As Muska surrendered, all the Aspects of the Crucible: Beast rapidly disintegrated into golden streams of light, which converged toward the Erdtree and eventually disappeared.
They are not true life forms, and are essentially no different from the animal tails and horns formed by energy during the furnace Incantations.
Now that the mission was complete, Mu En naturally wouldn't waste any more Rune, and instead recycled the remaining energy back into his main body.
Against the gray sky, the steel behemoth " Goliath," which had not long ago sailed in with such pride and arrogance, appeared.
It is now riddled with holes.
Huge tears, dents, and charred marks were visible everywhere on the ship's armor, and some thick smoke was even billowing from the portholes.
However, most of the damage was concentrated in non-lethal areas, such as the engine compartment and ammunition depot, which were almost completely unaffected.
This was naturally the result of Mu En showing mercy; he had no intention of completely destroying the warship, so the damage he inflicted was mostly superficial.
Under Muska's command, Goliath slowly adjusted its posture and finally hovered over an open area in the southern part of Valley Town, not far from the Erdtree.
Because its bottom was densely packed with turrets and aircraft racks, Goliath could not land like Dola's Tiger Moth.
On the belly of the ship, several heavy metal retractable gangways extended section by section, finally landing with a clatter on the grass.
The soldiers walked out with their hands raised and their heads hanging low, looking dejected.
Most of them were covered in oil and dust, some had scratches on their faces, and their eyes were full of confusion.
After witnessing firsthand those mythical "angel" troops, all remaining thoughts of resistance were shattered.
What they didn't know was that the invincible "god" in their hearts wasn't feeling much joy at the moment.
Mu En's senses swept over the battered steel warship, and he felt rather disheartened.
In the eyes of humanity in this world, Goliath is an unparalleled war behemoth, a symbol of the pinnacle of technology and military power.
But in Mu En's view, it was ultimately just a deformed product of the Industrial Revolution technology combined with the unique black technology of this world.
In order to enable flight, its armor protection had to be compromised, and the outer shell could only withstand short bursts of fire from small-caliber autocannons.
Those main guns looked intimidating, but their maximum caliber was only 155 mm, far from the 300, 400, or even 500 mm battleship main guns or fortress guns that Mu En remembered, which could shatter half a street with a single shell.
In an era lacking equivalent air power and ultra-long-range Hit Wizard, Goliath's design concept was reasonable.
Absolute air superiority can be achieved simply by blocking harassment from small aircraft.
In a battlefield where there are no equal rivals, it truly is " Endure ".
Unfortunately, it encountered the Erdtree, an enemy far more powerful than Goliath.
In this test, he primarily used the newly unlocked " Power of the Aspects of the Crucible ".
Those Crucible Beast were indeed powerful, and the visual effects were stunning, but this ability wasn't even primarily used for combat.
The Crucible Beast lack self-awareness, have no ranged attack capabilities, and their activity range is limited to the area covered by their root systems, making them far from being a qualified army.
Even if they are considered "guardians," they are not very qualified.
The so-called " Aspects of the Crucible " is more like a set of "rules" or "professional templates."
Its true value lies in bestowing upon its subordinates the ability to train special forces that specialize in physical strength and vitality.
Like the Crucible Knight in the Elden Ring world, they can cut through the elite troops of the Lands Between with their physical strength alone.
In comparison, both " Litany of Proper Death " and " Rings of Light " are superior in terms of attack power, not to mention his current ultimate move Elden Stars.
"I haven't even exerted any effort yet, and you're already lying down?" Mu En teased inwardly.
He also wanted to try out other Incantations combinations to test the attack limit of this tree clone when it was fully charged.
However, he had a premonition that he would have the opportunity to unleash his full power.
After all, the threats lurking in this world are not as simple as just one Goliath.
Muska led his two men down the gangway.
After exchanging a few words with the people around him, he left his men behind and, together with another soldier in a green uniform, walked straight toward the Erdtree.
As he approached the area beneath the giant tree, Dola, who had been waiting there, stood with her arms crossed and a mocking smile on her face.
"Oh my, isn't this our esteemed Muska?" she said, making no attempt to hide her sarcasm.
Muska paused, his brow furrowing; he didn't recognize the woman.
Dola changed so much after becoming Golden Folk that almost no one could recognize the younger version of Dola now.
Pazu stood to the side, holding Sheeta's hand tightly, his eyes filled with anger and disdain as he looked at Muska.
Although he didn't know Muska, Sheeta had whispered to him that this was the man who had kidnapped her.
"You rascal! Hehehe!" Pazu made a face.
Muska's eye twitched, and he silently clenched his teeth.
He was a smart man; he knew that in the face of an absolutely insurmountable force, recklessly showing off was nothing but foolish suicide.
"Hey, you're not planning to just stand here and worship the gods, are you?" Dola "kindly" reminded her.
Muska's face turned pale, and he immediately knelt down on one knee.
"Great Erdtree, I—on behalf of all the officers and men of the Goliath —surrender to you. Please allow me to become your servant."
Seeing Muska's action, the officer behind him, whose eyes were filled with panic, also knelt down.
"I am Simon, Chief of Simon of Tidis Fortress. Please forgive our ignorance!"
The two remained kneeling on one knee, cold sweat silently trickling down their temples, but they dared not move, not even lift their heads.
They knew their lives were now in the hands of this tree. Mu En ignored Muska for the time being, as he was contemplating his next move.
He had previously planned to expand the faith through top-down reforms, in order to avoid large-scale conflict as much as possible.
This matter requires an "agent" who is within the old system, capable, shrewd, ambitious, and willing to be used by him.
Dola does have the ability, but her background and reputation are major weaknesses, essentially distancing her from the core of the kingdom's power.
Pazu and Sheeta are kind-hearted and intelligent, but they come from poor backgrounds and are too young to be suitable for this mission.
Muska is almost the perfect candidate.
He holds a high position, comes from a noble family, is calm-headed, decisive, and ambitious.
He was familiar with the rules of power in the kingdom and also harbored ambitions to conquer the world.
Don't you crave power and conquest?
Then I will grant you power, power far beyond your imagination.
Your ambition and your abilities should both be used by me.