Outside the entrance to the hidden forbidden palace, within a secret hall of the imperial palace located at Macnadix City, the capital of the Manasvir Empire. Using her stealth clothes, Bella carefully inched her way towards the fallen goddess and the puppet possessed by one of the Creator Gods. The puppet was extremely good looking and was definitely a handsome man. However, Bella’s attention immediately turned towards the goddess.
The heavens must have been on Bella’s side, as a light breeze immediately picked up and blew the black headscarf off the goddess’s head, revealing her true appearance. Bella had already met most of the goddesses of the Twelve Gods. They were the Second Generation Death Goddess Rowling, Water Goddess Selma, and the spirit of the Goddess of Life, who still did not have a corporeal form and was currently attached to the new forest tavern.
When Bella met them, those goddesses either had loli-type figures because of poor growth or lack of power, or were simply a soul without a body. This fallen goddess was different, though. She was fully developed and definitely did not have a loli-type figure. Instead, she had a mature, womanly body and was slightly taller than Bella.
The goddess had a head of long dark-red hair and was dressed in a black evening gown with a sexy neckline that revealed her slender shoulders and cleavage. She was also wearing a necklace with a dark-red heart-shaped pendant that fell just below her collarbone. There was a barely visible pair of energy wings on her back, unlike the God Race. As for her appearance, this was the first time Bella had encountered a fallen goddess. However, she could not help but notice that dark goddesses had some kind of unusual allure.
It was highly unlikely that the goddess was under the control of any brainwashing magic. Her pink irises were clear and bright and were devoid of any confusion. As Bella got even closer, she could smell the unique floral fragrance that emanated from her. After some thought, she finally recalled where she had encountered it before. This was the same scent on the fake Love Goddess Mable when Bella was at the Exotic Race hotel back at the Olsylvia Academy.
After eavesdropping on their conversation, it confirmed Bella’s suspicions that this fallen goddess was the real Love Goddess Mable. She was not part of the Twelve Gods. Back then, she was only a first-grade God. Then, when the ex-Twelve Demon Kings invaded, she died in battle, along with the other high-level Gods. Love Goddess Mable was only resurrected due to the interference of the other dimensions’ Creator Gods during the last few decades.
As the foundation of the Creator Gods’ energies was clearly dark, when they resurrected her, Love Goddess Mable became the Fallen Love Goddess Mable. According to the metaphysics of the Other World, turning dark would increase one’s power threefold. Reverting to the light side, on the other hand, would cause one’s powers to decrease by thirty percent. This meant that Fallen Love Goddess Mable was far more powerful than the goddesses of the Twelve Gods. Her might surpassed even the most powerful goddess, the War Goddess.
Previously, Bella had misunderstood that the Love Goddess Mable had betrayed the Gods Realm and colluded with the Twelve Demon Kings. Now, it seemed that it was not the case. It was probably because as a fallen goddess, the faith in her heart had changed. As a Demon King, Bella did not have the obligations of a warrior to save the goddess.
That terrifying palace used to belong to the Emperor of the Manasvir Empire, Manas the Eighteenth. Somehow, Bella was fortunate enough to stumble upon the location where the tragedy had occurred more than a decade ago. After the Creator God’s surrogate left, Bella quietly followed Fallen Love Goddess Mable into the palace.
Fallen Love Goddess turned around and glanced at the area behind her. She seemed to have noticed that there was an intruder. However, it was not because she had seen through the stealth clothes but a woman’s conscientiousness that allowed her to detect Bella’s presence. On the other side, the Creator God from another dimension was too confident in his own abilities and left without paying attention to his surroundings.
Bella walked on the soft soil as she neared her target. Fallen Love Goddess Mable had purposely removed one of the stone steps near the palace’s entrance. When Bella walked past it, her footsteps were imprinted in the soft soil. Fallen Love Goddess Mable was caught by surprise. The only ones who would track her all the way here were warriors. However, the aura was off. She would normally be able to detect the unusual aura of a warrior from the other side.
Bella’s aura was definitely not a warrior’s. In fact, it was almost indistinguishable from the surrounding dark atmosphere. Considering this, Fallen Love Goddess Mable did not make any obvious moves as she turned to walk deeper into the forbidden palace. Bella continued to follow her into the silent building.
Compared to the terrifying torture tools placed outside the palace entrance, the interior was incredibly lame. As Love Goddess Mable had taken up the role of a flower goddess for a while, she was knowledgeable about flowers. The palace was also filled with all sorts of beautiful flowers. The moment Fallen Love Goddess Mable stepped into the garden, the cold, cruel expression on her face instantly softened, and she lit up with a warm smile that was typical of a regular goddess. It was as though she had not turned dark at all. If not for her clothes and the fallen wings on her back, Bella would have been taken in by the smile and assumed that Love Goddess Mable had not fallen at all.
Although the garden appeared normal, other things inside it were highly unusual. Bella glanced around the garden and finally noticed that its atmosphere was thick with a strange aura that compelled others to fall. Many beautiful young maidens were being hung naked in the sea of flowers. They were all bound in the standard “kikkoushibari” form. However, instead of ropes, vines adorned with fresh flowers were used. This gave the entire scene an unusual aesthetic.
The captured beauties were the ones who had attended the royal banquet with the imposter Emperor. They had been imprisoned, unable to move, ever since they had been brought here. As the vines had some form of anesthesia, the captured beauties were basically unable to escape, as they all remained in a numbed state. Furthermore, with the allure of the “Sorrow’s Voice” coming from the forbidden palace’s depths, those vine-bound beauties were kept in a dream-like state. At the same time, a weird liquid flowed down the vines and continued to drip down onto the already wet soil.
There was a large flower bud behind each of those beauties that looked almost like a carnivorous plant. Those large flower buds seemed to be an incubator for some type of demonic beings, and the faint silhouette of a humanoid figure could be seen through the bud’s surface. The vines that bound the beauties were extensions of those flower buds. Their eyes and mouths were not covered. However, they were so aroused that they submitted to being demonized.
After observing the scene in front of her for some time, Bella finally understood what was happening. Those beauties were being used as “ingredients” for demonic impregnation. At that same moment, the demonic beings who were under the command of the fake Emperor Manas carried in a new batch of beautiful girls. They removed the metal chains and other restraints from the girls’ bodies and pushed them into the flower patch. As many of them just had their blindfolds removed, they did not even have time to orientate themselves before the vines wrapped around their bodies and pulled them into the sea of flowers as fertilizer.
Among them, Bella saw three beautiful female hosts who were one of the top school beauties of the “artisan school”, the Antoinette Academy. There was no mistake. They had creamy white skin, amazing chests, and were extremely well-groomed. Like the other beauties, they were firmly restrained by the vines. Based on the sensual looks on their faces, it was likely that they had already lost themselves.
Bella was not in a rush to save them and continued to venture deeper into the palace. When those female hosts were doing their magical broadcasts, they merely catered to the male population. This was a little punishment, and Bella would think about ways to save them later.
At the moment, Fallen Love Goddess was standing beside a pillar and staring into space. It was almost as though she was waiting for Bella. When Bella stopped to admire the imprisoned girls, Fallen Love Goddess Mable stopped as well. It seemed that she was prepared to lead the way for her.
Under the “unintentional” direction of Fallen Love Goddess Mable, Bella arrived at the royal compound where it had all begun. When she walked through the doors, she was greeted with the sight of a large table, which was full of rotten food and was surrounded by a group of skeletons sitting around it. Those skeletons were frozen in the moment before they died. Many of them still had wine glasses or food in their hands. As everything happened so quickly, none of them had any time to process their death before they met with their demise.
According to the information that Bella had gotten previously, this was probably the royal compound that the Knight had stumbled into in his drunken stupor. The skeleton right in the middle should be the remains of the actual Emperor Manas the Eighteenth. There were large rings on each of the skeleton’s fingers, which was likely an indication that it used to be someone of different status.
Bella felt chills run down her back. Those skeletons must have been the immediate members of the Manasvir Empire’s royal family. They had perished here more than a decade ago and were replaced by a group of demonic beings who had taken control over the richest area of the Human continent.
The altar for the mysterious ritual was situated nearby. Bella suddenly realized that Fallen Love Goddess Mable had gone missing. The entire courtyard was also enveloped by an invisible barrier. Now that she was trapped, Bella knew that the fallen goddess must have detected her presence and set up this trap for her to walk into.
Suddenly, a sorrowful cry could be heard coming from the magical array at the altar. As the cries dragged on, the entire space seemed to distort itself. Bella did not wait for a terrifying demonic being to emerge from the array. Instead, she immediately ran over, drew her Great Evil Slaying Sword, and stabbed it right in the middle of the magical array.
A ray of golden light flashed past, and a pitiful cry could be heard from the magical array. Before the demonic being could even make its appearance, Bella had already stabbed it right in its head. Then, she took a small vial containing “God’s Tears” that she had obtained from the Creator of Light Vianne and placed a few drops into the middle of the magical array. With the onslaught of such powerful holy magical attacks, the weird array completely disintegrated. Puffs of black smoke emerged amid sizzling sounds, along with an unusual black blood-like liquid that spurted everywhere. Fortunately, Bella had taken a step back in time and avoided being splattered.
“You take too long to emerge, you fail demonic being. It’s zero points for you!”
Bella discarded her stealth robe after getting rid of the demonic being that did not even manage to show its face and immediately switched to offense mode. Her body emanated the unique aura of a Demon King, confusing the demonic beings gathering outside as reinforcements. The aura coming from the Demon King was one of an ally. Since they were all on the same side, it was not necessary to provide reinforcements.
After destroying a part of the palace with a wave of dark energy, Bella barged into a large, grand bathroom with the blessing of a mysterious force. Fallen Love Goddess Mable thought that Bella had already been taken care of by the demonic beings and had decided to retreat to the large bathroom to relax. When Bella charged in through the walls, she had just taken off her clothes and did not manage to grab a towel and bathrobe in time. In addition, the blast from Bella’s entrance had blown her clothes away, and they were too far from the bath now.
The room instantly fell silent. As Love Goddess Mable was a fallen goddess, she came to her senses much faster than Bella did. Unlike a regular goddess, a fallen goddess was much more open and was not shy at all. After seeing that her clothes were out of reach, Mable simply walked over gracefully to a small coffee table by the side of the bath. She then picked up the teapot on the table and poured out two cups of floral tea.
“A warrior? No, Your Majesty, please have a seat. Do excuse my lack of refreshments. I can only offer you some tea.”
“Fallen Goddess, your demonic being was far too weak and took too long to emerge. Such a disgrace to our demonic beings.”
Bella adapted quickly as well. She sat down at the coffee table but did not touch her drink. Although Fallen Love Goddess Mable had taken the first sip as a show of her sincerity, Bella was still unconvinced. She did not ask why the fallen goddess knew that she was a Demon King either. Any entity that could use the “Dark Wave” was definitely a Demon King, as that was one of their signature moves, and Bella had used it earlier to break down the wall.
Before Love Goddess Mable fell, she was a first-grade God. This meant that she was extremely familiar with the ex-Twelve Demon Kings, and her judgment was unlikely to be wrong. While they were having tea, Love Goddess Mable continued to quietly observe Bella. She seemed different from the ex-Demon Kings from before. Back then, those Demon Kings gave off an aura of bloodlust and terror. On the other hand, the Demon King sitting in front of her barely showed any bloodlust. Instead, there was a thinly veiled evil to her.
“Your Majesty, how may I address you?”
“My Goddess, please do away with the courteous small talk. I prefer to go straight to the point. Let the girls in the garden go. Some of them are acquaintances from the academy next door.”
“Those are flower buds used to cultivate fallen angels. If you’d like, I could give you a few. However, the Holy Father will be furious if I let them all go.”
Fallen Love Goddess Mable did not seem to have any intention of backing down, and it was obvious that they had now reached a stalemate. Mable had already noticed Bella when she was prepared to attack. However, she remained calm and did not show any expression of fear.
“Your Majesty, please do not get angry. If anything untoward were to happen to me, those flower buds would instantly swallow and absorb their source of nutrients. By then, you would not be able to get any of them. Why don’t we have a nice, calm talk…”
“There’s no need for any further discussion. Your vines are so flimsy.”
Fallen Love Goddess Mable’s smile froze. She could feel that the connections to the demonic flowers had been completely severed. Before Bella could say anything, Assassin Noreya walked out of the shadows, holding some of those vines and a ruined bell in her hand. While following Bella, Assassin Noreya was responsible for destroying that annoying bell. With a long-distance shot, Noreya’s arrow had knocked down the “Sorrow’s Voice”.
Those sturdy vines had been sliced apart by Princess Kriss’s precious swords. At the same time, Kriss had taken care of the demonic beings in the garden as well. Through some stroke of luck, the Creator God’s surrogate had already left before Kriss and Noreya arrived, and they did not bump into each other.
“You fallen goddess, the root of evil was you! As the Sword Warrior of the Gabriel Empire, I will stop you in your evil journey.”
“You… if you’re warriors, why don’t you attack her first? What kind of warrior are you?”
Holding a light sword in her hand, Kriss appeared beside Bella. That was the “Faith of the Demon Slayer”, a weapon that could kill a god. Back then, the Warrior King had used it to slaughter countless demonic beings and fallen gods until he encountered Myriad Sword Demon Krysan, who killed him and gained possession of the sword.
Kriss and Assassin Noreya flanked Bella as they continued to launch attacks towards Fallen Love Goddess Mable. At this point, she could no longer remain composed. Bella had clearly revealed herself as a Demon King. Yet, the two beautiful maiden warriors did not attack her at all. Instead, they stood by the Demon King’s side while targeting her, the fallen goddess. That was too unprofessional of them.
“She… even if she was a Demon King, as a fallen goddess, you have no right to order us around. Prepare to be enlightened!”
Kriss raised her sword above her head and slashed it down at the ground, sending an enormous light beam toward Fallen Love Goddess Mable. Within moments, the defense barrier that Mable had erected was turned into fragments. The immense force of the blast sent her flying through the air, and Mable spat out a few mouthfuls of dark-red blood. After all, a regular warrior’s attacks were nothing compared to Kriss’s, and she had already injured the fallen goddess with a single blow.
Before Fallen Love Goddess Mable could regain her senses, she felt the ice-cold metal of a dagger’s blade on her neck. In addition, there was a perfectly positioned finger pressing at the spot where her soul core was located. Assassin Noreya had already shifted behind the fallen goddess and had taken control over Mable’s every move. This had ruined any of her plans to escape.
“Do not move a muscle; otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to destroy your divinity!”
“No… you… are you really warriors? How could you be more…”
“Alright, Goddess Mable, let us renegotiate our terms. Tell me everything you know!”
“I… I’ll tell you everything… please don’t kill me. I don’t want to… disappear!”
Bella walked up to the previously arrogant and confident goddess and cupped her chin. Now, she was finally afraid. She quickly admitted defeat and revealed everything she knew.
