"In truth, it was an 'invasion' by the Botanical Church!"
Ye Kong looked at Thors, who stood in front of him, and couldn't help but snicker to himself, because he knew that the man was a worshipper of Adonis!
The God of Botany - Adonis was subordinate to the Goddess of Nature - Demeter, and things related to plants or gardens fell under his purview. Thus, the forest watchmen and gardeners were mainly devoted to him.
It's also worth mentioning...
The God of Horticulture - Wally was also subordinate to Demeter. At the same time, Wally's domain was woodlands and gardens, so there was a huge overlap in the people he and Adonis wanted as devotees. As such, even though the two gods were both subordinates to Demeter, they had an extremely bad relationship, and the unseemly squabbles they had in private came as no surprise to anyone.
To summarize, the Horticultural Church and the Botanical Church were completely incompatible with one another.
"Demon Realm" was a huge world with a wide range of faiths, and even indigenous peoples had their own religions and deities.
For example, most of the huntsmen would worship the "God of Hunters - Orion." Orion was one of the subordinates of "Artemis," and because of this, he was a deity in the "Lunar Pantheon."
The term "Pantheon" collectively refers to a group of divinities with a powerful god at its core, along with a large number of small deity followers. Regardless of whether the god was a small deity or the most powerful core god of the Pantheon, all the gods were interconnected, and their religions followed a set hierarchy.
This collective group of divinities constituted a system, and this divine system was known as a "Pantheon."
In addition, ever since the end of the "Age of Calamity" (1026 BC - 1 AD), the gods went into hiding in the Void Realm, refusing further contact with the primary material plane. The sixteen regions of the world were on the primary plane, and thus the gods could no longer be seen by anyone.
Even so, the gods could still give their power to their most devout believers. For example, the Blind Priest - Modr's Assassin's Sword and the Horticultural Priest - Pulitzer's Soul Purifying Blade were all items of power gifted by the gods their owners worshipped.
The gods themselves had their reasons for sharing their power. They hoped that their devotees would help develop their faith, since their "source of strength" came from the number of devotees they had, and how strong their following was.
Hence, to the gods, their competition for followers could be considered a "game of power."
The devotees of a religious sect and the gods they believed in were in a close "symbiotic" relationship. The more power the devotees' god had, the faster they could grow in power themselves. Thus, this became their motivation for putting in the effort to increase their religion's influence!
Thors was a prime example of an "extremely motivated" devotee.
And he was a devotee of Adonis, who was the god of the Botanical Church.
"As expected, in my past life, when Thors rescued Qingmu Town, he used the excuse of 'cleansing the town of traitors' to kill many of the NPCs in Qingmu Town. That night, rivers of blood flowed through the town."
Ye Kong recalled the events of his past life, and couldn't help sighing—
"Back then, I didn't suspect anything.
"But now, thinking back on what happened, I find that the NPCs who were killed all had deep ties to the Horticultural Church. Moreover, some of those NPCs were even devotees of the Horticultural Church!
"Judging by the evidence, it seems like Winter Commander - Thors came here under the pretense of "rescuing us," but in fact, he came here as a representative of the Botanical Church. He used a noble reason as an excuse to come in and 'take over' Qingmu Town!"
Ye Kong relied on his sharp intuition and his incomparable wealth of experience to figure out the truth of the entire event. It was because he'd figured everything out that he'd chosen to kill Lilith. Otherwise, he never would have decided to turn traitor—
If he got the story event but was killed before he could hand it in, then his losses would outweigh his gains!
It should be pointed out that for the Super Grade story event - "Hero of the Counterattack," if Ye Kong's assumptions were correct, the final NPC to hand in the quest to...
Was the Winter Commander - Thors!
The beginning and the end coming full circle matched with the signature characteristics of story events in "Demon Realm"!
Thus...
When Ye Kong was explaining himself to Thors, he deliberately vilified the governing body of Qingmu Town - the Horticultural Church. As one might expect, everything went according to his predictions. Thors was a devotee of the Botanical Church, and by criticizing the Horticulaturla Church, Ye Kong managed to gain his trust!
"Hahahahahaha!"
Thors bellowed with laughter as he put away the lance he wielded in his hand—
"You've done an excellent job!"
Any normal NPC would have been disgusted by Ye Kong's act of killing Pulitzer. Unfortunately for Pulitzer, Thors wasn't one of them. On the contrary, he had high praise for what Ye Kong had done.
"It was my honor," Ye Kong replied as he bowed down, wearing an expression of "joy" on his face like a faithful devotee.
Of course, only Ye Kong knew what he was really thinking deep down.
Thors was pleased with Ye Kong's response. "The God of Botany - Adonis is on high, and we won't mistreat any of his loyal followers. The Botanical Church needs warriors just like you!"
It was a stroke of irony.
The words coming out of Thors' mouth were extremely similar to what Blind Priest - Modr had told Ye Kong earlier that day.
Though, of course, Thors had no way of knowing this.
"The great god Adonis shall always be watching over you."
In the next moment, a green glow burst forth from Thors' hand, and he gently touched Ye Kong's forehead with it—
System Notification: Congratulations, you have handed in "Hero of the Counterattack," and received the final Story Event reward.
Congratulations, you have received 1000 points of experience.
System Notification: Your Experience Level is full, and you have been successfully promoted to a Level 3 Swordsman.
Congratulations, you have received a Skill Book - Interrupt.
Congratulations, you have received an Honorary Token - Thors' Proof of Honor.
Congratulations, you have received a pair of "Twilight Shoes."
Twilight Shoes (Silver Gear)
Equipment Attributes: Movement Speed +8, Dexterity +4, Climbing Ability +4
Special Effect - Twilight's Pull: When you fall from a great height while wearing this equipment, you will receive the blessing of the "God of Twilight," which reduces Fall Damage by 50%. This effect doesn't stack with other similar effects (including equipment special effects, effects from skills, and blessed statuses).
Level Requirement: Level 3
Class Restriction: Swordsman
Note: These shoes are filled with shadowy energies. Legend has it that the person who puts them on will be watched over by the God of Twilight - Styx. However, the number of Twilight Shoes is limited to eight sets.
"Twilight Shoes!"
Ye Kong was overjoyed. These shoes were not only Silver Gear, but also limited edition equipment with a special effect. From the brief description, one could see that there were only eight sets of "Twilight Shoes" in existence in the entire Demon Realm!
There were tens of thousands of other footwear equipment more powerful than the "Twilight Shoes," but even Gold Gear shoes didn't come with a special effect! This was the advantage of a piece of "limited edition" equipment!!
Swish!
Before Ye Kong had the chance to try on the equipment, a ray of golden light washed over his body. In the next moment, Ye Kong's character level increased to LV3, which meant he was now miles ahead of any other player in Qingmu Town!
While this was happening, the Stygian Rifts in the sky above the town continued to shrink. It was a sign that the situation in Qingmu Town was stabilized, and that the "Stygian Night Invasion" had been put temporarily on hold.
"It's all finished now."
Ye Kong heaved a sigh of relief.
He had been giving his all to get this far, and even with his temperament, he couldn't help feeling a little fatigued—
Finding the Blind Priest, killing the Qingmu soldiers, performing a sneak attack on Pulitzer, betraying and killing Lilith, deducing Thors' ulterior motives...
All of these story events were tightly connected, and Ye Kong had to squeeze out every drop of his resourcefulness and strength to complete them all. It could be said that every step he took on the way here was like walking on a tightrope—if he made even the tiniest slip-up, the consequences would be devastating.
Fortunately for him, Ye Kong's experience and hard work had paid off, allowing him to achieve victory in the end.
Ding ding ding...
The melodious sound of bells rang out, and Ye Kong raised his head at the sound and looked to the central bell tower. This was the third time the bells had rung.
It was also the last time the bells would ring!
In his past life, this signaled the start of the "Stygian Night Invasion" and the struggle for supremacy between players from both factions.
In this life, the "Stygian Night Invasion" was already over at this time, and players from both factions had suffered heavy losses.
But he...
The Swordsman player - lacuna...
Finally became the "one and only" winner!