After waiting for a while for Khalida and Penthesilea, Levi led everyone to the agreed place through teleportation spell to meet the Black Prince.
Since there was no plan for any big moves, Levi did not bring a large army this time. Except for mounts like Winnie the Pooh, all the members were hero units.
Archer-type units like Donna, Kerillian, and Luna also rode giant stags or unicorns.
But the two star dragons, Khalida and Penthesilea, could not be brought along, because they could not even transform into human form like Catherine.
Almost as soon as he stepped out of the portal, Levi saw a burly man covered in a black robe, more than two meters tall.
"Are you Prince Levi from the Rock of Terror? I am the Black Prince - Gashnag. By the order of the Goddess, I will go to Pavenna with you." The burly man said in a muffled voice.
Behind him was an army of about two thousand people.
In addition to some regular human infantry, archers, musketeers and knights, Levi immediately realized through the special perception of the Celestial Mystic that there were at least dozens of vampires and hundreds of ghouls among them.
These undead creatures were mixed with humans, and the equipment of both sides was exactly the same, so it was clear that they were in the same group.
Perhaps because of this, Elegy, Cindy and others who arrived earlier did not issue any warning.
But Levi felt that they probably felt the same as he did at this moment.
Even though we've heard that the Southern Kingdom is very chaotic, such large-scale cooperation between humans and the undead is still relatively new, right?
However, what does it mean that the Black Prince refuses to even show his face?
Although he had some doubts in his heart, Levi did not appear to be rude at all.
After a passionate and proactive exchange, the Black Prince seemed to change his attitude a little. He lifted his hood, revealing a pale face underneath.
Everyone, including Levi, immediately understood why the other party did this.
It's not just because of the vampire characteristics such as red eyes and fangs, but also because this face is so ugly.
If he dared to reveal his true face, even if he was not a vampire, there would definitely be many people who wanted to beat him up.
But Levi still did not show any abnormality, because he had roughly understood why the Black Prince had such a slightly cold attitude.
The Black Prince was loyal to Lilith, but he had never said hello to her before, so he must have felt a little dissatisfied.
But this only made him feel a little funny. This guy, who has lived from the Strigoi Empire to the present, is already a few thousand years old vampire. Isn't he a little childish?
So Levi not only did not show any disgust or disdain, but instead smiled and praised the Black Prince's heroic posture.
The Black Prince's expression was now noticeably more relaxed, and his words were no longer so harsh.
Levi immediately exclaimed, "Wow, guy!", "Could it be that the Black Prince is suffering from inferiority complex?"
Is that why he wants recognition so much, even from an outsider like himself?
But anyway, this is indeed a good breakthrough.
So Levi praised the other party a few more words, and cursed the Vampire Queen, Black Arkhan, etc., and then within a few minutes, the Black Prince's attitude changed drastically.
This made everyone, including Levi, feel speechless. Has this guy lived his life in vain?
When he saw Khalida, the Black Prince's attitude changed again. He greeted Khalida very respectfully. At this time, he did not seem like the lord of the Southern Kingdom, but rather like a soldier.
Khalida was also a little surprised, but she soon remembered that when they were both still alive, the other party had indeed worked in the city of Lahmia.
It’s just that the Black Prince’s immediate superior at that time was the ancestor of the later Strigoi family, not her, Khalida.
But no matter what, with this level of relationship, the atmosphere between the two sides has indeed become more harmonious.
After briefly introducing the situation of the Southern Kingdom, the Black Prince took the lead and headed towards Pavon.
Under the command of those vampires, even the ghouls did not show bloodthirsty and greedy eyes towards the surrounding human soldiers or Levi and others like ordinary undead.
Levi could only sigh that the Stryker clan was able to establish such an empire, and they were indeed very capable.
The reason why Lilith subdued the Black Prince was probably because she wanted the Black Prince to help Lucia and change the power of the Vampire Queen together, right?
As they chatted and moved forward, they soon saw the port town of Pavenna in the distance. Levi and his companions also gradually encountered various caravans and armies coming and going on the road.
There are not only the common humans, dwarves and elves, but also gnomes, halflings, ogres, and even greenskins, snakemen, goblins and undead, etc., humanoid creatures from various races and countries.
That's the thing about the South, they only look at money, race, good and evil and stuff like that, and in most cases that doesn't work.
But as they got closer to Pavonna, Levi felt that something was wrong. Why did he see almost no God-chosen heroes along the way?
Logically speaking, a chaotic country like the Southern Kingdom is the most suitable place for the chosen heroes to develop, because it has countless possibilities.
When asked this question, the Black Prince was also a little puzzled, but he still answered truthfully:
"There were indeed many active God-chosen heroes before, but recently their number has been decreasing. Compared to half a month ago, it seems that there are about two-thirds fewer."
"At first I thought they were taking their troops to other areas to take part in adventures, but later I discovered that was not the case, because many of the chosen heroes' subordinates were still in the city."
"In the past few days, some people have even chosen to defect because they can't afford accommodation fees or don't have enough supplies. Lucilia has also gained some strength because of this."
"So I think those heroes chosen by God may have returned to the Kingdom of God permanently."
"Is that so? I see."
It sounds like those heroes chosen by God collectively chose to completely abandon this world? But such a large number of them happened in such a short period of time, which obviously meant something was wrong.
After a brief pause, Levi continued to ask, "Did they show any abnormal behavior before leaving?"
"Nothing, right? Maybe some guys died several times in a row while fighting against the ratmen and greenskins?"
"But the resurrection of the chosen heroes doesn't seem to require any cost, right? This is the grace of the gods."
Levi nodded slightly, but his heart was not at peace.
No price? On the surface, it seems so, but in fact, the price of death is to be paid with their souls...
Levi vaguely had a bold guess that perhaps with the gradual awakening of the Four Chaos Gods, the value of the heroes chosen by God would not be so high.
So the mysterious world consciousness began to influence them, causing their souls to become weak to a certain extent before they completely leave this world?
Further speculation, if it can affect the soul, can it also affect the body?
Continuing forward, they soon arrived at Pavenna, but at this moment, there was a sudden commotion at the entrance of the town.
A group of farmers, holding up simple tools such as sickles and hoes, charged at the city guards, cursing and shouting.
Levi listened carefully for a few sentences and immediately frowned, because the other party was shouting "kind father", "Nurgle" and "revenge", etc., and it sounded like they chose to believe in the demon god - Nurgle.
The city guards also chose to use swords and knives at the first opportunity, and quickly killed all the small groups of rioters.
Then a few wizards summoned some running water to wash away the blood on the ground. The merchants waiting to enter the city looked as if they were used to it, as if this was not the first time this had happened.
This time, there was no need for Levi to ask questions. The Black Prince just sighed and said, "Are these poor people again? It's a pity that they shouldn't believe in Nurgle."
It turned out that due to the recent outbreak of the disease, many farmers in the towns and villages near Pavenna were also infected.
They couldn't afford medicine or hire a priest, and the local lords were not so generous as to provide them with free treatment.
Therefore, in order to prevent the further spread of the disease and solve the problem once and for all, the lords often chose to gather the infected farmers together and burn them together with their bodies.
Or drive all the infected people into the wild and leave them to fend for themselves.
So for revenge, or simply to survive, many farmers simply converted to Nurgle.
Of course, at present they are just self-proclaimed believers of Nurgle. In fact, Nurgle has not given them any power. A few city guards can easily massacre dozens or hundreds of farmers.
Hearing this, Levi and the others felt complicated, and Cindy's face was even wrinkled.
What the lords did was certainly wrong, but the farmers, as victims , made the stupidest choice.
If they choose to believe in the devil, their camp will immediately shift to the evil side, and no god will tolerate such behavior, and no priest will purify them.
Although the situation here in Pavenna may be extreme, it is easy to imagine that the situation in other human kingdoms is not much better.
To change this situation, Levi had to either capture the place, rule Pavenna in his own way, and then purify and cure the sick farmers.
But there are countless villages and towns in the entire main world, and it is impossible for him to manage them one by one.
Therefore, the most direct and thorough way is to kill all the Horned Rat, Nurgle, and even the Four Gods of Chaos!
With mixed feelings, Levi and others disguised themselves as the Black Prince's followers and entered Pavenna together.
Although each city-state in the Southern Kingdom has its own lord, most of them are connected with each other. Especially now that the evil alien forces such as the ratmen and greenskins are quite strong, they have also begun to form groups.
As a vampire of the Strigoi clan, the Black Prince had always wanted to rebuild the Strigoi Empire where humans and vampires coexist. Even though he has not yet announced his identity to the public, he will certainly actively and proactively contact other human forces.
Moreover, he had previously suspected that Lucelia might have a relationship with the Vampire Queen, so he had been deliberately trying to make friends with her, and the relationship between the two sides was maintained quite well.
He even bought a piece of land in Pavonda and built a few taverns.
So for his visit this time, the city guards didn't waste any time or do any inspection, they just chose to let him in.
Of course, the Black Prince's army still has to stay in the military camp outside the city.
As soon as we entered the town, the surroundings suddenly became much noisier, with all kinds of hawking sounds coming out one after another.
Even though the owner of this city is known as the number one bitch in the old world, she does have some skills in management, governance, and employing people.
The commercial trade here is very developed. The most obvious sign is that the goddess of wealth also established a church here, which shows that there is indeed a lot of money to be made here.
Looking around, most of the surrounding buildings are very gorgeous, with blue and white colors, and even have some elf architectural style.
There are also large and small buildings here, ranging from two or three stories high to five or six stories high. Looking up, you can see bridges of all sizes.
These sturdy tall buildings and bridges divide the town into two parts:
The ground is obviously where ordinary poor people live, and the environment is extremely dirty and poor. Once it rains, you probably won't be able to tell whether what you're stepping on is mud or other filth.
In this situation, even if there is no outbreak of plague and Nurgle demons, there is a chance that the plague will come at any time.
The upper floor is magnificently built and brightly lit even during the day, and it is obviously the territory of various wealthy and powerful businessmen and dignitaries.
There are even quite a few churches of evil gods standing there some guys who don't look like good people are patrolling and on guard everywhere.
But Levi did not find any power of kind gods.
Whether they have ever tried to save this place or not, at least so far, they have not made much progress.
After walking for a while, Levi found that there were not many God-chosen heroes in the city. It seemed that while he was busy on the Fear Rock, the God-chosen heroes had also undergone some changes.
Perhaps when he has time later, he will need to do something to further verify this matter.
If Lucilia can recruit those abandoned heroes and troops, then of course I can too!
After arriving at the Black Prince's tavern, Levi and the others did not relax at all. Since Dracula was going to be deified today, he would definitely do something big.
Considering his race, the probability of massive bloodshed and death is undoubtedly the highest.
So they waited for most of the day, but Levi did not waste time. Instead, he successfully learned a famous 7th-level magic from the Book of Thousand Spells - the Sword of Mordencan.
As the name suggests, like the disintegration technique that Levi has already mastered, it is another powerful invention of the famous wizard Mordenkainen.
Its effect is to summon a sword-shaped force field. The caster's level and intelligence and other attributes will further enhance its attack and magic resistance.
Not only can it actively attack the enemy like Cindy's hammer, but it is also almost completely immune to physical attacks. Only dispel magic, anti-magic stance and magic missiles are its nemesis.
But Levi can also cast protective magic on the Sword of Mordenkainen, so it can exert its power more efficiently in most cases.
Another point is that when launching an attack, it has a certain chance of directly cutting off part of the enemy's limbs.
If it is the nose, ears or something like that, the impact may be minor, but once the opponent's hands and feet are cut off, then in a battle of the same level, the opponent basically has no way out.
If the enemy wants to recover, they must first find a high-level priest of around level 15 to cast a corresponding recovery spell.
During this period, Cindy, Elegy and the others also went out for a few rounds and successfully brought back several human heroes who tended to be neutral and good.
Their fighting power was nothing in Levi's opinion, but the key point was that they were all abandoned by the chosen heroes. By questioning them, he would be able to further determine the situation.
But at this moment, a horn suddenly sounded in the city, followed by hurried footsteps outside the door.
Elegy opened the door immediately, and the person who came in was the Black Prince.
"Prince Levi, a large group of refugees suddenly rioted in the city just now, and then my subordinates immediately smelled a large amount of blood. Now the city guards have officially launched the action."
Everyone was cheered up, knowing that this was most likely Dracula officially starting to implement his plan.
But before Levi could say anything, he heard several loud bangs, half of the sky was covered in red, and flames broke out in many places in the city at the same time.
Then the sounds of explosions, shouts, the collision of weapons, and the screams before death all became intense in an instant.
Then a large dark green shadow began to appear in the sky. Even from a long distance away, the stench of decay had already drifted over on the breeze.
Levi's face suddenly changed, and he quickly blocked his sense of smell and released protective magic rapidly.
At the same time, he did not forget to remind others: "Be careful, it is the power of the Nurgle demon!"
Although he still couldn't figure out what conditions Dracula had promised, it now seemed that he had indeed reached some kind of deal with Nurgle.
Cindy, Michaela and other magic units began to cast spells, and Elegy, Donna and others also activated magic scrolls. The first one to be used was naturally the air filter bubble.
Nurgle demons are generally not difficult to kill. Even the strongest Great Unclean Ones are just more resistant to attacks. Speed ​​and flexibility are always their biggest weaknesses.
But the Nurgle demons are the enemies they least want to deal with, because they are so disgusting!
The Black Prince on the side couldn't help but grin as he recalled some not-so-good memories.
In addition to magic and claws, vampires are also accustomed to using their fangs to bite the enemy's neck and suck blood directly, which can often have a decisive effect when dealing with living people.
But since his last encounter with the Nurgle demon, he decided to use this trick as little as possible in the future. It was a tragic experience that he would never forget.
The reason why he chose to pledge allegiance so decisively when the goddess came to him was the goddess's power and his hatred for Neferata.
But the last one was willing to do so because he absorbed the foul-smelling pus, which left him with permanent consequences.
With his own strength, it would be difficult to expel that power in a short period of time, but to the goddess, it was not worth mentioning at all, so he made the decision so quickly.
Just when the Black Prince was a little absent-minded, dark green clouds fell from the sky and turned into disgusting pus, spreading over most of the town.
In an instant, no one knew how many people in the city were disgusted to the point of vomiting, but extremely strange changes occurred in the bodies of the rioters who were being beaten by the city guards in various places in the town.
Their bodies began to swell, their skin began to fester and turn green, and all kinds of pustules and inexplicable growths quickly broke out from under their skin.
What's worse, some extra limbs or organs begin to grow on the body.
In less than three seconds, hundreds and thousands of creatures that roughly maintained human form but extremely terrifying appearances were born.
But three eyes, four arms, and so on are only obvious changes that can be seen on the outside. In fact, there are more changes inside their bodies.
The demon god Nurgle responds to his believers much faster than most gods.
Moreover, Nurgle was extremely generous. Even though these mobs may have only shouted the name of Nurgle verbally and did not have much faith or awe in Nurgle in their hearts, they were still given such gifts.
The city guards who had just been trying hard to wipe them out didn't even care about the disgusting filth pouring down from the sky. They just stared at the enemies in amazement.
Some of the braver ones have already brandished their weapons and launched attacks, wanting to test the opponent's strength.
But they soon discovered that the mobs, who they had easily killed just now, were now only splashed with some disgusting pus on their skin after being attacked, and they themselves were not seriously injured.
Because after being blessed by Nurgle, they are no longer mortals, but a special kind, half human, half demon!
What's worse, they were horrified to find that as the filth continued to flow out, their bodies began to undergo all kinds of shocking changes, just like the mobs on the opposite side.
As the god of demons, Nurgle's blessings are more arbitrary and less refusalable!
At the same time, the cats and dogs kept as pets, the war horses used as mounts, etc. in the city were also affected in a similar way. They all turned into rotten creatures that could spread diseases and poisons.
And in the center of the town, a green gate slowly opened.
"Thick phlegm and blood mud the lungs and intestines, wounds, sores, skin, and bones.
The evil fire caused herpes and blocked my nose, and the filthy liquid shot out like a crossbow!"
Five super giant fat guys - the Great Unclean Ones, took the lead in singing and walked out. Anyone could see that they were in a very good mood at the moment.
Then dozens of demons with similar appearance but dozens of times smaller jumped out and immediately rushed to every corner of the town riding on Nurgle Plague Toads or Nurgle Rot Flies.
Rather than seeking to kill their enemies, they seek to lead those who have just received the blessing to show loyalty and gratitude to the Great Father - Nurgle.
This is their mission, for they are the plague bearers of Nurgle.
They are also very familiar with this process because they have personally experienced the entire process as humans.
Then, swarms of Nurgle Plague Toads, Nurgle Rot Flies, and Nurgle Beasts swarmed out and began a full-scale attack on the entire city. For a time, blood and death began to appear more and more frequently.
The Great Unclean Ones of Nurgle took out huge green cysts one after another from the big mouths on their stomachs and threw them on the ground around them.
Almost as soon as they landed, they began beating like a heart.
Many people who are familiar with Nurgle demons know that once they are given a few corpses as food, they can quickly become breeding bases and give birth to many low- and medium-level demons such as Nurglings.
"Prince Levi, what should we do?"
In fact, according to his inner instinct, the Black Prince wanted to slip away as soon as possible. He really didn't want to deal with the Nurgle demon.
But the goddess ordered him to focus on Levi tonight, and after the conversation just now, he and Levi got along quite well, so he was willing to listen to what Levi had to say.
Cindy, Elegy and others also looked at Levi. Out of hatred for evil, even though they were very repulsive to it, they still wanted to go out and kill the enemy.
But Levi shook his head gently: "No, let's continue to wait. This may not be Dracula's entire plan."
Dracula is a vampire. How much benefit does it bring to him to summon so many Nurgle demons that are filthy with blood?
Then Levi changed the subject: "Besides, in this evil and filthy city, how many people are really worth saving?"
He knew that Cindy and the others still had illusions, but he thought that the number would be extremely small.
Maybe there were still some good people among the civilians, but now almost all of them, without exception, have become believers of Nurgle, actively or passively.
As for the other nobles and the many churches in the city, we cannot say that they are all bad people, but there are indeed few good people.
Cindy couldn't help but remain silent. Indeed, what Brother Levi said was right.
Just now when he was practicing magic, she and Luna and others went out for a walk and found that the city was full of minions of darkness and evil, and there was no sign of any kind gods at all.
Even the usually neutral Church of Wealth seemed very unfamiliar to her here.
Or is it that the Church of Wealth is really about money and doing everything for it? Are they just pretending and holding back in other places?
Those seemingly ragged civilians had tried to steal and defraud her more than once, and their acting skills were very superb. If Luna and others had not been with her, she might have really been deceived.
There were even some kids who took them to dark corners and teamed up with a few hooligans and thugs to knock them out. Their purpose was self-evident.
If they were not strong enough and were replaced by ordinary girls, what happened next would undoubtedly be extremely miserable.
It seems that those farmers were forced by the lords to believe in Nurgle and became what they are now, but in fact most of them are not kind people.
Because this southern kingdom is the domain of many evil gods, and after being influenced by them for so many years, the hearts of even the most ordinary farmers are already filled with darkness and evil. This place is simply a city of sin.
Khalida and Penthesilea had even less objections, so they quickly used the tavern as a base and began to resist the invasion of Nurgle's army.
This also made the Black Prince feel a little relieved. At least he didn't have to go out and fight the Nurgle demons.
Then he immediately sent orders to the outside of the city, wanting the troops in the barracks to evacuate as quickly as possible and wait for his orders farther away.
But soon he received bad news that they were trapped inside by magic and could not get out for a while.
And it wasn't just them. All the other troops in the barracks, whether they were God's chosen heroes or indigenous people, all suffered such treatment without exception.
As soon as the Black Prince finished speaking, most people present understood. Now it seemed that Dracula might have cooperated with Lucelia.
He left those troops behind simply because he wanted more blood and death.
At this moment, the sky in the distance also vaguely changed. Levi frowned immediately, because that direction was another town dozens of miles away from here.
Could it be that, for Dracula, the change in Pavonna was just a part of his plan?