Chapter 99: Saphiras’ Scepter! [Seeking Recommendation Votes]
2016-08-23
Author: Floating Tower
Lich God – Vishalon.
He is a vain, selfish, narrow-minded, and astute deity, obsessed with various experiments of life and death, indifferent to the fate of those “lower beings.” In many ways, his methods are still not far from those of mortals, only that now the powers at his disposal are significantly greater.
When Vishalon was still a mortal, he was a betraying Red Robe Wizard and one of the main enemies of Sazartan.
Later, he received guidance from the Lord of Storms in his research, ascending from mortal to deity using the methods taught by the Lord of Storms. However, he quickly realized that the Lord of Storms merely wanted to create a servant to be exploited, so he sought the help of the God of Mages, Augustus, to form an alliance, and with the assistance of the Goddess of Magic, he thwarted Talos’s retaliation. However, he later made peace with Talos in private and re-formed an alliance, beginning to curry favor with the Lady of the Night, Shar. Yet, until the onset of the Saint’s Cataclysm, he ostensibly still served the God of Mages – Augustus.
The Lich God is a classic example of a mortal becoming a deity.
And the method by which he was created as a deity is similar to how Soren grants divinity to create subordinate gods.
At that time, the Lord of Storms wished to create a servant who could be exploited, but unexpectedly the Lich God turned out to be more cunning than he had imagined. Relying on various interests and flattery, the Lich God evaded anger from all sides, ultimately serving the God of Mages in name.
Ghost Spirit Forest.
This is a cursed land.
Once an ancient battlefield during Queen Isabella’s era, hundreds of thousands of soldiers perished here, later exploited by a powerful lich who attempted to create a terrifying undead army.
However, a group of heroes thwarted the lich’s scheme, but the lingering necromantic energy continued to pollute the environment. The Druid Order attempted to purify this land, planting many trees here, but ultimately these trees were also corrupted. This became a realm of carrion creatures, and there exists a peculiar creature.
Ghost Spirit Spider.
A semi-undead spider, originally a servant cultivated by the Spider Queen, Rose, which quickly proliferated and grew strong here.
Several figures leaped among the web-covered trees.
Suddenly, a shadow fell from the sky and rapidly knocked down all these figures with lightning speed.
Soren’s figure appeared on the trunk.
He frowned as he gazed at the three figures before him, and upon seeing their dark skin, he couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
Drow.
And they are female drow.
Due to the peculiarities of the Underdark, female drow hold high status within their race, which gives them greater power. Of the three female drow in front of Soren, two wore special rings bearing the emblem of the Spider Queen – Rose.
“There are actually two priestesses!”
Soren landed and turned over the female drow in front of him. He had just shown mercy and did not kill them directly, muttering, “One of them is even of bishop rank.”
“Could the Spider Queen be making moves here too?”
Snakehead Whip, emblemed rings, and tools for summoning Laras Melt Demons.
The elder female drow priestess was clearly a core member of the Spider Queen’s church.
“Eh?”
Soren felt around the three female drow and soon pulled out a somewhat special scroll.
It depicted a very strange object.
A scepter!
Soren frowned in thought and muttered to himself, “Saphiras’ Scepter?”
Things just became complicated.
Because this also involved another deity.
—God of Prophecy – Saphiras!
Long ago, Saphiras was the guardian deity of Southern spellcasters, sharing the same divine responsibilities as Augustus, who at that time still served Mystra as a mage. Before the Dawn Cataclysm, they fought, and Saphiras lost, although his church claimed this was a deliberate act due to his foresight of the future. Augustus seized a part of Saphiras’ divine powers, becoming the sole guardian deity of mages, while Saphiras’ essence was imprisoned within a staff crafted by Augustus. Saphiras was released after swearing allegiance, but in reality, most of his divinity and power remained shackled within the staff. Although Saphiras was very dissatisfied with his position, he still ostensibly served Augustus.
Conflict between deities is brutal.
Especially in cases involving the same divine responsibilities, Augustus, aided by the Goddess of Magic, emerged victorious, thus imprisoning Saphiras and seizing the mage divinity.
Subsequently, he was sealed as a servant within the staff, becoming a subordinate god under Augustus.
What Soren found on the drow priestess was the emblem of Saphiras’ Scepter, a deity imprisoned by Augustus, who still commands the divine responsibilities of prophecy, fate, and truth!
“The God of Mages is dead.”
Soren stored the scroll, muttering, “What do the drow want with Saphiras’ Scepter? Does the Spider Queen – Rose want to control the God of Prophecy?”
Legends.
Just a legend.
The God of Prophecy – Saphiras’ true essence is imprisoned within the scepter, and whoever possesses this scepter can command and control him.
Of course.
At present, this legend has not been verified, as until the fall of the God of Mages, this scepter was held personally by Augustus.
“Prophecy, fate, truth!”
A glimmer appeared in Soren’s eyes as he murmured, “Although the God of Prophecy is just a weak god, the divine responsibilities he governs are indeed quite appealing.”
Every action of the Spider Queen must be deliberate.
Soren thought for a moment, awakened one of the drow, and then cast a mind control spell.
Soon.
Their purpose was extracted from them by Soren.
These female drow were indeed searching for Saphiras’ Scepter, but what left Soren somewhat dissatisfied was that the ultimate goal remained unknown; they only received a mission from the church, and no one knew what the Spider Queen intended to do.
Soren stood in place and pondered.
He knocked the priestesses before him unconscious and opened a portal to send them to Modo.
These individuals are difficult to handle.
Firstly, Soren could not kill them because they are priestesses of the Spider Queen, and if they were to die, they would inevitably return to the Divine Kingdom. This means that the Spider Queen could learn of Soren’s existence through their deaths.
Then.
Even if he killed them and erased the traces of their souls, the Spider Queen would still sense it, and Soren would still be exposed.
So, the best approach for now is to keep these priestesses alive, but in a state where they cannot pray or contact the Spider Queen. Soren must keep them unconscious until his actions have concluded; at that point, they would be of no use.
“God of Prophecy.”
“Lich God.”
Soren’s figure moved towards the other side of Ghost Spirit Forest as he muttered, “Both subordinate gods of the two God of Mages have emerged.”
“The former is imprisoned within the scepter.”
“And the latter is merely a fence-sitter, connected to the Lord of Storms, while secretly serving the Lady of the Night. It seems that the fall of the God of Mages is not so simple.”
The struggle between deities has erupted.
The Lich God serves the God of Mages, the God of Mages serves the Goddess of Magic, and the Goddess of Magic is an ally of Lady Silver Moon.
Meanwhile, the Lich God secretly allies with the Lord of Storms and serves the Lady of the Night. This fence-sitter has connections on both sides; in such a context, the sudden fall of the God of Mages raises suspicions about the Lady of the Night and the Lord of Storms related to the Lich God.
Today.
Soren encountered the Spider Queen’s priestesses, so he has reason to believe this matter is definitely related to the Spider Queen.
The Lady of the Night governs the shadows and the magic network.
For this ancient goddess, the power and divine responsibilities held by the God of Mages are equally attractive, and this can greatly weaken the power of the Goddess of Magic.
Night falls.
Soren quickly arrived at the site where the God of Mages was in trouble. It had turned into a massive meteorite crater.
“Meteorite spell?”
Soren instantly recognized that a legendary spell had been cast in battle here, with a very dense presence of ghost spirit spider corpses nearby.
At the same time.
Soren also found a dismembered creature that looked like a spider, but with part of the body being that of a drow.
—Spider-Transformed Elf!
To punish certain individuals, the Spider Queen cursed them with cruel methods, resulting in a twisted monster being born.
That is the Spider-Transformed Elf!
They are minions driven by the Spider Queen, and near the battlefield, Soren saw the corpses of Spider-Transformed Elves. Undoubtedly, the Spider Queen was absolutely implicated in the fall of the God of Mages.
—[Tracking] Divine Responsibility!
Soren activated the power of the tracking divine responsibility, and some incomplete fragments appeared before his eyes.
Another divine power interfered with his tracking, so the images he saw were extremely fragmented; he could only search for clues in areas not disrupted by divine power.
“A more powerful deity than himself joined the battle.”
Soren stood still in thought for a moment, murmuring, “Tracking the God of Mages seems unlikely. Some force has already disrupted it.”
“However.”
“Perhaps I can track the Lich God and the God of Prophecy!”
Without hesitation.
Soren quickly shifted his target. He did not obtain much information from the Lich God, but when he fixed his tracking on the God of Prophecy, an unusual scepter materialized before him.
Saphiras’ Scepter!
The sealed essence of the God of Prophecy, the scepter that has always been controlled by the God of Mages, and Soren unexpectedly tracked down a lead on it.
This scepter has been taken away.
And!
Most importantly, the one who took this scepter is merely a powerful mortal, so he cannot obscure or disrupt Soren’s tracking with divine power.
……………… (To be continued ~^~)
