From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 542 Past Partners

Viconia, who had put the high-ranking harpist Jashira in a difficult position, also noticed Ivy and the others who came out of Shar's cell.

The dark-skinned drow elf, like a female leopard, had already assessed the situation in the blink of an eye.

She had expected her goddess Shar to punish the heretics who had trespassed into the deepest part of her temple, but to her surprise, these intruders not only came out unharmed, but even rescued a couple that Viconia had gone to great lengths to kidnap from the Serene believers.

Even in the Shadow Embrace Monastery, which she had built herself, Shar refused to respond to Viconia's pleas.

The drow elves, exiled on the surface, were unwilling to ponder the reasons behind all this. The goddess had her reasons for doing so, and as her servant, Viconia's only duty was to follow the goddess's path and adhere to her teachings.

Perhaps, as the mage who rashly intruded and massacred all the followers of Shar said, her act of sending Shadowheart to her death had incurred the goddess's wrath. But Viconia believed that now that Shadowheart had completely betrayed Lady Shar, she was the goddess's most loyal and undisputed follower.

She needs a grand sacrifice to beg for Lady Shar's favor; perhaps the life of a Serene believer's enclave would be a weighty enough offering. But for now, Viconia must escape her own temple alive.

Nearly two hundred years have passed since she openly opposed the Spider Queen Lolth's faith in Menzoberranzan. She has also been wandering the surface for two hundred years, experiencing countless similar escapes, each time emerging unscathed. This time is no exception.

It just requires more determination and perseverance.

The instant Jashira turned to Ivy for help, Viconia, her mind racing, made her decision. She raised her shield, its crimson protective shell constantly activating, and charged towards Jashira.

Now, the old adversary, with whom he has been entangled for so long, is in a state of instability, making him very easy to hit with melee attacks, let alone a warrior charging forward with a shield.

However, Viconia's true intention was not to kill Jahira, but rather to seize the path behind her leading to the outside world. If she could severely injure Jahira before leaving the monastery, it would likely slow down the enemy's pursuit.

Jahira struggled to move on the slippery ground, barely managing to hold her two scimitars in front of her chest to defend against the priestess Shar's shield charge. The moment the elegant scimitars made contact with the golden shield, Jahira, with no foothold, was launched into the air. Even so, Viconia had no intention of ending her offensive.

The mace, imbued with malevolent magical power, whistled as it slashed fiercely toward Jahira's ribs. The druid's leather armor was unlikely to survive the sharp spikes on the mace; if the blow landed squarely, a laceration would be inevitable.

However, Jahira was not fighting alone.

"Apart from your weapon." Ivy calmly chanted the incantation, and a red aura of incantation emanated from the huge jewel at the top of the mithril staff, instantly striking Viconia, who was wielding a mace.

Viconia staggered half a step, one foot stepping into the oily floor created by Jahira's grease bottle. But she had no time to pay attention to her footing, because she found that as soon as she was hit by the spell, her hand holding the mace involuntarily loosened, and the mace flew out in a backspinning motion, easily caught by the mage standing on the other side of the hall.

A skilled warrior can disarm in the instant weapons clash, but Viconia had never heard of doing something similar with magic spells, and so effortlessly.

Mind-controlling magic, such as command spells or spells that induce panic, can all make enemies drop their weapons. However, a highly effective spell like the "Disarming Charm," which directly disarms an enemy, is indeed a first for Faerûn.

Viconia had no time to be surprised. She threw her golden shield at Jahira, who had fallen from the sky and landed in the oil slick. Using her shield as a stepping stone, she crossed the oil slick that blocked the way to the exit.

Once you burst through the circular monastery gates, you can leave everything in the Embrace of Shadows monastery far behind.

As an elf even older than Jahira, Viconia's skills had not deteriorated with time; on the contrary, they had become even more refined. After discarding everything that might become a burden, a new power erupted from the muscles beneath Viconia's dark bodysuit. With just one more step forward, she could leave the Shadow Embrace Monastery and head to Baldur's Gate on the surface.

With the cover of the civilians in the lower city, Viconia was confident that she would have countless ways to get away from this place.

Unfortunately, Viconia's vision will ultimately come to nothing.

With a muffled thud, Viconia clutched her forehead and fell backward, staring blankly at the open gates of the monastery.

A transparent wall blocked her out, and also blocked her from her delusions of regaining Shar's favor.

That's the fifth-circle Evocation spell, Force Wall, a spell that won't harm monsters but will hurt the Dungeon Lord's heart (a word of advice to all Dungeon Masters and aspiring Dungeon Masters: if you have a chance to get Force Wall in your Dungeon, please equip your BOSS with Disintegrate).

As a follower of Shar who single-handedly established the Shadow Embrace Monastery, it is quite reasonable for Viconia to be called the Lord of the Underground.

The laughter of the Lesserman from Minsk still echoed in the empty monastery's preaching hall.

In their previous duel, Viconia first used Confusion to put the Baldur's Gate heroes in an awkward situation where they couldn't distinguish friend from foe, but Jasira managed to dispel the magical effect.

Viconia then began using lower-level control spells to deplete the druid's already limited spell slots.

Tasha's Laughter, a spell from the first level, was naturally the first choice. This spell not only caused damage but also inflicted a knockdown status effect on enemies who failed their save throw. Even better, it required a Perception save throw. Thus, the Leatherman, who wasn't particularly prone to laughter, successfully exhausted Jahira's spell slots after several rounds of alternating between bursts of laughter and returning to normal. He became a loudspeaker lying on the ground, constantly emitting a vulture-like, piercing laugh, accompanied by violent coughing and wheezing.

If it weren't for Ivy and the others leaving Shar's cell, Minsk might have laughed himself to death.

Viconia sat blankly on the ground, clutching her forehead, staring at the corpses strewn across the preaching hall. She had previously thought she could rely on these loyal believers to help her win back Shar's favor, but now it seemed that apart from making Minsk choke on some saliva and making Jashira's hair and skin shinier with oil, she had accomplished nothing.

“Bodyan’s underwear! Minsk didn’t help at all! He just stood there laughing like an idiot!” the purple-skinned bald man said angrily as he got up from the ground. He picked up his greatsword and went to Viconia’s side. “But now Minsk only needs one move to end you, you evil witch, forever!”

“Wait, Minsk.” Jashira wiped the grease off his hand on a relatively clean spot on his trousers. “She’s not our prisoner, she’s Ivy’s. It’s not up to us to decide her fate.”

“You still yearn for a normal family, don’t you?” Viconia, who was sitting blankly on the ground, suddenly shouted at Yingxin, perhaps because the bright smile on her face stung Viconia. “But you know very well that it’s impossible! They both know everything! They watched me mold you, crying and hating their own powerlessness. They bled, they wailed, and you caused all of this with your own hands! Those painful memories will become an obstacle to your family! Only by returning to Ms. Shar’s embrace can you find eternal peace!”

“So cruel…” Jashira frowned, looking at Viconia with a pitying and incredulous gaze. “What exactly did Shar do to you? The Viconia I remember, though ruthless, was definitely not a cruel person.”

Upon hearing this, Minsk's eyes widened: "She even wants to study Little B's internal organs, isn't that cruel?"

"Come on, Minsk, she just wanted you to have some peace and quiet on your journey. And that method really worked... To be honest, I even considered doing the same thing... It's just that Little B's eyes really make it hard for me to offer anything other than nuts." As a sign of getting older, she started reminiscing about the past in various situations.

“Enough!” Viconia interrupted Jasira and Minsk’s old buddy’s act. “It was Lady Shar’s order, so I obeyed. I never questioned it; I acted according to her will. Shadowheart, what a beautiful name. You should have been the Dark Lady’s right-hand woman, her confidante, even her daughter, but you abandoned all of that, just to pick up that weak name from a pile of illusions… Jenny? Or something else?”

“Just saying that word fills my mouth with an unpleasant sourness.” Viconia spat down the steps. “Come on, little Jenny, take my life and finish your last task here.”

“It’s Jennyville, Headmistress.” Standing beside her parents, Shadowheart’s smile faded as she calmly looked at Viconia. “It, like Shadowheart, is my past. You can’t hurt me now, not even Shar. You’re nothing but Shar’s puppet, you’ve never had your own will. I don’t care about your fate, I’ll let my lover decide your destiny.”

All eyes were then focused on Ivy. Even though he hadn't said a word before, his presence as a legendary spellcaster was unmatched by ordinary people.

The sudden burst of magical lightning choked Viconia's words, which she had intended to use to provoke Shadowheart, and caused her to collapse to the ground like a piece of rotten flesh.

"Take her back first, I plan to use her for some magical experiments." The force field wall blocking the monastery gate rapidly deformed and folded, and the change in light transmittance also revealed its new form—a regular dodecahedral prison, which firmly sealed the limp Viconia inside.

"A magical experiment?" Jasira's kind nature prompted her to ask.

“It’s about the magical experiments on Shar’s artifact,” Ivy explained. “We found a Dark Mirror inside, which is the artifact Shar used to strip believers of their memories. I suspect that Viconia may have had some of her memories stolen as well. Didn’t you say she was unfamiliar with us? Perhaps we can restore those memories to her by studying the Dark Mirror. I can also take this opportunity to figure out how the mirror works.”

“This is… pretty good…” Jasira had witnessed Ivy kill all the Sha'er followers of the Shadow Embrace Monastery with a single spell, which made her begin to doubt Ivy’s motives.

This skepticism stemmed from the harpists' instinct, after all, their motto was "Overthrow tyranny, equality for all."

Ivy is now a lord of Sword Coast and has gained the approval of the Baldur's Gate Council. She may soon join the Lords' Alliance, thus becoming the Harpist's potential enemy.

The Harpists were a semi-underground organization in the Sword Coast, largely because they opposed the rule of some lords.

The world isn't black and white; even good people can turn against each other because of differing perspectives. Therefore, Ivy already knew how to manage interpersonal relationships, and his explanation effectively quelled Jashira's slight doubts.

“You know what, Jashira? Minsk is starting to miss Liracool.” Minsk, with his smooth brain, doesn’t have these kinds of worries. His simple values ​​are always straightforward, so even when dealing with former teammates, he doesn’t feel confused at all.

“Lyraco?” Shadowheart asked, looking at Viconia in the force field prison. “Another old friend of yours?”

“That’s not wrong.” Jasira nodded somewhat reluctantly. “Lilacoul is a powerful sword, and most importantly, it can talk, it can talk a lot. So much so that even Minsk would wish it would be quiet for a while.”

"So when it was stuck in an ogre's ass and fell off a cliff, I was pretty happy," Jasira shrugged. "Why are you starting to miss that talkative sword, Minsk?"

“Because of Viconia!” Minsk pointed at the drow elf imprisoned by Ivy, “her magic messed up Minsk’s brain, making him collapse on the ground because of something completely unfunny! If Liracoul were still in Minsk’s hands, it would be reminding him with its big mouth that the joke wasn’t funny at all!”

“Indeed… that talkative sword can help you get rid of many spell effects that affect your mind.” Jahira sighed nostalgically. “It’s just a pity that we are now too far from the valley where it fell, about as far away as my youth.”

“Don’t forget you have an astral archmage in your team,” Ivy reminded him with interest, curious about what kind of weapon this so-called Liracoul was. “He can even stop time.”

(End of this chapter)