Chapter 545: Victory's Spoils
The dark goddess Lolth is an extremely difficult deity to deal with.
As her adversary, ally, or kin, one must always be wary of her schemes and tricks.
Poor Vhaeraun is a prime example.
Vhaeraun was originally the son of Lolth and the elven god Corellon.
Enticed by the not-yet-corrupted Lolth, he gave in to his inner darkness, imprisoning his nominal "mother," the elven moon goddess Sehanine.
The latter escaped captivity and exposed their conspiracy to the elven pantheon.
Subsequently, Vhaeraun, led by Lolth, joined forces with Gruumsh, god of the orcs, and Malar, god of the hunt, among other dark deities, in a rebellion against the elven gods.
They underestimated the strength of Corellon, the elven god-king, and lost the war.
Once the son of the elven god-king, Vhaeraun was banished to the dark depths. The power he had painstakingly accumulated was cunningly stolen by an equally weakened Lolth.
After finally regaining his strength and clarity of mind, he sought revenge against Lolth.
Unfortunately, Lolth had already siphoned power from their former ally, Ghaunadaur, and deceived the Spider Queen, Malar, leaving Vhaeraun outmatched.
In simple terms, she had drained her son of all his usefulness.
However, Lolth still had grandchildren to exploit…
Because of this, Lolth, influenced by dark, chaotic, and twisted forces, adopted increasingly perverse and terrifying behavior.
Punishing priests who performed sacrifices in her name.
Releasing soul-devouring spiders to randomly kill her followers.
Transforming priests who disappointed her into drider-like forms as punishment.
Many drow found her erratic, fickle, cruel, and jealous nature intolerable, refusing to worship her.
It was often said in jest that the drow didn't necessarily want to follow other Underdark gods—they just despised Lolth.
Seeing Shetril twisted into a drider form, Sera was not surprised. In fact, she found it somewhat expected.
Though the drider form was hideous, Shetril's combat abilities had significantly improved.
She was now greedily consuming the remnants of souls left behind by fallen slave warriors, using them to fuel her spellcasting.
Sixth-Circle: Stinking Cloud!
Sixth-Circle: Life Drain!
Sixth-Circle: Dark Barrier!
Sixth-Circle: Shadow Volley!
Sixth-Circle: Dark Orb!
A barrage of destructive spells rained down around the thunder warriors.
Sera sneered, swiftly tearing open a scroll.
A pale blue ripple spread quickly in front of the thunder warriors.
The destructive spells struck it, creating ripples that dispersed harmlessly.
While some area spells caused minor damage around the edges, the barrier absorbed the rest.
Seventh-Circle: Aqua Aegis!
One of the strongest defensive spells of the higher circles!
The thunder warriors remained unscathed, though the surrounding slave warriors suffered terribly.
Even the residual explosions from the spell's detonation killed hundreds if not thousands of slave warriors.
Shetril, greedily absorbing the surrounding soul fragments, felt invincible, her power limitless!
She didn't notice the thunder warriors, protected by the Aqua Aegis, closing in on her.
Thunder-charged bolts and short spears flew continuously toward Shetril.
Her flickering shield shattered under the piercing bolts and quickly reformed, sustained by her near-limitless magic.
Unfortunately, her original priestly level was too low. Even after Lolth's "reward," she hadn't gained knowledge of additional spells or divine magic.
In this regard, she was similar to Matthew at his current stage.
As her shield spells repeatedly shattered, Shetril began to feel the strain.
Seeing bolts of electricity rushing toward her, she frantically waved her staff, releasing one distorted dark orb after another.
Boom!
Boom, boom, boom!
The continuous explosions made it difficult for the thunder warriors to advance.
But they had already confined Shetril's movement, while the slave warriors under her control were rapidly falling.
Realizing the danger, Shetril hastily cast multiple enhancement spells on herself and darted into the densest cluster of slave warriors.
As she fled, Shetril unleashed contamination, randomly infecting nearby creatures and transforming them into grotesque aberrations.
Such horrifying, twisted abilities were enough to send shivers down anyone's spine, no matter where they were.
Sera didn't recklessly approach, unsure whether she could withstand the contamination.
Having finally regained her freedom, she wasn't about to throw it away carelessly.
Driving Shetril away from the battlefield to sow chaos and break the slave army's cohesion was one of the thunder warriors' main goals.
Shetril's terrifying appearance and the chaos she spread caused panic among the drow in the slave army.
The pressure on them intensified as the slave warriors became increasingly unruly.
The sudden appearance of aberrations disrupted the entire formation.
The pressure from the advancing golems visibly diminished.
Most of the slave warriors lost their earlier confidence, turning into panicked, fleeing mobs.
Angela quickly noticed this shift and ordered the archers to adjust their angles, targeting more distant slave formations.
Arrows rained down like a downpour.
The slave warriors could no longer hold their ground and fled in all directions.
Many drow commanders had no choice but to reveal themselves, issuing a flurry of orders.
The thunder warriors scattered, hunting the drow within the ranks.
Killing them would cause the slave warriors to disband.
Despite having to fight, the drow displayed exceptional combat prowess.
Most of them were assassins and rangers skilled in shadow magic, stealth, and assassination techniques.
In the chaotic melee, they normally would have had a distinct advantage.
Then they encountered the thunder warriors' storm of lightning!
Boom, boom, boom!
Though their high spell resistance kept them standing initially, it also exposed their positions.
The lightning-fast thunder warriors were upon them in an instant.
The drow, realizing escape was impossible, braced themselves and counterattacked.
But their counterattacks were too weak.
While thunder armor didn't offer the same defense as enchanted armor, it still provided extraordinary protection.
Fending off a few attacks from the drow was no challenge.
The retaliatory lightning strikes momentarily paralyzed the drow.
That brief pause allowed the ultra-agile transformed warriors to dispatch them.
The thunder warriors were a special combat team created by Matthew!
Designed to operate as an independent, flexible force, they carried out dangerous missions.
In addition to their signature lightning attacks,
the thunder warriors' fundamental abilities were honed to top-tier standards.
They had no weaknesses.
Achieving this required them to train in advanced and even extraordinary-level techniques and skills.
This was essential for their combat system to be flawless.
After several months of training, they had only completed the first phase.
They had reached a level that Matthew deemed satisfactory.
With extraordinary peak physical attributes and advanced elite combat skills,
their overall attributes could easily overpower the drow in one or two key areas.
In close combat, any minor hesitation from the opponent would lead to a swift end.
Despite the drow's tenacious resistance causing some trouble,
their numbers steadily dwindled.
Shetril, their cornerstone, realized something had changed within her.
As her sanity returned, panic and fear took hold. She fled the battlefield with thousands of transformed slave warriors and drow.
Seeing Shetril's retreat, the remaining drow heaved a sigh of relief.
They abandoned their earlier determination and turned tail.
Without their support, the slave warriors and gnolls fell into even greater chaos.
Angela refrained from ordering a full-scale advance, instead deploying small teams to stabilize the battlefield.
The chaotic battlefield and the distant, unresolved aberrations needed careful handling.
Most of the drow had withdrawn, and the slave warriors and gnoll slaves were too exhausted to keep running.
There was no longer any reason to worry.
After half an hour,
the chaotic battlefield finally quieted down.
While some slave warriors still resisted, their numbers were few.
Most of the gnoll slaves were already obediently lying on the ground.
Having undergone the baptism of twisted thoughts, their basic intelligence and reasoning had been shattered, rendering them as obedient tools.
The Bay did not expect them to participate in battles; as long as they could pass purification without mutating, they could be considered for labor tasks.
Although their efficiency was low, they could still alleviate some of the labor shortage in the sparsely populated underground world.
More dangerous areas could be assigned to them for development.
The Bay would not deliberately overwork them. As long as they completed their tasks, they would be guaranteed enough to eat.
For most gnolls, this was already a dream-like scenario.
Instead, it was the mixed-race slave warriors that caught Matthew's attention.
With so many different races, they were bound to provide him with unique specializations and skills.
These would serve as the foundation to refine Matthew's designs for his modified warriors.
They would also provide inspiration for creating more powerful extraordinary feats.
Of course, they could also make other contributions—it all depended on their sense of timing.
The Bay wasn't interested in spending too much time on uncooperative hard cases.
After all, there were still plenty of empty beds in the new underground laboratory area…
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A spinning black barrel made a heavy whistling sound as it smashed solidly into the deep abomination.
The previously dimming flames around the enormous creature flared back to life.
The rolling heatwaves spread out in all directions, striking faces with a burning pain.
Flamethrower oil was the Bay's most heavily purchased resource from the elves of Ail.
It was bought in greater quantities than most magical materials and plants.
Part of it was used for wartime consumption, especially for clearing out strange plants and fungal carpets in the Catachan plane.
Another part was stored as a wartime reserve, ensuring preparedness for future conflicts.
According to Annie, the raw material for flamethrower oil was extracted from a deep-sea petroleum-like deposit.
It was incredibly viscous and highly flammable.
It could continue burning fiercely even without oxygen, emitting tremendous light and heat.
Victor took a keen interest in it, trying to develop it into a special type of explosive.
Matthew also valued this petroleum-like substance greatly and had already issued a bounty to the territory's adventurers.
Anyone who could locate a similar resource would be richly rewarded with over 100,000 gold coins.
"Roar…!"
The deafening roar carried a fiery gale that wildly fanned the surrounding flames.
But it only stirred the flickering flames.
After its foul breath subsided, the roaring flames burned even more fiercely.
The flames scorched its twisted flesh, sending thick smoke billowing upwards. Hundreds of bolts shot forth, easily embedding themselves in the charred flesh.
Glass vials filled with holy water shattered against it.
Like strong acid, they corroded large holes into the monster's body, causing it to writhe in agony.
Its flame-coated tentacles, grotesque gaping maw, mountainous flesh, and overwhelming stench were indescribably repulsive.
Just one glance was enough to feel one's sanity slipping away.
Matthew constantly monitored the soldiers' mental states, ensuring they wouldn't suffer irreparable harm.
Under his cloak, Magus Duncan watched the fire-encircled deep abomination with a look of shock, muttering with interest:
"The underground world is truly fascinating. I can't believe creatures like this deep abomination exist."
"After the Scarlet Moon's influence waned, I thought it would be a long time before seeing them again."
Hearing this, Matthew raised an eyebrow and looked over with curiosity, bluntly asking:
"Is this knowledge restricted or under viewing limitations?"
Seeing the intermediate arcanist's insignia on Matthew, Duncan finally understood.
This young arcanist lord, despite his imposing presence, was still a newly graduated young mage. Pushing aside his thoughts, Duncan nodded and continued:
"Indeed, research on the Scarlet Moon and abominations is strictly classified as forbidden knowledge."
"Casters below the extraordinary rank are strictly prohibited from understanding or spreading it."
"These objects, symbols, and even descriptive texts carry a terrifyingly twisted power."
"For those with weak willpower, they can cause insidious corruption."
Of course, the massive Scarlet Moon looming in the sky was unlikely to go unnoticed by knowledge-seeking arcanists.
Matthew suspected that the Netheril Empire must have conducted extensive research on the Scarlet Moon.
It was likely that the Netheril Empire had made significant discoveries but also suffered great losses and upheavals.
The Scarlet Moon's fearsome power alone was enough to make Matthew wary.
He understood that while the Scarlet Moon's influence had remained subdued for over a decade,
in future cataclysms, the terrifying Scarlet Moon would take on a new role—it would no longer be a mere spectator!