This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 392 - 364 Laila’s Blessing

Chapter 392: Chapter 364 Laila’s Blessing

Father of the Oak, Sylvanas, also known as the Father of the Forest, Father of Verdancy, God of Wilderness Nature... The name is not important; what’s important is that Sylvanas is a deity with formidable divine power.

All things related to nature could be said to fall within the scope of Sylvanas’s deity position, and the Druids who revere nature naturally worship this deity.

Sylvanas has many allies, such as Goddess Shanteya, Lord of the Dawn Rosanda, and so on, which shows how powerful this deity is. However, despite having many allies, Sylvanas has not established his own deity faction, and it seems taking on a Lesser God might be a first.

"Lady of Mist, what exactly is going on?" Amberser asked curiously.

Laila looked at the statue of Sylvanas and said contemplatively, "I suppose it’s a kind of transaction. After all, my remains were turned into the Dreamweave Barrier by the Druids. Now that I am about to be resurrected, under normal circumstances, the Mist Barrier would disappear, and the Emerald Dream Forest would lose its protection.

"Father of the Oak has made a deal with me; he granted me a portion of his divine power, allowing me to become his Lesser God, and he will protect me from harm by Hircine. In return, I will leave behind my body to continue to sustain the Dreamweave Barrier."

Amberser listened and said surprisingly, "To give up your body and ascend to deity as a pure soul... it would weaken you greatly, and the growth of your divine power would also be incredibly slow."

Deities differ among themselves. Generally speaking, the broader the concept of deity position and the more followers one has, the stronger the divine power. And if these factors are all similar, then it depends on the deity itself.

Take Goddess Tiamat for example, who is a goddess with Weak Divine Power, but her true form is a five-headed dragon, and that racial bonus is significantly high. In a real fight, even the God of Alchemy would not be her match.

By forsaking her body, Laila was effectively discarding this advantage completely. If it were not for Sylvanas sharing his divine power with her, she would not even be able to maintain her deity status.

"It doesn’t matter; I was never a particularly powerful deity to begin with. With the protection of Sylvanas, I am not afraid of Hircine anymore."

In the past, Hircine betrayed Laila, usurping her deity position and nearly killing her. To this day, Hircine continues to masquerade as the Lady of Mist, deceiving the followers who once worshipped her. Only a few who specialize in the study of deities know that the Lady of Mist is already dead.

Once Laila becomes a deity again, this Prince of Lies would certainly attempt to kill her again, which indeed constitutes a significant problem.

The protection of Sylvanas... Amberser found it difficult to gauge the losses and gains, but this was Laila’s own matter. He believed that the goddess did not stand before Sylvanas’s statue to tell him this news for no reason.

Amberser said cautiously, "I have no intention of questioning the judgment of deities. If you feel that this is worth it, then I too will do my best to support you."

Well, support in spirit.

It would be impossible for him to go fight the Prince of Lies.

"I know you will support me," said Laila with a radiant smile. "However, there’s more than just telling you the news; there are three things."

"Please give your orders," said Amberser.

"No, not commands," Laila walked over to Amberser and caressed his face, "The first thing is, you’ve offended quite a few deities. The Lord told me, Tiamat, Shael, Rowetta, and so forth—these evil gods are preparing to deal with you."

Yet Amberser spoke calmly, "I already know about this. But I have made a deal with the Elven Gods, and they will take on these grievances for me."

"The Elven Gods... that’s truly in your style. However, what I am referring to is not the gods attacking you personally, but their followers."

"Oh, I see," Amberser wasn’t very concerned about mortals troubling him, as he was no longer just a legendary figure of little substance. Once he swapped to the Mithril Mech, even if he couldn’t emulate Headless Bro and slaughter through Laine, he could still attempt a formidable solo fight.

However, Amberser was humble, so he said to Laila, "That is troublesome, indeed. It would be difficult for me alone to handle thousands of heretics."

Laila then said to Amberser, "I know, so the second thing is my blessing upon you."

She placed her hand on Amberser’s skull, and divine power permeated his soul. Instantaneously, Amberser felt a fusion of numerous pieces of knowledge into his mind; suddenly, he understood many things.

This miraculous sensation lasted but a brief moment, yet for Amberser, it was an enormous gain.

This was a power only deities could wield, knowledge only deities could comprehend. Mortals struggled to sense the World Laws; such knowledge could not be bought even with ten billion Gold Coins.

Withdrawing her hand, Laila said to Amberser, "Within the rules allowed, I have shown you the knowledge of deities. I believe that with your wisdom, you will soon take a new step."

"Thank you," said Amberser, full of gratitude.

This was the most valuable gift he had received in his life, but that wasn’t all. The blessing Laila had just bestowed on him had amplified his illusion techniques.

The original Ryan’s True Illusion was merely meant to confound perception by creating illusions, but now it could also forcibly induce sleep, pulling subjects into a dream state.

One must know that this was a wide-ranging illusion technique, meaning Amberser could lure large groups of people into the dream state at once. And in front of a lich, being asleep was almost akin to being dead.

These three matters—one was to warn Amberser he was being targeted, the second to bless him?

And what about the third matter?

Amberser looked towards Laila, his expression full of anticipation, and said, "Goddess, may I ask what the third matter is?"

This time Laila’s smile vanished, and she said to Amberser, "This third matter, actually, has nothing to do with you. I have become a lesser deity under the Father of the Oak, taking on part of the divine position. Today, I am a God of Dark Nature, in charge of the natural cycle within the darkened Illusion Realm. Therefore, the druids from the Shadow Society are naturally my followers. However, you should have heard of the deeds of the Shadow Druids, no?"

Of course, Amberser had heard of the Shadow Druids.

If druids were akin to environmentalists, constantly protesting against humans modifying nature with alchemy, then Shadow Druids were environmental extremists, secretly assassinating all those who altered nature—and their methods were brutally relentless and unreserved.

Previously, Garey Woz, the president of Alchemy City, handed over his great-granddaughter to the Shadow Druids to be nurtured, subjecting this poor girl to severe mental torment, even contemplating using her as a sacrifice in a bid to sever his own humanity.

What the Shadow Druids stood to gain was the disappearance of Alchemy City; the place would once again become a thriving forest. The villages around the city would be completely massacred by them, alchemy equipment utterly destroyed, in order for everything to return to its natural state.

Shadow Druids were just that extreme, which is why they were not well received even within druid tribes.

"Goddess, are you indicating that I should resolve the matter with the Shadow Druids?" Amberser inquired.

Laila shook her head and said, "The Father of the Oak would not allow for the extinction of an entire tribe of druids. He has only tasked me with teaching these children to return to the right path. Extremism is not a part of nature; their actions have already disrupted the balance and cycle, not much different from the humans of Alchemy City.

"Moreover, I know you have your own matters to attend to, and I won’t ask you to complete this for me. I would just like to ask for your wisdom to guide my follower, letting him know what to do."

As she spoke, Laila gestured for Brandir, who had been standing to the side, to come over.

This druid approached respectfully and said to Amberser, "Master Ultraman, please guide me on how to reclaim these Shadow Druids."