Goddess Kaleidoscope

As a result, the situation on the scene underwent a subtle change. Three people volunteered to sacrifice themselves, allowing the two youngest to survive to the end. Only the adventurer and Narad remained silent, but Narad could tell that the middle-aged adventurer in his thirties was actually beginning to hesitate.

In an instant, Narad broke out in a cold sweat. He had unknowingly become isolated as a "minority," while his disciples and subordinates had been easily "turned" to the opposite side by Lud.

If he were to jump out and oppose Ludwig at this moment, he would undoubtedly be taking the position of the "bad guy," and then be taken out first by the other good people present, leaving him only able to stare helplessly without being able to get a word in edgewise.

Fortunately, at this moment, the eight-headed giant snake, which had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly let out a low growl containing anger. It had been looking forward to watching a good show, but it could not accept Lude's way of playing, which it found very boring.

"Old man! Are you mistaken? This game has never been something you can control from the very beginning."

"But we are indeed playing your game, aren't we? I admit, you are powerful, so powerful that we can hardly resist you. But since most of us are doomed to die anyway, I would rather die with dignity!"

"Aren't you afraid of angering me and me killing you all?"

"Then come on! Hurry up and kill us so you can go back to your master and report back, and then you can go back to your study to rest sooner, right?"

"you……"

After being ridiculed by Lude, the giant snake was clearly enraged and made a move to open its blood-red maw to swallow him whole, but then it restrained itself.

Just as Lud had guessed, this guy had been tricked by the lizardmen and turned from a guardian beast into a servant, so he was extremely resentful.

The deliberate delay was not only to kill more lizardmen, but also because it didn't want to return to the book, which must have been a very unpleasant experience.

So, despite his anger, the giant serpent didn't actually kill everyone present in such a heartless way. Instead, it sneered and said...

"Since you're going to play it this way, then go ahead. But don't forget, after you vote, I'm in charge of the actual voting. So, I hope the noise you make later... won't be too loud!"

The giant serpent had already made up its mind to torture and kill Lud in a very cruel way, using his tragic death to tell the other humans present that pretending to be a hero will never end well.

The game officially began, with the giant snake slamming its tail heavily against the ground in front of it. After ten slams, it had to make a choice.

Lud stood there calmly, one hand in his pocket.

The ten taps were over quickly, and Ludwig smiled and nodded to everyone. One by one, everyone slowly raised their hands and pointed at him.

Seeing that the voting results were in, the giant snake grinned maliciously.

"Humans, are you ready with your last words?"

"Yes, get ready... get ready to see how you die."

End of this chapter

No sooner had Lude finished speaking than a loud dragon roar suddenly came from outside the hall, before the giant serpent could even react to what he meant.

"My friend has arrived."

Lude smiled calmly at the giant serpent, then without saying a word, he slammed his scepter into the ground, instantly creating a semi-enclosed holy light barrier that covered the space within a three-meter radius centered on him.

Of the seven people present, only Narad happened to be outside the circle.

Seeing that Lude's divine barrier had deliberately missed him, Narad's eyes widened. He was about to yell, "Lude, you tricked me!" when the other man suddenly turned around and looked at him, then shouted at him with a look of astonishment.

"Are you stupid?! Why are you standing so far away from me?!"

"Uh, I..."

"Don't just stand there, get out of the way!"

Upon hearing Lud's reminder, Narad noticed that the terrifying giant snake had already assumed an attack stance, with a huge tail slamming down heavily onto the barrier.

The heavy blow sent a shiver down Lud's spine, but the Holy Light Barrier only rippled slightly, protecting everyone inside. Only Narad, outside the barrier, was in a sorry state, unable to use any divine magic in time and forced to dodge hastily, nearly getting smashed into a bloody pulp.

Enraged, the giant snake glared at Lud beneath the barrier, finally realizing it had been tricked by the white-bearded human.

"Human! I will tear you to pieces!"

"You should deal with the guy who's going to rush in later first, then we can talk."

Lude smiled slightly at the giant snake, and at that moment, the wall of the hall next to him suddenly exploded, and a giant dragon with a black body and only fiery red eyes burst out of the wall, which was extremely fierce.

But Lud couldn't help but purse his lips, thinking to himself, "Why is he acting like a 'French agent'? There's a wide enough gate right next to us that two dragons could walk side by side, but he insists on breaking through the wall to get in."

Without a word, the black dragon rushed in and slapped the head with its claws, smashing it to pieces. Then it grabbed the other snake head that was biting its shoulder but hadn't managed to bite through its scales, forcibly pried open its mouth, and breathed a scorching dragon breath into the snake's unscaled mouth, instantly burning the snake's head and a section of its body, which was over ten meters long, to ashes.

Seeing this, Lude couldn't help but think of a certain American movie, which tells the story of a giant single dog from the Permian period giving oral sex to a newlywed woman.

To be fair, if Nidhogg didn't have dragon horns and wings, he would indeed look a lot like "G-Boss" at first glance!

More than a hundred years ago, Nidhogg, who was just a young man at the time, suffered a loss at the hands of this giant serpent. This was mainly because he did not know his opponent at the time. He did not know that the giant serpent's scales made it immune to magic and its dragon breath. In addition, his own combat experience was not mature enough, so he ultimately lost the battle.

But now, times have changed, and Nidhogg has grown into a strong adult. Although his magic is still in its bird-like form, his physique is three times stronger than it was back then.

It is well known that black dragons are known for their strength among dragons. Their size is second only to the yellow dragon (earth type) that crawls on land and the blue dragon (water type) that swims in water. The males are all muscular dragons with exceptional melee combat abilities.

The current battleground is an open dungeon, not a swamp. The giant serpent, now out of its home turf, is at a significant disadvantage. Nidhogg doesn't even need his wife's help; he, a single dragon, can handle the serpent.

"You damned black..."

"Shut up!"

Nidhogg, who had come specifically to seek revenge, had learned his lesson this time. He didn't give the giant snake a chance to swear; whichever of the eight heads spoke first was attacked!

On the ground, the few people hiding inside the barrier of holy light were in the best seats in the entire arena. Lu De thought to himself that this was much more exciting than any 3D, 4D, or 36D movie! Aina and Shanis, standing next to him, were cheering "Go for it!" like little kids.

The only one who didn't have the leisure to do so was Narad, who was outside the barrier.

Although the dragon's intrusion successfully diverted the giant serpent's attention, the fight between these two behemoths was truly earth-shattering, and neither side cared about the life or death of the bystander. Narad tried several times to use divine magic to protect himself, but unlike Rud, he couldn't use divine magic with ease, and his attempts were interrupted before he could even finish reciting his prayers.

Left with no other choice, Narad could only flee in a sorry state, but he soon discovered, to his dismay, that whichever direction he ran, those two big guys would attack in the same direction, always following him. If he wasn't careful, he could become an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

Seeing that Narad was in a precarious situation outside the barrier, and could be crushed by all sorts of falling objects at any moment, the monk Eru and the guardian knight Manan were both anxious. They begged Rude to open the barrier, so that at least Priest Narad could also hide inside.

But Lud shook his head with regret, indicating that this was his last divine spell for the day. If the barrier were removed now, their situation would be the same as Narad's, who was not far away.

"Are we really just supposed to stand by and watch?"

“We can pray for him.”

Lud looked regretful, seemingly unable to help. Eru and Manan hesitated for a long time, but ultimately neither insisted that Lud remove the barrier.

After all, it's better to die for your fellow practitioners than for your bald monk; everyone wants to be part of the majority who can survive.

Outside the barrier, Nidhogg had completely gained the upper hand, having smashed four of the giant serpent's eight heads. The serpent tried several times to unleash its most potent constricting attack, but the dragon managed to break free each time with terrifying brute force. This wasn't its home turf in the swamp; in a pure power struggle, it was no match for Nidhogg.

At this moment, Lud noticed that the most ordinary snake head of the giant snake had not participated in the attack, but instead carefully hid behind it. Therefore, he concluded that this was its "master head", the one who really had the final say.

So Ludd stood inside the barrier and shouted at Nidhogg.

"Beat that one that doesn't have horns, doesn't bar its teeth, and doesn't have thorns on its face!"

Upon hearing Ludwig's reminder, Nidhogg also noticed the snake head that had been hiding and dodging. He immediately understood and grinned, revealing a "dragon-like smile."

Upon seeing this, the giant snake was horrified. Completely losing its will to fight, it tried to run but couldn't get away. It could only let out a very strange, mournful cry, as if it were asking someone for help.

Immediately afterwards, Lud and the others witnessed a horrifying scene. Accompanied by a rustling sound, countless giant pythons quickly crawled out from the depths of the underground city. Although they were not as large as the giant snakes and were just ordinary creatures with only one head, each one was as thick as a wine barrel and could easily swallow one or two large people whole.

The swarm of snakes crawling out was countless; who knows if they were the giant snake's underlings or its offspring.

These terrifying swarms of snakes surged forward like a deep blue wave, fearlessly attacking Nidhogg and engulfing him almost instantly.

Lud and the others, who were inside the barrier of holy light, were also submerged. All they could see outside were countless giant worms writhing and intertwining, a sight that sent chills down their spines. They wondered how Narad, who was outside, was doing.

Although these relatively small serpents are not enough to fight against the dragon, their sheer number and the constraints of the dungeon environment still allow them to temporarily hold back Nidhogg, buying time for their leader to escape.

Under the cover of its many offspring, the battered giant serpent, disregarding the cost of its head, forcibly broke free from Nidhogg's grip and fled deeper into the underground city. The serpent knew this place well; it knew there was an underground river leading to the great swamp outside.

Although it is currently a summoned spirit, it is not immortal. Unless the old lizardman can retrieve it back into the book in time, it will be truly dead once it is killed by the dragon, thus forcing it to flee.

However, at that moment, a more slender and graceful female black dragon suddenly blocked the path of the giant snake with only three heads. Immediately afterward, a powerful burst of dragon breath erupted from the pile of snakes behind it, instantly burning away a large area. Nidhogg, somewhat disheveled but unharmed, crawled out from within.

Two against one, and it's a mixed doubles match between husband and wife!

Seeing no way to escape, the giant serpent's eyes were filled with despair. It roared hoarsely at the two dragons that were determined to kill it.

"What on earth did I do to offend you all?!"

End of this chapter

The giant serpent roared in despair, unable to understand why these two dragons were determined to kill it. These top-tier beings had always kept to themselves, and the giant serpent didn't recall ever having a mortal feud with the couple.

Then the giant snake heard Nidhogg speak in a deep, muffled voice.

"You insulted me 153 years ago!"

Are you out of your mind?!

Nidhogg's answer infuriated the giant serpent. It never imagined that this seemingly enormous male black dragon could be so petty.

The giant snake immediately guessed that the couple might have come to help humans.

Most dragons are proud by nature and will not obey the commands of humans, but they do not reject making "trades" with other races.

Therefore, the giant serpent, who considered himself "well-informed," immediately thought that those damned humans must have given the dragon couple benefits and hired them to kill him, and it could not possibly be because of some trivial "small matter" like being scolded by him 150 years ago.

It was impossible to defeat it in a fight, and it was impossible to escape. At this moment, the giant serpent suddenly realized that it didn't actually hate the "Book of Ashes" that enslaved it so much anymore, because theoretically, as long as the old lizardman released the summoning now, the giant serpent could be immediately returned to the book, and the lizardman could summon it a second time. As long as a sacrifice was offered, it could be resurrected with full health and full health.

This is one of the perks of becoming a summoned creature, obtained in exchange for freedom.

"Damn it, what is Albert doing?"

Unbeknownst to the giant serpent, on the other side of the lizardmen, High Priest Albert was also embroiled in a fierce battle.

Humans are very powerful in combat. Although individual lizardmen have physical abilities that are two to three times that of humans, and some elites even have higher abilities, they cannot withstand the superior equipment of the humans, who also have mages and priests to support them.

The lizardmen, on the other hand, are still stuck in the primitive Stone Age and only have a few poorly maintained metal weapons, so they are at a great disadvantage in battle.

This explains why the lizardmen can repeatedly gain an advantage over human villages through night raids, but they crumble immediately when it comes to direct combat. Less than thirty adventurers were able to overwhelm nearly a hundred lizardmen, forcing them to retreat into an underground tunnel and put up a last-ditch resistance.

The old lizardman had considered summoning the giant snake again, just like before, to forcibly bring it back and save the day, but the cost of summoning it again was too high; he no longer had enough offerings to do it again.

As the humans pressed forward relentlessly, and the tribal warriors at the forefront fell one after another, Albert felt a deep resentment towards his earlier decision. With the strength of their Grayscale clan, they shouldn't have been so utterly defeated by such a small number of humans.

He gave the wrong order, sending his son with more than 70% of the clan's warriors to actively confront the invading "human army," which left the defenses of their homeland vulnerable and allowed these humans to take advantage of the situation.

Albert knew that the team his son had led out would not return for at least three days, and they would probably not be able to hold out until then.

At this moment, Albert suddenly felt a slight vibration from the Book of Ashes in his hand. He gently lifted it up, and the page automatically turned to the page of the summon encyclopedia. He saw that the image of the Serpent Spirit had changed. The once majestic eight-headed serpent now only had three heads, and its body was tattered and torn, looking like it had been badly beaten.

Looking at the giant snake's "broken encyclopedia," Albert was first stunned, then suddenly realized that something was wrong.