Goddess Kaleidoscope

It's worth mentioning that, like ordinary snakes, Hydras shed their skin periodically. So, every month, they typically spend one or two days, under the pretext of running errands, retreating to the depths of the temple's underground palace to revert to their original form and shed their skin. The shed skin is then recycled and reused by the three sisters; this is the material used for the inner lining of the Heroic Spirit Squad's armor.

The appearance of the monster lord surprised Leopold. The old mage who rushed out to fight after the sudden attack on the mine initially thought that the three-man tower had sent people to hunt him down again because the mine, which had been bombarded by rockets, looked exactly like it had just been hit by a top-level forbidden fire spell, which made him subconsciously think that it was Hamilton, that bald fire saint.

It should be noted that Leopold was once the chief of the Three Towers, and the current three chiefs are all his juniors. If it were a one-on-one fight, Leopold would not be afraid of anyone, and he even believed that he had a 60 to 70% chance of winning against two opponents.

The Three-Person Tower has a rule that one of the three chiefs must stay behind. Therefore, even though the Three-Person Tower has known that he is in Yanmu City for many years and has indeed sent out several expeditions, they still cannot do anything about him.

However, after actually engaging in combat, Leopold discovered that the enemies attacking him were not the familiar faces of the three-man tower, but a group of unknown opponents. The number of opponents was not large, but each of them was a top expert, and they were all equipped with extremely luxurious top-level equipment, which even the well-informed Leopold had never seen before.

So despite Leopold's loud pronouncements, he knew very well that this time, the people coming were all tough opponents.

So he started by using his personal magic scroll to cast five layers of top-tier magic shields on himself, and then used "Lightning Empowerment" to give his zombie army a berserk buff.

All of this preparation was just to buy time for him to unleash his ultimate move.

The term "forbidden spell" is a general term used by magicians to refer to the most powerful offensive spells. While these spells are extremely powerful, the preparation process is generally very complicated. Some wide-area, military-level forbidden spells even require multiple magicians to form an array before they can be used.

Given Leopold's level, he naturally possessed more than one forbidden spell that could be used by a single person, but preparation time was still needed, so he needed to use the zombie army to hold off the enemy for him first.

Sensing the powerful magical fluctuations around Leopold, Lud knew that the opponent's ultimate move had already begun casting. A top-tier mortal powerhouse like him might be stronger than most second-tier lower gods, and was definitely not someone to be underestimated.

So Lude silently cast divine spells, stacking various buffs on the Heroic Spirit Squad, then pointed his finger to the sky, and a dazzling beam of light shot up, transforming into a forty-meter-long greatsword. He delivered a powerful vertical slash to Leopold's head, and wherever the light blade passed, the zombies instantly vaporized. It shattered the outermost two layers of Leopold's magical protective barrier, which was barely blocked by the third layer.

After the chop, both sides stared at each other, somewhat stunned.

"Holy crap! It's broken?"

"Damn! It's so hard?"

Leopold's heart skipped a beat as he stared at the shattered magic shield. The magic shield scroll he had used was a top-tier artifact left behind by the dwarf kingdom during the Age of Gods, a treasure he had casually stolen from the vault when he was expelled from the Three-Man Tower.

This thing was said to be indestructible and able to withstand the wrath of the gods, but it was easily destroyed by that unknown masked priest on the other side.

"Damn it, Li Liang! I knew all that stuff from those dwarves was full of false advertising!"

The things dwarves make are indeed impressive, but they're certainly not as impressive as they claim; this has become a kind of "common sense."

The naturally cautious Leopold had cast five layers of shields around himself. Three of them were rare and precious artifacts, while the other two were imitations he had made himself, slightly less powerful but still top-tier. The five layers were deployed at intervals. This made Leopold believe he was invincible, but Ludd's actions truly startled him.

"Divine magic...at least at the archbishop level..."

On the other side, Lud was also secretly alarmed, because the move he had just made was the strongest offensive divine spell he could use at this stage - "Sword of Judgment". The divine power required to use it once was roughly equivalent to Aina's faith income for about fifteen to twenty days.

Normally, lower-ranking gods who haven't reached the fourth rank would never authorize their priests to use this move, except for Rude, who is an exception.

Despite the high energy consumption, Lude has five goddesses supporting him as his ultimate pretty boy. If he can't smash it in one go, he'll just smash it a few more times. He doesn't believe that this guy has so many shells that he can't smash them all.

However, before Lud could deliver a second blow, Shanes rushed forward. Since killing Vernon last time, she had acquired a pretty good item. Although Lud was incredibly despicable in some ways, at least he didn't steal equipment from his own people.

So Shanis rushed forward and leaped into the air. The silver bracelet she always wore on her wrist instantly transformed into rainbow armor, completing an extremely gorgeous "transformation" in mid-air. Then, she kicked Leopold with an exceptionally standard "knight's flying kick".

End of this chapter

Gazing at Shanes' magnificent transformation in mid-air, Leopold recognized her at a glance as Vernon the Skinner's "Rainbow Armor," and was momentarily stunned by his surprise.

Like Leopold, Vernon also became an elder through his strong personal abilities. Moreover, because of this secret armor, Vernon's abilities were extremely effective against Leopold, giving him a slight advantage.

The origin of this rainbow armor is said to be very ancient. It is certain that it is not a product of the current New Gods period or the previous Gods period, but rather a product of the ancient times, which is much older than the present history. It may even be traced back to the legendary "previous civilization".

The Secret Armor can grant the wearer immense power while making them completely immune to magical and even divine attacks. Any non-physical attack will be absorbed by the Secret Armor and used to strengthen itself, making it a perfect counter to magicians like Leopold.

Of course! This thing is powerful, but it's not invincible. While it's completely immune to magic attacks, its maximum power is related to the user's own level and can be increased by about 10 to 15 times.

It can only be said that Vernon, whose true form is a shapeshifter, is far weaker than Shanes after her transformation, and even with the enhancement, he is no match for her.

Now that this set of secret armor has fallen into Shanis's hands, it shamelessly claimed a new master after Vernon's death. After acquiring it, Shanis found it to be surprisingly useful; not only could it transform into a full-body rainbow armor, but it could also freely change its form according to the user's wishes.

So ever since she got this, Shanis has stopped wearing clothes. Her nun's habit and underwear are all made from secret armor. Recently, she has been drawing inspiration from some of Lude's design drawings and has added high-heeled boots and black pantyhose to her outfit. Who knows what she's planning to do?

Leopold knew the power of the Secret Armor, so seeing it in his enemy's hands only amplified his fear, which was already evident when he saw Ludwig cleave his skull with a forty-meter-long lightsaber. This was because the magical barrier was essentially a form of energy, and all energy could be absorbed by the Secret Armor.

To everyone's astonishment, Shanis shattered Leopold's remaining three shields with a single "Knight's Flying Kick." Had the old mage not dodged quickly enough, he would have been blown in the head by the flying kick.

Leopold stared at Shanis, who had just grazed past the top of his head, still in shock. He suddenly realized who the attacker was.

"You...you guys are in cahoots with Dick!?"

A little over a month ago, Vernon was killed by the necromancer Dick in the north of the kingdom. When the news reached Flamewood City, Leopold and others who disliked Vernon celebrated but also felt a pang of regret, because Vernon's Rainbow Armor, which many people coveted, was either destroyed in battle or fell into Dick's hands.

And now that the people who attacked the mine have Rainbow Armor, they are most likely connected to Dick.

Leopold concluded that Dick had definitely betrayed the Brotherhood, and that Jade, who had previously recommended Dick to become the new elder at the regular meeting, was also suspicious.

Thinking this through, Leopold lost all will to fight. He had already witnessed his opponent's strength, and a direct confrontation would surely lead to his death. His only chance of survival was to retreat. Only by escaping alive could he have a chance to reveal the necromancer's true nature to the other elders!

But before he could escape, Leopold had to unleash the forbidden spell he was halfway through preparing; he needed this trick to get away.

So Leopold decisively threw out the remaining scrolls, simultaneously commanding his mount, the "Hundred-Armed Centipede," to protect him. The centipede immediately curled into a ball, using its numerous arms to shield Leopold. Then the other zombies swarmed forward, quickly piling up like a human pyramid to form a massive "mountain of corpses."

The zombies used themselves as human shields, completely abandoning their attacks to take bullets for Leopold. The attacks of the Heroic Spirit Squad hit the mountain of flesh, causing blood and flesh to splatter everywhere, but they managed to withstand such a fierce offensive.

At this moment, Lude noticed that the corpses and remains on the ground around him were rapidly converging into the mountain of corpses, and the zombies clinging to the mountain of flesh were collectively emitting shrill and ear-piercing howls. Their bodies were melting at a visible speed. Before long, the mountain of corpses merged into a giant gray-white "meat bullet", with a large number of distorted human faces faintly visible on its surface.

Looking at this terrifying and horrifying scene, Lude felt his SAN value plummeting rapidly.

"What is this?!"

"How disgusting!"

Seeing that their attacks were proving ineffective, the Heroic Spirit squad, nearing the end of their ammunition, had no choice but to halt. Hydra, in her monster form, retreated half a step to create distance from the fleshy mass; her beastly instincts told her this thing was extremely dangerous. Everyone turned to look at Rudd, awaiting his further instructions.

Lude was also completely dumbfounded. Although he knew that it was impossible to have "everything under control" in the early stages of intelligence gathering, and that Leopold must have some unknown tricks and backup plans to become an elder, this fleshy ball in front of him was still too far beyond common sense.

"Shanis, can you use your ability to drain this thing?"

"Master, I can't absorb it! This thing isn't alive; it has no life force at all!"

Standing atop the fleshy ball, Shanis was at a loss. She could use her divine power to absorb the life force of the living, but this method was useless against the dead. Furthermore, after the fleshy ball completed its fusion, its surface skin became extremely tough and elastic.

When he threw a punch, it was like hitting a water balloon; most of the force was dissipated by the rolling, trembling waves of flesh, and it didn't hurt Leopold, who was hiding inside the balloon, at all.

Then, the giant fleshy ball changed again. First, it rolled around, shaking off Shanis who was standing on it. Then, four huge "flesh buds" grew from its surface, which soon grew into human-like limbs. Immediately afterwards, the fleshy ball stood up on the spot using these newly grown legs, reaching a height of thirty or forty meters, looking quite imposing.

However, just when everyone thought that this ball-shaped giant was about to attack them, it suddenly turned around, took off running with its long legs, leaving Lud completely dumbfounded.

"Grass!"

Although he was powerful and not without the ability to fight, the cautious Leopold still chose to run away.

What does the majesty of a forbidden spell master matter compared to a dog's life?

His decisive escape was indeed unexpected by everyone present.

"Chase him! We can't let him get away!"

End of this chapter

Leopold's choice between dignity and his life highlights a "following one's heart." Compared to flying magic that could be shot down, the giant corpse, a "vehicle" with both offensive and defensive capabilities and long legs, offered a greater sense of security.

The giant, several tens of meters tall, ran wildly. Judging from the direction he was fleeing, Leopold was heading towards Navarro's manor, clearly wanting to ask his allies for help, or to put it more bluntly, to divert trouble elsewhere.

Behind the giant, Shanis and the Heroic Spirit squad, who could fly, were in hot pursuit, while Hydra transformed back into human form and, together with Rud, rode on Kanna's back, preparing to fly in front of the giant to intercept it.

It's worth mentioning that the snake girl has a fear of heights and fainted on her first flight. To avoid fainting again, Hydra wore an eye mask before takeoff and clung tightly to Lud, making Lud a little embarrassed.

Looking down from the sky, the colossal body of the corpse giant traversed the mountains and forests, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. Including the earlier rocket barrage, the commotion tonight has been considerable; the leaders in Flamewood City will likely be aware of it by tomorrow morning.

On the ground, Leopold, controlling the giant corpse, completely ignored the attacks behind him and sprinted forward relentlessly. At his current speed, he would reach Navarro's castle in another twenty minutes. Therefore, Leopold had only one thought in his mind: "Don't stop." As long as he kept going, reaching Navarro's house would be victory!

However, at that moment, the charging corpse giant suddenly stomped on the ground and crashed into a huge pit.

Leopold, who was thrown around in a daze, looked around. The crater was more than fifty meters deep and the bottom was full of mud like a swamp, which caused the giant corpse he was controlling to fall several times and not be able to get up.

Leopold suddenly realized that this huge pit was probably not a naturally formed landform, but a trap specifically designed to target him!

At this moment, the pursuers also arrived at the edge of the pit. Kanna, carrying Lud and Hydra, kept circling in the air. Lud raised his hand from the air and cast a holy light barrier, which slammed the giant corpse into the pit like a large bowl.

"Run! I'll see where you think you can run!"

On the ground, the three sisters, who had been lying in ambush for some time, were waving at Lud. Their original mission was to intercept reinforcements; if the Navarro family sent reinforcements to the Mil mine, this was their only route.

Instead of reinforcements from the Navarro family, they caught Leopold off guard as he tried to escape. Upon learning that a massive "escaped fish" was heading their way, the three sisters immediately used their divine powers to dig a huge, deep pit, leaving only a small section of soil above ground for minor reinforcement.

In this way, no problem can be seen from the ground, but the corpse giant will collapse as soon as it steps on it.

This coordinated attack completely trapped Leopold.

Realizing he had been ambushed, Leopold was horrified. He managed to stand up and try to jump out of the pit, but he bumped into the barrier that Ludwig had placed over the pit and fell back to the bottom in a sorry state.

He was completely confused and had no idea who these attackers who were determined to kill him were, because among them were clearly priests, demon lords, and high-ranking warriors who he vaguely felt were not human.

This group of strange and eccentric individuals is already quite absurd that they could even come together. Now, they've joined forces to ruthlessly destroy the Black Hand Brotherhood's drug lab. Could it be that they're upholding justice?

Leopold couldn't understand the reason, but he was certain he didn't want to die. Among the world's top experts, Leopold might not be the strongest, but he was definitely the most cunning. If he really encountered a ruthless opponent he couldn't defeat, he would give up everything to survive.

"Please, sir, spare my life! Let's talk this out!"

Looking down at the attackers peering down from the edge of the pit, Leopold decisively controlled the Corpse Giant to raise his hands. He now only wanted to figure out what these people's purpose was and how to secure a way out for himself.

However, just as Leopold was pondering how to negotiate with the other party, Ludd's words poured cold water on his enthusiasm.

"There's nothing to say between us. Since you're an elder of the Black Hand Brotherhood and a believer in Hume, the God of Thieves, you're going to die today!"

"Hey! No, no! I can talk about it, and I don't have to believe in the God of Thieves!"

"..."

Faced with Leopold, who would fawn over anyone to survive, Rudd was speechless for a moment. After all, he was a top-tier archmage in the magical world, and it was quite surprising that the "Thunder King" was so spineless.

"Hey! You're supposed to be a pro, aren't you?"

"Only the living matter; the dead are nothing."

"...I still prefer your rebellious side."

In front of Ludwig, Leopold attempted to exchange his treasured possessions for a way out. The giant corpse spat out several large boxes containing gold, silver, jewels, and various magical items. Among them was a short sword that even seemed to be imbued with divine power.

Furthermore, if he could offer his knowledge, strength, and (not absolute) loyalty to break away from the Brotherhood and serve Ludwig or his new master, he would not hesitate to turn against the Brotherhood.

Looking at this guy, Lude couldn't help but hesitate.