Goddess Kaleidoscope

Lude checked on Sunny's condition; the girl had two bright red, swollen bumps on her forehead, looking like they were about to grow horns.

Levi and Weshead, standing to the side, both looked extremely embarrassed. These two large bags were their handiwork. At the time of the incident, they unexpectedly ran into Sunny at a corner. As soon as the two brothers saw her nun's habit, their PTSD instantly kicked in, and their fists reacted before their brains.

Poor Sunny finally reunited with her teammates, but before she could utter a single word, she was accidentally knocked unconscious by one of her own companions. Luckily, the little girl's head was tough enough, and Ludwig arrived in time to provide timely medical assistance, managing to pull her back from the brink of death.

At this moment, in the center of the hall, the Hundred-Eyed Golem, which had been hanging upside down from the ceiling, had been knocked down by Celica. As soon as it landed, the giant golem unfurled its ball-shaped body, resembling a human centipede, which was over a hundred meters long and could move at high speed with two hundred arms.

According to Lude's original design, this guy's second phase mode was indeed to jump down from the ceiling and fight personally after all the puppets were destroyed. However, he couldn't withstand Selica's overwhelming combat power. When Hundred Eyes landed, he was already half-crippled and badly damaged. Then, he was cut in half at the waist by Selica's stylish landing slash.

However, just when Baiyan was on the verge of being knocked out by the last blow, the usually fierce Serica suddenly made a mistake at this critical moment. Her movements faltered for a moment, and then she staggered and fell to the ground.

The people on the sidelines were shocked to see this. Li Wei and Weishead rushed to the rescue without saying a word, while Lude raised his hand and unleashed a light spear, directly blowing up Baiyan's head. It seemed like he was finishing off the enemy, but in reality, he was killing him!

After Hundred Eyes was defeated, the fourth level of the maze was broken through. The center of the hall suddenly sank and revealed a hole, right next to the unconscious Selica. A whistling wind blew up from the hole, bringing a breath of fresh, moist air.

Levi and Weshead arrived at Selica's side almost simultaneously, grabbing her hands on either side. They stared at each other, each vying for the opportunity to give her a legitimate princess carry. Being rivals, neither intended to yield.

“Your Highness, you fought for so long, let me take care of the Holy Maiden.”

"Hehe! No need for Your Highness's concern. Why don't you go find a cool place to rest?"

"Hey! Can't you two pick a time to fight over a girl? Get the hell out of my way, don't get in my way!"

"..." x2

As the two noblemen argued, Hume rushed over. She shoved the two men aside in a huff, then snatched the unconscious Selica from her arms and poured a bottle of magic potion into her mouth. Selica's pale complexion immediately improved.

Soon, Celica slowly awoke. The fusion with the spirits of multiple divine artifacts had taken a heavy toll on her. This exhaustion was primarily mental, which couldn't be quickly recovered from with potions or divine magic. Therefore, Celica would temporarily lose her combat abilities until this weakened state ended.

Upon regaining consciousness, Celica looked around and saw her companions gazing at her with concern, as well as the motionless Hundred Eyes not far away. She seemed to have no memory of the previous battle and asked everyone somewhat blankly.

"it's over?"

"Yes, it's over. How are you feeling now?"

"I feel a little... dizzy."

After confirming that Celica was alright, Lud decided to rest for a while until they recovered somewhat before setting off to rejoin their companions.

The BOSS room is the safest area after the BOSS is defeated.

At this moment, Sanny, who had been knocked unconscious, also woke up. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Levi and Weshead nearby and was so frightened that she jumped up and down. Fortunately, Hume was quick and grabbed her in time, preventing her from falling into the large pit not far away.

"Calm down! You're safe now."

"A demon! A demon disguised itself as one of our companions! I was attacked by a demon and that's why I fainted!"

Levi & Weshead: "..." x2

With everyone's comforting words, Sunny finally calmed down a bit. Lude wanted to tell her the truth, but seeing Levi and Weshead frantically winking at him, he decided to go along with Sunny to save face for them. He said that she had indeed been attacked by a teammate disguised as a devil, but they were not devils. Then, in front of them, he showered everyone with holy light.

Seeing that no one reacted to the holy light, Sunny breathed a slight sigh of relief. Afterwards, the young girl noticed that Levi and Weshead, two of the team's most handsome and wealthy men, had become incredibly attentive to her, so she quickly forgot all about the devil.

During the rest period, Hume volunteered to go down into the cave to the fifth level of the labyrinth to investigate. When he returned, he said that he had seen "something very extraordinary" on the fifth level.

Seeing that the hourglass in the center of the room still had a long time to run, the group decided to go down and take a look.

The group descended nearly a hundred meters down the spiraling stairs. The strong wind blowing up from the bottom of the cave was moist and refreshing, just like the fresh air on the ground.

Soon the group reached the end of the stairs, where there was a huge circular platform, completely open on all sides, allowing the howling wind to blow through.

The group cautiously approached the edge of the platform and looked down, discovering that the fifth level of the maze was no longer a closed indoor environment, but a vast "underground world" with rivers, lakes, and dense purple forests, forming an ecosystem independent of the surface.

"This is the fifth level of the maze!?"

"It seems so!"

The group stood on the platform and observed for a moment. They discovered that the platform they were on was hanging upside down from the top of the cave, hundreds of meters above the ground below. There were no stairs leading to the ground. Instead, some magical black feathers were placed on the platform in the center.

Hume picked one up and examined it, indicating that it was a magical item, likely enchanted with the Featherfall spell, and that holding it would allow one to jump off the platform.

Just as everyone was wondering how they would get back to the surface if they really went down, a bright "dawn" suddenly appeared in the originally dark underground world.

To everyone's surprise, in the very center of the underground world, there was a miniature "sun," which was embedded in the center of a giant stone pillar connecting heaven and earth, suggesting that there must be a way back to the surface from there.

The group observed for a few more moments, and once Lu De had finished sketching the terrain, they returned to the fourth level the way they came. Everyone was fairly aware that insisting on going all out at this point would likely lead to disaster.

After the group made a safe retreat, they returned to the ground in half the time it took to get there, without any further major incidents.

It's worth mentioning that when the exhausted group finally arrived at the maze entrance, there was a doll with a strange smile on the ground at the gate. Several members of the group felt uneasy as soon as they saw this eerie thing.

Li Wei walked up to the ghost doll with its eerie appearance and found that the doll was holding a piece of paper with a line of small red characters on it.

"Here you go, keep it as a souvenir!"

"In memory of your grandma's legs!"

Enraged, Li Wei kicked the doll away and then went through the gate back to the ground. The dwarf soldiers guarding the entrance were surprised to see the saintess's party emerge from the maze unscathed.

Selica and her companions initially thought they would be ridiculed, after all, they had confidently declared before entering that they would conquer the maze and emerge with the devil Hedtaka's head. However, despite their boastful words, they only made it to the fourth floor before slinking out in disgrace, utterly humiliated and speechless.

But the reaction of the people on the ground was unexpected. Instead of laughing at them, they enthusiastically surrounded them and cheered and applauded.

Everyone was amazed by the strength of the Saintess's team. The stone tablets on the ground reflected the number of floors that had been breached in the current maze. This was because when the Saintess defeated the fourth floor's boss, Hundred Eyes, the people on the ground knew immediately.

As for stopping at the fourth floor, no one thought much of it. "Knowing when to quit while you're ahead" was the first ironclad rule that all dungeon explorers had learned after paying a heavy price. The fact that the entire Saintess's party managed to escape unscathed was practically a miracle in everyone's eyes!

Of course! Not everyone on the ground was overjoyed. The Holy Church's support team was rather bewildered. Selica and the others returning empty-handed meant that the fourth trial of this year's Holy Maiden had ended in failure. This situation was rare in the trials of previous Holy Maidens, and if this result were to spread, it would likely have a significant negative impact.

The team leader was a senior assistant to a cardinal. Although the middle-aged man in his forties was trying his best to remain calm, the beads of sweat on his forehead betrayed his true feelings.

At that moment, the assistant saw the heretical saint who had accompanied the saintess into the labyrinth as an assistant walking towards him from the crowd, carrying a device called a camera.

The other person came up to him, looked around, and then spoke in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

"My lord, I know you must be feeling very unsettled right now. Fortunately, I have some ideas that can help you turn a bad situation into a good one. Would you mind having a word with me in private for a moment?"

At Ludwig's invitation, the leader of the support team and he bypassed the crowd surrounding the saint and went to a tent outside to talk.

Lude had learned beforehand that the man with the "Mediterranean hairstyle" was named Phillips, and held the position of senior assistant to a cardinal in the Church of Light. He was tasked with leading the support team for this trial of the saintess, providing necessary logistical support to Celica and her group to ensure the smooth progress of the entire trial.

If he does this job well, it will naturally be a great achievement. Given Phillips' current connections and status within the church, he is very likely to be sent to a diocese to serve as the local archbishop in the near future, becoming the top official in the area. If he can achieve something during his training period, he may even be promoted to cardinal in the future, or even run for pope.

However, no matter how much he planned, Phillips never expected that such a big problem would arise in such an obscure little place.

The Saintess of this year failed her fourth trial!

In a sense, the Holy Maiden of Light's trial journey is a large-scale reality show that is not acting but is even better than acting.

The twelve trials were carefully selected projects. These projects had to be popular enough, but their difficulty could not exceed the limits of the Holy Maiden team's capabilities. This event was designed to create a major buzz and thereby enhance the Holy Light Church's reputation worldwide.

The problem now is that the Saintess's fourth trial went awry. The difficulty of the maze wasn't just a little bit, it was a ridiculously high level! If this result gets out, it will definitely become a laughing stock for other sects, and his future as the person in charge will basically be over.

So when Ludd approached Phillips and told him he had a way to turn bad things into good things, Phillips simply couldn't refuse.

The two entered the tent, and Ludwig first explained to Phillips what had happened in the maze.

However, unlike the true story, Lud's version is an "adaptation" of the real events, omitting the more embarrassing parts and explaining the reason for the retreat as a rescue. Although Celica failed to complete the fourth trial, she successfully rescued many innocent and weak people from the clutches of the demon, which is a victory in itself!

Hearing Ludwig's words, Phillips's expression softened slightly. But he knew in his heart that Ludwig was just saying nice things to excuse the saintess's failure in the fourth trial.

The problem is that if you just say it without any real evidence, not many people will believe you, and your explanation might even be seen as a cover-up.

Seemingly sensing Phillips's concerns, Ludd immediately placed the camera he had brought in front of the two of them and then took out the memory crystal inside. Just then, Shanes came in from outside; as Ludd had instructed, she had gone to fetch a projector.

"These are some adventure scenes I filmed inside the maze. I edited them a bit during a break on the way back. I think they are all pretty good shots. You can take a look."

As Lude spoke, he turned on the projector, and the image was projected directly onto a white cloth that Shanis had deliberately held up.

The projector mostly showed scenes of Celica and her friends fighting various bosses in the maze. The stunning images of beautiful girls beating up giant monsters looked as cool as game CG.

Later scenes show the Saintess Guild members enthusiastically rescuing some wounded adventurers, and they even give these rescued people some close-up shots of their grateful faces.

Phillips wasn't stupid. After seeing half of the images, he already understood what Ludd meant, so he didn't beat around the bush and asked directly.

"Master, what do you like?"

I like friends.

"What a coincidence, I also enjoy making friends."

"Give me two days, and I'll edit these materials again, and I can also add music and text to the visuals. You can come to my place then, and we can have some tea together and see if you're satisfied with the sample."

After agreeing to meet again at the temple two days later, Phillips hurriedly left. He had a lot of urgent matters to attend to, and his first priority was to suppress the spread of the news and buy more time to react.

After the other person left, Shanis, who was standing to the side, asked with some confusion.

"Master, we tricked them in the maze before, why are we helping them now?"

"Watch your words! You can't say what you just said outside. It was Hedtaka who tricked them, what does it have to do with me, Lu? Besides, it's beneficial for us to help them, and a huge one at that! You have to understand, a super-giant organization like the Holy Church of Light has resources and channels that are more than a hundred times greater than ours, and the Holy Maiden is a world-class top idol. We're actually riding on her coattails this time, and we're getting a huge advantage."

"Then there's no need to use our methods to help them proselytize, is there?"

"I am trying to win over allies. Although our rise will inevitably clash with these traditional sects, we cannot allow the three major religions to stand against us at the same time. Do you understand what I mean?"

Two days later, Phillips arrived at the temple as promised. After they met, Ludwig politely inquired about the saint and the others. Phillips gave an awkward, wry smile and said, "They're alright."

After returning to town from the maze, the saintess and her entourage are currently staying at the Baron's mansion to recuperate. Many members suffered severe psychological trauma during their exploration of the maze, and their condition has not improved even after leaving the maze.

Some maids working at the Baron's mansion said that they had been hearing howls like wild beasts coming from a guest room late at night. When they went to ask, they found out that the person was being frightened awake by a nightmare.

Seeing the team's poor condition, Phillips thought that since the entire trial journey was three years long, and Serica had completed four trials in just six months since the start, which was already quite fast, it would be safer for them to rest for a while.

At Ludd's invitation, Phillips went to the "home theater" in the temple's backyard, where Ludd brought out the final version he had edited.

The short film is about three and a half minutes long. Lu De worked 24 hours straight to produce it, adding background music, narration, and corresponding text annotations. The film unfolds entirely according to the standard format of Hollywood movie trailers.

The first half-minute showcased the eerie and sinister environment inside the maze, followed by the entrance of the entire Saintess team of handsome men and beautiful women. With resolute expressions, they strode through the maze gates to the beat of an energetic drumbeat. The scene then plunged into complete darkness as the maze gates closed, only to be pierced by a dazzling golden light. It turned out that the Saintess, wielding two divine swords, was unleashing her ultimate attack, facing off against the imposing fourth-floor boss, Hundred Eyes.

The short film was so moving that even Phillips, a middle-aged religious bureaucrat, felt his heart pounding with excitement, let alone ordinary people.

Phillips discovered that the entire film only showed how brave the saint and her companions were in battle and how huge the BOSS in the labyrinth was. Then, through some flashback scenes, it showed the adventurers suffering in the labyrinth. Although it was not explicitly stated, it implied that the saint and her party entered the labyrinth to rescue people.

The film concludes with a scene of the saint and her entourage receiving a warm welcome from the crowd after emerging from the labyrinth. It's safe to say that anyone watching this would not believe the saint's trial had failed.

As for the scenes of her being terrified by supernatural events and howling in despair, there were none of them. Even some of the facial expressions during Celica's one-on-one battle with Hundred Eyes were edited out and replaced with close-ups of her normal facial expressions to prevent the audience from seeing the Saintess's almost non-existent facial expression control.

For the people of this other world who have never experienced a "trailer deception" before, this short film is far more powerful than any verbal explanation!

In this promotional short film, Lude also "cleverly" inserted a lot of his own "personal stuff" into it.

For example, there are eleven scenes of drinking medicine throughout the film. Warriors drink it before a battle, when they are injured or exhausted in the middle of a fight, and when they are rescued from a distressed adventurer. After drinking it, there are close-ups of the characters and the medicine bottles, showing the instant exhilaration and the bright Pantheon symbol on the medicine bottles.

While the product placement method is certainly blatant, the target audience isn't the kind of Earthlings who are used to seeing product placement all the time, so it's not a big problem!