Chapter 658 Invitation

Generally speaking, Duanmu Huai rarely builds branches of the Tribunal in other areas. Most of the time, he will only help others solve their problems, and then leave, leaving at most one icon of the Tribunal to collect. The believer is done. Like the branch in Tianji Province, Duanmuhuai is basically free-range. As long as they do not violate the express regulations of the Tribunal, nothing else matters.

But not Faerun.

Now that it has been confirmed that the Corruption has begun to invade Faerun, Duanmuhuai cannot just be left alone. Faerun may become the first battlefield where the Tribunal will come into contact with the evil god again. Therefore, Duanmuhuai cannot be like the others. The planet is like that, it's just as simple as free-range.

"Is it so dangerous?"

After hearing Duanmuhuai explain why he wanted to build a branch in this world, An and Gu Leiya were also shocked.

"Of course, do you still remember the world where you first traveled with me? It was polluted by the evil god - but the pollution level in that world was relatively low."

"Huh? Does this mean that that kind of situation will also happen in this world?"

"That's right, and since the evil gods have appeared in this world, you have to be careful next. They may weaken the reality barrier again and then attack in a big way...Mary, are you listening to me?"

Duanmu Huai glanced helplessly at Mary beside him and complained.

Well, of course Mary couldn't hear it at this moment.

She was walking beside Duanmu Huai with her eyes shining, looking at the various races on the road with excitement on her face.

"Those are elves, they actually have long ears! There are also dwarves, their beards are really long! Ah, are those lizard people over there? I didn't expect that there are actually lizard people... Huh? Couldn't that be the one? The legendary orc, so tall..."

At this moment, Mary was writing excitedly in her notebook, looking very excited... Well, how should I put it, it's understandable. For a girl who likes to watch fantasy and legendary stories about magic and dragons, it must be like a dream to suddenly come to such a world.

"Oh...I wonder if I can see the prince and princess..."

"Aren't we princesses too?"

Hearing this, An complained with a smile, while Mary lowered her head in embarrassment.

"Ah, sorry, that's not what I meant, I meant... that... like the one in the book..."

"Well, it's not incomprehensible."

Although Mary's answer was a bit hesitant, Duanmuhuai still understood what she wanted to say. Although Ann and Gulea are princesses, strictly speaking, Manalia's clothing style is actually very modern. White shirts, bow ties, ribbon skirts, etc., at first glance, they are no different from modern people.

And the princess in the storybook that Mary read must be the kind with blond hair, a crown, and a dress... Well, I don't know if there is one in this world.

By the way, the princess should not wear a crown, is she a queen?

While they were talking, the group of people also arrived at the city gate - this time Duanmuhuai brought them to Waterdeep City. After all, they were used to it, and they hadn't been to Baldur's Gate before.

However, just when they reached the city gate, Duanmu Huai and others were stopped by the guards again.

"Why……………"

Looking at this scene, An helplessly spread his hands.

"It's like this every time I act with Mr. Knight."

"Well... after all, Mr. Knight's outfit is too..."

Gu Leya also answered carefully, of course, she understood everything.

However, to everyone's surprise, although the guards were very serious when facing Duanmu Huai, they did not look like they were facing an enemy. On the contrary, they looked at Duanmu Huai carefully, and then the leading guard stepped forward. , and bowed to him respectfully.

"Sorry to disturb you, are you Mr. Duan Muhuai, the Grand Inquisitor of the Tribunal?"

"It's me."

"This.........Do you have anything to prove?"

"No."

Duanmu Huai snorted, joking, can I still show you your ID card here?

Hearing Duanmuhuai's answer, the guard was stunned for a moment, and then he seemed to think of something.

"Then... could you please take off your helmet so I can identify it?"

"………………you asked for it."

Duanmuhuai shrugged his shoulders and then took off his helmet.

“——————!!!”

Almost at the same time, the guards facing Duanmuhuai trembled in fear and backed away. The citizens walking towards the city gate on the opposite side screamed loudly after seeing Duanmuhuai. Several young girls rolled their eyes and fainted. Others also screamed and turned around as if they had seen a monster attacking the city. Just run.

"Oh... I haven't seen this scene for a long time..."

Looking at this familiar and nostalgic scene, An also smiled, while Mary stared blankly at the messy city gate in front of her... Well, it seems that this is indeed the case.

"Any question?"

Duanmu Huai put on his helmet and asked. Different from before, the soldiers on the city wall were already in full formation, drawing their bows and strings. Even the ballistas had changed their direction and were aiming at Duanmu Huai's body. It was as if the person standing in front of them was not a person, but a terrifying Balor Balrog.

"Ah...Sorry, no more."

At this moment, the guard came to his senses and hurriedly bowed respectfully to him.

"Sorry, it has been confirmed. It is indeed you. In fact, Master Kelben once left a message. If you come to Waterdeep City again, please go to the Black Staff Tower to talk to him."

"Kelben...oh..."

Hearing this name, Duanmu Huai was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that it was the mage that Emilia had spoken about before going to the Underdark. The antidote he prepared had lifted the plague in Neverwinter City. In return, he hoped that Ai Melia and the others were able to travel to the Underdark to find his missing nephew.

Hmm... I don't know if Emilia and the others are back.

Duanmuhuai and Amelia didn't have any communication devices, so naturally they didn't know the whereabouts of each other. Logically speaking, Duanmuhuai felt that they should be able to come back. After all, the illithids in that area were killed by him, and the drow were directly exterminated by him. Although the gray dwarves are insidious and cunning, they are not impossible to defeat as long as they work hard.

The only problem lies in the tunnels extending in all directions in the Underdark and the dangerous underground creatures hidden in them... Well, then they can only ask for their own blessings.

I hope Tyr can give him some strength to protect his followers.

After all, there is a true God in this world.

In fact, Duanmu Huai was not interested in chatting with Kelben, but it didn't matter, so he nodded and motioned to the guards to lead the way, and then the group walked into Waterdeep City.

There are many magnificent buildings in Waterdeep worth boasting, but few places have become as central to legends as the Blackstaff Tower. As the residence of the Archmage Khelben Blackstaff Orosan, the tower has received many visitors. princes, nobles and adventurers, but from the appearance, this tower is far less dazzling than its reputation - the smooth stone cylinder makes it look like a chimney, without windows or doors, but This was just a cover-up. In fact, when the guards brought them to the Black Stick Tower, a door appeared out of thin air on the wall that was originally empty, and then slowly opened.

"let's go."

Duanmuhuai said to everyone - An, Gu Leiya and Mary followed him, Ojisi and Qiaowei sat on Duanmuhuai's left and right shoulders respectively. From the current point of view, this has become their long-term specialization. Zodiac trends.

The interior of the Black Stick Tower was much larger than it looked from the outside. Duanmu Huai walked into the door and came to a circular space. Then the floor under their feet shook and they flew up silently. Looking at this scene, An and Gu Leiya were both calm. Only Mary looked around excitedly.

"We are going to see a great mage next? So is he very powerful and can turn people into animals?"

"Why are you so obsessed with this..."

Hearing Mary's emotion, Gu Leya sighed helplessly. After Mary learned that Ann and Gu Leya were both spell casters, she also curiously asked them if they had similar abilities... Well, they Not really.

"Because it's fun?"

"Hehehe, it is indeed interesting."

At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded, and everyone looked up and saw that the floating saucer carrying them passed through a magic barrier. Then the next moment, a light flashed in front of everyone's eyes, and the next moment they came to a room. In the reception room that looked gorgeous and comfortable, a man in a cassock was standing there with his hands behind his back, looking at them with a smile.

That is Kelben Blackstaff, one of the masked lords of Waterdeep City, a chosen one of Mystra and a rare archmage in the world.

"Hello, Master Kelben."

Duanmu Huai nodded to Kelben as a salute, and the girls also bowed in groups. Although they did not know the daily life of the great mage like Duanmu Huai did, the three of them were all well-educated ladies. Of course I won't make a fool of myself on such an occasion.

As for Ogis and Qianwei, they completely ignored Kelben.

For them, there is no need to care about anyone except their master.

"Hello, guest from the Inquisition."

Kelben raised his hand, and then he saw several soft and comfortable chairs appear on the floor, and a table also appeared. The teapot and teacup automatically flew in front of everyone and poured them a cup of tea. Seeing this scene, Mary became more and more curious. She looked at the tea set in front of her carefully before reaching out to take it. Duanmu Huai just glanced at it, then waved his hand, and then the cup of tea in front of him flew directly to the table and landed steadily.

"I don't think you came here to drink tea with me, Master Kelben. After all, I'm not familiar with you."

Duanmu Huai was quite polite to Kelben, especially after the other party showed the power to cure the plague of corruption. Magic is a magical power. Duanmu Huai does not expect to understand it, as if he has never understood it. I don’t expect to become a mathematician, so let’s let those geniuses do this kind of thing.

"I am very interested in you, Your Majesty the Inquisitor."

Kelben showed a smile, looked at Duanmuhuai carefully, and then sat on the chair opposite him.

"Especially because your behavior is so shocking...to completely kill a god. This kind of thing has almost never happened again after the Year of Turmoil. Now everyone is discussing and speculating about who did it. such a move.”

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai raised his eyebrows.

"It seems that the gods are too busy and spread gossip faster than the aunts on the street."

"Hehe............"

Faced with Duanmu Huai's sarcasm, Khelbourne laughed. In fact, what he said was not wrong. On the night of Rose's death, many gods informed their believers of the demise of this evil goddess in various ways. Of course, as the elect of Mistra, Khelbourne also learned the news from his goddess, but the attitudes of the gods towards this news were also very divided.

The gods of the evil camp did not care about Rose's life or death, but they were eager to find out the truth. After all, Rose was one of the evil gods with powerful divine power. She was killed in her own domain, and even her soul was annihilated. This kind of thing can be said to be unprecedented.

Then on the other hand, since the other party can kill Rose, they can naturally kill them, so the dark gods are now mobilizing their forces and starting to search.

On the other hand, the gods of the good camp are also very complicated about this result... Well, in fact, they are also very complicated.

After all, before Lolth fell, she was the Queen of the Elves. Corellon expressed a very complicated blessing for this news, such as "May her cursed soul rest in peace". As for whether he really thought so about his wife who betrayed him, only Corellon himself knew.

Eilistraee also seemed to be looking for the murderer who killed her mother, but considering the history of love and hatred between her and Lolth, it is hard to say whether Eilistraee intended to thank her or to avenge her mother's murder.

As an ally of Eilistraee, Mystra has been helping the Dark Maiden to fight against the Spider Queen, so after she learned that Lolth had indeed been completely destroyed, she asked her believers to help investigate.

Of course, what Khelben didn't know was that among the gods, there were actually doubts about Lolth's fall.

Generally speaking, struggles between gods are not uncommon, and killing gods is also endless, but it is actually very rare to really kill a god. Because generally speaking, true gods are immortal. If you kill him, he may be resurrected sometime in the future.

For example, during the Dark War, the Dark Maiden Eilistraee killed her brother and died herself, but the two resurrected and reconciled.

But Rose's death was completely different. The divine domain collapsed, the believers were all destroyed, and their tragic death was very horrifying. Almost all Rose's believers seemed to have encountered some kind of indescribable and unspeakable fear before they died. Their souls were completely twisted and polluted, and then they completely dissipated into the air.

You should know that strictly speaking, this is impossible. The gods still have the ability to control souls, but they can't even find a surviving soul. It seems that everything with Rose has been destroyed... In this case, even the gods of the good camp have to feel cold in their hearts.

After all, no one can guarantee that the one who killed Rose must be a good god. It is common for demon lords to stab each other in the back.

Moreover, the killing of gods in general will not become this situation. Generally speaking, killing a god means at most devouring and inheriting its godhood and divine domain. For example, after Cyric killed Kelemvor, the former god of death, he inherited his priesthood and the kingdom of the dead, and most of Kelemvor's followers in the kingdom of the dead changed their beliefs and directly believed in Cyric.

So according to reason, whoever killed Rose should have inherited her priesthood and the faith of the drow elves. At most, he would appear on the spot and tell other drow elves, "Your former boss has been fired, and now I have the final say in this territory."

Such a fate of the collapse of the divine domain, the extinguishing of the divine fire, the destruction of the priesthood, and the extinction of all the believers... Which god would not be afraid!

Khelben did not know about the excitement among the gods, but after receiving the oracle of Mystra, he immediately thought of the news from his nephew in the Underdark—they met an organization down there that claimed to completely eliminate the drow elves and their patron saints because they were a threat to humans.

The Inquisition.

Of course, Khelbourne didn't think that this was Duanmu Huai's doing. He was more inclined to believe that the Tribunal was actually an organization that believed in some god, but what god would do such a thing, Khelbourne really couldn't figure it out.

After they came back, Khelbourne also asked Amelia about the situation of the Tribunal in detail, and Amelia also answered Khelbourne, but...

"Miss Amelia and the others have returned to Waterdeep safely, and my nephew is back too."

"Oh? That's good news."

Duanmu Huai was completely unmoved, and Khelbourne was holding a teacup, staring at Duanmu Huai's helmet.

"In fact, out of curiosity, I once asked Miss Amelia about the situation of the Tribunal. I have to say that your doctrine is really a bit... unexpected. After all, we haven't heard much about organizations that only protect humans."

"Oh, now you know."

Duanmu Huai sat lazily in the chair, looking unmoved.

"By the way, the Inquisition doesn't care about the lives of races other than humans."

"Ah, but our Inquisition has a very clear definition of humans."

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit tense, An spoke hurriedly.

"Oh? Is that so?"

"That's right. According to the rules of the Inquisition, as long as the skull is not mutated, it will be considered a human being, so... I don't think I need to worry about this problem?"

"Skull?"

Hearing An's explanation, Khelbourne was even more surprised. He carefully looked at the skull mark on Duanmu Huai's power armor, and then retracted his gaze.

"This is really... surprising. Can I ask why the skull is used as a mark?"

"It's very simple."

Duanmu Huai raised his eyebrows.

"For the Inquisition, the skull represents the purity of human beings, which means that this person has not been corrupted and fallen by chaos and evil until his death. It represents the purity and noble sacrifice of human beings. Demons can change in a thousand ways, but the only thing they can't have is the human skull. No matter how they change, they can't imitate the human skull shape."

"This is really........."

It must be said that Khelbourne was also quite surprised to hear Duanmu Huai's answer, but he was relieved at this moment. Obviously, according to the marks used by the Inquisition to divide humans, then kind races such as elves, dwarves and halflings are also considered humans.

Of course, on the other hand, like orcs, giants, etc.... um... but this doesn't seem to be my business.

"By the way, I do have something I want to ask Master Kelben for help."

Duanmu Huai was too lazy to greet him and got straight to the point.

"Please go ahead."

"The Tribunal wants to find a place to open on this continent. I wonder if Master Kelben can recommend a good place?"

Then, Duanmu Huai stared at Kelben and said his request lightly.