Azure Scepter

Page 177

Orenroz took the money pouch from the elf, didn't count it, and threw it directly to the banshee behind him: "Your wages for this week."

The succubus took the money pouch and happily spun around.

The mind flayer lich slowly approached the paralyzed mage. The metal bearings on its shoulders rotated gently, and then several wire-like mechanical tentacles slowly extended from beneath its jaws, probing into the mage's nasal cavity...

A few breaths later, a halo emanating negative energy and a putrid stench enveloped the mage's body, and in less than half a second, the mage Loren suddenly sat up, his shattered eyeballs even growing back.

"Run! Trier really is Saint Trier!" the mage shouted as soon as he regained consciousness. "It'll be too late if we don't leave now!"

—At this moment, Trier in the Golden Palace stretched comfortably. He picked up his teacup and took a sip of coffee from Suar Island. The aroma of coffee rose up with the rising steam, and under the influence of the coffee, the headache after the revelry seemed to be relieved quite a bit.

Suddenly, a piercing howl pierced through layers of spatial barriers and echoed in Trier's mind—

"Run! Trier really is Saint Trier! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!!!"

The sharp sound echoed in Trier's mind, like a file plowing back and forth in his brain.

Trier jumped in fright, spilling scalding coffee onto his knees: "Is this elf crazy? What's with the howling after making a prophecy?"

"Wait, elves, elves...Fodia..." Trier abruptly slammed down his teacup, a sudden realization striking him. "I remember now! I think I forgot about the group of elves who came looking for Fodia..."

—An hour later, the elven envoy and the mind flayer lich, led by guards, arrived before Trir.

Chapter 337 Interlude (Part 3)

Since the Duke's death, the throne room in Wilt had been abandoned, but today, this hall, supported by thirty-two stone pillars and featuring pointed arches, has been reopened.

Trir sat on his throne, his head throbbing. He covered his forehead with his left hand and looked down at the three elves and the lich below. Golden light streamed down from the pointed vaulted ceiling, illuminating the crimson carpet and the four below, while Trir himself was hidden in the shadow cast by the solemn stone pillars.

According to the traditions of the Kingdom of Orco, an official of etiquette should have introduced the visitor and explained their requests. However, Trier did not need these ritualistic acts to reinforce his authority. After all, power maintained by a shared illusion was far less solid than real violence. Now, more than a third of the uncooperative nobles within the duchy had been physically eliminated, so he acted quite casually at this moment.

Beneath the throne, the old lich Orenroz was quite relaxed, but the three elves had begun to tremble. One of them was even ashen-faced and staring blankly, like a condemned prisoner about to be executed...

The time traveler intended to wait for the elves to speak first before explaining the current situation in the duchy and instructing them to return and report. However, he waited for a full three minutes, but the three elven envoys remained silent.

Trier looked down and saw that the other two elves were staring blankly at the one with the vacant gaze. The vacant elf remained silent, only trembling, his cold sweat soaking the thick carpet...

"Is this the kind of mental fortitude you need to be an envoy?" Trier was astonished.

Left with no other choice, he spoke first: "The crisis in the duchy has been resolved; you've probably arrived a bit too late..."

"Thump!" Before the words were even finished, the dazed elf knelt down on the ground!

Contrary to his blank stare, the elf's movements were astonishingly fast and quite frightening. The two elves beside him were startled as if they had been stepped on by rabbits, and even the mind flayer lich Orenroz, who was not far away, turned his head to look at him in astonishment.

"May the radiance of the silver moon illuminate your land," the elf said, her voice trembling with tears. "Though we had beautiful intentions, just as the notes of a hymn cannot move the strings, time always leaves embers behind, and we were still a step too late! But just as Ning Lei, born from the water, shot down the man-eating nine-headed sea monster with her bow, your power and wisdom shine as brightly as the sun atop Mount Radarno!"

The elf's speech was extremely refined; each breath contained only 16 syllables, the initial particles of sentences used a rising intonation, the final objects used a falling intonation, and all sentences rhymed on the same note. The elf's casually uttered sentences sounded like the elegant hymns of a bard—however, Trier couldn't understand what the elf was trying to express at all...

The time traveler racked his brains for a long time, but ultimately couldn't deduce the main point of the other person's speech from their carefully chosen words...

He took a deep breath, briefly suppressing his headache: "What I mean is, Futia is safe now, you can all rest assured."

“Even the eternal crown of Nordeshy cannot compare to the enduring power of your words.” The elf completely failed to grasp Trir’s meaning, offering only empty praise: “Your will is my desire…”

Trier interrupted, "You were entrusted by Fythea's mother to help her stay away from danger, weren't you?"

“This place is even safer than the great treasure trove of Suyar Island!” The elf was stunned for a moment, then finally regained some of his senses.

Trier's lips twitched slightly. Although the treasure trove on Suyar Island was safe now, in a few decades, it would sink along with the entire island...

He shook his head, banishing the irrelevant thoughts from his mind, and then glanced at the other elves accompanying him out of the corner of his eye.

The elf dressed as a mage remained completely bewildered, appearing as if he were under a spell of fear; while the other elf dressed as a warrior seemed to want to say something but hesitated, perhaps out of fear, he remained silent.

If he didn't give them a way out, they wouldn't even be able to go back and report... Trier thought to himself.

“Please tell Fauci’s mother that I hope to visit her within two months, and I hope she will agree,” Trier said.

The elf dressed as a warrior breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at Trier with gratitude.

The leading elf remained dazed, then bowed somewhat hastily: "Master Irina is no match for you. Although she has been forbidden from leaving Evergrande Island, but..."

"Stop!" Trier finally couldn't stand the elf's extremely low-information speech any longer. The other party's speaking style was comparable to that of a copper dragon. "I will solve the problems you have raised. Now, you can go and rest."

"Without you, it's as if we've left the fountain of wisdom! We long to hear your wise teachings!" The elf was noticeably slow to react, but he continued to praise tirelessly.

The warrior-dressed elf reacted quickly, grabbed the stunned elf, and dragged him behind him. Then, the three elves, led by the guards, retreated to the edge of the hall.

The mind flayer lich Orenroz was the second visitor, and he still used the body of a brass automaton.

“Your Excellency Trier, I salute your profound knowledge,” the lich flattered, “and also salute the great victor.”

“Let’s get straight to the point. Efficiency is far more important than these meaningless pleasantries,” Trier said.

"I'm here as a middleman," the lich said succinctly. "A goblin breeder from the City of Nevernight is pleading with you for peace. He hopes you will abandon your purge of Count Bortard, or at least spare the life of that foolish count; in return, this businessman is willing to provide you with substantial financial assistance—and if you need it, this influential businessman can also help you gain more followers."

Trier remained unmoved. He tapped the armrest of the throne lightly with his index finger, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Is this industrialist the Pale Elegy Sommerser?"

Orenrods was stunned; even the gears behind him stopped turning for a moment.

After a long pause, the lich finally managed to utter a sentence: "Great Lord Trier, I have no intention of standing against you. Since you have decided to eradicate these evil and filthy bloodsucking bastards, I am willing to serve you!"

Huh?! Trier was completely dumbfounded; he couldn't even understand the old lich's line of thought for a moment.

Despite suffering from a splitting headache, Trier spent a full half minute trying to figure out the mind flayer lich Orenroz's thought process.

Logically, before attacking a formidable enemy, one should thoroughly understand their preparations and social connections to prevent unforeseen circumstances. If action is taken after ascertaining their social networks, it generally means eradicating their entire social network.

The lich Orenroz, however, mistakenly believed he had already gathered all the information on Count Bortard and was now simply waiting to eliminate all those associated with him...

“You’ve misunderstood,” Trier said, grimacing at his headache. “I know the information they provided was just a coincidence—I also hope the Southern Duchy can restore peace soon, but financial aid is probably not what we need. Orenrods, to what extent can you represent that vampire?”

“Objectively speaking, I’m just a messenger,” the Mind Flayer Lich said. “But subjectively, I think I know Sommerser well enough, and I have a guess at its bottom line in negotiations.”

"Then let it provide the full amount of diamonds."

"How much exactly?" the lich asked.

Trier paused for a moment, then uttered an astronomical figure—enough diamonds to cure all the blood plague infected in the Southern Duchy.

The Mind Flayer was silent for a few minutes, then nodded.

“From a purely financial standpoint, this offer should be near its bottom line,” said the lich Orenroz. “However, the diamond reserves in the City of the Night are quite limited. The quantity of diamonds you requested will likely require the dwarves of Shining Peak to expedite production, which will significantly delay the delivery of this large quantity of goods. However, as far as I know, Sommerser has extensive dealings with the dwarves of Shining Peak due to the goblin trade, so there is a high probability that they will accept your proposal.”

At this moment, the elf commissioner Orton was still in the hall, but he was completely dumbfounded—the number of diamonds that Trier and the robot had just discussed was simply too astonishing, as if they were talking about stones rather than diamonds.

Although Orton comes from a privileged background, being the son of the legendary mage Schilzson, the figure that Trier just settled in a few words is conservatively enough to run for the prestigious leader of the council.

“In addition, I will reclaim a large amount of land and titles,” Trier continued, “but this is an internal matter of the Southern Duchy and is not within the scope of negotiations.”

“Sommerser doesn’t ask for much; its ultimate goal is its own business. As long as there is military presence in the Bortard region and a policy of suppressing the roaming goblins, Sommerser will agree to anything—besides, it might also want to use this opportunity to have a positive relationship with you,” the lich analyzed.

Trier nodded slightly; the mind flayer lich Orenroz bowed and then withdrew; the three bewildered elves, seeing the lich leave, quickly followed. Soon, only Trier remained in the throne room.

"This broken chair is really uncomfortable." The time traveler stood up, glanced behind him, and then slowly left the place.

After walking a few steps, Trier suddenly stopped.

The sounds of prayers rose in waves around him, dense and indistinct, making him dizzy.

Trier took a deep breath, focused his mind, and used his divine power to block out most of the prayers, then let out a long sigh of relief.

After successfully obtaining his divine office, the amount of prayers he received daily increased by at least two orders of magnitude, and the previously vague prayers became exceptionally clear. Fortunately, he possessed divinity, so he could manually block them out—without divinity, Trier felt that he would eventually be driven mad by the endless prayers, just like Lothaway.

“As time went on, the pressure from prayer grew stronger,” Trier thought. “I should get to the scepter as soon as possible.”

He shook his head, then silently invoked the system panel in his mind.

A cobalt blue light curtain appeared like mercury spilling onto the ground. The traveler's gaze shifted slightly before turning to the attribute of freedom.

[Free attribute points: 3]

Trier took a deep breath and then added all his free attribute points to Constitution.

I'm currently in a broken-oath state. Although my output ability hasn't been weakened at all, the ability to significantly increase my survivability has temporarily become ineffective. Therefore, from a combat perspective, these attribute points should be invested in Constitution to increase my margin for error. At the same time, investing attribute points in Constitution can also reduce headaches and make my mind clearer.

[Constitution: 20→23!]

In an instant, a sharp pain exploded from the back of his head, then crashed down his spine like lightning, as if every muscle fiber had completely dissolved, twisted, and ruptured. In less than half a breath, Trier's skin was already bright red, sweat mixed with a huge amount of heat rising up, and in an instant his whole body was slippery and soaked, with sweat dripping onto the ground and wetting the carpet.

Trill remained silent, calmly admiring the statues in the corridor. Having endured countless trials since his transmigration, he had long since become completely indifferent to conventional pain. The pain from his surging physique was incomparable to the pain caused by being directly targeted by magic.

About half a second later, Trier suddenly heard his own heartbeat. At the same time, a warm and comfortable feeling suddenly rose from his heart and then flowed to his limbs like a spring stream.

A vibrant life force, like a withered flower blooming anew, slowly nourished his entire body with each heartbeat and each breath. The intense pain, fatigue, and drowsiness were all expelled with each exhale, and the headache caused by the prolonged revelry completely disappeared at this moment.

"I've recovered completely from this rest," the transmigrator thought.

Chapter 338 The Correct Use of the Holy Sword

Over the next few days, things gradually calmed down. After clearing away the remaining undead near Wilt, Trier left a portal in the basement of the Golden Palace before setting off back to Eraf to attempt to forge a scepter large enough to house a priest using the sapphires left behind by the Lords.

Although Trier's forging skills were practically nonexistent, after Vercingetori's death, the short-lived Pope's "Papal Scepter" fell into Edith's hands. Upon learning of Trier's plans, Edith voluntarily gave the scepter to Trier, thus resolving the issue of the main body of the new scepter.

Everything was proceeding smoothly, except for one thing that surprised Trier: originally, the relationship between Noy, Fydia, and Edith was somewhat distant, with Fydia and Edith being quite wary of Noy. However, after Trier's several days of continuous fighting, their relationship began to warm up rapidly, at a speed that even left the transmigrators speechless.

Trier was initially worried that Noy was trying to gain the trust of the other two and then use that trust to his advantage, but it turned out that he was overthinking it. The relationship between the group did indeed warm up for some unknown reason.

Now, only one major problem remains for Trier—to completely resolve the remnants of the souls of the Lords and complete the final step in forging the scepter.

In the brightly lit basement, Trier reached out and picked up the giant sapphire that bound the souls of the crowd.

The moment his fingers touched the gemstone, a faint repulsive force slowly emanated from it, and at the same time, the voices of the crowd rang in his ears.

"Ah, the ultimate victor."

Unlike the grand, divine pronouncements of the past, the voices of the crowd were now extremely weak. The layers of different voices that had once filled the air were now reduced to a few echoes, like candle flames that could be extinguished at any moment.

Trier had expected the crowd to be extremely resentful, but to his surprise, although their tone was still sarcastic, they were generally quite calm, as if they had already accepted their defeat.

“I thought you were going to keep making sarcastic remarks,” Trier said calmly.

"That would only make me look more foolish and ridiculous." The crowd laughed. "Look at me, the once powerful and free ruler, now reduced to this state. I made powerful enemies because of my arrogance, I looked down on you because of my arrogance, and then I lost my freedom because of my arrogance. If I continue to be arrogant, I'm afraid I'll become incredibly foolish—so, what are you here for? Are you just here to admire your defeated opponents?"

Trier remained silent, simply embedding the sapphire directly into the papal scepter.

"Click it."

The crisp sound of the gem clashing with the scepter echoed in the basement. The next instant, an unprecedented repulsive force suddenly erupted, and a wave-like shockwave exploded from beneath his feet like a tsunami. The floor tiles were suddenly blown away as if hit by a cannon, and the entire basement shook.

"You want to enslave me?!" The voices of the crowd, filled with shock and rage, roared like thunder. "How dare you!?"

Trier remained silent. He extended his left hand and directly mobilized divine power to forcibly combine the sapphire and the scepter together.

In an instant, the vibration abruptly disappeared, and even the sound seemed to be absorbed by his flickering divine power.

As the saying goes, great power can create miracles; given enough divine power input, the gem and the scepter can be forcibly fused together...

Even Trier had to admit that, in terms of versatility, divine power was far superior to magic.

The papal scepter is made of a very special material. Every pope who holds it can obtain an effect similar to "divine protection". The resistance from the crowd was extremely fierce at first, but in less than half a minute, it was bound by the power of the scepter itself.

This is practically green-skinned technology...

Looking at the scepter that had been forcibly fused together by divine power, Trier couldn't help but grumble inwardly.

In any case, the first step has been completed.

“Not enslavement,” Trier said, picking up the scepter. “It’s obliteration.”

“Annihilation…” The crowd savored the word, then suddenly laughed. “Trill, I died from arrogance, but you were even more arrogant than me. Ha, I’m afraid arrogance is a curse that no intelligent being can ever break. Even Fusada and Loseweg could only seal me away, so what makes you think you can completely destroy me?”

“Heh, let me describe your thoughts,” the crowd continued. “You simply think you’re an expert in necromancy, so naturally you’re also a master at torturing souls. You think that only the devils of hell can compare to you in creating pain, but I can tell you clearly that’s nothing but a pathetic fantasy. Losevie and Fusada are far more skilled at interrogation and torture than you imagine.”

"You may use whatever methods you wish, but I will never perish. Sooner or later, I will return from the depths of the dream realm to settle all your debts. Remember that, Trier." The voices of the crowd grew colder.

Trier listened patiently to the group's threats, then shook his head.

—Even though it knew that threatening itself would only make it look more ridiculous, it still did it without hesitation...

In some ways, the crowd might be even crazier than the water sprite Fusada.

Instead of trying to use necromancy, he turned and took the Holy Avenger "Silent Judgment" from the weapon rack.

From the moment he acquired the Holy Avenger, Trier had a brilliant idea for dealing with souls—he planned to use the Holy Sword "Silent Judgment's" overpowered "guaranteed hit" ability to directly attack the remnants of the souls of the masses.

The hilt of the holy sword was cold, but when Trier gripped it, blazing holy flames suddenly appeared out of thin air and then exploded. Pure white flames spread from Trier's palm to his entire right arm!

In the game "Azure Scepter", any member of the evil faction who attempts to wield the Holy Avenger will be repelled by the sword itself. The deeper the evil, the greater the repulsion. If a demon tries to seize the Holy Scepter, it may even be burned to death by the holy flames.

The next instant, the holy flames dissipated, and Trier was unharmed. He slowly walked back to the scepter.

Although Trir's aura is now a deep, almost blackish red, the Holy Sword does not consider him an evil madman. Several days ago, Trir experimented with Eid's Holy Sword. While he was still burned by the Holy Flame when wielding it, the flame did not cause him any harm; on the contrary, it dispelled his fatigue. However, the situation was completely different for Noy, the control group. Although Noy's aura was Lawful Good, she was directly burned and severely injured by the Holy Sword. Twice, she was even burned to the point of needing to resurrect.