Spellcasting Gods

As a smart woman, she knew very well that given the assassin's personality, he would definitely try to make contact immediately, so there was no need for her to take the risk; she should wait and see.

Unfortunately, before Valindra could send anyone to contact Entreri's men, he himself had already arrived at the warehouse, a strange smile on his face.

You should know that Eun-Cui-Li is usually a complete expressionless person. He can't express extreme emotions like crying, laughing, anger, pain, or despair. He even eats in fixed quantities and will never eat even a little bit more than necessary.

His entire being, including his daily routine, is like a clockwork that is always wound up, never making the slightest mistake.

"You went to see him? How was it? Is he the master we've been waiting for?" Valindra asked cautiously.

"You could say that, or you could say that." Entreri grinned, revealing a rather wicked smile.

It goes without saying that his personal relationship with Valindra was not good, and they even had occasional minor conflicts.

After all, during the Arcane Brotherhood's rule, the entire intelligence system of Luskan was controlled by mages, so even after the reorganization, there were still some old guys who wanted to plant a few spies or moles within the guild.

As time went on, a conflict arose between the two sides.

Valindra frowned subconsciously: "What do you mean? Is it yes or no? I need a definite answer."

“The body isn’t, but the soul is. If I’m not mistaken, he’s possessed the body of that boy named Benny,” Entreri said meaningfully, revealing his guess.

"A soul?! Could it be that the master's body was destroyed in the battle with the gods?"

It must be said that the mages of the evil faction have always had rather wild imaginations. Valindra immediately thought of the turbulent years, the war that made countless gods tremble with fear.

The gods and mortals of the continent of Faerûn even gave Zhang Cheng's dragon form a grand and impressive nickname—the Dragon of Annihilation.

Because in this brutal war, at least ten gods were killed, and several others were hunted down and forced to hide, afraid to show themselves. Among them were powerful gods like Bane, the god of tyranny, who directly made the gods, who were used to looking down on all living beings from their high positions, feel a great threat.

Although some unfortunate souls were later resurrected by the god Aio, that overwhelming shadow still loomed over the heads of the gods.

“Don’t ask me! You know I don’t understand these things. But one thing is certain: he’s still as evil, terrifying, and insane as ever. Besides, I can sense that this time he’s not just targeting Neverwinter, but has a much grander purpose.” With that, Entreri ignored whether the other person understood or not, and vanished into the shadows, disappearing without a trace from the warehouse.

"Interesting! Let me see it for myself..." Valindra muttered to himself, then quickly pursed his lips, his eyes sparkling with excitement and anticipation.

……

Meanwhile, far away in the main hall of Neverwinter Castle, Eribes was expressing her gratitude to several students who had retrieved the magical creatures of Waterdeep.

Thanks to their efforts, the antidote for the plague will be completed soon, and Lord Nasir will take this opportunity to win back the hearts of his people.

Unfortunately, reality is often crueler than any tragic story.

Before Eribes could hand over the rewards to the "heroes" one by one, a blinding red light suddenly burst forth from the room where the antidote was being made.

next second...

boom!

The incredible energy surge ripped off the sturdy castle walls, sending everyone flying.

When she struggled to her feet, she saw an unstable portal standing in the center of the room, surrounded by several mages and priests who had helped prepare the antidote. Only two people were missing.

One of them was naturally her fiancé, Vanswick, and the other was Deszel, who was in charge of preparing the antidote.

"Quick...quickly go after them...Deszel betrayed us..." A priest of the God of Justice, in his last moments before dying, uttered the truth in broken sentences.

"What! What about Vanswick? Did he betray us too?" Eribes rushed forward and shouted.

But the pastor had already returned to God's embrace and was no longer able to answer any questions.

"Damn it! Why! Why does it have to happen again!"

Irebeth's emotions had clearly spiraled out of control once again. Ignoring the injured, she jumped into the portal with a ferocious expression.

She had no idea that the moment she leaped into the air, the divine aura unique to paladins had vanished, replaced by an aura emanating from a thick layer of ominousness and chill.

“She…she…she has fallen! Lady Irebeth de Timaland has fallen!” A young paladin began to tremble, completely unable to accept the fact he was seeing.

With her beautiful appearance, formidable skills, and unwavering faith, Erebeth was no longer just a paladin, but an idol of the entire Neverwinter.

It is because of her existence that so many young people are willing to join the ranks of the paladins.

But now, that image of purity and beauty in the hearts of countless people has collapsed, and the resulting spiritual impact is unimaginable.

Within just a few minutes, the divine grace bestowed upon many young paladins was steadily diminishing, clearly a result of wavering faith.

Depravity!

It's never been a difficult thing for a paladin!

On the contrary, if a survey of paladins were conducted throughout the entire continent of Faerûn, it would be found that two-thirds of the paladins had fallen into evil, and another third had directly turned to evil, becoming Dark Guardians.

Many evil gods' churches are too lazy to train their own dark guards; they can simply set up a trap to lure young, newly-minted paladins.

But Erebeth's fall from grace was different!

She wasn't tempted by anything irresistible; rather, she broke down due to the constant accumulation of fatigue and stress.

Although she and her fiancé did not have the enviable sweet love that outsiders imagined.

But in her heart, Vanswick was like family, a source of spiritual support and comfort.

But now, this important support has failed her, and all the negative emotions she had been suppressing could no longer be contained, surging forth in an endless stream…

Chapter 0922 Dark Souls

"Ah! My little darling has finally fallen! Look at the expression on her face, so angry, so heartbroken, filled with uncontrollable resentment..."

Through a magical mirror, Zhang Cheng was sitting in a chair in the living room of Mandan Manor, watching the battle between Eribes and Deszel.

Of course, the latter wasn't much better than the former. He also betrayed the guardian god Heim and fell into becoming an evil priest, constantly summoning demons from the bottomless abyss to assist him.

Therefore, this battle is less a contest between good and evil, and more a self-destructive struggle among evil forces.

"Master, you are still as powerful and evil as before. You actually managed to tempt a steadfast paladin like Eribes to fall from grace." Valindra bowed deeply and offered his flattery.

She was standing in the living room, her eyes filled with awe.

Because she could sense that the boy in front of her, who looked to be only thirteen years old, was the madman who had once made the gods tremble with fear.

A person's appearance and body may change, but their soul and personality will never change, especially such a unique soul that exudes a dark and rich fragrance.

Zhang Cheng chuckled and shook his head: "No, darling, Irebeth isn't as determined as you think."

On the contrary, she was no different from any other mortal, being composed of half good and half evil.

Think about it, even the most wicked bastard, when he sees a poor little girl begging on the roadside, wouldn't he suddenly have a change of heart and take out a few silver coins?

Similarly, even the kindest person might, due to emotions such as jealousy, anger, or disgust, curse or swear at the opponent who embarrasses them, or even seek a small revenge.

Therefore, each of us is a mixture of good and evil, order and chaos.

Having a faction only reflects your current state and thoughts; it doesn't mean that things won't change in the future.

Under the deliberate guidance of the god of justice, Tyrell, Erebeth's early life was dominated by the good side, but this does not mean that the evil side disappeared.

On the contrary, her evil side has been accumulating power, and it will naturally emerge when the time is right.

Similarly, the fact that we see Erebeth fall from grace now does not mean that she won't one day have a change of heart and become the righteous paladin she once was.

"So how do you plan to use her?" Valindra asked cautiously.

"It's simple! First, bring her to our side, and then find her a soulmate, someone who can fulfill her deepest desires."

As he said this, Zhang Cheng's lips curled up slightly, revealing a playful smile.

Valindra immediately understood and replied with a sinister smile, "I think Eleanor is a good choice. You probably don't know how many amazing things she has done in the past few years, even personally ordering the massacre of several halfling villages that tried to rebel against Luscan rule."

“Eleanor? Ah! That little paladin who went astray according to the script I wrote. She’s certainly a good candidate! But that’s not enough. I hope the two of them can spark something, a forbidden love. Here, this is a bottle of magic potion that can influence the depths of the subconscious. Mix it into the wine and have them drink it at the same time.” Zhang Cheng took out a bottle of liquid that emitted a pinkish glow directly from his pocket.

This is no ordinary magic potion!

Instead, it was a completely new product that he learned from a book called "The Pink Book" and then improved upon countless times.

You should know that this book is a famous forbidden book in the mage circles of the Forgotten Realms. It is filled with all kinds of forbidden magic that you can and cannot imagine.

Every monk would never mention it to outsiders, but in private they would often study it day and night. As time went by, their health deteriorated day by day, and occasionally they would experience terrible phenomena such as mental instability and sudden death.

As for the effects of the medicine...

It can make two creatures that drink it 100% certain to feel a strong possessiveness and physical urge towards each other, completely disregarding race, gender, appearance, and physical form...

“Understood! I will take care of this.” Valindra was clearly no novice in this area and immediately realized the purpose of the liquid in the bottle.

After all these years, she has maintained a very close relationship with Sinnie, and they even spend the night in the same bed.

“Don’t rush. Eribes hasn’t completely fallen into darkness yet. We need to add fuel to the fire. As the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Hasn’t Lord Nasir been promoting his plan to create a plague cure for the people? What will happen if the residents of Neverwinter find out that their cure was ultimately sabotaged by two people?” Zhang Cheng stroked his chin and asked meaningfully.

"They will be furious and execute these two people! They won't listen to any explanations! And there won't be any trial!" Valindra gave his answer with a cold laugh.

“That’s right! To quell the people’s anger, Lord Nasir will definitely hand over the innocent Vanswick as well. At that time, our dear Lady Eribes will see how weak and powerless her belief in justice is. When her faith completely collapses, she will be driven by anger and have a strong desire for revenge. Whoever can help her kill Lord Nasir, she will serve.”

"Selfishness, pain, despair, anger, resentment, my master, you are still so adept at manipulating people's hearts."

"Hehe, for me this is just a spice of life, a little game. By the way, are there any temples occupied by Luskan right now?" Zhang Cheng suddenly asked.

Valindra replied without hesitation, “Of course! Ever since you started your war against the gods, we have eradicated all the churches of the gods in our territory and sent those stubborn believers to the mines to work.”

Upon hearing this news, Zhang Cheng's eyes lit up, and he nodded in satisfaction: "Very good! Now, I order you to build several temples for me in Luskan. I need to borrow the devout faith of mortals."

"Borrowing faith? You...you intend to become a god?" Valindra asked excitedly.

"I suppose so! I want to use this method to confirm what kind of beings the gods are, and what standards are used to judge their death and resurrection." Zhang Cheng didn't hide anything and openly stated his plan.

No investigation, no right to speak!

Only by becoming one of the gods could he truly understand what kind of life form a god really is.

If, as speculated, their true forms are intelligent beings living in another dimension, then who is stronger or weaker between them and the Titans?

Chapter 0923 Trial

Religion and faith are a force born from idealism, a reflection of the extent to which collective consciousness influences the world, and a highly condensed expression of the desires and wills of countless intelligent beings.

It can be said that there is no energy in the world that is easier to establish a connection with believers by spreading faith.

However, it has a fatal flaw: it is not pure.

Even the most devout person will inadvertently incorporate their own subjective consciousness into their faith, so those who accept this power will inevitably be polluted by all sorts of messy thoughts.

If a certain ideology occupies more than half of the believers, then the God they believe in will involuntarily change.

As the object of faith and worship for half the population of Neverwinter, Zhang Cheng had personally felt this irresistible force.