Chapter 193: The Elect and the Deity of the Mirror

Probably, the person in the entire kingdom who most desperately wants to thoroughly resolve the underground crisis is Her Highness Dai Niya.

After all, in law and in name, the kingdom's future truly belongs to her.

"Only two years remain. Will we really make it in time?"

It is hard to find a mess worse than the one she inherited; she shirked her duties and went to rot in Radiance City, only to encounter a crisis of national extinction. If she handles this improperly, the kingdom will truly become history within ten years.

And if all of this truly happens, her fate will be quite miserable; she will have accomplished nothing before her life is essentially over.

As a noble lady of the former dynasty, she will most likely become a plaything for the powerful of other nations.

At best, she will become a marriage tool for a new landlord, bearing him more legitimate heirs to secure his inheritance rights.

Perhaps, because fate could no longer bear to watch, it granted a girl of ill fortune a turning point.

It allowed Li En to arrive in this city at this very moment.

"There is still time. As long as I can save the kingdom, I will do anything."

The nightmare that should have only been known after it erupted was instead discovered in advance; Dai Niya still has time to do something.

But does the power in her hands truly suffice to overturn this seemingly destined future? That underground ruin's near-infinite malice...

"... Even if I must go slightly out of bounds, as long as I can seal the Evil God and save the kingdom."

Putting down the map, Dai Niya took a deep breath and walked toward her accompanying "accomplice."

"Thank you for your assistance; otherwise, our journey would not have been so smooth."

"This is my honor, and more so, a commission given by my mother herself. She has been revealing to me that perhaps we can have more opportunities for cooperation. Mother expects you to respond to her invitation as soon as possible; the favor of the Deity is not so cheap."

The Priestess Arachne lowered her hood, her twin pupils emitting a faint divine light, revealing her identity as a Dark Elf Priestess before the assembled knights.

Dai Niya smiled and nodded, but the smile was no longer natural.

The other Shanshen Sects are not active regarding the matter of the "Deer," and the kingdom's strength is truly limited.

She never expected that the one to extend a helping hand at this moment would be the Silver Vial Mirror Lady, the pantheon of Shadows and Dark Elves.

"... I will consider it seriously, but as you know, such a decision cannot be made in the short term."

"I look forward to becoming true sisters with you."

Arachne's words had clearly crossed the line, yet Dai Niya showed no resistance.

Watching the Dark Elf noble lady depart, Dai Niya sighed.

"... An Elect? What merit do I possess?"

Dai Niya truly did not expect that the first to offer aid and provide sufficient leverage would be the Deity of this alien race.

She even directly granted an invitation to become an Elect.

The Elect and the Priestess are two different things; the latter is essentially a relative with "some blood tie/capable of channeling some power," while the Elect is the Deity's will-executor, a true insider.

Each Deity's Elect are quite limited in number; this is not only an honor, but also an authority and a power, and simultaneously, an invitation to longevity or even immortality.

Neither Dai Niya nor Arachne, the parties involved, knew why the Mirror Lady held such high regard for this Dragonborn Princess, bestowing upon her the precious Elect slot.

Generally, this occurs only after a devout believer has achieved a great feat, manifesting the God's will and glory on earth, and even becoming the God's de facto spokesperson, before the Deity bestows the grace of divine power.

God-descendants are more like a company's second cousins or aunts-in-law; they seem close but do not hold core authority, whereas the Elect are the high-level backbone personally appointed by the Deity, the general managers, CEOs, or even the chairmen.

If a God-descendant messes up, it really doesn't matter; every family has an unproductive descendant, but if an Elect messes up or betrays, that is a direct slap in the Deity's face.

Dai Niya, who already craved power, almost agreed on the spot... but such an overly heavy gift often implies a heavy price.

"If it is merely to promote the Mirror Lady's faith within the kingdom, there is no need to make me an Elect."

She was still hesitating because she could not see the price behind this gift.

But in reality, it was simply the Mirror Lady using causality to trace the origin of this event, finally tracing it to Dai Niya on one hand, because Li En participated due to her orders, but more so, because of Li En's single "act."

Holding the Wang Zuo high, kneeling beneath the seat, all glory belongs to my Lord; although the action was not very standard, the ritual was completed.

At this moment, causality completed its convergence; all fate and karma converged upon Her Highness.

The scapegoat was successfully born; even if other main brains truly wanted to find someone to settle accounts with, they could only find Dai Niya.

Clearly, this was the deliberate doing of some monster.

As for the purpose, it is hard to say; perhaps it was for fun, perhaps to toy with the Deities, or perhaps even simply because they found Dai Niya agreeable.

After the Mirror Lady cast her gaze this way, she naturally observed Dai Niya.

Seeing her efforts, diligence, ambition, and quite good relations with the Dark Elves, plus her identity being quite special—not merely as a Princess, but more so in her unpredictable line of fate. Under normal circumstances, this means her future is boundless; she could even become a demigod or a near-god.

Thus, the Silver Vial Mirror Lady, who had already planned to do something during this Demon Tide and introduce her forces to the surface, produced a precious Elect qualification.

This counts as an investment, and also as a probe...

"Do not look upon the Deities too highly; they are merely immortals bound by their own divine offices and fates. When they occasionally glance through the clouds at the ground via believers, and interfere in the mortal world through believers and churches, that is already their limit. They may be able to calculate, but they may not calculate far or accurately."

Blasphemous words, yet spoken by her own confidant.

"Miss Shaliman" silently watched the hesitating Princess. For the Princess she serves, every Shaliman feels gratitude.

At this moment, Miss Shaliman's situation was somewhat strange; her right eye's gaze was vacant, as if half-asleep, while her left eye, like a snake's pupil, constantly flashed with the cold light of calculation.

"Uh, Miss Shaliman, are you alright?"

"No, Your Highness, my state has never been better."

In fact, it was Miss Shaliman who was leading and pushing the cooperation with the Dark Elves.

In her view, whether it is her own Princess or the kingdom, both are weaklings in this era, so they must survive at all costs.

As for faith and such, these ethereal things, naturally, one should sell them for a good price while they can still be sold.

Anyway, the kingdom's royal power is weak, and various churches have long been swarming inside, fighting for faith, yet none have been seen doing anything truly beneficial for the nation and the people.

If Miss Shaliman were to speak, it would be better to foster an external big fish to enter... Even if this big fish cannot be sold for a good price, the other "fish" in that pond will at least be somewhat friendlier and offer some leverage.

Dai Niya nodded; since Miss Shaliman said she was fine, then she was fine.

Mind-power users are basically a bit sick; Miss Shaliman's split-personality-like actions were not a one-day affair. Watching her proactively come to offer counsel, Dai Niya felt a bit of surprise, as if returning to the days of their best-friendhood in New Capital.

Miss Shaliman pondered for a moment before speaking the crux of the problem.

"In the end, we need the Mirror Maiden's ability, her authority; for our current situation, it is the most helpful."

"Indeed, it has already been verified."

Both of their gazes turned simultaneously to a place surrounded by knights, where a small, pitch-black demon was cackling strangely.

Its body was composed mainly of shadows, but where its body should have been, there was a large silver mirror.

Little Mirror Demons, the servant race of the Mirror Goddess, are also a typical example of half-shadow, half-divine-power beings.

Their combat power is very weak; their greatest use is, like other shadow creatures, to become invisible, pass through walls, and then startle you. But their special power, originating from the Mirror Goddess, is exactly what the current kingdom needs most.

"Can you hear me?"

"I can hear very clearly, Your Highness."

Instantly, all the knights showed expressions of joy.

On the other side of the mirror was the City Lord's Mansion on the surface of the Radiant City; the people above were watching this place through another Mirror Demon.

Even an underground ruin cannot block the connection of these divine shadow creatures; as long as they are used, explorers can even achieve real-time communication with the surface.

The current exploration progress is slow; in the end, it is because below is a series of black boxes.

Various information obstacles and internal scheming have seriously slowed down the process.

If the Mirror Maiden's servants were truly allowed to join, enabling those above to observe and command the situation below in a timely manner, the expansion speed would immediately increase several-fold!

"What about the second test?"

"It is in progress... and it also seems to have succeeded!"

And on the other side, a huge Mirror Demon, fully two people tall, also opened its "stomach."

A knight was throwing boxes into it; the next moment, the items appeared on the surface side!

Immediately, everyone let out a cheer.

If even the logistics problem can be solved, and personnel can be dispatched to a certain extent, then conquering the underground labyrinth is no longer at the same difficulty level as before.

Some goods, no matter how well the merchant speaks, can only be trusted after inspection; now that we have already delved into the "depths" of the underground ruin, all experiments have succeeded.

To intervene in a large-scale exploration of an entire city and dispatch a large number of Mirror Demons to participate would likely require the intervention of a being at the God level.

And for this, besides the Silver Vase Mirror Maiden who possesses the "Mirror" divine portfolio, there truly is no other god who can do it.

"I" gritted my teeth, and Dai Niya made a promise.

"... I thank the high Mirror God for His grace; I will consider it seriously."

(End of this chapter)