According to Iris, Brunhilde wasn't the type of person who couldn't tell what was important and what wasn't.
But no one knew why she was so determined to go to the Viheral Dungeon. She hadn't told anyone her reasons.
'Could it be that every Chosen receives a different divine oracle?' Anser seriously doubted the intentions of those gods.
Perhaps broad, general revelations weren't enough to satisfy them, so it was understandable that they would send down specific tasks as well.
'Maybe the drow matron was right about one thing. These Chosen can be used, but they can't be completely trusted.'
Fortunately, Anser always liked to keep a few cards hidden. Even Iris's understanding of him barely scratched the surface.
'I still need to make a trip back as soon as possible...'
As he was thinking, a strange fluctuation brushed against his mind.
The Arcane Lock-sealed jar he had left with Osborn had been broken!
His heart stirred. He abruptly rose to his feet and stepped forward, instantly appearing on the eleventh floor of the Black Tower.
Returning to Durlag was somewhat troublesome, but getting to the Rock of Bral was very convenient.
Following the original magical trace, he cast Teleportation Circle, opened a portal, and arrived in the basement of a stone building located in Bral.
Pushing open the door and entering the first floor, he found an oil lamp still burning. The flickering light cast swaying shadows like black veils over the small figure curled up on the sofa.
"Anser, something big has happened." Osborn's voice was low and heavy. Hunched into the sofa, he looked somewhat dispirited.
"Looks like Evan's operation didn't go very well." Anser sat down on the sofa beside him and let out a sigh.
"Priest Evan oversimplified things." Osborn ran a hand through his hair, making his already messy hair even more disheveled. "King Cozar... has been killed!"
Anser froze for a moment, then said in surprise, "Killed by the Second Prince after he became a Chosen?"
He remembered that when trouble first broke out, the royal family had firmly backed the Second Prince. They had practically been on the verge of openly opposing the Silver Moon Church.
"Maybe. There's no accurate information yet. The important thing now is that the Second Prince, Emmanuel, has gained powerful allies. He's already surrounded Starport Palace with his forces and is confronting the Crown Prince. A war could break out at any moment."
"At the same time, he's issued a final ultimatum to every faction, forcing everyone to declare their position..."
"That includes The Burrows?"
"Without exception."
"..."
As Osborn continued explaining, Anser gradually pieced everything together.
The Chosen of Bane was even more decisive than expected. He had apparently killed his own father, then used both his maternal family's influence and his status as a Chosen to recruit and buy off a large number of supporters. Somehow, he had also acquired an army from an unknown source before launching his move and completely seizing control of the Upper City.
Aside from possessing somewhat greater prestige and a stronger claim to the throne, the Crown Prince was at an absolute disadvantage in every other regard. If fighting broke out, his chances of victory were practically nonexistent.
Meanwhile, most of Bral's major factions had chosen to remain on the sidelines and watch.
Only the churches, led by the Silver Moon Church, had openly declared their support for the Crown Prince. But they had no army of their own, and many of their resources were tied up dealing with the followers of various evil gods, making it difficult for them to play a decisive role.
Some people, including Osborn, were inclined to support the Crown Prince as well. But in a situation that looked almost impossible to win, who would dare place a bet so easily? If they lost, retribution would be inevitable.
"As expected of a follower of Bane. Conflict is power. If he wasn't stirring up trouble, that would be abnormal." Anser was surprised, but all he could do was admire the move.
"It shouldn't have developed like this. The situation changed far too quickly. Two of the Shadow Magnates may have directly sided with the Second Prince—The Throne Chamber, and... The Unknown One," Osborn said gloomily.
Bral was not a city governed by law. Throughout its long history, it had always been accompanied by chaos and death. There were far more villains than decent people, and over time four rulers of the underworld had emerged. They were collectively known as the Shadow Magnates.
Even after their deaths, their successors continued using their titles while collecting "insurance fees" from merchants throughout the city.
But this wasn't purely extortion. These four organizations also protected those merchants from harm and would even provide a certain amount of compensation if something happened.
That was the foundation of their existence.
The four Shadow Magnates bore the titles The Throne Chamber, The Lucky One, The Juggler, and The Unknown One.
The reason Osborn knew so many of the inside details was because The Lucky One happened to be a halfling who lived in The Burrows.
"There was once a rumor that the Unknown One... was a Mind Flayer." Osborn's gaze darkened. "But no one believed it before."
Anser immediately thought of the recent Mind Flayer uprising. Back then, he had been convinced there had to be a Mind Flayer mole inside the Rock of Bral, yet no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find one.
If the local underworld boss known as the Unknown One really was the culprit, then it made sense why nobody had noticed.
Fortunately, the Githzerai had unexpectedly thrown the whole situation into chaos. Otherwise, it was hard to say how things might have developed.
"If the Unknown One really is a Mind Flayer, then it's probably just using the Second Prince. There's no way the two can coexist in the long run," Anser guessed.
"That's a problem for later. What do we do now?" Osborn spread his hands helplessly, caught between two difficult choices.
The Crown Prince had only a single Royal Guard at his disposal. The court wizards had chosen to remain neutral, while Bral's naval and ground forces were steadily defecting to the Second Prince. The longer things dragged on, the worse the situation became.
The city's residents were never going to unite against the royal family. At its core, this was simply a royal coup. The only unusual factor was the Second Prince's status as a Chosen.
Religious freedom was common throughout Realmspace. Conflicts between different faiths certainly existed, but unless two religions were outright mortal enemies, it was rare for their followers to attack each other on sight.
"Don't panic. At worst, we can retreat. I have a way to get all of you out safely." Anser had prepared himself for this possibility long ago.
As long as a war wasn't being fought on his own territory, the losses remained manageable.
"Right now we've lost our best opportunity to kill that Chosen of the evil god. He's been hiding inside the military camp the entire time. Sigh..."
"I'll go take a look."
As soon as he finished speaking, Anser vanished instantly. The world before his eyes turned gray and hazy as he entered the Ethereal Plane.
A visibility range of thirty to forty meters wasn't bad at all—more than enough to make out the general layout of the Material Plane.
Spreading his dragon wings, he followed the streets into the Upper City. After passing through its silent, dimly lit districts, he arrived at the famed Starport Palace.
The place was impossible to miss.
Starport Palace stood atop the highest point of the Rock of Bral, like a crown resting upon the city.
The royal palace was a magnificent complex crowned with countless gleaming domes. Vines and climbing plants spread across its walls, filling the area with lush greenery.
And green was the rarest color in all of Bral.
At the moment, however, Starport Palace was a powder keg waiting to explode.
Roughly two thousand soldiers had completely encircled the palace. They formed layer upon layer of blockade, so tightly sealed that not even a bird or insect could get through.
By comparison, the defenders stationed on the walls numbered only two or three hundred. Every one of them wore an expression of despair, their morale at rock bottom.
After making a circuit around the area, Anser grew increasingly alarmed.
'This is ridiculous.'
The Rock of Bral was wealthy, but its population and size were genuinely limited. Its permanent population rarely exceeded ten thousand.
Even if one combined the navy, army, city guard, Royal Guard, and court wizards, the total military strength barely surpassed a thousand personnel.
'Where did all these people come from? This Second Prince is more capable than I thought.'
Excluding the local troops, at least a thousand of the soldiers were reinforcements from elsewhere. And transporting that many people to the Rock of Bral was no simple task.
'Unless they used a large-scale Teleportation Circle.'
There were two ways to construct a permanent Teleportation Circle.
The first was for spellcasters to cast the spell repeatedly over a long period, gradually stabilizing the spatial passage through accumulated effort.
The second method was the one commonly employed by major powers: spending enormous amounts of wealth and rare materials while multiple spellcasters proficient in Teleportation Circle worked together to complete the construction in a single effort.
The cost was staggering, but the advantages were clear—greater flexibility, shorter construction time, higher stability, and the ability to transport large quantities of supplies and personnel.
Anser didn't dare venture too deeply into the military camp. Instead, he remained on the outskirts, spying on the soldiers from across the planar boundary.
'They look familiar.'
The die trembled slightly and displayed the target's information:
[Amnian Soldier, Human, Challenge Rating 1/8]