"Help you? With the drow elves?"
For a moment, Anbaixiu failed to grasp Catherine's meaning.
Catherine said helplessly, "What the gods mean is that they will entrust the divine portfolio of the drow race to me. I will become the racial deity of the drow elves, but... the gods feel I lack the ability to manage them."
Anbaixiu replied decisively, "The Elven Gods truly have a keen eye for character."
Catherine glared at Anbaixiu. Her puffed-up, pouting look forced Anbaixiu to lower his head.
This girl—whenever her expression shifted, her charm seemed to redouble. A single glare from her sent tremors through Anbaixiu's soul, forcing him to quickly rein in his senses, or they would never be able to negotiate this business.
Truth be told, the Elven Gods' response had dealt Catherine quite a heavy blow.
She had been an Elven Queen for many years, after all. Yet the Elven Gods essentially meant that if she couldn't secure Anbaixiu's help, she shouldn't bother accepting this divine portfolio.
Wasn't that outright saying she wasn't up to the task?
The blow left Catherine thoroughly disheartened, yet she also admitted that compared to this lich, she truly seemed foolish to a fault. In her heart, she actually did want Anbaixiu's help; after their previous adventure, her faith in Anbaixiu was second only to the gods. Whatever this lich promised, he would certainly deliver.
As long as this deal was struck, the drow elves would definitely be able to return.
For the elves, that would be the greatest blessing of all. Compared to an undertaking of such magnitude, her personal feelings were utterly insignificant.
"So, will you agree to this deal?" Catherine asked.
Anbaixiu pondered for a moment, then asked with utter seriousness, "Could we make a swap and trade those four goddesses for the Lord of the Dawn?"
In Anbaixiu's eyes, Shar, Lolth, Loviatar, and Tiamat combined didn't pose as much of a threat to him as the Lord of the Dawn.
If all four goddesses marched on him together, he felt he could still put up a struggle; if conditions allowed, he might even manage to scheme the weaker Loviatar to death.
But if the Lord of the Dawn showed up at his doorstep wielding that great iron hammer, Anbaixiu reckoned he would be smashed dead with a single blow, without the slightest chance of resistance.
Hearing Anbaixiu say this, Catherine flatly refused without a second thought. "That's impossible."
Anbaixiu hastily said, "Don't make decisions on the gods' behalf! Go ask them first."
Catherine shook her head once more. "The gods foresaw that you would say this, so they told me in advance: we elves will not antagonize the Lord of the Dawn."
"In other words, the entire drow race put together doesn't measure up to the Lord of the Dawn's attitude toward the elven race, right?"
"I don't know. I never speculate about the minds of the gods. In any case, it cannot be changed."
Corellon, the chief deity of the elves, was renowned as the mightiest god beneath Ao. Coupled with the entire elven pantheon, they were arguably the single largest faction among the gods. Yet even they refused to clash with the Lord of the Dawn over the drow race. In Anbaixiu's mind, the Lord of the Dawn's power and standing rose yet another notch.
Sigh. If he had known this earlier, he would have treated Alan better, so that when Alan ascended to the divine realm, he might have put in a few good words for him.
Wait—the Silvermoon Knight had been schemed to death by him! That old fellow had surely ascended to the divine realm by now. If that were the case... Anbaixiu felt his future growing darker and bleaker.
Fortunately, being undead, Anbaixiu quickly tossed his negative emotions aside and continued discussing the matter with Catherine: "Then let's talk about this cooperation. What exactly do you mean by 'reclaim'? If you integrate the divine portfolio and ascend to godhood, you'll naturally establish a psychic connection with all drow elves. Where do you need my help?"
A racial deity was a very peculiar type of god.
Faith deities required a multitude of believers, drawing power from the power of faith. This was easy to understand: the more worshippers and the more devout their faith, the greater the deity's strength. The Lord of the Dawn was the quintessential faith deity. His followers were numerous and extraordinarily devout, which was why when his hammer came down, very few gods could withstand it.
A conceptual deity's power derived from the breadth of their concept and its significance in people's minds. Taking the God of Alchemy as an example, the destruction of the City of Alchemy had not actually affected him at all. What truly caused his divine decline was that alchemy had become something despised and shunned by everyone, leading to a catastrophic decline in its influence.
A racial deity was another matter altogether. Such a god's power depended on two factors: first, the population of the corresponding race; second, the influence of that race. As long as drow elves were alive, they provided power to Lolth the Spider Queen. Even if a drow worshipped the Lord of the Dawn, it would not disrupt the flow of this power.
And racial influence was equally straightforward. Ryan championed human supremacy; it was the mightiest among the Nine Kingdoms, boasting a long history and an overwhelming historical presence. Moreover, humans were the most populous sapient race. If a racial deity of humanity ever emerged, their power would be immense—surpassing the Lord of the Dawn would be no surprise.
Unfortunately, while human gods were numerous, a deity capable of truly representing the human race had yet to appear.
In the history preceding the Demonic Dragon Tyrant, there had been quite a few historical figures who championed human supremacy, but in the end, none met good fates, failing to become a god who truly represented mankind. There was a deity named Sass who claimed to be the God of Humanity, but in all the centuries Anbaixiu had lived here, he had never heard of anyone worshipping this god, nor had he ever seen any miracles recorded in their name. It seemed more like a fictional character fabricated by novelists.
It was only because humanity was such a peculiar race that they had no racial deity; other races were in no shortage of them. Even slimes had their own racial deity.
The racial deity of the drow was Lolth; it was only because of Lolth that this divine portfolio had come into existence. Now that it had been severed, whoever integrated this divine portfolio would enjoy the power provided by all drow elves.
This was also what baffled Anbaixiu the most. All she had to do was integrate the portfolio—why on earth would she need a lich like him?
Catherine could only explain, "I cannot simply integrate the portfolio directly, because I am completely incompatible with the racial traits of the drow. It's just like the current state of elves and drow: not only are we sworn enemies, but our customs and cultures are entirely irreconcilable. Forcibly using the power of the divine portfolio to influence the drow elves would yield only two outcomes: either the drow are utterly destroyed, or Lolth the Spider Queen condenses a new racial portfolio."
"Integrating a divine portfolio is that complicated?"
Anbaixiu had thought this racial divine portfolio was the most valuable one, but to think it had so many side effects?
Catherine said helplessly, "That might just be my personal issue. If you were to integrate this portfolio, you probably wouldn't have any problems."
Anbaixiu suddenly felt something was off and quickly asked, "Wait, what do you mean by that?!"
Catherine smiled smugly. She had finally found a chance to score a petty verbal victory against him. Settling down in the Silvermoon High Court for all this time had really made her smarter.
When Catherine had parted ways with Anbaixiu back then, she had felt a twinge of reluctance. Only after returning to the Silvermoon High Court did she realize that Anbaixiu had been entirely right.
If one stayed constantly busy adventuring, a never-ending stream of novel thrills would make a person forget a great deal.
Only by returning home, carefully reminiscing over the profound experiences along the way, and reflecting on one's past shortcomings, could one make genuine progress.
Catherine was full of confidence now: even without Anbaixiu accompanying her, she was already a qualified adventurer.
Anbaixiu had not expected this silly girl's tongue to turn sharp as well. Truly, it took three years to learn good habits, but only three days to pick up bad ones.
"Never mind, let's stick to business. According to you, because your personality is completely antithetical to drow culture, forcibly integrating the portfolio would cause racial annihilation. So how do we solve this? You're not expecting me to change the temperament of the drow elves and make them pure and kind, are you?"
Catherine nodded in all seriousness. "Exactly that."
Anbaixiu stood straight up and said to Catherine, "Can't do it. Farewell."
"Hey, wait! Don't go!"
Catherine hurriedly grabbed Anbaixiu's hand. She hadn't expected him to refuse so decisively; she couldn't just let him run off like this.
Yet Anbaixiu was even more ruthless. With a series of clicks and snaps, the right arm Catherine held detached entirely.
Catherine stared blankly at the bones of the right hand in her grip. That worked too?!
After a frantic tussle that nearly tore Anbaixiu's legs off as well, Catherine finally pressed him back down into the chair.
Out of breath, Catherine huffed, "What are you running for? Is there anything in this world you can't do? Aren't you just trying to jack up the price? I saw right through you long ago!"
Anbaixiu reattached his arm with a sigh and said placidly, "This time I'm really not haggling. It's genuinely impossible. Changing the temperament of drow elves—how on earth did you come up with that? You might as well ask me to make every paladin in Ryan break their oath together; I could at least scheme up a way to do that. But drow elves... Do you even know what a drow elf is?"
"Drow elves were the elves who rebelled alongside Lolth the Spider Queen, only to be banished by the Creator of our elvenkind and cursed with ash-black skin to symbolize their innate wickedness. But this time, the racial portfolio of the drow has returned to the hands of the elven race. The Creator believes it is time to bring these strayed kin back to our fold."
Catherine's tone was deeply devout. The Creator she spoke of was not Ao, but Corellon, the chief deity of the elves, who had created all elvenkind.
"Good that you know. The skin color of drow elves stems from their intrinsic evil and cruelty. And throughout all these years of banishment, the drow have continually purified their bloodline, sacrificing every newborn with defects to Lolth the Spider Queen.
"Therefore, on average, the drow are even more beautiful than you high elves, and every drow elf who survives possesses extraordinary talent for spellcasting. They can effortlessly become clerics of Lolth the Spider Queen, wizards, and various classes. If not for their sparse numbers and the Elven Gods' suppression, when would humans ever have had a turn to dominate the surface?"
Anbaixiu's words did not sway Catherine in the least. Instead, she said resolutely, "What's wrong with that? No matter how powerful the drow are, would you ever be afraid of them? You even schemed against their god."
Lolth the Spider Queen herself had been swindled by Anbaixiu; what did drow elves matter?
Anbaixiu gave a cold sneer. "The defects I'm talking about aren't just looks or intelligence... What the drow consider defects includes the innocence and kindness of humanoid nature. For countless millennia, they have sacrificed every single kin who inclined toward goodness. What flows in their veins is nothing but deceit, treachery, cruelty, and savagery. You want to make them good? Even the Lord of the Dawn couldn't pull that off, let alone a lich like me!"
Chapter 291