Chapter 175: Holding the Goddess, Invincible
Sharpening the Knife Does Not Delay the Woodcutter.
Before the official operation, Loria thought it would be more secure to simulate it first. Even if she couldn't obtain any useful information, at least she could improve her own abilities.
Overall, the progress of this simulation went smoothly.
Although they encountered fierce resistance when attacking the Emperor's temporary palace, and the Emperor successfully sent a distress signal, the result was shocking.
The commander who was entrusted with high hopes by the Emperor didn't send any troops after receiving the distress signal.
News later came out, saying that he directly burned the letter after receiving it.
"It seems that many people are unhappy with the actions of this dog Emperor," Loria couldn't help but sigh.
Loria couldn't help but feel amazed.
For these people, money and power can be put aside for now, the most important thing is to make the emperor disappear first!
In the end, everyone worked together to eliminate the Hidden Leader in this simulation, and then they lived happily ever after with the guildmaster.
Obviously, this ending is very unreasonable, because it doesn't mention the strange power that can devour everything, nor how they solve this big trouble.
"We can only take one step at a time."
Loria is not satisfied with the rewards from this simulation, she only gained 1 point of endurance and 1 point of strength. But besides these basic rewards, she unexpectedly triggered a new special event.
[Congratulations, the player triggered the special event 'New Sun' and gained an additional 10 points of freedom attribute.]
[Special Event - New Sun.]
[The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, almost eternal. When the old sun sets, a new sun will rise.]
"Are you trying to instigate me to rebel?"
Oh my, whenever I feel sleepy, someone brings me a pillow.
Loria got really excited. This event came just in time. Not only could she gain 10 points of Freedom attributes, but she could also eagerly anticipate the rewards after the time was up.
She decisively added all 10 attribute points to her stamina. After a few days of training, her attributes experienced a significant increase once again.
[Attributes]: Strength 153, Agility 122, Stamina 286, Intelligence 87, Spirit 201, Charm 14.
Compared to when she just became a B-level adventurer, these stats were already quite impressive.
"As long as I follow along and complete some tasks, I don't need to worry about those A-level adventurers backed by the Church's Golden Knights and the strong ones from the Adventurers Management Guild."
After packing her bags neatly, Loria quickly ran towards the meeting place.
This time, she didn't bring Vita with her.
Vita's combat power was unquestionable, but her fighting style was too conspicuous. Anyone with a keen eye could tell that she couldn't escape her connection with the Hidden Leader.
In this chaotic situation, it's better to be more discreet.
Actually, at first Loria didn't even want to bring the guildmaster along. It was rebelling and could cost their lives. It's very dangerous, so it's better to let the first wife stay at home and wait for news!
Unfortunately, this first wife seems to think of herself as the "husband."
As soon as she took her first step, the guildmaster quickly walked a few steps ahead, protecting her.
Hurry?
It's impossible to hurry.
Loria doesn't think she can control the guildmaster unless they are close together. Even in her own territory, she has to put in more effort and tricks to make the guildmaster collapse.
Then let's go together.
Loria feels fortunate that Doris happily joined her and didn't show any resistance.
This saved her a lot of effort.
After taking care of Doris for so long, isn't it just hoping that she can "earn money" in the future?
"Charge, charge, charge! My big sword is starving and impatient!"
This operation is essentially rebellion, but when communicating externally, the slogans are similar to "supporting the emperor on one side" and "punishing the traitors of the country."
If they go up and directly chop off the emperor's head, it will definitely cause great chaos.
The foundation of the Oder Empire's rule is already shaky, but the royal family has been in existence for hundreds of years. There are still many die-hard supporters. The best way is to first control the emperor, then deal with the disaster brought by the Hidden Leader, and finally force the emperor to abdicate through intense confrontation.
Ten o'clock in the evening.
Near the palace, a military operation began.
The troops, commanded by A-class adventurers, quietly moved through the quiet alleys.
At the same time, Theo and several units from the Northern Army secretly began to act without the knowledge of the commander.
When it comes to rebellion, it's important to act quickly and decisively, but Brigadier General Charles still had to consider what to do in case of failure.
Surrendering was out of the question. If they were to fail, they would escape and rely on their loyal followers to continue resisting.
Times have changed. The Empire no longer had the ability to send a large army to eliminate them, especially with the rebels from the Hidden Leader organization nearby.
"Why hasn't the shift change arrived yet?"
"Here they come! Sorry, I had stomach trouble earlier, so I'm a bit late."
"It won't kill you."
Outside an iron gate, a few soldiers in uniforms were engaged in a playful argument.
The commotion continued until the shift change procedure was completed. As the previous guards left, the two newcomers yawned tiredly.
"You go left, I'll go right, we'll go in different directions."
"Okay."
The person who made the suggestion turned around, holding a gun and walking towards the distance.
Everything was calm, except for a sudden bird call in the wilderness.
He wouldn't have expected that, at that moment, a dark shadow swept across his comrade's neck.
Splutter—
The severed head fell to the ground, its sound completely covered by the bird call.
"What should we have for breakfast tomorrow morning?"
The person who made the suggestion thought of delicious sausages, licked their lips, and let their relaxed voice drift in the wind.
After he left, Loria walked to the body lying flat in the grass.
The golden knight who took action said in a dull voice, "Let another team deal with that person, hurry up."
Is this the tough guy?
She thought that all golden knights were polite like Sharon, but it seems she simplified the problem. The Goddess Church can stand strong in the Ozel continent not only because of its followers spread across the continent, but also because of a powerful armed force that can eliminate the threat of heresy.
These people have been fighting against heretics all year round, both in strength and mentality, they excel in being ruthless.
Let's go.
Loria followed closely behind the golden knight as they made their way deeper into the palace.
Their task is to eliminate the sentries along the way, protecting Charles and his loyal supporters.
When they first infiltrated the palace, it was easy because the sentries they encountered on the way were ordinary soldiers. However, as they got closer to the emperor's residence, even the use of camouflage magic became less effective.
The royal knights, who are as famous as the Golden Knight, are not easy to deal with.
However, Charles had already anticipated this. In order to break through the defense of the royal knights, he traveled around looking for like-minded people, all leading up to this moment.
"Do you want to protect such a foolish emperor?"
"It is our duty. No matter what you say, we will not back down."
"Then there's nothing more to say."
The battle officially begins.
This time, Loria doesn't recklessly rush forward as a shield.
The opponents include A-grade adventurers, and even with her endurance enhanced, her stamina can only reach 354 points. She simply can't withstand the attacks from those A-grade adventurers.
Her mission is to cooperate with Sharon and deal with the weaker royal knights.
This is their specialty.
She doesn't need to rely on Energy Vampire. With the shadow skills that make her opponents' movements uncoordinated, and the Eyes of Dark Moon that can slow down their speed, she, together with Sharon and the guildmaster, can easily defeat the opponents.
Just as the simulator said, although they encountered strong resistance outside the emperor's residence, due to the suddenness of the situation and the large number of people, by eleven o'clock that night, Loria successfully broke through the defense line and was the first to attack the emperor's residence.
The next thing to do is simple, as long as they can capture the emperor before more royal knights return to defend, the coup will be a success.
But unfortunately, something unexpected happened.
When they rushed into the emperor's residence, what they saw was not a trembling emperor, but an emperor wrapped in a four to five-meter-tall humanoid crimson shadow!
The crimson shadow was covered with growths that looked like tumors, and beneath the twisted muscles were swollen "blood vessels," in which things of varying lengths and thicknesses flowed, giving people an involuntary association with wriggling worms.
"What is this thing?"
Loria widened her eyes.
The simulator didn't mention this at all, which means...
Sharon exclaimed, "This is... the aura of a different god?!"
As expected.
Loria's expression darkened.
After so many failed simulations, she had figured out the pattern. Anything related to the Ruins couldn't be completely reproduced by the simulator.
As expected, the emperor's power came from a different god.
This surprised everyone.
It's important to know that on the surface, the entire royal family of the Oder Empire were loyal followers of the Goddess of Dawn, Wind, and Sky. The success of the Goddess's religion was closely connected to the support of every emperor.
But reality showed everyone present that it was all a lie. The emperor had been secretly consorting with a different god.
"No wonder he is so cautious of the goddess."
The guildmaster frowned slightly.
Through the red shadow, she could see that the emperor inside was in a bad state, with a fierce look on his wealthy face.
"You rebels, how dare you do such wicked things!"
The emperor's scolding echoed in the palace.
Brigadier General Charles, who hurried after everyone else, had a gloomy expression. "Your Majesty, it's time to wake up. If you continue like this, the Oder Empire will be destroyed."
The emperor became even angrier, to the point that the shadow "burned".
"Charles, I had high hopes for you. Is this how you repay my kindness?"
Brigadier General Charles replied, "It is precisely because of Your Majesty's kindness that I must do this. I cannot stand idly by and watch the empire fall into the hands of those heretical rebels, the Hidden Leader!"
The emperor shouted, "Nonsense, your nonsense! Get out of here right now, and maybe I'll spare your life!"
Brigadier General Charles didn't back down at all, "The glory of the empire will continue forever, Your Majesty. As the emperor of the empire, you should understand this better than me. I can't watch you continue to cause trouble. If you remain obstinate, then I will have to ask you to fall ill."
"Hahaha..." The emperor laughed wildly, "I am the emperor of the empire. What are you, dare to lecture me?"
"..."
The emperor grew even more arrogant, "The empire is my empire. I can make it whatever I want. You and all these people around you, the commoners outside, are just toys in my hand. All you need to do is obediently follow my will!"
Curse.
Loria's blood pressure shot up.
"Was this dog emperor always so arrogant?" she turned to Sharon and asked.
Sharon shook her head.
In her mind, the emperor she remembered was mediocre and weak. He lacked decisiveness in important matters and would never say such rude words with such a fierce attitude.
It seems like that strange deity still influenced his mental state.
"First, control him before anything else."
Everyone exchanged glances and immediately launched an attack.
Buzz -
The red phantom spread open its arms, accompanied by a deep roar from its throat, causing the palace to uncontrollably shake.
"Wait, there's movement under our feet!"
Loria, with an extremely sensitive body, sensed the abnormality first.
However, this didn't stop the prepared red phantom.
Suddenly, the ground broke apart with a loud noise. From the cracks, countless red flesh pulp surged out like squeezed foam.
Several people couldn't dodge in time and their legs were touched by the bloody flesh pulp. In the blink of an eye, their feet were assimilated by the flesh pulp.
"Ah, ah, ah, help me, save me—"
The sound of their terrified screams pierced through the night sky, but no one could reach them in time. They could only watch as their legs, bodies, melted away piece by piece, like a melting snowman, consumed by the unknown substance.
Finally, when their mouths were also swallowed, the screams abruptly stopped.
Gurgling.
Loria's face turned pale as she watched several bubbles suddenly rise from the wriggling blood-red flesh pulp.
How could these strange gods be becoming more and more mysterious?
Even someone with extraordinary endurance like her would be helpless when encountering such monsters.
Once she lost an arm or leg, it would take her at least 45 seconds to trigger the effect of Healing Through Breathing, but how could the emperor give her so much time?
"No retreat!"
Seeing someone showing signs of hesitation, Brigadier General Charles couldn't help but shout.
"Do you think he will spare you just because you're running now?"
Of course not.
But fear is a natural instinct, so how could overcoming it be easy?
At this moment, Brigadier General Charles took the lead and, disregarding his own safety, charged forward, becoming one with the walls of blood and flesh that burst out.
Such actions greatly stimulated the adventurers who came with him.
"Kill this monster!"
People rushed up one after another.
The power of the strange god was unimaginable, although it couldn't be released indefinitely due to the need for a vessel, it still resisted the wave of attacks organized by Brigadier General Charles.
"Damn it."
Loria quickly threw the big sword she was holding.
She successfully split the bloody flesh wall with one swing of her sword, but because of the close contact with the flesh paste, her sword dissolved instantly and quickly spread towards her arm, forcing her to abandon the weapon.
Things were going to go bad if this continued.
There were indeed several big swords stored in her inventory, but those swords couldn't withstand the ravages of the bloody flesh wall.
Once all the big swords were damaged, could she still fight against the bloody flesh wall with her bare hands?
That was clearly seeking a death wish.
Loria looked and saw several adventurers forced into a desperate situation because they lost their weapons and ended up dissolved into a new bloody mush.
The situation was very bad, and what made Loria feel worse was that if things continued like this, the guildmaster would be done for.
"Is this the power of the gods?"
The data from Insightful Perception feedback showed that the emperor's attributes had just reached the B-level standard. Normally, even Doris could beat him to a pulp.
However, relying on this untouchable bloody mush, he became the dominant ruler of the entire field.
"We can't keep going like this."
Loria clenched her teeth.
She thought of the goddess statues she had saved. In fact, she had prepared to use this against the evil god artifact long ago. But because there were several golden knights standing beside her, she didn't dare to make a move, afraid of being misunderstood as a pervert who defiled the goddess.
But now the situation was urgent, and she couldn't worry about that anymore.
"the guildmaster, move quickly!"
Loria shouted loudly.
The guildmaster instinctively turned her head and saw that the large sword in Loria's hand was gone, replaced by a medium-sized statue of a goddess.
"Huh?"
Not only was the guildmaster startled, but Sharon next to her was also stunned.
Ignoring the astonishment of the others, Loria grabbed the goddess statue and rushed out.
The seemingly heavy statue was as light as a bamboo in her hands, and the seemingly ordinary statue was as sharp as a sword.
With the first strike, the bloody wall blocking their way was cut in half, and what was most amazing was that there was no sign of it being able to regenerate.
"This is interesting!"
Loria was overjoyed.
This completely destroyed the terrifying healing power of the bloody flesh walls.
Others who had never seen such a scene were amazed and terrified. Among them were followers of the Morning Breeze and the Sky Goddess, and at this moment, their only thought was...
Beast, what are you doing with the goddess statue?
Loria didn't care what others thought. She continued to wave the statue in her hand, completely immersed in her own world, nothing could stop her.
"Die, you dog emperor!"
She jumped out.
The crimson ghost finally reacted.
It continuously gathered more bloody flesh walls in an attempt to stop Loria, but it was useless.
If there's one wall, smash one wall; if there are two walls, smash two walls.
Loria held the goddess in her hand, and she became like a warrior!
Finally, after breaking through the last bloody flesh wall, she successfully reached the red shadow.
"I am the emperor, you..."
The emperor shouted anxiously.
He had seen all kinds of scenes before, but he had never seen a scene like this.
"So you're the emperor, huh? You're the emperor, huh?"
Anger rose from within, and Loria lifted the goddess statue in her hand and smashed it towards the red shadow.
The red shadow couldn't dodge in time and was hit hard on the head.
Boom!
Suddenly, the head of the ghostly figure caved in and its previously solid form began to tremble uncontrollably.
Loria relentlessly smashed one after another.
"Stop, please stop."
"Ah... you're inviting death upon yourself...stop..."
"Stop her, someone stop her!"
"You dare to defy me, peasant?"
"I'll make you a Duke, please stop!"
Loria paid no attention.
After being hit seventeen times in a row, the entire red shadow was buried under the impact and shattered into countless invisible pieces.
"Dog Emperor, are you still going to call?"
Loria stepped on the Emperor's chest, feeling an unprecedented sense of triumph.
