Mystra was greatly relieved to learn why the Goddess of Light had landed on Earth.
Everything was fine as long as it was about religious war, suppressing other sects, and increasing the number of her believers.
Then, Mystra thought for a moment and asked, “Have you modified any new spells recently? Sacrifice them to me. I’m so bored.”
“I have a couple of them. I’ll sacrifice them to you when I have time.” Roland nodded. “Right, Goddess. I have a question. How long do the gods and goddesses live?”
“Theoretically, they live infinitely.” Mystra looked at Roland weirdly and continued, “However, according to my investigation in the past hundreds of years, none of them have ever lived more than five thousand years.”
“Why is that?” Roland was rather curious.
Mystra heaved a sigh. “Because their lives are boring.” “Boring?”
Mystra nodded. “The paradises are very boring. As the territories of the gods and goddesses, there are no secrets or surprises in those places. They know everything that happens there.”
“But aren’t there a lot of souls of believers in the paradises?” Roland thought for a moment and asked, “Isn’t it great to chat and spend time with them?”
Mystra’s expression became even weirder. “Do you think the believers dare to speak freely in front of a goddess? In particular, because the divine power is too strong in the paradises, the believers cannot even look a goddess in her eyes. What do you think they can talk about under such circumstances?”
That was indeed a problem.
“But you can still watch all the joy and sorrow in the human world from high above like watching a drama. That shouldn’t be boring.”
Mystra shook her head again. “As the Goddess of Light said, there is nothing new under the sun! It will be enough if you watch the human world for several dozen years, because all the plots are the same except the different places, times, and names. The most outstanding reason is that we don’t have real friends, and we never have feelings for anything. So, all the lawful gods find our lives boring.”
Roland understood what she meant. “So, even though the gods and goddesses have infinite longevity, life is so boring that you all abandon it after five thousand years?”
“We only abandon our thinking,” Mystra explained. “Godhood never dies. It’s our physical form. We abandon our mind and leave godhood behind. After a while, a new mind and soul will be reborn inside our godhood.”
Roland was slightly surprised. “Shouldn’t that be a secret about godhood? Is it fine to tell it to a mortal like myself?”.
“You consider yourself a mortal?” Mystra put on a beautiful smile. “Can a mortal look a goddess in the eyes and resist her possession as a Master? You need more confidence in yourself.”
“Am I so good?” Roland was slightly surprised.
“As far as I know, nobody among the Golden Sons is capable of doing that except you and the Goddess of Light’s Saint Samurai.” Mystra supported her chin with her right hand and looked at Roland with great interest. “Why else do you think the Life Goddess would’ve done you a favor, invited you to her paradise, and chatted with you? It wasn’t like she could talk a believer of light into shifting to her side.”
So that was the case!
Roland stared at Mystra in the eyes. “Have you been doing that too?”
“Of course,” admitted Mystra frankly. “You have never declared your faith, so we all want to win you over.”
Faced with Mystra’s candidness, Roland fell into a brief silence.
He had always thought that he had certain specialties that the goddesses could make use of, and that was why they appreciated him so much.
Even the Nether God seemed to be interested in him.
Little did he know that they were only interested in him because he could look them in the eyes.
They didn’t mean any harm to him!
His vigilance against them so far was totally uncalled for.
He had always feared that they would entangle him at some point.
Finally, he could be more reassured now.
However, he wasn’t fully convinced by Mystra. He only believed ninety percent of what she said.
Seeing that Roland was silent, Mystra looked at him and asked enthusiastically, “So, do you want to really be my believer? I can give you what the Goddess of Light gives her Saint Samurai.”
Roland slightly shook his head. “I appreciate your kindness very much, goddess, but can I consider it for a while?”
“Be my guest.” Mystra smiled and then said, “Right, you’d better build a temple for me in Delpon and then deploy a couple of Mages there as clerics.” “Why?”
“I’m already working on the teleportation magic arrays.” Mystra combed her pink hair with her smooth right hand and played with it, which made her look rather cute. “You’ll probably be making money in a couple of months. If you don’t have my temple as a transfer station, you’ll have to claim your money from other cities. Wouldn’t that be a waste of time? Also, as the teleportation magic array is set up in more and more cities, you’ll get more money every month, so it’ll be safer if it’s delivered directly to your home.”
“Okay, I understand.”
Roland knew very well that if there was a magic temple in Delpon, the whole city would probably be under Mystra’s watch. However, considering the glittering gold coins that he was going to receive, it would be a small price to pay. Seeing that Roland was on board, Mystra smiled and waved her hand.
The space twisted and broke into pieces. Very soon, Roland returned to Alfred’s study in the Association of Mages.
Andonara was standing next to him. She was greatly relieved to see him back to himself.
Curiosity beamed from Alfred’s eyes. “It was a goddess who pulled your soul away… Based on the waves, was it Mystra?”
Roland nodded.
Seeing that Roland admitted it, Alfred frowned. “Roland, you must not become Mystra’s believer, or she’ll possess all the knowledge in your head.”
“I understand.” Roland understood Alfred’s concerns.
All the Legendary Mages in the main plane considered it their goal to catch up with Mystra and become new gods and goddesses.
ome ne
S
.
Mystra had been their motivation. They believed that if Mystra, a woman, could achieve that, so could they.
Even if they couldn’t, some other Mages and human beings could do the same.
Roland was a promising future god in Alfred’s eyes. He had vaguely realized that it was impossible for him to become a god, but it would still be great if he could raise a disciple who became a
god!
However, Roland had already been “discovered” by Mystra, which made him worry.
Had Mystra, a thousand-year-old spinster, developed an interest in his student?
That was a pretty pickle.
He had to figure out a way to make Roland hate Mystra.
Alfred was anxious in his heart, but he showed no emotion on his face. He simply said to Roland, “The whole thing is almost over. I’m told that you rescued Princess Stephanie and hid her. Now, take her to the capital, or the royal family won’t be reassured.”
“All right.”
After bidding farewell to Alfred, Roland teleported back to Delpon with Andonara.
He was going back to his manor, only to find that his manor had been surrounded by a large wood that was strewn with thorny bushes.
While he was confused, the thorny bushes and vines in the wood split apart, and two men wearing green robes and cloaks walked out.
“Druids!”
Roland remarked casually.
They lifted their cloaks, and Roland found one of them rather familiar.
He was exactly the Druid who showed up when trees were being chopped to make room for Delpon’s satellite city.
Roland was not strong enough back then, so he wasn’t confident of dealing with those Druids.
However, Roland was already level 12 at this moment, and those druids were still what they used to be.
Not to mention that he had an unbelievably strong female Hero by his side.
As if she sensed the strangers’ hostility, Andonara grabbed her sword and stood aside slightly in front of Roland.
That way, she wouldn’t block Roland’s vision, and she could stop the strangers if they wanted to attack. “Roland?” The familiar Druid stepped forward and said, “The real controller of Delpon, the Usurper of the City, the Shameless Schemer, the Queen’s Kidnapper…”
Roland raised his eyebrows. “Your descriptions are very interesting.” “They’re not my descriptions, but the impressions of everybody in Hollevin of you,” said the middle-aged Druid coldly. “I’m Aslan, leader of human Druids.”
“I remember you. We met a year ago.” Roland looked around at the trees and vines near the manor and asked, “So you caused all these things. What’s that supposed to mean?”
The other Druid also stepped up and stopped behind Aslan.
Aslan took out a red grass and showed it to Roland. Then he said, “You’ve planted a lot of Phoenix’s Blood Grasses, also known as the Inferno Grass.”
Roland knew that the precious Blood Grasses in his manor couldn’t be kept a secret for long.
After all, they took up a large area, and they could be detected even though they were protected by magic barriers, unless they were planted in inconspicuous places.
Also, the real way to protect one’s wealth was with one’s power and influence, not hiding it here and there.
At the same time, Roland was more or less amused.
He had been asking the Guild of Bards to speak ill of the Druids in secret. He thought that the Druids came here for that, but they turned out to be here for a whole different matter.
Things were getting interesting. Roland chuckled. “And?” “Those evil Blood Grasses will be major problems to you. We can help you purge them,” said Aslan casually. “Besides, you shouldn’t have planted such evil grasses in the first place. As time goes by, the aura of the Demon God will corrupt you and turn you
evil.”
Roland laughed aloud after he heard that.
Aslan narrowed his eyes and asked, “Mr. Roland, what was that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. I just find you adorable.” Roland pointed at the trees and vines. “You can’t break into my manor, so you’ve surrounded it, attempting to force the people inside to come out because of hunger, right?”
Aslan hid his hands in the spacious sleeves of his magic robe. “It’s only our last resort. Your subordinates were bold enough to resist us and not surrender the evil plants. They even wanted the grasses to spread, which was bad. So, we’ve built this wood to stop the Blood Grasses from proliferating. It’s all for your own
good.”
Even Andonara laughed when she heard that.
Although the Druids spoke righteously, they couldn’t even fool Andonara, not to mention Roland.
Roland gently waved his fingers. “To be honest, you Druids are really shameless.”
“What do you mean by that?” Aslan stared at Roland coldly. “The Druids share wealth and woe with nature. By insulting us, you’re insulting nature.”
“What a terrible accusation.”
Roland snorted and then cast Alignment Detection on them.
As stated earlier, Alignment Detection was a humiliating spell. Using it on someone was an open declaration of suspicion.
Besides, it was not just a declaration, but also an action to prove it.
The two Druids’ expression greatly changed. They pointed their fingers at Roland and were about to curse him.
But Andonara moved the moment they pointed their fingers. She appeared in front of them in the blink of an eye and tapped them with the sheath of her sword.
The two Druids were instantly bent like shrimps. They blushed and fell on their knees holding their bellies.
At first, they vomited up their food. Then they vomited some blood.
Andonara had used the precise amount of strength to hurt them and cause excruciating pain without really wounding them. Aslan wasn’t too weak. He soon overcame the pain and raised his head, glaring at Roland brutally. “You dared to attack us. You’ll die a miserable death. Nature will punish you.”
“Me?” Roland looked at them with a smile. “You’d better look at yourselves in a mirror, especially the red above your heads.”
Both of them were greatly shocked.
They looked at each other. Then they found that, as Roland said, there were red glimmers above their heads because of the Alignment Detection spell.
“How’s that possible?!”
Both of them were horrified and found it hard to believe.
The Druids were an absolutely neutral sect, and the two of them had never deviated from the teaching of this sect. Why was there red above their heads?
It was quite a serious matter.
The two of them were apparently appalled.
Roland walked to them and said mockingly, “You’re still not leaving? You claim to be absolutely neutral, but you’re just a sect who places nature above mankind, and who are kinder to beasts than to human beings. This is the inevitable result when other people see through your beliefs.”
“You…” The other Druid pointed at Roland, too furious to think clearly.
After they walked away, Roland dropped three magic spiders that were almost completely transparent and had them follow the Druids.
After the two Druids left, the forest and thorny vines that surrounded the manor turned into spots of green light and disappeared.
Roland opened the gate of the manor and saw the barriers had already been activated, as well as Christina and Stephanie, who were relaxed behind the barriers.
