This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 559 - 498: Destined

Chapter 559: Chapter 498: Destined

Amberser had posted a message in the group chat about his impending death, but there was no reaction for a long time.

Only the Dwarf Vampire, as usual, responded promptly, but with mockery: "What are you pretending to be this time? I didn’t understand."

Amberser was truly at a loss for words. Why did the Dwarf not believe him every time he told the truth? Was this guy cursed by the Lord of Knowledge, forever unable to discern truth from falsehood?

But it wasn’t just the Dwarf Vampire who disbelieved him; basically, everyone in the group did.

Especially the Headless Knight Gareth, who even retorted, "Who do you owe money to that you have to resort to this trick to hide from your debts?"

"Pale Skeleton: Are you trying to dodge the Devil’s due? That’s unnecessary, isn’t it? You can afford it."

"Mute: What kind of joke is this? You’re a Lich, for goodness’ sake. Don’t tell me you’ve made enough money."

"Withered Rose: If you’re tired lately, come rest in Gloomyland and train those Drow Elves."

"Dislikes Humans: It’s probably another setup. Next, he will surely reveal some shocking news to us, expecting us to applaud enthusiastically. I’ve seen through you. Skip all these boring preliminaries and get straight to the point."

...

Seeing his friends chatting and laughing, Amberser could only repeat, "There’s no setup, this is what I needed to say. Friends, my time of death has come; it is the inevitable conclusion destined by the Diviner Mage."

This time, there was true silence.

Amberser, like composing a will, began to settle his accounts with his friends: "Aige, senior, the Koutoa Murlocs will gather under your command in the future. Although the Power of Faith from the sobered Koutoa Murlocs will be weaker, this force should be sufficient to fulfill your wish, and our contract will thus be completed."

"Gareth, I will hand over all the overseas alchemy business to Isabel. She is my student and still lacks some skills, but give her a few years and her achievements in alchemy will surpass mine. You can trust her with it."

"Lady Rose, I will send all the documents about the Mercury Avatar to Gloomyland. With the current scale of the Mercury Avatar, subsequent breeding should not be difficult. As for the plan to destroy Laine, I’m afraid I cannot carry on. However, I will hand over all arrangements concerning Laine to you..."

Amberser wrote extensively, and finally, everyone understood that Amberser was not joking, but truly preparing for his end.

For the members of the Elegy Poetry Society, this was indeed the first time they encountered such a situation.

Undead are immortal and only perish by accident; they never know when they will die and thus do not arrange their affairs like a terminally ill elder.

This situation with Amberser was truly unprecedented for them.

Everyone was silent, only Withered Rose, unable to believe it, interrupted Amberser’s final words.

"Withered Rose: Shut up now, wait for me to come to you."

This declaration ended Amberser’s long discourse, and Amberser could only close the Necromancy Codex and wait for that queen’s arrival. He never imagined that sending a deathbed testament could excite Withered Rose so.

After all, hadn’t he left all his connections and resources related to Laine to her? He really did his utmost.

Withered Rose arrived quickly and brought Melina with her.

Upon seeing Amberser, Withered Rose grabbed his arm and said in a cold tone, "Open your private space, let’s talk inside."

Faced with the creditor showing up at his door, Amberser could only comply.

Entering the messy private space, and after Withered Rose had confirmed the time flow had been adjusted to a year inside for a day outside, she sat down and asked Amberser, "What exactly is going on, how come you suddenly have to die?"

Amberser could only explain the matter of the will sent by Selwyn.

However, Withered Rose skeptically asked, "That’s just a will, what does it have to do with you?"

Amberser explained, "It might be hard for outsiders to understand, but you can think of this will as a bow. Once a special bow appears in the story, it must shoot a deadly arrow. In my eyes, that arrow has already pierced through my soul, and it cannot be changed."

The moment the will turned into a scroll, the future Selwyn had tried to hide also appeared in Amberser’s soul. Although the images were blurry, he clearly knew they spelled his death.

Withered Rose, unwilling to give up, said, "You’re connected with so many deities, couldn’t your teacher, the God of Alchemy, save you? It should be very easy for Him to elevate a Lesser God."

Upon hearing this, Melina also chimed in repeatedly, "Father, you can’t give up. Quickly use your invincible intelligence to solve this problem!"

Amberser saw that these two were still not giving up, which suggested that outsiders really found it hard to understand the state of a Diviner Mage waiting for death.

Only by letting them truly see that fate cannot be defied would they understand what state Amberser was in now.

"Alright, let’s ask my teacher, then."

Amberser immediately contacted the God of Alchemy, and the image of the God of Alchemy swiftly appeared on the magic mirror.

The God of Alchemy, as usual, was swinging his crystal hammer, and every time He was seen, He was conducting experiments. The deity put down the hammer and then said to Amberser, "My dear student, which deity have you offended today that requires your teacher to tidy up the mess for you?"

This time, Amberser did not joke with his teacher, just calmly asked, "Teacher, can you promote me to become your Lesser God now?"

The God of Alchemy was startled and asked in surprise, "Why the sudden discussion about this?"

Amberser did not explain, but simply continued, "Is it possible?"

The God of Alchemy nodded and said, "Of course, it’s possible, but you haven’t finished your contract with Hell yet have you? After becoming a deity, you cannot engage in such large-scale soul trades anymore, as deities are not allowed to covertly deliver a large number of souls to Hell."

Upon hearing this, Withered Rose could not hold back her curiosity and eagerly asked, "Why is there such a restriction?"

The God of Alchemy looked at Withered Rose curiously, feeling that something was amiss in the atmosphere, but still explained, "According to the rules of Hell, the souls of evildoers fall into Hell and are assigned randomly, unless they have already signed a contract with a certain devil before their death. This is a rule set by Asmodeus, the Lord of Hell, to ensure basic balance in the Nine Layers of Hell.

"No deities are allowed to engage in soul trades with any devils from Hell. Occasionally sending a few mortals to Hell is fine, but something on the scale of your millions of Soul Currencies is out of the question. Asmodeus will never allow other deities to disrupt the power balance in Hell. Otherwise, those powerful deities would direct a large number of Heroic Spirits straight into Hell and cause trouble; Asmodeus would be overwhelmed."

The Nine Layers of Hell belong to a very special plane; theoretically, the villains of all worlds must enter Hell for punishment—a rule established by Aeo at the creation of the universe. But, the devils of Hell normally do not engage in humane deeds and make too many enemies.

As a Hell meant for punishing evildoers, the managers are ironically each more evil than the last.

As the Lord of Hell, Asmodeus not only has to deal with rebellion among his ranks, but also has to guard against those deities with an excess of justice from meddling in Hell.

Zariel was a prime example. At that time, the battle was so fierce that it forced Asmodeus, the Lord of Hell, to intervene personally to calm things down. Therefore, Asmodeus isolated the transactions between deities and Hell. Who knows whether the souls you send to Hell are genuine sinners or Heroic Spirits sent to cause trouble?

Are you trying to stuff a certain Hell Lord’s domain to the point of bursting, or are you trying to encourage that devil to rebel?"

This rule is very strict, and few gods dare to violate it.

Amberser summed it up: "So, what you mean is, I need to first settle the Soul Currencies I owe the Hell Lords, since transactions between mortals and deities are not restricted by the laws of Hell. But if I became your Lesser God, then I’d no longer be able to conduct transactions, and would end up violating the contract, leading the devils to come after me."

The God of Alchemy nodded and said to Amberser, "What problems have you encountered? Weren’t you always waiting for the Goddess of Wealth?"

Amberser shook his head and said, "Nothing much, just asking. Sorry to disturb you, teacher."

The God of Alchemy looked at Amberser, but ultimately said nothing and slowly disappeared from the magic mirror.

Withered Rose, upon seeing the God of Alchemy leave, quickly said, "There is still a chance, right? As long as you fulfill this contract, even if you don’t complete it, you can hide in the Divine Realm of the God of Alchemy..."

Amberser looked at the extremely excited Withered Rose, shaking his head and saying, "It is not so simple. Even if I were to enter my teacher’s Divine Realm right now, the result would be devils coming to find me and taking me to Hell. No matter how I try to avoid it, the outcome is the same; there will always be that momentary accident that leads to my being captured.

"The other way is the same; even if I start hiding in a private space now to produce Soul Currencies, the materials might suddenly not suffice, requiring me to make new purchases, leading to accidents during the transportation of the materials. Or perhaps, once the Soul Currencies are ready, a certain Hell Lord might steal them during the transaction... It doesn’t matter which kind of accident occurs, because the outcome is already destined."

Withered Rose seemed still unwilling to believe it, murmuring to herself, "There must be another way—if it’s useless, what’s the use of that scroll Selwyn sent? Why did he send it to you?"

"To buy me some time. I can use this scroll to make the whole world forget about my existence; after a period of chaos, I can dig a hole and bury myself. Perhaps after thousands of years, when I awake, everything happening now will have disappeared, and all that should doom me will have been eroded by time."

Withered Rose quickly grasped Amberser’s hand and said, "Then do that, in Gloomyland, we can find many suitable places to hide. I’ve been waiting for many years, I don’t mind waiting a few hundred more for Laine to perish on his own."

Amberser looked at Withered Rose unexpectedly, it didn’t sound simple; could she really let go of her hatred for Laine?

But unfortunately, Amberser could only continue to shake his head.

"It would be meaningless to do so. As a Diviner Mage, you can’t praise the Goddess of Fate for her care when it benefits you, and choose not to believe when fate arranges misfortune for you. Even if I erase my own name, I would still meet my end in some unknown corner."

Withered Rose could not understand why Amberser was so certain of his own death, but she was not ready to give up.

"If you cannot defy fate, then let me help you, I will lock you up, ensuring no one can kill you!"