The victory of a religion in another world is so easy?

Several people immediately screamed and fell to the ground. Clearly, these were also unarmored units and had no ability to resist the slingshot.

Without Rand's order, the slingers prepared again for a second wave of attack.

At this point, the bandit village chief had nothing more to say and led his men to charge forward.

The minotaurs in the front row blocked the only intersection like iron towers.

As these people charged forward, they stomped their feet forcefully, creating an effect similar to a war stomp in a game, shaking the charging people off their feet.

This kind of shock made it impossible to distinguish friend from foe. Just when several units in the back row were about to fall, Rand decisively stopped the Tauren's front row from marching.

These villagers were quite brave. They did not retreat when the first wave failed to break through, but instead charged again under the command of the bandit village chief.

It's a pity that Blessing 2 is a single-target skill, otherwise Rand could have the Tauren block the way here, cast a group Blessing 2, and just watch the people below play Silver Party until they die.

Another wave of slingshots followed, but unfortunately, due to the lack of training, the slingers' accuracy was not very high, and the power of the slingshots was also average.

But each stone thrown can knock down several people, and if these people can't rush forward, it's an immense advantage.

At this moment, the bandit village chief looked at his villagers and knew that if this dragged on any longer, these villagers he had watched grow up would be wiped out.

With trembling hands, Rand pulled a red bead from his pocket, and his heretical perception, bestowed upon him by the Mother Goddess, suddenly intensified.

Without hesitation, I activated Blessing 2.

The bandit village chief was quite knowledgeable in his youth, so after defeating the red-robed cultist who had turned into a monster, he dug the bead out of his heart.

If he eats it, he can transform into that kind of monster in a short time.

Although I will die later, it's better than all the village children dying here.

But just as he was about to eat it, a surge of intense, violent thirst swept through his entire body.

The red bead emitting a red glow in his hand fell to the ground and rolled away.

Rand patted the white-haired elf who was watching the show beside him, and told her to pick up the red bead.

The elf shuddered, realizing she was being used as a hunting dog. A slight blush crossed her pretty face. She then leaped up, skimming over the theoretically impassable section of the cliff, and rushed toward the rolling red bead.

Chapter 19: The Imminent Expansion of Power and the Appearance of the Main Characters

The bandit village chief's willpower was unexpectedly strong, which may be because the second blessing is not very effective for older people.

He held on for a full ten seconds before lunging at the young villagers around him.

Then, when he was separated from the protection of the surrounding villagers, he was knocked down by stones.

As they lost their commander, the villagers of Takina Village gradually lost their will to fight. After their last attempt to break through the minotaurs' defenses failed, they began to retreat.

Rand roared at the retreating villagers, "Surrender and you'll be spared! Drop your weapons and lie down!"

Upon hearing this, only a few villagers stopped running, dropped their weapons, and lay down on the ground as Rand had instructed.

The vast majority of villagers who did not hear what Rand said, or simply did not believe Rand, turned around, dropped their weapons, and ran wildly, trying to escape the village inhabited by minotaur monsters.

Rand estimated the situation and walked up to Shasa, the elite tauren leader: "Take your men and chase them until they can't run anymore. Kill the ones who fall behind, but leave twenty alive."

In fact, these villagers who can maintain their fighting strength for a period of time in the face of monsters they have never seen before are very high-quality recruits.

But now, we can only choose the best of the best. Due to the oppressive taxes levied by the occupying side, everyone has little food left. Even if the hideout is disguised as a second hideout, it is still severely damaged.

Therefore, only the villagers who are the fastest and in the best physical condition can be retained as high-quality population.

Rand himself could hardly believe that he had given such an order without feeling anything.

Just over a month ago, he was just an ordinary agricultural college student chasing after his graduation project, which he was trying to escape.

Now he can say, without any emotion, "leave twenty such words."

But he had no choice but to do so, because if he didn't plunder the food supplies of other villages, the food stored in his hideout would definitely not last until the wheat harvest.

Therefore, we have to reluctantly give up some of these high-quality recruits.

One minotaur's fighting strength is roughly equivalent to two semi-experienced adventurers, but for these villagers who are terrified and have even thrown away their weapons to run faster, the minotaur's fighting strength is practically infinite.

After all, it would be almost impossible for an ordinary villager to harm a strong, adult minotaur with his bare hands.

Rand stopped watching the minotaurs go off to hunt them down, and instead directed the villagers in the hideout to clean up the battlefield, while also checking if any of the fallen villagers of Takina could be saved, or rather, if they were worth saving.

The elf returned quickly, knelt on one knee, and held up the magnificent red circular jewel, which, in the sunlight, looked like a heart offered up.

If Ryza weren't having her episode, her looks and charisma would be quite striking. If a skilled artist had painted that scene, it might have been priceless.

Unfortunately, this elf doesn't seem to have a serious moment.

Rand glanced at the trembling elf, took the red sphere, and said helplessly, "Go ahead and call out if you want."

Seeing that Rand had given permission, the elf's fair face turned ruddy, and she softly uttered, "Woof woof!"

Then he closed his mouth again, as if savoring something.

Rand sighed, feeling utterly humiliated. He told the elf to follow him back to the sacrificial chamber. Her kneeling in the middle of the road was a devastating blow to Rand's reputation.

Although it's very likely that Rand has no reputation left now.

He skillfully offered the red bead to the Mother Goddess, then walked up to the altar and offered himself as well, asking the Mother Goddess what reward she would receive.

A moment later, Rand returned to the sacrificial chamber from the Mother Goddess's divine realm.

There is good news and bad news.

The bad news is that this series of missions is not over yet. We still need to find the hideout of this so-called God of Struggle cult and destroy it.

It is estimated that the final step in this quest chain is the complete annihilation of the faith in the god of struggle.

I don't know if I'll have the chance to finish it in my lifetime.

The good news is that the great, kind, benevolent, generous, and magnanimous Goddess of Abundance is finally not so stingy this time.

Rand

Sex: Male

Ability: Sacrifice immunity

Blessing 1: The Black Goat Mother's thirst (has reached its limit)

Blessing 2: Desire to Share (Single)

Willpower: N (Expandable)

Finally, the word "temporary" is no longer used after "Blessing 2," which is truly a cause for celebration.

After leaving the sacrificial chamber, the battlefield outside had been mostly cleaned up.

Surprisingly, the village chief of Takina Village was still alive. He was only knocked unconscious, not dead, and fortunately, he was not greatly affected by the Blessing 2 because he was knocked unconscious.

Looking at the village chief of Takina who had regained consciousness, Rand asked, "What's your name?"

“Taran,” the elderly bandit chieftain answered weakly.

Although Taran knew very well in his youth that this cruel world was a dog-eat-dog world, the thought that his village of about thirty households would probably have less than thirty people left now made him feel utterly hopeless.

He struggled to sit up, ignoring the blood gushing from his head, and tried to kneel down to beg, "We surrender, we surrender. They are all good young men. Please have mercy and let them go. If you have any grievances, take them out on me. It's all my fault."

There was no point in taking the blame at this time. Seeing the elderly silver-haired villager kneeling with his head resting on his boots, Rand's heart was naturally moved, but his determination would not change: "I will leave about twenty men behind."

With blood still streaming from his head, Taran looked up and asked pleadingly, "Then, will you spare those old people and children?"

"What good would it do me to let them go?" Rand replied calmly.

The stronghold was not entirely unscathed in this battle, after all, the attacking force from Takina village was well-equipped.

Despite the onslaught of iron weapons and arrows, there were still some areas that the minotaurs' front-line shield bearers couldn't protect.

Two members of the bandit gang unfortunately left this world and returned to the embrace of the Mother Goddess, including the bandit leader whose face was covered in sores.

Oh, we should bless their souls so they don't go to the Mother Goddess's kingdom after death; Rand estimates that a normal soul couldn't bear such a scene.

"But, but." Taran lowered his head again, then continued to press his head against Rand's boots.

Although he had said that before, Rand did not intend to kill them all, and said, "I will leave the young children behind."

Rand wasn't worried that the children who were spared and the villagers who were captured by the minotaurs would turn against him.

This world is a dog-eat-dog world. For those at the bottom, as long as they can survive, there is no dignity or hatred to speak of.

Moreover, this place is a cult stronghold. Although Rand did not deliberately proselytize, the previous bandit leaders still chose the Mother Goddess as their faith under the influence of the original cult members.

However, the doctrines given to them were not the kind that Paladin Tanl had memorized, but rather ones that Rand had hastily written down, only a little bit, under the pretense that: you are not yet qualified to understand more profound doctrines.

Upon hearing this news, Taran breathed a sigh of relief. This was the best possible outcome, considering the limited resources available. Had Lord Rand readily agreed, he would have been plunged into despair.

Then he closed his eyes and said, "Come on."

"?" Rand was puzzled. "You old thing, you don't want to be like Lysa, do you?"

After a while, Taran opened his eyes in confusion and asked, "Aren't you going to kill me?"

Logically speaking, after such a life-or-death struggle, the enemy leader would absolutely not let them go.

Rand chuckled, then suddenly seized by a mischievous urge: "Guess?"

Chapter 20 The Strongest in the World

In this world, for the vast majority of people, personal strength can be roughly divided into ordinary, elite, superior, and top-level.

Due to racial differences, combat power varies drastically, but every top-tier professional possesses unimaginable fame, status, wealth, and so on.

However, there are still some titles in this world given to those extremely rare, even once-in-a-century beings whose combat power is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

--king--

This title, which seemed like a provocation to the royal families of various countries, did not elicit any opposition from any king or emperor.

Without the Vladimir Grand Priestly Sacrifice event in the next expansion, those with the title of "King" might have maintained their unparalleled dominance over mortals forever.

Karin, the Holy Maiden of the Torch Church at the heart of the continent, with eyes of the blazing sun and the crimson queen.

Incidentally, she is the one who defeated and captured Rand Cameron, the leader of the Church of the Blood of Nurturing.

The endless southern sea—the master of the lighthouse, the brilliant morning star, Rommel, the king of the blue.

The North—the embodiment of endless ice and snow, the owner of the eternally frozen hearth, the White King Calant.