Azure Scepter

Page 135

To be exempt from the "power of life and death," one must possess divinity or be protected by someone who possesses divinity, with a maximum of five people to be protected.

Therefore, if mortals want to kill gods, they cannot do without the help of powerful beings with divine status. Once they are protected, the gods lose the advantages brought by their near-mechanical killing power of "life and death" and "true time stop". At this time, although the gods have a lot of explosive divine power specialties and extremely high professional levels brought by long years, the gap between them and mortals is not so big.

In the game "Azure Scepter," everyone is a glass cannon with high attack and low defense. Therefore, a team of five legendary professionals under protection is enough to pose a moderate threat to a lone god. This is also the reason why Trier dared to plan a sneak attack on Loseville after obtaining the 9th Ring Holy Slash.

In addition to the methods mentioned above, theoretically, it is also possible to accomplish the feat of mortals killing gods through beyond-visual-range attacks.

The power of "life and death" has an extremely long range, but it ultimately has an upper limit. Therefore, it can also be used to attack gods through long-range energy manipulation spells. The "extremely long distance" here is roughly equivalent to the distance from the capital of the Kingdom of Orco to the westernmost border of the Kingdom of Gedlan.

In the God's Descent version of the game, more than twenty players once attempted to use this method to kill the "half-human barbarian" god in his saint form.

Although the plan was perfect, once the players actually started, the god of the "half-barbarian" immediately activated "true time stop". After enduring two rounds of bombardment, this god managed to swim across half of the Storm Sea on his bare hands, found the players' spell launch site, and then tore everyone to pieces in a few seconds.

However, a few weeks later, this "half-barbarian" fell—he had used too much faith power when killing the player, thus showing signs of fatigue; and he was not good at hiding and had a reclusive personality, so he was quickly killed on Suyar Island.

Then, Trier never again drank his favorite Suar Island coffee in the game, because Suar Island sank in the aftermath of the Holy War...

Trier shook his head, pulling his thoughts back from distant memories to reality, and then he lowered his head to look at Edith.

“If one can obtain the protection of a being with divine status, then a legend can threaten demigods and gods,” Trier said in a deep voice.

After all, when he was a demigod lich, he was defeated and sent back to his casket by five legendary paladins and one saint—at that time, the main source of damage output for the opposing side was actually those five legendary paladins.

“Then please let me help you,” Edith said quite seriously. “I have a feeling that I might be able to restrain Losevie.”

Trier stared silently into Edith's emerald green eyes, while Edith did not back down, staring back intently into Trier's eyes as well.

After a moment, Trier blinked and then nodded.

“Me too!” Futia gently grabbed Trier’s arm and tilted her head as she spoke.

Trier immediately shook his head.

To be fair, in terms of pure damage output, Futia is no weaker than a legendary professional. However, neither the Blood Plague Crisis nor the massacre of the city had anything to do with Futia in essence—Terrier sincerely hoped that nothing would happen to her.

“Fodia, Noy needs you more,” Trier said. “Those Patricians need your long-range support.”

Futia extended her right index finger and gently shook it.

“Trill, the Asmor army is still pouring in from the Raven Black River Bridge, and there are monsters everywhere—I can lead you away from them so you can save a lot of spell slots.”

Trier shook his head again.

"There are no survivors near the Raven Black River Bridge, right?"

Fythia nodded: "There's definitely no one alive anymore, why?"

“Then this matter is simple.” Trier nodded slightly.

At this point, he suddenly turned to look at the princess.

"Want to see the stars, Edith?"

"?" Edith frowned.

A few weeks ago, she told Trier that she loved stargazing, but why is Trier bringing it up now?

Trier raised his hand and pointed to the horizon.

—Unbeknownst to them, the night sky was now filled with clouds that resembled dark red oil paint. Dazzling purple-gold lightning, accompanied by thunderous roars, converged into a ring-shaped hole. A massive comet, trailing a pale tail, transformed into a straight silver line and then plummeted straight toward Raven's Black Bridge.

Time seemed to stand still. A dazzling white-gold flash disappeared in an instant, and the next moment, the golden-red flames rapidly expanded and engulfed the entire Raven Black River Bridge. Terrifying shockwaves suddenly spread outward from the point of impact of the meteorite!

The blood-red river, littered with corpses, instantly boiled, the scalding water transforming into a giant wave resembling a tsunami, propelled outwards by the black dust of the explosion. The advancing Asmo soldiers, utterly powerless to resist, were completely reduced to black ashes. A few breaths later, the golden-red flames and black dust of the explosion suddenly caved inwards.

"boom!"

Only then did the roar of the explosion suddenly come from the ground.

Amidst the dazzling bursts of light, the stars and the moon in the sky appeared dim and lackluster.

A dazzling mushroom cloud slowly rose, illuminating Trier's calm eyes.

With the last bit of his remaining faith power, plus a ninth-circle spell slot, he directly unleashed a scaled-down version of the legendary spell "Starfall"—the explosion radius was reduced, but the power per unit area was greatly increased.

The energy-shaping system is awesome!

"Clap."

A rusty door bolt fell to the ground.

Trier raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

The next moment, he saw an undead wearing enchanted, decaying armor, carefully hiding at the entrance of a cave that resembled a secret passage.

Seemingly sensing its gaze, the soul fire in the undead's eye sockets trembled suddenly, then it buryed its head in the shadows like an ostrich.

A Death Knight? Where did that come from? Why would the undead be afraid?

Trier frowned. He closed his eyes and activated his divine vision, then discovered that the secret passage had collapsed, and in the half-collapsed passage, there were at least three Death Knights hiding. Judging from the fluctuations of their soul fire, they all seemed to be in a state of extreme terror.

"Trill, watch out!" Faldia shouted. "These undead can cast spells! They were sent by Vercingetorius to hunt us down..."

"Can you cast spells?" Trill's eyes lit up immediately.

Combining the Death Knight with limited spellcasting ability is indeed an excellent idea!

However, before his excitement could last long, Trier immediately realized the truth: it seemed these Death Knights were actually creations of his past...

The next moment, he threw a "Dominate the Necromancer" spell at the three Death Knights in the secret passage.

Theoretically, the Death Knights, as high-ranking undead with their own consciousness, should have a strong resistance to this kind of spell. However, as the creator, Trier only felt a little resistance, as if he were grabbing and peeling off a membrane, and easily controlled the three Death Knights.

"What's wrong with them?" Futia asked in surprise.

"Revealed, they abandoned darkness and embraced light."

As he spoke, Trier took out a large pile of magic storage stones from his backpack and handed them to several undead.

Then, Trier silently invoked the demigods of the Dream Realm, asking them to bless and protect Edith and the four who had been temporarily conscripted.

The crowd obediently offered protection, but after offering protection, He suddenly spoke in Trier's heart.

“Remember your promise, Trier,” the crowd said solemnly. “I hope you will not break your word.”

“I always keep my promises,” Trier replied softly to himself, as lightly as a falling feather.

Chapter 263 The First Card

Trier's seemingly wasteful act of using a ninth-circle spell slot, plus the remaining Faith power, to unleash "Starfall" was naturally driven by deeper considerations.

His deeper purpose in casting this spell was to further provoke Saint Seir, thereby prompting the latter to respond.

Now that Losevie's will has descended upon the upper city of Eraf, it seems to have fallen silent and has not taken any further action. This is most likely because it is waiting for a better opportunity.

Therefore, to get Lothaway to show up, the situation must be escalated further.

Taking the situation to a further escalation is simple; all that's needed is to introduce new divine power effects.

Because of the existence of the Azure Law, even if Saint Seir descends to the material plane in the form of an avatar, the time he can stay is extremely limited. Therefore, his margin for error is the lowest, and his tolerance for accidents is the worst. The appearance of new divine power effects would definitely be a huge surprise for Saint Seir.

Just as Trier was pondering this, he suddenly felt a warmth in his chest—the amber necklace "Frozen Dream," a token of love given to him by Edith, was heating up.

Trier's gaze darkened slightly.

—Losseau has begun to take action.

Three minutes ago, at the top of the Star Tower.

A dazzling mushroom cloud slowly rose from the Raven Black River Bridge in the distance, and its blinding light, like waves, swept across the crowd standing on the top of the tower from afar.

Saint Seir, possessing Oris's body, stared intently at the halo surrounding the mushroom cloud.

The boiling air was like an uneven mirror, and when pure white light entered it, it scattered into rings of colorful halos. These halos blended together, and the beautiful colors were like paints splashed on the dark night sky, resembling the most imaginative abstract painting.

Saint-Sel's lips curled into a slight smile.

He saw a kind of bloody romance in the mushroom cloud that represented death and destruction—perhaps this color experience could only be obtained here and at this moment.

Unfortunately, those lowly mortals cannot see this intoxicating and magnificent spectacle. These mediocre people lack both the resolve to face destruction and the ability to perceive this wondrous change of color.

At this moment, the mortal servant army below the tower had fallen into chaos. The cowards were pale, their eyes closed, heads bowed, leaning against the corner of the wall; while the brave were howling and trembling. The mushroom cloud seemed to be releasing spores of fear, and panic and chaos were scattered into every corner with the light. People screamed hysterically, as if their courage would grow with the volume of their screams.

Cowardice seemed to be a plague; even the Asmo soldiers who emerged from the portal were briefly thrown into turmoil, shrinking back as if an invisible hand were pressing down on their heads.

Panic was boiling over; a sense of dread and helplessness enveloped the Star Tower like rising gray clouds.

However, the screams could not be clearly heard from the top of the tower.

Unlike the boiling screams below, the people standing at the top of the tower like monks were extremely quiet, a quietness that even seemed somewhat oppressive, like the leaden clouds and sea before a storm.

Saint Seal possessed the short, stocky Oris, and at this moment, He simply stood quietly among the crowd. Directly in front of the crowd were several imposing otherworldly divine servants. And in front of the divine servants was a golden humanoid phantom.

Suddenly, Oris's deep, resonant voice echoed in Saint-Sel's heart.

“My lord, we have been used. Trier has other plans behind our backs, and the situation may be complicated now.”

Saint-Sel did not answer.

Saint Seir knew very well that he had been tricked by Trier. He underestimated the smooth-talking lich—he never expected that the other party also possessed divine power and was a demigod lich!

However, Saint-Sel was not annoyed. After all, it was only interesting to play against opponents with sufficient wisdom and strength. If everyone were as foolish and easily manipulated as his chosen one, Oris, the world would be too boring.

"My lord, what exactly does Trier want to do?" After a moment of silence, Oris asked again.

“That’s not important,” Saint Seir thought to himself. “Whatever He wants to do, my plan has already succeeded more than halfway. I underestimated him, but he probably underestimated me as well.”

After all, He has returned to the prime material plane, and once He finishes what He is doing, He is more than capable of dealing with a weakened and mentally unstable demigod lich.

"He dares to defy you?" Oris was startled and immediately said, "Wait, doesn't that mean the claim that Lady Bloodthorn holds a divine position is false? What about our current arrangements..."

“That’s not important,” Saint-Sel said calmly.

Intrigue and scheming were Saint Seal's foundation for his rise to power. As a master of intrigue, he certainly wouldn't change his predetermined goals based on just a few words from others.

The key to the success of any plan lies in concealing the relationship between one's actions and goals as much as possible.

If He could really lure Lady Bloodthorn over and kill her, that would be a win-win situation. But even if He failed, it wouldn't affect His real plan.

He was very confident that no one could guess his true goal.

“But we’ve already staked everything we can on the table. If that demon lord doesn’t take the bait, we’re all doomed.” At this moment, Oris was completely at a loss, and even the voice in his mind became intermittent.

Saint-Sel nodded slightly; on this point, Oris's words were quite apt.

He slightly raised his eyelids and glanced around.

Above the intricate lines at the top of the tower are magic circles made of a large amount of rare materials. These magic circles cost a fortune, and their only purpose is to prevent demons summoned to the prime material plane from returning to the abyss after death—but in His plan, this is merely a smokescreen to deceive people.

Within the magic circle were six otherworldly divine servants, as well as a large number of wandering angels and heroic spirits transformed from the souls He had painstakingly accumulated, and all the high-ranking professionals and legendary powerhouses in His church in the prime material plane.

He even spent a fortune to assemble a mercenary force composed of legendary professionals from various planes—although now this legendary mercenary squad only consists of monks and troll barbarians.

The seemingly endless army of Asmo within the portal was accumulated bit by bit over the millennia since He became a god.

These are merely the tangible stakes; the intangible stakes are far more valuable.

—The fact that he ordered the massacre of Oris in order to descend upon the material plane was undoubtedly a willful act. If he did not obtain a divine position, his supporters within the pantheon would inevitably abandon him. At that time, Loseweg would be free from its shackles, and its return would be unstoppable.

After all, Losevie could still pin the blame for the blood plague crisis entirely on the water sprite lord Fusada.

In short, Saint-Saëns has staked his entire fortune on the gambling table.

"My lord?" Auris asked tentatively, "Are you alright?"

Saint Seir did not respond, but his eyes grew brighter and his smile deepened.

What He likes best is a situation where the stakes are high enough—either a huge, overwhelming victory, or utter destruction, with His soul finding no peace even in death.

Dancing on the edge of a knife, wielding a sword amidst raging flames—this kind of pleasure, straddling the line between life and death, far surpasses any other emotional experience. The secret thrill, tinged with the meaning of death, contained within the repression, anxiety, fear, and despair, always leaves him feeling numb with ecstasy, unable to stop.

This kind of joy even surpasses the happiness of a great victory.

Sadly, few in this world can understand this kind of pleasure. Only his former mother-in-law, or rather father-in-law, the water sprite Fusada, who was witty and humorous to the point of being somewhat crazy, could understand it to some extent. As for the old-fashioned and dull Lorse, she couldn't understand it at all.

Now, all the players have shown up and placed their bets; all the schemes and all the cards have been dealt; now, it's time to reveal your first card.

"Auris, do you know what my real plan is?" Saint-Ser asked softly, suppressing his boiling elation.

"To seize the priesthood of Lady Bloodthorn?"

“Have you heard of the One?” Saint Seir said slowly. “He has both divinity and divine office, but he has no divinity.”

Oris was startled. Before he could fully understand Saint Seil's meaning, he heard the other party summon Judge Asmo.

“Go find two mortals and bring them to my family cemetery,” Saint-Sel said in a deep voice. “At the deepest part of the cemetery is a crystal coffin. Within five meters of the crystal coffin, put them into a deep sleep, and then kill them—go.”