Goddess Kaleidoscope

"Hahaha! The whole world will tremble for me. Feel it, you foolish mortals. This is the closest we've ever come to the end of the world, and I... will save you at your most desperate moment!"

Although the situation on the surface is unclear, it is not difficult to guess from Melchiorda's ecstatic and wild appearance that the destruction of the Fire Tree will lead to a crisis for the entire world.

Many documents on the end-of-the-world doctrine mention "apocalyptic catastrophes," which are described as a concentrated outbreak of various super natural disasters.

Melchiorda, on the other hand, took advantage of the massive disaster caused by the destruction of the Fire Tree, first letting the unsuspecting humans feel despair in the disaster, and then she herself jumped out to play the role of "savior", thereby gaining the absolute worship of the survivors.

Lud even thought of some things that made him shudder.

The predecessor of the End Sect was an extremist remnant of the Primordial Cult. In the doctrines of the Primordial Cult, which worshipped the water god, it was emphasized that the final catastrophe that would destroy the world would be a super flood, and only the most devout believers in the water god Melchiorda could board the ark when the disaster struck.

In other words, the Primordial Cult knew that a super disaster was going to happen and made corresponding preparations in advance. They planned to protect only those believers in Melchiorda when the disaster occurred, and then watch as all the other heretics died.

This is no goddess; even demons are kinder than her!

There's not much to say about the subsequent dream sequence; it's entirely Melchiorda's most genuine inner desires. In the post-apocalyptic new world, she becomes the world's only god. The fooled believers not only believe that she saved the world but also that the entire world was created by Melchiorda. The art style also increasingly resembles certain religions on Earth.

After forcing themselves to watch all of this, the group was finally "liberated" from Melchiorda's already satisfied dream.

"Damn it! I actually finished watching it. That Melchiorda, she really deserves to die!"

"Thank goodness, we won back then."

"I say, what do we do now? Since we already know how to plant trees, why don't we start now..."

Halfway through his sentence, Figor suddenly felt several unfriendly gazes directed at him; they were the goddesses from the Pantheon faction. Aina immediately stepped forward to shield Rudd, mustering her courage to rebuke the God of War.

"I won't let you hurt my master!"

Like Aina, Shanis and Sura also stepped forward, while only Hume silently retreated behind Lud. She knew very well that the four of them combined couldn't defeat an eighth-tier God of War, and of the other three great gods, Catherine clearly supported the God of War, Karius seemed hesitant, and who knew which side Kumirad was on.

Therefore, upon recognizing the situation at a glance, Hume did not choose to fight head-on, but instead planned to pick up Ludd and run away as soon as the fighting actually started.

She may not have any other skills, but she's an expert at escaping!

At this point, Kumirard stepped forward and acted as a mediator between the two sides.

"Calm down, everyone. This isn't the final moment yet, why are you suddenly fighting amongst yourselves? Kid, in front of everyone, I'm going to ask you a question. How will you answer it? If it really is the end of the world, and sacrificing you could save the whole world, would you be willing to do it?"

"Of course I'm willing."

Ludwig answered crisply and decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

"That settles it. The situation isn't at its final stage yet. It's not like they're unwilling. What are you trying to do, you brainless idiot?"

"Uh, I..."

Speechless for a moment after being asked a question by Kumirard, Feigolai could only wave his hand awkwardly and step aside. However, Aina and Shanis still glared fiercely at the God of War, leaving him quite speechless.

Although the method for creating new saplings has been figured out, this method of stimulating growth requires the sacrifice of several gods and a person who can hold the primordial fire, namely, an "unbeliever" like Rudd.

Both sides were feeling embarrassed about the near-conflict when Melchiorda, who had been lying on the ground, awoke. Possessing a deity was far more taxing on Eliven than on a mortal, so she released the possession and returned to her pendant to rest.

Melchiorda got up and stretched, still half asleep, thinking she had a wonderful dream. But when she looked up, she saw a group of people staring at her with unfriendly expressions. She then realized that she was now a prisoner.

For a fleeting moment, Melchiorda had the idea of ​​setting up shop right there and then. Reality was so messed up, why not just cover herself with a blanket and dream about having everything she wanted!

However, before she could lie back down, the God of War kicked him in a bad mood, which was somewhat due to personal grudges.

"Get up! Who told you to lie down?"

"me……"

After being rebuked by the God of War, Melchiorda wanted to retaliate, but he had lost all his divine power and could only stare helplessly. Fortunately, Kumirard stepped in to smooth things over, stopping Feigolai from abusing the prisoners. He then took out a cloak to keep warm and personally draped it over the prisoner.

Kumirad seemed to be taking good care of Melchiorda, but Lud couldn't help but suspect that this was probably preparation for his next scam.

In front of Melchiorda, Lud said that he had figured out how to create new saplings by invading her dreams, but there were still some things he was not clear about and needed to ask her, the person involved.

"Since you already know, why are you asking me?"

"I just wanted to save some trouble. Asking you in your dreams is too time-consuming. If you don't want to drink that awful-tasting potion again, it's better to cooperate."

"..."

Under Lud's "persuasion" (or rather, coaxing), Melchiorda, knowing she had no bargaining power at the moment, cooperated fully. Lud, skilled in rhetoric, also subtly extracted valuable additional information through seemingly casual questions.

First, regarding the unbelievers, people like Rud and the old astrologer who recognized the true nature of the gods and no longer regarded them as gods are extremely rare in the entire mortal world. So he was very curious about the situation of the little boy who was sacrificed by Melchiorda.

Melchiada's answer surprised everyone, including Lud and Kumirad.

"That human child is an idiot. He has no concept of gods at all. Naturally, he can merge with the primordial fire and control it very well."

"Idiot? Weak...is his intellectual development incomplete?"

"That's what I mean. You seem surprised? Actually, what surprises me more is you. You don't seem stupid, you're even quite smart, yet you can still merge with the primordial fire. Don't you have any faith?"

"I have faith, but I don't believe in God."

"Heh, what a strange person."

Melchiada told Lud that in her time, the Primordial Cult had always sought out qualified low-IQ children under the guise of selecting "Holy Sons," bringing them to the Water God's Sanctuary as vessels to hold the primordial fire.

The Primordial Cult claims that it selected these children as its holy sons because they possessed "eternally pure hearts" and were therefore more favored by the gods.

The truth is: a foolish tool

High emotional intelligence: Forever young!

As for where the fire seed comes from? It is of course picked up from the ground. Occasionally, some scattered sparks will spew out from the fire seed land. These primordial fires left out can also be collected and used.

In addition, Lud was also curious about who first came up with this method of stimulating the growth of saplings. Melchiorda said it wasn't her; she learned it from the first generation of Old Gods who had naturally perished.

This kind of sacrifice is needed once every one to two thousand years on average, and the decline of the Tree of Fire will directly affect the decline of the entire belief system.

Melchiorda believed that all the great gods present should have realized that more than a hundred years before the outbreak of the war of the gods, the output of faith had already become much worse than before. The young new gods thought it was because mortals were becoming smarter and gradually losing their faith, but this was only one aspect of the reason. The deeper reason was that the Fire Tree had a problem.

Melchiorda had meticulously planned to use the war of the gods to replace the Fire Tree and reshape the entire mortal belief system, but in the end, she lost completely.

The victorious gods, unaware of the secret, failed to replace the Fire Tree in time after the war, resulting in the continued decline of faith.

The major deities have large followings, with a continuous influx of newborns after the war, so this aspect isn't very noticeable yet. However, it's much harder for the minor deities who lack a strong base of followers.

However, what Lud was more concerned about was that, according to Melchiorda's speculation, the Fire Tree should have been destroyed long ago and could not have survived for more than three hundred years after the war. Lud, who had just gone underground to check the situation two months ago, remembered that although the giant tree was rotten inside and had a huge "tumor" growing in the hollow tree hole, at least on the outside it was still lush with branches and leaves, and the tree was full of golden leaves and sparks.

This means that something must have happened in the land of fire in the three hundred years since the end of the War God era, successfully slowing down the decline of the Fire Tree and preventing a major crisis that would destroy the world.

The method to slow down the decline is most likely related to Icavin.

Unable to trust Melchiorda, Lud did not tell her about his findings. Instead, he told his companions that he needed to go back first, as there were some things that needed to be studied carefully.

Upon hearing that Lud and the others were leaving, Melchiorda, who had previously appeared indifferent, suddenly became somewhat nervous and asked Lud if she could take her with her when they left this awful place. Her powers had been sealed by the three gods, making her practically indistinguishable from a mortal, and taking her along wouldn't pose a threat.

Abandoned in the Deathly Sands for three hundred years, Melchiada was driven nearly mad with boredom and desperately wanted to leave. She no longer cared what fate awaited her after she left!

"Please, take me out of here! I've lived for tens of thousands of years and know countless ancient secrets. I can even take you to find those unknown treasures. If all else fails, you can make me your sex slave. By human standards, I'm an absolute beauty!"

To escape the Sea of ​​Death, Melchiorda was now willing to disregard her millennia-old pride. She realized that Rudd was no ordinary faithless person; before the great gods, he was not a servant, but held a position of near equality.

This seemed unbelievable to her, yet it was the reality before her eyes.

However, Melchiada's desperate fawning, while failing to elicit any reaction from Lud, made Aina extremely nervous. Ignoring the presence of several "outsiders," she rushed forward and grabbed Lud, displaying a protective instinct towards Melchiada like a cat guarding its food.

"My master is mine, and you're not allowed to have designs on him!"

Ultimately, the task of guarding Melchiada wasn't given to Lud, but rather to Kumirad who volunteered to take it on. She happened to have some interesting little experiments that required a reliable lab rat, and Melchiada was the perfect choice.

Upon hearing that she was to be handed over to this wicked woman, Melchiorda's expression changed drastically, and she showed great resistance. However, she was now like meat on a chopping board, with no room for her to resist.

And so, the group returned to Pine Town. The three gods went back to their respective realms, while Kumirad stayed in Pine Town with Melchiorda, using the underground palace in Lud's house, as it was spacious enough and less likely to be disturbed.

Upon hearing this, and seeing Kumirad's meaningful smile, Lude dared not say or ask anything. He readily handed over the entire bottom floor of the underground palace to Kumirad for use, and then ordered his entire family not to approach it easily. If they accidentally saw something they shouldn't have seen, they should pretend they didn't see it!

After arranging everything, Lud returned to his bedroom to rest, but he couldn't fall asleep and kept tossing and turning in bed, his mind filled with thoughts of the Fire Tree.

Although he believed he was prepared to sacrifice himself to save the world, that didn't mean Lud didn't want to live. Many years after his time travel, he still often missed his hometown and his family and friends there, but at the same time, he had put down roots here, had a home of his own, and was no longer a person without any ties.

Lost in thought, staring at the ceiling, Lud heard the door slowly open. Turning his head, he saw, as expected, the furtive Aina peeking out from the doorway with pitiful eyes. Lud chuckled and lifted a corner of the blanket, saying...

"Come here."

With Lude's permission, Aina immediately ran over with a beaming smile, like a clingy kitten, and snuggled into Lude's arms.

Holding the smiling, innocent-looking white-haired beauty in his arms, Lu De suddenly kissed her and whispered in her ear.

"Aina, I love you."

"Yes, I love my master the most too."

Ludo has always maintained ambiguous relationships with several goddesses with whom he has had intimate relations. In particular, his relationship with Aina, whom he created himself, is like that of lovers, master and apprentice, but more like father and daughter, which often causes Ludo to feel a strong sense of guilt during his post-coital moments.

But at that moment, Ludwig suddenly realized that instead of cowering and worrying unnecessarily, he should be honest with his truest feelings.

In contrast, Aina didn't have these worries. Hearing her master's heartfelt confession, she felt only the simplest and purest joy and tried to convey this emotion with her lips.

However, just as the master and apprentice were getting into the mood of their sweet talk, the sound of the door hinges turning came from the doorway again. Unable to turn his head, Lude glanced at the door out of the corner of his eye and saw Shanis peeking through the crack in the door, dressed in the same style as Aina.

Lude thought to himself, "Fine, it's not like it's the first time," but just as he was about to say, "You've come at the perfect time," he saw several more heads peeking out from under the door, and his smile froze on his face...

...The dividing line for survival...

"You must have had a tough night. How were you feeling?"

Can I not tell you?

In the rest room of the lowest level of the underground palace, Kumirad, who was temporarily staying there, was watching Lud with great interest. The extreme experience that others might not even dare to dream of was something that this man had just endured as if he had just been tortured.

At this moment, Lud suddenly asked Kumirad in a very serious tone.

"Senior, you are very knowledgeable. May I ask you a question?"

"Oh! What do you want to ask?"

"It's...that one..."

"It's just the two of us here, so just say what you want to say. If you really can't bring yourself to say it, you can make up a friend out of thin air."

"..."

Faced with Kumirad's teasing, Lud hesitated for a long time before finally asking the question.

"Senior, I've heard that gods can have offspring with mortals, is that right?"

"That's right. The 'demigods' born from this process are not only natural chosen ones, but they also possess superpowers that ordinary people don't have. However, human-god hybrids are limited to male gods and mortal women. Goddesses who have had relations with male mortals have never become pregnant. Otherwise, someone like Melchiorda would have become a sow god long ago."