A series of system notifications put Richard in a good mood.
A battle had always been a means. The ultimate goal was to obtain the rewards after winning the war.
The number of troops from the three spider churches was considerable, and more than 6,000 undead crystals were within expectations.
However, the slay of the void weaver hero possessed by Lolita and the glorious crystal glorious undead crystal were unexpected gains.
Richard valued the last hint… He had obtained a trace of divine power from the other party’s corpse.
Divine power was the core power of a god.
To other players, it might be very ambitious or even unreachable.
But it was not unusual to Richard.
The ruler of the 333rd level of the abyss was existence at this level, whether the kobold god or the King of Decay.
But this wisp of divine power belonged to the spider goddess Lolita, unlike the others.
The evil goddess dropped it when she instigated the war between the gods and caused the abyss to tremble.
The feeling in his heart was still different.
A familiar scene appeared after the system notification sounded. The spider’s corpse on the ground began to turn into a green mist like a magnet sucked and condensed it together.
Richard was surprised to see this.
Those spider bodies that had become empty shells when the god’s ancient tree absorbed them… Now, they had also turned into mist.
The primary source of undead crystals was the soul, not the body.
Richard couldn’t see anything after he momentarily stared at it. Then, he shook his head.
He looked at the void weaver hero that the spider goddess possessed without hesitation.
The green mist condensed from the empty corpse was particularly eye-catching.
One could vaguely sense a terrifying power in the mist if one would comprehend it carefully.
The remnant of the might of the gods…
The remnant shen power was within.
Richard didn’t rush forward and waited quietly for the mist to change.
The mist that filled the battlefield shrank and turned into a thumb-sized undead crystal two to three minutes later.
However, the area where the void weaver hero was was still quiet.
The surrounding magic power still gathered toward the green mist.
Ten minutes later, the mist gradually shrank.
Richard, who had already put the other undead crystals into the system space, watched the scene silently.
He advanced when there was no more green mist.
Richard looked closely, and the void weaver hero’s corpse seemed to have dried for hundreds of years and broken apart into pieces.
A colorful pearl on its head floated in the air.
He sensed it carefully. One could see that the energy that surged inside was as violent as a tsunami.
He could destroy everything within a hundred meters if he released all of them.
A strand of power surrounded the energy and that thrilled Richard even more.
That was divine power.
The spider goddess left this behind when she descended into the plane.
Richard opened the attribute panel while a thought spun in his mind.
[Spider Divine Power]
[Level: Special]
[Special Characteristic: The remnant divine power of the spider goddess Lolita. It can enormously strengthen the potential of evil life forms. It has an additional effect on spiders.]
[Description: Divine power is the core power of a god. It has infinite power.]
‘Enormously strengthen the potential of evil lifeforms?’
That intrigued Richard.
However, he couldn’t help but shake his head when he turned around and looked at the undead troop around him.
This item was good. But there were no spiders in Twilight City. He could not enjoy the additional effect.
However… He seemed to have thought of something. He took out a head-sized statue from the system space.
He could combine the twelve statues of the spider goddess Lolita he had collected into a spider-type soldier.
This thing was ready-made.
He turned to look at the god’s ancient tree at the side.
“Treebeard, where’s the statue you seized from the spider church?”
Treebeard took its roots from the ground and swayed its trunk again. It was not far away. The roots suddenly rose from the ground.
Treebeard slowly approached Richard.
“Lord, I hid them in the roots.”
The tree roots spread like torn wrapping paper as the muffled sound fell.
They exposed three statues of the spider goddess Lolita into the air.
Richard sensed the evil aura and nodded in satisfaction.
That must be good. Richard had obtained three statues of the spider goddess Lolita.
He only needed to capture eight more spider churches with the one in his hand to get this special-type spider soldier out.
The several troops in a nightmare mode dungeon, plus an S-rank mission… This troop was worth looking forward to.
The only downside was that this intense battle could not increase the level of the troops.
The defensive battle to protect the Tower race’s holy land ended.
Richard did some calculations. He had gained six thousand undead crystals, two gold, and one glorious.
In addition, he also obtained a wisp of spider divine power that could increase the potential of evil life forms.
There was also the reward he had yet to pay–a heroic spirit stone statue. He could bring this out of the dungeon in addition to the Tower’s favorability.
In terms of losses… Richard glanced around.
The timely appearance of the god’s ancient tree in this battle attracted most of the firepower.
In addition, the Twilight City troops had the godly skill of turning into sand. The surrounded soldiers were immune to physical damage, and the enemy already gave up on them.
Therefore, there were no losses after the intense battle.
Richard could only sigh at the power of the skill.
The advantages were incomparable since they did not encounter a troop of spellcasters.
Heaven countered all physical damage to the enemy.
That was too comfortable.
He had been satisfied with the skill, and the most startling was that it could minimize the losses of Twilight City.
Otherwise, with his previous intensive battle experience, the loss of the troop alone would have impoverished Twilight City.
The “Shining Era” was not a safe time. The cost was massive, whether the players or the natives, as long as they started a battle.
The most startling about Twilight City was the Sand Transformation skill. It could reduce the consumption of resources to a minimum. It could save a massive amount of resources.
That would allow Twilight City to develop other areas instead of investing resources in the military.
The reason why Twilight City could develop so quickly was because of the direct relationship between them.
Richard retracted his thoughts and looked at the system notification a few more.
The warning vastly dissipated the joy in his heart…
“This battle had already aroused the vigilance of the spider troop.”
“No, not just the spider troop, but also the spider goddess.”
Richard frowned when he recalled the brutal language of the void weaver after the god’s ancient tree sucked its energy.
“One could not underestimate the nightmare mode difficulty of this dungeon, not to mention the S-rank mission Retrieve a God’s Heart…”
“Was Lolita’s arrival a combination of the two?”
The more Richard thought about it, the more he felt something wrong.
Defending Tower race’s holy land was not an easy task.
Just a thought of the three spider churches, more than 6,000 level 15 and 16 top-tier troops, and three level 19 heroes forces was enough to numb one’s scalp.
It also attracted the arrival of the spider goddess Lolita.
Richard could have suffered heavy losses if not for the god’s ancient tree, who transformed twice and obtained a trace of the rotten authority, even if he had overseen this war.
Perhaps, they could only hold on if they brought the thousands of people who had entered with them to guard the place if it were any other player.
The difficulty of this mission was sparingly odd.
The call from the side interrupted his thoughts. He turned his head and saw Popov, the level 19 hero. The Tower race patriarch looked at him with a fanatical expression.
“Is that the aura of the spider goddess Lolita? You… You chased her away?”
Popov had seen the god’s ancient tree slaughtered in all directions. The Tower race patriarch was amazed and was in awe of it in its heart.
However, Popov did not expect that the ancient abomination tree truly sucked Lolita, the ruler of the abyss, dry before her divine might after she descended!
‘The abomination tree could fight against a god!’
This thought stirred its mind, quickened its breath, and knocked its heart.
It increasingly dried its mouth.
Popov thought the abomination tree’s battle power was of a goddess who had descended to the mortal world, and it defeated three spider churches. But now, that abomination tree was much more than that.!!
That was the spider goddess Lolita!
She was the ruler of the 500th level of the bottomless abyss, the main goddess of all spiders in the “Shining Era”. She was soul-murdering existence that controlled the divine concepts of evil, darkness, and conspiracy.
It was not something that mortals could hope to achieve even if the other party had descended and possessed a spider.
That was perhaps the daughter of a dark evil god that had crawled out of the abyss. The other had high-level power!!
“No.”
Richard looked at the ruins of the three spider churches.
“The enemy had woken up. It will be even more difficult for us to find the ones we encounter next.”
“That evil goddess would appear again.”
The goddess of conspiracy was a vengeful being. That wouldn’t be its character if it didn’t retaliate.
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
He thought that was just the beginning of the S-rank mission. Every step that followed could be a life-and-death crisis.
It did not matter much to the boss with the Hero’s Altar. However, the dungeon would wipe out all the troops in his hands if the goddess cleared it. It would dash his goal.
That was unacceptable!!
Popov suddenly fell silent.
Popov sighed and sternly stared at Richard.
“Lord Richard, the Tower race still preserved a dark stone statue for a long time. The ancestors of the Tower race once sealed a supremely soul-sucking evil existence in the stone statue.”
“That possesses an extremely high level of power. Our ancestor once said it could possess a wisp of divine power.”
“We could stall Lolita when we attack the spider temple… It would be best if we revive her, enslave her, and cooperate with your subordinates.”
“Please, accept this stone statue.”
“Dark stone statue?”
Richard narrowed his eyes.
“This was the reward the system mentioned if we survived the dungeon with it, right?”
That piqued his interest.
The difficulty of the sudden mission to protect the Tower race’s holy land could be said to have broken through the heavens.
The reward for the mission would be practical.
Popov took a deep breath and continued.
“You don’t have to worry. We have sealed most of the stone statue’s power, and…”
As the patriarch spoke, it looked at the god’s ancient tree.
“We haven’t used that stone statue for long because it requires tons of dark energy. The Tower race is a pure warrior race, and they don’t study magic.”
Popov said bitterly, “Because that stone statue is too old, ordinary power can no longer move it… it needs the power of the abomination tree.”
Richard’s interest grew.
It required the power of the god’s ancient tree to activate it. What the other party had just displayed was the rotten authority. That was the power of a god.
“Popov, I have no reason to refuse.”
“We need to use all the power we can. Our enemy is supremely mighty.”
Popov looked deeply at Richard.
Then, the Tower race patriarch slowly and respectfully bowed to him.
“Lord Richard, the Tower race will always remember your sacrifice.”
Richard was now the Tower race’s savior, the only one who could save them.
Richard looked into its eyes.
“I won’t let you down.”
Richard finished his words, and the relationship between the two advanced.
They quickly cleaned the battlefield up. They found nothing in the ruined spider churches.
Richard didn’t linger. He had his troops spread out and cleared out everything within a few dozen kilometers.
He followed Popov back to the village.
Richard didn’t prevent the players at their entrance to the village after their request.
The two returned to the hall where the Tower race placed the stone statue.
But Richard saw several figures appear at the door before he could enter the room.
These ‘little fellows’ were three to four meters tall. Tenderness filled their faces. Curiosity engulfed their eyes as they sized him up.
Richard looked around, and more than a hundred people were probably in the house.
This scene stunned Richard.
These were the remaining members of the Tower race that Popov had mentioned.
He no longer wondered there were no Tower race warriors on the battlefield. Only Popov fought.
There were only these little fellows in the entire race aside from Popov.
The mark of childish expression in their eyes could not reach the level of a battle soldier, although they were more gargantuan than humans.
‘The Tower race could still send hundreds of people to participate in the final battle because they wanted these little fellows to wear armor and fight, right?’
Richard was silent.
In the final battle, there was indeed nothing left to hold back. The system would resurrect them if they won. They could no longer return if they lost.
It was better to leave them to lose everything in their ignorance than fall on the road to charge.
Popov looked at Richard’s expression and immediately understood what he thought.
The Tower race patriarch smiled and shook his head.
“Lord Richard, you don’t have to… All the people of the Tower race had died to protect this world.”
“We are not cowards!”
“This is the glory of the Tower race!”
It spoke and turned to look at the little fellows around.
“It’s safe now. Go and take out the armor and weapons in the warehouse. Find something that fits you… The final battle is not far away.”
Popov released a long sigh. The Tower race patriarch stepped into the hall afterward.
To Richard’s surprise, the Tower race’s little fellows didn’t ask questions but made way for their race leader.
Everyone cupped their chests and bowed to Popov!
This scene somehow moved Richard.
He recalled his Twilight City residents.
His residents would do the same if Twilight City ran out of food one day. They would sacrifice themselves to protect the city.
Richard shook his head and no longer thought about it. He followed Popov into the stone statue hall.
He felt something odd in his heart again.
It was like these ice-cold stone statues transformed into living towers. They stared and begged at Richard!
Popov walked to an inconspicuous corner and hugged a six-meter-tall giant stone statue to the front of the vast table.
“Lord Richard, this is the stone statue that sealed the evil life form…”
Richard looked at the stone statue with rapt attention. It looked blurry, completely indistinct, and its appearance could only discover that it was not some strange life.
He opened the attribute panel with a strong sense of curiosity.
[Ancient Stone Statue]
[Level: Glorious]
[Characteristic: Its seals the soul of a wraith devil. It requires several undead energy to activate.]
[Description: One made this stone statue and used a unique method. The soul has already fused into the stone statue because one had sealed it for too long. The activation will give rise to a new life.]
‘This?
‘Glorious?’
Richard’s eyes lit up.
‘Good stuff.’
Then, he opened the Black Gold System with intense anticipation as if he had thought of something.
[Dark Stone Statue]
[Glorious]
[The glorious soul-devouring stone statue has mutated and is fusing with the stone statue.]
[1. It can consume tons of negative energy to successfully mutate and transform it into a dark stone-like life form.]
[2. It can consume tons of light energy to stop its transformation and cause absolute death.]
[The system detected several undead crystals that contained negative energy. One can activate it by consuming undead crystals.]
[Note: The energy injected into it during the activation is highly rich; the higher the level, the higher the potential of the wraith devil after the mutation.]
[Spider divine power detected. You can use divine power to increase its potential. In the mutation of the wraith devil, the ability to mold is one of its mighty power. It can obtain the unique effect of the spider’s divine power.]