Ah, Truth has become a Holy Maiden…
Suna stared at the radiant, golden figure of Truth, momentarily at a loss for words. So dreamlike.
Just moments ago, this girl was still looking at the Goddess of Life with disdain, and there was an evil presence inside her body too.
Reg has even become a candidate hero. What does the Goddess of Life see in him? If he can also receive a blessing… then will I be next?
With a heart full of excitement, Suna bowed even more devoutly to the Goddess of Life.
Then the Goddess of Life disappeared.
“Ugh…”
Suna felt inexplicably wronged. Why was she the only one left standing aside?
Gadelia let out a long sigh of relief. Thank goodness Suna was safe!
【Name: Truth】
【Level: LV.12 (111/1250)】
【Race: Human】
【Attributes: Life 48, Constitution 52, Mana 99, Intelligence 72, Strength 22, Agility 31, Faith 942】
【Skills: Healing Mist (awaiting advancement), Enhanced Senses (Proficiency 25%), Lens Beyond (+11%)】
【Talents: Mist Concealer (Fusion Progress 0%), Mist Faithful LV.4, Life’s Blessing LV.0】
【Faith Points: 5】【Available Attribute Points: 2】【Mist Energy: 161】
Looking at the panel before her, Truth was silent for a few seconds. She was actually going to be colleagues with Tia.
Since the Goddess of Life had sincerely invited her to cause some trouble at the church, she wouldn’t hold back.
“Greetings, Holy Maiden!”
At that moment, the students who had been fleeing earlier returned near the Sanctuary Platform, each kneeling on one knee to sincerely pay homage to Truth.
The Church of the Goddess of Life regularly sends out twelve Holy Maidens, each blessed by life’s elements. This is why people say that just standing beside a Holy Maiden can prolong one’s life.
Combined with the Goddess’s divine blessings, the Holy Maiden is like a walking omen of good fortune, a symbol of love and peace!
And since this was Deya City’s Holy Maiden, this border town would surely gain great fame. Just the title “Holy Maiden” alone could attract countless investments and development!
“Holy Maiden, please protect us from disease!”
“Please lead Deya City to prosperity!”
“Please bless every adventure that lies ahead of us!”…
The crowd earnestly voiced their prayers to Truth. Then several notifications popped up before her:
【Faith received from Nathaniel, Faith +】
【Faith received from Burns, Faith +】
【Faith received from Caitlin, Faith +】…
What the heck, being worshiped by these people actually increases faith?!
Truth was shocked. She had always thought that only those like Tia, who believed in the Hidden One, could increase faith points. Yet it turned out that faith itself could increase faith points?
After organizing the notifications, Truth saw the final stats:
【Faith received from residents of Deya City, Faith +22】
【Faith Power has exceeded 100, unlocked function: Blessing】
【Blessing: Bestow blessings upon followers in the name of the deity】
Another new feature unlocked!
Could it be that pretending to be a kind little priestess was the right path? As long as she did more good deeds and upheld love and peace, wouldn’t faith points just keep increasing?
Truth immediately turned to the crowd and smiled sweetly:
“Please take care of me!”
I command you all to quickly worship the great Truth!
The crowd erupted into enthusiastic cheers. Suna genuinely felt happy for Truth, and Reg was even more excited, already bragging in front of Mailun:
“Who cheated and still can’t beat me? Who says I didn’t receive the Goddess’s blessing? It’s you—~”…
At the edge of the Training Ground, watching the adorable little priestess radiating motherly light on stage, Gadelia grew more regretful.
Why hadn’t she secured Truth earlier? Such a good personality and high potential. The Northern Empire truly lacked gentle and virtuous priestesses like her!
“Roar!”
Suddenly, the roar of a giant dragon echoed through the Training Ground again, sending everyone into panic. But soon, they realized the roar came from the direction of the Mist…
“Yikes!”
In the Mist, Tia was running desperately with a Dragon Egg in her arms, chased by an angry Fire Dragon.
Because of the Mist’s obstruction, the Fire Dragon couldn’t see Tia in the fog. It dived headfirst into the Mist but instantly lost direction and had to ascend again.
“Roar!”
The Fire Dragon’s solution to the Mist’s nature was simple and brutal: scatter the Mist!
Several bursts of dragon breath exploded around the Fire Dragon, breaking apart the Mist and leaving behind several large craters. Flames flared, frightening nearby adventurers in the Mist.
The Fire Dragon then dove down, slamming a claw onto the ground—only to find Tia wasn’t there.
Again! The Fire Dragon began a wide-area bombardment, even using the wind pressure from its wings to blow apart the Mist, turning the entire area upside down.
All of this was watched by Holy Maiden Truth with a god’s-eye view.
“I… damn!”
“Eh? What’s wrong?”
Suna was startled by Truth’s outburst. Truth ignored her and strode off the arena, heading toward the academy exit.
Some flying lizard apparently was a little annoying!
“Look, the Holy Maiden is leaving. Is she going to save adventurers harmed by the dragon in the Mist?”
“She’s so gentle!”
“Praise Holy Maiden Truth!”…
Truth walked out of the Training Ground with a stern face, passing by Gadelia, who wisely greeted her. A human Holy Maiden deserved some respect.
“Hello, Ho—”
“Get lost!”
“Huh?!”
……
In the Mist, Tia was still sprinting toward the Core of the Mist, pursued by the increasingly close dragon breath explosions.
“Almost there, just a bit further. As long as I get the Dragon Egg to the Mist Core, the mission will be complete!”
No wonder the Hermit gives her such dangerous tasks. But no matter how dangerous, she can handle it!
“The explosions are coming from that way.”
A man’s voice sounded ahead of Tia, then a group of adventurers appeared. She couldn’t stop in time and crashed into a handsome black-haired man at the front.
“Who?!”
Evans clutched his stomach in pain, looking at Tia and the Dragon Egg in her arms.
“Priestess? Wait… Dragon Egg?!”
Could this be Anderson’s team smuggling Dragon Eggs?
That guy wasn’t lying after all; they really were smuggling Dragon Eggs in the Mist!
Evans still hadn’t found Anderson but accidentally stumbled upon Tia while following the explosion’s direction, immediately assuming she was Anderson’s accomplice.
After all, Dragon Eggs aren’t something you see every day.
“Excuse me, please let me through!”
Tia hurriedly tried to pass around Evans and the others, but they quickly blocked her. They weren’t about to let such valuable prey escape!
“Don’t rush, Miss Priestess. What’s so urgent in a mere First-Tier Mist?”
“There is! That—”
Tia turned sideways to show them the rapidly dispersing Mist behind her. A huge silhouette was faintly visible. Evans squinted, then immediately turned and fled.
“Damn, a dragon!”
Anderson’s crew was pretty bad if they actually led a grown Fire Dragon here!
But Evans’s skills weren’t great either. He had once accidentally led a Fifth-Tier Elder Dragon to the Watchfort. Thankfully, the army intervened in time, preventing disaster.
“Boom!”
Blocked by Evans for a while, Tia tried to continue forward but suddenly felt a heatwave behind her, followed by a violent roar.
A dragon breath exploded right behind her.
“Life Protection!”
Tia quickly cast a spell with the magical device on her wrist, enveloping herself in a green shield made of life energy. Unfortunately, a Seventh-Tier Fire Dragon’s breath was far beyond the defense of a Fourth-Tier priestess.
Tia’s shield shattered instantly but still absorbed most of the damage. She was thrown five meters away, clutching the Dragon Egg, her insides trembling.
“Cough cough!“
“Thud!” The Fire Dragon flapped its wings and slowly landed before Tia. Its huge vertical pupil fixed on her, scales bristling, wings blotting out the sky. It lowered its head close to Tia.
“Roar!”
The terrifying, blood-curdling dragon roar exploded, and Tia curled into a ball, ears nearly bursting.
“Hermit… please save me…”
Seemingly sensing the call of a believer, a crimson light streaked through half the Mist like a 400-pound cannonball and slammed heavily onto the dragon’s face. The Fire Dragon was thrown far away.
“You bastard, who the hell gave you the balls to cause trouble on my turf!”
Truth grabbed the dragon’s horn and slammed its head repeatedly into the ground. The dragon whimpered in pain, utterly confused. Just as it tried to look up to see who attacked, it realized its head was pinned immovably.
In front of her stood a red-eyed girl in brand-new Priest Robe of the Goddess of Life, holding the Fire Dragon’s snout with a slender right hand. No matter how much the dragon struggled, it couldn’t move!
“God damn it!”
The priestess pointed at the dragon angrily, clearly furious.
“Tru… Truth?”
From a distance, Tia, still clutching the Dragon Egg, staggered behind a tree and watched Truth interrogate the giant dragon.
It was definitely Truth, but her aura felt completely different. And how could such a small frame pin a giant dragon down with one hand? So strong… Could it be that the Hermit was possessing her?
“Hey, lizard! Who sent you to cause trouble? If you don’t answer, I’ll cut off your wings and make you a ground lizard for life!”
Truth punched the dragon’s snout again. The dragon whimpered lowly, never expecting to be treated like garbage by a human deity and tossed into the wild. Now it faced someone who could casually control it.
The sky’s dominant giant dragon, now forever grounded—that was the ultimate humiliation.
“Can you even speak?! Dumbass? Seventh-Tier and still can’t transform into human form?!”
Truth slapped the dragon again. It dared to waste her time while the Mist was still burning!
Generally, Seventh-Tier monsters could already shapeshift into humanoid forms. But this one seemed to have just reached Seventh-Tier recently, still not fully mastering transformation.
“Ugh…”
The dragon whimpered again, then shook its vertical pupil and looked behind Truth.
“Behind?”
Truth turned and saw Tia had somehow appeared nearby, peeking out from behind a tree, her face full of admiration.
It really was the Hermit!
She immediately subdued this Fire Dragon and spoke so dominantly. This is my perfect image of the Hermit! I want to be scolded like that too…
“What are you staring at? What’s wrong with her?”
Truth pointed at Tia and asked the dragon. It made sense for her follower to appear in the Mist, so what was the dragon trying to say? But since it couldn’t speak, just making noises, she was ready to slap it again.
“Annoying!” Truth waved at Tia without looking back:
“Come here!”
“Oh-oh.” Tia quickly approached Truth with the Dragon Egg. The Fire Dragon became agitated again, flapping its wings, only to get slapped by Truth once more.
“So what exactly are you trying to say, you bastard? Did Tia kill your whole family or something? Why so aggressive? Wait, Tia, what are you holding?”
Truth’s peripheral vision caught sight of what Tia was holding.
Wuwu, you finally noticed the Dragon Egg in the priestess’s hands!
The dragon was about to shed pearls of tears, while Tia looked guilty.
“Uh, a Dragon Egg?”
“Whose Dragon Egg?”
“This… is the Fire Dragon’s…”
After hearing Tia’s explanation, Truth was silent for a long time, then slowly released the dragon. It obediently stood aside without a sound, quietly waiting for Truth to sort things out.
Five minutes later, Truth stood on tiptoe, grabbed Tia’s collar, and heard the whole story, her head full of dark lines.
Because they couldn’t find the Illusory Realm Dragon Egg, they planned to steal a similar one, thinking it was a test from me…
Turns out it was her own people causing trouble… Damn.
She had thought another calamity had sent this Fire Dragon into the Mist to cause trouble, but it was actually Tia smuggling Dragon Eggs who got caught by a mother lizard… er, female Fire Dragon.
Looking again at the wronged Fire Dragon in front of her, Truth suddenly felt a bit ashamed. But no worries, she was now the Holy Maiden of the Goddess of Life and could resolve this with love!
Truth’s expression changed in an instant, her hands folded in front of her as she smiled warmly:
“Oh—so it’s a misunderstanding, I’m really sorry!”
Seeing Truth suddenly become gentle, both Tia and the dragon were confused. What was going on? One moment she was fierce, the next she was all soft and cuddly.
Could it be that the Hermit was no longer possessing her?
Tia noticed Truth’s eyes had shifted from red back to pink. It seemed she could now tell if the Hermit was possessing her by this.
Then Truth squinted and spoke softly to Tia:
“Tia, the Hermit says you have to return the Dragon Egg to Sister Dragon, then kowtow three times in apology~”
“What?!”
Returning the Dragon Egg was fine, but the Hermit wanted her to kneel…
So exciting!
The Hermit actually wanted to punish me. Could this be my reward for completing the mission?! Regardless, if it’s the Hermit’s order…
Tia didn’t hesitate and immediately knelt, banging her head three times before the Fire Dragon. The huge bumps on her chest, as big as Truth’s head, bounced as she excitedly said:
“Sorry, Sister Dragon!”
The Fire Dragon felt a bit better but wondered why the priestess’s expression was so strange. All it wanted now was to take the Dragon Egg and go home…
Truth continued smiling:
“Miss Fire Dragon, will you forgive Tia? If yes, can you shake hands and make peace?”
Shake hands… The Fire Dragon reluctantly lowered its massive body and extended a small forelimb to shake Tia’s. It dared not refuse Truth.
At least Truth could tell right from wrong, which was a small blessing for the dragon’s misfortune.
Very good. Hopefully, the Fire Dragon wouldn’t secretly retaliate against Tia later. And Tia—why could she make such a fuss over a simple delivery mission?
There were dozens of large craters newly added to the Mist!
Well, it was acceptable. Later, she’d make the Fire Dragon drop some valuable loot. Although this was caused by her underling, the dragon normally wouldn’t need to compensate.
But unfortunately, Truth wasn’t exactly a good person.
Truth negotiated the compensation with the dragon, which nodded and promised to send valuable items in the future.
Besides gold coins, Truth didn’t care about those.
With the matter resolved, all that remained was to assess the Mist’s damage. Using her god’s-eye view, she saw that the destruction was barely within tolerance—just the damage caused by four Fifth-Tier harpies.
Not bad. No matter how bad it got, it couldn’t get much worse.
Truth shrugged and prepared to leave. Then she noticed Tia and the dragon both looking up at the sky.
“What are you looking at?”
“Truth, the sky is so bright…” Tia pointed to the suddenly appearing “sun” overhead.
The “sun” dragged a long fiery tail, hurtling down with apocalyptic force. Before it landed, everything around began to tremble, causing Tia and the Fire Dragon to scramble for cover.
Truth stood still, gazing up thoughtfully.
“Ah… it’s the Grand Meteor Spell.”
In an instant, the “sun” struck the northern edge of the Mist, flames shooting into the sky, dirt and rocks flying everywhere, a mushroom cloud rising.
The powerful shockwave swept outwards like an overwhelming tidal wave!