99 human, beastman, elf, dwarf followers gained
Total follower count updated. Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 22461
Im dead. I never want to do that ever again.
I turned around, smirking as I watched Asaka laying on Rajahs back like a starfish with her limbs limply wiggling around as the ground continued to shake like a miniature earthquake. Her new robesan edgy black overcoat-like robe made from mana threads with white-golden stripes and embroidery, mostly depicting Ilsaphones symbol and the moon,given to her by Saelariels Church of Marsvenwere getting dirty from Rajahs shedding fur
Hello, Dead, but sadly, you will have to continue since I just learned how useful it is to have more than one holy-mage cleric. Water magic just cant heal as much as we can, hehe.
Asaka glared at , clearly unamused by my dad joke, but she just didnt get the real joke! The play on words considering she was now a certified and accepted Saintess of Ilsaphone! Ah, this delinquent sure had the humor of a dry fish if she couldnt understand my genius!
Okay, my attempt to cheer her up a bit kinda failed. Well, it was true she was exhausted, but so was I, as the both of us had spent the last four days as dics for the many people injured as a result of Maagneils attack. Far too many people died, but, fortunately, most were injured inside the Hub and the festival grounds.
Asaka fully utilized her [Twilight Paladin] to nd peoples wounds with that beige sli, while I perford the more complicated surgery with [Miraculous Grace]. Honestly, watching her work was more interesting to , as her sli acted almost like glue, keeping organs, limbs, and skin together. Considering the unique skill ca from Ilsaphone, it made sense why it acted and felt so similar to the onnikais body regenerating sli.
She could totally make so zombies using that thing if she learned how to control them. Fitting for a Saintess of Ilsaphone. The only thing stopping her from learning how to do it would be her own lack of interest in fighting.
But, that wasnt the real reason why we spent four days as doctors; it was cause of the big guy sitting before us as the ground was rumbling, due to it acting like an elevator. I looked up, inspecting the titanic rank A drake, Manethala, a being large enough to push a skyscraper down like a kid kicking down a lego tower. Still, he was far smaller than the leviathan I t in the Belzac forest.
It took four days for Manethala to recover from his wounds and the ntal corruption inflicted on him by Maagneils aberration. Due to his fight with Neill, Yorshka, Master, and the other blessed, his outer carapace he used to roll around was broken, leaving his rock-like skin exposed. In addition, this ant we could see multiple scars across his body from spears, arrows, and a certain attack that left long line-like wounds, as I couldnt heal him after the fight as I had [Arcane Fever].
Honestly, Neills bragging was a bit exaggerated, as the efforts of the other fighters was apparent, but the long line-like scars, so similar to the scars left from lightning damage, caused by her dragon paths would decorate this drakes body for a long ti. Scars could be prevented if you healed them with healing spells in ti, but if you allowed it to heal naturally or through potions, they would remain.
Regardless, unlike Mom, he woke up sooner than I thought. Thankfully. Still, his ti asleep gave the ti to heal the people from the expedition force. The dragonewt pair who helped out with that rank S dragonslayer GalgPradreo and Skardrvohad lost multiple limbs, Farrons organs were in disarray, and the many other survivors were all sporting devistating wounds in need of a miracle to heal. I was just glad they lived through everything, considering how many had died to that dragonslayer.
Speaking of Galg, I was right to assu that one of his party mbers had recovered from her near death experience by my sisters hands. Rikara, the leonid berserker, had lost her right arm and a part of her chest in that area hit by Siss [Freikugel], to the point I saw her ribs and lungs. She was transported out of the dungeon, where people confird she survived through potions and her huge Health stat.
Well, she was now in stable condition due to Asaka and I, and was now in the custody of the dwarves. Honestly, considering she tried to assassinate , I really didnt want to deal with her. Whether to judge or to interrogate her, I left it to people who were more invested in it, as I couldnt really be bothered by it. I an, I had bigger things to do, like speak with a Goddess!
Correct call to wait.
Asaka and I werent the only ones going down to the dungeons temple. Tasianna, Ellaine, Grimnir, Master, and another blessed were accompanying usRudigan Vagunyga, a Champion of Crustacia and the cousin of the Ankoran Queen. Strange, as aside from a one ti greeting, we were practically strangers. So, why was he here while Saori wasnt?
Well, that wolf friend of mine had her own Divine Quest to fulfill, as she was being tasked to transport over 1000 beastn slaves from her raid on the grimgarian army back to the Beastn Alliance, Carmaniate. That ant she had to move them all from the very south up to the dwarves to allow them to use the train.
I an, sure, I could have sped up my friends job a bit with my subspace fast travel function, but I was distrustful of them. There were over 1000 people I didnt know or could trust; not even Saori could! Also, there was the logistical impossibility for , as the subspace fast travel function demanded a huge amount of mana due to the distance from Port Annencia, where they were located, to the dwarven capital.
Who was supposed to shoulder that for over 1000 people? ? I could transport multiple parties full of people once per day, but a 1000? Yeah, why not just kill with arcane corruption already. Mom? Hell no, I wouldnt use my own mother as a mana battery for sothing like this and Saori understood that, as she never asked to do any of this. She was a good friend.
That was why she wasnt here, while Mister Rudigan was here to help with my own Divine Quest.
Divine Quest: Uncover the truth behind this golem and solve the problem on hand with them
Quest Giver: Origin Goddess of Earth, Craftsmanship, Minerals, and Creation, Crustacia
Description: Yo, Crustacia here on the permission of Aurena, little Hestia! Kinda a bad mont for to et you, but I honestly didnt expect to et them in this dungeon. The earth told they would return, but this?
Well, vision through dwarves told enough to get the gist of the plan, but I cant tell you! Yeostars intervention made Goddess Plesia veeeery mad and she just put out a punishnt I aint wishing to experience. You gotta do it yourself and its not gonna be easy, but I promise ya a big reward. And, trust , I know how to please an otherworlder quite well! So, accept it, little Hestia!
Reward: A unique skill on anybody you wish, 1 level, reason for why the gods arent speaking, an additional reward depending on how you solve this whole situation
For my reward, I wanted Crustacia to bestow upon Grimnir a unique skill, but not only that, I also wanted her to make him a blessed.
As much as I like the underground, going through this dungeon all over again would have driven crazy, Grimnir agreed with what Rudigan just comnted. He then turned silent, though, grumbling a bit with downcasted eyes. But, still, lass, are you sure?
I nodded. You are the fifth mber of Aurora. I know you are keeping your oath to by helping out as a smith, but I know you have your own stake in this Divine Quest of mine now. You have a real reason to fight, aside from service, loyalty, and friendship.
Grimnirs eyes went wide, letting out a deep sigh. He stroked his beard, contemplating my words, but he understood I was speaking the truth. During the Maagneil incident, Grimnir saw the dead body of his beloved cousin, Broggart, being resurrected by a demonic aberration of the Prince of Greed. With the mastermind nowhere to be found, and Maagneil dead, Grimnir couldnt understand how all of this happened.
How did his cousin and uncle get into this ss in the first place? The only way to find the answer was to find the mastermind behind everything and what exactly happened, so Grimnir needed the strength to fight back. He had to transcend from being a rank B fighter, even if he was also a master blacksmith and runesmith.
[My apologies, dwarf,] Manethala suddenly spoke to us.
Dont worry about it. Grimnir waved his hand, still looking pensively. He then looked at and nodded. Right you are, lass. Right you are I need to understand.
Manethala told us he didnt know how Broggart was brought back to life, as he didnt witness the event, while KleaHatma and VifiYokour two most knowledgeable mbers when it ca to anything demonicexplained it would be impossible for the aberration to perfectly mimic a person before their death. That demonic orb thing could transform into monsters to protect itself, after all.
So, how did all of this happen? Well, that was why, in the end, Grimnir agreed to beco the third blessed for Aurora, despite how he still viewed himself as a criminal. He wanted, no, I think he needed to know.
Also, after having to rely on my allies so much in the events this last month, it reinforced the idea that their strength was also mine. As Saori and everybody told , it wouldnt hurt to put my trust in them, especially for any future battles, and that was why I wanted to get more blessed.
It wouldnt hurt to usurp so more divine powers from those blessings, right? Ehehe. I smiled at the fact [Battle Frenzy] allowed to use the divine powers of my blessings and those I usurped, like [Flashfire] and [Light Horizon], although considering what Plesia and Ilsaphone did to circumvent my ability, Crustacia could just troll with a useless skill.
[Bearer of Kargryxmors Blood] effects on [Battle Frenzy]: [Flashfire] [Light Horizon] [Marine Lungs] [Soul Vision]
Those last two Haaaa. If you cant stop the usurpation, just troll the system.
Grimnir.
Interrupting my thoughts on how the gods were giving diocre skills for to usurp, I turned around, watching a dwarf in a full suit of armor walk over to us. With every step he took, the ground shook a bit from the weight of his equipnt, as the Earthshaker armor he wore made him seem like a tank on legs.
Ever diligent, huh? I thought as everybody was wearing casual clothing, while he looked ready for a fight.
Even with the Divine Quest of Princess Hestia, ya should prove yourself. As one of her Champions, I will not allow you to join the illustrious blessed of the Earth Pantheon if you lack even an ounce of piety or conviction. Although a Champion just like Tehmrayn, that stoic, stick-up-his-ass naga blessed of Plesia, Rudigan was quite a bit more lax. Still, his deep voice escaping his visor was intimidating and it made him scarier than he should be.
You think Im weak? Grimnir raised an eyebrow.
Ive seen ya fight, ya idiot. You could use so training unless you want to embarrass the Earth Mother and ya young mistress but it aint bad, the dwarf scoffed.
However, Grimnir only bellowed out a laugh, causing Rudigan to do the sa. Both dwarves shook hands, showing the camaraderie they built up as two expedition mbers. They fought side by side inside the Event dungeon, so would you call this a bromance? Similar to what Tatsuya and Kyouya shared?
Rudigan took off his helt, revealing a dwarven man with a long scar going from his forehead down to his lips, blinding his right eye and taking a chunk off his nose. He had other smaller cuts on his face, too, but another prominent scar was a large burn wound that removed the left side of his hair and ear, leaving him bald. I couldnt help but gulp.
A Champion must be strong cuz they fight for their god; ya aint fighting random bandits or monsters, ya get rank A warriors, titanic creatures, and sotis also other blessed. That Tehmrayn knows best for the latter one. He then pointed at his two scars. This slash? A duel with a swordsman striving to beco a sword saint. This burn? A Champion and Saint of Danterno ssing with lava under a hold. Got another wound on chest from a rank A monster.
Blessed from Danterno? Tsk, those people from his church keep causing trouble.
Grimnir scoffed, Hmm? And? I fought a rank A before. Fought an Earth Elental Emperor, even if theyre weakened. Never alone like you perhaps, but if youre imply my brav
Aint the point. The point is that a smith aint need to see combat if his stuff keeps everybody else alive. My opinion. Unlike Plesia and Aurena, the other four Origin Gods dont take too many blessed, I believe, since their respective patron races Territory aint too large. He then put his helt back on. The Earth Mother has a right to get more blessed, but she prefers quality over quantity. People that can serve her interest, even if you arent the strongest. Will this serve her?
Spit it out. Get to the end, already, I know youre leading up to sothing.
He then turned to . Your highness, I suggest God Bleidla as his patron god.
What! Grimnir burst out, but Rudigan spoke before he could argue back.
God Bleidla does not take too many blessed, as he is restricted to only a few due to his deal with Goddess Plesia. Blacksmith guild gets [Blacksmiths Eyes] in exchange for far weaker blessings. Rudigan then patted Grimnir on his shoulder. Give it a thought. I thought ya got over ya hatred for him. Dont serve a Goddess you cant properly serve, choose a god that fits ya, just like how a god must choose sobody who fits their ideal.
Grimnir went silent, nodded, and went over to Ellaine to discuss the subject with her. I then called Rudigan out, asking if he wanted to heal his scars for him, but he rejected the offer. As a warrior, those scars were both dals for his victories but also reminders for him to be stronger. Each scar had a story, I guess, and it seed he had already gotten used to fighting with one eye and ear.
After that discussion, Manethala stopped the elevator, as we had reached the lowest floor. As the wall opened up like a gate, it revealed the devastated gold piles of the drakes hoard. Molten gold and gems covered everything, while large fissures and earth spikes made it extrely hard to traverse on the ground. This wasnt even ntioning the rather dangerous smog cloud gathering on the ceiling, where I noticed a giant hole.
As I went closer, I noticed it was about the size of Manethala and my [Sun, Consu All], aning this was the hole those two used to chase after us when our party pursued Maagneil. The holes tunnel was molten shut, revealing hardened magma everywhere. That, with the molten wealth pile, probably created all this life-threatening smoke.
As I was mostly resistant against earth gases as a sunfang dragon, I could breath everything in without any worry, although it did stink like junk. On the other hand, the others had Tasiannas cover them with an [Air Shield] to prevent them from suffocating. Manethala, naturally, was also doing okay with the smog.
[ Chihiro ntioned how material objects can always be replaced but this is]
Hard to swallow, Ellaine interjected. Ones ho is ones paradise and safe haven. Losing everything would be a major setback to everything.
[Correct. Ive been gathering all of this over the centuries Ive been a dungeon master. Scavenge, but its mine.] Manethala walked over to the pile of gold, silver, and cracked gems, causing none molten pieces to cling and clang as they fell onto the ground from the shockwaves his steps caused. [Sotis I would even use [Dwarfenize] to run my own dungeon as a challenger, earning my loot fair and square like my many intruders. Hmm ]
I really cant sympathize when most of your valuables were ripped from so unfortunate adventurer, dude.
Manethala ignored my frown and sigh, moving towards the broken down wall where Maagneil pushed him through when we first entered the dungeons last floor. The giant drake then raised his neck up, letting out a small growl that sounded like a ships horn to .
Still, as a dragonkin myself, I could guess what he was saying even if I still didnt understand the dragon tongue. Sorrow, resignation, and mories of his past and the nostalgia he lost through the decimation of his ho. The following sigh was deep and long-winded, enough to create a small gust to blow up a dust cloud.
Good thing the smog slls worse than his breath.
Disregarding this mont, we left Manethala alone for the ti being to let him calm down, before he turned around and nudged his head towards the hole. We walked through it, reaching a large set of stairs similar to those you found on those large ancient Greek buildings like the Acropolis of Athens, and moved down. Remnants of Manethalas fight with Maagneil quickly introduced themselves as sections of the staircase were just gone, leaving an empty, gaping hole.
Jumping over these with [Air Walk] or other thods, we continued our descent until we ended up at a small lush forest area with a broken down house in the middle of it, frad by trampled flowers and trees. Looking closer, the place looked like a traditional Japanese house with a small backyard and multiple buildings all connected to one mansion.
A lake led the way like any idyllic Japanese mansionI could even rember my Japanese grandparents having such a hobut with the destruction, there was nothing left to enjoy. The peace had been broken by conflict, crushed under it. I looked up at Manethala who was waiting on the stairs like a puppy, lowering his head in sha.
[ Even her shrine is gone. Reduced to rubble.] His voice broke, sounding like he was about to cry. He turned around, walking back up the stairs. [Deal with your matter fast. I have much to rebuild.]
What a reaction, Rudigan noted.
Grimnir shook his head. No if youd seen how Dravlia Konguns workshop looked like before it turned into nothing more than a ruined scenery, you would understand.
Leading the way, he walked over to a small patch of broken tree. Using his hamr, he cleaned the shattered branches and bark away, revealing squashed flowers inside a giant footprint, with broken down rock fragnts sprawled over everywhere. You could see pieces of tal here and there, probably manatech, but nothing was really recognizable.
When I ended up in the Event dungeon, Manethala gave a task to gather keys from two locations. Two priors dedicated to Goddess Chihiro and keys that imitated datachips, I comnted when I understood what these remains were. The fake Broggart ntioned this workshop was taken hostage to make Manethala comply, right? Its so obvious from his reaction.
Love, Ellaine answered.
Tasianna nodded. It makes sense from all we heard about his relationship with her. How he was mad that she had to ascend to godhood and as such revealed everything to the dwarves. It was probably all planned, but the drake wasnt sad he lost a storyteller to keep him busy with tales, he was saddened he lost his friend and lover.
Didnt he ntion he could transform into a dwarf? Asaka astutely brought up. I wouldnt put it past them to make this their ho. Loss breaks people. Such a strong reaction can only happen if he values this place imnsely.
Love really is blinding, huh? Maagneil probably felt the sa.
[ Should we rebuild it?] Rajah suddenly suggested and we all nodded.
We cleaned up the rubble around the shrine, pushing things to the side to make the area clear. Grimnir and Ellaine turned a nearby rock chunk into a gravestone, while Rudigan chiseled words on them. Asaka, Ellaine, and I picked out the herbal flowers inside my storage, grimacing as I had nothing more romantic, before putting everything together to make the bouquet as colorful and beautiful as possible.
After we placed everything down, Rudigan then pulled out his amulet of Chihiro and laid it on the ground as a sign of respect between one blessed to the other. I prayed to her to show my respect, while Asaka didnt know what to say, as Chihiro wasnt technically dead. You couldnt really tell a living person rest in peace, right? Especially if the person was a god who might be looking down on us right now.
Dravlia Kongun? Ah, that does make sense. Chihiro is alive, but Dravlia died before she gained apotheosis, I noted from reading the epitaph.
So of us wanted to continue cleaning the area up a bit more, but Grimnir reminded us we couldnt stay too long. As such, with Rajahs large tail, we cleaned up the path to one of the buildings, at least. Since everything was demolished, we also had to push the remains of the house away, revealing a faint blue glow coming from a cellar.
Opening it, Grimnir beckoned us down, noting how it took Broggart and him a while to find this hole as they were distracted by the many inventions laying around. There was an intricate puzzle that was held shut that forced the two to delve into their knowledge of Chihiro to open but we didnt need to do that, as the insides didnt remain intact.
Sadly, this was the fate for everything in this once peaceful ho. From the looks of it, nothing worth looking at was around anymore. Chihiros many creations and blueprints were all destroyed here, all that progress was lost.
Even if Bleidla hadnt forbidden it, we would have been able to prevent all her knowledge from being lost, Grimnir comnted, almost out of spite, caused by the discussion he had with Rudigan a mont ago. Broggart was right. At least we managed to salvage the gun blueprint, the recorder, and maybe the giant golem design from all of this.
Why cant the Ankoran King understand what a waste it is to leave Goddess Chihiros plans and ideas to rot in that asly cave?! The world deserves to learn from them! Learn from Earth! I rember those words from his video nto. Makes him seem so right.
Hindsight, my friend, Rudigan disagreed. But it is a sha. Didnt ya ntion the fake Broggarts workshop was nearby?
Probably got destroyed, I said. A mana battery bomb blew up the smithy, while the resulting collapse buried the artificer shack. Maybe Manethala could help, but I dont know if anything would remain.
We should look, at least.
I nodded to Tasiannas suggestion.
With Rajah in my shadow, I descended the ladder after everybody had gone down, realizing it was pitch-black in here for everyone without [Night Vision]. Casting [Shine] on my tail, I held it up like a torch, illuminating our path forward. Once we stopped at a door, we managed to find not only the dungeon core but also a small shrine. There we noticed a small figurine of a kimono-wearing woman holding up so tools and an orbChihiros statue.
Once I told Rajah and Rudigan to guard us, my group kneeled down and held our hand in a prayer position. The reason why I brought everybody with and not just Grimnir was due to a test I wanted to performcould people with my [Hestias Retainer] enter the god domain and listen to a god alongside ?
Naturally, as I was experienced in this, I knew that, aside from Ellaine since she had KleaHatma protecting her, nobody could survive a long period before a god due to their divine pressure. aning, Crustacia would decide if anybody would accompany . She would know best who could survive.
Oh Goddess Tasianna especially was shaking in her boots. As the most religious devoted person in Aurora, eting Crustacia would probably lead to the sa reaction when Ellaine t Aurena. I couldnt wait to see her expression!
[Ahhh, Crustacia. Its been a while,] KleaHatma naturally comnted. [I hope shell forgive for almost seducing one of her priests back then.]
Great work, lust demon. I shook my internal head.
Regardless, we shut our eyes and I prayed to Crustacia, focusing on Chihiros statue as the catalyst to link my soul towards her realm. After a mont, I suddenly heard the sound of rolling pebbles, causing to open my eyes and realize I was inside an earthen hall.
Not like the small room we were just in. No, it was a majestic throne room fit for a ruler, as it was decorated with priceless carpets, statues, and golden ornants. Fairnite bat gargoyles furnished the walls and pillars, before fire all lit up in their mouths.
Welco.
A young woman's voice drew my attention, waking up with a rather thick dwarven accent, as she curled the L. I turned around, noticing a dwarven woman sitting on a bronze throne. Two pig-tails kept her mineral-rock hair together, while the smirk she gave us showed off her youthfulness and energy.
It was a far cry from the elegant, noble-like appearance of my patron goddess, who wowed with her angelic aura. anwhile, this goddess looked and exuded an aura that told she could crush any of us like a mountain could eliminate our existence if it were to be dropped on us. Tough and rough were the perfect words to describe her, but there was also a glint in her eyes, showing her interest and how much she had been waiting for this eting.
Stretching her arm forward, she showed us a peace sign. Yo, Hestia, nice to etcha!
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Introducing the twin-tail hairstyle Goddess, Crustacia!
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