Equipment Printing School Mage

Epilogue (I) The Postwar World

Now, Candlekeep was suspended in mid-air by a great shield miton. The underground void that had plagued the fortress complex for centuries had been resolved in a most comical way: Larloch's mountain-moving magic had carved Candlekeep entirely out of the mountain. Now, Candlekeep floated dozens of meters above the ground, and no one could ever penetrate it through the underground crypts.

The bad news is that all the churches originally stationed in Candlekeep and all the books therein have completely nothing to do with mortals.

Midnight, the former goddess of magic, was now unable to resist the rejection of the maze and was blasted out of Candlekeep along with the others who remained in Candlekeep. Now Candlekeep has completely turned into a ghost town.

Midnight teleported back to the surface with the leaders of Candlekeep and Xinbu, reunited with Emiya and his group, and simply bowed and thanked them: "I was able to survive this decisive battle of Candlekeep because of your dedication and wisdom."

She is so weak now that even if she shows up, she will probably be no match for a lich.

Although she didn't know why Shar claimed that she had obtained Meta, she was even a little flattered by Metatron's hard work.

Metatron calmly spread his wings, covered Silver with his shield, and said calmly, "Larloch and Shar are our common enemies... Even without this incident, they would still be our eternal enemies."

During this time, Shade City wasn't completely buried beneath Larloch's ground. Shade City's ability to travel between the Material Plane and the Shadowfell didn't seem to rely heavily on the Nether Core. However, the city's fate was merely to avoid a complete collapse into the Material Plane. In fact, nearby lay Shade City's piled-up bricks and tiles.

I'm afraid that most of the Ghost City has turned into ruins.

The most terrifying thing is that this "majority" refers to everything from top to bottom. There's probably not a single intact building left in Ghost City. And the supplies stored within the buildings have been completely dumped into the material plane under the heavy pressure.

What is even more eye-catching is the blood and flesh dripping from the bricks and tiles.

Although everyone present viewed Shar as an enemy, that did not mean they advocated for the direct slaughter of Shar's followers. Those who would perish in this disaster would almost certainly be ordinary people without any power.

Looking at this tragic scene, Haverfont just sighed quietly and did not take any additional action.

They have become accustomed to the hardships in life and will not demand to escape completely unscathed from such external disasters.

Not to mention, it was Larloch, not Emiya and his group, who destroyed the Ghost City and the civilians therein.

"...Ambition, ambition." Midnight sighed softly, "It's nothing but a fire fueled by the flesh and blood of one's own believers."

Among the three generations of magic goddesses, no goddess has ever appreciated Shar even a little bit.

"This battle was too brutal..." The third generation Magic Goddess shook her head heavily, "I'm even doubting whether I can repay this favor."

"I believe this battle is meaningful," Metatron said calmly. "If you can't strike the enemy head-on, do you plan to recover your strength while being pursued and intercepted? Larloch and the Church of Shar launched an all-out attack, engulfing half of the Sword Coast in the flames of war, but ultimately suffered a crushing defeat. Even for Shar, the goddess of night, the loss of two avatars in a matter of minutes was an unacceptable and tragic loss. Larloch's entire undead army, accumulated over millennia, was destroyed, and his subordinates, save for their liches, were left with nothing. Recovery will undoubtedly take a long time.

"The most crucial point is that such a powerful force was defeated at the gates of Candlekeep. The evil forces that have been rampant in Faerun for nearly a hundred years will probably lie dormant for a while."

——Although, for his teacher Metatron, besides the above, the most meaningful part of this battle might be that the Midnight Goddess served as a substitute for Silver. Emiya thought so.

All the abnormalities caused by Yin were inadvertently taken over by the third generation magic goddess. From then on, Yin was able to live freely for a while.

Silver has been walking back and forth in front of the former gods unscrupulously for several times, and the old monsters who survived the Nether era did not even notice Silver's existence from beginning to end.

Apart from Emiya and Metatron who tried their best to cover up this fact, these old monsters probably never thought that when the third goddess of magic had been resurrected, Silver had actually returned from the magic network.

"What are your plans next?" Emilia stepped forward and asked.

"Let's find a place to rest... Waterdeep or Silvermoon City, or even go to Agralond in Xinbu and find a way to help Xinbu recover." Midnight said, "At least we have to give those ambitious people some time to find our whereabouts again. Of course, I owe the Knowledge Goddess such a big favor, so as long as he needs anything in the future, I will do my best to help him."

Having said that, she thought for a moment and then said to the Keeper of Candlekeep, "If the Knowledge God System plans to send someone to crack the maze again and take control of Candlekeep, please feel free to ask for my help. I will do my best."

However, the Church of Shar and Larloch need to rest, and so do they.

At that moment, the leaders of the various factions that had previously withdrawn from the battlefield had reconnected with Emya and the others. Gund Master Gutenberg even sent a direct message to Emya, asking, "Sir Emya, you haven't returned to Baldur's Gate? How are you doing now? What's the current situation at Candlekeep?"

"I won by chance, almost unscathed. When I have some free time, I will go to the Supreme Temple of Miracles to express my gratitude," he replied.

Apparently, Apodale had also been contacted. Just moments later, Grand Duke Eamonn Violet and her friends arrived at the former site of Candlekeep.

Even before the wave of magic dissipated, a noisy trio began to sound: the squeaking of a hamster, the chattering of a mad clown, and a gruff voice that rang out almost simultaneously: "Aha, Apodel Adrian, my friend! I have long known that the justice within you cannot be defeated by Shar's darkness!"

A tall warrior with a striking purple birthmark on his head swaggered up to Apodel with a two-handed giant sword on his shoulder, laughing and bumping chests with the old paladin in celebration.

Apodel, always considered an old veteran, seemed a hundred years younger at this moment. He laughed and patted the ranger on the shoulder: "Very good. It seems the battle at Baldur's Gate is going well?"

"Ah, if you're asking about that battle, Minsk encountered considerable difficulty," said the towering warrior, known as the Stone Lord, the Leatherman Ranger Minsk, who had been petrified for nearly a hundred years. He pointed at the tiny hamster on his shoulder. "Bubu tried to bite the enemy's eyes like he used to, but those skeletons didn't have eyes at all. Bubu was deeply troubled!"

At this moment, Yin blinked and looked over Minsk's shoulder. His eyes flashed and he cheered, "Ah! Isn't this a mini giant cosmic hamster? This kind of creature is actually distributed in the material plane?"

This seemingly casual remark instantly froze the expression on Apodale's face, which was originally smiling: "...Miss Yin, what did you just say?"

Minsk's emotions were ignited by one sentence: "Aha! Young people nowadays are really amazing. They can see through Bubu's true identity at a glance! And you, Apodel Adrian, my friend, you have never truly believed what I said in these decades!"

"No, no—" Apodale didn't care about treating the wounds on his body at the moment, "Is there really such a thing as a mini giant space hamster in this world...?"

"Yes," Yin answered without even thinking. "If you travel to the astral plane for a long time and are lucky enough to encounter a fleet of dwarf magic ships, you'll see hamsters that are several times larger than you, pedaling wheels. The Mini Giant Space Hamster is a special subspecies, only the size of a regular hamster!"

"Isn't that just an ordinary hamster?"

"Of course not." Yin snorted, "First of all, it's not an animal but a magical beast, so animal conversation can't understand the words of the Mini Giant Space Hamster. Secondly, its vitality is much stronger than that of an ordinary hamster, so spells that can only deal with creatures with low vitality are ineffective on it."

Finally, Silver shrugged, "It has telepathic abilities and can communicate with other creatures."

"...Uh." Silver's casual words silenced Minsk's former teammates. Even Imoen was stunned. Grand Duke Violet silently cast a minimally effective Sleep spell on Bubu.

Even at the lowest power, no hamster can resist it. This spell is enough to knock seven or eight hamsters to the ground.

Because Imoen deliberately concealed his movements, Bubu didn't notice and just ate melon seeds on Minsk's shoulder without realizing it.

Watching this scene, Imoen staggered and almost lost her balance. She murmured, "... Sorry, sorry, today should be a time for celebration, but right now my worldview has suffered a bit of a... shock... Please allow us to return to Baldur's Gate first."

Aimia also answered: "Please tell the people of Gond that I am safe."

"...Of course." Imoen listened to Minsk's unbridled laughter and staggered as if he had lost his soul.

Apodel was silent for a moment, then bowed to Midnight and said, "Madam, I plan to continue guarding Baldur's Gate. Since we are already at war with Larloch, we should leave an eye close to his base."

"That will be hard work." Midnight replied.

Then she said goodbye to Mars and left with Xinbu.

She didn't tell me the final destination.

At this moment, Mars had already hurried to the front of the Scripture Keeper and asked: "Lord Lude, what are the plans for Candle Castle next?"

Lude shook his head and glanced not far away.

There is also a small settlement there, originally used to house visitors waiting to enter Candlekeep again, or those whose books were unexpectedly rejected.

In the next period of time, this place will most likely become the residence of the former Candlekeep survivors.

Lude turned and replied, "At the last minute, I brought out the catalog of Candlekeep's books. In the coming period, we should try to compare the catalog, inquire with other Oghma churches, and even the entire continent, to find corresponding copies. No matter how difficult this road is, we will one day restore Candlekeep."

"—That's it?" Upon hearing this, Yin quickly squeezed into Emilia's arms and asked Lude, "I thought you would consider cracking the Great Shield Maze... Wouldn't that save more effort?"

"Miss Silver!" As soon as these words came out, Lude's originally bitter face almost broke into laughter. "If the Greatshield's mythal could be cracked so easily, how could it have been the ballast of Candlekeep for thousands of years? Perhaps cracking Candlekeep's mythal will become the top priority of the Church of Oghma for hundreds of years... I don't think I'll see it in my lifetime. Perhaps why not set the highest reward for the next Ritual of Truth as the key to the Greatshield's mythal?"

"What's the difficulty?" Emilia asked, "Is the Great Shield Mystique very offensive?"

"No, it's not strong." Lude said seriously, "We tested the performance of the Great Shield Mystique before we lost the Mystique Key."

"Those recognized by the mythal will find that their movements become extremely sensitive, making them extremely difficult to be completely hit by attacks and magic. At the same time, any defender will have the power to silence the invader. At the same time, they will be able to travel between the interior and exterior of Candlekeep at will."

"First, it reacts to intruders in two stages. In the first stage, it directly uses repulsion to eject the intruder out of Candlekeep's range. This effect is not very lethal, and as long as you take proper fall protection, you will not be injured."

At this moment, Lude's tone suddenly became somewhat eerie, as if he were telling a horror story. "And upon attempting to enter Candlekeep in this state for the second time, the invader will be surprised to find that the resistance has disappeared. At the same time, he will find that all his actions have become unexpectedly smooth."

"...Huh?" Sig blinked. "What kind of protection is this?"

Lude waved his hand and said, "However, when the invader becomes complacent and gets closer and closer to his true target, the power of the mythal will truly begin to unleash—he will make all kinds of serious mistakes with terrifying frequency: he will miss his target when searching for something, miss a step when going down the stairs, miss a word when chanting a spell, even swallowing will cause a large amount of saliva to be choked into his trachea, and swinging a weapon will dislocate his arm."

Gudong.

Sig swallowed hard, nearly choking himself. "...Is this an Elf puzzle lock? Isn't that a little too weird? Are those Elf puzzle locks like this?"

Emiya glanced at her teacher.

The Seraphic Divine Servant couldn't help but frown. "...Strange, this is definitely not the typical style of an Elven Mystique."

As she spoke, she tapped her brow. "It sounds like the style favored by the former goddess of fate, Tyche. Have you really not found any written records? Tyche isn't a very common belief among the elves."

"I definitely haven't found it." At this point, Lude asked curiously, "...You're a Servant of the Seraphim, so your knowledge must be far greater than ours. Don't you have any impression of such a unique maze and family? Not even a little bit?"

Metatron took a hesitant step back. "...Indeed, in my memory, during the heyday of the elves, very few families believed in the Outer Gods. At most, they believed in Nature or the Moon Goddess. Families like this, possessing their own mythals and practicing unconventional beliefs, should be rare... Why don't I have any impression of them?"

Emiya frowned and looked at Xingyong.

There's also a genuine ancient high elf ghost wandering around here.

However, he hadn't originally expected anything from Elastrid herself.

However, at this moment, she seemed to be wandering in the sky, just staring blankly in the direction of Candle Castle.

"...Elastrid?" he asked.

The elf priest then slowly turned around and said, "...didn't you... hear it?"

"What did you hear?"

"...Calling." Elastri murmured.

"That mystique is calling to me and my Moon Blade."

Epilogue (Part 2) The World of Elastrid

Most of the defenders of Candlekeep had not yet returned—they were generally exhausted physically and mentally from the battle, and Lude had asked them to rest until they were fully recovered before returning. Therefore, there was almost no one else in Candlekeep at this time.

So now, the only Candlekeep Keeper left at the old site could hardly believe his ears.

He knew there was a Moon Blade Master in the Emya team. He also knew that this Moon Blade Master was none other than the well-known Tymora priest Elaster, even in Baldur's Gate.

A Moon Blade Master must be the patriarch of an elven family with a long history - and if this patriarch is extremely young or even a half-elf, it proves that the family has withered away over time.

Therefore, it is reasonable for an elf like Elastrid, who lives without a base in human society, to have a long-forgotten relic... But is there really such a coincidence in the world?

Elastrid and the others flew to the vicinity of Candlekeep, and the voice calling her in her mind became clearer and clearer.

"...blood connection detected...detected...Xingsong inherited Moon Blade, please approach..."

"Altitude detection...30 meters above ground...Attempting landing...Current location roughness: High. Searching for a landing site."

"Landing successful... The underground pipeline structure has been damaged. Please put reconstruction on the schedule as soon as possible."

As everyone stared in astonishment, the maze carrying the Candle Castle slowly descended to the ground, not even raising a wisp of dust.

Even the Nether Core of Ghost City finds it difficult to control a city so easily!

After a lot of trouble, Alestria finally arrived at the door of Candlekeep.

Then, she felt a warm light fall upon her body, and the voice continued, "My bloodline is confirmed... May I ask if your name is Elastrid? Is your surname Xingyong? Did you inherit your ancestor's name?"

"Yes, yes. I don't know what name my ancestors had. My adoptive father said that this was the Elvish script embroidered on my swaddling clothes."

Ever since her birth, Alestria Starsong has lived in Baldur's Gate, rarely going out. As a result, while in Baldur's Gate, Alestria was known for her gentleness and peace, to the point that she only had some fame among some believers.

She is a complete misfit in the entire Lucky Church.

What's even stranger is that in a church known for its luck, Elaster's luck isn't very good—quite the contrary, she's often involved in unfortunate accidents that are so bizarre they're unbelievable.

——What’s worse is that the advent of those disastrous events also made the Church of Doom outside the city ecstatic, claiming that the Saint of Doom had already descended into the church.

Even if the Church of Luck had deliberately investigated and found that there was no such person in Baldur's Gate, the Church of Doom would remain the same.

...And indeed, the unfortunate accidents surrounding Elastrid never ceased.

This kind of thing was so unusual in the Lucky Church that even though she often experienced more incredible lucky events after that, her uniqueness was still firmly remembered by other members of the church.

It was also because of this that when the Lucky Church of Baldur's Gate was disbanded due to an unexpected shock, the other members of the church scattered in an almost ecstatic attitude and threw themselves into adventures. No one even thought of going with her.

Therefore, on that day, the person who informed the Council of Four of the church's dissolution was Elastrid.

It's not because she plays an important role in the church, but because even though she is a capable pastor, she has been dealing with daily tedious affairs that are no different from those of an ordinary church all year round, resulting in an awkward position.

So, on the day when everyone went their separate ways, some people said that it was a pity for other churches that she was raised by the Lucky Church.

With her personality, she would have a better life in other good God churches.

But Elastrid knew very well that she didn't really think so.

The reason she appeared gentle and peaceful in the enthusiastic Lucky Church was not because she thought taking risks was a bad thing.

——She just felt that the adventures that other clan members usually talked about were too boring.

Battle of wits and courage with the Thieves Guild, adventurers boasting after drinking, spending huge sums of money at the gambling table...

Can such a small thing be considered an adventure?

She only felt that her life began in the Church of the Moon in Eltoril.

Now, Elastri's fingers were only inches away from the maze, but she couldn't stop trembling slightly.