As the foundation of their cooperation, Paluriel proposed a bold and direct plan.
If they wanted to influence the Blood War, they had to dive right into it first.
Melina's current territory was still far too small; it had to be expanded significantly. The madwoman produced a map of the area surrounding the River of Blood and, with a casual sweep of her hand, expanded Melina's territory several dozen times over.
"This area covers dozens of the most convenient access routes to the River of Blood. If we seize it, every stray demon in this war zone will become our prey. With this territory, our army can open a new front right here, and the Blood River Fortress will even have to cooperate with us..."
Paluriel's fingers left one mark after another across the surface of the magic mirror.
Her plan was simple, direct, and seemed genuinely feasible. Even Anbaixiu, who knew little about military affairs, immediately grasped Paluriel's strategic objective upon seeing it.
This madwoman even knew how to command armies. She truly hadn't been idling away all these years.
As Paluriel finished modifying the map, Melina's territory turned into an enormous battlefront, reaching like a tentacle toward the core combat zone of the Blood River battlefield at any moment. She had even written down troop deployments for every single sector.
Anbaixiu understood it, but he shook his head. "Bel is hardly an easy man to deal with. Besides, my goal is to end the Blood War. What's the point of you throwing yourself into it?"
Paluriel countered, "The Blood War may have lasted an eternity, but for the Nine Hells as a whole, it's merely a minor battlefield. The Nine Hells are vaster than many planes combined, and the River of Blood is just one small corner. Where in the Nine Hells isn't there daily infighting and constant conflict of every scale? The Blood War is simply fought at a higher intensity.
"No one knows how to sever the tributary of the River Styx right now, but I know this battlefield is merely the surface layer of the planar link. Countless demons surge out from beneath the ground; the true junction must lie deep in the subterranean depths. We'll have to venture down there sooner or later. If we don't secure a stable retreat in advance, we'll end up just like Zariel when she fell into Hell."
That did make some sense. Regardless of whether this madwoman was doing it for amusement or some other purpose, Anbaixiu was content to leave the matter in her hands.
Without Paluriel, Anbaixiu wouldn't have recklessly expanded the territory, primarily because he couldn't manage it all himself.
Anbaixiu had never been an all-around prodigy. He simply had the advantage of having witnessed thousands of years of societal development, which made hoodwinking a semi-serf, semi-feudal world easy enough. But if one were to point out any truly remarkable talent of his, only a modest knack for spellcasting remained.
Paluriel, however, was different. The woman was utterly unhinged, yet whenever she set her mind to doing something, there was nothing she couldn't accomplish.
Since she had patted her chest and guaranteed she would bring Melina a larger territory and superior governance, Anbaixiu was more than happy to delegate the task to her.
As for Melina, she was better off continuing to listen and observe more while speaking less. Ruling a domain was truly asking too much of her.
Having resolved his greatest headache with a single notebook of Harvey's, Anbaixiu breathed a sigh of relief. Handled properly, Paluriel was a formidable blade.
"I'll leave the territorial expansion to you. What do you need?" Anbaixiu asked.
Paluriel let out a hearty laugh. "Nothing at all. It's just a few dozen hell lords; I'll make them swear fealty. However, as payment, for every piece of land I bring back, you must have your student give me one lesson."
Anbaixiu nodded. "Harvey can't descend into Hell. The lessons can only take place through the magic mirror."
"No problem. It's not like I'm after that pretty boy's looks. Speaking of which, your student is far more impressive than you are. You certainly have great luck. In my entire life, I've never met anyone smarter than myself."
"Heh. After all, not everyone trades their sanity for intellect."
Paluriel glared at Anbaixiu. "All these years apart, and your tongue is just as venomous. Back then, it was only because you provoked me that my Wish spell failed."
"Look at you, still failing to understand the true essence of fate. Whether you were provoked, asleep, or completely unfazed back then, the outcome would have been identical. A predestined fate cannot be altered by anyone... well, except Ao."
Deep in thought, Paluriel took the utterly bewildered little lemure and departed.
Once the madwoman had vanished, Anbaixiu looked toward the soul coin resting in the corner.
The coin leaned against the wall without falling flat, showing neither heads nor tails. Paluriel hadn't broken her self-imposed rule after all.
Anbaixiu knew he hadn't manipulated the future of that coin. Like some absurd destiny, the Goddess of Fate was still protecting him, shielding him from trouble.
It only made Anbaixiu feel even more like a scumbag.
Still, if he was a scumbag, so be it. The Goddess of Fate had run into plenty of scumbags in her time; she was likely used to it by now.
Though the deal was struck, Harvey had yet to hear of it. Anbaixiu needed to give his student advance warning and make some preparations beforehand.
Even through a magic mirror, Paluriel was a master of psychological manipulation. Back when she was still mortal, she had mastered more than one method of hypnosis, capable of turning people into utterly obedient puppets before they even realized it.
If Harvey wasn't careful, he might very well be swallowed whole by that madwoman.
With a flicker across the magic mirror's surface, Anbaixiu's projection appeared in the Golden Desert of the Prime Material Plane.
It was the familiar underground alchemy factory. During his absence, the facility had been running smoothly. While Harvey didn't understand alchemy, he knew how to cooperate, having completely handed over management of the underground factory to Isabel so he could bury himself in research.
When Anbaixiu appeared in the magic mirror on Harvey's desk, the young man had turned into a disheveled vagrant.
"Harvey, what happened to you?"
Anbaixiu's voice caused Harvey to lift his head from a massive pile of documents. The youth of the past was now sporting a scruffy, unkempt beard, his hair was greasy and matted in clumps, his hands and sleeves were covered in ink stains, and who knew how long it had been since he had changed his clothes.
"Teacher!" Harvey cried out excitedly.
"Would casting a Clean spell kill you?"
With a casual flick of his magic, Anbaixiu cleared away most of the filth clinging to Harvey before lecturing him roundly: "Even when I was a lich, I wasn't as filthy as you are now. Weren't you perfectly fine the last time I saw you? It's only been a little over two weeks—how did you end up looking like this? Let me tell you, there are some illnesses even divine spells can't easily cure."
Anbaixiu hadn't kept his resurrection a secret from Harvey. The kid had certainly been ecstatic when they last met, yet he had still looked like a proper human being. Who could have guessed that after learning his master was alive, he would let himself go completely?
Harvey scratched his head awkwardly, dislodging a shower of dead fleas.
"Sorry, Teacher. I just made some sudden progress recently."
Harvey hadn't always been this unkempt. But Anbaixiu's resurrection had abruptly lifted a crushing weight from his shoulders, leaving him completely relaxed. Once relieved of that pressure, he had plunged even deeper into his research, becoming so thoroughly engrossed that he neglected everything else.
Anbaixiu warned, "You're just a wizard. Your constitution is barely better than an ordinary person's. If you keep this up, you'll work yourself to death."
There was nothing wrong with devoted research, but if someone neglected food and sleep with no one to look after them, even a legend wizard could kill themselves through negligence. Why else would wizard towers always be packed with golem puppets? It was precisely to attend to their masters' daily needs.
"All right, Teacher, I'll pay attention from now on."
"Empty words won't do. You might as well bring that half-drow, half-orc girl back. You can afford to support her now anyway," Anbaixiu said.
Harvey's face flushed red, and he hurriedly replied, "Wouldn't that just kill me even faster?"
"Oh, good point." Anbaixiu nodded, dropping the joke and preparing to bring up the matter of Paluriel.
Harvey, however, was even more impatient than Anbaixiu. He said excitedly, "Teacher, I've had a breakthrough in my recent research! Look at this!"
Harvey brought out a glass jar. Resting inside was a gleaming soul fragment—the soul fragment left behind by Mister Misfortune after exiling his homeland.
Anbaixiu had kept it preserved all this time, though the fragment had lost any possibility of recovery.
Yet now, the soul fragment appeared somewhat larger than before.
Anbaixiu's eyes widened in utter shock. "Harvey, what did you do?!"
Chapter 565