The Pantheon.
The Hall of Radiance, once clamorous with the bragging of divine auras, was now steeped in a gravity beyond measure.
The incarnations of the true gods sat solemnly upon their thrones of divine seat—not a single one absent, not a single detached observer lost in contemplation of the Rules. Every divine gaze was fixed upon the foremost region, the domain of the Greater Powers.
There, two colossal divine thrones had vanished permanently.
The God of Murder,
Her fall had directly caused the collapse of the Weave. The destruction of the Inner Weave alone was enough to make every god grind their teeth in anguish. More critical still was the collapse of the Core Weave, which had released the primordial wizard-wills sealed within the Moon's Core. Though only a handful had surfaced so far, the impact was already catastrophic.
"Obad-Hai! You are the wisest and most learned among us… What is your assessment of the Overlord's current condition?"
From a divine throne suffused with the light of dawn, an incarnation of a Greater Power spoke.
"Not well…"
The God of Knowledge, Obad-Hai, withdrew his gaze from the Overlord's Throne and shook his head.
"The collapse of the Weave would have cascaded through countless planar universes, even destabilized the Four Elemental Planes and destroyed more than half the Material World… That was the combined power the gods unleashed back then—not a soul present could have stopped it…"
"The Overlord halted the Weave's spread, but the price paid, I fear…"
Obad-Hai sighed, and the unease rippled outward like a shockwave.
The gods murmured among themselves, staring at the World Crystal upon the Overlord's Throne, now bearing a tremendous fissure, and at the vast, overwhelming aura emanating from within. Their eyes brimmed with worry.
Of course, there were a few deities whose gazes held something deeper—something unfathomable, even ambitious.
"Curse that God of Murder! You should have accepted Mystra's proposal back then and attacked his divine kingdom directly!"
With Mystra's fall, he had lost his most important ally. The chaos now engulfing the Material World only deepened the God of Justice's self-reproach.
"Wizards—all of this is a wizards' conspiracy! And we failed to see it…"
The gods began to whisper. For tens of thousands of years they had avoided the forbidden word "wizard," yet now they were forced to confront it head-on.
The Second War of Ending had begun. Even Greater Powers could no longer guarantee their own survival.
Ding!
A crisp bell-tone rang through the entirety of the Pantheon, drawing every divine gaze toward a Greater Power among the
"Ahem…"
"I second the motion!" Tyr was the first to voice his support, followed by
"I also agree!"
To the surprise of every god present, the second voice of assent belonged to
The towering golden orc rose to his feet, every strand of his mane bristling, his voice ringing like struck iron: "The conflict between orcs and the Northern Kingdoms is merely an internal quarrel within the gods' own domain. At a time like this, we must conserve our strength and direct it all against our common enemy!"
"The Orcish Empire will, from this moment, cease all hostilities against the Silvermoon Alliance. Both sides shall treat the current line of实际控制 as their border!"
With the Weave's collapse and the loss of its greatest patron, Mystra, the Silvermoon Alliance had all but disintegrated.
After all, an alliance founded on mages—once the vast majority of those mages had been stripped of their power—the consequences were nothing short of ruinous.
Had the Orcish Empire pressed its attack, it could have driven
And yet Gruumsh now put forward this motion. His sincerity was beyond question.
Obad-Hai and the other neutral Greater Powers voiced their positions in turn, forcing the evil gods into deep contemplation.
In the end, fear and hatred of the wizards prevailed. The resolution passed swiftly, and each god swore the oath upon the River Styx.
"First… we must determine the number of invading wizards, as well as those escaped primordial wills… I believe this task should be entrusted to Lord Obad-Hai…"
Kelemvor was the first to propose.
"According to the investigations carried out by my churches, as well as intelligence gathered from various sources, these wizards have grown far more cunning than before… The majority have hidden themselves well. The only ones confirmed to have appeared are these…"
Golden divine energy coalesced into a luminous screen, projecting scenes from different worlds.
"In the Abyss—the Defiling Evil Eye and the Lord of Chaos. And in Hell—the God of Destruction, Leilin Farell—alongside the Twisted Shadow. The latter two are linked to the plague now sweeping across the continent…"
"These are the wizards we have confirmed. But there are many more still hidden…"
At this, a deep furrow of thought creased Obad-Hai's brow.
"The Material World is the bedrock of our faith. These wizards have learned their lesson—they have not launched divine war against our kingdoms, but instead begun their slaughter among mortals…"
The faces of numerous gods darkened like storm clouds. The wizards' gambit had struck directly at their most vulnerable point.
The Material World was the richest source of faith and the foundation of the multiverse. Lose it, and at least half the gods present would fall.
"Despicable wizards, attacking mortals outright!"
The gods roared in fury, their voices nearly tearing through the void above the Pantheon—yet there was nothing they could do.
"Obad-Hai turned his gaze toward a figure at the rear—a lady wrapped layer upon layer in black gauze, surrounded by a miasma of disease.
This was
When it came to such matters, Talona was the unquestioned authority.
Yet the Lady of Pestilence remained silent for a long while before finally speaking in a hoarse, labored voice: "My divine portfolios are Poison and Disease, not Healing. If you insist on my assessment, all I can say is that the plague these wizards have unleashed is… fascinating. It appears connected to what that God of Destruction used on the island of Bankes…"
As the Goddess of Pestilence, how could Talona have failed to notice what Leilin had done on Bankes?
Had Leilin's ambitions not been exposed so quickly, with his accomplishments and Talona's attention, he could have easily secured the rank of Chosen within her church.
The gods' world was a great world equal in stature to the wizards' world—its suppressive power was truly terrifying.
Most wizards today—with the exception of lunatics like the Lord of Chaos and the Defiling Evil Eye—had chosen to lie low and quietly adapt to the shifts in the Rules.
As for ordinary viruses and bacteria, whether they could retain any efficacy in the Material World under the world's suppression was an open question.
Yet the sheer scale of this plague, its horrifying mortality rate—all of it reminded Talona of Leilin's handiwork.
"Are you saying… all of this was done by that God of Destruction—the wizard Leilin Farell?"
Tyr fixed his eyes on Talona.
"Heh… not necessarily. I see traces of crude imitation here. Perhaps another wizard is framing him. After all, the current God of Destruction is still in Hell—he won't emerge until he's dealt with
Talona spoke with confidence, her eyes glancing momentarily toward Umberlee, the Sea Goddess. The intermediate-power deity was unnervingly quiet, radiating an aura that said *keep your distance*—clearly trying to distance herself from the fallout.
"My friends… we do have one piece of good news—these wizards are not united. The intrigue and rivalry among them is even more terrifying than what exists between the gods!"
Talona declared loudly.
"Silence!" Obad-Hai raised his voice against the rising clamor of the Pantheon, pressing down the gods' murmuring.
"If the Lady of Pestilence has no effective countermeasure, then we must rely on our clerics…"
Even as he said this, a trace of helplessness crossed Obad-Hai's face.
With the full power of a true god, the divine spells granted each day far surpassed what demi-gods or false gods could manage. A single Remove Disease could unravel even the most stubborn plague.
In better times, had the gods worked together and expended their divine power without restraint, the churches and clerics could have suppressed this plague entirely.
But those times were gone. Without the Inner Weave, every transmission and expenditure of divine spellcraft cost several times more divine power than before!
This drain instantly curtailed the use of divine magic, leaving the clerics powerless against the plague's spread. They could only watch helplessly as countless innocent mortals perished, the very foundation of the gods eroding with each passing day.
Only now did Obad-Hai fully grasp the magnitude of Leilin's cunning.
Though the wizard had struck only once, that single blow had ignited the Twilight of the Gods, felled Mystra, and shattered the Weave.
And the Weave's collapse had not only released the terrifying primordial wizards—it had simultaneously crippled the most powerful mage corps in the Material World, while multiplying the gods' spellcraft costs severalfold, leaving them unable to mount a timely and precise response.
Such deep, patient scheming was terrifying beyond measure—even Greater Powers shuddered at it, chilled to the core.