Chapter 305 The most European card draw in history (4.1k)

The next morning, in the Royal City of Arcadia.

After traveling all night, the group of six finally arrived at their destination.

Atalanta, who had been sleeping on Lorne's back, woke up slowly after a night of rest. Although her physical and magical powers were severely depleted and she looked listless, she could at least perform basic movements.

"We have important matters to attend to with His Majesty Iasos!"

The twin brothers in front said this and threw a bronze elephant emblem of Apollo engraved with sun patterns to the guard at the city gate as proof of their identity.

Soon, a middle-aged man who looked like an officer came hurriedly. After confirming the identities of the two Spartan princes, he quickly ordered the soldiers to let them pass. He personally led the way and took these six warriors who came from afar to the Arcadia Palace.

With someone leading the way, the six people had a smooth journey and soon arrived at the gate of the main hall of the palace.

After a simple briefing process, they successfully entered the reception room of the Arcadia Palace and met the legendary King Iasos of Arcadia.

He was a tall and sturdy middle-aged man, and his strong facial features vaguely showed that he had a good appearance when he was young.

After a few pleasantries, the twin brothers went straight to the point and told the King of Arcadia in detail what they had seen and heard on the road.

"Your Majesty, this [Beast Disaster] is of great importance. I hope you will treat it with caution!"

"Thank you all for coming from afar and for your kind reminder. I will definitely consider these things seriously."

King Iasus responded repeatedly with a serious face.

However, after he had said a few words, he began to breathe heavily, and his face turned an unhealthy pale, as if there was something wrong with his physical health.

"What are you doing?"

The twin brothers couldn't help but look surprised when they saw the scene in front of them.

"Sorry to make you all laugh." Iasus coughed dryly, a hint of bitterness on his face, and reluctantly explained the cause of his illness.

At the beginning of the [Beast Disaster], the king also hoped to turn the tide and save the collapsing empire, so he personally led the Arcadia's God Blood Guard to the depths of the mountains to hunt down the mutated and restless monsters.

However, he seriously underestimated the [Beast Disaster] and also seriously overestimated himself.

In the end, Arcadia's God-Blood Guards suffered heavy casualties under the siege of magical beasts, and even he himself was seriously injured and has not recovered to this day.

After listening to Iasus's story, the twin brothers' faces were filled with sighs and sympathy.

Loen, who was hiding in the team, couldn't help but secretly complain.

How clever is it to send regular troops into the deep mountains and forests like the Arcadia Mountains to engage in jungle warfare with groups of monsters?

Although the God Blood Guards had the title of "God Blood", they were basically descendants of gods diluted for countless generations, and were not even a little bit inferior to the real God Blood heroes. Not to mention Loen himself, even Medea could easily kill hundreds of them if she was well prepared.

Not to mention the magical beasts that were born and raised in the Arcadia Mountains and have the best of both worlds.

Therefore, the best use of these Divine Blood Guards is to lure the monsters into relatively open areas, use the advantages of formation and coordination to strangle the monsters, rather than throwing valuable high-level troops into an environment that is not conducive to group combat and wasting them.

This old guy was lucky to be able to escape in the end.

Of course, it is also possible that when the beast disaster first started, it was not as serious as it is now, which gave Iasos and his remaining soldiers a chance to survive.

However, after all this trouble, Arcadia had no choice but to switch from offense to defense, and hide in the city-state, recruiting heroes from various city-states and waiting for rescue.

Because they abandoned large areas of jungle and roads, the beast plague in Arcadia became more and more serious and affected a wider range.

This is the reason why Loen and his party encountered groups of magic wolves on the official road thirty kilometers away from the Arcadia Mountains.

What's even more terrible is that this [beast disaster] seems to be extraordinary, and the group of monsters seems to be constantly [strengthening] and [evolving].

Originally this speed was still within a controllable range, but Iasos led Arcadia's Divine Blood Guards to attack in waves. Those monsters probably strengthened themselves further by devouring the divine meat and magical armor.

In addition, these monsters began to appear on the official roads, hunting the living people along the way and the warriors who came to participate in the crusade.

Unintentionally, many of the people may have become food for those mutated monsters, making those things more and more difficult to deal with.

As a result, as more and more experience packs were given away, the monsters in the mountains grew faster and faster, and the difficulty of hunting and conquering also continued to increase.

Even the Spartan twin brothers, sons of Zeus, almost fell.

It is really a case of one incompetent general exhausting the entire army.

Loen complained in his mind for a while, and waited patiently for both parties to finish their conversation before following the twin brothers out of the palace reception room.

After King Arcadia's actions, the cooperation of the local [high-level troops] could no longer be counted, and they could only rely on the recruited [hero units] to form an elite team and try to enter the Arcadia Mountains, investigate the cause of the Warcraft mutation, and then solve the problem fundamentally.

"Wait a minute, everyone."

Just as Loen was thinking secretly, two soldiers guarding the middle gate raised their guns and shields to block them. A high priestess in a white robe came out, nodded slightly in greeting, and then led them to a side hall, lifted a piece of black gauze, revealing a crystal ball enshrined on the altar below.

The chief priestess in white robes stretched out her arms and motioned for the six people to place their hands on it one by one for testing.

The six people looked at each other and couldn't help but frowned slightly.

"This is a necessary process to participate in this hunt. All heroes must pass this test."

Seeing that everyone had doubtful expressions, the chief priestess in white robes immediately opened her mouth to carefully explain the reason.

"After all, in order to effectively deal with the beast disaster, we need to verify your identities and abilities and ensure everyone's safety as much as possible."

After listening to the euphemistic explanation, Loen and the others looked at each other and nodded slightly.

To put it bluntly, on the one hand, it is to prevent enemy spies from infiltrating and ensure one's own safety; on the other hand, it is to confirm the level of the recruited hero units so as to make corresponding crusade plans.

This set of tests was not carried out when they entered the palace and met King Arcadia, but was officially launched after the meeting ended, which showed that they were given enough courtesy.

After finding out the reason, no one had any objections. They stepped forward one by one and placed their fingers and palms on the surface of the crystal ball, injecting ether magic power.

Suddenly, the magic array was activated, and three golden light beams rose up one after another. The three divine seals of the purple-red dark moon, the silver-white bright moon and the golden sun took shape one after another.

Followers of Hecate, goddess of the underworld, followers of Artemis, goddess of the hunt, and messengers of Apollo, god of light...

They are all favored by God!

The white-robed high priestess was quite shocked when she looked at the pool of golden light of such high quality. Then her cautious gaze finally fell on Loen, who had not yet been tested.

"It's your turn."

Loen nodded slightly, stepped forward and placed his hand on the crystal ball. A grape vine that had just broken through the soil was lush and green, and bunches of grapes reflected bright white light.

A Dionysian?

The white-robed high priestess couldn't help but look at Loen a few more times, but then shook her head with some boredom.

It's just an average level, I'm not happy about it for nothing.

However, the high priestess apparently did not notice the hint of colorfulness contained in the white light, and she would never have thought that the most valuable of the six cards was the one in front of her.

Then, as if realizing that her behavior was a bit rude, she quickly retracted her gaze and spoke with a smile.

"Heroes who have responded to the call are coming from all over the place. It will take some time for them to gather together, so the official day for entering the mountains to wipe out the monsters is tentatively scheduled for three days later. During this period, you should have a good rest in the city. The temple will arrange accommodation for you."

As she spoke, she waved her hand and summoned a younger priestess, instructing her to lead Loen and others to check into the city, and to continue to preside over the registration and review of the heroes.

"Next! Yes, just like that. Put your hand on the crystal ball and inject magic power into it..."

"Bang!"

From the hall came the sound of a crystal ball exploding, as well as the angry screams and curses of an unlucky guy with blood on his hands.

"What a piece of crap! Such poor quality!"

At this time, Loen, who had already walked to the door, paused, then quickened his pace, muttering to himself.

It seems like I need to practice more on strength control.

~~

Walking out of the palace and onto the street, everyone put down their burdens and were finally in the mood to appreciate the customs and culture of Arcadia.

“Hello, dear friend, please allow me to take up your precious time and introduce you to our Heavenly Father and Savior…”

Looking at the believers along the way who were wearing black robes, preaching skillfully to passers-by and distributing towels, bread, small cups of sweet wine, handwritten scriptures and other items, Loen finally understood why the high priestess had lost interest in him.

The reason is simple. Dionysians are not rare in Arcadia. On the contrary, they are everywhere.

As the religious leader behind the Dionysus cult, a certain patriarch looked at the believers who were working hard to preach for him and didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

It seemed that the soil of Arcadia was particularly suitable for missionary work. As Loen walked along, he saw two other gangs competing with his own Dionysian sect for believers.

One of the factions has star and moon patterns on their clothes. They like to use some alchemical gimmicks to complicate simple problems in order to recruit new members.

They are the Hermetic sect, a name that comes from Hermes Trismegistus, meaning "thrice great Hermes", and they believe in Thoth, the foreign god of wisdom, Hermes, the ancient messenger god, and Hermes, the Olympian god of speed.

The three gods of the Trinity together constitute the main body of the Hermetic faith.

According to the doctrine, the Hermetic sect believed that human beings’ entry into the world was a spiritual journey, and in the end they should still be united with the divine and achieve balance with the order of nature. Therefore, a large part of the Hermetic sect’s literature mentioned the use of astrology, alchemy and magic, trying to teach people to use and control the power of nature, thus attracting many ordinary people with curiosity.

The Three Great Hermes? The Trinity of Gods?

Hermes, you better remember to pay the copyright fee later.

Loen, who had been pirating and tampering with the contents of myths, couldn't help but secretly complain when he saw that one day he would be imitated and infringed upon.

Although the Olympian God of Speed was born in a cave in Arcadia, he regarded this land as his holy land.

But since the death of his son Pan, Hermes' connection with this land has declined sharply. In addition, the people of Arcadia are tough and worship the strong, so he gradually lost to Artemis.

The Moon Temple, which serves the hunting goddess, is the only one that dominates and becomes the mainstream belief in Arcadia.

Previously, the white-robed chief priestess who tested Loen and his group came from the Moon Temple.

In order to regain a foothold in Arcadia, the quick-witted and fast god began a religious reform, gradually developed the Hermetic sect, and sent his disciples to preach on this land.

He is worthy of being called the God of Business and Travel, his mind is so smart.

Loen made a pertinent comment, then looked at the other group that was competing for territory with the Dionysus Cult.

"Thank you, merciful goddess, for giving me food."

A hundred people were crowded into a cramped and dark hut, sharing and drinking freshly cooked barley porridge, and then, as if drunk, they leaned against the wall and the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

At the same time, wisps of black mist dissipated from the believers who drank the barley porridge and gradually disappeared into the air.

When these impurity-like things were expelled from the body, each believer seemed to be purified from the inside out. Their brows relaxed, their faces became peaceful, their breathing became steadier, and their whole bodies seemed to be emitting a glow.

Smelling the smell of oatmeal porridge wafting in through the crack of the door, Loen couldn't help but sneeze.

Hugh Kenneth oatmeal, no wonder it feels a little familiar.

If I remember correctly, this thing should be the favorite thing used by the Eleusinian Mysticism when holding secret ceremonies.

This sect worshipped the goddess of agriculture Demeter and the queen of the underworld Persephone, hoping to gain immortality through specific food and mysteries.

In the original myth, when the goddess of agriculture Demeter was searching for her daughter Persephone, she used the nectar of Hukeon's oatmeal to wipe the body of a prince she had raised, and roasted him over a fire at night, hoping to burn off his mortal part and give him eternal life.

The sea goddess Thetis immersed her son Achilles in the water of the Styx to make him immortal, which was also influenced by the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Since eternal life and immortality are almost irresistible temptations for mortals, the spread of Eleusinian mysticism was quite fast. Not long after Artemis left, this foreign sect attracted a large number of believers in Arcadia.

Walking on the street, Loen blocked the thief's hand that was reaching for his pocket for the third time. Looking at the various figures in the city, he secretly complained.

The Moon Temple that worships Artemis, the Dionysian Church that worships Artemis himself, the Hermetic sect that Hermes secretly founded, and the older Eleusinian Mysticism that worships the goddess of agriculture Demeter and the queen of the underworld Persephone...

Add to that the [Beast Disaster] that is related to Typhon’s divinity…

Wow, Arcadia is a land full of life, with everything flourishing.

(End of this chapter)