Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 891: Chapter 687: The Topaz Dragon Lich Here to Pay the Ransom

Hill certainly would not directly take action against Neverwinter City.

He belongs to the Kind Alignment and abides by the rules. Unless provoked, how could he make such a dreadful decision?

Neverwinter City does not yet qualify to make him change his alignment.

But the reason Neverwinter City seems quite important is because merchants heading to Icewind Valley must hire adventurers in Neverwinter City to pass through Luskan.

Tens of thousands of high-level adventurers are one of the reasons why Neverwinter City is so prosperous; otherwise, relying solely on its skilled carpenters and artisans, it wouldn’t be as flourishing as it is now.

As for Tyr and Heim, they only emphasize the temple located in Neverwinter City because they need to oppose Bane from Luskan.

If the Undead Tribe cleared Luskan...

The region of Luskan is most suitable for opposing evil forces. Previously, elves established a defense line between Luskan and Neverwinter City to fend off the half-orcs.

Only in this way can the half-orcs emerging from the World’s Ridge be completely blocked.

Previously, Hill had not taken action against Luskan, not only for Bane but also because of Tampas, whom the barbarians of Icewind Valley worship.

This God of Battle, while absolutely neutral to an incomprehensible degree, is actually very insidious in his actions...

He often secretly retaliates against individuals or deities who have offended him.

His only exception is Bane... yet those aware of what happened in the world of Felunryel can understand.

Hill’s caution is not due to fear of Tampas but rather because too many deities are connected to him; even if it seems of Hill’s own volition, it can cause people to suspect that the deities behind him intend to be enemies with Tampas.

Now, things are different.

No matter which deity it is, within the next ten years, apart from sending some things into Toril, they probably can’t do anything else.

Neverwinter City has always prided itself on defending against the pirates of Luskan and the half-orcs from the World’s Ridge on behalf of the entire Ferun Great Land. Hill can let them withdraw from this arduous duty.

After all... if they really encounter a half-orc army capable of overthrowing Neverwinter City and cannot resist when internal chaos occurs, by the time someone suppresses the unrest, the half-orcs would have already swept the villages and small towns of the Northern Continent clean.

The reason nobody blames Neverwinter City is that the original rulers have truly perished... the current leaders are also people from the adventurer background, like the current King of Neverwinter City.

But... Neverwinter City still possesses a few human families that have existed for hundreds or even a thousand years.

Elves abandoned Neverwinter City only 1000 years ago.

No matter if his thoughts are too dark, Hill has decided not to test the endurance of Neverwinter City anymore.

He glanced towards the North... this winter, the half-orcs, without the obstruction of Tampas and the Red Knight, will surely descend from the mountains.

The number of undead unable to use high-level magic is likely not greater than the half-orcs, and they can certainly exhaust enough time.

Moreover, the nobles of Deepwater City need time to cultivate new gangs again.

Hill feels he has clearly arranged things for the undead.

This year’s workload is ample, likely they can confront the half-orcs after dealing with Luskan, and as for next year, that’s easy to plan:

In the autumn, they head to Deepwater City to uphold justice, in the winter, they go to Luskan to combat the barbaric half-orcs.

In the spring and summer, they might go to the Supreme Forest!

First, help some elves who have chosen to return to the Star Mountain Range to rebuild their homes...

According to Hill’s understanding of this part of Toril, when the elves have almost finished rebuilding their homes, the Hell’s Gate will probably allow the bored Six Fingers to reconnect it.

It’s perfect for continuing the battle against demons.

The Abyss cannot send legendary or higher demons here anymore; the Origin Power of Toril doesn’t have such a high limit yet.

The first reaction of a legendary demon entering would likely be to bomb once more.

Although Six Fingers has many subordinates, he likely would not waste time connecting this gate again and should cherish it a bit more.

Present-day Toril is much more troublesome than before, has a knack for mutual destruction.

However, the world recovers quickly, whereas demons killed by Origin Power are truly dead, not even able to have their souls return to the Abyss for rebirth.

Thus, the Abyss will certainly be cautious, only sending a few cannon fodder demons to test the waters.

It’s a match of newbies against newbies, one side has quantity, the other side can’t die, perfectly balanced.

Hill decided on future arrangements, directly instructing List to discuss with Lynn; he believes his friend can understand why he would take action against Neverwinter City.

Economic warfare has always been Hill’s forte, Lynn would understand at a glance.

Though a soft knife cuts flesh slower, as long as it’s effective, it will suffice.

Lynn would not refuse Hill’s actions. Although he is broad-minded, he has never been a Saint who doesn’t fight back.

The people of Neverwinter must have started arguing directly in the municipal hall, and Princess Esberi might have been directly threatened.

Threatening a local princess on Lynn’s territory to please Lynn?

Even though it sounds like they were trying to please Lynn, what normal person would be willing to accept a woman who came under threat?

In reality, it’s a sign of disrespect to Lynn, thinking that he, who relies on Hill, would endure this discomfort for the sake of power.

Hill was extremely displeased.

Having lost the favor of the deities, some of the bard’s skills also couldn’t be used, and Lynn’s power indeed decreased significantly now.

But that definitely doesn’t mean those useless people who can’t even take a few strikes from Lynn can openly despise him!

Did they really think Half-Elves don’t practice swordsmanship? Lynn was trained from a young age under the direct tutelage of a demigod subordinate of Coron!

Lynn indeed had no reaction to Hill’s secretly murderous arrangements; he just redesigned the adventurer tasks of the Undead Tribe according to Hill’s ideas and improved them a bit.

He assured Hill that at the right time, there wouldn’t even be a need for Hill to publish a task to attack Luskan; those pirates would directly clash with the Undead Tribe.

Lynn knew very well which gang in Deepwater City was specifically responsible for laundering stolen goods for the Luskan pirates, and causing a conflict between the Undead Tribe and them was easy.

No matter how strict the orders were from the gangs when they saw the Undead Tribe arriving, the thuggish habits of beating, smashing, and bullying the poor were so ingrained that they couldn’t be controlled.

The gangs usually amplify these lower-level members’ bad habits on purpose, which is how they control these people. Only when everyone is a criminal, will they obediently follow orders instead of fleeing at the slightest incident.

This way, different arrangements can indeed be made according to Neverwinter’s reaction.

This method is also indeed more suitable than Hill’s idea, as if Neverwinter chooses to behave honestly, Hill and Agleya City wouldn’t seem so aggressive.

But if Neverwinter continues to cause trouble... if it weren’t for the Luskan pirates blocking the main roads to collect tolls and moonlighting as bandits, there wouldn’t be the flourishing of the small path bypassing Neverwinter.

Experienced merchants coming out of the Icewind Valley would typically choose to bypass Luskan.

Only newcomers, who consider themselves capable, would swagger along the main road.

Luskan mostly scams these people, unless they run out of food or something is extremely useful to Luskan; these pirates wouldn’t offend all the continent’s merchants for that small amount of money.

In the world of Toril, everyone minds their own business; otherwise, they wouldn’t let the pirates be so rampant.

Things would be different once Luskan falls into Hill’s hands.

Lynn is convinced that if that place were built to mimic Agleya Town, they could cut off a third of Neverwinter’s finances.

This is truly fantastic... Hill thought he should start considering how to transform that area and who would be most suitable to manage it.

Having handed the matter over to a capable municipal officer, Hill finally welcomed the...dragon...ransoming his treasures.

It was a Topaz Dragon Lich, and from his imposing presence, Hill could sense this was a very ancient dragon.

He still bore many yellow jade gemstone scales typical of his kind on his body, indicating he hadn’t been a dragon lich for long... he was likely one of the dragons convinced by the Dragon Worship Church to transform during the dragon madness period to avoid being influenced.

He behaved very politely, spreading his wings and slowly flying in circles above Agleya City. Hill recognized this as the gesture of a dragon intending to pay a visit.

So he directly sat on Purwell’s back and flew up to greet him.

”Hello. Honorable Lord of Agleya,” the Topaz Dragon Lich transformed into a human form and lightly landed on the terrace on Purwell’s back. ”I am Elsela, living north of Luskan.

It’s regrettable to visit under such a pretext. I’ve come to pay a ransom for Claujeliatmata.

As far as the Dragon Worship Church is concerned... she cannot remain detained forever.”

”I have long heard of your great name, Mr. Elsela,” Hill responded with a somewhat friendly attitude. ”As long as the price is right, I will certainly release her.

But the price of offending me... is not light.”

Elsela very straightforwardly piled up a small mountain on the terrace: ”The Dragon Worship Church is now mostly under the control of the dragon liches. We still operate according to past habits, and whenever something happens, every related dragon must contribute a treasure, otherwise, if one dragon doesn’t pay, none would contribute.

Therefore, in the dragon’s alliance, it’s either no money, or a lot of money.”

Hill understood why it was this gem dragon who came... he had turned into a dragon lich out of necessity, but besides avoiding the influence of the dragon madness, his main purpose was to deal with the evil White Dragon Queen Alviatus Tullis in the North.

If Hill occupied Luskan, soon he would also face the frequently plundering White Dragon Queen, and Elsela would naturally be an ally.

The enmity between them could never be washed away. From studying the dragons of the North, Hill had seen the results of their dozens of battles, with both sides suffering heavy losses.

However, to the cold-hearted White Dragon, the deaths of numerous descendants or subordinates were trivial, but to the emotionally bound Topaz Dragon, each loss was a heavy blow.

Therefore, Elsela finally took the risk of becoming a madman during the dragon madness period to accept the Dragon Worship Church’s temptation.