Master of Spells from Faerun

Chapter 294 Ethereal Plane
Sword Coast, Waterdeep.

Death's skeletal right hand reached for the red energy shard, and the fallen god smiled softly, placing the shard on his left next to the foot-tall obsidian man statue.

The statue absorbed the energy and emitted a dazzling white light. Melkor observed the expressionless statue, a red mist flowing fiercely inside.

"Ah, Lord Benn," a harsh voice came from the cracked black lips of Death, "we will have you intact soon." Melkor chuckled softly again, stroking the smooth head of the statue like a child. , the mist glowed an angry red.

Melkor looked around and sighed.The real world appeared hazily before his eyes. The place he was in was a dark, dirty and desolate farmhouse, and the low ceiling was blackened by oil smoke.Occasionally, mice would scurry across the floor, crawling through the gaps between cracked tables and chairs.Under the dirty fur, two humans were sleeping.

Melkor, the god of death and corruption, liked this place very much. To him, it was like a small temple that he had found by chance. He was even a little frustrated because he could not fully experience it in person.

Because Melkor was on the border of the Ethereal Plane, a realm parallel to the Prime Material Plane where the realm existed.

Everything Melkor saw in the Ethereal Frontier - whether it was furniture, vermin, dirt or sleeping peasants - was just an illusion to him.Even if the snoring farmer and his wife woke up now, they would not be able to see or hear Melkor's presence.

"If only they could see me," Death complained to the statue. "They would be frightened to death by me. How delightful it would be."

Melkor paused, imagining what his incarnation would look like now, with its rotten, dark yellow skin and burning empty eye sockets, what impact it would have on humans. "Their bodies would complete the room."

The energy on the statue crackled.

"Yes, Lord Ben, your last fragment is close at hand." Death whispered.Melkor passed through the hollow walls and went out.

Melkor pulled the hood of his thick black robe over his head and stepped into the air as if he were ascending a staircase.Gravity had no effect on him on the ethereal frontier, and searching for items would undoubtedly be faster from the vantage point high on shadowy hillsides and buildings.After walking about a hundred yards, Melkor saw the last shard of energy flickering in the distance.

"That's what's left of the God of Strife." Melkor raised the statue and faced the dancing shard a mile away.Black and red lightning emerged from the obsidian statue and flew through Death's hand.Pain ran up the Avatar's arm, and Melkor smelled the smell of burning flesh.

"If I abandon you, Lord Ben, you will fall into the main material plane and return to the kingdom." The amplitude of the current gradually weakened. "If I don't help you find the last piece of your soul, you will be trapped forever. Trapped in this statue.”

The current stopped and the statue turned back to black. Melkor smiled slightly and said: "I am happy to serve you, Lord Benn, but I will not be forced to submit."

The statue was still black, and Death began to move towards the last piece of Bane.An hour later, the fallen gods arrived at their destination.

The last fragment of the God of Strife looked like a giant bloody snowflake, at least three feet across, much larger and more intricate than the other fragments Melkor had collected.

Death placed the statue next to the snowflakes.As before, with a bright flash, the fragments were absorbed into the statue.But what was different from the past was that the statue continued to emit light, with red and black flashing at an accelerated rate.A sharp cry exploded in his head, and Melkor narrowed his eyes in pain.

"I am alive!" the god of strife cried in Melkor's heart, "I am whole again!" A pair of burning eyes and a mouth with fangs suddenly appeared on the smooth face of the statue.

"Please, Lord Ben, lower your voice, you are giving me a terrible headache." Death said impatiently, "I am very happy that the plan can be successful."

"How did you find me? Why do you know I'm not dead?"

"I tried my best to observe the battle in the Valley of Shadows. When Ms. Mystra appeared in the temple, I knew that we gods could not be killed, but could only be dispersed." Melkor smiled, "So when your physical body Destroyed, I tracked one of your fragments into the etheric boundary and began searching for other fragments here.”

The God of Death tilted his head and tried to observe the obsidian statue: "It's really unimaginable that the gods could not die after suffering such heavy injuries, but I think Mystra should have completely dissipated, and her soul has even disappeared."

"Are you whole now? Lord Benn," Melkor asked.

"Yes, Melkor, I am very well! Do you understand what you have done?" The voice in Melkor's head amplified again.

"You crossed the plane, which means you defeated Io! We have escaped from the country and can return to the divine realm to regain the true divine power!"

The statue's eyes widened with excitement.

"No, Lord Ben, I'm afraid we can't do it. When I learned that you entered the ethereal realm, I originally planned to give up. I thought Io would prevent us from entering any plane." Melkor rubbed the rotten flesh with his skeletal palm. Chin, "But I was wrong."

"wrong?"

"Yes," Melkor said with a sigh. "As my chief priest said, there are no gods living in the Ethereal Frontier, so Io has no reason to prevent us from entering. Of course, magic is very unstable now, and it took me three mages to find all your fragments. "The God of Death bowed slightly, and the spine on his back made a snapping sound, "But I can't let you suffer alone here."

"Come on, Melkor, stop your flattery. After all, you still need me to fight back to the divine realm so that you can follow behind."

Melkor scowled.He considered whether to continue deeper into the etheric frontier and throw the statue into the deep etheric plane, a place full of flowing colors and powerful vortices. Bane would never be able to return to the realm or his home.But the idea lasted only a moment.

Bane was right, Melkor did need him, but not because the Death God lacked courage or motivation.Melkor hoped that the God of Strife could lead an army to attack the divine domain. After all, it was very dangerous, and the God of Death could not be destroyed like this.

So Melkor smiled respectfully and bowed slightly to the obsidian statue again. "You are right, Lord Ben. Let us leave this place, and then find a new saint for you to continue our plan."

"How do we return to the country?"

"It seems that magic outside the main material plane will be more stable. I should be able to cast a spell to teleport us home without making mistakes." Death put the statue in front of his face and smiled.This time the smile was so bright that the rotten skin at the corners of his mouth was torn open.

The figures of the two gods disappeared. After they left, an eye opened in the depths of the chaotic ether. The huge eye was like a dragon's eye, covered with mysterious lines.

"Aren't they the people of that guy Ai Ou? Are there people even paying attention here?" The dragon eyes slowly closed, and the stirring energy vortex returned to calm again, but what was faintly visible was that deep in the vortex, there were A luminous crystal wall system is looming.

If Imrik were here at this time, he would find that on the shell of the crystal wall system, the energy veins formed a familiar mysterious character - [Thir].
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"So, did that guy Elminster fall into the crack created by the spell?" Kelben was in the Magic Crystal Tower at this time, listening to Imric telling him about the situation in the Lathander Temple. .

"I'm just saying how could you possibly kill that Elminster guy? Storm, this shrew, is really impatient, and the bard's IQ really cannot be trusted." Kelben sighed and complained.

Imric smiled and asked, "How are you doing in Waterdeep?"

Kelben's face became serious when he mentioned this: "I was about to tell you this. I think there should be many evil gods sneaking into the underground of Waterdeep City."

Kyle took out a holy symbol, which was a purple moon.

"My informant told me that there is a riot underground. A large number of lycanthropes and old mad monsters are fighting for territory. They all have the emblem of the Night Goddess on their bodies."

Imrik frowned: "Shar?"

Kelburn nodded and continued: "Not only that, many civilians have disappeared in the South District recently. I suspect that there are other evil gods, but no evidence has been found yet."

"Is that so?" Imrik thought thoughtfully.

It seems that the God of Death should be in Waterdeep City at this time. There is also a second stone tablet, which should also be kept by Melkor.

Thinking of Mystra's prophecy, Imric thought he had found the real murderer, but he did not intend to interfere in the affairs of the South District. Bane and Melkor were both pawns of Io's hand, and he did not intend to replace Kelanvor. Several people took the blame, what if he found the tablet of destiny and Ao appointed him to be the destined one.

On the other hand, Shar is underground. This evil goddess is the mortal enemy of the Goddess of Magic and the Moon Girl. The Goddess of Magic has fallen. Will other gods follow her here?

Kelben was a little worried. Since the collapse of the magic network of the Goddess of Magic has intensified, his spells have once again fallen into an unstable state. Although the probability is very small, there are spells that fail from time to time. Faced with these, he is shaking in front of him. He was completely incapable of handling the existence of Waterdeep City.

"I'm leaving first. Hey, it's been such an eventful time." Kelben left the Magic Crystal Tower with a headache. He felt much older since he took over the responsibility of taking care of Waterdeep for his lover Lyra Silverhand.

Imrik also walked out of the gate of the Magic Crystal Tower and came to a street in the port area. Due to the impact of the fall of the gods, the once prosperous port area was now rarely visited and passers-by were extremely rare.

"Selene's Smile." Imrik walked to the door of a hotel and looked at the signboard name thoughtfully. "That feeling again."

Every time I pass by this hotel, I feel as if I'm meeting a sacred person, just like when I first met Mystra and Ben.

With a curious attitude, Imrik walked into the hotel.

(End of this chapter)