Chapter 184: Infiltration

It is said that the true form of the Spider Queen is that of a beautiful woman with the upper body, combined with that of a giant black widow spider in the lower body. Inheriting the black widow’s nature, this Spider Queen is a merciless predator who devours men without sparing their bones, taking particular pleasure in torturing them.

Legend has it that the Spider Queen, Flora, was not originally such a twisted being—her evil nature stemmed from heartbreak. Once not the Spider Queen, Flora pursued Ignatius, the god of elves. After spending some time together, Ignatius likely sensed Flora’s ambition and realized her nature did not suit his people’s kindness and peace. Desiring a peaceful life, he decided to break up with her.

Yet Ignatius never expected to encounter a woman like Flora—someone who not only clung to him persistently but also threatened him verbally. Frustrated, he decided to avoid conflict by sealing his kingdom and staying hidden for a hundred years, hoping that once she gave up on him, she would calm down.

But Ignatius underestimated the crazy actions such jealous and extreme-minded women could take when they failed to get what they wanted. It turned out even a powerful god could not understand the psychology of women, the most peculiar creatures in the multiverse. Out of love turned to hate, Flora took advantage of Ignatius’s seclusion to cause chaos in the main world. She successfully convinced some elves to defect from his tribe and cast a curse that transformed their souls, turning them into creatures of the evil faction.

To Ignatius, the elves were like his own children. Flora’s actions were a threat to the entire elf race. Even Ignatius, usually the most gentle among the gods, became enraged. As one of the most powerful beings in this world, he captured Flora’s true form at once. Out of old feelings, he did not kill her but sealed her away in the dark underground world.

“Since you love corruption so much, stay in this lightless darkness!”

As for those elves who had already fallen, Ignatius could not save them all, nor could he bear to kill them. So he sealed them away along with Flora in the depths of the earth.

Yet Ignatius never expected that Flora, who still had some hope of redemption, would become utterly desperate upon seeing Ignatius’s heartlessness. Her already extreme temperament led to further psychological distortion. During the first Great Seal War, spatial rifts appeared in the Underworld, the realm closest to the Abyssal Plane. To escape the oppressive seal and under the temptation of the Abyssal Will, Flora resolutely abandoned her status as a Natural True God and chose to merge with the Abyssal Will, descending into a demon god. Her body transformed into an ugly half-human, half-spider form.

As a demon god, Flora established the Divine Kingdom’s Abyssal Web within the Abyss, making it one of its planes. Claiming herself the Spider Queen, she led her followers—the fallen elves, now known as Dark Elves—and regarded surface elves as mortal enemies, constantly opposing them.

To help the elves resist the threat of the Spider Queen and her minions, Ignatius selected several outstanding High Elves and personally elevated them to True Gods using his powerful divine power. This is how the Elven pantheon came into being.

These High Elves were like his own children. With lifespans approaching immortality, their strength was at least at the legendary level, with the strongest among them rivaling True Gods. Once they became gods, they quickly mastered divine abilities and have protected the elves to this day, even gaining many followers among humans.

These legends about the Spider Queen provided Donald with some insight into this True God. He would only choose to defy such a being if he had been kicked in the head by a donkey.

Moreover, besides the Spider Queen, there was also a even more powerful Goddess of Night. It was said that even the usually formidable Three Glorious Gods feared her, let alone a mere mortal like him.

In his eyes, the elites of the Agricultural Goddess Church were undoubtedly suicide squads sent on a mission of death.

Donald didn’t think that gaining divinity would allow him to rival True Gods. Divinity merely provided him with a bright path; whether he could reach the end depended on his own efforts. Above Silver came Gold, Legendary, and even Demigods—powerful beings. Even Demigods, who were said to be invincible in their own worlds, would be utterly defeated when facing True Gods outside their worlds.

True Gods were beings who had become rulers of laws, while those at the Gold and Legendary levels were still merely exploring the edges of superficial laws. There was no comparison between them at all.

Faced with Donald and his disciple’s attitude, the trio from the Agricultural Goddess Church wasn’t surprised. If they were in the same situation, they would likely feel dissatisfied as well.

After all, dragging someone to confront two beings at the level of true gods along with their massive forces was undoubtedly pushing them to certain death. The young knight, Ely, spoke to the two, saying, “Actually, this mission isn’t as dangerous as you two think! There is certainly danger, but to deal with it, our church’s leadership has prepared some highly powerful items and equipment to help us infiltrate the enemy city smoothly, gather information, and find an opportunity to undermine their alliance.” Sord added, “In addition to these preparations, we’ve also brought two teleportation talismans bestowed by the goddess herself. As long as we’re still in the main world plane, we can use them to return instantly to the nearest goddess temple. So as long as we act carefully, we should be able to complete the mission safely!” After hearing this, Donald’s expression improved significantly. He said, “Since you’ve prepared so thoroughly, there’s no need for me and my teacher to get in the way. Moreover, according to the agreement, I’ve already completed my role of guiding you, so it’s time for us to leave, right?” Miesel nodded as well; he certainly didn’t want his only disciple to get involved in such a dangerous task. “Since you two say so, we can’t force you to join us on this adventure. We’ll complete this mission on our own. But I have one small request: I hope you two can wait for us at the exit for a while—no more than two days. We’ll leave right away whether we’ve completed the mission or not. If the situation becomes too critical and we use the teleportation talismans, you can leave immediately after seeing their glow. But if we manage to escape from Scorpion Tail Flower City without using them, I hope you two can come to our aid. Our church will surely reward you for this!” Hearing Ely’s words, Donald and his teacher exchanged a look, feeling much relieved. Donald said, “If it’s just about providing support, my teacher and I can definitely do that. After all, my summoned creatures are perfect for covering our retreat!” Seeing that Donald had agreed, Sord quickly thanked him, “Thank you very much, Lord Baron! I will surely remember this kindness!” “We don’t have much time left. We must immediately infiltrate Scorpion Tail Flower City to make preparations. Your invisibility potion is extremely useful. I was wondering if you could provide some for us. You can ask our church for compensation later!”

Since it had been decided to stay and support them, Donald stopped hiding his intentions and generously gave each of them three bottles of invisibility potion, along with three bottles of life potion as a bonus.
“That’s all I can do for you. I hope everything goes well and you succeed in completing your mission as soon as possible!”
After saying that, the three from the Agricultural Goddess Church thanked him again before leaving their hiding place in the darkness and disappearing quickly.
Watching the three leave, Donald was puzzled—why weren’t they worried at all? It seemed as if they weren’t invading a dangerous dark elf city but rather sneaking into the lair of a bunch of cowardly goblins. Even if they were willing to die for their beliefs like those fanatics, they should have shown some enthusiasm, fear, or tension—yet they remained completely calm.
Unless they had some other advantage at hand, something that made them fearless in the face of a powerful dark elf city.
Thinking of that seemingly ordinary yet increasingly mysterious female knight, Donald fell deep into thought.
A few minutes after the three from the Agricultural Goddess Church left, Donald took out a crystal ball the size of a head, with a base underneath, and said to Maelser, “Teacher, let’s take a look at the situation here and see where Sord and the others have gone!”
He placed his hand on the crystal ball, closed his eyes in concentration, and soon opened them again, removing his hand. The scene within hundreds of miles ahead appeared in the air above the crystal ball.
Seeing this 3D projection, the old mage was astonished.
Smiling, he said, “You kid always have such strange things!”
Noticing a few barely visible dark figures moving forward a few miles away from the secluded stone valley where they were hiding, he knew it must be Sord and the others. Realizing it would still be some time before they reached their target, Donald used his mental power to adjust the view to the triangular city about ten miles ahead.
The city was built on a high ground, surrounded by steep slopes, with only a wide road built near the main gate for carriages to pass through.
Many aliens came in and out of the city gate from time to time, and there were soldiers on patrol outside it.
From afar, Donald saw a group of dark elves on patrol. Judging from their sophisticated weapons and cautious demeanor, he knew they were experienced elite warriors.

With excellent weapons crafted by gray dwarves, and the dark elves being highly talented in enchantment skills, even ordinary patrol soldiers can be equipped with low-level enchanted weapons featuring attributes such as sharpness and durability. In this regard, they far surpass human armies. However, humans have a numerical advantage over these intelligent races, and their elite forces are no less formidable than those of the dark elves. As a result, the powerful dark elves can only dwell in the dark subterranean worlds, with conquering the surface world remaining an unattainable dream.