Chapter 133: Snakehead Whip
December 18, 2014
Author: Zhuseng Floating Tower
The Snakehead Whip.
The most vicious special weapon in the Underdark can only be wielded by those trained in a special specialty, mostly priests of the Spider Queen. They use this weapon to torture enemies, inflicting extreme physical pain. The only others who wield this weapon are the Whip Maiden, who governs the domains of torture, pain, and punishment, and in recent centuries has been involved in the perverse pleasures, aiming to encroach upon the evil domains of desire, pleasure, and taboo.
If she succeeds.
She could strip the sexual and torture domains from the realm of desire and supplement the pain and torture domains, ultimately becoming a bridge to seize the domains of desire, pleasure, reproduction, and sexual relations. It is not necessary to become the deity of the entire world; even if she is merely the deity of sexual and torture worshipped by the Drow, she could still touch the divinity of desire.
Deities cannot simply expand their divine domains without reason. The powers of these domains are mutually extendable.
For instance, the core domain of the Spider Queen is ‘God of the Drow’, encompassing all realms related to the Drow. Underneath this divine domain, there are other subordinate divine domains of the Spider Queen, such as those related to spiders, evil, darkness, assassination, etc. Many deities, before killing their opponents, extend their divine domains to fully absorb the power of their foes.
“Ice and Snow Kingdom is not safe either.”
This was Soren’s first thought. His original plan was to bring Vivian here to avoid the impending year of turmoil. But everything in front of him suggested otherwise. Although the year of turmoil did not have a large-scale impact here, the Ice and Snow Turmoil has already begun to brew, and everything before him is undoubtedly related to the Whip Maiden, even if it would not explode completely until two or three years later. Before that, her followers were already active within the Ice and Snow Kingdom.
Nowhere is safe!
Soren felt as if the dead bodies before him were mocking him, taunting his cowardice and evasion. He had worked hard to bring Vivian here to escape the year of turmoil, but now it felt like a slap in the face, coldly reminding him that there is no truly safe place in this era. Even the Ice and Snow Kingdom, which he thought was untouched by the turmoil, was beginning to brew the upcoming storm of killing.
“Heh!…”
Soren’s expression twisted into a grimace, showing a trace of a neurotic smile. He slowly retracted the curved blade and looked up at the sky, murmuring, “Heaven, are you pushing me?…”
There is nowhere to escape.
If the Whip Maiden’s followers have truly arrived here, then the Ice and Snow Kingdom is not as safe as imagined.
Soren spent nearly a month traveling from Amber City to White Horse City, clearing away the wilderness monsters that blocked the way. He crossed the plains to reach Leaffall City, then entered the Elf Kingdom, traversing the Dream Forest, fighting for his life against those predators, and then crossing the desolate plains to enter the cold northern regions.
How much blood has he shed, how many times has he fought!!!
But everything before him seemed to give him a resounding slap, telling him that all his efforts over the past month appeared so ridiculous. He felt like a clown evading, but ultimately, he could not escape anything. Soren’s back was marked with scars, some left by lycanthropes and others by ogres, all for the sake of bringing Vivian away from danger, seeking a relatively safe place to avoid the year of turmoil. But the scene before him felt like a snakehead whip striking hard against his heart, vivifying him with a painful reminder that no different is escaping if you are still alive in this world!
There is no escape; no matter where he goes, it is useless!
Even the calmest Ice and Snow Kingdom is starting to brew a storm. There is no truly safe place left in the world.
Only battle remains.
Only battle is left!
Soren’s hand clenched tightly around the curved blade. His fingers turned pale from excessive force as he coldly glanced at the others around him; that ice-cold gaze was as sharp as a blade, causing them to back off quickly. It was a murderous intent, a tangible murderous intent that made those under his gaze feel a chill throughout their bodies!
Since escape is impossible.
Then let us fight!
For Vivian, and for himself, carve out a piece of this world!
He had already fled thousands of kilometers, almost crossing half the continent, but the bloody reality snapped him back to attention. Some things must be faced no matter how one tries to avoid them.
As long as you live in this world, you can never truly escape!
……………….
“Stop!”
A steady female voice suddenly rang out, and then a friendly-looking middle-aged woman approached accompanied by two young girls.
She furrowed her brows and glanced at Soren, then scanned the others, slowly saying, “What are you all doing? Put your weapons away!”
This middle-aged woman seemed to hold a very high status; upon seeing her, everyone involuntarily bowed slightly. Those who had drawn their weapons due to Soren’s actions hesitated before slowly putting them away. She was a priestess in the town, specifically a priestess of the Agricultural Goddess, and any deity closely related to their livelihoods would earn the respect of the people. The priestess of the Agricultural Goddess holds a very high position in society because anything related to food is given much importance.
Soren’s emotional turmoil lasted only a moment, then he slightly bowed in apology and slowly said, “I’m sorry. I was a bit agitated.”
The middle-aged woman looked deeply at him; her appearance was quite graceful and warm, filled with a maternal aura.
This was the power brought by the deity she served.
The Agricultural Goddess is the daughter of Mother Earth. After Mother Earth withdrew, she took over the domain of agriculture and is the only deity without a combat domain yet possesses an apex of strong divine power. The Agricultural Goddess’s divine power level is comparable to that of the Elven Deity, with subordinate deities like River Goddess, Mountain God, and Lake Goddess, standing as a special pantheon independent of nature, also serving as the connection between the nature deities and the human deities.
This Agricultural Goddess’s father is the Lord of Radiance!
The Lord of Radiance is the former Dawn Light, the deity worshiped by the young priestess of Amber City; he is the partner of Mother Earth and has a very close relationship with her. Although many deities intersected with the long life of Mother Earth, the Dawn Light is her most important companion.
Everything grows through sunlight, and Mother Earth nurtured the Agricultural Goddess.
He bestowed the domain of agriculture upon his daughter and helped her become a new deity. The Lord of Radiance is her most reliable ally, and the power of light protects the realm of agriculture. In just a few thousand years, she rose from weak divine power to strong divine power without having to kill any deities or incite any wars, thus relying on the expansion of her faith to become one of the most powerful deities in the world!
The followers of the Agricultural Goddess are spread across all farming races, and her temples can be seen almost everywhere.
Even some evil species hold sacrifice ceremonies for her at set times each year.
The domains stemming from the agricultural divinity are numerous, and the power it holds is immensely strong, underpinning the development of the entire world. Thus, the priestesses of the Agricultural Goddess are respected in human society, especially among the lower-class civilians, who revere her greatly as agriculture is their lifeline, and their well-being depends entirely on the harvest from the fields.
“Relax, child.”
The middle-aged woman extended her hand to stroke Soren’s forehead. He was somewhat resistant but did not pull away. A gentle power surged into his body, gradually calming his emotions; it was the motherly power of the Earth, inherited partially by the Agricultural Goddess. This power allowed Soren to calm down a bit, and the grip on his curved blade gently loosened. The Agricultural Goddess advocates better development in agriculture, seeking to use more food harvests to reduce conflicts and wars between races.
She is a neutral-good deity, the least combative of them all.
Evil species rarely worship good deities, but the Agricultural Goddess is an exception; she even has some followers from the evil factions.
It seems that she has embraced these followers as well.
Unlike the Lord of Radiance, whose eyes cannot tolerate the slightest grain of sand, the Agricultural Goddess strictly adheres to the principles of neutral goodness but strives to be as inclusive as possible.
“Very well,” the middle-aged woman smiled and said slowly, “Can you tell me what you know? This group of evil folks has recently caused a lot of panic, and we all hope to find them!”
Soren exhaled deeply and then slightly bowed, “It seems to be the followers and adherents of the Whip Maiden. The weapon used to kill them is the Snakehead Whip, a weapon extremely rare on the surface, and only the priests of the Spider Queen and the followers of the Whip Maiden can use it in the Underdark.”
The Whip Maiden?
The middle-aged woman’s brows tightened. Although the deity governing torture, pain, and whipping isn’t particularly strong, she is not easy to deal with at all.
Over a long period of time.
Some deities have inevitably fallen, but this one, despite having weak divine power, has lived longer than many evil deities with medium divine powers.
This is naturally not merely due to strength!
Pain and torture domains belong to the combat sphere; although the followers of the Whip Maiden are few, their combat power is substantial, and many of them are seasoned individuals with cruel methods and killing experience.
The middle-aged woman looked at Soren and smiled, “Child, you look very tired. Perhaps you would like to rest a bit in the town.”
She extended her hand invitingly.
…………….(To be continued ~^~)
