Chapter 290: Divine Domains and Negotiation
Allen could hardly believe what had just happened. Had he really just gained an anti-magic longsword worth two hundred thousand gold for free?
At first he suspected he'd fallen under some illusion. Only when the blade nicked his finger and pain flared did he accept that this was real.
No paladin could fail to love a weapon like this. It far surpassed the standard-issue sword he had once carried in the army.
He eagerly swung the blade, testing its balance, its weight—every subtle detail. It took him quite a while to grow accustomed to it, but eventually, he found his rhythm.
Just then, Gareth returned. The headless knight crooked a finger at Allen. "You'll need real combat to get used to a new weapon. Come on. I'll help."
As before, Gareth dismissed his armor. This time, however, he wasn't unarmed. A long saber wreathed in black flames rested in his hand.
With a casual flourish, he said, "It's been a long time since I've had a worthy opponent."
The blade blurred into motion, cleaving toward Allen. To Allen's eyes, the strike carried the overwhelming force of a descending dragon, as if it meant to tear him apart entirely.
The sheer ferocity startled him. Gareth really had just been toying with him in their earlier bout.
But Allen did not panic. He pivoted his sword and met the attack head-on.
The fighting wasn't especially violent. Both men restrained their power and focused purely on technique.
Ambrose paid them no mind. Gareth had clearly been itching for a proper fight for far too long. Now that he'd found Allen, he was more than willing to hold back most of his strength just to savor the duel.
Ambrose trusted Gareth not to kill the boy. And as long as Allen survived, nothing else mattered.
So he turned away from the sparring and brought Milena toward Springblossom's town hall.
With Allen dealt with, it was time to accomplish his real objective.
He intended to sell the drow domain to the elves, and in return, secure the protection of the elven gods so he could ascend without fear.
It seemed the elven king had already issued certain orders. The moment Ambrose revealed his identity, the visibly startled elven magistrate immediately promised to relay news of his arrival.
The deference that the elf showed Ambrose left Milena even more in awe of her father.
In the whole world, there was likely only one undead who could command such courtesy from the elves.
Ambrose was escorted to a quiet garden to wait. After more than two hours, Catherine finally arrived.
The former elven queen remained breathtakingly beautiful. Even dressed in simple attire, she possessed a charm that could stir the dead.
Milena, wide-eyed, blurted out without restraint, "You're so beautiful!"
Catherine had heard countless compliments in her life. She accepted this one with her usual graceful ease. "You're quite lovely as well. I'm Catherine. What's your name?"
"I... I'm Milena."
"What a beautiful name."
Catherine took Milena's hand and sat beside Ambrose with her. The moment she did, Milena's thoughts seemed to vanish entirely. Her golden eyes, capable of piercing all concealment, turned a dreamy pink.
She turned to Ambrose and whispered, "Father, she's so beautiful!"
"I know," Ambrose replied helplessly.
Milena wasn't like most undead when it came to emotions. She had been sensitive, even prone to melancholy, over her own perceived shortcomings. Against Catherine's overwhelming charm, her resistance was practically nonexistent.
Then she dropped a bombshell.
"Father, I want to marry her!"
"What?!"
"What?!"
The identical exclamations came from both Ambrose and Catherine. Ambrose was horrified at the sheer absurdity of the statement. If the elven king were to hear this, it could spark a war against the Umbral Depths.
Catherine, however, was not shocked by the proposal itself. She had received countless confessions from both men and women over the years. What stunned her was something else entirely: Milena had called Ambrose "Father."
Good heavens. Since when could a lich have children?
Ambrose quickly said, "You're being charmed. Close your eyes and calm down."
After a moment's hesitation, Milena obeyed. The innate nature of the undead reasserted itself, and realization dawned—along with deep embarrassment.
Fortunately, Ambrose was there. With a snap of his fingers, he cloaked her in an illusion, cutting off her sight and hearing entirely.
Only then did he turn to Catherine. "Take my advice and wear a mask when you go out. It's safer for everyone."
Catherine ignored that, her curiosity burning. "She's your daughter? Who is her mother?"
"You've met her: the Queen of the Umbral Depths, Black Rose."
Catherine pressed further. "To think she's already a young woman—how long have you been married? How could you not tell me?"
There was a trace of wounded accusation in her tone.
Ambrose felt his bones soften under that gaze. Few could withstand it.
"Don't misunderstand. There's nothing like that between us. We cooperated to create an undead, whom we called Milena. Black Rose provided the body, and I wove her soul. So yes, she's ours in a sense, but we're not married. Don't go getting me put back on Lyon's wanted list."
Black Rose was already Lyon's most wanted criminal. If Ambrose were labeled her husband, old grudges and new would pile up fast.
Catherine relaxed slightly, though she still remained astonished. "So that's how undead reproduce? Then whose surname does she take?"
"Her mother's, of course. Don't let her fool you. She's the princess of the Umbral Depths."
"She's not foolish," Catherine said thoughtfully. "Just... innocent. The purer the heart, the more easily it's drawn to me. She simply mistook that feeling for love."
Catherine spoke like someone with experience. Ambrose cut her off before she could continue.
"I didn't come here to discuss this. You must've read my letter. What do the elven gods think about the drow's divine authority?"
Catherine's expression turned serious. When she first received Ambrose's message, she had been stunned. Divine authority wasn't something that changed hands lightly.
And yet, since they last met up, Ambrose had somehow managed to overthrow a god, and no less than the Spider Queen at that.
Every high elf child grew up hearing warnings like, "If you misbehave, the Spider Queen will send spiders to take you away."
It wasn't a fairy tale. It had happened in reality. Naughty elven children who wandered off on their own really might be captured by drow and cruelly sacrificed.
The drow were the sworn enemies of the high elves.
And yet Ambrose had not only outmaneuvered the Spider Queen, he had stripped away the most crucial piece of her power: the divine authority over the drow.
Before meeting him, Catherine would have dismissed such claims as nonsense.
But Ambrose was different. He might lie when it came to casual matters, but when it came to business, every offer he made was real.
If he said he had a divine domain, then he did.
So Catherine had immediately prayed to the elven gods—and received a swift, unmistakable response.
The trade was acceptable, but the terms would have to be modified.
She had reported this to the elven king and rushed over to Springblossom without delay.
"The gods are willing to trade," Catherine said, "but they request a modification to the terms."
Ambrose narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't sound promising."
"It isn't," she admitted. "They cannot grant your first request. You cannot join the elven pantheon."
He nodded. He had expected as much. A lich joining the elven gods was... a stretch.
"And their protection?" he pressed. "If they want my divine domain, they'd better offer something worthwhile."
"They will grant it," Catherine said, "but only to resolve one divine grudge on your behalf."
"Just one?"
"Yes. You are offering only a single divine domain, after all."
He had offended far too many gods. Recently, the Spider Queen and Shara; further back, Levitra and Tiamat.
And that didn't even include the most troublesome deity of all: the Lord of Dawn.
Even the four evil goddesses working together might not be able to overcome the Lord of Dawn. But even if Ambrose were to get the elven pantheon's help with the Lord of Dawn, the four could still shatter his nascent divinity easily.
"The drow domain is significant to the elves," he said. "This could reunify your entire race."
Ambrose knew the value of what he possessed. This was no mere divine domain; it was among the most important to the elves.
The elven pantheon's offer felt insulting.
Catherine sighed. "Divine grudges can take ages to resolve. For them to erase even one will be extremely costly."
Ambrose shook his head. "It's not good enough. I might as well hand it to Shara. She'd probably forgive me on the spot."
Catherine hesitated, then said, "I thought you'd refuse. The gods provided a second option. If you can help me reunite the drow and the elves, then the elven gods are willing to resolve all four goddesses' grudges for you."
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