I Am Not Goblin Slayer Chapter 311: Lake Goddess Mothella

The shore was bustling with activity at this mont.

Besides prominent figures like the Mayor and President Robin, there were even more townsfolk and adventurers who had co upon hearing the news.

They stood on slightly higher slopes in the distance, craning their necks in anticipation while conversing in low voices.

When Gauss and his group arrived, they imdiately beca the center of attention.

Even those who hadn't seen Gauss before quickly realized he was the protagonist of tonight's event the mont they laid eyes on him.

He seed to possess a unique power that made people unconsciously focus their attention on him.

Or perhaps, many great achievers possessed this quality.

Whether it was founding monarchs who pioneered through hardships, heroes who later made their nas, or legendary figures who left profound marks in the long river of history - they were all like this.

Gauss walked to the edge of the altar.

Though called an altar, it was actually a pure white platform by the lakeside.

The Lake God faith here hadn't developed to the scale of forming a church, but they had invited a locally respected elder to preside over the ceremony.

Mayor Helsun watched this scene with a smile on his face.

"Tonight coincides with the full moon, making it the perfect ti for the blessing ceremony. Gauss, please step forward."

Gauss maintained a calm expression, nodding slightly in response. After exchanging a few quiet words with his teammates, he followed the elder leading the ceremony.

He walked slowly toward the circular altar paved with white pebbles by the water's edge.

In the center of the altar, various offerings symbolizing harvest and reverence had already been arranged.

Black bread, white bread, plump golden wheat ears, berries hanging with crystal dew drops, and so on...

Gauss looked around and noticed they were mostly food items.

Perhaps because in the story, the Lake God's first appearance was related to food falling into water, creating a certain path dependency for subsequent sacrificial activities.

It seed the local Lake God was quite the foodie deity.

"Please stand here."

The elder proactively hung a specially made wreath of wheat ears around Gauss's neck.

Then Gauss took a few more steps toward the lake.

Moonlight poured down, gently enveloping his moon-white robe. The silk-like white fabric seed to be penetrated by moonlight, emitting a faint snowy glow.

It was as if moonlight had solidified into substance and was being worn by him.

The crowd watching from the distant slopes unconsciously fell silent, their gazes focused on him.

Gauss took a few steps forward.

With each step, the curious expression on his face deepened.

Because at this mont, he truly felt the surrounding air seed to have undergone so change.

It felt as if so invisible presence was slowly awakening.

"Look over there!"

Soone in the crowd watching the water surface suddenly lowered their voice to speak to those around them.

The wind before Gauss suddenly stirred. The originally mirror-smooth lake surface rippled with circles of pale blue fluorescent waves.

The fluorescence didn't co from the moonlight above, but emanated from deep within the lake itself, pure and elegant in its glow.

At the center of the ripples, the lake water seed to awaken.

Bubbles large and small rose from beneath the lake surface.

At first there were only a few, but soon more and more appeared. Sky-blue bubbles detached from the lake surface, rapidly gathering in the air before Gauss.

Could it be... could there really be a "Lake God"?

Gauss blinked his eyes.

Not far from him, the elder who had been preparing to continue presiding over the blessing ceremony was also stunned.

Who am I? Where am I? What was I supposed to do here?

Whether the blessing ceremony could summon the Lake God - he ca to preside over it every year, how could he not know?

This was his first ti encountering such a situation, leaving him montarily at a loss, his pupils suddenly contracting.

So the blessing could actually summon the Lake God?

The onlookers on the shore were also dumbfounded.

They instinctively covered their gaping mouths.

A few devout believers even shed two streams of clear tears, kneeling on the ground and performing prayer gestures toward Gauss and the "Lake God."

Even Gauss, bathed in moonlight by the lakeside, seed to beco sacred in their eyes.

The bubbles swirled and condensed under the moonlight, finally outlining a huge, elegant humanoid silhouette.

It didn't have a specific form, more like flowing water.

But unlike water elentals or water genies, the mont it appeared, one could sense its sacred nature.

Gauss, facing it directly, felt this most strongly.

He quietly observed the other.

At the sa ti, he could feel that it was observing him as well.

Was it truly a deity?

Gauss was curious about its existence.

It could be so kind of spirit beyond ordinary understanding, or perhaps an incarnation of so deity, but in any case, it wasn't an ordinary creature.

It didn't seem to care about other humans, focusing its attention solely on Gauss.

Gauss felt an ancient, vast, and gentle consciousness sweep over him.

It penetrated his protective field, passed through his Moonlight Robe, went through his skin and flesh...

He felt sowhat uncomfortable, as if standing naked before the other.

Fortunately, in Gauss's vague perception, the Adventurer's Manual deep within his body seed to remain very concealed.

The commotion on the shore, whether exclamations, noise, or prayers, seed to be stripped away. An invisible barrier enveloped his surroundings.

At this mont, the world contained only Gauss and the ancient will before him.

An ethereal voice sounded in Gauss's heart.

[Ancient Watcher's Blood... it has been long since it last descended upon the Pri Material Plane.]

Gauss suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, trying to remain calm.

He similarly attempted to respond with condensed ntal energy.

"I greet you, Guardian of Blue Lake. My na is Gauss, an adventurer passing through this land."

Gauss didn't explain anything about the hunting competition or the Lake God's blessing. For such an unknown existence, it probably didn't care about these human activities.

Otherwise, in previous Lake God blessing ceremonies, it should have appeared, and other onlookers wouldn't be so surprised, showing expressions as if witnessing a divine miracle.

As for why it had descended before him this ti.

Gauss guessed it probably related to the Ancient Watcher's Blood ntioned in its words?

Was it related to [Ghost Form]? Or [Sturdy Scale Bloodline]?

This so-called Watcher's Blood seed to have piqued the other's interest.

He pondered silently.

[Adventurer]

The Lake God's will rippled.

For so reason, Gauss actually sensed a human-like contemplation and pause from it.

After a mont, as if having received so information.

It refocused its attention on Gauss.

[So this much ti has passed in the Pri Material Plane]

"Could you be a deity?" Gauss wondered.

He noticed its ntion of the Pri Material Plane.

As far as he knew, most deities in this world didn't reside in the Pri Material Plane, but rather in the Outer Planes, possessing their own divine realms that served as their power cores.

Deities possessed imnsely powerful strength, but their true forms were restricted by rules and couldn't directly enter the Pri Material Plane, only able to influence the world through believers, avatars, chosen ones, and celestial servants.

[Deity?]

It neither confird nor firmly denied this.

It rely continued speaking in a gentle voice.

[My na is te, the coalesced will of this body of water.]

[Adventurer Gauss, have you co seeking my blessing?]

It continued.

"According to the procedure, I ca for this purpose." Hearing the Lake God's question, Gauss didn't pretend otherwise and answered sincerely.

But unexpectedly, the water-ford body before him slowly shook its head.

[The threads of fate upon you are chaotic and dazzling, intertwined with too many possibilities... An ordinary blessing given to you would be like pouring a cup of water into a lake, vanishing in an instant.]

[Moreover, there is an evil mark entangled upon you.]

"An evil mark?"

Gauss blinked.

He hadn't felt anything.

On the contrary, his journey had been smooth sailing all along.

He looked down at his body.

Nothing unusual.

[Step forward.]

Lake God te continued.

Hearing this, Gauss hesitated for a mont before taking a few steps toward it.

His feet stepped onto the lake surface.

Ripples spread across the water, but unexpectedly, he felt as if stepping on so resilient fabric, not sinking into the water.

Gauss walked before it.

It slowly placed its arm on Gauss's head.

Then Gauss felt so deep green mark slowly erging on his body.

"What is this?"

[This is a mark, possibly from so devil, demon, or unknown evil god.]

[It left this mark on you to facilitate finding you when needed.]

[This mark isn't a curse. Besides revealing your location, it won't cause you any harm.]

Gauss nodded with so understanding.

Simultaneously, he began frantically recalling in his mind when this so-called mark had appeared on him.

Before long, he had a guess.

His experiences with similar supernatural matters were actually quite limited. Besides this encounter with the Lake God, there was only that one ti...

His mories returned to when he had just leveled up to beco a professional.

At that ti, Gauss's team didn't have as many mbers as now. He and Aria, who had just joined the team then, accepted a commission to clear out ratfolk in the church cellar.

If he rembered correctly, the final words of that ratfolk elder who seed to be conducting so evil ritual were.

"Lord Vespertilia... will be watching you."

So, was that when the mark was placed on him?

Because he only had nightmares for one night, with no subsequent discomfort, and no special abnormalities were detected.

He had forgotten about that matter.

Thinking it was just the ramblings of a cornered ratfolk in its final monts.

He never expected to actually be marked.

Although according to Lake God te's words, it wouldn't cause him any harm or negative effects, it could indicate his specific location when that existence wanted information about him.

This feeling of being targeted made him sowhat uneasy.

So, he decisively made a request to the Lake God te before him.

"Great te, since you can perceive this mark, could you please remove it from ?"

The water-ford figure rippled slightly, an ethereal voice tinged with apology sounding in Gauss's heart.

[I cannot do that.]

This reply made Gauss's heart sink slightly.

[The origin of this mark isn't a curse on the material or energy level, but sothing deeper, closer to conceptual and oath-based binding.]

[So creature, at the cost of its life, created a sufficiently profound "causal entanglent" between you and the master it serves. This unilateral "declaration" was recorded by the rules of the Pri Material Plane.]

[My power originates from this Blue Lake, governing lake waters, nourishnt, and harvest. I'm not skilled at resolving such forces.]

[However, you needn't worry. Whether for high-level devils, demons, or evil gods, their ti dinsions are much longer than ordinary people's. It's possible that a normal human lifespan would end before the mark leads to any encounter.]

[If you wish, I can help conceal this mark for a period of ti.]

Lake God te spoke many words unhurriedly.

What it said actually made sense.

For high-level devils, demons, and evil gods, they might even have transcended lifespan limitations. Dozens or hundreds of years might be just like taking a nap to them.

This was also why Gauss had been marked for so ti without any abnormalities.

Although this mark was placed by the ratfolk elder at the cost of its life, the master it served might not necessarily care.

Or even if it noticed, it might not imdiately focus on him.

Perhaps right now, the other side was "sleeping."

By the ti it woke up, decades might have passed.

Ultimately, for evil gods, the priority of information transmitted by followers of different levels would certainly vary.

There might be countless pieces of information from followers during certain periods, and they couldn't possibly "read" every one.

And that ratfolk elder was undoubtedly not a powerful creature.

"Then I'll trouble you, great te."

Gauss, seeking help from a deity, maintained excellent manners.

te's transparent body nodded slowly.

It then condensed a deep blue water sphere before itself.

The water sphere eventually separated from it and rged into Gauss's body.

Gauss suddenly felt his body beco much lighter.

[I have given you a portion of my origin power. It can suppress the mark's emitted aura, thus blocking its function.]

[Additionally, you can borrow its power to form weapons.]

[Whether blades, swords, spears, or any weapon, you can freely transform it.]

[Consider this my special "blessing" to you.]

Lake God te said gently.

[As for this mark, when your power becos sufficiently strong, such external "marks" should be repelled and cleared by your own being.]

"Thank you! Great and generous te."

Gauss expressed sincere gratitude to it.

Although he didn't know why, it had indeed been very kind to him.

And the legends truly didn't deceive - the Lake God of this place was indeed a very generous and benevolent deity.

Right away, it gifted a water-based weapon that could freely change forms, which sounded excellent.

And the unknown mark's aura had been shielded as well.

[Don't thank just yet.]

[I also have a request to make of you here.]

Before Gauss could finish marveling at its generosity in his heart, the voice of Lake God te before him imdiately followed.