Lu Ming shook his head inwardly; now was probably not the right time to think about such things.
He was, however, quite curious about the Elf Goddess whom the entire Nation of Nature worshipped. She was only a Rank 2 Deity. While she did not stand out much among the gods, she was an ancient existence who had achieved Ascension during the First Era.
Furthermore, she was known to be very kind and possessed a gentle personality. Because of this, she was quite popular among the other deities. It stood to reason that she would not simply watch as the Nation of Nature met with disaster.
There was only one other possibility.
The Elf Goddess had fallen.
“Irene, do you know the current situation of the Elf Goddess?” Lu Ming asked tactfully, not wanting to state his suspicion directly.
Irene had just recovered from the state of tingling numbness and racing heartbeats. Upon hearing Lu Ming’s words, her expression froze, and her emotions plummeted into an uncontrollable gloom. She seemed to have thought of something terrible.
“My Lord, she… our Elf Race, whether they are ordinary believers, Bishops, or even the Pope…” Irene’s face was filled with melancholy and sorrow. “None of them can contact her anymore. Furthermore, the Sequence levels of the Pope and several Bishops have completely vanished.”
She looked at Lisi quietly, her eyes filled with what seemed like pity.
“How… how could that be…” Lisi’s eyes glazed over as she heard this. Her heart was filled with disbelief.
Generally speaking, the Pope and Bishops of every Church were granted the **[Acolyte of the Goddess]** Sequence by the deity they served. Their strength was tied to the deity; they rose and fell together.
Even in Sislia’s case, her Sequence level had not completely vanished back then; it had merely dropped to Rank 1. But the situation with the Elf Church was already enough to explain the problem.
Sislia could not help but feel a bit depressed as well, and the messy thoughts in her head momentarily ceased. The fall of a god was an extremely heavy blow to believers in every aspect. She could fully understand how Lisi and Irene felt.
Lu Ming looked at the dejected expressions of the two sisters and helped them temporarily suppress their grief.
‘The Elf Goddess has fallen. I wonder who did it,’ Lu Ming pondered silently.
Too many things had happened recently, and none of them were good. Lu Ming increasingly sensed that a grand conspiracy was hidden behind it all.
‘Is it the God of War? If it were him, killing the Elf Goddess and trampling the Nation of Nature to provoke a conflict between the alien races and the Human Race would be quite logical.’
But on second thought, Lu Ming dismissed the God of War. Killing the Elf Goddess held no benefit for Herafamas. All he wanted to do was incite conflict. As a benevolent god himself, killing another ancient benevolent god would only earn him the hatred of humanity and the disgust of other deities.
‘The Procreation Demon God… Xiunis…’
Lu Ming’s gaze turned cold. This matter was definitely related to Xiunis. Even if he had not done it himself, he was certainly involved.
‘Now that I think about it, the timing of his announcement regarding his fall into demonic path was perfectly prepared. Does he want to completely drag the God of War down with him? To make the God of War take the blame for the death of the Elf Goddess as well?’
The more Lu Ming thought about it, the deeper the waters felt. That fellow, the Procreation Demon God, was not simple at all.
‘It seems I can’t just sit around. Although I can’t face the enemy head-on yet, I have to find a way.’
Lu Ming quickly sorted out the threads of the Elf Goddess’s fall.
***
Just then, two soft glows flashed before the gates of the Eternity Garden. Two figures dressed in luxurious emerald-green robes came running toward Lu Ming.
Lisi was the first to look at the two figures, and her eyes widened slightly. “Sister Ilena? And Naya?”
Hearing this, Sislia also hurriedly looked in that direction.
Ilena held Naya’s hand as they approached the group. Their expressions were somewhat unnatural, as if they had not expected anyone else to be in the Divine Realm. Ilena’s golden hair draped casually over her shoulders. She nodded awkwardly to Lisi and then avoided Sislia’s gaze.
Naya was not as embarrassed, but her cheeks were mysteriously burning.
“Sister Ilena, I haven’t seen you all this time. Did His Highness arrange for you to do something else?”
“Um, no… actually, we’ve met before. Also, Lisi, please don’t call me sister anymore. I didn’t know you were an Elf before; now I feel a bit embarrassed.”
Lisi tilted her head in confusion. What did she mean by having met before? During this period, aside from transporting her kinsmen back and forth between the Nation of Nature and the Violet Empire, she had only made one appearance at the Imperial Plaza.
“Wait, could it be… those two Bishops were actually you in disguise?”
Ilena nodded slightly, admitting to it.
Lu Ming stepped forward and patted the heads of both Ilena and Naya.
“These two are the Bishops of the Goddess of Fertility, another deity of the Eternal Pantheon. This is Ilena, and this is Naya. Irene, Sislia, you should all get to know each other well. Remember, you are all indispensable parts of my Eternal Pantheon.”
After saying a few generic words of encouragement, Lu Ming stepped into the center of the group.
***
Under their collective gaze, he first took Sislia’s hand. Then, he took Ilena’s hand, overlapping them before pulling both women to his right side. Lu Ming wrapped an arm around both of their waists, making the scene look exceptionally harmonious.
Then, Lu Ming repeated the motion. He brought the hands of Naya, Lisi, and Irene together and pulled them into his left arm. Because space was limited, the three women were pressed tightly against one another. This move was intended to make them touch and accept each other.
Ilena, Naya, and Lisi did not feel too out of place. They exchanged glances, a hidden meaning flashing in their eyes that Sislia and Irene could not quite decipher.
An odd feeling welled up in Sislia’s heart for no reason. It was that feeling of thinking you were clever when, in reality, you were being sold and were still helping the person count the money.
‘Something is wrong. Miss Lisi, Bishop Ilena, and Bishop Naya… why do the three of them look so familiar with each other? There’s a look in their eyes I don’t understand. What does that mean?’
Irene shared the same feeling as Sislia. However, as Lisi’s sister and a Water Elf with some degree of romantic experience, she felt it even more keenly—especially seeing her own sister dodging her gaze.
She understood. She understood everything now.
A sense of desolation filled Irene’s heart. After being separated for nearly two years, they had finally reunited, yet her “dear sister” was no longer of one heart with her.
The pain…
But as she recalled the time they were apart, Irene realized that this was perhaps unavoidable. Lisi’s situation had been too difficult; she had been protecting Lucia and seeking true asylum. She must have been forced, unwillingly and painfully, to sacrifice herself to this God of Lies.
Irene had already begun to imagine Lisi’s tragic experience—the physical pain and the mental torment.
‘Back then, you must have had tears in your eyes, thinking only of your sister… Sister understands. I can understand everything. It’s not your fault… it’s not your fault…’