“Mosator...”
Iluvia took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
She quickly pieced together all the clues, going over them one by one in her mind—
No wonder dragon-blooded kobolds had appeared despite no signs of dragon activity nearby...
No wonder that dragon-blooded kobold gave off an indescribable sense of dissonance, an energy that conflicted with her own...
No wonder she hadn't detected that Kobold Chief earlier...
Looking at it now, it must have been because of that dragon scale!
Everything made sense now!
“So he temporarily descended using that dragon scale as a medium...” Iluvia muttered to herself.
“To forge one's own scale into a divine artifact that connects with believers and responds to their call... Tsk, say what you will, but dragons truly are treasure from head to toe,” she remarked with a subtle tone.
Shifting her thoughts, Iluvia brought her attention back to the present.
The top priority now was how to properly handle this unexpected situation.
Otherwise, a single misstep revealing her unrecovered state could easily draw the eyes of countless old enemies, leading to endless trouble.
With that in mind, Iluvia looked at Mosator in midair through the players' perspective once more.
And with that single look, she keenly caught a crucial detail:
“Wait... His strength...”
“So it's merely an avatar...”
“And here I thought his true body had arrived. Gave me a fright.”
Iluvia discovered that Mosator's strength was merely between early-stage Demigod and mid-stage Demigod.
Meanwhile, after nearly a month of recovery, Iluvia had long reached a state where she could normally use Weak Divine Power.
So, Weak Divine Power versus a Demigod.
The victor was clear—the advantage was hers!
Iluvia made her decision in an instant.
She could completely destroy this Demigod avatar to eliminate any risk of exposure, while also seizing the opportunity to devour a portion of power belonging to the God of Plague and Calamity to accelerate her divine power's recovery and mend her millennium-old injuries.
Ahem... Don't misunderstand. She, Iluvia, was no evil god; she was merely “borrowing” a bit of divine power from Mosator.
As for whether to return it later, or when to return it...
Well, that was a matter for the future, so she would set it aside for now.
With that thought, Iluvia let out a long sigh of relief, her eyes brightening as she looked at Mosator.
...
Meanwhile, in the clearing, players were fleeing in all directions while cursing the devs.
Nan Cheng was mixed in the crowd, looking equally helpless. He had done all the commanding he could, but who would have thought the first main quest in the beginner village would spawn a world BOSS? With a gap of this scale, tactics were useless—it was pure stat checking.
“Outrageous... Would the devs really place a monster of this level in a beginner quest?” He couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Before he could make sense of it, urgent system prompts suddenly blasted in his ears:
【Ding—】
【Warning! Warning!】
【World BOSS detected! World BOSS detected!】
【Event Description: Your clearing of the Kobold Chief has angered the True God worshipped behind it—the Lord of Plague and Calamity, Mosator Gross. This is no longer an enemy you can contend with at your current stage, yet you still valiantly fight on with mortal bodies. Now, it is time to call upon your guardian deity! Please chant the Goddess's name aloud: Praise the light, praise life, praise the great Ruler of Angels and Lord of Humanity—Her Grace Iluvia Devilitafil!】
【Quest Objective: Successfully summon Her Grace the Goddess】
【Quest Level: 1+】
【Quest Reward: 1000 EXP】
“Holy crap?! I knew it! There's no way the devs would randomly assign an uncompletable quest!”
“Damn, so this is what they were setting up.”
Nan Cheng quickly scanned through the quest description. When his eyes landed on the reward, he froze on the spot, followed by sheer delight.
“1,000 EXP? Did the devs have a change of heart? They're finally not being stingy anymore!”
Without wasting time on further emotional output, he immediately came to a halt, took a deep breath, and shouted aloud according to the prompt:
“Praise the light, praise life, praise the great Ruler of Angels and Lord of Humanity—Her Grace Iluvia Devilitafil!”
At almost the exact same time, the players who had just respawned in the temple also received this system announcement.
Instantly, the players exploded with activity:
“Holy shit! Why didn't this quest prompt come earlier? I already died once! I wasted a Resurrection Coin for nothing!”
“The devs are way too sinister, intentionally screwing us over!”
“Good lord, 1,000 EXP?! That's enough for me to advance classes directly!”
“Hurry, hurry, hurry, stop blabbering! Let's quickly complete the quest as prompted, so we don't end up with nothing once it's done!”
The players stopped wasting breath and shouted in unison according to the prompt:
“Praise the light, praise life, praise the great Ruler of Angels and Lord of Humanity—Her Grace Iluvia Devilitafil!”
...
Hiding in the shadows, West witnessed the entire scene.
He hadn't moved when the God-Chosen Ones besieged Black Tooth, nor had he moved when they were wiped out by Mosator, for he knew very well that it was not a battle he could interfere in.
But now...
He watched as the God-Chosen Ones, who had been fleeing in all directions across the clearing, suddenly stopped, held their heads high, and shouted the Goddess's name in unison, their expressions excited and full of anticipation.
West felt his eyes grow slightly warm.
“Will Her Grace the Goddess... respond?”
The moment this thought surfaced, he shook his head vigorously, as if to cast away that trace of doubt.
“No, I shouldn't think like that—”
He abruptly dropped to his knees, joined his hands together, lowered his head, and spoke with the most devout and resolute voice:
“Praise the light, praise life, praise the great Ruler of Angels and Lord of Humanity—Her Grace Iluvia Devilitafil.”
As his words fell...
The world suddenly fell silent.
“Sigh—”
A gentle sigh, sacred and ethereal, swept over all the noise in an instant like a spring breeze brushing across a snowfield.
The dim sky, originally shrouded by the dark dragon shadow, suddenly ripped through layers of gloom.
Endless, luminous white holy light poured down from high above. Fine particles of holy light fell like a cascading starry river, blanketing the shattered earth, the scorched crater, and the ruined woodland.
The cold, violent dark calamity aura rapidly melted and dispersed like snow under a blazing sun the moment the holy light descended.
As the speckles of light condensed, intertwined, and rose, an incomparably beautiful, dignified, and majestic goddess figure slowly coalesced in the center of the holy light.
She wore a gorgeous divine dress radiating iridescent light, its hem embellished with delicate golden patterns of light that fluttered with the breeze, scattering showers of starlight.
Twelve holy wings slowly unfolded behind her, shimmering with warm, soft light. With every gentle tremor, pure life force radiated outward in all directions.
Snow-white hair cascaded down to her waist, surrounded by delicate halos of holy light.
Her stunning face was serene and gentle, her eyes like clear skylight.
In midair, the domineering Lord of Plague, Mosator, froze, his massive dark dragon body suddenly turning rigid.
His ferocious dragon head suspended high in the sky jerked downward, his dark gold slit pupils contracting violently as boundless shock, bewilderment, and disbelief flooded his mind in an instant!
This familiar divine power of light, this unique sacred charm, this figure engraved deep in the memories of the gods...
Mosator's raspy dragon roar resounded through heaven and earth with intense shock:
“Y-You are...??!”
“Devilitafil!!!”
Rate on N.U.
