Goddess Kaleidoscope

"Wow, these ancient dwarves really mastered the art of runic magic."

"I was wondering before that this place had been buried for hundreds of years, yet the air was not polluted at all. Even if there were ventilation openings, they would have been blocked long ago without any maintenance. It turns out that fresh air is directly generated by an automatic magic array."

"Big sister, second sister, I caught a fish in that pond over there!"

Seeing the three sisters so engrossed, Lu De cautioned them not to go too far and then let them be. He himself picked up several ancient books of unusual nature, intending to find a bright spot to sit down and read them at his leisure.

Regarding Hearthstone, Ludlow planned to have the three sisters deliver an "oracle" to the Steelwhip Clan after this journey to the center of the earth, guiding them to this ancient city of extraordinary significance to the dwarves.

Anyone with even a slight understanding of the dwarves, this intelligent race, knows that although the dwarves are now fragmented and scattered across the world, they still yearn for the glory of their former homeland. Many dwarves have some degree of restorationist tendencies, mainly because the remaining branches are unwilling to submit to each other, thus preventing them from achieving national unity.

If, at this moment, the Steelwhip Clan were to announce that they had found the ruins of the old capital of the Dwarf Kingdom, and then seize the opportunity to call for the restoration of its glory, they might be able to gain widespread support and attract all the scattered branches of the Dwarf race from various places.

If the dwarves were to establish a kingdom in the Void Forest, it would be more beneficial than harmful to the Kingdom of Duran, and even more so to the Pantheon!

Because Lud was confident that as long as these dwarves came, the Pantheon would have a way to convert them all.

After all, the three sisters were gods specifically designed for dwarves, so they were naturally more in line with the dwarves' preferences than the Earth Mother Goddess. Their doctrines also had fewer restrictions, making the religious atmosphere more relaxed and free.

To borrow a technical term from Earth, this is called precisely targeting the core pain points of the target users. Older generations of dwarves may still maintain their faith out of nostalgia, but those young dwarves who are inexperienced in the ways of the world simply cannot withstand such a combination of tactics, and it is only a matter of time before they are drawn into the religion.

Just as Ludwig was flipping through the ancient dwarven book in his hand, pondering how to recruit highly skilled talent from all over the world, Hume suddenly emerged from the shadows like a ghost and whispered to Ludwig.

"Someone's coming."

"What... strange combination is this?"

On the observation deck high above the mining hall, Ludd and Hume lurked in the shadows, quietly watching the figures of those who had arrived below.

Lude had previously speculated that the approaching group might be ratmen or lizardmen, those gullible scoundrels who believed anything and everything. But when another group actually arrived, he realized that it was actually a "joint force"! Not only were there ratmen and lizardmen, but there were also some humans dressed in dark green hooded robes, behaving in a rather bizarre manner.

This strange group consisted of fifty or sixty people. The lizardmen seemed to be acting as bodyguards, using metal plate armor and weapons, and surrounding the ratmen and the green-robed men in the center of the group.

After observing for a moment, Lud quickly confirmed that one of the old rats with a white beard was the leader of the group. He arrogantly directed the other ratmen and lizardmen to set up camp on the spot, but his attitude towards the green-robed humans was noticeably more amiable, as if they were on equal footing with the old rats.

"Interesting, it seems to be a cooperative relationship."

"Shall we make our move now?"

"No rush, wait a moment."

Under Ludwig's orders, the Heroic Spirits, who had been lying in wait in ambush in the surrounding area, remained still so that Ludwig could continue to observe the enemy's movements. Compared to simply and brutally capturing and interrogating them, this method made it easier to discern their true purpose for being there.

The other team probably didn't know about Lud and his group's existence, but they didn't let their guard down at all. After all, the underground world was full of dangers. Hearthstone had been buried for hundreds of years and was now the domain of all kinds of subterranean creatures.

Ludwig and his group, who arrived earlier, had Nidhogg as their "self-propelled insect repellent," but the other group didn't have that kind of treatment.

After observing from a high vantage point for a moment, Lud decided to use the god of thieves' divine ability to erase his own presence to get closer and eavesdrop on their conversation.

Hume's thieving god trait was so strong that she, a fourth-order god, could infiltrate the divine realm of the eighth-order god, the God of War, without being detected (although she eventually failed). Using it to deal with a group of ordinary people was naturally a piece of cake.

Soon, the man and the god arrived at the hall floor, bypassing the lizardman guards who were practically useless to them, and swaggered straight up to the old rat.

The other party was currently talking with the leader of the green-robed men, completely unaware of the two eavesdroppers standing right in front of them. Lud, who was finally able to hear their conversation clearly, was taken aback, because the two were actually talking about things related to the Pantheon.

“Brother Zeki, take my advice. Your Plague Order is better off not provoking the Pantheon. Our Skaven Great Sage, Master Midi, was defeated by that Chosen One named Rudd.”

"Lord Peter, we know the Pantheon is a formidable opponent, but we will not yield. Once we obtain the power we need, the Pantheon will be destroyed! I will offer the flesh and blood of that Rudd as a sacrifice to my lord, and then drag all the false gods down from their pedestals!"

Hearing the green-robed man's gritted teeth "death declaration," Lud, who was less than two meters away, showed no emotion whatsoever; he even felt a little like laughing.

From their conversation, Ludwig gleaned a great deal of useful information.

First of all, these "people" all had a grudge against him. The ratmen were the remnants of the ratman clan that attempted to create a god by sacrificing a large number of people with their blood during the "Evil God Incident". The lizardmen were survivors of the gray scale clan who were driven out of the ancient city of dwarves. These two unlucky groups met by chance while fleeing into the depths of the forest. Subsequently, the lizardmen were recruited by the ratmen.

As for the green-robed man, Zeki, and his humans, they belong to a shoe cult called the "Plague Order." They were involved in the Oyster Harbor plague incident and the recent fortress poisoning incident. Ludwig thwarted their operations twice, yet this was the first time he had heard of them, showing that this group is quite adept at hiding their true identities.

And the purpose of these guys going deep underground was indeed, as Lud had guessed, to travel through the elevator tunnel of Hearthstone to the Land of Fire, located deep in the Earth's core.

However, their intelligence seemed incomplete; they only knew that some kind of "ancient power" existed there, a power that even the gods feared, but they didn't know what this power was.

This is incredible, it's like an "Avengers" team.

Old Rat Peter and Foot-Washer Zeki chatted for a long time when a rat-man servant came over and reported that the two lords' tents had been set up, and the search team that had just been sent out had easily discovered a bottomless hole at the end of the main passage, which seemed to be the rumored underground passage.

After listening, the old mouse nodded indifferently, but at that moment, he was suddenly startled to find two living people appearing out of thin air in front of him. Zeki, who was next to him, was also startled and subconsciously pulled out a strangely shaped curved dagger from his pocket.

Who are you!?

"Tsk! You don't even know who I am, yet you dare to shamelessly say you want to use my head as a sacrifice? Aren't you afraid of admitting your mistake?"

"Lud?"

Upon hearing Lude's words, the old mouse, who instantly understood, was filled with horror. He had never underestimated the Pantheon, but in the end, he had underestimated their strength. These two had clearly been standing by and listening for quite some time, yet he had been completely unaware.

What kind of ability is this? Divine magic? I've never heard of such a thing!

Knowing that his entire exploration team combined wouldn't be enough to defeat the person in front of him, the old rat hurriedly waved his hand to stop his subordinates from making any rash moves. At the same time, he quickly put his prized rat brain to work, trying to come up with a way to survive the current situation.

However, Lud had no intention of giving them a chance to escape. The despicable things these demons and monsters had done would have earned them execution in any world!

Lude waved his hand, and the Heroic Spirit Squad, which had been waiting for a long time, immediately descended like divine warriors, attacking from all directions.

"Except for these two, the rest shall be executed on the spot."

Like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds, the entire battle lasted less than thirty seconds. Eight heroic spirits, equivalent to top-tier mortal masters, wielded divine swords burning with holy fire, annihilating the entire exploration team to the point of utter devastation.

Seeing this, the two prisoners who had been specifically chosen to stay behind by Lud were filled with despair. Peter knew he was no match for the group before him, and his face turned ashen. The head of the foot-washing gang let out a shrill howl as if he had suffered a mental breakdown, then suddenly raised the short sword in his hand, attempting to stab himself in the heart to commit suicide, but the sword was immediately knocked away by an invisible force.

"Trying to commit suicide out of guilt? It's not that easy!"

Faced with an overwhelming disparity in strength, the ratman Peter and the human foot-washer Zeki had no choice but to surrender. Being watched by a group of powerful heroic spirits, they couldn't even bring themselves to commit suicide.

"What...what exactly do you want?!"

The old mouse, bound like a dumpling, stared at Lud in astonishment. The moment he learned Lud's identity, he knew he was doomed and didn't try to resist. Zeki, who had been cursing incessantly, shut his mouth obediently after receiving a few light punches from Alvit, but his eyes were still wide open, glaring angrily at Lud.

When Peter saw that the other side was able to wait for him in the remote Hearthstone ruins, he subconsciously thought that there was a traitor on his side who had leaked the news in advance, which attracted the "dog of the gods".

Looking at the two salted fish lying flat on his chopping board, Lud didn't rush to interrogate them. Instead, he patiently looked through the spoils they had just seized: a copper coin with a map of Hearthstone engraved on it and several manuals that they had scavenged from the ratmen's bags.

The copper coins looked quite old, and the inscriptions were all in dwarven script, while the several handbooks appeared to be exploration notes. These shady rats had been secretly searching for Hearthstone in the Unseen Forest.

"You must have gone through a lot of trouble to find this place, right?"

"..." x2

Faced with Lud's questioning, the two prisoners remained silent, looking as if they would rather die than say anything. Lud smiled unhurriedly.

"What? You don't want to talk about it? It's fine. Anyway, your old friend Harlind has already told me everything I need to know. Once I've taken care of things down there, it doesn't matter whether I know the details or not."

"What!? You, you... Harinder, that son of a bitch, how dare he..."

Upon hearing Lud utter the name "Harinder," old rat Peter first showed disbelief, then transformed into boundless rage, loudly cursing Harinder as a shameless scoundrel who had betrayed the entire ratman clan.

Lude watched silently, thinking to himself that his bluff had been pretty accurate.

Lud didn't know anyone named Harinder. He had only seen the name in intelligence gathered by the kobold rangers and knew that Harinder was the leader of a small rat-man tribe in the eastern part of the Void Forest, nicknamed "The Cat Eater".

For the past few years, the main external activity of the demi-human villages kept by Lude in Peach Blossom Spring has been intelligence gathering, with the kobold rangers led by Aqin playing a crucial role. They often disguise themselves as smuggling teams, actively contacting demi-human tribes hidden throughout the forests, focusing on gathering information about the various rat-people clans.

Through this intelligence, Lud learned that in the southeastern region of the Void Forest, near the northern border of the kingdom, the rat-people clans were divided into more than a dozen branches, with a total population of about ten to twenty thousand. However, just like the dwarves whose kingdom had been destroyed, the relationships between the various rat-people clans were also mixed, with all sorts of conflicts existing between them.

Eight years ago, the Skaven sage Midi once united these scattered small clans and formed a Skaven revival alliance, but this alliance soon disintegrated due to the destruction of Midi and his direct lineage.

In the years that followed, the Skaven did not cause any more trouble and remained quiet for a period of time to recuperate. However, Lud never let his guard down against the Skaven. These guys possessed incomplete god-making technology. Although Midi and his clan were destroyed, no one could guarantee that among the survivors who managed to escape, there might be a few who knew the truth.

According to the intelligence Lud had, the Cat Eater Clan, led by Harinder, was one of the three most powerful clans in the southeast region, but also the most hated "traitors among their own kind" by the other ratmen.

Unlike other ratmen who, despite the divine curse on fertility, strive to maintain the purity of their bloodline, the Harinder clan advocates intermarriage with other demi-human races. By introducing bloodlines from other races, they aim to dilute the curse's effects and restore the birth rate.

Such unorthodox ideas naturally provoked hostility and exclusion from other rat-man clans, but the powerful Harinder didn't care at all.

Of course! That was all Ludd knew, but even that was enough for him to bluff the old rat in front of him. And as it turned out, mentioning Harinder's name was indeed effective; as soon as Peter heard that this bastard had betrayed him, he believed it on the spot!

Using his experience as a veteran police officer, Ludwig managed to extract the information he wanted from the two prisoners in just a few hours.

Just as he had previously speculated, this group was also heading towards the Land of Fire. However, due to limited information, they did not know what was there, only that there was a "certain treasure" sealed by the gods, which might be able to counteract the curse and allow the ratmen to regroup.

If Ludwig hadn't taken their way, Peter and his party might have actually reached the depths of the Earth, but it's too late to say anything now.

Having obtained the information he wanted, Ludl ordered the Heroic Spirit Squad to take the two prisoners away, sparing their lives for the time being.

The ratmen remnants in the forest have always been a hidden danger, and the Plague Order to which Zeki belongs is an even more malignant tumor lurking in human society.

This foot-washing organization belongs to the kind of evolutionist with a morbid mindset, advocating that humans should coexist with viruses and eventually become a higher form of humanity.

They believed that the plague was a trial given to the human race by God. The weak would die in pain, and the true chosen ones would be selected. As long as they survived, they would achieve a great sublimation (immunity).

So this group of people are like bioterrorists, often actively poisoning other parts of the world and creating pandemics.

After the plague incident in Oyster Harbor, Rudd, who suspected that the incident might have been caused by human intervention, had been investigating the real culprit. Later, the Church of Light also got involved. Based on the information they had about foot washing, Rudd initially identified several suspects, one of whom was the Plague Religion.

It's no surprise that they could ally with the ratmen.

This is a damn 14th-century classic replica!

After a brief overnight stay in Hearthstone, Ludr led his men on their continued journey underground the next day. The eight members of the Heroic Spirit Squad were assigned to stay behind in Hearthstone, in case the Skaven sent reinforcements; if they did, they would ambush them.

Lud specifically instructed the team leader, Yalvit, to hold back a little during the ambush and leave a few survivors to take the message back.

The group split into two, with Ludwig accompanied by Hume, Fallen Leaf, the three sisters, and the Black Dragon father and daughter.

The group arrived at the elevator shaft of Hearth Fortress. The vertical black hole, nearly 100 meters in diameter, was bottomless, and it seemed as if it connected to another dimension.

Thanks to the fact that everyone in the group was extraordinary, in order to save time, they took a leap of faith from the edge and plunged straight down into the pitch-black cave.

After freefalling for about half an hour, the group of people, each with their own unique posture, landed at the bottom of the cave. As they approached the ground, they each displayed their unique abilities, landing lightly. Only Lachesis, the youngest of the three sisters, fell asleep during the fall and accidentally landed face-first, kicking up dust at the bottom of the cave.

"Damn! Third brother, how did you manage to crash down like that?"

"Pfft! Ugh! Is this the bottom?"

Lachesis, covered in dust and dirt, looked around in bewilderment as she climbed out of the crater. Nidhogg, standing beside her, frowned and silently pulled Kanna back half a step. He didn't think there was anything wrong with the little girl surviving such a fall; he was simply afraid she would pass on her silliness to his precious daughter.

My dear daughter, you must never play with idiots again!

After a brief commotion, Ludd used a Holy Light spell to illuminate the pitch-black cave floor, revealing another mining hall with several branch mines visible in the surrounding area. Hume approached one of the entrances, briefly examined the markings near the door, and then spoke to Ludd.

"This is it. If we go another ten miles or so, there will be a large cave. We've already covered half the distance."

The "great cave" that Hume refers to is a super-giant cave, which usually has formed an independent small ecosystem inside, and the plants and animals inside are quite different from those on the surface.

It's worth mentioning that when Ludwig heard Hume describe the underground world, he was puzzled as to how thick the Earth's crust was. The dwarves had spent thousands of years digging such a deep hole; they should have reached the mantle long ago, but no magma had emerged from below.