Goddess Kaleidoscope

As soon as Hume finished speaking, the Patriarch knelt down with a thud. The old man looked down at his knees, which were touching the ground, with a look of astonishment, feeling as if his body had just lost control.

Hume's angry shout just now contained divine power in his voice. If the Earth Mother were still protecting him, the Patriarch would at most feel a heaviness in his body, but he wouldn't be in such an embarrassing situation as he is now. But now the Earth Mother has been sealed by Lud, which is like unplugging the power to your host server. All the clergy of the branch sects that worship the Earth Mother are now disconnected.

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse in an instant. The Earth Cult followers, who had been so aggressive just moments before, stopped shouting abruptly as the patriarch knelt down, and they all looked like chickens with their necks being choked.

While the Earth Mother was still in a daze, Rudd changed his posture and grasped her slender wrist. Theoretically speaking, as long as Rudd maintained his body's receptiveness, he could seal the divine power of any god, but the god could still break free with his own strength.

Fortunately, the Earth Mother Goddess was very thin and small. Without her divine power, her strength was only that of a little girl. If it were the God of War, that muscular big guy, Ludger would have to use a full armbar to subdue him.

Under Rudd's whispered threats, the Earth Mother, who was unable to use her divine power for the first time in thousands of years, was so frightened that she forgot to resist. In this way, she was "invited" by Rudd and Hume to "visit" the temple on the hillside in full view of everyone, leaving the onlookers stunned.

Many people may never have the chance to witness a deity descend in their lifetime, let alone see a group of them appear in such a concentrated manner as today.

On the temple side, as the doors closed, the Earth Mother Goddess, whose reflexes were incredibly slow, finally came to her senses and tried to struggle. However, Rudd's hands were as firm as iron clamps, pulling her down to sit on the bench. Unable to resist, the Earth Mother Goddess couldn't help but show a look of despair.

"What...what are you going to do to me?"

"Guess."

"I'm warning you, I... I'm a goddess."

"Oh, I have some too."

Pointing to the row in front of him, Rude's nonchalant demeanor left the Earth Mother speechless for a moment. She was especially astonished when she saw that the two strongest among the goddesses were actually very attentive and took the initiative to massage Rude's back and shoulders.

Who exactly is this man?!

Once again, the Earth Mother, whose brain had "overloaded," fell into a daze. Lude didn't rush to question her, but instead inquired about what had happened while he was away. After learning that everything was normal except for the Earth Cult members who had come to cause trouble, he nodded in relief.

"Master, how come you're back so quickly? Didn't you say you might not arrive until tomorrow or the day after?"

"It's because we were in a hurry, so I had the three sisters dig a vertical tunnel directly upwards, which saved a lot of time compared to our initial expectations."

"And what about them?"

"We went to the maze. There was a little guest who came back with us. I didn't dare take her back to town, so I asked the three sisters to take her there."

Rudd felt a bit of a headache when he mentioned Ikaven, whom he had brought from the Land of Fire. He would have to explain things to the Holy Lord of Light when he arrived. Ikaven, who had returned to the ground, had actually regained his divine power, but fortunately, the collar given to him by Kumirad worked properly and successfully sealed Ikaven's divine power.

Lude only learned later that in order to create this collar powerful enough to seal away high-ranking gods, Kumirad had conned a whole bunch of people, with the three great gods all contributing their divine blood, which resulted in such an extraordinary artifact.

Because the Earth Mother was present, Rudd couldn't say too much. He had just used the holy seal left to him by Karius and Kumirad to send a "window shake" to the two of them, and believed they would arrive soon.

Before they arrived, Lud decided to "deal with" the Earth Mother Goddess in front of him first.

Regarding the Earth Mother Goddess, Lude had already learned a lot of information about her from Kumirad. This silly girl was simply the biggest victim in the divine realm, the one who had been fleeced the most by the Goddess of Wisdom. Kumirad had abused her a thousand times, yet she still treated Kumirad like her first love.

It's important to understand that the Earth Mother not only possesses numerous (miscellaneous) divine positions, but also a multitude of names—so many that even she herself can't remember them all. This is detrimental to the collection of faith, and the culprit is still a certain god.

As for why the gods "bullied" the pitiful Earth Mother Goddess, it wasn't entirely out of disgust or amusement. Rather, among the existing gods, the Earth Mother Goddess was the most likely to degenerate into a "world-destroying evil god."

Because in the ancient era when the Earth Mother Goddess was born, there once existed a "theory of the End" that proclaimed the destruction of the world. This theory claimed that when all mortals in the world completely degenerate and abandon all virtues, the major gods would join forces to destroy everything and then restart the world.

The original intention of this doctrine was to persuade people to do good, but unfortunately it gradually changed its meaning. Some overly cynical extremists believed that the world they lived in was beyond saving and that it was better to restart it as soon as possible, so they tried to step on the gas and accelerate it.

The subsequent war between the gods was not only due to irreconcilable conflicts between various forces in the mortal realm and among the gods, but also because "accelerationists" were secretly fueling the flames.

So after the war of the gods, Kumirard sought out Karius, hoping to eliminate the influence of the End Theory in the world. After all, this world is a place where gods can be born from faith. If the End Theory is allowed to develop and grow, wouldn't it give birth to a "God of the End"?

While eliminating the doctrine of the end times, Kumirad was also intentionally suppressing the faith in the Earth Mother Goddess, preventing her from having the opportunity to ascend to a higher position. This was because the Earth Mother Goddess was one of the eight world-destroying gods mentioned in the doctrine of the end times, and the one most likely to ascend to a higher position.

Incidentally, the collar that Kumirad gave to Rud was originally intended for the Earth Mother. Even more despicable is that one drop of divine blood used to forge the collar was also given by the Earth Mother.

After being stared at by Rudd for a long time, the Earth Mother Goddess became a little uneasy. Fortunately, at this moment, two golden lights suddenly burst out of the temple, and Karius and Kumirard walked out of their respective statues. When Karius saw the Earth Mother Goddess being led by Rudd with tears in her eyes, he was obviously stunned, while Kumirard pursed his lips and showed a faint smile.

Seeing that Karius had finally arrived, Rudd released his grip, while the Earth Mother, like a frightened rabbit, fled and hid behind Kumirad, leaving Rudd stunned.

"How did you do that?"

"It's a secret."

"???"

After briefly explaining a "small misunderstanding" between his own Pantheon and the Earth Mother, Karius frowned slightly, almost immediately guessing that it was the work of the God of War.

Using fools as pawns is somewhat unethical.

"Don't worry about this matter. I'll handle things on Zhan's side. Let's talk about your discoveries in the Land of Fire Seeds first. Was there anything noteworthy?"

Yes! And it's quite large.

Because of the gravity of the matter and the need for the two powerful figures before him to possess thousands of years of rich experience, Rudd did not hide anything about this journey to the Earth's core, including what he saw and heard in the Land of Fire, and the fact that he brought Ikaven out of there.

Upon learning that the Ratman God, whom they had painstakingly sealed away years ago, had now resurfaced, Karius instinctively felt something was amiss. However, he patiently listened to Rudd's explanation and, after a moment of contemplation, spoke.

“I’ll tentatively agree with your decision. Since there’s a problem with the giant tree in the Land of Fire, it’s indeed inappropriate to leave the bark-gnawing rat-god there. But just in case, please take me to see her later. I need to see it with my own eyes to feel at ease.”

Rude was relieved to see that Karius was so understanding, while Kumirad, standing to the side, fell into deep thought and muttered to himself after a long while, as if he had just realized something.

"Giant tree, spark, new life... I think I understand."

"What did you understand?"

"The tree in the land of the fire is probably dying."

"..."xN

As soon as Kumirard finished speaking, the room fell silent. Karius then pressed for an answer.

What happens if a tree dies? Is there any way to save it?

"When a tree dies, the world ends, but we can plant another one from a seed... at least that's how it is in theory."

Kumirard's proposal to plant another tree is simple and straightforward, but its feasibility is questionable. First and foremost, to plant a tree, you need seeds or saplings, right?

In response to Lud's question, Kumirad smiled and pointed to his heart.

"Isn't the seed within you?"

"Oh! So you want Master's seed?"

Ignoring Shanis, who was driving in the chaos again, Lud was not at all surprised when he heard that the seed was inside him.

Although the primordial fire within him was Lu's greatest asset in this world, if it truly concerned the life and death of the entire world, as Kumirad said, he would hand over the fire without hesitation, even if it meant sacrificing his life.

However, Kumirard later stated that it was highly unlikely that Lud would need to sacrifice himself, and that the primordial fire within him, in its current state, was probably not even worthy of being considered a sapling, let alone a seed.

Are there any conditions that need to be met?

"That's the crux of the problem; we don't even know what that condition is."

Lude now knows that the war of the gods was caused by a chain reaction of multiple contradictions. One of these contradictions was the struggle for the divine positions between the old and new generations of gods. In the end, the new gods, led by the three great gods, won, and only a very small number of the second-generation gods survived.

In retaliation, the defeated second-generation god chose to take a great secret concerning the continuation of the world to his grave.

This secret concerns the land of the fire.

For more than three hundred years since the end of the War of the Gods, Kumirad has been constantly collecting ancient documents about the land of fire. Although he has not come away empty-handed, he has always been missing some key information.

They have now confirmed that the giant fire tree underground is indeed on its last legs and must be replaced in time, but no one knows how to do so.

After much hesitation, Karius finally spoke.

"Perhaps... we should ask the older generation who are still alive."

The "predecessor" Karius refers to is naturally the second-generation god. Currently, there are two confirmed second-generation gods still alive. One is the Earth Mother Goddess right in front of everyone, but she has never been very bright. Kumirad managed to get information out of her, even finding out what color underwear she likes to wear, but he still couldn't get any information related to the Land of Fire. So, if nothing unexpected happens, she probably really doesn't know anything.

As for the other surviving second-generation god, Kumirad, it's probably unrealistic to expect her to speak.

"Who?"

"The Primordial Water God, Melchiorda."

"never heard of that."

"That's right, you haven't heard of it."

At Kumirard's prompting, Karius led the Earth Mother away, and then Kumirard began to tell the story of this water goddess.

"Melchiada was once the strongest of the second generation of gods and the leader of the gods at that time. She was revered by the believers in the mortal world as the mother of all gods and the mother of all life. Of course, you should know that this is all a figment of mortals' imagination. She was just a god."

"You erased her faith?"

"To be more precise, it's a division. The sea god, the river god, the lake god, all the gods related to water got a share. In addition, the concepts of fertility and motherhood were taken by that reclusive girl worshipped by the elves."

"Even with the divine positions dismantled like this, the water goddess hasn't disappeared? Where is she now?"

"After all, she's the strongest of the second generation. She's an eighth-tier high god. Even if her faith is broken, she can still survive for hundreds of years by living off her past achievements. She's currently imprisoned in the heart of the desert on the Death Continent. Seeing her isn't difficult; the difficult part is getting her to talk."

Kumirard stated that the water god is also one of the "eight world-destroying gods" chosen by the End Theory, and unlike the docile earth goddess, this one is a truly evil god with a clear tendency to destroy the world.

The period when the water god worship was at its peak was also the famous "Age of Great Calamity," when floods were very frequent around the world. This led Melchiorda to discover with surprise that disasters made mortals more awe of themselves and generated more faith.

So, in order to satisfy his own desires, Melchiorda not only failed to protect the mortals who believed in him, but instead used the divine power given to him by his followers to deliberately cause torrential rains and floods to wreak havoc on the world.

Melchiorda's evil deeds caused immense suffering not only to mortals but also to the deities.

It is worth mentioning that the first god to stand up against the Water God was none other than the God of War, Feigolai, who was only a mid-level god at the time. That was undoubtedly the God of War's shining moment. Even though he was no match for Melchiorda, who was three levels higher than him, and was beaten like a Kamen Rider rolling on the ground, he still got up again and again, carrying on his indomitable fighting spirit to the end!

The God of War actually always loved mortals... he was just a bit twisted.

After the war of the gods ended, the Old Gods, led by Melchiorda, were defeated, but the victors were troubled about what to do with her.

Other lower- to middle-ranking gods are easy to deal with. Just cut off their faith, and they will naturally disappear within a few decades or even a hundred years.

But Melchiorda is a high-ranking god. Even in defeat and great loss, her remaining divine power is enough to sustain her for hundreds of years, and severing her faith is no easy task. It will take a long time to operate, during which time there will still be surviving believers generating faith, and some die-hards who have even gone mad still exist as underground cults.

This gives a glimpse into how difficult it is to "kill" high-level gods.

If nothing unexpected happens, Melchiorda, who is imprisoned, should know information about the Land of Fire, but whether she will speak up is another matter.

"If you want to go to the Death Continent, you need to make some preparations. There is a great barrier that was jointly lowered by the gods, and you can only enter with the permission of the three gods."

"Can the God of War provide it?"

"You don't need to worry about Afei. Based on our friendship, if I ask for it, he wouldn't dare refuse."

"Don't you dare?"

Don't ask so many questions.

"Okay... what about the goddess of the four seasons?"

"Let Karius handle the Four Seasons. I heard she didn't get promoted recently, but whoever gets promoted, Karius's influence will definitely carry."

After explaining these matters, Kumirad told Lud not to worry about them and to simply wait for her news back home. As for the Earth Mother, Kumirad advised Lud that it would be best to cultivate a good relationship with her, as the old lady was actually quite easy to please, and Lud could easily handle her with his abilities.