Anbaixiu's greatest wish remained having a few words with the Goddess of Magic.
Azuth, the Lord of Spells, was on roughly the same level as Leira. Once a divine war broke out and the Lord of the Dawn's warhammer came crashing down, Azuth and Leira combined wouldn't be able to withstand it.
They couldn't even serve as a decent meat shield, making them practically useless in that regard.
But the Goddess of Magic was different. She was hailed as the foremost power beneath Ao himself. Moreover, unlike Corellon, the chief elven deity, the Goddess of Magic was a conceptual deity unaffected by the number of her worshipers—the Goddess of Magic was magic itself.
As strong as magic was, that was how strong the Goddess of Magic was.
In Anbaixiu's mind, a single Goddess of Magic equaled the entire elven pantheon.
If only he could have a few words with her, he was confident he could make her view him in a new light. After all, it was common knowledge that the Goddess of Magic was an exceedingly generous deity.
This goddess was so generous that when a mortal sought to seize her power, she offered no resistance whatsoever, even assisting him in ascending to godhood.
Then, that mortal got in over his head and bungled it completely. Lacking the ability, he insisted on taking control of the Weave, triggering its cataclysmic collapse. The old Goddess of Magic died, the new Goddess of Magic, Mystra, was born, and the upper limits of spellcasting were placed upon all mages.
Although the new Goddess of Magic seemed strict, that was not truly the case. Mystra fully knew what catastrophic harm mortals had caused, yet in the end, she merely placed a cap on mortals' spellcasting abilities. How could that be called a punishment? It was nothing more than a defensive measure.
Besides that, Mystra was exceptionally generous in another aspect as well.
As long as a wizard caught her eye, Mystra was willing to maintain a romantic relationship with them.
Thus, when many wizards referred to Mystra as their goddess, the title carried a double meaning.
Throughout history, quite a few renowned wizards had engaged in trysts with the Goddess of Magic—so many, in fact, that if any wizard bragged about having bedded her, it was difficult to disprove.
One could hardly blame the goddess for being overly open; the deities of this world all seemed to share the habit of sleeping with exceptional followers. For instance, Lolth the Spider Queen often had female drow elves attend to her; Corellon was rumored to have descended to the mortal realm to bestow blessings upon elves and engage in bedroom affairs; even the Lord of the Dawn had devotees claiming to have spent the entire night intertwined with him—though such claims mostly came from men, making them rather suspect.
Perhaps, to the gods, developing intimate relations with their followers was an alternative form of blessing.
Precisely because of this tradition, back when Anbaixiu was still among the living, he had fantasized about developing a relationship with the goddess that went beyond mere friendship.
Alas, right up until he became a lich, Anbaixiu had never once laid eyes upon the Goddess of Magic, let alone done anything with her.
Since she was such a generous goddess, conversing with her certainly wouldn't be too difficult.
Even if he couldn't win Mystra's complete approval, he could at least build some rapport.
That was what Anbaixiu was thinking, but Leira hesitated before saying, "I cannot make any promises. Although Azuth is a subordinate deity to the Lady of Mysteries, the goddess may not necessarily be willing to grant me an audience. She rarely involves herself in conflicts between other gods."
Anbaixiu expressed his understanding. It was a long-term goal anyway; he hadn't expected to achieve it in short order.
"In that case, please allow me to present the divine portfolio to you."
Just as Anbaixiu was preparing to leave the dream, Leira spoke up: "Wait. I am currently just a projection. My flesh and blood merged with this land long ago. If I am to assimilate the divine portfolio, you must find my skeletal remains. Only by infusing the portfolio into my bones can I be reborn and become a deity once more."
"Then where are your remains?" Anbaixiu asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice as a bad premonition crept over him.
Don't tell me... the bones are buried somewhere exceptionally difficult to reach?
Sure enough, a divination wizard's intuition was never wrong. Leira said with some embarrassment, "Right in the heart of this forest. There stands a colossal banyan tree, and atop it sits the Emerald Palace of the Druid Council. My skeletal remains lie beneath the roots of that very tree, roughly three hundred meters underground."
"This... Goddess, I'm a lich. If I try to venture into the core of the Emerald Dream Forest, I'd probably be struck down by those druids long before I get close, let alone dig three hundred meters under their most important tree. Forgive me, but this is beyond my ability." Wouldn't this be asking Anbaixiu to single-handedly slaughter his way through the entire Emerald Dream Forest? If he provoked that pack of druids, a dozen dragons might unleash torrents of dragonfire upon him, and not even his mithral mecha could withstand that.
Leira hastily said, "Don't worry, I will help you. Tonight, I will adjust the Dream Barrier's effect to plunge most of the druids into deep slumber. When the time comes, if you slip in quietly, you shouldn't be discovered."
"Aren't those druids immune to the barrier's effects?"
Leira said with confidence, "That was in the past. The Dream Barrier was formed from my mortal remains, giving me absolute control over it. Whoever I wish to put to sleep will fall asleep."
Relieved, Anbaixiu agreed to the task.
Withdrawing his consciousness back into the mithral mecha, Anbaixiu found that none of the surrounding magical traps had been triggered, meaning no one had come by. Looking at the sky, dusk had already fallen, so he wouldn't have to wait very long.
Finding a secluded corner, Anbaixiu sat behind a large boulder and waited patiently for nightfall.
The sunlight gradually faded, replaced by stars dotting the night sky.
Upon receiving a signal from Leira, the Lady of Mists, Anbaixiu knew that the mist barrier had begun its shift.
Advancing warily toward the center of the Emerald Dream Forest, he indeed saw numerous animals lying asleep on the ground along the way. Now and then, he also spotted a couple of druids embraced in intimacy, or a druid or two locked in an affectionate clinch with an animal.
Well, for nature-revering druids, nature meant anywhere could serve as a venue for a quick tumble.
Though he witnessed quite a few eye-searing spectacles, at least the Lady of Mists hadn't been mistaken: the druids couldn't resist the Dream Barrier's effect either, falling into deep slumber.
"Then I can speed things up!"
Opening his private demiplane, Anbaixiu summoned a suit of flame-jet armor to don over his mithral mecha. Combined with the jetpack on his back, he rocketed forward at supersonic speed.
A thunderous sonic boom roared in his wake, yet the sleeping druids were not awoken by the racket, remaining sound asleep.
Just when Anbaixiu thought everything would go smoothly, as he laid eyes on that towering banyan tree reaching into the clouds, he also saw a young druid standing among the treetops, glaring at him with furious eyes.
The druid bellowed at Anbaixiu, "What kind of creature are you?! What have you done to the Dream Barrier?!"
Before Anbaixiu could even reply, he watched the druid leap from a branch. Mid-air, the druid's body rapidly expanded, transforming into a silver dragon.
The moment he saw the dragon, Anbaixiu recognized him—Brandir Sanda, the druid who had been madly pursuing Catherine last time!
Why wasn't he affected by the Dream Barrier?
Anbaixiu instantly deduced the reason—the power of a legendary boon. That fellow's legendary boon likely had to do with resisting abnormal statuses, just as elves were naturally immune to the Dream Barrier's effects.
Now things were troublesome. Anbaixiu had no desire to kill anyone here; that would cause an enormous mess.
Yet the silver dragon had already lunged at him, clamping its jaws around his mithral mecha with a screech of warping metal.
"Sigh!"
Letting out a heavy sigh, Anbaixiu drew his magebreaker blade and thrust it into the silver dragon's throat.
Chapter 308