Surviving The Fourth Calamity

"Mark City is not so easy to deal with." After yet another failed attempt to capture someone, Celene spoke idly, "The Toril Deities seldom make moves over there because they can't even figure out their own territory.

The deities from other universes, however, are different. A city that can infinitely grow and is filled with unbelievers is too alluring for the deities... Yet, once that God of Portals incident happened, no deity could enter Mark City anymore.

It's truly impossible to enter! It's not about giving the Lady of Pain any respect.

Heh, how many deities care about dignity? Even a kind-hearted one like Tyr would personally step down to perform just to snatch followers.

The Lady of Pain allows their priests to enter and preach, not out of fear, I think it's to gather more information from the outside world.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have allowed so many powerful divine forces from different worlds to preach on her turf back then.

Don't you think it resembles the old man's style a bit?"

Hill blinked, so Celene was clearly hinting that the Lady of Pain might actually be a Supreme God like Ao.

Indeed, the Lady of Pain resembles Ao in many aspects. She never meddles in the mundane affairs of Sigil, does not have a permanent residence, a palace, or a temple.

The only difference from Ao is that one can often see her in Mark City... towering, clad in a loose brown robe, tranquil yet stern.

She often floats several feet off the ground, silently traversing Mark City, with a ring of gleaming blades circling her face, showing no trace of emotion.

There's always someone who thinks their abilities are extraordinary enough to attract this terrifying lady's attention, yet those who attempt to converse with her are met with silence and often find themselves flayed... as if they got sliced into eight pieces by the lady's blade in the blink of an eye.

Like Ao, the Lady of Pain has no need for belief, as long as Mark City is safe, she couldn't care less about anything else.

Just that her methods are a bit cruel; those who prayed to her found themselves flayed—as enough a deterrent for other followers.

Therefore, although Mark City is absolutely neutral, more people from the Evil Faction visit there.

Hill gently shook his head, "I do what I want to do, and as for the results, one can only hope for a bit of luck.

Whether or not I provide the goods, that Sorrowful Queen is bound to take action, but maybe with these additional items, she might at least have a swift end."

The queen in despair, her soul tormented daily longing for her offspring... wanting to swiftly return to the Elven Divine Kingdom, to accompany the few offspring who had arrived long ago, yet wanting to protect her existing children, living a very challenging life.

It was hope for the safe return of her children that kept her going all these years.

But these years of persisting in despair only made her grow stronger... It is not just for her perseverance and compassion that the Elf Deity System wanted her to become a deity directly.

A 40th-level Sorrowful Queen might not harm the Lady of Pain, but she might have a chance to blow up that labyrinth... releasing the God of Portals, which would add some trouble for the Lady of Pain.

At that time, the God of Portals did indeed die quickly... but that was due to the Lady of Pain's sudden assault, originally watching him build high towers and throw lavish banquets made the deity lose his sense of danger.

Otherwise, how could he have no last resort at all?

Lansendel, when leaving his world, only took his divine power, not his true self.

Therefore, as long as this God of Portals could escape the labyrinth alive at last, and break free from Mark City's control, the countless portals in the City of Thousand Gates would be nothing but trouble.

This is the only way the Sorrowful Queen could exact revenge.

Hill himself wasn't quite sure if uncovering the news about the two princesses was the right thing to do.

He sighed deeply, among so many children, only three are still alive, and besides the youngest son, the other son and daughter resolutely left their mother... The throne on Eternity Island is like a curse for the Moonflower Royalty's children.

As for the Sorrowful Queen, she had long been driven mad by such waiting, she must have been mentally prepared for her children's fate, perhaps it would be better to end it all?

Hill flipped through the papers in his hand and curiously asked Celene, "Respected Maiden of the Moon, who is the soul inside that mysterious gemstone the Planar Trade Association's president is looking for?"

"Shangra, an Ancient Mage, reportedly very powerful, nearly toppled the Lady of Pain single-handedly many years ago." Celene answered plainly, "However, that was many, many years ago, and since then he vanished into legend and secrecy."

When the Maiden of the Moon said many years, Hill smiled wryly, that really is a long time, could it be the creator of the Nyscroll?

"But his existence is undeniable," Celene continued, "perhaps existing in a certain plane.

And these individuals searching for his soul in every corner of the Lower Planes are definitely not minions of the Lady of Pain.

She would only hope that Shangra would never reappear."

Trying to use Shangra to depose or even eliminate the Lady of Pain? Clearly showing great respect to the Dasba, but secretly plotting to reign supreme?

Is it that ogre Istanvan who loves to strut around Mark City in a red silk kimono, or is it the Order of Brotherhood he belongs to?

But Hill is filled with doubts about what the soul within this mysterious gemstone can truly achieve.

"Could this news have been spread by the Lady of Pain herself?" he couldn't help but ask.

The one who understands AO best, Celene, probably wouldn't believe that any mage could directly take down a Supreme God or such great deities, right?

Even if Toril vanished completely, AO wouldn't be affected.

"Eight to nine chances out of ten." Celene responded after a few seconds of silence, "Dabas has never openly or covertly acquired soul gemstones in bulk.

In the Toril World, news of murder and robbery can disappear silently, but profitable trades can't.

Just as soon as there's a hint of news, I can hear about it."

However, Dabas came forward to purchase the Elf Princess, and the only thing Lady of Pain would personally do is create mazes.

Though that God of Portals died quite solidly, the hope for resurrection has never vanished... the only Dabas who betrayed the Lady of Pain proves it; after all, he's still parading around with a priest badge in Mark City, doing his herbalist work!

But for gods truly dead, priests can't gather divine power.

This God of Portals was just like the former Amanata, he simply didn't have the opportunity.

Hill genuinely hopes he resurrects; although he's an arrogant fool, only impulsive fools can easily cause great damage.

Like Toril, so many conspirators, yet none conjured up a crisis as frightening as Lansendel's... look at Mystra's death, even when the whole world exploded, AO remained calm and unperturbed.

Think of the first Dawn Calamity, AO didn't even notify Coron, and simply wiped those Elf Empires from the earth.

Bear in mind, it was just the Great Nobility of the Elf Empire colluding with Lansendel, those commoners, while respecting the Lord of Dawn, didn't partake in this grand enterprise of global god-making.

In the views of these Elf Nobility, the populace referred only to themselves, these Great Nobility.

Yet AO mercilessly delivered a deadly blow to all life... when dealing with the Three Gods of Death who stole the Tablets of Fate, he wasn't so aggressive.

In the end, however, he even stuffed all those souls into Lansendel's Divine Kingdom, neither sending them to the Elf Deity System nor to the Netherworld.

So, a foolish person with power can achieve great things...

Hill lightly tapped his fingers: "But this isn't a lie... yet for that lady, she'd rather face a powerful mage who can confront her directly than hope for the resurrection of the God of Portals who would bring great trouble to Mark City."

The Lady of Pain clearly knows how many powerful deities covet her Mark City. So she'd rather send out a weakness for these deities to grasp while hiding another one.

Celene said softly: "If it hadn't been for your appearance, the affair of the Elf Princess would have remained a secret forever.

Yet, as those outside fate, what choices the Undead Tribe will make, what direction they'll take, no deity in Toril can clearly foresee.

One can only say, Mark City has been strong for so long, it appears it's starting to face the most dreaded time for all worlds... the decline of fate."

Hill blinked: "I'm not quite understanding."

"You need only understand one thing." Shaer's voice echoed hauntingly, "Every world, reaches a certain stage where it faces a hurdle; if crossed, eternal peace ensues, if not, then it's either a reboot or descending into the abyss.

Toril has experienced rebooting more than once by now."

"But Mark City isn't so easy to reboot,~" Celene spoke lightly, "Taking shortcuts inevitably requires some sacrifice."

Hence, because Mark City is a living organism, once it heads towards decline, will it only enter the Bottomless Abyss?

"But it may not necessarily go to the abyss; a thousand years ago, Mark City suddenly began to mingle more with devils." Shaer said matter-of-factly, "That neighbor of yours suddenly tackling demons might well be preparation by that lady for Mark City's future.

Isn't that Trade Association just selling armaments between both sides of the Blood War?

You should know, in recent years, suddenly there have been people calling Mark City the Devil City."

Shaer laughed coldly twice: "In Toril, nicknames best reflect a person's essence."

Celene and Shaer seem to have quite a poor impression of Mark City.

If it's something they jointly detest, AO likely dislikes it too.

Hill slightly tilted his head, pondered for a moment, then took out that small box, adding some good things to it.