Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye - Chapter 411

Chapter 411: Chapter 411: Life Keeper
Deep in the Whispering Forest, ten kilometers northwest of the node, Luca was making his final preparations.

After half an hour of rest, both he and Sophia had fully recovered.

The two of them had decided to begin the next phase of their plan.

They had chosen this very spot as the starting point for their operation.

“All the animals in the area have already been driven away by me, and the plants have been cleared out as well. There shouldn’t be any problems releasing primal power here.”

Having used flame magic runes to clear out all the surrounding flora and fauna, Luca finally let out a sigh of relief.

Primal power was extremely dangerous.

Even though the primal power Luca was planning to release was incredibly faint, it was still hard to say whether it might combine with the surrounding plants and animals to produce twisted creatures.

Creatures born from primal power were not exactly monsters in the conventional sense.

Neither Luca nor Sophia had any experience in dealing with such aberrant beings, so they had to exercise extreme caution.

“I’ve already constructed an ice barrier! If anything goes wrong, I’ll freeze myself immediately,” Sophia responded without hesitation.

The Ancient Gods still lingered within Sophia’s consciousness.

Luca’s intentional release of primal power might very well awaken the Ancient Gods, which had only just been heavily damaged.

So Sophia had to be prepared for any unexpected developments.

Luca nodded slowly.

He gripped the Starseeker tightly in his right hand, while slowly raising his left.

As a silver-white glow shimmered at the tip of his left index finger, a faint stream of primal power was released from him.

Under normal circumstances, this faint primal power would not cause any noticeable effects.

But almost at the exact moment Luca made his move, Sophia was struck by a sharp headache.

She could clearly feel the Ancient Gods within her consciousness beginning to stir.

“I need to enter a frozen state immediately! Help me—quick!”

Sophia cried out to Luca for help while simultaneously activating her ice barrier.

Naturally, Luca didn’t hesitate for a moment.

He instantly generated a thick veil of Dreamweaving Mist around his body. Then, he absorbed all of the mist back into himself.

Under the combined effects of the Dreamweaving Mist and the ice barrier, Sophia slipped into a deep slumber.

The Ancient Gods within her consciousness were thereby suppressed as well.

Only then did Luca let out a slight breath of relief.

“Looks like the worst-case scenario didn’t happen… but I still need to move fast with what comes next.”

Since the primal power had already been released, the chaos deity who had been relentlessly hunting the Ancient Gods within the Whispering Forest would likely make a move soon.

Luca decided to fully focus and use his max-level Perception ability to continuously scan his surroundings.

As soon as the chaos deity appeared, he would immediately establish communication.

To ensure that his Perception would not be affected in any way, he closed his eyes the moment the primal power was released.

With the loss of vision, Luca’s Perception surged dramatically.

He could sense every subtle movement within dozens of kilometers around him.

He sensed the noisy rustling from deep within the forest,

the gentle sound of the stream flowing through the small river they had passed earlier,

and the wind sweeping across the canopy above.

Time ticked by, minute after minute.

Luca’s anxiety grew with every passing second.

This was the situation he least wanted to face.

There were two possible explanations for what was happening.

The first possibility was that the chaos deity hadn’t noticed the released primal power at all.

That would mean Luca would have to release primal power again.

Each time primal power was released, the chances of the Ancient Gods awakening increased.

So unless it was absolutely necessary, Luca was unwilling to repeat the release.

The second possibility was far more brutal for both Luca and Sophia—

that there was no chaos deity in this forest at all.

Their entire plan might have been built on a false premise.

A storm of thoughts flooded Luca’s mind.

But in the end, he decided to stay calm.

“It’s only been a few minutes. Maybe the chaos deity just hasn’t detected the primal power I released yet.”

Luca barely managed to convince himself of that.

He calmed down again and pushed his Perception outward, extending it as far as he possibly could.

Time kept flowing.

After a quarter of an hour, he could no longer stay composed.

“What the hell is going on?! Is there really no chaos deity in this forest capable of dealing with the Ancient Gods?!

Or should I release primal power again?”

He could no longer afford to wait.

The Ancient Gods within Sophia’s consciousness were inevitably starting to awaken.

Though the Dreamweaving Mist and the ice barrier could delay their recovery,

in truth, they wouldn’t hold for much longer.

“I have no choice. I must release primal power again!”

In the end, Luca chose to take the risk once more.

He raised his left hand and released the primal power again.

The moment the primal power was released, the plants surrounding Luca suddenly began to grow at a frantic pace.

In just the span of two breaths, the wildly growing vegetation completely enveloped him.

In the very next instant, the intertwining branches extended rapidly toward Luca’s position.

It was obvious that these plant tendrils were launching an attack on him.

Faced with this situation, a smile finally appeared on Luca’s face.

“So you’ve finally shown yourself! Looks like there really is a chaos deity in this forest after all!”

He could feel the chaotic energy flowing within the branches—

which confirmed that the one attacking him was indeed a chaos deity.

“Stop! I’m not your enemy! In fact, I’m your ally! I’ve already trapped your old nemesis!”

Luca shouted loudly.

He didn’t want to fight the chaos deity.

However, it seemed that the deity didn’t believe him.

The attacks from the plant tendrils showed no sign of slowing down.

As the mass of branches surged and clustered together, the overwhelming chaotic power posed a serious threat to Luca.

“I can prove it—I really did capture the Ancient Gods!

If you stop now, I won’t retaliate.

But if you insist on continuing, then I’ll be forced to strike back!”

He was still trying to clear up the misunderstanding between them.

But the surge of chaotic energy didn’t abate—

which meant he had ultimately failed.

“Looks like you really can’t understand human speech. Don’t blame me for what comes next.”

Luca gave up on trying to reason with the chaos deity.

He immediately activated his flame magic runes.

Scorching flames turned the plant tendrils into ashes,

and the immense power of the magic runes suppressed the chaotic energy.

Once every vine and branch had been reduced to cinders,

Luca finally caught sight of the chaos deity in the distance.

It was a towering humanoid figure formed entirely of intertwined plant branches.

The figure’s body bore some feminine traits,

but since it wasn’t human, Luca couldn’t determine its exact gender.

“Are you still planning to attack me? That last exchange already proved that I’m no pushover.

Fighting me won’t get you anywhere.”

Luca stared at the tree-like being ahead, his tone stern.

The treant gave no verbal reply—

it simply raised its hand and pointed to its own head.

“Yes. That Ancient Gods is currently trapped inside my mind.”

Luca understood what the other party was trying to express, so he gave a very direct response.

“How did you manage to do that?”

For the first time, the treant spoke.

Its voice was surprisingly gentle—pleasant, even, to Luca’s ears.

“That Ancient Gods tried to take over my body and use it to escape.

I managed to block its mental assault, and in turn, sealed it inside my own consciousness.”

He simplified what had happened earlier—

he had no intention of revealing Sophia’s existence.

The treant nodded slowly.

“I can help you kill that Ancient Gods. But I have one condition.”

The treant took a few steps forward, closing the distance between itself and Luca.

Luca grew slightly more wary.

He asked cautiously,

“You have an additional condition?

If I’m not mistaken, this Ancient Gods should be your old rival.

You’ve remained here all this time just to catch it, haven’t you?

I’m already helping you defeat it—why would you need an extra condition?”

The treant remained calm in the face of Luca’s questioning.

It continued speaking in that same soft tone.

“The Whispering Forest is not a place you were ever meant to enter.

Haven’t you noticed your body is gradually turning into plant matter?”

With the treant’s reminder, Luca suddenly realized that his feet were indeed beginning to transform into vegetation.

“What the hell is going on?!

Does that mean the Whispering Forest can assimilate all beings within its range?”

“What you said isn’t entirely accurate.

The Whispering Forest only assimilates those who reject the power of control.

This forest was created by the great Goddess of Life herself.

I serve as her attendant, a lesser deity within the Chaos Pantheon.

I am the embodiment of the forest’s will.

You may call me Life Keeper.”

The Life Keeper first answered Luca’s questions—

then, it finally revealed its extra condition.

“My condition is that you must leave as soon as possible.

Even as the embodiment of the Whispering Forest’s will, I cannot go against the rules set by the Goddess of Life.

You refuse to accept the power of chaos,

and so, for your own safety, you must go—immediately.”

The Life Keeper’s added condition was, in truth, meant for Luca’s own protection.

Luca fell silent for a moment.

“Thank you very much for the warning! Once we’ve dealt with this Ancient Gods, I’ll leave through the node as soon as possible!”

“Excellent. Then let us begin dealing with this Ancient Gods—abandoned by his own kin.”

A wide smile spread across the Life Keeper’s face.

Although to Luca the smile seemed slightly unsettling,

at least the Life Keeper had shown it as a gesture of goodwill.