Equipment Printing School Mage
Page 240
"That's what I want to ask you." Metatron, in his mage form for the first time, lowered the bow behind him. "—Why are you here?"
"...Very good." Larloch was silent for a moment. "Over a thousand years ago, you guided me to become the Chosen One of Mystril. You severed your ties with me, but I haven't officially severed all ties with you yet—so, I will answer your last question."
The silver fire in the Warlock King's body surged like never before, and his once vigorous body shriveled up. His gray hair quickly withered, black spots appeared on his pampered skin, and dense wrinkles instantly filled his entire face.
Larloch is a lich.
Larloch extended his hand, gathering the seething silver flames within it. "The Master of the Demonic Web has never vanished for a century. Even Ao turned a blind eye to this. This is an opportunity that won't come around in tens of thousands of years."
"In my plan, the Candlekeep's puzzle will be my first source of nourishment. The Myth Drannor puzzle will be the second."
"But I'm luckier than I thought—" Larloch said word by word, "Metatron, you actually appeared before me."
"You want to be the fourth God of Magic." Metatron said coldly.
"That's right." Larloch sneered, "If Azuth can rely on his third leg to become the God of Mages, and even betray the Goddess of Magic with a clear conscience, why can't I?"
The most powerful lich in the world, one of the most powerful mages, pointed at Metatron and said, "Seraphim, you stood at the end of your life the moment you were born. Most creatures don't even have the qualifications to stand before you. Unfortunately, creatures like you no longer have room for further improvement. No matter how much time passes, you can only accumulate knowledge and experience, and it's impossible for you to improve much more. What's more, you have wasted a thousand years in Celestial Mountain?"
"And I, in these millennia, have been preparing for this day every moment."
"Metatron." Larloch stretched out his hand, his dry hand emitting a dark light. "Give me your Silver Fire."
"You want it?" Metatron held a bowstring like the moon. "—Then you'll have to come and get it yourself."
"...That's a pity." This answer obviously did not surprise Larok.
He took a step back and called out softly, "My servant, come to me."
As soon as Larloch finished speaking, a raging space storm set off a silent frenzy in the open space.
Countless creatures are teleporting towards this location and revealing themselves here.
Some of them were dressed in rags, like the bones in a tomb, while others were dressed in rich clothes, covered in magical items and jewels.
Some creatures still had bits of flesh clinging unwillingly to their skeletons, while many others had only the last of their bodies reduced to bare bones.
That is the sea of liches.
Maybe dozens, maybe hundreds?
This powerful creature, capable only of transformation by powerful mages, would be a formidable threat that would shake entire realms in any other land. Its mere appearance could completely rob countless settlements of their courage to resist. Even the most tyrannical dragons would be forced to rethink their plans upon the sight of a lich.
Perhaps, they are the most powerful undead creatures in the world.
However, such a monster was now being driven at will by Larloch as if it were the lowest level skeleton.
No matter where they were or what they were doing, Larloch called out to them and brought them to his side from all corners of Faerun.
The flames dancing in their eyes ignited the darkness.
Larloch floated gently up and delivered his final ultimatum: "Surrender the Silver Flame alive, or become my plaything, even your flesh and blood?"
Hundreds of liches, not to mention rampaging across the material plane—
There would never be an armed parade of this level on the bloody battlefield.
Apodel let out a long breath and gripped the hilt of the greatsword.
Not long ago, the lich army, which was far outnumbered, made everyone in Baldur's Gate unable to close their eyes for several days and nights.
And now, the army has returned and may even be victorious, but there are only two people left here.
Larloch said softly, “Metatron, I have challenged you twice, and each time I was defeated miserably.
"But today, it will not be so. Guess what? Will you die first at my hands, or will Candlekeep fall first?"
Even though Apodel boasted of having experienced countless battles in his life, he had never fought dozens of liches in one breath.
Emia of Lunya.
——You better not be bragging.
Twenty-fifth Mystery Lock Lost Holy Sword Advent
The team has been deep underground for some time.
This expedition naturally couldn't be completed in a few minutes - the terrain there was complex and the area was no smaller than the entire Candlekeep.
There are only a few dozen people, but they have to survey the magic and record the terrain. To exaggerate a little, this will be a long project that will take nearly a month.
Today was the first day, so the rest of the Candlekeep would remain in the Air Court to provide emergency support. If everything went well today, the number of people preparing to provide support would naturally be significantly reduced.
The weather itself was a bit gloomy, which made it hard to be cheerful. And the heavy rain clouds seemed to be getting worse.
Before anyone knew it, the top of Candleburg had been engulfed in dense fog, and the hazy air made the view of most of Candleburg a little blurry.
"...It doesn't feel good." Elastrid clasped her hands together, breathing slightly faster, and muttered.
Everyone could see the ominous sign. After a long silence, the uneasiness gradually turned into discussion.
However, divine power is precious. If one starts squandering precious divine power because of insecurity, it would be too cowardly.
Moreover, they have not lost contact with the lower levels, so there is no need to make a big fuss.
"Hmm." Silver was as usual, even with an unusually high spirit. "—I don't mind. If everything goes smoothly, the day of unsheathing the holy sword will have to be postponed."
“…Calm down.”
Seeing everyone's mood growing increasingly depressed, the Scripture Keeper who also stayed in the Air Courtyard could no longer bear it and raised his voice, "I've been checking with Stutin on the situation, and I'm sure you've been too. There's no danger below. On the contrary, the path has been smooth, and we haven't encountered even ordinary undead. Even if something does happen, I'm here, don't panic."
At this moment, a gatekeeper ran towards the center of the crowd. He hesitated for a moment, then ran straight towards the Scripture Keeper and whispered in his ear, "Scripture Keeper, there's a sudden visitor outside Candlekeep."
"What?" Lude was shocked. "Isn't there a notice outside Candlekeep? Even if the visitor is the King of Cormyr or the Archbishop of the Church, Candlekeep will not accept any outsiders for the next ten days—wasn't I clear enough?"
"I know, the problem is..." the gatekeeper said, "It's the Church of Selune who's here."
"An ordinary believer?"
"No. A whole team."
Now the nature is different.
Lude's brows suddenly frowned.
Lud was naturally one of the highest-ranking archbishops in the entire Church of Oghma, and he was well aware that the alliance between the patron saint Oghma and Selûne had been further upgraded during the Eltoril Incident.
The Moon Goddess, who had been passive in the past and almost focused on fighting against her sisters, began to actively participate in the battle between good and evil. As the Archbishop, Ludd, at this point in time, if he casually rejected the Church of Selune, it would be more or less a diplomatic incident.
But the person was just outside the door, and Ludd couldn't go back to the center of the church to seek the oracle now.
[Stutin, how are you all doing?] The Scripture Keeper subconsciously clenched his right hand and asked his deputy through the telepathic connection.
He needed to confirm whether he had time to be distracted now.
[Safe for now, no enemies encountered. We've officially split up.]
Lude hesitated for a moment, but finally took a step forward and put something he had been holding tightly in his right hand into the dimensional bag.
It was an exquisite little sword, only the size of a palm and completely moon-white.
——That is the token to open the Candlekeep maze.
The Scripture Keeper turned to a large reader who remained on the ground and said, "If anything unexpected happens, notify me immediately."
***********************
The wide gate of Candlekeep was now firmly shut, and the gatekeepers had ascended from the gate to the city wall. The gatekeepers' leader turned around and saw that the Scripture Keeper was actually heading towards them, and he finally felt relieved.
Using rules to righteously exclude people - this is something that only the people of the Tyr Church could do without hesitation.
He quickly shouted towards the city: "The guards will be here soon, please wait."
"hope so!"
The priest of Selune who was answering the question standing at the foot of the city wall was a half-elf. She was tall and pretty, with long black hair tied behind her head. She looked very young - even considering that half-elves age slower than humans, she was no more than thirty years old.
In humans, this is equivalent to around 20 years old.
Lude, the scripture guard who had just walked onto the city wall, also immediately noticed her.
Priests of this age were generally no more than novice monks, and the more talented ones were only at the third or fourth ring.
If they can go one step further, they will be trained as candidates for the next generation of church leaders at an early stage.
All the members of the Emia team are too young, and the pastor lady in the team, Elaster, has been a pastor for decades.
Such a young girl leads the team to rescue Candlekeep?
The scripture keeper glanced at the team behind her in confusion.
All female figures.
They were all dressed in the normal attire of the Church of Selûn. Nothing seemed amiss. While all-female teams were unusual, the Church of Selûn was known for having a disproportionately high percentage of female priests, a fact well known in Faerûn.
Lude was filled with doubts and asked loudly, "Who are you and where are you from?"
"My name is Shadowheart, and I'm a priest of Selune, the Moon Goddess!" the half-elf priest replied. "Likewise, we come from the Moon's Residence in Waterdeep. We are here to support Candlekeep at the behest of our lord! We are willing to be commanded by the Keeper and Chief Reader of Candlekeep."
Even as he responded, the Book Keeper had already called upon the power of Oghma, attempting to read the mind of the half-elf priest before him.
There was some impatience and dissatisfaction, but no guilt.
Doesn't look fake.
Moreover, the Moon Residence is the largest church in Selune. Even if it was a fake, it would not be so obvious to choose this family as the origin.
Unfortunately, Lude has always been focused on the internal affairs of Candlekeep and has never served as the chief reader.
He really didn't know any friends in the Selune Church; that was always the job of the Chief Reader. He knew the highest leaders of a few large churches, but he wasn't familiar with the deputies.
What’s even worse is that Stutin is not around now!
Lude hesitated for a moment and said, "Young man, as you can see, Candlekeep is under martial law right now. I must verify this with your superiors."
"Please!" Shadowheart called out. "You can always ask Priestess Alindra Esper the Initiate for verification!"
Unfortunately, Luther didn't recognize the name.
[…Stutin, do you know Alindra Esbo? ]
The Chief Reader, still far underground, was stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected his superior to ask for this name at this moment. He paused and replied, "The second-in-command of the Moon Residence in Waterdeep City."
At this moment, a faint purple glow emanated from Lude's gray hair.
After receiving confirmation, Lude sent a short message to the distance: [I am Lude, the Keeper of Candlekeep. I would like to ask: Have you sent a team to support Candlekeep recently?]
The reliability of the short message technique allowed him to receive an immediate answer, but Alindra's voice was unexpectedly lazy and charming: [Ah, yes. The leader should be Yingxin, that's my favorite little girl.]
But the Oracle Cult couldn't just rely on the wind. Even if Lude had any opinion about the Enlightened Priest, he wouldn't say it out loud: "I'm very grateful. Candlekeep will definitely come to thank you in the future."
【Hehe... Then I'll wait and see. 】
Even though they were thousands of kilometers apart, Lude had an image in his mind of a woman with a slender figure stretching out behind a veil.
This Lady Alindra is even more suspicious than Shadowheart.
But Lude couldn't possibly continue to fight with Yingxin and the others here indefinitely - other more sophisticated divine spells generally took more than ten minutes to cast.
"...Never mind." Lude sighed and shouted to the people below, "I'm sure you've all come so far and are exhausted. Please stay in Candlekeep for now. We can discuss other matters later. Is that okay?"
Other matters, of course, include more stringent identity screening.
"Okay." Yingxin breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then I will take my leave."
Seeing the priests of the Selune Church walking up to the top of the city wall one by one, Lude took a step back and stepped into the shadow of the city wall.
At this moment, Yingxin suddenly said: "—Wait a minute! There is one more thing! We have brought a gift for you."
Lude was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to turn around, the gatekeepers around him suddenly exclaimed.
At the same time, the shadows around him grew darker.
Divine power guides the arrival of danger.
The Scripture Keeper immediately drew out the hammer from his waist and swung it behind him with all his strength, as if he had foreseen this scene.
However, at this moment, there was an earth-shaking vibration from underground, causing Lude's swing trajectory to deviate slightly.
What was heard was the sound of breaking bones and tendons, and what was felt was the touch of semi-fluid splashing on the armor.
However, before dying, one enemy finally rushed to Lude's side and stabbed him in the waist.
——These Selune priests… no, these people of unknown origin actually dared to attack him!!!
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