The Miral River is the northernmost river on the entire west coast of Faerun.
Its upper reaches connect to the snow-capped peaks of the endless mountains on the roof of the world, and flow westward along the terrain into the sea. It is the last boundary separating civilization and wilderness.
At the mouth of the sea stands an ancient and historic city - Luskan.
As possibly the northernmost city in the entire continent of Faerun, it is said that its origins can be traced back to a settlement established by a combination of hunters and fishing villages more than four thousand years ago.
It was later razed to the ground several times by orcs, and then rebuilt, even with the participation of the remnants of the Netheril.
But with the complete decline of the Netherese civilization, the original city fell under the siege of the orc army, and finally became a dangerous area where various undead creatures roamed.
The modern history of Luskan officially began only when pirates discovered this place and used it as a base for docking, resupply and selling spoils.
From then on, this place gradually developed into a paradise for criminals.
No matter how bad the crimes committed in other cities on the continent of Faerun are, as long as you escape here, you can live a normal life as if nothing happened, and there is no need to hide anymore.
To be precise, Luskan was in a state of chaos and disorder for a long time.
The entire port town was jointly controlled by those prestigious pirate captains, and large-scale fights and even bloodshed often broke out due to conflicts of interest and drunken impulses.
Since there are neither laws nor the ability to enforce them, it basically comes down to whoever has the bigger fist being right.
But all this changed with the arrival of a wizard.
He was none other than Akelom Grace, the founder of the Arcane Brotherhood, who brought all pirates and outlaws under control.
It was this evil and ambitious old wizard who integrated the various forces in Luskan, forced the pirate captains to obey his will, and slowly built the prototype of a city.
It can even be said that Luskan's current scale and strength are all thanks to Akelem Grace.
Without him, Luskan would not have the fierce reputation it has in the North.
In addition, Akelem Grace also attaches great importance to the development of magical powers.
Not only did he build a giant wizard tower in Luskan, but he also spent a huge amount of money to recruit talents and train apprentices.
He even set up four tall towers in the east, west, south and north, with four of the best tower masters to assist him in management and share power.
Unfortunately, the arrogant Akelum Grace made the same mistake that many smart people make, which is that he thought he could control everything easily.
As a result, as the Arcane Brotherhood grew and prospered, equally ambitious apprentices and mages inevitably began to backstab, assassinate, and poison each other in their quest for power.
In the end, many tower masters who had the potential to be promoted to high-level wizards had their lives ended by a dagger stabbed by their most trusted apprentices.
The intense internal friction made it impossible for the Arcane Brotherhood, which had only about 130 members, to unite and face the outside world together.
Whenever a tower master wants to do something, there will always be tower masters who are at odds with him, as well as those mages who are eyeing the position of tower master, secretly hiding in the dark and causing trouble.
Although no one has dared to attack Akelum Grace so far, he still feels very troubled and worried.
Especially with the continuous aging of his body in recent years, his energy has become increasingly weak, and there are undercurrents within the organization.
He believed that someone was plotting a conspiracy against him, but he just couldn't find any evidence.
Whenever he thought of this, Akelum Grace would subconsciously take out the notes on the lich transformation ritual that he had collected over the years and read them over and over again, but he just couldn't make up his mind.
In fact, the reason why he agreed and allowed Luskan to attack the Nelanther Islands was, on the one hand, to save the dwindling source of funds, and on the other hand, to find something for other tower masters and potentially threatening guys to do.
In this way, he could secretly hide in the most heavily guarded area of the tower and take the opportunity to complete the entire transformation ceremony.
However, since the notebook in my hand is incomplete, there is definitely a certain chance of failure.
Akelem Grace once tried to obtain relevant knowledge from the Red Wizards and Zhentarim who cooperated with the Arcane Brotherhood through transactions.
But unfortunately, both sides chose to refuse without hesitation.
Needless to say, both organizations are on guard against his transformation into an immortal lich, which would eventually lead to his complete control of the Arcane Brotherhood and become a potential competitor and threat.
"Alas - it seems that I can't wait any longer. Because the older I get and the closer I get to death, the more dangerous my situation will become."
Akelum Grace closed the notebook in his hand, and a deep worry appeared on his old face.
The shortcomings of most ordinary mages, such as lack of knowledge and foundation, were fully reflected in him at this moment.
Since there is no backer and no support from the Goddess of Magic or the Goddess of Night, Shar, the knowledge and spells stored in the library in the tower of the Arcane Brotherhood have always been quite poor.
Perhaps it is not a big problem to use it to deal with low-level wizards and apprentices, but once you exceed the fifth ring, the number and types of spells will drop drastically.
Coupled with the blockade of Luskan by Silvermoon City and Waterdeep, it has no channels to purchase high-level scrolls.
As for the red-robed wizards with rich background, the magic scrolls they sell usually do not exceed five rings.
The Zhentarim only share intelligence and never engage in any form of item trade.
Just as Akelem Grace was about to contact several channels he had developed privately over the years, a young man who looked to be around 20 years old suddenly walked in quickly from outside and bowed respectfully: "Tower Master, Lord Ximanmeng is here to visit you. He said he has something important to discuss and needs to see you immediately."
"Simonmon? He's not staying in the Dark Castle. He's coming here at this time. Could it be because of the upcoming war between Luskan and the Nelanther Islands?"
Akelum Grace stroked his sparse beard and fell into deep thought.
As the head of the entire Dark Intelligence Network, Ximamon rarely comes to Luskan in person unless something particularly important and serious happens.
After realizing this, Akelum Grace immediately ordered without even looking up: "Please bring him here immediately!"
"As you wish, Master."
The young man bowed again before turning and disappearing at the end of the passage.
After a while, he came back with Xi Manmeng.
However, unlike his usual elegant demeanor, Ximanmeng's expression was quite ugly this time. As soon as they met, he immediately said in an almost commanding tone: "Stop the war with the Nelanser Islands immediately! You have no idea what kind of enemy you are provoking! You don't even know how serious the consequences of this war will be."
"What do you mean?"
Akelum Grace frowned subconsciously, quite dissatisfied with this unreasonable attitude.
"Don't ask why! Do what I say immediately unless you want to die." Ximanmeng shouted harshly.
You know, when he learned that Luskan was going to launch a war on the Nelanther Islands, he was almost scared to death.
Perhaps the Arcane Brotherhood still doesn't know who the real master behind those pirates is, but the Zhentarim know it clearly.
Especially since Ximanmeng himself had had contact and cooperation with Zuo Si before, he understood how dangerous and scary this seemingly harmless young man was.
Recently, the government of Askatla took the initiative to spread the news that it defeated an Abyss Lord who was summoned to the material plane and an army of demons of astonishing size.
If this news is true, then Zuo Si's strength has reached the same level as his teacher Mansong or other goddess elects.
Coupled with their strong desire for revenge, the Arcane Brotherhood must be tired of living and would want to provoke such an enemy.
Unfortunately, Akerum Grace was completely unaware of the seriousness of the problem. With his eyelids drooping slightly, he responded in a nonchalant tone, "Sorry, it's too late. Just two days ago, the Luskan fleet had already set out, and together with the fleet and mercenaries of Mingtan Island, they headed towards the Nelanther Islands. If nothing unexpected happens, they should have entered the northern Sword Coast and started fighting by now."
"Damn it!"
Realizing that he was late, Ximanmeng couldn't help but curse loudly, then without saying a word, he cast a teleportation magic and disappeared without a trace, not even bothering to explain to the other party.
Because he knew that from the moment the war started, the person who decided the course of events changed from the Arcane Brotherhood to Zuo Si.
And Ximanmeng's abnormal behavior undoubtedly made Akelum Grace very confused.
It was the first time for the old man to see this always elegant man lose his composure like this.
However, he did not hesitate for too long. He immediately closed all the entrances to the Mage Tower and planned to carefully begin the lich transformation ceremony.
In fact, this is not the first time that Akelem Grace has tried, but the Nth time.
However, every time he reached an emergency, he had a feeling that he would inevitably fail if he continued, so he stopped on his own initiative.
At the same time, far off the Whalebone Islands in the north of the Sword Coast, Luskan's massive pirate fleet was gathering and arranging itself into battle formation, led by five great commanders, or senior pirate captains.
They are Tal, Balam, Kurth, Surjek and Resnoor.
As "heroes" who can stand out from many pirates, these people must have rich combat experience.
Many of them had fought against the regular navy and captured at least one or two large warships from the other side.
At this moment, a total of three or four hundred ships of various sizes were divided into five teams, keeping a very close distance and approaching the Nalanther Islands fleet, which was less than one-fifth of their size.
Since they had an absolute advantage in both numbers of men and ships, and there were dozens of mages and apprentices on board who could provide long-range fire support, all the great commanders adopted aggressive tactics without exception, hoping to crush the opponent's fighting spirit in one wave.
Looking at the enemy rushing over aggressively, Vanessa, who was standing on the deck, showed a contemptuous expression and said without looking back: "It's time. Come on, let's teach these frogs in the well a lesson and let them understand the absolute difference in strength."
"Is it necessary to go through so much trouble? I think summoning two water element elders, a wind element elder, or a purgatory squid or a celestial whale will easily destroy these fragile wooden ships."
Habaser Delin, who had just joined the organization, complained in a low voice.
As the owner of the Baldur's Gate Witch Grocery Store, he obviously prefers researching and improving various techniques for making magic items rather than fighting.
If it weren't for the emergence of the Red Wizard Concession, which greatly squeezed the profits of his business, he would not have finally agreed to transform himself into a lich and hand over the life box, becoming a core member of the organization.
Vanessa's original promise was to destroy the Red Wizard's concession in Baldur's Gate and completely monopolize the city's magical resources.
"Don't underestimate the Arcane Brotherhood. Although most of their members are low-level wizards and apprentices, several tower masters are still quite powerful. What's more, under the enhancement of magic rituals, these people can exert spellcasting levels far beyond their actual strength." Tailantier couldn't help but interject.
Unlike Habaser Delin, his reason for joining was different. He joined in pursuit of immortality and more knowledge and spells.
However, after witnessing the organization's rich collection of books, spell backups, and many unheard-of theoretical knowledge, Tailantier felt that his choice was right.
Moreover, the organization's relatively neutral style of operation is quite in line with his taste.
"You're right. That's why I gathered so many core members. Alright, stop talking nonsense and come over here to prepare for the ceremony. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can call it a day. I still have to rush to Mingtan Island to clean up the mess."
After saying that, Vanessa took the initiative to step forward and stood in the middle of the magic circle drawn on the deck. She slowly raised her hands and began to chant an awkward spell.
Several other liches followed closely behind and stood in their own positions, manipulating the energy of the magic network to resonate with the former.
Since there was no cover, violent magical fluctuations began to reverberate around the sea surface after a few minutes.
In particular, the originally calm sea surface suddenly became turbulent.
From time to time, huge waves can even reach more than ten meters high.
The small boats in the Luskan fleet were overturned and broken into pieces by the waves without any attention.
As for the people on the boat, they sank to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish, without even a chance of being rescued.
"What's going on?"
As the commander-in-chief, Balam couldn't help but ask an Arcane Brotherhood mage on his ship.
Since the latter's spellcasting level was not high, he could not tell what this high-level magic ritual was, and stammered to explain: "Maybe... maybe the enemy realized that they were at a disadvantage, so they wanted to use this method to create a bad battlefield environment, so that our small boats could not be used."
"real?"
Balam obviously didn't believe this.
Because summoning a storm at sea through magical power is undoubtedly a very dangerous thing.
It is not only dangerous to the enemy, but also to yourself.
Just when the wizard was about to say something, an extremely huge vortex suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the sea separating the two fleets.
Several ships that were moving faster were instantly sucked into the vortex and torn into pieces under the gaze of countless eyes.
This scene made pirate captains like Balam terrified, and even the four tower masters of the Arcane Brotherhood realized that something was wrong.
But before they could react, a giant beast as big as an island suddenly stretched out from the whirlpool and crashed directly into Luskan's fleet at lightning speed.
Since all the sailboats were moving at full speed, inertia made it impossible for them to turn quickly. As a result, at least a dozen ships rushed forward and crashed into the water, smashing it to pieces.
Many sailors even had their brains burst on the spot when they hit the rock-hard shell, and some were pierced through the chest by the protruding spikes. It was clear without asking that there was no hope of saving them.
When the entire giant beast emerged from the bottom of the sea, everyone could see its full appearance.
It was a super giant turtle that could not be described in words, but its head and tail showed the characteristics of a dragon.
When it opens its mouth, it can spit out high-temperature steam from inside.
Any unlucky person caught in this range will be steamed alive in an instant.
If you die on the spot, you are lucky, at least you don't suffer too much pain.
But if it does not die on the spot but is half-dead, the painful wails will continue until it falls into the sea and drowns.
"Dragon...Dragon Turtle! It's the Ancient Dragon Turtle!!!!!!"
The Arcane Brotherhood mage on Balam's ship couldn't help but let out a shrill scream, his face full of horror.
Because on the sea, there is nothing more terrifying than encountering a dragon turtle.
Especially the dragon turtles that have reached the "Ancient" age group are even more terrifying than the Ancient dragons.
Its enormous size and indestructible shell alone are enough to render most physical attacks and magic powerless.
"Turn! Turn quickly! Stay away from this monster!"
Balam was also panicked at this moment, and shouted at his men to turn the rudder.
He had been sailing on the sea for so many years, but this was the first time he had seen this legendary terrifying monster that could overturn a ship.
There is no doubt that from the moment the ancient dragon turtle was summoned, the fate of the Luskan fleet was sealed.
This behemoth could send more than a dozen ships and their crews to the bottom of the sea with just one collision.
By raising its front limbs and gently slapping the sea surface, huge waves more than ten meters high can be created in an instant.
The size of the ship and the number of combatants all lost their meaning at this moment; all that awaited them was massacre and death.
All wizards and warlocks who mastered magic of the third level or above quickly cast flying spells to try to escape.
Unfortunately, Vanessa was obviously prepared for this. She immediately led a group of liches and her apprentices to attack, either forcing the dragon turtle to give up resistance and surrender, or directly used a magic to dispel the opponent's flying skill, making the opponent fall from the sky and become a "snack" for the dragon turtle.
The fleet of the Nalanther Islands followed closely behind the dragon turtle, taking over those enemy ships that were scared to death by the dragon turtle and hoisted the white flag.
The battle lasted only ten minutes from start to finish.
The fleet that Luskan, the City of a Thousand Sails, was so proud of was sunk, surrendered, captured, and not even a single ship escaped.
Because although the ancient dragon turtle is huge in size, its movement speed is not slow, at least much faster than a sailboat propelled by wind.
As the last ship also hoisted the white flag, Vanessa immediately sent back the ancient dragon turtle that was summoned by the magic ritual, and began to count the captives and spoils.
You know, these pirates were not idle when they went south. They took the opportunity to rob many merchant ships belonging to Neverwinter and Waterdeep.
In some of the ship's cells, one could even find naked women who had been violated to the point of being in a trance and experiencing mental breakdown.
"Master, what are we going to do with these captives?"
Eric, the nominal supreme ruler of the Nelanther Islands, asked cautiously.
"Lord Soth said that we don't need to have any sympathy or mercy towards the pirates of Luskan. I will simply identify all those who have been involved in this business for more than a year and turn them all into undead. As for those who have been in this business for less than a year, I will lock them up and send them to quarries and mines as laborers."
Vanessa gave a straightforward solution.
According to his idea, these evil pirates should all be transformed into undead creatures to accept eternal pain and torture.
Soon, at the order of the fleet's supreme commander, the screening of Luskan pirates began.
Since a large portion of the fleet captains of the Nelanther Islands are evil and lawful hobgoblins, they are very efficient in implementing and executing orders.
In just less than an hour, more than 2,000 captives were driven to the decks of several large ships according to their one-year pirate service, ready to meet their fate.
Some veteran pirates who had been engaged in piracy for many years thought that the other party was planning to recruit their experienced people, so they all behaved very calmly.
After all, recruiting good men from captives has long been an unwritten rule and practice among pirates.
On the contrary, the newbies were extremely nervous, fearing that they would be slaughtered or sold as slaves.
You have to know that in Luskan, the slave trade is legal and can be carried out openly.
In this strange atmosphere, Vanessa used her flying skills to arrive above one of the boats of captives and began to cast spells without saying a word.
After a while, the cold and creepy negative energy enveloped everyone on the ship.
Before his captives realized what was happening, he extended his bony hands and made a gentle grasping motion.
The next second...
boom!!!!!!
Astonishing negative energy gushed out from the crowd, ending the lives of hundreds of people on the spot.
Not only that!
In the next ten seconds or so, the dead bodies stood up again.
Some of them turned into zombies, some turned into ghouls, and some lost their flesh and were left with only pale skeletons.
But the common point is that, unlike ordinary low-level and unintelligent undead, they still retain their consciousness and memories from their previous lives.
Obviously, this is not an ordinary transformation ritual, but a ritual to imprison the soul of the deceased in the dead body for one's own use.
It was such a horrifying scene that all the captives were frightened to the point of peeing their pants.
But the sailors of the Nelanther Islands, who were already accustomed to it, did not care at all. Instead, they discussed with great interest what special uses these undead souls would have.
After all, the wonderful life they and their families have now depends on the non-stop work of these dead souls day and night.
Over time, one naturally loses the fear of the undead.
Vanessa calmly took out the [Tome of Commanding the Undead] she had gotten from Zuo Si, and directly released a dazzling light that enveloped all the undead creatures that had just been transformed.
moment!
These guys who had free will in the last second became loyal servants in the next second.
As a low-level undead, even if it has independent consciousness and memory, it is still unable to resist the absolute control of the [Tome of Command over the Undead].
Needless to say, Vanessa did this in order to inject more flexible tactics into the undead army under her command.
Otherwise, once the undead lieutenants were killed in battle, the low-level undead under their command would instantly fall into chaos.
In this way, one ship after another was transformed, and before long, almost two-thirds of the captives were turned into undead creatures.
After doing all this, the lich immediately winked at Eric.
The latter understood what he meant and immediately stood up and shouted at the prisoners who were so frightened that their legs went limp and they were sitting on the deck, "Be thankful! You filthy sea bugs!
Since you have not been Luskan pirates for long, the master has decided to forgive you mercifully and give you a chance to start a new life.
From now on, you will be assigned to serve hard labor in mines and quarries for at least five years.
As long as you behave well during this period, you will be free after five years.”
There is no doubt that these words were like heavenly music to the captives who had just witnessed thousands of their companions being turned into undead captives by the slaughter of necromancy.
As the saying goes, there is no harm without comparison.
If we had told these guys at the beginning that they would have to serve five years of hard labor before they could regain their freedom, they would have certainly held a grudge and tried every possible way to be lazy and escape.
But now, they only feel relief and gratitude for surviving the disaster.
Yes!
You heard it right!
The captives actually felt grateful to the lich for sparing their lives. They knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, expressing their determination to turn over a new leaf and mend their ways.
Eric, a veteran pirate, felt it was very absurd when he saw this scene.
He even couldn't help but wonder, if he hadn't made the right choice to clean himself up, would he now be the same as the other party, being purged by those terrible liches.
Of course, there was no point in thinking about this now.
As the nominal ruler of the Nelanther Islands, Eric has long been a winner in life that everyone envies.
Even if he did nothing, he could live quite comfortably just by relying on the share of trade and protection fees. He even held a lavish wedding not long ago and officially married Captain Hallett's illegitimate daughter as his wife.
Since she didn't know that her father died because of Eric's betrayal, the young girl had no objection to the marriage.
In fact, among pirate groups, it has always been a tradition to let the most trusted subordinates or brothers marry their daughters or sisters.
Doing so not only establishes kinship based on blood ties, but also improves loyalty, which is simply killing two birds with one stone.
What's more, Eric is already the undisputed "King of the Nelanther Islands" and is definitely a top figure in the Ferenc Sea. Even many nobles and wealthy businessmen are willing to send their daughters to marry him.
As for Harlet's lover who knew part of the truth, he did not dare to expose the other party's lies at this time, for fear of terrible revenge.
Not only that, she also half-heartedly became his secret mistress, allowing the man who killed Harlett to vent his twisted desires on her.
After all, the social atmosphere in Ferron is so open in this regard that you can't expect a woman who can only see Harlet secretly a few times a year to have an everlasting love for him.
Just the opposite!
The reason why this woman was willing to become Harlett's mistress was that the other party could provide her with a large sum of money so that she could enjoy a good life like a lady.
Now that Harlet is dead, it makes no essential difference to her to have another man to lean on.
The only drawback is that Eric is not as handsome as Harlet and can't say sweet words to please women.
But the advantage is that he is stronger, more durable and more ferocious in some aspects, which can bring a different and fresh experience.
…
Just after the battle with Luskan's main fleet in the northern part of Sword Coast ended, on the island of Mindan far in the south, the fleet and mercenaries who had not yet had time to set out were blocked in the port by the red dragon.
Wilmes was like the red god of death that descended from the sky. His breath of scorching flames ignited the opponent's flagship on the spot, turning it into a huge burning fireball.
Not a single person on the ship escaped; all of them died or were injured, wailing in the sea of fire.
"What's going on? Why would a dragon attack this place? Didn't they already pay tribute to Hundar this year?"
The red-robed wizard G'niel suddenly rushed out of the tavern, his face full of shock and disbelief.
Apparently, she had confused Vermes with another red dragon that had made its lair near Mintan Island.
But unfortunately, no one can answer this question.
Although the mercenaries and sailors near the port tried desperately to use large equipment such as crossbows and ballistas to shoot at the dragon.
However, with the wide range of thinking perception of the strange object, all these human thoughts were collected and passed on to Wilmes.
This directly led to the latter knowing where the crossbows and ballistas that could threaten them were, their current angles and aiming directions, without even looking, and then destroying them at an extremely fast speed.
After about a few minutes, all the crossbows and bed crossbows were burned to ashes by the dragon's flame breath.
Whether it was the ships in the harbor, or the houses and people fleeing on the ground, they all became sitting ducks.
The destructive power of a red dragon to a town was vividly demonstrated at this moment.
Just as the burning, killing and looting awakened the long-dormant violent emotions in Wilmes and he was about to turn the city into a complete ruin, the red-robed wizard Garnier could no longer sit still. He immediately walked out with his Ser mercenaries and shouted to the giant beast above his head through the loudspeaker: "Stop! Stop now! Hundal! Whatever you want, we can talk about it now."
"Huendal?"
When Wilmes heard the name, he immediately looked puzzled, then dived down to the ground.
The moment she fell, Garnier immediately realized that he had made a fatal mistake.
The red dragon in front of him was not Huendal, who lived on another nearby island, but another red dragon.
Because the latter is at least two sizes larger than the former.
This means that their age group may have reached middle age or even old age.
Gulp!
The extremely nervous Sel mercenaries present swallowed their saliva at the same time.
The mercenary captain, in particular, lowered his head and glanced at the +1 magic sword in his hand. He was not sure whether this thing could leave any mark on the dragon scales.
"Tell me, woman, who is Huendal?" Wilmes lowered his head and asked with his eyes flowing like lava.
It was obvious that she had evil intentions towards this fellow.
On the one hand, he planned to plunder the treasure in the opponent's nest, and on the other hand, he wanted to capture the opponent and then take it back to mate with the female Ashtellanther day and night to lay more dragon eggs.
You should know from the name Huendal that it is a male red dragon.
"I...I think there might be some misunderstanding between us."
Sweat soaked Garnier's iconic red robe in a very short time.
"Last chance! Tell me who Hundar is! And where is his lair!"
Wilmes obviously had no patience, and hot sparks instantly spewed out of his nostrils, leaving a large number of black burn spots on the opponent's exposed face and neck.
But Ghaniel didn't dare to move, let alone scream. He endured the pain and replied, "Huendar is an adult male red dragon. His lair is on a volcanic island only sixty kilometers west of here. I assure you that there are mountains of treasures in his lair, and there is also a powerful magic item."
Needless to say, this sinister and cunning red-robed wizard wanted to take advantage of Wilmes's greed and make him leave Mingtan Island to fight another red dragon.
Unfortunately, her wishful thinking was directly exposed by the strange object, which reminded her through telepathy: "Don't be fooled! This guy is using you. We must complete the task assigned by the master first."
"I know this without you reminding me."
Wilmes replied unhappily, then immediately raised his front paws and uttered dragon language from his mouth that most mortals could not understand.
The next second...
A magic of dispelling was cast on Garnier on the spot, removing several protective spells cast on him.
Immediately after that, the strange object was thrown over with a mind control, and the red-robed wizard was completely turned into a controlled puppet.
Not only her, but also the Sel mercenaries behind her who were responsible for protecting her safety.
Since the previous ruler, Tarnsir Embiilhan, had been killed in a coup, and the temporarily elected mercenary leader was also burned to ashes in the flames, the entire Mingtan Island inevitably fell into a state of chaos with no leader.
But soon, with the assistance of the red-robed wizard and the Sel mercenaries, Wilmes brought this small port city and its surrounding islands under his control.
By the time Vanessa and her men were teleported over, only a handful of tribes were still resisting sporadically.
The great wizard who specialized in necromancy had no intention of being polite at all. He immediately slaughtered all the mercenaries and turned them into part of his own undead army.
You have to know that in the Sword Coast area, almost all wars are closely related to these mercenaries who make money from war.
Sometimes, in order to make money, they would even take the initiative to stir up conflicts between two forces or two lords.
Therefore, Zuo Si was extremely disgusted with these guys who only brought war, death, destruction and chaos, and directly regarded them as enemies of civilization along with orcs, goblins and gnolls.
When the population structure of the entire Mingtan Island was combed through from beginning to end and all the survivors were trembling and hiding in their homes, Zuo Si finally appeared on the streets littered with corpses and charred buildings through teleportation magic.
"Sir, Mingtan Island is now completely under our control. How do you think we should deal with the red-robed wizards and Sel mercenaries who are deeply involved in it?" Vanessa asked immediately.
"Have you obtained all the intelligence and information in their minds?" Zuo Si asked casually.
"Of course! In the face of psychic powers, no one can keep secrets except constructs and undead."
When saying this, the lich's tone clearly revealed his undisguised gloating.
Because through Garnier, he had learned about the number of people and defense status of the Red Wizards in the main towns and concessions on the west coast.
This means that as long as Zuo Si gives an order, the entire organization can uproot the Red Robe Wizard's power from this area and replace it.
"Was this action instructed by those chiefs, or was it a private act by this woman?" Zuo Si asked the question that concerned him most directly.
Vanessa immediately replied, "Based on the information we have so far, I tend to think that Garnier planned this operation on his own, but the top leaders of the Red Wizards also acquiesced."
"So... this is a test for us?"
Zuo Si's eyes lit up slightly, and he immediately understood the other party's plan.
Vanessa nodded. "You can say that. So how you respond next is crucial. If you appear too weak, the other party will take advantage of it. If you respond too fiercely, it may lead to an all-out war."
"Hahahaha! It looks like the Red Wizard's high-level officials have given us a difficult problem.
But it doesn't matter. My principle is never to make choices based on answers given by others.
It would be better to let Garnier issue orders to the strongholds and concessions under her control to attack the dark intelligence network of the Zhentarim at all costs.
Anyway, in this incident, both parties are our enemies.
Then we will release Garnier and see how the top red wizards will deal with this mess."
Zuo Si laughed and gave a perfect solution.
He was looking forward to how Manshoon and Sazastan would handle this conflict and whether they would throw G'Haniel out as a scapegoat.
"As you wish."
Vanessa bent down and bowed deeply.
The decision Zuo Si just made happened to coincide with his thoughts.
Nothing is more likely to create discord and confusion between two enemies.
And even if the top leaders are clear-headed, the heavy casualties among the people below will accumulate enough hatred.
In many cases, with just a little incitement, this hatred can quickly turn into actual acts of revenge.
When dealing with a top spellcasting organization like the Red Wizards, choosing to confront them head-on is the most foolish thing to do.
Because the former controls a country with a vast territory and has established a complete mechanism for training mages, which can provide a steady supply of talent reserves.
Isn't Storm Queen Xinbu, one of the chosen ones of the Goddess of Magic, powerful enough?
But it's the same as being annoyed by the various conspiracies and harassment from the red-robed wizard.
Therefore, Zuo Si hoped to give the other party a warning through this incident, and at the same time demonstrate his own strength and means, so that Sazastan would understand that it was not a wise choice to be his enemy.
(End of this chapter)
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