This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 313 - 291 Impossible Mission

Chapter 313: Chapter 291 Impossible Mission

"Help you? Drow Elf?"

Amberser didn’t understand Katherine’s words for a moment.

With a sense of helplessness, Katherine said, "It’s the will of the deities; they elect to grant me the stewardship over the Drow race. I will become the racial deity of the Drow Elves, but the gods believe I lack the ability to manage the Drow Elves properly."

Decisively, Amberser responded, "The Elven Gods are truly perceptive."

Katherine glared at Amberser, her puffed-up look forcing him to lower his head guiltily.

This lass—her charm doubles when her expression changes, Amberser thought, as a single look from her sent shivers through his soul. He had to quickly refocus his senses, or else the trade negotiation couldn’t continue.

Honestly, the response from the Elven Gods was quite a blow to Katherine.

After all, she had been the Elf Queen for many years. The implication from the Elven Gods was that if Katherine couldn’t get help from Amberser, she shouldn’t accept the divine appointment.

Wasn’t this the same as saying she wasn’t capable enough?

The blow left Katherine in a very low spirit, but she had to admit that she was strikingly foolish compared to this Lich. There was a part of Katherine that wanted Amberser’s help; after their previous adventures, her confidence in Amberser was second only to the gods. If the Lich promised something, he would undoubtedly make it happen.

As long as this trade was settled, the Drow Elves would certainly be able to return.

This would be the greatest boon to the Elves. Compared to such a significant matter, her own feelings were utterly trivial.

"So, are you willing to agree to this trade?" Katherine asked.

After contemplation, Amberser inquired earnestly, "Could we switch, and replace those four goddesses with the Lord of the Dawn?"

In Amberser’s eyes, Shael, Rose, Rowetta, and Goddess Tiamat combined posed less of a menace to him than the Lord of the Dawn.

If the four goddesses attacked together, he felt he could struggle a bit; if circumstances allowed, he might even manage to kill the weaker Rowetta.

But if the Lord of the Dawn came knocking with his great hammer, Amberser reckoned he’d be smashed to death with a single blow—absolutely no chance of resistance.

Katherine rejected the idea without a second thought: "That’s impossible."

Amberser hastily said, "Don’t decide for the gods; just ask them first."

Katherine shook her head again and said, "The gods anticipated you would say this and warned me in advance. We Elves will not incur the enmity of the Lord of the Dawn."

"So, what you’re saying is, the entire Drow race combined doesn’t amount to as much as the Lord of the Dawn’s attitude towards the Elf Tribe, right?"

"I don’t know; I never try to guess the intentions of the gods, but the answer is no—we can’t switch."

Corellon, the chief deity of the Elves, also considered the mightiest deity after Aeo, paired with a host of elf-related gods, could be said to be the foremost power among the gods. Yet, they didn’t wish to clash with the Lord of the Dawn over the Drow Race—this elevated the Lord of Dawn’s position and strength in Amberser’s view by another notch.

Ah, if only I had treated Allen better, thought Amberser. When he ascends to the Divine Realm, he might speak well of me.

Wait a minute, the Silvermoon Knight was tricked to death by me. That old man must have ascended to the Divine Realm by now, then... Amberser felt his prospects growing increasingly dim.

Fortunately, as an Undead, negative emotions were swiftly cast aside by Amberser, and he continued to discuss the partnership with Katherine: "Then let’s talk about this cooperation. What does ’reclaiming’ mean exactly? Upon merging with the divine and ascending to godhood, you would naturally connect spiritually with all Drow Elves. Why do you need my help?"

A racial deity is a unique kind of deity.

The power of a faith deity relies on the abundance of followers, drawing strength from the Power of Faith. It’s easy to understand—the more and the more devout the followers, the stronger the power. The Lord of the Dawn is the most classic example of a faith deity, with numerous and exceedingly devout followers; thus, not many deities can withstand his hammer’s strike.

A conceptual deity’s power stems from the breadth of a concept and its status in the hearts of others. Take the God of Alchemy, for example. The destruction of Alchemy City wouldn’t affect him directly. Instead, it was the scorn and avoidance of alchemy by the people that severely reduced the influence of alchemy and caused the deity to weaken.

Racial deities, however, are another matter entirely—their power relates to two factors: the population of their corresponding race and the race’s influence. As long as Drow Elves are alive, they provide power to the Rose Spider Queen, even if those Drow Elves worship the Lord of the Dawn. It would not affect the supply of this kind of power.

The race’s influence is also easy to understand. Laine promotes human supremacy and is the mightiest among the Nine Great Kingdoms, with an extensive history and a potent historical presence. Since humans are the most populous of the intelligent species, a racial deity of humans would be tremendously powerful, quite possibly exceeding even the Lord of the Dawn.

Unfortunately, while there are many human deities, none genuinely represent the human race.

Before the Magic Dragon Tyrant’s era, history is filled with figures championing human supremacy, yet, their ends were less than fortunate, and none became a real representative racial deity of humanity.

There was a deity named Sass, who was known as the god of humanity, but Amberser had been alive here for several hundred years and had never heard of anyone worshipping this deity. Neither had he seen any recorded miracles related to him, making the character seem more like a fictional creation by a novelist.

But it was the human race that was particularly exceptional in this way, not having a race deity, whereas other races did not lack in this aspect. Even Slimes had their own racial deity.

The racial deity of the Drow Elves is Rose, and it is because of Rose that this priesthood exists. Now that it has been separated, whoever merges with this priesthood can enjoy all the power provided by the Drow Elves.

This was also the most puzzling part for Amberser. If you just merged with the priesthood, wouldn’t that be enough? Why would they need a Lich like him?

Katherine could only explain, "I am not directly merging with the priesthood because my characteristics utterly clash with those of the Drow Elf race. It’s like the difference between the current Elf Tribe and the Drow Elves; we’re not just archenemies, our lifestyles and cultures are completely incompatible as well. If I forced the power of the priesthood to influence the Drow Elves, there would only be two outcomes: either the complete annihilation of the Drow Elves or the Rose Spider Queen reconvening a new racial priesthood."

"Is merging with a priesthood really that complicated?"

Amberser had thought this racial priesthood was the most valuable thing, but were there really so many side effects?

Katherine said helplessly, "This might be due to my personal reasons. If you were to merge with this priesthood, I reckon there wouldn’t be any problem."

Amberser suddenly felt something was off and quickly asked, "Wait a minute, what do you mean by that?!"

Katherine smirked with pride, finally finding an opportunity to claim a small victory in their verbal sparring. Returning to the Silvermoon Tribunal and reflecting for so long had indeed made her wiser.

When Katherine had parted ways with Amberser at first, she had felt a bit reluctant, but after returning to the Silvermoon Tribunal, she understood that what Amberser had said was very true.

If one were always busy adventuring, the succession of new and thrilling experiences would make one forget many things.

Only by returning to one’s own home and carefully recalling every deep experience along the way, reflecting on one’s past shortcomings, could one truly make progress.

Katherine now felt very confident. Even without Amberser by her side, she was already a qualified Adventurer.

Amberser hadn’t expected Katherine, this naïve-looking girl, to have become so sharp-tongued. It was truly a case of learning mischief in just three days, after being good for three years.

"Forget it. Let’s talk about the real issue. According to what you said, because your personality is entirely different from the Drow Elf culture, forcefully merging with the priesthood would lead to racial destruction. How would you solve this problem? Surely you wouldn’t expect me to change the nature of the Drow Elves to make them pure and kind, would you?"

Katherine nodded earnestly and said, "Yes, exactly like that."

Amberser got up and said to Katherine, "Impossible, farewell."

"Hey, wait! Don’t go!"

Katherine quickly grabbed Amberser’s hand, not expecting him to refuse so decisively. She couldn’t let him just walk away.

But Amberser was even more resolute, and his right hand, which Katherine had grasped, snapped and fell off.

Katherine stared dumbfounded at the right hand bones in her hand. That was actually possible?

After a good deal of tugging, nearly pulling off Amberser’s legs, Katherine finally managed to push Amberser back into his chair.

Gasping for breath, Katherine said, "Why are you running? Is there anything in this world that you can’t do? You’re just trying to hike up your price, aren’t you? I’ve seen right through you!"

Amberser reattached his arm helplessly and said calmly, "This time, it’s really not about haggling over the price. It truly is impossible. How did you even come up with the idea of changing the character of the Drow Elves? You might as well ask Laine’s Paladins to collectively break their vows; that I could perhaps manage. But the Drow Elves... do you even know what a Drow Elf is?"

"The Drow Elves are the Elves who followed the Rose Spider Queen in rebellion and were then exiled by our creator of the Elves, who also punished them by turning their skin to a greyish-black, symbolizing their innate evil. But now, the racial priesthood of the Drow Elves has returned to the hands of the Elf Tribe. The creator believes it’s time to let these stray kin return to the Elf Tribe."

Katherine spoke with utmost devotion, and the creator she referred to was not Aeo but Corellon, the principal deity of the Elves, who created all of the Elf Tribe.

"Good that you know. The skin color of the Drow Elves comes from their nature of evil and cruelty. Moreover, throughout the years of their exile, the Drow Elves have been purifying their bloodline. All newborns with flaws have been sacrificed to the Rose Spider Queen.

"Therefore, if you average it out, the Drow Elves are even more beautiful than you High Elves, and all Drow Elves who survive possess outstanding magical talents. They can easily become priests of the Rose Spider Queen, become Mages, become professionals of various occupations. If it hadn’t been for their low numbers and the oppression of the Elven Gods, humans would not have had the chance to dominate the surface."

Katherine remained undeterred by Amberser’s speech and said firmly, "So, what’s the problem? No matter how strong the power of the Drow Elves is, would you be afraid? You’ve even calculated their deity."

Since the Rose Spider Queen had been tricked by Amberser, how could the Drow Elves be any different?

Amberser scoffed and said, "The flaws I’m talking about are not just about looks and intelligence... The flaws the Drow Elves consider include innocence and kindness found in human nature. For countless years, they have sacrificed all their kinsfolk who tended towards goodness. Their blood flows with schemes and cruelty. You want them to become good? Not even the Lord of the Dawn could manage that, let alone me, a Lich."