Quote Originally Posted by Emberlily View Post
It's certainly an incredibly risky move but for mid to higher higher level characters death isn't quite as much of a risk as it would be in our world. Several jokes throughout the comic poke fun at how death is just a nuisance to adventurers. Maybe he was even prepared to pull a Belkar's-plan-for-Miko and die to cause V to suffer consequences, then get raised. [edit: His expressions in comic 677 make it seem clear to me this isn't just a business deal for him. He gets very visibly frustrated when it looks as if it doesn't work and very satisfied when it does.]

If the wizard knew about familicide, and thought V could still cast it, then yes that would be a stupid risk to take even with Raise Dead, but we don't kno that's the case.
Counterpoint: The entirety of Don't Split the Party, plus V's well reasoned argument after Belkar floated the plan you referenced.

This is a stretch, but maybe the instant summons works by sending out a bulleting to a group of wizards around the world, who then stay on the lookout for their target. In that case, the provoker wasn't going after V for the purpose of getting the name, but actually was just that arrogant and self-in the store. Then, part-way through the fight they realized who they were fighting and changed tactics. It's a stretch, but it could work.