Anbaixiu remained wrapped in his illusions, standing aside to watch the commotion unfold.
From Harvey’s arrogant winning streak to the chaos erupting now, Anbaixiu took in every detail.
The kid had improved, but only marginally.
Had it been Anbaixiu in his place, there would have been no need to bring in a third party to disrupt things. If you couldn’t beat the orc, couldn’t you just provoke them into fighting among themselves? Anyone who understood orc traditions knew that matriarchal clans were viewed with hostility by mainstream orc society. It was almost certain that within Serrated Blade's clan, there were orcs dissatisfied with female rule.
All it took was a little time to gather information, followed by a few whispered provocations to tempt those brainless brutes into poisonings or backstabbing, and they would have torn each other apart.
With just a little more tact in his words, Harvey could have kept his own hands entirely clean.
Once internal strife began, the clan would have leaked like a sieve, and slipping away would have become child's play. It wasn't as if the female orc could stay awake around the clock to watch him.
Unfortunately, Harvey had opted to invite outside forces into the fray.
Not that the approach was inherently flawed, but Harvey had zero control over that outside power. Not knowing the other party's habits or temperament had inevitably resulted in the runaway mess unfolding before them.
Whether running an experiment or embarking on an adventure, one should never introduce uncontrollable variables without absolute necessity.
The kid was still far too green.
As the smoke spread, the tavern quickly turned pitch-black.
Serrated Blade was no fool either. Knowing she was thoroughly outmatched, she scrambled through the confusion toward a window and vaulted out of the tavern.
The orcs waiting outside swiftly regrouped with her, preparing to flee the city.
As for Harvey, he also used the cover of the dense smoke to sprint outside. He had never intended to actually work for anyone; he was merely looking for an opportunity to escape.
The moment he left the tavern, he ducked into the dimmest alleyway, flipped his coat inside out, pulled a pair of fake buckteeth and a false beard from his magical pouch to put them on, and slouched forward. Instantly, he turned into a disheveled old man.
As for Polymorph... well, Harvey hadn't learned it yet. As a self-taught mage, the books he had read placed a ceiling on his spell repertoire. Even though he could cast relatively advanced spells like Detect Lie, he truly had no way of casting Polymorph without having ever learned it.
Yet Harvey’s disguise proved entirely useless.
Before he had made it very far, Serrated Blade cornered him with a group of orcs.
Wiping her nose, the female orc sneered triumphantly. "Did you think you could get away? You reek of my scent!"
Harvey forced an awkward laugh. "It's a misunderstanding... all a misunderstanding!"
His answer was a savage kick to the chest from Serrated Blade that sent him flying backwards through the air.
Midair, Harvey couldn't even register the pain—only a deep, bitter resignation filled his chest.
*Could this... also be destiny?*
He slammed heavily onto the ground. As his consciousness blurred, disjointed fragments suddenly flashed before his eyes.
Within a dim, cavernous expanse, faceless companions stood around him. He could hear their noisy chatter and smell a pungent, foul stench—sensations so vivid they felt entirely real.
Finally, Harvey saw a hideous colossus lunge forward, swallowing him whole in a single bite.
Flesh was ripped apart by razor-sharp teeth, bones snapped under crushing pressure, and agonizing pain gave way to absolute, dead silence.
Harvey gasped in shock, jolting free from the hallucination.
The sharp pain in his chest lingered, and several ribs were undoubtedly broken, but Harvey no longer cared. Was what he had just witnessed... his future?
In the near future, would he die on an adventure?
Ever since becoming a divination wizard, Harvey had understood one fundamental truth.
Everything revealed in a prophecy was bound to happen; no matter how one struggled, it would not change. His mentor had once asked him a question: if you learned you were going to die tomorrow, would you panic, or foolishly attempt to defy fate?
At this moment, Harvey was at a loss. He felt no fear, yet he couldn't think either. The sudden approach of death had left him so stunned that he had even forgotten to be afraid.
Anbaixiu stood quietly beside Harvey, watching the orcs haul the young mage away.
The objective of this journey through time had been achieved. The future Harvey had just glimpsed was a forgery crafted by Anbaixiu. He had successfully exploited a loophole in fate, rescuing Harvey in a nearly impossible manner.
Anbaixiu was certain he had succeeded; Harvey would not hit his head on the way back and see his doom all over again.
For fate was ever fair. The moment Anbaixiu finished forging the prophecy, his own power of divination vanished.
Though temporary, it indicated that the Goddess of Fate had agreed to the exchange. Harvey could live, but Anbaixiu had to pay the price.
Yet this was by no means the end of it; the goddess had never been known for her generosity.
Turning to Catherine at his side, Anbaixiu said, "Brace yourself. Major trouble is on the way."
Just as Catherine was about to ask what he meant, a shrill horn suddenly blared through Sweetdew City.
"Is that... someone attacking the city?"
Catherine remembered the sound. The last time she had made a bet with Anbaixiu and tried to fly into Sweetdew City, the guards on the walls had sounded that very warning horn.
This time, however, the blasts were far more frantic, echoing from every direction at once.
Sweetdew City was under attack? Who was the enemy?
At this point in time, the only power waging war against the Dwarf Kingdom was Ryan.
Anbaixiu raised his head and looked toward the distant sky.
Across the blue firmament, several beams of radiant light clashed and danced, the most dazzling among them being a sweep of silvery moonlight.
Descending like a colossal wall, the silvery moonlight grazed the southern rampart of Sweetdew City. A five-meter section of the wall, nearly twenty meters tall, was instantly sheared away, leaving a cut as smooth as a blade slicing through tofu.
"Silvermoon Knight Winston Wright!" Anbaixiu squeezed the name through gritted teeth.
He had known the trial from the Goddess of Fate would be grueling, perhaps even demanding his life, but he had never imagined it would take the shape of the Silvermoon Knight.
The old man was absurdly powerful; a single swing from that blade could likely cleave Anbaixiu's Golden Throne in two. Worse yet, the old man's Holy Light could cling directly to an undead's soul. Even with a phylactery, Anbaixiu would not escape complete purification.
Catherine said in surprise, "The Silvermoon Knight? Isn't he dead... Oh, I forgot, we're in the past."
There were still several months before the old man’s demise, and countless battles lay between now and then. Wearing him down was entirely out of the question.
"Can't we just run?" Catherine asked.
She had no desire to fight the Silvermoon Knight. Her identity was far too delicate, and the knight was practically the symbol of Ryan. A clash between them in Sweetdew City would cause relations between Ryan and the Silvermoon High Court to deteriorate drastically.
Anbaixiu gave a bitter smile. "You can run, but I can't. Remember the cup I had you carry out of the city? This is the trial fate set for me. Running away means total annihilation."
"But..." Catherine bit her lip. She couldn't let Anbaixiu die here, yet she couldn't drag the entire elven race down with him either.
As for relying on Anbaixiu alone... Not that Catherine looked down on him, but if they fought an all-out duel, she doubted Anbaixiu could even beat her.
And as for that Silvermoon Knight in the sky, Catherine knew she was no match for him; she could never have deflected that sword strike of moonlight.
He truly lived up to his reputation as the empire's greatest paladin, possessing strength that surpassed the realm of legends. Catherine couldn't even begin to fathom how that aging frame could unleash such a terrifying blow.
Watching the silent Anbaixiu, Catherine found herself recalling their time together.
Though the lich was insatiably greedy, she couldn't find any other real fault in him. If anything, Anbaixiu's existence had drastically improved her impression of the undead. Who had ever heard of a lich that spared every single paladin he encountered?
Even if he had only done it to ransom them for gold, any other lich would have killed one or two just to vent their frustration—after all, the reported casualty figure had been a thousand.
Beyond that, Anbaixiu's myriad schemes and methods had broadened Catherine's horizons. In the brief time she had spent following him, she felt she had learned more than in centuries at the Silvermoon High Court.
Yet now, the usually confident lich—who always acted as if no obstacle could stand in his way—had fallen silent for a long time.
A sudden pang of sympathy gripped Catherine's heart. Unable to hold back, she said, "Can your illusions guarantee I won't be exposed? I can help you."
Saying this was already a betrayal of the elves given the risk of exposure, but watching Anbaixiu march to his death was something Catherine simply could not do.
Anbaixiu turned to look at her, surprised. "Such a big sacrifice? Catherine, have you thought this through?"
"I can't just watch you die, can I? Worst comes to worst... I'll negotiate with Ryan in my capacity as the Elven Queen. Meanwhile, you can use that head of yours—whatever it's made of—to figure out how to talk them down. That's what you do best, isn't it?"
Catherine felt this was the most reliable approach. Anbaixiu was never one to pick unnecessary fights; his usual strategy was using his sharp tongue to baffle the enemy until they signed an unequal treaty.
With utter sincerity, Anbaixiu replied, "I'll remember this favor. But there's really no need to panic."
Catherine frowned. "Who's the one panicking? You were so terrified just now that you couldn't even speak!"
"I was thinking! Thinking, do you understand?" Anbaixiu retorted, a little agitated. In truth, that horrifying strike from the Silvermoon Knight had genuinely rattled him at first.
When they had clashed back in Sandshadow City, that thin silver thread of sword light had been remarkably restrained, cleaving only through the darkness spell Anbaixiu had draped across the entire city. What he had witnessed today, however, was an all-out strike, its devastating power frightening enough to send his soul fleeing from his ribs.
Of course, he could never admit that out loud, or how could he ever keep ordering this girl around in the future?
Too exhausted to bother calling him out, Catherine asked, "So after thinking for so long, did you come up with anything?"
Anbaixiu nodded, his confidence renewed. "Naturally. Look up at the sky. That old man could have won with just one more strike, but do you see a second beam of light?"
Chapter 220