Shar's Threat

It was obvious that the Trisna before him had become Shar. Ordinarily, deities could not descend at will; they required an anchor. One example was an idol infused with the power of faith. Earlier, Lolth the Spider Queen had descended through her own statue, while the other three goddesses had presumably obtained Lolth's consent to descend simultaneously. A second was an exceptionally devout worshiper. Ryan's Supreme Arbiter, for instance, had been able to invoke the gaze of the Lord of the Dawn, wielding power immense enough to destroy half of the City of Alchemy. A third was a specialized artifact, like the gold coin the God of Alchemy had given Anbaixiu—an artifact that allowed him to contact the God of Alchemy at any moment and summon his descent. That black dagger was likely also a specialized artifact prepared by Shar, which was how she could descend into Trisna's corpse. Faced with Shar's accusation, Anbaixiu remained exceedingly calm. "As the goddess instructed, I plunged the dagger into this drow's heart. My task is complete. As for whether you made a profit or took a loss, Lady of Night, that is hardly my responsibility." Shar fixed her gaze on Anbaixiu's face and gave a low laugh. "Spare me your pointless probing. I know you won't give up what you've swallowed so easily. But do you actually know what a divine portfolio is? It is sweet-smelling bait concealing a lethal hook. The day you ascend to godhood will be the day you fall." Hearing Shar's threat, Anbaixiu replied calmly, "I know. Once one becomes a deity, the rules change. Deities slaughter one another in ways far more brutal and direct, making newly ascended gods exceptionally prone to falling. That's what you mean, isn't it?" Shar hadn't expected Anbaixiu to be so composed. She scoffed, "Do you honestly think the head of the Elegy Poetry Society will help you? Disabuse yourself of that delusion; it's utterly impossible. Or do you plan to rely on that mentor of yours? The God of Alchemy can barely protect himself right now. Do you think he can protect you?" Anbaixiu retorted, "If it were truly as dangerous as you claim, the weaker deities would have been devoured long ago. Do evil-aligned gods happen to be picky eaters?" Shar shook her head and said in a pitying tone, "It seems you truly don't understand. Those weak deities live every day in terror, hiding wherever they can—until they finally establish their own divine realms. Only by sheltering within them can they avoid being devoured by other gods." Anbaixiu asked, "So you're saying as long as I have my own divine realm, the problem is solved?" "Heh, others might manage, but not you. You've claimed a portfolio stripped from Lolth. Just as easily as I can track you down, the instant you ascend to godhood, Lolth will sense your exact location. There will be nowhere to hide. Even if you cower inside the God of Alchemy's divine realm, all you will do is drag your mentor down with you. "Oh, and as a reminder, you accepted the knowledge of the Weave I gave you. You already bear my mark, and I can locate you whenever I please. Right now, I still require an artifact to descend, but once you become a deity, I will find you immediately." Shar's threats were so blatant that it was clear the goddess was truly furious, wishing nothing more than to strike Anbaixiu dead on the spot. Four divine portfolios should have belonged to her. Moreover, Shar's nature aligned closely with that of Lolth the Spider Queen; assimilating these portfolios would have vastly increased her divine power. Even more importantly, among these four portfolios was the racial portfolio of the drow elves. This was what Shar coveted most, and the one portfolio Lolth could never afford to lose. However, she could not let Anbaixiu know this crucial detail, or the lich would surely make outrageous demands. Given his greed, he might even brazenly demand she hand over her divine realm. Faced with Shar's threats, Anbaixiu felt no fear. The portfolio wasn't even in his hands yet, and Anbaixiu was still a mortal; Shar's threats held no real weight. Lolth the Spider Queen's fate was right before them—unless Shar wished to donate a portfolio to Anbaixiu as well, she could do nothing more than throw empty words around rather than actually kill him. "Goddess, lecturing a mortal about how miserable life will be after attaining godhood is looking far too ahead into the future. Why don't we discuss something more practical? Surely you didn't expect to take such a precious prize off my hands with mere threats?" Anbaixiu's composure infuriated Shar even further, yet she knew her only option was to negotiate with him. Deities had no truly effective means of punishing mortals who didn't worship them. If she wanted Anbaixiu to yield, she would have to pay a price. "I can bestow a powerful blessing upon you," Shar said. "What kind of blessing, exactly?" "I can grant you a potent divine spell and make you my Dark Justiciar." Dark Justiciars were Shar's personal subordinates, similar to priests and paladins of the Lord of the Dawn, able to cast numerous deity-exclusive divine spells. Divine spells differed from wizard spells; wizard spells were mastered through study, whereas divine spells relied entirely on the favor and blessing of a deity. Once a pact was broken and the deity's favor lost, the divine spells would cease to function entirely. It sounded fairly impressive, but Anbaixiu replied with utter disinterest: "That's it?" "Do not push your insolence too far, mortal!" Anbaixiu was silent for a moment before remarking, "Goddess, when doing business, one must show at least a shred of sincerity. Do you honestly think this blessing of yours compares to the value of a divine portfolio? It's not worth a ten-thousandth of it." Dark Justiciars were a dime a dozen, and he had never heard of any truly remarkable ones. If Shar could make him as formidable as the Silvermoon Knight, capable of walking unchallenged across the mortal plane, Anbaixiu might actually have considered it. "Then what do you want?" "How about an exchange? Offer up a divine portfolio of your own, Goddess. It doesn't matter if it's a weaker one—trading weak for strong, after all. As for the difference in value, once I ascend, we can team up against Lolth the Spider Queen, who's already been severely weakened. We can find a way to seize her remaining portfolios and split them fifty-fifty. Wouldn't that be a win-win?" Anbaixiu's proposal was genuinely generous. He knew very well that ascending to godhood would bring endless trouble, so he didn't mind sacrificing some benefits to win an ally. Since he was taking a shortcut to godhood anyway, Anbaixiu figured he would inevitably end up as a demigod; the exact portfolio wouldn't make much difference. But if he could secure Shar as an ally, his days after ascension would be far easier. Yet Shar rejected it without a second thought: "Impossible. I will not trade any divine portfolio with you." Anbaixiu said helplessly, "Then there's nothing more to be said. I can hardly do business at a loss." If possible, he truly didn't want to burn bridges with Shar, but the goddess clearly expected to get everything for free, which was completely unacceptable to him. "Heh, I know you can't bear to part with it right now. But soon you will realize that you were wrong—gravely wrong. "Lich, your greatest flaw is that no one can protect you; you rely entirely on yourself. You cannot enter the lawful good camp, nor can you gain the protection of lawful deities. Yet at the same time, you have offended so many evil-aligned gods. "Lolth, Tiamat, Loviatar, and I—we are all waiting for the day you ascend. When that day comes, we will pounce without hesitation and tear your soul to shreds." Shar's voice gradually faded, and Trisna's corpse, devoid of life once more, collapsed to the ground. The black dagger that had dissolved into Trisna's body reemerged from the corpse's back. Anbaixiu sighed. "Why leave so quickly? I was just about to say that Rose of Decay plans to trade her divine portfolio for a deity's aid—you could have negotiated with her." Shar was hardly a good trading partner—impatient, short-tempered, and stingy. Looking at the corpse impaled by the dagger, Anbaixiu abandoned his plan to use it to create an undead. The dagger was too bizarre. There was no telling whether Shar had tampered with the body; if it yielded a high-ranking undead that betrayed him at a critical juncture, he would be in serious trouble. Yet he couldn't let it go to waste. Anbaixiu had to find a way to squeeze every drop of remaining value from the corpse. After pondering for a good while, Anbaixiu muttered to himself, "I wonder if the elves might be interested in a drow?"