From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 469 Escape
The trouble Katheric encountered was far greater than Gotash and Orin had imagined.

When Melkor's general appeared on the circular platform, charred black and spitting blood, the two voters understood the truth.

“My God—Katherrick.” Gortash waved his hand in front of him with the arm containing the Netherstone, dispelling some of the acrid smell emanating from Katherrick. “I’ve never seen you so disheveled—who could possibly harm an immortal?”

"He's not breathing!" Orin sprang off Ravengard's back, and the Marshal of Flamefist staggered, having to brace himself with his hands to avoid his face coming into contact with the fleshy floor of the Mind Flayer colony.

“He should have been next! His blood should have congealed in the temple's gutter, his flesh should have rotted on my chopping block! But now, he's just a pathetic pile of charred remains!” Orin screamed, tearing at his hair, then suddenly stopped. “Who did this?!”

The adventurers only noticed that Orin's eyes were entirely white, because they had made eye contact with those unfocused eyes.

"Is it you?" Orin asked softly, tilting his head.

Orin's transitions between movement and stillness were so frantic and rapid that even Minsara, who was already familiar with her true nature, couldn't help but frown.

"That's right! It's us!" Upon seeing the scarlet figure, Xie Nian felt a surge of hatred and disgust, let alone looking directly into that evil face.

She walked out of her hiding place with an air of predatory glare at Olin.

"It's you!"

The appearance of evil intentions surprised both voters standing on the circular platform.

“This is an even bigger shock than Katheric’s defeat!” Gortash took two steps forward, scrutinizing Xie Nian’s face from head to toe. “Hmm… I really didn’t expect you to survive in that situation. You are even more tenacious and resilient than I knew you. You’re less of an assassin and more of an indomitable fighter!”

Although he couldn't find any memory of Enver Gotash in his mind, the evil thought did detect a nauseating familiarity with that overly tired face.

"Do you know me?" Xie Nian asked with some suspicion.

“Of course! I know you as well as I know my own left hand.” Gotash’s smile was barely concealed. “You know, we work together as seamlessly as the left and right hands.”

"Are you blind, Your Excellency?" Scarlet Orin burst into exaggerated, maniacal laughter, but there was no warmth in his voice, only a chilling coldness. "I did manage to keep my dear Slaughter Clan alive, but her brain is another matter entirely. Before that little tadpole slithered in, I personally turned the place upside down!"

Evil Thoughts finally understood the source of her deep-seated hatred for Orin. It wasn't just because she had personally messed up her mind, but also because of their shared identity as children of Baal.

Slaughtering relatives.

The way the sons of Baal address each other.

Long before Baal's fall, he foresaw his own demise as a god. That fate seemed unchangeable.

But for the god of murder, death is never the end.

Therefore, he personally descended to the mortal realm and orchestrated a grand resurrection drama.

The most crucial character in this grand drama is the descendant of the gods, known as the Son of Baal.

These mortals, who have inherited the blood of Baal, will be born from various races, and then gather together by instinct to carry out a great slaughter until only one remains.

At that time, Baal will be able to resurrect himself in the bodies of his own offspring.

The killing of each other was the fate of these kinsmen, and it was Baal's own arrangement for them.

Gotash sighed regretfully, but looking at Katheric Somme, who was lying face down on the ground, he suddenly had a new idea.

“I am deeply sorry for what happened to you, dear assassin. But I have a suggestion!” Gortash revealed the purple Netherstone on the back of his hand. “Katheric is dead, and a piece of the puzzle of the Supreme God is missing. It is time for you to return to our side, to return to your rightful place—with Katheric’s Netherstone.”

“Ah—” Looking at the wary yet puzzled look in Evil Thought’s eyes, Gotash suddenly realized and explained, “You’ve even forgotten about Netherstone? Orin always makes a mess of everything. Let us go through it for you quickly from beginning to end.”

“The entire Supreme God Project was planned by the two of us. We thoroughly studied the lessons of past failures and how to avoid repeating them. Then, together we obtained the Crown and enslaved the Mastermind. From then on, the Supreme God was no longer just a cult on paper, but was transformed into the most successful fraudulent cult in history.” Gortash’s face was filled with pride and nostalgia. “You spread panic in the city in Baal’s name and carried out killings in the name of the Supreme God; next, Melkor’s general, Ketherrick Somme, will lead the army he has assembled for the Supreme God to the gates of Baldur’s Gate, threatening the safety of all civilians and nobles; in such a climate of fear, everyone will yearn for a strong leader to step forward and bring law, order, and protection to the city. Like me, Bane’s Unyielding Hand, the agent of justice.”

“Although Katheric is dead, the army he built for the Supreme God has not collapsed. As long as you can take over his Netherstone, we can continue to cooperate and eventually trample the whole world under our feet.”

Gotash couldn't help but feel proud of his quick wit.

That's a brilliant plan.

Although it is unclear who killed Katheric, it is certainly related to the evil thoughts standing opposite him.

If evil thoughts are willing to join him in righteous deeds again, they will naturally turn against the person who killed Ketherrick. In this way, not only will the resistance be weakened, but the strength of the cult will also be increased.

Although Orin would certainly not agree, this is exactly what Gotash would like to see.

There is no possibility of peaceful coexistence after killing off one's relatives.

This can be seen from Orin's betrayal and evil intentions.

If evil thoughts rejoin the cult, the two sisters belonging to Baal would be the most likely to ignite internal conflicts.

This coincides with Gotash's strategy of reaping the benefits without lifting a finger.

In order to completely eliminate their rivals in the struggle for Baal's favor, they might even come to him seeking an alliance.

This not only helped Gotash monitor the actions of the Baal Order, but also gave him the possibility of maintaining a balance of power between the two Baal Sons.

But Gotash's idea has a fatal flaw: will evil thoughts really rejoin the ranks of the cult as he wishes?

“Although I have no recollection of this, it does sound like a brilliant plan!” Evil thought revealed a “there’s a smart person here” expression, and even nodded involuntarily.

“Very good,” Gortash said, pumping his fist in delight. “Now that you’re willing to stand by my side again, come on over! If there’s time, I’d love to invite you to my coronation ceremony at Baldur’s Gate!”

"Whom do you intend to invite to your coronation ceremony? Gotash... Your Excellency?" Gotash froze, his bloodshot eyes no longer sparkling with laughter, but instead displaying a coldness that perfectly matched his dark circles.

He looked down and saw that Katheric was lying on the ground, clutching his heels.

“You all conspired to trick me…” Gotash looked at Orin, the woman in front of him who had reported the news of Katheric’s death.

“Clearly… to the Lord of the Dead, I am more useful alive than dead. Moreover, He already knows all your blasphemous words…” Katheric’s face continued to spew foul smoke, and his wounds were rapidly healing, but the missing pieces in his armor were something that Melkor’s divine power could not make up for.

“Where did your Nerish Stone go?” Gortash asked grimly, though he hadn’t expected an answer anyway. “You’ve really lost, Katherrick.”

Before the other two allies could make a move, Gortash suddenly raised his arm, the deep purple Netherstone gleaming against his golden gauntlets.

"Bane's decree!"

While maintaining the activation of the Netherstone, Gortash loudly explained to Orin, "Without the Netherstone, everything is meaningless! Take down these rebellious True Soulbringers! Send the army from the camp here!"

Although Olin was mad and arrogant, she was very clear about the importance of the Netherstone, after all, the one she had obtained was through betrayal and evil thoughts.

Without obtaining the Netherstone, she would never have been accepted by the other two chosen ones as a representative of the Baal Order.

“We’ll settle this later, Gotash. Look at the mess you’ve made, General.” Orin cursed, raising his dagger and proclaiming, “Baal’s lash!”

Waves began to appear in the massive incubation pool behind the circular platform. First, several tentacles covered with sharp spines emerged from the murky brine pool, followed by a huge fleshy structure emitting an ominous red light.

Judging from the grooves covering the surface and the chitinous structures that connect to the spine below, the main brain is indeed no different from the brain of a living organism.

This monster resembled a brain ripped from the body of an intelligent vertebrate, overflowing with blood and accompanied by a series of tubular structures that nourished the brain tissue. However, the size of the main brain far exceeded that of a typical vertebrate brain, and its brain capacity was even more unpredictable.

The main brain has no sensory organs; it has no eyes, no nose, and no ears—it's just a lonely brain.

However, this does not mean that it is unaware of its environment. Its powerful mental strength allows it to easily perceive everything within a five-kilometer radius and form a mental network with other mind flayers within this range, incorporating them into its hive mind.

Furthermore, psychic energy can easily destroy the minds of intelligent beings, making them willingly become its food.

The alien crown suspended atop the crimson mainframe is none other than the Netheril artifact—the Crown of Karthus—which the Chosen of the Death Trinity rely on to control the mainframe.

“Look at that crown… I was wondering what that crown Gortash was talking about was…” Gale’s voice was like a dream, “So that’s it… It radiates a power I’ve never seen before, it’s Netheril magic, so complete, so breathtaking… If I could possess it… hold it tight… I could…”

Gail remembered the mission Mystra had given her, took a deep breath, and looked away from the crown on the mainframe's head.

“But I can’t… Enough is enough. I must obey Mystra’s orders.” He said solemnly to his companions, “This is my destiny, my friends… We have seen the true face of the Supreme God, a Mind Flayer mastermind enslaved to mortals… Run as far as you can before I activate the self-destruct program!”

"No! Gale!" Karak shouted, brandishing her weapon. The mind flayers and Melkor's death acolytes from the hatchery surrounded them, some even already engaging the adventurers in combat. "You know none of us can escape! No one can escape except Ivy and you!"

"I really should have prepared some teleportation spells..." Gale realized immediately that the blast radius of the Destruction Orb was definitely not something that could be escaped on foot alone.

"You forgot what you're not good at?" the evil thought chuckled. "Remember when we first met, you got yourself stuck in the teleportation array!"

“Yes.” Recalling the mage’s hand severed by evil thoughts, Gale couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry to have you all die with me… but it’s not just one goddess waiting for me to show my courage; the entire continent of Faerûn is in grave danger…”

"Netherstone!" Although her mind wasn't the sharpest tool in the book, her assassin's instincts allowed her to grasp the crux of the matter instantly. "Katheric's Netherstone must have been stolen by Ivy! This means their plan has a major flaw! We must be able to find another way! Ivy and you are both trustworthy archmages! We can definitely live to see a new day."

“Struggling…” Gale looked up at Katheric, who was searching for weapons, the gap in his chest armor so conspicuous. “You’re right, we’ve overcome many difficulties. The Chosen of the Death Trinity is just another mountain to conquer… The lack of Netherstone is greatly affecting their plans. We need to leave here as soon as possible! Go and meet up with Ivy!”

"You're not going anywhere!" Katheric roared, grabbing a giant scythe leaning against the wall and charging menacingly toward the adventurers.

"This is not the place where we will perish!" Even before this voice reached the battlefield, it was the holy light belonging to Serene.

"Eileen!"

The adventurers turned to look, and the tightly closed, fanged gate was violently smashed open. Silver holy flames were burning fiercely, and angels with wings on their backs descended from the shadows, like divine messengers saving the world.

"You've walked right into a trap." Katheric grinned. "There's no nasty mage here to clean up your mess, Eileen!"

“I didn’t come here for you, Katheric.” Eileen gritted her teeth, trying to look away from Isobel’s father, while unfurling the banner she had been tucking under her arm. “Come to me, warriors!”

“A portal!” Gale immediately recognized the oval door on the banner, radiating magical light. “It must be Ivy’s handiwork! It’s time to evacuate!”

“But my father is still there!” Will shot two flashing red beams from his hands, turning the skeleton in front of him into a pile of bone dust.

"The chosen ones of the Three Death Gods are all here! We cannot risk losing all of Ravengard!" The voice belonged to High Duke's advisor, Floric, and the olive-skinned high elf mage flew in from outside the gate. Following her was a pure black panther, Jahira's Wild Form as a druid.

"Go and rejoin the main force, Will! We need to reveal Gortash's true nature to everyone in Baldur's Gate!"

Will no longer hesitated and slowly walked towards the portal.

Eileen spread the flag on the ground; one jump would take her away from this blood-soaked, ghostly place.

Most of the adventurers had already left through the portal, leaving only Evil Thought and Will still persisting.

“One day! Orin!” The evil thought raised her dagger, engraved with Baal’s emblem, which she had found in the colony’s treatment room, the very place where she had been ripped open and violently stitched up. “I will shove my old friend into your son’s mouth!”

Having said that, the evil thought jumped into the portal.

Will took one last look at his father before turning to rejoin his teammates.

(End of this chapter)