Goddess Kaleidoscope

"You're asking me? Who should I ask? Let's go and see!"

To confirm the situation, the two men, armed with sharp blades, cautiously approached the direction from which the crying was coming. Soon, they spotted a figure huddled in a corner, trembling. Although the person's back was turned to them, obscuring their features, they recognized the nun's habit from the Church of Light, suggesting she was likely a reserve member of their team.

Upon seeing this, Weshead immediately stepped forward to call out to the other person. However, Levi, who had been frowning, suddenly remembered Ludwig's instructions and tried to pull Weshead back. Unfortunately, he was a beat too late. Weshead had already bumped into the priestess huddled in the corner and saw her head turned 180 degrees at an incredible angle, revealing a fleshy face with no features.

Often, what frightens people isn't necessarily powerful, but it certainly has an "unexpected" aspect. Therefore, when the faceless nun suddenly displayed her "stunning beauty" up close to the two princes, they were almost sent away on the spot.

Almost simultaneously, the other teammates who had scattered also encountered different types of terrifying events. The twenty-five people who had entered the third level of the maze had now split into seven teams of varying sizes.

Some are strange dolls that are like persistent ghosts, which will reappear in your sight no matter if you throw them away or smash them.

Some people discovered an ancient mirror, and when they looked in it, they were so frightened by their own reflection, which suddenly turned into a ghostly face, that they suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.

Others are stalked by unidentified humanoid creatures wearing eerie white hoods, always hiding behind corners and acting suspiciously, and even accompanied by eerie background music, as if afraid you won't notice them spying on you.

These strange creatures, without exception, are all ghostly beings that only scare people and won't actually fight you. Everyone may possess formidable martial arts skills, but these ghostly things are immune to physical damage, putting everyone at a significant disadvantage.

Among these scattered groups, Serika and Lud were "lucky" enough to be grouped together. The two were standing close together when the ground suddenly disappeared, revealing a dark hole. They fell down together, plummeting at least a hundred meters before landing.

Both were highly skilled users of divine magic. Selica directly enhanced herself, performing a cool "American superhero landing" that smashed a large crater into the hard floor. She got up and, without saying a word, drew her twin swords from her waist, assuming an impeccable fighting stance.

Lude casually used a Featherfall spell, slowly drifting downwards while emitting a holy golden light around him, his posture resembling that of a god descending to earth.

At this moment, Celica noticed that the holy light emitted by Lud was not only dispelling the surrounding darkness, but also repelling some things lurking in the darkness. These monsters, which had become one with the darkness, wriggled and uttered eerie whispers as they retreated with the shadows.

Celica had no idea what these monsters hiding in the shadows were, so she didn't rush in rashly. Instead, she stood still and carefully guarded her surroundings. She only spoke after Lud floated to the ground.

"Master, be careful, there might be something in the shadows."

“I saw them. Those are Hedtaka’s minions. Do not fight them in the dark. They have the ability to drag us into the demon realm. Once we get there, it will be the devil’s domain.”

At Lud's prompting, the two stood back to back, keeping watch on their surroundings, and simultaneously used Holy Light to fight against the tangible darkness around them.

Although Celica couldn't see the true faces of those demonic minions, she could hear the whispers of the monsters, who seemed to recognize her and Lud.

"It's him again... that damned priest... Evelina's hound... Damn it! He's gotten younger... and the little girl from the Holy Light Cult... Hehehe..."

It's easy to tell from the devils' whispers that Rudd and them must be "old acquaintances." In Celica's view, to be so hated by a group of devils is precisely the highest honor a priest can have, and she can't help but feel even more respect for Rudd behind the scenes.

The two stood back to back, confronting the devil for a long time. In the end, it was the dark side that chose to back down, seemingly realizing that the two tough opponents in front of them were not easy to deal with, so they turned around and ran away.

Once the entire room was completely enveloped in the dazzling holy light of the two, with no darkness remaining, Lud only breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's alright, it's alright, they're just some small fry."

"Master, they... they've already left?"

"They've retreated, but they certainly haven't gone far. Don't let your guard down; the devil and his minions are very cunning, especially Hedtaka!"

"Then what should we do now?"

"Let's figure out a way to rejoin our teammates first! We just fell from such a height, and I'm a little worried that we might already be on the fourth level of the maze."

At this moment, Lud knew very well that they were indeed on the fourth level of the maze, and not only them, but everyone else had also fallen down, all of which was part of Lud's plan.

Unlike the "cold and gloomy" theme of the third level of the maze, the style of the fourth level is "silence". After the devil's claws retreated, the surroundings fell into a complete silence. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, which made people feel tense and even slow down their breathing.

Concerned for the safety of their teammates and disciples, Serika and Lude did not linger. Just then, they heard a human scream, and the two of them decisively headed in the direction of the sound.

Meanwhile, in Pine Town, inside the underground palace beneath the temple, the three sisters and other remaining staff were watching the "real-life challenge" unfolding in the maze with great interest from afar. Occasionally, they would activate special devices to enhance the "show" by following messages sent telepathically by Lud.

Among the audience, although Hugh also found it amusing to watch a group of ordinary young people being scared into a frenzy, she still didn't understand the point of Ludger going to such lengths.

Who is the Holy Church of Light? It is the world's largest religious sect, with tens of millions of believers. Everyone in the world knows it, and their Holy Lord of Light, Karius, is invincible.

Hugh has controlled the Black Hand Brotherhood for nearly two hundred years. Whenever the Saintesses of each generation come out for trials, Hugh tries his best to restrain his subordinates and avoid them whenever possible, for fear of accidentally provoking the younger ones and then attracting the older ones.

Even if the Holy Lord of Light were to descend in an avatar, crushing a third-tier minor god like her would be as easy as swatting a fly.

But Lud, on the contrary, didn't know where he got the courage, not only did he not hide, but he even dared to deliberately set a trap, trying to trick the other party. It was like a dwarf drinking milk, jumping up and down in a ridiculous act!

Hugh didn't want to say anything at first, and was even looking forward to this idiot's downfall, but she soon realized that if the Holy Lord of Light really came, she would definitely have to go down with that fool, so she suddenly became uneasy.

However, Rudd completely ignored her well-intentioned advice, while the other goddesses obeyed him blindly, saying things like, "The Lord must have a deeper meaning in doing this." They must all be seriously ill in the head!

Knowing that nothing she said would make a difference, Hugh eventually gave up on herself, thinking that at worst they would all go down together, and she wanted to see how that guy would end up.

On this side of the maze, Lud and Serica walked together. To break the dull atmosphere, Lud took the initiative to start a conversation with her.

As a seasoned police officer, Lude's rhetoric was naturally superb. In just three sentences, he got the young Serica to unconsciously reveal her background and a lot of information related to the Holy Church of Light.

Fifteen-year-old Celica comes from a long-established religious family in Sun City. Her father was once the archbishop of a diocese in a country in the Western Continent, but he passed away ten years ago. Her mother is a high-ranking Sun Knight who was the head of the Knights Order in her father's diocese and is now the chief instructor of the Knights Order in Sun City.

Thanks to her illustrious family background, Celica was recommended to enter the convent of saints in her diocese at a very young age, and eventually participated in the new selection of saints as a regional representative and won.

It's worth mentioning that Celica also mentioned that she has a twin brother born together with her, who has aspired to become a tough knight who punishes evil and is currently training with his mother.

The two walked and talked, and their relationship gradually became more harmonious. Rude could tell that Celica seemed troubled, and she admitted that being a saintess was not an easy job. On the surface, it certainly seemed glamorous, but the pressure in that position was immense. To meet her mother's expectations, Celica had to grit her teeth and persevere.

As the two walked, a strange metallic scraping sound suddenly came from the front of the previously silent corridor, as if someone was slowly dragging a heavy object forward.

Upon hearing this voice, Celica's expression darkened, and she immediately placed her hand on the hilt of her sword. Lude also lifted his snow-white robe and pulled out the "Divine Weapon Fire Kirin".

Soon, a tall figure emerged from the darkness. Selica looked closely and saw that it was a giant wearing a huge triangular metal helmet, with barbed wire wrapped around his bare arms, and dragging a cleaver covered in dark red rust.

Celica had never seen such a humanoid monster before, while Lude thought to himself, "The three sisters really did a great job creating this 'Pyramid Head'!"

The humanoid monsters before them were not golems, but combat-type divine messengers created by the three sisters. They existed as mobile bosses from the fourth to the sixth floor, with a total of twelve: three on the fourth and sixth floors, and six on the fifth floor, which was the largest.

Although these Pyramid Heads look scary and have greater combat power than Golems, they are actually neutral monsters, mainly responsible for daily cleaning work in the dungeon.

However, precisely because he looks so terrifying, if an adventurer enters the fourth floor and suddenly bumps into this guy, unless they are scared into running away, they will definitely grab their weapons and rush up to fight. Celica's reaction was no exception.

The two sides confronted each other in the corridor. Lu De suddenly realized that although the guy opposite him, Triangle Guy, looked terrifying, he lacked a certain aura. He stood there blankly, without any murderous intent.

So, in order to make the other party look more ferocious, Lude secretly took out a biscuit from his pocket, crushed it, and casually scattered it on the ground. Triangle Bro, who originally had no desire to attack, suddenly unleashed an extremely shocking killing intent in the next second!

"Master! It looks like it's about to attack."

"Don't panic, I'll cooperate with you. Prepare for battle."

As Lude spoke, he silently cast a divine spell, shielding himself and Celica. Then, he raised his hand towards Triangle Guy, and two golden chains of divine power appeared out of thin air, binding Triangle Guy's hands. Upon seeing this, Celica drew two divine swords without a word and rushed forward, unleashing two beams of sword light that instantly severed Triangle Guy's arms.

He originally intended to follow up with another decapitation strike to directly KO this terrifying monster, but the opponent suddenly lowered her head and used that strangely shaped metal headgear to block it, which actually deflected the holy sword in her hand with a "thud". Triangle Bro immediately staggered back several steps, looking like he had been knocked unconscious.

Although she didn't kill him instantly, Celica's attack still severely injured Triangle Guy. Lude admired him in his heart, thinking that this kid was only fifteen years old, yet he already had such powerful swordsmanship skills. He was truly a promising young man.

As expected of a descendant of a female knight (not in a derogatory sense), impressive!

She had successfully dealt a heavy blow to Triangle Guy, but Celica's expression was far from relaxed; being bounced back had really startled her.

It should be noted that Celica's "Saintess's Exclusive Weapon Set" is the most renowned divine artifact set of the Holy Light Cult, a "sacred relic" with its own sentience, personally blessed by the Holy Lord of Light, Karius. The two holy swords could easily cut through gold and jade, but they were blocked by a seemingly rusty iron box, leaving only a shallow cut on the surface.

Selica was unaware that Triangle Guy's headgear was actually a divine artifact. Although the three sisters were only lower-level gods of the third tier, their divine status granted them enhancements in forging. The triangular head they forged themselves certainly couldn't withstand a single blow from the Holy Lord of Light himself, but it could certainly block a blessed divine artifact.

Seeing that her attack had failed, Celica, who had been knocked back, quickly regained her balance and prepared to strike again to sever Triangle Guy's legs. But just then, a scream came from the other side of the three-way intersection. Celica immediately recognized it as the voice of her companion.

Before them lay an opponent whose defeat was uncertain, and on the other side, their teammates were facing a crisis. At this critical moment, Lud shouted from behind, providing support for Serica.

"You go save the people, I'll hold this guy off!"

Upon hearing Lude's voice, Celica couldn't help but feel secretly fortunate to have a trustworthy "good teammate" by her side.

Selica has the Saintess Set, and her boots can accelerate by riding the wind, making her suitable for rushing to rescue her teammates. While Lude isn't as fast as her, he is, after all, one of the Seven Chosen Ones and is fully capable of holding off the monster alone, or even killing it single-handedly. Splitting up is the best option for the two of them.

So Celica turned around on the spot and ran like a cannonball toward the direction from which the scream came, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Lu De, who was poised to unleash a powerful attack, put away his Fire Kirin after confirming that the other party had run far away. He then walked up to Triangle Bro and reattached his two severed arms.

The man with the severed hand, Triangle Guy, silently looked down and "stared" at Lude for a moment, then walked around without a word, took out a dirty rag from his pants, and squatted down to clean up the cookie crumbs that Lude had deliberately spilled on the ground.

Following the screams, Celica quickly found her three lone companions: a priestess named Yarwin, a young knight named Tak, and a nun named Shanis who was with Lud.

The three were in dire straits. They were in the very center of a stone bridge, below which lay a pool of water of unfathomable depth. From the pool emerged many enormous tentacles, which were attacking them.

Of the three, Tucker had already fallen, lying face down and motionless, his life hanging in the balance. Yarvin, soaked to the bone, lay collapsed not far away, leaving only Shanis still fighting on.

Selica had long noticed that the black-haired nun was quite skilled, but she never expected her to be so powerful. She managed to hold her own against the combined attack of eight giant tentacles all by herself.

Selica noticed that Shanis's weapon was peculiar. At first glance, it looked like two whips, but when swung, it produced a metallic clang that could tear the tentacles apart. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that the whips were actually segments of metal blades joined together.

Selica had never seen a weapon like this before, but just by looking at it, she could guess that it must be extremely difficult to use. If one was not careful, one could easily injure oneself. However, Shanis used it with unparalleled skill, as if the whip was a living thing in her hands.

In fact, Celica was right. In a sense, the two whips were indeed alive, created by Shanis's divine power, and were part of her body.

Seeing that Shanis, though not at a disadvantage, was still surrounded by the tentacle monsters, Celica decisively stepped in to help, joining the battle with two holy swords. Her divine armor made her water-walking and unsinkable, so she was not restricted by the terrain and jumped directly onto the water's surface to cut down the tentacles.

She cut off half of the eight giant tentacles in the blink of an eye, but new tentacles immediately sprouted from beneath the water, seemingly endless.

Since the tentacle's main body should be hiding deep underwater, Celica couldn't reach it with just two holy swords. So, while suppressing the tentacle, she shouted loudly for Shanis to quickly take her two companions and retreat in the direction she came from. Lud was over there and would meet them.

Shanis quickly withdrew from the battle, lifting Yarvin and the uncertain-to-be-death Tucker with one hand each, and then, under Celica's cover, ran away as fast as she could, leaving the dangerous pool behind.

After the group escaped danger, Celica led Shanis back the way they came, but they ran into Lud halfway there.

Lud told the group that he had temporarily imprisoned the "Pyramid-Headed Monster" in place using divine magic, but that guy was a minion of the demon. As long as their master, Hedtaka, was alive, these minions could be resurrected indefinitely, so he didn't linger with him for long before running over.

After the group reunited, Lude immediately went to check on Knight Tucker's injuries. Yarwin, standing to the side, said with a sob in her voice that Tucker was injured by the tentacle monster while protecting her.

Lude looked at the young man and saw that although his face was covered in blood, he was still clinging to life. So he immediately used a divine spell, and all the external injuries disappeared in an instant. However, the young man still showed no signs of waking up. Lude guessed that he was probably suffering from a concussion and would need some time to recover.

Lude, who often uses divine magic to treat different types of patients, knows that the seemingly omnipotent divine magic actually requires specific usage. Different diseases require different approaches; otherwise, not only will it not cure the disease, but it may even worsen the condition.

Some unscrupulous priests, ignorant of medicine, misuse their magic to cause people even more serious problems. Instead of admitting their mistakes, they blame the patients for being disrespectful to the gods.

The group of five were all looking exhausted. Lude suggested that they rest for a while and he could set up a protective barrier for them. Selica thought about it and nodded without objection.

The five of them put down their luggage and sat on the ground. Yarvin took care of Tucker, who was temporarily unconscious, while Celica opened her backpack and distributed food and water to everyone. At this moment, Shanis approached Lud and leaned her curvaceous figure against him, whispering in Lud's ear in a voice that sounded weak but contained a hint of provocation.

"Master, I'm so cold!"

"..."

Looking down at Shanis, Lud, who knew her background, was 100% certain that the real Shanis was an imposter, not the goddess's wicked apprentice. But he couldn't ignore her or expose her, especially since Celica and the others were right there.

At this moment, Celica lit a portable stove, and the bright yellow flame provided a light source. Only then did Lude realize that Dr. Shanis's black nun's habit, which had been pressed against her, was completely soaked and had become like a corset. It not only revealed Shanis's curves, but upon closer inspection, one could even see the outline of her lace underwear.

Luther considered himself a gentleman, but even a gentleman is still human, and when the time comes, he can't help but stand up for himself.

"Cough cough... Stop fooling around!"

Shanis playfully stuck out her tongue, then leaned on Ludwig's shoulder, pretending to rest. Fortunately, the other three weren't paying attention to them at the moment, so they didn't notice Ludwig's embarrassment.