Chapter 369

Watching the lich gesticulate wildly in the distance, Anser silently worried for the Spirit Net members who had gotten into a flame war with him.

If that lich ever learned their exact names and addresses, he would definitely pay them a visit and settle things with them "in person."

The Spirit Net's rules had inadvertently protected a lot of people. In a way, that might even align with the ideals of Helm, the God of Protection.

From sixty or seventy meters away, Anser focused his mind on the Red Wizard.

He didn't dare get too close. Liches had Truesight, and anyone capable of standing alongside one was unlikely to be a simple character either.

The die spun for quite a while before finally detecting the target's information:

[Red Wizard of Thay, Human, Level 20 Wizard (School of Necromancy)]

'Thay really does have a lot of powerful people.'

Anser hadn't encountered that many Thayan wizards, but every single one he had met had been formidable.

And Thay's School of Necromancy was particularly powerful.

Saeljor, whom he had previously encountered on the Rock of Bral, belonged to the School of Enchantment. He was level 19 and wasn't even as strong as this necromancer.

'Maybe personal strength wasn't the only criterion for selecting Saeljor.'

Anser observed them for a while, hesitating over whether to act immediately.

He wasn't afraid of the lich. He was simply worried that the other side might connect him to the Spirit Net.

The lich had only just joined the Spirit Net, and then Anser showed up right on his heels. That would be a little too coincidental.

It might not arouse suspicion at first, but if the other side later noticed other clues and started putting them together, Anser's connection to the Spirit Net could be exposed.

'I can wait a little.'

He figured they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Otherwise, why expend so much time and effort holding this castle?

Those adventurers were intensely curious about this place. They had surely made plenty of attempts to get their hands on the castle.

Anser also wanted to observe how they had gathered so many undead, what the Ring of Viheral was for, and where that Death Knight had gone.

The Red Wizard and the lich argued for quite some time before seemingly reaching a consensus, their expressions turning somewhat serious.

About an hour passed.

The two returned inside the castle and entered a room.

Afraid of being discovered, Anser didn't follow them inside.

But before long, the door opened and undead began pouring out one after another. There were dozens of them, led by a Challenge Rating 13 vampire.

They merged into the undead forces inside and outside the castle, pushing their total numbers above three hundred.

Through the doorway, Anser caught a fleeting glimpse of a portal's glow and immediately understood.

'Looks like they really have their eyes set on this place.'

Thay was continuously transporting troops through a Teleportation Circle. Even if they only brought in a few dozen or a hundred each day, given enough time, the resulting force would be terrifying.

And Thay's undead were generally of decent quality. Cannon fodder made up only a small proportion of them.

'What are they plotting?'

Thay controlled a vast territory, but its ambitions were equally vast, and it was always stirring up trouble somewhere.

Yet occupying an enclave thousands of kilometers away came at an enormous cost. There had to be sufficient returns, or the Red Wizards would never have agreed to it.

'The Ring of Viheral, the underground temple, Abeir... Surely they didn't come all this way specifically to kill me?'

His biggest grudge with Thay had come from fighting them over an Artifact, so it would be perfectly understandable if they wanted him dead.

But under normal circumstances, assassination would be the best option. Amassing an undead army to launch a direct assault on Durlag and Fort Jacqueline would simply cost far too much.

{Sakkors, do you think Thay has its eye on Abeir's vast lands and wants to use this place as a springboard for an invasion of the continent of Laerakond?} Anser asked Sakkors through telepathy.

He had good reason to think so. Abeir was dominated by dragons, sparsely populated despite its enormous territory, and many regions remained quite primitive in both ecology and civilization. It was undeniably tempting.

Szass Tam wasn't even afraid of gods, so naturally he wouldn't be afraid of dragons. Perhaps as far as he was concerned, those dragons were all excellent magical materials.

{Possible. That's certainly the kind of thing Thay would do,} Sakkors replied immediately.

Thay was the very embodiment of pragmatism. For profit, longevity, and magic, its people were willing to cooperate with virtually any power, including demons, devils, and gods.

Within Thay, magic reigned supreme, with religion forced into a secondary position.

Bane, God of Tyranny; Azuth, God of Wizards; Waukeen, Goddess of Trade; Talona, Goddess of Disease and Poison; Chauntea, Goddess of Agriculture...

The faiths of numerous deities were spread throughout Thay, yet they ultimately served the Red Wizards' pursuit of magic and power.

{There's another possibility,} Sakkors reminded him. {This place has the Spirit Net. Thay doesn't!}

It suddenly clicked for Anser. He had unconsciously overlooked what might be the most likely explanation of all.

Perhaps things weren't nearly as complicated as he had imagined. All those other reasons might merely be contributing factors, while the decisive factor was probably the Spirit Net.

There were now more than three hundred undead in the castle. Judging from the rate at which they had just been brought in, that amounted to only a few days' worth—almost exactly matching the amount of time since the Spirit Net had appeared.

If they had intended to occupy this place from the very beginning, their undead army would have surpassed a thousand long ago.

'Thayan wizards rely on the Weave too. Ever since the Weave became unstable, they seem to have kept a much lower profile. Maybe Thay has already been riddled with internal conflicts...'

Anser pondered the matter silently.

The Spirit Net had only just spread as far as the Sea of Fallen Stars, still quite a distance from White Stone Island. It would take at least another month before it could cover Thay.

But no one else knew that. The boundaries of the Spirit Net were constantly shifting, and most users had no idea where those boundaries actually lay.

'This is getting troublesome.'

Anser frowned.

Motivation determined resolve and the intensity of a conflict. Now that the Spirit Net was involved, Thay's determination might be far stronger than he had imagined.

Once fighting broke out, their Legendary Professionals might arrive in an instant. They might even bring Szass Tam himself.

There were already more than three hundred undead in the castle, along with a vampire, a legendary lich, and a level 20 wizard. That was an extremely formidable force.

Without Anser, those forces alone would be enough to turn Durlag into hell on earth.

'This is a huge problem.'

Anser could feel a headache coming on.

But sitting around waiting for disaster wasn't an option either. Once Thay established a firm foothold here, it would undoubtedly move against him, its neighbor, first.

'Gather everyone and hit them again?'

Thay had occupied unclaimed territory, which made this a struggle between mortal political powers. Evan and the other clergy probably wouldn't participate.

Rand and Zahir might come, but they weren't strong enough.

'The Magic Research Society might be willing.'

But favors had to be repaid.

The Magic Research Society might have grievances with Thay, but not to the point of opposing it at every turn or waging an all-out war against it. Otherwise, why had both sides exercised such restraint all these years?

Ultimately, Thay was simply too powerful. No one wanted to provoke it.

'Fuck it. I'm doing this today!'

Anser hardened his resolve.

He felt that he wasn't as carefree as he used to be. He had started worrying too much about every possible consequence. Maybe he simply had too many ties now—Iris, the Federation, the Spirit Net, his friends...

'First, I'll find an opportunity to kill that lich, then deal with the undead. If reinforcements show up, I'll temporarily retreat to the Ethereal Plane...'

Without their core leader and all those undead, a handful of wizards whose spellcasting was restricted would never dare attack Durlag.

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