From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 496 The Movements of the Supreme God

“Good heavens! Screaming children, bleeding corpses—and today isn’t even my birthday!” cried Lucius, the circus owner.

After the adventurers quickly quelled the riot, the dark-skinned high elf woman led her undead creatures to surround them.

She had already learned what had happened from the scattered audience members and was now busy thanking Ivy.

“I thought the Supreme God wouldn’t dare to interfere in my circus, but who would have thought he would dare to send such an ugly imposter! It’s so rude!” Lucius waved his hand, and a goblin bodyguard pulled the shapeshifter’s corpse out of the stage.

“I suppose the Supreme God is why you stayed in Sword Coast, Professor Doom?” Lucius poked the shapeshifter’s ugly face with his staff, a look of disgust on his face. “This level of offense is enough for me to wipe out their entire order! But I also run an interdimensional circus, and I really can’t afford to lose any more employees. Especially my Skeleton Ballet. It’s taken me years just to teach them all to twirl on their toes; if they all die here, the rehearsal time will have to be added decades more!”

“But I can’t leave just like that, especially without Drippos. He’s our star—guests of all races and faiths adore him.” Lucius deliberately flaunted the ring on his thick finger. “I need him back, and I will reward whoever finds him with love, adoration, and proper compensation. What do you think?”

Ivy glanced at the shapeshifter on the ground. The clown costume he had been wearing matched the one worn by the mutilated corpse that Evil Thought had found in the basement of the Temple of Compassion.

However, Ivy was genuinely uninterested in Lucius's reward. As a mage with the ability to travel between dimensions, gold and ordinary magical items were no longer of any interest to him.

However, out of respect for Valentine, the old vampire dean of the Mi Hua Society, Ivy can recommend this job to a suitable person—someone who doesn't find mutilated corpses and blood terrifying.

“Actually, one of my companions has already found Drippus, or at least a part of him,” Ivy said calmly. “The Supreme God must have orchestrated a series of murders and then hidden the Joker’s body throughout Baldur’s Gate. We happen to be investigating this series of murders. I will relay your request to my companion, and if he agrees, your Drippus should be able to be found, at least to the point where necromancy can be used.”

“It’s so much easier talking to smart people!” Lucius nodded in satisfaction. “My reward will be very generous, and don’t forget to tell your companions that!”

Ivy nodded to indicate that she understood, and then led her teammates outside.

“Tara’s claws are sharp, Shadowheart, be careful with your fingers.” Gale showed Shadowheart, who was trying to stroke Tara, the envelopes in her hand. “Look at the scratches on these envelopes, the leather straps used to bind them are broken, and they’re not even Tara’s main targets.”

“Hey!” Karak pointed to a letter in Gale’s hand. “Isn’t that the symbol of the Zentradi?”

The leather rope used to bind the letters broke, and the overlapping letters were exposed to the world.

Karak noticed the upside-down dragon on the wax seal, which prompted her to ask the question.

“Oh, it is indeed the mark of the Santalin Society.” Gale opened the envelope and took out the letter inside. “Although the courier requested an unopened letter, since it is related to the underground organization, we should still open it and take a look.”

“It was written by Danzo to Boss Friol. Hmm… I don’t quite understand… but it mentions the Van Sampur family and an iron flask.” Gale’s eyebrows furrowed. “It’s probably an internal dispute within the Santalin Society.”

Nothing about the Van Sampure family is simple.

Ivy immediately became interested and took the letter from Gale's hand.

After examining him for a moment, Ivy smiled.

"Tell me quickly what you discovered!" Yingxin demanded to share information.

“Rugen, do you remember what he was doing when we met him on the road to advancement?” Ivy asked.

"Goods transported from Eltugad to Baldur's Gate?" Shadowheart still remembered what happened that day.

“That’s right,” Ivy nodded. “It was an order from the Van Sampure family, for an iron flask hidden in a safe.”

"And what kind of thing is it that can let your gaze pass through the iron flask and even elicit a reaction from those outside?" Ivy continued to ask.

“The Eye Demon?” Gale already guessed the answer. “Bottled monsters are very sought-after commodities, let alone one containing an Eye Demon. Why would the Van Sampure family buy an Eye Demon flask?”

“To protect the Shield of Sylvam,” Ivy laughed. “Using a Glavenus to protect an anti-Glaven artifact, that’s hellish. It’s just that due to the infighting within the Zantalin Guild, the Glavenus Iron Flask was taken by another faction. If Danzo of the Sword Coast Express is Rugan’s contact, then he might also be a player worth trying to win over. Especially now that the guild is preparing to deal with the Zantalin Guild.”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Pointing to the Sword Bay Express store on the side of the road, “Who would have thought that the place with cages piled up in the backyard was the stronghold of the Zantalin Society?”

The Santalite member named Danzo was a golden dwarf, and the small house was filled with the smell of pigeon droppings because of the pigeon coop on the second floor.

Fortunately, no one was at the courier station at the time, allowing the adventurers to persuade Danzo without any pretense.

"You wouldn't happen to... uh, have found my letter by chance, would you?" Danzo recognized Gale at a glance, after all, no one would be that interested in his pigeons.

Ivy laid out the letter and envelope on the counter, with the side sealed with the Zantalin wax facing up.

“You’ve already opened it…” Danzo quickly put the letter and envelope away. “Then let’s not waste time beating around the bush. Tell me, how much hush money do you want?”

"The internal turmoil within the Santalin Society didn't seem to affect you. It seems your role in the postal system is indispensable." Ivy's gaze shifted to the staircase leading to the second floor. "Is it because of those carrier pigeons?"

"Whose side are you on?" Danzo gave Ivy a wary look. "Flame Fist? The guild? Or Stone Lord? You can't be one of those Harpists who were wiped out, can you?"

“The Stone Lord is gone too, I made him myself.” Ivy smiled. “As for whether we are friend or foe, that depends on your answer.” “I will not betray the Snake Nest!” Danzo reached for the dagger at his waist.

“It’s not a betrayal.” Ivy waved her hand, and an envelope from the cabinet behind Danzo flew toward him. “It’s just setting things right.”

Danzo frowned but did not intercept the envelope. The letter was sent by Flame Fist Guardian to Duke Ravengard.

The supreme authority of Baldur's Gate is about to change, so there's no point in sending it there now. Everyone can see that Gotash will become a true dictator, otherwise Dark Hold wouldn't have asked the local Zantarim to support him.

The instructions to delay the Flame Fist message also came from the city.

"Dark Keep is too far from Baldur's Gate to understand the special circumstances here, right?" The envelope floating in front of Ivy opened itself, carefully unfolding the letter, even smoothing out the creases. "How could a dictator who worships Bane allow an underground force like the Zantarin Order to exist? If Gortash really gains control of Baldur's Gate, the rats in the lower city will be the first to suffer. Not to mention he has his own smuggling channels. Besides losing its independence, I don't see what benefit the Zantarin Order could gain from it."

“I’m not a member of the circle. Even if you tell me, it won’t change anything.” Although Danzo was still refusing, everyone could tell that his attitude had softened.

Despite the Dark Castle overhead, the various Santalite factions are largely independent of each other.

The higher-ups in the group are called "circles," each responsible for different areas of business.

Some were responsible for selling stolen goods, some for handling affairs, and others for making connections, and so on.

The membership of the circle depends on the prosperity of local businesses. For example, Baldur's Gate's business isn't particularly good.

There are too many rats in the lower city, not to mention the local guilds. Before the rise of the Supreme God, the Zantalin Guild even had to be on good terms with the guilds in order to have a chance to breathe.

Even if the Supreme God were to invest in the Dark Castle and seek help from external forces, it would come at the cost of a split within the local power structure of the Zantariim.

Otherwise, Rugen and his group wouldn't have been made scapegoats.

“Members of the Circle also have to consider the opinions of those below, let alone elders like you.” Ivy suddenly showed a feigned apology. “Ah, I forgot, there are no locals left in the Circle. Our old friends Zaris and Rugen are still in Flamefist’s prison. I heard they surrendered voluntarily? How noble, sacrificing themselves to protect the Serpent’s Den.”

This was obviously sarcasm. The Zantalin Society was nothing but a bunch of thieves from the gutter, hardly noble, not to mention that this was originally an operation to eliminate dissidents.

“Rugen has already escaped,” Danzo retorted. “The Ring gave him a second chance!”

“Yeah, we used up all our second chances of the operation allowance, and all we got were ourselves and a few small fry. Flame Fist's noose is still around Zaris's neck.” Ivy had been waiting for Danzo to say this. “How about we make a bet? Let's see when we can find Zaris's body in the gutter? I bet three days, what about you?”

Ivy flicked a gold coin, letting it spin on the counter in front of Danzo. The sound of metal scraping against wood grew faster and faster, unsettling Danzo until he slammed the coin down.

Before Danzo could speak, Ivy smiled slightly: "People always have choices, but you don't have to choose now. Tomorrow I'll have Rugan come and catch up with you, and perhaps then you'll have your answer, Postmaster."

The Flame Fist letter floating in the air was folded back by the invisible mage's hand. Ivy held it between two fingers and waved it in front of Danzo: "Ravengard in the High Hall is no longer needed. I'll help you find a better buyer."

Leaving behind his last words, Ivy winked at his companions and was the first to leave the Sword Bay Express, which reeked of pigeon droppings.

“This is truly an unexpected delight.” Standing outside the gates of Sword Bay Express, Ivy smiled at her companions. “You’d never guess what was written in that letter from Flame Fist.”

“The marching route of the Supreme God.” Ivy looked at the bustling street. “Let’s go somewhere else to talk, there are too many people here.”

Refugees arriving in Livington from all directions wanted to get as close as possible to the walls of Baldur's Gate, so large refugee camps were concentrated on the side of the land closest to the Chunsak River.

After the Supreme God's small force attacked the checkpoint set up by Flame Fist, only to be defeated by the Iron Guardians who arrived on the scene, people became even more hesitant to venture into the southern region.

Therefore, even within the town of Livington, the population is mainly concentrated in the north and less so in the south.

The adventurers stopped in their tracks in the courtyard of what appeared to be an abandoned house.

“The mobilization power of the Supreme God is beyond imagination.” Ivy handed the letter that Flame Fist Elf had written to the High Duke to her companion. “From this letter alone, we have already learned about two Supreme God forces under the leadership of the Drow elves.”

"They are positioned on the north and south banks of the Chongza River, respectively. The one on the north side, from the Troll Claws, is marching almost close to the edge of Resven. The force on the south side is mainly composed of goblin tribes from the Razorfang Forest and the Cloak Forest. Although they are undisciplined and slow, their numbers are increasing rapidly. This north and south force completely surrounds Baldur's Gate, but we do not know if the Supreme God has any other forces besides these two."

"Is this really good news?" Yingxin asked. "Two armies of cultists, and their minds are full of mind-stealing tadpoles... Ugh... Just thinking about it is driving me crazy."

“Whether we know the movements of the Supreme God’s army or not, they will eventually arrive at Baldur’s Gate,” Ivy said. “Rather than passively facing them without knowing anything, it’s better to plan ahead after we know the situation. So this is certainly good news.”

"Good news? Oh... I'm sorry, I have bad news." Two familiar figures emerged from the house behind the adventurers.

"Minsk has turned into a crow!" The bald man with purple skin swaggered out of the door, his old partner Jashira walking in front of him. "Jashira too!"

“We found a box of toys stuffed with explosives in Flamefist’s warehouse, and followed the trail to the toy manufacturer.” Jasira rubbed his head. “The whereabouts of Baal’s assassin, Dolo, are unknown, and now we have another bomber targeting children. We need to check out the Fiery Shop in the lower city; it’s said that someone has stockpiled a large amount of smoke powder there. That stuff can cause far more damage than an assassin.”

(End of this chapter)