Chapter 156: Imbued with ()

The instant that massive tentacle lunged at Herbert, the Ice Snow Goddess really was startled.

But it was only a small shock, with no intention of stepping in to help.

She was not worried about that young man's safety.

On one hand, she held no curious feelings toward Herbert beyond curiosity itself.

On the other hand, it came from trust in his strength.

After all, no matter how you looked at it, Herbert was a fellow who had the qualifications to receive a Saint's favor.

He couldn't possibly be without a trump card.

And the development that followed was indeed exactly as she had expected.

The very next instant after detecting the tentacle's attack, the youth standing in the water with closed eyes regulating his breath reacted.

He snapped his eyes open, winked at the purple massive tentacle, and grinned slyly: "I've been waiting for you!"

The next instant, the Ice Snow Goddess felt her power being invaded.

No.

It was forcibly seized.

A weak existence had forcibly taken control of the ice and snow authority over this small patch of area.

What is going on!!?

Who dares occupy my domain… why is it him?

She quickly figured out the truth, confirming it was that youth who had accomplished all this through unknown means.

"……"

She only hesitated for an instant, then voluntarily released this portion of authority.

The Ice Snow Goddess had come to peek; she still didn't want to expose her existence.

And now, her curiosity about Herbert had not diminished in the slightest; on the contrary, it had only swelled further.

Just how had he done it?

Her petite snow-shadow shattered and reconvened on a closer mountain peak; she pressed in nearer.

And at this moment, the Ice Snow Goddess's eyes went even wider.

"That's…"

If she weren't one hundred percent certain Herbert was a man, she would have thought she'd seen a snow witch!

Snow-white long hair spread out drifting to the waist, escaping ice crystals extending and swelling from beneath the white-haired youth's feet.

"Give me! Freeze!"

In an instant, the surrounding ten meters of lake water froze, and rapidly spread outward, forming a swiftly growing ice path.

The tentacle seemed to realize something too, instinctively trying to retract, but was hindered for a moment by the frozen lake water.

"You're not leaving!"

Although it only paused for a brief instant, and the ice surface shattered the next second, allowing the tentacle to successfully retract beneath the water, the effect achieved was quite shocking.

It had actually been successfully trapped!

The Ice Snow Goddess's mouth fell slightly open; she truly couldn't make sense of it.

That youth clearly only had high-tier strength, and was obviously a close-combat Holy Knight, yet in that moment just now he had erupted with power close to a legendary caster—how on earth…

After pressing in closer again, the Ice Snow Goddess finally discovered the clue.

It was the water!

Herbert's feet had never left the lake water.

In that instant, he and the entire lake were merged into one; the two could be regarded as a single undifferentiated whole.

But Herbert had not, like other casters, controlled the water elements of the lake through his own true strength, nor had he used power to forcibly suppress and knead them.

Instead, he was entirely borrowing the water elements' power, relying on a special charm to make them willingly become subordinates obeying his command.

What tremendous charm.

What exaggerated water-element affinity!

At this moment, the Ice Snow Goddess suddenly felt it was a pity.

He clearly possessed such astonishing caster talent in both ice and water—how on earth did he end up becoming a Holy Knight back then?

Who made him a Holy Knight?

This was simply squandering a heavenly gift, a thorough, outright waste of precious talent!

And just as the Ice Snow Goddess was inwardly denouncing that certain someone who had wasted precious talent, Herbert still stood by the water's edge without leaving.

But in fact, it wasn't that Herbert was playing cool or fearlessly refusing to leave—it was that he simply couldn't leave.

Although he was still stubbornly standing without collapsing, the strength within his body had actually been completely drained.

If judged solely from the scene just now, Herbert seemed to have performed extremely well, easily forcing the opponent back with the matter well in hand.

But in fact, the truth wasn't quite so rosy.

A fancy-decorated social-media life always comes paired with a bare-concrete life behind it.

Herbert had actually been badly done in by the water elements.

He had actually been passive in it.

Herbert had already been drained dry.

In those few breaths just now, he had already activated every ability he possessed on the casting side.

Including but not limited to water-element affinity boost, hypnotizing water elements, inciting water elements… and the ability he had just obtained from Felia.

【Body of Ice and Snow】, which allows one to elementalize oneself for a short time, become immune to certain lethal wounds, and greatly increase one's control over ice and snow.

By the way, in Herbert's view, this ability could actually be replaced with another easy-to-understand name—【Magical Ice-Girl Transformation!】

Trans~~~form!

Hair grows long, clothes flutter, and special abilities appear… how is this not a magical girl?

Of course, this power wasn't that exaggerated — it couldn't instantly make him a powerhouse capable of fighting above his level.

The power Herbert had displayed this time was actually somewhat beyond his imagination; the ice and snow power within this Mist Mountain Range was considerably stronger than he'd thought!

Using it really gave him a feeling of "as if aided by the gods."

As for his other trump card, it was his mastery over the water elements of this lake.

The moment Herbert stepped into the lake water, he felt the water elements fawning over him madly — the feeling was like walking into his own simp headquarters…

But at the same time, Herbert didn't let his guard down; he clearly remembered that this was the Mist Mountain Range, an extremely dangerous life-restricted zone.

Just before that monster launched its attack at him, Herbert sensed a strong premonition — something was coming.

And fast!

Although the other party seemed to bear no ill intent, as if it only wanted to take him away, Herbert didn't dare gamble and immediately decided to fight back in self-defense.

And just as he made his decision to retreat first, those water elements also sensed his thoughts.

They didn't even need him to persuade them — the water elements spontaneously poured into his body on their own.

One after another, scrambling to be first, afraid that if they were late they wouldn't squeeze in.

Gulp, gulp, gulp… Herbert felt himself filled to bursting in an instant, power surging through every part of his body.

But the problem was, the water elements were a little too enthusiastic.

The power pouring in far exceeded the limit his body could handle.

T-too much, too many came!

If not for Herbert's own elemental resistance, and this stubborn body of his that had been strengthened many times over, he felt he would have been burst open on the spot.

No, he really couldn't hold on!

At that moment, Herbert suddenly had an epiphany — he deeply empathized with all those generals who had been draped in the yellow robe by their subordinates.

Sigh, you've truly tormented me!

I truly don't wish to be this Son of Heaven — it was all you who forced me into it!

And in that critical state of the Lake Lord about to explode, the only thing Herbert could do was unleash this frenzied power, blasting it out ferociously.

If that tentacle had struck ten seconds later, Herbert himself would have been the first to give out.

And now, when the crisis had passed and the power had been fully vented, those water elements reluctantly retreated from his body — and at this moment Herbert felt a sense of emptiness again.

Just now it was completely full… sigh!

Strong is strong, and it really did feel great, but what's with only lasting three seconds?

This is way too short-lived.

Herbert inwardly roasted the water elements for their lack of stamina, while on the surface he thanked them profusely, constantly expressing his gratitude.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Although you only lasted three seconds, that was already pretty impressive!

【"Aha, you really did scare it off!"】

At this moment, Nie Nasha, who had been watching the show for quite a while, laughed gleefully at his misfortune and said cheerfully:

【"Haha~ you bullied it so much this time, so next time you want to lure it out again, it'll be tough~"】

Herbert raised an eyebrow and retorted: "Stop being mysterious — what exactly was that thing?"

He recalled the purple tentacle he'd just seen, while slowly working his stiff limbs as sensation gradually returned.

An octopus?

But why would there be an octopus in a lake?

Of course, Herbert didn't actually ask such a Bai Chi question out loud.

In a Fantasy World, any outrageous thing appearing is reasonable.

Things like zero-gravity skirts, bikini armor, three-times-stronger dark forms, saviors without a high school diploma… each one more outrageous than the last, but everyone just loves watching them.

Better not to poke at it.

But Nie Nasha didn't directly answer Herbert's question, and instead threw out another question: 【"Herbert, you know this place is the remnant of my divine kingdom, right?"】

"Of course I know, so what you're saying is… the things here are from your original divine kingdom?"

No, bro… why would you raise octopuses in your divine kingdom?

You ancient god — are you really that kind of ancient god?

But I chat with Her every day, and I don't feel my SAN dropping at all.

【"Correct!"】

Nie Nasha, now immersed in her memories, didn't notice Herbert's strange thoughts, and went on sharing the hidden knowledge of the divine kingdom:

【"A divine kingdom is the foundation of a god. It contains the divine power they've accumulated over countless years; it's a world they personally created, and within it live a great many heroic spirits."】

The jokester god smiled cheerfully, then said softly in a somewhat nostalgic tone:

【"Then you can take a guess — for these heroic spirits living in the divine kingdom, what is the thing they desire most?"】

Herbert thought briefly, then said uncertainly: "The god's reward?"

Although he wasn't very clear on the relationship between gods and believers in this world, from Bishop Leila's earlier reaction he could actually pick up some clues.

Even for believers of her level, the god's reward and favor remained what they desired most; everything else could be set aside.

Everything they did was not for personal desire, but entirely to gain the god's recognition.

But Herbert's answer didn't earn Nie Nasha's approval.

【"No, what you said isn't wrong, but in fact, that's not how things are."】

She said:

【"They still yearn for the gods' favor, but far less intensely than in life."】

Thanks to l599xl for the tip!

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(End of this chapter)