CHAPTER 98: CHAPTER 95: COLLAPSE

「Three minutes before the Wrath of Tiamat descended upon the world:」

In the heart of Drogsin’s Spider Nest City, the Spider Temple.

Surrounding the area were towering stones, the atmosphere dead silent. Spiderwebs converged in every corner of the temple, filling it with dark colors and twisted, profane decorations.

Attilicia, the sacrifice for this ritual, had been knocked out by a secret Drow poison. When he awoke, he found himself in this towering, dark space.

His body lay on a cold stone platform reeking of pungent blood. His limbs were bound in the enormous surrounding webs, under the silent, looming scrutiny of a stone statue decorated with luxurious jewels. The statue had the upper body of a human and the lower half of a spider, which occupied more than half of the temple.

Spider Queen Rose!

He had indeed been brought to this Spider Temple by those insane Drow as a sacrifice.

This is big trouble! Attilicia felt that this time, he was probably doomed.

Hadn’t they agreed there were still several days left? But on the third day, they drugged and brought him here, without giving him time to prepare for an escape.

Especially since the ritual seemed to have already begun when he awoke.

Matron Flavia, whom he had ambushed a few days ago—beautiful yet short—now stood at the center of the temple, her face cold and authoritative in the soft, dim light.

She stood before Attilicia, chanting strange spells that echoed continuously around the temple like an unending reverberation.

Surrounding them was a group of Drow, their faces indifferent, their eyes gleaming with madness. They beat on human-skin drums, responding to the Matron’s spells. The frantic rhythm gradually endowed the ritual with a life of its own, plunging Attilicia deeper into profound melancholy and despair.

He knew he shouldn’t feel this way at a time like this.

Because in this chaotic sacred ritual that directly petitioned a Demon Lord like the Spider Queen, any fear, pain, and even the ultimate death of the sacrifice would fuel the Drow ritual and strengthen their connection with the Spider Goddess.

This meant the more negative emotions he showed, the faster the sacrificial ritual would progress!

Once Rose’s consciousness truly descended, it would really be all over!

But after the ritual mixed with whatever strange potion those Elves had force-fed him, his consciousness remained in a hazy, hallucinogenic state, unable to control his thoughts and emotions.

Just as he was hesitating, his heart full of guilt and regret, about whether to call for the attention and help of the King of the North Wind, Bahamut, a blazing fire from Wei City in the south suddenly captured the attention of all the Drow.

Matron Flavia, already displeased, was about to scold the Drow to focus and finish the sacrificial ritual first.

It was just the loss of half a block, right?

If her gamble paid off, as the owner of a Silver Dragon Alchemist, she could earn it all back in a mere half a year.

Besides, wasn’t there that batch of high-quality goods from the Red Dragon whelp’s claws to make up for the loss?

Wait a second! The fiery breath of a mere Red Dragon whelp shouldn’t cause such destruction! Could it be that other Red Dragons have also come? After all, according to Alianna, the quantity of that batch was not small. Its market value was almost equivalent to half the treasure hoard of an adult Red Dragon.

But before Matron Flavia could continue, the terrible siphoning caused by David’s Gluttony once again resulted in even more terrifying destruction and loss.

The adjacent two blocks also began to suffer.

This heavy blow and the continually expanding losses finally made Matron Flavia lose her composure.

"Zenasaneya (Motherfucker!)"

"This damned Red Dragon whelp, I will chop off your head myself and mount it on the stone walls of my reception hall!"

"Keep an eye on him! I’ll continue when I return!"

Ultimately, Matron Flavia had no choice but to utter a curse and disappear with a Shadow Instant Step.

Including the somewhat bewildered Attilicia, no one doubted Matron Flavia’s capability to handle a mere Red Dragon whelp.

Despite the whelp’s display of combat power and destructive force, which seemed beyond common sense, this did not stop Attilicia from reaching a conclusion:

My chance has arrived!

With Matron Flavia at his side, he was powerless even if he had a hidden ace up his sleeve.

But now that Matron Flavia was gone, he had room to maneuver.

As the attention of the Drow was mostly focused on the battle in the southern district of Wei City, Attilicia closed his eyes, trying to concentrate his scattered attention and Magic Power. A secret rune slowly emerged and lit up in his palm.

Few knew that nine years ago, after being captured and plundered by the Crimson Calamity, Pafila, Attilicia had bitterly reflected on his experience. By combining Alchemy with Magic Circles, he had recreated an arcane—or rather, a lost—method of storage: a spell legendary throughout the entire Elariya plane called Link to the Semi-plane.

Attilicia had hidden all his treasures in a small, undiscovered semi-plane devoid of life, then inscribed access to it into the palm of his claw through an alchemical matrix.

In doing so, he was virtually carrying his treasure from the semi-plane—his Alchemical Tools and even his valuable Magical Items—with him at all times.

As soon as he retrieved a few key alchemical items, he’d have a way to break free from the steel-like spiderwebs and attempt to escape the pursuit of the Drow priests.

But this time, having been brought into the depths of the Spider Nest City’s most central temple, it seemed that, sooner or later, he would have to reveal his Silver Dragon form.

The only thing Attilicia found somewhat ironic was that the chance to escape was created by the very Red Dragon he had loathed and despised most all his life.

Just as he thought this and finally pulled an Alchemy Dagger from his semi-plane treasury, ready to sever the spider silk binding his limbs and initiate his grand escape from Spider Nest City, he heard David’s boisterous shout from outside the city:

"Running? My ass! All of you, get back here and die!"

"Today, if I don’t kill a full thousand Drow to vent my anger,"

"I’ll renounce the name Sed Ponga!!!"

Sed Ponga? Attilicia was first taken aback. He felt as if he had heard that surname somewhere before. Especially that voice, it sounded familiar too... Wait! Sed Ponga? Sed... Ponga?

Finally remembering a certain female Dragon’s name, Attilicia nearly gnashed his teeth, then was taken aback again.

No, that can’t be right! If that red whelp outside also bore the name Sed Ponga... Didn’t that mean... The red whelp challenging them outside the city is also my child?! To think that I, Attilicia, a mere 61-year-old young Silver Dragon, already have a pair of Silver Dragon offspring. And now, a Red Dragon child!!! Under that damned Pafila’s misdeeds, I, Attilicia, have finally sired a Red Dragon spawn that profanes the bloodline of the Silver Dragon Swietlanden family!!! It all makes sense now! Everything is clear. No wonder that greedy red dragon, Pafila, actually allowed Saphistouin—one of her Silver Dragon younglings—to come to the New Continent. It was to use her daughter to blackmail Saphistouin into coming to steal my Formula of Sobering Potion. And, just to be safe, Pafila had sent this Red Dragon—Saphistouin’s older brother—to monitor and ensure Saphistouin returned obediently to the Old Continent after her success. What’s more ironic, and brings me deeper shame, is that this opportunity to escape was created by this other Red Dragon child of mine. Regardless of why this child came to the Gloomy Region, now, with Matron Flavia herself intervening, my yet unseen Red Dragon child... is likely going to die prematurely?!

Thinking of this horrifying possibility, Attilicia instantly gave up struggling, tears streaming down his face:

"AAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Why!"

"Why?!!!"

"Why does fate have to be so cruel to me!"

"Is it simply because I questioned the teachings of my lord, the King of the North Wind, and turned to the god of justice?"

"Is the heart of the gods so narrow-minded?"

"Ah?! HAHAHAHA!"

"Let the world be destroyed!"

"Anyone... anyone at all... Just kill me, the one laden with sin!"

"AAAAHHHHH!!!"