Aeolus had promised Talos never to reveal his origins.
Yet this time, he had broken his word.
The consequence of breaching that covenant was that it granted Talos the opportunity to personally intervene and mete out punishment.
At this very moment, Talos could destroy Aeolus with his own hands without violating the rules of Ao.
Yet the enraged Talos paid no heed to Aeolus, who was already prostrate on the ground. Instead, he projected a crackling bolt of lightning that hovered right before Anbaixiu.
Talos spoke to Anbaixiu, "Lich, I've wanted to meet you for a long time. I never expected it would be under such an inconvenient circumstance."
Faced with this greater deity, Anbaixiu dared not show the slightest disrespect. He replied courteously at once, "Honored Lord of Storms, I am merely a mortal. When you wish to see me, how could any time be inconvenient?"
Talos's wrath receded, and he chuckled. "Heh, the rumors were right. Your silver tongue must have been blessed by some god."
"Putting a god's blessing to use in pleasing a god—that is making the best use of everything," Anbaixiu continued with humble deference.
Talos sneered mockingly. "Pleasing gods? You've undermined far more gods than you've pleased. Lich, I am not Shar, nor am I Lolth. My fury has Ao's sanction, which means I can do far more than they can."
Talos was the leader of the Gods of Fury. Being capable of forging such an alliance meant his words held weight.
Different gods possessed different "privileges." Shar's infractions might be met with leniency, while in Talos's case it might be along the lines of: "Slaughtering mortals is an offense, but killing just one doesn't count as slaughter."
Of course, this was merely Anbaixiu's speculation. Surely Ao wouldn't apply such double standards.
Still, regardless of the extent of Talos's authority, his madness was notorious throughout the realm. Anbaixiu certainly couldn't gamble on what Talos dared or dared not do.
Thus, Anbaixiu could only explain, "Lord of Storms, with your great wisdom you surely comprehend the causes and effects. I am not the sort of mortal who resigns himself to whatever fate deals him. If gods seek to harm me, I can only rise up and fight back. If I lacked even that much courage, I would have died on the adventurer's road long ago."
Talos laughed boisterously. "Indeed! I've looked into your past. You have never lacked courage, which is something I deeply admire. Unlike certain useless trash who completely lose their fighting spirit after a mere brush with adversity."
Toward the end, Talos's tone dripped with unconcealed disgust, as if Aeolus had disappointed him profoundly.
Anbaixiu did not bother to defend Aeolus, merely inquiring out of curiosity, "Mighty deity, was your original plan truly for him to marry Princess Ariel?"
Talos answered, "That was the original idea. But now, this piece of garbage is unworthy of my most devout worshiper."
"Then I cannot help but wonder—could you not have simply issued a divine oracle?" Anbaixiu asked in bewilderment.
Given all the suffering Aeolus had endured, yet still not having laid eyes on the real Ariel, wasn't Talos doing this on purpose?
Talos replied, "That would have been entirely too dull."
Ordering the two to marry would have been simple enough, but Talos found that boring.
He had originally wanted to groom a hero and forge a classic tale of a hero and a princess. Yet what about Aeolus now resembled a hero in the slightest?
He had granted Aeolus immortal, imperishable power not so he could be toyed with, but to give him the chance to rise again after every mistake. Yet the boy had ended up like this. Talos had half a mind to swallow Aeolus whole right then and there.
Anbaixiu was rather speechless. It seemed the books' descriptions of Talos fell short of the mark; the deity was not only irascible and temperamental, but also an unruly brat with perverse tastes. Anbaixiu had been reading things too literally—it turned out Aeolus hadn't lied from the very beginning.
Unexpectedly, Talos shifted the conversation, saying to Anbaixiu, "Now that I've answered your question, it's my turn to ask."
"Er, what would you like to ask?" Being pinned beneath Talos's scrutiny gave Anbaixiu a sinking feeling.
"Earlier, you clearly could have demanded much more. From what people say about you, shouldn't you have exploited this worthless fool to the bone? You only asked who sent him, and then agreed to help him just like that? Tell me, what kind of trap did you hide in that question?"
Talos looked thoroughly excited, seemingly convinced that every word out of Anbaixiu's mouth harbored a dozen layers of scheming.
Anbaixiu explained rather awkwardly, "There was no trap. I only wanted to resolve my own doubt. Earlier, I thought Aeolus was the Chosen of the Kuo-toa Goddess. But after seeing him again just now, I realized I had made a mistake, so I merely confirmed it with him."
"That's all? What a disappointing answer. I expected something far more interesting."
Talos seemed distinctly dissatisfied with this reply.
Anbaixiu internally cried out, *Ao above, please rein in this lunatic!* But seeing as that yielded no results, he could only continue to explain, "To a great deity, the unknown may represent pleasant surprises. But to a divination wizard like myself, the unknown is often tied directly to survival. Thus, while you might find the question mundane, to me it provided the answer to many questions and carried considerable value.
"Furthermore, if I wish to have Aeolus work for me, I shouldn't be blackmailing him at a moment like this."
Hearing this, Talos's interest was indeed piqued. He asked excitedly, "Oh? Tell me, why is that?"
Anbaixiu knew he had no choice but to satisfy the brat-god's curiosity today, so he elaborated, "In my centuries of life as an adventurer, I have met countless good men, villains, and bitter enemies.
"Some care nothing for sentiment and only for profit, like my partner Gustavo Fring. He is fiercely ambitious, and pure sentiment to him is nothing more than seasoning. In dealing with someone like that, dividing profits is what matters. If it were him, I would not hesitate to coerce him into surrendering more benefits, because missing such an opportunity means never getting another chance.
"Other people, however, are completely different. Aeolus sacrificed so much for a creation of the Kuo-toa Goddess, even casting away his pride to beg me on her behalf. A person like this values sentiment over profit. If I bargain with him over interests, even if he agrees now, he will merely consider the favor repaid later. But if I simply help him with no strings attached, he will spend his entire life seeking ways to repay my kindness.
"Calculating it that way, binding Aeolus through sentiment is naturally far more profitable."
Talos unleashed a booming laugh that made Anbaixiu's very soul shudder. "Hahaha! Fascinating! He's going to be eaten alive by you and thank you for the privilege! You truly live up to your reputation as a mortal capable of scheming against gods." Talos turned to Aeolus. "Did you hear that, you useless trash? Do you know what kind of person you're dealing with? Are you still begging him now?"
Anbaixiu sighed inward. Talos's disposition was truly dreadful—kicking a man while he was down and sowing discord like this was practically driving Aeolus to his death.
Yet, beyond even Talos's expectations, Aeolus replied, "If he can save my beloved, nothing else matters. Father God, ever since I arrived in this world, everyone has deceived me. The first person to deceive me chopped off my head. The second to deceive me was a deity who clouded my mind... Only this friend has always acted openly and aboveboard toward me, never once deceiving me."
Talos laughed out of sheer exasperation and mocked, "Idiot, are your ears deaf? He's using sentiment to manipulate you so you'll feel deeply indebted to him!"
Aeolus asked in confusion, "If he can help me save Ariel, shouldn't I be grateful to him anyway? How is that deception?"
Anbaixiu marveled yet again. Just like when they first met, this fool possessed a remarkably upright moral compass.
When the two had first met, they had fought a battle, yet once Aeolus confirmed it was a misunderstanding, he had immediately cleared the air with Anbaixiu. Back then, Anbaixiu had noted that while the guy was a bit dim, his values were genuinely upright.
And now, after going through so much, Aeolus still remained true to his core. Was he truly Talos's child?
Talos also hadn't expected Aeolus to answer like this. He froze for a good while, seemingly unsure whether to be furious or impressed. He had initially intended to destroy Aeolus outright, but now he suddenly felt this failure was somewhat amusing, far less boring than before.
Talos pondered for a moment, then asked Anbaixiu, "You plan to help him?"
Anbaixiu nodded and answered, "Just as you saw, I intend to emotionally manipulate him into working for me, so naturally I will help. However, if you feel this is inappropriate, I shall certainly desist."
Talos mulled it over for a long while before saying, "Fine. Save him if you wish. I'm quite interested in seeing how the story of this useless wretch plays out."
With Talos's permission, Anbaixiu wasted no time.
After carefully examining Aeolus's soul, he quickly set to work on its repair.
When it came to souls, Anbaixiu was an expert. Merely stitching a fractured soul back together posed no great difficulty. Rather, it was Aeolus's ability to tear his own soul apart that genuinely astonished Anbaixiu with its sheer willpower and fortitude.
The procedure was a success. In under three hours, Aeolus's missing arm regrew.
The lobster maiden, Ariel, also regained her senses, throwing her arms around Aeolus in an emotional embrace.
Anbaixiu cautioned, "Both of your souls are currently very weak. Rest plenty and avoid dwelling on the past. In a month, you should recover fully, though you may suffer some memory loss akin to amnesia. There is no remedy for this aftereffect, but it won't hinder your daily lives moving forward."
Aeolus thanked Anbaixiu profusely, but before he could finish, Talos cast him and the maiden out.
Within Anbaixiu's private demiplane, only he and the lightning bolt remained.
"Heh, you pulled a trick just now, didn't you? That girl's soul was already long gone, wasn't it?" Talos asked.
Anbaixiu sighed. "As expected, nothing escapes the eyes of a great deity. Indeed. While Aeolus's soul could regenerate, the girl's could not. Before meeting me, they had undergone multiple regenerations due to the instability of their torn souls. The portion that belonged to the maiden had long since perished completely; Aeolus had simply occupied an empty shell with a piece of his own soul."
Talos continued, "And then, you read the memories in Aeolus's soul and crafted a similar new soul based on those memories, placing it into the girl's body. You didn't save Aeolus's beloved—you merely did what Blibdoolpoolp did, creating a counterfeit lover to deceive him."
"Yes, your assessment is entirely accurate," Anbaixiu admitted.
Furthermore, he hadn't merely whipped up an ordinary Simulated Soul—for doing so would have created an undead. Instead, using the method for creating a mercury soul puppet, he fashioned a "living" soul capable of fusing seamlessly with the lobster maiden's body.
"Why do that?" Talos asked out of curiosity. "Simply to fool this idiot? For fear that the debt he owes you would be diminished?"
Anbaixiu nodded. "Yes, just as you say."
"Haha, liar!" Talos declared smugly. "I may not be good at discerning lies, but this lie of yours is far too clumsy."
"You misunderstand—"
As Anbaixiu began to explain, Talos cut him off nonchalantly. "Save the chatter. Not that I care. Today you showed me something very entertaining, so I will let Aeolus live. Fool him however you like. However, he is no longer worthy of marrying the real Ariel.
"Lich, you ruined my plan. You owe me a good wedding show. Have you thought about how you're going to repay me?"
Anbaixiu froze. What the hell did that have to do with him? Talos was utterly shameless!
Yet Talos gave Anbaixiu no chance to argue, continuing, "Remember, what is owed to me must be repaid. Otherwise, I won't allow the Raging Tide Kingdom to serve as your alchemy workshop."
"Wait, I don't follow. How on earth can I repay you with a wedding?" Anbaixiu asked agitatedly.
Talos roared with laughter like a mischievous brat who had just flicked a pebble through a neighbor's window. He said to Anbaixiu, "You're so clever, you'll surely figure it out. Don't bore me, lich. I've waited many years to find something amusing, so don't disappoint me!
"If you do well, I will reward you, and I certainly won't be as stingy as the God of Alchemy. As a reward for today's show, I grant you the power to cast Storm of Vengeance once a day without cost."
The golden lightning before him sank into Anbaixiu's palm, searing itself into his flesh like a brand. Anbaixiu could feel the violent power of thunder lingering within it.
A ninth-tier spell—Storm of Vengeance. Its single-target destructive power might not match Meteor Swarm, but in terms of area-of-effect devastation, Storm of Vengeance was vastly superior. It combined the effects of acid rain, lightning, gale-force winds, hail, and other extreme weather, boasting an immense area of effect that was more than enough to wipe out an undefended city.
Yet Anbaixiu was thoroughly speechless. Given the choice, he would rather not have this reward.
Repay him with a wedding? How was he supposed to do that?
Was he supposed to persuade the Kuo-toa Goddess to marry Talos, psychotic lunatic that she was?
Chapter 445