Lich for Hire

Chapter 329: Threatening a Lord of Hell

Ambrose looked at the furious Sariel and quickly smiled in apology. "How could this be blasphemy? My respect for you hasn't diminished in the slightest. I simply couldn't find a warrior in such a short time who could match Milena. You've seen Milena's strength yourself. There isn't anyone in the Umbral Depths who could give her a real fight."

Sariel let out a cold snort. "You could have brought me one of Lyon's legendary paladins. I would have been very interested."

"What a coincidence! That's exactly what I had in mind. It's why I summoned you. May I ask whether you have any interest in Lyon?"

Sariel frowned at Ambrose's beaming smile. The lich wasn't digging a trap for her, was he?

After their previous encounter, Sariel had developed a deep unease around Ambrose. No wonder so many gods harbored such bone-deep hatred for this lich. Despite his entirely pleasant speech, she felt distinctly off-balance.

He was cunning to the point that even gods could sense it. How had this lich not been deified yet?

Surely he could be installed as a lesser god of deception, at the very least?

Ambrose, of course, had no idea what was passing through Sariel's mind in that instant. He continued his pitch. "I know Hell needs souls in great quantities. As it happens, I'm exceptionally good at producing souls. I can weave whatever kind you'd like. If I were to capture a paladin, I could replicate his soul dozens of times over and offer the copies to you. Wouldn't that make a fine gift?"

The soul of a paladin could be forged into the highest grade of souls, used as hard currency in Hell. Could the lich actually do that?

"You can manufacture souls?" Sariel asked.

Ambrose didn't waste his breath. He produced a stack of materials and assembled a death knight on the spot for Sariel to inspect.

The materials were limited, so the death knight Ambrose created had a somewhat fragile body. It would be a high-grade undead at best. But Ambrose had woven into the soul itself the trait of fearless courage.

"Honored Archduchess of Avernus, please forgive my presumption." Ambrose bowed to her, then turned to the death knight. "Before you stands Sariel, ruler of the first layer of Hell. Now, draw your sword on her!"

The death knight looked at Sariel, hesitated for only a moment, then drew his sword and charged.

Sariel was genuinely startled. An undead, raising its weapon against her? Divine pressure pressed directly on the soul; even the undead were affected by it. They couldn't simply act on their master's command in defiance of that pressure.

This soul had a will of its own!

Sariel extended a single finger and flicked the death knight's sword and both of his hands away. Then she seized his head, and infinite hellfire poured from her fingertips into his skull. The death knight's soul was wrenched out and forged in hellfire into a single dark-red coin.

Sariel stared at the coin for a long moment.

It was over. She had fallen for the lich's temptation.

The grade of the coin was excellent. It was flawed, but valuable.

Sariel hadn't expected the lich to have this kind of ability. She wanted to drag Ambrose down to Hell that instant and put him to work as her personal coin-minting slave.

But that wouldn't end well, she knew. Tiamat and Shara had both warned her that, the moment any proposal from this lich tempted you, you were right about to be swindled.

Sariel forced herself to ignore her greed and addressed Ambrose sternly. "Lich, spare me your cunning rhetoric. You summoned me about the Unholy Kingdom, didn't you? Speak. I don't have time to waste on you."

Ambrose looked sincerely regretful. "What a shame. It would have been a wonderful arrangement for both of us. If you help me capture some Lyon paladins, I would produce these high-grade souls in bulk for you. You could buy whatever you wanted in Hell. With a little additional work, we could even turn those mighty paladins into the fallen—into your own loyal warriors. Wouldn't that have been splendid? Well, if you're not interested, that's that..."

"Wait..." Sariel couldn't stop herself from imagining the scenario Ambrose had described. It was impressively tempting.

Collecting valiant warriors was Sariel's greatest weakness, as well as her greatest love. Her warriors took heavy losses in her endless campaigns, and her ranks always needed replenishing. If this lich could deliver warrior souls in bulk on a regular basis...

Sariel struggled to suppress her desire. After her fall, she had lost the angelic restraint she once possessed; her emotions were far less constrained.

After a moment, she managed to quell the desire. "We can discuss a potential partnership later. Lich, what do you actually want?"

"Honored Archduchess of Avernus, would you consider releasing Vladimir? I can offer souls in vast quantities in exchange."

Sariel looked at him with surprise. "I've made inquiries. You don't have a close relationship with him. You haven't spoken in centuries. You'd pay this much to save a single tifling? Lich, that doesn't sound like you. You'd happily package up the entire divine pantheon and sell them off for the right price."

Ambrose didn't explain. He simply repeated the question. "How many souls would it take to free Vladimir?"

Sariel shook her head. "Out of the question. Don't bother. I want him as my vassal."

"No quantity of souls would change your mind?"

"None."

......

Ambrose was silent for a long while before he continued. "Honored Archduchess of Avernus. Whatever you intend to have him do, wouldn't including me in your plans make it more reliable? You should know that I am also a legendary diviner. Vladimir has gone further along the path of fate than I have, but I can guarantee that there are many areas where he falls short compared to me. There are plenty of situations in which I am the more useful diviner."

Sariel gave him an odd look. "Are you mad? Or are you trying to deceive me? You're willing to fall to Hell?"

"No, no, certainly not. I mean that I'm willing to help you accomplish what you want. Beyond that, neither of us diviners would be of much use to you. So why not modify the terms into one-time assistance? I'll still provide you with plenty of souls, of course."

Sariel fell silent.

Ambrose knew then that his guess was right.

Sariel and Tiamat needed Mr. Misfortune to do one specific task for them. Once that was complete, Mr. Misfortune's value would diminish considerably.

Topping up the difference with souls should satisfy both Lords of Hell.

As for the cost of saving Mr. Misfortune, Ambrose would settle that bill with the entire Unholy Kingdom in due course.

Once several hundred thousand nobles fell to Hell, confiscating their wealth and turning it over to the lich as compensation would be perfectly reasonable.

But Sariel shook her head again. "No, that won't do. I don't trust you. Lich, whatever you're scheming, I'm not going to fall for it."

Ambrose answered firmly. "I swear to you that I am not planning any trickery. I only want to save Vladimir."

Sariel laughed mockingly. "Swear? You damnable lich. By whom would you swear? By Aion, the Supreme God?"

Mortals weren't gods. When gods swore on Aion's name, they had real reason to fear what would follow if they broke the oath. But mortals had no such concern. Aion never spared a glance for mortal affairs. You could even write a dirty novel with Aion as the protagonist; the worst that could happen was for the various churches to put you on a pyre. Aion himself would never intervene.

And besides Aion, who else would Ambrose swear by?

The lich worshiped no deity at all.

Ambrose was tempted to swear by the God of Alchemy, but Sariel would give him a mighty slap if he tried. By now, his connection to the God of Alchemy was probably common knowledge among the gods. Trying that bluff on Sariel would qualify as outright blasphemy.

Sariel continued, "I admit that you're a cunning enough trickster that even gods are wary of you. But because of that very reputation, no god will ever trust you again. So just sit back and wait for the day of judgment. It won't matter to you anyway."

As Sariel turned to leave, Ambrose let out a resigned sigh. "I would much prefer to solve this without offending you, but... I don't only create souls. I can weave fates as well. Honored Archduchess of Avernus, though my Loom of Fate can't affect you, Vladimir is just a mortal. If I scatter his soul, your plan will fail along with him..."

The hellfire around Sariel surged outward, washing the entire altar in red.

"Lich, are you threatening me?!"

Sariel's fury condensed into tangible force. Ambrose's body began to sink, as though a mountain had been laid across his shoulders.

Ambrose didn't resist. He simply waited for the force to crush him.

But it didn't. Just as his body was about to come apart, the roaring hellfire withdrew slowly back into Sariel's form.

Even an Archduchess of Hell couldn't lay hands on a mortal for no reason. That was a prohibition from Aion no god dared violate.

Ambrose felt a quiet pang of regret. He had been hoping to provoke Sariel into striking him directly, which would have brought Aion's hand down on her. This seemingly impulsive fallen angel was more rational than she looked.

But the threat was on the table now. There was no point keeping up his veneer.

"Sariel, I've tried to resolve this peacefully with a win-win situation for both of us. But to a lord of Hell, mortals are evidently too weak to matter. If my proposal isn't worth your consideration, then I will use everything I have to stop you. Do you think killing Vladimir will be the end of my plan?

"No. You should know my reach. You should know my allies. I have close ties to half the kingdoms on the continent. I have friends at the highest levels of every government. I will have them turn over every condemned prisoner to me, and I will annihilate every one of those souls."

Sariel's eyes widened. She couldn't quite believe it. "Do you understand what you're saying?"

Condemned prisoners were generally bound for Hell. The souls of evildoers were Hell's universal currency. If Ambrose annihilated them all, the entire economy of Hell would feel the impact.

It wouldn't cause an upheaval on any great scale, but it would damage every devil's interests. How dare this lich propose such a thing?!

Ambrose was supremely confident. "Of course I understand what I'm saying. And I intend to make a great deal of commotion about it. I'll lay the blame entirely at your and Tiamat's feet—that you rejected a mutually beneficial proposal and forced me to retaliate. I expect the lords of the other layers of Hell will have strong opinions about the two of you."

"You'll die yourself! You can't withstand the wrath of all the layers of Hell!" Sariel roared.

Ambrose laughed. "Of course I can. I can manufacture souls, after all. Even if you won't deal with me, others will. I can even pay them soul-coins to come after you and Tiamat. Sariel, I'll ask you once more: mutual benefit, or mutual aggression? It's your turn to choose."