This Lich is a Better Landlord Chapter 116

The Weave was nothing new.

When Ao created the world, everything contained primordial magical essence. This was the most fundamental form of magical power.

However, utilizing this raw power was incredibly difficult. Even individuals with exceptional talent could easily be influenced by the chaotic and disorganized nature of raw magic. You might try to light a cigarette and end up freezing yourself into a popsicle.

For the vast majority of mediocrities, magic was an unattainable dream.

Thus, for a very long time, magic was the exclusive domain of the gods.

After the first Goddess of Magic appeared, this benevolent deity created the Weave so that mortals could also cast spells.

The Weave regulated magical power, drastically lowering the threshold for entry. It allowed mortals to wield magic without fearing that chaotic backlash would cause uncontrollable consequences.

From that moment on, magical civilization began to develop rapidly.

Later, because this goddess was too benevolent, she granted authority over the Weave to ambitious humans.

Then, a genius mage decided to go big. He attempted to completely seize control of the Weave from the Goddess of Magic, intending to become the new God of Magic himself.

The result? The Weave exploded.

The previous Goddess of Magic died instantly. The mortal who sought godhood also perished completely the moment the Weave was destroyed. Perhaps, for a fraction of a second before his death, he briefly became the God of Magic—it was just a pity that his reign was so short.

It was a classic story: a mortal attempting to ascend to godhood, ultimately harming others and destroying himself.

One could say that ninety-nine percent of the world's cataclysms were caused by some mortal wanting to become a god.

However, Ambrose wasn't looking for history lessons.

After the destruction of the Weave, the brilliant magical civilization suffered a devastating blow. Eventually, a new Goddess of Magic was born from the chaos and repaired the Weave.

This second-generation Goddess of Magic learned from her predecessor's mistake. Since then, mortals were stripped of high-level access to the Weave to prevent any other lunatic from trying to blow it up again.

At the peak of magical civilization, the *Wish* spell wasn't considered a rarity. Arrogant mages would alter reality at the drop of a hat, playing god until they deluded themselves into thinking they were equals to the divine.

But after the construction of the new Weave, all mages were knocked down to the mortal realm. With the highest casting authorities restricted, many Legendary spells vanished completely, never to be cast again.

Back to the main topic: the effect of the Weave was to make originally uncontrollable magic manipulatable by mortals.

The elves' Magic Addiction was a pathological mutation of the body. The rate at which their bodies naturally absorbed mana couldn't keep up with the rate at which it dissipated, so they had to rely on potions to bridge the gap. But this deficit would grow larger and larger until potions were no longer enough, and they would eventually be drained into dry husks.

Before death, their minds would suffer immense torture, leading to a rapid loss of sanity.

The question was: even if an elf lay in bed doing nothing, their mana was still being constantly drained. Where did that disappearing mana go?

If it simply dissipated into the air, then Magic Addiction was a unique state of magical unravelling.

The principles of the Weave could be applied to these elves.

If one could help these elves control the unraveling magic, it would solve the problem of the addiction worsening. With appropriate supplementation of magical power, they could maintain a normal life.

Although this was just Ambrose's speculation, he knew he was right.

However, while the Weave was something every spellcaster was familiar with, it remained shrouded in mystery. Even though Ambrose was a Lich—a being who had min-maxed his Intelligence stat—he only knew of its existence, not its underlying principles.

After the first Goddess of Magic was killed by her beloved spellcaster, the second Goddess destroyed all literature related to the Weave and banned all research into it. Mortals could only use the Weave under her supervision; anyone attempting to touch its core permissions would face her punishment.

Therefore, even though Ambrose wasn't trying to seize control of the Weave but rather save the elf race, the benevolent Goddess of Magic—likely out of respect for the Elven Gods—would probably turn a blind eye, but she certainly wouldn't offer any help.

Since he couldn't get intelligence on the Weave from Mystra, Ambrose had to seek help from another deity.

Shar, the Goddess of Darkness. She was one of the two goddesses born from the primordial chaos. Originally, she should have been the oldest and most powerful deity, but she lost the war against her twin sister, Selûne, the Moon Goddess, and suffered heavy injuries.

This goddess, who once represented primordial darkness, couldn't even protect her own temples anymore. Regardless of the kingdom, one rarely heard of anyone worshipping Shar these days.

Perhaps in some corners of the overseas lands, remnants of Shar's faith still lingered. In any case, this deity was weakened to the extreme, unable to even protect her own believers.

Rumors said that to regain her power, Shar had set her sights on the Goddess of Magic.

During the first great shattering of the Weave, Shar had obtained some fragments of it. She began researching these fragments, intending to steal Mystra's power.

If one dug deep enough, this was a bit of a family tragedy.

The first Goddess of Magic was born during the war with Selûne. According to the divine epics, Selûne tore off a part of her own body and hurled it at Shar as a weapon, severely wounding her. The flesh and blood of the Moon Goddess absorbed Shar's power, and thus, the first Goddess of Magic was born.

In a way, the Goddess of Magic was the daughter of these twin sisters. That was why she was born powerful; after taking charge of the concept of magic, her power almost surpassed that of the other gods.

Shar was obsessed with the power of the Goddess of Magic. If she could seize that power, revenge would be a breeze. In short, aside from Mystra, only Shar understood the Weave.

The dusty book in Ambrose's hand was a research record regarding the faith of the Goddess of Darkness.

Although gods were powerful and mysterious, studying them had always been the most important discipline among mortals. This book on Shar recorded a special sacrificial ritual that could communicate with the Goddess of Darkness, allowing her to answer the doubts of the faithful.

It was just that the offering required was a bit special.

Every deity had unique rituals. Loviatar required believers to self-harm or torture others—blood and pain were the best offerings. For someone like the Lord of Dawn, the best offering was the destruction of evil. The Archdukes of Hell loved souls, preferably those driven mad by torture.

As for Shar, her required offering was very specific—anything related to Light.

Shar held a deep-seated hatred for her sister, Selûne. Therefore, she was desperate to destroy everything related to Selûne. The Moon Goddess and the Lord of Dawn were staunch allies, forming a coalition centered on Light with many other deities.

So, Shar held a grudge against the Lord of Dawn as well.

The best offering would naturally be the corruption of a follower of Light. If Ambrose could bring a fallen believer of Light to Shar, she would certainly be generous with her rewards.

If those Paladins were still around, Ambrose would have really liked to try corrupting those believers of the Lord of Dawn, turning Paladins into Oathbreakers. Maybe Shar would be in such a good mood that she'd tell him the secrets of the Weave outright. But now, he had to switch to a different offering.

Ambrose dug out a battered helmet from the mouth of the Quicksilver Effigy. This was a replica artifact of the Ryan Empire. Although it was a replica, the divine power of Light inside was real. The Quicksilver Effigy had chewed on it for days but had only corroded a small part of it. Now, it was perfect for waste utilization.

Ambrose began to set up the ritual to sacrifice to Shar within the castle.

Drawing the magic circle wasn't difficult, and the procedural details weren't complex—simple enough that Ambrose felt it lacked a certain grandeur. Perhaps because Shar knew her faith was in decline; if the ritual requirements were too strict, there would be even fewer mortals worshipping her.

After all, most mortals were quite picky when choosing a deity to believe in.

Ambrose prepared the ritual according to the book, then placed the battered helmet, still retaining its divine power of Light, onto the altar.

"Beneath the boundless pitch-black night sky, we gather here to offer our faith to the Mistress of the Night. You are the Weaver of Shadows, the Ruler of the Dark. Under your protection, all things may hide and be reborn..."

Ambrose carefully recited the prayer praising the Goddess of Darkness. Although his attitude was proper, it couldn't be called pious. After all, Ambrose was not a believer of any god; he only maintained basic respect for these high beings, not worship.

After the prayer, Ambrose ignited a dark flame with his mana, lighting the helmet on the altar.

Dark mana and Light divine power collided, sizzling loudly.

Ambrose's power was much greater than the Quicksilver Effigy's, and he quickly eroded most of the Light divine power on the helmet. If the artifact had been repairable before, it was now thoroughly defiled, damaged beyond recovery.

Blaspheming the Light to pay tribute to the Night.

Once the ritual was complete, a cloud of thick black smoke surged from the altar, condensing into a black shadow nearly ten meters tall.

The shadow wore a cloak of constantly falling black feathers. Each feather would slowly dissipate after drifting down, never touching the ground. Shadows obscured her face; only the graceful curves of her figure under the cloak were visible.

Shar opened her mouth, her voice melodious but carrying a desolate aura.

"Mortal, I am satisfied with your offering. But you are not my believer. Speak, what do you wish to exchange for?"

Ambrose tried his best to retract his soul power, daring not to listen too closely to Shar's voice.

The goddess had descended in her form as the Nightsinger. Her voice was like the endless night, carrying a fatal allure. If one wasn't careful, they could easily be charmed by her voice, swallowed completely by the power of the night, and turned into a fanatical believer.

"Respected Goddess of the Night, I offer this defiled divine power of Light in exchange for knowledge related to the Weave."

"Oh? Bold mortal, do you wish to reenact the destruction of the past?"

Ambrose didn't answer that question. Instead, he said to Shar, "If the destruction of the Weave is fated, it will happen regardless of my choices. Respected Goddess, do you accept this trade?"

Shar replied, "You should know how important the secrets of the Weave are. A mere replica artifact is far from enough."

"Then, Goddess, what price is required to exchange for this knowledge?"

"Become my Chosen. How about that condition?" Shar asked.

Ambrose remained silent. What was wrong with these goddesses? Why did they keep asking him to be their Chosen one after another?

Sure, Shar was down on her luck, but was she desperate enough to try and recruit any random Legendary figure into her camp?

Although he was a Lich and naturally of an evil alignment, neither Pain nor Darkness really matched Ambrose. Gods couldn't possibly miss the path Ambrose had chosen. The fact that they were rushing to recruit him gave Ambrose a bad feeling.

"What? You do not wish to accept the favor of the Night?" Shar pressed.

"Apologies, I am one of The Faithless."

Ambrose's refusal was firm. Even if Shar refused to give him the Weave knowledge, he would not relent.

Faith was not a joke. Once you believed in a god, you handed over the authority to judge your soul to that god. Ordinary people might be willing to trade a few decades of life for divine protection, but as a Lich with eternal life, Ambrose saw no need to trade eternity for such a thing.

Perhaps hearing the resolution in Ambrose's voice, Shar didn't push further. Instead, she changed the condition.

"If you are unwilling to become my Chosen, bringing another Legendary rank individual to become my believer will suffice. Or, if you cause three Paladins to break their oaths and fall, that will also fulfill the condition."

Ambrose sighed. "Respected Goddess of the Night, I need the knowledge of the Weave to accomplish a major task. Time is tight. Even if I agreed to these conditions, I fear I wouldn't have enough time."

"It doesn't matter. I can give you what you want first. You just need to fulfill this contract within ten years."

Ambrose hadn't expected Shar to concede another step. Just as he felt suspicious and wanted to think it over, Shar said, "If you want to divine your future, I advise you to save your energy. You are not qualified to see clearly a future that involves a god."

Shar's words made Ambrose fall silent again.

Indeed, Ambrose couldn't even see Loviatar's future; last time was pure bluffing to scare the Maiden of Pain. Shar, though fallen, was far higher in rank than Loviatar. Naturally, Ambrose couldn't see any future related to her.

But the fact that Shar emphasized it so seriously meant she felt this contract was advantageous to her.

So, should he gamble?

Ambrose hesitated for a moment, then said firmly, "Respected Goddess, I agree to your request."