This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 303 - 281: The Person Who Returned from Hell

Chapter 303: Chapter 281: The Person Who Returned from Hell

The battles between deities are incredibly brutal, and the God of Alchemy himself nearly perished when pursued by the Rose Spider Queen.

Had Amberser not helped him recover a sliver of his strength in time, the God of Alchemy would not have managed to repel the Rose Spider Queen.

And if the Rose Spider Queen hadn’t been concerned about her alliance with a group of decidedly vile characters, the God of Alchemy would have had to continue his desperate flight.

Therefore, the God of Alchemy was very apprehensive about Amberser ascending to godhood so casually.

Merging with divine positions that are not suited to him would result in eternal weakness, becoming one of those gods often slain by mortals in stories. Half the reason the God of Alchemy relinquished the merging of divine positions was because they were ill-suited for him.

For example, merging with the divine positions of corruption, darkness, and spiders might have turned alchemy into a technique that could only harm others, preventing the God of Alchemy from ever regaining his former power.

Harmful things will never be as popular as those used in daily life.

The only somewhat useful position was that of the Drow Race, and by merging with it, he could become the primary deity of all Drow Elves. His power would recover much faster without any side effects, and at most, there would be a higher chance of alchemists emerging among the Drow Elves.

But this would transform the God of Alchemy from a conceptual god to a god of worship. While there is no hierarchy between the two, becoming a god of worship would mean being influenced by his followers, which contradicts the path the God of Alchemy pursues.

Moreover, this is the most valuable among the four divine positions.

If Amberser were to merge with the Drow Race position, he might even negotiate with the Rose Spider Queen, perhaps becoming a subordinate deity, which would make his divine path smooth after finding such a powerful patron.

As a teacher, naturally, I must consider multiple backup plans for a student who likes to take unconventional paths.

"Let me see what this young man is up to."

With a knock on the table, a massive crystal mirror rose in front of the God of Alchemy.

Though the mirror seemed smooth, it was etched with countless imperceptible lines, harboring immense divine power.

This was a Divine Artifact created by the God of Alchemy himself, the pinnacle of alchemy, a technique beyond mortal comprehension.

The mirror would reflect images of whatever he contemplated.

It was with this Divine Artifact that the God of Alchemy was able to detect the Rose Spider Queen’s assault in advance.

Amberser’s face soon appeared in the mirror, along with a dark alley, where a group of adventurers, their faces twisted in anger, surrounded him.

The God of Alchemy felt a bit weary in his heart; this young man really never stopped courting trouble.

Night had fallen over Dew City in the desert, and the cold wind blew, freezing droplets into frost.

Amberser had just left the tavern when a group of adventurers cornered him in an alley near the tavern.

Amberser sighed, "Why does every tavern seem to have these convenient alleys for ambushing people."

Be it Alchemy City or Dew City, the layout was the same, with adventurer’s taverns shrouded in a web of alleys at the center. One had to pass through such dark spaces to leave.

"It’s this bastard!"

An Orc Ranger with his face wrapped in bandages pointed at Amberser, his voice as mournful as a wail.

The previous tavern brawl had broken several of the Orc Ranger’s bones, and, outrageously, their leader even refused to spare a healing potion for him.

The reason was that after the group beating, the adventuring party had to compensate the tavern a hefty sum of money.

A broken table warranted an absurd price of three hundred Gold Coins, and even the broken bottles used as weapons were priced at one Gold Coin each.

This pricing was insane; the bottles weren’t worth a Gold Coin even when filled with wine. Their reason for the upcharge was that these bottles had been drunk from and might belong to legendary figures in the future, hence their value.

The numbers on the bill were enough to make the adventure party hemorrhage money.

Suddenly saddled with such a huge debt, the leader of the adventuring party wished to eliminate the two on the spot, but the tavern didn’t care how they settled it internally. To continue operating in Dew City, they had to pay up.

Unable to swallow their anger, they naturally sought revenge on Amberser.

Perhaps they could even extort some compensation from this alchemist, who they figured was likely rich.

Finally, on a bitterly cold night, they trapped him in an alley.

"Kid, hand over all your valuables and chop off one of your arms. Then, we might consider sparing your life."

The speaker was a towering Tiflin clad in heavy black armor, his head covered so thoroughly that not even his face was visible. The patterns on the armor were peculiar, ferocious, and frightening.

"Hell Knight? A Tiflin Hell Knight, don’t tell me this is your family heirloom armor?"

Amberser appeared extremely surprised. Hell Knights were one thing, but the identity of a Tiflin added a significant layer of rarity.

Once, there was a pure Angel named Zariel who despised her peers for their weakness against the forces of Hell. She assembled an army on her own and invaded the First Layer of Hell to annihilate the Archdukes of the Devils.

Zariel was indeed mightily powerful and had once achieved astonishing victories.

Unfortunately, not all the warriors who followed Zariel were as steadfast as angels.

Some of them were terrified by the dreadful environment of Hell, so they chose to desert.

Zariel had reserved a retreat for this expedition, a powerful teleportation portal that could connect Hell with the mortal realm, allowing angels to pass through.

However, these deserters, in order not to expose their act of betrayal, not only discreetly passed through the portal to return to the mortal realm, but also destroyed it.

The angel Zariel could no longer return to the mortal realm. Facing the endless devils of Hell, this angel ultimately failed and was captured.

Because of betrayal, Zariel was unable to resist the corruption of Hell, abandoned her original grace, and fell, becoming a devil of Hell. This newly risen Archduke of the Devils became the ruler of the First Layer of Hell, always harboring thoughts of those treacherous knights.

And among those Hell Knights, a significant number were Tiflins.

Originally possessing Hellish blood, Tiflins have a high resistance to the environment of Hell and should have been Zariel’s greatest asset. Who would have thought that it would be the Tiflins who ran the fastest, likely because their ignoble blood was activated by the surroundings of Hell.

In any case, that was a long time ago.

However, due to Zariel’s fall, the betrayal of these Hell Knights became ambiguous. Some people felt that it was Zariel’s fall that forced these Hell Knights to return, while others understood that it was the betrayal of these knights that led to Zariel’s downfall.

Amberser knew one such Hell Knight who had lived a long time; his body had completely transformed into that of a devil, but he regretted his past betrayal for so many years and eventually found relief with Amberser’s help.

On his deathbed, in front of Amberser, he confessed to his mistakes and even asked Amberser to help destroy his soul completely so that it wouldn’t fall into Hell. Amberser also dealt with Necromancy Spells for the first time for this purpose and spent five whole days tearing the soul apart, a process that was anything but comfortable.

But the Hell Knight endured the torture akin to death by a thousand cuts, and was ultimately killed by Amberser.

At the time, Amberser couldn’t help reflecting that if this Hell Knight had been as resolute in following Zariel as he was in facing his end, he wouldn’t have had to live a life full of guilt.

And the one wearing the Hell Knight armor now was likely one of those who took the other view.

The Tiflin leader did not expect Amberser to recognize the origins of his armor. He proudly said, "This is the medal of honor from my ancestor’s expedition into Hell. Seeing that you have some insight, I’ll forgo severing your hand. However, at least a leg must be broken."

Amberser rolled his eyes; this Tiflin was clearly deluded by his ancestor.

But that wasn’t important. Amberser wasn’t very interested in the dispute between the Grand Duke of Hell and the betrayers.

Calmly, Amberser said to the Tiflin, "Leader, did you just say you were going to break my leg and take away all my valuable possessions?"

"What, do you still think you have a chance?"

The blades were unsheathed, arrows aimed, and even the staves were already brimming with the glow of gathered magic.

This was an experienced adventuring party, taking no chances against an alchemist; any sign of unusual behavior from him would be met with a thunderous assault.

Amberser raised his hands and then said, "Let me open my magic space and take the items out."

"I’d advise against any foolish moves. Right now, you can still save your life, but if you anger us, killing you won’t matter to anyone," threatened the Tiflin leader.

"Don’t worry, I promise not to stir." Amberser opened his private space. As soon as the space rift was revealed, he added, "However, they might not obey."

Before the group of adventurers could react, a dozen drones flew out from the space rift, firing a barrage of needles swiftly.

Screams arose one after another; those adventurers without armor protection were downed instantly.

Amberser knew the needles alone wouldn’t do much harm, so he had coated them with a potent anesthetic. None of these adventurers were elves, incapable of resisting the effects of these anesthetics, so those hit fell immediately.

The only ones who remained standing were the Tiflin leader in heavy armor and another mage, who was lucky enough to be shielded by his companions, preventing the needles from hitting him immediately.

However, after his comrades in front fell, he too was struck by a needle.

The Mage Shield didn’t help him because his casting skills were inferior; the needles not only penetrated the shield but also shot into his trousers.

Finally, only the Tiflin Hell Knight was able to stand firm.

While the fall of his teammates shocked the leader, once he realized the needles couldn’t pierce his armor, he raised his longsword, pointing it at Amberser.

"Deceitful human! I’ve changed my mind—I will chop off all your limbs and stuff this scrap metal into your stomach!"

The longsword burst into flames, ready to strike down on Amberser.

However, the space rift hadn’t closed, and two massive black shadows flew out, pinning the Hell Knight to the ground,

They were black gargoyles, larger than tigers, which Hake Stone had given him a long time ago.

This device, which had not seen use before, seemed a bit overkill now for dealing with this rather unimpressive Hell Knight.

The obsidian gargoyles grabbed the Tiflin’s limbs and firmly pinned him to the ground, his struggles futile.

Amberser approached the pinned Tiflin and said, "You see, I’m a man of my word; I haven’t moved an inch. Now, let’s return to the topic at hand, regarding the valuable items... Your Hell Knight armor looks fairly valuable, doesn’t it?"