A figure sat quietly upon the throne at the center of the temple.
She was a woman with long deep-blue hair, dressed in a gown woven from pure flowing water.
She was Aquilis, the long-missing Guardian of Aquarius.
But what puzzled Lin Ye was that there was no life in her eyes.
She remained as motionless as a statue; he could not even detect her breathing.
"Aquilis?" Lin Ye called out cautiously.
The instant his voice rang out, Aquilis suddenly opened her eyes.
But her pupils had turned an eerie silvery white, devoid of all human emotion.
"Outsider." Her voice was as cold and deep as the sea, carrying an echo.
"You came too late."
Lin Ye felt a powerful sense of unease. There was clearly something wrong with this Aquilis.
"Are you all right? Where is the Aquarius mark?"
Aquilis slowly rose to her feet, her movements as stiff as a machine's.
"The Aquarius mark is no longer here."
"A month ago, people from the Void Empire already came."
The news struck Lin Ye like a bolt from the blue.
"What? The Void Empire already took the mark?"
"That's right." Aquilis nodded, her expression still utterly unchanged.
"They brought a powerful Void Lord."
"I could not resist. The mark was taken."
"But in exchange, they gave me eternal life."
Lin Ye finally understood the cause of the anomaly.
The Aquilis before him was no longer a true Guardian.
She had been transformed by Void Energy into something akin to a puppet.
"You've been controlled by them!" Lin Ye clenched the Star Sword.
"Controlled?" Aquilis let out a hollow laugh.
"No, this is liberation."
"No more pain, no more fear. Only eternal peace."
"You can receive the same gift as well."
She raised both hands, and all the water in