If the Beast God weren’t around, Vira would have a hundred ways to force this second-rank priestling to reveal clues about the Wishing Pool, such as intimidation through force.
To intimidate hostile families plotting rebellion, countless high-ranking beastmen had been thrown into Vira’s dungeon over the years for interrogation, and her methods of questioning were nothing short of terrifying.
It was said those beastmen would be scared out of their wits the moment they entered the dungeon—confessing everything before they were even locked up.
Or perhaps gold coins and rare treasures. The Northern Empire’s mineral wealth was the greatest in the world.
As long as Truth was willing to speak, Vira could satisfy ninety-nine percent of her demands—even legendary-grade items were within her power to grant!
Unfortunately, Truth was a friend of the Beast God, so Vira couldn’t easily resort to bribery or coercion.
On top of that, the former’s brain circuits were simply abnormal—the things she wanted weren’t what ordinary people would want…
Vira had rewarded many meritorious subjects in the past.
Most beastmen wanted gold coins or precious artifacts, and Vira believed normal people would want the same. But this Truth…
No gold coins, no artifacts. She only wanted…
“Mew!”
With a long, bone-melting cat cry, Vira—finally obtaining the long-coveted location of the Wishing Pool—went limp and collapsed to the ground, her cat ears drooping as she gasped for breath.
Why… how could a stranger, a little priestess she’d never met, make her so… embarrassed… Fortunately, Vira was wearing a long skirt today, so Truth hadn’t noticed the tail wagging beside her.
Actually, Vira’s most sensitive spot was the base of her tail…
Behind Vira, a satisfied Truth stretched lazily. She was quite pleased with Vira’s performance just now:
“Good job, little Vira. So, tell me—what reward do you want?”
Although Truth was so poor right now that Mist was her only asset, she still had her own strength.
Taking out a high-rank opponent in a single strike wasn’t a problem. If Vira wanted, she could even eliminate a few of her rivals for free.
But Vira refused decisively:
“No way!”
Toying with me with your hands is bad enough, but now you want to humiliate me with words?
I am the Empress of the Northern Empire—do I really need a second-rank priest to grant me rewards?!
Unfortunately, the very second those words left her mouth, she regretted them…
Right! She could use this opportunity to ask this little priestess other questions!
Like other ways to bypass the Divine Blockade and ascend to King Rank, or maybe help translate some ancient texts!
Because her pride was thin and she hadn’t thought carefully before speaking, Vira suddenly felt like she’d just missed out on a fortune.
Actually, going back on her word now wasn’t entirely impossible—it would just be even more embarrassing…
“Alright, if you don’t want it, then don’t. I won’t force you. After all, I’m not the type to coerce people.”
After Truth spoke, Vira suddenly let out a cold laugh. Not the type to coerce people? Didn’t this little priestess feel any shame saying something like that?
Then Vira thought it over again. Since she’d already made such a fool of herself in front of the Beast God and this little priestess, why not embarrass herself a little more in exchange for more valuable information?
“Wait! Sister Truth!” Vira suddenly called out to Truth, who had just turned around. She said:
“I… I’ve changed my mind.”
“Changed your mind about what?”
“I… I want a reward.” Vira turned her face away with a hint of shame. She never thought the day would come when she’d say the words “I want a reward.” How embarrassing…
“Sure, but… your attitude needs to be a bit more sincere.” Truth seemed to have thought of something odd again. She slowly moved her mouth to Vira’s ear and whispered:
“You have to say, ‘Please give me a reward, Sister Truth,’ and you have to add a ‘mew’ too. Just a heads-up—none of what you just said had a single ‘mew’ in it.”
“What mew?!” Vira gritted her silver teeth again.
At this moment, she truly wanted to drag this little priestess back to her palace and repay her double-fold, disciplining her thoroughly!
But not right now. After a moment of deliberation, Vira ultimately conquered her shame.
She lowered her head, using her cascading purple hair to hide her face as much as possible, and spoke in a slightly trembling whisper:
“Please give me a reward… Sister Truth… mew.”
“Oh my my!” Hearing this from the big cat, Truth was absolutely delighted. She patted Vira’s head again:
“So then, what reward does my dear little cat want?”
I want you to kneel beneath my throne and become my personal footrest!
That’s what Vira thought, and she wanted to say it outright too. But she held back.
After thinking calmly for a moment, Vira voiced what was more important to her nation right now:
“Since Sister Truth has lived for over five hundred years, you must also know that every so often, the world experiences a few major events capable of changing everything.
Five hundred years ago, the Race War wiped out over a dozen major intelligent species.
Humans defeated the once-invincible Elven Empire and seized the most fertile lands in the world, while other species were forced to huddle at the desolate edges of the world.
Then, over three hundred years ago, the Divine War erupted. Due to the limited Faith Power, the gods stirred up this world once again for their own interests.
After half a century of conflict, the current situation finally took shape. So I’d like to ask Sister Truth—what will be the next event to change the world’s direction? Um… mew.”
Vira had asked the question every ruler wanted answered: where was the next “Opportunity”?
As a beastman who had long been entrenched in the frozen Northern Region, nobody would believe Vira wasn’t coveting human territory.
For the future of her nation and her Family, she had to seize the next Opportunity to change the world!
This was a profound and extremely difficult question to answer.
Even the Beast God, who could peer into fate, couldn’t state it precisely—because no one in this world could see everything, Truth included.
So no one could deduce where the next “Opportunity” lay.
But after only a few seconds of thought, Truth had her answer:
“It’s Mist.”
Even now, Truth hadn’t yet explored even twenty percent of this world.
After all, this was a new world fifteen hundred years later.
And judging by the Divine Authority corresponding to the twelve main professions’ twelve gods, along with the unique gods of other races, this world was simply full of variables.
No one could guess who would pull off something big, nor did they know how far they could go themselves.
But Truth was different. She knew she possessed a unique Dual Class System.
Her Calamity Authority and Divine Authority were fused into one, and Mist’s potential would become increasingly prominent over time.
So if everyone was going to pull something big, and she had to pick the single greatest variable among them all, Truth could guarantee it was herself—the one who had crossed over!
As a Player, Truth had one obsession: clearing this world!
Then doing whatever she wanted… After all, only after defeating the Ender Dragon and obtaining the Elytra did survival truly begin.
“Mist of Calamity?”
Vira was deeply shocked and surprised by Truth’s answer.
Before this, she had researched countless possibilities with her strategists.
She’d considered the gods warring among themselves again, and she’d considered Blasphemers finding the Forbidden Weapons that existed only in stories to overthrow the gods’ rule—but she had never once thought in the direction of Mist of Calamity…
“Sister Truth, may I ask why? Um… mew.”
“Why… let me put it this way. Mist of Calamity is the last map updated among the Five Great Cataclysms—a true King-tier Instance. However, this is a fact that most people in this world have already forgotten. But before long, you’ll all come to know it again.”
“Wh… what does that mean… mew?” Vira still couldn’t quite understand what Truth meant.
“Oh dear, I thought the Empress would be a bit smarter.” Truth patted Vira’s head again and re-explained:
“Then let me put it more simply. What I mean is—the current Mist will, in the near future, return to what it should truly be. Even stronger. When that time comes, Mist of Calamity will completely change this world!”
At this point, Truth suddenly had an idea. She hinted to Vira:
“So Vira, if you want to seize this once-in-five-hundred-years opportunity, then what you need to do right now is invest in Deya City. You have to be the first—before anyone else, before any other force—to cooperate with Mist for mutual benefit. When that day comes, you just might witness the end of the Age of Gods.”