Goddess Kaleidoscope

The employer had spoken, and no one else present objected, leaving Denzel with the words he was about to say stuck in his throat. The world of adventurers was a place that valued seniority, and besides, Denzel couldn't simply demand that everyone turn around immediately based on such an ominous sign as rolling three tens on the dice in a row.

Most people in this world don't believe in evil until they actually suffer a loss!

With no other option, the team continued forward, heading straight for the middle intersection where a spiral staircase stretched downwards. Due to the light-dampening effect, all light sources could only illuminate a radius of three meters, so everyone proceeded with extreme caution.

However, to everyone's surprise, this dark spiral staircase, though unsettling to look at, surprisingly did not contain any traps.

Trilling thought they had found a shortcut, but Denzel felt increasingly uneasy.

When exploring the maze, he and his teammates often saw some writing on some corridors and doors, in various languages. After copying them down and having them translated, they found that most of them were proverbs with a warning meaning. Upon careful study, they discovered that they contained tips on how to conquer the maze.

Denzel had almost memorized these labyrinth proverbs, and one of them perfectly described their current situation.

"What seems like a shortcut is always a downhill path."

After walking for about half an hour, the group finally saw a faint light ahead of the stairs, as if the end was just in front of them, and they could vaguely hear a faint and ethereal singing voice.

Denzel's expression changed immediately upon hearing the voice.

"Stop! Something's not right. This singing... this should be the kind of singing that's unique to Dog Brother's room. How could it be here?"

"Dog's room? Didn't you say before that it would take us at least a day and a half to see the watchdog?"

"Normally, it shouldn't be this fast."

Faced with Trin's questioning, Denzel looked a little embarrassed. As a veteran of the maze, he was only relatively experienced. He had only explored it three times. Although he had figured out the patterns of many common traps, he knew very little about the maze itself. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

However, Trinn didn't see this as a bad thing; in fact, he had a vague feeling that "heaven is helping me." The appearance of the shortcut meant that he could overtake others and break through the first level of the labyrinth faster than other adventurers, finding the God of Thieves artifact that was crucial to the Black Hand Brotherhood.

End of this chapter

The melodious and graceful singing continued to drift in. The woman's ethereal voice seemed to possess a certain magic, capable of bringing peace to the soul and making the body subconsciously want to move closer to the source of the sound.

The group arrived at the bottom of the stairs and, through the doorway of the exit, saw a breathtakingly beautiful "dome garden," completely different from the other areas of the first floor that were filled with traps and had a dark color scheme!

Even though he came from a wealthy family and had seen many rich people's estates, Trin had to admit that none of the gardens he had visited before could compare to the one before him. If it weren't for the fact that it was in a labyrinth built by a demon, he might have believed it even if you told him it was a god's garden.

In the spacious hall, the first thing that catches everyone's eye is a sea of ​​pure white flowers, with a faint fragrance carried on the breeze, its aroma refreshing and invigorating. And when they look up, the Milky Way shines brightly above the high dome, with a few "stardust" falling slowly like drifting snowflakes.

In the middle of this vast sea of ​​flowers, Terin saw a fountain in the distance, and sitting atop the central spout was a white jade statue of a mermaid holding a conch shell horn. The golem, revered by many adventurers as "Dog Brother," knelt on one knee before the mermaid statue, like a knight guarding a princess.

"He is a model of knighthood, never bullying weak warriors. Even when he is in the den of demons, serving the devil, he still protects the good in his heart."

"This is the inscription on the lintel above the main gate," Denzel said, looking up and whispering the words. Trin pointed to the silver-white giant and asked.

"That... is the watchdog?"

"That's right! Everyone be careful, it's poisonous inside!"

Denzel warned everyone not to be fooled by the garden's beautiful appearance. The singing, the sea of ​​flowers, and the starry rain were all traps designed to lure people into lowering their guard. Rushing in would only lead to disaster.

Every adventurer who has personally challenged Dog Brother knows that once you step through the doorway into the garden, you'll be hit with a persistent weakening debuff. No matter how vigorous and strong you are, you'll be affected as soon as you cross the threshold. Even if you stand still, you'll break out in a cold sweat within ten minutes, feeling like you have kidney deficiency.

The most despicable thing is that the weakness effect of this negative buff gradually increases over time. Many people don't notice anything unusual at first. By the time they realize something is wrong halfway through the game with Dog Bro, it's too late.

Therefore, experienced adventurers generally agree that when facing Dog Brother, it is best to adopt a quick attack tactic and try to end the battle within three minutes, otherwise the longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be.

The group stood at the door for a moment, and Denzel hoped that they could return the way they came, because there were only eight of them in total, and it seemed unrealistic to think that they could quickly defeat Dog Brother with such limited fighting strength.

But Trinn didn't think so. Their initial plan was indeed just to conduct reconnaissance and explore the labyrinth. However, they unexpectedly stumbled upon a shortcut, and in just five hours since entering, they had arrived at Dog Brother's door, a place that would take other adventurer teams a day and a half to reach.

So Trilling thought, "They've come all this way, they can't just go back after taking a look, can they?" So Trilling asked the old butler in a low voice.

"Uncle Sajin, are you confident?"

"We haven't fought it yet, so I don't know."

The old butler shook his head as he looked at the motionless, silver-white golem not far away. Even a top expert like him would find it difficult to accurately judge the strength of a golem based solely on visual inspection and mental perception.

Golems originated in the Skaven Empire before the War of the Gods, developed as a countermeasure against the Dwarven War Puppetry. Their defining characteristic is that they contain one or more magical cores, allowing them to fight autonomously based on commands from their master without human intervention.

The manufacturing process of the golems was more complex than that of the dwarven war puppets, so the Skaven Empire ultimately only produced fewer than fifty.

After the war of the gods, the technology for creating golems, along with many other awe-inspiring Skaven technologies, was lost with the fall of the Skaven Empire. Only a few spoils of war have survived to this day, stored in the treasuries of a few nations and organizations, and no one has yet been able to replicate them.

The old butler, whom Trin respectfully called "Uncle Sarkin," was once the world's top assassin, skilled in using a rapier called "Poison Bee," and countless nobles and top experts died by his sword.

Because the Navarro family had been kind to him, and because Sarkin was getting old and wanted to find a place to retire, he came to the Navarro family to work as their butler. Occasionally, he would return to his old ways and help his masters solve some "trouble". The old butler was actually quite interested in whether his ultimate killing technique, which he had honed throughout his life, would be effective against this alchemical artifact from the previous era.

So they did it without hesitation, completely ignoring Denzel's well-intentioned reminder.

Fortunately, Trin thought he was still useful. This guy was familiar with the various mechanisms and traps in the maze and was a very good guide. Therefore, he did not force him to participate in the battle, but instead asked him to wait at the entrance.

Based on the intelligence gathered at a cost, Dog will automatically attack any adventurer who dares to step into the sea of ​​flowers. This giant golem, nearly five meters tall, is forged entirely from refined steel, making it virtually impervious to ordinary swords, arrows, and bows. Furthermore, its magic resistance is incredibly high, allowing it to directly absorb magic power and nullify any magic attacks it receives.

However, although this golem is incredibly strong, its attack moves only have a few fixed patterns, making it somewhat rigid in battle, which is currently Dog's most obvious weakness.

To test Dog, Trin first sent the other five of his men into the arena, while the old butler Sargin stayed at the entrance to observe. Once he had figured out the golem's attack patterns, he would personally go into the arena to fight it.

Although the subordinates knew that their young master was using them as cannon fodder in this decision, they didn't say much.

After entering the field, the group drew their swords and approached Dog Brother in battle formation. The person at the front carefully stepped into the flower field, even deliberately avoiding the white flowers, but the moment his foot touched the ground, Dog Brother, who was not far away, still moved.

With a metallic clang of gears turning and levers operating, the enormous golem stood up and turned to "look" at the intruders. Only then did Trin's men notice that a sword hilt was still embedded in the golem's chest.

At this moment, Dog suddenly hoisted the huge spiral lance onto his shoulder, then beckoned to the group with his finger, a completely provocative gesture.

End of this chapter

The towering golem strode forward, its body forged from steel, each step causing the earth to tremble and its imposing presence completely overwhelming the five intruders.

Faced with this inhuman and terrifying creation, Trin's five henchmen were utterly terrified. Fortunately, their mission wasn't to fight the monster to the death, but to probe its attack patterns, creating an opportunity for the old butler, who was observing the battle, to deliver a decisive blow.

Therefore, when Dog Brother started charging, everyone's first reaction was to quickly scatter, no one daring to directly confront his brutal charge. This made the battle look like a game of tag; any unlucky kid who got caught by Dog Brother would immediately suffer a brutal "hehehe!"

However, after a period of initial disarray, Terlin's men quickly discovered that Dog's attack methods were not actually complicated. His three-pronged attack looked fierce enough to scare the rookies who were facing him for the first time, leaving them completely bewildered and unable to react in time.

However, the men around Terin were all bodyguards carefully trained by the Navarro family, whose skills and experience far surpassed those of ordinary adventurers.

So after a few rounds of testing, they found that Dog Brother was nothing special.

With the golem's attack power, a direct hit would indeed be fatal, but any attack that misses its target would be useless no matter how explosive the damage.

The old butler, who had been watching from the sidelines, observed for a while before a confident smile appeared on his face.

"Hmph! Nothing special."

"Uncle Sarkin, are you sure?"

"Currently 70%, once the core location is discovered... 100%."

The old butler's tone was nonchalant, which gave Terlin great confidence. Since their top combatants said it was "safe," then it was time to go in!

After stretching his joints, the old butler stepped into the battlefield. Seeing this, the guards who were fighting Dog Brother retreated from the flower field. Dog Brother was like a dutiful caretaker; as long as you didn't trample the flowers and plants, he wouldn't relentlessly pursue you.

Although he trampled more flowers than anyone else!

On the other side, the old butler walked slowly, looking at first glance like an old man taking a morning stroll, but his steps were extremely steady. Denzel and Trinn, the two young men, couldn't figure out what was going on, but their intuition told them that this was the posture a master should have in the face of battle.

Without any warning, the old man, who had been strolling leisurely just a moment before, vanished without a trace the instant he stepped into the flower field. Immediately afterward, several crisp cracking sounds came from Dog Brother's body, and numerous translucent holes suddenly appeared at the joints of his limbs and in several vital areas. Then, the old butler reappeared at the other end of the flower field, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"Phew! It's pretty hard."

Reaching out to press his somewhat stiff neck, the old butler lowered his half-open eyelids, his brown eyes still fixed on the motionless golem not far away, his gaze sweeping over the dozen or so places it had just attacked.

If it were a human being with flesh and blood, the other party would be dead beyond any doubt by now. But Dog is a golem, and theoretically, there are only two ways to defeat it.

One is to completely destroy the body, smashing it to pieces.

Secondly, it destroys the core of his magical power, which is the heart of the golem.

However, golems are not human after all, and they will not obediently place their cores in the same location as the human heart. Some high-end golems are said to have more than one core installed to enhance their power and survivability.

Obviously! The first round of attacks failed to hit the golem's vitals, but the golem is not human after all. Its movement pattern is fixed and rigid. Relying on its speed, the old butler's speed in and out of the flower field completely exceeded Dog Brother's reaction time. Therefore, Dog Brother is still standing in place without moving.

One of the guards who had retreated to the outer perimeter shouted to the old steward.

"Master Sargin, go for his bot lane!"

With the cheers of the guards, the old butler launched another high-speed piercing attack. No one could see his movements clearly, or even what his weapon looked like. All they could see was the old man constantly "teleporting" and more and more small holes on Dog Brother's body.

The old butler discovered that the negative buff only caused continuous weakening when a person stood in the flower field for an extended period. However, his high-speed movement in and out of the flower field had negligible effect, and the golem, unable to activate its abilities in time, could only stand still and passively endure the attacks. It seemed that if this trend continued, Dog would be helplessly riddled with holes by the old butler without any chance to fight back.

However, at that moment, a deep bell rang out from the pool in the center of the garden. The mermaid holding the conch shell finished humming the first song, and after a brief three-second pause, a powerful and resonant soprano voice suddenly rose up, changing the previous leisurely and melodious singing to a passionate and high-pitched one.

As the song changed, Dog, who had been standing still and taking the beatings without fighting back, suddenly started moving on his own when no one was in the flower field. He reached out and rotated the hilt of the sword stuck in his chest half a turn, and a red light immediately appeared under his helmet. He then turned and stared at the old butler not far away.

What's going on?

Noticing Dog's change, Trinn asked Denzel in surprise, only to find that Denzel was also dumbfounded, with an unexpected expression.

Denzel was indeed unaware that Dog had a "second phase." In fact, not only them, but also the other adventurers who tried to fight Dog were unaware, because everyone's early attempts were mainly based on contact, and no one could survive until the end of the first song under the continuously increasing weakening negative buffs.

The dog, now active again, walked straight toward the old butler. The once dreamlike and beautiful pure white flower field beneath its feet was withering rapidly, turning into a dark brown dead wasteland.

The red light beneath Dog Brother's helmet grew ever brighter, and two streaks of "blood tears" even trickled down from the gaps. It was as if this golem possessed a soul, and the uncontrollable rage within him had reached its peak, mingling with the withering of the flower field!

The disappearance of the flower field signifies the lifting of the restrictions on Dog Brother. It launches another attack, and although its moves are still the same three old ones, its attack speed has been greatly improved. It no longer attacks one after another, but instead uses continuous combo attacks, directly raising its combat power to a new level.

Despite the berserk Dog's attacks, the old butler could still dodge with his superhuman speed, but the other five guards were in trouble. Because Dog's attacks were based on distance, attacking whoever was closest to it, the old butler inevitably suffered from over-aggro (OT) while dodging, which affected the other guards.

One of the unlucky guys was a step too slow and was swept away by Dog Brother with a powerful blow, flying against the wall. His miserable death was just like that of a mosquito that had been swatted flat.

End of this chapter

While the old butler and the others were still jumping around under Dog Brother's attack, at the same time, on the temple side, Lu De and a group of goddesses were eating snacks while watching the real-time images sent back by "Thousand-Mile Eyes". The atmosphere was just like a family gathering in front of the TV to watch a popcorn movie after dinner.

Lude was very interested in the amazing combat power that the old butler had just displayed. He felt that he was completely different from the knights he had seen before who practiced martial arts. He was not just one or two levels higher, but on a completely different level.

"To be fair, that old butler is quite capable!"

“I know who this old man is. He should be a legendary assassin who retired from the martial arts world more than ten years ago. His nickname is Swift Thunder Hundred Poison Bee, a top martial artist among mortals. If I remember correctly, he killed your old friend Hamilton’s master.”

"Judging from that nickname, it must be very expensive, right?"

"Don't underestimate this guy. If I'm not mistaken, the move he just used was an ancient martial art from the Age of Gods."