Goddess Kaleidoscope

"I...I...what's my name?"

"..."

Seeing Ah Dai's reaction, Lu De thought to himself that this rat-man god had probably been locked up here for too long and had forgotten his own name. The rat-man must have had a name when he created Him.

However, after the war of the gods ended, the surviving gods and mortals, in order to truly destroy Him, would certainly try to wipe Him out in every way. In the outside world, even many of the rat-people remnants no longer knew of His existence, let alone those on the side of humanity.

Thinking about this, Lud suddenly had an idea.

When Shanis came to seek refuge with him, Rudd made a series of "whitewashing" changes to her divine position and image in order to integrate her into his pantheon system. After all, if he had kept the "original setting" and insisted that she was not an evil god, even Rudd himself would have felt guilty.

Such a whitewashing and transformation must reflect continuity with the original setting in the new setting; otherwise, it would be tantamount to creating another god.

You must understand that Ah Dai is someone even the Holy Lord of Light fears. He is a 100% superior god. To be able to whitewash Him and then incorporate Him into your own pantheon is no less than possessing a nuclear weapon.

Of course! Lud also knew that if he really did that, it would definitely arouse the suspicion and even hostility of other sects. It was true that the strength of his own Pantheon would increase greatly, but to end up with enemies everywhere would be a loss.

So while he thought about it, Lude didn't actually plan to do it for the time being.

After trying various methods of communication, Lud discovered with dismay that Ah-Dai was far more foolish than he had imagined, and that his current level of intelligence was probably not even as good as that of a three-year-old human child.

However, this guy learns very quickly. After communicating with Him for a while, Lude could clearly feel that His speech was much clearer than at the beginning. He started speaking one word at a time and then two words at a time.

After confirming that Ah-Dai meant no harm, Lud decided to take the guy with him to continue exploring the Land of Fire, since it was impossible for him to shake him off in the current situation.

At Lude's prompting, Ah-Dai obediently placed his paw on Lude's hand and entered a meditative state with him.

With his previous ideas and experience, Lud quickly entered a state of daydreaming. When the restless primal fire within him calmed down again, Lud opened his eyes and saw a completely different new scene.

When Lud opened his eyes again, he was still sitting cross-legged on the giant tree, but the once dead tree had been revitalized. It was not only covered with brilliant golden leaves, but also had many red flowers blooming among the branches.

Lud reached out and touched a nearby flower, and to his surprise, found a tiny golden flame burning in its heart. Lud gently touched it, and the flame shot up, slowly drifting into the sky. Lud's gaze followed the rising flame, and through the gaps in the leaves, he saw a small sun hanging high above the treetop.

"So this is the real land of the spark!"

Gazing at the sun, which shone brightly but whose light was not dazzling, Lud felt completely comfortable under its rays. The flame that had only existed in his heart quickly spread, allowing the warmth to permeate his entire body.

Lud realized that he had most likely "leveled up," that he had passed the test of the Fire Seed Land and gained its approval, and thus transformed from the one who held the Fire Seed into the incarnation of the Fire Seed.

At this moment, Lude looked down at Ah Dai, whom he had brought over, and saw that Ah Dai was also undergoing some changes. The black mist that had been surrounding his body was rapidly receding under the light, and in the blink of an eye, the dark little monster had transformed into a little girl with long gray-white hair.

However, to Lud's slight surprise, the other party's overall appearance was almost identical to that of a human, rather than a rat-man.

What's going on? Isn't this kid a rat-man god?

Although he was full of doubts, Lude quickly noticed that although the child had long, thick hair that was like a cloak, she was actually naked. So he quickly took off his coat and put it on her.

The little girl looked at her coat with a blank expression, and as if sensing Lude's kindness, she obediently said to Lude.

"Thank you……"

Looking at the harmless-looking little fool, Lude smiled gently, then led the little guy down to the base of the tree. At the base of the giant tree, Lude unexpectedly discovered a line of inscriptions, the contents of which made him chuckle.

"Perseus was here... that's exactly the kind of thing you would do, Master!"

Upon seeing the inscription, Lu De bowed solemnly, then took out several old notebooks from his backpack and placed them below the inscription. These were research notes left by an old astrologer, which he had brought with him on this trip to the Earth's core.

Lud had no connection with the old astrologer; his understanding of him mainly came from the memories left to him by "Little Lud" and the descriptions of others.

This old geezer, though not exactly a saint—his personality and eccentricities are unconventional, and the things he does are utterly outrageous in every sense of the word—is also an indomitable seeker of knowledge. Lud's current achievements are all built upon the foundation laid by him. For that reason alone, Lud should respectfully call him "Master"!

By placing the old astrologer's belongings in this secluded place where neither gods nor ordinary mortals could set foot, Lude thought to himself that this was a way of barely fulfilling the old man's dying wish—to return to the Land of Fire once more.

Ah-Dai, standing to the side, looked at Lu De with some confusion, his gaze shifting back and forth between Lu De and the stack of notes. As if recalling something familiar, his originally blank gaze gradually brightened with a glint of light.

While Lude was paying respects to his teacher, he suddenly sensed an unusual presence behind him, a chilling aura that made his hair stand on end.

Without a word, Ludwig immediately pulled out a short-barreled double-handed sprayer from his pocket. This was a self-defense weapon prepared for him by the three sisters; every part was made using conventional technology, but it was also made with exceptional care.

At this moment, some strange changes were taking place in Ah-Dai's body. Lu De noticed that this ominous aura was actually coming from Ah-Dai's shadow. Something strange emerged from the shadow and quickly merged into Ah-Dai's body.

When the little girl looked up again, her originally innocent expression had been replaced by a wicked smile.

Seeing Ah-Dai undergo the transformation, Lu De frowned slightly. After a brief moment of surprise, he didn't show too much astonishment and calmly held the shotgun, letting Ah-Dai complete the "transformation" in front of him.

The little guy's appearance hasn't changed much; he just has two round ears on his head and a long rat tail sticking out from behind him.

The corrupted Ah-Dai looked at Lu De with a mocking expression. His expression was clearly evil, but it had no intimidating power on his young face.

"Hehe! Mortal, how did you get here?"

"Who are you, the one who came in?"

"Who am I... Hehehehehehehe!"

Ah-Dai, who looked no older than eight, let out a burst of maniacal laughter that exuded a strong sense of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome). She only calmed down a little when she realized that Lu De was staring at her with a strange look.

“Foolish mortals! You don’t even know who I am. Open your ears wide, for standing before you is the executor of world destruction, the embodiment of plague and death, the progenitor of billions of horned rats, the ultimate god-emperor who reigns above all gods…”

"Donald Trump?"

"...Pfft! I haven't finished yet, how could you... And who is Donald Trump?"

The corrupted Ah-Dai, whose "spellcasting" had been interrupted, seemed a little exasperated, while Lude had already put away his spittle, crossed his arms, and tilted his head to look at the little guy in front of him who seemed to want to jump up and kneel on his knees.

Although he hadn't even heard the ridiculously long title yet, just hearing a few less keywords was enough for Lud to confirm the other party's identity.

It was indeed the great evil god created by the ratmen, but it wasn't just slightly different from what I had imagined; it was completely different.

Those rat people risked national destruction and extinction to create this?

What a disastrous end!

After grumbling and cursing for a while, the blackened Ah Dai saw that Lu De's reaction was indifferent, and there was even a hint of pity in his eyes, so he became even more furious.

"Enough! You wretched and foolish mortal! I am the supreme god, how dare you humiliate me like this! I will unleash divine punishment upon you!"

Upon hearing that the corrupted Adai was about to unleash divine punishment upon him, Lude's expression immediately turned serious, while the corrupted Adai couldn't help but reveal a smug smile, thinking that his threat had worked. However, his smile lasted less than a second before he saw Lude, with a stern face, striding towards him.

Ah-Dai panicked instantly. She suddenly realized that this mortal in front of her possessed an aura that made her feel intimidated, and she subconsciously took a step back. At this moment, Lu De had already walked up to her. His absolute height advantage cast a thick and long shadow on the little girl's face, which was already showing signs of panic.

"W-what are you going to do? I'm a god!"

"What are you doing? Heh! This is the land of fire, the power of the gods doesn't work here. Also, don't blame me for not warning you, the last person who said that is already embedded in the floorboards."

"..."

As if sensing a blood-red "danger" flashing above his head, the blackened Ah Dai no longer cared about his dignity as the "God Emperor" and turned to run away. But unfortunately, his short legs were only so long. After a few struggles, Lu De caught up and grabbed him. Then, he knelt down on one knee, placed the naughty little mouse on his lap, and slapped him across the face.

"what!!!"

After a barrage of "anse waist and thigh" beatings, the little mouse went from cursing and wishing Lude a terrible death to pleading for mercy, and finally broke down in tears, with crystal tears streaming down the ground.

As Lude took the photos, he mentally grumbled, "This is the forbidden land of the gods, the cradle of fire. No matter how powerful a god you are, you're no different from a mortal here. If you were that muscleman, the Heavenly Mad War God, who looks like he's really good at wrestling, I might be a little wary. But someone this size trying to act tough is just pointless... What are you thinking?!"

Having personally experienced Rudd's "fatherly" education, the little rat-woman finally chose to submit to the mortal cricket. Rudd put her down and then asked her many questions.

Ah-Dai's real name is Ikaven. When the Skaven Empire created her, they gave her the title "Horn of the End," a great evil god who was in charge of both death and plague.

However, during the questioning, Lud discovered that Ikaven seemed to dislike, and even somewhat disliked, the ratmen who created him.

Lude learned that the rats created gods in a very special way, unlike himself who relied entirely on his silver tongue to deceive people.

From the beginning, the Skaven viewed the Ikaven as weapons, not as gods to be worshipped. Due to the urgency of the war, the Skaven, who were creating gods for the first time, were too eager to succeed and took many detours in their research on gods, resulting in a method of creating gods that was both bloody and evil.

Especially during the final blood sacrifice, Ikaven was forced to absorb a massive amount of negative emotions.

Ironically, the sacrificial offerings used by the ratmen for blood sacrifices at that time, apart from a small number of their own elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, as well as anti-war rat warriors, were mostly prisoners of other races captured on the battlefield, with humans making up more than half.

It seems that you are what you eat; the large number of human sacrifices made Ikaven look more and more like a human. At the same time, the hatred of these human sacrifices for the Skaven Empire was also absorbed by Ikaven indiscriminately.

In other words, even without the Skaven's underhanded tactics to control Ikaven and cause her to go berserk, Ikaven would very likely have turned against the Skaven Empire and stood directly against it.

It's laughable that the remaining ratmen outside still don't realize they went down the wrong path back then. Some ratmen want to use "traditional methods" to create a new evil god, while others want to release the imprisoned Ikaven, thinking that she will help the ratmen restore their kingdom after she gets out.

Besides the process of his birth, Lud was also very curious about the two completely different personalities that Ikaven displayed before and after his birth. The little mouse pouted, initially unwilling to speak, which made Lud's face darken, and he subconsciously covered his bottom again.

"I'll talk, I'll talk, okay?!"

Just as Lude guessed, there were indeed two souls in Ikaven's body. One was the somewhat sinister Ikaven in front of him, who was in charge of plagues, and the other was the dull-witted Ikaven, who was in charge of death.

Although the two Ikavens share one body, the Death Ikaven is stronger than the Plague Ikaven, even though the child looks dull.

Three hundred years ago, Ikaven, who had fallen into madness, was imprisoned in this land of fire by the gods. The power of the fire suppressed her power and helped her regain her senses, but at the cost of her "divine head" being split in two. The two little ones take turns using her body and have been wandering aimlessly ever since, though they have always longed to leave this place.

So even though the plague seems afraid of Lud, it secretly harbors a sliver of hope. If investing in Lud can get it out of here, then this beating won't have been in vain.

Because she needed Rudd's help, Ikaven (the Plague) became unusually obedient. Rudd glanced at her, knowing full well that this little evil god couldn't possibly be truly docile, and was already considering his options.

However, before that, Ludwig had to do something important: explore the land of the fire and confirm whether there was some kind of hidden danger that needed to be addressed, as Karius had feared.

Given that the primal fire within him had ceased to stir, Lude deduced that this was the true source of the fire. The enormous golden banyan tree resembled a torch, its red flowers producing flames that fueled the "mini sun" suspended high in the sky.

Lude observed for a long time and initially did not notice anything unusual, because the flames were produced very frequently. Each flower would usually produce a cluster every two to three minutes, and the entire giant tree had tens of thousands of red flowers. The flames, like swarms of fireflies, formed a golden spectrum in the air like the aurora.

So Lud's first impression was that everything in the Fire Seed Land was normal and there shouldn't be any problems. Then, when he looked down, he saw Ikaven, who was idly chewing on a piece of bark. Lud yelled and charged at him.

What are you doing!?

"Huh? Eat, eat something..."

"But you can't eat tree bark!"

"Then what can I eat? The leaves are too tough to chew, and the flowers are too hot to eat. The only thing I can gnaw on is the bark."

"..."

Even gods get hungry, but they won't starve to death. Lud knew this a long time ago, after all, his family members all had quite a large appetite.

Looking at Ikaven's aggrieved expression, Lud practically popped his eyes out. He had just said there was no problem, but it turned out the problem was right in front of him.

With lightning speed, Lude snatched the bark from Ikaven's hands. Ikaven, his food stolen, stared blankly at his hands, and for a moment almost burst into tears of grievance.

She had been imprisoned in this godforsaken place for three hundred years. Apart from the other Ikaven inside her, no one spoke to her, and she could only gnaw on tree bark when she was hungry. Finally, someone came in from outside, but this big bad guy first spanked her, and then stole her food. This was even worse than before.

At that moment, Lud pulled a box of cookies from his backpack and handed it directly to Ikavin. The little mouse, who had been gnawing on tree bark for three hundred years, stared wide-eyed.

"This is?"

"Biscuits are good snacks for traveling. If you get hungry, eat some of these to tide you over. We'll have something better to eat when I take you out."

Lud was initially hesitant about whether to take Ikaven out, but now he no longer needed to hesitate. Leaving her here would not be good for the tree.

Ikavin was overjoyed to receive the biscuits. This was the first time in three hundred years that she had eaten real food. The grievance of having her bark stolen vanished in an instant. She hugged the biscuits and devoured them. The way she ate reminded Lud of a hamster eating sunflower seeds.