Goddess Kaleidoscope

"No! The impact is very small, almost negligible. Because of the primordial fire, I can see those orbs of light, which allows me to test and observe the principles of faith. Faith arises from the heart. As long as no barriers are deliberately created, a believer worshipping multiple gods at the same time will only double the output, not dilute it."

Ekaterina nodded after listening, because Ludwig had given a practical demonstration before starting his explanation, which made his explanation very convincing.

Seeing that several of the experts present were interested, Lu De was secretly delighted.

The benefits of winning over these powerful figures are obvious. First, it effectively reduces conflict and avoids the possibility of a second divine war. Second, it allows the Pantheon to leverage the profound foundation of these veteran figures to enhance its own strength.

However, a more specific cooperation plan will have to be studied carefully after the issue of the Fire Seed Land is resolved.

In the days that followed, Rudd began to devise a dream script specifically for the water goddess Melchiorda.

Having limited knowledge of the water god, Lud was unaware of Melchiorda's true personality and preferences, so he specifically consulted Kumirard. Kumirard, in turn, recommended that he consult a deity who had a close relationship with Melchiorda in the past—the lake god Ladi.

Regarding the Lake God, Lude had dealt with his sect before. This was a notorious "lowest of the low" among traditional gods, a third-rate god who had carved out his own niche. It was said that his true form was only a lower-level god of the third rank, and he was living a rather miserable life.

According to Kumirad, before the war of the gods, the lake god Ladi had recognized the water god Melchiada as his "divine mother," but after the war broke out, Melchiada proved to be powerful and was the first to flee. After the war, she accepted the arrangements of the other gods and shared some of the divine positions that originally belonged to the primordial water god.

Because he had been the adopted son of the water god for a period of time and lived in the realm of Melchiada, Ladi knew more about the water god's true situation than other gods. The day after Lud visited Kumirad, the lake god Ladi took the initiative to come to his door, looking as if he were turning himself in.

"You're Lakers legend Radi?"

"Yes, it's me."

"I was planning to visit you in person, so why did you come by yourself?"

"The God of War sent a divine messenger to me."

"Oh! I see."

Seeing the lake god's pitiful and aggrieved expression, Rude didn't make things difficult for the unfortunate child and politely invited him inside to sit down.

Ladi answered all of Rud's questions without reservation, and he was indeed very knowledgeable about the water god Melchiada. Rud learned a lot of information from him that differed slightly from the rumors.

Ludd was chatting with Radi when Hume rushed in from outside, glanced at Radi, and then gestured for Ludd to come out and talk to him. Ludd immediately nodded, told Radi to wait a moment, and then got up and followed him out.

"what happened?"

"There's been a problem at the maze."

"Is he an idiot?"

"Yes, Sura, who's stationed over there, just reported that the little thing... has suddenly disappeared!"

After returning from the Earth's core, the rat-man god with two souls was placed by Lud in the Abyss Labyrinth. He dared not let Ah-Dai live in Pine Town, mainly because he feared that this heretical god who controlled death and plague might go berserk.

In the final battle of the War of the Gods, the rat-man who created Ah-Dai attempted to control him mentally, but by a twist of fate, Ah-Dai went mad and instantly annihilated millions of people on both sides.

Unable to determine whether what happened back then would leave any lasting effects on Ah-Dai, and even less willing to risk the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people in Pine Town, Lu De had no choice but to temporarily place Ah-Dai in the maze, far from densely populated areas, and have his goddesses take turns going there to care for him. He himself would also come over from time to time to chat with Ah-Dai and personally check on his mental state.

Everything was fine until Ah-Dai, who was staying in the maze, suddenly disappeared without any warning.

Upon learning of this, Ludwig quickly put down what he was doing, apologized to Lake God Raddy, and then followed Hume to the labyrinth.

When Rudd arrived at the labyrinth, the fifth level was already in chaos. The God of War, Sura, and a group of divine messengers were searching everywhere for Ah Dai. Upon seeing Rudd, Sura immediately apologized, saying that it was his momentary negligence that led to the disappearance of the key person Rudd had repeatedly instructed him to keep a close eye on.

Lude didn't blame Sula. Although Sula was already in the late stage of the fourth rank and was about to reach the threshold of the fifth rank, Ah Dai was an eighth-rank high god. Even though he wore a collar that sealed divine power around his neck, even the creator, Kumirard, couldn't guarantee that the thing would be foolproof.

Therefore, Lude had previously reminded those responsible for caring for the little guy that if he suddenly went crazy, they should not try to fight him, but should immediately notify him to come and handle the situation.

The exact location of Ah-Dai is currently unknown, but he is likely still inside the maze. Rude had previously taken precautions: in addition to the sealing collar given by Kumirad, he also signed divine contracts with the souls of Ah-Dai (death) and Ikaven (plague), which is why his presence can be vaguely sensed.

At that moment, Lud suddenly thought of something and turned to ask Sura.

What's the current situation with Grayeye?

The so-called "Gray Eye" is the mysteriously generated unknown energy cluster in the maze. It is named "Gray Eye" because it looks like an eyeball and is grayish-brown in color.

As the maze continued to be built and improved, the Grey Eye also continued to grow and develop, its size more than tripling in just a few years. Although it could not speak, it became increasingly intelligent.

When Lude asked about Grey Eyes, Sula was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh and said.

"How could I have forgotten about that?"

"Alright, let's go take a look."

The group quickly arrived at the building where Gray Eyes was located. This was the center of the fifth level of the maze, where the three sisters had built a "Tower of Babel," which looked magnificent and also served as a support structure.

The Grey Eye is located in a hidden room in the middle of this giant tower. It has no combat ability and cannot move. The room where it is hidden can only be entered by passing through three hidden doors, precisely to prevent adventurers from discovering it.

However, it now seems that Rudd was overthinking things. At this stage, the highest record for ordinary adventurers is only the fourth floor, and no one has even seen the final boss. Unless you're a super elite like the Saintess's team, the main theme of entering the dungeon is still suffering.

When Lude arrived at the hidden room, he looked up and saw that Grey Eyes was indeed still in the same spot, perfectly fine. When it saw Lude coming, it immediately showed a strong sense of joy, just like a dog that had been cooped up at home for many days finally waiting for its owner to come home, and it would wag its tail to the sky if given a tail.

However, Lud soon noticed that Gray Eyes appeared to be much larger than it had been a few days ago, and something seemed to be churning inside.

Lude stared for a long time, then sighed.

"Spit it out."

Upon hearing Lud's command, Gray Eyes hesitated slightly, seemingly somewhat unwilling. However, under Lud's gaze, he finally obediently opened his "big mouth" and spat out a sticky little girl, who was none other than the mysteriously missing Ratman God himself.

However, to Lud and those around him's surprise, after Grey Eyes finished vomiting, he immediately vomited another one, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

"two?"

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, two identical rat-human gods awoke one after another, groggily sat up, looked around blankly, and then simultaneously discovered their counterparts right next to them, instantly staring at each other in bewilderment.

Lude observed the expressions of the two rat-gods briefly and confirmed that one of them was Ah-Dai and the other was Ikaven, both wearing the sealing collar given to them by Kumirad.

"Who are you? Wait! How did we separate?"

"Calm down, calm down."

After calming down the somewhat bewildered Ikaven, Lud, though also full of questions, immediately called over two divine messengers to take the two little ones to take a bath, seeing that they were covered in some kind of unidentified slime. He told them there was no rush to ask any questions.

After the two rat-man gods were taken away, Lud stared at Gray Eyes for a long time before finally giving up in despair.

"If only you could speak."

"?"

Soon, the two cleaned rat-man gods were brought before Lud. Lud asked them directly why they had run into Grey Eye's belly without a word. Ikaven replied with some grievance.

"Ah-Dai and I were exploring when we never imagined that there was such a strange thing hidden in the room that swallowed me whole."

"Didn't you provoke it?"

"H-how, how is this possible?!"

Noticing the fleeting embarrassment in Ikaven's eyes, Lud smiled coldly to himself. "You dare to show off your petty tricks in front of an old policeman like me? You tried to trick me a little, and you immediately gave yourself away."

Under Lud's persistent questioning, Ikavin quickly lost her temper and confessed to her reckless actions. She admitted that she had struck first and had malicious intentions towards Greyeye, resulting in her being mercilessly killed.

But Ikaven himself wasn't quite sure why he, who had been swallowed by Grey Eyes, would emerge as two.

However, the little guy wasn't dissatisfied with the result at all; in fact, he was quite happy. Because before, they were two souls in one body, Ikaven and Adai could only take turns going out to roam. Now, each of them had their own body, so they no longer had to take turns.

The only downside was that the annoying collar remained on her side; it sealed her divine power, and she couldn't break free from it at all.

Having learned the general outline of what had happened, Lud secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the matter wasn't too serious, and he had even unexpectedly discovered a new use for Grey Eyes. But just as he got up to go back and continue his serious conversation with Lake God Raddy, a small hand suddenly grabbed the hem of his clothes.

When Lude turned around, he saw Ah Dai looking at him pitifully. The little guy hadn't said a word, but he exuded an aura that was hard for Lude to refuse.

Having been imprisoned in the desolate Land of Fire for three hundred years, Ah-Dai and Ikaven had suffered greatly from loneliness. Therefore, although one of them was not good at speaking and the other was proud and stubborn, they both felt grateful to Rud for taking them away from there, which made them very close to Rud.

Lud also intended to recruit the two of them into his pantheon, so that their powerful divine abilities could be used in the right way.

Looking at the pitiful Ah-Dai, Lu De thought for a moment, then squatted down and said to Ah-Dai.

"You want to come with me, right?"

Ah-Dai nodded.

"Then you must promise me that you will not abuse your power, especially not to harm ordinary people. If you can do that, I will take you out for a walk."

As soon as Lude finished speaking, Ah Dai nodded without hesitation, then reached out and touched Lude's crown with his small hand. Lude immediately felt a spiritual connection established between himself and Ah Dai, a feeling that was not unfamiliar to Lude, who had served as one of the dozen or so chosen ones.

Like the other goddesses in the Pantheon, Ah-Dai granted Rud the full access to her divine power, entrusting him with all her strength—a testament to absolute trust.

As a high-ranking god who surpasses the sixth rank, Ah-Dai possesses divine power greater than the combined power of the original twelve goddesses of the Pantheon.

Seeing that Ah-Dai had so easily given away his power, Lud was stunned, while Ikaven jumped up and exclaimed in surprise.

"What are you doing?! Why did you give him all your power? If you don't want it, you can give it to me!"

It seems that because of the separation from Ah-Dai, although Ikaven had the independent body he had always dreamed of, most of the divine power that the two souls originally shared was given to Ah-Dai during the separation process. This caused Ikaven's level to drop significantly, falling to the level of a sixth-order god, while Ah-Dai only dropped from the peak of the eighth order to the early stage of the eighth order.

Furthermore, the sealing collar was still with Ikaven, which made the little mouse cry out that it was unfair!

Ignoring Ikaven's efforts to combat the epidemic, Rudd took Adai and headed back. Ikaven, left behind, looked pitifully at Rudd's retreating figure, his expression revealing a desire to speak but a reluctance to do so.

Lude turned back and smiled as he approached the tower's entrance.

Are you coming or not? If not, we're leaving.

"Come on! I'll do it!"

Ikaven trotted after them eagerly, and Rudd led the twin gods back to Pine Town. He had indeed been worried that Ikaven or Ah-Dai might go berserk, but after being isolated in the labyrinth for fourteen days, the two little ones hadn't shown any abnormalities. Rudd figured that they couldn't be isolated like this forever; letting them have some contact with mortals wouldn't be a bad thing, would it?

In a sense, the power of the gods is like nuclear energy. The ratmen use them as nuclear bombs for war and slaughter, while Ludd uses them as power plants to generate electricity for the benefit of the people.

Of course! Ordinary people wouldn't have close physical contact with a "reactor".

Back in town, Lake God Ladi, who had been staying obediently in the temple's reception room, passing the time by showing off his snacks, noticed Lud's return. Just as he was about to get up to greet him, he noticed the two seemingly petite and cute little girls behind him, and his eyes widened like saucers.

As a notorious opportunist among the gods, Ladi possessed his own unique skills in identifying powerful figures. Therefore, he could tell at a glance that the seemingly harmless Ah Dai was a high-ranking god whom he absolutely could not afford to offend. If it weren't for Lude's presence and his tendency to flatter his superiors, given Ladi's habit of recognizing elders everywhere, he would have probably recognized Ah Dai as a godmother on the spot.

"Uh...who is this?"

Don't you recognize him?

"do not know."

Ladi nodded obediently. Lud thought about it and agreed. With his courage, he probably wouldn't have dared to participate in the final battle three hundred years ago. It wasn't surprising that he hadn't seen the true face of the Ratman God.

Lude thought for a moment, then smiled mysteriously without saying a word. Seeing this, Rady naturally didn't dare to ask any more questions and pretended that nothing had happened.

And so, Ladi stayed in Pine Town for three days, answering Ludwig's questions and also taking the opportunity to tour the area. But more than the Pantheon's various novel and unique "missionary methods," what truly shocked Ladi was Ludwig's relationship with the Pantheon's goddesses.

During the day, things already seemed a bit too intimate, but Ladi thought he was just overthinking it. However, when night fell and Ladi saw these goddesses rushing to Lude's room one after another, the Lake God was completely stunned.

It wasn't that Rady was intentionally spying, but rather that these goddesses had no intention of keeping it a secret. Rady's guest room wasn't far from Lud's room, and his perception was one of his strengths, so it would be difficult for him not to notice.

Fortunately, Raddy was a master of feigning ignorance, pretending to know nothing.