Divine Kingship

Chapter 623 The Moon Goddess's Favoritism

Rand stared at the flame in the lantern.

The lantern is a reinforced model, but otherwise it's nothing special; the flame inside is orange.

Such flames are very common, lacking the diverse and unusual colors produced by burning metallic elements, and are not as brilliant and dazzling as Karin's flames.

It is said to be the sacred flame of the Torch Church, which was brought to the new Holy City by the utilitarians when the Torch Church split in the past.

Later, in Rand's planned "Project Sunrise," a portion of the sacred flame of the Torch Church's new holy city was taken away by several knights who smelled of sulfur.

Later, when the old knight commander came to power in the new Holy City, Rand naturally had a way to obtain this sacred flame.

However, at this point, it doesn't really matter whether this flame is sacred or not.

Even if the flame in the lantern were just an ordinary flame, it would still be enough to attract the attention of the Torch Goddess.

Because the most fundamental doctrines of the Torch Church have always been very simple.

"Use fire to cleanse evil."

By using fire to destroy evil, you can receive the blessings of the Torch Goddess.

And at this moment.

Rand has fire in his hand.

Evil roams everywhere, both beneath and above the World Tree.

Now is the perfect time to put the Torch Goddess's will into practice, isn't it?

After seeing Lysa, Rand's fantasies about what a goddess looked like were shattered.

Otherwise, I could get really excited at a time like this.

"Crack—" With the sound of the metal plate of the lantern grinding, Rand took out the fire.

Extend your palm and carefully protect the flames from the turbulent air currents high in the sky.

The tiny flame seemed surprisingly resilient.

Then the flames came into contact with the flesh and blood of the divine children atop the canopy of the Golden World Tree.

Rand had originally prepared some other materials, such as some kindling produced by the Torch Church, or other evils as fuel.

It seems unnecessary now.

The tiny orange flame, upon contact with the evil flesh, immediately grew rapidly and began to burn fiercely.

Soon the air currents at high altitudes were no longer enough to extinguish the flames.

Rand stood in a relatively safe place, his robes fluttering in the wind.

He asked Lysa in a low voice, "So, I have a question now."

"What's the problem?" Lysa replied.

"So, would you accept sacrifices? Or do you have an altar?" Rand asked.

Lysa chuckled softly, her voice as clear and melodious as a silver bell.

"Your Majesty, what do you wish me to bestow upon you?"

“That’s not what I meant,” Rand explained. “Since the World Tree is about to perish, if it can be sacrificed, it would be a good opportunity to recoup some of the losses for you.”

As for taking advantage of others... Rand is really too embarrassed to take advantage of Lysa.

Lysa stood by his side from the very beginning, when Rand had just come into this world and his safety was not even guaranteed.

Lysa provided Rand with a lot of help.

Moreover, Lysa appears to be a true god, and this true god did not simply crush Rand just because Rand seemed to have a lot of evil aura and was an outsider.

So, it's very likely that Rand's gradual inability to be detected by the Torch Church's ritual implements was also Ryza's doing.

Of course, it's also possible that because Rand and the Torch Church are already in the same camp, it can't be detected.

“I am actually quite similar to the Torch Goddess. The destruction of evil, the protection of good creatures, the guidance of the lost, and living in accordance with the laws of nature are all sacrifices to me. There is no need to prepare any altar. Your actions now are a sacrifice to me,” Lysa explained directly.

“That’s very convenient.” Rand nodded.

"So we're back to the previous question: what do you wish me to grant you?" Lysa asked once again.

“Should we offer a suitable blessing?” Rand asked.

"They've arrived based on my assessment?"

"Ah."

Because of Rand's arson, the flames have started to spread downwards from the top of the World Tree.

Rand even had a strange feeling, a sense of being watched.

The Torch Goddess should really be focusing her attention here.

And this sacrifice to destroy evil was not yet complete.

Ryza's blessing is already in place.

[Blessing 10: The Moon Goddess's Favoritism]

So Ryza was originally the goddess of the moon, and not some kind of fairy goddess? That makes sense, since Ryza created all the fairies, so naming her after a fairy goddess doesn't seem very reasonable.

What are the effects?

"Literally, it has no other effect."

What does "literal meaning" mean?

"That is, no matter when or what the occasion, whether it's making a choice or a judgment, I will be biased towards you."

“Isn’t that a bit too expensive?” Rand asked.

If it's just a normal person's favoritism, then it's probably just normal human nature.

If it is the favoritism of a god.

Although Ryza is very much "Ryza", her power and status are clearly not in question.

Then Ryza's favoritism seems extremely exaggerated.

"No, I've always been biased towards you. This might just be a useless blessing?" Lysa chuckled softly again, then suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Thinking about it, it's not entirely useless. From now on, you won't get lost at night. The moonlight will guide you, and intelligent plant creatures like tree spirits or mushroom people will naturally be close to you. It might even be useful in combat. That depends on you."

That's all there is to it, that's all.

……

Vanilla wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Rand has already sent a letter to Vanilla via Crow Cola.

Don't worry about Vanilla, what if there's not enough time?

Rand told Vanilla that he had reached the top of the World Tree canopy and was ready.

If there isn't enough time to save the World Tree, then Rand will not allow it to become a sacrifice to evil.

This definitely put Vanilla at ease.

If the World Tree becomes a sacrifice to evil, then we don't know what kind of monsters will emerge.

Then the Elf Forest, the home of the elves, may be destroyed.

With Rand backing her up, Vanilla has no worries and can focus entirely on her work.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time.

The elves may truly be going to lose the World Tree.

Just as Vanilla realized that time was running out, flames ignited on the canopy of the World Tree.

A giant raven flew close to the Golden World Tree.

I guess they went to meet Rand.

As the flames spread...

Vanilla sensed that the air had become heavy again.

There was something disgusting in the air, a mixture of fishy sweetness and decay.

As the vice-principal of a church school who was very familiar with evil, Vanilla knew what had happened.

According to the ancient texts, this situation indicates that an evil god has personally turned his gaze upon this place. Countless dead people crawled out of the churning soil.

The fallen elves also rose slowly, their bodies ablaze with eerie green flames.

This is the power of the Apostles of Calamity.

These elven warriors, who fought for their goals in life, now have their bodies desecrated, and their corpses are moving through the world once more.

In just a few breaths, the mountains and fields were already filled with the dead.

But that didn't stop there.

It wasn't just the Scourge Apostles who projected their power here.

Countless enormous tentacles rose from the earth.

The flesh and blood of countless surviving elves from the battlefield fused together, transforming them into giant monsters.

These are the powers of the goddess of darkness and abundance and the god of war, respectively.

"Don't worry, everyone. We've already prepared for this situation. The materials to fight evil have already been distributed to you. Now, light those torches and those braziers," Vanilla quickly ordered.

The prepared countermeasures were quickly implemented.

Because vanilla had anticipated evil, she naturally made preparations accordingly.

Therefore, the best tools to fight against evil are naturally those from the Torch Church and the Church of the Goddess of Harvest and Health.

Unfortunately, there aren't enough oxen and horses available right now; otherwise, a massive army of oxen and horses could suppress evil.

Now we can only use materials from the Torch Church.

This is fuel material that has been continuously transported to the Elf Forest from the very beginning, so the quantity is quite considerable and can last for a while.

The vision was caused by the gaze of an evil god, and the burning flames were extinguished.

……

Meanwhile, at the roots of the World Tree, the Divine Child was on high alert, ready to fight, but he did not see Rand bring his men to the roots to cause him trouble.

At this moment, the gaze of the gods had already reached this place, except for that of the goddess of darkness and abundance.

Moreover, although the Mother Goddess did not cast a glance at him, some of her power was directed to this place.

The terrifying power made heaven and earth tremble.

The sky trembled, and the earth tore apart.

Green flames began to burn from the roots, clinging to the surface of the golden World Tree, and resisting the orange-yellow sacred fire.

The bark of the Golden World Tree has cracked due to the struggle between the two flames, and flesh and blood have grown out of the cracks, with a struggle taking place within the disordered flesh and blood.

An invisible force attempted to tear apart everything in existence, but even this mighty power from the God of Struggle seemed somewhat slow in destroying the Golden World Tree.

Tentacles growing from the earth, now like giant skyscrapers rising from the mud, these tentacles, thicker and more majestic than skyscrapers, are also extending upwards, resisting the burning orange flames.

The power of God is gathered here.

Although the world still has many limitations on the power of these so-called gods.

But his power is still beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Similar to the situation with the Golden World Tree, on the land near its roots, the elven army is also fighting against these demons and monsters that have appeared because of the attention of the evil god.

For a moment, the world was filled with color.

Bright red blood is no longer the dominant color in the world.

"When do you plan to make your move?" Rand asked.

“It’s almost there.” Lysa’s gaze was fixed on the crumbling, burning, and twisting golden World Tree.

At this moment, Rand, Lysa, and Elsa all returned to the back of Crow Cola.

Giant crows flew beneath the clouds.

The sacred flames of the Torch Goddess, now swirling in the canopy of the Golden World Tree, appear from afar as if the Golden World Tree has grown leaves of an even deeper color.

Flames danced wildly, vying with evil for the burning fuel.

Honestly, watching this scene, Rand felt as if the Torch Goddess was really manipulating these flames to fight against the evil god.

The flames always burn in just the right place to stop the spread of green flames or cracks in flesh.

Then those traces that are clearly those of evil forces will always try to seize more of the Golden World Tree's area.

After some time, the Golden World Tree appeared to be completely engulfed in flames.

Although the color of the flame is not limited to the orange-red that represents the sacred flame.

“Now it’s time for us to make our move,” Lysa finally spoke.

“What should we do?” Rand asked.

Lysa handed Rand a longbow that she always carried with her, which clearly looked like something extraordinary.

Then he pulled out the whip from his waist.

As Lysa moved, the whip gradually straightened, then transformed into a wooden arrow with an iron-blue sheen.

“Come on, just shoot arrows at the Golden World Tree,” Lysa said softly.

Rand did not ask why Lysa could not shoot the arrow herself.

Now is clearly the time, and there is no time to waste.

Rand drew his bow and nocked an arrow. He wasn't very good at archery, but he could still shoot normally.

It's not difficult.

The difficulty of archery lies in hitting the target.

But Rand obviously doesn't need to worry about that.

As he drew his bow and nocked the arrow, Rand felt a surge of unknown divine power flowing into his palm.

Rand was familiar with the power of many gods, but this was the first time he had ever felt the power of Lysa.

The feeling Rand had was indeed like moonlight: distant, beautiful, pure, and solidified.

Rand released the bowstring.

The arrow instantly traveled several kilometers and struck the Golden World Tree.

The power of the evil god and the power of the Torch Goddess, which were fiercely vying for power on the surface of the Golden World Tree, solidified at this moment.

But soon, all of that changed.

The elves, still battling evil in the distance, could also be seen.

The Golden World Tree rumbled loudly.

Its bark, its branches, its leaves, and its roots all began to move from stillness to vibrancy.

"The World Tree is shrinking," murmured one of the elves who had also been watching the World Tree closely.

Yes, the Golden World Tree is shrinking.

With each loud thud as the branches moved, the divine power above them contracted.

This enormous, towering tree, whose height was impossible to discern, shrank into a flower bud in an extremely short time.

This wooden flower bud is also extremely large, its volume far exceeding the combined size of hundreds of dragons.

Then comes the blooming.

As the majestic tree contracted, the power of the Torch Goddess and the power of the evil god were compressed into the flower bud.

This terrifying power was compressed, and then it bloomed as the flower bud opened.

The flowers bloom like dazzling fireworks.

The surging power exploded into the sky along with the "fireworks".

The force of the explosion crushed the monsters born from the power of the evil god.

Then, it withered along with the flowers.

Everything vanished just like that; if it weren't for the ravaged earth and the burning sky, it might have been as if nothing had ever happened.

(End of this chapter)