Under the gaze of countless onlookers and the venomous glare of Lolth, Catherine was enveloped in invisible moonlight and lifted upward, gradually floating into midair. Her gossamer veil drifted lightly around her, making her appear like a goddess descending upon the mortal realm.
"Sehanine, you haven't won yet! Her life—belongs to me!"
Lolth's visage twisted ferociously as she released a raspy roar. Her eight monstrous appendages flailed, unleashing countless pitch-black blades that shot forward, intent on shredding the elven queen to pieces.
Yet Catherine's body radiated an even denser, richer radiance, forming a barrier hundreds of meters tall that rolled like silver mountain ranges to obliterate the blades.
Lolth remained relentless. She spread her eight limbs as heavy black light poured from her form, coalescing in the sky behind her into an unimaginably colossal black widow spider. Its body was like a small mountain blending seamlessly into the night, each limb stretching hundreds of meters long like grotesque, towering pillars.
"Die, pitiful mortal!"
The spider manifestation of Lolth's divine power lashed out with a mucus-coated, razor-sharp foreleg. Bearing terrifying chaotic divine might, it cleaved through the moonlight barrier like a massive blade, slashing toward Catherine's frail, delicate body.
"Lolth, I told you—"
Rhea unfurled her wings. Empowered by Sehanine's divine grace, her wings were no longer the deep black that symbolized vengeance; instead, they had turned a pure, milky white, as if washed clean by moonlight.
"—I will make you pay!"
The half-elf paladin roared in fury and swung her silver sword in an upward slash. Boundless light erupted from the slender blade like a titanic wave, piercing the pitch-black night as it struck at the colossal spider abomination.
*Shing—!*
Empowered by Sehanine's divine might, the silver beam severed one of the forelegs cleanly off. Plumes of thick black mist billowed from the severed limb as it crashed heavily to the ground amid Lolth's incredulous shrieks of agony, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"A mere half-elf mongrel, how dare you—!"
Lolth erupted with a venomous shriek. Streams of scarlet silk shot from her fanged mouthparts, hurtling toward Rhea.
Yet Rhea drifted gracefully through the air. Like a dancer beneath the moon, she brandished her silver sword into hundreds of crisscrossing beams of light that whistled through the air, weaving an impenetrable net that slashed the incoming threads of silk out of the sky.
Lolth extended several limbs, bringing their tips together at a single point. Surging divine power coalesced into a sphere of pitch-black light fraught with terrifying energy, before unleashing a thick beam of chaotic light straight at Rhea.
This was the exact attack that had instantly obliterated the half-elf paladin's shoulder and arm moments before!
*Boom—!*
Accompanied by the distortion of space and the screeching hum of the demonic web, the beam tore through the air with staggering force.
Yet Rhea was no longer the Vengeance Paladin of before; she was now the "Left Hand of the Moon Goddess," vested with Sehanine's divinity.
Facing the oncoming beam, Rhea almost instinctively extended her flawless, gently glowing arm and splayed her fingers.
Surging lunar divine power flowed down her arm into her palm, converging into a silver disc.
*Boom—!*
Instantly, a pillar of silvery-white light shot forth, colliding midair with Lolth's pitch-black beam. Entwined black and white, clashing light and darkness—an explosion immediately erupted, spreading outward across a radius of a thousand meters and unleashing tremendous shockwaves.
Gales howled, plumes of smoke and dust billowed, and the sky flickered between bright and dark.
From the distance, Cassius calmly observed the battle, murmuring to himself in admiration, "As expected of the Silver Moon Goddess's boon. Such power... Even my true body would have to treat it with caution if I were here."
"Impossible! That is not a power any mortal could endure!" Lolth cried out in disbelief.
Suddenly, her crimson eyes widened, fixing on Rhea's left arm as she hissed, "No... That is... a divine vessel."
"I never imagined that wench hated me so much that she would sacrifice her own divinity just to thwart my plans!" Lolth's face warped with mad fury.
"It is useless! Even with such power, you cannot protect Catherine! She belongs to me!"
The gargantuan spider monster thrashed its limbs, manipulating the Demonweb domain draped over the Elven Forest. In an instant, it tore through space and emerged directly behind Catherine, thrusting its venom-coated, razor-sharp appendages toward her.
A heartbeat before the blade-like tips could touch Catherine, Rhea transformed into a streak of light and intercepted the attack, placing her divinely empowered silver sword in front of Lolth's bladed limbs.
Against such an immense disparity in size, she looked like a firefly standing before a giant—utterly insignificant.
*Clang—!*
A crisp metallic chime rang out as countless ripples of light scattered in all directions. The surrounding space shattered like glass—yet she had actually blocked it!
Yet Lolth's expression twisted further. Eerie light gleamed from her crimson eyes as an even more overwhelming divine pressure poured from her colossal spider form.
Under the crushing weight of this power, Rhea's hands trembled. The silver sword was forced downward, groaning with a continuous hum.
Finally, with a sharp clang, the half-elf paladin was sent flying backward, shrouded in black mist, with fine cracks spidering across even her silver sword.
"Your Majesty!" Panic-stricken, Rhea reached out desperately, desperate to shield Catherine with her own body.
As a paladin who had sworn fealty to the elven queen, she would never allow Catherine to die before her eyes again.
At that moment, Zayn, Melisandre, Emerson, and Titus flew toward Catherine in unison, each unleashing their strongest defensive measures.
Yet whether it was Zayn's Shield of Bedrock, Melisandre's Arrow of Protection, Emerson's Greater Spell Barrier, or Titus's self-created "Light of Bahamut," all were torn to shreds under Lolth's terrifying divine might like flimsy paper or bubbles popped by a finger.
Right then, a burst of silver light erupted from Catherine's chest. Moonlight poured forth, surging skyward like an inverted waterfall before condensing into a milky-white bridge spanning heaven and earth, as though leading to the heavens themselves.
This was the true Moon Bridge, not some mere ritual spell.
In the ancient legends of Therenia, whenever the once-in-fifty-years "Day of the Moon" arrived and the silver moon was full, a Moon Bridge would appear in the sky. Their revered Mother Goddess—the Silver Moon Goddess and Lady of the Night Sky, Sehanine—would descend from the bridge, showering radiance and bestowing wondrous blessings upon the elves.
*Boom!*
Once the Moon Bridge manifested, a wave of silver light rippled outward from Catherine. Like towering white breakers, it washed over Lolth's divine form, making thick smoke billow from the gigantic black widow spider as it sizzled with the crisp sound of scorching heat.
Lolth's jaws unhinged to a grotesque degree as she shrieked in horror, "No—Sehanine! You hypocrite! You dared defy that being's command and descend to the mortal realm as well!"
The holy hymns in the sky grew ever more melodious. Sacred creatures such as moon horses, mist dragons, elven holy guardians, and radiant planar elementals reappeared in the night sky. They wheeled gracefully around the Moon Bridge, glittering like stars guarding the silver moon.
Upon the bridge, moonlight gathered, gradually taking the shape of an ethereal, translucent silhouette that was recognizably an elven woman.
She was draped in translucent silver gossamer. Her figure was graceful and curvaceous, enveloped in a hazy halo. Though her facial features were blurred and indistinct, she still radiated sublime, breathtaking beauty.
Her aura was enigmatic, hovering between youth and eternity; gazing upon her silhouette for mere moments felt like watching an elf's entire journey of life unfold, from a babe in swaddling clothes to a venerable elder in twilight years.
Looking at that mysterious, beautiful figure, everyone present sank into a profound state of wonder they could not pull themselves from, as if immersed in a long and sweet dream.
Only after a long while did an elderly silver moon elf come to his senses. Falling devoutly to his knees, his voice trembled with excitement: "It is our Mother Goddess! This is truly our Mother Goddess!"
"Th-this is..."
"A deity descends upon the world! I've read of it in ancient tomes: a moon bridge spanning the heavens, divine emissaries chanting in hymn—this is the sign of the Mother Goddess descending to the mortal realm!"
"Praise the Mother Goddess! Praise the great Silver Moon Goddess, Daughter of the Night Sky, and Mistress of Dreams, Sehanine!"
In an instant, countless silver moon elves dropped to their knees in devout prayer, while humans and dwarves who did not worship Sehanine also bowed their heads in deep reverence, welcoming the arrival of this benevolent deity in hopes of receiving Her blessing.
"No! I am your Mother Goddess!"
Lolth shrieked in fury, releasing terrifying divine power. She wanted to fill the elves with fear and trembling, to force them to restore their reverence toward her.
Yet despite their trembling knees, not a single elf yielded to Lolth. Bolstered by their faith, they glared furiously at Lolth, and some brave souls even shouted curses at her.
"There is no Eight-Armed Mother Goddess! Lady Sehanine is the true guardian deity of Therenia!"
"Yes! We've seen your true face! Cruel, vile evil god, crawl back to the Abyss!"
Murderous intent surfaced in Lolth's crimson eyes as she muttered, "No, I was meant to be the chief deity of the elven race! The sovereign of the Seldarine! Sehanine, even if you descend in your true form, I will rot you to the bone and drag you into death!"
"I will tear off your hypocritical facade!"
Bracing against the blinding divine brilliance, Lolth lunged forward. A Rose of Qilashar appeared once more at the tip of her appendage, stabbing toward Sehanine in midair.
Yet the figure paid it no heed, stepping down along the bridge as if nothing were there. The Rose of Qilashar passed straight through her body, as though piercing nothing more than an ethereal illusion.
"Even if I am trapped in the Abyss for all eternity, I will drag you down with me!"
Gnashing her teeth, Lolth redirected the Rose of Qilashar to strike at Catherine. But Catherine was enveloped in a hazy halo, and any attack that touched it was snuffed out in an instant, like pebbles sinking into the vast ocean.
Incensed beyond reason, Lolth was determined to utterly destroy Catherine even if it exhausted every drop of her divine power; she could not allow the queen to resurrect once more. Her eight limbs thrashed frantically, manipulating the Demonweb domain to churn up surging waves of magical turbulence.
In an instant, ominous omens materialized around Catherine: swarms of venomous spiders skittered down strands of webbing, venomous stingers rained down like a downpour, a surging sea of blood swept in, rotting corpses and skeletons burst from the earth, and an omen star of death even appeared high in the heavens, casting rays of absolute eradication.
Yet amid this tempestuous torrent of spells, Catherine remained enveloped in moonlight, completely unmoved.
Step by step, Sehanine's ethereal silhouette walked down the Moon Bridge, ultimately merging into Catherine.
In that split second, the world seemed to fall silent. The cacophonous roars and chaotic fluctuations were all replaced by soft, gentle moonlight.
The Moon Goddess had descended.
Under the gaze of countless eyes, Catherine slowly opened her eyes. Silvery light shone from her clear pupils. Her gaze was calm and tranquil, like an ancient well unperturbed by ripples, carrying a night sky with a full moon and myriad stars, radiating an aura of immortality.
"This is..."
Rhea was certain that the Queen Catherine she knew could never possess such an aura—this was a look that only a deity weathered by endless ages could ever hold.
The being before her was definitely not Catherine!
Catherine—or rather, Sehanine—raised both hands. Moonlight flowed like water, coalescing into the shapes of weapons. In Her left hand She held the Moonbow, and in Her right She gripped the Silver Moon Staff, looking down upon Lolth from above.
"Lolth, my former sister and traitor to the Seldarine. Return to your place of exile, the Abyss. I have no wish to entangle myself with you."
Sehanine sighed softly, exhaling what seemed to be a wisp of silvery-white mist.
Lolth glared at the goddess bathed in moonlight and smiled viciously. "Still putting on airs? You sicken me. You were the ones who cast me into that damned place with your own hands, and now you hypocritically claim you wish not to fight your own kin!"
"Heh, don't celebrate too early! Who knows if you're merely bluffing? In that case, you will repay the hatred of ten thousand years ago right now, Sehanine!"
Fierce malice flashed in the dense compound eyes of the colossal black widow spider. Its elongated forelegs, like razor-sharp blades carrying terrifying chaotic divine power, slashed toward Sehanine. At the same time, the Demonweb domain cloaking the sky descended slowly, forming a crimson vortex to snare the Silver Moon Goddess within.
Under this devastating assault, space fractured inch by inch as turbulent streams of chaos poured from the rifts. Even the natural laws of the surrounding world plunged into total disarray: stones floated up from the ground, dark clouds descended from above, and twisted roots reached toward the sky...
"Obstinate to the end."
Sehanine's tone remained calm, yet carried an unspeakable majesty.
"Ten thousand years ago, you colluded with evil gods and plotted rebellion, so we exiled you to the Abyss. Ten thousand years later, you wreak havoc upon the earth and bring ruin to living beings—and we can just as easily drive you back to your place of exile!"
In that instant, boundless brilliance shone from Sehanine's eyes, illuminating the darkened world and turning the night sky as bright as day.
Her left hand raised the Moonbow. Divine arrows gleaming with silver light streaked across the sky like shooting stars, raining densely down upon Lolth to pierce every ominous and chaotic thing.
Her right hand lifted the Silver Moon Staff. Lunar divine power surged forth like roaring ocean waters, churning up wave after wave of divine power tens of meters high that surged toward Lolth before Her.
Chapter 767