Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 402 Exchange of Pieces! A Clash of Light and Shadow!
Port District. Dagger Lane.

While Duncan was meeting with the Mother of Great Bliss, Sarala had already returned to her base camp.

She had a group of wanderers under her command who gathered to smuggle and sell stolen goods. Although their overall strength was not outstanding, they were numerous and powerful, and their spies and informants were spread throughout Sergant. In fact, she was the only one of the five fierce women who was capable of gathering information about the Church of the Dragon.

Sarella's actions can be summed up in one word: money. She directly used money to break through the forces surrounding Zambia and spread her spies outwards.

"The Master of Revelry, Korver, is critically injured and on the verge of death?"

In a secluded attic, Sara-Tebrantan sat with her legs crossed, a mocking smile playing on her lips. Her beautiful face held a hint of coldness as she said with a playful tone, "I thought he had died directly at the hands of the tormentors."

The higher-ups at the Wealth Church look down on the Pleasure Cult.

Even to Sarala Te Blontian, they were a group of blatant thieves, and to put it even more disrespectfully, the goddess of joy, Lira, was a shameless thief.

While the goddess of wealth, Woking, was still alive, they secretly funded the Church of Joy. After the goddess of wealth disappeared, the Church of the Great Mother of Bliss became even more blatant. Otherwise, with their meager wealth, how could they afford to pursue pleasure and enjoyment all day long?

Upon hearing her subordinate's report, Sarala Tebrantan slowly rose to her feet. She had a rather tall and slender figure, unlike the other five voluptuous and beautiful women. Because of her wanderer's abilities, she was quite slender with strong and long legs. She valued her beauty very much and was willing to spend a lot of money on daily maintenance, often spending large sums of money to buy skincare magic potions from the elves.

She viewed her beauty as a weapon, and her curvaceous figure was a form of value. To enhance her feminine charm, she even went so far as to buy potions from the Church of Love in order to maintain her full and firm breasts.

Sarala firmly believed that if one day she lost her power and status in the Church of Wealth, her own strength and physical abilities would be her last resort to turn the tables.

However, she has to sell it for a good price!

The lights in the attic flickered.

Sara Tybrotan pondered for a moment, a cold glint in her eyes, and said in a low voice, "Inadvertently revealing the location of the Revelry Master Korver."

"He is the number two figure in the Pleasure Cult."

“Once his whereabouts are exposed, the enemy will definitely not let the opportunity pass and will surely try to kill him.”

Cooperation is cooperation.

Cutting off one of the arms of the Great Blissful Mother is in the interest of the Wealth Church.

Based on the intelligence she gathered, Korver, the master of revelry, harbored some hostility towards Duncan Starfall, and he was the one who spread many unfavorable rumors.

It would be better for such a person to die in peace.

He died.

Duncan's fall from grace made it easier for him to rise to power.

However, Sara-Taybrontë's plan goes far beyond that. In chess terms, what she needs to do now is to make an exchange, directly replacing a high-ranking member of the Church of Torment with the Grandmaster of Revelry, Korver, the second-in-command of the Cult of Pleasure.

A moment later, Sara Tybrantan looked up, stood up, and said, "Then send someone to secretly inform Lord Duncan."

“He dispatched a group of Silver Dagger Wanderers to assist him.”

"Eliminate the high-ranking members of the tormenting church."

"To turn the tide of the current situation."

Korver, the master of revelry, is now a expendable pawn, but even a expendable pawn should die with value, ideally replacing a chosen one who torments the church.

With her support, Duncan Starfall might even become the Great Ecstasy Father of the Pleasure Cult.

Then that man will understand that she is his strongest supporter.

Della Isgil was nothing more than a woman with big breasts but no brains and some looks. If she weren't the adopted daughter of the Archbishop of Holy Coins, she would never have been qualified to be in the position of the Five Gold.

She firmly believed that she was the best partner for that man.

With Sarella Tebrantan's orders, undercurrents surged throughout the city of Sergant. Although she, as a high-ranking bishop who controlled the gray areas, was somewhat shady, her influence far exceeded that of those high-ranking bishops who ran legitimate businesses.

The Temple of Joy.

After seeing off the Mother of Great Bliss, or rather, after seeing off the Mother of Great Bliss possessed by the will of the Goddess of Pleasure, Duncan couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Things were far more complicated than he had imagined.

After realizing that the Church of Torture had mobilized its entire force, he understood that there was a powerful dark force behind it. Otherwise, the Goddess of Torture, Lauvita, would not be fighting so desperately, since the losses incurred in a full-scale war would be all due to the power of her church.

"A pledge of allegiance!"

"The goddess of torment, Lavita, is most likely offering a pledge of allegiance to the goddess of darkness, Shar."

She only recently submitted to the goddess of the night, Shar, and without proving her worth, she cannot maintain her position.

at this time.

Duncan spotted a figure outside—a mole from the Church of Wealth. The two churches had infiltrated each other like sieves, except the Pleasure Cult was less guarded.

A moment later, the inside man delivered a message containing a secret technique to Duncan.

"interesting."

“This Sara Te Blontin is quite a character.”

Duncan glanced at it and immediately destroyed it. This kind of exchange method must not be leaked. However, the sudden death of the Master of Revelry was indeed quite advantageous to Duncan.

The Great Bliss Mother herself is not powerful enough, and the High Priest of Joy wants to win him over. If the second-in-command of the Pleasure Cult also dies.

Duncan's rise to the top was only natural.

"But you must be clean in the end and never leave any loopholes."

Sara Tybrotan is proving her abilities to Duncan. Although she hasn't yet grasped the bigger picture, she clearly possesses her own wisdom in local battles.

If this can be accomplished, her standing in Duncan's eyes will rise.

Within the Church of Wealth, she could become a valuable asset.

Night falls.

In a secluded mansion in Sergant, an elderly man in his fifties or sixties was entertaining guests who had traveled from afar. From inside the room came the suppressed, painful sounds of a woman. Soon after, a pale man with a gloomy expression, shrouded in a cloak, appeared. His exposed arms were covered with scars, as if his skin had been slashed by barbed iron hooks.

—The Suffering Monk-Bloodscar Priest-Veraris (God's Favor) (Five-Star Gold)!

He was a former paladin who, after abandoning his faith, joined the embrace of the dark gods.

This man was once a paladin of the Lord of Dawn, and was judged by the Church for some reason. Then one day, the incarnation of Lauvita pierced his heart with thorns, and he immediately smiled with ecstasy—the pain made him feel "alive" for the first time.

Now he leads the "Bloody Order," transforming paladin combat techniques into instruments of torture, such as changing "Holy Strike" to "Painful Brand," so that every time an enemy is hit, they experience a new and extreme pain.

The oath he took was the 'Bracken Oath,' a very special ability that could transfer pain and transform healing spells into excruciating torment.

Even his senses were distorted, and pain became a kind of pleasure.

"Lord Veraris."

"This is the intelligence we just gathered."

Fitch Silver Tongue smiled nonchalantly and handed a piece of intelligence to the man in front of him.

His backer is the Red Wizard. Although the Red Wizard has some cooperation with the Church of Wealth, who wouldn't want to get a piece of this lucrative prize?

The old man didn't even glance at the battered concubine in the room. Ever since he started studying necromancy, his former wives and concubines had become tools, perfectly suited to curry favor with a powerful ally.

Veraris took the intelligence report, glanced at it, and immediately his expression brightened. He asked in a deep voice, "Is the information reliable?"

Korver, the master of revelry.

The second-in-command of the Pleasure Cult, if we could kill him, it would definitely please the goddess of torment, Lauvita.

“Reliable,” Fitch-Silverton nodded solemnly.

Veraris pondered for a moment, then picked up the thorny flail, revealing his scarred skin. He stood up decisively and said, "Have your men assist me in secret."

“If you can offer him as a sacrifice to our Lord, all your desires will be fulfilled.”

If you can't kill the Mother of Great Bliss, kill the second-in-command first.

At this point, Fitch-Silverton hesitated and said, "Sir, shouldn't you wait for the people of the Plague Church to arrive first?" As far as he knew...

The Church of Pain also has a group of allies, the followers of the plague goddess Talona, ​​a group of madmen who rely on fear to make others revere Talona.

Evil gods all follow similar paths.

If you do not believe in me, I will bring disaster upon you, kill your relatives and friends, and bring calamity upon you. But if you offer sacrifices to me, I will spare your life.

Most of the gods in this world are killed off one by one, but there are always some who escape.

Talona is the goddess of poison and disease, and the only ugly woman in the panfair pantheon. She successfully defeated and killed Gibutido, the sister of Lauvita and the mother of plague, in the divine war that destroyed the remnants of the Nether Empire's city of Ethron, thus winning the eternal hatred of the mother of pain.

After each great plague in Faerûn, Talona's divine power would slowly diminish, and when this trend reached a certain point, she would re-spread the plague, threatening mortals to offer sacrifices to her out of fear and to curry favor.

This follows the same path as the early God of War: only by constantly instigating wars can a powerful divine force be maintained, until a certain God of War transforms his core divine function into 'combat'.

Upon hearing Fitch Silver Tongue's words, Veraris's expression revealed a hint of disdain, and he said in a deep voice, "Killing a Carnival Master doesn't require their help."

Lauvita disliked the people of the Plague Church.

The same applies to believers.

People with high charisma are not qualified to join the Plague Church; to join them, one must first disfigure oneself.

Although the goddess of torment, Lavita, enjoys self-torture, she is a stunning beauty and is also loved by Baal, the god of murder. When she meets Talona, ​​the goddess of plague, the first thing she does is mock her ugly face.

After Baal, the god of murder, died, both of them switched allegiance to Shar, but they were also rivals.

Duncan looked down on the Pleasure Cult, but in reality, the entire Fortuna region was a dogfight, a race to the bottom. Veraris was willing to take some risks himself rather than seek help from those ridiculous allies.

To put it bluntly, these goddesses are either useful or they're killed.

Not a single bit is wasted.

At this moment, even the Goddess of Torture and the Goddess of Plague were unaware that beneath the weak exterior of the Pleasure Cult, a terrifying being lurked beneath, and they were still striving to please the Goddess of Night, Shar.

These chosen ones sent out by the gods are just pawns; they will not make any rash moves until all the pawns are used up.

Fitch-Silverton watched as Bloodstain Priestess-Veraris departed.

After the other person disappeared, a whisper came from beside the old man with the extremely cunning smile, and a ghostly figure appeared, saying, "It seems that the Church of Torture has mobilized all its forces."

Fitch-Silverton looked horrified and turned around respectfully, saying, "Master."

A wraith controlled by a lich.

The opponent is extremely powerful; in fact, aside from gods, there are very few mortals who are qualified to be his opponent.

The head of the red-robed mages, and the future Supreme Regent of Ser (Tore) - Sazarstan.

His class is Level 10 Necromancer/Level 10 Red Robe Mage/Level 2 Archmage/Level 7 Legendary Lich (Seven-Star Gold), Chief of the Necromancer School, and possesses Nether relics (artifacts) such as the Death Moon Orb and the Seat of Sauror.

The ghost stared at the departing figure of the Bloodstained Priest, a hint of mockery in its expression, and said, "Let them play for a while."

"That lady won't get involved herself so easily."

After saying this, the ghostly spirit slowly dissipated, and before leaving, it instructed, "Don't let this turmoil end easily."

Fitch-Silver Tongue bowed respectfully and said, "Yes, Master."

If the Red Wizards want to expand their influence westward, someone has to step down. This kind of dogfighting is exactly what the liches love. They don't have to lift a finger; once a power vacuum appears, they can keep infiltrating.

However, due to the existence of the Dragon Worship Cult and the Dragon Lich, the Necromancer's chief acted with considerable caution. After all, the True God was so powerful that it was unreasonable, and it was no match for the True God. The Dragon Worship Cult, on the other hand, loved to provoke the True God.

Moreover, one of his enemies, Veshalon (who was later elevated to the Lich God by the Lord of Storms) has also made some moves recently.

This was a turbulent era in which ambitious individuals yearned to seize divine authority.

In 1359, the "Year of the Snake," after the Tukan army breached the Dragon Wall, Sazastan and the various overlords forcibly teleported Khan Yamen and General Chana to a meeting, using illusions to demonstrate their defeat. Subsequently, they formed the Tukan-Sel Alliance and turned their military might towards Rasheman.

With attacks from both sides of Sel and Tukan, the Tukan cavalry swept across Rasheman. In return for his allies, Sazastan used magic to tear apart the Lake of Tears, allowing his army to advance westward until the Valley was blocked by the allied forces of Asan IV at Komir in 1360, the "Year of the Tower."

(Note: The Purple Dragon Knights were founded by King Asan IV, an epic figure among mortals.)
The Red-Robed Wizard's stronghold, Sel, faces the 'Eastern Iron Cavalry,' an extremely powerful nomadic tribe.

Tukan is the "Grassland Overlord" of the nomadic lands in the eastern part of Faerûn. He is an extraordinary horseman and an archer, comparable to an elf. He worships the horse god and the spirit of the grassland (his true nature is a belief in all spirits). The current leader is the Great Khan - Yamen (also translated as Yamen).

If it weren't for the harassment from these Mongol-like steppe cavalry, the red-robed mages of Ser would never have retreated to one place; eastward expansion would have been inevitable.

Here's a little-known fact: the Tukan people (Eastern nomads) called the Faeerns "soft-legged shrimps."

Their motto is: "The winds of the grasslands will carry away all troubles—except for the debts owed to us!" (The Tukan people have a duty to repay debts!)

Under the banner of the spirit of the grasslands, the Tukan people are fearless.

[Note 1: The Mongol invasion in the Faerûn version.]

………………

The Temple of Joy.

After the Mother of Great Bliss bowed down and submitted to Duncan, he immediately took control of the entire Pleasure Cult's fighting force.

In the crowd, the clown's eyes were slightly red. When he saw Duncan's heroic and upright figure walk in, he immediately bowed to greet him. The shadow dancer Kevin next to him also bowed his head. Seeing their actions, the other members of the Scarlet Performers expressed their respect to this man.

Only those who have truly been led by Duncan know how capable he is; in comparison, the "Festival Masters" are simply sending them to their deaths.

If they hadn't kept feeding kills, they wouldn't have been able to win and wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat.

"Gather manpower immediately."

Without the slightest hesitation, Duncan nodded slightly to the clown before him and then ordered, "The Hand of Holy Coins has moved. Now the Church of Pleasure and the Church of Wealth are acting in unison."

"We must eliminate all of the enemy's henchmen in Sergant."

After saying that, Duncan's gaze swept over the beautifully made-up Mother of Ecstasy beside him, and he said in a deep voice, "Jester, you immediately take men to meet the Master of Revelry, Korver."

"The enemy may not give up easily."

"If something were to happen to him at this time, it would be a huge blow to the morale of the church!"

Hearing Duncan's words, everyone present, including the Mother of Bliss, was surprised. No one expected that Duncan would still be able to care about the Master of Revelry at this time.

The Mother of Great Bliss is now very dissatisfied with this man; if he hadn't been the one to deliver the fatal blow, she wouldn't be in such a passive position.

She blamed part of her mistakes on the Master of Carnival.

Without the slightest hesitation, the clown immediately accepted the order and left, saying, "Yes."

When the Master of Carnival led the Scarlet Performers on their mission, they were ambushed by the Church of Torment and the Church of Plague. He himself was afflicted with a strange plague poison and was only able to escape by seeking help from an ally who possessed the field of 'healing'.

Duncan turned to look at the Great Mother of Bliss before him and said without any politeness, "The Great Mother is in the center, stabilizing people's hearts."

“Respond to ever-changing situations with constancy.”

"As long as the Great Godmother can stabilize the rear, we can calmly fight the enemy."

In short, don't cause trouble.

When you are called upon at a critical moment, you must be able to achieve results and at least demonstrate the strength that God's chosen people should possess.

Once the Mother of Great Bliss appears, the enemy will most likely mobilize all their forces. At that point, it won't be a matter of just one or two chosen ones; the situation will be beyond Duncan's control.

He needs to build up some advantages for himself first.

After arranging all this, Duncan immediately led the rest of the Scarlet Actor away. At the same time, the Church of Wealth also sprang into action. Under the orders of the two Gold Saints, the Church of Wealth's vast hidden power operated wildly, and a large amount of intelligence was delivered to him through various channels.

With his control of two armed cults, Duncan finally had the power to influence the game.

But before that, the Carnival Master must be sacrificed.

………………

(End of this chapter)