Chapter 826: Chapter 837: Red Tape and Formalities

“Cranvo?” Soveris repeated the name in confusion, “The current Lord of the Dead?”

“Correct.” Lancelot nodded, “Milko was the holder of that title several generations ago.”

“The Lord of the Dead had a succession? When did that happen?”

“Over a hundred years ago, there was a cataclysm known as the Saint Catastrophe in the multiverse. The gods were expelled from their divine kingdoms in the outer planes and were forced to walk the earth in the forms of saints. The gods, who usually opposed each other through churches and agents, clashed directly in the mortal realm, causing a series of disasters. The main culprits behind all this were Milko and Bane. I won’t go into the details, but the end result was that the three gods of death were killed, and their divine offices were taken over by a mortal named Shrek, ending the Saint Catastrophe. Ten years later, Shrek was replaced by Cranvo as the Lord of the Dead, though the former did not die and still retained the divine offices of lies, intrigue, and deceit. Incidentally, we found some evidence in that ancient ruin suggesting that those witches might have been collaborating with Shrek.”

“This is… unbelievable.” Soveris was overwhelmed by the flood of information, “This Cranvo you mentioned, what kind of god is he?”

“As a mortal, he was a kind, sincere, and determined warrior. But after becoming the Lord of the Dead, influenced by the ancient Grim Reaper Yago, his alignment shifted to lawful neutral.” Lancelot shrugged, “That’s the official narrative. Personally, I feel that the part of him that was once mortal hasn’t disappeared, but the duties of the Lord of the Dead leave no room for personal feelings.”

“You flatter me, Sir.”

A familiar voice suddenly echoed in the room. Lancelot turned his head to see a figure in a black robe and silver mask appear in a previously empty corner. It was none other than Cranvo himself, whom they had been discussing.

“Allow me to introduce, the Lord of the Dead, Judge of the Doomed, Mentor of the Crystal Tower, the great Ferryman, Grim Reaper, the honorable Cranvo Lanceban.”

“Thank you for the introduction, Savior of Oasis Fort, Mogrondale, and Pascaler, Protector sworn against demons, Dragon Slayer, the one who melts glaciers and extinguishes volcanoes, Paladin of the Abyss, Prince Lancelot Durek of Twin Bridges Town.” The god’s illusion replied solemnly, “Did I miss a title?”

“No.” Lancelot said, slightly exasperated, “You’ve added too many.”

“Likewise.” Cranvo shrugged, “To save us precious time, I propose we address each other by name from now on, shall we?”

Soveris stood nearby, utterly shocked. Not everyone is prepared to meet a deity. Yet, the elf knew for sure that standing before him was a true god. It was a feeling unlike any he had ever experienced before, a certainty akin to instantly knowing someone’s gender with just a glance.

“G…Greetings, great Lord of the Dead.” Soveris managed to stammer out, “I am Soveris, welcome to Raventown…”

“Hello, Soveris, just call me Cranvo.” The Lord of the Dead nodded at him, “I apologize for being able to meet you only in this manner, as I am currently unable to leave that ancient temple. Lancelot has told me that you share our objective of defeating the Lich King and lifting the curse on this land. Is that true?”

“Of course.” Soveris immediately nodded, “That has long been the wish of my people, for which we are willing to pay any price…”

“Do not say such things lightly; some prices are simply too high. I’ve seen too much of such situations.” Cranvo shook his head slightly. “Lancelot, tell me what you’ve encountered since you left…”

The human knight spent about half an hour detailing to Cranvo and Soveris what they had seen in the Witches’ Forest. This included a lake filled with Stygian River water, a tower capable of capturing souls, a barn full of human-faced maggots, and Medusa’s comments about the witches. He glossed over the combat details, often downplaying them.

“A magic tower that captures fallen souls?” Cranvo’s voice turned more serious, “Show me the soul prisms you obtained there.”

“No problem.”

Upon hearing this, Lancelot immediately untied a pouch from his waist and pulled out a purple crystal column about the size of a duck egg. Inside it swirled a faint mist, indicating a poor soul was imprisoned within. Cranvo’s projection stepped forward, stared at the crystal in the human knight’s hand for a few seconds, then shook his head and looked away.

“What did you find?”

“The soul imprisoned inside is named Habib. He experienced seven deaths. The first six times he resurrected, which led him to believe he was Peyton Derrick’s illegitimate child and destined to rule this land. Before his final death, he confided his belief to a prostitute, who mercilessly mocked him. In a fit of rage, he beat her to death in bed, but she scratched his skin with poisonous nails. He was absorbed into this crystal just two weeks ago. Next.”

“Gaimar Dalton, he developed a taste for human flesh from eating a piece of meat in a hallucination induced by the witches’ enchanted pastries. Before being imprisoned, he ate a total of seventy-three people, mostly stolen corpses, but he personally killed twelve. He died after accidentally consuming a poisonous mushroom growing on a corpse. Next.”

“Somaya Osborne, an inn servant who loved collecting phallus specimens. She used to be a kind girl, but in this cursed place, it’s difficult for regular people to remain unaffected. That’s enough. No need to show more.”

“Have you reached a conclusion?”

“As the captive Medusa mentioned, all captured souls belong to the neutral evil alignment. As far as I know, both sides in the Blood War favor the human-faced maggots of this alignment. Lawful alignment means resistance to change, requiring too much power to transform them into other forms, while chaotic alignment means extreme instability. High-ranking fiends who use magic power might end up with completely unexpected results, which even the Demon Lords dislike. The problem is, the witches have governed this demi-plane for a long time. If they’ve been implementing this setup for that long, the number of human-faced maggots produced here must be staggering…”