Spellcasting Gods

Crimson blood splattered everywhere, quickly staining the ground completely red.

As for the middle-aged man, he initially tried to struggle, but soon lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground with a thud, becoming a warm corpse.

Jesse lightly wiped the blood from the dagger, warning without looking up, "If anyone's trying to trick me into giving them the antidote, I suggest you give up on that idea. Who's next?"

"I'll do it!"

The young mother holding her child took a step forward, forcing herself not to look at the corpse next to her, and knelt on the statue, muttering nervously.

next second!

Another beam of white light descended from the sky, enveloping her from head to toe.

Seeing this, Jesse nodded in satisfaction: "You've passed! Go get the antidote. Remember, as a believer, you must come here to pray once a day."

"Thank you for your generosity and kindness, our great master!" The young mother quickly bowed again before picking up a bottle of medicine from the table and drinking half of it down to herself and her child.

As the cooling sensation began to spread from my stomach outwards, the nausea, fever, and vomiting quickly disappeared, replaced by an indescribable feeling of ease.

The baby, who had been crying incessantly, gradually calmed down, and a calm that had not been seen for many days appeared on the little face that was full of tears.

The plague has been cured!

Everyone present noticed this very obvious change, and their emotions became unusually excited.

As the saying goes, once there's a first, there's a second, and once there's a second, there's a third...

About twenty minutes later, all forty-odd people had drunk the potion and began to kneel in front of the statue with devout expressions, loudly reciting hymns of praise.

However, if you listen carefully, you will find that these poems were originally taught to believers by the priests of the God of Justice; they have only changed the names.

If it weren't for his strong willpower, Jesse probably would have burst out laughing on the spot.

She even fantasized about how a priest of the God of Justice would react if he saw this scene.

He was so angry he went crazy?

Or should we draw our weapons and eliminate these blasphemous poor people?

……

With the help of the plague cure, a cult that worshipped Benny quickly grew in Beggar's Nest, and an ambitious fellow helped build the church's structure, actively infiltrating the surrounding areas.

Taking advantage of its secrecy and tight organizational structure, more and more people were forced to join in order to survive, gradually forming a huge force.

As the number of wealthy merchants and nobles within the church increased, they began to join forces to interfere in politics, commerce, and trade in order to benefit themselves and the church.

As the saying goes, there is nothing more terrifying in the world than religion.

Perhaps the founders of many religious sects simply wanted to spread their ideas and beliefs to more people.

However, as more and more people participate, it is inevitable that conflicts of interest will arise, thus forming a huge community of shared interests.

As the instigator, Zhang Cheng has now absorbed and transformed soul energy, integrating the trace of divinity carried by the shattered demon crystal into his body. He has begun to continuously draw power from faith and is taking great strides toward evolving into a demigod.

Of course, this process is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it will take a long time.

Just as he calmed down and waited to see the show, the old butler suddenly burst into the room and reported with a smile, "Young Master Benny, Miss Irebeth de Timmarand has come to visit and says she has something important to discuss with you."

"Did she say it was something important?" Zhang Cheng concealed the golden light flashing in his pupils and turned around, feigning interest.

"I don't know, but I think it's a good opportunity."

"Yes, this is indeed a good opportunity..."

Chapter 0915 Borrowing Grain

"Good afternoon, Ms. Iribes. I heard from the housekeeper that you have something important to discuss with me?" As soon as Zhang Cheng entered the living room, he gave a slight bow to the female paladin in armor.

He could sense that beneath the other person's feigned composure lay a fragile and helpless soul.

The terrible plague in Neverwinter was driving Eribes crazy. She was exhausted and helpless, and nothing she did could stop the spread of the plague. The order in the city was on the verge of collapse.

In particular, the Penisula district, where the prison is located, is now completely out of control. Prisoners who have broken out of their cells are engaging in rampant looting and vandalism, venting their bestial instincts born from their fear of death.

The situation at the docks wasn't much better. Audacious smugglers and sailors even attacked the guards, driving them out of the area and doing whatever they wanted behind closed doors.

It can be said that Lord Nasir has now lost control of Neverwinter and can only order the sealing off of various areas to ensure the safety of the city center.

"Good afternoon, Benny. I do have something important to discuss with you." Irebeth forced a smile.

"Oh, what is it?" Zhang Cheng asked, feigning sincerity.

"It's about food! To prevent the spread of the plague, the city council has ordered a lockdown of the entire city, so we haven't been able to get any food supplies from the outside for a long time, causing food prices to skyrocket. Now many civilians have lost their food source. I heard that you stockpiled a lot of food before the outbreak, so I hope you can step forward at this critical moment to give the people some help." Eribes stated her purpose directly.

After all, paladins are a bunch of straightforward people who don't know how to beat around the bush, let alone know that they should test the waters first for something like this.

“Excuse me, Miss Timaland. Do you mean…we should donate a large amount of grain for free?” The old butler frowned and suddenly interjected.

Irebeth nodded slightly: "Yes! The city hall doesn't have enough money to buy food. All we can offer is our heartfelt gratitude."

Upon hearing this, the old butler couldn't help but sneer sarcastically, "Gratitude? Sorry, Mandarin Manor has never needed gratitude. If you don't have money, we can accept magical items, potions, and scrolls of equivalent value, but taking them for free is out of the question."

"Are you just going to stand by and watch those poor people starve?" Irebeth asked, her face grim.

"What does their hunger have to do with us? That's your and Lord Nasir's problem! It's your failure to manage this city properly, allowing the magical plague, famine, and chaos to spread everywhere, not our responsibility," the old steward retorted sharply.

Eribes was clearly enraged by those words; her whole body trembled slightly, and her eyes blazed with fury.

But in the end, her duty as a paladin forced her to calm down and turn her gaze to Zhang Cheng: "Benny, are you really not going to take out those stockpiled grains to help the people?"

“I’m really sorry, but I can’t make that decision. Also, I suggest you don’t try to rob it with your guards. My father has placed a lot of flaming glue in the warehouse, which can burn all the grain to ashes in an instant.”

Although Zhang Cheng's expression and tone were full of sincerity when he said these words.

Even a fool could tell that this wasn't a suggestion, but a blatant threat: they'd rather burn it all than donate it for free.

"Very good! Very good! I misjudged you!" Irebeth was clearly furious. Without saying another word, she turned and left without even pausing for a second.

Gazing at her slender figure from behind, Zhang Cheng stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "So easily provoked? No wonder so few paladins can last to the end; they're just too easily succumbed to darkness."

"Young Master, should I send someone to continue provoking her, to make her lose her mind sooner?" the old butler asked meaningfully.

"No, not at all. Her fall was inevitable, an arrangement of fate, inescapable. What we need to do is wait, patiently wait. But before that, I don't mind teaching that idiot Lord Nasir a lesson. How dare he plot against me? He really doesn't know the meaning of death. Go, find a few people to spread rumors in the city, saying that this plague is actually because he offended the Goddess of Plague and Disease, and that once he dies, the plague will stop immediately." Zhang Cheng issued an extremely insidious and vicious order with a cold smile.

You should know that if this rumor were to spread, even if Lord Nasir had a hundred mouths, he wouldn't be able to explain it clearly.

Furthermore, his order to seal off the city and completely isolate all areas has already offended too many people. It won't be long before this bottom-up anger will completely tear him apart. Let alone continuing to rule Neverwinter, it's hard to say whether he can even live until the plague ends.

“Ah! What a brilliant idea! I can almost see Lord Nasir’s rule overthrown, and you becoming the new ruler of this city.” The old butler bowed with one hand on his chest, his tone revealing strong anticipation.

"Hehe, maybe."

Zhang Cheng did not reveal that he never intended to rule the city, but merely used the city's people as pawns and expendable resources to conduct a massive experiment.

It's uncertain whether the city and its inhabitants will still exist after the experiment is over.

……

Meanwhile, Mandan, hiding beneath the cemetery, was intently placing a recently buried, fresh corpse onto the autopsy table.

Just as he was about to awaken it and turn it into an undead, the orc guard Gromin suddenly rushed in, covered in blood, shouting, "Master! Something bad has happened! There are some mysterious guys outside! They've taken control of the zombies, skeletons, and mummies you've awakened, and it looks like they're planning to do something."

"Hmm? He's controlled the undead I created!" Mandane's eyes lit up.

Because anyone who can control the undead is either a powerful mage or a priest from the evil faction.

Regardless of which one it was, it helped his research to some extent, or even accelerated the progress significantly.

Without any hesitation!

After making some preparations, Mandane left the hidden underground laboratory and headed towards the area where the other party was located, led by the orc guard Gromin.

He was completely unaware of the enormous conspiracy hidden behind this terrible plague, and even less aware of the powerful and dangerous race he was about to deal with.

Chapter 0916 The Power of Rumors

Rumors are the most effective, despicable, malicious, and cheapest smear tactics in the world.

Especially when it targets a person, it can produce unimaginable and terrifying power, even turning black into white and white into black, until the person being slandered suffers a mental breakdown and develops a strong suicidal impulse.

In fact, because the public does not truly control the channels through which they receive information, they are easily misled and become accomplices in spreading rumors.

Unfortunately, no one in Faerûn had truly realized the power of rumors. Therefore, when rumors spread in the city that Lord Narsir had caused the plague, the soldiers responsible for maintaining order did not pay much attention.

After all, the plague was so terrible that almost everyone lost one or two relatives and friends, so it was perfectly reasonable to vent one's dissatisfaction with the rulers.

However, within a few days, the rumors began to spread to a wider area, and more and more people participated in the discussion, causing the public's attitude to become strange.

It wasn't until one day, when a little boy threw a stone and hit Lord Nasir on the head while he was out inspecting the people's conditions, sparking a fierce conflict between the people and the guards, that the rulers of Neverwinter realized the seriousness of the problem.

Following this, the bishop and paladins of Tyre, the god of justice, attempted to explain to the angry crowd that the rumors were simply not true.

But it was too late!

With the covert machinations of Zhang Cheng's sect, the already precarious situation deteriorated rapidly.

In the end, the pitiful Lord Nasir couldn't even control the city center. He could only hide in the castle and close its gates, hoping that Waterdeep would soon develop an antidote, quell the public anger, and restore his rule.

But he had no idea that while he was in the castle, cut off from the outside world, a terrible purge was taking place in the Black Lake District.

Tiftlin Jesse, from the Beggars' Nest, led his assassins to sneak into the homes of believers in the God of Justice or staunch supporters of Lord Nasir through the extensive sewer system, ruthlessly eliminating them all.

Once everything had settled down, Zhang Cheng no longer concealed his identity as the underground king of the Beggars' Nest. At the same time, he convened a gathering in the name of Mandaen to elect a new ruler for Neverwinter.

His excuse was very simple: the content of the rumors. He also pointed out that Lord Nasir, who was hiding in Neverwinter Castle, was an absolute scoundrel who only cared about his own safety and did not care about the lives of the people. He was not worthy of continuing to rule the city.

As a responsible and compassionate nobleman, he was willing to donate all the grain in his warehouses to ensure that every family would have at least one meal a day.

I have to say!

Politicians have exhausted this shameless tactic of spreading rumors to severely damage their opponents and then using seemingly selfless donations to win over the foolish masses, but countless people still buy into it every time they use it.

As expected, a boy who appeared to be only thirteen years old was elected as the new lord of Neverwinter.

As for poor Nasir, he was ruthlessly abandoned, with more than half of the guards turning against him on the spot and no longer willing to support him.

For ordinary people facing the dual threats of plague and famine, whoever can provide food and medicine will be chosen to rule them.

So, under Zhang Cheng's deliberate disregard, the sect that took him as its faith secretly expanded rapidly, incorporating more than half of the city's population in just half a month, and even began to squeeze the living space of the Church of the God of Justice, Tyre.

Ultimately, an expulsion declaration signed by nobles, merchants, and citizens was delivered to Lord Narsir, who was hiding in Neverwinter Castle.

This once renowned adventurer and distinguished warrior, his hands trembling, picked up the parchment scroll and read it from beginning to end. Then he slammed his fist on the table and roared furiously, "Bastards! Traitors! How dare they! I built this city with my own hands! No one can take it from me! The army! Where is my army? I will quell the rebellion! I will capture them all and hang them!"