Goddess Kaleidoscope

The two sides were locked in a stalemate for more than two hours until the imperial army attacking the city was once again at a standstill, at which point both sides called for a retreat.

Before leaving, Firebird Ludan made a bold statement, saying that he would go back and call his brothers.

Meanwhile, good news came from the north: a cavalry force personally led by Rodriguez and Sharo successfully penetrated into Imperial territory. The opposing side clearly hadn't expected that the Durans, who were being pressured by the Empire, would send a pure cavalry force to wreak havoc within Imperial territory, giving the Empires a resounding thrashing!

In his letter, Rodriguez stated that his troops had raided a camp on the border of the Empire the night before, and discovered a large amount of food and supplies. He concluded that this was a transit point for the Imperial Legion's supplies, so he set the camp on fire during the raid.

When Rodriguez released the ravens, the fire in the camp was still raging, and Rodriguez's troops were lying in wait near the fire, ready to kill anyone who dared to put out the fire.

In order to invade the Kingdom of Duran, four of the five standing legions of the Canary Empire were taken abroad, while the remaining fifth legion was stationed on the southern border of the empire to guard against barbarian forces in that direction taking the opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

Therefore, when Rodriguez used a strategy of encirclement and suppression to catch reinforcements in the north of the empire, the local troops that rushed to reinforce him were no match for his two thousand cavalrymen. A single charge was enough to rout the enemy.

After burning down the Imperial army's supply depots, Rodriguez led his troops southward, ignoring the Empire's wishes and penetrating deeper into its territory, catching the Empire completely off guard. This also allowed the people of the Empire, who had always been the invaders of other countries' territories, to experience for the first time what it felt like to be raped.

During his southward advance, Rodriguez maintained contact with Lud's forces fighting domestically. Upon learning that they were preparing to attack the heart of the Empire, Lud quickly dispatched a dragon to deliver supplies to them and then sent Kanna to act as their aerial early warning system.

According to the intelligence provided by Rodriguez, the local forces within the Empire were weaker than expected, completely outclassing their elite regular troops. Their equipment was similar to that of the peasant soldiers in the Kingdom, and their training was appalling.

This is mainly due to the imperial system. In order to consolidate its rule, the imperial family, which achieved centralized power, suppressed local forces in all aspects and supported the five major military corps, which were known as invincible, by concentrating the empire's most elite manpower and resources.

As for the pitiful local security forces, they are no longer "stepmothers" but outright abandoned children!

In the past, when the empire was not waging war abroad, these unlucky security guards could at least call on their "father" army to come to their rescue if they encountered a tough opponent. But now that their "father" is out, the security guards were beaten to a pulp by Uncle Wang from next door, who suddenly barged into their home.

The Fifth Army Corps, which was guarding the capital, received news that a considerable number of Duran cavalry had crossed the border and were causing trouble on their territory.

They didn't take it seriously at first. After the corps commander mocked, "These local troops are just lame," he sent 1,500 cavalry to pursue and annihilate them, and put his son in charge of leading the team.

In the eyes of the Fifth Army Corps commander, this was a golden opportunity for military merit, and he wouldn't refuse it. It would be a perfect chance for his troublesome son to get some experience and escape his cronies in the capital. A man should do what a man should do, not fucking do men's things.

As a result, the two cavalrymen did indeed collide. Rodriguez saw that the other side was well-equipped and well-trained, and knew that this was the regular army of the legion, unlike those second-rate local security forces. So he immediately set up his formation and had his men bring out the cannons.

Because it was a cross-border mobile operation, Rodriguez's cavalry could not carry large-caliber heavy artillery, but Lud still assigned them ten 50mm mountain guns, which were loaded onto wagons and carried with the cavalry.

Previously, when fighting the local security forces, the cavalry slaughtered the entire time, making it impossible to use artillery. The group of dwarven gunners had been bored out of their minds for a while, but now they have finally met a worthy opponent.

This cavalry battle ended in a crushing defeat for the Empire. Although the small-caliber mountain guns were not very powerful, they had a faster rate of fire. The Imperial cavalry charged in a dense formation in accordance with the old tradition. As a result, before they could get close, the solid cannonballs tore their formation to pieces.

Rodriguez waited until the enemy formation collapsed before launching his attack. After three rounds of attacks, he routed the enemy and even captured their commander alive in the process. It was only after the battle that they discovered he was a big fish – the son of the commander of the Fifth Army Corps.

What's both funny and sad is that this guy, whose sexual orientation isn't exactly straightforward, was defeated by Rodriguez's incredibly cool move on the battlefield, and then witnessed the stunningly handsome face under Rodriguez's helmet after the battle. As a result, he was awakened to his femininity on the spot and boldly confessed his love to Rodriguez, leaving all the Durant fans present speechless.

The empire's "advanced culture" is just too outrageous!

Because of the activity of Rodriguez's troops, the Empire's logistics supply quickly ran into problems, and major problems at that.

With tens of thousands of troops fighting on the front lines, the amount of food and supplies they consume every day is not small. Relying solely on plundering on the spot is certainly not enough. Moreover, the atrocities committed by the Imperial Legion have long aroused the Duran people's fighting spirit and even their national consciousness.

People at the bottom of society are indeed afraid of death, but when they realize that they can't escape the imperialists' knife no matter what, death no longer poses a threat.

Seeing the situation begin to deteriorate, the Empire's invading army was in a terrible predicament. His Majesty the Emperor's arrival at the front with his dragon knights had initially given them hope for a swift victory, but the invincible dragons soon encountered an unexpected and formidable foe—a group of dragons claiming to be deliverymen from SF Express.

A purebred, real, and enormous dragon.

And they brought more than a dozen at a time!

Dragon Knights: "I'll beat you to a pulp!"

When these dragons first appeared, they nearly drove tens of thousands of imperial soldiers to the brink of madness, and the wyverns were so terrified by their overwhelming dragon might that they wet themselves.

However, these dragons in disguise, just like the three monster lords that appeared a few days ago, did not attack the Imperial Army. Instead, they rushed up and pounced on the helpless bipedal dragons one by one.

Even a bipedal wyvern over ten meters long looks rather small and cute next to these adult dragons, which are generally over thirty meters long.

Faced with true bloodline suppression, even the Dragon Mother Lazara was too frightened to move. However, this group did not kill the dragons. Instead, they used relatively "gentle" force to pull the bewildered knights off the dragons' backs and throw them aside. Then, they took the unwilling but fearless two-legged dragons and left the battlefield. This departure lasted for three days and three nights.

When the wyverns returned, they were all wilted and looked like eggplants that had been chopped up.

Seeing the dragons return, King Canary III was both shocked and furious. Marshal Jagger, however, after a moment of contemplation, seemed to suddenly discover some strange pleasure, his face lighting up with delight. He quickly summoned a veterinarian to examine the dragons, especially the females. If things were as he suspected, then this whole affair wasn't entirely a loss.

However, the results of the examination greatly disappointed the Grand Marshal. All the wyverns, male and female, were completely unharmed; they were simply overly frightened and had not been fertilized.

"Are those dragons fucking insane?!"

"SF Express, Pantheon, why is it Pantheon again? What's the background of this sect? How can they command so many dragons!"

The series of setbacks infuriated Canary III, but he also remembered the name of the Pantheon. After a moment of contemplation, Canary III glanced at his own shadow and said...

“Bourne, it seems I’ll have to trouble you to make a trip.”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

On the seventh day of the siege and bombardment, the Imperial Second Army Corps on the opposite side was finally on the verge of collapse.

With supplies completely cut off and bombardment occurring daily, the Imperial soldiers were suffering from poor food, sleep, and recovery difficulties. Several attempts to break out of the encirclement failed, and even the most loyal and determined warriors were nearing their physical limits.

In addition, during the siege, the Northern Alliance would send people to the front lines during lulls in the artillery fire to use loudspeakers to persuade them to surrender. They would denounce the emperor and ruling class of the empire for their perverse actions and for launching a shameless invasion of a neighboring country for the selfish desires of a few. They would assure them that as long as they repented and were willing to lay down their arms and surrender, the Kingdom's army would guarantee their personal safety and treat prisoners of war well.

Under this continuous offensive, which alternated between physical and psychological pressure, starting from the fifth day, soldiers of the Second Army Corps began to desert and surrender to the Allied forces.

Although the soldiers in the North hated these imperialists, they at least understood that military orders were absolute, so they accepted the soldiers' surrender and took them to the prisoner-of-war camp in the rear to be dealt with by Master Lud.

These surrendered Imperial soldiers received the same treatment as promised in the surrender speech. There was no retaliatory abuse, they were given food and water, and even the wounded received medical treatment. Apart from being monitored and strictly prohibited from leaving the prisoner-of-war camp, many Canary soldiers even felt more comfortable here than when they were in the Imperial army.

Ludd's principle in dealing with these prisoners who surrendered was simple: treat them as human beings. They didn't necessarily need to receive extraordinary treatment, but they certainly shouldn't be mistreated. He also assigned specific personnel to screen and interview these prisoners.

The people in charge of the interviews were mainly students from Brewster College. Ludd held a meeting with these students beforehand to remind them that the interviews were not interrogations, but preparations for the next stage of psychological warfare.

As a feudal empire with a strict class system, it was impossible for officers and soldiers, nobles and commoners in the army to be as close as family. Most of the surrendered imperial soldiers came from the lower classes and were also at the bottom of the army, belonging to the oppressed.

Therefore, the conversations with them mainly involved digging up dirt on people, and the results were truly eye-opening. So much so that Lu De repeatedly confirmed with the people he was talking to that there was no exaggeration or embellishment in what he had heard.

So, starting from the seventh day, the Allied forces added two entirely new elements to their operations. One was reporting the menus, specifically at mealtimes, to the opposing Second Army Corps, who would vividly describe the appearance and taste of the food. The other element was recounting grievances, broadcasting damaging information dug up from captured soldiers to the entire Second Army Corps.

When describing bullies associated with scandals, announcers usually don't name names but use pronouns, such as "an unnamed centurion with blond hair, blue eyes, and a mole on the left side of his chin." Even though they don't explicitly say who it is, everyone knows who they're talking about.

As Ludl requested, these damaging stories were broadcast without any fabrication or exaggeration; they were simply recounted by the victims, detailing the events as they were. Some of these events may have been done in a more secretive manner, while others were semi-public secrets within the unit. Anyone with relevant knowledge could immediately tell whether the stories were true or not, and consequently, they also readily believed other unheard-of stories in the broadcast.

These kinds of things aren't really a big deal in the past; they're all "old traditions" of the Imperial Army. And the situation in other countries is pretty much the same, with some even worse. If you were to rank the worst, the Imperial Army might actually be considered one of the better ones. It's just that they beat, abuse, and cause trouble.

The problem is that just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right. Moreover, the Second Army Corps is currently in a critical situation, morale is already wavering, and the generals who could command respect have all been killed. As a result, this broadcast stirred up all the pent-up resentment that had been suppressed in the past.

As night fell, many officers who used to treat their soldiers like servants discovered that those once timid lackeys now looked at them with a hint of wolfishness.

Meanwhile, on the Northern Frontier side, Ludd also took the opportunity to re-educate the lower and middle-ranking officers. Ludd's prestige in the army was now as high and unyielding as a cannonball, and no one dared to object to his teachings. Moreover, Ludd didn't simply issue orders; he patiently explained the reasons behind them to the officers.

There is a saying that one should love soldiers like children and use them like mud, but many aristocratic officers nurtured by feudal society do the exact opposite. They treat their soldiers like mud and use them like children. It would be a miracle if such people could win battles!

The more than 10,000 Allied soldiers, personally led by Lud, learned and grew during the war. Although it was too early to completely get rid of the old-fashioned army habits, they were at least gradually improving, which was completely opposite to the increasingly deteriorating Second Army.

As intelligence gathered from various locations, Lud discovered that this war, which was originally a war between vastly different forces, had gradually shifted into a strategic stalemate with the entry of the Northern Alliance. The Second Legion was now a piece of meat on his chopping block, and the Yordles Fortress's offensive by the invasion of dragons had been hampered, while Rodriguez's cavalry was wreaking havoc.

Putting down the documents in his hand, Lud leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest. But at that moment, a strange feeling appeared outside the tent. The other party was emitting energy fluctuations unique to divine power, so Lud noticed it instantly. In his sensory world, the other party was as conspicuous as a firefly in the dark.

At first, Ludwig thought it was Hume who had come. This dark-skinned, mature woman was not someone to be trifled with in the military camp. Her official identity was a knight of the Pantheon and Ludwig's personal bodyguard, but in reality, she was the one who liked to secretly "assassinate" Ludwig the most!

In her own words, "I, Hume, as the god of thievery, shouldn't it be my right to steal men?"

However, Ludwig soon discovered that while the divine energy fluctuations emanating from the "Infiltrator" were somewhat similar to those of Hume, they were not entirely the same.

"Could it be Hugh?"

Unable to determine who the visitor was, Lu De pretended to rest and pondered for a moment before deciding to try and bluff the other party.

"Since you're here, can't you just use the main entrance?"

The intruder clearly hadn't expected that Lud would discover his whereabouts so easily. He quickly retreated more than ten meters, distancing himself from Lud's tent, but didn't leave immediately, seemingly hesitating.

The other party’s cautious reaction made Lud immediately realize that this intruder was definitely not one of his own!

Upon confirming that the newcomer was indeed hostile, Lud almost instinctively cast over a dozen layers of shields on himself in one go. All of this was done in an instant, silently, as practiced as breathing.

"Since you're already here, why don't you come in and have a seat? Or... do you really think you're confident you can escape?"

After a brief silence, a clump of wriggling black mud slowly emerged from the shadows in a corner of the tent. Seeing this, Lude thought to himself, "Damn, this entrance is pretty much like something out of a horror movie."

Soon, the shadowy figure materialized into human form, eventually transforming into a handsome man with dark skin. Lude noticed that the man had two long, pointed ears, and based on his skin color, it wasn't hard to tell that he was a dark elf who had left the Forest of Tranquility.

"Please have a seat. May I ask your name?"

“My name is Byrne, and I am an envoy of King Canary III.”

"If I hadn't noticed you, you would have been the assassin, right?"

"..."

The dark elf, who called himself Byrne, obediently sat down opposite Rudd. At this moment, his heart was far from as calm as he appeared on the surface, because he, as a top expert, could not see through this seemingly young priest. There were generally two possibilities for this.

One possibility is that the other party is a weak and incompetent person.

Another possibility is that the opponent's strength is unfathomable.

Bourne probably never imagined that Ludd actually embodied both of these "possibilities".

Lu De has been in the world for several years now. He has neither learned magic nor martial arts. His daily work keeps him so busy that he is practically never on the ground. Therefore, he has no free time to become stronger in the conventional way like ordinary people.

Fortunately, Lud is a priest, and possibly a unique super priest in the world, with a way to become stronger that others cannot learn.

So Rude himself is very weak, just an ordinary person, but at the same time he is ridiculously strong. He has more than a dozen goddesses behind him who unconditionally provide him with full access to divine power. This combined power makes Rude invincible in the human world, even stronger than most of the middle and lower-ranking gods!

At that moment, Byrne noticed that Ludd was looking him up and down, his gaze lingering briefly on his brooch and belt. This immediately gave him a bad feeling, because these two items were precisely his two most valuable pieces of equipment, both genuine artifacts. The reason he had been able to infiltrate the Allied camp so smoothly, only to be discovered after encountering Ludd, was entirely due to the power of these two "masterpieces of the thief god."

Of course! The reason he was discovered so easily by Lud was also because of these two legendary thief artifacts, whose effects were comparable to the "Dragon Shock Sword" made by Sanders.

"These two divine artifacts you possess, are they from the God of Thieves?"

"Your Excellency is truly knowledgeable and well-traveled."

"Haha! Actually, this is my first time seeing it too, but I just felt a familiar power from the artifact."

Upon seeing these two artifacts of the God of Thieves that exuded a familiar feeling, Lude smiled politely and acted like a superior person, but in his heart he wanted to slam his fist on the table and laugh out loud, because these artifacts of the God of Thieves, which were not in Hume's possession, involved certain dark histories that Hume was unwilling to mention.

When Hume was sealed away by the god of war, although he lost all his divine power, these artifacts did not lose their special abilities, and thus they were once Hume's guarantee for survival in the mortal world.

However, when she was forming her own underground cult, she had to show some of the artifacts to her followers in order to gain their trust, and as a result... they were stolen.

If Hume's power hadn't been sealed, she could sense these artifacts no matter how far away they were, and they could even serve as coordinates to teleport her to their location at any time. But after Hume's power was sealed, it diminished to the point where she had to be very close to them to sense them.

The fact that the God of Thieves' artifact was stolen is simply dark humor!

Given how shameful these things were, Hume rarely brought them up, and she simply pretended that the stolen artifacts didn't exist, even though her power had been restored, she made no mention of retrieving them.