Goddess Kaleidoscope

"Come on! Put this guy in this spot, then call Hume over. Just a quick snap, it'll be quick."

Following Kumirad's instructions, Lud led the imposter to the center of the altar. Kumirad then casually pointed at the imposter, who had been cursing, and the imposter stopped abruptly. Only his eyes could still move slightly, his pupils filled with resentment and despair at being betrayed.

So Ludwig untied the fire ropes from the imposter's body, restored the primordial fire to its original state, and retracted it back into his own body.

A short while later, Hume arrived at the altar accompanied by fallen leaves. Seeing that Ludwig was unharmed, a smile unconsciously appeared on her face. But she soon noticed the imposter who was as still as a statue and Kumirad who was squatting on the altar writing and drawing.

"She...she's betrayed us again?"

"You used the word 'again' very aptly."

She briefly explained the situation to Hume, and learned that Kumirad would use the ancient magic circle on the altar to transfer the God of War curse that had plagued her for three hundred years to the imposter who shared the same origin as her.

In this way, Hume can regain her original power, while the imposter will be sealed away and will no longer be able to pose a threat to her. At the same time, since the curse is only transferred rather than broken, it will not alarm the God of War, Feigolei. It can be described as killing three birds with one stone, as long as Kumirad does not make any more trouble.

Soon, Kumirad redraws the ritual circle on the altar. Looking at the completely incomprehensible runes on it, Lud turned his head and stared into Kumirad's eyes, asking once again solemnly.

"Can this magic array really do what you say?"

"Do you believe me?" Kumirad asked rhetorically.

"Do not believe."

"That's right, let's begin."

After hesitating for a long time, Ludwig finally lowered his raised hand.

At Kumirard's prompting, Hume stood on the altar, facing the immobilized imposter. Just two days earlier, in the same place, the situation had been completely different.

At this moment, tears welled up in the imposter's eyes, as if she were pleading with Hume to spare her. If it were before, Hume would have been extremely arrogant, inevitably launching into a barrage of taunts to thoroughly demoralize the imposter and make her experience despair.

But Hume did not do that. Instead of acting like a saint and stopping the ceremony that had already begun, she spoke in a comforting tone.

"Don't be afraid. In a sense, you're like my sister. We won't do anything to you."

As soon as Hume finished speaking, the magic circle on the altar lit up. Ludwig, who had already retreated to the side, looked at the three figures in the center of the altar. His brows were almost furrowed, revealing his deep worry.

In the center of the activated magic circle, a massive amount of light runes gathered and condensed in mid-air, quickly forming floating links between Hume and the imposter. Then, some blood-red light spots emerged from Hume's side and traveled along the links to the imposter's side.

As soon as these red things entered the imposter's body, she, who was originally unable to move or even make a sound, let out a shrill wail and struggled to escape, but those bonds of light were like the strongest shackles, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not break free.

At that moment, the imposter was horrified to discover that her hands were disappearing at a visible speed, leaving only a chaotic mess at the point of separation. This sight reminded Ludwig of the time when Hume first removed his gloves in front of her; her hands, cursed by the god of war, had also looked like this.

End of this chapter

Duke Kruder has been feeling very troubled lately because the series of messy things that have happened in Yanmu City in the past half month are more than the total number of things that have happened in the past ten years, leaving the highest-ranking official in the area extremely overwhelmed.

Just last night, the Navarro estate outside the city was suddenly engulfed in flames and explosions rang out incessantly. The commotion was so loud that it could be clearly heard even in the city, more than thirty miles away. Some residents of the city, unaware of the situation, mistook it for fireworks, but the Duke realized that something must have happened to the Navarro family in that direction.

The Duke then dispatched three cavalry scout squads to investigate, but all three squads disappeared without a trace after leaving the city, only managing to retreat back into the city in a sorry state the next morning.

The captains of the three scout teams stated that they were all ambushed by unidentified individuals on the way. The attackers used a highly effective tranquilizer dart, which knocked them and their horses down, but did not kill them.

The scout cavalrymen didn't wake up until dawn the next day. When they got up, they found their three squads of fifteen cavalrymen lying neatly in a row on the ground. The attackers, seemingly worried that they would freeze to death that night, had thoughtfully lit several fires nearby.

Upon waking, the cavalrymen exchanged bewildered glances. Although they knew they had failed to obey the Duke's orders to rush to Navarro's house immediately to check on the situation, they still gritted their teeth and made another trip. They discovered that the once magnificent mansion had been burned to the ground, with remains scattered among the charred mud and broken walls.

A knight discovered the body of Grand Steward Juan. The large man's body was broken in two; his upper body lay on a pile of scattered gold coins, while his lower body hung from a treetop dozens of meters away.

They later found some survivors from the manor nearby. From them, they learned that the Navarro family had been attacked the previous night, and the patriarch and most of the guards were dead. The attackers were few in number, but each one was highly skilled and could summon a powerful rain of fire with magic. Last night's battle was a complete one-sided rout.

After getting a general idea of ​​the situation, the scout team that had gathered together quickly sent someone back to Flamewood City to report, and only then did Duke Krud realize what had happened.

It's obvious! The recent events in Yanmu City were definitely the work of the same group of people, and their target was the most powerful local gang—the Black Hand Brotherhood. However, the Duke wasn't sure whether the attackers wanted to punish evil or double-cross them.

However, as the lord of Flamewood City, the Duke should uphold and maintain the long-standing order of the area, even if it is not perfect, it is still better than chaos. Therefore, he must take action.

However, to the Duke's great dismay, those mysterious attackers never launched any further operations, or rather, their operations went underground, and they never caused any more big commotions like those at the Mil Mine or the Navarro Estate.

It felt like you were all ready to fight, but your opponent had already retreated, leaving you punching empty air and only feeling a little lost.

In fact, with Navarro's demise as the key turning point, Lud and his group had achieved their main objectives, so the operation had come to an end, and all that remained was some finishing touches.

Without the imposters, the Black Hand Brotherhood was no threat, so Lud stopped pretending and confronted the remaining three elders directly.

He first approached Jade and told him directly that he had decided to take over the management of the Brotherhood. If Jade didn't want to go on a "rope walk" later, he would have to support "Necromancer Dick" as the new president of the Brotherhood at the regular meeting two days later. In return, he would help Jade break the disfiguring curse on his face and give him the position of vice president.

Shirley and Massey were also threatened. Shirley, being quite pragmatic, was surprised when Massey, after realizing she couldn't defeat the enigmatic man before her, offered Rudd a condition that was somewhat unexpected. This half-orc mercenary leader actually wanted to lead his mercenary group out of the Black Hand Brotherhood.

Massy told Lud that he had actually wanted to "go ashore" a long time ago. Back then, he was a slave gladiator from the Empire who escaped to the Kingdom and was taken in by the old guild master, who funded him to form the Beast Mercenary Group. In a sense, they were like the Guardian Knights of the Black Hand Brotherhood, only with the name of a mercenary group.

But Maxie was an ambitious fighter who was unwilling to be a gangster's henchman for life. Coincidentally, Duke Crude appreciated his skills and often extended olive branches to him, signaling him to join his side. If it weren't for his fear of the old chairman's power, he would have switched sides long ago.

So when he learned that the old chairman had been killed and that the man in front of him planned to take over the Black Hand Brotherhood and reorganize the organization to completely cut off the evil God Wine business, Massey tentatively put forward his conditions.

After thinking about it, Lu De agreed, and they parted ways amicably.

Rudd did not intend to completely eliminate the Black Hand Brotherhood, but rather hoped to "whitewash" and transform it.

Given the social environment of Yanmu City, the local bureaucratic system centered on feudal lords has limited capabilities, which means that organizations like the Black Hand Brotherhood and other groups and gangs actually act as "grassroots managers" to some extent.

Even if Ludger were to go on a killing spree and wipe out all the local gangs, new criminal forces would quickly emerge to fill the void once they were gone. The rise of these new forces would inevitably lead to bloodshed and conflict due to clashes of interests, until a new order is established. Ultimately, it is the ordinary people who suffer.

Therefore, unless the lord can carry out a radical and comprehensive reform of the entire ruling system, there must be a "Lich King".

Lude felt helpless, but he also knew that this was a limitation of the times.

In light of this, Ludwig decided to take over the Brotherhood of the Black Hand, support Trilling to become the new president, and then remotely control the organization from behind the scenes.

The first step is to completely cut off the business of the divine wine. Since both production bases have been destroyed and the formula has been burned, there is nothing that the small and medium-sized gangs below can do even if they are unwilling.

So on the day of the meeting, Terin, who had already decided to give up his original identity and continue to play the role of the necromancer, wore the artifact mask and strode into the meeting room surrounded by the three remaining elders. Then he sat down in the chairman's seat in a grand manner.

End of this chapter

According to Ludd's plan, the Black Hand Brotherhood must undergo restructuring and reorganization, striving to move from the black area where it previously operated to the gray area between black and white, and to carry out an incomplete "whitewashing".

After all, Lud knew that this organization was fundamentally not a respectable group. It was impossible to reform these social scum; they could only maintain the livelihood of their thousands of members by engaging in shady dealings.

Lude didn't expect to achieve everything at once. In short, he would first ban the evil business of divine wine, and then gradually make changes in other aspects.

Most of the board members present strongly opposed the new president's decision to ban the sale of holy wine as soon as he took office.

This was the Brotherhood's main source of revenue, accounting for nearly two-thirds of their total income. As a result, the first thing Dick did after taking office was to order everyone to stop doing this business. Naturally, those small and medium-sized organizations that relied entirely on this for their livelihood refused to agree.

Moreover, there are tens of thousands of "alcohol addicts" in the entire Yanmu City. If the supply is suddenly cut off without any reason, when these people get addicted, they will definitely tear them apart. This will probably be very difficult to handle.

But Dick was adamant. The recipe for the Divine Liquor had been destroyed along with the Mill mine and the Navarro family, so they could no longer produce it, and the business could no longer continue.

The people present were skeptical of the new president's explanation, feeling that something was amiss. However, these people were all shrewd, and they had sensed that something was wrong as soon as Dick was escorted in by the three elders.

In the past month or so, the Brotherhood has suffered heavy losses. Their foundation in Flamewood City has been hit like never before. Half of their six elders are gone, and they still don't even know who their opponent is. It's utterly pathetic!

Some realized that the remaining three elders might have secretly defected and become traitors, and that the necromancer who had been parachuted into the position of guild leader was a proxy installed by the enemy. This possibility wasn't just out of the question; it was extremely high!

However, the board members looked at each other, and even though everyone knew the truth, not one of them dared to stand up and question it.

The entire farcical and ironic scene at the meeting was broadcast live by Lud's voyeuristic eye, capturing even the subtle changes in the expressions on the faces of every council member.

"Hahaha! Is this the famous Brotherhood? It's really hilarious."

In the tavern's main hall, Lud and the others were watching the live stream with great interest. The table in front of them was piled high with various snacks and drinks. The eldest sister, Atropos, was chugging down ice-cold beer while making sarcastic remarks about the spineless Brotherhood council members on the projection screen.

These words were heard by someone, making that person's face grow increasingly ugly, but they could only suppress their anger.

Behind Ludwig, the imposter who took Hume's place in bearing the curse of the god of war was forced to wear a revealing maid outfit and serve tea and water to the people watching the live broadcast.

The imposter has been a god for almost two hundred years. Although he has never been able to become the legitimate god of thieves, when has he ever suffered such humiliation?

She wanted to die rather than submit, but having lost all her divine power, she was powerless to resist. Shanis, who forced her to comply, held three adhesive strips called Band-Aids in one hand and a maid outfit that exposed her chest and legs in the other, forcing her to choose one. In the end, the imposter could only wear it in such a humiliating way.

What upset and was even more unacceptable to her was that Kumirad, who had also been captured and defected to the enemy on the spot, did not have to suffer the same fate and could still enjoy the treatment of a distinguished guest. Lud later easily let him leave freely, which made the imposter feel very unbalanced.

Incidentally, the imposter now has a new name. She was originally an alternate version of Hume, so she always identified herself as Hume and wanted to one day take his place. Therefore, in order to distinguish herself from Hume in the future, she received the new name "Huel (II)" from Ludd.

Regarding how to deal with Hugh, the three sisters initially suggested sealing him away. Although gods cannot be killed by conventional methods, they can be imprisoned for a long time through sealing. However, the traitorous Kumirard reminded Lud that it was best not to do so.

Because Hugh is Hume's alternate form and is currently bearing the curse of the God of War in Hume's place, this group of lower gods can indeed work together to seal her, but they cannot also stuff the curse of the God of War into her. In the end, the only result is that Hugh is sealed, but the curse of the God of War returns to Hume.

So Hugh escaped unscathed, but was then forced to sign an unequal divine covenant, "voluntarily" accepting the Pantheon's discipline and not disobeying any of Ludd's orders, much like Sun Wukong being put on a golden headband by Tang Sanzang.

Of course! The real Master Sanzang would never force Wukong to wear a maid outfit... probably.

Lude glanced at Hume's reluctant face and knew that the guy would not be very well-behaved for a while and was a potential troublemaker who needed to be kept in close watch. But once Hume woke up, these problems would no longer exist.

After the conversion ceremony that day, Hugh became the scapegoat, his hands disappearing on the spot, while Hume, who had finally broken free of the seal, suddenly fainted on the altar without warning. So much so that Shanes and the three sisters, who were present at the time, instinctively thought that Kumirard had cheated and almost attacked him.

Fortunately, Ludwig rushed over to check on him and found that Hume was unharmed. In fact, his body was visibly "renewed." His originally gray hair had turned into a shiny silver-gray, and his whole body was radiating a surge of divine power, making him a completely different person from before.

Kumirard also came over to take a look and said that there was nothing wrong. Hume had been sealed for three hundred years and now that she had suddenly regained her power, it was inevitable that her mind and body would feel a little uncomfortable. He told her to take a break and she would be fine. So she slept until now and still showed no signs of opening her eyes.

The goddesses around Ludwig generally had mixed feelings about Kumirard's erratic behavior, finding it somewhat difficult to adapt. Lachesis, in particular, harbored resentment over the "humiliation of being forced to sit on a wall" she had suffered, wanting revenge but lacking the courage, as she was truly no match for him.

In contrast, Lud's attitude was much more relaxed, choosing to accept the situation. The day after the ceremony, he sought out Kumirad for a private conversation, asking him about some things he was curious about.

Because of his professionally trained visual shorthand skills, Lud discovered that the runes Kumirad drew on the ritual altar were exactly the same in both instances. This led Lud to suspect that perhaps the "Goddess of Tax Evasion" had never changed her stance from the very beginning.

"You created this alternate form of Hume, didn't you? You helped her for two hundred years, just to wait for her to develop to the right stage so that she could take Hume's place and bear the curse of the God of War, right?"

"Oh! Why do you think that?"

"Guess."

"hehe!"

When Lud asked him, Kumirad neither admitted nor denied it, but simply said, "I have high hopes for you," and then disappeared without a word the next morning, who knows where he went off to party again.

It is expected that Lude will continue to stay in Yanmu City for some time to reform the Brotherhood and, at the same time, take advantage of the local cultural environment and human resources to develop the film industry.

After all, making movies is not only profitable, but also an important publicity channel. For the Pantheon's future missionary activities, this is a crucial stronghold that must be secured. Rudd believed that no one in the world understood this better than him!

At this moment, on the projected screen, the Brotherhood's high-level meeting had concluded, and Trin, posing as a necromancer, had unsurprisingly and officially assumed the position of the Brotherhood's second president. None of the high-ranking council members present dared to stand up and object; they could only accept this fait accompli, then feign applause, their expressions, at first glance, all brimming with joy.

End of this chapter

Although they had successfully dealt with Hugh and her Brotherhood, and brought this huge underground organization under their control, Ludd was far from being able to relax. A greater crisis was already quietly approaching them.