Divine Kingship

Chapter 598 Elven Clerics and the Evil of the Elves

The three veteran adventurers of the Sunrise Adventurer Squad gripped their weapons tightly, ready to attack at any moment, in response to the sudden appearance of the three individuals.

In the wild, something that appears suddenly often means danger.

The fact that these three people had suddenly appeared before the vigilant dwarven berserkers further underscored the danger.

But after seeing the person's face clearly, the three adventurers relaxed.

The dwarfs, who had been hiding in the bushes, also came out.

"Your Majesty Rand." The three adventurers all bowed.

They were quite surprised to encounter the great His Majesty Rand in such a place.

But since it couldn't possibly be some shapeshifter in disguise, they didn't suspect that Rand was a fake.

The shapeshifting abilities of the shapeshifters in this world cannot fool any intelligent being, not even a three-year-old child.

It was an honor to meet Rand and his group.

"So let me try the mushroom and beef soup?" Rand smiled.

The three adventurers were somewhat reserved, and the half-elf mage, who was apprenticed to the Burning Steel Squad, was a little embarrassed: "Your Majesty Rand, perhaps we should just forget about it..."

Rand really wanted to try the mushroom and beef soup: "I heard you were apprenticed to the Burning Steel Squad. What, are you not very good at it? Don't worry, I won't be too harsh on you, and I'll pay for it."

The half-elf mage wasn't lacking in confidence in his cooking skills, but his earlier suggestion to have mushroom and beef soup for dinner was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. The unknown creatures in the wild, as well as the mushrooms, might have some toxicity.

“Your Majesty, wild ingredients may not be very safe.” The half-elf mage was naturally worried that Rand might drink the broth and get poisoned, which would make her feel like she was going to be thrown into jail.

"Don't worry, I'm a professional gourmet. A gourmet isn't intimidated by danger," Rand continued.

Rand was not afraid, of course; he couldn't be killed by it.

But since His Majesty Rand has already said so, I have no choice but to agree: "I have mastered some cooking skills. If Your Majesty does not mind my skills, please be sure to try them."

Rand nodded.

Then Rand, Olena, and Lysa found a tree stump and sat down.

Luca and the dwarf assisted the half-elf mage, starting to make meat soup.

Rand watched from a large, horizontal tree stump.

Rand's cooking skills did not become rusty due to his busy schedule, and his eye for cooking remained sharp.

Rand prides himself on being the king of food, so he can't afford to be out of touch with the local cuisine.

This half-elf mage is a very skilled cook; it seems that his claim of being apprenticed to the Burning Steel Squad is not unfounded.

Meanwhile, the half-elf mage who was cooking was talking to her teammates: "Do you know what His Majesty Rand's dietary restrictions are?"

Luca pondered for a moment and then shook his head: "His Majesty Rand seems to have no taboos. As long as the food is made normally, His Majesty Rand can taste it."

Since receiving help from Rand, Luca has taken a good look at Rand's preferences.

He had been wanting to give Rand a gift, but he couldn't think of anything that Rand would like.

It now seems that Rand's hobbies are much more down-to-earth than imagined, such as mushroom and beef soup, which may have a numbing effect.
Rand has no allergies and never gets food poisoning, which is of course due to Rand's "Thirst Sharing," a powerful blessing that allows Rand to eat as much as he wants without dying.

Of course, Rand wouldn't eat those weird things made by minotaurs or centaurs.

Just because something doesn't kill you doesn't mean you have to eat x.

The dwarf berserker observed the leader of the Holy Land forces, the king of the Moon Phase Kingdom, the head of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health, and the person they would serve as the future heir of their dwarf kingdom.

Rand Nicholas was a dark-haired man who looked somewhat lazy.

He sat quietly on the horizontal tree stump, scrutinizing the adventurer's portable stove.

Beside Rand were two women who, theoretically, would be considered beautiful from a human perspective: one was human, and the other was an elf.

They all look like they're not to be trifled with.

Two dangerous women.

The dwarf berserker didn't look at it much, because the half-elf mage quickly chased him away to add firewood.

The dwarves live amidst mountain ash and furnaces year-round, and their rough skin protects them from the intense heat.

Such racial talents make dwarves more suitable for metallurgy or forging, and of course, they can also be good at cooking.

The half-elf mage, wearing an apron, served the mushroom and beef soup to Rand.

Rand took the wooden bowl and looked at everyone: "Why aren't you drinking?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Rand smiled; it seemed everyone was quite afraid of food poisoning.

He looked at the broth in the bowl, which looked quite delicious and fragrant, and his previous cooking skills seemed to have been fine.

Olena blocked with her fair hand: "How about I try it first?"

Rand squeezed Olena's hand, then took a sip of the mushroom and beef soup.

He certainly wouldn't drink too much; if the amount was large and it was truly poisonous, it might still have an effect that would take some time to recover from.

In this already somewhat unsafe elven forest, being affected for a period of time could be quite dangerous.

Actually, it doesn't really matter; Rand's combat strength won't be counted towards Rand's score.

As long as high-ranking members of the Sanctuary like Olena and Lysa are not poisoned, there will be no impact.

The gentle, hot broth washes over your taste buds, the firmness of the beef and the umami of the mushroom soup blending together in your mouth.

The cooking skills were indeed excellent, and the ingredients were fresh and prepared perfectly.

It's an excellent work, and I didn't feel any poisoning at all.

Rand slowly finished the beef soup.

After carefully observing for a while, a slight tingling sensation can indeed be felt.

It seems that it may indeed have a slight toxicity.

"It does indeed have a very slight toxicity, so you shouldn't touch it," Rand commented.

Everyone readily agreed, regardless of whether it was because His Majesty Rand wanted to keep it all to himself or because it was truly poisonous; clearly, no one would go against Rand's will.

Everyone enjoyed the dried meat soup as usual, while Rand finished the mushroom and beef soup.

After dinner, Rand disappeared for a while with Olina and Lysa.

When she reappeared, Rand was completely unaffected.

To avoid any potential repercussions, Rand went to the altar to refresh his status.

Of course, Rand also brought an altar this time.

"Now we need to get down to business." After their reunion, Rand looked at Luca and the others.

"It's about that parchment. The Adventurers' Guild should give you an extra reward. That parchment is indeed very valuable, so I came to inquire further."

Luca nodded: "Of course I'll tell you everything I know."

Rand asked directly, "How did you obtain this tattered parchment?"

"During the battle, I encountered some clergymen who appeared to be elven druids. They worshipped the elven god, and after defeating them, I obtained this parchment fragment."

Luca thought it through carefully before answering, "We encountered another group of enemies like that after that, but we never got any similar loot again." "What were their characteristics? And where did you encounter them?"

Luca gave a detailed description.

After listening, Rand stood up and handed Luca a card: "Okay, thank you for your assistance. With this card, you can go to the Adventurers' Guild to exchange equipment and get some other services, such as priority supply of potions. Consider it a reward. And if you achieve more results in the future, there will be further rewards for you."

The Adventurers' Guild is now essentially under Rand's control.

In this world, adventurers' guilds are considered non-governmental organizations, but since the emergence of Rand, the adventurers' guild of the resort has gradually grown stronger, and now it has turned around to unify adventurers' guilds in other regions and has taken on a semi-official nature.

The equipment replacement service and priority supply of potions that Rand provided to Luca and his team were special privileges, quite valuable, but just enough to match their intelligence support.

As for the subsequent benefits gained from this intelligence, Rand will naturally provide the adventurer team with additional compensation.

Rand is always quite generous to his own people, well, except for holidays.

"Then let's leave too." Rand didn't interfere with the adventurer team's mission.

Luca's intelligence has already revealed a number of targets.

“Then let’s get started,” Rand said.

Olena and Lysa had no objections.

In places like the Elf Forest, where it's impossible to deploy large numbers of troops in most areas, small-scale military operations are a better option.

The strong have an advantage in the dense forest, and nowadays Rand is not really a burden to Lysa and Olena anymore.

"Elven clergy..." Rand looked at Lysa, "Theoretically, elves don't have any official church, right?"

“Yes, but there are local churches with their own unique characteristics. These churches all worship the Elf God, and the doctrines of different local churches will vary. These differences are quite significant.” Lysa is quite knowledgeable about elves.

"So this local church nearby must be part of the Revivalists?" Rand guessed.

……

After several days of trekking.

The three finally found the place where Luca got the piece of paper.

After searching for a while, they found a dilapidated temple.

There are quite a few elves patrolling the entrance.

Even a cursory observation is enough to clearly identify this place as belonging to the Revivalists.

There are many lifeless elves locked in cages, and places that appear to be evil sacrificial altars.

After observing for a while, the group soon discovered an even more terrifying scene.

In some places, there were corpses of elf villagers of all ages everywhere, and many elf heads were impaled on wooden stakes. The overall environment was so evil that it was appalling.

“There aren’t many people here. Should we infiltrate first and then take action, or go straight up and deal with them?” Rand asked.

A top-tier professional's strength is roughly enough to allow them to face 30 fully armed and experienced veterans alone in an open area.

More would be dangerous.

However, Olena is not an ordinary top-tier professional, and Lysa is even more mysterious and is not an ordinary top-tier professional either.

Rand is only a high-level professional, but he certainly doesn't qualify as a normal high-level professional.

With the three of them combined, even in complex terrain, their combat strength is already quite considerable.

The opposing side weren't exactly experienced veterans; their weapons and armor were quite dilapidated, and they probably only had a couple hundred combatants. The rest were likely villagers, researchers, or clergy.

In addition, there was a surprise attack.

At least in terms of combat strength, Rand's side should be guaranteed to win.

"It's up to you." Lysa and Olena had no objections.

Rand drew his one-handed sword from his waist.

Rand really liked greatswords, but in this situation, he felt it was inconvenient to carry one through the dense forest, so he temporarily switched to a one-handed sword.

This one-handed sword was no ordinary weapon, but Rand hadn't paid any attention to it.

Rand's figure emerged from the shadows.

The completely non-reflective, jet-black blade plunged into the throat of an elven guard.

Rand slashed deeply, severing the spinal nerves, thus eliminating any chance of a counterattack.

Then comes the next enemy.

Then they encountered a monster that was entirely gray and white.

"Why are they undead?" Rand frowned.

The undead rushed over.

But before she could get close to Rand, the soul fire suddenly went out. Olena gently returned to Rand's side and sheathed the swift sword that was shimmering with light.

They chopped melons and vegetables along the way.

It's all about infiltrating, and killing anyone you see.

Basically, as long as no one sees you, it's a perfect infiltration.

Rand easily stormed into the heart of the dilapidated temple.

A huge altar.

Any altar in this world that can connect with an evil god requires a very evil ritual, so Rand never builds an altar on his own initiative.

The Torch Goddess doesn't have an altar at all. She doesn't accept conventional bloody sacrifices; she only needs her followers to use fire to destroy evil.

The altar in front of us is very magnificent.

Such a massive altar must imply even more evil and cruelty.

"Die, you evil demon!" Rand pointed his sword at the priest before the altar.

"Does a human even have the right to say such things?" The priest looked at Rand with a sneer.

"In my country, as long as one obeys my laws, whether one is an elf, a human, or any other race, one is considered my citizen." Rand is not a racist; Rand's Moon Phase Kingdom may be the first multi-ethnic nation in the world.

Now that Rand has begun to intervene in the Elf Forest, normal elves are naturally regarded by Rand as a part of human rights.

At least Rand felt he was worthy of regarding this priest as a demon.

Although Rand was also a messenger of some indescribable being.

Festering, twisted limbs grew on the elven priest's body.

Then it was immediately severed by a flash of silver light, and the limbs tried to grow back, but were severed again.

It will soon be unable to regenerate.

For experienced adventurer parties, this dilapidated temple might be a dangerous adventure location.

But to be honest, once this elven priest started to twist and deform, he was only at the level of a normal, top-tier professional. In any case, he was no match for Olena.

Lysa didn't even need to lift a finger.

If Rand hadn't wanted to extract some information from him, the elven priest would already be dead.

(End of this chapter)