Goddess Kaleidoscope

While she was eating cookies, Lu De examined the bark in his hand and found that the texture of the bark at the fracture was very abnormal. This piece of bark, which was two centimeters thick, had a snow-white surface that was only a few millimeters thick, while the inside was an unhealthy grayish-white color and crumbled easily when rubbed with his hand.

So Lud ran back to the spot where Ikavin had broken the bark, and looking at the color and texture of the broken trunk, Lud frowned.

"Icaren, did you gnaw this tree like this?"

"Oh? No, it's been like this for a long time. Don't be fooled by how big this tree looks; it's actually hollow inside."

"Empty? Is there a place to go in?"

Yes! I'll take you to see it.

Holding a biscuit and munching on it as they walked, Elijah led Lud to the other side of the giant tree. The entrance to the trunk was hidden among several thick roots, and it was indeed difficult to spot without careful observation.

After passing through the long tunnel, Rudd and Ikaven entered the interior of the giant tree, where they were stunned by what they saw.

Unlike its beautiful and shiny exterior, the inside of the giant tree is rotten beyond recognition, and the surrounding trunk has an ominous purplish-black color, with some debris falling off from time to time.

In the very center of the enormous cavity, a dark mass of flesh throbbed like a heart. Rud's intuition told him that this was the source of the contamination causing the Fireseed Tree's disease.

"Holy crap! What is this?"

"I don't know."

"So how did you find this place?"

"I don't know, I just ended up here without really knowing why."

According to Ikaven's description, when she first entered the Land of Fire, she was in a state of delirium and confusion. It seemed that she was guided by something and came to this place on her own initiative, and then she regained her senses.

"Damn! So it was you who polluted it."

"No, that's not true! Although I was a bit crazy back then, at least I still had my memories. This place was like this before I came, but... but it definitely got worse after I arrived..."

Since there is no evidence yet to prove that Ikavin is lying, Lud will assume for now that she is telling the truth.

As things stand, the Fire Tree definitely has a problem, and it's quite serious. The corruption originates from within, and while the specific cause is currently unknown, it's highly likely that it's growing by absorbing "negative energy." Furthermore, according to Ikaven's recollection, she was summoned here by some kind of "voice," leading Lud to speculate that the mass of black flesh might actually possess self-awareness.

At this moment, Ikaven suddenly started to feel sleepy, and her ears and tail quickly disappeared. When she looked up at Rudd again, she had returned to her familiar dazed expression and then stretched out her hands to him.

Seeing this, Lude immediately understood and took out a bag of biscuits from his backpack and handed it over, along with a small jar of plum jam.

"Here you go, only good children get a reward."

Having received the food, Ikaven (deceased) obediently found a place to sit down and eat his biscuits, while Lud took out his shotgun and cautiously approached the lump of flesh to examine it.

In terms of appearance alone, the dark purple tumor was quite bizarre. Fortunately, Lud was a seasoned veteran who had seen even more disgusting things, so his reaction was relatively calm.

After careful consideration, Lud decided to abandon the idea of ​​directly contacting the thing, as the risks were completely unknown. Rather than rushing to start the investigation now, he decided to take the information about the place back and consult a wise goddess who was knowledgeable about the world.

And so, Ludger called Ikaven and cautiously left the tree hole.

Whether it was a misperception or not, as Ludger left the tree hollow, he vaguely heard a barely audible sigh behind him.

Emerging from the tree hollow, Lud planned to leave the Land of Fire and take information about the situation there with him as soon as possible.

He turned to look at Ikaven, who was following behind him. Currently, it was Ikaven who was in charge of physical activity. Although the little guy was taciturn, he was looking at him with hopeful eyes, clearly hoping that Lud would take him away from here.

After a moment's hesitation, Lude took out a black metal box from his backpack. Inside was a collar that looked ordinary, but it was an artifact made by the goddess of wisdom, Kumirad.

Back when they were still on the ground, Kumirad had given this to him. This thing had only one function: to completely suppress the wearer's divine power. Even an eighth-tier high god would instantly become an ordinary person if he wore it.

Obviously! Kumirad had long suspected that the rat-man gods imprisoned in the Land of Fire hadn't disappeared and might even have become a security threat. She gave this to Rud in the hope that he could take Ikaven out.

As for whether this thing can actually contain Ikaven, Kumirard patted Lud on the shoulder and said.

"But we still have you as a last resort!"

"..."

While Kumirad's statement was irresponsible, it was not entirely wrong. Rud, who possessed the primordial fire, was indeed an absolute "god-slayer." In a close-quarters face-to-face situation, he could even hold his own against a war god.

A "50/50 warrior" specifically for use against gods!

“Ikavin, your power is too great. I’m afraid you might accidentally hurt innocent people. So if you want to go out, you must wear this. Do you understand what I mean?”

Ah-Dai nodded, then took the sealing collar from Lud without hesitation and put it around his neck.

Since this is the land of fire, the power of gods and artifacts is nullified, so wearing it now has no effect.

Seeing Ah Dai's cooperation, Lude smiled and nodded, then reached out and took Ikaven's little hand. He had by now figured out more or less the various mechanisms of the Fireseed Land. This place was probably not a physical space, but a dreamlike, illusory realm. Therefore, to get out, he didn't need to walk, but rather use his brain.

When the old astrologer first came here, he knew nothing and had to figure everything out on his own. Moreover, he didn't have the primordial fire when he entered, unlike Lude who received a "hint." This explains why the old man seemed somewhat deranged after leaving; he was clearly bewildered by this place!

Holding Ikaven's hand, Lud closed his eyes and imagined a way home in his mind. Then, following his instincts, he took a step forward, and immediately heard several familiar voices appear out of nowhere in front of him.

"Oh! You came out so quickly!"

"Is that all?"

"That's too fast!"

Hearing Hume and the three sisters chattering away, Ludd opened his eyes and frowned. As a man, he felt there was something more to their conversation. However, everyone's attention was quickly drawn to Ikaven, whom Ludd had brought with him.

Seeing a group of older women, all of whom were quite mature, surrounding him, Ah-Dai timidly shrank behind Lu De.

What's wrong with this child?

"Her name is Ikaven, the god created by the ratmen."

Hearing Ludwig's casual introduction, Hume, who knew the rat-man god, widened his eyes in surprise. The three sisters, as members of the new generation, were more curious about this legendary being whom even the three great gods feared.

The youngest brother, Lachesis, who was only a head taller than Ikavin, leaned closer, pinched his chin, and asked in a questioning tone.

"Your Excellency, what's the deal with that collar around her neck?"

"The sealing artifact was given to us by Kumirad. Let's go, we need to get back quickly. There's something going on in the Land of Fire Seeds, we need to contact Karius and Kumirad as soon as possible."

Seeing how anxious Gallud was, the group stopped laughing and joking and quickly packed their belongings to prepare for their return journey.

It is worth mentioning that before setting off, Ludwig specifically checked with Hume how long she had been inside from their perspective, and unsurprisingly, the flow of time on both sides was different.

Ludd felt as if he had been wandering around the land of fire for almost a day, but Hume felt as if less than a quarter of an hour had passed.

If this ratio is fixed, then the old astrologer went in and didn't come out for almost a week, and he might have stayed inside for half a year!

The journey back went smoothly, and as they moved further and further away from the land of the fire, their strength gradually returned. Rudd, however, kept a slightly uneasy eye on Ikaven.

After all, the true form is at least an eighth-order superior god, and the sealing artifact made by Kumirad may not be able to suppress it.

However, to everyone's relief, once the group returned to Hearthglen and successfully reunited with the remaining squad of Heroic Spirits, Ikaven was completely unable to use even a fraction of his divine power, except for the fact that his dual-soul transformation remained unaffected.

This made Lud feel at ease, but it also gave rise to a chilling question.

Kumirad...is he really only at the fifth rank?

After reuniting with the Heroic Spirit Squad, Lud asked the others to look after Ikaven while he met with the two prisoners alone.

After not seeing each other for more than half a month, Peter and Zeki both looked much more "energetic" than before, their faces covered in bruises, as if they had been dyed.

Alvit told Ludwig that the two of them hadn't been behaving themselves these past few days. First, they tried to bribe the female Heroic Spirits, and when they weren't moved, they tried all sorts of ways to escape. It was like a cat playing with mice; every time they were caught, they had to give each other a good "lecture."

When Lud and his group returned from underground, the two had already escaped four and five times respectively, with the old rat Peter having escaped one more time. In his final escape attempt, Peter abandoned Zeki, his consistently unhelpful teammate, an act that completely shattered their alliance.

"My lord, if you spare my life, I will tell you the location of the Rat Clan's stronghold in the Void Forest."

“Zeki, you despicable person! You @＃￥%…”

Watching the two of them accuse each other, Lu De simply coughed lightly, and they immediately fell silent. The beatings they had endured these past few days had taught them to be obedient.

Lud decided to take the two prisoners back with him. Although neither of them were good people and they could be executed on the spot, Lud needed the intelligence they possessed to wipe out the entire alliance of evil forces, including the Plague Religion.

But just then, a female heroic spirit suddenly approached Ludwig hurriedly and whispered a few words to him. Ludwig quickly got up and left the cell, going to another room.

Here stands a miniature, three-headed statue of Aina, from which one can hear Aina's anxious voice.

"Master, something terrible has happened! A guy claiming to be the Earth Mother Goddess has come to our door with his men!"

Pine Town, located on the surface of the earth, has become a well-known town in the north after the war between the kingdom and the empire ended.

Besides the Pantheon, its fame also stemmed from the fact that the newly formed cabinet government made it clear that future government recruitment of civil servants would require candidates to have the corresponding minimum qualifications. No matter how noble a duke was, an illiterate person who couldn't read a single word would be barred from holding an official position.

Brewster College in Pine Town is currently the only officially recognized "institution of higher learning" in the kingdom. The college graduates who are now working in the government have proven the value of their diplomas, thus attracting a large number of students to come here.

However, not all of the many visitors came with good intentions. In the third week after Lud's departure, which was also the third day after he emerged from the Land of Fire, a group of religious figures from afar suddenly visited Pinetown.

The high-ranking priest, who claimed to be the Patriarch of the Earth Cult, had heard that the Pantheon had been disrespectful to their Earth Mother Goddess, falsely claiming that the Goddess of Medicine, Evelina, possessed the divine position of "Fertility," which should rightfully belong to the Earth Mother Goddess. Furthermore, he had despicably seduced a group of dwarven believers to convert to the so-called Three Goddesses of Craftsmanship. Therefore, he had traveled a great distance from the Pantheon's headquarters in the Western Continent to seek an explanation from the Pantheon.

Upon learning the purpose of this group's visit, the senior disciple Shanis, who remained behind, thought to herself, "Your Earth Cult's reaction is rather slow. You should know that the 'Abundance' divine position has been used by Aina for several years now. The annual income from selling Golden Fertilizer is second only to the divine medicine, and all the farmers in the entire Northern Region who have used it say it's good."

In contrast, has your little Earth Mother Goddess performed any miracles that fit the definition of "abundance" over the past thousand years? Can she bring wheat yields of 1,800 kimbap per acre? Does she have snowflakes as milky white as my Aina's?

They even went to such lengths to demand an explanation; they certainly have a big mouth!

As for why the dwarves converted to the "Three Goddesses of Craftsmanship," does your Mother Goddess really have absolutely no idea what's going on?

Under Lud's earnest guidance, Shanis and her generation of new deities had long established correct values ​​regarding divine life. They believed that if they wanted to gain the faith of believers, they should guide and respond to them, rather than resorting to threats and intimidation.

So when the Earth Cult came knocking on their door demanding an explanation, Shanis and Aina were not intimidated at all.

Because the Patriarch of the Earth Church did not believe the two nuns' explanations and was convinced that Luther was too guilty to face him, he led a large group of believers to block the temple entrance and bang on the door aggressively.

"Tell Lud to come out here! I know he's in there!"

After the group had been making a ruckus for a while, just as Shanis's patience was about to run out and she was about to roll up her sleeves and take action, the representative of the Holy Light Church stationed in the area rushed to the scene to mediate.

This representative is a high priest from the City of the Sun. He was originally the chief assistant to the Pope. The Pope sent him to Pine Town to be in charge of diplomatic affairs with the Pantheon. In short, he was a religious ambassador.

The representative went out to run errands in the morning, and when he returned, he heard that members of the Earth Cult were causing trouble at the Pantheon, and the leader of the cult was none other than the Patriarch, who was the highest leader of the cult. He was immediately shocked.

It's important to understand that although the Earth Mother is the fourth among the "three gods," she doesn't have a unified sect like the other three great gods. Almost every one of her many divine positions has a corresponding branch sect.

The Earth Cult is one of them. They are composed of believers among the human race who worship the Earth Mother Goddess, and it is estimated that they have hundreds of thousands of followers.

It is worth mentioning that the followers of the Earth Cult and the Dwarfs have been at odds for a long time due to ideological conflicts. Although they worship the same god, they have actually disliked each other for a long time.

Frankly speaking, the representatives of the Holy Church of Light look down on the Earth Cult, considering it a third-rate sect with only some influence in the southwest corner of the continent. Meanwhile, the Pantheon is now the de facto state religion of the Kingdom of Duran, with millions of believers influenced by it.

Unless the dozen or so branch sects under the Earth Mother Goddess are integrated, your Earth Cult alone really doesn't have the strength to challenge anyone.

Upon arriving, the representative first pretended to inquire about the situation, and as he expected, it was about matters concerning the divine position and believers. However, what struck the representative as odd was that, supposedly, even the Earth Mother Goddess herself hadn't made a statement yet, so why had the Earth Cult jumped in first?

The representative immediately realized that someone must be stirring things up behind the scenes! The War God Cult, which had suffered losses before, was the prime suspect.

As the representative had speculated, the Cult of War, wanting to cause trouble for the Pantheon, incited the Cult of Earth to cause trouble. These guys were among the most radical of the Earth Mother Goddess's many followers, and were somewhat disliked by some.