Looking at the furious Zariel, Anbaixiu quickly put on an appeasing smile and said, "How could this possibly be desecration? My respect for you has never diminished in the slightest. It's just that I really couldn't find a champion on short notice who could match Melina. You've seen her strength for yourself—in this Underdark, there's truly no one to be found who could give her a hearty, all-out duel."
Zariel let out a cold snort and said to Anbaixiu, "You could capture a legendary paladin from Ryan. I'd find that quite interesting."
"What a coincidence! That was my intention all along, which is why I summoned you. May I ask if you have any interest in Ryan?"
Looking at Anbaixiu's beaming smile, Zariel suddenly had a strange feeling. Wasn't this lich digging a pit for her to step into?
After their previous encounter, Anbaixiu had already left Zariel with a very bad impression. No wonder so many deities hated this lich to the bone. He spoke sweet, flattering words, yet Zariel felt profoundly uneasy.
Cunning to such a degree that even deities could sense it—why hadn't this lich ascended to godhood yet?
At the very least, couldn't he be a lesser deity of deceit?
Anbaixiu had no idea what had crossed Zariel's mind in that split second, and continued pitching to her, "I know Hell requires vast quantities of souls. Actually, I'm particularly adept at crafting souls. Whatever kind you want, I can weave it. If I capture a paladin, I can replicate his soul dozens of times. Giving them to you would surely make for a fine gift, wouldn't it?"
A paladin's soul could be forged into the highest grade of soul coins—hard currency in Hell. Could this lich truly pull that off?
"You can create souls?" Zariel asked.
Without wasting words, Anbaixiu produced a pile of materials on the spot and sculpted a Death Knight right before Zariel's eyes.
Due to limited materials, the Death Knight Anbaixiu created had a rather fragile body, ranking at best as a high-tier undead, but Anbaixiu had woven the trait of fearless valor into its soul.
"Honored Archduke of Avernus, please pardon my offense." Anbaixiu bowed to Zariel, then addressed the Death Knight: "Before you stands Zariel, ruler of the First Layer of Hell. Now, draw your sword against her!"
The Death Knight looked toward Zariel, hesitated for merely a moment, then drew its sword and charged at her.
Zariel was somewhat shocked. This undead actually dared to swing a blade at her? Divine pressure struck straight at the soul; even an undead would be affected by it, unable to act merely on a master's command.
This soul possessed a will of its own!
Zariel extended a single finger, flicking away both the Death Knight's longsword and its hands. Then, seizing the Death Knight by the head, countless tendrils of hellfire plunged from her fingertips into its skull. Zariel forcibly gouged out the Death Knight's soul and smelted it with hellfire into a dark red coin.
Zariel stared at the soul coin in silence for a long time.
Damn it, she was tempted.
The quality of this soul coin was exceptionally good. Though flawed, it was still of great value.
Zariel never imagined Anbaixiu possessed such methods. She wished she could drag Anbaixiu to Hell this instant and turn him into her personal minting slave.
But this was dangerous. According to Tiamat and Shar, the moment one felt even slightly tempted by this lich's proposals, being swindled was not far behind.
Zariel hastily cast aside that fleeting greed and snapped sternly at Anbaixiu, "Lich, put away your deceitful rhetoric. Summoning me here must still be related to the Kingdom of the Unholy Hymn, isn't it? If you have something to say, say it quickly. I have no time to waste on you."
With a look of deep regret, Anbaixiu sighed, "Alas, what a wonderful win-win proposal. You help capture a few Ryan paladins, and I mass-produce noble souls like this for you. Then you could buy whatever you wanted in Hell. With a little modification, you could even corrupt those powerful paladins into fallen ones, turning them into your loyal warriors—how grand would that be? Still, if you're not interested, forget I said anything..."
"Wait..." Zariel could not help imagining the scene Anbaixiu painted, and it truly tempted her.
Collecting valiant warriors was Zariel's greatest weakness as well as her greatest passion. Her forces constantly suffered heavy casualties and were always in dire need of replenishment. If this lich could truly supply batches of warrior souls on a regular basis...
Zariel tried hard to suppress this desire. After falling into a devil, she no longer had an angel's restraint and was easily swayed by emotion.
After a moment, Zariel finally subdued the urge and said to Anbaixiu, "We will discuss cooperation later. Lich, what is it that you actually want?"
Anbaixiu said, "Archduke of Avernus, could you please spare Vladimir? I can offer an ocean of souls in exchange."
Surprised, Zariel said, "I made inquiries. Your relationship isn't good at all; you haven't spoken in centuries. For this tiefling, you're willing to pay such a price? Lich, that doesn't sound like you. You're someone who would package and sell the gods themselves for money."
Anbaixiu offered no explanation, merely repeating his question: "Then, how many souls will it take to ransom Vladimir?"
Zariel shook her head. "Impossible. Don't even think about it. I want him as my slave."
"Not even for any amount of souls?" Anbaixiu asked.
"Impossible."
...
Anbaixiu was silent for a long time before speaking to Zariel: "Honored Archduke of Avernus, whatever you require him to do for you, wouldn't adding me make success even more certain? You should know very well that I, too, am a legendary divination wizard. Vladimir may have walked further along the path of destiny than I have, but I can assure you there are many areas where he falls short of me. In many cases, I am far more useful than he is."
Zariel looked at Anbaixiu in bewilderment. "Are you mad, or are you trying to deceive me? Are you willing to descend into Hell?"
Anbaixiu quickly said, "No, no, no, of course not. What I mean is, once I help you accomplish what you want, neither of us divination wizards will be of much use to you anymore, right? Why not turn complete subjugation into a single instance of assistance? Of course, I will still provide you with enough souls."
Zariel fell silent.
Anbaixiu knew his guess was right on the mark.
Zariel and Tiamat only needed Mister Misfortune to accomplish one specific task for them. Once completed, Mister Misfortune would be of little use.
In that case, as long as he made up the difference with souls, both hell lords ought to agree.
As for the cost of rescuing him this time, Anbaixiu would settle the bill with the entire Kingdom of the Unholy Hymn over time.
With hundreds of thousands of nobles bound for Hell, confiscating their wealth to pay the lich was only reasonable, wasn't it?
Yet to Anbaixiu's surprise, Zariel still shook her head. "No, absolutely not. I don't trust you. Lich, whatever scheme you are hatching, I will not fall for your tricks."
Anbaixiu said firmly, "I can swear an oath. This time, there is absolutely no scheme or trap. I only want to save Vladimir."
Zariel sneered mockingly, "Heh, an oath? You damn lich, who would you swear to? Ao, the God of Gods?"
Mortals were different from deities. When deities swore in Ao's name, they genuinely feared the punishment Ao would inflict if they breached the oath. But mortals did not matter, for Ao never spared mortals a single glance. Even if someone wrote an erotic novel using Ao's name, they would merely be burned at the stake by various churches; Ao would never bother to intervene.
And aside from Ao, whom could Anbaixiu swear to?
This lich worshipped no god.
Anbaixiu sorely wanted to say he would swear in the name of the God of Alchemy, but knew that if Zariel heard that, she would slap him so hard he wouldn't be able to get back up. His relationship with the God of Alchemy was presumably common knowledge among the pantheon by now; trying to dupe Zariel with that would be pure, unadulterated blasphemy.
Zariel continued mocking him: "I admit you are a cunning scoundrel whom even deities warily avoid, but precisely because of that reputation, not a single one among us will ever trust you again. So sit back and wait for the hour of judgment to arrive. It has nothing to do with you anyway."
Seeing Zariel prepare to depart, Anbaixiu sighed helplessly and said to her, "I truly wished to resolve this matter without offending you, but... not only can I weave souls, I can also weave destiny for others. Archduke of Avernus, my Destiny Weaving has no effect on you, but Vladimir is merely a mortal. I can make his soul disperse, and when that happens, your plan will fail..."
The hellfire on Zariel surged wildly in an instant, bathing the entire altar in a lurid crimson glare.
"Lich, are you threatening me?!"
Zariel's fury coalesced into tangible force, causing Anbaixiu's body to sink slowly under the pressure as if crushed beneath a mountain.
Anbaixiu did not even resist, simply waiting for the force to destroy his physical form.
Yet Zariel did not do so. Just as Anbaixiu's body was on the verge of collapsing, the roaring hellfire receded slowly into her form.
Even an Archduke of Hell could not casually strike a mortal. Deities dared not violate this decree of Ao's.
Anbaixiu inwardly lamented the missed opportunity. He had originally hoped to use Ao's hand to severely injure Zariel, but it turned out this seemingly reckless and impulsive fallen angel was actually quite rational.
Still, since harsh words had already been spoken, Anbaixiu dropped all pretense.
"Zariel, I wanted to resolve this peacefully through a win-win arrangement, but it seems mortals are simply too weak in the eyes of you hell lords. If my proposal is beneath your notice, then I will exhaust all my power to stop you. Do you think killing Vladimir is where this ends?
"No. You should know full well my power and the influence I wield. Half the nations across the continent have close ties with me. Friends of mine sit among the top echelons of every kingdom. I will have them hand over every condemned death-row convict to me, and I will obliterate their souls."
Zariel's eyes widened, and she said in disbelief, "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
Condemned criminals were generally headed straight for Hell, and the souls of evil mortals served as Hell's universal currency. If Anbaixiu obliterated them all, Hell's revenue across the board would suffer.
While it would not cause massive upheaval, it was an infringement upon the interests of all devils. How dared this lich?
Anbaixiu said with full confidence, "Of course I know. What's more, I will publicize it far and wide, laying all the blame upon you and Tiamat—that it was you who rejected a win-win proposal, forcing me to retaliate. I'm certain the lords of the other layers of Hell will have a great deal to say about that."
"You will die too! You cannot withstand the wrath of all Hell!" Zariel roared.
Anbaixiu chuckled. "Of course I can, because I can craft souls. If you won't deal with me, I can deal with other hell lords. I could even hire them with soul coins to turn on you and Tiamat. Zariel, I ask you one last time: win-win, or war? It's your turn to choose!"
Chapter 329