Sceptre of Savras
After days of careful contemplation, Leylin summoned Xena and agreed to the Goddess of Wealth’s conditions. He handed over all matters pertaining to the native empire to Isabel and Tiff, while he followed Xena’s ship back to the Faulen Island. He was currently back at his wizard tower.
Although this tower had already been upgraded several times, Leylin still found it too crude. This wasn’t an issue with design, rather that he’d advanced too quickly. The basic facilities of this place couldn’t keep up with his demands.
Thankfully, he did not have high expectations for the environment he was to be in. With the wizard tower’s isolation abilities as well as his own divine force as a cover, the preparations were complete.
*Chiu! Chiu!* Inside the enormous forge at the core, a golden staff floated in mid-air. Threads of pure gold flames were dispelled in the surroundings, forming the figure of a large, gorgeous bird.
What had been the Red Dragon Staff had undergone massive changes and improvements. The coarse and solid staff was now more slender, and the dragon claw at the top had been refined, forming the claw of a bird. The most important part, the soul within the crystal, was now replaced by the flaming bird.
[Beep! Red Dragon Staff has been re-smelted. Connection and containment perfect. No conflicts in energy.] The A.I. Chip projected large amounts of information before him.
[Item Name: Blazing Sceptre. Rank: Legendary 3. Length: 0.76m. Weight: 2900g. Materials: Dragon Crystal, Dragon Bone, Dragon Blood, Dragon Scale, Divine Spirit, Divine Blood]
[Item abilities: 1. Storage. The staff can contain spells: Rank 9 (1), Rank 7 (3), Rank 5 (5). (Currently Empty) 2. Blazing Skyfire, legendary spell. (Can be used once every twenty days). 3. Domain of Terror. 4. Blaze: Absorbing the strength of divine souls, the staff can deal a one-time mental attack or boost itself. Will harm the imprisoned soul. 5. Fire Immunity.]
[Description: This staff once imprisoned a powerful legendary dragon soul, but its owner attempted a more terrifying experiment, sealing the soul of a divine being. All who use it without permission will suffer the wrath of gods!]
‘What I gave Tiff was symbolic of the church. This suits me better…’ When he conquered Debanks Island, Leylin did indeed come into possession of the flesh and souls of other demigods. However, this staff was still his most perfect creation. Although what he’d given Tiff was a demigod weapon, it was impossible to upgrade it. This staff had a limitless future!
‘I can upgrade this staff at any time as long as the materials I have on hand are suitable. It could even become a divine weapon…’ Leylin was very confident in this.
Having completed the Blazing Sceptre, Leylin did not opt to rest, instead going to another room. He closed his eyes as if in meditation, but his mind was actually communicating with the A.I. Chip. ‘A.I. Chip, how goes the task I set you on?’
[Beep! Analysis of legendary arcane spell, Chain Contingency at 100%. Transmitting into Host’s mind, beginning preliminary branding…] the A.I. Chip’s robotic voice sounded. It had never let Leylin down before.
‘A demigod is at the apex of the mainland. Debanks Island is too remote, and it's impossible to dispatch large armies and labourers on the long journey here. If they want to deal with me, there are only a few methods. This is the one with the best chance of success…’ Leylin pursed his lips, and lost tremendous amounts of spiritual force and arcane energy. A continuous stream of divine force made up for these losses just in time, creating a unique cycle. It took a night of this to finally set up Chain Contingency.
While he had his own conjectures, he still chose to follow through with his plans. After all, it was foolish to offend a goddess without any evidence. Besides, he had his own plans as well, and he needed her cooperation to complete them.
‘I hope all this is all in my head… But it’s not bad to make preparations, right?’ Immense divine force surged out, erasing the spell’s aura from Leylin’s body and hiding it within the aura of the divine.
It wasn’t long after this was done that Gold Priest Xena visited him.
“Our church already has leads on the Sceptre of Savras. However, we need your help, my Lord.” Xena looked respectful as she spoke, her eyes showing that she wasn’t faking any of this.
‘Looks like this priestess thinks that her true mission is to find the sceptre…’ Leylin sighed, and then smiled, “As long as we do things according to our agreement, I’m fine with it…”
……
At the borders of the Dambrath Kingdom, west of the werejackal mountains.
Because of the suitable food and climate, there was a large number of werejackals around this place, including high-ranked sorcerers and Professionals with greater intelligence than their peers. They monopolised the entire mountain, making the area dangerous. All who were not werejackals had one fate in this mountain: they would be torn to the bone and eaten.
There was little the Dambrath Kingdom could do about this. They’d employed a legendary, but even he’d had to retreat. The werejackal mountains became a forbidden area with the passage of time.
Rumour had it that there was a mysterious large door at the depths of the werejackal mountains, leading straight to the abyss and the werejackal god, a sovereign who loved flesh! The closer one went to the place, the more desolate the nearby villages got.
One one particular path, a group of knights were hastening on their journey. Their unruffled aura alone showed that they weren’t mere elites of the kingdom. They were guarding a young man and woman in the middle, each riding a handsome horse. However, considering the might of the two, it was hard to say who was being protected.
“The lead for the Sceptre of Savras is in the town up ahead?” Leylin sniffed at the air, frowning slightly.
“Yes, my Lord!” This was Xena speaking. Ever since the priestess found out that Leylin had attained a realm she could never hope to reach, she had become increasingly respectful to him. She had even taken to addressing him as ‘my Lord’, and if Leylin had not stopped her, she might even have called him ‘Your Highness.’
“A hunter from the village said he entered the werejackal mountains once by accident, and at the outer regions of the valleys saw a terrifying statue and the illusion of a sceptre emitting multicolour light.”
“That’s all?” Leylin’s eyebrows raised.
“We dispatched our own legendaries after that, but even two weren’t enough to break through the outer regions of the valley. However, the two of them saw the sceptre as well, and it’s matching the Sceptre of Savras by more than 90%…” Xena explained, laughing wryly as she still needed Leylin’s help.
“A boundary that even legendaries can’t enter? And the sceptre’s there?” Leylin nodded. “In that case, this trip is worth it… But I’ve been staying at the outer seas recently. What’s happening on the continent?”
After hearing that this was not confidential information, Xena gave him a simple rundown of the situation on the continent. Firstly, the unrest in the north had attracted the attention of the entire prime material plane. It was possible for it to escalate even further.
The alliance of Mystra and Tyr was something all the orc gods feared. They’d first wiped out their reinforcements in Malar and a few others, then supported Alustriel’s war in the north.
After a few large battles, Alustriel had successfully gathered her revolutionary forces and taken over a decent amount of land. With the support of a few great noble families in the north, she had ascended the throne a few months ago and re-established the Silverymoon Alliance.
However, the orcs were still as powerful as before. Orc Emperor Saladin had the help of the divine weapon, the Thunder God’s Hammer, and was still one of the most powerful beings in the prime material plane. If not for Alustriel blocking Saladin personally in a few battles, as well as the orc being afraid of the side effects from using the weapon, success would not have come so easily.
With all that done, the orc empire had grown enraged. They began to gather their armies after being dealt that heavy blow. At the same time, the people of Silverymoon trained hard as well, obtaining more support from the nobles and gods of the north.
It wasn’t hard to imagine the even more terrifying war that would break out in the future, the greatest test for the newly reformed Silverymoon Alliance.
On top of that, there was the short-lived reappearance of the western desert’s floating city. A number of legendaries had fallen there, the death of just one enough to stun the entire continent. This was something to do with a floating city! The only reason the news was this delayed was that the western desert was remote, with little in the means of communication.
A few churches had verified the theft of the floating city by a mysterious person, and they’d posted a great bounty for the same. It had caused a great flurry in the dark world. Numerous old monsters had been startled out of their shells, pursuing the traces of the lich Ilyo.
It had to be said that this was why Leylin had kept Ilyo. The lich could shoulder the brunt of the blame.