This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 376 - 349 Rest in peace, old friend.

Sometimes, it appears to be the case, but in reality, every Diviner Mage manipulating fate is nothing but a tiny butterfly.

When Amberser was weaving the fate of baldness, he did not Blink to someone’s side and shave their head himself.

Instead, he amplified minor events, like dominoes continuously toppling over.

At first, Amberser might have pushed over a domino no larger than a fingernail, the second one a bit larger, and then another, slightly bigger still, until in the end, the force was sufficient to bring down walls, even destroy worlds.

This is the usage of the Dice of Destiny, bringing the probability of all minor events down to one, countless coincidences combining into a single thread, leading to the fate woven by Amberser.

But there’s a problem: the power of fate requires time to brew, to grow from small to large.

This is why Amberser, when dealing with the Ironblood General, only wove a fate of baldness instead of death.

The time difference between the two was too great, baldness could be achieved in a matter of days, while a causal relationship like death needed years, even decades, to ferment—Amberser couldn’t control that process.

Mr. Misfortune, however, had a deeper understanding than Amberser.

Rather than creating possibilities, he was strangling them. Although it seemed similar, with the Dice of Destiny reducing possibilities to one, thereby strangling the rest, the reality was entirely different. The possibility reduced to one by the Dice of Destiny could be altered until it occurred, but a severed thread of fate became an eternal void before its restoration, a possibility that could never emerge.

To put it simply, the Dice of Destiny locked the future, which, as long as it hadn’t occurred, could still be changed, even if only 0.001 seconds away—that future had not yet occurred.

And severing the thread of fate took immediate effect, unchangeable the moment it was cut.

Now, if the two were to gamble again, Amberser couldn’t possibly toss that coin of yesteryear back into the sea. No matter how hard he tried, the coin wouldn’t get a speck of seawater on it, nor would he ever find Mr. Misfortune’s hidden Family Crest, even though he knew where to look, something would always incidentally prevent him from finding it.

Such is the suppression of the frontrunner on the laggard—by tactics alone, Amberser is no match for Mr. Misfortune.

Mr. Misfortune is currently playing a higher-level game of dominos than Amberser, collaborating, they had calculated 27,000 possible futures a few days ago, blocking 10,000 of them in advance with the Power of Destiny.

But time was still too short, Mr. Misfortune now had to leave the final one among the remaining 17,000 unfortunate futures. Each break in the threads caused chain reactions, some unfortunate futures were eradicated, while new futures emerged.

It was a 17,000-layer rubik’s cube, not spinning in just one direction, and a side well-assembled had to be destroyed again for the overall picture.

That’s precisely what Mr. Misfortune was doing, forgetting the agony of his shattered body, focusing entirely on manipulating every thread of fate.

Goddess Tiamat, looking at the gradually disintegrating figure in the sky, tentatively said to Amberser, "Then, if I disrupt his ritual right now, the Kingdom of Impure Hymns will fall into my hands, won’t it?"

Amberser said nonchalantly, "You can try, if you’re not afraid of Aeo’s punishment."

Goddess Tiamat sneered, "I don’t need to personally intervene."

With that, She pointed towards the Star Realm portal that was still swallowing Githyanki, and a Red Dragon that had just poked out its head flew towards Mr. Misfortune’s direction, regardless of its rider’s control.

Goddess Tiamat stared at Amberser, believing he would definitely act to intervene.

However, Amberser did nothing but quietly watch Mr. Misfortune in the sky, as if memorizing the last moment of an old friend.

The Red Dragon, commanded by the Evil Dragon Goddess to fly towards Mr. Misfortune, couldn’t share an understanding with the Githyanki rider, who thought the mount had gone mad and hurriedly jumped off, intending to open the parachute pack close to the ground, but whether the Githyanki was too hasty, or the pack was faulty, the parachute opened the second he left the saddle.

As a result, the parachute tangled the wings of the Red Dragon, deprived of one wing’s power, the dragon immediately lost balance, began spiraling in the air, and rapidly fell.

Throughout the entire process, Mr. Misfortune was unaffected.

Amberser then explained, "Before the plan even started, we blocked all external influences. Not even deities can alter the future we have foreseen. No matter how one tries, those who attempt to change fate will only encounter misfortune."

Goddess Tiamat said vehemently, "He’s unaffected, what about you? I don’t believe you have the strength left to protect both of you."

Caught off guard, Amberser replied to Goddess Tiamat, "Isn’t that unreasonable? Even if you kill me now, what use would it be? The Kingdom of Impure Hymns will still run away, and you’ll gain nothing."

It’s like smashing the chessboard on someone after losing the game—killing your opponent still means you lost, and that reality can’t be changed.

Goddess Tiamat mocked, "Seeing you die would cheer me up a bit, and that reason is enough for me."

Zariel, who had been silent, suddenly clapped, "Excellent! The power of fate is truly marvelous. I’m growing fonder of you, little Skeleton. Goddess Tiamat, let’s remember that we represent the Nine Layers of Hell with dignity; they’ve won beautifully, we should not be sore losers."

Amberser finally breathed a sigh of relief, although he wasn’t afraid of being killed, he could always be reincarnated through the Life Casket and create another body.

What concerned him was Goddess Tiamat’s inability to accept loss; once deities began to take losing poorly, mortals would be in trouble. If an arm were to overpower a thigh, then regulation would be necessary, and if Goddess Tiamat made up her mind to flout the rules, she had countless ways to trouble Amberser.

Being targeted by assassins from the heretics every day would be troublesome enough.

Thankfully, Zariel, the big sister, was thoughtful enough. Yes, devils care about face too, they are not those chaotic evil demons.

Devils operate gambling dens, and you might try to cheat, but you must let winners take their money and leave. Otherwise, if you ruin your reputation, who would make contracts with you devils in the future?

Just as Amberser was thinking this, he suddenly felt something was off.

Goddess Tiamat was a veteran Grand Duke of Hell. She knew these rules too well. Her sudden threat was odd, and the situation seemed amiss.

But, no matter how strange things were, it didn’t matter anymore, for Mr. Misfortune was about to succeed.

The chaotic and indistinct sky had turned deep and dark, the threads of fate had thinned, and now Mr. Misfortune had completely lost his human form, leaving only a faint glimmer of light.

Amberser recognized it; it was his fragmented soul.

There were many ways to use one’s life to enhance one’s power. Amberser had tried to destroy his own body in a self-explosion, which was nearly as powerful as a Ninth Circle Spell. Paladins could burn their lifespan to unleash a more powerful soul, and that Stargazer Paladin had ascended to the legendary realm for a moment after burning through his life.

But Amberser had never seen anyone, like Mr. Misfortune, burn both flesh and soul together.

It was too extreme for anyone to even consider studying it.

This spell was Mr. Misfortune’s own creation, a man who had been filled with a desire for self-destruction since his youth.

It could only be blamed on his family education, where from a young age, he was indoctrinated with his family’s unjust deeds. He was brainwashed to sacrifice for his ancestors’ mistakes, valuing honor over life itself.

To Amberser, this was meaningless.

Yet, in the end, Amberser had agreed to Mr. Misfortune’s plan. Amberser didn’t understand it, but he respected his old friend’s wishes.

And now, he had succeeded.

Even with a soul shattered and devoid of the ability to think, he still severed the last thread of fate.

And with the breaking of the final thread of fate, the land of the Kingdom of Impure Hymns was completely severed from the world.

With the original connection cut, this land became like an invasive species, provoking the world’s rejection.

To counter this foreign entity, usually, an endless series of natural disasters would ensue—thunder, violent winds, earthquakes... The world would do everything in its power to destroy this "foreign object."

But this time, the world chose to "push away" this land, and that was the outcome Mr. Misfortune had chosen.

Simply letting this land be forsaken by the world wouldn’t be too difficult; perhaps even half of it could survive. But to drive out the Kingdom of Impure Hymns without harming the land required self-sacrifice.

Cracks appeared at the border of the Kingdom of Impure Hymns, and it seemed as if something from beneath was pushing the kingdom upwards, towards the gaping maw of the Chaos World that had long been open.

The earth trembled, and the battle between Laine People and the Githyanki had long ceased as they watched in shock the giant landmass ascending. They couldn’t see the full expanse of Impure Hymns, only the ascending land covering the horizon, as if a deity prised open the shell of the world.

This was a miracle, beyond any doubt, more terrifying than when Alchemy City was exiled.

The rise of the entire kingdom stirred up fierce winds to fill the void created by the ascending land.

Githyanki and Laine People alike, even the Red Dragons in the sky, were all pulled by this tempest, as if they were about to fall into the vast abyss left by the Kingdom of Impure Hymns.

Beyond that, there was the crazy backflow of seawater.

Impure Hymns was surrounded by sea on three sides, and once such a vast landmass left, the sea immediately turned into a waterfall to fill the abyss.

The departure of Impure Hymns had far more impact than just that; the entire continent’s climate would change, followed by more natural disasters, affecting countless people.

Even for the Kingdom of Impure Hymns itself, such a violent ascent would cause massive casualties.

But this was the best possible outcome.

As the entire Kingdom of Impure Hymns was sent into the Land of Chaos, Amberser flew up into the sky, capturing that fragment of soul in his hand.

After a careful inspection, Amberser found that the soul was too fragmented to retain much memory, and its greatest obsession had dissipated with Impure Hymns’ entry into Chaos Space, leaving behind an almost blank soul shard.

Amberser sighed.

"You have cleansed the sins of your ancestors, you’ve saved your homeland, and from now on, you and your family are no longer the disgraced, disenfranchised ones, but heroes of your kingdom.

"Rest in peace, Uladimir Rostov."