Chapter 256: You Saw Everything, Didn't You?

Lich for Hire

Ambrose thought he must have misheard.

What did she mean, several goddesses were going to bestow blessings upon her? Had this drow fallen under some illusion?

A divine blessing might sound commonplace. After all, every so often, some chosen of the gods would stir up chaos, making such things seem almost routine.

But in truth, every blessing required a god to expend a portion of their divine essence, to split off part of their authority to grant power to a gifted and devout follower.

For powerful deities, blessing a mortal wasn't too taxing. Yet even someone as promising as Allen, a paladin with a brilliant future, had merely exchanged a few words with the Lord of Dawn, not received a blessing.

As for weaker gods, they were even more miserly. Their divine power was limited to begin with. How could they afford to share it?

As for Ambrose, he had never in his life experienced what a divine blessing even felt like.

A blessing was both a supreme honor and a highly targeted gift.

There were rare exceptions in the case of capricious gods like Tir, the god of justice. He might bless you whether or not you worshipped him, so long as you upheld justice and earned his attention.

But Tir was an outlier. Most gods were fiercely exclusive and would never bless a follower of another deity.

Otherwise, how would that follower's faith be divided?

And there was another issue: when that blessed individual died, whose divine realm would claim their soul?

A blessing was, in essence, an investment of divine power. When a believer died and entered a god's domain, that power would return.

If you blessed someone who served another god, and they ascended elsewhere after death, wouldn't that be an overall loss?

Worse still, if your divine essence ended up strengthening another deity, it could easily spark a war among gods. After all, who wouldn't want to expand their domain of power?

Only the elven pantheon commonly allowed multiple gods to bless the same individual, because they shared the same divine realm under Choralan.

Only under a shared supreme deity could such a situation exist.

But had the Spider Queen established her own independent pantheon? And who could these "other goddesses" be…? In Ambrose's experience, any gods willing to associate with the Spider Queen were hardly benevolent, and certainly not the type to accept such a disadvantageous arrangement.

He was ready to dismiss this as madness. Some evil god had clearly tampered with the drow's mind.

But then the drider left, and the drow priestess turned toward the statue of the Spider Queen and knelt.

Several distinct lights ignited upon the statue: a mark of different divinities.

Ambrose froze. Had she been speaking the truth?

Had the Spider Queen enslaved other deities, forcing them into submission?

There was precedent. The god of liches, Valarun, had once served the Lord of Storms, effectively as a slave, until he fled.

Maintaining his illusion with all his focus, Ambrose didn't dare move. Though the gods' consciousness had descended upon the statue, their full power had not. They likely couldn't pierce his disguise. Even so, he had to stay hidden. He needed to understand what was happening.

The lights shimmered and gradually formed into distinct faces.

All of them were breathtakingly beautiful.

Ambrose instantly recognized two of them: Shara, the Dark Goddess, and Levitra, the Mistress of Pain.

Of the remaining two, one was a horned woman with fiery red hair, radiating a strong scent of sulfur, likely from the Hells. The other was a drow with an aura of pure darkness, the Spider Queen herself.

Four goddesses, none of whom seemed subordinate to another…

Ambrose had lived long enough to see many strange things, but this? He had never even heard of such a phenomenon.

The kneeling drow spoke with reverence. "Great goddesses, preparations for the blood sacrifice are underway. Once the ritual is complete, I will destroy all those undead and bathe the Umbral Depths in your divine radiance."

Ambrose's composure cracked.

Had the four goddesses truly joined forces?

This wasn't just about controlling the Umbral Depths. No, this was preparation for an impending divine conflict.

They must have learned something in advance… and set their sights on the Umbral Depths.

Black Rose was in trouble. She had no god to rely on.

The Spider Queen spoke at last, her voice vast and distant, like an echo from the depths of the cosmos, yet powerful enough to make one's soul tremble.

"Trisna, have you found any trace of that lich?"

The drow Trisna quickly replied, "Information is scarce. We only know he has secluded himself beneath the Golden Desert, but his exact location remains unknown."

Loss tsked. "Useless trash!"

An invisible force seized her, lifting her into the air. Blood burst from her body as if pierced by unseen spears.

Yet Trisna dared not resist. She merely begged weakly for mercy.

Shara intervened.

"Loss, do not kill her. She is our only option. A mortal capable of bearing four different blessings is not easy to find."

Dark power flowed from Shara, healing Trisna's wounds and pulling her back from death's edge.

The Spider Queen dropped her carelessly to the ground. "You were chosen by chance. Do not think yourself special. The tasks we assign take priority above all. The undead of the Umbral Depths are not the issue. Watch that lich closely. He is the variable in all this. Prepare yourself. When we seize the Umbral Depths, he will be your greatest enemy."

Levitra added coldly, "Do not believe a single word that lich says. Remember this well. Even if he claims to be a lich, do not believe him."

Hidden nearby, Ambrose watched in silence, rattled.

Four goddesses, going to such lengths… just for him? Was that really necessary? He was just an ordinary lich.

But that wasn't the point. More importantly, they had formed an alliance. What chance did anyone have against that? They were clearly trying to create a terrifyingly powerful legendary drow, one capable of challenging the rule of Black Rose.

And if the Umbral Depths were to fall into drow hands… Given how these goddesses viewed him, Ambrose would be in serious trouble.

What had started as a mission to steal a divine artifact had somehow escalated into opposing four gods. The difficulty spike was absurd.

Still, Ambrose quickly forced himself to calm down.

There was no need to panic just yet. Perhaps he could kill this drow before the blessing ritual, sabotaging the goddesses' plan outright.

He had the advantage of remaining unseen. His chances weren't bad.

And Trisna had mentioned a large-scale blood sacrifice. That meant Milena would likely be brought here as an offering.

If they could coordinate from within and without, this might still be salvageable.

As Ambrose plotted, the projections of the four goddesses slowly faded. Trisna rose and began issuing orders. Soon, numerous drow arrived to begin constructing a massive ritual array at the top of the spire.

A quick glance told Ambrose everything he needed to know. At this pace, it would be completed within a day or two.

He had at most that long to eliminate Trisna.

Should he strike now?

He remained hidden under an illusion, but Trisna was adorned with magical items. With her circlet, necklace, and rings, who knew how many defensive spells were layered upon her?

He would only get one chance. If he failed, he would lose the advantage of surprise entirely.

And someone capable of bearing divine blessings was almost certainly a legend herself. If she specialized in endurance, his odds would drop even further.

Just as he hesitated, a strange disturbance rippled through his extradimensional space.

Ambrose retreated into a deeper shadow and cautiously opened it. Inside, a long-dormant mass of black energy was trembling violently.

It was the knowledge of the Weft that Shara had once given him: a physical manifestation of divine magic, and a conduit to contact her.

He had once considered selling that half-dragon youth, Geronimo, to Shara as payment. After all, wasn't he a fallen legend in his own right?

But Shara had never responded. He'd assumed she wasn't interested.

Just moments ago, she had been plotting against him with the other goddesses. The fact that this bundle of black energy was reacting now couldn't be a good sign.

Sure enough, the black mist quickly condensed into Shara's face. She smiled coldly and said, "You saw everything that just happened… didn't you?"