A brief wave of dizziness came and went. The scenery before their eyes shifted, and Anser's group found themselves outside the eastern gate of Durlag.
The adventurers were still badly shaken, but relief at having survived was written across their faces.
Perhaps they had once dreamed of obtaining an Artifact or some legendary treasure. But after encountering a lich and watching their companions die one after another before their eyes, only one thought had remained in their minds:
To survive.
Anser released Brunhilde's hand and looked up at the eternal full moon hanging overhead. For some reason, it made him think of the Moon Goddess.
Brunhilde rubbed the red marks around her wrist, left by Anser's grip. His strength had been frightening, yet it had also given her a sense of security unlike anything she had ever experienced.
She had once believed she didn't need such a thing.
"Head back, all of you. Don't spread word of what happened today." Anser waved a hand, signaling the adventurers they could leave.
"Thank you for saving us, President..."
The adventurers finally came back to their senses and immediately bowed in gratitude.
They were all well-known adventurers, and one of them was even a high-level adventurer. But this incident had been far beyond anything they could influence.
Had Brunhilde not gathered everyone together at the last minute, the outcome would likely have been far worse.
Once the others had gone, Anser turned and headed toward Fort Jacqueline.
It wasn't far from here, and wasting another Teleport simply wasn't worth it.
"Thank you." Brunhilde quickly caught up, her expression already calm again. "Turns out Iris wasn't exaggerating."
"Heh. Whether I'm strong or not isn't what matters. What matters is that I never let success go to my head," Anser replied with a casual jab.
Brunhilde's brows shot up. She opened her mouth to retort, but held it back instead.
"I discovered the Chosen of the evil god, but I didn't have time to send a Message. I never expected a lich to be mixed in with them."
"What's on the other side of that Teleportation Circle? Is it really a divine kingdom?"
"Tch, as if. It's an enormous underground temple, probably built by followers of Sehanine Moonbow to please her. The scale of the place is impressive..."
Brunhilde slowly recounted everything that had happened.
She didn't know exactly what had occurred, but when she followed the Chosen of Myrkul inside, the circular array was already active.
Sosk claimed the place beyond was a divine kingdom, and his words stirred the adventurers' greed until they could no longer restrain themselves.
One after another, they all rushed inside.
Brunhilde waited for quite some time before finally following them through just before the portal closed.
She knew Plane Shift, so she had been confident she could protect herself.
But after discovering the coffin beneath the temple, the three factions immediately broke into a fierce battle over its ownership.
The adventurers had the ambition to play the fisherman, but not the ability. They had hoped to profit while others fought, only to discover the "fish" was actually a crocodile—a prehistoric one at that.
The Thayan side quickly secured victory, killing some, capturing others, while the rest fled.
The worst off were Amn's Cowled Wizards. Their Chief Wizard was killed on the spot by the lich without even getting a chance to escape.
The treasure was gone, but everyone still wanted to leave the temple alive. Left with no other choice, they temporarily formed an alliance around the two Chosen and continued resisting.
Fortunately, the temple was vast. Eager to continue exploring deeper within, the Thayans did not relentlessly pursue them.
When the Teleportation Circle activated, they seized the opportunity to break through and escape the temple.
Perhaps realizing the Thayan lich had reservations about something, the two Chosen remained extremely interested in the coffin and launched occasional raids against it.
Unfortunately, they accomplished absolutely nothing.
"An underground temple?" Anser smacked his lips. He couldn't really say he was disappointed.
"That temple is definitely extraordinary. Just like the Moon Palace, it was enormous. We didn't have enough time to explore it properly. I wonder whether that lich found anything else..." Brunhilde said unwillingly.
"It's not going anywhere. Once the Teleportation Circle is repaired, we'll have another chance to go in." A trace of interest appeared on Anser's face as well.
Some temples served as divine palaces for the gods.
Perhaps a deity had truly descended there before.
"Do you think the death knight might come charging out? It looked completely insane." There was a hint of concern in his voice.
Judging from the death knight's behavior, it seemed to be guarding either that coffin or the temple itself.
People liked to romanticize a death knight's "atonement," but sometimes it was nothing more than a ridiculous obsession.
"Hehe. Maybe it'll catch your scent and come knocking on your door," Brunhilde teased.
Anser paused for a moment, his brows knitting together slightly.
"We can't rule that out."
Fortunately, Durlag and the underground city were separated by half of the Wood of Sharp Teeth. The distance provided both depth and a buffer zone, so they were safe for the time being.
If the death knight emerged, someone would notice it soon enough.
"What do you think is inside the coffin?" Brunhilde asked, her face filled with curiosity.
"An Artifact."
"That's what that bald wizard said?"
"Yeah."
"..."
The journey wasn't long, and the two chatted as they walked.
Brunhilde seemed like a completely different person. The arrogance was gone, as were her usual sarcastic barbs. She spoke with Anser calmly and naturally, and was surprisingly talkative.
Even though Anser had other things on his mind and answered her absentmindedly, she didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
'Women really are fickle.'
As Anser looked at the castle beneath the night sky, that thought suddenly crossed his mind.
The gates of Fort Jacqueline were tightly shut, but above the battlements floated a magic carpet. Iris sat upon it, her cloak snapping loudly in the wind behind her.
The moment she spotted the pair returning beneath the moonlight, a smile curled across her lips, and she sped toward them.
"Anser, you're not hurt, are you?" She looked him over carefully, feeling as though something about him had changed again.
"Shouldn't you be worried about your aunt first?" Brunhilde said with her hands behind her back, pretending to sound offended.
Without even acknowledging her, Iris reached out, pulled Anser onto the flying carpet, and with a whoosh carried him over the walls and into the castle.
"She's jealous," Anser chuckled.
"You didn't read the letter I left you. I told you not to put yourself in danger. If anything had happened to her..." Iris leaned against him, her words betraying her true feelings. "...well, it would've been her own fault."
"I didn't get the chance. This involved an Artifact and a divine kingdom. Very few people could resist that kind of temptation," Anser said with a sigh.
"So there really was a divine kingdom?" Iris asked in shock.
"No. It was fake. But we should tighten security for a while. Better safe than sorry," Anser warned.
His identity wasn't a secret. The Thayan lich would certainly uncover it sooner or later and might quietly come to investigate.
That said, the control and teleportation spells Anser had used before leaving had also demonstrated his strength. The lich might not dare come alone.
Resurrection came at a price. Rebuilding a body required one to ten days, and the process also risked exposing the location of its phylactery.
"So what exactly happened?"
"Hold on. Let me show you something first."
With that, Anser teleported with Iris to the top floor of the Black Tower. He opened the Party Storage and slowly lowered the coffin containing the dried skeleton onto the floor.
The bloodshot eyeball inside shifted slightly, its gaze constantly wandering across their faces.
Iris frowned, an overwhelming sense of unease washing over her.
Anser, however, remained perfectly calm, his mind firmly focused on the eye.
The dice spun briefly before revealing its information:
[Vecna's Eye and Hand, Wondrous Item, Artifact (Requires Attunement)]
Two Artifacts!
They were the severed hand and eye left behind by an immensely powerful lich named Vecna. Through a series of circumstances, they had become terrifying Artifacts. They might be found together or separately, and both still retained traces of Vecna's will.
Each Artifact possessed extraordinary power.
The Eye granted wide-area Truesight, the ability to see through objects, and access to numerous powerful spells.
The Hand bestowed immense strength, an icy touch, and several powerful spells, all completely unaffected by disturbances in the Weave.
Anyone capable of attuning to both Artifacts at the same time would gain danger sense, resistance to necrotic corruption, immunity to poison, regeneration, and even the ability to cast Wish.
Wish.
The Wish spell itself!
But wielding these Artifacts came at an extraordinarily high price.
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