This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 408 - 380: The Consequences of Offending a Deity

Chapter 408: Chapter 380: The Consequences of Offending a Deity

Before setting sail, Lady of Mist, Laila, had warned Amberser that the goddesses he had offended had once again united to cause trouble.

So, after confirming that these monsters were tracking him, he instantly understood that it was Shael’s doing, or at least she was one of them.

After having received knowledge of the Dark Web from Shael, Amberser could be located by this Dark Goddess at any time. That was the price for acquiring forbidden knowledge, which was why, after he had tricked Shael last time, he didn’t even return the Divine Artifact dagger to her. Since he could be located anyway, having one more Divine Artifact made no difference.

Now, seeing Shael’s smug look, Amberser wasn’t much bothered, these goddesses talked big, but in reality, they always ended up delivering.

The main reason was that these goddesses were always scheming against each other.

Chaos can’t defeat order, evil can’t win over good, not because of the disparity in strength between the camps, but because one side can unite completely while the other can only fight for themselves, occasionally cooperating but still wary of being betrayed by their own.

Thus the Goddess Alliance breaks at the slightest touch, hardly stronger than paper mâché.

However, at the very least, it was clear who had come to deliver this time.

"Lady of the Night, our previous cooperation was quite enjoyable. You wouldn’t want others to know the details of our collaboration, would you?" Amberser said to Shael.

"Threatening me?" Shael’s face made of black mist came straight up to Amberser’s face, scoffing, "You are becoming increasingly disrespectful to the deities, little skeleton. I hope you always grasp this measure well, for if you cross the line even a little, my friends can’t wait to give you divine punishment."

Amberser ignored these threats; there were many who cursed the deities. When Laine was at his most fervent, he smashed the statue of God of the Liches, Vishalon, into pieces, yet Vishalon did not seek revenge on mortals.

"Ah, I had thought we were all cooperating happily. Since you are unwilling to give me an answer, then I can only bid you farewell."

"Heh, I would like to see what methods you have to defy me. The knowledge I graced upon you, you can’t even write it down or tell it to someone else. It’s taboo infused with my Divine Power, and has already fused completely with your soul."

When the deal was made, Shael had already made an agreement with Amberser that this knowledge could only be used by him. The sealing scroll he later gave to the Elf Tribe had, in fact, nothing to do with the Magic Web anymore.

It was more like Shael had taught Amberser a mathematical formula, with which he completed a calculation, leaving a vast amount of the process behind, obtaining a very elegant answer, which he then shared with the Elf Tribe.

The Elf Tribe might be able to replicate the Sealing Scroll he had created through this answer, but they were incapable of reproducing the actual process that led to this result.

After receiving this knowledge, Amberser’s soul was essentially bound by Shael, so no matter what he did, he couldn’t hide and would be located by Shael at any time.

Shael had just started feeling triumphant when suddenly she exclaimed in surprise, "You’re insane!"

Amberser hadn’t gone mad; he simply stretched out his hand, inserted it into his own head, and pulled out a thread from within.

"Goddess Shael, you didn’t know back then, but my understanding of souls is much stronger than you imagined. You think that this knowledge has merged with my soul, but in fact, it’s just like a tumor that I can cut off at any time. At most, it hurts a bit!"

Amberser spoke calmly, but his soul was feeling excruciating pain, as if his nerves were being plucked out while alive to string a violin and then played "Flight of the Bumblebee."

Every strand drawn out doubled the intense pain Amberser felt.

This agony was the most brutal torture Amberser had endured since becoming a Lich, but to threaten a goddess, it was necessary to pay in blood.

In that moment, Amberser reverted to the daredevil of old who could laugh while doing business even when hands and feet were cut off.

Shael had never thought Amberser would do this; She was well aware of the pain of soul-tearing, so She could feel Amberser’s determination.

This Lich truly dared to tear his soul apart on the spot just to strip away that part of his memory.

For Shael, doing so had no effect whatsoever.

The worst-case scenario was simply being unable to pinpoint Amberser’s location; yet Shael still sensed an intense threat emanating from him.

If she forced Amberser to tear his soul apart, as long as the Lich wasn’t dead, he would use every method at his disposal to destroy the Deity. Even if he couldn’t touch her Divine Realm, all of Shael’s power that remained in the Mortal World would be subjected to Amberser’s revenge.

There was no need for Amberser to verbalize it; his deeds in the recent times had already proven the validity of his threats.

Shael had miscalculated. She had never anticipated this life-fearing, death-defying Lich to possess such ruthlessness.

Wasn’t he turned into a Lich because he feared death?

"Fine, you’re not afraid of death, which is unexpected to me, but what does that have to do with me? What if you slaughter all of my worshippers in the Mortal World? I am the Dark Goddess. Wherever there is light, there will be darkness. I am eternal, but you will eventually pay the price for your recklessness."

Seeing Shael remain defiant, Amberser once again pulled out a thread of his soul. This time he couldn’t restrain himself anymore. His body began to shiver violently, and he couldn’t help but kneel on the ground.

Amberser’s voice trembled, but he still said to Shael, "Considering my resoluteness, shouldn’t you, Goddess, admire my courage? Otherwise, I can only use this forbidden knowledge of the Dark Web to curry favor with the Magic Goddess. One can’t afford to make a losing deal, right?"

Shael’s sole desire was to claim the Deity Position of the Magic Goddess because the original Magic Goddess was born from Shael’s own wound. In Shael’s view, the Magic Goddess had usurped her power to attain her current strength.

The Dark Web was one of the means Shael secretly devised to usurp the throne, developed over many years as her true trump card. It could bypass the Magic Goddess’s Deity Position, allowing Spellcasters to use magic without the Magic Goddess’s permission.

Even though Amberser knew only partly about the Dark Web, if this knowledge were to end up in the Magic Goddess’s hands, it could potentially render Shael’s years of planning futile, forcing her to devise a new strategy against the Magic Goddess.

Shael stubbornly said, "The Magic Goddess might not answer your prayers. Haven’t you never seen Her? Do you think receiving Her response is that simple? Even if you held my Deity Position in your hands, She might still not spare you a glance."

Amberser continued, "Then you are not aware, I happen to know a Deity who can introduce me to the Magic Goddess. Under normal circumstances, yearning for Her attention would indeed be in vain, but with this taboo knowledge, maybe the Magic Goddess would be willing to meet with a mere mortal like me?"

Laila was resurrected and had now joined Sylvanas’s camp. With Laila, it was possible to find the Lesser God Azus, a retainer of the Magic Goddess, and thus make contact with this supreme Magic Goddess.

Amberser didn’t claim to be a hundred percent sure, but there was at least a ninety percent chance.

This outcome was unbearable for Shael. With rage, the Deity said, "You are mad, tearing your own soul apart. You an Undead, if your soul shatters, what will you have left?! Can you ensure your soul won’t break apart because of this?!"

Trembling, Amberser said, "I can’t guarantee it, so I’d rather not come to blows with you until the last moment. I’ve always been grateful for the knowledge you’ve bestowed upon me. You understand, knowledge is what I, a Mage, value the most. Your benevolence to me is like being reborn. I’ve even wished to take you as my teacher. Sadly, the God of Alchemy is particularly stingy; he won’t allow me to pledge myself to another master."

"So, can you really not spare someone insignificant like me? There are plenty more who seek the darkness. If you visit Laine, you might find several Chosen. Moreover, my requests aren’t much. I only want to know who the deity behind the scenes is, and at the same time, to never spy on my whereabouts again. Just these two simple demands. Are you really going to force me to present this broken soul to the Magic Goddess over such trivial matters?"

Shael, seething with fury, found the Lich insufferably detestable. In her eternal life, she had seen countless mortals—wise, foolish, mad, holy... but not one mortal truly threatened a Deity. At most, they could cause a Deity to lose face, but this Lich had done it.

He not only cost the Rose Spider Queen half her Deity Positions, reducing her to one of the weakest Deities, but he also repeatedly foiled Goddess Tiamat’s plans... And because of this, goddesses from the Evil Camp sought to gain the Lich.

This Lich had the power to set the continent ablaze, yet he abandoned his Evil Camp to instead work to maintain peace across the land.

Now, Shael had to make a choice: to irreparably sever ties with this Lich or to compromise.

Shael hesitated for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh, "I truly admire you, little Skeleton. You are the most intriguing mortal I’ve encountered in years, and you are this Plane’s most significant character, the Chosen I’ve been longing for..."

As Shael continued, Amberser felt something was off. Was the Dark Goddess leading up to a ’but’?

As expected, Shael went on, "But, you also remind me of the beginning. Having hidden in darkness for too long, I’ve been left with only conspiracies and schemes, from one of the primal Deities to a role akin to a clown. I shouldn’t have been so calculative with you. No matter whether your plan succeeds or not, a mortal who offends the dignity of a Deity deserves death."

In a frantic voice, Amberser said, "Wait, Goddess, you will be punished by Aeo for this!"

Unmoved, Shael said, "No matter. I am the Dark Goddess born after Aeo’s creation of the world, and in a way, I could be considered His daughter. A father punishing his daughter is always going to be lenient. So, go to your death with your regrets. This is what befalls those who offend a Deity."