Volume Dragon: Start by obtaining the Infinity Gems

Chapter 355 Return to Faerûn
The Celestial Crystal Wall System of the Kingdom of Faerun, at the Palace of Imbutu.

The interior of the palace had changed dramatically compared to five years ago. Twelve pillars entwined with mithril thorns supported the dome, and the Soul-Binding Crystals embedded in the walls cast a pale white light onto the scarlet carpet, making everything appear sinister and eerie.

As the Sel envoy shattered the last ray of blue light from the teleportation array, the beautiful woman on the throne lightly tapped the armrest with her fingertips stained with jet-black paint, the sound of her nails striking the adamantite producing a crisp, bone-breaking noise.

"Red robes have never been welcome in the nights of the Kingdom of Inbutu," Queen Elizabeth's voice, like honey-soaked spider silk, her dark red skirt like a blooming rose, its dazzling red gleaming in the darkness, "especially those carrying letters of conviction."

The red-robed mage Nazar pulled back his hood, revealing a bald head covered in tattoos. He deliberately made the crimson of his robes more striking than the queen's long dress: "Half a month ago, thirty-two tons of refined gold were stolen on the Bone Road. The only known route is through the Black Iron Casket of the Sel Military Affairs Bureau, and..." He flicked his finger, summoning a scroll of floating parchment, blood-red runes forming the queen's court crest in the air, "...within Your Majesty's palace."

The servants in the shadows hissed, and the Queen raised her hand to quell the commotion. Her pupils glowed with a captivating deep purple, but a chilling smile played on her lips: "So Ser is convinced that I leaked the information? How interesting. Why should I let my purchased goods go missing? I think you're the ones crying wolf."

The red-robed mage let out a sneer.

"How dare you!" The figure to the left of the throne uttered a cold rebuke. He stepped out of the shadows, revealing a refined and handsome face. It was none other than Leoril, the regent and chief judge of the Kingdom of Inbutu: "Standing before you is the esteemed Queen of Inbutu, the last pure-blooded descendant of the Magile family!"

The arrogant red-robed mage was used to treating undead creatures with contempt. He sneered at the 'person' on the throne: "Just a vampire. Does he think he's above the rest just because he looks human?"

“We believe in logic.” Nazar took a step forward, and a spiderweb of green flames suddenly spread beneath his feet, with the wails of the undead seeping from the cracks. “Those who know the route are either in the Sel's Anti-Magic Prison, or—” He suddenly opened his palm, and his five finger bones instantly transformed into a pale white chain that pierced towards the throne, “rotting in the cellars of the Eternal Night Palace!”

The queen didn't even move. Suddenly, a shadow spread from beneath her skirt, transforming into seven barbed tentacles that constricted the bone chains. Black smoke rose from the point of contact, and Nazar realized with alarm that his necromancy was being corrupted by some far more malevolent force.

“Insolence,” Elizabeth whispered. The word seemed to activate some kind of restriction; the defensive runes on Nazor's robes burst one after another, and he staggered to one knee, his knee smashing into the obsidian floor, creating radial cracks.

The vampire queen, with the aura of a legendary powerhouse, was like a beast escaping from its cage, pressing the red-robed mage down and eyeing her 'prey' with predatory intent.

"How dare you use force against the envoy of Sel?" The mage gurgled, veins bulging in his neck, dark red energy surging from his spine and condensing into twelve serrated scythes in the air. "Those bitches of Shadow City think they can control..."

Before the red-robed figure could complete his powerful nine-ring transformation spell, [Abyss Demonic Power], the figure on the throne suddenly vanished.

Nazar's words froze on his tongue—the vampire queen's fingernails pressed against his Adam's apple, her icy breath brushing against his ear: "You know what? There are many reasons why I hate red robes." Her other hand moved to the mage's chest, drawing complex runes through his robes, "But what I loathe most is that disgusting arrogance you always display."

"Stop! Sergei!" Nazar's threat turned into a scream. His ribs were turning inside out, flesh and blood forming some kind of bizarre bone flower. The Queen touched her fingertips, which were stained with blood seeping from his heart, and licked them lightly.

"You will never learn to use the correct titles." The Queen's voice suddenly became like the chorus of a thousand dead souls. All the candles in the throne room went out simultaneously, and fleshy wings covered in a blood-red membrane unfurled in the darkness. Nazar's summoned creature exploded into a cloud of blood mist. "Kneel, you insects."

An invisible pressure shattered the mage's protective barrier. Nazar was pressed into the ground, frantically chanting disintegration spells, only to find that the magic was flowing backward into the shadow vortex beneath the queen's feet.

“The last and most important reason,” the Queen said, grabbing the sorcerer by the neck and lifting him up. Her fingernails dug into his artery, drawing a string of blood droplets. The blood, as if weightless, flew straight up and flowed into the Queen's mouth. “You dare waste my time with such clumsy tests!”

On his deathbed, the red-robed mage used his last strength to crush the communication crystal hidden in his sleeve. But the queen showed no fear, only coldly ripping his heart out of his chest, splattering putrid black blood everywhere.

“Tell your master…” She crushed the still-beating heart, letting the bits of flesh drip through her fingers. “Next time, send a dog that wags its tail.”

The communication crystal faithfully recorded the scene and transformed it into magical information, returning it to Sel's spellcaster through the magic network's channels.

The dark hall fell silent once more, with only Leoril's soft breathing echoing in the air.
-
Degen, Rosa Castle.

Nemesis, Losrien, and Colette stood around a crystal ball, which displayed images of everything that was happening in the palace.

"Is this the sacred artifact of the God of Prophecy? It can detect images from thousands of miles away without a legendary expert noticing. It's simply unbelievable!" Namisis exclaimed in shock as he stared at the crystal ball before him.

Lothrian put down the crystal ball. The half-elf's already fair skin became even paler, and his ashen face exuded a strong aura of death: "The power of the Thousand-Eyed Orb is indeed great, but master, it comes at a price."

He gave a bitter laugh, removed the blindfold covering his eyes, and pulled two wriggling maggots from their dark sockets: "Every time I cast a prophecy spell, a part of my body dies and rots."

"It drains my life force as the price for peeking into fate."

Namiesis shook his head, a hint of regret in his eyes. The side effects of the "Thousand-Eyed Orb" were too great for him to accept; otherwise, he would have definitely taken it for himself. As sacred artifacts, the "Thousand-Eyed Orb" and the "Vikna's Eye of Deception" are treasures of the same caliber, both possessing power that mortals cannot withstand, and naturally having fatal side effects for them.

Don't be fooled by the fact that "Vek's Eye of Evil" seems to have no side effects; it's only because the power of the mind happens to counter Vek's evil will. If anyone other than Nemesis uses this holy artifact, even the most devout paladin, they will eventually become a follower of the Hidden God.

As the image inside the crystal ball went dark, Colette's expression turned grave: "Is this the Queen? This is only the second time I've seen her since I first met her five years ago."

Her expression turned somewhat strange: "The color of her eyes has changed."

Namisis shook his head and explained, "This is her original color."

"The Jasmine vampires distinguish their identity by the color of their pupils, and the 'roots' that allow them to produce offspring—purebloods—have deep purple pupils."

"The 'branches' that cannot possess the ability to develop offspring—lower-level vampires and various vampire derivatives—have blood-red pupils."

"As the highest-ranking vampire queen among the Jasmine vampires, the Queen naturally possesses pure deep purple pupils."

This is actually one of the reasons why vampires have not dominated the world. Within the entire vampire race, the 'roots' that have the ability to produce offspring only account for a very small part of the entire race, and each time offspring are produced, they need to give the other party their own blood.

Despite the fact that vampires are rampant in the Kingdom of Imput at this time, most of them are actually the product of decades of secret accumulation and immigration from other regions.

Namiesis sat back on the soft sofa and began to think about everything he had just seen in the crystal ball.

Last night, after arranging everything on Earth, Namesis rushed back to Faerûn without stopping.

He tallied up his gains from the trip, the most important of which was the sacred artifact "Vikna's Eye of the Demon," followed by the two strands of divinity.

One of the wisps of divinity, Nemesis has already integrated into the White Staff, making it the third wisp of divinity after [Tezka, the God of the Sun] and [Zalthek, the God of War and Slaughter].

For Nemesis, Vekna's divinity was more useful than the other two strands of divinity because it possessed the power of the magical realm.

Compared to the Sun God, who is better suited to amplifying Evocation spells, and Zalthek, who is better suited to necromancy spells, Vek'na's divinity provides a universal enhancement to all arcane spells.

However, this is not the most important thing. For Nemesis, the divinity in the White Staff has a more important role.

During the battle against the Kingdom of Kurtaka on the Maztec continent, Nemesis discovered a secret technique called the "Dark Seed" within the body of the enemy's great general.

At that time, he saw the potential of this secret technique—that by collecting the divine power of different gods, one could modify one's own bloodline, gain the power of different gods, and even seize power.

He believed that divinity was a more suitable medium for this secret technique than divine power.

He studied for a long time and found that it was too difficult to try to restore the power of the gods by relying on divine power, and the amount of divine power required was also enormous.

But divinity is different.

Divinity is the foundation of the divine; divine fire, divine office, and divine personality are all derived from divinity.

Although the specific secrets were beyond the knowledge of mortals like Nemesis, he was still able to draw a conclusion—divinity was very important.

Therefore, he began his plan to modify the secret technique of the Dark Seed.

In his vision, the new secret technique should be called the "Divine Bloodline Treasury" rather than the "Dark Seed".

(End of this chapter)