This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 734 - 613: Intelligence Worth a Million Souls

Chapter 734: Chapter 613: Intelligence Worth a Million Souls

Hell was no pleasant place, nor one you could simply decide to visit on a whim.

Even Hircine, with his mighty divine power, had to ponder how to enter Hell. It was impossible for his true form to enter; most deities hid within their Divine Realm and rarely wandered about.

Even if Hircine desired to take the risk, Hell itself would reject his entry.

And since Hircine had no cordial relations with the devils of Hell, it was difficult to find someone to open a backdoor for him.

Hircine could only create an avatar and then kill it, allowing the weak soul bearing Hircine’s consciousness to descend into Hell.

However, being an avatar of a deity, although weak in power, it was not so feeble as to be consumed by maggots upon falling into Hell and turned into a demon after being excreted.

The moment this soul arrived in Hell, it began absorbing magic power, binding with the toxic and metallic soil to form an Earth Puppet-like demon.

While not particularly strong in combat, this Earth Puppet inherently possessed a portion of the Prince of Lies’ power, making it quite unproblematic to move about in Hell.

The Earth Puppet rapidly transformed into Hircine’s commonly used elf form and then began to cautiously sense its surroundings.

"Ah, how fortunate, this is the first layer of Hell."

Lately, everything had been going smoothly, lifting Hircine’s spirits. Once he had dealt with the Lich, he could retake full control of his deity position and eventually pen a Hypnotic Demon Volume surpassing the "Shire Scripture," to show Ogma a thing or two.

With this cheerful mood, Hircine headed straight for Zariel’s palace.

Hircine did not need to be as cautious as Melina on the journey, nor did he care about the devils on the way, for no one could see through the Illusion Technique shrouding him.

In this manner, Hircine silently traversed hundreds of kilometers to reach the Blood River Battlefield and saw the endlessly smoky and long front lines.

Hircine held it in complete disdain.

Aeo had created everything, including Heaven Mountain and Hell, and of course, the Endless Abyss.

All the battles were but games under the manipulation of the God above Gods; those seemingly honorable deaths were nothing more than meaningless jests performed by clowns for the audience’s amusement.

Such was the bleak truth of the world; all meaning was a lie, only fools clung to hope.

Hircine swiftly crossed the Blood River Battlefield, intending to find Zariel directly and obtain the means to heal his soul. As for the price to be paid, Hircine hoped this Fallen Angel wouldn’t be too greedy, as he had only recently regained some semblance of sanity and truly had little of value to offer.

Yet, while flying over the Blood River Battlefield, Hircine noticed a peculiar area.

"What’s this pile of silver? Slime?"

There was a small area on the battlefield seemingly entirely covered with mercury, crowded with countless silver bumps that resembled Slimes.

The Slime family was vast, with all sorts of forms, but living in mercury was indeed unheard of.

Though curious, Hircine merely glanced at it and left directly. To combat the Abyssal Demons, Hell always produced a variety of hybrids; Mercury Slimes were a bit unusual, but not enough to pique Hircine’s interest.

However, as Hircine flew past, those Mercury Avatars he had ignored all raised their heads to stare at the empty sky.

Secret electric currents soon spread through the air — it was the newly developed form of communication using radio waves among the Mercury Avatars.

"There is an abnormal magic power fluctuation in the sky, moving away from our battle zone. Preliminary estimation suggests Class God Power level, capable of trans-regional movement without regard for battlefield spatial barriers."

"Continue observation. If a second similar occurrence arises, activate the War Fog to conceal the battle zone. The Shattered Space Battlefield is commencing, we cannot afford any mishaps here."

"Understood."

...

On the surface of the lake, the Mercury Avatars began squirming as before, no different on the exterior, but vast magic power spread from them, forming a covert Magic Array.

If any abnormalities were detected, this Magic Array would generate a large amount of highly poisonous mercury vapor, not only obscuring visibility but also cutting off most sensory effects.

In another space connected to Mercury Lake, large numbers of Mercury Avatars were assembling on the riverbank; they were no longer in their initial rudimentary forms but had transformed into various shapes, each equipped with different types of Magic Equipment.

Wands, spears, shields, swords... all seemed to carry Enchantment Effects.

These were the fruits of the Mercury Avatars’ diligent efforts.

In the Alchemy Divine Country, the grand Evil Silver Gradient was constantly under a state of accelerated time, absorbing the memories of those Mercury Avatars studying and then transmitting them to their descendants in Hell through shared knowledge.

The Mercury Avatars then chose specific knowledge to delve into according to their individual characteristics—since it was a transmission of skills, the learning process was swift. In a short amount of time, a large number of Alchemists and Mages emerged from the Mercury Avatar family. A select few even broke through their own limitations to become entities similar to Transforming Monsters.

Their unique individual transforming abilities were greatly enhanced, not only mimicking external appearances but even the internal structures of the bodies they replicated, permitting them to wield some of the abilities of the species they transformed into.