My Goddess is Good at Pretending-Chapter 693: You’ve been Warned
"..." Mashiro was speechless, too stunned at the item inside the gift box Saintess Miko gave.
He sought her guidance just a moment ago, and the item she gave him was actually something he was very familiar with. Although it was brandless, just a clear bottle with a red cap, it was obviously a coke... a bottle of cola from Earth!
It was cold like it had just come out of the refrigerator, and slightly frothy, like a soda that was no longer so fizzy. No matter how much he tried to think that it might be a potion or elixir, his brain screamed that it was just a soft drink.
This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.
"Hey, what’s up? What are you talking about with the sacred shrine priestess?" Harriet came closer, peeking at the item inside the box. "Is that a coke? Give it to me!"
Realizing it was something she recognized, she immediately grabbed it and leaped backward as if afraid Mashiro would take it back.
"Hey!" Mashiro was displeased, but Harriet had already taken his cola.
"Where did you get this, Mashiro?" Harriet uncapped the bottle and took a drink. It just took her a gulp, and she immediately spat it back out. "Blergh, what is this? This isn’t cold cola. It’s sour, a little weird, but also a little spicy."
"Is that so? Then don’t just take things from me like that." Mashiro snatched the bottle back.
"So, what is it and where did you get it?" Harriet was curious about the strange plastic bottle and the fake cola’s origin, trying to figure it out like a curious cat.
Mashiro ignored Harriet and sniffed the fake cola. It wasn’t a cold cola, and the soda bubbles were actually just air trapped in the liquid. When he took a small taste, the familiar sense of deja vu immediately assaulted his mind. It was actually a special vinegar sauce for traditional fishcake that his mother used to make for him!
He first discovered it when he and his family visited South Sumatra, Indonesia, and he happened to have the opportunity to taste one of the world’s most delicious snacks, the traditional fishcake dish known as pempek. He was still small back then, and he always loved these distinctive spicy, sweet, sour, and savory flavors. His mother learned the recipe and would occasionally made fishcake with vinegar sauce for him, and he grew attached to it.
"Hey, why are you smiling for no reason? Don’t ignore me!" Harriet complained with a humph.
"How nostalgic.." Mashiro couldn’t help but smile. With this, he truly believed that Saintess Miko knew a lot of things that weren’t said.
If the Glorious God failed to fulfill the promise, then he would leave to seek Saintess Miko in the Sacred Sakura. She also owned a spaceship, and of course, she could probably travel between worlds with ease. She was his final hope.
"This is called vinegar sauce. You shouldn’t drink this like cola." Mashiro reprimanded Harriet as he quickly put the bottle away into his storage pouch carefully.
"What’s that? That’s not cola or potion, but vinegar? Do you want to cook? We’re about to face the greatest hurdle in our adventure." Harriet frowned as she crossed her arms.
"Ugh, they’re all tight-lipped. Why isn’t there anyone who likes to tell stories or even gossip?" Nyla murmured in disappointment.
She thought she could take some girls to gossip or something. With much praise and admiration, she still failed to find anyone from Saintess Miko’s circle who was willing to reveal a thing or two about what she wanted to know. She tried to find out more information about their past quests or anything about their sacred lady, but all her conversations were dead ends.
"That’s because they are not willing to carelessly discuss the lady they served, let alone chat with a stranger." Richard covered his mouth, speaking with a hint of mockery.
"Shut up." Nyla smacked Richard’s arm out of frustration.
A few moments later, the rest and recovery time was declared over. The danger of staying in one place for too long was immense, and it was time for them to move and advance to enter the demon king’s castle.
Countless grotesque demonic monsters of various shapes and sizes were still flocked outside the core barrier, roaring and growling like a terrifying nightmare. However, everyone had already gotten used to such a sight, or perhaps because of the blessing of the divine light cast by Saintess Miko, the high-rank holy magic to pacify their mind and soul remained sane.
Miko climbed onto the wooden box, facing everyone for a speech. "It’s time to advance to the final stage. Please be extremely wary of your surroundings and never leave the dome of light for more than a minute. Kill only the offensive threats and ignore the rest until we arrive at the throne hall. What we might encounter inside might be very horrific, so please prepare yourself physically and mentally."
"For the glory of the empire!" The elite soldiers saluted.
The priestesses clasped their hands in prayer to their Goddess, the holy knights replied with a chivalrous salute, and the Sacred Sakura’s disciples put their fists on their chests, taking their sacred lady’s words to heart and mind.
"Sacred lady, you only disclose your plan until the breakthrough to the demon king’s castle. Isn’t it time to tell us your ultimate plan to defeat the demon king?" One of the prodigies crossed his arms, speaking as if he was entitled to know.
"There is no special plan. You just need to slay the demons and stay alive. Survive until the very end, and kill the demon king and his demon generals. If you are not confident to survive the black magic, stay within the dome of light." Gabriella delegated to talk to the rude man.
"No plan? Just a brute force thing?" The other prodigy paled.
"Yes, but not quite. Only the minor special-type demons can wander around the castle. The true threats are in the throne hall." Gabriella shook her head. There was no special plan because they didn’t need it for this mission.
"Just leave it at that, dude. Look at them. None of them are afraid as if they 100% believe that the demon king is nothing to them." Zhuo Jun, the prodigy of the Houmen Cloud Sect, put his arm around the complaining guy.
He pointed at the holy knights, but his eyes glanced at the beautiful priestesses and experts around Saintess Miko.
All of them were top-notch refined beauty of various charms, especially Saintess Miko, as she was the most dazzling charm above the others. It would be a pity if one of those gorgeous beauties fell here, but he remembered that Saintess Miko was a God-tier healer with the ability to revive the dead.
Saintess Miko might be out of his league, but after this final battle against the demon king, he had convinced himself to try his luck to win the heart of one of those beauties.
"With Saintess Miko in our party now, we don’t need to be afraid of dying. Just don’t die too much and drain her mana. We’ll all be dead if she suffers mana exhaustion. Die more than twice and I’ll kick you out. Make sure you retreat as support in the back row before then." Jensen, the Starlight Vanguard, put his hand on his holy sword’s hilt, warning everyone implicitly.
With all the preparations ready, everyone was prepared to exert everything they had without the slightest fear or trepidation. The hero expedition party and the Elysion Church’s reinforcement party moved as a united combined force to break into the demon king’s castle.
What awaited inside was nothing but dark scenery like a haunted house, filled with many evil spirits and demon minions. Regardless of the task and whatever they wanted to do, nobody dared to approach the dome of light that covered dozens of intruders.
Any evil spirits and demon minions who dared to approach were immediately destroyed by the vanguards and mages. As for those who managed to break through past the defense, Miko’s dome of light instantly burned those evil spirits to ashes.
Miko held her divine staff with one hand and took out her Kagura Verity, her reliable SS Rank holy artifact to repel the evil and protect her allies. She jingled her little bells every now and then even though no obstacles were blocking them in the dark corridor there.
*Clink* *Clank*
The sound of the bells echoed in the dark, empty corridor, dispelling the eerie atmosphere in a bright holy light.
"I advise you to avoid using your magical vision or divine sense to probe the other chambers." Miko muttered in a whisper-like voice, but she ensured her words reached everyone’s ears.
There was no reason given, and those who would heed her words did not need a reason for it either. They obeyed her words and followed her lead without question.
Unfortunately, there were some people who were curious because of the warning. They tried to probe into the nearby chambers, breaking through the walls and the sealed doors.
Unfortunately, their decision leads them to the biggest mistake in their lives. The gruesome sights and terrifying scenes past the walls were truly too much for them to see. No words could describe what those evil spirits and demon minions did. Due to psychic trauma and inflicted fear, their bodies got paralyzed and their souls were trapped, unable to move.
"I warned you..." Miko sighed as she noticed the rebellious ones behind her. They got traumatized and also paralyzed, trembling with extremely pale faces. She chanted a pacifier spell to bring them back to their sanity. "By the light that mends that binds. I call upon the tranquil stream."
A golden light stream flowed from her hand to the traumatized ones, wrapping them like a moving shawl.
A few seconds later, the traumatized ones soon emerged from their paralyzed state, gasping for breath from what they had just experienced. Their souls were like being pulled out of their bodies just because they peeked into the other chambers using their vision skills. Luckily, Saintess Miko saved them or they would be trapped in that state for eternity.
"No wonder no heroes have managed to subjugate the demon king. Even if they reach the demon king’s castle, everything is just so tricky and dangerous."
