Chapter 19: Gamblers Don’t Die Well

The Sea of Oceanus, on a volcanic island.

“Chiu~!”

Along with a shrill scream, a Siren with a human face and a bird body fell from the sky with a rain of blood and landed in front of the rocky beach.

Before she could struggle to get up, a foot suddenly fell down and broke her neck.

The mournful cry for help eventually turned into a "ho ho" gasping sound in the leaky throat.

Loen reached out and took out two pieces of grass soaked in magic potion from his left and right ear canals, threw them on the ground, and stretched his body to welcome the golden-red blood escaping from the Siren.

As the surging divinity gathered into the body, the last ray of vacant starlight on the bronze altar lit up.

After more than half a month of hard hunting, one hundred gold-level sacrifices were finally gathered!

And at the moment the goal was achieved, Loen felt an intense burning sensation in his chest. The Wheel of Hecate, symbolizing rebirth, turned and changed. The hundreds of divine lights above the bronze altar turned into falling stars, falling one after another into the heart sea where the soul resides.

Buzz——!

In an instant, Loen's entire mental world was like being hit by a meteor shower. His thoughts, consciousness, and emotions were all annihilated by the roar and vibration in his skull.

At that moment, time loses its concept and space loses its dimension.

Everything ceases to exist, and everything returns to the original chaos.

Then, in a flash, a cluster of golden flames ignited in the darkness, and infinite light flowed from then on, illuminating the boundless chaos and darkness.

Thoughts, perceptions, and emotions flow back quickly to every bone, every drop of blood, and every cell in the body like thousands of rivers flowing into the sea.

It seemed as if all the pores of the body were completely open, sensing the world with incredible clarity.

Faintly, Loen seemed to be in a bustling downtown.

The breathing of the wind, the flow of water, the sedimentation of soil, the burning of light and fire, the budding of life, the rhythm of the soul... everything around is clearly reflected in the mind.

The world is like a living fire that burns forever.

I am a cluster of flames that are nurtured within it.

Homogeneous and of the same origin, linked to each other!

"call……"

With a long breath, Loen slowly opened his eyes, and there seemed to be two balls of golden flames flickering in his pupils.

In a trance, it seemed as if I could see another chaotic world from inside.

I see!

The so-called demigod is one who, through the medium of divinity, allows the individual soul and the essence of the world to achieve integration and resonance!

Human power is sometimes limited, but if one relies on the entire world, calls upon magic power at will, and manipulates the rules, then that life can naturally be called a "God."

However, the strength of the soul and the limit of the body's endurance will become the upper limit to one's own performance.

Therefore, the life that ignites the divine fire can only be called a [demigod].

Luo En's thoughts were turning, constantly improving his understanding of cultivation and this world.

During this process, magic power within a radius of several kilometers formed visible ether tides that continued to converge towards him, celebrating the birth of a new demigod on the Sea of Oceanus.

The rich and pure magic factors constantly washed over his flesh, blood and bones, allowing his body to more perfectly adapt to this world and accommodate and call upon more magic power.

As if they had sensed danger, the fish and sea beasts in the nearby waters, attracted by the smell of blood, fled in all directions, including some gold-level monsters.

Looking at the opponent who he once had to deal with carefully, now trembling in panic under the divine power of the demigod, Loen couldn't help but find it a little funny, and a feeling of being in another world arose in his heart.

I didn’t expect that I would be promoted successfully so quickly.

Things are going smoothly.

Loen looked down at his palms, a sense of unreality and absurdity filling his chest.

Or rather, it seemed to be going too smoothly...

“Buzz!”

Just as Loen was lost in thought, the disappeared twelve-sided dice reappeared in his palm with a ringing sound.

Then, the blue-gray serpentine dice seemed to be picked up and thrown by an invisible hand. After spinning several times in front of him, a number composed of snake patterns appeared.

This is the sign and symbol of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war.

At the same time, on the bronze altar transformed from the Wheel of Hecate, a divine text floated and flickered, showing clear handwriting.

"Blasphemy 1: Complete the defilement of the goddess of wisdom Athena."

This, what is going on?

Just as Loen looked confused, the twelve-sided dice in front of him turned again, and this time the emblems were musical notes and strings.

——Belongs to Apollo, the god of light and prophecy.

The divine text on the bronze altar in his mind also changed accordingly.

"The second blasphemy was destroying a temple of Apollo, the god of light."

A strong ominous premonition came to his mind, and Loen's face changed drastically. He subconsciously stretched out his hand to press the twelve-sided dice in front of him.

However, the dice turned for the third time, and several wave patterns came into view, along with new hints on the altar.

"The third blasphemy, killing a demigod offspring of Poseidon, the god of the sea."

Sensing the three lines of oracles appearing side by side in his mind, and the malice between the lines, Loen couldn't help but sweat profusely, and the joy of being promoted to a demigod was gone.

"You seem confused?"

An elegant and pleasant voice came from one side. A goddess of the road who was responsible for pointing out the way out of confusion appeared on the beach at some point in time. She was sitting gracefully beside a reef, with her feet, as white as mutton-fat jade, immersed in the blue sea, swaying gently.

"So, lost man, do you need me to answer your questions?"

The hazy figure with a mysterious temperament turned to Loen, and a hint of amusement appeared on his half-smiley face.

At this moment, Lorne took a deep breath and looked at Hecate with a grim face, who was obviously hiding something.

"What the hell is going on!"

"A small price to pay for using this thing..."

"Didn't I already pay for it?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you..."

Hecate raised her hand and tapped her forehead, then looked at Lorne who was approaching with an apologetic look, and spoke softly.

"Hunting 100 golden-rank sea beasts and collecting divinity is just the nutrients for upgrading, just for yourself. This is not the chip you have to pay to pry open your destiny."

“…”

Realizing that he was being tricked, Loen couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

He finally understood that in that chess game, he won on the chessboard, while Hecate won outside the chessboard.

From the very beginning, the woman had planned how to trick him.

Seeing that Lorne's face was getting uglier, Hecate gave a comforting smile.

"Don't worry, just choose one of the three. You are not required to do all of them."

There was a sneer on Loen's lips, but his face was still gloomy.

Is there any difference?

There are three prices. One is to kill Athena, who has explosive combat power. Another is to find a temple of Apollo in the vast Oceanus and destroy it. The last one is to kill the demigod offspring of Poseidon...

No matter which one, there are vague signs of death.

You have to know that this [accidental dice] is such a cheating thing, he would never roll that number even if he were beaten to death.

Wait, it seems that Hecate threw this dice to him after he returned from the underworld.

It was just that because he was wary of this woman, he had left this thing in the temple of Hecate for many years, gathering dust, and never even touched it.

Thinking of this, Loen's thoughts suddenly became clear, all his doubts were resolved, and his cold eyes fell on the goddess of the road.

"It turns out that this thing was prepared for me from the very beginning..."

"Didn't you say you wanted to overthrow Olympus? I am only fulfilling your wishes and guiding you on the path you should take."

Hecate spread her hands and asked with a smile.

Luo En was speechless and felt depressed.

Sister, I was just kidding, who made you take it seriously?

The creditor patted the debtor on the shoulder in a friendly manner and comforted him kindly.

"Don't worry, I'm not some evil god. How could I watch you die? That's why I waited until you became a demigod and qualified to enter before I officially started the game."

"Thank you so much!"

Realizing that he couldn't deny the debt, Loen expressed his gratitude through gritted teeth.

Hecate seemed not to hear the strong resentment in the words, and smiled and waved her hand.

"You're welcome. It's my honor."

“…”

Loen was choked again and was silent for a moment before he calmed down his breath. He held the twelve-sided dice in his hand and spoke softly.

"So, after I pay the chips, can I leave?"

"You should know that there is only a difference between zero times and countless times in gambling."

Hecate smiled and shook her head. Her seemingly comforting words also extinguished Loen's last bit of fantasy.

"But don't worry. This dice will roll points regularly in the future, so that you will have enough chips to sit at the gambling table of [Destiny] and continue gambling."

As Loen looked about to cry but had no tears, the gambling goddess who had successfully pushed the debtor to the gambling table offered him encouragement and blessings.

"So, I am looking forward to seeing whether your [accidental dice] can change [inevitable fate]."

"If I have the chance, I will definitely not let you down."

Loen forced a smile on his face, maintaining superficial respect, but in his heart he wished he could pin this goddess of fun who pushed him and the Twelve Gods of Olympus to the ground and whip her a thousand times!

Hecate smiled and waved her hand as a farewell gesture.

But the moment she turned around, she seemed to remember something, turned back suddenly and gave a kind reminder.

"Oh, by the way, if you don't make a choice within the specified time, just like a random roll of the dice, the chips you pay will be matched randomly. Good luck."

“……!”

In front of the coast, Loen, who was thinking about how to deal with this gambling goddess after surviving, suddenly shuddered, his face turned green, and a chill ran from his tailbone all the way to the top of his head.

But before he could react, the three oracles on the bronze altar in his mind faded and disappeared.

At the same time, fierce waves arose on the sea, and a tall and burly figure smashed into the volcanic island like a falling meteorite, splashing rubble all over the ground.

A low roar filled with excitement and cruelty came from the thick smoke and dust.

"I actually met you here, you damn sheep thief!"

As Loen looked at the huge figure as majestic as a mountain, his face suddenly changed and his body subconsciously tensed like a bowstring.

It's him!

Two large chapters, totaling 6k, completed, and the preliminary preparations are completed.

Next, we will come to the much-loved part of making trouble.

The twelve-sided dice correspond to the twelve main gods, and the choice of which one to pit is completely random.

Go back to the book review section and ask for a quest to pit the Lord God. Use your talents and imagination to make the protagonist stronger. The more interesting the better.

(End of this chapter)