From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 571 The Scepter of the Undead
"Wait... I still don't quite understand. Why is this so abrupt?" Eileen conveyed a huge amount of information in just two short sentences. Ivy gestured for her to clarify, "What oath did you make to the Moon Maiden? And why did you break it? Could it be just because you killed Lorokan?"

“Sigh…” Eileen sighed, moving slightly away from the laboratory that exuded necromancy magic. “I am the daughter of the Silver Saint Mother. On the day I received this greatsword, I swore to dedicate myself to her, wholeheartedly and without hesitation…”

Ivy understood. In other words, Irene had sworn an oath of devotion to Serene. Paladins who strictly adhere to this oath are generally considered to represent a part of the world's noble ideals and are also known as paladins or white knights. They are upright members who wear bright armor and swear to follow justice and goodness. They are a group of good people in the traditional sense.

"So killing Lorokan made you an Oathbreaker?" Ivy hesitated, genuinely unaware that the White Knights had so many troublesome beliefs. "Killing your enemy could also break your oath?"

“The Moon Maiden taught us to have compassion for all things in the world. I should show her wrath when facing the truly wicked, not torture a lousy mage who can do little harm to this world… The Moon Maiden told me he can’t even be considered evil.” Eileen turned her head to gaze at the moss-covered stone walls of the Tourmaline Abyss, not letting Ivy see the expression on her face, but from her voice alone, Ivy could sense the embarrassment and complex emotions. “I… I didn’t expect… he was just a liar…”

“No one could have imagined it.” Ivy sometimes couldn’t help but marvel at the wonder of life. How many people would have thought that a great mage who occupied the only mage tower in Baldur’s Gate was actually a charlatan?

“Katheric’s imprisonment fueled your anger to the core. Someone with weak faith might have gone mad long ago. Not only did you not go mad, but you were also able to correctly identify your enemies and bring them to justice,” Ivy defended her. “Lorokan’s actions undoubtedly touched a raw nerve. No one wants to be bound by magic for another hundred years, or even longer. He ignited your anger, and that anger consumed your reason.”

“Heh…” Eileen chuckled softly, turning around. “Now I know why you attract so many beautiful girls, the bard’s sincere glibness? Thank you, Ivy. I know what I did wrong. A paladin who has sworn to dedicate his life to the Silver Mother will never excuse his mistakes. I will atone for my sins with my actions and regain the favor of justice in the world.”

“We all know you can do it.” Ivy skipped this part, paused, and then asked, “As for the Moon Maiden’s decree—”

"Ah, this!" Eileen smiled broadly. "The Moon Maiden told me that I should prepare to welcome your and Shadowheart's child."

"Now?" Ivy asked, frowning. "Is Yingxin pregnant?"

Although it's a bit embarrassing to talk about, Ivy had ample reasons and means of contraception. As someone who intended to fully enjoy magic and, through magic, enjoy life to the fullest, she felt that some lowbrow pleasures were worth pursuing.

To avoid any side effects while enjoying life, Ivy had long ago developed contraceptive magic. While it's impossible to prove that this magic guarantees 100% contraceptive effectiveness, it's certainly not something that can be achieved with just a few passionate encounters.

“Of course not now.” A hint of mockery appeared on Eileen’s face. “After our victory, after Morningstar City truly becomes a shining star in the Sword Coast region, Selenne prophesies that your children will bring tremendous changes to the world. More importantly, she firmly believes that we will achieve ultimate victory! The Supreme God will surely be crushed by us!”

Ivy was not elated by Serene's prophecy of victory, because he knew very well that even with the prophecy, he couldn't just hide in the stronghold and do nothing. He had to defeat the enemy and take what he wanted with his own hands.

The Supreme God will not crumble because of Serene's prophecy, nor will the Crown of Karthus automatically fly into Ivy's hands because of the prophecy.

Serene's prophecy did not change anything Ivy needed to do; instead, it brought him new trouble.

Having been familiar with myths from various countries, he knew very well that when an unborn child was targeted by a deity, it usually meant that a huge conflict would unfold around him.

Serene is one of the earliest deities to be born in the world of Toril, and she also has a sister who wants to destroy the world at all times. When the two goddesses project their divine power onto the mother of this unborn child, the so-called great change may very well refer to the all-out war between Serene and Shar.

This is not a good thing for Ivy. Getting involved in the conflict between two goddesses for no reason usually doesn't end well.

Just look at Paris in Greek mythology, who received the golden apple, and you'll know that messing with goddesses never ends well.

If possible, Ivy doesn't intend to let this prophecy come true, but he hasn't figured out exactly how to do it yet.

Preventing the birth of this prophetic child by abstaining from sexual relations with Shadowheart is absolutely the worst possible course of action. Serene is the goddess of the moon, and the phases of the moon are associated with female fertility in many worlds and cultures.

Therefore, in extreme circumstances, it's not impossible for Serene to bypass Ivy and stage a miracle. In that case, that cuckold's hat would be slapped directly on Ivy's head.

Or should we let Shadowheart have more children to increase the number of children of prophecy?
The thought had barely crossed my mind when Ivy banished it. Shadowheart wasn't some kind of breeding machine; to make her suffer in order to avoid the goddess's prophecy was somewhat irresponsible.

Ultimately, Ivy concluded that the solution to this problem lay in magic.

After the child is born, you could use magic to arrange several substitutes for him, or simply send him to another plane until Ivy is able to defeat the two goddesses and make them kneel down and sing "Conquer," before returning to Toril.

Or simply use magic to distort Serene's prophecy, so that the premise of the prophesied child is invalid from the beginning.

Among the eight major schools of magic on the continent of Faerûn, the School of Prophecy is a very popular one, with powerful practitioners even capable of reversing time and fate. However, Ivy has never been particularly fond of this school of magic. Locating spells and various detection spells are the prophecy spells that Ivy uses most often. Asking him to devise a way to magically reverse a prophecy made by a true god is not something he can do casually.

“It’s done…” The mummy lord’s dry, hoarse voice brought Ivy’s consciousness back to the necromancy laboratory.

After Ms. Irene revealed the details of the prophecy, she left to find her girlfriend, Isobel. In this stronghold, which had been specially reinforced by Ivy's magic, she no longer needed to worry about the safety of the Serene voters and could finally relax.

Avi, however, seemed somewhat dazed and confused by the prophecy of Selenne. Although the Ravenclaw crown prevented him from ruining the work of creating the necromancy staff with Carrion, he still appeared somewhat absent-minded. When Carrion, as the wielder of the staff, began the final step—combining a portion of his necromancy essence with the staff to better manipulate the necromancy creations associated with it—Avi's mind began to wander.

With the decisive battle approaching, such unhelpful thoughts are unacceptable. Ivy mentally criticized Serene's prophecy, and soon joined Carion in examining the joint creation of the two necromancy masters.

“Wonderful…” Carion seemed to close his withered eyes wrapped beneath the shroud. “I never imagined I could be connected to the Misty Realm in this way. It’s like a wisp of mist hanging over an abyss, so close yet so far away.”

“Let’s give it a try,” Ivy interrupted Carion’s musings. “Use that scepter to seize my necromancy creation.”

"Hehehe—I have great confidence in it..." Carion chuckled sinisterly, and some torn threads from the shroud dripped from his body.

The necromancy scepter, crafted by the two, possessed an ominous bluish-black hue. Its entire material was provided by Ivy, a fragment of the tailbone of the dragon Smaug. The gray eyeball suspended at the top of the scepter was the mummified eye of the dragon. Due to the significant loss of moisture through magic and potions, the once enormous eyeball had shrunk to a small lump, yet even so, it was still larger than an adult's head.

The shriveled blood vessels coiled around the wrinkled lens, and the dull gray vertical pupils revealed a lifeless gaze, barely reflecting any light even when directly exposed to sunlight.

Ivy clapped her hands, and countless bones and flesh poured out from several jars that had been placed in the necromancy laboratory. They quickly pieced together six ghouls, baring their fangs and claws as they stared at the mummy lord, who was also an undead creature.

"You created six ghouls with just one spell?" Carion's hoarse voice revealed a hint of admiration. "Your necromancy skills are indeed unfathomable."

Necromancy is a magical school that requires a lot of advance preparation. To make necromancy servants work, necromancy masters usually collect materials in advance, carefully craft perfect necromancy creations, and continuously enhance them with magic.

With repeated use, a powerful undead army can be built up. However, without relying on rituals, directly raising new undead creatures from the corpses left on the battlefield by enemies or allies is a true test of a necromancer's skill.

A necromancer like Ivy, who can summon six ghouls with just one fifth-circle spell slot, would rank among the top ten even on the entire continent of Faerûn.

Ivy wasn't flattered by a mummy lord's compliment; he raised his chin, signaling Carion that he could begin.

Carion let out two unseemly laughs, raised his scepter high and slammed it heavily on the ground. Thick, murky, blackish-green mist rose from the base of the scepter and poured into the withered dragon eye at the top.

Its exposed eyeballs suddenly swelled up, turning viciously, and soon its vertical pupils met the ghouls summoned by Ivy.

A pale gray line silently appeared between the two, and Ivy immediately felt herself lose control of a ghoul. The sensation was very subtle, like stepping on seemingly solid swamp ground, only feeling the sudden increase in suction when trying to pull her foot off the ground.

“Continue.” Ivy frowned as she tried to sever the mental link with the ghoul. Although it was a bit difficult, she managed to do it. However, the ghoul that had severed the mental link did not quickly turn into a pile of bones and pus. Instead, it immediately turned around and bared its fangs at Ivy.

The mummy lord made no further moves, but more invisible gray lines shot out from the dragon's eyeballs, which were emitting specks of blood. One by one, Ivy's ghouls were controlled by the Staff of the Necromancer.

“Let’s test the maximum number.” Ivy didn’t show much burden on her face as she cast a spell to summon ghouls again, while Carion cooperated to take control of them.

Soon, the not-so-crowded necromancy laboratory could no longer hold any more undead creatures. When the prepared flesh and blood were used up, Ivy had no choice but to deal with the bones accumulated in the Tourmaline Abyss, and skeleton soldiers became the second type of summoned creature.

The Mummy Lord's initial smugness turned into numbness; he had never seen a guy with such boundless magical power as Ivy.

He has controlled more than a hundred undead creatures with the Staff of the Dead, and even the corridors of the Abyss of the Tourmaline are crammed with them. If this prison had not once housed seven thousand vampire avatars, they would have had a hard time finding a place in Baldur's Gate that could hold so many undead creatures.

What alarmed Carion even more was that even after summoning so many undead creatures, Ivy still seemed to be handling it with ease, as if the spell slots were truly bottomless.

“Enough…” Carrion stopped Ivy from continuing to summon undead creatures. “I’m starting to feel the burden. The number of Iron Guardians that Gortash has already produced will definitely not exceed the number of undead creatures here. Not to mention that the undead creatures he uses to control the Iron Guardians are even lower-level zombies.”

“Okay.” Ivy stopped constructing a spell model in her mind and opened her palm toward the scepter of dominion in Carion’s hand.

A massive scepter whipped up a black gust of wind and suddenly slammed into Ivy's hand. He shook the scepter, and the eye that had bulged from the bulging veins immediately lowered its gaze unwillingly. The undead creatures that filled the necromancy laboratory and corridor scattered to the ground and turned back into lifeless objects.

"This is impossible!" The Mummy Lord clenched his fist in disbelief, confirming that what had just happened was not an illusion. "The scepter has already synchronized with me!"

“Of course it’s possible.” Ivy tossed the scepter back into the mummy lord’s arms. “Because I have absolute control over the materials that make up the scepter.”

(End of this chapter)