarkable about Exile's appearance.
It was very similar to Chaser, with no difference in size, color, or material.
The only minor difference was its shape.
The moment Exile landed in his hand, the system panel appeared before his eyes.
[Exile: A divine artifact from Phoenician mythology, shaped like a bolt of lightning. It represents the lightning power of Melqart, the supreme god of the Phoenician pantheon. It is the force of violent and destructive lightning. Like Chaser, it is a masterpiece forged by the craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis, and therefore contains the divinity of that god within it.]
"This divine artifact can summon lightning, granting its user the Power of Thunder. Thunder represents banishment; it can lock onto a target and destroy it with countless lightning strikes!"
As Yu read the system's description of Exile, he felt a strong sense of familiarity.
He suddenly recalled the system description of Chaser.
It was very similar to Exile.
However, unlike Chaser, which could only control the power of storms, Exile not only controlled storms but could also use lightning to precisely lock onto enemies.
That was equivalent to precision bombardment.
In terms of ability, it was much stronger than Chaser.
Nevertheless, for Yu, that ability was only of minor use.
After all, he believed that the lightning summoned by Exile was probably not particularly powerful.
At the very least, it was not stronger than his authority, Water-Born Lightning Fire.
After storing Exile away, Yu looked at the four Moon God Envoys, nodded, and said:
"You've done well. Return and rest."
"Boom!"
Hearing the order, the four Moon God Envoys forcefully struck their fists against their chests, indicating that they understood the young man's command.
Immediately afterward, the Power of the Moon enveloped their bodies, and their figures disappeared.
After the four Moon God Envoys left, Yu's gaze finally settled on the leather box lying atop the altar.
"The Box of Gluttony... this aura is truly strange."
Yu glanced at the Box of Gluttony but did not rush to take it.
Since the four Moon God Envoys had not touched the Box of Gluttony lightly, it meant there was certainly a serious problem with it.
Moreover, Yu could sense an extremely active cursed energy emanating from it.
Yu was not a fool.
How could he knowingly approach danger?
He continued to ignore the Box of Gluttony.
There was no point in observing it if he could not take it.
Instead, he decided to study the altar itself.
Even when he had first arrived, Yu had already noticed that something was unusual about this altar.
The entire altar was made of sea crystal, and traces of seawater could be found across its surface.
At a glance, Yu could tell that this altar had recently risen from the sea.
In addition, the magic circle on the altar greatly interested him.
The altar beneath his feet did not bear the common pentagram or hexagram often seen in medieval Western magic circles.
Instead, it was a triangular magic circle.
With the Box of Gluttony at its very center, the magic circle formed a perfect equilateral triangle.
From Yu's perspective, it was oriented with its apex pointing upward.
In Western mythology, an upward-pointing triangle usually represents masculine power and life energy.
Such symbolism perfectly matched the immense power represented by Melqart as the supreme god of Phoenician mythology.
However...
For a supreme god, using only a triangle as a symbol seemed somewhat... modest.
Typical magic circles were generally depicted as pentagrams, symbolizing balance and the union of elements.
Yet now, this magic circle, which was closely connected to Melqart, was merely an ordinary triangle?
As he pondered this, the Box of Gluttony at the center of the altar suddenly erupted with an enormous amount of cursed energy.
That cursed energy was like a sudden storm rising from the sea.
It roared and transformed into waves of cursed energy that rampaged across the world.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"
The sky, which had moments ago been painted with the orange glow of sunset, now became gloomy.
Dense rain clouds appeared from nowhere and completely covered the heavens in just a few moments.
In an instant, the entire world was filled with a suffocating atmosphere.
"This is...? A summoning circle?!"
At that moment, Yu finally recognized the true nature of this unusual triangular magic circle.
It was a simplified version of the magic circle he himself had used to summon the Heretic God Melqart!
And now that magic circle had been activated using the cursed energy gathered by the Box of Gluttony.
However, it seemed to have reached its limit.
As though something was missing.
Seeing this, Yu immediately pulled out the remaining three divine artifacts he possessed from his system space and threw them out without hesitation.
The moment the three divine artifacts left the system space, they shone with dazzling light.
Immediately afterward, the three divine artifacts flew into the air and landed at the corners of the triangular altar.
This time, the summoning circle shone with a blinding radiance.
The summoning of the Heretic God Melqart had officially begun!