Chapter 236 – Divine Punishment

The name “Netherese Civilization” is far too renowned and influential. Across the vast Faerûn Plane, nearly anyone with even a modicum of knowledge understands what this name represents.

What a dazzling and powerful civilization it was! They possessed countless golems for warfare, innumerable Grand Arcanists creating spell after spell, and endless powerful magic to obliterate all enemies and seize every resource.

Their Floating Cities once made the entire Multiverse tremble, and their civilization once spread across more than half the planes of the Multiverse! It is said that the Netherese Civilization came within a hair’s breadth of surpassing the God-Throne level, becoming inconceivable “Transcenders” to break free from this universe.

Even now, when the Netherese Civilization has become history, and all its legacies have been branded as “taboos” targeted by the gods, the glory of Netheril has never been forgotten.

As long as a single mage still practices the “Perfect Meditation Method,” as long as fields still grow the incomparably vital crop—”Ququ Wheat,” as long as a single relic of Netheril exists within the Multiverse, the glory of Netheril can never fade from memory.

This is the great Netherese Civilization—coveted by mages, feared like venomous serpents by the gods. In this era, after countless purges by the River of Fate and successive deities, the emergence of any Netherese relic is enough to shake the entire Faerûn Plane.

On this utterly ordinary night, a ripple bearing the imprint of the Netherese Civilization was detected by vigilant gods and powerful spellcasters. They immediately abandoned all ongoing research, turning their attention to an insignificant, remote location.

This was a legacy of the Netherese Civilization—no god would fail to loathe it, no mage would fail to covet it!

Yet, spellcasters powerful enough to detect such subtle fluctuations did not swarm toward the Dillon Kingdom like flies drawn to blood. This is a world of pragmatism—unlike in novels, where treasures emerging would trigger life-risking frenzies, no matter how incomparably valuable the artifact might be.

In reality, all spellcasters who sensed the Netherese legacy chose to adopt a wait-and-see approach. On one hand, the first to arrive would inevitably face siege from others; on the other hand…

They were afraid!

The formidable reputation of the Netherese Civilization was not built through charity—it was forged by mercilessly annihilating all who refused to submit!

No one knew whether this newly emerged Netherese relic was a pile of useless junk or an immensely powerful war fortress. No one knew if the relic retained any automated offensive measures from the Netherese Civilization, much less whether such potential defenses would adhere to the “Netherese Civilization Wartime Regulations”—”indiscriminately destroy all detectable entities of unidentified origin.”

If someone recklessly rushed over only to be inexplicably struck by a “Causal Annihilation Cannon,” where could they possibly appeal for justice?

Therefore, most spellcasters opted for temporary observation. No treasure could be more precious than one’s own life.Compared to the calm spellcasters, the group of deities could not remain composed—or rather, they were “made” unable to stay calm. Though the gods also feared the might of the Netherese Civilization and wished to observe from a distance first, they were not permitted to do so.

The instant the Netherese relic appeared, all deities of intermediate divine rank or higher received a command from the River of Fate: destroy anything associated with the Netherese Civilization at all costs.

Thus, these deities had no choice but to act immediately, unleashing divine retribution to scour the Dillon Kingdom without a second thought.

———— Dividing Line ————

For Punk, the arrival of the divine retribution was sudden and swift. Almost as soon as he watched Trelinka step through the portal and considered observing the situation inside, a terrifying presence abruptly descended.

“I—in the name of light, purify this land”!

Punk didn’t need to strain his mind to guess—the voice from the sky, seeming to come from everywhere at once, had already announced the arrival of divine punishment.

These were the inevitable words of Lathander Lord of Dawn when he unleashed divine retribution (deities of the good alignment often spouted a few lines under the banner of righteousness), so Punk recognized it instantly.

Without a doubt, the first to strike was Lathander Lord of Dawn. Barring any surprises, the terrifying divine retribution would descend in about two seconds!

The Lord of Dawn, a deity of great power, had suddenly unleashed a full-force divine retribution?

When he sensed the divine punishment, Punk was utterly stunned. What in the world had Princess Teleilinka activated to make a deity of such immense power unhesitatingly descend divine punishment upon a small city in a minor kingdom?

After all, divine retribution was arguably the least cost-effective means of attack; deities generally wouldn’t use it unless thoroughly provoked.

Although Lathander was an undisputed greater deity, he was still one of the gods severely restricted by the multiverse. Launching such an attack outside his God Realm required sacrificing at least centuries of accumulated divine power as the price.

Even at such a cost, this attack—originally equivalent to a Radiant Sun-Level strike—was drastically weakened by the Faerûn Plane to the level of a relatively weak Legendary Spell (forbidden spell) around level twenty. Any Legendary Expert of that level would be completely unfazed by it.

But the key point was… Punk was no Legendary Expert. He hadn’t even reached level fifteen Master-Level yet, let alone Legendary!

No matter how weakened the Lord of Dawn’s divine retribution was, it was still equivalent to a genuine “Legendary Spell.” Even the weakest Legendary Spell was enough to destroy a city without Legendary magical defenses.

Though Punk didn’t know why Lathander had suddenly gone mad and unleashed indiscriminate destruction, he knew one thing: if he didn’t completely leave this city within two seconds, utter annihilation awaited him—Haitzita’s Magic Box wouldn’t save him either!

Punk had no time to ponder further. The terrifying threat of death relentlessly reminded him—”You must find a way, now.”He immediately abandoned the thought of escaping the divine punishment’s range. Forget that Punk was merely a fourteen-level Formal-Level spellcaster—even if he had reached Master-Level, it would be impossible to flee a city-covering divine punishment in two seconds.

Yet remaining within this range meant certain death—there was no escaping a Legendary divine spell (divine punishment) whether by heaven or earth.

As the unstoppable “catastrophe” loomed imminent, Punk’s mind raced at lightning speed! Soon, his gaze fell upon the still-open “culprit”—the portal.

“Though I’ve no idea where this thing leads, staying in Greenvine City means certain death. Right now, only this eerie portal can save me”!

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As a new author, I still have many areas needing improvement, but I’m striving to grow and progress step by step. I hope we can witness this journey together.

(End of Chapter)