This is the birthplace of the fire giants, and it is also their hometown and capital, as well as the place of their spirit and faith.

No matter where the fire giants are, whether they have established their own colonies or even countries in certain planes and the material world, they will still be loyal to the Sultan in the Burning Palace in the center of this city.

Because in their eyes, the Sultan is not only a secular monarch and supreme ruler, but also the supreme god of the entire race.

No one knows when the Sultan of the Fire Giants was born, and no one knows whether he personally created the power and prosperity of the entire Fire Giant tribe today.

The only thing he knew was that within the range of the City of Brass, he possessed the power to easily change all the laws of physics and magic.

Even a "quasi-divine power" like the Prince of Fire Element could be easily suppressed, sealed, and killed by him.

In fact, the City of Brass is built on a brass hemisphere with a diameter of about 65 kilometers.

The curved side faces downward, and all buildings and streets are built on the plane above.

The most important thing is that it is not located in the endless sea of ​​fire and magma on the ground, but is floating.

Although the height is very close to the ground, the fire giants can raise it to hundreds or even thousands of meters at any time as long as they wish.

Yes!

The City of Brass is a typical floating city, located in the center of the Fire Elemental Plane, directly above a cracked obsidian slab. A river of fire slowly passes through the tightly guarded city gate. Behind the gate is a burning basalt staircase several hundred meters high leading directly into the city.

Unless you have the ability to fly, you will have to undergo strict inspection by the fire giant guards.

But no sane visitor would choose to fly directly over the city walls.

That means that once caught, the patrol team will make things difficult for him, and he might even receive a huge fine that is enough to bankrupt a high-level wizard.

In addition, the City of Brass is one of the few places in the entire Fire Elemental Plane that is suitable for ordinary people to live in.

The harsh environment of the Fire Elemental Plane, with its ubiquitous high temperatures, flames, magma, etc., is forcibly suppressed here by the unimaginable power of the Fire Giant Sultan.

Many mortals who want to explore the Elemental Plane of Fire or look for something will choose to come here as their first stop, so the City of Brass is very well-known, and anyone with a little knowledge of the planes knows about it.

Portals to Baator can be seen everywhere in this city, as well as demons coming to conduct diplomacy, carry out missions, and give gifts.

Since both are evil and lawful, fire giants and demons have very similar values ​​and have always been potential allies.

In addition, the fire giants have the ability to teleport across dimensions on a large scale, and the demons just need this ability to help them send spies or troops, so the two sides can be said to have hit it off.

It is said that every devil duke is secretly trying to win over the ruling class of the fire giants, and for this purpose he would not hesitate to pack up the wealth and magical items plundered from the material world and send them as gifts to the Sultan.

In particular, the treasury within the palace was said to contain enough wealth to buy a hundred material worlds.

Many dragon gods, including Tiamat, dream of coming here one day to grab a piece of the spoils.

Some magical weapons are so powerful that even the gods are afraid of them.

After all, in the City of Brass, there is more than just Sultan, a powerful fire giant.

At the same time, there are six servants - Pashas - who are comparable to demigods or even have weak divine powers and are directly under the Supreme Sultan, as well as a large number of high-level nobles with quasi-divine powers and ordinary nobles who have reached the legendary level.

Even the most common Fire Giant civilian can easily crush a five-man adventure team with an average level between LV6 and LV7.

So even though the City of Brass does not cover a large area and the number of resident fire giant troops is not as endless as demons and devils, no one or force dares to cause trouble here.

On the streets, even evil, insidious and cunning legendary creatures like the Pit Fiends had "friendly" smiles on their faces, chatting with the obviously taller and stronger fire giant nobles, discussing some unknown cooperation projects.

No one noticed that in a mansion next to the central palace, one of the six Pashas, ​​whose status was second only to the Sultan, was sitting on a chair inlaid with gems. He stared at the mortal wizard standing in front of him with interest. After a full minute, he asked, "So you admit that you have failed? You know, this is not a trivial matter! Whether it is the contract scroll that seals the fire elemental prince, Rezelil, or the statues infused with heroic spirits, they are all the property of the great Sultan."

“It’s not my fault!

There was something wrong with the intelligence! Soth was more than just the chosen one of the two goddesses.

There seems to be a bigger secret hidden in his body.

I saw with my own eyes that the Fire Elemental Prince Rezelil was hit by a ball of light flying out of his chest.

Then it quickly collapsed and died within a few seconds, as if all its energy had been sucked away.

Moreover, through some unknown means, Soth released thousands of large-scale frost spells in one breath, destroying a legion of fire elements in less than three minutes.

In addition, that terrible artifact has actually been fully charged.

I seriously suspect that there was something wrong with the result of the last divination using the wishing technique."

Erinikas, with an old face, defended himself with gritted teeth.

He swore that if he had known in advance that Zuo Si would grow so fast and have so many hidden cards, he would never have taken action immediately after returning.

"Oh? You killed the Fire Elemental Prince Rezelil with just one strike? Are you sure?" There was a strange light flashing in the fire giant's eyes.

Erinikas responded without hesitation: "I am very sure! It is a kind of power I have never seen before. It is not a spell. Because there is no sign of fluctuation in either the magic network or the raw magic energy. Rather than saying that the Fire Elemental Prince Rezelil was killed, it would be more appropriate to say that he was eaten."

"Super energy absorption? This ability sounds very interesting.

Since you brought back some useful information, I will not hold you responsible for your failure this time.

but……

The debt for the lost heroic statue and contract scroll still needs to be repaid.

You now owe the Great Sultan an artifact and an item of equal value to the above two.

As for the five lost magic bottles that sealed the criminals, let’s forget about them for now.”

The fire giant acted very magnanimously.

But anyone with a brain knows that owing a debt to these evil creatures is no worse than signing a contract to sell your soul to the devil.

Because the debts of the fire giants always require interest.

And this kind of interest is often horrific usury with compound interest.

Once the debt is incurred, even a legendary wizard's ability to make money will make it impossible to repay it.

Of course, Erinikas had no intention of repaying the money from the beginning, so instead of showing any nervousness, he took the initiative to suggest, "Can you lend me some more powerful magic items or artifacts? I plan to return to Faerun to investigate all the information about Soth, and then look for an opportunity to find his enemies to cooperate with."

Hearing this, the fire giant couldn't help but reveal a mocking smile, pointing at his nose and asked back: "Mortal! Do you think I am a fool? Or do you think I don't know what is going on in your mind at this moment? June Ernicus, please remember that no one can owe a debt to the Sultan and not pay it back.

Whether you become a so-called god or die accidentally, I have a way to make you pay off this debt with interest.

The only difference is how painful the process is.”

“…”

Erinikas lowered his head in silence and did not respond.

He was obviously very clear that with his current strength he could not fight against the powerful fire giant Pasha in front of him.

Especially in the City of Brass, the other party could kill you without a burial place with just a flick of their finger.

The two sides remained in a stalemate for about two or three minutes before the fire giant waved his hand to signal the other side that they could leave.

After getting permission, Erinikas didn't even pause for a second, and immediately activated the inter-dimensional teleportation spell and disappeared on the spot.

As soon as he left, a tall and sturdy hell demon came out through the wall, grinned and asked meaningfully: "Well, do you know how special this guy named Soth is now?"

The fire giant smiled and nodded: "Ah! I see. Thank you very much for the valuable information sent by the great Lord of the Nine Hells Asmodeus. But I still have a small question, why are you willing to pay such an astonishing price just to lure it to any level of Baator?"

"Because according to the judgment of the Lord of the Nine Hells, Soth's soul has qualities that cannot be described in words. Once he becomes one of us, it will inevitably cause a shock to the entire plane, and even add an entire layer out of thin air, directly turning the Nine Layers of Hell into Ten Layers, greatly strengthening the power of the Devil Legion, and then helping us add a heavyweight to the scales of the bloody battle."

When saying this, there was an obvious hint of fanaticism in the tone of the Deep Hell Fiend.

Unlike the chaotic demons of the Abyss, devils are symbols of order, and so have a strong sense of identity and racial identity.

The more advanced the devil is, the more keen he is to participate in bloody battles, eager to kill all the damn demons.

It would be great if I could one day charge into the abyss and put an end to this mortal enemy once and for all.

Unfortunately, in this war, which is said to be the longest-lasting, most deadly, cruelest, bloodiest, and most unscrupulous war in the multiverse, the devils of hell have always been at an absolute disadvantage in terms of both numbers and hard power.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see this clearly.

After all, under the iron-fisted rule of Asmodeus, the devil formed eight demon generals to integrate all the resources and troops of Baator, which is equivalent to a powerful military empire with extremely strong expansion capabilities.

But even so, they can only barely maintain a state of equal strength.

But what about the abyss demons?

No matter whether it is the "Big Three" who are great monarchs or other powerful lords of the abyss, every one of them is fighting among themselves crazily, and the conquests between them have never stopped at all.

To be precise, the number of demons who went to participate in the bloody battle was not even one-tenth of the army they deployed in the civil war.

Therefore, the high-level officials in Hell are very clear that it is impossible to defeat the demons by simply exhausting their own strength.

This is also why the previous lord of the first level of hell, "Daughter of Destruction" Zariel, who had made great achievements in battle and created one miraculous victory after another, was eventually replaced by Bayer, who was more conservative in tactics and better at defense.

The reason is very simple! Although Zariel has won countless victories, it was based on the huge casualties suffered by the Devil Legion.

In other words, it means hurting the enemy by 1,000 but hurting yourself by 800.

A tragic victory like this was not what Asmodeus wanted at all.

In contrast, although Bayer can never help the Hell camp win the bloody battle, he can hold the current defense line with minimal losses, which coincides with the Lord of the Nine Hells' plan for the next stage.

Therefore, the reason Bayer was able to rise to power was not because he was better, more cunning, more insidious, or more patient than Zariel, but was the result of Asmodeus' secret manipulation, nothing more.

"Can you add an entire level to Baator Hell out of thin air?!"

The fire giant leaned forward slightly, his face full of shock and disbelief.

You have to know that the last time an angel of the level of "Daughter of Destruction" Zariel fell and died, and was eventually resurrected to become the lord of the first layer, she was unable to expand the plane of hell much.

He really couldn't imagine what kind of mortal could directly bring an entire extra dimension to Hell.

"Haha, although this sounds outrageous, it is indeed true. So as long as Soth sets foot on the land of Baator, the great Asmodeus will offer you and the great Sultan a conquered material world as a reward."

After saying this, the Hellfire placed one hand on his chest and bowed deeply, then turned and left the mansion, passing through one of the portals connecting to the last layer of the Nine Hells - Nessus.

Similarly, the fire giant Pasha immediately went to the palace to report this important information to the supreme ruler of the City of Brass.

After all, the bloody battle between demons and devils is no longer just a matter between the two sides, but also concerns the balance of order and chaos in the multiverse.

…

At the same time, Zuo Si, who was far away in the sewers of Askatla in Feren, was looking at the card he had just made in his hand.

[Treasure Card: Bottle of Greed]

[LV9 blue card (cannot be upgraded)]

[Card Quality: Precious]

[Effect: After this card is activated, the planeswalker can make a wish to the fire giant in the bottle, and the effect is equivalent to the wishing spell of the Nine Rings.

However, unlike ordinary wishes, wishes made with the Bottle of Greed do not consume any magic power or spell materials, and wishes can be made one by one or five wishes can be made at the same time.

When all fifteen wishes are used up, the card will automatically enter the cemetery and regenerate in one day.

[You don’t need to pay any mana to use this card]

Obviously, Zuo Si directly castrated the five magic-sealing bottles, removing the parts that could summon the fire giants to fight and serve, and only retained the most basic wish-making ability, making a treasure card that could be recycled.

Although it seems a bit disadvantageous on the surface, in fact, with the power he now possesses, the combat power of a few fire giants has long been dispensable. Instead, the ability to make wishes is more important, which can at least increase all six basic attributes by five points.

Most importantly, the rebirth time of this card is so short, and no mana is required when using it. It is completely free of charge to use the Fire Giant's three wishes that are granted to non-Giant creatures every day.

Without any hesitation!

Zuo Si directly activated this card and made a wish to improve his intelligence, perception, and agility attributes.

In the blink of an eye, intelligence increased from 29 points to 34 points, perception increased from 25 points to 30 points, and agility increased from 22 points to 27 points.

As the card turned into a ray of light and disappeared completely from his hand, he immediately felt that his brain became clearer and sharper than before. At the same time, his will became exceptionally strong, his intuition more sensitive, and even his body's coordination and nerve reflex speed were greatly improved.

The pursuit of transcendence is a human trait and instinct.

This most intuitive feeling of becoming stronger and the resulting indescribable sense of pleasure immediately gave Zuo Si a strong sense of addiction.

At this moment, he could fully understand why the old dragon Nicol Bolas was so eager to restore the powerful power that the planeswalkers originally possessed.

If I had also ignited the spark and become one of the ancient mages during the period before the time rift was repaired, I would most likely have followed the same path as him.

It feels like a billionaire's assets suddenly shrink and he becomes a millionaire.

Although in the eyes of other spellcasters, the planeswalker is still a bug, but in the eyes of the ancient planeswalker, the spark power he now possesses is simply incomparable to before.

"Owner……"

Just as Zuo Si was immersed in the happiness brought by the improvement of his basic attributes, the vampire queen Badi walked over cautiously from not far away.

In order to avoid the high temperature flames released by the appearance of the Fire Elemental Prince, she had no choice but to transform into a bat and escape a long distance. After making sure it was safe, she turned back the same way, not knowing what had just happened.

"Has Erinikas contacted you?" Zuo Si asked without turning his head.

Badi quickly shook his head: "No. I think he must have escaped to another dimension and he probably can't contact me for the time being."

"In that case, then you should return to your lair under the cemetery. Remember, if Erinikas contacts you, you should continue to lurk by his side, find out all his plans and actions, and then send them to the Mage Tower via magic transmission."

Zuo Si thought for a moment and then immediately gave instructions.

Although he did not think that Erinikas' current strength could cause him any trouble, the legendary adventure of the Son of Bhaal still required this guy to continue to play his role, so he just needed to keep an eye on him for the time being and there was no need to kill him.

"Understood! Your will is my command."

Badi bowed respectfully, then transformed into a bat again and quickly returned to the cemetery along the intricate sewers.

After she walked away, Zuo Si turned around and cast his gaze towards Wilmes, who looked a little listless due to excessive blood loss. He smiled and praised, "You performed well today. I am very satisfied. Remember this feeling. In a battle between truly strong men, only those who dare to risk their lives at the critical moment are qualified to survive. This is especially true for a warrior like you who doesn't like magic but prefers melee combat."

"Damn it! Stop talking about this bullshit. Can't you see that I need treatment?" Wilmes urged unhappily.

At this moment, she no longer had the arrogance and pride she usually had. Her entire body was covered with wounds of varying sizes and depths.

Moreover, the wings used as a shield had long been tattered and looked like a torn rag.

Even the left eyelid was cut deeply by a sharp weapon.

If it were just a little bit higher, the entire eyeball would be fatally damaged.

It can be said that today's battle was the most brutal, dangerous, and death-closest bloody battle this female red dragon had ever experienced since her birth.

But the rewards are also huge.

At least now she knows how to make good use of her advantages as a dragon.

"Lie down and don't move. I will treat you now."

Without saying a word, Zuo Si immediately raised the holy emblem and cast a seven-ring [Regeneration Spell], followed by several healing spells.

The reason for using [Regeneration] is that the wing membrane has been completely destroyed, many scales have either fallen off or been broken in the battle, and the end of the tail has been chopped off by heavy weapons such as axes. It is simply not something that can be cured by ordinary healing magic.

When the [Regeneration Technique] began to take effect, all of Wilmes' injuries were quickly healed after a short while.

Apart from the newly grown wing membrane that looks a bit fragile, the scales are also extremely thin and light in color, basically as if they are not injured.

However, within a week at most, the newly grown dragon wings and scales will gradually become no different from before.

After receiving treatment, Wilmes' mental state was obviously much better. He immediately came closer with a lick on his face and asked in an extremely greedy tone: "Since you think I performed well today, can you give me a little reward or something? I think these heroic statues are good."

"You want these magic statues?"

Zuo Si couldn't help but pursed his lips and stared at the other person with a slightly playful look.

"Is it not possible?"

Wilmes subconsciously stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, obviously his deep desire for treasure had arisen again.

After all, these statues can summon heroic spirits, so any one of them can be sold at a high price of more than 100,000 gold coins. The golden ones are even more priceless and cannot be measured by money at all.

Any red dragon that values ​​money more than anything else would not easily give up such a treasure.

"If you think you can control these heroic spirits, I don't mind. But if their creators suddenly use some kind of power to awaken them all, you may have to fight again the battle just now." Zuo Si reminded meaningfully.

moment!

Wilmes's expression changed, and the words "follow your heart" were written on his forehead. He immediately shook his head and said, "Forget it, you can keep it for yourself."

"A wise choice. You should know that these heroic statues are most likely the creations of the Fire Giant Sultan. Not everyone can control them casually."

After saying that, Zuo Si raised his arm and hooked his fingers, and the statues that had fallen to the ground immediately floated up and flew straight to the front.

After briefly checking the production process, he also made it into a LV9 red treasure card.

No matter what means were hidden in these heroic statues, they completely lost their function from the moment they were made into cards.

After reading the detailed description of the twenty-four Heroic Spirits on the card in his hand, Zuo Si stroked his chin and said in a slightly teasing tone: "Now that I have the Heroic Spirits, can I hold a Holy Grail War in the area I control? For example, let the mages search for clues and holy relics about the Heroic Spirits in a city. The first seven people who find them can summon the corresponding Heroic Spirits to enter the final round. The final winner can win a wish spell?"

“Can I join?”

As soon as he heard there was a prize, Wilmes came over immediately.

You should know that the wishing spell can not only improve basic attributes, but also resurrect the dead and create a magic item worth no more than 25,000 gold coins.

This means that whether she sells resurrection opportunities through auction or chooses to make magic items, she can make a lot of money.

“Please, have some shame.

How dare you make such a request?

If you join the battle as a dragon, will it be fair to others? With your own strength alone, you can easily crush the other six contestants and the heroic spirits they summoned.

Why don't you just let me make a wish for you?"

Zuo Si's mouth twitched as he complained wildly.

But Wilmes nodded immediately and said, "That's fine. When are you going to give me this wishing spell? I have to arrange it in advance to make sure it can be sold at a high price."

"You really are... Forget it, since you want it, I'll give you one." Zuo Si shook his head speechlessly.

Thanks to the existence of the card [Bottle of Greed], wishing is no longer a rare thing for him and he can use it freely.

Upon hearing this, Wilmes, who received a positive answer, immediately showed an excited expression.

However, Zuo Si ignored this guy's reaction and turned his gaze to the mask that was stripped off from Erinikas' face.

Through simple identification, he was surprised to find that this thing was not only a disguised magic mask, but also used a large number of high-level and even legendary spell enchantments, and even mixed in a trace amount of divine power extracted from the ancient sun god Amaunator, and finally added a small piece of his own soul fragment.

[Mask of Erinikas]

Increases the spell slot from level 1 to 9 by 1 Provides permanent acceleration effect to the wearer

Intelligence attribute plus 5

Spell resistance increased by 20

There is a 10% chance that after successfully casting a spell, a super magic skill - spell twinning will be triggered, turning the original spell into two identical spells instantly. This mask is exclusive to Erinikas, and no one else can obtain the powerful magic power contained in it.

"Exclusive equipment? Soul binding? Is this some kind of magical skill unique to elves? Or was it created by Erinikas himself? Interesting. No wonder his face looked so ugly after the mask was torn off. But now that this thing has fallen into my hands, don't expect to keep the knowledge and secrets contained in it." Zuo Si muttered to himself in a voice that only he could hear.

There is no doubt that as a legendary wizard of elf origin, Erinikas is absolutely capable of creating legendary magic items and even sub-artifacts.

And he must have hidden something in the previous transaction.

At least Zuo Si had never seen even a single word about this kind of technology that could bind the soul and prevent the enemy from equipping or using it even if they obtained it in his previous books and notes.

(End of this chapter)