Chapter 150: The Goddess of Hedonism and Dark Moon
The ceremony to drive away the strange gods looked very complicated.
But Loria, who stood outside the fence and watched, was not nervous at all.
Before the ceremony officially began, she had already done two simulations, and both simulations went very smoothly.
Shortly after successfully expelling the "god" from the guildmaster's body, the members of the Goddess Cult came. They conducted a thorough examination of the guildmaster and Count Lidilia, and after confirming that everything was fine, they took away the creepy statue.
The guildmaster and Count Lidilia, who safely survived the crisis, improved their relationship because of this incident. Although they still didn't talk much, at least they no longer used cold tones to snap at each other.
So, Loria started a new routine of being trained by the guildmaster during the day, charming the guildmaster at night, and then training the guildmaster at night.
In the first simulation, their training process was accidentally discovered by Tracy due to bad luck. This news immediately spread, even flying into the imperial capital like it had grown wings.
The first heir of Count Lidilia's family and a village girl shamelessly engaging in such activities at home became the gossip topic for the nobles' discussions after tea.
After a heated argument, the guildmaster directly took Loria and left. From then on, they lived shamelessly, going wherever they pleased.
In the second practice, Loria let herself go and pulled Tracy in the moment Tracy discovered it.
Silencing someone is impossible, but Lady Knight is very skilled at silencing the girl.
In the previous simulations, she failed to eat a mother-daughter rice dish, but this time she finally enjoyed a sister rice dish.
And then...
The next morning, the guildmaster, who had come to her senses from extreme happiness and exhaustion, erupted.
"What did you do to my sister?"
"N-nothing, really."
"You dare to argue?"
Lady Knight felt extremely wronged.
Why are you arguing? You were clearly excited and went behind last night to lend a hand.
The guildmaster, who rarely shows anger and shame, broke Loria's legs, but only stopped after Tracy woke up and begged her.
The problem in front of the three of them is very real, what should they do next?
Whether it's Count Lidilia or the countess who finds out, they won't be able to escape from it.
It's easier to deal with the countess, as the defiant Loria suggests standing up and fundamentally solving the problem, but they can't fool Count Lidilia.
The three of them had to agree to pretend that last night's incident never happened.
That's what the guildmaster thought, but Tracy didn't think so.
The innocent girl was captivated by that feeling and came secretly to seek advice from Loria every few days.
It didn't take long for the guildmaster to discover this, and instead of blaming Tracy, she punished Loria, who willingly accepted it.
Finally, Loria had to choose to escape.
The succubus knight who had already tried the sisters' cover meal couldn't bear the pain of being hung up and beaten.
If you don't stay here, there's always a place for you to stay!
I went out to have fun. Goodbye, the guildmaster!
From that day on, there was a new legend in the imperial capital. It was said that a strange succubus always appeared at midnight, and whenever she showed up, a pair of sisters would suffer.
[Achievement Unlocked: Home-wrecker]
"Damn, too close-minded."
The simulation results left Loria speechless.
Despite being speechless, her attributes had increased quite a bit after these few days of simulation.
[Attributes]: Strength 75, Agility 61, Endurance 140, Intelligence 26, Spirit 67, Charm 14
On her journey to becoming a B-ranked adventurer, she took another big step forward.
Loria was in such a good mood that she felt like singing.
"All of this is thanks to the efforts of Count Lidilia's family!"
If it weren't for the contributions of the countess and Tracy, how could her endurance attribute have increased so quickly?
After realizing this, even though she was still being teased by the countess in reality, Loria wasn't angry at all. She even frequently smiled kindly at the countess, who had a disgusted look on her face.
This left the countess feeling powerless, and eventually she started doubting herself.
"Could it be that I'm so good-looking that even when I'm angry, I still look charming?"
For some reason, the countess faintly felt that she had found her confidence as a woman through Loria.
"Even though I'm not yet forty, my body is well taken care of and I believe I can still be considered a beautiful young woman, right?"
Soon, Countess's confidence was shattered once again.
Because she intentionally approached her daughter Tracy to try something, Tracy was so scared that she couldn't utter a word.
Seeing her daughter's reaction, Countess became even angrier, and Tracy almost cried from fear.
The more Countess thought about it, the angrier she became, especially when she realized that Count Lidilia, who couldn't appreciate her at all, she became so angry that she directly threw a vase.
"In this vast estate, only Loria, a girl from the outside village, understands and treats me differently. It's laughable, truly laughable!"
Unaware of what Countess was thinking, Loria was currently staring intently at the ceremony grounds.
Although she knew the outcome, she was still very interested in the process of the ceremony.
At this moment, a daring idea emerged in her mind.
Since the ritual to expel the god is successful, can she use this opportunity to get the wool from the unknown god?
First, give something in exchange for power, and then use the ritual to drive away the god once you obtain the power!
If this move can be repeated, she will soon become the top powerful person on the continent. Even if it can only be used once, she will still benefit greatly.
Loria nodded seriously and said, "Once the guildmaster is done here, I will go and try it out in a simulation!"
After a moment, the ritual officially begins.
The guildmaster stands within a pre-drawn red magic circle, surrounded by a circle of unusual white candles. Count Lidilia holds the eerie devil clown statue in his hand.
After a series of dazzling actions by Loria, the red magic circle starts emitting a fiery red light. the guildmaster, standing in the center of the circle, is illuminated like a beautiful female ghost from a horror movie.
Count Lidilia looks serious. For this moment, he has already tried many times, and now the most crucial moment has arrived.
Next, he needs to guide the "god" within Adeline's body to himself by finding this devil clown statue at the scene of the accident. This way, Adeline will be saved, and what happens afterwards is not important.
Difficult and unclear spells came out of Count Lidilia's mouth.
This is ancient writing that he deciphered from the back of the statue. According to the instructions in the writing, he learned that this ceremony was actually a trade ritual.
If you give, you will receive. Fair and just.
Although he didn't know the specific name of this "god," perhaps he could call it the God of Trade. However, his trading chips were quite strange.
This god didn't need money or precious items like the Goddess of Madness and Indulgence, who required her followers to become crazy and reckless.
What this god needed were the good things in human beings. Body parts like hands, feet, and chests could be traded, as well as emotions like happiness and relaxation, and concepts like the future and hope.
Count Lidilia had experimented before, trying to exchange excess fat for power with this god of trade. Unfortunately, the excess fat didn't seem to be recognized as something good.
A drop of blood fell from Count Lidilia's fingertip onto the pointed horn on top of the statue, and the blood slowly seeped into the statue.
Everything seemed calm, but Loria, who was watching, noticed something unusual.
In the dark night, a faint mist came from all directions. It moved slowly, but its coolness instantly swept through the entire site of the ceremony.
"It's so cold."
The countess and Tracy instinctively hugged themselves, their legs and neck trembling with cold.
The mist approached Count Lidilia and the guildmaster closer and closer. The coolness even made Loria feel uncomfortable.
"Wait, could this be a problem?"
Loria's face turned slightly pale.
Soon, she shook her head. She had simulated it twice already, and both times were successful. There should be no problem.
In any case, let's continue watching...
"Oh my goodness!"
Loria opened her eyes wide.
She clearly saw the surrounding mist begin to transform, with hands extending and sharp triangular heads poking out, a few of which were already close to Count Lidilia's neck.
No, the simulator didn't mention this at all, did something go wrong?
But she didn't do anything, everything was following the simulated process.
Should she intervene?
Loria was torn.
She was so focused on the arms forming in the black mist that she didn't notice the changes happening in her surroundings.
The situation was quite dire, even in the middle of the night there was some light around, but now all that light had completely vanished. They were like trapped in a dark swamp, with only the red light emitted from the magic circle illuminating nearby areas.
Just as Loria hesitated, the black arm had already tightened around Count Lidilia's neck.
When ordinary people are choked, their faces turn red, but Count Lidilia was different. His face directly turned a strange deep purple.
"Damn it, stop hesitating!"
Although it was unclear where the problem lay, the only option now was to take the initiative. If they waited any longer, Count Lidilia would die.
The death of her fellow student had deeply shaken the guildmaster. Loria found it hard to imagine what the guildmaster would become if her own father died before her.
She kicked down the fence in front of her, and as she rushed forward using Kitty's Pace, a large sword appeared in her hand.
Just as the enchanted flame sword was about to strike the arm formed by the black mist, a sudden change occurred. The arm that had been wrapped around Count Lidilia's neck twisted and expanded, skillfully evading Loria's attack. After circling around the magic circle, it transformed into a massive black mist giant, measuring seven or eight meters in height.
"Don't you dare touch the guildmaster!"
Because the opponent was a "god," Loria directly used the Flower of Melancholy, temporarily sacrificing happiness to impart a depressive effect to the swung Coagulated Blood Blade.
This sword strike was extremely precise, as the blade struck the giant, shattering it into countless pieces.
But Loria didn't relax her guard.
With the purpose of uprooting the grass, she once again used Kitty's Pace to charge towards the broken giant.
In front of her stood the guildmaster with closed eyes and the fallen demon clown statue.
With the sword raised high, moments before the strike, Loria's heart suddenly squeezed.
It was that inexplicable sudden squeeze, followed by a pain that completely surpassed her tolerance. Her body uncontrollably retreated seven or eight steps. Once she regained her balance, the pain disappeared without a trace.
"What's going on?"
Loria knew it was not an illusion.
Her face appeared a strange shade of white, and her body was instantly drenched in sweat. But miraculously, that sticky and uncomfortable feeling didn't generate any lustful impulse in her.
She stared intently at the black mist giant that had reformed.
It's not time to rest yet, we must drive away this monster or the guildmaster and Count Lidilia will get into trouble.
Loria moved forward again, but this time her steps stopped in mid-air.
The pain came back again.
And she could clearly feel that the pain was directed towards her.
Loria suddenly turned her head and fixed her gaze on the harmless-looking demon clown statue lying on the ground.
Was it the statue attacking her?
She wasn't sure, but it didn't look like something good.
Originally, she wanted to smash the statue with her sword, but now she suddenly changed her mind.
The destruction would definitely continue, but she didn't necessarily have to use her sword to do it.
Loria took a deep breath and suddenly noticed something very strange.
She had been waiting at this spot for a long time, but the intimidating black mist giant didn't come to attack her.
Not only the black mist giant, but Count Lidilia, countess, Tracy, they were all silent.
Loria quickly turned her head and when she saw all three of them lying on the ground, she knew she couldn't waste any more time.
"This statue is made of wood, so let's directly set it on fire!"
Loria appeared with a bottle of oil in her hand and accurately smashed it onto the statue, but the black mist giant didn't move.
After she threw the lit match out, the black mist giant still didn't move.
Swish-
Flames surged, and in the blink of an eye, they engulfed the statue.
In the flames, the statue twisted and Loria even heard a terrible scream.
"This statue really has a problem, but why didn't it cause any trouble in the simulation?"
Loria couldn't figure it out at all.
She continued to stare at the statue, which indeed wouldn't give up. After twisting like playdough pulled apart by a mischievous child, something – let's call it a blob – of black mud rushed out from the statue.
It dashed towards Loria at an unbelievably fast speed, accompanied by a strong mental impact.
Loria consecutively activated Succubus Eye and In all seriousness, but facing this bizarre opponent, both skills unsurprisingly failed.
She couldn't avoid the charge nor the mental impact.
Bang!
After a loud noise, Loria and the black mud collided heavily, but the tremendous force didn't send her flying. Instead, it threw her into a strange world.
In that instant, she felt her body completely weightless.
This is a vast darkness that cannot be seen to the end.
This is a place of emptiness without substance, space, or time.
Being here, Loria's senses were heightened beyond normal, and she followed an irresistible fascination to look ahead.
In the center of the darkness, a dark-colored moon floated in an unknown sea. Around the dark moon, a chilling and terrifying aura, like rolling waves, slowly rotated. The irregular tinkling sounds, like a passing evening breeze, instantly scattered all of Loria's emotions.
"Bang... bang... bang..."
Loria noticed that her heart rate was getting faster, as if it could jump out of her chest at any moment.
The overwhelming sense of nameless horror filled her, making her feel as tiny as an ant. But strangely, she didn't feel afraid or desperate because of this stark contrast. Instead, she felt a longing, as if that is what she should truly pursue.
In the next second, the dark moon "throbbed," and the dark tide spread rapidly.
Loria watched helplessly as the black mud that had bumped into her was washed away by the tide, ending up scattered at her feet.
"Um..."
When Loria regained her senses, she found herself back at the ritual site. After the chaos, the magic circle had been torn apart, and the demonic clown statue lay broken on the ground.
Dark Moon.
She couldn't help but think of her occupation.
The job description mentioned that the Dark Moon Priestess was a girl who believed in the Dark Moon, which could grant her power and pleasure.
This reminded her of the legendary demon who controlled lust, greed, and gluttony—
The Goddess of Hedonism and Dark Moon！
"So, is it possible..." Loria lowered her head, looking at her skirt and the completely wet ground beneath it. "I, too, have caught the attention of a divine being, and to a much deeper extent than the guildmaster?"
The guildmaster just made a deal with the strange god and became their "follower".
She even suspected that the thing targeting the guildmaster was not a god at all, because it was easily destroyed by the dark moon.
"Oh no, oh no, the reason I became so gloomy and terrifying, even worse than a succubus, must be because I was influenced by this dark moon goddess!"
Loria was greatly frightened.
Back then, she was such a pure-hearted girl, she didn't even understand what electricity was.
Now, she indeed hasn't generated any electricity, but just by standing there, it would rain heavily, which was much scarier than generating electricity.
"After a while, I might become synonymous with pornography, right?"
It's too scary.
Because she was too scared, Loria didn't even have time to check the new hints on the simulator.
She stood still for a moment and noticed that the guildmaster was swaying and about to fall, so she quickly went forward and hugged the guildmaster.
"Are you okay, the guildmaster?"
The guildmaster slowly opened her eyes and looked around confusedly, and she immediately saw Count Lidilia lying on the ground.
She struggled and rushed to Count Lidilia's side, lifting him up while he was unconscious.
"Dad, you can't die!"
This was the first time Loria heard the guildmaster call someone "dad" and saw her so anxious.
Seeing the guildmaster in such a desperate state tugged at her heart.
"I have healing medicine here."
She quickly took out all of her supplies and gave them to the guildmaster.
The guildmaster pried open Count Lidilia's mouth and poured the medicine in, but it seemed to have no effect.
"We can only borrow time from the simulator."
Loria opened the simulator, trying to check Count Lidilia's condition through simulation in order to respond accordingly.
Rows of simulated text appeared, and as Loria read it, her face became strange.
In the simulation, Count Lidilia remained lying on the bed, and even renowned doctors who came to examine him couldn't improve his condition.
But just then, Loria accidentally noticed Count Lidilia, who was lying in the hospital bed, opened his eyes and glanced at the guildmaster, who stood by the window in silent concern.
"You..."
"Shh!"
After some negotiation in the simulation, Lya finally discovered that Count Lidilia had been pretending all along. He had been lying in bed just to see how much the guildmaster would worry about him, which made him genuinely happy.
"..."
How did he become a father?
Loria, who was observing outside the simulation, looked at the guildmaster, who was still shouting anxiously, and couldn't help but feel speechless.
She ended up worrying along with the guildmaster, which was a waste of her emotional investment.
Never mind.
Since the guildmaster and the others are all fine, it's better to first take care of oneself and check what the simulator's previous hint was.
