The equipment available in the Player Shops wasn't limited to the junk the players had stripped off the kobolds.
In fact, a considerable portion of that equipment had "less than proper" origins—
They were damaged gear left behind by human adventurers, which Iluvia had personally scavenged from kobold strongholds. (See Chapter 40 for details.)
Well... sneaky scavenges, exactly what you're thinking.
For instance, the Epic purple gear "Warrior's Sword"—which was insanely popular across the entire server and fiercely fought over by players—was originally a broken, rusty human standard-issue longsword covered in nicks.
As for why there were so many damaged human pieces of equipment in the kobold strongholds?
“Hmm... They were probably left behind by human adventurers who took quests to purge the kobolds...”
Iluvia figured it out after a moment's thought.
There was a human city roughly fifty kilometers away from Starfall Forest. The original owners of this equipment had most likely come from there.
Judging by the condition and degree of damage to the gear, however, those adventurers hadn't been very strong—likely just a bunch of rash youths who took on low-rank quests wanting to make a quick buck.
Little did they expect that a high-tier Bronze Rank chief was hidden within the kobold stronghold.
So, they ended up as "couriers" for the kobold stronghold, delivering their own gear all the way into the enemy's den.
“What a shame...” Iluvia sighed, her tone carrying a touch of genuine regret. “If they were still alive, maybe I could have turned them into my believers.”
In her eyes, every living believer was a small, sustainable faith generator, continuously supplying divine power.
Just think of how many kilowatt-hours of electricity she had lost in one go.
Regret aside, though, the people were gone, and she still wanted the gear.
Couldn't let it go to waste.
Ahem... getting sidetracked.
Iluvia pulled her thoughts back.
Immediately after, another thought surfaced in her mind.
“Mosator must have realized by now that his connection to his avatar is severed...”
She tilted her head, unable to stop the image of that furious shadow dragon from popping into her head:
Dark divine power flying wildly across his Divine Kingdom, tables flipped, cups smashed, wall cracked from a swipe of his tail—
Mm, what a bad dragon (╯^╰).
Ahem... Of course, that was just her imagination.
“Mosator must be furious right now.” Iluvia even felt a hint of gloating. “Not only did he lose an avatar, but he doesn't even know who did it.”
Gloating was one thing, but practical issues still had to be considered.
“Hmm... I wonder what his situation actually is. Is he in the Divine Realm, or on the continent of Aenoria?”
The moment those words left her mouth, Iluvia paused.
Wait.
She suddenly remembered something she had overlooked—the planar channel between the Divine Realm and the continent of Aenoria was closed.
After the god war a thousand years ago, the Divine Realm had severed its connection to the main plane. Now, the continent of Aenoria was like a locked house: those outside couldn't enter, and those inside couldn't leave.
Then how had Mosator's avatar gotten in? Was it simply because his avatar was only at the Demigod level?
“No... That's not right!”
Iluvia's expression turned solemn.
“With the current energy level of Aenoria, even a Demigod descending would require a summoning ritual prepared in advance. On top of that, the response speed is extremely slow—just projecting consciousness over takes nearly a full day—”
“It's impossible for it to happen like Mosator's: a believer pulls out a divine artifact medium to call upon him, and he arrives in under three seconds!”
That speed was faster than food delivery.
Well... food delivery took at least half an hour.
The more Iluvia thought about it, the more wrong it felt, her brow knitting slightly.
“Could it be... Mosator is currently on the continent of Aenoria, just like me?!”
The moment this thought popped up, she gave herself a fright.
This was no small matter!
If the enemy's true body was on the main plane, it meant Mosator could directly descend before her in his true form at any time and any place.
Keep in mind that Iluvia was currently just a poor little Weak Divine Power peak, while Mosator was a veteran Lesser Divine Power god at the very least. If they truly fought face-to-face... she felt her flee speed would be pretty fast.
On second thought, however, Iluvia calmed down.
In the inheritance memories of the Goddess of Light, there was a clear record regarding Mosator—during the god war a thousand years ago, this Lord of Plague and Calamity had attempted to sneak-attack the previous Goddess of Light, Devilitafil.
Naturally, he failed.
Not only did he fail, but the previous goddess counterattacked and severely wounded him instead.
How severe was the injury?
Mm... As far as Iluvia knew, the kind that wouldn't heal without a few thousand years.
What's more, Mosator had been a god for ten thousand years, yet his strength had always been stuck at the peak of Lesser Divine Power, making him nothing more than a Lower God who hadn't even touched the threshold of Intermediate Divine Power.
“Following this logic...” Iluvia lightly tapped her fingers on the armrest of her Divine Seat. “Given his strength before the injury, surviving after being severely wounded by my predecessor already proves he's thick-skinned. To say he not only healed his injuries but also broke through—”
She thought about it and felt the possibility was extremely low.
“Not very realistic.”
Mosator was originally only around the peak of Lesser Divine Power. Suffering such a severe injury, it was impossible for him to maintain his peak state. Even though a thousand years had passed, damage dealt by true gods was not easily healed—not to mention her predecessor was at the pinnacle of ordinary deities, a Greater Divine Power, a Higher God.
Besides, there was another crucial point—true gods at or above Intermediate Divine Power were rejected by the world's elemental source of the Aenoria continent.
Forcibly staying would cause irreversible damage to the continent, and in severe cases, might even lead to the entire plane collapsing.
Most of the other true gods' believers lived on this continent. Who would be willing to burn down their own chive patch for the sake of a single dragon?
The other gods wouldn't permit it, nor would they ever agree.
Therefore, if Mosator possessed Intermediate Divine Power, it would be impossible for him to remain on the main plane.
Conversely, if he was staying on the main plane, it indicated that he was at most at Lesser Divine Power, and likely still carried injuries.
At this thought, half of Iluvia's worries melted away.
“Still... all of this is ultimately just my speculation.”
She let out a soft sigh. After all, a thousand years had passed; who knew if that fellow had stumbled upon some miracle or fortune?
What if he really picked up some heavenly treasure that healed his injuries, or suddenly had an epiphany and comprehended a law to break through?
Though the probability was low.
“Forget it, thinking about this now is useless,” Iluvia shook her head. “What matters is what he's going to do next.”
She began to put herself in his shoes—if she were Mosator, with her avatar destroyed, the divine artifact granted to her believers stolen, and not even knowing what had happened, what would she do?
“With his cautious nature... his true body definitely won't come. After all, the other side managed to wipe out a Demigod avatar. Before figuring out their background, no one would rashly step into a minefield.”
“So he can only send believers.”
“As for whether he'll send ordinary small fry, or a God-Favored who serves as the eyes and ears of a true god...”
Iluvia considered it and felt that with Mosator's suspicious nature, he would eighty percent likely send a God-Favored over.
After all, ordinary believers could only see the surface, whereas a true god could share sight through the eyes of a God-Favored, which was far more useful than an ordinary scout.
“It doesn't matter, though.”
“Soldiers will block the army, earth will contain the water.”
The corners of Iluvia's lips curled up slightly, a playful gleam in her eyes.
“No matter who he sends, as long as they dare step into Starfall Forest—”
“I'll keep his person, keep his believer's soul, and take his divine power along with it.”
“If one comes, I'll keep one; if two come, I'll keep a pair. Whether they're scouts or fighters, they'll all serve as my divine power powerbanks.”
At this thought, her expression turned slightly mischievous.
Finally, Iluvia paused again, silently adding in her heart:
“Of course, if I really encounter something I can't handle...”
Then she could only say sorry, as she was ready to pack up and flee with her two believers.
As for the players... well, the servers would just have to be temporarily shut down.
Thinking about it, there was no shame in it—as long as the green hills remained, there would always be wood to burn.
Once she restored her full strength, she would claim back everything with interest from Mosator.
With that thought, Iluvia comfortably placed this "fleeing plan" on the very first line of her backup options.
Rate on N.U.
