Goddess Kaleidoscope

Fran placed his hand on his chest, and Lud suddenly sensed that there seemed to be some kind of divine power hidden within the little girl's body. Just now, it was like a ray of firefly that suddenly appeared in the dark night, resonating with his primordial fire.

Based on Fran's previous words, Ludwig couldn't help but guess that the goddess of the hearth, Marigis, was probably possessing Fran, this divine child.

So he made a somewhat bold move.

In front of Fran, Ludwig opened his palm, and a tiny golden flame, the size of a peanut, appeared in his hand.

Fran stared blankly at the flames for a moment, then her expression changed drastically. Her body emitted a large red light and expanded as if inflated, transforming in the blink of an eye from a thirteen-year-old girl into a voluptuous blonde mature woman. Upon seeing this, Chaye and Agou, who were standing behind the sofa, immediately knelt down on one knee.

Lude couldn't help but show surprise, but his expression quickly turned somewhat awkward. Because Fran had suddenly grown up, her clothes hadn't changed along with her, causing the originally decent girls' uniform to be stretched to the point of bursting by her curvaceous figure, making her look extremely lewd.

However, Lude soon noticed that although the transformed Fran still bore a resemblance to his childhood appearance, his entire demeanor had completely changed, and his eyes were much deeper, clearly indicating that he was not the same person as Fran.

"Goddess of the Hearth?"

"Mortal priest, why do you possess this?"

Clearly, the woman before him was the goddess of the hearth, Marigius, and she recognized the tiny bit of primordial fire that Rudd had deliberately revealed.

Lud wasn't worried about Marigis becoming interested in the fire, because this was Pine Town, his carefully cultivated stronghold. Not only did Lud have the advantage in terms of the number of gods, but the town also had a large barrier set up with the help of Kumirad, which could effectively block the spying of other gods. Even if Marigis screamed her lungs out here, she wouldn't attract the attention of other gods.

Furthermore, despite Marigsis's impressive entrance, Lud immediately saw through her true nature as soon as she revealed herself. Her divine power was pitifully small, roughly equivalent to that of Aina when she was about three months old.

Even three hundred years ago, at her peak, the Goddess of the Hearth was merely a lower-level deity of the third tier, not holding any powerful divine position. After fleeing to the open sea, her number of followers plummeted, and she has been steadily declining for centuries. Now that she is so weak, it's no wonder that when slave traders raided the islanders' villages, she, as the leading goddess, could only watch helplessly.

The difference in strength was obvious, and Lude was more than capable of handling the situation. Moreover, the fact that his opponent was so weak was exactly what he wanted.

At Lud's signal, Shanes led Chaye and Ago, who were kneeling behind her, out of the reception room, leaving only Lud and the goddess of the hearth who had revealed her true form. The two sat facing each other, and Lud's attitude made Marigis slightly displeased, but she only frowned slightly.

Because she could see that although Rude was a mortal, he was favored by more than one god, and with her current abilities, she was no match for him.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Rude, a priest of the Cult of Medicine God, and also an ordinary servant of the Pantheon. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Marygis, the Goddess of the Hearth."

"The God of Medicine? Never heard of him. Is he a new god who emerged in the last three hundred years?"

"To be more precise, it's these three years."

"Three years? Which stage?"

"Half a year ago, we broke through to the second stage. Judging from the current growth rate, we should be able to break through to the third stage by the first half of next year at the latest, or by the end of this year at the earliest."

"What...what did you feed her? She's growing so fast!? Oh right! You have the Primal Flame, is that stuff really that effective?"

Upon hearing Lude say that he had nurtured a god who was about to break through to the third tier in less than three years, Marigis's eyes widened in astonishment. As a second-generation god who had lived for thousands of years, she knew very well how slow the growth rate of ordinary gods was.

At her peak, she controlled only one city with fewer than 100,000 followers. It took her a full five hundred years to break through from the first level to the third level, which is quite fast for an ordinary god.

If the medicine god Lude mentioned could start with a million followers, then it would be normal for her to advance to the third level in less than three years. However, she had some understanding of the situation in Pine Town through the Fran she possessed. It only had about 10,000 residents, and not all of them were followers.

So, subconsciously, Marigsis attributed this incredible "miracle" to the "Original Fire," which was legendary even among the gods.

Thinking of this, Marigis's gaze toward Lud suddenly became fervent.

"Mortal priest, what is your purpose in deliberately luring me out?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to talk to you in person and see if you'd be interested in debuting in my Pantheon."

"The Pantheon? Is your chief god trying to form a coalition?"

"To be precise, it's a collaboration, a mutually beneficial partnership. The gods I've already joined include the God of Medicine, the God of Love, and the three goddesses of craftsmanship. Potential allies include the God of Thieves and the Goddess of Wisdom. If you're willing to join, I can promise to help you rebuild your faith on the continent."

"Heh, you've got quite the nerve. But those gods you just mentioned, apart from Hume, the god of thieves, and Kumirad, the goddess of wisdom, are all new gods, right? Do you think the old gods would just sit idly by? Besides, you just showed me the primordial fire. Aren't you afraid I'll betray you?"

"If you cooperate with me, you'll definitely benefit from the Primal Flame, but if you sell me to those great gods, what do you think you'll get? You survived the brutal war of the gods, surely it wasn't all luck?"

"..."

Lude pointed to his head, looking at Marigis with a half-smile. He dared to show his "big treasure" in front of her not only because he was confident he could mold the weakling Marigis into a ball and force her into his basement, but also because he believed that such a cunning cook couldn't be a fool.

As expected, Marigis said after a moment of contemplation.

"If I join your so-called Pantheon, how do you plan to help me revive the sect?"

"Of course, we'll tailor a complete idol promotion plan to perfectly suit your divine status. Rest assured, I have extensive experience in this area. Those new gods I mentioned before were all cultivated by me. Just leave everything to me, and I guarantee we'll all have a bright future!"

End of this chapter

As soon as he learned of the name of the goddess of the hearth, Marigsis, Rudd had already conceived the idea of ​​recruiting her into his group.

Firstly, the Goddess of the Hearth was weak, making it easy for him to control her. Secondly, her divine position involved cooking and food, which was extremely attractive to Lud, a transmigrator from the great food-loving empire.

It's worth noting that when Lud initially started creating gods, the "God of Food" was one of the alternatives. After all, food is the most important thing for people, and this belief covers the vast majority of the world's advanced intelligent races, making it more universally appealing.

However, precisely because it is so close to daily life, the beliefs associated with it tend to be folkloric, lacking the sacredness that generates a religious atmosphere, and are more likely to produce a generalized believer.

If this were an era in which various religious sects coexisted peacefully and were free to spread their religions, this divine position could have easily won by sheer numbers, giving birth to first-rate deities. However, Marigius was clearly born at the wrong time. In the Age of Gods, even deities belonging to the same camp were clearly divided.

Because the gods of that time had a misconception about faith, believing that the faith each believer could produce was limited, and that believing in too many gods would dilute it, they all kept a close watch on their respective parishes and did not allow other sects to take away their territory.

This resulted in Marigsis having a small parish because she lacked a suitable divine position for combat. With a small parish and few believers, she was unable to develop her full potential.

In this era, the number of gods who survived the war of gods has decreased significantly, and their positions are relatively concentrated. As a result, the various sects are no longer as hostile as they used to be, and they can coexist in the same region.

Competition will not disappear, but its intensity will decrease significantly. When vying for followers, clergy will be more inclined to use verbal rather than physical means.

To put it bluntly, both humans and gods are afraid; no one wants to fight another super war of the intensity of three hundred years ago.

This relatively mild new mythological era was undoubtedly very favorable for the Kitchen God, whose divine position was more folkloric.

According to traditional religious sects, to establish a diocese, it is necessary to build a dedicated temple in the local area, arrange for clergy to reside there permanently, and regularly spread the doctrine to believers to constantly remind them to strengthen their faith in God.

But Ludwig had already demonstrated in Oyster Harbor that maintaining the presence and influence of religion does not necessarily require temples and priests. The real key is to leave behind sufficiently prominent "symbols"!

When Ludd left Oyster Harbor, he left four things behind: a monument, a hospital, a school, and newspapers. The first three all had statues of the goddess erected in prominent positions, while the newspapers featured the goddess's silhouette on their front pages; these can all be considered symbols.

These facilities and institutions cannot be considered orthodox religious buildings, and the staff are not priests, but while benefiting the local people, they also constantly remind them who saved the city and who they should be grateful to in their hearts!

This meant that even six months after Lud left Oyster Harbor, the local area continued to generate a steady stream of faith, which was then used to remotely reward Aina through idols and even symbols on paper.

With a population advantage of more than ten times, Oyster Harbor can still produce more faith than Pine Tree Town even without the blessing of the Origin Fire.

Inspired by this experience, Ludwig's thinking suddenly opened up: if symbols can be used, then why can't they be used as trademarks?

Imagine if a belief system like this one existed on the other side of the world, then Lao Gan Ma, the "national goddess," might be able to compete with the gods and demons of the foreigners!

After confirming that Marigis had agreed to join the Pantheon, Ludwig, who had come prepared, immediately took out a "labor contract" from his pocket and handed it to the goddess of the hearth, asking her to carefully read all the terms and conditions. Once she confirmed that everything was correct, she only needed to sign it, and then they would be "family".

When Marigis took the so-called contract and looked at it, she found that it was actually a "divine contract" that could bind the gods. She couldn't help but frown, thinking that Lud was trying to trap her.

But after carefully reading it, she found that apart from stipulating the obligations and responsibilities of both parties, there was nothing unreasonable about the contract. After thinking about it, considering her current predicament, it seemed that she had nothing left to lose, so she gritted her teeth and signed it.

"Well, the contract is now established. Welcome to the Pantheon, Lady Marigis, Goddess of the Hearth. I will now begin preparing the plan to give you and your sect a comprehensive makeover!"

How long will it take?

"Soon, within two weeks at most, I already have a rough outline in my mind; I just need to add a few more details..."

After asking Rudd a few more questions, Marigis suddenly realized that she had only shown herself because she sensed the primordial fire, but she had been fooled by this seemingly innocent young human and had unwittingly joined his strange pantheon.

However, this also gave Marigis an unexpected sense of relief. She thought to herself that this guy was so eloquent that he could even fool her, an old god who was over a thousand years old, on the spot. He must be able to handle those mortals with ease.

After chatting for a while, Marigis suddenly yawned, her face showing a sleepy expression. At the same time, her body was shrinking at a visible speed. Her chest, which had been stretched to the point of bursting out of her elementary school uniform, was the first to deflate, leaving Lud, who had been enjoying the view, with a slight sense of regret.

During their previous conversation, Lud had already learned from Marigis that she maintained a special symbiotic relationship with the islanders of Paty Island. Every twenty-four years, the islanders would choose a divine child as a vessel for her to possess during her hibernation. Fran was the divine child of this generation, and the previous generation was her mother.

The reason why Ludwig could not observe the emergence of faith in the island boys was related to their special bloodline.

At the end of the War of the Gods, Marigsis, seeing that all was lost and knowing that staying meant certain death, led the core members of her cult to flee to the open sea. These believers had received Marigsis's blood, so the faith they developed could be temporarily stored within their own bodies, and then transferred to Marigsis, who was possessing Fran's body, through regular gatherings by holding hands.

The reason for using such a strange method to convey faith was mainly due to the desperation they faced when fleeing from disaster. Although ordinary people cannot see the colors of faith, some particularly radical sects would send divine messengers to hunt down infidels who dared to trespass into their parishes.

So, in a moment of inspiration, Marigsis devised this unique way of offering alms, which has been passed down to this day as a religious tradition on Paty Island.

End of this chapter

For several days after signing the contract with the Goddess of the Hearth, Marigis did not show her face again. Ludd asked Fran and learned that the goddess was in hibernation. Taking form would consume divine power. She had only talked with Ludd for less than two hours that day, and it had already used up most of her remaining divine power.

The sight of a god so weak was truly eye-opening for Rude.

Out of curiosity, Lude chatted with Fran about the past of Paty Island, how they and the goddess had spent all those years on that island. It was only after asking that he learned why Marigis was so weak.

When the war of the gods broke out, the gods led their followers in a chaotic battle. Marigius belonged to the faction of the god of fire, but their leader, the god of fire, took the initiative to challenge the god of the sun. As a result, he was beaten up and even his godhood was taken away by the other party as a spoil of war.

Without their leader, the fire god's faction immediately collapsed. The fire goddess, who had little fighting power, was betrayed by her former allies, and the city-state where her believers gathered fell. Most of the believers were either killed or forced to convert, and only a very few managed to escape to the open sea with the goddess.

However, life on the island is not a paradise. Frequent natural disasters and various monsters on the sea constantly threaten their living environment.

In times like these, Marigsis, who is not good at fighting, has no choice but to step forward to protect her few remaining followers in the world.

Humans and gods are interdependent; humans need divine protection, and gods need people to continue providing them with faith. However, as time went on, a problem gradually emerged: the number of believers was too small, while the need for divine power was too great. Marigis was always struggling to make ends meet and never had a chance to rest and recuperate, which directly led to the tragedy.

A year ago, a once-in-a-century super hurricane swept through the waters surrounding Patty Island. Marigish used up all the divine power she had painstakingly accumulated to protect the village and fields from the hurricane's destruction.

But it was this hurricane that blew a smuggling ship full of all sorts of scoundrels ashore. Marigis, who had fallen into a deep sleep due to exhaustion of her divine power, was unable to protect her believers at the critical moment. When she woke up again, Faran, the son of God, was already imprisoned in the slave jail on Treasure Island.

Fran, who shared a telepathic connection with Marigis, knew that their goddess was deeply remorseful for this terrible man-made disaster. Having relied on each other for nearly three hundred years, the relationship between Marigis and the islanders had unknowingly become quite close, unlike the distant relationships of other traditional religious sects. Marigis had even revealed secrets about their faith to them, letting them know why the gods were so powerful!

Fran remembers hearing his grandmother tell him when he was a child that when the goddess was not so weak that she needed to sleep often, she would appear every year during the Feast Festival to celebrate with the islanders, and would even dance with everyone when she got excited.

Therefore, the islanders loved Marigis very much, but unfortunately, their numbers were too small, and the island was often threatened by natural disasters and monsters. No matter how devout they were, Marigis was still weakening day by day.

Therefore, the islanders of Paty Island longed to return to the mainland to preach to their beloved goddess so that she could become strong again.

"Teacher, do you really have a way to make the goddess sister stronger?"

"Of course! Your teacher is a person of her word. However, you can't go around telling the other children about the contract I made with your goddess sister, understand?"

Fran nodded obediently. This child was both shrewd and mature, and he understood many things very quickly. In Lud's eyes, he was a promising talent.

At this moment, Fran looked at Shanes behind Ludwig. The tall, mature nun was leaning against the bed, idly counting the fat birds on her fingers. Fran suddenly asked Ludwig a question.

"Teacher Lude, if I may be so bold as to ask... Instructor Shanis, she shouldn't be human, right? And Sister Aina and Sister Moshu... I always seem to see something unusual about them."

"Can you see?"

Upon hearing Fran say she could see "unusual light," Ludd immediately understood that she was referring to faith. As the "human host" possessed by Marigis, Ludd was not at all surprised that Fran would possess some special abilities.

So after thinking for a moment, Lud decided to reveal a little bit.

"Fran, if I told you that Instructor Shanis is actually like you, with a god residing within her body, would you believe me?"