Equipment Printing School Mage

[Holy crap! Mars is crazy too!? Why?]

Ninety-three missing offspring

"What happened?!"

Even the dullest person could notice that the golden sky had silently been dyed blood red.

Emiya looked up in surprise.

Blood-red clouds had enveloped the entire Baldur's Gate at some point, and in the center of the red clouds was a strange emblem.

The vertices of the three dark, narrow triangles were pieced together from a distance, leaving three narrow gaps, which eventually formed another narrow triangle.

A strange divine emblem.

Emilia's religious knowledge was not very rich, he could only confirm that this emblem definitely did not belong to any of the evil gods that were particularly famous today.

...The omniscient and unique emblem of the Gods?

But he couldn't care less about that at the moment.

He used the portal to return to the Mage Tower, but found that the originally tidy hall had become so messy as if it had been swept by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Yin was squatting beside Imoen's body at this moment, and the originally elegant wizard now had bloodshot eyes and was holding his head in agony, but his movements were so slow as if they were slowed down dozens of times.

Similarly, Mars' condition was almost as bad. He was kneeling on the ground, holding his helmet tightly with both hands. The steel creaked because of his huge force. He closed his eyes tightly and his lips were bleeding.

Imoen's simulacrum was safe and sound, and did not seem to be in great pain like the original and Mars.

As soon as Emiya returned to the Mage Tower, she saw the Simulacrum of Imoen stand up immediately.

She said simply, "As you can see—I don't know which god is behind this incident, but this matter is beyond my ability to handle."

The simulacrum of Imoen glanced coldly at the three people present and jumped Mars over. "Sig, Emya, and Yin. Now, the three of you should prepare to leave Baldur's Gate immediately. I recommend going to the Harper headquarters in Waterdeep. Or you can go to the Archdruid in the Sharptooth Forest. In short, don't go out for a while."

As she spoke, she even untied the dimensional hole on her waist and handed it to Emiya: "This is all my assets..."

This is already a last word.

Emiya didn't answer and quickly looked around the field.

The two Imoen were originally observing the walls of Baldur's Gate and Silvershield Mansion. He had just left for a while when he noticed the accident on the walls of Baldur's Gate. Now when he returned, he only had Silvershield Mansion to observe.

At this moment, Apodel Adrian was kneeling on the ground trembling, and his condition was exactly the same as Imoen's and Mars's.

Emilia's mind raced.

What happened to him?

It can't be a spell, otherwise the two people hiding in the wizard's tower would not show the same state.

A certain common point, or hidden danger, among the three of them was detonated by someone in some way.

What hidden dangers could there be in Apodel Adrian?

The only hidden danger for a paladin is breaking his oath, but that will only lead to a loss of power.

There are other hidden dangers.

What do the three of them have in common?

Are they all from Candlekeep? That's certainly odd, but Candlekeep is a massive church center, and I've never heard of any common physical traits. They should be just ordinary humans.

"...Miss Imoen." Emilia hesitated and asked, "You are the son of Baal."

The Imoen Simulacrum was silent for a moment, then finally nodded decisively: "Yes."

Then, the answer is obvious.

Emiya turned to her first teammate in confusion: "Mars, are you also a son of Baal?"

Mars, who was still clutching his helmet tightly, almost stood up suddenly, but he didn't look at Emilia. Instead, he glared at Imoen and shouted, "You knew it a long time ago, right?"

The Simulacrum of Imoen shook his head. "Not at the beginning. It was only years later that the Church of Oghma in Candlekeep accidentally discovered this and decided to inform Apodel. That's when we found out."

“An unexpected discovery…an unexpected discovery!”

Although Mars was not particularly gentle, he was now like a giant beast ready to devour its prey: "Many years later...accidentally...!"

He obviously hasn't completely lost the ability to think.

Suddenly, he stopped and practically roared, "Ten years ago, the results of the Church of Knowledge's opening ceremony for selecting novices were announced. I was clearly the most outstanding among my peers in every aspect, but somehow I didn't qualify."

"That day, I acted recklessly for the first time. I ran away from Candlekeep and wandered in the wilderness for several days and nights with only a few simple equipment. Then I met my teacher and became a paladin." Mars's helmet was almost dented by his pinching. "That encounter wasn't accidental, was it?"

"Yes," the simulacrum of Imoen replied. "When the Church of Oghma learned of your identity, they immediately informed Apodel. After all, it was he who sent your pregnant mother to Candlekeep. The two of us felt that we couldn't leave you alone. So Apodel went to Candlekeep and accepted you as his disciple."

"Son of Baal...Son of Baal!" Mars's fury was completely uncontrollable. "How could I be the son of Baal!"

"Don't ask me. Apodel and I have never liked this identity for a single day." The Imoen simulacrum was unusually calm at this moment. "You can do whatever you want now."

She said calmly, "Right now, the three of us are completely tied together. You can still barely suppress the desire for bloodshed and destruction within you. But if any one of us dies, I'm afraid the God of Slaughter will be resurrected in the body of one of the remaining two. Whether you kill yourself or me, it makes no difference."

Mars roared: "So, you are my brother and sister?!"

On this topic alone, the Imoen simulacrum suddenly spoke at an incredibly fast pace, "This forced application of traditional ethics is extremely inaccurate. Theoretically, our father is Baal, but in reality, the actual body Baal uses varies greatly each time. As a result, the only connection between all the sons of Baal is the divine blood in their bodies. In this way, the so-called brothers and sisters among the sons of Baal are only rhetorical, not biological!"

Judging from her fluency, God knows how many times she has recited this passage.

In this deadly atmosphere, Emiya frowned and looked at the observation spell that was still maintained.

In the center of this illusion, Apodale was surrounded by a mountain of debris, but none of it had any trace of magic left.

The red-robed wizard and a devil were standing quietly beside Apodel, as if waiting for something.

Now, as long as one of the Sons of Baal dies, the three people who are still struggling will immediately collapse, and Baal will be resurrected immediately.

So, the question is - what are they waiting for?

Emiya frowned. "Mars, how long do you think you can last under this influence? Do you think you will naturally turn into Baal?"

"Right now, I'm just irritated, furious, and bloodthirsty! Looking at my own master's wife is an eyesore, and I wish I could tear her to pieces right now, or even commit suicide?! You're actually asking me how much longer I can hold on!"

Mars' left hand was tightly grasping his right arm, his fingers sliding restlessly across the muscles, as if he was about to tear his arm off in the next second: "Ten minutes? Ten minutes at most, maybe even shorter."

However, ten minutes is a bit too long.

Emiya pursed her lips and looked at the divine emblem in the sky.

This is how it all started.

Divine power is always an extremely mysterious thing. Even the wisest sages often only understand the gods through their agents on earth.

"Silver! Can you tell what the effect of that red cloud is?"

"Hmm?" Yin had been concentrating on controlling Imoen - if such a great wizard went crazy in his own wizard tower, all of them would be blown to pieces in an instant - only now did he raise his head and look out the window.

She hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Red, the divine emblem, the clouds... these are all superficial manifestations."

"The red cloud and the divine emblem are simply for intimidation... part of the atmosphere." Yin carefully released her hand, confirming that the stasis field she had set up was still functioning properly before saying, "As for the true effect... it should be breaking the limit. In the simplest terms, it's to loosen the originally strict restrictions slightly."

She considered her words carefully before saying, "For example, a spell that previously only affected one target will now affect two. Magical effects that required only one person to activate will now activate when two are left."

Emiya hesitated for a moment.

A high-ranking red-robed wizard, a devil, just stood there stupidly for ten minutes, waiting for Apodel to turn into Baal?

This scene is somewhat too funny.

Unless, in their expectation, this process should not have lasted so long.

He asked, "Miss Imoen, how many people know about Mars's identity?"

Imoen's simulacrum was stunned for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "Very, very little. It's me and Apodel, his late mother. The Chief Reader and Keeper of the Book of Candlekeep promised Apodel that this matter would not be spread to anyone else."

The Chief Reader and Keeper of the Book are the supreme leaders of Candlekeep and hold important positions in the Church of Oghma.

In other words, the existence of Mars may be an unknown secret.

The devil's plan ignored the existence of Mars.

"Silver... This kind of limit-breaking, using the previous example, what would happen if the limit was successfully raised from one person to two people, but there were only three people left?"

Yin replied: "The effect will plummet, and the losses will be extremely large."

For example, now.

Emya let out a long sigh and said, "Then, Miss Imoen, let me give you an answer—I won't leave. I've been very busy in Baldur's Gate these past few days, so I should be able to make some... connections."

"I want to contact Mr. Karkoros, Fenwei..."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "Then, go to the Temple of Supreme Miracles."

The Imoen Simulacrum hesitated for a moment, but still said, "You should leave. With your talents, it's only a matter of time before you avenge us."

Emiya answered without hesitation: "If I can get revenge today, why wait until later?"

Ninety-four friends

The Supreme Hall of Miracles in Gond was also in a rare panic at this moment.

The red clouds above Baldur's Gate were reflected in everyone's eyes.

No matter how you look at it, it was definitely not an auspicious sign, but more like a mark in the sky when the cultists were about to stir up a storm.

This sudden change, which came without warning, left the priests in the Temple of Supreme Miracles somewhat bewildered. At that moment, the Grand Master of Gond, Gutenberg, sat quietly in the center of the Temple of Supreme Miracles, facing the statue of the god Gond, saying nothing. He allowed the Gond people to whisper behind him.

The Gond Temple has always maintained neutrality, but now the entire city is within the coverage of that unknown effect. Although the city has not yet been significantly affected, is the Gond Temple really turning a blind eye to everything?

As the entire temple was filled with anxiety about the future, only an aging servant continued to clean the temple. The rustling sound was irritating.

At that delicate moment, a young priest walked hesitantly and quickly into the sanctuary and said, "...there is a visitor who said he wants to pray."

This scene was beyond the expectations of everyone present. Another Gond citizen asked, "...seeking refuge? Is he an Old Believer?"

"No," the receptionist replied. "He said he had just arrived in Baldur's Gate and had only been to the Hall of Wonders a few days before. He showed no signs of injury."

"In that case, tell him that the Gond Temple is not accepting donations now—"

At this sensitive moment, any donation without explicit request for return may be repaid a hundredfold in the future.

At this moment, Master Craftsman Gutenberg, who had his back to the crowd, suddenly asked, "What does he look like?"

The receptionist recalled for a moment and replied, "He has red hair, is quite tall, and is very young. He dresses like a wizard."

Gutenberg sighed deeply: "...Let him wait in the side hall."

Then, as if nothing had happened, the Gond Temple returned to its anxious silence.

Only the sound of the broom rubbing against each other disappeared at some point.

********************

Lunia's Emiya had just entered the side hall, before she even sat down, when she saw a hunched old man walk in, carrying a broom. Emiya took a quick look and held her breath. "I thought I'd have to wait here a little longer."

"Some processes can only be completed by waiting, while others must be completed in a hurry and cannot be delayed for a moment. Otherwise, I really don't want to see you." The old man sighed, "Are you here to join the Gunde Church?"

"That's probably not going to be easy," Emilia said calmly, "because I don't have a good relationship with the Master Craftsman. He's so powerful within the order, and I'm afraid I can't live a life of such dependence. I'm afraid that joining any other church wouldn't be any worse than joining the Gond Church."

"Then why are you here?" The old man snorted in dissatisfaction. "Do you think you are more important than a master craftsman, dozens of priests, and nearly a hundred holy warriors?"

Aimia paused.

The Silver Shield Family's power in the Gond Church has reached an incredible level. It is no exaggeration to say that they occupy half of the Gond Temple.

It is certainly extremely bizarre to ask God to cut off a leg and an arm of his church for an outsider.

But Emilia already had an idea on the way here.

"On the contrary, I'm here to advise you that for your own safety, you can no longer sit idly by and watch the situation develop."

"...My safety?!" This answer made the old man stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't help laughing, "What does this have to do with my safety?"

"I'm sorry, but the connection is perhaps deeper than you realize," Emilia replied calmly. "Now, you should know what happened in Silver Shield Mansion. Apodel Adrian's soul will not fall into Hell, but the devil has found and killed most of the Sons of Bhaal for him. The effort behind this is unimaginable. Are they trying to kill Lord Apodel? No, they must be plotting something else."

Emilia said word by word, "Demons and Baalsu have no connection. What could a god who disappeared for a hundred years have that was worth their efforts? Of course there was something, such as his divine body."

"The devil came here to capture Baal alive."

The old man's lips trembled, and he finally said, "...What does this have to do with me?"

"The demon-controlled non-gods conspired with Master Gund to murder Apodel Adrian in the private residence of your church leader, the center of your faith. They intended to resurrect an evil god openly in Baldur's Gate and then abduct this new god," Emilia asked, somewhat bewildered. "Now, the position of Grand Duke Violet is vacant again. With Grand Duke Valakon and Grand Duke Silvershield colluding, it's only a matter of time before the Flaming Fist falls into another economic collapse."

"Next, all of Baldur's Gate's secular affairs will fall into the hands of the devil and their allies. Perhaps the Gond Church will gradually wear the silver shield as its family emblem from now on."