Spellcasting Gods

Chapter 484 False Justice (Part 1)

The Santalite Order, the Red Wizards of Sel, and the Arcane Brotherhood after its merger and reorganization...

Zhang Cheng had unknowingly begun to link together the largest and most notorious evil organizations in the western part of this continent to satisfy his insatiable thirst for knowledge and his intense desire for destruction.

Whether it was due to the influence of the Tears of Neltharion or not, he deeply hated the hypocritical kindness of the chosen ones of the goddess of magic, and even more so the self-proclaimed righteous city-states of Silvermoon City, Waterdeep City, and Neverwinter City. He even loathed this black-and-white factional division and sincerely wanted to destroy everything.

After all, in his eyes, there is no such thing as justice or evil in the world. All the parameters for measuring good and evil are determined by the universal values ​​of the dominant group in a certain region, and these values ​​are usually determined by comprehensive strength, which is simply power.

Whether it's an individual or a group, as long as they possess sufficient power, they can continuously expand outwards, defeat all kinds of enemies, and annex their resources to strengthen themselves.

In this process, the victors write history and portray themselves as the righteous side, while the losers are ruthlessly smeared and become the evil side.

But the problem in Forgotten Realms is that the high and mighty gods have refined a series of standards of good and evil.

Every day, whatever choices people make, they will generate values ​​that indicate a tendency toward good, evil, order, or chaos. When these values ​​reach a certain limit, people will automatically change their allegiance.

These factions can be detected by many arcane and divine spells.

Over time, people began to accept and acknowledge the standards of good and evil imposed on mortals by the gods as something that could never be changed.

But Zhang Cheng was different. He didn't feel that he should follow this standard at all, and he didn't think that people like Elasdra and Lord Siel ruled the city based on justice.

On the contrary, like most politicians, they maintain their rule through sheer violence.

Without sufficient deterrence, their rule will soon be overthrown and overthrown.

It should be known that the continent of Faerûn has never lacked ambitious people and schemers.

As for hypocritical notions like kindness and justice, they are merely a disguise, an excuse, and a rhetoric used to deceive the public and suppress the enemy.

……

Just as Zhang Cheng began preparing for his mad act of killing a god next year, in a rather lively hotel room on the second floor of Luskan, four strangely dressed men were gathered around a table, discussing in hushed tones how to complete this dangerous mission.

“Joey, tell me, what did you find out just now?” A woman with obvious half-elf features broke the silence first.

Her face was painted with green greasepaint, and apart from a leather armor, she only had a short staff with green leaves in her hand, clearly a druid who called herself the guardian of nature.

Not far from her, a brightly colored leopard lay yawning from time to time, its large mouth full of sharp teeth open.

“Sorry, not much useful information. According to descriptions from nearby residents and tavern patrons, the black dragon rarely leaves the spire, so an ambush is practically impossible.” The human, referred to as Joey, shook his head regretfully.

He looked to be around thirty years old, with a relatively thin build, but his ten fingers were exceptionally nimble, and a silver coin minted in Deepwater City kept flying up and down.

Normally, someone who can be this dexterous with their hands is either a seasoned "old thief" who frequently steals from other people's pockets, or a mage who needs to perform complex spellcasting actions with nimble fingers.

However, judging from Joey's attire, he clearly belongs to the former category.

"Damn it! What do we do now? Don't tell me we're going to just rush in through the main gate of the tower; that's practically suicide," the shield dwarf, squatting in a corner and chugging down his drink, complained through gritted teeth.

“Agreed! Although the Battle of Neverwinter killed many of the former high-ranking members of the Arcane Brotherhood, the number of spellcasters in the Mage Tower is still considerable. There’s no way we can get to the top floor with just a few of us.” The first half-elf druid to speak nodded thoughtfully.

"Then what do you suggest we do? Are we just going to wait here forever? Or are we going to slink away like idiots?"

"No! We can't retreat! I finally managed to borrow this dragon-slaying sword! How can I give up halfway! Evil must be eradicated! That's why I joined the Harpists in the first place!" With that, the young human girl, dressed in silver half-armor, gripped the longsword that exuded a faint magical aura tightly, her eyes blazing with unwavering determination.

Judging from the holy emblem she wore on her chest, she was undoubtedly a paladin serving Tyr, the god of justice.

"But we can't stay in the hotel for too long, it will arouse suspicion."

"If the harpists' base were still there, at least we would have a place to stay."

"Forget about it. All the old secret bases and spies were wiped out recently. Right now, there's no one who can help us."

"I don't like how I feel right now, like I'm surrounded by enemies and don't have a single friend."

……

Seeing his companions begin to sigh, Joey smiled helplessly and suggested in a polar voice, "Actually, it's not entirely hopeless. I have an idea, but it's a little dangerous. If we're exposed halfway through, we'll all be killed or captured."

"Oh? What idea!" The young paladin's face lit up with surprise.

“It’s simple! We’ll set a trap to lure it in! Remember the mysterious ancient statue we unearthed from the ruins six months ago? We’ll use that thing as bait to get that dragon to leave the tower and come meet us.” Joey calmly explained his plan.

“Fantastic! That statue seems to contain an extremely powerful energy that should attract the attention of that evil black dragon,” the half-elf druid exclaimed, his eyes shining.

As the sole spellcaster of this adventure team, she tried many times to decipher the statue's mystery, but ultimately found nothing. Even the archdruids in the sect did not know its specific purpose.

“In that case, let’s devise a plan. First, we need to let all of Luskan know that this statue is a powerful magical artifact. Joey, this task is yours, is that alright?” The paladin turned to look at his companion.

The latter curled the corners of his mouth slightly and bowed deeply in an exaggerated gesture: "Of course! I'm the most professional. In three days at most, the whole of Luskan will know that you have a statue containing powerful divine power."

“We also need to be prepared. After all, Luskan is not like Winterfell, Waterdeep, or Silvermoon, especially the evil wizards in the Spire, who never hesitate to take extreme measures.”

"If anyone dares to come, I'll smash their heads in with a hammer!"

Chapter 485 False Justice (Part 2)

Two days later, in his private room at the central spire of Luscan, Zhang Cheng was observing the small team sent by the Harpists Alliance through a crystal ball, a sneer of undisguised contempt on his face.

He simply couldn't understand how high-ranking figures like Elminster, Kelburn, and the Seven Sisters of the Northland could be so foolish as to allow four insignificant nobodys to assassinate him.

Don't they know the terrifying power they possess?

Or do they have immense confidence in that dragon-slaying sword?

Or perhaps there were disagreements or power struggles within the Harpists' Alliance, and these four were the victims of that struggle?

After all, the Harpists' Alliance is a large intelligence organization with a diverse membership, including paladins, priests, and warriors who dedicate themselves to the cause of good and justice, druids and rangers who strive to maintain the balance of nature, and even some bards and young adventurers with unrealistic ideals who are eager to make a name for themselves.

In short, there are so many factions and cliques that even they themselves are a bit confused, and it's not impossible for conflicts of interest to arise.

In fact, thanks to Manson's reminder, Zhang Cheng had already received accurate information the moment these people passed through Luscan's gate. Their every move was under surveillance, and he even knew which girl the rumor-spreading thief slept with that night and what difficult moves he made.

In this situation, let alone assassination, it would be impossible for them to even escape Luskan.

However, Zhang Cheng did not intend to kill these little mice too soon. He wanted to conduct an experiment to see if he could cause them to completely break down, both physically and mentally, and even fall into darkness through a series of psychological tortures.

In particular, a young paladin named Verity would fall into darkness and become a Dark Guardian if he broke his oath.

Thinking of this, he turned around and asked Xini, who was standing at the door, "Is everything I asked you to prepare ready?"

“Of course, Master. I guarantee these little mice will feel your meticulous care,” Xini replied with a cold smile.

“Very good! Have fun, just leave my little paladin behind.” With that, Zhang Cheng ignored the other party and picked up a blank parchment to begin a new round of spell model construction.

If we were to name the most useful thing he learned on the continent of Faerûn, standardized spell models would undoubtedly be at the top of the list.

Unlike Dalaran mages who rely on building magical circuits within their bodies to cast spells, mages in this world rely on pre-constructing precise spell models to cast spells.

When a mage learns a new spell, the first step is to familiarize himself with the spell model and imprint it deeply in his mind.

The advantage of this method is that it is less likely to cause accidents. As long as the surrounding magic network is stable enough, it is almost impossible to lose control. Moreover, the spell model has been simplified and optimized by countless predecessors, so it consumes very little energy. Since it does not require building magic circuits in the body, it can cast all kinds of different types of spells at will.

The downside is that because mages need to memorize a large number of complex spell models, they must be extremely intelligent and have a memory far beyond that of ordinary people. Otherwise, when the number of models in their minds exceeds a certain amount, it will fill up the memory area of ​​their brains, and they will be unable to learn new spells unless they use self-hypnosis to delete unnecessary spells.

This is why Zhang Cheng secretly studied the life trajectory of the Archmage Iolum.

Reality is not a game where you can easily boost your intelligence to a very high level by using a cheat engine or adding points according to the rules. Generally speaking, a person's intelligence level is fixed around the age of 25, and there is no possibility of further increase.

As for those madmen who want to infinitely increase their intelligence through magic potions and wish-making spells, they often end up having their skulls crushed by their suddenly enlarged brains, dying on the spot.

Similarly, transforming oneself into other forms, such as a lich or a half-elemental form, will not bring about a leap in intelligence.

There is only one way in this world to truly increase intelligence without limit: to merge one's consciousness and soul with the Mind Flayer's mastermind.

In simpler terms, it means using the Mind Flayer's near-infinite intelligence as the "hardware" and its own soul and consciousness as the operating system, ultimately becoming a super biological computer with its own consciousness.

At that time, they will not only gain the powerful forces of arcane and psionic magic, but also learn almost unlimited spells.

……

Meanwhile, in a tavern in the Luscan docks, Joey was embracing a scantily clad woman, drinking and boasting to the surrounding patrons about his adventures, completely unaware that a shadow silently appeared behind him in the darkness, opened its mouth, and bit him hard on the neck.

"Ah! Damn it! Who is it?"

The intense pain made Joey scream in agony, and he quickly drew his dagger, intending to teach the other person a lesson.

Unfortunately, by the time he turned around, the attacker had already left the tavern and disappeared without a trace amidst the bustling crowd.

"Damn it! Don't let me catch you!"

Left with no other choice, he muttered a curse under his breath, asked the bartender for a glass of water, and simply cleaned the wound. Because the wound was not deep, it stopped bleeding after only a few minutes.

On the other side, the guy who had just bitten someone quickly crossed the street and entered a dilapidated wooden house. He licked the bloodstains from his teeth and reported in a low voice, "Sir, I have bitten the target as you instructed. In addition, it is a full moon tonight, so he will begin his first irrational transformation around midnight."

“Well done! Inform your men to lie in ambush around the target tonight. Once he transforms, you all rush in immediately and attack the other three people around him. Make sure the target dies at the hands of his comrades.” With that, Xini slowly emerged from the darkness, her eyes gleaming with a dangerous light.

"As you wish!"

A man who looked to be around forty years old, with a thick beard, bowed. Immediately afterward, the muscles under his body began to swell rapidly, and thick black hair grew on his skin.

In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a strong human into a terrifying werewolf.

According to the transmission principle of the beastification disease on the continent of Faerûn, anyone unlucky enough to be bitten by a beastman will be infected without realizing it. When the first full moon arrives, they will completely lose their minds and transform into monsters that only know how to kill and destroy.

Clearly, what Xini was trying to do was to drive the team to the brink of defeat by making them fight amongst themselves.

Zhang Cheng had already prepared a brilliant script; her task was to ensure that all the "actors" would appear in the right place at the right time...

Chapter 486 False Justice (Part 2)

At night, Joey, exhausted after a busy day, finally dragged his tired body back to the temporary hotel. He was completely unaware that the terrible beast virus had spread throughout his body along his blood vessels, only occasionally feeling that his wounds were a little itchy.

In fact, in the first few hours after infection, the transformation of the body can be prevented by using certain special herbs and spells.

However, after a few hours, once the virus is absorbed by various organs, there is no longer any possibility of a cure.

In simple terms, bestiality is an irreversible, one-way genetic mutation that transforms infected individuals from intelligent beings such as humans, elves, and dwarves into a special state that is somewhere between human and beast. They maintain a human form most of the time, but transform into a beast form when faced with danger, thereby gaining greater power.

Whether it's the common werewolves and ratmen, or the rare catmen, lionmen, and tigermen, they are all a type of beastman.

Unfortunately, Joey was clearly unaware of this. He pushed open the door and walked into the room, plopped down in a chair, and complained with a sullen face, "You'd never guess what happened to me today. A madman bit me from behind when I wasn't looking."

"Bite you?!" The half-elf druid frowned instinctively.

“Yes! Look, this is the wound.” To prove she wasn’t lying, Joey pulled down her collar, revealing the bite mark that was almost scabbed over.

"Damn it! How long have you been bitten?" The half-elf druid glanced at him, his pupils instantly contracting as he loudly questioned him in a serious tone.

She was so nervous that even the paladin who was praying to the god of justice couldn't help but turn his gaze toward her.

"Uh...it's been almost ten hours..." Joey replied, somewhat at a loss.