Chapter 89: The Hunt Against the Deity
October 11, 1676 of the New Moon Era.
On the ruins of Silver Moon City, a strange silver glow suddenly emanated one evening, visible even from a distance. The glow lasted only a brief moment, and then a deep fissure appeared at the site of Silver Moon City’s ruins, reaching deep into the underground relics, where faint, eerie sounds could be heard by those standing at the edge of the crack. This strange event quickly spread through various channels to many places, reaching Soren three days later.
Desolate Highlands.
Soren glanced at the transmitted magical message and murmured, “Has the instance of Silver Moon City ruins opened?”
“So it opened at this time.”
Silver Moon City ruins.
This was a dungeon area that spellcasters had to visit back in the day; many secrets were hidden here, as Silver Moon City was one of the most prosperous and powerful cities of its time.
During the Saint’s Cataclysm.
Among adventurers, there was a saying — “Only those wizards who graduated from the ruins of Silver Moon City can be considered true high-level spellcasters.”
The reason for this was simple.
It wasn’t because the ruins of Silver Moon City dropped any exceptional equipment, but rather because there was a special secret chamber that recorded an extremely rare method of enchanting.
— Tattoo Enchantment!
This was a special technique mastered by the Red Robe Wizards long ago; for some reason, it remained in one of the secret chambers. This special enchanting technique allowed wizards to permanently inscribe a spell as a tattoo on their bodies. This spell could be sustained indefinitely, theoretically up to an 8th-circle spell. In the adventurer party Soren once belonged to, there was a wizard who had permanently inscribed the spell ‘Dragon Wings’ on his body.
This technique provided a massive enhancement for wizards; while it might affect aesthetics slightly, its practicality was extraordinarily strong!
Desolate Highlands, the territory of the orcs.
The orc tribes in the western wilderness had not engaged in combat with humans for a long time, largely due to the sudden disappearance of their deity. The effects of the Orc Wars had lasted for over a thousand years. A pantheon from another world had impacted this world around the time of the last turmoil, causing many unforeseen accidents; remnants of followers from that otherworldly pantheon still linger in the desert regions.
For many races, as long as the orcs did not start a war, it wasn’t a major concern.
Perhaps it was in their nature.
Among the orc pantheon, there were several deities with dominions over war; the core divine profession of the orc god was [Conquest]. Below this god was a war deity overseeing the [War] divine profession, with long-standing conflicts often having the shadows of deities behind them.
Soren passed through a thicket of thorns.
Before him lay an eerie jungle; it was eerie due to the many corpses of beasts and some traces left by elves.
The followers of the God of the Hunt included numerous intelligent evil beasts.
Everything in front of him indicated to Soren that a battle had occurred here not long ago, and he was very surprised to realize that the elves had acted even faster than he had imagined. They had directly confronted the big boss behind the scenes.
“Where did they get the confidence to challenge a deity?”
Soren gazed at a corpse before him, recognizing the emblem of the Silver Moonwalkers; indeed, it was the Silver Moonwalkers that had taken action, as only they could track down the body of the God of the Hunt and were even quicker than Soren.
Could Lady Silver Moon also be here?
This thought came to Soren’s mind. However, he quickly cast it aside; Lady Silver Moon’s archrival was her sister, the Lady of the Night. If Lady Silver Moon appeared here, the probability of the Lady of the Night intervening would be incredibly high. It was possible that a terrifying disaster would erupt prematurely. After countless years of struggle, the two goddesses might start fighting before the Saint’s Cataclysm truly erupted.
The power level of the Lady of the Night was no laughing matter; if they truly clashed, the entire world would be severely affected!
“Lady Silver Moon shouldn’t appear here.”
Soren quickly realized. Recognizing that he still had a chance, he murmured, “Before the Goddess fell, Lady Silver Moon’s power was always below medium divine power, meaning she must have been evading the Lady of the Night. Given the current circumstances, she couldn’t possibly be a match for the Lady of the Night. Therefore, the possibility of Lady Silver Moon being here is very low; it’s likely just the Silver Moonwalker organization preparing to deal with the God of the Hunt.”
“However!”
“On what basis do they believe they can successfully slay a god?”
The greatest characteristic of the Saint’s Cataclysm.
Is that mortals may also succeed in slaying gods, and it is precisely for this reason that terrible turmoil has ensued.
All deities were cast into Saint form, theoretically allowing anyone to d*e during the Saint’s Cataclysm; the immortality of the gods had disappeared. While previously d*ath could be followed by resurrection, now, the d*ath of any deity was indeed final. The God of the Hunt, Mara, was now effectively a top-tier legendary creature with a staggering challenge level, possibly at profession levels between 35-40, possessing some domain power along with a small amount of divine power.
If one was willing to stack lives, it was certainly possible to bury the god.
In the past, many deities had been literally buried under the heads of adventurers; divine power would always run out, confining the space around the battlefield, allowing even deities in Saint form to not escape.
Soren left a spatial coordinate behind.
Plans always seem to fall short of changes; this world would not stop for his wishes, and many things had already begun to unfold, but there was little he could do, and knowing did not offer any solution.
The traces of battle grew denser.
More corpses of beastmen and elves began to appear before him. The Silver Moonwalkers clearly had the upper hand, and as he progressed, Soren noticed a terrifying trace.
That trace was left upon the body of a burly werewolf.
From its life energy, this werewolf seemed to be a legendary creature, yet it had been instantly slain by someone.
Artifact!
Soren briefly glanced at it and confirmed this.
These Silver Moonwalkers had brought an artifact over, though he couldn’t determine which one, but its power was astonishing.
The material plane has retained certain artifacts; most are within mortal organizations. It is conservatively estimated that dozens of artifacts remain on the material plane, though probably only about ten or so have truly appeared before the public eye.
These artifacts will not emerge en masse until the Saint’s Cataclysm erupts completely!
The reason is simple.
Only by using these artifacts can one easily break through the divine shields of the gods in their Saint forms; by the same time next year, more artifacts will begin to surface.
“What is this!?”
Soren suddenly stopped, his brow furrowed tightly as he turned over a corpse before him, his face darkening, “A Paladin?”
The corpse of a Paladin.
It was not from the ascetic Paladin organization hailing from the barren Gobi, but from the human kingdom’s shining faction.
The God of the Hunt, Mara, belongs to the Chaotic Evil faction.
For the vast majority of Lawful Good Paladins, this God of the Hunt was simply unacceptable; the Holy Avengers had not handled him directly largely due to being out of reach.
“Is this a battle paladin who accidentally joined due to their ideology of justice, or is there truly a Paladin organization intervening?”
Soren couldn’t help but quicken his pace.
Deep within this jungle, one could see the altar and statue of the God of the Hunt, Mara; being a deity active in the wilderness, he lacked a grand temple, and the temple and altar currently visible should be the core area for spreading his faith. The number of corpses on the ground was increasing, and there were traces of bloody sacrifices nearby; something must have happened, or else the Silver Moonwalkers wouldn’t have brazenly rushed into the God of the Hunt’s lair.
—“Shadows conceal!”
Traces of battle came from ahead, and Soren’s figure vanished into the dark in an instant.
An altar over three hundred meters in diameter.
Many statues were erected beside it, and at the back stood a primitive temple established within the jungle. The worst thing happened; he saw many Silver Moonwalkers, a team of Broken Ones monks serving the Weeping God, and a group of paladins clad in silver-white armor.
The entire vicinity of the temple had turned into a battlefield.
Silver Moonwalkers, followers of the God of Suffering, devotees of the Forest Queen, Paladins, and some individuals Soren could not identify but should belong to the Lawful Good faction, were currently battling a group of Predators.
At the very center of the altar was a gigantic, fierce creature resembling a baboon with black fur and a crimson face, making it hard to describe what the God of the Hunt, Mara, looked like, though its head somewhat resembled the most powerful demon lord of the Bottomless Abyss — the ‘Two-Headed Baboon.’ Surrounding it was a legendary-level extermination team, attacking the God of the Hunt, Mara, which included a legendary Paladin, a legendary monk, three legendary Silver Moonwalkers, a legendary druid, a legendary radiant priest, a legendary-level and healing-versed priest of the Weeping God, along with a ranger-c*m-priest, likely a follower of the Forest Queen.
Of course!
Even with all these individuals, it was still impossible to k*ll the God of the Hunt, as the deity’s true form possessed terrifying power.
What shocked Soren even more was what had slain a legendary werewolf, for in the hands of that Paladin, he saw one of the strongest weapons from the material plane.
—“Pale Justice!”
………………
(PS: Feeling much better now. Should recover by tomorrow. Suddenly realized today is actually my birthday. Oops. Just wanted to share a cute moment, roll around a bit.) (To Be Continued ~^~)
