CHAPTER 602

【 FOR THE GLORY OF THE GODDESS 】

—

The deep, mystical background music typically used in underground environments came to an end.

In its place arose a rapid and stirring melody.

Jiang Shang instantly recognized it as the game’s the main theme.

It was a variation of a tune beloved by players, first introduced during the initial large-scale battle, and known for its distinctive elven style. In the lore of Elven Kingdom, its original title was Glory of the Elves, the national anthem of the Ancient Elven Kingdom from a thousand years ago.

This elven-themed BGM, played on elven bagpipes and moon drums with ethereal female vocals, alternated between soaring clarity and deep resonance, evoking the grandeur of an epic saga.

When it was first released, the track topped earth’s music charts and ignited a wave of elven-style music across the internet. Since then it became the go-to battle song for players during large-scale combat events. Even other competitive online games adopted it, with many commanders using it to inspire their teams before major fights.

Elven-style music was highly infectious.

Whenever this song played, it was as if the players’ “limiters” were unlocked.

Even the calmest among them would feel their adrenaline surge, their fighting spirit ignited.

However, this time the music was played in a slightly different rendition.

While the main melody remained the same, but the overall arrangement of it had changed.

Alongside its original heroic and impassioned tone, it now carried the sacred solemnity unique to religious music, especially when the ethereal female voice rang out.

The familiar soaring melody, combined with divine grandeur, created a striking effect, blending fervor with reverence.

As the sound reached his ears, Jiang Shang felt goosebumps rise across his skin—not from cold per se, but from excitement.

The perfectly timed composition stimulated his nervous system, quickening his heart rate and breathing. His eyes began to redden, while dopamine flooded into his mind, flooding him with euphoria.

Instinctively, he glanced at the lower right corner of his vision where the BGM title appeared:

For the Glory of the Goddess.

The title differed from before, yet felt far more fitting.

This was the work of Evé herself, composed after gaining leisure time with the help of the Fairy King Feynir, blending the cultures of two worlds and transformed through divine power.

Music shaped by a deity’s own power was no mere boast.

In that moment, Jiang Shang seemed to see a beautiful, holy goddess smiling down upon him in blessing. He felt as though a vast army stood at his back, charging forward with him at its lead.

Jiang Shang believed in himself again.

He felt like a hero destined to save the world.

No—he was certain of it!

As the music reached it chorus, blazing energy surged into his body.

His strength immediately skyrocketed.

His senses sharpened as his magic roared, all the while his body brimmed with inexhaustible power, and his mind focused like never before.

In the upper left corner of his vision, his status bar showed his HP and MP values skyrocketing at an astonishing rate.

At the same time, the silver-framed avatar denoting his Silver rank began to glow with golden light, surrounded by blazing flames like a “burst mode” in the game.

At that, his level climbed rapidly from 55, 60, 65, 70… until it stopped at 80—the initial point of Gold-rank.

In an instant, Jiang Shang had leaped three entire ranks, becoming a high-ranking expert.

【

】

【You have entered the “Godwarden Awakening” state. All your levels and skills have increased by 30. All skill proficiencies have been maximized.】

【Your HP recovery speed has increased by 300%, MP recovery speed by 300%, and SP (energy) recovery speed by 300%.】

【Brave Chosen One, for the glory of the Goddess, fight!】

The system message flashed once again, just as the music reached its climax.

Standing high above the surrounding demons, Jiang Shang felt like he currently was the protagonist of this world.

The demons who had surrounded him now seemed like insignificant ants, easily crushed with a flick of his hand.

Even the demon king, whose aura had once been terrifying, now no longer appeared as threatening.

Its towering form seemed smaller—no, it was not the demon that had shrunk, but Jiang Shang who had grown.

He was still in his Wind Wolf King form, yet under the “Godwarden” state, his size had increased dramatically.

From his former four to five meters, his body had expanded nearly fivefold, now standing at a massive twenty to thirty meters in height.

The silver fur now gleamed with a radiant golden light, the distinctive mark of divine empowerment.

His crimson eyes burned with a molten golden fire, another unmistakable sign of divine blessing.

Upon the forehead of the wolf’s head appeared a scepter-shaped mark—the emblem of the Goddess of Life.

“Golden Wind Wolf King! It is the Golden Wind Wolf King!”

A dwarven priest shouted from afar.

“Golden Wind Wolf King…”

Jiang Shang’s eyes flashed as he glanced at his updated status.

With a long, resonant howl, he charged toward the demon king. With a single swipe of his claws, he knocked aside the massive greatsword aimed at him, forcing the demon king to retreat.

Then, opening his enormous maw, he unleashed a barrage of wind element blade skills in all directions, shredding every demon in the vicinity, large and small.

In an instant, his log channel was flooded with lines of numbers, each representing the contribution points he earned from slaying the demons.

Only contribution points appeared.

Since he had already reached the Silver level cap, he could no longer gain experience while in this state.

The numbers for each individual kill were small, the result of a 90% reduction, yet the sheer number of demons slain made the total amount considerable.

“This feels amazing.”

Jiang Shang could not help but praise aloud.

His gaze swept across the battlefield, and the surrounding demons shivered, instinctively retreating in fear.

Divine power and the power of the Abyss were two opposing forces.

While Abyssal power could erode divine power, divine power in turn could suppress the Abyss.

Like water and fire, the outcome simply depended on which side was stronger.

At this moment, with his divine empowerment, Jiang Shang was clearly the stronger one.

Thus, the demons weaker than him felt the natural oppression radiating from his being and instinctively recoiled in fear.

Only the demon king, who’s also a Gold-ranker, stared back at him coldly.

By now, the other players began to realize what was happening.

“What the hell? How did a giant wolf appear?”

“Look closer! That’s a player!”

A sharper-eyed player had noticed the green colored username floating above the wolf’s head.

Moments later, others also finally recognized him.

“Wait… isn’t that Jiang Shang!?”

“His current form looks insanely strong! He just took out four or five greater demons in one strike. That’s absurd!”

“That’s the Divine Blessing buff! It must be the one the system just announced! He’s the one of the few players who got chosen!”

“Damn, that’s some luck.”

“Ultimate luck, right there.”

The players’ voices were filled with excitement, laced with a hint of envy.

Soon, they noticed that Jiang Shang was not the only fortunate one.

All across the battlefield, random players seemed to have also been chosen.

Almost every demon king had one or two players nearby who began radiating golden light, their power surging dramatically.

Some were warriors, some mages, some hunters, some druids…

In this dark underground battlefield, they shone like beacons of light, each now elevated to Gold-rank combat strength.

There were fourteen in total.

“Divine Champions? Among these Chosen Ones, are there truly those who can draw upon the power of a god?”

The High Pontiff was briefly taken aback by the sudden shift in battle.

He himself was a Divine Champion of the God of Dwarves and Forging.

There was a certain mutual awareness between those blessed by the gods.

Yet, when the Chosen Ones first arrived, he had sensed no such blessings among them.

Now, as his gaze fell upon the radiant statue of the Goddess of Life before him, and as he heard the disappointed cries of the other Chosen Ones, he finally understood what was happening.

“So… Her Grace, the Goddess of Life, has answered my plea and temporarily granted a portion of the Chosen Ones her divine blessing.”

Hearing this, the legendary sky warrior Tonglu’s expression grew solemn.

A true god could bestow power upon their followers—

but such gifts almost always came with a price.

For a short-term and dramatic increase in strength such as this, there was usually only one cost:

Death.

Unlike the Pontiff, who had the Church’s channels of information and knew much about the Chosen Ones, Tonglu’s knowledge came only from conversations with his own, and thus was far from complete.

For instance… he did not know that these individuals could infinitely revive themselves.

Thus, when he saw them charging forward without hesitation, unwavering in spirit, and utterly fearless of death…

He was genuinely moved.

It would be one thing if only a single Chosen One acted this way.

But here, nearly all of them did.

Their devotion to the Goddess of Life, their hatred toward the forces of evil, and their unwavering defense of justice were worthy of admiration.

They were truly a host of fearless warriors.

How could such champions ever be called evil?

Tonglu silently praised them in his heart.

At that moment, the sacred statue of the Goddess, positioned within the dwarven formation, suddenly shone again with golden radiance. A faint halo spread outward from it once more.

Everyone present, dwarves included, felt a wondrous power flow into their bodies.

Their wounds began to heal rapidly, their stamina was restored, and even their minds whose previously clouded and weakened by Abyssal influence had cleared instantly.

This was a blessing from a true god.

Every player’s vision displayed a system message: “Blessing of the Goddess of Life.”

Feeling the change within their bodies, both dwarves and elves felt their morale soar.

Tonglu’s eyes lit up. Then, with the booming voice of a legendary-rank warrior, he shouted,

“The Elves’ Divine Champion has appeared! Her Grace, the Goddess of Life, has granted us her blessing! The time for our counterattack has come! Warriors, follow our elven allies—attack!”

He raised his warhammer high.

At his command, the dwarves moved at once, bellowing as they charged.

Tonglu was not the only one to notice the shift in battle.

Among the players, Li Mu saw it as well.

His eyes swept across the field, and using an amplification spell, he too shouted, “We’ve been strengthened! This is the time to counterattack! Silver rankers, coordinate with those under the Divine Blessing to attack those demon kings—everyone, advance!”

Li Mu’s voice was instantly recognizable.

His long-standing role as a battlefield commander had earned him significant prestige among the players.

Now, with one rallying cry, combined with the dwarves’ sudden push, the players instinctively followed his lead and surged toward the demon army.

At the same time, the background music For the Glory of the Goddess shifted into its most triumphant climax.

“Charge! For the Glory of the Goddess!”

“Elves will prevail!”

Fueled by the rousing battle hymn, the players shouted with bloodshot eyes and threw themselves into the demon ranks.

The faint light radiating from them streamed through the dark tunnels like a torrent of shining energy.

Several Silver rankers also rushed to Jiang Shang’s side.

Laughing loudly, they called out:

“Hey there big guy, we’re here to help!”

“Hahaha! Big Brother, I’m joining in too!”

“Let us hold on to your coattails—let’s crush this big ugly looking demon together!”

Looking at his reinforcements, Jiang Shang laughed and cursed, “hold on my coattails, huh? You guys think you’re funny, do you?”

Then, glancing at the demon king ahead, he let out a fierce grin.

“Come on! Everyone, with me—let’s take down this big one!”

Fortunes change—thirty years east of the river, thirty years west. ¹

Luck or not, he was a Gold-ranker now.

Who was afraid of whom?

With that, Jiang Shang let out a long howl and pounced at the demon king.

The melee resumed once more.

༺⟐༻

In the divine kingdom of the World Tree, the elemental fairies gathered around Evé, marveling at the scene projected in the air before them.

They saw the elves glowing faintly with divine light, leading the counterattack alongside the dwarves, guided by fourteen brightly gold radiant players.

The demon army, so fierce only moments before, now collapsed like toppled blocks, rapidly falling into retreat.

Several demon kings were surrounded, each beset by multiple Gold Awakened Players and numerous Silver-ranked Chosen Ones.

In less than a minute, the weakest demon king was decapitated under the combined assault of two Gold Players.

While the battle was not yet a complete rout, the situation was clearly leaning onto a one-sided outcome.

Watching the demons being hunted down and routed by the players, Evé smiled faintly.

“Do you see now, Feynir?”

“Temporarily granting the Chosen Ones great power can likewise help them survive a crisis.”

“However, the bestowed power must be properly balanced. Not too high or too low, just enough to suppress the enemy significantly while maintaining proper energy expenditure.”

“In the future, you will also oversee battlefield operations like these, including the granting these kinds of divine blessings.”

“As such, I shall now grant you partial authority, permitting you to draw upon a portion of my divine power.”

Hearing this, Feynir nodded reverently.

“I shall obey your divine will, O great Goddess.”

¹ 三十年河东三十年河西 – This is a Chinese proverb which means that fortunes rise and fall over time, just as the flow of a river changes its course.

----------------------------------------

〘 PREVIOUS 〙

〘 NEXT 〙

— —

----------------------------------------