A Core Ship From The Start-Chapter 918 - 645: Division

The entire Drow Elf city had plunged into utter chaos, as the once covert warfare now became an almost blatant struggle against one another.

The reason was simple—it was because the rules had changed.

Philray stood on the high platform, looking down at the city engulfed by flames, her eyes glittering. After killing all the matriarchs of the Congress, Philray couldn’t wait to make her proclamation. She wanted to reveal the hidden truth to all Drow Elves, to make them understand reality—that the deity she worshipped was the true Spider Goddess, and the one that had ruled this city before was nothing but a Heretical Evil God masquerading as the Spider Goddess!

At first, when faced with Philray’s pronouncement, nearly all Drow Elf families thought she had gone mad, and the matriarchs and priests of those families received the wrathful decree of the Spider Queen—to utterly exterminate this Blasphemer!

But they all failed.

Neither the Wax Melted Monsters nor the great Divine Power bestowed by the Spider Queen was a match for that peculiar construct. Philray, controlling the construct, annihilated one family after another that dared to attack her. Gradually, within the Drow Elf families, doubts began to stir... Could it be that Philray spoke the truth?

After all, with some calm reflection, it became apparent that no priest of the Spider Queen would ever utter such disrespectful and blasphemous remarks. The idea that even the Spider Queen’s handmaiden, the Wax Melted Monster, had betrayed their master was utterly absurd, yet it was this same absurdity that made people wonder... Could it actually be true?

Thus, some lesser families began to covertly shift their allegiances, contacting Philray in private to find out how she came to know all this. Then, Philray led them to experience the power and pleasure from the true Spider Queen. After that, many of the lesser families acquired new power, decisively switched sides, and joined Philray’s ranks one after another.

At this time, the Drow Elves within the city were split into two factions: one led by The Tenth Family, still loyal to the original Spider Queen, comprised of several mid-tier families. The other was led by Philray, made up of the majority of the lesser families, loyal to the "true Spider Queen" Philray proclaimed.

Now, according to Philray’s creative narrative, the story went like this.

Originally, after the Drow Elves were treacherously betrayed by their evil, vile, and shameless Elf kin, banished to the dark hell below, it was the great Spider Queen who welcomed these Drow Elves, granting them the strength and space to survive underground. However, due to this, the great Spider Queen’s power declined, and she suffered a shameful betrayal.

A traitor, coveting the Spider Queen’s power, attacked her and imprisoned her shamelessly in the Bottomless Abyss. The traitor absorbed the true Spider Queen’s power and used it to manipulate these ignorant Drow Elves, deceiving them and leading them to pledge allegiance to her.

Yet, the true Spider Queen never stopped resisting, and Philray was the successor she chose!

As for the construct being immune to the power of the Spider Queen, it was because it was a Holy Artifact crafted by the true Spider Queen herself. The fraudulent power of the traitor naturally couldn’t compare to that of the true Spider Queen!

Yep, it was logical and coherent, no problem there.

Of course, whether the other Drow Elves would believe it just based on this argument was not certain, but soon they received real evidence.

Divine Arts.

Indeed, on the Faelun Continent, worshipping a deity would grant Divine Arts, and forsaking a deity would mean the loss of Divine Arts. This was also why females held high status in the Drow world, as only females could become priests of the Spider Queen and wield the power of Divine Arts.

Whether what Philray said was true or false, one thing was clear: worshipping the impostor granted access to Divine Arts, but could worshipping the "real Spider Goddess" Philray spoke of grant Divine Arts?

Well, it turns out it could!

As an "Old God," Duanmu Huai also had access to Divine Arts!

In fact, the deities in Cthulhu’s world possessed Divine Arts as well, which was a reason those cultists dared to stir up such sensational news. For instance, transforming into a bat, binding the movement of enemies, creating zombies, shape-shifting flesh, and so on... This meant that as long as those priests were willing to switch their faith, they could receive the blessings of an Old God and gain new Divine Arts.

These Divine Arts, in some ways, were far more malevolent than those of the Spider Goddess.

There were two points to note.

First, using these Divine Arts would result in a drop in SAN value for both the caster and the target, as well as any witnesses. fгeewebnovёl.com

However, on the Faelun Continent, the concept of SAN value didn’t exist at all...

Second, once the SAN value dropped to a certain level, the sanity of the affected would inevitably begin to crumble, leading them to succumb to the mental corruption of the Old God.

Upon realizing this, Duanmu Huai was ecstatic.

The battles between the two factions played out as follows.

When the followers of the two sides met and began to fight, Philray’s followers would unleash a barrage of SAN-reducing spells. Regardless of the effectiveness of these spells, they would lower the SAN value of both friend and foe alike.

Then, once the SAN value dropped to a particular level, the opposing priests, warriors, and even warriors would completely break down, succumbing to the mental corruption of the Old God, acknowledging the so-called "true Spider Goddess," and becoming subordinates of Philray.