All the gods were watching this massive divine war.
Yet the outcome was entirely unexpected—primarily because it had ended far too quickly.
Under normal circumstances, so long as the Kuo-toa Goddess remained inside her divine realm and refused to emerge, the three Archdukes of Hell could boil the Elemental Plane of Water into fish soup and still accomplish nothing.
Thus, the deities who might have intervened hesitated, holding back from stepping in immediately.
After all, a proper battle had not even begun. Stepping in now would only turn oneself into cannon fodder, and that was hardly the way to help the Kuo-toa Goddess.
Once her divine realm was located and Hell began its invasion, there would still be plenty of time—who knew, the siege might drag on for decades.
It would not be too late to act once they confirmed that Hell had no hidden traps up its sleeve, that this was not some staged two-man act designed to lure others into a pit, and that these dangers had been ruled out. Besides, Talos was watching; they had to observe the Lord of the Storms' reaction first. It was not out of fear, but a matter of being properly prepared.
Yet why on earth had that madwoman charged straight out of her divine realm?
Had this psychotic goddess always been this brave? Couldn't she see the three Archdukes of Hell standing right there? Couldn't she see the overwhelming legions of devils blotting out the horizon?
Against a lineup like this, even the Lord of the Dawn would have to muster every ounce of vigilance, lest he fall in battle.
Most gods had no idea what had just occurred. Few deities understood the true origins of the kuo-toa, nor did they realize the role the God of Alchemy had played in this affair.
The mind flayer bone whistle, which normally should have been incapable of affecting a deity, had been empowered by the God of Alchemy to generate a potent psychic resonance.
The Kuo-toa Goddess was originally fabricated by her race in the midst of unimaginable torment as an emotional solace, a lightning rod to vent all their chaotic suffering.
If the kuo-toa were insane, then the Kuo-toa Goddess was a billion times more unhinged—to the extent that madness itself had become her divine portfolio.
What was more, far too many kuo-toa had slipped from her grasp of late.
Those kuo-toa who regained normal cognition ceased providing her with faith, drastically diminishing her divine power in a short span.
Her status as an intermediate deity was crumbling, on the verge of falling to a lesser deity.
And right at this juncture, the whistle—carrying the piercing dread of a natural predator—shattered her defenses and struck directly at her soul.
Just like any ordinary kuo-toa, the Kuo-toa Goddess was overtaken by hatred accumulated over countless ages. She charged out of her divine realm, intent on slaughtering every last one of those "mind flayers."
Yet what awaited the Kuo-toa Goddess was not a horde of mind flayers, but three predatory Archdukes of Hell and the devil legions they had brought with them.
In a mere instant, the giant lobster the Kuo-toa Goddess had brought with her was torn to shreds by the devils.
Even though this was the Elemental Plane of Water, an environment ill-suited for devils, the disparity between the two sides was simply too vast, both in quantity and quality.
Having lost her sanity, the Kuo-toa Goddess was impaled by Zariel's flaming longsword the instant battle commenced, leaving a shattered wound that refused to heal.
A single blow had gravely wounded her; the rest of the battle held no suspense whatsoever.
After binding the Kuo-toa Goddess, the three Archdukes of Hell departed with breakneck speed, daring not linger for a second.
By the time the gods came to their senses, the archdukes had already vacated the Elemental Plane of Water and returned to Hell.
The operation had gone so smoothly that even Talos, who was merely watching the spectacle, failed to react in time. He had been waiting to watch the three infernal devils get besieged by the gods!
It ended this quickly?
Was this Kuo-toa Goddess truly such a piece of trash?
Could it be that they were in cahoots, putting on a show together?
Talos was not the only one entertaining such thoughts; many other deities harbored similar suspicions. After all, the Kuo-toa Goddess also belonged to the evil alignment.
***
Deep in the shadows, within a divine realm known as the Palace of Loss.
Shar, the pale Goddess of Darkness, lay exhausted upon a bed resembling a river of stars. Beside her, a tall man held her hand, channeling a massive surge of power into her body to heal the injuries left by Ao's punishment.
Had Anbaixiu been here, he would have recognized this tall man at a glance: he was Poet, the vice president of the Elegy Poetry Society.
Once Shar's complexion improved, Poet withdrew his hand and said to her, "It seems Ao truly favors you. For the exact same transgression, Lolth's punishment was far harsher than yours."
Shar did not answer his remark, merely staring at Poet. "I never expected you would come to aid me. I thought..."
"Thought I would hold a grudge over your betrayal and take advantage of your weakness to kill you?" Poet chuckled softly, then continued, "I forgot all of that long ago. You should know well that I now follow Jergal, and he has little patience for petty grudges."
Shar remained silent. Facing the one before her, she truly owed a heavy debt.
For Poet had once been her ally—an existence even more ancient than Shar herself.
At the dawn of Ao's creation, before the twin goddesses of Light and Darkness were born, ancient beings known as shadowspawn had already emerged, and Poet was one of them.
Later, Shar and her sister Selûne came into being, the two sisters assisting Ao in the creation of the world. Eventually, the sisters turned against each other, and Shar was defeated by Selûne. From Shar's wounds, the first Goddess of Magic was born.
During the period when Shar was severely wounded, the shadowspawn found the Goddess of Darkness and helped her restore her power.
The reason was simple: both the Goddess of Darkness and the shadowspawn wished to plunge the world back into primeval shadow and chaos, hoping to forge a realm untouched by sunlight.
Thanks to this, Shar gained a reprieve; otherwise, Selûne would have destroyed her once and for all.
Yet in the end, Shar failed to fulfill her promise to return the world to chaos and shadow. Later, Azuth, a subordinate deity of the Goddess of Magic, devised a trap that captured a vast number of shadowspawn. Dreading the Goddess of Magic's might, Shar ultimately chose not to come to their rescue.
To this day, the shadowspawn had become an endangered, near-extinct species.
While Shar could not be said to have actively framed them, she undoubtedly owed them an immense debt.
Hence, Shar had never imagined that when she fell into a weakened state once more, Poet would come seeking her out to offer his aid again.
Seeing the guilt on Shar's face, Poet consoled her instead: "Our goal was ultimately futile. Back then, Ao had not yet decided what kind of world to create, which was why the struggle between light and dark took place. Now that the world is in motion, it shows Ao is satisfied with its current state. We could never return everything to darkness and chaos. Even if we had won back then, Ao would have simply altered it all over again."
Surprised, Shar said, "You have certainly become much more open-minded." Given that shadowspawn had "spawn" in their name and were born of primal discord, their race was naturally far from good-aligned; back then, the shadowspawn had howled fiercely to exterminate all light, proving even more extreme than the Goddess of Darkness herself.
Poet sighed with emotion. "After so long, one must learn to let things go, or I would be tormented forever. I must admit, Jergal taught me a great deal, and I am grateful."
Shar asked with suspicion, "You didn't come looking for me just to visit an old friend, did you?"
"Naturally not. You heard the bells Talos rang, so you must understand that the little lich has accomplished another monumental feat. With a mortal body, he kidnapped a deity."
Poet's words pricked Shar's pride. Angrily, she retorted, "Nothing more than borrowing others' power yet again. A mortal is ultimately just a mortal."
"If he can borrow such formidable power while still a mortal, guess whether he could borrow Ao's power once he ascends to godhood? Oh, wait—he already borrowed it once, and you know full well what the result was."
Shar snapped in fury, "Did you come all this way just to mock me?"
"I came to warn you. By now, you should grasp this lich's importance. I don't mind telling you: Jergal thinks very highly of him. The boy might very well succeed Kelemvor's seat and become the new God of Death."
"How could that be?!"
Shar found it inconceivable. How mighty was the portfolio of Death! Kelemvor had made no grave error; how could the seat simply change hands on a whim?
"I cannot disclose the exact reasons, but out of our past friendship, I came to give you a heads-up. The portfolio of Death will soon be handed over, and that boy is one of the prime candidates in Jergal's mind. You have dealt with him before and know full well how vengeful he is. But so long as you don't actively provoke him from now on, I believe he won't look for trouble with you either.
"Otherwise... just think about what Kelemvor did to those demons."
Shar naturally knew. Kelemvor, as the God of Death, had once spent vast amounts of time and energy waging war against the demons of the Abyss. Projecting his divine power into the Abyss, almost no demon could withstand him. Countless demons of renown had been slaughtered by Kelemvor back then, earning the newly ascended God of Death the respect of every deity.
Regardless of whether Kelemvor was clever enough, that power was absolute and indisputable.
Such was the power of the portfolio of Death: even an insect that inherited it would instantly become a greater deity.
Unwilling to accept this, Shar could not help pressing further: "What on earth does Jergal see in him? I admit he is the most cunning mortal I have ever met, but such a character hardly fits Jergal's standards, does it?"
Previous gods of death had caused numerous troubles due to greed and treacherous deceit, forcing Jergal to step in and clean up their messes, which ultimately led to the replacement of the God of Death and ushered in the present Kelemvor.
If this lich became the God of Death, would there be an ounce of peace left in the world?
"That is because you do not know him well, which biases your view. While the boy seems ruthless even toward gods, he treats his own people quite well. That shows he possesses his own inner boundaries and does not cross lines lightly. That is precisely his rarest trait."
Poet brought out the Necrotic Codex, gently stroking its cover before speaking to Shar: "Every member of the Elegy Poetry Society was meticulously chosen by Jergal. Each one originally had the chance to inherit the portfolio of Death, but unfortunately, most of them have already failed."
Agitated, Shar asked, "What are the requirements to inherit the portfolio of Death? Must Jergal select a successor from among mortals?"
Shar wished she could tell Jergal right now that she would accept any condition—as long as the portfolio of Death was granted to her, she would do anything.
Poet smiled. "It is simple: overcome your obsession. Only by transcending your desires can you become a worthy God of Death. Shar, can you let go of your hatred for Selûne?"
Shar desperately wanted to lie and say she could, but she knew she could never deceive Jergal.
"If I cannot let go of hatred, can that lich possibly let go of his obsession with wealth?"
Shar was utterly indignant. When it came to being ruled by desire, the lich was far worse than she was. This was a fact known to all the gods: so long as you offered the lich enough gold, he would do anything. How could such a mortal be qualified to become the God of Death?
When the time came, wouldn't anyone who offered sufficient wealth be brought back to life?
Yet Poet's answer took Shar entirely by surprise.
The vice president of the Elegy Poetry Society said with an earnest expression, "It is genuinely possible. He had countless opportunities to amass staggering wealth—such as swallowing the entire Underdark, seizing the whole Raging Tide Kingdom, or completely draining the Dwarf Kingdom's alchemical resources... yet every single time, he restrained that urge.
"Rather than devouring all the spoils in one bite, he chose cooperation; he chose a steady, enduring flow. That might sound easy, but that obsession is the very anchor for an undead's soul. Even I don't know how he manages to maintain his sanity. While he has not yet completely transcended his desire, Jergal favors him, and the lich is qualified to be one of the candidates."
Shar fell silent once more, seemingly lost in deep contemplation.
After a long silence, Shar extended her right hand, sending a cluster of dark aura before Poet.
"Since Jergal favors him, let me see if he truly can transcend his desires. Within this lie the complete laws of the Shadow Weave in my possession. Take it to that lich for me."
Last time Anbaixiu consulted Shar, he had obtained only a tiny fragment of knowledge regarding the Shadow Weave, barely sufficient to deduce a magical seal for mana addiction, remaining leagues away from the true Weave.
This time, however, what Shar offered was the complete Shadow Weave. In theory, so long as he mastered it, Anbaixiu could weave a new Weave and become a new God of Magic.
Poet did not accept it immediately. Instead, he said to Shar, "You're playing for such high stakes? If he cannot resist absorbing this knowledge, it would mean the Goddess of Magic gains complete mastery over the Shadow Weave. You will never have another chance to supplant her."
Shar let out a cold snort.
"I never had a chance to begin with. In my current state, how could I possibly challenge the Goddess of Magic? I even included *Karsus's Avatar* inside. I simply want to see whether this lich can resist the temptation of becoming the God of Magic."
*Karsus's Avatar*—a forbidden magic of immense power, banned for all eternity.
Long ago, Karsus cast this formidable spell, intending to usurp the Goddess of Magic and take control of the entire Weave.
In the end, he succeeded, yet he also failed.
Upon seizing control of the Weave, in a mere instant, Karsus blew himself to dust because he was unable to regulate the monumental power contained within the Weave, dragging the Weave down into destruction along with him.
The first Goddess of Magic perished because of this catastrophe.
What Shar was offering Anbaixiu was the complete version of *Karsus's Avatar*. She wanted to know whether this lich could withstand the temptation of ascending to become the God of Magic in a single stride.
Chapter 490