Chapter 306: A Deal in the Dark

The White Dragon Lord was shocked. Across all of Nordhill, there were tens of thousands of pieces of Legendary equipment, but only two Divine Artifacts. One was worn on the head of the archbishop of the Church of the God of Light and Justice, and the other was held by the Sea Race.

Even someone as powerful as Merlin Heavenly Principle did not possess a Divine Artifact of his own, which showed just how rare they were. The White Dragon Lord had never expected a Divine Artifact to be hidden beneath the Desolation of Extreme Winter.

Even though it was incomplete, its value far surpassed that of Legendary equipment.

"Speaker, this Divine Artifact seems to be missing its most important component, the staff head. Could the Cult of the Dragon have..."

Merlin Heavenly Principle shook his head.

"Impossible. The material of a Divine Artifact is incredibly hard, and destroying one triggers a terrible backlash. Those few small fries the Cult of the Dragon has in Nordhill don't have that kind of ability. Besides, if they were going to take it, they would have taken the whole thing."

Perhaps this Divine Artifact had been missing a piece from the very beginning.

The White Dragon Lord said no more and carefully observed the floating Divine Artifact. Beneath its gorgeous exterior hid breathtaking, mighty power. It was the power of ice and vitality, much like a winter night before the arrival of spring, when even thick snow and ice could not conceal the boundless life breeding within the soil.

Its attributes don't match mine. I am not fated with this treasure.

The White Dragon Lord thought to himself, shifting his gaze to the Altar beneath the Divine Artifact.

"Huh? Speaker, what kind of script is this? What does it say?"

The White Dragon Lord felt curious when he saw the wriggling, tadpole-like text along the edge of the Altar. Searching through his memories, he found no record of such a script.

"This is the writing of the Mormos People. As for what it says, I don't know either. This Altar is very ancient."

The White Dragon Lord did not know exactly how old Merlin Heavenly Principle was, but he knew the Mage had participated in that unprecedented war thirteen thousand years ago and made great contributions.

However, back then, Merlin Heavenly Principle was only an ordinary Legendary Mage. From this, it could be deduced that his age was around fourteen thousand years.

For the word "ancient" to pop out of the mouth of an old relic who had lived for over ten thousand years meant these Mormos People were truly ancient beyond ordinary imagination.

As if knowing what the White Dragon Lord was going to ask, Merlin Heavenly Principle continued.

"The Mormos People disappeared long before the Dragon Race entered the Nordhill Plane. The Council only knows of their existence through a few ancient ruins."

The White Dragon Lord fell silent. To think it was a civilization from before the dragons entered the plane.

At that time, humans were probably still just uncivilized savages, even inferior to wild monsters like gnolls. It was no wonder Merlin Heavenly Principle did not understand it either.

The White Dragon Lord and Merlin Heavenly Principle continued to observe the Divine Artifact. After a while, the White Dragon Lord noticed that the energy fluctuations radiating from it seemed to contain a hidden pattern.

As time passed, more and more Council members arrived at the bottom of the ice fissure, letting out gasps of amazement upon seeing the ice staff on the Altar.

With Merlin Heavenly Principle present, no one dared to snatch it. The crowd simply gathered around and watched.

After watching for a while, Kolkraf Quick, the burly leader of the Brotherhood, could no longer hold back.

"Speaker, why haven't you taken the Divine Artifact out? Is it impossible to remove?"

"It's not that I can't take it, but that it shouldn't be taken."

Merlin Heavenly Principle reached toward the Divine Artifact on the Altar. Just as he was about to touch it, the situation outside suddenly changed. The elemental energy of the Great Glacier descended into instant chaos. Merlin Heavenly Principle withdrew his hand, and the chaotic elements began to calm down.

Mages were the group most sensitive to the elements. Hegel asked in surprise, "What is going on?!"

"As you can see, this Divine Artifact seems to have some sort of connection with the elemental environment of the Great Glacier. Taking it away would cause an elemental imbalance across the Great Glacier, and could even further affect the climate and ecology of Nordhill."

The White Dragon Lord answered Hegel's question.

"Speaker, am I correct?"

Merlin Heavenly Principle nodded in approval.

"Correct. Therefore, until we figure out the connection between this Divine Artifact and the elements, no one can touch it."

With that said, Merlin Heavenly Principle glanced at Lilith.

"Lilith, what happened here?"

Hearing this, Lilith revealed a bitter smile and recounted the entire sequence of events.

Siegfried, the barbarian patriarch, had offered clues about the Divine Artifact in exchange for the Witches' Council's protection. It was only then that the Witches' Council conceived the idea of exploring the Great Glacier. After failing to recruit White Castle to stand against the Cult of the Dragon, the Witches' Council brought in the Raven Council, stationing themselves in the Desolation of Extreme Winter under the banner of resource development.

The Cult of the Dragon had expressed their dissatisfaction, but took no substantial action. The true goal of the Cult of the Dragon in Nordhill wasn't resources, but the Divine Artifact hidden deep within the Desolation of Extreme Winter. However, the clues they possessed were not as complete as those held by the Witches' Council.

Under the guise of resource exploration, the Witches' Council spent a few years pinning down the exact location of the Divine Artifact. Lilith and Denise had intended to secretly retrieve it, never expecting that they were being tailed—and by two separate groups, no less.

The two tails were Hegel of the Raven Council and five High-Tier Legends of the Cult of the Dragon. Indeed, aside from the three known High-Tier Legends on the surface, the Cult of the Dragon hid two more: two skeleton warriors, one lich, one dread knight, and one bone dragon.

Upon seeing the Divine Artifact, the Cult of the Dragon planned to immediately ambush the two witches. However, their scheme was ruined by Hegel, who had been hiding behind the scenes. The ambush turned into a head-on confrontation, and everyone knew what happened after that.

Everyone now understood the full story. Even though the Witches' Council had discovered the Divine Artifact, they hadn't managed to secure it. If it hadn't been for Merlin Heavenly Principle's timely reinforcement, Lilith, Denise, and Hegel might have died right here.

"How about this? This Divine Artifact will become the public property of the Council. What do you all think?"

Public ownership meant everyone would have a chance to use this Divine Artifact. And since Merlin Heavenly Principle himself had proposed it, the crowd naturally agreed in unison.

Lilith could only swallow her complaints and accept this outcome. After all, their lives had been saved by others.

The White Dragon Lord couldn't help but admire Merlin Heavenly Principle's wisdom and boldness. Not everyone had the resolve to refuse a Divine Artifact, even a damaged one.

However, if Merlin Heavenly Principle had claimed the Divine Artifact for himself, the crowd might not have voiced any objections, but it inevitably would have left the impression of him being excessively greedy. The Witches' Council would also hold a grudge, making it difficult for him to lead everyone in the future.

By making it Council property, not only would everyone feel grateful, but the Witches' Council would also have nothing to complain about.

Most crucially, deciding who got to use the Council's public property ultimately came down to a single word from the Speaker. It looked like Merlin Heavenly Principle had given up ownership of the Divine Artifact, but in reality, he hadn't lost anything.

Although the people present understood this, they would still feel grateful to Merlin Heavenly Principle.

Every party's desires were met, the victims—the Witches' Council—had no objections, and he suffered no real loss himself. To casually erase the hidden dangers brought by the Divine Artifact as effortlessly as a breeze blowing away clouds—this was Merlin Heavenly Principle's brilliance.

"Why not build a Mage Tower here? On one hand, it will protect the Divine Artifact, allowing us to provide timely support if anything happens. On the other hand, it will be convenient for all Council members to come and go to study it."

This proposal received unanimous approval, and the matter was settled just like that. However, most of the Council members did not leave. Under the guise of staying behind to protect the Divine Artifact, they were actually there to observe it.

Though this Divine Artifact was damaged, its value was immeasurable. The residual forging information on it could be used to deduce its forging process, and that seemingly natural magic Array was also a massive wealth of knowledge.

A Divine Artifact was not an object forged by a deity, but rather a general term for items of immense power that far exceeded Legendary equipment.

Forging such powerful equipment generally required the involvement of beings at the Abomination Rank. In other words, a Divine Artifact carried information regarding high-end knowledge. Naturally, the High-Tier Legends present wouldn't miss a chance to access knowledge at the Abomination Rank.

The White Dragon Lord was no exception. By the time he returned to White Castle, nearly a month had passed.

During this month, the White Dragon Lord and the others gathered around the Divine Artifact, exchanging insights. He gained a lot, and even learned some information about the Mormos People.

The Mormos People were the indigenous inhabitants of Nordhill in ancient times. Back when the Dragon Race was still in the Star Realm, they had already created a brilliant civilization in Nordhill.

For unknown reasons, the Mormos People vanished during a certain era. Perhaps they were destroyed by a powerful enemy, or perhaps they relocated to another plane. Only a few nearly vanished, dilapidated ruins proved that they had once existed.

Because it was so long ago, time had smoothed away the traces of the Mormos civilization. The Council members only knew of their past existence; as for their society, culture, and other aspects, they knew virtually nothing.

"Perhaps those entities in the deep sea know more."

An Elf who had lived for nearly ten thousand years casually mentioned this. After that, no matter how much the White Dragon Lord beat around the bush, the old Elf refused to say another word.

"Entities in the deep sea... the Faceless Ones..."

On a soft sofa in the White Tower, the White Dragon Lord muttered to himself.

"Forget it. Even the Council remains tight-lipped about the Faceless Ones. They aren't something I should be meddling with right now."

The White Dragon Lord shook his head, suppressing his curiosity. He fetched the news regarding the Rodoro Plane sent by the church. He hadn't even looked at the messages sent by the Council this month.

It was good news. The energy within the white bone monster was in chaos, and it would collapse in the short term.

...

The Necromantic Plane — the Plains of Withered Bones.

Black clouds tainted by death energy covered the entire sky, making the whole plane gloomy. Not a single blade of grass grew on the pitch-black earth. The only places with water were reeking swamps, where rotting snakes and maggots bobbed in the mud.

In the center of a wilderness paved with white bones stood a black palace.

"Trash!"

In the courtyard of the palace, a flock of half-rotted undead crows cawed as they fled from a large tree reduced to withered branches. Beside the massive black doors of the great hall, the soul fires flickered in the eye sockets of the dread guards.

The master of the palace was angry!

Inside the symmetrical hall supported by sixty-four pitch-black stone pillars, a dark-gold skeleton sat high on the Bone Throne at the end of the room. It was the master of the Plains of Withered Bones, an Abomination Rank undead renowned for his ferocity across the multiverse—the Lord of Withered Bones.

The Lord of Withered Bones was dark gold all over and wore no clothes. Bone armor, extending outward like bone spurs, wrapped around his body. The armor was fierce and imposing. Sharp bone spikes protruded from his knees, sprouting from skull-shaped kneepads.

At this moment, the Lord of Withered Bones was furious, because a long-planned operation had failed.

Following his emotional fluctuations, a terrifying pressure enveloped the entire hall. The pale soul fires illuminating the room flickered wildly.

Beneath the Bone Throne, the two High-Tier Legend skeleton warriors who had fled back from the Nordhill Plane lay prostrate on the obsidian floor, trembling as they awaited their fate.

The Lord of Withered Bones twitched his bone claws resting on the skull-shaped armrests, but ultimately dismissed the thought of slaughtering these two idiots.

It wasn't that the Lord of Withered Bones had discovered his conscience. Skeleton warriors were inherently the weakest low-level undead, making it incredibly difficult for them to grow into High-Tier Legends. He didn't have many High-Tier Legends under his command. If he butchered these two, he would lose a significant portion of his presentable combat strength.

"Speak! What exactly happened?!"

Feeling the pressure on their bodies lighten, the prostrate skeleton warriors let out sighs of relief in their hearts, but they didn't dare to get up.

"It was the Spell Master! The Spell Master—Merlin Heavenly Principle acted personally and beat the five of us into critical condition..."

As he looked at the cracks on his two subordinates, the Lord of Withered Bones' dark-gold soul fire flickered slightly.

Spell Master—Merlin Heavenly Principle?!

The Blood War Battlefield was the most famous meat grinder in the multiverse, the place where one could make a name for themselves the fastest. The Lord of Withered Bones also knew of the glorious battle record of the Spell Master—Merlin Heavenly Principle.

"Scram!"

The two High-Tier Legend skeleton warriors felt as if they had been granted amnesty. They scrambled and crawled out of the gloomy hall.

The Lord of Withered Bones sat alone on his throne, gazing at the empty hall.

"Hofusge! Since you're here, why are you hiding?!"

Gahaha!

A deep, suppressed, and slightly manic laughter echoed through the hall. A Devil burning with pale flames appeared out of thin air.

"Gahaha, my dear old friend. It's been three thousand years, did you miss me?"

"Miss you?! I really want to punch you in the nose."

As he thought of a certain item he had paid a high price for, only for it to break after three days of use, anger flared in the Lord of Withered Bones' heart. If the Devil himself were standing in front of him, he might actually have punched him in the face. But the figure before him was merely a projection.

"Oh, my friend, you can't blame me for what happened last time. Who told you not to read the manual carefully?"

"That damn manual of yours is enough to stuff my entire palace!!!"

"That was to make it easier for the customer to understand, so I specifically wrote it in detail..."

"Enough!"

The Lord of Withered Bones interrupted the Devil.

"Don't feed me this useless nonsense. Speak, why are you here?!"

"I've come to make a deal with you."

"Trying to scam me again?!"

"No, no, no. A mutually agreed upon deal can't be called a scam! I've brought you news of an ownerless medium Necromantic Plane, and it doesn't even have a single High-Tier Legend inside."

"No High-Tier Legend... don't tell me there's an Abomination Rank existence?"

"Heeheehee, yes. But... it's about to die. Are you interested?"