chsdbacks Page 78
Page 78
"So you were saying goodbye. Why all the fuss? It's not like we'll never see each other again." Isis pulled Midnight into her arms and chuckled, "It's not a good time to set off in the middle of the night. I just thought of something new, let's try it out..."
Strange panting echoed on the beach. The dog-headed men, on high alert, turned their heads away, pretending not to see or hear anything. Eisen thought for a moment, deciding it wasn't important, and once again abandoned the idea of asking Casalos for details.
No one present noticed the silent lightning that flashed across the sky. In the fleeting light, a multicolored magical aura fell and disappeared into the darkness, reappearing only to be absorbed into the pendant hanging on Midnight's naked body. Because Isis was so close to Midnight, this strange aura seemed to have also touched her.
Damara, Casalos, having put away the letter, looked southwest with a knowing look and muttered to himself, "Is it about to begin?"
Volume Three: Clearing the Clouds and Seeing the Sun
1. A year of turmoil
Even though Safras, who controlled the prophecies of the kingdom and the heavens, was imprisoned in Azus's staff and subjected to his discipline, the gods had no premonition of the impending turmoil.
With the divine intervention of the pointed-eared god Rabelas, and under the covert influence of one or more powerful forces, the disciples of Karthus are restoring the Ascension Spell. Now, strange changes are occurring in the magic network once again… The inhabitants of Faerûn are unaware of what this signifies, but Casalos knows that the moment it has been waiting and preparing for for many years is about to arrive.
The whole affair wasn't complicated: three beggars coincidentally got involved in a minor incident between a large corporation and its external adversary. By sheer luck, they caused losses to the adversary, pleasing the corporation's board of directors and receiving a huge windfall. However, their greed got the better of them, and they attempted to seize power from the board, orchestrating a theft of the company's personnel list from the safe. Ultimately, the theft was exposed, and the board conducted a company-wide internal investigation, essentially exiling all employees.
However, this behemoth is the celestial realm, the board of directors is the supreme god, and the employees are the gods of the entire Faerûn. Therefore, the aftermath of this self-inspection is a catastrophe for the tiny continent of Faerûn—literally a collapse of the sky.
A few months after the seven-colored magical light descended from the sky, the warp and weft of the magic network suddenly piled up in layers above the sky, then squeezed from a three-dimensional network into a two-dimensional cocoon, enveloping the continent of Faerûn—only the continent of Faerûn.
The continent of Faerûn was isolated, cut off from all communication with the outside world. The sun—the pure fire—was obscured, its reflection appearing irregularly on the cocoon. The sun, which was fine yesterday, failed to rise this morning. Instead, at dawn, a brownish-brown speck rose from the south, casting rays of frigid light, capable of freezing even flames into ice, upon the continent.
That wasn't the end of it. The next day, before the cold, brown sun had even set, another green sun rose in the west, unleashing sandstorms that swept across the continent.
The magic inherent in all things, losing the control of the magic network, went berserk, rendering all arcane spells based on it ineffective or chaotic. Releasing a fireball might throw a steel skeleton at the enemy, using a rainbow wall of magic to defend might create a stupid ray that turns the caster into an idiot, setting up a spell alarm might open a portal to the abyss, summoning Natalli demons to devour the caster... Those spellcasters who used magic at the very beginning of the disaster were almost all torn to pieces by their own out-of-control magic, along with those who happened to be near the spellcasters.
Arcane spellcasters have become a cursed group, and the first priority for ensuring one's safety is to stay away from them.
The situation was slightly better for those who practiced divine magic, but not much better. The gods they devoutly served no longer responded to any of their prayers, "withdrew" all the divine magic bestowed upon them, and banished them to the mortal realm.
The gods have abandoned their believers, and even the most devout and fanatical can no longer hear their divine voice. This is perhaps more painful for believers than the failure and chaos of arcane magic.
No one knows why, except for the gods and Casalos with God's perspective: it was not the believers who were banished to the mortal realm, but the gods themselves.
Chapter 245
The Three Gods of Death, attempting to usurp the authority of the Supreme God, stole the Tablets of Fate, which recorded the divine duties of the gods, and hid them in the mortal realm. The enraged Supreme God extracted the essence of the gods from their divine kingdom, lashed them, and then stuffed them into the fragile mortal bodies of Faerûn. He forced the gods to walk the continent of Faerûn in mortal form to reflect on their mistakes. Only by finding the missing Tablets of Fate could they return to the divine realm… Even with these circumstances, the three fools still believed they could use the Tablets of Fate to defeat the Supreme God and rise to become the masters of their kingdom and the heavens.
Okay, actually it wasn't just those three idiots, the goddess of magic thought the same thing... no, the shepherdess was probably even more idiotic. She thought that regaining control of the magic network would allow her to turn the tables on the god. From the moment the god announced this decision, Mystra acted like a Mary Sue girl, cursing and hurling insults at the god in front of him. Although she did it in her heart, what difference did it make to the god if she said it aloud?
So when the Saint of Mystra was knocked unconscious by the chaotic spell while attempting to cast a spell, he was teleported by the chaotic magic network to the castle where the Saint of Bane was located. The Black King, who ruled over tyranny, fear, strife and hatred, swallowed this divine gift without hesitation and without any doubt.
Unlike the panic of the people of Faerûn facing the apocalypse, Casaloz felt as if its shackles had been removed. The curse placed upon it by the demigod lich automatically dissipated before sunrise the next day, and the changes in the magic network made its spellcasting, which did not rely on the magic network, much easier, with the hindrance of moving as if submerged in syrup greatly reduced. More importantly, it no longer needed to worry about being overheard by the gods, no matter how much it slandered them—except for the supreme gods and Heim, though the supreme gods didn't care about any mortals, and Heim, the gatekeeper, wouldn't punish mortals for it, but would instead learn a lesson from it.
What a wonderful God! No wonder even the highest god couldn't bear to punish Him too much...
After venting the grievances that had been bottled up inside him for seventeen years, Casalos stretched out its forelimbs, pulled back its hind limbs, spread its wings, straightened its head and tail, and fully stretched out its body. Then, imitating a dog, it rotated its head from side to side at high speed, causing its body to swing violently. The scales that stood up clattered and clanged as they collided with each other, creating large sparks.
"I've never seen you so relaxed and excited before. What's going on? Isn't the situation bad enough?"
Lying beside it, Fiona asked curiously, while Kara, on the other side, opened her dragon eyes and glanced back without saying anything—a few months ago, Casalos entered adolescence, and a certain emotion latent in all the genes for sexual reproduction began to stir, naturally leading him to overpower the tungsten dragon lady. Dragons, after all, don't have so many rules in this regard; they just go for it. Kara did have some complaints, but after Casalos also pinned her down, she didn't make any futile struggles.
The young Casarosz grew increasingly strong, comparable to a young red dragon. His size was twice that of Fiona or one and a half Kara, meaning he could easily subdue the two female dragons without them resisting, especially since they showed no signs of resistance. If only Toona could be dealt with so easily, the still-young Casarosz was finding it difficult to handle the older sister.
"Worse? What's so bad about it? It was always much worse than it is now. Let me tell you, things are really going from bad to better now!"
2. A Sacred Mission
The turmoil has only just begun. The rampaging magic has not yet developed to the point where mountains are traversed and rivers are roaring in the rich and concentrated area. The intensity of the natural disaster is not yet enough to threaten life at the level of dragons.
Casaloz's foresight led to the Damara rebels, who had built temporary steel shelters in various locations along the front lines, suffering minimal losses. In contrast, the opposing army of the Hellenists presented a completely different picture, with widespread devastation and mourning.
The Cocoon of the Magic Web not only caused the arcane magic that relied on it to collapse, but also severed the normal connection between the continent of Faerûn and the inner and outer realms. The abyssal demons in the Expeditionary Army were doomed. They screamed as if they had been castrated and went out of control, reverting to the most chaotic nature of the bottomless abyss, attacking everything they could see. Large swaths of uncontrollable blasphemous lands spread, infecting goblins, orcs, giants, and even the undead with the madness of the abyss.
A great war erupted, and out-of-control abyssal magic mixed with naturally existing magic, tearing open rifts between planes. Chaos from distant lands, more indescribable than the abyss itself, leaked out, devouring the corpses on the ground and transforming them into gray-white tentacles with eyes and sharp teeth, their surfaces flowing with a dark halo. These tentacles came to life, writhing and waving wildly, splashing foul pus and demonic sulfurous blood into the sky.
Casalos greeted the two little female dragons with their tails, and emerged from the iron box refreshed only to see this scene. It made his scalp tingle with disgust, and his scales stood on end. Even the joy of finally being freed from the shackles of the gods was greatly dispelled.
"What did those demons do? How did they create so many pseudo-natural creatures?" it asked Galos Dragon Nightmare, who had been observing the enemy's movements from his sentry post. The chaos of the Abyss was a madness of destruction and devastation, fiery and intense; the chaos of the pseudo-natural creatures, however, was cold and oppressive, filled with a despair and annihilation that was incomprehensible to life in the Prime Material Plane, omnipresent yet nowhere to be found.
Those tentacles, eyeballs, and decaying organs are merely manifestations of information leaked from the dimensional rifts merging with the primary material world. Perhaps no one but themselves knows what they are or what they look like.
Long Yan shook his head and sighed, "It's nothing, just a few dimensional rifts opened up during the mutiny. This war can't continue, alas..."
"You make it sound like you really want to keep playing."
“That’s not what I’m lamenting. I’d be happy to see all those demons and undead cleansed, especially the culprit! It’s just that this place is in such a state now, I wonder what will happen to the rear.”
"You're still worried about the lives of those nobles?"
"They are ultimately the pillars of the kingdom, the pillars of Damara..."
"Are you prepared to end this war?" Casalos interrupted the Dragon Nightmare's old-fashioned, feudal speech. It had no interest in discussing with this traditional paladin whether the nobility was even necessary. The Dragon Nightmare's words revealed a resolute will, something previously unseen in him.
“Just last night, I received some… very special messages in my sleep. Although the God of Weeping did not answer my prayers, my destiny tells me that it was not an illusion or a temptation of the devil. It is a viable path and the right way to end this war completely.”
Oh, Bahamut is so quick! It's only been a few days and they've already come knocking! Indeed, it wasn't the devil's whisper, but it's far more cunning and treacherous than the devil himself.
Unable to hear Casalos's inner sarcasm, Long Yan solemnly turned around and extended a serious invitation to Casalos: "But I can't do it alone, I need help."
"Don't come to me with this. I can't go to the Abyss, so I can't help you."
"Huh? You know what happened?"
Casalos flapped his wings and pointed the wing hooks at his head: "I am an atheros with ancient heritage and a systematic education. I know a lot, Galos."
The fact that the supernatural power of the conquest freed the demon sealed by Vasa from the demiplane and assembled such a large army suggests that it was backed by a powerful figure.
Natalis demons, undead, orcs, ogres, giants, evil, death, and chaos—these elements converge and point to a very clear target: who, besides Okus, the lord of Sanatos, could simultaneously accept such worship?
The power of the Exotic emanates from this abyssal lord, who possesses godlike power and may even have become a true god. If you want to end this war at its root, you can only find a solution in the abyss. You didn't have this before.
Chapter 246
Such thoughts arise because your god is unwilling to offend Orcus too much—don't rush to refute me, you know very well that deep down you are already disappointed in your god, aren't you?
The reason you suddenly have this idea is, of course, that there is another god, one who also stands on the side of 'justice,' and whose justice does not conflict with the justice you believe in and practice, is willing to support you in doing this, right?
Let me guess who entered your dream. Was it a forgetful old mage with a long beard? Or an incredibly agile old paladin whose joints creaked but remained nimble? Or perhaps a round-figured priest with a perpetually warm smile? Or maybe, He revealed His truest form—a sleek dragon with features of both gold and silver, its body covered in shimmering platinum scales?
Gaelos Dragon Nightmare wore a look of utter disbelief.
“Looks like I guessed right, Galos. Don’t be so nervous. I didn’t crawl into your head, you know. My arcane abilities are still very weak; how could I possibly peek into the thoughts of a legendary paladin like you? He is the Dragon God, and I am a dragon. Although I am not His follower, one of my friends—the golden dragon Tobiasternd who recruited me to help you fight—is the Holy Watcher of the Lord of Justice. I am very familiar with His aura.”
Casalos pretended to lean down and put his head close to the dragon's body, sniffing as he continued to explain, "The Lord of Justice never fights a battle he's not sure he can win. Since it believes you can end this war, then you shouldn't be in such a hurry..."
"Then what should I do?"
"Of course, we'll wait!"
"Wait? Just watch as a mad apocalypse engulfs the entire kingdom, watch the army of invaders collapse and then regroup amidst internal strife, watch those fat-brained bastards in the rear fight each other to the death, and then just wait?"
“Yes, be patient. The world is insane right now, and as you said, you can’t do it alone. You need to wait for the powerful allies that the King of Justice has arranged for you to arrive from afar, wait for everyone to learn and get used to surviving in this apocalypse, and wait for your enemies, the Witch King Zheng Yi and the Great Lord Okus, to let their guard down and expose their only weakness. This is your holy mission, Gaelos.”
3. Pirates?
Awesome! It feels so good to fool people from God's perspective.
Casalos had wanted to do this for a long time; it hadn't done so before not because it didn't want to, but because it dared not. With the gods watching Faerûn, its rash revelation of its prophetic power would inevitably attract the attention of some deities, which would be disastrous—the god of prophecy had been stuffed into Azus's staff and subjected to mental lashing, and every being in Faerûn's history who knew too many secrets had died mysteriously. How could Casalos, a mere iron dragon, dare to speak recklessly?
And those beings who can influence the world's affairs—aren't they all pawns in the hands of the gods? If it dared to jump out and deceive one of them, it would surely be captured and studied by the god behind it. The things stuffed in its head are so blasphemous to the gods; if they were exposed then, it would probably be punished by all the gods and quasi-gods...
Now... no, from this day forward, as long as it doesn't openly take advantage of us, the gods will no longer have a way to directly reach into the material world to discipline it!
Gaelos Dragon Nightmare is Bahamut's chosen pawn. He will travel to the Abyss with the other chosen ones of Bahamut to sever the source of the Witch King's power and bring peace and prosperity to Damara. Of course, these are all secondary matters. Bahamut's true purpose is twofold: one is His unwavering commitment, maintained for tens of thousands of years, to completely destroy Tiamat; the other is to use Gaelos to truly bring His faith as a dragon god back to Faerûn.
Many gods foresaw turbulent years, and Casaloz didn't know if Bahamut was any different, but it certainly made ample preparations.
Gaelos was unaware that the gods had been banished to the mortal realm. He only knew that Ilmat had completely stopped responding to his prayers. Coupled with the previous war situation, his disappointment with Ilmat continued to fester and brew. Like all the devout believers of the gods, Gaelos's heart began to waver.
Bahamut's saint happened to be stranded in Damara, possibly even in Gaelos's camp on the front lines. Therefore, when He discovered the wavering of Gaelos's faith, He naturally seized the opportunity. A legendary paladin allied with the metal dragons would be the best representative to restore the Lord of Justice's faith to Faerûn.
Casalos despised the scheming dragon god from the bottom of his heart, but that was by no means a reason for his inexplicable hostility towards Bahamut. The enemies of the Athenadrags were the Chromatic Dragons and Tiamat, and Bahamut also regarded Tiamat as a mortal enemy. The reliable Metal Dragons were also potential allies of the Athenadrags. This was enough for Casalos to put aside his prejudices and help Bahamut push Galos, and even find an opportunity to get involved.
Regardless of Bahamut's original nature or current state, He will become the God of Metal Dragons and join the ranks of the three righteous gods of the Faerûn pantheon. Using His banner as a pretext is undoubtedly a very worthwhile endeavor. Of course, He cannot participate as Casaloz. Otherwise, even if Bahamut cannot discern the truth of His "Holy Watcher" persona, His nature would lead Him to doubt Casaloz due to the subspecies issue: How could a mere iron dragon who escaped the Great Purge of Chassar believe in me, Bahamut? My faith as the God of Metal Dragons hasn't even spread throughout Faerûn yet!
But if it were a golden dragon, there wouldn't be so many problems.
“You’ve got the wrong dragon, Galos. To be honest, if I had the chance, I’d really like to go with you to explore the Abyss. It’s just a pity…” Casaroz trailed off, his curved tail tip swaying from side to side, revealing a natural anxiety, as if he had something difficult to say. After a moment’s hesitation, he continued, “You should go to Tobeystand, go to Gerlesk. They will definitely help you.”
“I’m not familiar with Byersted. Apart from seeing it once when the palace was besieged, I’ve never spoken a complete sentence to it, and I don’t even know where it is now.” Gaelos didn’t press Casalos about the unspeakable secret he was “unwilling to reveal.” He had been with dragons long enough to understand their basic social rules, but the two names Casalos mentioned made him somewhat conflicted: “As for Gerlesk, it has been missing for some time.”
"That's why you need to wait. The Lord of Justice has entrusted you with this great mission, and both Byerstan and Gerlesk are paladins of the Lord of Justice. How could they be absent from this great war? If I'm not mistaken, they are making the same preparations, and when they appear and come for you, that will be the time to end the war..."
After calming down the impatient Garros, giving the future metal dragon more time to plan and strategize, Casalos also began his own actions.
It had already disappeared quite a few times during this period: visiting the awakened Dragon Mother Quetzmiz, inspecting and accepting the Dragon Territory Refuge in the Underdark, participating in the regular trials of the Dragon Treasury, and when it felt the time was right, it would use the Iron Dawn to bring Isis back to the Dragon Territory. Each time, it would disappear for several days. Now that the demons had caused such a disturbance and opened the interdimensional rift, the war on the front lines could not be fought for the time being. Even if the upheaval forced Impu's Bronze Dragon Knights to return to support the homeland, the nascent Atheros of Damara and the Dragon Knights of Goron were enough to shoulder the main responsibility on the front lines. They were not strong enough in offense but were more than capable in defense, so few people cared about Casaloz's disappearance.
With the gods exiled to the Material Plane, the attention of other powerful deities has also shifted entirely to the continent of Faerûn following this upheaval. It's time to reclaim the psychic entities stored in the Dragon Vault.
Find a secluded place, and indulge in luxury.
Chapter 247
By destroying two dimensional bags, Casalos opened the gate to the astral plane through this more fundamental conflict of rules rather than arcane magic. He broke through the magic cocoon's blockade and entered this mysterious and vast realm in his physical body for the first time without any cover.
They unleashed a pre-prepared astral spell, established communication with Svent, and were then teleported, guided by the Royal Guard warlocks, to the astral outpost that the hounds and grey dwarves had hastily built over several months.
Boom!
As Casalos's massive head passed through the portal, a shockwave carrying the familiar scent of sulfur swept across its scales, and a storm of star matter forced it to close its first outer eyelid.
"What's going on?" It darted out of the portal and hurriedly asked its captain of the guard, Svent.
"I apologize, my lord, for disturbing you... It's nothing serious, just a bunch of ignorant astral pirates. Ever since we arrived, they've been harassing us every now and then. I'll go and take care of them right away!"
4. Chicken farmer
Astral pirates... Geese Yankees?
"Wait," Casalos called out to Svent, who was furiously about to draw his knife, "Do they attack frequently? How do you deal with it?"
“Yes, my lord. Every so often they come to attack in groups riding red dragons. Apart from the initial loss of some slaves due to our lack of preparedness, we have easily repelled them. Please forgive us, we are not yet familiar with the environment of the astral plane and were unable to catch up with them and capture them all, which is why they have disturbed you.”
“Don’t worry about it, Svent. This is normal. The environment has always been the primary factor affecting flight. Just adapt to the unfamiliar gravity environment as soon as possible.” Casalos wouldn’t get angry over such a small matter. Other thoughts were swirling in its mind: “I’m asking you, have you captured any Githyanki prisoners, or Red Dragons?”
"Of course, the two teenage red dragons and one young red dragon were imprisoned in the dungeon, and seven Githyanki were forced to work under the enslavement of the grey dwarves to repair the damage they had caused."
"Bring them to me..."
The kobolds were very efficient; Casalos received the prisoners within minutes, and the attack ceased.
Under Svent's personal escort, the half-dragon trolls and half-dragon ogres led out three red dragons like cattle, bound by magic-suppressing chains, followed by the Githyanki controlled by the gray dwarves, all standing in a neat row. One of the red dragons saw Casalos and raised its head as if to taunt him, but the troll swiftly swung his solid steel mace and smashed it hard on the back of the head, knocking it to the ground unconscious.
The shockwaves and sparks from the collision made Casalos's mind light up. That was a half-iron dragon ogre warrior, a dragon fanatic with a full dragon vein, who was ranked alongside the other half-dragon ogre monk as one of Svent's top generals. His sheer strength was comparable to that of an adult red dragon.
Another teenage red dragon turned its head to the other side and looked at it with unbearable eyes. The young red dragon put on a frightened posture. It seemed that it had been beaten by this ogre all the time. The gray dwarf immediately came into contact with the chicken keeper's mind control, and suddenly became troubled. Two of them turned around to snatch the gray dwarf's whip, but the gray dwarf held his head and kicked his hip, forcing him to his knees. Four people stared at the surroundings vigilantly. They saw Casaroz's eyes flashing but did not make any move. The last person's eyes were full of gray, as if he was dead.
Casalos examined each of the ten prisoners, starting with the red dragon, nodding and shaking his head intermittently, a few sparks occasionally flying from his nostrils, but he remained silent. After looking them over twice, he waved his wing hook, signaling Svent to bring them back.
When Svent returned, Casalos gave his orders: "Cut off the thorny red dragon's head and hang it on the tallest pole in the center of the training ground. Do the same to the two chicken farmers who dared to rebel. Cut off the wings of the other two red dragons and have the ogres and trolls use them as pack animals. They should work near the training ground, where they can see the red dragon's head hanging. Have the gray dwarves release the chicken farmers from their mind control and whip them with clubs to make them work. If any more chicken farmers attack, capture them as many as possible; the construction of the forward base will require a lot of these laborers..."
Sven didn't ask why, nodded, and went to carry out Casalos's will.
"I haven't even gone to cause you any trouble yet, and you've already jumped out, huh? Tiamat is now stuck in Enser and Giles' millennia-long love-hate relationship. I'd like to see who comes to save your little life, Ephromon..."
The appearance of the Gith Yankees reminded Kassarroth that now was the perfect opportunity to clip Tiamat's wings. The Gith Yankees were Tiamat's allies—or rather, pawns. To escape the Mind Flayers' enslavement, Gith had accepted Verakis's offer to travel to the Dragon Queen's realm and seek her help, sacrificing himself in exchange for the support of Tiamat's chief male favorite, Ephromon, and his army of red dragons, which ultimately led to the defeat of the Mind Flayers and their liberation.
No one knows what kind of agreement the Geese or Vairakis reached with Tiamat, but since then, the ancient red dragon Ephelomon has lived in the Geese's stronghold and handed over an artifact that can control red dragons to the new queen Vairakis. The Geese Yankees have also gained the opportunity to sign contracts with red dragons under the age of 18 and become red dragon knights.
During the war that wiped out the Athelon Holy Land, there was a legendary mind sorcerer from the Githyanki. Ephromon even disguised himself as the ancient overlord of Athelon and launched a crucial attack. Many of those red dragons from other worlds probably came from the Githyanki's stronghold.
The Githyanki's main base is in the Astral Plane. The fact that the Red Dragon Riders frequently harass the forward base means that they are not far from it. So, as long as they can get the coordinates from the prisoners, Casalos can lead his army to attack.
Even after the Geese experienced a split following their liberation from the Mindflayer Empire, and their elite talents were subsequently drained of their life force by the Vyrakis, who were transformed into liches, the current Geese Yanki are no longer the powerful force that once overthrew the Mindflayer Astral Empire. In reality, they are just a large, weak bunch. However, they are still an astral "empire" where everyone is a soldier, making them considerably stronger than the "rural" imperial kingdoms of the Material Plane. A war would require thorough preparation.
Casalos's top priority right now is to reclaim his psychic form.
Infiltrate the forward base and use the elemental convergence point created by the maze lock. Have your loyal dogs guard the door, Casaroz enters a short slumber to open the Dragon's Treasury, wasting a trial opportunity to return to the demiplane where the floating city of Elena is located, and awakens in the psychic body with more than 50,000 layers of blazing flames.
After briefly assessing his own condition, Casalos looked at the archbishop who had appeared beside him and asked in confusion, "This doesn't seem to be what you expected. After this period of preservation, the stacked flames haven't dissipated. Is something wrong?"
The archbishop shook his head: "A demiplane with its own set of rules is in a closed state, so the loss is naturally less. But it will be different once you enter the Astral Plane. The psychic entity that the Dragon Treasury created for you has 'otherworldly' attributes to the Astral Plane, the Prime Material Plane, and even other outer planes. It will inevitably be rejected by certain lower-level rules. To exist stably, you must consume something to resist these rules. Obviously, the blazing flames you've accumulated are the price."
Are you sure you're ready?
Upon hearing this, Casalos carefully reviewed his preparations once again, confirming that there were no mistakes or omissions, before giving the Archbishop a positive reply. The latter simply raised his hand again, and a passage was torn open in the closed demiplane. The silver light of the astral plane surged, and Casalos, in his psychic state, felt a strange pressure acting on him, almost instantly crushing him completely.
5. Strange Planet
The pressure was not an illusion, but a flickering flame.