Goddess Kaleidoscope

The main reasons for this decline, besides the population collapse caused by the war of gods, are probably also the opportunistic suppression by religious forces.

Hume had once told him that most gods actually disliked mortals being too intelligent and did not want them to return to the state they were in three hundred years ago, because mortals at that time had an excessive thirst for knowledge!

The rat people, in particular, actually figured out how to create gods on their own.

Even if this method is imperfect and contains many errors, it is enough to cause panic among the gods. Because errors can be continuously improved through practice, and if left unchecked, they will eventually discover the true nature of the gods.

After observing the terrain for a while, Lud decided that he could bypass the weak lizardman women and children, run up the overpasses, and give the lizardmen guarding the dungeon entrance a "righteous backstab."

However, considering that there are also a small number of combatants on this side of the square, and that they might send reinforcements if they hear that fighting has broken out up above, we must also keep a handy to guard against them.

"Listen to my instructions, everyone. When we climb up those platforms and reach the third platform in the middle, you archers and the two biggest guys will stay behind and use the platform to block reinforcements from below. The rest of you will follow me and go and stab that old lizardman in the ass. Understand?"

Upon hearing Lud's plan, the adventurers present nodded in agreement, and even Erwin did not voice any objection.

So everyone made some preparations and then began to act.

The lizardmen hiding underground had no idea that humans had infiltrated their territory. They carefully used the elevated bridge with its running railcars to bypass them.

Soon, the group arrived at the third-stage platform, where only two lizardmen soldiers were on guard duty. They were easily taken down by Hume's two throwing knives. The archers and others immediately lowered themselves down with ropes and began collecting stones to build their position.

The rest of the people followed Hume and continued climbing up the bridge, soon reaching the end.

This is the connection point between the above-ground and underground parts of the city. There is an unbelievably spacious hall and more than one corridor leading to the outside. Lude felt that the layout here was a bit like a train station, as if half of the mountain had been hollowed out.

Then everyone saw the old and weak who had been brought up earlier. Most of them were kneeling on the ground, and the old lizardman holding the Book of Ashes was also there.

He was muttering to himself, holding a book in one hand and placing the other on the forehead of one of the elderly people, his expression solemn.

"In the name of the great true God, I offer the soul of the lamb~ Hallelujah!"

As Lud's wicked prayer was recited, the kinsman whose forehead was pressed by the old lizardman suddenly went limp, becoming an empty shell devoid of soul, and was then dragged aside by two strong lizardman warriors.

In order to sustain the serpent's spirit, the lizardmen must constantly offer sacrifices, using the souls of the living as fuel to supply the serpent outside.

But although they are both souls, the souls of these elderly people cannot compare with those of young people, the latter possessing far more energy. Therefore, the old lizardman had to sacrifice one every two or three minutes, his hands almost never stopping.

At his rate of sacrifice, the lives of thirty-odd lizardmen would probably last for about an hour.

Seeing the target right in front of him, Ludwig turned around and winked at Hume, preparing to use the same trick again, directly stabbing the old lizardman to death with a throwing knife, and then the others would swarm forward and snatch the book.

However, just as Hume drew his throwing knife, before he could even throw it, someone struck first, attacking from the side.

"For the God of War! Charge!"

To Lud's surprise, Narad arrived with his men, seemingly having sneaked in through another passage. Apparently, the lizardmen were outnumbered and unable to guard all the entrances.

Narad's group consisted of fewer than twenty people, with a few knights leading the charge, and their target was also the old lizardman.

Seeing a group of humans suddenly emerge from the passage, several nearby lizardman warriors immediately went to meet them. These guards beside the high priest were all elites, carrying iron swords and even wearing some pieced-together armor.

The lizardman warriors fought desperately, while the old lizardman, the high priest, retreated swiftly under the cover of several subordinate priests. The elderly and weak who had willingly become sacrifices immediately surrounded him, using their frail bodies as shields to protect the high priest who intended to sacrifice them.

Thanks to them, Hume couldn't find an opportunity to throw the knife.

"Tsk! Let's go too!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Lud, seeing that the sneak attack had failed, quickly launched a full-scale assault, leading his men straight up and running into another group of lizardmen warriors who had come to reinforce from the other side.

A chaotic battle suddenly broke out in the spacious hall.

Amidst the chaotic battle, the lizardman high priest was surrounded and protected by many of his kin. Several subordinate priests hurriedly began performing rituals, creating a protective barrier around the high priest.

Seeing this, Hume quickly went into stealth mode, trying to rush up and finish off the lizardman high priest with one strike to end the battle, but she seemed to have offended the god of misfortune today, as everything was going wrong.

The lizardman high priest reacted very quickly, without any hesitation. He suddenly opened the Book of Ashes, placed his hand on the pages, and the green light that was originally exposed contracted for a moment before surging out again. The old and weak members of his tribe who were protecting him with their bodies all died on the spot.

Upon seeing this, Lude was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized what this guy had just done.

"Holy crap! This old guy knows how to play the game!"

In the blink of an eye, the eight-headed giant serpent, which should have been chasing adventurers around outside, suddenly appeared in the hall.

The guy was completely bewildered by the sudden forced change of scenery. He looked down at the high priest who had just completed the "second summoning" and roared in a fit of rage.

"Alber, you egg white monster, what are you doing?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Kill these humans now."

"You bastard..."

Despite its anger, the giant snake was bound by a bond akin to a slave contract, making it very obedient. It turned its head and launched an attack on the humans around it.

Neither of the two groups that had attempted the decapitation strike expected the other to play such a trick. The enormous snake, which was difficult for ordinary people to handle, suddenly "teleported" back in front of them. At this moment, everyone felt either like they had been screwed over or had been screwed over by a dog!

The eight-headed serpent, having been transferred, recognized Narad in the crowd at a glance. There was no way around it; that robe was simply too conspicuous. Whether it had other attributes was unclear, but its taunting effect was definitely EX.

Feeling the terrifying gaze of the giant snake, Narad felt his mind was about to collapse. He couldn't understand why this monster was staring at him.

Fortunately, Narad also saw Lud not far away at this moment. Recognizing that he was the chosen one of the Medicine God Cult, he ran towards him without saying a word, thinking that he must have a way to deal with the snake.

"Ouch! You, you fucking don't come any closer!"

Seeing that Narad, who was steadily drawing the giant snake's aggro, was actually running towards him, Rud almost wanted to curse.

Lured by him, the giant snake abandoned the others and gave chase. Rather than seeming stunned, it felt more like it was doing it on purpose.

"Help me out!"

"Screw you!"

Seeing the giant snake rushing towards him, Lud turned and ran, and the scene was chaotic beyond imagination.

Using what was actually a young man's body, Lud ran wildly toward the passage leading underground, with Narad close behind, followed by the relentlessly pursuing foul-mouthed giant snake.

Forced to unleash his full potential, Lud ran wildly and quickly reached the passage, shouting as he ran towards Aina and Shanis, who were waiting there to save lives.

"Get inside! Quickly, get inside!"

The giant snake followed closely behind. Perhaps because it had sprayed too much venom earlier, it clearly had little venom left and was only able to bite people with its few gaping maws.

Almost simultaneously, Lud and Narad rushed through the passage and arrived at the "platform" side of the hall. This side of the space was much smaller than the other side, and there were many pillars.

As soon as the group passed through the passage, they darted behind a nearby pillar. The giant snake, which had been chasing them, crashed into seven or eight pillars in succession before slamming into a metal beam, bending it in half with a thud.

The head that was hit head-on was clearly a little dizzy.

"Master, it seems to have been knocked senseless."

Shh! Keep your voice down!

Lude gestured to the others around him to keep quiet, knowing that their combined strength was insufficient to confront the giant serpent head-on.

But the good news is that their strongest reinforcements are about to arrive, because the dragon scale that Ludwig is carrying in his arms is getting warmer, which is a sign that Nidhogg is about to arrive!

End of this chapter

"Hold on a little longer, reinforcements will be here soon."

"Reinforcements? What reinforcements?"

Upon hearing Lud tell his nun that there were reinforcements, Narad quickly leaned over to ask more questions. He was now convinced that Lud was the chosen one of the Medicine God Cult, and that his strength was definitely far superior to his own.

In his view, although the Medicine God Cult was small in scale and their goddess, Evelina, was certainly not as powerful as the God of War, Feigolai, this did not mean that the chosen ones of a small cult would necessarily be weaker than the priests of a large cult.

Because ordinary priests can only enjoy the treatment of being adopted by their own gods, they are subject to many restrictions when using divine arts bestowed by the gods, such as the type and number of times the arts can be used, and there is no room for negotiation.

But the Chosen Ones are different. They enjoy the true "favored son treatment," with almost no restrictions on the use of divine arts. In a sense, they can even be regarded as demigods, the representatives of the gods walking in the mortal world.

In fact, this so-called "favored son treatment" is more than just a joke for some religious sects.

Narad had been a priest for nearly twenty years and was about to become a prospective bishop, so he naturally knew some inside information that ordinary believers did not know.

Their Cult of the God of War currently has six known Chosen Ones, including the Supreme High Priest. Narad had heard his mentor, Gerallis, complain more than once in private that the church's higher-ups were increasingly leaving no room for them, mere mortals, to speak.

Narad doesn't want to die yet, and he believes he can't die!

He is the direct disciple and designated successor of the current Archbishop of Durand. His mentor has high hopes for him and has been paving the way for his succession for the past few years.

However, not all the bishops in the various dioceses were truly convinced. It was only through Gerallis's strong personal prestige that these people's wicked thoughts were temporarily suppressed.

If anything were to happen to Narad, those guys would probably be overjoyed. Because at his teacher's age, it's impossible for him to train a successor anymore.

Now, to escape danger, he must rely on Lud's power.

Narad only has two divine spells left to use, but the giant serpent is still full of energy and its strength is more than one level stronger than any high-level monster he has ever seen. It is incredibly fierce!

This guy's appearance was the biggest variable in their operation, causing what was originally a "sure win" situation to collapse into this mess.

Meanwhile, the giant serpent was still searching for them in the hall, moving at a leisurely pace as if deliberately playing a cat-and-mouse game. Its eight large heads each stared in a different direction, slithering around while spewing sarcastic and offensive language at the group.

"Come out! Come play with me! To be honest, I haven't had much contact with you humans, and I often can't tell the difference between males and females. Seeing how shy you guys are, hiding like this, you must all be female, right? Should I introduce you to some strong male lizardmen for breeding?"

Hearing the giant snake's taunts, Ludger signaled to the others to remain silent. It was just trash talk; they shouldn't be easily provoked. He estimated Nidhogg would arrive in about ten minutes, so perseverance was key to victory.

However, holding out for ten minutes was no easy task. Although the hall they were in was very large and had rows of stone pillars to provide cover, the giant snake was also quite large and had eight heads, so there were almost no blind spots.

Furthermore, if Lud is not mistaken, snakes are born with infrared heat perception, so darkness is not enough to provide them with cover. Moreover, this place is covered with a lot of luminescent moss, so the brightness is not low.

While speaking in a disgusting manner, the giant snake stretched out its terrifying body as much as possible, its eight heads forming a "carpet search" posture, constantly compressing the space in which Lud and the others could move.

Fortunately, Lude had a plan. Seeing that the giant snake was trying to corner them little by little, he took out several colorful little grass dolls from his pocket. These were one of the small props that he had given to Denzel's team for trial use before - virtual idols.

The ones Lude has are improved versions.

The new scarecrow retains the same basic shape, but the red rope used for starting has been replaced with a more convenient metal pull ring, and a counterweight has been added inside, allowing the scarecrow to be thrown farther... just like a hand grenade!

The straw figures were all different colors, and the illusions they produced were also different. Some were relatively normal, while others were full of Ludwig's wicked humor.

Lude distributed one straw doll to each person present. Aina and Shanis both knew how to use it, while Narad understood how to use it after just one look.

"Follow me and throw in different directions!"

Four little straw figures flew out simultaneously. One transformed into a huge firebird before even landing, soaring around. Two others became dashing Shadow Masters, while the third, after landing, didn't go anywhere but immediately pulled out a spherical object the size of a human head and began singing, dancing, and rapping. Judging by its exquisite movements, it was clear it had been practicing for at least two and a half years.

When these things appeared, the giant snake was completely dumbfounded, especially the one that started performing a talent show on the spot, which stunned it for a full three seconds.

The most impressive aspect of illusions constructed with divine magic is their realism. They are not intangible phantoms, but tangible spirits, just like the giant snake that has now become a summoned creature.

Seeing that the giant snake's attention was drawn away, Lude quickly signaled the other three to take the opportunity to move and leave through the nearest exit as soon as possible.

"go!"

The group moved quickly, and the nearest exit was less than 100 meters away, a small door for people to pass through.