Goddess Kaleidoscope

"Oh! Your father wants you to be a spoiled brat?"

"To be precise, he needed to have a son who was considered good-for-nothing by others, but this son could not be the eldest son who was going to inherit the title, so it could only be me."

"It seems that being a noble in the capital is quite a hard job."

"I'm glad you understand."

Erwin smiled. At this moment, his demeanor was completely different from before. Although he was still somewhat cynical, there was something more in his eyes, like an actor who had stepped back from the front stage to rest behind the scenes.

Or perhaps it's a highly skilled actor playing another role.

The other party's sudden revelation piqued Lud's curiosity.

"So, young master, why are you suddenly telling me this?"

"It's nothing, I just hope to make more friends. I don't care if ordinary people hate me to the core, but you're different!"

In front of Lud, Erwin frankly revealed Nalad, who had secretly instructed him to cause as much trouble as possible for Lud. He also stated that he was a complicated, dirty-minded person who played the villain to harm the local settlers, and then, at the appropriate time, was driven out by the "upright and fearless" priest Nalad.

Moreover, this way, the Masdaq family at least has a grudge against the Cult of War on the surface, so as not to leave any evidence of collusion between them.

That was the original plan, but Ludwig became a variable.

According to their initial plan, Erwin and his Hydrangea Blade squad were to play the villains, ideally driving the small cult of Lud out of the area to make room for the Cult of War. Such despicable acts of bullying the weak were not suitable for the righteous and glorious Cult of War to handle themselves.

However, as Narad recognized the abilities of the Medicine God Cult, the plan underwent some changes.

So Erwin, behind Narad's back, took the initiative to confront Lud and explained all the interests involved.

As for why Erwin undermined Narad... it's because Duke Gamelin didn't actually want the Cult of War to grow too powerful on his turf.

Lude tried to sort out the relationships involved and found that they were actually quite complicated.

The three parties who secretly formed an alliance were the Marquis of Masdaq, the finance minister and a central bureaucrat; the Duke of Gamelin, a local tyrant and relative of the emperor; and the Cult of War, which wanted to expand its religious influence within the Kingdom of Duran.

These three parties each have their own needs, so they join forces under the drive of profit, but in reality they are wary of each other and will definitely try to sabotage each other when the opportunity arises.

Erwin, who was in the middle of it all, was quite interesting. On the one hand, he was following his father's orders to cooperate with Narad of the Cult of War, but in his words just now, he pretended to inadvertently reveal an important message.

He, Erwin, also had a relationship with the Duke of Gamelin.

Clearly, this guy isn't entirely obedient to his family; he might have already secretly found a new godfather behind his own father's back.

"You want to be friends with me?"

"Yes, but on the surface, we still don't get along. I think you understand what I mean."

"Why make things so complicated?"

"Haha, I don't want to either, but some big shots seem to think that if they don't make things complicated, they can't really show their abilities. I personally really dislike this way of playing the game."

"What a coincidence! I don't like it either."

The two exchanged a smile, and Lud nodded silently, as if everything was understood without words. Erwin then stood up, bowed with his hand on his chest, and turned to leave with his men.

Aina, who was standing to the side, was completely confused by Lud and Erwin's conversation because she wasn't smart enough, and couldn't help but ask a question.

"Master, what's this guy up to?"

"Not a good bird, but we can make use of it."

Erwin's proactive confrontation, or rather, his "backstabbing" of Narad, helped Lud to understand his opponent's situation to some extent.

The fact that the enemy is not a monolithic entity is undoubtedly good news!

That evening, the reconnaissance team successfully brought back firsthand information about the lizardman tribe, a situation that was very favorable to them.

The tribe they were targeting was quite large, with a total population of at least two thousand. However, most of the tribe's warriors had already set out to confront the human army that was steadily approaching their settlement. Currently, there were few people left in the ancient city, and most of them were women, children, and the elderly.

Although the lizardmen are all soldiers, and theoretically even children over eight years old can take up arms and fight, their strength is certainly no match for the well-equipped elite human forces, which makes it possible for them to raid other people's bases.

So Narad immediately decided to launch the attack at dawn before sunrise, because this was the coldest time of day, and also the time when the lizardmen were at their weakest and least vigilant.

There could be no better time to launch a surprise attack!

End of this chapter

While the elite special forces members were somewhat nervous about attacking the lizardman tribe's stronghold, they were actually more excited.

If we simply compare physical attributes, the lizardmen are indeed slightly superior to humans. However, war is never just a simple comparison of physique. There are also a series of factors such as technology, tactics, and teamwork that can determine the final outcome.

This leads to the war between humans and reptilians rapidly tilting in favor of humans as the numbers on both sides increase.

These 150 elite soldiers were all well-equipped and highly skilled warriors, and their class of soldiers was very complete. There were warriors and knights who could charge into battle, archers and mages who could provide ranged attacks, and priests who could provide group buffs to their comrades and heal them.

Such a comprehensive configuration gave everyone confidence in their victory!

So, after resting for half a day, the special operations team made the best preparations for their attack before dawn. Lude then took out a large quantity of the new type of divine magic potion and had Aina and Shanis distribute a small bottle to each member of the special operations team.

These medicines were packaged in small earthenware bottles, the liquid inside being a translucent golden color and having a unique fragrance; each bottle contained just enough for a single sip.

After receiving the medicine bottles, everyone noticed that there were patterns on the small bottles. One side had the symbol of the Medicine God Cult, a small medicine bottle with leaves as the background, while the opposite side had a red bull's head.

Lude introduced the drug to the crowd, saying that it was a new blood-boosting potion developed by their Medicine God Cult. It was similar to the energizing potion, but stronger and longer-lasting, and would not have any side effects after the effects wore off.

Seeing how miraculous Lu De's words were—that a single medicine could have two effects at the same time without any side effects—most people were skeptical. However, given Lu De's past reputation for saving lives and his high standing within the Valiant Army, they were still willing to believe him.

Before the fight began, everyone drank the potion in one gulp. To their surprise, the golden liquid not only tasted good, like a beverage, but also had an immediate effect. Within a minute of drinking it, it began to take effect, and everyone's eyes widened, feeling all their fatigue swept away.

"Wow! This potion is pretty good!"

Narad, who had also drunk the potion, was secretly astonished. This was almost comparable to divine magic. Although it was still not as good as his high-level group buff divine magic, this was the effect of a potion. In other words, as long as he carried this with him when he went out, he could get similar buffs even if there were no priests around.

Furthermore, judging from the fact that Lu De pulled out 150 bottles in one go, it's clear that the production volume of this product is probably quite high. Therefore, in his eyes, Lu De and his Medicine God Cult are practically a golden goose!

"...(It must be kept under my control!)"

At this moment, Narad wasn't the only one in the special operations team who was plotting his own schemes; Lud was observing everyone's reactions after taking the medicine and secretly making notes.

The "blood cow potion" being distributed this time is a product of the previous use of goddess tears to enhance stimulants.

After numerous tests, Lu De discovered that he could adjust the drug's effects by varying the mixing ratios. Therefore, the newly formulated drug was more potent than typical stimulants, but it lacked the ecstatic, physique-enlarging effect experienced in the first test.

Lude plans to turn the potion with enlargement effects into a topical ointment, then rename it and sell it at a high price to those who need it.

There should be potential consumers for both men and women (laughs).

Once everything was ready, Narad, as the commander-in-chief, gave the order.

"Warriors blessed by the God of War, charge!"

At Narad's command, the special forces rushed towards the ancient city occupied by the lizardmen in the last darkness before dawn.

The archers and assassins first silently eliminated the sentries on guard duty, then opened the city gates for the subsequent invading troops. Earlier, the assassins had also carried out a "righteous poisoning" within the city, pouring a drowsy, hypnotic powder into the wells.

This medicine, when taken in moderation, can help with sleep. Therefore, the lizardman who drank the well water only felt particularly sleepy that day and wanted to go to bed early, completely unaware that he had been poisoned by humans.

Therefore, many of the lizardmen who fell victim to the attack were killed in their sleep by humans who rushed into their homes. In addition, since the main force had already been lured away, the resistance within the city was negligible.

"Charge! Kill them all!"

The human warriors who stormed into the ancient city spared no lizardmen they encountered along the way, killing them indiscriminately regardless of age or gender. They even smashed unhatched lizard eggs to pieces, displaying a brutal attitude of genocide.

Lud, who stormed into the city with the special forces, was initially somewhat uncomfortable with the excessively bloody scene, especially when he saw many lizardman children being killed; the feeling of unbearable pain was even stronger then.

But he also knew that he was not in a world that valued humanity. Humans regarded all the demi-human races that were hostile to them as "pests" that had to be eliminated, and the demi-human races also disliked humans, some of whom simply regarded humans as food.

In such an environment, it's difficult for Luther to say who is right and who is wrong.

One hundred and fifty "human thugs" empowered by both potions and divine enhancement spells stormed into the unguarded lizardman tribe and wreaked havoc, quickly turning the city into a bloodbath with screams and roars echoing everywhere.

However, the entire lizardman tribe had more than a thousand people remaining, and not all the tribe's warriors had drunk the well water containing the sleeping powder. Therefore, after the initial chaos, the scene quickly changed from one-sided abuse to a back-and-forth battle.

As Lud stormed into the city with his team, he was protected by Erwin's Hydrangea Blade squad the entire time. Although these rogue adventurers had done their share of despicable things, they were at least skilled, and they easily dealt with many of the lizardmen who rushed toward Lud.

Just then, a series of screams and cries for help suddenly came from the depths of the city, which immediately caught everyone's attention, and they all rushed towards the direction from which the sound came.

Narad, leading his disciples, charged ahead. His steel scepter was stained with blood, clearly indicating that he had personally smashed the skulls of many lizardmen along the way, resembling a 12th-century crusader priest on a "pilgrimage" to Jerusalem.

Under his leadership, the group fought their way to an open gate, where they could see several lizardman shamans directing dozens of tribal warriors to defend the gate.

These guys are much better armed than the average lizardman; each of them has an iron weapon, making them clearly the elite of the tribe.

End of this chapter

The lizardmen are now experiencing despair, feeling the same way the human villagers who were once attacked by them.

A group of ferocious alien bandits suddenly broke into their homeland. They were ruthless and brutal, killing anyone they saw, including infants still in their eggs who had not yet taken their first breath of fresh air.

It's exactly like what they did to humanity!

The 150-strong special operations team, through a surprise attack, utterly overwhelmed the lizardman settlement, which had been lured away by the main force. The surviving lizardmen could only flee in panic toward their tribe's "holy land".

Lude and the others followed behind the large army pushing forward, watching the lizardmen flee in panic. Aina, with a puzzled look, said what Lude wanted to say but dared not say.

"Master, why do I feel like we're the bad guys?"

“Little girl, you must have never seen a village attacked by lizardmen, otherwise you wouldn’t say such things.”

Hearing Aina's complaint, the mage in Erwin's squad sneered and replied to her, then continued to watch the "massacre" with great interest.

Although Lud also abhorred such indiscriminate slaughter, he at least knew how deep the resentment between the border settlers and the demi-human race was, and that it was not something that a transmigrator like him could easily resolve by standing up and shouting "love and peace."

He tried once, but it didn't work.

Soon, the remaining lizardmen retreated to the inner city, where a few shamans led nearly a hundred warriors they had painstakingly gathered to fight desperately, relying on the terrain.

Similar to human priests, these lizardman shamans can also buff their warriors in a manner resembling a shamanistic ritual. Many lizardman warriors have a green glow emanating from their bodies.

As the battle raged on, the humans noticed something was amiss. Their stamina, which had been plentiful thanks to the Blood Bull Potion and the buff spells, was rapidly depleting at a perceptible pace, while the lizardmen on the other side were growing stronger with each swing of their weapons.

"Something's not right! There's something strange about those lizardman shamans!"

Seeing the changing situation on the front lines, many people present realized that the spells of those lizardman shamans were probably not just about increasing the combat power of their own people, but also had a "life-stealing" effect.

The archers and mages who followed behind focused their fire on the shamans, but the shamans were protected behind them by lizardman warriors wielding huge shields. Neither arrows nor fireballs could break through the strange shields.

From their appearance, these enormous shields, which are over two meters high and about one and a half meters wide, are inlaid with many dark green scales. Ordinary arrows cannot penetrate them, and magic will inexplicably dissipate upon contact, as if it were directly absorbed.

The more attacks you make, the more vibrant the shield's color becomes.