Lich for Hire

Chapter 284: Forced to Sell

The God of Alchemy was right. After learning the truth, Ambrose really was furious.

Something that had once been his by right had slipped through his fingers for nothing. The loss made his very soul tremble; his bones creaked audibly.

If he had never known the truth, he could have gone on blaming the God of Alchemy for being a complete bastard. But now that the truth was laid bare, he had no one but himself to blame.

What cursed fate!

Ambrose even began to suspect that the Goddess of Fate had marked him the moment he transmigrated, assigning him centuries of hardship just to deliver a final, devastating blow: "You could have become a god... but you missed your chance."

It was a lethal strike, the kind that made him feel the loss in his very marrow.

But he was a lich. Negative emotions dulled quickly. He forced the bitterness down and began thinking about how to win what was rightfully his back.

One loss wasn't too bad—so long as he could turn things around later.

"Say I absorb all four divine domains at once," Ambrose began. "Would that make me a greater god?"

"Of course not," the God of Alchemy replied flatly. "Doing so won't help. Divinity isn't directly associated with the number of domains you own. Do the drow believe in you? Do you understand them? How much do you know about corruption? Have you ever even raised spiders? Only darkness has any real connection to you, but Loss's dominion over darkness is weak. Shara is the true Dark Goddess.

"So even if you absorb all four domains, you'd just end up as a weaker god than even I am. You'd be a lamb waiting to be slaughtered."

Seizing another god's domains required years, perhaps even centuries, of adaptation. During that time, Ambrose would not be able to access their full power. And the gods who hated Ambrose would never give him that kind of time.

"Then I guess I'll have to sell them," Ambrose muttered. "One to Black Rose, one to the dragons... So which two should I keep?"

The God of Alchemy considered Ambrose before answering, "Of the four, the most valuable to you are the domains over the drow and corruption. The spider domain is powerful as well, but it would warp you and turn you into some kind of undead arachnid. Your personality wouldn't survive intact. As for darkness, honestly, it's a trap. With Shara around, any lesser domain over darkness would only be suppressed."

Gods sharing the same domain could crush or even devour their weaker counterparts.

Loss's darkness was only a minor supplement to her power, so she wasn't affected much.

But if Ambrose were to absorb it, Shara could suppress him utterly and reduce him to nothing.

Ambrose thought for a moment. "The drow domain is the most important, isn't it? Faith-based gods grow quickly. With enough believers, you could reach greater divinity within a single day."

"That's true," the God of Alchemy said. "But how long would it take you to consolidate the drow and turn them into your followers?"

Ambrose could impersonate the Spider Queen and siphon their faith, but the drow were currently in ruins. In the short term, they couldn't provide enough divine power to protect him.

"Then the real question is, who do I sell them to?" Ambrose sighed.

"Other gods, of course. Shara would actually be your best buyer."

"She doesn't want to pay a single coin."

If Shara had made anything close to a serious offer, Ambrose might have considered it. But she'd tried to trade a worthless blessing for four divine domains. That was daylight robbery.

The God of Alchemy thought for a moment. "Then sell them to other gods. Plenty have grudges against Loss. They'd love to see her embarrassed."

Ambrose's eyes lit up. Wasn't the elven pantheon his best target, then?

Loss had once been the consort of the elven god Choralan, before their relationship devolved into hatred and war. Choralan had cast her out and punished her harshly, splitting the drow from the rest of elvenkind.

If he sold the drow domain to the elven gods, they would surely pay well.

The elves were famously wealthy and generous. Just look at Catherine, layered in blessings and carrying multiple divine artifacts.

Ambrose didn't even need much. A simple promise of protection after his ascension would already be worth it.

"Alright, it's decided," he said. "The drow domain will go to the elves. The spider domain will go to the dragons—they're into weird things anyway. As for Black Rose, she's not planning to ascend. She wants to trade the domains for benefits, so she can just take whatever's left."

After careful consideration, Ambrose finalized his plan. He would keep the corruption domain, give the darkness domain to Black Rose, give the spider domain to the dragons, and sell the strongest domain, the drow domain, to the elves.

With that settled, he tried to transfer the domains through the Necromantic Codex.

The God of Alchemy laughed. "What were you thinking? Those are divine domains. You can't just teleport them around, not even with a divine artifact. A teleportation array would explode."

"So I have to deliver them in person?" Ambrose frowned.

He had no desire to travel that much. The Court of the Silver Moon was manageable, but overseas? That would take months, even with his revolutionized flight.

"Then I'll just make them come to me."

He sent word through the Codex. Black Rose replied immediately that she would come as soon as she finished consolidating her newly conquered territories in the Umbral Depths.

As for the dragons, Gareth would handle the transaction.

Dragons couldn't freely set foot on the continent, so sending him was the safest option.

Just as Ambrose was about to say goodbye, the God of Alchemy spoke again. "I can feel my power recovering. Soon, I'll be able to grant new blessings to alchemists. Give me some time. Once I stabilize this expansion of my domain, I'll grant you something new."

"A new blessing?"

"Yes. Likely tied to your research methods. I can't guarantee anything yet, but it'll surely be something good."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

At last, Ambrose felt slightly better. This wasn't a total loss, then.

A new blessing, even one focused on alchemy, would still be immensely valuable.

With everything settled, Ambrose returned to Sweetdew City. Over the next few days, he stocked a warehouse with a thousand drones, exhausting his entire supply of parts but also, presumably, sustaining his sales for quite some time.

After that, he retreated to his underground laboratory and resumed work on improving his jet propulsion system.

Flying to the Court of the Silver Moon would normally take forever.

Working on his jet propulsion engine would help the God of Alchemy, at any rate. Once he managed a stable prototype, he could fly to the Court at his leisure. Perhaps he'd even be able to sell it to the elves and expand his market.

The jet engine was derived from a modified magitech cannon that compressed air and expelled it to produce thrust. The previous explosion had been caused by shoddy materials; he'd treated his previous prototypes as disposable.

A stable engine would require proper investment: better materials, redesigned pressure valves, and a shift from burst output to continuous propulsion.

Ambrose all but went into seclusion in the guise of endless experimentation.

Even Harvey rarely had a chance to see his master, except when he was reporting his expenses.

At last, after relentless work, Ambrose succeeded in his objective.

The new engine was less than half the size of his first prototypes, reduced from something larger than his body to a compact, backpack-mounted unit.

Even the infernal knight armor had been modified. Its purpose was no longer propulsion, but directional control. Its jets allowed for precise maneuvering in midair.

Next would come the trials.

Ambrose donned his mithril body, equipped the infernal knight armor, fastened the jetpack onto his body, and ignited everything at once.

With a thunderous boom, he shot into the sky at supersonic speed as he headed straight for the Court of the Silver Moon.