Chapter 2211: Call the Goddess Out
A Hai felt as if he were already dead. He didn’t understand why so many people had suddenly appeared during the Goddess’s Birthday ceremony, nor why the Divine Envoy and the Holy Maidens were targeting each other, and even less did he comprehend their suspicions and interrogations of the Goddess.
Every single person in the small town devoutly believed in the Goddess. Peace and kindness were synonymous with her name. Even in remote, humble places, ordinary people could receive care through the Goddess’s radiance. So the Holy Land where the Goddess resided should have been an even more joyful paradise on earth. Why, why were there grudges between the Divine Envoy and the Holy Maidens? In their words, the Goddess no longer seemed to be the Goddess she once was…
When the believers were in pain, he also shed tears. When the Goddess opened her eyes, he was knocked unconscious by the impact. It was the warm liquid splashing on his face that woke him. Upon opening his eyes, he saw the most terrifying scene of his life. The Holy Maidens, who had been laughing and chatting with him just yesterday, were now ferociously fighting against the players, only to plunge knives into their own bodies. And beside him, a Holy Maiden lay dead…
A Hai didn’t know what had happened to this world, nor how to deal with the situation before him. He stared blankly at everything, his ears hearing no sound, until a laugh echoed from the altar. His eyes trembled, slowly shifting left, and he saw a familiar figure standing before the Divine Envoy, leaning in to examine something.
Xu Huo approached the Divine Envoy and looked him over carefully. After a moment, he stroked his chin and laughed, “I thought the Divine Envoy was some extraordinary figure, but it turns out you’re just an ordinary person at death’s door.”
“I heard you can communicate with the Goddess. Come on, communicate for me. I’ve entered the temple several times but never seen the Goddess’s true face. Most people in this district are hermaphrodites. I wonder if the Goddess is also one.”
“How dare you blaspheme the Goddess…” The Divine Envoy’s voice was weak but stubborn, barely maintaining his dignity as a Divine Envoy before swallowing the rest of his words under Xu Huo’s icy gaze.
However, Xu Huo wasn’t very interested in him. Ignoring the corpses lying around him, he stepped through the blood to the edge of the altar, raised his hand, and asked the people above and below, “It seems your Divine Envoy can’t contact the Goddess. Is there anyone who can contact her? Have her come out and take a couple of steps.”
Scanning the surroundings, he said disappointedly, “No one, huh…”
Before he finished speaking, he turned his head to look behind him. A player attempting to attack him was instantly pierced into a bloody sieve by a Space Ray Blade, and the corpse was thrown outside the temple.
After a small burst of screams, Xu Huo on the altar spoke again, “I thought your Goddess was something special, but it turns out she can’t even leave the instance. All reputation, no substance. Nothing more.”
With that, he waved his hand and killed all the players around the altar. Then he flashed to another altar, broke through their defense barrier, and killed them. Afterward, he moved back to the central altar, grabbed the last Divine Envoy by the throat, and lifted him up. With a smile on his face but a sinister look in his eyes, he said, “Isn’t there a single strong player in your district? Killing you all is so unsatisfying.”
The Divine Envoy grabbed his hand and struggled, gasping, “You dare massacre the believers… the Goddess won’t let you off…”
“Hahaha!” Xu Huo threw his head back and laughed. “Look, I’ve killed so many of your people, and the Goddess still hasn’t shown up. Begging the gods is worse than begging yourself.”
He then threw the Divine Envoy back onto the altar, took out a chair, and sat down leisurely. “How about you kneel and beg me? Beg me to spare you.”
“Dream on!” The Divine Envoy’s face turned pale, repeating over and over, “The Goddess won’t let you off, the Goddess won’t let you off…”
“You just keep saying the same thing. Why don’t you call her out?” Xu Huo interrupted him impatiently, then turned his gaze to the restrained Holy Maiden Xue Yi. He raised his hand and pulled her over, patting her face. “This old man can’t call the Goddess. Can you call her out?”
“The Goddess is the instance holder. If you want to see her, why not enter the instance yourself?” Xue Yi was determined to die and spoke without politeness.
“You should know I’ve been to your temple many times. Unfortunately, I’ve tried every method, but she still won’t let me enter the instance.” Xu Huo spoke leisurely. “At the end of the day, it’s just a B-grade instance. As for her true form, probably some eyeballs. Hard to believe you’ve lifted her so high and made her a god…”
“The Goddess is a god!” Before he could finish, a believer stood up from the crowd and shouted loudly, “The Goddess is supreme! She will kill you just like she killed those invading players back then!”
“Don’t flatter yourselves,” Xu Huo sneered. “Back then, she only killed some low-level players. This godforsaken place of yours can’t even produce a few high-level players. Do you think people from the major districts would go through all that trouble to come here?”
“Being able to kill low-level players is already your good luck.”
“If she were really that strong, she would have stopped me when I killed those old men just now… It seems this instance has encountered some unforeseen changes and can’t sustain itself anymore.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a Space Ray Blade slashed at the Goddess statue. In an instant, the statue that had seemed as real as a living person in everyone’s eyes turned into a humanoid object covered in eyes. Although those eyes were closed, the eyeballs were still moving, looking extremely nauseating. Several believers who were hugging the statue and begging screamed in terror and scrambled to flee.
“Clap! Clap!” Xu Huo applauded. “Isn’t this the Goddess you’ve been dreaming of day and night? Now that you’ve seen her with your own eyes, are you afraid? Cry a little more and see if you can cry her out.”
The believers were all stunned by the sight before them. Some of the more timid ones even cried out in fear. For a moment, all the prayers stopped. They stared with their own eyes at that thing not far away, at the thing on the screen, unable to believe it was the Goddess!
“It’s fake! It must be fake!” A believer came to his senses and pointed at Xu Huo on the altar. “He did this! He’s a Mental Evolver! He must have created an illusion! This isn’t the real Goddess!”
“Right! Right! This isn’t the real Goddess! It’s an illusion!”
In an instant, all the believers came back to life. Their emotions ran high as they shouted for Xu Huo’s death. Some of the patrolling city-guarding players nearby actually made a move, but in less than a minute, they were beaten out of the temple. Then, more players from other districts leaped out from the crowd and gathered in the square, looking down at the believers below!
“Hahaha!” The blond at the front cracked his knuckles and said, “I’ve been in this district for so long, and I’ve never had this much fun. Before, the Goddess was suppressing us, and I almost had my eyes blinded by her eyeballs. Now it seems the instance boss’s abilities are very limited. Everyone, how about we join forces and dismantle this instance, then go our separate ways!”