Goddess Kaleidoscope

Because of the monster's central explosion, the ratmen's ranks were thrown into chaos. Just then, a thunderous sound of hooves came from behind Lud, and it was Sharo arriving with her Overseer Knights.

Before the ratmen had even started their ritual and absorbed the flesh and blood of almost all the powerful races, Lud, who was guarding the perimeter of the camp, ordered an attack, intending to take advantage of the chaos in the camp and rush straight in.

The village militia were initially puzzled, thinking, "Isn't the dragon supposed to be the main attacker, and we're just here to lend a hand? Why are we attacking before we've even seen the dragon?"

Fortunately, the knights on Sharo's side were of excellent quality and, like Lud, noticed the disturbance in the enemy camp, which presented a perfect opportunity for a surprise attack.

So, led by Sharo, a large cavalry unit charged forward, cutting through the demi-human camp with ease, as if they were in an empty field.

This was not only due to the knights' own combat strength, but also because the races surrounding the camp were weak in combat and their morale was low. They had just witnessed those powerful races being torn to pieces by an unknown, mysterious force, and before they could recover from the shock and fear, a bunch of thick, hard knight lances suddenly stabbed at them from behind, leaving them completely stunned.

This directly led to a one-sided battle, and Lud took the opportunity to break into the camp and go straight to the ratmen's altar.

The lumpy monster attacked all living things around it indiscriminately. When Sharo arrived, he took one look and immediately recognized it as the "Outer Realm Demon" that Rudd had mentioned. There was no mistake!

"Master! The ratmen have summoned the demon!"

"Don't worry, my child! I have successfully disrupted the ratmen's summoning ritual. Their pact with the demon has not been completed, and that monstrous thing is now indiscriminately attacking all living things around them. These ratmen are finished!"

"What about us?"

"Tell your men not to advance rashly; I'll handle it!"

The monster before them may seem terrifying, but it is essentially a flawed god that is only half-finished. Lud, on the other hand, is a "super priest" with two goddesses behind him who unconditionally provide him with all their divine power. Theoretically speaking, crushing this monster should not be a problem.

However, just as Ludmo was getting ready to use the monster as a punching bag and try out his self-created divine magic, someone who shouldn't have been there suddenly appeared.

"Sister Miner!"

Suddenly hearing the girl's urgent voice coming from mid-air, Lud and the others present all looked up in astonishment and saw Romian, who should have been in the temple, swooping down from mid-air at an extremely fast speed and rushing into the chaotic ratman camp in the blink of an eye.

Upon seeing this, Ludwig looked utterly astonished.

"Holy crap! How did she suddenly learn to fly?"

End of this chapter

Romianne's intrusion changed the situation on the scene.

This naive girl was originally left at the temple under Aina's care. Lude didn't tell her the truth, deceiving her by saying he would try to negotiate with the ratmen, but Romian was really worried, so she secretly ran away from the temple after nightfall when Aina wasn't paying attention.

Logically speaking, the mountain road from the village to the subhuman camp is nearly 30 miles long, and it would take most people at least half a day to walk there, and that would be with a guide. Otherwise, it would be easy to get lost in the forest.

However, during her journey, Romian unexpectedly unleashed some of her hidden potential.

Romian, who is not yet thirteen years old, has shown the potential to become a magician at a very young age. She can sense the magic that exists in nature and receive responses from elemental spirits.

Her mother, Liana, knew of her daughter's talent and sincerely hoped that Romian would become a respected magician in the future. However, because there were no magicians living in the village where they lived, and Liana was reluctant to let her daughter leave her to study too early, Romian never really began to learn magic.

However, it must be admitted that talent is indeed unfair to everyone. You can certainly make up for it with hard work, but some people are born with a head start over others!

Although Romian had never systematically studied magic, as she grew older, she gradually discovered that she was exceptionally sensitive to wind elements. So, while traveling, she followed the instincts of an Argonian to flap her wings, and suddenly she was able to take flight.

With her suddenly acquired flying skills, Romian returned to the camp in less than an hour. As soon as she arrived, she saw a terrifying monster attacking the ratmen, and her sister Mina was in danger. Without thinking, she flew over without hesitation.

Romian's sudden appearance startled Minnie. She had just witnessed her grandfather Midi being devoured alive by a monster, and was in a state of high tension. So when Romian approached her with concern, Minnie suddenly pulled out a short knife hidden in her sleeve and screamed hysterically.

"Don't come any closer!"

"Sister, what's wrong? It's me!"

"Don't try to fool me, you liar, all of you liars!"

Minnie's mind was on the verge of collapse. The out-of-control monster had killed nearly half of the ratmen in the blink of an eye. Minnie knew that their clan was doomed. Even if a few people managed to escape, they would eventually perish.

At this moment, the monster noticed Romian. An instinct made it realize that the nutritional value of this "snack" was far superior to that of the ratmen, so it wriggled its huge body toward her.

Upon seeing this, Minnie let out a near-collapse scream and turned to run away without a second thought. Her escape left the remaining ratmen leaderless and their morale completely shattered.

As the enormous, fleshy monster lunged at Romian, its tentacles and claws flashing, a barrier of holy light suddenly appeared between them. Rud was unsure whether the monster would regain its senses after consuming Romian while the ritual was interrupted, but he couldn't simply stand by and watch the girl perish.

Relying on his instant-cast divine spells with no limit on the number of uses, Lude cast six high-level Holy Light Barriers in succession, locking the monster inside a transparent box made of divine magic, which then continuously contracted and compressed. Hume seized the opportunity to teleport to Romian's side and forcibly dragged the silly girl who had barged into the battlefield aside.

With his powerful divine magic, Lud temporarily restrained the monster's movements. However, this lump of flesh was, after all, a product that had absorbed faith. Even if it was just a failed and flawed product, it still possessed certain qualities that only gods could have.

Therefore, Lud quickly discovered that the holy light barrier, which in theory could not be destroyed by mortal forces as long as the divine power was not exhausted, was actually cracked by the monster using brute force.

"I rely on!"

Using the same power, the monster forcibly broke through the barrier, but it was clear that this had taken a toll on it.

Lude understood that this was destined to be a war of attrition, and he absolutely could not give this guy any chance to breathe or recover. He had to eliminate it completely in one fell swoop, leaving no room for retreat.

So, to Sharo's horrified gaze, Rude launched a fierce attack on the monster one high-level divine spell after another, most of which were strange moves she had never heard of before, and their power seemed astonishing.

This made Sharo realize that during their last conflict, Lud probably didn't even use 30% of his strength; otherwise, their fate would have been far more than just being humiliated and captured.

Out of awe for the strong, Sharo felt both fear and shame, but also sincere admiration for the priest's kindness.

Under Lud's fierce attack, the monster was quickly rendered powerless and was brutally beaten by the divine magic. Now, whether it was the surviving ratmen, humans, or other demi-human races, they were all shocked by the power that Lud had displayed.

Even so, the monster did not die, and it seemed to have developed some intelligence.

At this moment, the monster's body suddenly began to disintegrate. At first glance, Lud thought that the attack had finally worked, but then he discovered that the pieces of flesh that split off after the monster disintegrated were all alive, and they scattered everywhere, frantically attacking the living things around them.

One of them caught up with Minnie, who hadn't managed to get far, and pounced on her, tearing at her frantically. Watching her sister, whom she had once trusted so much, die so tragically before her eyes, and feeling utterly powerless to stop it, Romian, held down tightly by the falling leaves, shed tears of heartbreak and unbearable sorrow.

The monsters' "second form" of breaking into smaller units caught Lud off guard. Although each one was weak and Lud could eliminate one with a single move, these small monsters were everywhere, quickly devouring many ratmen and almost injuring the militia that came to reinforce them.

Fortunately, Sharo reacted quickly, immediately directing the knights and militia to form a battle formation on the spot. By relying on conventional weapons and a few high-level combatants like Hume and Shanis, they successfully blocked the monster's attack.

Seeing the chaos at the scene, Lu De felt as if he had accidentally uncovered a cockroach nest. He couldn't possibly stomp them all by himself, and could only watch helplessly as some of the more agile ones scurried around everywhere.

Fortunately, at that moment, a familiar dragon's roar suddenly came from the northern night sky. Nidhogg, who had not shown his face for three whole weeks, finally obeyed the dragon scales' call and appeared!

End of this chapter

The arrival of the dragon completely stabilized the battle. Nidhogg, flying down from the clouds, immediately saw many strange monsters on the ground. Without Ludwig having to tell him what to do, he knew exactly what to do.

Adult dragons are undoubtedly the pinnacle of mortal creatures in this world. A single breath of dragon fire can instantly wipe out a large number of monsters. However, Lude released more than thirty holy light barriers in one breath, forming a Great Wall of Light that surrounded all the monsters. They were quickly burned to ashes by the dragon fire!

As the last monster turned to ashes, the flawed god created by the ratmen was finally destroyed. Nidhogg circled the ravaged orc camp a few times to make sure no one had escaped before landing in front of Rudd, asking with some doubt.

"What were those things just now? They looked so disgusting!"

"Some kind of harmful monster, I can't really say what it is, but anyway, we just did a good deed. By the way, what's going on with you, buddy? Did something happen at home?"

Lud calculated the days; it had been more than three weeks since Nidhogg last appeared. He had wanted to ask Nidhogg for help after something happened, but Nidhogg, who had promised to come immediately after knocking on the scales, had not shown up for a long time, making Lud wonder if something had happened to his family.

Nidhogg explained that he seemed to have eaten something unclean three weeks ago, as he had been sneezing incessantly. Fearing he would infect his wife and children, Nidhogg followed an old dragon remedy, finding a volcano crater and soaking in lava, self-isolating for a full twenty days before daring to emerge.

When Lu De heard this reason, he was both amused and exasperated.

"If you need medical treatment, come to me. I am a priest."

"I'm afraid you can't cure it. What if you infect my daughter? That would be the end of us!"

"..."

Lude couldn't help but roll his eyes. Fortunately, the matter was eventually resolved satisfactorily, so the minor details didn't matter.

After this round of battle, the allied forces of the demi-human races, which were originally a great threat to Pine Tree Village, completely collapsed. First, the ratmen created a god and used blood sacrifice to wipe out almost all the powerful races. Then, because Lude deliberately sabotaged the ritual at a crucial step, the evil god, whose divine consciousness had not yet awakened, went mad and wiped out most of the ratmen.

At this moment, most of the surviving demi-humans in the camp were scattering and fleeing. Everything they had seen tonight would be etched into their bones, making them never dare to covet human territory again.

On the human side, the militia were basking in the joy of victory. The high priest had not deceived them; although the dragon arrived late, it played a crucial role in deciding the outcome of the battle. Furthermore, the high priest himself was impressively strong, possessing power in no way inferior to the dragon.

The warlord knights led by Sharo were also deeply shocked by the battle. Sharo, in particular, was especially excited after learning the "truth." They had successfully eliminated the invading demons and saved the world.

The thought that she had the privilege of witnessing all of this and being a part of this epic story made Sharo feel that her life had been worthwhile!

"We've won!"

"Oh!" xN

In this battle, the human side achieved a complete victory. The powerful races among the demi-humans had been wiped out before the human side launched its general offensive. Therefore, relying on the knights' charge and the powerful foot crossbows, the human side swept through the enemy with overwhelming force. Only less than thirty people were injured, and no one died!

However, among the jubilant crowd, only Romian was heartbroken and weeping. She hadn't seen Mina tear off her mask of hypocrisy and still considered her a reliable and good older sister. So when Mina died tragically before her eyes, and she was powerless to help, Romian was plunged into deep self-blame and pain.

At this moment, Lude walked over to the weeping Romian and gently patted her shoulder, saying...

“Child, I know you have feelings for the rat people, but they ultimately went astray and were tempted by evil forces. They chose this path of destruction themselves, it is not your responsibility.”

Hearing Ludwig's words, Romian looked up. Seeing that she was crying with tears streaming down her face, Ludwig took out a handkerchief and handed it to her.

Wipe away your tears and send your sister Minnie off on her final journey.

After the battle, Lud did not immediately return to the capital. Instead, he ordered the militia to clean up the battlefield and collect the remains of the dead for burial. Whether from a humanitarian or environmental perspective, leaving the corpses lying scattered in the wilderness was not a good choice.

So everyone immediately got busy. Nidhogg, seeing that there was nothing left for him to do, said goodbye to Ludwig and left.

When the first rays of sunlight shone into the camp in the valley the next morning, the militia had already cleaned up the area. They had razed the ratman's altar to the ground, creating hundreds of new graves.

The actual death toll of the demi-human race is definitely higher than these figures, but the vast majority of them died without even a complete corpse, so they didn't even get a proper grave.

Interestingly, the militia also captured over two hundred surrendered demi-human prisoners in the camp. These unfortunate souls were utterly terrified, trembling at the sight of humans and daring not to resist. Lud didn't mistreat these poor creatures, ordering that they not be arbitrarily tortured or killed, and instead had these captured demi-humans help with manual labor such as digging graves.

After everything was dealt with at dawn, Lud held a solemn memorial service for all the victims to express the mercy of the victors, and then allowed the demi-humans to leave on their own.

Lude wasn't worried that letting these weak demi-humans go would be like "releasing a tiger back to the mountain." On the contrary, he felt that he could use their words to spread the word about the strength and benevolence of humanity, so that at least three generations of them wouldn't have the thought of doing anything wrong.

However, the ritual of comforting the spirits had an unusually good effect. Most of the captured demi-humans did not leave but voluntarily stayed, hoping to follow the powerful human priest.

In fact, for these weak demi-human races, being able to become a dog by the side of a strong person is the greatest happiness, and finding a backer is clearly part of their survival instinct.

Lude thought about it and realized that these demi-human races could also provide faith, and they were all good laborers, so taking them in wouldn't be a loss.

And so, after everything was settled, everyone returned in triumph, like victors. Everyone was in high spirits, and someone started singing a song that Lu De had taught them, a song with localized lyrics called "We Are Walking on the Road," no one knows who started it.

This song was a training chant that Lude taught to the militia during their training, and they would sing it every time they ran to improve their physical fitness.

The knights who accompanied them were initially aloof, but they couldn't resist the militiamen singing more and more enthusiastically, and gradually they were also infected by the atmosphere.

Watching everyone singing with gusto, Lu De couldn't help but smile. This was what it looked like when people had confidence; it was never a bad thing.

End of this chapter