Goddess Kaleidoscope

Previously, the fighting in the tunnels was incessant, and the shouts of humans and lizardmen drowned out many of the sounds outside. Nidhogg and his wife Tawawa deliberately suppressed their dragon might when they entered, so the lizardmen who were fighting until their brains were splattered were unaware that a dragon had entered the dungeon.

"Damn it! What on earth is the Serpent Spirit doing?"

Realizing that the Serpent Spirit, on whom so much hope had been placed, might not be able to be relied upon, Albert could only prepare for the worst.

Currently, the main force of the tribe is outside, and the more than one thousand young lizardmen led by his son are the hope for the continuation of their tribe. However, the reproduction of the race cannot rely solely on males, so Albert called his youngest son, who was by his side, and instructed him to make preparations.

"Son, I have a difficult task for you. You will lead a few people down to gather the remaining females and children in the tribe, and take the remaining eggs through the secret passage to find your elder brother!"

"Father, what about you?"

"I'll stay here to buy you some time."

As the old lizardman spoke, he solemnly handed the Book of Ashes to his youngest son, then removed the necklace from his neck that symbolized clan authority and handed it over as well, instructing his son to take it to his older brother.

"Don't be sad, my child. This is how the world is. Strength is everything. Lizardmen kill humans, and humans kill lizardmen. We call this the way of survival, and humans call it the law of the jungle. The principle is the same. If you don't want to be killed, you must strive to become stronger. Live on, my child, because only by living on... will you have a chance to fight back!"

Looking into his father's resolute eyes, the little lizardman nodded, then gritted his teeth, grabbed the Book of Ashes, and turned to run underground.

Watching the other person's figure disappear into the dark passageway, the old lizardman turned to face the lizardmen who were still fighting fiercely with the human adventurers.

"Warriors of the Grayscale Clan! The path of our ancestors' glory has opened for us. Let us advance bravely!"

As the old lizardman spoke, he suddenly pulled out a sharp bone knife and plunged it fiercely into his own chest. The lizardmen were a race with cult-like fanaticism, and their clan witchcraft favored the use of sacrifice to gain power. What Albert was using now was the lizardmen's ultimate witchcraft technique—blood sacrifice.

But unlike typical sacrificial witchcraft, which uses others as sacrifices and bloody offerings, the offerings are precisely the priest himself and all those who will receive the blessing.

With a bone knife embedded in his chest, Albert chanted an incantation, then his body rapidly swelled and turned red before exploding with a bang, turning into a rain of blood that drenched the remaining lizardman warriors. All the lizardmen drenched in blood instantly entered a ferocious "berserk" state, their bodies radiating intense heat as if burning, and their combat power increased dramatically.

The dozens of berserk lizardman warriors put immense pressure on the adventurers, who were initially in a superior position, forcing them to switch from offense to defense.

One of the shield bearers at the front was careless and was knocked back by a crazed lizardman, shield and all.

Although the lizardman was soon beheaded by a knight standing nearby, he successfully created a gap in the defense, allowing several more lizardmen to rush in and launch a suicidal charge against the mages and priests in the back row.

Seeing the lizardmen's fearless advance, the adventurers found themselves unable to stop them for a time, and the war god priest in the group couldn't help but feel afraid. He had just used up his last divine spell of the day and was now devoid of any supernatural abilities, so he instinctively tried to retreat.

But it was this backward movement that directly exposed him. Without saying a word, a lizardman warrior threw a spear at him with all his might, hitting the priest squarely in the chest and knocking him to the ground!

The lizardman was overjoyed to see his spear strike the enemy, but was immediately hacked to the ground by several adventurers who rushed up to him.

Feeling the enemy's sharp blade slice through his scales as easily as slicing through leaves, the lizardman, lying in a pool of blood, felt a pang of confusion in his dying moments. Why did these frail humans possess such formidable metal weapons, while they, the much stronger lizardmen, were left with only rags made of sticks, stones, and bones?

Just then, the severely wounded lizardman witnessed an unbelievable scene... the human he had stabbed with his spear was actually sitting up from the ground, clutching his chest.

"Why, why..."

Unable to grasp the problem, the lizardman breathed his last. Albert's bloody sacrifice did indeed inject a powerful stimulant into the surviving lizardman warriors, unleashing their formidable fighting power in an instant.

But in the end, a lizardman is just a lizardman!

The war god priest, who had been pierced by the spear, sat up from the ground, lifted the front of his robe to reveal the exquisite plate armor underneath.

Although the kingdom's laws stipulate that non-noble classes are not allowed to possess metal armor, religious figures can enjoy certain privileges equal to those of the nobility. In addition, the Cult of the God of War is wealthy and powerful, so it is natural that they can equip their priests with better life-saving gear.

It is worth mentioning that, in order to give face to the Duran royal family, the priests of the Cult of War, although they wore plate armor, were required to wear it only under their robes and were not allowed to wear helmets or gauntlets. Moreover, the armor could not be called armor, but had to be called "holy garments".

Thanks to this steel "sacred armor" with an average thickness of five millimeters, the priest was spared from death, as the bone spearhead lacked penetrating power.

The lizardmen's desperate counterattack was quickly suppressed. The humans used the tunnel's terrain to fight and retreat, buying time for the mages behind them. The moment they all withdrew from the tunnel, they unleashed a high-level fire spell together. A blazing fire tornado swept across the entire passage, instantly turning dozens of lizardmen into charred remains.

This high-level spell wiped out all the lizardman warriors, but it also made the passage inaccessible for a short time, depriving the adventurers of the possibility of continuing their pursuit.

After counting the wounded, a total of five were killed, six were seriously injured, and the rest were in no better condition. The mages were all exhausted, while the priest was coughing up blood while clutching his chest, seemingly suffering from some degree of internal injury.

However, no one noticed that one person was missing from this hastily assembled team...

End of this chapter

The "human-lizard war" is nearing its end. Although the battle seems extremely fierce, if we exclude the giant snake, in terms of scale and intensity, it is still a small-scale fight at the level of a "village brawl".

Such things, while not common in the border regions where the local people are known for their "simple and honest" ways, are not uncommon either.

After the battle, the surviving adventurers, still unaware of the giant serpent's condition, didn't bother cleaning up the battlefield and just wanted to get out of this damned place as quickly as possible.

But just as they were dragging the bodies of the seriously wounded and their fallen comrades away from the scene, a bald monk suddenly ran over and told them two pieces of news, one good and one bad.

The good news is that the giant serpent was killed, and two black dragons calling themselves "Guardians" arrived in time to help them eliminate the giant serpent.

The bad news is that High Priest Narad tragically lost his precious life in this glorious yet brutal battle between good and evil.

"What! The High Priest is dead?"

"Ah."

The bald male cultivator nodded sadly, explaining that his mentor's remains were over there, and he had come to deliver a message and to find a stretcher to prepare his mentor's body for burial.

Rewind to fifteen minutes earlier. Due to the arrival of the dragon, the giant serpent found itself in a dilemma, while the other smaller serpents, sensing the dragon's might released by Nidhogg, abandoned their ancestor and scattered in all directions.

Seeing that the situation was under control, Lud dispelled the Holy Light Barrier. At this moment, Aina noticed an object lying not far away that looked like a "snake-man," so she quickly pointed it out to Lud. Everyone crowded around to take a look and discovered that it was Narad, whose body had been swallowed by a giant snake.

Narad was not inside Lud's barrier, so he was overwhelmed by the surging "snake tide" and became food for the snakes to fight over.

Fortunately, due to the old tradition of the Cult of War, all priests wore sturdy "holy garments" under their robes. As a high-ranking priest and the prized student of Bishop Gerallis of the diocese, Narad wore an exceptionally high-class suit. Therefore, although he was torn apart by the swarm of snakes, his body did not become "pineapple-pineapple-da".

Even with the protection of his enchanted armor, Narad only managed to avoid being torn apart by the swarm of snakes. By the time Rudd and the others found him, he was already on his last breath.

As the other person lay dying, they murmured something barely audible.

"My butt... hurts..."

After saying those words, Narad's head lolled to the side, and he breathed his last. Lud touched his carotid artery and silently shook his head at Eru and Manan.

"Too late..."

Seeing that Narad was dead, Lud got up and looked at the giant snake. Nidhogg and Tawawa did not rush to kill it, but instead interrogated the local snake about whether there were any treasures in this place.

The idea that dragons like to collect gold and silver treasures and abduct beautiful human princesses is mostly a story fabricated by bards.

However, dragons are not actually interested in human women or ordinary gold and silver jewelry. What truly ignites their strong possessiveness are high-quality magic crystals and magical items that emit magical fluctuations. They do indeed enjoy sleeping around such things, as it has a nourishing effect on them, similar to the magnetic therapy beds favored by many middle-aged and elderly people on Earth.

Faced with the interrogation of the two giant dragons, the giant snake, in order to save its life, had no choice but to reluctantly confess everything it knew.

This underground city, built by the dwarves, was abandoned three hundred years ago during the War of the Gods. However, the dwarves who withdrew did not leave anything of value in the city, leaving behind an almost empty city.

Not long after the dwarves left, the giant serpent moved into the dark lake at the bottom of the underground city via the underground waterway. More than a hundred years later, the gray-scaled lizardmen came, discovered the giant serpent, and worshipped it as a serpent spirit.

Because the giant serpent truly felt the power of faith offered by the lizardmen, it accepted this cult-like symbiotic relationship. The two lived together for over a hundred years and got along very well. The giant serpent enjoyed the lizardmen's offerings, but a few weeks ago, the lizardmen betrayed it without warning.

The giant serpent itself did not have the habit of collecting treasures, but it knew that the lizardmen had a treasure room on the fifth underground level, where they seemed to have stored a lot of good things. If the dragon would spare its life, it would take Nidhogg and Tawawa to plunder the treasure room.

"Please, gentlemen, I was also tricked by those lizardmen!"

The giant snake curled up in a ball, feigning pitifulness. Nidhogg, a dragon raised by humans, had no interest in the so-called treasure, but his wife Tawawa was in high spirits, so he could only stand by and watch helplessly.

However, at that moment, the giant snake suddenly transformed into a flash of blue light and vanished without a trace, leaving the two dragons completely dumbfounded.

"What's going on? Where did that huge snake go?"

"N-I don't know..."

Faced with his wife's question, Nidhogg shook his head somewhat blankly, earning him a glare from Tawawa. Lud, who was standing nearby, seemed to know what had happened, so he coughed lightly and chimed in.

"Thank you for your selfless assistance, guardians."

By deliberately emphasizing the words "Guardian," Nidhogg and Tawawa realized that they had promised Ludwig that they would have to cooperate with him in a very interesting play.

It must be said that compared to Nidhogg's monotonous delivery, Tawawa's acting was far superior to her husband's. The two of them took turns performing, putting on a show for Eru and Manan standing to the side.

The two were still in shock from the battle between the dragon and the snake, listening to the whole thing in a daze, without a shred of doubt in their hearts.

So, under Lude's arrangement, Eru and Manan went separately to contact the other adventurers in the city and gather their surviving companions together.

He also suggested to the two that they should not reveal Narad's true cause of death, but rather say that he had heroically sacrificed himself in the battle against the giant serpent. Rude's proactive concern for Narad's reputation and dignity immediately won the two's favor. Coupled with the fact that he had previously saved their lives, they now considered Rude a virtuous and kind person.

Especially for Eru, besides gratitude, he also felt a pang of guilt towards Lud, which he couldn't openly express. He knew many of the underhanded tactics his mentor used to undermine the Medicine God Cult. So being saved this time made this young man in his early twenties, whose conscience hadn't been completely extinguished, feel extremely ashamed.

"Thank you, respected master."

"You're welcome. You should go and call for help. I'll help Lord Narad tidy up his appearance first, so that he can at least look presentable before others arrive."

End of this chapter

Narad was dead, with a large, unfortunate snake still attached to his lower body, choking to death because the plate armor had caught in its throat. This made Narad look like a snake-man at first glance, and his appearance in death was quite undignified.

The three of them worked together, first using a knife to cut open the snake's mouth, and then forcefully pulling Narad out of the snake's mouth.

Because he may have been swallowed by more than one giant orchid before his death, Narad was covered in foul-smelling slime, had multiple fractures in his limbs, and his facial expression, with his mouth open and eyes closed, was abnormally distorted and ferocious due to suffocation.

Looking at the pitiful Narad, Lud couldn't help but sigh. This guy could be said to have been "tricked" to death by his own hand. He was the one who set up this trap, luring the War God Cult missionaries, many adventurers, and the entire Grayscale Clan to this point.

The thought of the lives lost as a result filled Ludwig with a sense of guilt, but upon reflection, he realized that in such a world, unless Ludwig was truly willing to submit, these conflicts were inevitable.

It's important to understand that the Cult of War is not a religion that advocates "peace." From the moment Narad's missionary group set foot in Pine Village, they never intended to coexist equally with Lud's sect.

They're here to seize territory! They're here to compete with the Medicine God Cult for followers! If Narad hadn't valued their sect's pharmaceutical capabilities and wanted to recruit them as underlings, the methods they used before would probably have been even more ruthless!

This is similar to the US-China relationship on this side of the world. We cannot turn ourselves into a larger version of Japan or South Korea and become a helpless fish just because the US hypocritically offers its so-called "peace conditions"!

"rest in peace!"

As Lud spoke, he pulled out a bottle of highly concentrated holy water from his pocket, then pried open Narad's mouth and forced it down his throat. This was to effectively prevent Narad from becoming a ghost after death, so that he wouldn't become a vengeful spirit and come to haunt Lud out of resentment.

At this moment, Aina pinched her nose and came closer, pointing at Narad and asking.

"Master, do you think the War God Cult would use a great resurrection spell to bring this guy back up?"

"I'm afraid it's too late. The Great Resurrection spell has certain conditions for use. It must be used within seven days of death, and the priest who can use this divine spell must be at least an archbishop. Hume once said that there are only thirteen people in the entire Cult of War who can use this spell."

As one of the three largest religious groups in the world, the Cult of War God divides its sphere of influence into eleven major dioceses according to countries and regions, and each major diocese is further divided into several sub-dioceses.

Only the archbishops of these eleven dioceses, along with the Supreme High Priest who remained at the headquarters, "Shield City," and the Chief Inquisitor of the Order who patrolled the area, possessed the ability to use such a top-tier divine spell as the Great Resurrection.

Given the current strength of the Medicine God Cult, Lu De and his group would have to avoid any of the thirteen big shots mentioned above as much as possible.

Therefore, the path of developing in a stealthy manner is still long and arduous!

The three quickly tidied up Narad's appearance when Eru returned with a group of adventurers from the other side of the dungeon hall.

As soon as the group arrived, they saw two black dragons, one male and one female, squatting nearby. Even though Eru had told them that these two dragons were "friendly forces," they couldn't help but feel nervous.