Chapter 401

Night fell.

Anser hovered high in the sky, silently gazing down at the Dragonmere and the matchbox-sized city of Suzail on its shore.

Faerûn had no electricity, no neon lights. The illumination was dim, the darkness profound, and from this distance he couldn't see anything at all.

But his memory was excellent. From the city's outline alone, he could reconstruct the exact layout of the orc coalition's camp with a margin of error of no more than ten meters.

'I really want to drop a few Meteor Swarms on them.'

His eyes flickered. The urge had first appeared the moment he'd seen the orc coalition, and it had only grown stronger since.

He had to admit that he was a violent man.

When violence worked well enough, even the brain got lazy.

The night wind howled, whipping his hair into disarray. He took out a hair tie and tied it back.

'One more day won't make a difference.'

This was Cormyr's capital, after all. He couldn't just do whatever he pleased. At the very least, he had to notify the Obarskyr royal family first.

Besides, the moment he started a battle, the two Legendary Professionals in the orc coalition would undoubtedly chase him relentlessly.

Whether he could beat them or not was beside the point. At the very least, he wouldn't be able to cast spells at his leisure and reap the orcs.

A joint operation with Cormyr was the best option. Someone else could help keep the enemy occupied and clean up the battlefield, while he could cut loose and maximize the damage he inflicted.

'It'd be even better if I could take out that Chosen too!'

He sighed softly, then teleported back to Holrewen.

It still depended on the Obarskyr royal family's attitude. If they dragged their feet, he'd politely inform them and then go it alone.

He'd treat the orc coalition to a magnificent meteor shower every day, free of charge. They'd surely be thrilled.

The moment he entered Holrewen, a sense of security naturally welled up inside him.

Remembering Salian's earlier Sending, Anser took a step and vanished, reappearing inside the underground crypt of the Crystal Temple.

"It's you!"

At the entrance to the crypt, the Death Knight, clad entirely in black armor, stared at Anser in shock. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, gripping it tightly.

"Surprised?" Anser turned and sat on the lid of one of the coffins, his face full of amusement.

"How is this possible?" The Death Knight's already rather inflexible mind struggled to process the situation.

He had been "dead" for four days, and today happened to be the day of his resurrection. Yet when he woke up, he discovered that everything here had changed.

Every coffin was spotless, and all the corpses had been cleared away.

The door wouldn't open. He couldn't get out, and no one paid any attention to him.

Before he could even figure out what was going on, the enemy who had killed him appeared right in front of him. It was a little hard to accept.

Anser chuckled. He knew the feeling.

Wasn't this basically like a player who could resurrect indefinitely and had nothing to fear, only to get spawn-camped at his own resurrection point?

"How did you get in here?" The Death Knight couldn't understand it at all.

This was Sehanine Moonbow's temple. After obtaining it through a fortunate coincidence, he had bound it to Viheral, making it extremely well hidden.

The Viheral Ring was extraordinarily intricate. Many high-level wizards would struggle to understand its mysteries, and its method of storing energy was unique. Even someone who understood how it worked would have difficulty activating it.

"Get in? Looks like you still don't understand your situation. This is my territory!" Anser pointed at the ground, deliberately emphasizing the words.

"You're a robber..."

"Hey." Anser raised a hand to interrupt him. "Someone gave it to me. I'm the rightful owner. I have more claim to it than you do."

As he spoke, he waved a hand. An invisible Forcecage descended out of thin air, imprisoning the Death Knight where he stood.

"Did you have this before?" He spread his hands.

The Death Knight pressed a hand against the invisible wall of force and stood motionless like a statue.

"If I wanted to, I could make sure you never got another chance to resurrect." Anser regarded him with perfect composure.

The Death Knight fell silent for a moment, then removed his hand from his sword hilt and looked up at Anser. Even the ghostly light shining from within his black helmet dimmed somewhat.

"What do you want?"

"I liked you better when you were all proud and defiant," Anser teased.

Before his death, the Death Knight had defiantly shouted, "You can't kill me," standing tall without showing the slightest weakness. But when faced with true death, he was afraid just like anyone else.

"There's value in dying, and there are ways to live. It's up to you which one you choose."

Anser focused his mind on the Death Knight and discovered that his Challenge Rating hadn't changed.

'He didn't lose any levels. Or did he recover what he'd lost over these four days?'

Anser had no way of knowing.

But it was good news. It meant he could farm the Death Knight for experience.

Killing him once yielded several thousand experience points. Ten times would mean tens of thousands. The only concern was whether the Death Knight could survive ten rounds of it.

"I want to live," the Death Knight said slowly.

"Then we have a basis for cooperation." Anser stared at him with a dark, inscrutable gaze.

Death Knights were undead creatures of the Chaotic Evil alignment, almost without exception.

They had committed horrific atrocities in life, and their hearts were filled with hatred and selfishness. Even if they wished to redeem themselves, genuine repentance was exceedingly difficult.

If they truly redeemed themselves, they would die for good. If they didn't, they would remain utterly evil forever and might commit even greater atrocities.

That created a paradox: a living Death Knight would always be evil!

Naturally, an undead creature like that couldn't simply be put to use without precautions. Fortunately, Anser had already prepared a contingency.

{Sakkors, can you handle it?}

{It shouldn't be a problem,} Sakkors replied. {I'll implant an enhanced Spirit Net Mark in him first, then feed him Spirit Coins. While his mind is fluctuating, I'll apply suggestions and mental control. We should see results within a week.}

{Give it a try.} Anser wasn't entirely sure either.

A Death Knight's form of existence was rather unusual. If his mind changed and his obsession disappeared, would he still continue to exist?

But Sakkors had always been cautious. He probably wouldn't make such a claim without good reason.

Anser raised a hand and pointed at the Death Knight. "I need you to swear loyalty to me. To prevent you from betraying me, I need to implant a magical mark in you. Don't resist!"

At the same time, Sakkors connected to the Death Knight through the Spirit Net, constructed a specially modified Spirit Net Mark, and implanted it in him.

The Death Knight sensed what was happening. After hesitating for a moment, he ultimately gave up resisting.

Resurrection was not a pleasant experience. Having died once, he was even more afraid of death than before. It was ironic, but also very real.

The Spirit Net Mark was soon fully implanted, and the Forcecage dissipated.

The Death Knight didn't feel as though he was being controlled, but he kept his head slightly lowered and said nothing.

Anser sneered inwardly, though outwardly he wore a reassured expression.

"How did you feel after I killed you? Did you know it took you four days to resurrect?"

"I felt... very weak." A hint of fear appeared in the Death Knight's gaze. "It took me a long time to recover, and even after resurrecting, I'm not in as good a condition as I was before."

By now, even he couldn't tell whether he was afraid of death itself or specifically afraid of dying at Anser's hands.

The experience had been so profound that, for the first time, it had made him forget the fact that he was immortal.

Anser rubbed his chin, his thoughts racing.

From the looks of it, the "level loss" was real. The Death Knight was simply a special case, with resurrection restoring most of what he'd lost.

'What about liches, then?'

If a lich lost levels, could it still resurrect successfully? And after losing levels repeatedly, could it still maintain the Legendary nature that made it a lich?

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar

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