"Hahaha, what legendary hero? Has his brain gone bad? He can't even see through such an obvious feint to Lure the Tiger Out of Its Mountain. Just a brute with nothing but strength." In the shadow of a street, a drunkard who had fallen to the ground got up, muttering to himself while guzzling wine, his face twisted in a mocking sneer.
If the Platinum Dragon Lord had noticed this drunkard, he would have realized that this drunkard was indeed a Follower of Dusk, one of those who called themselves the Goddess Cult. Unfortunately, the moment the 'Bishop's' presence appeared, the Platinum Dragon Lord's attention was completely drawn to that side, and he didn't notice the large number of cultists hidden under the city's shadows.
The Goddess Cult here belonged to Bishop Number 9, and their assigned region was the Empire. However, since the Empire itself was not a priority in the plan, it was acceptable even if the operations here failed. This was also why the number was only 9; the order of numbers was determined by region and priority.
That being said, among the numbers 1-10, only the first three tasks were mandatory, regardless of difficulty. These three tasks were the easiest to complete and most likely to achieve the Goddess Cult's goal. In terms of task difficulty, Number 5's task was actually the most difficult, as his mission was to infiltrate the upper echelons of the Theocracy and secretly plot to overthrow the government.
This was also why Number 5 felt his mission was absolutely impossible to complete. The difficulty of this mission was already outrageously high, and they had initially underestimated the Slane Theocracy's combat power, not accounting for the existence of that monster, Zesshi Zetsumei.
However, regardless of task priority, basically all Bishops were working hard to complete their assigned tasks, as tasks 1-3 could also fail, and then their supplementation would be needed.
As for Number 4, who had no task, that was because of Number 4's ability. Due to the nature of Number 4's ability, basically, as long as he was deployed, a task objective was guaranteed to be achieved, so whether he had a task or not was irrelevant.
However, Number 9's task was also very difficult. Knowing that the "Platinum Hero" had somehow locked onto a large number of previous cultists, Number 1 assigned all these old members to Number 9, who possessed Shadow Space Magic. His task was to attract attention in the Empire.
However, in a previous incident, the Sword Saint had shown the ability to damage Shadow Space, which is why Number 1 had taken action to keep the Sword Saint in the Kingdom. Fortunately, these heroes were not allied with each other, so the Sword Saint had no information about the Platinum Hero, and thus would not affect Number 9's actions.
And all these arrangements were devised by Number 1. In short, he was a very terrifying individual, and even without combat ability, he was one of the most fearsome presences among the Bishops, serving as the Goddess Cult's intelligence expert.
At this time, the Platinum Dragon Lord still didn't know that he had fallen into a trap.
Due to his oversight, the Empire had been successfully infiltrated by the Goddess Cult without him realizing it.
Even though the Blood Emperor received the report from the guard station, during the subsequent inspection, the Empire found no spies from the Goddess Cult. This was unavoidable, as the Goddess's Gospel was simply a dimensionality reduction attack for the ordinary people of this world.
However, the Blood Emperor still sensed that the Goddess Cult had invaded his country. It wasn't because he found any clues, but purely an intuition. Moreover, information about the Platinum Hero was not a secret, as the Platinum Dragon Lord had thwarted many of the Goddess Cult's actions. Most people didn't know the specific details, but the Blood Emperor certainly couldn't be ignorant. So, upon learning that the report was made by that hero, the Blood Emperor was almost 100% certain of the truth.
"Contact the Sword Saint. Tell her to return. The Goddess of Dusk Cult is no longer just a problem for the Kingdom!"
Although the Blood Emperor's decision was quite correct, whether he could command the Sword Saint was a big problem. If he had already grasped some of the Goddess Cult's whereabouts, it would be fine, but he hadn't investigated anything at all.
At the same time.
At the border between the Kingdom and the Empire.
A boy wearing Cult robes emerged from the shadow beneath a tree. The boy looked young, only 1.5 meters tall, and was quite beautiful in appearance. He was once a high-grade commodity. After hearing the Goddess's Gospel, he unhesitatingly joined the Goddess Cult and was a boy who would sacrifice everything for the Goddess. He was now one of the Ten Bishops.
"Mochi."
"Number 10, you should call me Number 9. I have abandoned my past identity."
The boy looked coldly in that direction.
A man completely hidden under a large coat stood there, but he hadn't noticed the other's presence until the other spoke. Despite being a zombie reeking of stench, his Stealth ability was terrifying.
Number 10's ability is Presence Concealment.
"Alright, Number 9, this is the map of that great tomb. But let me make it clear beforehand, the surface of that great tomb has many advanced disguises. Although it looks ordinary, inside are layers of spatial rifts, and each layer is equipped with quite advanced barriers."
"Oh? Then how did you survive?"
"My Gospel has evolved and gained a new ability—'Void'. It can temporarily remove my concept from the root of the world. Although there is a time limit, during that period, there is no place I cannot go. However, in the deep layers of that great tomb, there seems to be an item that can greatly weaken my abilities, probably a true artifact. That place is very dangerous."
"The evolution of the Gospel..."
Number 9's eyes flickered.
Every member of the Cult resonates with the Goddess according to the initial ritual they receive. The more devout the faith, the higher the resonance, and believers gain stronger Gospels. However, Gospels with stronger initial abilities also require higher difficulty rituals to evolve.
He hadn't expected Number 10 to have already completed the evolution ahead of others and gained an advanced skill.
"Don't be in a hurry, Number 9."
"I won't fall behind!"
Number 9 didn't listen to Number 10's consolation.
After all, the evolution of the Gospel meant a deeper connection with the Goddess. Since he regarded the Goddess as his most beloved existence, he naturally didn't want to fall behind in such a matter.
The prerequisite for his Gospel's evolution was:
Human lives. This wasn't actually an exaggerated number, as the Goddess Cult had once slaughtered entire cities. However, currently being targeted by the Platinum Hero, he didn't have the time to make the necessary preparations.
Therefore, he had to find a way to shake off that hero's pursuit, and he had already thought of a way.
Pitting one enemy against another.
That Great Tomb held unspeakable secrets, and it had already been confirmed that those guys were evil-aligned monsters like demons and Undead. In that case... he could make use of this Great Tomb.
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