Chapter 138: Spirit Warriors

When night had grown deep, the battles outside had not ended.

The group of mind flayers that had retreated suddenly launched several waves of attacks after nightfall!

Though their scale was small—even the monstrous beast did not appear—they did indeed tie down the city's defenders.

Due to the unique nature of underground light sources (bioluminescent moss) and the universal night vision of underground life, it was possible to maintain round-the-clock warfare if resources and manpower were invested.

In contrast, localized wars on the surface were hard to conduct at night, as life there relied too heavily on sunlight.

"Again, those sneaky rats."

The goddess had barely rested after returning at night when she was called out again for overtime.

Before her was an alley completely burned to ashes, filled with foreign cloaked figures and dark elf couriers come to collect goods.

Verna didn't even bother interrogating them—she simply set fire and burned them all.

"I don't care how you usually smuggle—now get control of those tunnels!" she snapped at the matrons behind her.

Almost no underground dweller couldn't dig tunnels.

Aboveground, Gloriel City had countless smuggling tunnels between its districts; as for Mordothilkar, already buried underground, who knew how many tunnels and smuggling routes it held?

In the past, they could turn a blind eye, since most tunnels were actually private family property, and each family had secrets unsuitable for daylight.

But this time, the mind flayers' sneak attacks revealed numerous thieves and spies emerging from these tunnels. Verna knew these infiltrators' goal wasn't internal sabotage—it was to reach the secret chambers of the dark elf families.

The sudden nighttime assaults were likely merely cover for these hidden agents' movements.

The mind flayers probably realized they couldn't take the city quickly, so they were trying to activate contacts or bribe some families.

Fortunately, the "miracle" from daytime still held its deterrent power; these families wouldn't show clear disloyalty in the short term.

"Thank goodness—or there might have been internal chaos," Verna admitted, worried.

By dark elf standards, even as a goddess, Verna was still far too young.

That meant she had climbed over many others to reach her position—and naturally, many resented her.

The night was deep; she continued patrolling for a while, more to warn the matrons, signaling "I'm still watching."

Whoever's tunnel the spies emerged from would face trouble—that was blunt intimidation, possible only because the city lord had enough prestige to enforce such pressure.

When Verna returned to the lord's mansion again, it was already two or three hours past midnight; her sister had fallen into deep sleep.

And the other new sister, so much like herself, had vanished without a trace.

"I'll let you off for now—we'll talk tomorrow," she sighed, abandoning her plan for a night talk and preparing to return to her room and sleep.

"Sister!" A sudden voice made her stop.

Turning back, she saw her foolish older sister, hugging a pillow and grinning foolishly.

"Now, do you respect me?"

Verna fell silent, but then saw her sleeping sister flailing her arms and legs, muttering foolish dream words: "I'm the real older sister."

"Pfft."

Verna laughed out loud—then quickly covered her mouth.

Back in her room, though she usually suffered from intermittent insomnia, she slept deeply.

Perhaps she, too, hoped to meet her sister in her dreams.

Yet she did not know that her sister Arachne was not merely muttering in her sleep.

She was happily boasting in her dream about how she punched giant beasts and stomped on the goddess—yes, the villain in her tale was none other than her own arrogant little sister.

The mist had been dispelled by her own will; in the Hall of Spirits, the dark elf noblewoman with white hair and crimson eyes demonstrated her meteoric rise before a line of young spirit candidates.

Behind her, an identical "Valkyrie Arachne" occasionally set down her book, watching her with a look of weary affection.

But in truth, most candidates focused not on the smug priestess, but on the nearly perfect Valkyrie behind her.

"So I received divine favor, took one step forward, and became a high priestess—I can now cast fifth-circle divine spells."

Achieving high priestess status overnight was something you couldn't boast about outside (it damaged your reputation), but here, in this hall of youth, it drew envious glances from every side.

Fifth circle was the threshold of grand priestesshood—and the limit of overnight ascension; beyond that, even accelerated priests had to complete a mountain of coursework.

Even with the divine spells granted by the gods, Arachne could not freely cast fifth-circle grand spells—she needed time to master them; for now, she was merely an empty shell.

"But 'Valkyrie Arachne' can cast them for me." That, perhaps, was the true "perfect older sister."

"Is this the power of the Spirit?" someone asked, glancing at Kuku on the stage—they knew who had brought this change.

"Could I have this possibility too?" someone else wondered, hoping for the day their own seed would bloom.

"Can you explain how you awakened this ability?" someone tried to gather experience.

The candidates cared little for the grand priestess—though "grand bureaucrat" was somewhat admirable, it wasn't their goal; they all believed they would become great masters in the future.

But this extraordinary power—the nearly perfect "other self"—was simply too enviable.

"This isn't one plus one greater than two—it's one plus one greater than ten. She's worth eleven of you, because in battle you hold her back—so subtract one." Even as she envied, Victonia remained brutally sharp.

She was genuinely bitter—her former little friend, whom she'd barely respected, had suddenly become a favored child of fate.

When told "you're not as good as your sister," Arachne crossed her arms and beamed with pride.

"Heh, my sister is great, my older sister is great, and I, who just coasted along, am great too."

At this moment, even Victonia was speechless—she sensed Arachne's mindset had fundamentally changed, and this wasn't merely the result of newfound power.

"Is this the Spirit's influence?"

"Yes. Seeing Lord Kuku's past, these current struggles mean nothing." Arachne made no secret of the source of her change—without this transformative moment, she might have remained an immature older sister for another hundred years.

Arachne was not the only one who had grown; the other candidates had visibly matured as well.

But in this hall, the most watched figure remained the majestic Valkyrie.

And everyone noticed: she was clearly different from the real Verna.

"Lord Kuku, could you truly teach me this knowledge?" she asked, setting down her book—still rational, still polite.

She seemed remarkably humble and eager to learn.

Around her, a pile of materialized books had already accumulated—all knowledge she had requested, covering martial arts, history, and magic.

A newly born soul was replenishing the foundational knowledge it needed.

"It doesn't matter. I can summarize a set of training and combat methods for you, but afterward, you'd better find other Heroic Souls. Find Heroic Souls skilled in combat." Ku Ku still taught without discrimination, even planning to give the newborn a training regimen once they went out.

After Ku Ku's appraisal, the Valkyrie's current structure resembled a divine messenger formed from divine power.

Not only did she possess extremely exaggerated hardware attributes, but she also had immense talent in divine fire, divine arts, magic, and martial arts; paired with a divinely bestowed divine weapon, she was destined to walk the terrifying path of dual cultivation in magic, martial arts, and divine arts.

Even more exaggerated was her ability to borrow her sisters' "divine arts": one Alekne specialized in divine arts, while the other Alekne specialized in magic and martial arts, ultimately forming a terrifying combat weapon.

"This perfect body is the crystallization of mana and divine power; paired with this 'Divine Artifact,' it even resembles a legendary Heroic Spirit."

Dai Niya's sigh, and those somewhat familiar keywords "Heroic Spirit," attracted Li En's attention.

But others seemed unaware of these things, and someone pressed further.

"Heroic Warriors? Similar to the ancient Heroic Souls we are encountering now?"

"Hmm, somewhat similar, but a Heroic Spirit is a materialized Heroic Soul, a special existence capable of interfering with the real world."

These were ancient secrets known to few.

Dai Niya looked up at Ku Ku, who was writing furiously above, and her mood grew increasingly complex.

Li En himself was somewhat frightened.

Heroic Souls can actually return to the world and interfere with reality?!

"Heroic Spirit Codex? Does it have anything to do with you?"

【This Heroic Soul Codex possesses no such function.】

The Codex, which only responded when functions were involved, gave Li En a direct negative answer.

Then, could there be a true Hall of Heroes? Or perhaps, could this Hall of Heroic Souls undergo some transformation? After all, didn't Ku Ku appear in the present world?

"Gaga. Impossible. We have and only have one. My current Kusla is merely a virtual machine running on your hardware; it is mainly because my abilities are special. With you existing, it is impossible for a second real-world Heroic Soul to appear."

Then, what exactly is going on? Could this truly be an accidental collision?

"... It is normal for you not to know about Heroic Warriors. They only appear during world-level crises and vanish again once the crisis is over. You know 'Solain's Seven-Colored Great Adventure,' right? That was actually a world-level crisis. It is said that the legendary Outer Gods descended upon the mortal realm."

What Dai Niya spoke of was a "fairy tale" known to every household. The candidates were somewhat stunned; something felt off.

A story about subduing a terrifying Outer God had actually turned into a fairy-tale great adventure?

"... It is said that one must use a 'fairy tale' to define that Outer God and weaken it. Afterwards, one must also seal Him using the identity of the 'Fairy Tale Great Demon King'."

"This is not the point. The point is that the 'Red Phoenix Female Knight,' one of the seven-colored heroes in the story, was actually an ancient hero from a thousand years ago. My ancestors participated in this adventure..."

Hearing this, Li En sighed in relief; it seemed this was just an accidental collision of settings.

"No matter how perverted Li En Sudar is, he wouldn't cross-dress. This Hall of Heroes that can dispatch Heroic Warriors should have nothing to do with me."

Hearing Dai Niya continue her story, which included several female Heroic Spirits, completely put Li En's worried mind at ease.

Even if one cross-dressing pervert appeared by chance, surely there wouldn't be so many twisted, perverted Li En Sudars.

Ku Ku just silently watched him and prayed for him, hoping he would not encounter any Heroic Warriors; otherwise, there would be a great deal of fun to be had.

"Ku Ku, what are you laughing at?"

"Gaga. I thought of something happy! Something happy!"

Below, Dai Niya continued to recount these secrets, attracting the attention of the other candidates.

"The birth of a Heroic Spirit? It is said that only after a hero dies are they invited by the Hall of Heroes..." Dai Niya continued to speak of these secrets, attempting to seize the initiative within the Hall of Heroic Souls.

Li En also silently watched all this; he had already noticed that both Alekne and Dai Niya were striving to "build reputation," essentially competing for these young candidates.

Alekne's example further proved the potential of this inheritance; everyone present likely had a bright future ahead.

And for the superiors of the two races, these "future heroes" were the most precious wealth, so they naturally had to strive to win them over.

Alekne had not yet fully ascended, yet she was already subconsciously thinking for her younger sister.

Li En did not interfere; as Ku Ku said, these young candidates each had their own futures, and these two recruiters would ultimately have to speak through "benefits and treatment."

He also noticed that Miss Shaliman had been staring fixedly at "Valkyrie Alekne," her mouth watering with envy.

At this moment, no one could stop her from inheriting the Heroic Soul fragment.

After these little interludes passed, the group could only turn to the matter at hand—the commission to attack the second beast's hatching ground.

Everyone had their own thoughts and opinions; for a moment, no one could make up their mind, but at this time, "Bai," who had remained silent, stepped forward.

"This is an opportunity. Can you help me..." She, voluntarily dispersed the mist.

That pure-white magical girl instantly terrified the candidates who had met her.

Miss Shaliman was so frightened that even her tail straightened out.

"Y-you are here to hunt us down?!"

The Hall of Heroic Souls dying isn't true death; how can one hunt them down?! That snake was too shameful; Li En couldn't even bear to look.

(End of Chapter)