From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 516 The Devil and Orin

“Everyone says Baldur’s Gate is a cesspool of corruption…” Jahira shook his head. “There are more cases of political corruption here than at the Dwarf Lantern Tavern, and I’m not surprised at all.”

"Thursville Van Sampour has been paroled?" Ivy stepped forward and pushed open the solid wood door of the villa. "The door wasn't locked..."

The villa's foyer is a rectangular room, with two doors on either side leading to other rooms, in addition to the main entrance.

The ceiling of the hall was decorated with a ring of white plaster shelves, with ornate vases displayed at the four corners. One of them had fallen and shattered into a pile of rubble on the marble floor.

Extending to the entrance is a large painted carpet depicting the coronation ceremony of royal members. On the walls on either side hang other carpets, depicting scenes of dragons flying over ships and pilgrim caravans.

"What is this?" Yingxin stared at a large stain on the carpet with disgust. "It doesn't look like blood..."

Besides a large stain on the carpet, there were several other puddles of viscous liquid scattered on the marble floor of the foyer. They looked like constantly bubbling asphalt, but still maintained a kind of biological activity, moving stealthily and slowly.

With his extensive experience, Will the Border Blade immediately recognized them: "Those are the things left behind by the devils after they die! Since devils don't truly die outside of Hell, when they die in the Prime Material Plane, their bodies decompose into this kind of substance... After a while, they will all return to Hell."

Although he had killed many types of demons, Ivy had never paid attention to what would happen to the corpses of demons. He asked, "Can you tell how long these demons have been dead?"

“Perhaps… a few hours?” Will said uncertainly. He had dealt with many demons in the Sword Coast, but he had not studied the slime formed from the corpses of demons in detail. “It won’t be less than half an hour, nor longer than half a day… I can’t estimate it more precisely.”

“Very valuable.” Ivy bypassed the slime on the ground. “It seems that even after Salamara’s death, Van Sampur did not sever his connection with the devil. We’ll spread out and search the entire villa, but don’t make any rash moves when we come across a secret door—Olin might be inside.”

The adventurers automatically split into two groups and entered the other rooms of the villa through the wooden doors on either side of the foyer.

To the left of the foyer is a showroom, which also serves as a large corridor connecting the various areas of the villa. Everyone who visits Van Sampur Villa must pass through here.

From the various luxurious tapestries and paintings by famous artists hanging on the walls, to the statues and other collections displayed in showcases and on stone bases, everything tells guests about Salamara's taste—vulgar and unrestrained.

“Almost all of them are fakes.” Ivy concluded after a quick glance. “No wonder they’re so well preserved without any guards.”

"Oh!" Gale jumped a small step to the side and bumped into Halsin's chest. "It's just a wax figure... I thought it was Tara."

What startled Yi Cai of Deepwater City was a wax figure of a winged cat. Its fur was wild and messy, and its sharp teeth and eyes had been deliberately adjusted to highlight the ferocity of the Duke's pet. In the mouth of this wax figure, there was also a gruesome dead rat.

“Political status does have some advantages after all,” Florick said. “I have never heard anyone gossip about the Duke of Van Sampur’s taste in art.”

Even during the day, the lighting in the showroom is very poor. Its only two windows are completely covered by curtains, allowing almost no light to pass through, and there are no working lighting devices in the room.

The door to the room diagonally opposite the showroom was half-open, and a sliver of light shone through.

Pushing open the door, the adventurers saw a living room. The curtains in the room were drawn, but because of their thin fabric, sunlight still shone through, allowing the adventurers to see the layout of the entire room.

All the furniture in the living room was covered with a thick layer of dust, indicating that few guests had visited the estate since Salamara Van Sampur's incident.

Aside from two upholstered sofas, a coffee table, and a high-backed chair, the only other eye-catching item in the room is a tapestry hanging on the north wall, depicting a burning angel falling from the sky into a pit of fire.

“Zaril.” Floric noticed the others’ gazes. “At least I believe it’s her. An angel who fell into hell and became the Demon Grand Duchess. There are plenty of artworks about her in El Toril.”

Before Eltoril fell into Avernus, High Duke Ravengard had visited the place with his advisor Floric.

At a time when murders were rampant in Baldur's Gate, the High Duke was unwilling to take action personally, but Salamara used a letter of public opinion to hijack his will, which led to a series of events.

After learning that Salamara herself was Zariel's lackey, Florick had a very bad impression of the entire Van Sampur family.

“Unlike the junk fakes in the showroom, this tapestry is a well-made masterpiece.” Ivy shook her head. “It seems that Salamara can distinguish between good and bad works of art; at least she won’t fool her devilish master.”

The room to the north of the living room is the dining room, where the furnishings are not as tidy as in the living room. The long black table has been reduced to a pile of wood scraps, only good for kindling, and all the glass bottles in the exquisite wine cabinet are shattered. The vintage wines collected by the Van Sampure family are spilled on the marble floor, mixed with the slime left behind by the devil after his death.

Besides the devil's slime, there was another striking sign of battle—the corpse of a shapeshifter.

“The joints are still flexible!” Jasira checked with her hand. “The cultists of Baal are in this villa!”

Ivy raised an eyebrow. This was truly the best possible outcome. If Orin had been there too, it would have been even better!
The long, narrow showroom also has a staircase that bends upwards to the second floor. Below the staircase is another door, behind which is a kitchen. Will, who had previously led the squad to the right of the foyer, was peeking out from here.

“We’ve found a secret passage leading downwards!” Will called out. “Right next to the storeroom.”

It was a secret brick passage, made of materials no different from those used in the guild hall.

“The sewers again!” Yingxin exclaimed. “I should have guessed.” “Salamara was in charge of the city’s sewer system before, and then Gotash took over the position,” Floric said, holding a torch. “Perhaps she built this underground structure back then… but nobody knows what benefits Gotash used that position to gain for herself.”

Unlike the dilapidated and unused manor villas, the underground city was unbelievably clean, and it even faintly exuded the scent of incense.

“Non-toxic.” Minsala shook his head dismissively. “This family could have made themselves more deadly, but…”

After descending the stairs, the adventurers found themselves in a spacious cellar. The vaulted ceiling was supported by four stone pillars, and neatly arranged wooden barrels and boxes lined the walls. Several bloodless corpses of human cultists lay on the floor, while other cultists of varying heights and builds searched containers along the walls. None of them were on guard against the stairs leading to the villa.

The battle began with a sudden war cry from Minsk and Karak, and ended abruptly with a burst of brilliant lightning from Ivy's fingertips.

The cultists, searching for their spoils, struggled and collapsed, reverting to their shapeshifting forms amidst the stench of burning flesh.

All adventurers knew that Orin might be right here!
Through a well-maintained iron door with smooth, lubricated hinges, the adventurer entered the upper town's sewer system, which appeared no different from the lower town's. Except for the stench mingled with incense, sewage flowed south through ditches, ending at the lower town's sewage treatment plant.

Although it's set in a fantasy medieval world, the fact that Baldur's Gate's city planning includes space for a sewage treatment plant does sound rather strange.

However, if you are familiar with Sylvanas's teachings, you won't be too surprised. The sewage treatment plant's official name in the city plan is Sewage Fortress, and it was originally the responsibility of the druids of a group of old oak trees to purify the sewage generated by the entire city.

But druids weren't free volunteers, and besides, they also deeply resented the rampant corruption of Baldur's Gate. Therefore, after a funding crisis, the head of Sewage Keep became a guild member, and the sewers were completely taken over by thieves and hooligans.

Since then, the sewers have become an unavoidable issue in the council. At the same time, a new wave of corruption has bred within Baldur's Gate; Salamara van Sampur and Enver Gotash are both products of that incident.

The sewage pipes split into two opposite directions outside the cellar, one to the north and one to the south. However, the faint screams coming from the north helped the adventurers avoid splitting up again.

After turning left again at the end of the sewage pipe, the adventurers passed by the sewage pipe branch blocked by a fence and a cold storage room with many edible animals hanging there, and finally found the source of the screams in a place that looked like a restaurant.

It was an ongoing battle, with two sides consisting of assassins disguised as shapeshifters and demons from hell.

The tall, humanoid demon wielding several chains, and the shapeshifting assassin he whipped around, were both startled by the adventurers' appearance.

No one expected that this dungeon built beneath the former duke's manor would welcome new visitors.

"Chain Demon!" Will immediately recognized the type of demon. "His chains are alive! Be careful of their surprise attacks!"

The magic beams flashed three times in succession in his hand, all hitting the crimson-skinned demon wielding chains. The creature roared from beneath the chains binding its body, its terrifyingly large, blood-red eyes launching a vicious mental attack.

Chain demons typically act as torturers in Hell. Besides using chains with blades at the ends to whip targets and cast "memory restoration spells," chain demons are also adept at using mental attacks. They can create mental illusions by staring, making themselves appear in the eyes of their victims as the most frightening or dreaded sight.

The vision that appeared before Will was that of the High Duke, who had been completely demonized. He looked no different from Will, with hellfire coiling around his dark bald head, and a pair of horns that were even more terrifying than those on Will's forehead, baring menacingly. The armor representing Marshal Flame Fist was completely stained with the sulfurous flames of hell, and Zariel's own insignia had replaced the fist in the flames...

“Father?” Will’s hesitation vanished in an instant, replaced by a fire of anxiety and anger. “How dare you! How dare you pretend to be him in front of me!”

The Border Blade wielded the dueling sword crafted from the soul of the patriarch Mizora, easily weaving through the four chains attacking from all directions. In the blink of an eye, he thrust the sword tip, more vicious than the stinger of a desert scorpion, into the Chain Demon's enormous eye.

Foul-smelling blood sprayed everywhere. Will raised his free left hand and slammed it viciously onto the Chain Demon's face, unleashing a magical burst once more.

The scattered, flying demonic flesh smeared onto the walls, soon forming another pool of thick, black slime. The demon Will sent back to Hell would be reborn ninety-nine years later. However, if he had a powerful master, this interval might be shortened to a mere instant.

The adventurers had also dealt with the other shapeshifter killers in the restaurant. They didn't have time to search for clues or loot; their primary objective was to confirm the existence of Orin, and secondly, the Shield of Sylvam, which might be kept there.

Crossing the stone bridge spanning the sewage ditch, the adventurers walked toward a room with its iron door half-open.

Even fiercer battles were breaking out there, and it seemed that to Baal's cultists, these demons from hell had appeared out of nowhere as well.

The arched iron gate was inscribed with Purgatory language, which Ivy translated word for word into Common: "Those who have fallen will also return."

It can be confirmed that this is the temple where the Van Sampure family worships Grand Duchess Zariel of Avernas.

Candles on two tall wrought-iron candelabra illuminated the room, and the innermost angel statue was particularly striking; she held a longsword and watched the battle taking place in the temple with gleaming white eyes.

Baal's assassins, winged imps, horned demons with rough brown skin, two horns on their heads and steel forks in their hands, and Baal's chosen ones with scarlet leather armor and faded skin.

"No! No, no!" The moment the evil thought stepped into the room, Orin sensed something and turned around, screaming frantically, "You're cheating! Sister! This is cutting in line! Our killing game hasn't even started yet!"

(End of this chapter)