Chapter 8: The Goddess
At two in the morning, over a dozen figures in black robes sprinted through the streets. Their gazes were icy, and a single glance from them would send chills down anyone's spine. They were Shadow Attendants, responsible for protecting the Goddess's safety.
Under the protection of the dozen or so Shadow Attendants, the Goddess, clad in white robes, floated in the low air, her feet about half a meter above the ground. This was granted by the power of the Ancient Gods. Gold threads were embroidered on the collar and cuffs of her garments, making her appear more noble and inviolable.
"Which unlucky bastard got corrupted and gathered so much Ancient God power?"
The Goddess stopped floating, sensed again, then pointed in a direction.
Before long, the group arrived at the edge of the main sewer channel. Upon reaching this spot, the Goddess landed on the ground, furrowing her delicate brows. After seeing the foul, stinking sewage below, her eyes were filled with disgust and aversion.
"Goddess, please."
A Shadow Attendant made a gesture of invitation, which surprised the Goddess.
"You want me to go into the sewer?"
"As you can see."
The leading Shadow Attendant lowered his head slightly. He had witnessed the Goddess's arrogance far too many times.
"Forget it this time. Next time there's a gathering of Ancient God power, I'll notify you again. I'm going back."
The Goddess glanced once more at the sewage below. She did feel a sense of exhilaration when absorbing Ancient God power, but that exhilaration wasn't enough to make her enter a sewer filled with stench and rats.
"Goddess, this is your duty..."
Slap.
A fair hand struck the Shadow Attendant's face. He tilted his head slightly as the Goddess before him flexed her slightly sore fingers.
"If you don't tell, and I don't tell, who would know?"
"This..."
The leading Shadow Attendant was troubled, but eventually sighed and said, "This subordinate was rude. One as noble as you should not enter that filthy, stinking place."
"Good thing you know. By the way, for tomorrow's breakfast, I want vanilla cake, plum jam, white honey milk, and... forget the meat. You can improvise with the other items."
The Goddess yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. Clearly, she had no intention of entering the sewer.
"As you command."
The leading Shadow Attendant bowed slightly. Just as he lowered his head, he immediately turned around, his back to the Goddess, and raised one hand to shield her.
"Who's there! Raise your hands and come out slowly."
The leading Shadow Attendant spread his arms, and two daggers sprang from his sleeves. The nearly half-meter-long arm blades were covered in patterns. Protection differed from killing enemies; using short weapons was more convenient.
The leading Shadow Attendant stared into the darkness ahead. His name was Guying, and his duty was to protect the Goddess's safety, as well as handle various trivial matters for her.
The other Shadow Attendants around the Goddess also assumed defensive stances, forming a protective circle around her.
Guying gradually lowered his body. If one observed closely, they would notice that the shadow cast by the moonlight at his feet was shrinking, merging into his body. He was about to fight for his life. Just moments ago, his perception had been screaming warnings.
"Goddess, silently count to ten in your heart, then flee. Flee toward the headquarters. Don't stop no matter who you encounter on the way."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Flee by myself?"
The Goddess wasn't planning to die together with the dozen or so Shadow Attendants and Guying. What worried her was the possibility of encountering enemies on the way back.
A flash of residual light shot out, piercing through layers of air pressure.
Clang!
Sparks flew everywhere. The Exile, which had been thrusting toward the Goddess, was knocked away by Guying's arm blade. Only then did the Goddess react, stumbling backward.
The Exile flipped in midair, vanished with a *puff*, and reappeared as it pierced through a Shadow Attendant's head. It dragged a trail of blood before disappearing again.
Pfft, pfft, pfft!
The Exile struck repeatedly, leaving layers of air pressure in its wake. Blood and bone fragments splattered around the Goddess.
Clang!
The Exile, thrusting toward the Goddess, was knocked away once more by Guying. It flipped through the air for a distance before suddenly changing direction and accelerating.
A Shadow Attendant leaned back with all his might, but his speed couldn't match the Exile's. He could only watch helplessly as it thrust toward his face, and then everything went dark.
Lines of blood were traced by the Exile, forming an alchemical array in midair. The array, composed of blood, activated, and a wave of gravity pressed down.
Thud.
The remaining eight Shadow Attendants all felt their bodies grow heavy. The Exile zipped in a Z-shaped pattern, piercing the heads of three of them.
"What the hell is this?!"
The Goddess, pressed to the ground by the gravity, sat there in terror. She had been ambushed over a dozen times before, but the Shadow Attendants had always blocked them, never letting a single hair on her head be harmed.
"Lord Guying, above!"
Among the five surviving Shadow Attendants, one who looked like a scrawny monkey shouted. Hearing this, Guying looked diagonally upward. A figure sat on a high metal frame, his features obscured, with the full moon shining behind him.
"Lord Guying, you go first."
The scrawny Shadow Attendant charged forward, his short sword slashing at the Exile. Just as the blade was about to meet the Exile's tip, the Exile suddenly split apart, its fragmented form flying past both sides of the short sword before reassembling into a hiltless rapier.
Pfft.
The scrawny Shadow Attendant stumbled forward a few steps. Under the moonlight, one could see the liquid and bone fragments splattering from the back of his head. With a *thud*, he collapsed.
The Exile's flight speed suddenly increased, tracing a blue residual light as it passed through the heads of the remaining Shadow Attendants. All four fell.
Guying still stood before the Goddess, blood dripping from the hem of his robe.
A piercing sound came as the Exile thrust toward the Goddess's shoulder. Guying's arm blade swept upward, shattering the Exile with a *crack*.
The Exile flew through the air, quickly reassembling. A chill spread as Amu, wielding the Dragonheart Axe, emerged from the darkness.
Amu headed straight for the Goddess without pausing. Seeing this, Guying vanished from his spot, intending to behead the Minotaur as quickly as possible. He couldn't afford to be delayed.
With a *shiiing*, the arm blade plunged into Amu's chest. Guying slashed horizontally, but after cutting less than two centimeters, he couldn't penetrate Amu's tough body any further. The patterns on the arm blade faded.
Amu looked down at Guying. Guying tried to pull the arm blade out with all his strength, but it was stuck—no, Amu had frozen it with ice.
Amu's large hand reached for Guying. Guying's other arm blade slashed repeatedly, leaving bloody gashes on Amu's body.
With a *smack*, Amu grabbed Guying's head with one hand. The ice on his chest melted, freeing Guying's other arm, which slashed at Amu repeatedly.
Amu ignored all of Guying's attacks. His left hand pressed down with full force, slamming Guying's head into the ground with a *boom*. He raised the Dragonheart Axe and brought it down.
Pfft!
Blood splattered high. Amu's axe cleaved into Guying's neck. Not stopping there, he raised his left hand and pressed down on the back of the axe.
A head was severed. Amu rolled his neck and looked at his left arm, covered in slash marks. He could be attacked a dozen or even dozens of times, but if he caught an enemy, one blow was enough.
"Madam over there, if I'm not mistaken, you're the Goddess?"
Baha flew over and landed on Amu's shoulder. Though Amu was covered in blood, his wounds were already beginning to heal.
The Goddess stepped back. She first looked at Su Xiao sitting on the metal frame, then at Amu and Baha.
"Goddess? You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm a sacrificial maiden from the Kodo School, here to help the Goddess collect Ancient God power. Please don't hurt me."
The Goddess's face showed panic mixed with confusion.
"Little bitch, I heard your conversation with Guying just now."
"Tch~"
The Goddess clicked her tongue, wiped the blood from her cheek, and said nothing.
"Let me ask you something. Where is the Light King?"
"Let's make a deal. I'll tell you where the Light King is, and you let me go. The Light King is in the Old Royal Capital's..."
She stopped mid-sentence, waiting for Su Xiao and the others to respond.
"Boss, no need to listen to her nonsense. The mark on her has been locked onto. It's an energy-type tracking mark."
Baha inserted a thin metal cone into the ground. A pulse spread out, and the fabric on the Goddess's lower back burst open, revealing a mark on her skin. The mark was flashing with golden light—a phenomenon caused by the energy being blocked.
After that, things were simple. Subdue, abduct, "negotiate."
Su Xiao leaped down from the metal frame. As he landed, a collar appeared in his hand, opening with a *click*. Once they reached the hideout, he planned to test the effect of the [Endless Darkness] collar.