Goddess Kaleidoscope

Potter didn't notice that Shanes, whom he was deliberately ignoring, had completely lost her smile.

Not long after Potter finished shouting, a young man dressed in a snow-white priest's robe emerged from the shadows not far away. Potter frowned, thinking that the person who emerged was not the main character, but when his eyes met the other's, he instantly sensed something was amiss. Combining this with the rumors about the rebirth of saints, he realized who was in front of him.

"You... are Lud?"

“It’s me. I heard my friend Hamilton is here, so I’ve come to take him back. Also, as a courtesy, please come to my house. My house is quite large.”

"Master, isn't this inappropriate?"

"It's alright, staying a few more days is just fine!"

"..."

Lude's attitude made Potter realize that the other party didn't take him seriously at all. The old mage's expression immediately became uncertain. He really couldn't see through the strength of the person in front of him. He couldn't fight, and he couldn't run away either.

At this moment, Shanis cracked her whip and volunteered to fight Lud.

"Master, let me handle these hairless braised eggs!"

"A teacher must be flexible and know how to maintain a proper balance."

"No problem, we can just revive him if necessary."

Hearing Ludd and the nun's oblivious conversation, Potter was furious. It seemed that in the eyes of the master and disciple, he was just a piece of meat on a chopping board, to be cooked however they wanted.

However, just as he was about to make his move and show these arrogant master and disciple how powerful he was, Shanis struck first. Her thorny whip lashed out at him with lightning speed, shattering seven of the nine layers of magical shield that Potter had secretly placed on him. The enormous impact forced him to stagger back several steps before stopping, his expression changing from anger to extreme shock.

Shanis was slightly taken aback, and then uttered a "praise" that seemed extremely hurtful to others.

"Master! This guy took a hit from me head-on, he's got some skills!"

One is the ceiling that mortals can reach, and the other is a goddess of the fourth tier who transcends the mortal realm. It's like a kindergarten King of Fighters forcibly challenging a professional boxer. Potter was almost beaten to the point of questioning his life.

During the raid on Horseshoe Town, Lud didn't participate in the entire operation. Instead, he left the battle to his "female apprentices." His only requirement was to capture them alive, as he still had a use for these Imperial mages.

The suppression operation went smoothly. The entire Heroic Spirit Squad was like a tigress entering a flock of sheep. The Imperial soldiers and mages were dumbfounded. They couldn't understand why the Kingdom of Duran had so many top-notch experts. Were they mass-produced?

When Potter regained consciousness after being knocked unconscious, he and three other top experts who had accompanied him were already prisoners. The surrounding environment looked like a dungeon, and Hamilton was squatting in front of him, grinning so much that one wanted to punch him.

"Hey! Isn't this Archmage Potter Consley? Haven't seen him for a few days, and he's already fallen like this!"

“You fucking... Hamilton…”

Struggling to get up, Potter found himself completely powerless. The other three experts also looked exhausted and severely depleted, and it seemed they were all likely to collapse.

Potter then looked down at the ropes binding him, which turned out to be the black thorns that resembled the monstrous nun. He could feel that these things were constantly draining the power from his body, leaving him so weak.

"What... what kind of weird thing is this?"

"Hey! Watch your mouth, you idiot. The thing binding you here is a real... genuine artifact."

"A divine artifact?"

Upon hearing the black-haired nun's explanation, Potter looked at the black thorns binding him with a puzzled expression, but the intense fatigue made it impossible for him to even concentrate on thinking, and he felt drowsy.

Seeing this, Lud gave Shanis a look, signaling her not to suck so hard, as he still had to interrogate the prisoners.

So Shanis reduced her strength a little, and Ludger used a low-level healing spell on Potter and the other three, which helped them regain some of their energy.

But Potter, having regained his senses, had already guessed what Ludd was going to do, and said with a very righteous and aloof smile.

"If you're hoping to extract anything from me, you're in for a disappointment. Though I've lost, you can't break my dignity as a Canary noble and a great mage. Don't expect to get even the slightest bit of useful information from me!"

"Can I ask some useless information instead?"

"???"

Lude's rhetorical question completely stumped Porter, even though the four of them discovered that this young priest, who spoke with the peculiarities of an old man, had indeed talked to them about a lot of useless things, mainly the customs, culture, and geography of the Canary Empire.

Several powerful individuals initially intended to remain silent and ignore Lud, who appeared to be seriously ill. However, their silence was quickly broken as Lud continued to spout numerous rumors about the Canary Islands and the Empire, which made them feel extremely uncomfortable.

Especially Gordon, who is to Porter's right, is from the province of Sylvie in the Empire. The Sylvies are often ridiculed by people from other provinces within the Empire, so the rumors about them are particularly outrageous.

Gordon's expression quickly changed from calm to furious, like an Italian being forced to watch a pineapple pizza being made!

"Enough! We Shierwei people do like raising sheep, but we would never do that kind of thing to our livestock! What you're saying is just a rumor!"

"Really? I don't believe it."

“I’m blanching @＃￥%…”

Faced with Ludd's interrogation, Gordon was the first to break down, and the other three also felt somewhat overwhelmed. This guy had simply stopped playing by the book; it was like they were playing mahjong, and he suddenly threw out a pair of Jokers, declaring he wanted a royal flush. The disadvantaged group had absolutely no idea how to respond.

In the end, Potter couldn't take it anymore. He felt that he and his companions were top-tier fighters, and even if they were defeated and captured, they should be treated equally, just like when they captured Hamilton, they respected him as a strongman and provided him with good food and drink.

After listening to Potter's words, Ludd smiled and said...

"That's true, let's stop here for today and continue tomorrow."

After Lude finished speaking, he nodded to Shanis, who snapped her fingers. The restraints on Potter and the others were immediately released. However, after they stood up, they found that although the restraints on their bodies were indeed released, they were not completely released. The black thorns were still wrapped around their limbs and wrists, and they did not feel solid to the touch.

The group secretly exerted their strength and found that they had become completely ordinary people, with neither magic nor martial arts skills remaining.

Leaving the four behind, they arranged for several tall, burly, and obedient male servants to take care of their daily needs. Lude and the others left the dungeon and returned to Yanmu City. This group of high-ranking prisoners of war, including four top experts and dozens of mages, were all imprisoned in a mansion near the Duke's mansion, to be used as bargaining chips in negotiations with the Empire.

Before the negotiations officially began, Ludwig had to personally create a "gift" and arrange for someone to deliver it to His Majesty the Emperor.

After returning to their lodgings with Shanes, Hume suddenly emerged from Ludd's shadow, carrying a camera in his hand.

Previously, when Hume used "trash talk tactics" to mentally attack Potter and the others in the dungeon, he secretly recorded the conversation from his shadow. The four unfortunate brothers probably never dreamed that they would be targeted by two fourth-tier goddesses. This kind of treatment is not something that ordinary people can enjoy.

After retrieving the memory crystal from the camera, Lude planned to create a BBC-style director's cut video overnight, and then use it to trick the captured mages into revealing information to them.

However, just as Lud was preparing to work overtime through the night, Shanes and Hume suddenly approached him from both sides, without saying a word, but silently casting high-level enhancement and healing spells on him.

Master Lu understood instantly, but his expression became somewhat solemn.

"Stop fooling around! This, this is serious business!"

"It's alright, we both have plenty of divine power. No matter how much you use up, we can make up for it double. We guarantee you'll be full of energy even if you wake up in the middle of the night."

"Uh……"

“Master, as a priest, isn’t it only natural for you to serve the goddess you believe in? If you don’t agree, then I’ll have to call Aina over as well.”

The next morning, when the officers and soldiers of the Second Army Corps, who had retreated back to their camp to rest, opened their eyes, they were horrified to find that the barbarians of the Kingdom of Duran had already blocked the gate of their camp with those "evil weapons" and then began shelling them without saying a word.

"There's no need to talk about morality when dealing with invaders!"

Behind the allied infantry formation, Gulig waved his hand and shouted with boundless pride, "Fire all cannons at once!" Dozens of cannons of various calibers began to fire relentlessly at the Imperial army's barracks, raining down all sorts of conventional shells and unconventional shells, some even invented by the dwarven artisans, on the heads of the Imperial soldiers as if they were free.

Besides the Northern Allied Forces, Duke Krud of Flamewood City also dispatched a force, commanded by his eldest son Jacob. He and his men were staring in disbelief at the Imperial army camp being toppled and destroyed by the artillery barrage.

"Holy crap! This is too much... Master, didn't you say you were going to negotiate with the Empire?"

"That's right! It was indeed a negotiation, but the cannon spoke first."

"..."

In the square formation, Ludger chewed on dried red berries while enjoying the "beautiful sight" of the imperialists being scorched by cannons.

It's cruel! But this is indeed the treatment the people of the Empire deserve!

The Northern Alliance army marched from north to south, bypassing the main force of the Imperial army and heading straight for Flamewood City. Along the way, the traces of the Imperial army's atrocities were shocking to behold.

Although the behavior of feudal armies in various countries is not much different from that of bandits in this day and age, we cannot assume that it is right just because others do it.

Therefore, we must strike hard against the invading Imperials!

The bombardment of the Imperial army camp lasted for more than an hour, during which the enemy not only refused to surrender but also launched several frenzied counterattacks.

Lud had to admit that these Canary soldiers were well-trained and had a very strong fighting spirit. The largest counterattack involved about two or three thousand light infantrymen charging in dispersed formations. They were buffed by the priests of the Cult of War and had barriers opened by mages. They charged for a kilometer under continuous artillery fire, breaking through to close combat and physically engaging the Allied infantry.

The two sides fought each other for more than half an hour. The more than 1,000 Imperial soldiers who managed to charge forward were eventually wiped out. Although they didn't even get close to the artillery positions, they caused more than 700 casualties to the Allied forces.

Watching the Imperial soldiers fight fearlessly to the very last moment, Lud couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. The Imperial Legion truly deserved its reputation as the strongest in the world, and with the support of the Cult of War, they were practically unstoppable. If his side hadn't possessed cannons, a new weapon capable of changing the course of history, the outcome of this war would have been predetermined from the very beginning.

"I wonder what the situation is like at Yodl Fortress?"

At this moment, beneath the walls of Yodel Fortress, Grand Marshal Jagger, who commanded three main legions, had just received a letter from the Second Legion, informing him that a Kingdom army of tens of thousands (an exaggeration) had reinforced Flamewood City. The enemy was carrying a mysterious weapon with immense power and an absurdly long range, which resulted in the deaths of the Wayne Legion Commander and a large number of high-ranking officers.

Looking at the report in his hand, Jagger's first reaction was disbelief, thinking that Wayne was joking with him. But as more and more messenger ravens brought more and more bad news like harbingers of doom, Grand Marshal Jagger had to begin to take this kingdom's army, which was armed with mysterious weapons, seriously.

According to feedback from the Second Legion, the mysterious weapon of these Durans is a mass-producible contraption with two significant advantages: high power and long range. The power of a single shot is equivalent to a mid-level fireball spell, but a mage can only throw it a hundred or two hundred meters away, while this thing can fire from over a thousand meters away. Catapults and heavy crossbows can only stand there and take the hits.

This gave the Grand Marshal a major headache, and what was even more troubling was that His Majesty the Emperor, who was personally leading the Flying Dragon Knights on the expedition, would arrive at the Northern Expeditionary Army's camp around noon today. If he didn't say that he was concealing the bad news about the Second Army Corps, even if he did, he would probably still be held responsible.

"That Wayne, he really died at the worst possible time!"

Jagger's main force is still locked in a stalemate with the Kingdom's army, which is fiercely defending the Yordle Fortress. While the Imperial army is indeed elite, the Yordle Fortress is the most formidable pass in the Kingdom of Duran, with strong fortifications, ample supplies, and tens of thousands of Kingdom troops stationed there are personally commanded by their king.

Jagger felt that a direct assault, regardless of the cost, could quickly capture the fortress, but the losses would be considerable.

So when he learned that the Dragon Knights were coming, Jagger temporarily slowed down his offensive, wanting to wait for his dragons to arrive before launching a full-scale attack. But the problem now is... the dragons may not be effective once they arrive.

"Marshal, those three are here again!"

When his subordinate rushed in to report, Jagger, who had gotten somewhat used to it over the past few days, showed no change in expression.

Outside the military tent, tens of thousands of elite imperial soldiers in the camp were like a flock of frightened birds. As soon as they heard the sound of wind, they immediately took out the nose plugs and scarves they had prepared in advance to cover their faces tightly, and then looked for the nearest cover.

They had practiced this emergency evacuation procedure to perfection over the past few days, fearing that if they were too slow, they would be in serious trouble.

"They're here, on the east side, it's the same three of them again!"

"Damn it, Grandma Li! It's a waterproof canvas bag again, and it's waterlogged!"

Amidst the wailing and screams of the Imperial soldiers, three familiar figures flew above them again and dropped three bulging canvas bags directly into an empty spot in the center of the camp. The bags exploded with a "bang" the moment they hit the ground, splashing out a large amount of thick, dark green liquid.

The three-headed lord-level monsters finished throwing away the trash and turned to leave. Only after they left did the Imperial soldiers on the ground run out of their bunkers, grab their tools, and clean up the filth-strewn camp. Their movements were much more skillful than they had a few days ago.

Jagger was speechless. Thanks to these few monsters coming over every day, the Imperial Army's camp was almost always filled with a mixed stench, making it hard for the soldiers to eat or sleep, and their spirits were getting increasingly low.

However, while these guys were giving Jagger a headache, they also gave him a suitable excuse. Once His Majesty the Emperor and the Dragon Knights arrived, he would report the situation truthfully, explaining that it wasn't that his army wasn't trying hard enough, but the enemy had magical beasts. He figured His Majesty wouldn't blame him.

Almost the instant Jagger had devised a plan, another subordinate came in to report that a large group of flying creatures had been spotted approaching from the southern sky, and if nothing unexpected happened, their emperor had finally arrived!

Just as Grand Marshal Jagger had feared, His Majesty the Emperor, who had personally led the Wyvern Knights to the front lines, arrived at the front camp at a very awkward time. He could only order his men to speed up the clearing of the camp, and then, with his senior officers and honor guard, set up a welcoming procession in the open space behind the camp to guide the Knights' wyverns to land.

The crowd on the ground noticed that most of the wyverns had more than one person on their backs; in addition to the wyvern riders carrying heavy hunting bows, there were extra passengers behind them.

Among the thirteen bipedal dragons, one female dragon was particularly robust. The knight on its back wore magnificent golden armor and a red cloak. When Jagger and the generals of the legion saw her, they all removed their helmets and knelt on one knee, paying their respects with the utmost courtesy of a sovereign.