Diary of the Improper Monster Girl Transformation.

Chapter 516 Prophecy and Countermeasure (Bonus Chapter 276 for 6K Chapters)
Buried in the desert.

In the boundless desert, yellow sand swirls and few people venture there.

In the center of this desolate land where life force is almost imperceptible, a tall tower made of sand and stone appeared out of thin air a few days ago, standing silently as if it had existed since time immemorial.

At this moment, a mysterious ceremony is taking place at the very top of the tower.

Outside the tower, dry, hot winds swept up sand and gravel, crashing against the tower with a mournful sound like the whispers of the dead.

Inside the tower, on a hexagonal stone platform in the center of the room, a silver candle engraved with celestial runes was burning with a ghostly blue light.

Under the candlelight, two figures stood facing each other.

In the shadowy corner of the room, a small mound of yellow sand barely outlines the figure of a stone statue.

It is not a solid mass, but a pile of dark yellow sand sitting on a stone platform, with the top of the sand pile sometimes coalescing into a blurry facial outline.

Sometimes it furrows its brows, formed from grains of sand; sometimes it opens its mouth, made of fine sand, and can even squeeze out angry "eyes"—two crystals shimmering with scarlet light, embedded in the sand, staring intently at the opposite side.

"..."

On the other side of the stone platform, a figure of average height wore a dark purple robe embroidered with star trails, with long silver hair falling over his shoulders. His face was aged yet kind, and his eyes shone with wisdom. Three spinning crystal balls floated at his fingertips.

Judging from his appearance alone, the old man looked like a human mage who had been studying academic subjects for many years.

If someone could shift their perspective, they would see the spiritual radiance emanating from him at that moment—a radiance that no mortal could possess.

The dazzling golden light silently proved one thing: this old man had already entered the realm of the gods.

It is not an ordinary thing from the mortal world, but an incarnation of the gods.

He is Soderlin, the God of Blacksmithing and Wizardry.

He is not the true god of mages, but the god of dwarven mages, whose focus is more on the divine office of [forging].

As one of the few spellcasting gods among their race, He also possesses a certain authority over the realm of prophecy.

At this moment, Soderling is employed by a not-so-friendly and not-so-wise employer to conduct a prophecy of amnesty in this place.

He appears here in His human form, prophesying for a weak mortal.

This task, which should have been a piece of cake, unexpectedly failed repeatedly, a result that even He couldn't believe.

If the employee is merely surprised, then the employer, who witnessed these failures firsthand, is already burning with rage.

"Söderling, my patience is limited. This is the seventh time!"

At this moment, the "brows" at the top of the sand dune are furrowed, and fine sand is falling in a flurry, as if suppressing dissatisfaction.

The hoarse voice of the God of Sand and Gravel echoed from the pile of loose sand, carrying the rough texture of sand grinding against each other: "He's just a mortal, how could he possibly make you fail so many times? Are you trying to fool me?!"

He is angry.

He was furious at the repeated failures before him, but even more furious at the guy who seemed to have deceived him.

Are you lying to me?!
Faced with his employer's aggressive attitude, Soderling reacted quite calmly, coldly saying without turning his head, "I've said it many times, he has a very strong interference."

"His hiding place has been distorted, and the threads of fate have been obscured. There are considerable forces blocking his view. Lord of Sand and Stone, you know this is not the work of a mortal."

As a god who casts spells, Soderlin's personality is completely different from the stereotypical image of ordinary dwarves. He is not irritable or easily angered at all, but rather appears quite calm, and his attitude can even be described as quite indifferent.

Soderling had the confidence to treat the Lord of Sand and Gravel in this way.

You get what you pay for.

Although the two had an employer-employee relationship, and the other party used a favor accumulated over many years to get His incarnation to make a prophecy, it did not mean that He had truly become the other party's subordinate.

The dwarven pantheon is equally formidable, a powerful pantheon capable of fiercely battling the elven pantheon for thousands of years, and unafraid even when the nature pantheon is at its peak.

Not to mention, now that the entire pantheon of nature is on the verge of falling apart, He will not bow down to members of even one of its branches.

The fate of the Lord of Nature is unknown, but our own God is still alive and kicking.

“You did say that, but that’s not something I need to consider! I’ve already paid the price, the contract is in effect, all I want is the result!”

The god of sand roared angrily, causing the entire sand and stone tower to tremble and fall in large amounts of dust.

"Find him! Find them!"

Ugh.

Upon hearing these unreasonable roars, Soderling slowly shook his head, his opinion of Him declining once again.

"What a stupid guy."

"If the nature pantheon is really handed over to this kind of guy, it would be better to just disband it on the spot."

But considering the price the Lord of Sandstone had paid in advance, Soderling decided to keep quiet for the sake of the legendary "Serpent Eye of Knowledge."

After all, they've already paid for it, so we can be a little nicer with them.

The Serpent of Knowledge has been extinct for thousands of years, resulting in extremely high value for its materials today. Even legendary items are highly valuable.

While a legendary snake eye isn't outrageously valuable, it's enough to complete His Nine-Eyed Staff, elevating it to a true mid-level artifact.

By then, although He himself only possessed low-level divine power, with the assistance of mid-level divine artifacts, He would be able to elevate His status within the pantheon.

Anticipating the improvement of the artifact, He decided to help His employer three more times.

This is certainly not out of any sense of contract or service, but because after ten prophecies, regardless of whether the outcome is successful or not, the contract between them will be completely fulfilled.

Soderling ignored the other party's verbal threats, closed his eyes, and waved his hands as if he were a human. Under his control, the three crystal balls collided violently, bursting out with dazzling light.

But as a deity with the power of prophecy, He also has His own pride and still tries His best to fulfill this promise in a dignified manner.

This time, He became slightly more serious, using the fur of the beastmen provided by the other party, and employing a deeper level of power in an attempt to forcibly tear apart that layer of concealment.

The light particles inside the crystal ball began to recombine and vibrate, forming fragmented images that seemed to depict all sorts of human figures.

But just as those images were about to become clear, they silently blurred again, as if shrouded in a thick fog that completely blocked out light.

The eighth prophecy also failed.

Soderling did not stop, but continued with the ninth prophecy without pause, and used even more power.

This time the image in the crystal ball was clearer, but the final result was still the same.

The ninth attempt ended in failure once again.

Seeing this, even the God of Sand and Stone felt helpless, thinking that the final result was just like this, and he was too lazy to continue cursing, so he prepared to directly dismantle this avatar.

But just as He was about to leave, the aura of the mage god, who had previously seemed passive and unmotivated, suddenly changed, and his eyes lit up with excitement.

"...Finally, I saw it!"

The scene before his eyes suddenly trembled; that stubborn, thick, almost all-consuming power vanished on its own without warning!

It was as if someone had suddenly pulled back a heavy curtain.

The moment the obstacle disappeared, the prophetic power, like a torrent finding its outlet, surged toward that suddenly crystal-clear coordinate.

The runes surrounding the mage god burst forth with intense light, almost illuminating the entire space.

Sensing frantically converged, capturing all related information, determined to completely uncover the secret of the hider.

First, there's the location.

"north."

Although their exact location is uncertain, they are currently hiding in the northern part of the world.

Secondly, there is the connection.

"Atheism".

The place where those people were hiding had no gods, and they were not protected by any god.

Finally, there is the real key to the entire prophecy.

But the moment the third image appeared, Soderling's brow furrowed sharply.

"Wait, someone noticed?"

He felt a powerful counterforce coming from the link of prophecy, like a sharp dagger piercing directly at the source of his incarnation.

"Predicting a countermeasure? Ha, how naive."

Sensing the other party's fierce resistance, the god laughed mockingly.

"Foolish! You actually thought that as a mere mortal you had the right to defy me... What?!"

Soderling's expression suddenly changed. The avatar, composed of arcane runes and starlight, twisted violently, as if it had been grabbed by a giant hand and shattered instantly.

click!
This was not because He could not withstand the harm from the other party, but rather the backlash of the failed prophecy, which resulted in punishment at the level of the rules.

"Ok?"

The God of Sand and Stone had already given up hope, but then Soderlin seemed to have a chance. Just when everyone was about to look forward to it, it seemed to have failed again.

The face atop the sand dune paused for a moment, then stared wide-eyed in confusion, feeling as if its brain wasn't quite up to the task.

Eh?
Isn't this right?

"Humph!"

Five seconds after Soderling's avatar shattered, another identical figure appeared in the same spot, letting out an angry snort.

Although the avatar shattered due to the backlash, it did not cause much harm to Soderlin himself—the main damage was psychological.

Soderling had to admit that he was a little vulnerable.

"Damn mortals!"

This mishap infuriated Soderling, who felt he had been tricked.

During the final prophecy, it wasn't that he had discovered the opponent's weakness, but rather that he had been lured into a trap.

The other party clearly removed the disguise on purpose, just to lure Him into the trap, and finally used the prophecy to counterattack and cause a chain reaction to harm Him.

The other party succeeded.

But Soderling did not come away empty-handed.

At the last moment, he decisively chose to abandon all defenses of his avatar and devote all his energy to exploring the last image.

"……snake?"

Soderling frowned slightly; even He couldn't quite understand what the outcome of this prophecy meant.

Located in the northern part of the world, a hidden place unrelated to gods, and... snakes.

But Soderling didn't think much of it. Instead, he turned around and relayed the prophecy he had painstakingly obtained to his employer. "The North, no god, serpent... This is the result of the prophecy. My work is done. The rest is up to you."

"If I had to give you a suggestion, I'd say you could turn your attention to the organizations in the North: the Frost Holy Land, the Witch's Guild, the Northern Kingdom Alliance..."

"Ideally, it would be an organization with epics and saints, because only they have the power to counter my prophecies and block my spying."

"Okay, the work is finished."

Then, completely ignoring the reaction of the God of Sand and Stone, He dispelled His incarnation and left entirely.

Soderling left, decisively and without any hesitation.

He simply couldn't be bothered to retaliate against the mortal who had dared to attack him.

At this moment, Soderling had only one thing on his mind: to complete his forging and use the Serpent of Knowledge's eyes to fully advance the staff.

That's the real big deal!

As for whether or not He would retaliate against the mortal who dared to attack Him, that was a trivial matter to Him.

If you can find the person, give them a symbolic act of revenge to make them understand the consequences of disrespecting the gods.

If you can't find it, it won't have any impact; there's no need to bother looking for it.

Anyway, I'm here to help someone with their work, and as a good employee, I won't let my personal emotions affect my work.

When working, try to talk about work and avoid discussing personal feelings.

Love and hate don't matter; improving one's own strength is the real priority.

"...But, a 'snake'?"

Before the towering, enormous furnace, the old dwarf with a thick gray beard slowly opened his eyes and looked down at the material that had fallen into his hands—the Eye of Knowledge.

After his prophecy was easily countered and the keyword "snake" came to mind, He couldn't help but think of a special race that had long since disappeared.

That race has an unparalleled talent for prophetic countermeasures; if they are not careful, even the gods will suffer.

"Could it be the Serpent of Knowledge? Has this race not become extinct? Or has a new one emerged?"

Soderling thought for a while, then slowly shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, it's none of my business."

"Anyway, I've already collected the last snake eye for my scepter. Unless I can get a higher quality one of the same material, it won't mean much to me."

"And the epic-level Serpent of Knowledge? Ha, it no longer exists."

He stroked the enormous eyeball embedded at the very top of the artifact, gathering his scattered thoughts.

impossible.

Knowledge has been sealed away by the gods, and there is no longer any condition for it to be reborn.

……

……

Misty Mountains.

Do you realize you're being watched?

Ophidia, who had been reveling in her "resistance" and "victory," had lost her smile and was now frowning as she looked at the "innocent" Herbert.

"Eh?"

Herbert blinked upon hearing this, instinctively shrinking his neck. After a moment's hesitation, he asked uncertainly, "You mean...you've already set your sights on me, is that right?"

Hmm, what new kind of cheesy pickup line is this now?

It seems I underestimated you.

I never expected that someone with such thick eyebrows and big eyes would say something so corny.

"I've got my eye on you? What are you talking about... huh!?"

Ophidia, who was still worried, was caught off guard by Herbert's words and was a beat slow to realize the problem.

"Hebert! I'm talking to you about something important!"

Ophidia gritted her teeth in anger, her snake tail coiled around Herbert's waist, shaking him back and forth, trying to vent her embarrassment and frustration in this way.

As for why there was a hint of shyness mixed with anger, that remains unknown—the kind-hearted Herbert decided not to delve into the matter.

"Hey, stop, stop! I'm dizzy, I really feel like throwing up—"

After feeling as if his brains were being shaken to their core, Herbert, who had been pleading for mercy, was finally put down by Ophidia.

Ophidia didn't notice that Herbert's dizziness was just a superficial act, and instead asked about the important matter with a serious look in her eyes.

"Herbert, you were just prophesied about, didn't you realize it? Do you have any clue about who did this?"

Just now, if Ophidia hadn't been right beside him, immediately sensing the prophecy's brilliance and taking countermeasures, he would have been completely exposed to the other party by now.

"A prophecy? Let me think about it."

Upon hearing this, Herbert also put away his playful expression and began to think seriously.

As for why it's described as "seemingly," it's because this question doesn't even require much thought.

How could he not know who was making a prediction about him?

You know what, he really couldn't say for sure which one it was.

He was so popular that there were a few too many suspects.

Either the earth gods are seeking revenge, or the evil gods are planning to eliminate him prematurely, or it could even be some psychologically twisted and deranged god...

But it doesn't matter who the specific people are, since it's just the same group of people anyway.

What's truly intriguing is how the other party was able to capture it.

However, with a little thought and a review of the previous steps, he could figure out exactly where the problem occurred.

It's not that the other side has upgraded its methods, but rather that there was a flaw on our side.

The reason he was able to be detected was entirely because, in order to win over Ophidia, while making these starflowers bloom at their most vibrant light, he had taken the initiative to manipulate his authority to clear away the fog and create a space.

At the moment the starlight and moonlight fell, Herbert deliberately broke away from the protection of the Misty Mountains, exposing his presence.

It just so happens that at that time, some people were using prophecy to find him.

Skillful.

It can only be said that a series of coincidences combined to unexpectedly create this moment.

What's even more surprising is that Herbert happened to have Ophidia by his side, which allowed him to counter the prophecy immediately.

But even if it were exposed, there wouldn't be any problem.

Herbert did not intend to hide in the Misty Mountains forever, which would certainly allow him to avoid being spied on by others and develop his strength in the base camp.

A temporary low profile is acceptable, but he can't live like that forever, sneaking around like that.

His personality isn't the type to endure things indefinitely. Rather than being forced to step into the limelight, he'd rather take the initiative.

Herbert thought for a moment, nodded to Ophidia, and said softly, "...I roughly know who is looking for me. Don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing."

Ophelia gave Herbert a deep look, sensing the hidden meaning in his words, and frowned.

"..."

Does he mean he doesn't want me to get involved?

Is there some hidden story behind this that can't be brought to light?

Or is there a secret I cannot know?
Regardless of the situation, Ophidia couldn't help but feel somewhat dissatisfied.

I was just helping you out, and you're treating me like an outsider?

Not to mention, just now, their relationship had taken a step forward.

As a result, before the enthusiasm could subside, someone poured cold water on it.

Slightly dissatisfied, Ophidia's attitude turned cold, and she said indifferently, "Well then, since you're confident, I won't interfere any further. Just be careful yourself."

"Since you don't need my help, then I'll go back... huh!?"

Just as Ophidia turned her head, preparing to return to the monastery without looking back, she suddenly felt her palms become warm again.

not good!!?

"you!"

She was startled and instinctively thought Herbert had put her finger in his mouth again. She turned her head sharply, ready to cry out, but found that he had grabbed her hand.

call!
Thank goodness, it wasn't his mouth... wait, holding hands isn't right either, I'm still angry with him!
"open."

Ophelia resisted the urge to shove him away, and said in a feigned indifference, "Who gave you permission to be so presumptuous? Who gave you permission to hold my hand like that? Who..."

"Ophelia".

Herbert interrupted Ophidia's stubbornness, first letting go of her hand, then gripping it again, changing the way they held hands.

He gently held Ophelia's frozen hand with their fingers intertwined, and whispered, "I refused your help not because I don't trust you, quite the opposite, but because I hope you can trust me a little more."

"There are some things I can ask others for help with, but there are some things I have to solve myself."

“If I rely on the help of others, it will be meaningless. I will not grow at all and will always be hiding under your protection.”

"Ophelia, you don't want to see me become a useless person who only relies on women for protection, do you?"

He lifted their clasped hands, lowered his head and gently kissed the back of her hand, saying earnestly, "I hope you can trust me, okay?"

After being treated this way by Herbert, Ophidia's expression was surprisingly calm. Instead of being shy, she frowned deeply.

Ok?
Wait, could something have gone wrong?

Just as Herbert was wondering if he had done something wrong, he heard Ophidia speak slowly.

she says:

"You just said 'you guys'?"

"You mean, there are many women protecting you?"

?

Woman, is this the point?!?
(End of this chapter)