Goddess Kaleidoscope

"Wait, wait, we are..."

Several demons hurriedly tried to identify themselves, but the heroic spirits didn't give them the chance, forcing them to retaliate. This was also a deliberate arrangement by Lud, who wanted to see what these demons were capable of.

Because demons are a diverse group, including heretical gods, evil spirits invading from other realms, and some strange things whose true nature is unknown, they are all collectively classified as "demons." As a result, their abilities are varied, and occasionally some truly astonishing beings will appear.

After the battle began, the Heroic Spirit Squad's attacks seemed fierce, but in reality, they were probing. Lud, who was in command, secretly observed through his Eye of Insight.

Based on the abilities these demons used in battle, and the feedback the Heroic Spirit Squad received on the scene, it can be basically determined that these four demons are all of different types.

The only female should be an evil god, whose power and divine magic are of the same origin. The barefoot gloomy ghost is a high-level lich (a variant of the undead) who clearly uses magic. The shirtless bald guy is a red-skinned giant who can transform, while the one wearing a robe has a bunch of sticky stuff under his robe and doesn't even have a human form.

If nothing unexpected happens, Baldy and Robe Guy should both be evil spirits from other realms. In essence, like Lude, they are transmigrated from other worlds. Therefore, they often possess special abilities that are completely different from the native power style of this world.

After transforming, Baldy's size increased several times, and his skin turned a vivid blood red. His attacks relied entirely on terrifying brute force, but what was truly surprising was his amazing defensive ability.

When the group of demons explored the labyrinth, this guy was the one who scouted ahead with his body. Sometimes, even when he had already discovered a trap, he would still go up and trigger it, just to fully experience the effect of the trap. Then, he would scream and howl excitedly, just like a masochist with a slightly abnormal mind.

Faced with the attacks of the Heroic Spirits, this guy was beaten so badly that he rolled around on the ground like a Kamen Rider, but neither blunt weapons nor sharp blades could leave any marks on his body.

The robe-wearing guy was even stranger. According to feedback from the heroic spirits at the scene, this guy was practically a feces spirit. As soon as he took off his robe, his three teammates immediately distanced themselves from him, while the female heroic spirits responsible for attacking him were almost overwhelmed by an indescribable stench.

The spirit then discovered that this excrement spirit's attack method was rather strange. It would emit an extremely piercing howl, and as soon as you heard this sound, you would feel a stench coming towards you. Even holding your breath wouldn't help, as the smell seemed to be able to invade your soul!

"So, this guy's ability is actually a sonic attack, which makes people feel a stench just by hearing it?"

The four demons possessed different abilities, but after observing them for only a short while, Lude was able to determine that their level was between that of second and third-tier gods, roughly equivalent to top-tier powerhouses in the human world. On Lude's side, there were three goddesses who were at the fourth tier.

The leap from the third to the fourth level of a deity is a qualitative leap. Once this leap is completed, one becomes a "middle-level deity," truly entering a transcendent realm.

So after figuring out the actual level of these four, Lude's previously uneasy heart was completely put at ease.

"Shanis, go and bring them to me."

"Yes, Master."

On the other side, the four demons were still fighting hard. Although the individual strength of the heroic spirit squad besieging them was not as good as theirs, there were twelve of them, three times the number of theirs. With their equipment and teamwork, they could almost always overpower them.

Of the four demons, the lich was the most experienced. He discovered that the women besieging them were actually a group of divine messengers, which puzzled him greatly. After all, this was a demon's labyrinth, and in theory, there shouldn't be any lackeys of the gods here.

Just then, the lich suddenly trembled, as if someone had grabbed his heart, which hadn't beaten for over a thousand years, causing him to feel a long-lost fear.

The other three demons were in similar situations; everyone felt a strong sense of crisis, as if something big was about to emerge!

"Who? Who is it!?"

Seeing the divine messengers suddenly cease their attack and retreat, the four demons quickly huddled together. They stared in terror into the depths of the maze, where they could faintly hear the sound of footsteps (high heels) approaching unhurriedly.

Even though the other party hadn't released any power, their demonic instincts were screaming warnings.

Under the demons' horrified gaze, a woman dressed in a black nun's habit and wearing a silver mask appeared before them. Her red eyes swept around, and the demons felt a chill run down their spines the moment their eyes met.

In just one glance, they clearly sensed the enormous gap in strength between them, a gap so vast that even demons would feel despair.

At this moment, the black-haired nun suddenly chuckled, and the immense oppressive feeling from before vanished instantly. She spoke in a very pleasant voice to the four demons who were almost paralyzed with fear.

"Welcome to the Spiral Abyss, you demons."

The difference in strength was obvious, and the demons readily admitted defeat, surrendering smoothly. Seeing how sensible these guys were, Shanis didn't make things difficult for them. She waved for the Heroic Spirit Squad to retreat first, and then told the demons to come with her; the master of the labyrinth wanted to see them.

Upon hearing that she was the Lady of the Labyrinth, the demons, though still harboring many doubts, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that this unfathomably powerful nun hadn't immediately wiped them out. They then obediently followed behind Shanis.

Led by Shanis, the four demons entered a winding staircase leading downwards. This was the maze's "safety staircase," also a hidden staff passageway that ran through the entire maze, but the entrances to each floor were concealed and could not be opened from the outside.

Several demons cautiously followed Shanis, descending the spiral staircase deeper and deeper underground, until they could not see the bottom.

The demons wanted to remind the nun that they all had the ability to fly, but none of them dared to say so, and could only obediently walk.

They followed silently for over an hour, estimating that they had gone at least several kilometers underground before finally seeing the end. They were then astonished by the underground world that suddenly appeared before their eyes.

"This, this is..."

"This is the fifth level of the labyrinth, Lord Hedtaka's garden."

"You call this a garden?"

The demons looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they had impressive titles like evil gods and demon gods, they were actually just like those lower-level gods worshipped by local small sects. They only looked glorious on the surface and had no ability to open up subspace and create their own exclusive holy land.

So when they saw that Lord Hedtaka's "garden" was so large, they were filled with envy.

Upon reaching the fifth level of the underground world, Shanis stopped walking and instead flew up into the air, with the four demons behind her quickly following suit.

In fact, the few country bumpkin demons did not know that Shanis had led them up the stairs for more than an hour not to test them, nor out of respect for the Labyrinth Lord Hedtaka, but to buy time for Lud's temporary set-up.

After much hesitation, Lud decided to make some contact with these demons, hoping to learn about the movements of the "dark forces" in this world. However, he did not intend to reveal his true identity to the demons directly, but instead would use the alias Blacktaka.

So, in order to leave a deep and impressive impression on these demons during this meeting and to intimidate them with his aura, Lude put in a little bit of effort.

Following Shanis, the demons flew for a short while before arriving at a huge circular plaza. Their first noticeable feature was the gray sphere floating in the center of the plaza, at least four or five meters in diameter, containing immense energy—the very "negative emotions" that demons craved. Their gaze then shifted downwards, landing on a massive throne with its back to them.

The throne's back was enormous, blocking the demons' view. They dared not use their senses recklessly and suppressed their curiosity, refraining from approaching.

After landing, Shanis went straight to the throne, bowed respectfully, and whispered a few words. The demons were both excited and inexplicably nervous, thinking that this must be the legendary great demon Hedtaka Miazaki.

Unable to discern the masked nun's true form, the demons could only judge from the aura she intentionally exuded that her power far surpassed theirs, those of low-ranking demons. They roughly estimated that she possessed at least the strength of a mid-level god, easily capable of utterly crushing them, these insignificant demons.

But even this being, who was not weak among the gods, was respectful and obedient in front of the mysterious great demon, like a servant. Just how strong was the power of the real Hedtaka? The demons could hardly imagine it.

Just as they were anxiously pondering how to grab the incredibly thick thighs of this super tycoon in front of them, a deep and hoarse male voice came from in front of the throne.

"You... how dare you! You dare to trespass into my territory, you're courting death!"

Hedtaka's words startled the demons, while the masked nun released her oppressive aura once more, causing them to tremble with fear and almost instinctively kneel down on the ground.

"Great, great, great senior! We have no intention of offending you. We have only heard of your illustrious reputation, and even the Holy Maiden of the Holy Church of Light suffered a great loss at your hands. Therefore, we wish to pay our respects to you..."

The demons were nearly scared to death and hurriedly tried to explain their purpose, but at that moment, a powerful and holy divine force suddenly attacked them from directly above.

The demons looked up in astonishment and saw a dazzling halo suddenly appear in the sky above the underground world. Then, a silver-haired goddess clad in magnificent golden armor led a group of silver-armored angels out, pointing a light spear directly at the throne below and shouting fiercely.

"Hedtaka Miazaki! You monstrous demon, don't think that just because you've escaped to another world, I'll let you and your minions go. Today is your death day, and I will avenge my world!"

The sudden appearance of the unknown goddess startled the few low-ranking demons present. The divine power emanating from her was very strong, and the pressure she exerted on the demons was no less than that of the masked nun, so they were immediately flustered.

Faced with the goddess descending from the sky, Hedtaka on the throne displayed remarkable composure, remaining completely still, his light laughter revealing undisguised contempt.

"Escaped to another world? Hahaha... It seems my abrupt departure caused you... some misunderstanding?"

Under the horrified gaze of the demons, they had no idea what Hedtaka had done. He simply snapped his fingers, and the once majestic goddess plummeted from mid-air like a kite with a broken string. The armed angels guarding her fared even worse, exploding in mid-air like fireworks, their shattered wings scattering like a blizzard!

"This...this is all wiped out!?"

Ignoring the shocked demons, the masked nun went straight to the fallen goddess, then roughly grabbed her by the collar and dragged her to the throne, forcing her to kneel before Hedtaka.

The disheveled goddess was stubborn, and although she tried to struggle, she seemed to have become an ordinary human being with no strength to even lift a chicken, and could not budge the masked nun's arm at all.

At this moment, Hedtaka's mocking voice rang out again, clearly directed at the silver-haired goddess in front of him.

"How pathetic! I finally got tired of your weak and pathetic inferior world. Because I was grateful for the happy time you gave me, I didn't destroy you when I left. You ended up having the illusion that you drove me away. I sincerely apologize for that. As compensation, I will send my men back to destroy your world later. As for you... just stay here with me!"

"You...you want to destroy my world? No! You can't do this! Hedtaka...you can't..."

"I can't? Why can't I? It seems you still don't understand one thing: what does it matter to you if I want to destroy you?"

Without a word, the masked nun dragged the fallen goddess away, listening to her wails and screams gradually fade into the distance until they were completely gone. Several demons huddled to the side, trembling with fear, not daring to breathe.

This "performance" just now left an indelible mark on the minds of several demons. They initially guessed that Hedtaka possessed strength equivalent to a high-ranking god, but now they realized they were short-sighted. If this powerful figure were to truly unleash his power, he might be able to instantly kill the Holy Lord of Light.

Destroying you is none of your business... That's so damn domineering!

Soon, the veiled nun returned, wiping the hand that had been dragging the unknown goddess with a handkerchief on her way back.

Before returning to the throne, the other party respectfully reported that the matter had been "dealt with" properly. Then, he suddenly asked, "What about the rest of them?" The demons trembled in fear, scrambling and kowtowing for mercy while explaining their purpose for coming, terrified that if they accidentally angered the big boss, their fate would be even worse than that of the goddess.

Lud listened silently from his seat, thinking that the situation basically matched his previous predictions; these demons had come to "meet up." The performance just now had achieved the effect Lud had hoped for, scaring them quite a bit, but given that the other party was a demon, Lud did not completely trust them.

"Heh! Let's just assume you're telling the truth for now. Get up, all of you. I'm not a foolish earthly king, nor am I a hypocritical god. Kneeling is meaningless to me, and I don't need anyone else's kneeling."

Hearing the words of the "senior," the demons were still trembling with fear, but they breathed a sigh of relief and quickly got up from the ground.

At this moment, the black sphere floating in the center of the square suddenly moved, and then several tentacles suddenly emerged, rushing straight towards the demons not far away, scaring them into retreating hastily.

Lude was also startled by the gray ball's movements. This was the first time he had reacted so strongly since the strange thing appeared on the fifth floor of the maze, as if it had taken those demons as its prey.

Fortunately, although this thing could not communicate directly, it never showed any malice towards Lud and the others, and was even very obedient. So Lud quickly scolded the gray ball, and the gray ball immediately stopped its hunting behavior, retracted its tentacles, and looked a little aggrieved.

"Senior! What... what is this?"

"Oh! You didn't know?"

The demons looked at each other, thinking to themselves, "Where the hell have we ever seen this thing before?" Lud, however, could tell from their reactions that these guys were indeed unaware of it.

As to what the gray ball actually is, Lud himself doesn't really know. He only guesses that its birth is related to the maze, and that as it grows, this large ball of unknown gender gradually begins to possess a certain level of intelligence.

Incidentally, Lud once tried to activate the gray sphere with the primordial fire, just like activating the cloud of faith, but when he poked it with his finger, there was no reaction at all. The gray sphere even showed a kind of disgusted reaction, so Lud had to give up in the end.

It now seemed that not only did he not know what the Grey Sphere was, but even the demons didn't know. While feeling a slight sense of disappointment, Lud had to continue pretending to be cool, lest he reveal the truth about his ignorance to the demons.

"It seems that I had too high expectations for the new generation of your world. But that's not surprising. It's normal that you don't know anything at your current level. There are some things you shouldn't ask. You wouldn't understand even if I told you. When the time comes for you to understand, you will naturally understand everything."

"..." x4

Hearing Lud's classic "riddler" speech, the demons were all dumbfounded. It was truly a speech that was more profound than any other.

However, given that Lude's "super demon king" persona had been firmly established in the minds of several demons, the demons behaved as obediently as chickens, and didn't even dare to complain in their hearts.

At this moment, the great demon senior, who still refused to show his face to them properly, spoke in a slow and deliberate tone.

"Since you're here, let's all introduce ourselves."

Upon hearing their senior ask their names, the four demons hurriedly and respectfully introduced themselves, revealing not only their names but also their origins. Their intense reverence led them to be unusually "honest" in front of Rudd.

Among the four demons, the female demon is named Pattaya, a heretical and evil god worshipped by an underground church. Her divine status is based on "indulgence," and her strength is only at the second-tier level.

The barefoot, gaunt man is named Raim, a lich who has existed for eight hundred years. In his previous life, he was a great sorcerer who, in order to transcend the limits of life and death, used a secret technique to transform himself into a lich, a variant of the undead. To continue existing without going mad, Raim needs to perform a wicked ritual every hundred years. He must use intrigue and trickery to incite seven pairs of close relatives who meet certain conditions to kill each other, and then use their maddened souls as sacrifices.

Of the four demons, he was not an evil god, but he was the strongest, equivalent to the third tier, which was theoretically the limit that a "non-god" could reach.

The other two are not "native creatures." The bald red man is called Quark, and the slimy stinky monster is called Ku. Both are chaotic monsters that came from the warp to the prime material plane to wreak havoc. They feed on negative emotions and are both at the second tier of strength.

Without a doubt, these four demons were no good. Fortunately, they weren't very strong. Apart from Pattaya, who was impossible to kill in one go and required the extermination of the cult that worshipped her, the other three were easily defeated. If Lude wanted to rid the people of this menace, he only needed to wave his hand, and Shanis, standing beside him, would slice them into pieces in no time.

However, Lude did not rush to make a move, not because he thought these few scoundrels had the potential to be reformed, but because he hoped to use them as a starting point to learn more about the demon group.

Lu De, who had worked as an undercover police officer, knew very well that it was easy to catch a few small fry on the periphery of any cult or pyramid scheme, but it was difficult to uncover the deeply hidden high-level organizers. Without bringing such core personnel to justice, it was impossible to truly eradicate organized crime.

The same logic applies to demons. There are many of these monsters. The number of righteous gods is less than a hundred, while there are thousands of evil demons. Lude has been on guard against their secret invasion of Pine Town for a long time.