Ambrose had no desire to make an enemy of a powerful god. That was practically begging for death. But he would at least hear the Lady of Mists' offer.

Who knew? What if she somehow had an IOU personally written by Aion? When it came to the affairs of gods, anything was possible.

Unfortunately, the Lady of Mists' answer disappointed him.

"I've lost my divine domain, so I can't offer much assistance. But I can teach you an illusion spell named after me."

Ambrose frowned. "Can this illusion deceive a god?"

The Lady of Mists quickly replied, "Of course not. Even the weakest deity has extremely high resistance to mortal magic. But I guarantee it's among the most powerful of illusion spells."

Ambrose: "..."

Rumor had it this former goddess of deception was a complete shut-in. That was supposedly how she had been tricked and stripped of her divine domain.

Her lies had always been more like pranks than the kind of carefully crafted schemes that plucked at people's hearts.

Now that she had lost her divinity, she didn't even seem to understand the most basic rules of dealing with people anymore.

"Sorry," Ambrose said. "If that's all you're offering, I'm not going to oppose the Prince of Lies. The risk and reward are completely disproportionate."

Only an idiot would challenge a god for the sake of a single illusion spell.

The Lady of Mists replied calmly, "Refusing won't help you. You're already too deeply involved. In your life, you've told more lies than countless others combined. Even if you don't agree, you'll eventually be dragged into this chaos. Surely you've noticed it yourself. In recent years, prodigies with extraordinary talents have begun appearing everywhere. Hidden powerhouses are stepping out from the shadows. The world is becoming increasingly chaotic, and wars are growing more frequent. Isn't that right? Every god is preparing for what's to come. Before long, there will be war among the godchosen."

Hearing this, several figures flashed through Ambrose's mind.

Just as the goddess had said, he had indeed encountered far too many geniuses lately.

His student Harvey had become a diviner simply by studying Ambrose's introductory notes. The paladin Allen Watson had nearly lost all confidence after Ambrose crushed his spirit—but the Lord of Dawn had descended personally to give him divine counseling, leading him to sudden enlightenment. Brandir Sanda was a legendary druid at thirty-eight, a genius among geniuses. Even Catherine, who had spent centuries as a reclusive shut-in, was now traveling across the continent with Ambrose because of the upheaval at the Court of the Silver Moon.

An age of upheaval was slowly unfolding. And who knew how many other prodigies were rising up elsewhere in the world?

The Lady of Mists continued, "I can sense your ambitions. You want to become a god. But have you decided on your divine domain yet? Others have gods supporting them from behind. What about you? Your master, the God of Alchemy, has been severely injured. Can you truly rely on him?"

Ambrose asked, "So what are you suggesting?"

The Lady of Mists quickly said, "Lies and deception. Those domains suit you perfectly. I can help you strip them from Cymric and deliver them to you intact."

Ambrose said nothing. He simply looked at the Lady of Mists with a faint smile.

Since the fallen goddess could read his emotions through his dreams, she must already understand his thoughts.

"Stripping away a divine domain" sounded nice, but the prerequisite was killing Cymric, the Prince of Lies, a greater god. Only then could the domains of lies and deception be taken from his corpse.

If Ambrose were capable of killing a greater deity, would he even care about such a domain?

Still, the Lady of Mists was right about one thing: Ambrose did need a direction to work toward. Becoming a god required an opportunity, and also the preparation to seize such an opportunity. Otherwise, even if the chance came, it would slip away.

The Lady of Mists clearly sensed Ambrose's refusal, yet she didn't give up. "I truly have little to offer right now," she said. "But I don't need you to fight Cymric personally. I know very well that mortals normally cannot threaten gods. I only need you to wait for the right moment.

"When that moment comes, stand on my side and help me take revenge. Until then, I will do everything in my power to help you. You're planning to transform your little pet into a dragon, aren't you? Dreams are also a form of deception. I can help your pet enter the dream realm without needing any druidic prayer."

Ambrose sighed. "If you'd said that earlier, I wouldn't have gone through so much trouble. But since I've already obtained the prayer, that help is basically redundant."

In the end, the fallen goddess was still trying to get something for nothing. She was asking Ambrose to shoulder the responsibility of slaying a god without offering any real benefit.

"So what exactly do you want?" the Lady of Mists asked. "Anything I still possess, I can give you."

Ambrose thought for a moment before asking, "Why are you able to enter my dreams?"

"It's not that I entered your dream," the Lady of Mists replied. "Rather, the dream that envelops this forest was created from my corpse. After my divine domain was stripped away, Azoth found my broken body and buried me here. I don't know how many years passed before I regained a sliver of consciousness. When I awoke, I discovered that those druids had settled here and constructed a powerful magical barrier. And part of that barrier was formed from fragments of my body."

To think Leyla had been unable to even preserve her corpse intact.

Ambrose asked, "Does the Oakfather know about this?"

This forest was blessed by that god. Using the corpse of a fallen deity as part of its barrier seemed dangerously reckless. Then again, that explained why the Dreamveil Barrier could even affect undead. If it was built using a god's body, the only way to resist it would be through the blessing of another deity.

"Aside from Aion, no god is truly omniscient," the Lady of Mists replied. "Sylvanas merely lends his power to these druids. How they use it isn't necessarily something he oversees. Even if he knew the barrier contained my body, he would simply think I was already dead."

Ambrose wasn't entirely convinced by that explanation. But since the matter concerned the Lady of Mists' own safety, and she herself didn't seem worried, he had no reason to press further. As long as she could be useful, that was enough.

He continued, "So you can enter any druid's dream. And you can also control whether this barrier affects certain people. Is that correct?"

"I can influence the barrier's effects within a limited range," the Lady of Mists said. "But if I made drastic changes, the druids would notice."

"Good. That's enough." Ambrose nodded. "I'll agree to this: if an opportunity arises in the future to avenge you, I'll try to help. But don't expect me to provoke the Prince of Lies on my own. I can kick someone when they're already down, but don't expect me to lead the charge. If you can accept that, then we can be partners."

"Agreed! Absolutely!" the Lady of Mists said eagerly.

"In that case," Ambrose said with a smile, "how about teaching me that illusion spell you mentioned earlier?"

The Lady of Mists suddenly felt something was odd. Ambrose seemed to have agreed to cooperate, but he hadn't promised anything at all. And yet she still had to hand over what she possessed. Was this what it felt like to ask someone else for help? She had been a goddess for too long. She had already forgotten what it felt like to rely on others.

But she had no choice. Finding a liar as talented as Ambrose was extremely difficult. Even back when she had been a goddess, none of her followers could have compared to him. That Ambrose would appear within reach of her had to be an act of fate.

She had no other choice. Even if she were being taken advantage of, she could only walk this path to its conclusion.

Ambrose didn't know just how long had passed when he awoke from his dream.

He looked out the window. The night was still as deep as before. It seemed that he had only been lying down for ten, perhaps fifteen, minutes. Time had flowed differently within the dream; it felt as though he had spent several days there. It had been more than enough time to master the illusion the Lady of Mists had taught him, Leyla's True Illusion.

Ambrose slowly recited the incantation. A faint magical glow appeared, then quickly faded.

A moment later, another Monge Greywater appeared beside him. The duplicate looked completely real. It could walk, move, and even carry out simple conversations. Anyone touching it would feel body heat and slight resistance, just like touching a living person.

Meanwhile, Ambrose's real body had become completely invisible. No one could see him.

After all, this was a spell created by a goddess. Its effects far surpassed ordinary illusions.

Combined with Ambrose's spellcasting ability, it might even deceive the holy light barrier of the Lyon Empire.

This illusion spell alone represented an enormous profit on his part, and the Dreamveil Barrier of the Emerald Dreamwood had effectively become his personal backyard.

As for slaying a god... that could wait. Storming into Cymric's divine realm was impossible. But if that god happened to fight the Lord of Dawn, got beaten to a pulp, and fell into the mortal world, Ambrose certainly wouldn't mind picking up the leftovers.

As for whether those gods would fight each other, who could say? He certainly couldn't comment on the grudges between the gods.

Ambrose pushed open the door and stepped outside.

The chaos in the Emerald Dreamwood had not yet subsided. In the distance, he could still hear draconic roars and the distant thunder of spells colliding in the air.

"What on earth did Catherine do? That's one hell of a commotion."

Curious, Ambrose flew toward the source of the disturbance.

Moments later, he saw two giant dragons in the sky locked in brutal combat.

A green dragon and a silver dragon tore at each other with claws and fangs in savage, primal violence.

Ambrose quietly flew toward Catherine's treehouse castle. Sure enough, he saw Catherine standing on the balcony, watching the battle nervously.

Ambrose landed beside her and dispelled his invisibility.

His sudden appearance startled Catherine so badly she almost drew the dagger at her waist and stabbed him.

"Relax! It's me!" Ambrose quickly said.

Catherine stared at him in shock. "You? How is that possible?!"

Magicians' invisibility spells weren't invincible. Most legends had the ability to detect invisibility. Catherine herself carried magical equipment designed to reveal hidden enemies, yet it had completely failed on him. Ambrose's invisibility was simply too strong.

Had he been holding back before? Or had he somehow grown stronger in just a few days?

Naturally, Ambrose had no intention of answering that question. Instead, he asked, "What's going on with those two dragons in the sky? You've caused quite a scene."

Catherine said awkwardly, "Actually... this has nothing to do with me. The two up there are Brandir Sanda and his father."

Ambrose blinked in surprise. "What? Father and son are fighting? Don't tell me his father fell in love with you too and wants to make you Brandir's stepmother."

Catherine shot him an angry glare. "What nonsense are you talking about? Brandir Sanda suddenly came to see me earlier. He said he'd had a change of heart and wanted to join the Court of the Silver Moon to serve the elves. Of course I refused. Then his father showed up. They argued for a few sentences and suddenly started fighting."

Ambrose: "..."

Was that lovestruck fool really trying to serve the elves, as Ambrose had suggested?