Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 406 Transfer of Divine Grace
Lavita, the goddess of torment, is considered relatively strong among the lesser deities.

Because of the power of the gods, the current master of pain, Marathus, as the chief chosen one of the church's judges, is able to access more of the divine realms.

Compared to the goddess of joy, Lira, Marathus can access the goddess's divine domains of pain, torment, torture, power, and vengeance. These divine domains all have a very obvious characteristic: they come with certain combat buffs, and one can master many damaging divine spells (by accessing the domains).

The goddess of joy, Lira, primarily provides buff-type divine spells. Influenced by the church's doctrines, she doesn't engage in frequent battles like the Pain Cultists, who even engage in daily self-torture to improve their endurance and willpower.

The Pain Master, Marathos, thought that a single skinning spell would render Duncan incapable of fighting.

But what he saw was a pair of blood-red eyes filled with rage and murderous intent. If Duncan was a regular temple guard before the skinning spell took effect, he was now more like a rampaging barbarian. Pain and torment had ignited his ferocity, and this terrifying murderous intent had transformed into the warrior's primary ability, 'Deterrence'!
Roar!
A battle cry.

It instilled a chilling fear in everyone nearby.

Duncan's figure soared into the air, drops of blood seeping through his armor and dripping down. One drop landed on the Great Bliss Mother's crimson lips, even giving her a burning sensation.

The man's blood seemed to be shrouded in a tangible 'rage'!
"field?!"

"The warrior's rage?"

The Mother of Great Bliss looked up in astonishment, only to see the house in front of her collapse amidst the swirling dust. Under the immense force of the impact, the figure of the Lord of Pain, Marathos, was smashed into the house, and a large section of the roof collapsed. Meanwhile, the greatsword in Duncan's hand burned with the radiant fire of the Goddess of Joy, as dazzling as the holy light a paladin prayed for from Mount Paradise.

The dust that rose up spread in all directions like a shockwave.

The Mars exploded.

Marathus's sweeping Nine-Tailed Whip shattered the solid wall, propelling him into the air. In the instant he bent his knees and sprang into the air, he appeared under the moonlight. His scarred marks, imbued with the divine power of the Goddess of Torment, resembled a layer of armored skin. The thorny iron whip in his hand coiled around his body like a venomous snake, its sharp spikes and hooks striking Duncan from all directions with astonishing skill.

Dangdang Dangdang!
Shoot the arrow.

Amidst a hail of arrows, the Lord of Pain, Marathos, let out a muffled groan. Even with his formidable physique, he still felt a slight numbness in the face of so many poisoned arrows. Just as Duncan only relied on his strong physique to be exempt from part of the effects of the skinning spell, he too only resisted a portion of the poison's corrosive effects.

The power of God's chosen people and the elect is ultimately borrowed.

At this moment, Marathus was besieged by both churches. Surrounded by dozens of high-level professionals and five or six legendary experts, he didn't even have time to cast spells and could only fight by relying on the spell-like abilities granted by divine grace.

Blood spurts out!

Duncan's figure flashed by, obscuring the scene in the dust. With a thud, the left arm of the Pain Lord, Marathos, was severed, and several more horrifying scars appeared on Duncan's body. Even his golden armor was corroded and pitted.

Unless they are ridiculously strong, even the chosen ones of the gods can be forcibly surrounded and killed.

The other party is trapped.

The figure of the Pain Master - Marathos slowly landed. As the dust was blown away by the magical whirlwind, everything in the center of the battlefield was exposed to everyone's eyes. This terrible enemy had lost an arm, his back was full of arrows, and his blood-red Infernal Wings were also tattered. Duncan slashed his shoulder with his sword, almost severing the Infernal Wings along with it.

He's already dying.

For some reason, Lord Duncan Starfall did not kill the dying, heavily wounded Lord Malathers, who was kneeling on one knee.

"I have not lost to the Mother of Great Bliss!..."

A hoarse voice, tinged with resentment, rang out.

Marathos, the master of pain, knelt on one knee, unable to move under Duncan's greatsword. With both arms useless, he looked up at the man before him, his expression gradually calming down, or rather, he was ready to face death.

He turned his head with difficulty, blood gushing out, and looked at the dazzling Mother of Great Bliss not far from the street, his eyes revealing a hint of disdain.

He did not lose to the voters of the goddess of joy.

But they lost to a powerful warrior who appeared out of nowhere!
The heroes of the world are like the crucian carp crossing the river.

Since the outbreak of the Cataclysm, many powerful and legendary figures have emerged throughout Faerûn, with some even attempting to seize the authority of the gods.

If his opponent were merely the Mother of Great Bliss, he would have already completed his mission and escaped.

But there are no "what ifs". Ever since Duncan Starfall appeared, every step of their actions has been seen through, just like wanderers exposed to the sun with nowhere to hide.

Under the spotlight.

The Lord of Pain, Marathus, stared at Duncan before him, his voice hoarse and trembling as he slowly said, "Serving such a weak god, you will never have a chance to attain immortality."

Upon hearing this, the Mother of Great Bliss instantly flew into a rage!
She can tolerate enemies looking down on her, but she absolutely cannot tolerate enemies looking down on the goddess of joy, Lira.

The radiant flames emanating from Duncan surged, scorching the body of the Lord of Pain, Marathos, as if fueled by the wrath of the Lady of Joy. He let out a painful groan, yet revealed a sinister smile as he looked at Duncan and said, "You are one of the strongest warriors I have ever seen. Only the Night can give you everything you desire!"

In an instant.

The mark on the person before me has subtly changed. In addition to 'the one who torments the goddess,' a new mark has appeared: 'the follower of the goddess of night.'

Is this a betrayal of faith?
Or was it that Shar secretly poached her?

On Duncan, there are two unique marks: 'the gaze of the goddess of torment' and 'the gaze of the goddess of darkness'.

All the conflicts here are indeed related to Shar.

Duncan expressionlessly sheathed his greatsword, slowly raised the blade, and said to the Lord of Pain, Marathus, who was almost chopped into a human stump, "Are you done?"

"Pray to the god you serve."

Marathos, the Lord of Pain, lowered his head and remained silent. He closed his eyes and slowly knelt down. The next second, Duncan decisively swung his sword and severed the head of this chosen one of the gods.

—Sword Moment—Decapitation!

The same method.

Marathus used the same cleaver to behead the Archbishop of the Red Curtain (the leader of the Scarlet Actor Order).

He actually had a chance to escape at first, but he couldn't accept failure, or rather, at the last moment, he was still thinking of exchanging his life for hers, killing the Great Bliss Mother directly, and fulfilling the divine decree given by the goddess.

This ruthlessness and madness far surpasses that of the Pleasure Cult.

The headless corpse collapsed with a thud.

As the heads rolled and blood gushed forth, the scars and marks on the body of the Lord of Pain, Marathos, gradually dimmed.

In an instant.

The divine grace emanating from Duncan shone even brighter, as if the goddess of joy, Lira, was also overjoyed. Only the Great Mother of Bliss, looking dejected in the crowd, seemed to be facing a hateful, unfaithful man.

The more he cherished her when he favored her, the faster his affections changed now.

The goddesses in this world are all pretty much the same type of people.

Whether it's a goddess from the good camp or a goddess from the evil camp, they're all the same kind of people.

Today, Duncan Starfall has proven his worth, so naturally he will receive the favor of goddesses. With the favor of goddesses, they are willing to give anything—power, status, strength, and so on; even the favor of goddesses is not impossible.

Until one day you lose your value, are abandoned by these goddesses, or become part of their divine kingdom.

Divine grace will not disappear, it will only be transferred.

The failure of the Great Mother of Bliss greatly disappointed the goddess of joy, Lira, and her favor shifted to the man before her. In fact, after this failure, the Lady of Joy was already considering reforms to the church, because hedonists were truly unable to shoulder the burden of this turbulent era.

"elder sister."

“Looks like we need to escalate things.” Sara Tybrantan whispered in Della Isgeel’s ear, her eyes gleaming.

Della Isgeel remained silent, simply watching the man slowly walk toward the Great Mother of Bliss not far away.

Duncan-Starfall's faith has always been one of the factors that prevents them from being completely at ease, because the majority of the believers in the Church of Wealth are of a general faith, and even they themselves may not be as devout as they imagine, especially after the disappearance of the Goddess of Wealth, Woking, their faith has been constantly tested.

Devout believers can be driven around like cattle and horses, and they can be asked to give everything, even their lives. But if it is just a superficial faith and verbal service, then you have to pay a high price to win them over.

How could the goddess of joy not know that Duncan Starfall's faith was not devout?

But so what?
As long as the man has sufficient value, Lady Joy will not be stingy with divine favor. In the current turbulent situation, ability is far more important than the piety of faith.

"The situation should be able to stabilize for a while."

Della Isge watched Duncan's departing figure and ordered the Church of Wealth to clean up the mess. She glanced at her 'good sister' beside her and whispered, "Proceed according to the original plan and find a way to undermine the power of the Great Bliss Mother."

The Pleasure Cult is trying to undermine the Church of Wealth.

They also secretly wanted to undermine the Mother of Great Bliss and seize power and status within the church. As long as wealth and priesthood remained in the hands of the Goddess of Joy, they would not be considered to have betrayed their faith.

Their faith is in the 'wealth' deity, and who the goddess of wealth is is not that important.

Even during the time when the goddess of wealth, Woking, was missing, priests with powerful talents and extraordinary perception (perception points of 20 or higher) were trying to gain the ability to cast divine spells by relying on a certain concept, rather than through gods.

This was because they were forced into a corner.

The goddess of wealth is gone, but the divine authority of wealth remains, and the concept still exists.

The five shrewish women each had their own thoughts.

Apart from a very small number of devout fanatics, many people think that it doesn't matter who the Goddess of Wealth is, what matters is that she is still the Supreme God of the Church of Wealth.

The chaos in Sergant gradually subsided, and the conflict between the two churches seemed to have temporarily come to a peaceful end due to the defeat of the Church of Pain.

But everyone knows that the battle between the gods will not end easily.

Woking did not return for a day.

Lierla remains the target of public criticism.

However, the Church of Pain has almost exhausted its forces near Sergant. The Goddess of Torment, Lauvita, cannot afford to lose all of the church's high-ranking members here. She will definitely need to recuperate for a period of time and cultivate new believers.

Compared to the Church of Pain, the followers of the Goddess of Plague were much more patient, perhaps because their methods had attracted too many enemies, and they only deployed a small portion of their forces near Sergant.

Seeing that things were not going well, the plague priests quickly withdrew.

However, before they left, they spread a plague in the waters around Zambia. Since they had come all this way, they had to spread the goddess's fame, otherwise their trip would have been in vain.

After leaving behind more than a dozen heads, the Church of the Plague retreated towards the Storm Mountains, led by a chosen one of God.

That area is close to the ruins of the Netheril Empire, where many powerful orc warlords reside, and very few people venture deep into its heartland.

"Release Fitch-Silver Tongue."

"Return it to the red-robed mages."

Upon returning to the Church of Joy, Duncan immediately told the priestess beside him, "Confiscate all of his property in Serganth."

This person is someone you can choose to kill or not.

Duncan's public beheading of the Church of Pain's chief chosen one has restored some of the church's prestige. Fitch Silvertongue is the eyes and ears of the red-robed mages, and unless we are going to completely break with them, we must deal with this matter carefully.

The Church of Wealth has connections in both the legitimate and criminal worlds, and they also trade with the red-robed mages of Sel.

At this moment, the beautiful and charming Mrs. Cesta-White walked over, her eyes filled with eagerness. She glanced at the Great Mother of Bliss not far away, and came to Duncan's side, whispering, "Prince Assange will be leaving tomorrow."

Leaving so soon?
Duncan looked slightly surprised, his brows furrowed, as if he were thinking about something.

"The Kingdom of Cormier has recently encountered some trouble," Mrs. Cesta-White said softly.

"The trade routes in the Storm Mountains have been blocked by orc warlords."

"Many goods are stuck in the country."

"If Lord Duncan can help him solve this problem, he will surely win his friendship."

Duncan glanced at Mrs. Thursta White beside him and said knowingly, "This is no problem at all."

This is the reward.

This is also the foundation for long-term cooperation.

With the Church of Wealth behind him, Duncan was indeed not in a hurry. After receiving his reply, Mrs. Cesta-White smiled sweetly, like a blooming flower, and took her leave, saying, "Then I will go and tell Prince Asan the good news."

Don't know when.

On the way back to the Temple of Joy, news kept coming to Duncan, while the number of priestesses of pleasure surrounding the Great Mother of Bliss had decreased.

Divine grace is genuine; some people's stance has already wavered.

At present, the only respectable identity of the Great Mother of Bliss is probably the title of "Great Godmother" plus "lover of the Goddess of Joy".

But there are plenty of women.

Given Lira's status as the Goddess of Joy and the enchanting legends surrounding her in the Land of Clear Waters, the Great Mother of Bliss seems somewhat insignificant.

In contrast, in this turbulent situation, a powerful and skilled enforcer would be more favored by the goddess of joy.

Not to mention, to some extent, Duncan helped her win over the top members of the Wealth Church.

However, because of this incident, the goddess of joy, Lira, clearly felt a sense of crisis and even missed her best friend, Woking.

Without Duncan's meteoric rise, she couldn't think of any way to overcome the crisis except by clinging to the goddess of love.

If the secular church collapses.

Both her Joyful Church and Woking's Wealth Church must withdraw from this area.

Inside the Temple of Joy.

The Mother of Great Bliss looked at Duncan, who was surrounded by people, with a rather complicated expression. However, she quickly regained her composure and beckoned to her closest maidservant, whispering a few instructions to her.

Now that her prestige has plummeted, she must make changes in order to maintain her former power and status.

The best solution is to form a secret alliance with Duncan Starfall.

As long as this man is still willing to support her, she will remain the high priestess of the Pleasure Cult and can continue to play music and dance.

………………

(End of this chapter)