As for proving their financial resources, this is the easiest thing for them.

Sig silently took out a small cylinder from his dimensional bag and waved it in front of Haverfont.

It was a portable gem display cabinet - in short, it contained more than ten starlight gems, each of which was worth nearly ten thousand gold coins.

Sig shrugged. "See? Even our team can afford to hire your tribe, and it's very easy."

The effect of this measure was extremely successful.

Sig had originally intended to say that no party could refuse such a lucrative offer, and would surely be willing to spend 3000 gold coins per month on a Nine-Ring Mage. But to Havelfont, this statement clearly held a different meaning. She chewed on the words, a look of agreement on her face, tears of happiness streaming down her face. "...Per month...!? At that price...only a fool would refuse!"

[...Then we have a deal. How exactly do you plan to leave the Church of Shar...?]

Haverfont's voice paused within the telepathic connection, becoming incomparably cold: [First, among my people, those Shar priests are unlikely to leave. I don't want to kill them, so we rebelled...]

"What do you mean by betrayal? That sounds so harsh." Sig replied, "You're just running for a better future, commonly known as job hopping."

"Well, even if we switch sides, I still don't want to antagonize my own kind." Halffont hesitated, his voice suddenly becoming murderous. "Then there's only one solution—completely destroy Shade City, completely diverting the Lady's attention to it. If you can achieve such a result, then our utter annihilation will be a foregone conclusion. Then, we'll stage a scene and completely disband us. The Shar priests of our tribe will find their way back to Shade City, while the rest of us will leave the Shadowfell."

At this time, Emilia finally said: "Of course we are interested in destroying the City of Ghosts, but we don't understand its structure."

[——I understand.] Haverfont's voice was devoid of any warmth. The combination of interests and vision gave her unprecedented motivation. [I've long wanted to smash that city to pieces. Let me go, and I'll show you the structure of that city.]

I have only one request.

Haverfont is an incredibly clear-eyed person. Her voice was devoid of warmth: "I don't ask for any fundamental allegiance, but I hope to achieve a win-win situation."

You asked me to change jobs, and I did. So, now, let's work together to completely wipe out my former superiors, our current common enemies, the Church of Shar and the City of Ghosts, in one fell swoop, and make sure they never stand up again.

Sixty-three Moon Piercing the Clouds (I)

A more specific prisoner agreement was quickly reached as both sides were in a hurry.

Ultimately, surrender is different in this world than on Earth.

In Faerûn, you can't make prisoners valuable while leaving them with no chance of resistance. With every reward comes a risk.

Emiya and his group decided to imprison the other shadow spirits in the demiplane created by Havelfont, take away their equipment, and then fake the deaths of all the Shar priests in the tribe.

This way, if Emiya and his group were truly defeated by Candlekeep, the rest of Haverfonte's tribe would still have room to jump back in. At the same time, Emiya wouldn't have to worry about these hundreds of people turning against them outside her field of vision.

As for combat power?

Emiya knew very well that the outcome of the attack and defense of Candlekeep would not be determined by these nearly one hundred shadow elves. Among this group of elves, only Halffont could truly tip the scales.

And now, as soon as Haverfont made a move, Emilia couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

He turned around and stared at Haverfont with an inexplicable look. "...I think that as a guest general in Ghost City, you don't need to know the city to such an in-depth level."

What unfolded before them was a true panoramic view of the City of Ghosts.

The forest on the mountain below was indeed a bit blurry, with only a rough outline. But on the upper part of the mountain, the true structure of the entire city was clearly revealed by Haverfont.

The streets and buildings are connected together perfectly and precisely, even the damaged and repaired parts are shown.

Emiya had worried that Havelfont might give them a fake map of the City of Ghosts, but after seeing the phantom image summoned by Havelfont, Emiya completely threw this suspicion out of the window.

If Haverfont could create such a perfect city in just a few minutes, leaving Emia completely blind to any flaws...

All we can say is that even if they failed, it was only natural.

[…Silver, what do you think?]

If the virtual city created by Haverfont is real, then Yin, who was active in the Nether era, should be able to give some opinions.

[Hmm... I don't understand architecture, but I think this virtual city has the style of both Nether and Shar followers. I think it is real.]

Emiya naturally didn't voice her hesitation. Haverfont answered the initial question seriously, "Of course, for future planning. I certainly plan to eradicate the Tantur family. I've seen through it all. As long as Tantur controls Ghost City, our tribe will never rise. My attaining the Ninth Ring is merely an exception. If anything were to happen to me, we'd be plunged back into the abyss. So, why not strike first? Besides, I've only deliberately spent time surveying the terrain; I haven't done anything concrete yet."

Now was clearly not the time to discuss the good and evil of Haverfonte. Emilia shook her head, trying to quickly imprint the city's topography into her mind, while finally beginning to contact the outside world:

Everything is fine here. The shadow illusionist Halffont, who attempted to escape, has been apprehended. What's the current situation at Candlekeep? Has the lich returned to the battlefield?

Then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Not yet.

Now, the defenses of Candlekeep fell into a brief period of peace. Everyone was taking advantage of this inevitably fleeting respite to adjust their status.

So, what needs to be confirmed at this moment is the condition of his own teacher and teacher Mars.

[Mr. Apodale? You should have already entered the City of Ghosts by now. How is the battle going? Do you need any help?]

[Teacher? Are you monitoring the lich's situation? Are you safe now?]

Soon, he received Apodel's reply: [...Going well. The Ghost Man is no match for me. However, the Ghost City Lord, "Shado," Tantamut Tantur, is standing opposite me. He is not a foe I can easily defeat.]

Apodel might not be able to suppress the Lord of Ghost City. This was something that Emilia and his party had anticipated before the war broke out.

[…So, where are you now? ]

Emilia's question left the other end of the text message confused: "You don't know the terrain of Ghost City, how can I guide you? Weren't you ambushed? What's the situation?"

Likewise, his teacher's answer arrived, and the content was also gratifying - she has not been discovered yet, and everything is going well.

This is where Haverfont comes into play.

Now, if Apodel could name a nearby landmark, Emya could try to pinpoint his current location.

At that time, he can leisurely provide sufficiently deadly long-range support from a few miles away.

However, just as Emiya was about to continue casting the spell to maintain contact, Yin suddenly approached him without warning, grabbed his right hand, and forcibly interrupted the short message spell he was about to complete.

"...!?" This sudden scene attracted everyone's attention. Emiya was stunned for a moment and frowned. "What happened?"

"What's the matter?" Yin said firmly, "There's a problem with your text message. The person who just received and replied to your text messages twice was the same person."

"...How is that possible!" Emilia answered subconsciously, "Those were clearly the voices of both of them..."

Before he could finish his words, he couldn't help but tremble all over.

The communication of short messaging is reliable enough, far from being extremely easy to be eavesdropped on by creations such as telephone lines on Earth.

However, when he was studying at Mount Celestial Realm, Metatron taught him considerable knowledge about the planes.

One of the key points is that many spells that can cover the entire plane are actually completely under the control of the Lord of the Plane.

For example, if Emya tried to send a message to his allies in Hell using the short message spell, then Asmodeus, the Lord of Hell, could make the communication happen or not at will.

Even if it were true, Asmodeus would be able to accept the entire content of the short message.

However, there is obviously no so-called Lord of the Plane in the Material Plane. Even Xirik would not claim to be the master of countless planets in the entire Material Plane.

—And now, Yin claims, his texting technique is experiencing the same effect.

Emiya was silent for a moment, then pointed toward the eerie, boundless darkness nearby, then toward the distance.

Who is on the other end of the text message?

Emiya narrowed her eyes slightly and sent a new message: [We fought Shadow Spirit and suffered heavy losses. Havelfont used illusions to cover the retreat of her kin, and we can't catch up with her.]

-----------------

The Ghost City has now turned into a bloody arena.

The two sides in the fight are the two strongest enemies of Ghost City.

The originally gloomy yet neat barricades had been reduced to ruins by a series of attacks.

Moreover, it is not accurate to say it was a gladiatorial fight.

Now, the holy warrior who had beaten the Ghost City to a pulp has completely turned into a sandbag and has no ability to fight back at all.

Among all the enemies that a paladin is good at dealing with, comrades in the same camp are definitely not included.

In other words, kind creatures like the Seraphs, who are extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat, are the true natural enemies of the Holy Knights.

——Just like now.

Although the Holy Avenger is a rare holy sword, it is no better than an ordinary enchanted sword when facing Metatron's slash.

Because Apodel didn't dare to fight back, he could only mechanically try to deflect Metatron's swings.

He couldn't harm Metatron—harming or even killing a controlled, kind ally was an unquestionable violation of his oath.

What's more, even if he really wanted to launch an attack, it would be difficult for him to gain the upper hand.

He was confident that he was the foremost swordsman in Faerun, but that didn't mean he could surpass Metatron in combat power.

As for the various blessing spells? They both set out together, and their blessing spells were exactly the same. Even Apodel's arcane spells were derived from Metatron.

Due to various factors, Apodel could only crawl around in the city in a very embarrassed manner at this moment, and was knocked away from time to time, falling into the houses in the city like the cannonballs that Emilia and others were studying.

“…Holy Healing.”

Apodale gasped in pain and pressed his left hand to his chest.

The holy power seeped into his body, healing the bruises he had just received from the collision.

Even the people in Ghost City fell into complete silence at this moment - no matter whether they were already on the battlefield or arrived later, they all knelt on the ground with great respect, and no one dared to look up in this situation.

The only audience for this bloody fight was a goddess.

"Metatron, your loyalty is indeed cheap." Shar's voice slowly lingered around Metatron and Apodel. "You didn't give it your all. Otherwise, Apodel would be seriously injured and dying by now. Was this how you served Mystril in the Demonic Heart of the Sea of ​​Chaos?"

Metatron had not made up his mind to kill him - Apodel naturally knew this.

However, this matter was told to him personally by Metatron during the telepathic connection.

[I'm sorry, Lord Apodel, but now is not the time to engage in a decisive battle with Shar. Please hold on a little longer.]

...Having said that, Metatron probably doesn't have much strength left.

In Apodel's opinion, Metatron's restraint was more evident in his tactics. He had long understood that this Seraphim was both a top-tier priest and mage. If she unleashed her full power, Apodel would undoubtedly be unable to withstand it.

But now, Metatron only focused on hand-to-hand combat, which allowed Apodel to barely hold on.

At this moment, Metatron's voice rang out again: [Sir Apodel, please don't hold back and kill me.]

【……Why? 】

"I am already Shar's captive, yet I am still putting up a final struggle. I cannot allow my body to fall into Shar's control. I must boldly ask you to kill me here, even if it means breaking your oath."

My soul is fused with my body, so I cannot be resurrected like a mortal by calling upon the union of soul and body. If you kill me, I will no longer be controlled by Shar.

"Unlike me, you are a mortal. Shar wouldn't dare openly attack someone as powerful and influential as you. So, if you kill me, you can escape this predicament."

Apodel could only with difficulty block Metatron's giant sword to the side: [...This is impossible.]

"So, what do you think is the chance?" the voice in his heart continued to ask.

Is there any chance of turning point?

The biggest turning point, of course, is for Shar to personally invade Candlekeep.

But this is a double-edged sword - the final trump card of their group is precisely the target they want to protect.

Midnight and Kelemvor's actions could certainly reverse the current disadvantage, but it would also expose Midnight's resurrection to the outside world, putting her in an unprecedented crisis.

This is literally drinking poison to quench thirst.

Apodel was absolutely unwilling to put his goddess in danger just because he was in danger.

Finally, he hesitated for a moment, but finally chose to trust the strange red-haired young man.

Along the way, his team had created enough miracles. He could only hope that this miracle could continue: [If it was Emiya, he might have a way.]

[...Okay.] The voice seemed very disappointed with this answer, but then it perked up. [Though Shar's darkness is powerful, it cannot surpass the Silver Flame. I will try to contact Emiya... If he has a way, I will use the Silver Flame to attack Shar and show him the way.]

The strange thing is that during the conversation, Metatron's facial expression did not change at all, as if those words did not come from her mouth.

From what Apodel knew of her, Metatron had a methodical approach to her work, not someone who could hide her emotions, and certainly not one who was adept at deceiving others. But from what he could see so far, her acting skills were quite impressive, and Apodel almost believed those words weren't from her heart.

At this moment, the Goddess of Night seemed to have lost interest in their fight to the death. She yawned loudly and said, "You two should continue to struggle... I hope Candlekeep can last longer than you."

She turned around and asked the servant who was waiting respectfully behind her: "Tantamut, go and urge Larloch. The two people who once defeated him are now fighting each other. What is he and his lich army doing?!"

-----------------

Emiya relaxed and repeated the message he had just received: "I received a transmission. She said that in a few minutes, a ball of silver fire will rise in the Ghost City. As long as we immediately launch a direct attack on the center of the silver fire, we can turn the tide of the battle."

"Shall's trick." Silver's face was filled with a rare, quietly burning rage. "When you do as I say, you'll find that the only one who will die at your hands is Metatron."

At this moment, she was holding a cone-shaped metal block that emitted a faint moonlight.

However, strands of silver flames were constantly emerging from the bodies of Daichi and Yin, seeping into the shells.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like