From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 488 The Monarch's Appetite

The sky in the Astral Prism remains unchanged, a rare period of peace since the royal guard of Orpheus, the Prince of Comets, was killed or sealed away.

Even a monarch, that mind-stealing demon, needs a quiet space to think about his plans.

At first, he was very wary of the giant construct guarding the Comet Prince.

Undoubtedly, it was a measure to ensure that he would not betray or act abnormally, and the monarch could understand this.

But Ivy's caution and meticulousness did indeed cause trouble for the monarch.

However, as long as the Comet Prince remains in his possession, the monarch is confident that he has leverage to his advantage, and if he can entice one or two adventurers to voluntarily transform into Mind Flayers, the probability of his plan succeeding will greatly increase.

After a period of conversation, the monarch found that the Shadowbreaker was actually a very good conversationalist. Perhaps because it lacked a brain in a biological sense, the Mind Flayer could peacefully converse with an intelligent giant construct without feeling any appetite.

This is a very rare situation.

Although the monarch is not an ordinary mind flayer, he views using the brain as a biological instinct. Otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically chosen criminals as his targets.

But when he talks to intelligent beings, especially particularly intelligent beings, a feeling of appetite always wells up from the bottom of his heart.

The manners and speech of those intelligent people were like the steaming heat emanating from a delicious dish to the monarch, causing considerable discomfort to the olfactory receptors in his tentacles.

This problem once led to him being seen through by an ordinary shield knight while he was eating, but the mind flayer's powerful psychic abilities erased that memory from his mind, just as they had with Duke Belina Steme.

The fragile mortal race is like a lamb, born to be manipulated, used, or eaten by higher-level mind flayers.

However, this interference disappears when speaking with the Shadowbreaker.

After all, it was just a cold lump of metal.

If the Shadowbreakers heard this, they would surely refute the monarch's statement.

For example: He shone with the brilliance of Los Santos, a glorious and noble metal, not cold or anything like that.

The Shadow Slayer, who had only recently gained intelligence, was also a chatterbox. He even enthusiastically forced the monarch to discuss topics such as "Mind Flayers as meals."

This reminded the monarch of the mind flayer Omiron, whom he had encountered with the adventurers in the Underdark.

Omiron is a vegetarian mind flayer who only consumes the brains of non-intelligent beings. After being enhanced by the Enlightenment spell, even sheep brains can taste like human brains.

Although the monarch scoffed at this practice, he was still very curious about what the brains of sheep subjected to enlightenment spells tasted like.

Just like how humans are curious about artificial meat.

Bringing himself back from his boundless reverie, the monarch took a moment to use his psychic powers to glance at the situation outside.

Evil Thoughts was standing in Duke Stemer's drawing room with the Astral Prism.

This is the original crime scene. After incapacitating the Duke of Sterme with a paralyzing poison, the murderer cut off her hand and then used it to draw the mark of the Supreme God on the ground, using her blood as a base.

"I think you are already very clear about who assassinated Bellina, aren't you?" The monarch channeled his psychic powers to send a message to the evil thought. Although he didn't care about the death of a slave, showing appropriate sentimentality in front of his partner helped to establish a more harmless image.

“That’s right, it’s an assassin from the Baal Order.” The monarch confirmed the evil thought’s idea. Breaking through that Mind Sanctuary Ring was not easy. Only at this close range could the monarch send a telepathic message to the evil thought who was carrying the Astral Prism.

What the monarch can do, the Mind Flayer mastermind can certainly do even better.

However, there are too many True Souls belonging to the Supreme God within Baldur's Gate. Without continuously emitting psionic fluctuations or communicating face-to-face with the Mainframe, it is difficult to locate a specific individual through broadcast-style psionic instructions alone.

According to the monarch's estimation, as long as they are within a certain range of the Mind Flayer's fully formed mainframe, the powerful psionic broadcasts will be enough to penetrate the Mind Sanctuary Rings worn by the adventurers.

He had already shared this information with the evil thoughts, which was undoubtedly another measure to increase the monarch's importance.

Apart from obtaining his power from the Comet Prince through the Astral Prism, no other method can be considered 100% safe when facing the Mastermind.

"Livington? Could Baal's assassins continue their rampage outside the city?" The monarch assessed the new information that Evil Thought had gleaned from the Flame Fist Sheriff.

Besides the Duke of Belina Stemey, whose hand was cut off, another priest from Livington, Ilmet, was also assassinated and had his hand cut off as well.

It is said that the city's detective, Valeria the Flying Elephant, has already set off for Livington to investigate, but the Flame Fist Sheriff, who is still staying at the Elf Song Tavern, is not optimistic.

Because that detective Saint Elephant ignored the obvious Baal Order and instead thought it might be a refugee disguised as a copycat.

But in any case, it was impossible to get any more information in the Duke of Stermey's drawing room.

“Heading to Livington? That’s a good idea. Perhaps we can intercept the murderer before he commits his next crime and find out where the Baal Order is hiding.” The monarch telepathically spoke to the evil thought again. “But before we set off, you should go to the tavern’s basement. The Shield Knight’s hideout is there. There might be some of my personal belongings there that could be useful for the rest of the journey.”

Mind Flayers have brains that are different from humans. The monarch could recall all the items in the secret chamber, and he was certain that apart from a magical longsword, there wasn't much else that could help.

But that was an important place for him to shape his image, and he had already thought of all his lines, so how could he not put them to use?

“That’s right, the basement. The entrance is hidden in a barrel. If you can find the button, you can find my past.” The monarch coaxed patiently, knowing full well that the evil thoughts would not miss any opportunity to plunder the container, “and the magical items that belonged to me in the past.” The space of the Astral Prism fluctuated, and the monarch, sitting on the giant’s skull, stood up alertly to check the changes in this demiplane.

"Welcome, Creator Ivy Doom!" The polite Shadowbreaker announced the welcome, apparently the mage had entered. "And Archdruid Halsin, High Harpist Jahira, Lord Minsara of Twilight Star, and the beautiful Lady Shadowheart."

The monarch felt a growing unease.

The ability to freely enter and exit the Astral Prism means that the relics of the Gith Yankees have lost some of their mystique.

The monarch didn't know how long his advantage could last, but at least the mage only had a superficial understanding of psychic powers, and he had no intention of making a deal with the devil.

"Mind Flayer! Come out now! Use the power of the Comet Prince to protect him from the Mainframe's influence!" Jahira shouted impatiently after merely nodding to the Shadow Slayer, "Where did that Mind Flayer go, everyone?"

“He’s up there.” The Shadowbreaker raised its visual sensors and used its piston-headed hammer to guide Jashira.

“I want you to call me by my name, High Harpist Jahira.” The monarch placed his hands behind his back and slowly floated down from the air to the ground.

"This is not the time to discuss titles!" Jahira and Halsin laid the unconscious Minsk on the ground, then drew their scimitars and threatened, "Help my friend now, or I'll cut off one of your tentacles!"

Mind Flayers don't have many organs capable of expressing emotions, and even if they do, they're not the kind that normal humans can understand.

The monarch's meninges throbbed rapidly as he suppressed his appetite and rage: "This man... his mind, his heart, is nothing but pure chaos; he's of no help to our plans..."

But upon noticing Ivy's figure, the monarch quickly changed his mind: "I understand, High Harpist... I will give it a try."

Psychic energy began to resonate between the Mind Flayer and Minsk, and the strange barrier surrounding the Comet Prince expanded and contracted as if breathing.

"Ughhhhhh—" Minsk, who was unconscious, suddenly screamed while clutching his bald head, "Jashira! You killed her!"

The experienced harpist seemed much more relaxed: "My God, Minsk, you're so over-the-top..."

"Waaah... Uh?" Minsk's howl turned into confusion. He scratched his bald, purple-skinned head and stared dumbfounded at Jashira in front of him.

"Alright, that's over." The monarch withdrew his arm and resumed his expert stance.

Seeing Ivy approach, he took the initiative to strike up a conversation: "You might want to know that your Mind Protection Ring isn't perfect. Although it can shield you from some psionic detection, the closer you get to the mainframe, the less effective it becomes. Therefore, I suggest that adventurers don't split up. If you find the mainframe's hiding place without my protection, you could be instantly transformed into a Mind Flayer."

Noticing Ivy's gaze, the Mind Flayer nodded slightly and said lightly, "I discovered this while talking to the Evil Thought. If I can break through the ring's mental defenses, then the Mainframe can do the same, and perhaps even better. I originally hoped the Evil Thought could relay the message, but I didn't expect to meet you first, Doom—my lord."

“Thank you.” Ivy thanked him thoughtfully. “You mean, psionic energy decreases with distance? The evil thought has already taken you through a good part of Baldur’s Gate. Based on the strength of the mainframe’s psionic energy in different locations, we might be able to roughly estimate the mainframe’s hiding range. We should take advantage of this.”

“This is…” The monarch waved his tentacles even faster. He had never seen such a clever mind before. “I’ve never thought about this before… Perhaps I should ask the evil thought to take me around the city for a while longer.”

“Come see Ivy, Minsk.” Jahira led his old friend to Ivy’s side. “Ivy Doom. He is the one who saved you from the temptations of the Supreme God.”

“A friend!” Minsk gestured exaggeratedly. “A mage with a calm mind and a kind heart! Luckily, Little B stopped my impulsive act!”

“I’ll get rid of the parasite in his brain!” Minsk patted his pocket. “Minsk will only take orders from one little beast, and he’s cuter than any brain worm!”

Unfortunately, Bubu, the driver for Minsk, wasn't in his pocket.

"Where? Where...where did he go?" Minsk frantically searched his body.

“Ha, so this is the problem you’re facing.” Jasira crossed her arms. “Little B isn’t with you! I don’t think those shapeshifters can transform themselves into Little B, otherwise they wouldn’t need my face. Don’t worry, Minsk, we have a powerful companion who might have some magic to help you find Little B.”

"Can you do it, mage friend?" When a big, dumb guy, like a wall of flesh, looks at you with shining eyes, you probably only want to tell him to get lost.

But Ivy still has times when she needs to use this Baldur's Gate hero, so if the hard approach doesn't work, then she has to resort to a softer one.

“I do have a way.” Ivy looked up at the sky in the Astral Prism, which resembled flowing silver mist. “The Astral Prism contains a demiplane, which means we are not on Toril’s prime material plane.”

Ivy raised her mithril staff once more, drawing a portal to another dimension from the void.

Unlike last time, he also pronounced a name: "Xiao Bu".

The portal opened in a dimly lit environment, where, apart from the occasional sound of flowing water, only a pair of small, green eyes were worth noting.

"Little B!" While the others were still trying to identify the owner of the eyes, Minsk cheered and reached his hand into the portal.

A squeaking sound, like that of a rodent, rang out from Lesserman, and a furry little creature quickly climbed up his arm and onto Minsk's shoulder.

“You have gazed into Minsk’s soul and witnessed his heinous crimes! You smelled the stench of evil on him, and you have prepared your sharp claws, ready to gouge out his eyes!” Minsk solemnly apologized to Little Hamster. “I’m sorry, my friend! I will obey your impeccable judgment completely! If you insist on tearing open my dark heart—then I am ready!”

Minsk struck a pose as if he were bravely going to his death, and Ivy took the opportunity to correct her impression of him in her mind.

As a humanoid Gundam, Minsk's pilot is not Jashira, but this little hamster.

"Let's put on a show of atonement later! Evil Thoughts and his gang have been ambushed! They're Viraqis's lackeys!" the Mind Flayer Lord suddenly warned. "They're numerous, and they're right where the Shield Knights are hiding!"

(End of this chapter)