Guardian of the God Devourer

Information on how to effectively damage the Pontiff Sulyvahn's Phantom quickly spread among the adventurers.

Many people were excited by this, believing that this intelligence meant that they could soon defeat the Sulyvahn Phantom, making the challenge even more exciting.

On the other hand, the Adventurers' Guild had already selected members for the expedition team, but they remained inactive and did not immediately participate after learning about the mechanics.

During the daytime, at the Adventurers' Guild.

"Guild Master, let's wait a little longer," Lu Lu Wo said, her face flushed from staying up all night cultivating immortality. "It's not easy to have so many people willing to Charge forward even as cannon fodder. This is a good opportunity to gather intelligence."

The guild's raiding party didn't immediately get involved, not because of some mystical reason like "just telling them things aren't that simple."

It's purely to see what other surprises the adventurers can bring.

"It's rare to see adventurers so enthusiastic."

Sid nodded as he looked at the intelligence brought by Lu Lu Wo.

After multiple verifications today, the true mechanism of Sulyvahn Phantom has finally been determined: only when an adventurer uses their full power can they inflict a normal attack on it, rather than having to meet a certain rigid strength requirement.

However, launching a normal attack does not necessarily mean that damage will be inflicted. Ultimately, challenging this boss still requires considerable strength, which makes people feel a bit uneasy.

"By the way, Guild Master, it's rare to have so many people challenging the boss. Shouldn't we take this opportunity to try that out?" Lu Lu Wo suggested.

Shortly afterward, the Adventurers' Guild issued a quest open to all adventurers.

With the guild's sponsorship, adventurers dedicated to challenging Sulyvahn Phantom can come to the guild to receive a portable Image Stone. Simply hang the Image Stone on your head to record the scene of fighting Sulyvahn Phantom. After recording, hand it over to the guild to exchange for rewards.

This is truly "a camera growing on its head".

The guild has dedicated personnel to analyzing combat footage and attempting to summarize Sulyvahn Phantom's fighting habits. This method has proven highly effective; in just two or three days, the guild has compiled a list of Sulyvahn Phantom's most common moves and possible follow-up moves, with the probability of each move also indicated.

Thanks to so many adventurers willing to challenge Sulyvahn Phantom to collect data, and thanks to Gwyndolin's popularity, and even thanks to Sulyvahn for imprisoning Gwyndolin, people wouldn't be so excited.

From adventurers initially fighting individually in small teams to now working together to gather and analyze intelligence, efficiency has greatly improved, making one marvel at the changes.

Big data is truly powerful.

At this rate, it's estimated that the Extermination Team will make its appearance in another two days. Perhaps before the Extermination Team even appears, someone unexpected will take the first kill on Sulyvahn Phantom.

Lu Lu Wo should be at her most relaxed during this period. Once people stop struggling with the pressures of life, they easily become complacent and lose their zest for life.

The Skyrim Strategy Team has been releasing guides slower lately, and they haven't even started working on an Anor Londo guide yet. This is because there are fewer people who can go there compared to other areas, and it feels like making a guide would only recoup some of the costs.

While waiting for the guild to finish its complete analysis of Sulyvahn Phantom, she stayed at home and lay around—she had built a house in the small safe zone of Lake Liurnia —and someone would deliver collected newspapers from various sources to her every day, including foreign ones.

For example, right now, she is reading a newspaper from the neighboring Warrior Country.

"A small border country that supplies seafood to the Warrior Country has suddenly been plagued by a disaster caused by parasitic monsters, causing seafood prices to soar."

"The War Festival is in full swing. In order to awaken the lost Warrior's glory of the people, the King wants to make this festival the largest in history. It is said that there will be a powerful figure who is no less than a sword saint attending. Should I go and take a look?"

"The third prince of the Warrior Country Te Mude, failed to slay the dragon and was seriously injured. The evil, Berserk Dragon is lurking on the border and plundering towns. Ah, I really want to see what kind of strength this so-called mad dragon has. How does it compare to the fleeting Valstrax?"

"Speaking of which, aren't the Warrior Country and the Dragon allies? It feels like we haven't seen Dragon Knight in a long time."

Lu Lu Wo closed the newspaper and said to the person next to her, "Gers, would you be interested in taking a trip to the Warrior Country? I'll cover the travel expenses."

Elsa, who had been missing from the public eye for a long time, was now in this small house, eating snacks and flipping through a novel, seemingly oblivious to the other person's suggestion.

After returning from the Zane Dungeon, she was unsure where to go and was eventually taken in by Lu Lu Wo, whom she met by chance. She has been recuperating for the past few days.

When she turned to the last page of the novel, she suddenly let out a heavy sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"Updates have stopped."

Elsa looked sad as she gently closed the novel, which was written by "Xingchen Xiao Li Nai," even though it was a pretty good novel about the Four Knights of Gwyn.

"Really? But I have her new book here, I just bought it a few days ago." Lu Lu Wo handed over a novel.

Elsa took it with a surprised expression.

Then she fell silent as she looked at the author's name, "Hoshino Dalina".

When a book becomes popular, imitators will naturally appear. As the popularity of The Zane Dungeon increased, more novels featuring its characters as protagonists emerged, and some of them sold quite well in the market. As a result, more and more authors got involved.

However, with more authors, there weren't enough characters to write about in the Zane Dungeon. Inevitably, some characters written by different authors overlapped, and some counterfeit or inferior characters emerged.

What else could Elsa say but hope that the real Xingchen Xiao Li Nai would resume updating soon?

"By the way, aren't you going back to the Light Eagle Legion to show your face? It's been a long time since you've been back, hasn't it?" Lu Lu Wo asked.

Elsa shook her head and said, "I went back once, met a few people, and came back. There's nothing to do there."

So you're here to help me finish off the snacks, right?

Lu Lu Wo tossed a few more novels to the other person and then continued reading the newspaper, pondering whether she should actually go to the Warrior Country to participate in the festival.

But then again, judging from Elsa's current performance, has she successfully poached him?

At the same time, in Irithyll of the Boreal Valley.

There are people in the Light Eagle Legion who are watching Elsa, but it's probably only a few.

For example, some close group members, such as her Assault Team, and Sally.

"The Warrior can't hold on much longer! Where's the mage? Put out the fire!"

"No, the mage is already on fire!"

Inside the cathedral of Irithyll, Sally led a group of mercenaries in a fierce battle against the Pontiff Sulyvahn's Phantom.

Because many of the mercenaries were indeed burned to a crisp.

The remaining people were still putting up a desperate fight. Logically, they should have been able to fight more effectively now that they had figured out the mechanics of Sulyvahn Phantom, but their current disheveled state was no different from before.

The main reason was that the main force Iliphis, was not here, nor were the captains who were good at fighting. There were only the elite mercenaries led by Sally.

"Elsa, when will you come back?" Sally looked at the defeated mercenaries, completely numb.

His combat strength is only at the elite level. If it really comes down to a fight, he might not be as good as Ta Mi from the Skyrim Strategy Team right now.

The reason why there wasn't a single person of high-level combat power to join them in attacking the Pontiff Sulyvahn's Phantom was because everyone was divided into several groups and were currently engaged in the attack. Without a leader, Sally's group naturally became the weakest in terms of overall strength.

As for why the Light Eagle Legion were determined to fight Sulyvahn Phantom to the death, it was all to win Iliphis's favor.

After more than ten days of self-isolation, Iliphis finally stepped out of his room, but was surrounded by a suffocating atmosphere of low pressure.

He resumed doing what a battalion commander should do, handling affairs as correctly and smoothly as before, but the smile on his face was gone, and in his spare time he would just stare blankly at the stars in the sky.

The fact that their leader had suddenly become like this naturally worried Sally and the others, who were core members of the group. They tried various ways to cheer him up, but all of them failed. They could only turn their attention to Sulyvahn Phantom.

If we can get rid of this culprit, the leader should be happy, right?

However, teams with other captains still around might have a chance, but Sally's team has absolutely no hope. Without high-end combat power, what's the point of fighting?

Sally couldn't understand why Elsa suddenly stopped coming to the Light Eagle Legion. When he tried to persuade her, she gave him an expression he couldn't describe.

When he saw that expression, Sally couldn't help but wonder what had caused such a change in the other person. Unfortunately, whenever he got deeper into his thoughts, the red light flashing in his eyes would always stop him from thinking.

Moreover, the recent batch of new mercenaries who joined the group has a very high rate of desertion, and we don't know what's going on.

If this continues, it might eventually evolve into the extreme situation where "the Light Eagle Legion hasn't disbanded, it's just that nobody's coming anymore."

That was something he, or Iliphis, absolutely did not want to see.

Sally's immediate priority is to find Elsa.

"Ugh, seriously, I quit!"

Just then, a mercenary who was struggling to defend against Sulyvahn Phantom attacks suddenly threw away his shield and crashed into the Punishment Greatsword. He was quite shrewd; even when he was about to commit suicide, he knew to choose the Punishment Greatsword, which was less painful.

"Gwyndolin has already broken my Dark Moon Covenant with me, why should I help her fight Sulyvahn!" The mercenary left these last words and died.

"Um, didn't we come to fight Sulyvahn Phantom for the sake of our leader?" Sally wanted to say, but the other party couldn't hear her anymore.

Many mercenaries in the Light Eagle Legion would go to Sien when they had nothing to do, to exercise their muscles and earn some extra money at the same time. Some mercenaries got involved in it deeply, like the one just now, and even became a senior Dark Moon Blade. However, they were disqualified from their Dark Moon Covenant because they entered the Fog Gate in Anor Londo.

Sally did some investigation and found that there were several other mercenaries in the Light Eagle Legion who had also had their oaths broken.

This is incredible! When did you all join Sion? I clearly remember giving you quite a few tasks!

With the first one to break down, the morale of the other mercenaries also plummeted, and the battle ended in just a few minutes.

After being resurrected by the campfire, Sally and the others remained silent.

What will become of our Light Eagle Legion?

Just as the atmosphere fell silent, he counted the number of people and suddenly realized that several were missing, including the mercenary who had committed suicide at the beginning.

Never mind, let them be.

The mercenary who committed suicide was named Sai Lu. He had been with the Light Eagle Legion for quite some time, but unfortunately, he had never been able to be promoted to a management position.

At this moment, he was actually standing silently in front of the Dark Moon Altar at the Yorshka's Church.

He shakily pulled an ear-shaped token of their covenant from his pocket and placed it on the altar, his eyes filled with hope.

But the altar remained unmoved, completely rejecting his offerings. His hope turned to despair, and then to rage.

"Damn it, can't you give me another chance? I just accidentally walked into the Fog Gate!"

When the Dark Moon Blade Oath appeared, Sai Lu joined the Dark Moon Blade out of curiosity, but he quickly became fascinated with fulfilling the duties of the Oath and went out on missions everywhere.

His enthusiasm for fulfilling the duties of the Dark Moon Blade wasn't because he liked Gwyndolin or wanted to stand up for those who had been invaded; he simply enjoyed a feeling—the feeling of being revered even after killing at will.

Because the Dark Moon Blade invades invaders, its status in people's eyes is almost the same as that of the helpful Sun Warrior. Sai Lu enjoys the feeling of being praised by people after killing invaders and going on a killing spree under the guise of justice, which is why he is so enthusiastic about the Dark Moon Blade's activities.

Judging by his actions alone, he was actually quite upright.

Unfortunately, he couldn't resist his curiosity and entered the Fog Gate of Gwyndolin in Anor Londo, which resulted in the dissolution of his oath and the inability to carry out intrusion activities. This made him feel extremely frustrated and angry.

I was just curious to take a look behind the Fog Gate, why should I break my oath?

You won't even give me a chance to rejoin?

From that moment on, he would become a staunch Gwyndolin hater!

Snarling out of the Yorshka's Church, Sai Lu headed towards the Irithyll Bridge.

However, at that moment, a monster suddenly appeared by the roadside, blocking his way.

"Didn't we clear out the monsters?" Sai Lu frowned and drew his weapon, suddenly realizing that he had never seen any of these monsters before.

It was a pool of black, mushy mud, like a combination of Mud Monster and Slime, and it looked extremely disgusting.

This thing seems to have appeared in the Cathedral of the Deep, but it wasn't this big. Its name is "Aldrich's Carrion".

By the time Sai Lu came to his senses, he was already surrounded by black mud and had nowhere to escape.

Why do all the bad luck seem to happen to me?!

With a roar, he was swallowed by Aldrich's Carrion.

His consciousness seemed to have fallen into a dark space, where there was nothingness everywhere. Suddenly, Sai Lu heard a voice calling to him.

Those who betrayed the Dark Moon Blade, awaken!

He suddenly awoke to find an altar filled with black mud that had appeared in the pitch-black space, looking exceptionally evil.

But his subconscious compelled him to move forward.

Having betrayed Darkmoon, should those who harbor resentment towards Darkmoon follow in their predecessors' footsteps and raise the sword of revenge against it?

Following in the footsteps of predecessors?

When such a question arose in his mind, this image suddenly appeared before Sai Lu's eyes.

Those were several people wearing silver armor, the Silver Knight who guarded Anor Londo, but now they were standing with the Pontiff Knight.

What's going on? How did they join Irithyll's side? Where's Gwyndolin?

A message slowly appeared in his mind. Sai Lu was initially confused, but then he revealed a wild smile.

"Heh heh, so that's how it is. The Silver Knight can betray you."

He slammed his hand into the black mud-filled altar, and magical runes appeared.

[Have you sworn an oath to be a "Guardian of the God Devourer"?]

"Of course I want it!"

The oath to Guardian of the God Devourer stands in opposition to the Dark Moon Blade and can be considered part of Sulyvahn's faction.

When a dungeon discovers that an adventurer has had their Dark Moon Covenant broken, or has shown aversion to the Dark Moon Covenant, Aldrich's Carrion will be dispatched to bring the Pact to the adventurer.

The story of the Dark Moon Blade defeating enemies and saving the gods seems like a classic tale, but it lacks some depth.

If some opposing enemies could be added to the Dark Moon Blade during this process, the excitement would increase.

What Gong Qiying likes most now is to divide adventurers.

After all, having more factions to choose from is an advantage for adventurers, isn't it?

There will always be adventurers who are not interested in the Dark Moon Blade, and there will always be those who like to disagree. We should give them a chance to choose a faction.

A few days later, no adventurers had yet appeared to successfully defeat the Pontiff Sulyvahn's Phantom, and the enthusiasm gradually waned under the blow.

However, the tactical analysis of Sulyvahn Phantom is nearing completion, and countermeasures for various aspects have been basically finalized.

Thus, the expedition team organized by the Adventurers' Guild was officially dispatched.