Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

Chapter 534 Permutations and Combinations of Betrayal

Lilindra's ritual seemed to accelerate at this moment, or rather, it finally returned to the speed it was meant to be. A phantom spiderweb, capable of covering half the battlefield, suddenly opened, sealing off all escape routes for the purple worm that had sensed the danger. The spells unleashed by this ritual appeared to be not just one, but a mixture of two or even more spells.

The purple worm coiled its massive body up once more, raising its barbs in an attempt to break free from the spiderweb, which it could only sense by touch but could not actually see. However, as it wriggled and rolled, the spiderweb tightened even more. The silk threads that had initially only covered it began to entangle under its frenzy, and the entire cavern could be heard with the "crunching" sound of its indestructible carapace being torn apart!

"That witch!" Daisy, who had just been treating Leslaufer's injuries, nearly popped her eyes out when she saw it. "Why didn't she use this sooner?!"

The bard may have overlooked one point: if Lilindra had always been able to use it at will, then when they first met, they might not have had any chance to struggle at all.

The surface world has long since ceased to belong to Rose, or rather, to the former elven deity named "Aros." Under Corilon's scrutiny, the fact that the Evans family was able to be sent to the surface of this world was already a considerable achievement. As a price, far removed from the deep pit magic network, they had to go through more complicated procedures to achieve even weaker spells.

However, this is underground. Although Lilindra can no longer use the power of most priests, she can still speed up the process of casting spells through rituals and Lolth's favor—even though she is still very young among the matriarchs and cannot compare with the matriarchs of Ral'enbath, Siforn, or even the prime of Brah.

“This was originally meant to wipe them all out in one fell swoop,” Lilindra said with a sly smile of triumph as she looked at the purple worm that was now powerless to struggle. “But the appearance of this thing has saved me a lot of trouble.”

The matriarch of the Evans family took two quick steps forward, hovering in the air above them. Looking down at the soldiers below, who were panicked by the series of events, she opened her arms. As the holy emblem appeared, a huge phantom of a spider was reflected on the dome, emitting a faint mist and a deep purple glow.

At this moment, all the dark elves, regardless of gender or whether they were followers of the Spider Queen, bowed their heads and worshipped the one above, the master of their destiny, the source of all their present, past, and future fortune and misfortune.

Rose was watching this place.

Even among humans, underground dwarves, and even the slave armies of Chou Li City, many members bowed their heads. Rose was, after all, a true ancient deity. She had fallen into the abyss and experienced many ups and downs, but she was still powerful. It was necessary and essential to maintain awe for her—the darkness beneath the ground was her territory.

"The Queen of Gods is watching this place!" Lilindra's voice resounded throughout the entire area. "I swear to Her, every word I am about to say is true!"

"Members of the various families of Chou Li City, you have followed the wrong organizers! The matriarch of the Lar Embas family and Blar of the Mara family have betrayed Rose, intending to disrupt the Queen's plans by oppressing my Evans family! Fortunately, the Queen discovered this and withdrew the blessing, preventing a grave mistake—no matter what sweet words they used to deceive you before, it was all a complete conspiracy!"

"Now, although the masterminds have received their just deserts, the accomplices are still unforgivable! We must know which of you were misled and ignorant, and which were knowing accomplices! Look around you, you certainly know the truth better than I do, and now—it is time for judgment!"

"Kill every traitor around you! Prove your loyalty! Win back Rose's favor!"

"All members and allies of the Mara family, heed my command! Brar has already received his just deserts; follow me to wipe out the Lar Embas family!"

Lillindra spoke slowly, giving each family ample time to react. As soon as she finished speaking, the new Matriarch Mara immediately shouted, determined not to give any other families a chance to take advantage of the situation.

“Members of the Fibanach family—” “The Friezen family also responded!” “And—”

Although the remaining three were small families, the matriarchs were not deaf and dumb, and they quickly followed suit, fearing that they would become the other families' pledge of allegiance. Among them, the two priests were the most enthusiastic, and they had already begun to slaughter the goblin and gnoll slave troops affiliated with the Larembass family.

They had noticed something was wrong as soon as the convoy of trucks was covered in smoke and dust, and their reaction was even faster. In fact, just as the others raised their knives at their former allies, the divine light of magic was already shining on their bodies again!

However, amidst this vibrant scene, some remained dissatisfied. Several priests and sorcerers from the Pirnaen family rushed beneath Lilindra, angrily glaring at the matriarch of the Evans family.

"Damn it, Matriarch Lilindra!" a priest who looked to be of high status protested coldly, "Now is not the time for this! Kill that purple worm! Matriarch Siforn can still be saved!"

Their god, Sinvalles, has authority over alchemy and medicine. Even though the purple worms are highly poisonous and their digestion speed is far beyond normal, Siforn still has a chance of survival, and it is not insignificant.

However, what was reflected in their pupils was Lillendra's slowly curling lips: "Very well, but... why should I save her?"

"Are you crazy? We are—"

"Members of the Evans family! And Evans' allies and the Queen's loyal followers!" Lilindra interrupted them abruptly, shouting, "The Pirnane family is also a participant in this conspiracy! I used a trick to lure them here so that I could wipe them out in one fell swoop! Now, who is willing to lend me a hand and annihilate them all here as well?!"

"Lilindra, you!"

This sudden turn of events not only stunned the alliance of the five families, but even the members of the Evans family themselves were taken aback. But astonished as they were, as Sylvia suddenly attacked and slit the throat of another priest who had just fought alongside her, the others immediately turned their claws on their comrades who had just fought side by side. In fact, the closer the comrades were, the more ruthless they became!

Beside Raslaufer, the Soul-Eating Spider had reappeared, its eyes fixed on Dubler, who was now too exhausted to move, though no longer in mortal danger.

First the maid was killed, then the promise was broken; the old and new scores should be settled together, and even Edas has no right to interfere.

Otherwise, why would Brah be able to release a named Soul Judge even after his divine magic was taken back?

Chapter 535 On the Verge of Collapse

"Are you crazy? Uncle Leslaufer needs to rest!"

Angelita's eyes reddened instantly, and she quickly stepped between Leslaufer and the Soul-Eating Spider, glaring fiercely at the monster that, if it had happened a year ago, would have given her nightmares to this day: "Let me go! I'll fulfill my promise to Uncle Leslaufer!"

“Me too! Us too!” Several other companions also stepped forward, but no matter how they expressed their stance, the creature from the abyss simply stared at Dubler behind them with those nauseating eyes, neither retreating nor advancing.

It just stood there watching—after all, it was just a Soul-Eating Spider, only able to make those strange howls like ghosts, and couldn't actually speak.

But just because it cannot does not mean that other "messengers" cannot.

Above the dome, the enormous spider phantom seemed to notice the situation. A wisp of green smoke seemed to disperse from the misty fog, instantly wrapping around Leslaufer and turning into a ball of almost waxy substance.

"What is it, dear Mr. Raslaufer?" Rose's maid's tone was thick with sarcasm and malice. Her mouth, which could hardly be called a "mouth," was close to Doppler's ear, and she whispered softly like a true demon, "Don't you like killing? Go ahead and kill, let me see what you're capable of..."

"Why aren't you moving? Don't you want to? If you don't find something to kill, then I might just kill you next, you know?"

"Don't think you're so great just because you killed one of my kind on the surface! This is underground, and the mistress has lost interest in you. Just me alone is enough to make you die here—"

"Bang!" Raslaufer swung his arm and smashed the noisy sound and its "head" into a chaotic mess.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?!" Suddenly attacked, the Wax-Melting Demon ripped off its disguise and screamed shrilly, "You want to kill me, don't you? Come on! Kill me! Let's see if you can get out of this underground! I'm standing right here, come and kill me!"

"Shut up!" Dobler's face contorted as he grabbed some part of the Wax Melting Demon. The spot immediately felt solid, accompanied by a burning sensation and a stinging pain from the poison. This forced Leslaufer's spirits to lift, and his body straightened up as well.

“Uncle Raslaufer…” Angelita wanted to stop him with concern, but she didn’t know whether she should actually stop him.

What if he shakes me off? Or worse? Uncle Leslaufer seems very agitated right now; if he attacks me directly—

Angelita's mind was in turmoil, and the others who had witnessed everything could do nothing about it. Mary put her hand on Angelita's shoulder, making the girl step aside. Blue-green divine light and soft melodies swirled around Leslaufer's body, disappearing in an instant.

“You’ve been enhanced, old Ray,” Daisy said helplessly, shrugging at Angreta. “Go… just go and come back quickly.”

If only they had a real priest here, but unfortunately, her abilities were limited, only slightly more than Bella's. The rest was up to Raslaufer herself. Although her most formidable adversaries had been eliminated, Raslaufer was now teetering on the brink of collapse.

While she was treating Raslaufer, Zhengling had already examined his body: even with the blood of a demon and some of the power of a demon, it was not enough for him to fill the gap. Some things cannot be alleviated by simple treatment.

He was so tired, so...

If Angelita couldn't persuade Raslaufer, Daisy's words were even less effective. Raslaufer, carrying the still-noisy Wax-Melting Demon, didn't even bother with his weapon and charged straight at the Pirnane family members who were still putting up a last-ditch resistance.

"It's him! It's him!" The moment Raslaufer appeared on the battlefield, the members of the Pirnahne family recognized him immediately and rushed towards him. "He killed the vanguard led by the servant, this must have been premeditated!"

"Kill him! Even if he dies today, it will be revenge!" "What is he carrying?" "He must die before us!"

Having long realized that escape was impossible, the Pirnians erupted with unprecedented hatred and fighting spirit, abandoning even their current opponents and risking injury to besiege Raslaufer and end his life in this place.

Three dark elves charged to the forefront. Although they were merely warlocks, the electricity crackling around their hands subtly coalesced into claws. Any contact with the shattered metal plates on Reslauver's body would likely paralyze him. Reslauver's bloodshot eyes darted around, and suddenly he hurled the Wax Molten Demon in his hand at the enemy on his left. To maintain its original shape, the chaotic mass of matter abruptly expanded in mid-air, engulfing the opponent's electric claws into its own body.

"Get out of my way!" The warlock Pirnane was both shocked and furious, but the Waxmelt wanted to do the same. However, Raslaufer gave them no chance to breathe. He burst into a hoarse laugh and grabbed the second electric claw that was coming at him with his bare hands. Arcs of electricity swirled between his and the other's palms, but they could not restrain Dobul's movements at all. He exerted force with both hands at the same time, accompanied by a low growl that was not human. The two people and the Waxmelt that were lifted into the air were slammed solidly to the right.

With a cracking sound, the rightmost sorcerer's lower body was still standing on the ground, but his upper body had bent 180 degrees to his left, and his head could even touch the ground with his chin!

"Uncle Raslaufer, watch out behind you!" Angelita cried out in alarm, and a beam of fire arrow shot through the air. But Raslaufer was even faster than her. The attackers only saw a sudden blur before their eyes, and they didn't even see how Dople made his move before they were dead on the spot!

However, the number of enemies was truly overwhelming. Even someone as strong as Raslaufer was bound to suffer new injuries on top of his old ones. Bella and Daisy tried to heal him, but suddenly, large swaths of black mist seeped out from Raslaufer's back, and their healing magic was swallowed up and dissolved without warning, having no effect whatsoever.

"...His body is rejecting the treatment?!" The druid stared at his hands in disbelief. When he looked up again, he saw that Raslaufer was holding the Wax Fusion Demon in one hand and the warlock who had just been captured and was now being strangled to death in the other. The warlock's eyes and mouth were emitting a dim gray light, and strands of energy poured out and flowed into Raslaufer's mouth and nose!

And the deficit that Leslaufer had suffered seemed to be replenished as a result!

"It's the power of the Soul Eater!" Zhengling screamed in Daisy's mind. "This is impossible! What's wrong with him?!"

Meanwhile, in Reslaufer's hands, as he shattered one Pyrnain family spellcaster after another beneath his feet, the Wax Melting Demon let out a heart-wrenching wail:

"Sir, Sir Raslaufer! Look around you—that's not the Pirnahn family! No, don't go over there!"

"Stop killing! I beg you, please stop killing—if you kill them all, I won't be able to report back to my post!!!"

Chapter 536 Sinwallis

"Shut up."

Dobul swung the still-noisy Wax Melting Demon, smashing it repeatedly onto the ground, where it lay motionless, a pool of flesh and blood. The life force meandered up his arm, eventually entering his abdomen, heart, and brain.

One deficit was filled, and more space was opened up. Reslaufer felt no satisfaction, only the same emptiness...

emptiness?

The last bit of flesh and blood that could be squeezed out and splattered on his face gradually lost its warmth. Raslaufer stood up and looked around. It was empty. It seemed that only a few members of the Pirnane family remained. Everyone else, whether human or dark elf, had tacitly given up this large open space, as if this was a hunting ground prepared just for him.

And around Leslaufer, where the numb spirits that should have surrounded him were now completely empty; the space was bare. Perhaps the dark elves had returned to the embrace of their gods, while the others…

Leslaufer didn't know; perhaps it was "consumed," or perhaps... it should be called "digestion."

But in any case, he didn't seem to be getting the benefits he deserved, so he had to continue.

Raslaufer looked up at the remaining spellcaster, who was trembling all over, and walked towards him step by step.

"You can't continue!" The Wax Demon's voice trembled. "I command you, stop! I am the goddess's handmaiden..."

"The task she gave me can only be confirmed by her," Raslaufer said, using the Wax Demon as a shield. After smashing the lamb to the slaughter in front of him with a punch, he turned around and used it to block a green arcane ray. "What are you anyway!"

"you--"

The poison had no effect on the Wax Molten Golem; it suffered neither direct harm nor poisoning. But Raslaufer's words stung it more deeply than arcane magic. They were beings created by Lolth to serve the gods. Within the deep pit of magic, even demons more powerful than them could not attain their status, let alone on the material plane.

What mistress? What priest? Don't they all have to obediently bow down before it and listen to what it says?

A mere human mercenary!

However, the Wax-Melting Demon dared not provoke Raslaufer any further. In fact, it even began to regret pushing too hard, leading to the current situation. Now, it needed Rose to personally confirm its achievements, but it could do nothing—if its mistress were truly free, it wouldn't be here at all!

Even someone as powerful as Rose needs to take certain opponents seriously, especially when she doesn't intend to defeat or kill them easily.

But judging from the current situation, this mortal intends to kill every single Pirnaen here! That's not what his mistress ordered!

Now, it could only watch helplessly as Raslaufer smashed the last survivor to death with its own body.

“Not… enough.” Raslaufer murmured, feeling the life draining from the body beneath him. He took a deep breath, as if trying to inhale all the life force around him into his lungs. But as he looked at the members of the Larembass family who were being surrounded and attacked by others not far away, a familiar voice quietly rang in his ears.

"No, that's enough."

Raslaufer paused in his stride, the dark vision before him, like that of a true dark elf, rapidly fading as Rose withdrew her gift.

“…Alright,” Leslaufer sighed, forced to compromise. With his vision no longer as sharp as before, he neither intended nor could continue—he often felt a similar hunger and emptiness when he lacked employment opportunities in his early years, though this feeling was more intense, it wasn't enough to drive him to the point of becoming a beast. “But now—”

“I advise you to tone it down a bit,” the goddess murmured, still carrying that ambiguous sneer. She easily saw through Raslaufer’s current problem. “Don’t let the power of the Nabasoals corrupt you. Although they are among the best of the demons, well, heh heh.”

“If you think this can be considered your ‘evolution,’ I have no reason to stop you.”

Leslaufer disliked her tone, not at all, but perhaps it was precisely because of this tone that Doppler felt there was absolutely no need for her to deceive him.

He took a few deep breaths, forcibly suppressing the hunger emanating from his very soul: "I understand, thank you for reminding me."

"But you asked me to stay..."

“These are all minor matters,” the deity’s voice sounded less like languor and more like the satisfaction of a full meal. “I have settled everything. This is the most important thing.”

Beneath the dome, Lilindra, carrying the enormous phantom of a spider on her back, suddenly appeared to be listening intently: "Yes... as you wish."

"Enough!" She raised her hand, commanding the dark elves below, who were still slaughtering each other, to stop with unquestionable authority. "That's enough! The Queen is very pleased with your dedication. The rest of you will regain her favor!"

Before she could finish speaking, one by one, the priests below, who had been stripped of all their magic, began to glow with divine light once more.

“Now,” Lillindra’s crimson eyes finally settled on the purple worm that was now completely immobilized, “cut it open. The will of the gods has been delivered. Today, we will witness death, and… rebirth.”

As one of the largest creatures in the underground world, dismembering the purple worm is not easy. However, its precious toxins and the valuable metals and gems it ingests while digging its burrow and feeding on the soil are all priceless, ensuring that this craft is not entirely unknown.

As the enormous worm gradually lost its life, its packed entrails spilled out, causing everyone to gasp in shock. Not for any other reason than that, within its contents, besides the decayed remains exposed to bone, lay a dull, lifeless priest's robe. And with its appearance, the person wearing it slowly rose to their feet. Aside from looking slightly disheveled, even the wounds inflicted by Matriarch Larembass had completely healed!

However, the body of the Lady of Larembass was right at her feet!

"Siforn!" Lilindra's face instantly changed color. "How...how did you survive?!"

“It’s all thanks to the goddess Sinvalles,” Sifne casually brushed the slime and filth off her shoulder, chuckled, and looked around at the corpses of her people on the ground. “It seems you’ve killed them all, Lilindra.”

"But don't worry, I won't seek revenge on you for this. After being swallowed by the purple worm, I've come to understand many things... The Pirnaien family probably no longer exists, and there will be no more transactions between us. By the time you see or hear about my family again, it will be a completely different story."

Halewin stood a little closer, staring intently at the matriarch who had survived the ordeal, and suddenly asked, "Which god do you worship now?"

“Naturally, it’s Sinwallis.”

Siforn looked at her, and even after such a change, there was no ripple in her bright red eyes.

Chapter 537 Only Reislaufer Here

Sinvalles, this little-known goddess, still responds to the prayers of her followers, bestowing blessings and divine magic, as if nothing had ever happened.

Only a handful of people in the know could vaguely guess what had happened behind the scenes... perhaps just like what happened to the two dark elf gods, Sventam and Sinzerina.

He has a close relationship with mortals, but it doesn't seem like they have much of a connection.

For Raslaufer, what mattered more was that Rose had taken back her blessing and the share of trade he would receive in the future.

“Uncle Raslaufer!” Angelita ran towards him. “How are you feeling now? Should I go find Mr. Christian and the others? They might still have some magic to heal you…”