"It's not uncommon to know someone's feelings but pretend not to know," the Archdruid casually said, leading Lunia's Emiya into a trap. "For example, a certain mage knew that the Church of Shar and I were sworn enemies, but during the chaotic battle at Candlekeep, he never asked me for help."

Emiya was silent for a moment, then finally spoke the truth: "Given the situation at Candlekeep at the time, even if an Archdruid who had left the forest arrived, he wouldn't be able to turn the tide of the battle. Instead, it would leave the Sharptooth Forest empty."

“Oh,” Fenwë snorted. “—and then, after that goddess left, you told me that Mystra was in Candlekeep. Now that the goddess is nowhere to be found, you tell me this.”

"The situation is complicated now..."

When he was with many women, only Fenwei could bring great pressure to Mr. Emilia, and a few words made him sweat profusely: "After all, this is the goddess's biggest secret at the moment. I am just her temporary comrade-in-arms and have no right to disclose this matter..."

"Wonderful. The third generation of the Goddess of Magic is right before our eyes, yet you, a mage, are unwilling to cultivate a close relationship with her. Why?" Fenwei didn't seem truly frustrated. "However, my admiration for the Goddess dates back to my childhood."

She couldn't help but sigh. "If the goddess asked me why a druid like me was so obsessed with magic... I couldn't say it was because your death was so heroic that it saved my life. After all, during the time when I admired her most, she was a dead being floating in the astral plane. So, it's not the goddess of magic that I worship, but the magical network itself. So, I'll just be her believer from afar."

At this point, the Archdruid stroked the necklace on his chest, then suddenly stopped and said, "What other bad news do you have? Let's tell you all at once. Taking the god's belongings as a gift, just to settle your former enemy? Even you are a bit too generous."

"No, that's really a souvenir. The most troublesome ones are really just Haverfont and his group. I do have something else to ask of you, but I don't think it's particularly dangerous. We've learned from an unexpected source that the holy land holds a secret from ten thousand years ago, and we're interested in exploring it."

"Going to the Druid Holy Land to dig for treasure... you're so stupid." Fenwei snorted. "All I can say is, if your [Ten Thousand Years Treasure] is right under a sacred tree, there's no way I'm going to cut down a sacred tree to help you dig for treasure... no matter what."

Emiya said somewhat awkwardly, "It is said that this secret is not a treasure in the traditional sense, so it doesn't matter if we can't take it out for the time being... After all, we don't even know what is inside."

At this moment, a short message suddenly came to Emilia's heart from afar.

[I am deeply relieved to learn of the great victory at Candlekeep, but unfortunately, we may not be able to stand in the same trench from now on: In Waterdeep, my mother, the second generation magic goddess Mystra, has descended to the world.]

The sender of the message was Storm Silverhand, with whom he had some acquaintance in Candlekeep.

ha! ?

Emilia felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck him directly between his eyebrows, causing his entire body to tremble.

However, Storm Silverhand had not yet finished speaking.

[However, this former magic goddess, my biological mother...]

【Now he claims to be all-knowing and the only one.】

The Gods-Not-Gods Association has already prostrated itself at his feet, claiming that she is the God above all Gods that the Gods-Not-Gods Association is pursuing.

Epilogue (V) The Master of the Demonic Web

The world is about to turn upside down.

This was the first time Storm Silverhand had such a clear feeling.

Even though she was almost a thousand years old and had experienced countless storms, she could hardly suppress the shock in her heart at that moment.

At this moment, she was in Waterdeep after the war.

Yes, during the defense of Candlekeep, the reason why there were so few reinforcements, with almost only Team Emia and the Bod people coming, was precisely because several other important reinforcements were also fighting fiercely.

Even though Waterdeep was both the first city in Faerun and the headquarters of the Harpers, it had suffered heavy damage in a series of wars. The scars of war were scattered on every edge of the city, which made her feel deeply moved.

The enemies Candlekeep faced were the strongest she had ever seen: Larloch, Shade City, and even Shar's avatar. Yet, even though Candlekeep was badly beaten and even had to abandon the city...

But a win is a win.

However, Waterdeep was badly defeated by the Cyrene and Zhentarim - in recent years, the eight factions of red mages that originally advanced in parallel have also undergone drastic changes.

Necromancer, one of the schools that excels at large-scale combat, has become the absolute mainstream in Cyre.

The internal conflicts in Serbia are certainly good news for them in the short term.

However, the growth of the necromancy is not good news at all for the forces of good.

Among the eight major schools of arcane, if there is no so-called moral bottom line, which school is the strongest?

Everyone will choose the necromancy system.

Insult corpses wantonly, kill souls at will, and play with flesh and blood.

Forces like the Red Mages of Cyre are themselves a breeding ground for necromancers.

The bitter battle at Waterdeep was proof of that.

This time, the Red Wizard had planned for a long time, and the Sea of ​​the Dead, which was even more powerful than the undead army outside Candlekeep, almost pushed Waterdeep to the bottom of the sea.

Even though the Red Robe Mage is far less powerful than Larlok, and it is impossible for him to make hundreds of liches swarm out with a wave of his hand like the Lich King, the number of the lower-level undead creatures is far greater than Larlok.

The result was that Waterdeep had to exchange the lives of living people and precious positive energy for the skeletons maintained by negative energy.

Tens of thousands of skeletons were merely the vanguard destroyed in a matter of minutes during the Battle of Candlekeep, but the people of Waterdeep had to pay an incalculable price in exchange for their lives with the Red Mage of Cyre.

Despite Waterdeep's vast wealth, the Necromancer's strengths lie in its ability to outmaneuver the enemy. Consequently, Waterdeep was once in turmoil.

But now Waterdeep was saved by an unexpected reinforcement.

This reinforcement was currently sitting at the table in the Harpers' headquarters.

However, none of the harpists present dared to sit at the same table with her, and respectfully gave her the round table used by high-ranking harpists for meetings. They stood by her side.

At the moment before Waterdeep's defenses were about to collapse, it was she who forced back the invading Chief Mage of Sel, Sazastan.

In fact, she didn't even make a move, but scared away almost all the high-ranking officials of Sel with just her appearance.

The young red-robed wizard who tried to prove that she was just an illusion was reduced to ashes in the blazing silver fire after just one glance.

It was simply because all of Sel's higher-ups were old monsters over a hundred years old, and the woman's face had not yet faded from their memories.

And for almost the same reason, Elminster the Sage of Shadowvale, Storm Silverhand the Bard of Shadowvale, and Lyra Silverhand, the Lord of Waterdeep, were also standing by like other high-ranking Harpers.

Because her name is Mistra.

Although the third generation of the Magic Goddess inherited this name, attempting to use it to allow the Magic Goddess Church to more smoothly accept the change of gods - but the story of Midnight killing the gods in the turbulent years, retrieving the Slate of Destiny, and thereby becoming the Magic Goddess was too widely circulated, so as long as a little time is spent on investigation, it can be known that the two generations of Magic Goddesses are definitely not the same person.

The name of Mystra actually belongs only to a shepherdess who witnessed the decline of Netherese civilization at the end of the Netherese era and received most of the fragments of the first generation of magic goddess when she gave up her life.

Compared to Midnight, a young god who died again for some reason less than fifty years after taking office, Mystra may not be old enough compared to gods like Shar, Selûne, Chauntia, and Talos, but for mortals, she is already old enough to become a legend.

It can be said that she single-handedly created the current magical environment of the world: she promoted a terrifying number of Mystra's elect, and at the same time generously used the Silver Fire to allow these mortals who gained powerful power and immortal life to become her messengers and tentacles in the mortal world.

Moreover, she did not only select those mages who had already achieved success - for example, Elminster was guided step by step on the path of a mage by the goddess when he was just a young boy.

Although he changed his gender to female in order to become a wizard and worked as a priest of Mystra for many years... No one knows why gender change is required to learn arcane magic, but at least most people would not be so tactless as to discuss his experience in his twenties in front of a thousand-year-old man.

Among these Chosen of Mystra were Elminster and Khelben Blackstaff.

And these renowned archmages are not even the end of the line for Mystra's chosen.

The highest-ranking of Mystra's elect, he is the oldest and most powerful, and the first preacher of Mystra.

——He is also the first Chosen One of Mystra to successfully ascend to godhood.

His name is Azuth.

It could be said that the vast majority of modern magical pantheons were created by Mystra. Compared to this goddess, Midnight was far too immature.

What's more, what makes the people of Faerun even more excited is that this goddess doesn't mind offering herself to the mortal she loves.

This kind of thing happened so frequently that some people suspected that the nearly one hundred Mistral voters were her bedmates.

And knowledgeable people will claim that this is a complete rumor.

——Many voters are her children with her bed partner.

Yet, even with the countless anecdotes, one thing is certain.

She is the origin of all modern magical churches.

——Even the Harpers were founded by her.

And the Lord of Waterdeep, Lyra Silverhand, is her biological daughter.

Therefore, even though Waterdeep is the place where midnight ascends to the gods, Waterdeep has almost become the holy city of midnight.

If the two generations of goddesses really appeared here side by side, Waterdeep's attitude would still be unclear.

Storm Silverhand only felt that the blood vessels in his brain were beating wildly.

She had made various predictions about future developments.

The best case scenario is that the resurrected Midnight successfully gathers all his strength again and returns to the heart of the golem.

At Storm Silverhand's age, when she had begun to feel the effects of aging and death, she no longer cared much about which goddess it was - she only hoped that the world would calm down quickly.

However, it can be expected that this process will not be smooth sailing, and if their combat power is insufficient, the process may be as long as years.

The worst-case scenario is that the collusion between Asmodeus and Azuth has already yielded results.

Now, would it be the worst?

Storm Silverhand observed his theoretical biological mother carefully.

"The All-Knowing One," or rather, Mystra's appearance seemed flawless. She wore a regal mage's robe, a belt woven from countless sturdy silver threads. Her long, silky black hair flowed freely from her shoulders to her waist, unbound. In her hand, she held a scepter inlaid with a massive star-red ruby. Her beauty was unparalleled, and her demeanor impeccable.

However, because of this, Storm Silverhand only regarded her as a god, without any additional feelings.

Yes, Mystra is her mother, but the situation is actually more complicated. Mystra did not send down an incarnation to unite with a mortal like Baal did.

She brought her divine power into the bodies of mortals, merged with them, and turned them into her incarnations.

...Or rather, let mortals be assimilated by her.

Strictly speaking, this method is not so... aboveboard.

But there was no way around it. Mystra wasn't a kind deity—that was the label of Midnight, the third-generation goddess of magic. Midnight had even seriously considered, and even attempted, to ban evil creatures from casting spells, only to be stopped by the other gods.

But because of this, Storm Silverhand and Mystra's relationship is not a traditional mother-daughter one - during Mystra's divine descent, she and her mortal husband became pregnant seven times and gave birth six times in eight years. Finally, at the end of the seventh pregnancy, her mortal body could not bear the burden and she died before giving birth.

The seventh sister even had to rely on the Dark Maiden, a priest of the goddess Mystra's ally, to be born successfully.

The death of his wife also drove her husband crazy, and eventually all seven sisters became de facto orphans when they were just a few years old - many of them were even abducted and sold, and almost became slaves, or even actually became slaves.

There is no mother-daughter relationship between the seven sisters with such backgrounds and Mistra!

Now, she also calls herself "all-knowing and only"...

This claim is certainly dangerous, and it's hard to trust her immediately. But the problem is, no matter how she became "The All-Knowing One," one thing is certain: Waterdeep is definitely no match for the current "The All-Knowing One."

Now, Midnight's power is reduced to one-hundredth of what it was, and even if "Omniscient One" is not yet a magic goddess, even if she is not truly Omniscient One, even if she is a puppet of the Demon King...

She must also be the current [God].

He is countless levels higher than ordinary people, and is simply not something Storm Silverhand and Elminster, who have not yet fully recovered, can contend with.

She didn't know what Emiya and her group had done in the City of Ghosts to be able to kill Shar, but she knew very well that she definitely couldn't do it.

Moreover, she had just saved the entire Waterdeep City.

Even if the harpists present might have questions for her...now was not the best time to ask them.

Just as Storm Silverhand was lost in thought, Mystra, the All-Knowing One, simply tapped the table. "Storm? You came to Waterdeep in such a hurry, but you haven't told me about the situation in Candlekeep yet? I thought you came for help, but you don't seem anxious at all."

Storm Silverhand was stunned for a moment, then gave an awkward smile. "...Actually, strictly speaking, the Battle of Candlekeep is over by any definition. While we can't claim a complete victory, we did repel Larloch and Shar without serious casualties. It was, however, a heavy price to pay."

After these words were spoken, the other high-level harpists present looked at each other in surprise.

Storm Silverhand is undoubtedly the most famous predecessor among the Harpers, but she is already hundreds of years old after all. Rather than being a highly respected predecessor, she is more like a legend left in the archives.

How convincing are the words of such a hero?

A high-ranking Harper couldn't help but ask, "...You said Candlekeep repelled Larloch and Shar? Are you serious? You've fought Larloch before, so you should be well aware of his strength."

Yes, Storm Silverhand knew it well.

The full force of Larloch and the Church of Shar is a combination that no force in Faerun can resist.

In fact, Larlok's liches once organized themselves to attack the elven city of Myth Drannor. Even though this ancient elven city was surrounded by mythals, it was almost captured by Larlok's men.

Plus a floating city where a powerful god personally rules?

Their opponent should be the entire Northern Lords Alliance, or a large coalition of more than a dozen churches, rather than a mere Candle Castle.

The saying goes like using a sledgehammer to kill a chicken or using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

And now, this heavy artillery shell hit the mosquito, and there was a slight "ding" sound. The shell of this heavy artillery shell ricocheted and hit the gunner to death.

——This victory was beyond the harpist's imagination!

"To say 'repulse' might be an overstatement," Storm Silverhand sighed. "Rather, it's a bitter victory. At least, we protected our target and prevented her from falling into the hands of Larloch and Shar."

Even so, this is a very exaggerated and unimaginable record!

A Harpist couldn't help but ask, "How on earth did Candlekeep defeat Larloch and Shar?! If this method can be popularized, the Zhentarim and the Red Mages of Cyre will no longer be a problem!"

However, Storm Silverhand was silent for a moment, then smiled and replied, "Now that we have the 'All-Knowing One', the time for a counterattack has arrived."

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