My Goddess is Good at Pretending

Chapter 241: It’s time to Duel (2)

There was one thing that Elysia had yet to tell Amy about Duel Trial Artifact’s rules.

The trial mode could be activated when all pieces were placed on the battlefield on each side. It was the primary feature where Elysia would carry out her experiments.

Elysia put her first piece in the back line, the Goddess Protector, in defensive mode.

Zera placed her first piece. The flying fortress Ruvoid Demi-God.

For the next nine turns, Elysia and Zera only placed their jade pieces to summon their warriors and put the balance of a battle formation.

"???" Amy was wondering why no one went to attack.

She could see Zera’s lineup filled with many scary monsters, even some humanoid ones. Those monsters’ abilities were still unknown, but she was sure none of them were easy to deal with.

As for Goddess Elysia’s lineup, she could see various types of heavenly warriors. However, she couldn’t tell their abilities before anyone took action.

At that moment, Amy gasped in shock upon a realization.

’Wait, Goddess Elysia said this artifact manifests one’s technique, power, and understanding. So, what about Zera? Her summoned monsters... She can’t be the Evil Goddess from Ruvoid Race, right?’ Amy widened her eyes as she tried to connect several hints and dots to a conclusion.

However, she brushed it aside because Goddess Elysia’s followers couldn’t be evil. It was similar because Zera studied those evil creatures’ traits and abilities like her particular acquaintance.

"Commence the Trial." Elysia relayed her command, and the battlefield shone slightly.

The turn-based was eliminated, and all warriors moved like they had their own minds. The players controlled their warriors at their will.

’Zera, I will start the first experiment. Please put your concentration on all warriors to survive and defend.’ Elysia sent a telepathy.

’Affirmative.’ Zera put a defensive lineup, ready to receive any attack.

After that, Elysia sent three valkyries to launch a combined attack.

Restriction, weakening, and death. The debuff spells weakened because everything fell into the magic attack category and was countered by Ruvoid’s super anti-magic passive skill. However, the death didn’t cause any effects because the Ruvoid creatures weren’t fully living.

’So, we can’t cast the true death spell, Ely. It doesn’t work for them. Can we use the lifesteal or energy steal against them?’ Elena was wondering.

’Err, I haven’t learned the true death spell yet. But, let’s try some more testing.’ Elysia controlled the three valkyries to retreat.

They changed their weapons to swords and spears, then tried to attack the enemy with physical attacks enhanced by magic.

It was super effective. The magical damage boost was reduced by half. Yet, the physical damage was always super effective in injuring the Ruvoid creatures.

The shield monster then counterattacked passively and injured one of the valkyries. The priestess in Elysia’s backline cast a purification and healing technique. Then, the Goddess Protector used the AoE buff for the life steal law on the three valkyries.

The magical effect was reduced by half too. Nevertheless, the slash succeeded in causing the lifesteal effect to increase damage by 10% and recover valkyries’ HP by 10% of the total damage.

’Super effective life steal, master. Once you refine this technique, it can do more harm than any physical damage.’ Zera nodded slightly at that sight.

’Mm, but our main goal is to find the super effective counter to super anti-magic. We still haven’t found it.’ Elysia put her hand to her chin, deep in thought.

The battle continued, and her warriors continued attacking Zera’s defensive lineup with various types of spells, magic, formations, methods, and laws. Unfortunately, none of them produced the results she wanted.

’Ely, we have finished inspecting the Nature Realm and Firmament Realm. Everything is alright. We shall return to your side. Can you please open the Nature Realm’s portal for us?’ Lifa requested something via private telepathy.

’Oh, all right.’ Elysia raised her hand and opened the Nature Realm’s portal.

’Master, I realized something.’ Zera raised her hand.

’Okay, all suggestions are appreciated.’ Elysia replied with a subtle nod.

’You have the impressive ability to learn something instantly, and it’s almost similar to copying other’s skills and abilities. What if you duplicate my capabilities and copy my super anti-magic, refine it, and evolve it into the anti-counter?’ Zera expressed her opinion.

’Huh!?’ Ai, Elena, Fortuna, Lifa, Rhea, and Nell were surprised by Zera’s proposal.

Lifa, Rhea, and Nell interpreted it differently because they felt it could have a double meaning.

’Yeah, that makes sense.’ Elysia really considered it.

’Ely!?’ Lifa looked at Elysia as if she couldn’t believe it.

’I can imitate super anti-magic, but it still can’t counter the super anti-magic. Anti-counter means the absolute divine law to ignore all the rules, and that is something I am still exploring and studying. The absolute damage outside my Absolute Domain. We need to dig deeper into the universe law authority.’ Elysia pointed to her shield valkyrie.

She used the physical and magical damage immunity laws for that one.

Zera was curious and tried to attack the shield hero. All of her attacks did not cause any damage. She probably could wear off the enemy’s damage immunity protection, but that would take time. Regardless, that situation still didn’t spell the effective solution to counter the super anti-magic.

’This is Duel Trial, the game for a battle simulation using the manifestation of magic, laws, and understanding.’ Elysia introduced her artifact to her newly arrived Goddess sisters. She then looked at Zera. ’Hm-mm~ that’s it. Can we continue now?’

’Affirmative.’ Zera nodded and returned to focusing on helping her master with this experiment.

"???" Amy was taken aback by several Goddesses’ sudden arrival.

She was still too engrossed to watch the exciting battle between Zera’s monsters and Goddess Elysia’s warriors.

However, some divine beings came from the other realm all of a sudden, but they were likely not from the Divine World.

"They are our friends." Fortuna whispered to the surprised Amy.

"O-oh..." Amy scratched her head. Goddess Elysia reportedly had many friends and followers. Thus, she shouldn’t be surprised if many new faces appear out of nowhere.

---

The experiment lasted for another hour. Elysia dealt the finishing blow for her victory. Regardless, she had yet to get what she was looking for.

’I need to do more in-depth research and testing on this matter. If I can’t remove the enemy’s anti-magic, maybe I need to do something about my power.’ Elysia tidied up her Duel Trial Artifact, about to put it away.

"Eh? Can we borrow the Duel Trial Artifact, Ely? You crafted another masterpiece. It looks fun and interesting." Lifa put her hand on Elysia’s arm.

"Sure you can. Please have a seat." Elysia gave her seat to Lifa.

Zera returned to Elysia’s shadow shortly after.

Seeing that, Amy hurried to sit on Zera’s seat as she wished to play this fun game again. "I am the Agent of the Dark Realm. I will be your opponent."

"Fufu, this will be fun then. I am the Goddess of Life. Pleased to meet you, Agent Amy." Lifa gracefully covered her mouth.

"Don’t play Duel Trial too much because it will consume the players’ spiritual energy." Elysia reminded everyone.

"Understood~" Lifa gave an ok hand gesture.

Fortuna served as the judge again and announced the start of the duel. Nell watched from a close distance curiously because the warriors’ manifestations were almost the same size as her fairy body.

"How about your painting, Miko?" Elysia stroked her plushie avatar’s head gently.

"I painted this seabed picturesque scene onto canvas. I needed some finishing touches to make it look like a painting artifact for enlightenment like that painter." Miko pointed to her painting.

"That’s a good painting. You inherited my talent for drawing and painting. But, is that painter so special? Why do you use him as a reference?" Elysia observed Miko’s painting. It possessed a surreal mix of fact and fantasy. The artwork seemed to come alive, an almost perfect scene, but she had no idea why that street painter inspired her avatar to paint.

"My role model is always you, mama. But you rarely paint, and I’ve never seen your paintings." Miko put her fingers together and looked at her mama with a sweet expression, hinting at something.

"Hmm-mm~ I draw blueprints more than I paint. How about I show you one, or what if we create an art masterpiece together?" Elysia tapped her chin and proposed an idea.

"That’s wonderful! You are the best, mama!" Miko jumped happily.

"Fufu~ Let’s cook something good for our dinner." Elysia stared into the distance. It was time to harvest.

"Dinner with various seafood delicacies." Miko used her eye ability to check their fish traps in the distance. They caught many fish, shrimp, crabs, and lobsters there.

"Master, let me help you." Rhea came following Elysia closely behind. Megami also went with her.

"Good, let’s go." Elysia led her two avatars and Rhea to retrieve their fish traps.

"..." Lifa glanced at Elysia with a bit of complicated feelings. She had to get used to seeing four Elys now, including Elysia’s twin sister, Ai.

"I already know how to play this. You will never expect my next move, Lady Lifa." Amy rubbed her hands together when her formation was almost complete.

"Fufu~ Don’t be so complacent. Even though your cultivation is higher than mine, that doesn’t mean you are superior to me in law comprehension." Lifa put her jade piece and continued the game.

---

Elysia became the primary chief, and her three co-chefs assisted her. They would cook several dishes on the seabed. It was a kitchen inside a large bubble.

"Should we cook the shrimp intact?" Miko asked her mama for instructions because she rarely cooked seafood.

"No, let’s devein the bigger ones. Leave the smaller shrimp intact with their shells. We can use magic to make it easier." Elysia picked up some palm-sized shrimp.

She used magic to make a shallow slit through the shell, stopping before the tail. She pulled out the shrimp’s digestive tract before butterflying it.

"What shall we cook?" Rhea did the devein to the other shrimp. Also, the lobster, but she just pulled the vein out of its tail.

"Some creamy dishes with extra sauce and cheese. Also, seafood pizza feast~" Elysia took out some pizza dough she had prepared beforehand.