Anser didn't rashly approach the crowd. Instead, he slowly circled the ring-shaped structure.
The die spun slightly, detecting information about the magic array:
[Ring of Viheral]
It really was a large-scale teleportation circle, though there was no indication of where it led. The information was rather sparse.
'What are these people gathered here for?'
He quietly observed the crowd but didn't spot Brunhilde anywhere.
'Did they already go inside? What's on the other end of the teleportation circle?' Countless questions filled his mind.
Last night had been the night of the full moon. Assuming the teleportation circle could only be activated then, he'd have to wait at least another month.
He cautiously moved closer to the crowd. Even then, no one noticed him hiding within the Ethereal Plane.
Something was off.
If they had been strong enough to kill a death knight, they should have been extremely powerful—perhaps even including a legendary figure. Yet these people... didn't look the part.
The victors were the wizards of Thay. Both the Church of Myrkul and the Cowled Wizards had been captured.
They were restrained by special magical shackles, their bodies still bearing fresh wounds and bloodstains.
Yet there were no signs of battle or corpses around the Ring of Viheral, which meant this wasn't the main battlefield.
After examining them, he confirmed they were all adventurers with respectable strength. Their leaders had all reached the peak of their respective tiers.
The strongest member of Thay's side was a vampire dressed in red robes, with a Challenge Rating of 14.
Like liches, vampires were undead beings with immortal natures. Both could willingly undergo their respective transformations, though becoming a vampire was considerably easier.
However, vampires had obvious weaknesses. They feared sunlight, running water, needed to feed on blood, and newly created vampires were bound to obey their creator.
These fledgling vampires were known as vampire spawn. Only by drinking the blood of the vampire that created them could they gain free will and become true, independent vampires.
That was no easy feat. Vampires possessed deeply twisted minds that ordinary people could hardly comprehend.
Because of that, becoming a vampire was only a last resort for the wizards of Thay. Their power and status were far below those of liches.
Still, Thay regarded undeath as a symbol of power and glory, so vampires were far from rare.
'Thay... Thay...'
Anser watched Sosk pace back and forth without revealing himself.
None of the three factions were worth trusting. He also had a bit of history with Sosk. Since Anser hadn't saved him last time, the man might still hold a grudge.
He quietly left the castle, found a secluded corner, and wrote two notes in Common.
Each contained only a single sentence:
Central castle. Send reinforcements immediately. Beware of Thay!
He hurried back to the entrance, floated above the gatekeepers, extended one hand out from the Ethereal Plane, and tossed one note each toward the Church of Myrkul and the Cowled Wizards.
With no wind in the dungeon, the white slips of paper drifted lazily downward, immediately putting all three factions on alert.
One of the masked wizards stopped a companion from catching the note, allowing it to fall to the ground instead. But the moment he read the words written on it, his expression changed dramatically.
Everyone grew tense—including Thay's group, who hadn't even seen what the notes said.
Both the Church of Myrkul and the Cowled Wizards immediately dispatched messengers to call for help. They simply didn't have enough people to mount a rescue themselves.
Seeing this, Thay's side also sent people after them.
'No need to thank me. Evil is my sworn enemy.'
Anser waited for quite a while before dozens of figures finally rushed into the dungeon through its entrance. Without pausing for even a moment, they headed straight for the dungeon's central chamber.
He followed at a moderate distance, eager to watch the coming spectacle.
But when he reached the castle gates, he found the massive doors tightly shut and protected by Arcane Lock. No one could get inside.
'Looks like Thay has maintained contact with the outside world all along. Their earlier indifference was just an act,' he thought silently.
The Church of Myrkul and the Cowled Wizards kept hammering at the gate, giving Anser a headache. They were both organizations of spellcasters, yet their spellcasting capabilities were pitiful.
One relied on undead, the other on martial combatants.
Thay's side simply stood by and watched the show, pretending nothing was happening.
Unable to watch any longer, Anser cast Disguise Self, disguising himself as one of the Cowled Wizards before quietly emerging from behind the crowd.
"Knock." (Netherese)
After two loud, resounding knocks, the massive doors swung wide open.
Everyone immediately turned toward Anser, but no one rushed inside.
Pointing toward the entrance, Anser barked, "What are you standing around for? Get in there and save them!"
"Move!"
The others finally snapped out of it. Turning back, they saw the doors already beginning to close again. Through the narrowing gap, they could vaguely make out several bald men in gray robes.
They belonged to Thay's faction. After all, not every Thayan wizard was worthy of wearing the iconic red robes.
Boom!
The doors were slammed back open.
A blade flashed like a streak of white light and plunged into a gray-robed man's chest. With a casual slash, it ripped him open from chest to belly, spraying blood across the bronze doors in the shape of a crimson crescent moon.
The battle erupted instantly, reaching a fever pitch from the very start.
Everyone who had made it this far was an elite. Even the undead among them were far from ordinary.
The Church of Myrkul and the Cowled Wizards joined forces without a word. They smashed through Thay's blockade almost immediately, leaving a few people to guard the entrance while their main force charged straight into the castle's great hall.
Anser was about to slip in as well when he noticed two people at the doorway staring intently at him. They clearly hadn't forgotten the mysterious "ally" who had appeared out of nowhere.
'Pretty sharp. I'll let you wear each other down first.'
He wasn't in any hurry. Standing casually by the entrance as though no one else were there, he simply waited.
After all, he never ambushed opponents during battle. He preferred to let them wear each other down and collect the spoils afterward.
No one could identify him, and since he showed no intention of attacking, neither did they.
More importantly, all three factions regarded the others as their greatest threat. Once their fragile balance had been broken, the fighting wouldn't stop until one side emerged victorious—or a new balance was established.
Soon, fierce combat erupted inside the castle. The relentless clash of weapons and furious roars echoed through the halls, punctuated by flashes of dazzling magic.
Although all three factions fielded undead and warriors, spellcasters still made up the core of their forces. Their spellcasting had yet to fully recover, but even relying solely on cantrips and magic items, they remained formidable opponents.
Geniuses mastered high-level spells. Mediocrities specialized in cantrips and 1st- and 2nd-level spells. With enough diligence, even they could hold their own.
The slaughter continued.
The thick stench of blood and rotting flesh drifted out from within, leaving even those guarding the entrance grim-faced.
The three factions had roughly equal numbers. Even the largest—the Cowled Wizards—had fewer than thirty people. After fighting for this long, the casualties had to be significant.
Yet no one stopped.
Nor could they.
The Church of Myrkul and the Cowled Wizards had people who'd been taken prisoner. They had no choice but to rescue them. Besides, they suspected Thay had already secured whatever prize lay here and had no intention of letting them leave alive.
As for Thay, having already won once, they had even less reason to back down. Arrogance was practically their trademark.
The fighting only grew fiercer. Eventually, even those guarding the entrance were called away, proof that none of the three sides was holding anything back.
Anser finally stepped into the castle.
Seeing the two corpses lying just inside the doorway, he couldn't help feeling a little regretful.
Those had been valuable experience points.
But earlier, the situation had been too delicate. If he'd made a move too soon, all three factions might have joined forces to eliminate him first.
A complete outsider was far more likely to trigger everyone's suspicions.
'I wonder if they managed to send the treasure away. And where did Brunhilde go? She couldn't have died that easily... could she?'
Just then, someone deep inside the castle suddenly let out a loud shout.
Then everything fell silent.
The battle had ended so abruptly that it didn't seem like a decisive victory for either side.
Anser immediately shifted into the Ethereal Plane, made his way to the edge of the great hall, materialized in the shadows behind a pillar, and listened carefully.
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