CHAPTER 471: CHAPTER 364: DEITY MASK, SUBDUING THE SUB-GOD_2

"For instance, the ’Goddess of Love and Beauty’ Freya, needs beauty, love, and, well...ehm..."

Upon reading this, Byron also came to understand.

These divine position thieves among the Bayfolk must be using some Deity Masks they had somehow stolen as a medium, combined with believers who carried Bayfolk blood, to successfully achieve Anchoring to the collective subconscious of the Bayfolk.

And for a Divine Son or Goddess who had reached Fourth Order and become a Mythical Creature, they were already qualified to start plotting for a Fifth Order [False God] divine position.

They had acquired their own Deity Masks ahead of time.

Goddess Freya hadn’t yet had a chance to use the mask’s abilities before she was struck down on the spot. Otherwise, this battle might not have gone so smoothly.

Combining this with the intelligence obtained earlier, since the Bayfolk who came to the New Continent called themselves ’the Exiles,’ they must have committed some transgressions back in their homeland. In an era centuries ago, murder, theft, or rebellion were all possibilities. It wouldn’t be surprising if they had also casually stolen these Sacred Relics, which had already vanished from historical records.

Moreover, Byron had also learned from Violet that the ’Pirate Code,’ supposedly established by the Pirate Emperor to govern all pirates, had also been missing for several hundred years. Could it possibly have fallen into the hands of these ’Exiles’ as well?

The thought inevitably sent a thrill through him.

「At the same time」

Two entries in the Sailing Logbook updated.

[Hidden: The Origin of the Bloody Plague, Historical Influence 38] had its Decryption Rate rise from 90% to 92%.

[Hidden: Prophecy, The Racial Rebirth Prophecy of Woden, the God of Authority and Mad Hunt, Historical Influence 69] also had its Decryption Rate increase from 39% to 45%.

Clearly, the secrets he was unraveling were strongly related to these Bayfolk Exiles.

Byron retracted the spear in his hand. It also originated from Bayfolk mythology—the Sure-Hit Spear of the Divine King of Authority, Prophecy, and Mad Hunt.

I wonder if they have the Deity Mask of Woden, the God of Mad Hunt, I do have some interest in that. Otherwise, this Deity Mask of Freya, the Goddess of Beauty, would just be an ornament. I’m confident that my compatibility in terms of handsomeness should be sufficient, but such a Mandate of Heaven...to bed The Pantheon, even someone with an ’Innate Cowherd Holy Body’ couldn’t possibly accept such a fate.

At that moment, he suddenly heard two somewhat familiar voices ahead of him.

"SLURP, SLURP, you... smell so good!"

"Let me have a bite, just one bite, okay?"

Looking down, he saw the two long legs belonging to Goddess Freya Laplace, severed above the knee, which were now independently softening, twisting, and finally transforming into two purplish-red octopus tentacles. From a small oral cavity at one end, came the voice that belonged to the Goddess.

Huh? The nerve endings of an ’Abyssal Child’ are this well-developed? It can even talk?

Byron, having dealt with many of these sinister entities, especially with Slumbering God Kraken, the giant octopus, didn’t find the scene before him strange at all. The Abyssal Child had clearly inherited the octopus’s ability of three hearts and nine brains; its developed nervous system and even brain tissue were spread throughout its body.

Unfortunately, she only possessed a powerful ability for physical transformation, not the Immortality of a Curse Spirit or a Soul-hiding Casket. Minor bodily damage was insignificant; it would simply regenerate. But when most of the body was eradicated, the nervous system also perished alongside, and even a strong soul lost its vessel.

Nonetheless, as a non-human Fourth Order Mythical Creature, the remaining two long legs, just like that "Touch of the Kraken," retained a primitive, almost witless, instinct to eat.

This combination of Fallen One and female, when faced with Byron—a ’great tonic’ offering effects like extending lifespan, reversing alienation, on-the-spot promotion, and more—caused them to immediately drool with desire.

However, the next moment...

"GULP."

They unexpectedly heard a loud gulping sound from Byron’s mouth. Their bodies involuntarily shuddered in unison as a strong sense of crisis washed over them.

"Wait, what do you mean by gulping?"

Before they could turn tail and flee, a voice, dripping with saliva, rang out from above them:

"Well, now, I think you two... smell pretty good yourselves! How about one bite each? Just let me take one bite from each of you, okay?"

With a lightning-fast movement, he reached out, grabbing one of the octopus tentacles, which was twisting and struggling, already ’crying’ from fright, and was about to dig in.

"Byron, are you alright? They’ve already charged ashore together. How should we deal with this Goddess?"

Luckily, Violet arrived just in time to prevent Byron from doing anything too rash.

"How to deal with her? Of course, by mou— Right!"

Reminded by Violet, he suddenly remembered that after the heroic sacrifice of [Falcon] Alvin, he had an empty slot for a [Wild Hunt Servant]. After personally slaying an enemy, he could choose whether to retain the Undead Servant’s self-consciousness and transform them into a Bizarre entity known as a [Wild Hunt Servant]. As extensions of his eyes, ears, will, and transcendent abilities, they could move freely, possess living beings, display abilities, and appear no different from ordinary people. If they possessed their original bodies, they could fully unleash their past Power, even self-combusting for an ultimate burst.

Thanks to the [Entry: The Three Musketeers], the current slot limit was four, currently filled by: [Conqueror] Cortes, [Fat Dragon], and Quasi-Sword Saint Herman.

Goddess Freya Laplace was not only a Fourth Order Mythical Creature but also the daughter of Dagon, a Fifth Order [False God] and one of the founding members of the Deep Dive Church. This made her immensely valuable and of great worth. She was almost on par with Cortes, who was already the Emperor Aztec.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. It’s decided, you’re the one! Come!

Byron immediately gestured towards the gruesome scene before him. The Goddess’s shattered bones and flesh flew towards him, coalescing into a writhing mass. Unwilling to use his own blood, he took a vial of Blood of Transformation from the Warrior’s Cup and activated [Blood Altar Flesh Jar] (Chapter 349), a technique learned from the ’Blood Source Pilgrimage.’ This Black Sorcery enabled physical self-cloning; even if one was reduced to a single drop of blood, a complete body could be reconstructed.

After killing the Goddess and then remolding a new body for her, it shouldn’t be a big problem.

"GURGLE, GURGLE..."

The Ritual Witchcraft, which looked exceptionally sinister, activated. The morass of flesh and blood churned rapidly, quickly reforming into Freya’s tall, toned, and panther-like naked form.

"Hmph?"

He heard Violet let out a small ’hmph’ from her nose; her small hand had already pinched his lower back.

Byron chuckled awkwardly and quickly looked down. A pale blue flame erupted in his palm. He extracted the Goddess’s soul and thrust it back into her own body.

A pair of azure eyes, characteristic of the Bayfolk, blinked twice and regained their luster. With a wave of her hand, water flowed around her, coalescing into an outfit identical to her original one.

Upon seeing Byron, she immediately knelt on one knee, dutifully struck her chest with her right fist, and declared, "Master, your humble servant Freya Laplace offers you her heart."

Byron took a moment to sense the connection. He discovered that perhaps due to her Bayfolk bloodline and the Deity Mask, his mystical bond with this new Wild Hunt Servant was exceptionally strong.

Considering my title abilities [Mad Hunt Legion], and that [King of the Wild Hunt] is an epithet for Woden, perhaps this is how things were always meant to be in the Mythological Era.

Byron himself wasn’t even a Mythical Creature yet, but he had already acquired his first Fourth Order Lesser God. With this insider, the success rate of his upcoming ’fishing trip’ to Luanyun City would increase significantly.

He had just acknowledged her when, from the direction of Black Tide Town, came a desolate, wolf-like, and furious roar:

"Ah! How dare you harm the noble Divine Son and Goddess! I’ll fight you to the death! Deity Mask, Celestial Descent!"

Immediately, a potent divine aura surged into the sky, instantly illuminating the rain-swept night.