Chapter 00279: Statue of an Old God
# Statue of an Old God
Chapter 279
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 279 Statue of an Old God
It was perfectly normal for ruins to contain secret chambers.
Whether they were from the Mythic Era or underground cities built by mages, everyone had a fondness for constructing hidden rooms; it had already become a habit.
Many ruins, discovered for decades or even centuries, had been scoured by adventurers to the point that even the floor tiles were pried loose, yet rumors of newly discovered secret chambers would still surface from time to time.
Audel peered into the secret chamber, then raised her hand and shot a magical sphere of cold light inside.
Hearing no roars from any monsters, she finally stepped in.
The room was still quite empty, less than twenty square meters in area, and shaped like a semicircle.
At the far end of the secret chamber stood a stone sculpture, about four to five meters high.
Much like the sculptures in most ruins, the passage of time had blurred its details, leaving only the most prominent features discernible.
It was a sculpture of a figure robed, crowned, and holding a scepter.
The facial details were completely obscured, but a pair of large, curved horns could be seen on its head.
A tail trailed behind its rear, though this fragile part had long since broken off, fallen to the floor, and shattered.
Drawing closer, Audel noticed that the robe did not cover the entire body.
To be precise, it was not entirely a robe; a portion of it consisted of wings that extended from the back to the front, draping over the chest like a cloak.
It greatly resembled a statue of the Demon Race, but they had neither tails nor wings.
"Is that a statue of us Tieflings?"
"Impossible."
"You're overthinking it."
Before Audel could even speak, Delge and Perrin shattered Nimia's fond hope.
It did bear some resemblance to Tieflings, such as having horns and a tail, but Tieflings had no wings.
Before the statue stood a stone altar, its front seemingly carved with some sort of pattern.
Feeling a bit disappointed, Nimia reached out and wiped away the dust on the front of the altar, revealing the pattern beneath.
"A pentagram? This couldn't be related to demons, could it?"
"Don't look at me! I may have bloodline from the lower planes, but this is discrimination!"
Demons and devils hailed from the lower planes, and their half-breed children with mortals were Tieflings.
Due to the terrible reputation of demons and devils, Tieflings faced much discrimination in the mortal world, a subject to which Nimia was very sensitive.
Audel paid no heed to their conversation.
She was carefully examining the stone carving of the pentagram and discovered three small, flame-like patterns at its center.
They were tiny and quite faded, but they were unmistakably there.
She then looked up at the statue standing behind the altar.
The more she looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.
In a trance, Audel seemed to see the statue's blurred face suddenly take on the appearance of Li Chengxi.
This gave her a start, and she instinctively took half a step back.
When she looked again, the statue's face was as indistinct as before.
It seemed what she had just seen was a trick of her mind.
Nevertheless, Audel already had an answer in her heart.
This was a statue of the previous Demon God, and the pentagram was His holy emblem.
This place had clearly been built in secret.
The individual or organization that sought to erase the existence of the Demon God must not have known about it, which was why it remained.
After a moment's thought, Audel turned to the three who were arguing about discrimination and asked:
"Do you have any deities you believe in?"
Upon hearing this, Perrin grabbed his holy emblem, as if to say, 'Do I look like someone without faith?'
That was like asking a repairman what he did for a living.
However, Audel was mainly asking Delge and Nimia.
The two of them exchanged a glance.
"I used to follow my family's faith in the Soul Forger when I was little, but it's been nearly a hundred years since I last prayed to him."
Moradin the Soul Forger was the chief deity of the dwarves, and most of them believed in him.
But it was not an absolute rule.
Adventurers like Delge usually couldn't be bothered to believe in any single god.
Compared to a deity who might or might not provide help, the axe in his hand felt more reliable.
"I don't either. It's hard enough just to stay alive, I don't have time for that."
Tieflings were much like fiends, but that didn't mean they would worship them.
Due to widespread discrimination, it was very difficult for Tieflings to find stable employment.
Most of them joined the ranks of adventurers, as that line of work at least had no racial requirements.
Audel glanced at Delge and shook her head, then turned her gaze to Nimia and said:
"You, come over here and kneel before the altar."
"Huh? What do you want me to do?"
"Try praying."
"Uh... Are you sure this is okay?"
Perrin cut in at this point,
"Praying to an unknown deity is a very dangerous thing to do."
If it were a benevolent deity, that would be one thing, but running into an evil god would be a huge problem.
"It shouldn't be a problem. This statue has already lost its power. Just look at how decayed it's become."
That was true.
Divine statues were never so easily destroyed.
They were essentially a god's surveillance cameras in the mortal world, usually imbued with a faint touch of divine power.
Conversely, the fact that it had decayed meant the god it represented had either forgotten about this statue, or had already fallen.
Nimia was reluctant to take such a risk, feeling as though Audel was using her as a test subject.
"You don't need to open your heart, just silently repeat your wish in your mind. I promise it won't be dangerous. How about this, I'll give you an extra ten percent share of the loot from this adventure."
"Really?"
The mention of money immediately piqued Nimia's interest.
She had been scarred by poverty in her childhood.
She followed Audel's instructions, kneeling on one knee before the altar.
She clasped her hands, bringing her thumbs to the tip of her nose, closed her eyes, and silently repeated in her mind, 'I want gold coins, lots and lots of gold coins.'
—She truly was scarred by poverty.
At first, there was no reaction, and Audel began to think her guess might have been wrong.
But only a few seconds passed before the statue suddenly began to glow with a golden light.
The light gathered into a single beam and shot into Nimia, who was kneeling before the altar.
It was not an attack, however, and Nimia herself felt nothing.
Immediately after, a massive crack split the statue down the middle.
Before their very eyes, the four-to-five-meter-tall statue rapidly crumbled, turning into a pile of rubble.
Startled by the noise, Nimia scrambled back several steps to avoid the falling rubble and dust.
It was only then that she noticed a golden light enveloping her body.
The golden spiritual radiance soon dissipated, sinking into her skin.
"What was that?"
Audel did not answer, asking instead,
"How do you feel?"
"I feel... I feel like I'm filled with strength."
It was a sensation that was difficult to put into words, like waking up naturally after a full night's sleep, feeling inexplicably invigorated.
"No discomfort at all, right?"
"Mhm, on the contrary, this feeling is wonderful."
"Hmm..."
Looking Nimia up and down, Audel said to the other two,
"You two turn around first, and don't look back."
"Why?"
"Because I need to take her clothes off for an inspection."
"..."
Perrin and Delge immediately turned around.
With a wave of Audel's hand, it was as if a curtain had formed in the air, obscuring the view.
Then she went right to work undoing Nimia's clothes.
"Wait! Stop! I'll take them off myself! Stop pulling down my pants!"
No wonder Viola often said Audel's research spirit was a pain.
The moment she found something of interest, she would cast all inhibitions aside.
Since it was not yet cold, and Nimia needed to be agile as a rogue, she was not wearing many layers.
In just a few motions, Audel had stripped her down to her underwear.
Observing the Tiefling's wine-red skin with intense focus, Audel's concentration made Nimia wonder if she was bent.
However, Audel was clearly not interested in women.
She soon found a mark on Nimia's lower back that looked as if it had been branded there.
It was the mark of a pentagram with three flame-like patterns in its center.
Reaching out a finger to touch it lightly, Audel wanted to confirm whether it had been there all along or had just appeared due to the prayer.
But the moment Audel's finger made contact, the mark suddenly twisted, transforming from a pentagram into the pattern of a slightly open hand.
That was the holy emblem of Li Chengxi.
(End of Chapter)