Chapter 2182: Waking Up, Obtaining A New Divine Familiar
Chapter 2182: Waking Up, Obtaining A New Divine Familiar
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And like that, my eyes blinked once more, and I found myself back in reality. Only a second or two of real time had passed, yet it had felt as though I had spent entire days inside that distant memory. What I had witnessed at the end was simply the past. A new future still awaited us. She was still alive, which meant she still had the chance to make a real difference. It was never too late. I would make certain that she did — or I would force her to do so if necessary.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back exactly where I had been before: inside Lolth’s slightly ruined castle within the Dragon Tomb Dungeon.
Ding!
[Congratulations, you have successfully forged a Divine Familiar Contract with the [Evil Goddess of Spiders and Monsters – Lolth]!]
[Because you’ve forged a powerful bond between your Divinity and hers, you have inherited some of her power.]
[Your Divinity Stat has increased by +1,000.]
[You learned the Divine Protection Skill: [Lolth, Evil Goddess of Spiders and Monsters – Tier 1: Level 1/10]: A Divine Protection that directly connects your Divine Power to a fragment of Lolth’s. You can now directly wield this power and unleash her darkness, generating spiders, other critters, and curses upon foes. When combined with other Divine Skills or Divinities, the power to create Monsters based in this Authority become possible. The Abyssal Spider Queen’s Nest Domain can be summoned with enough Divine Power, trapping foes inside a pocket dimension of sticky webs and warped gravity.]
[You learned the Curse Skill: [Divine Curse of Miasmic Mutation – Tier 1: Level 1/10]: Channel Lolth’s evil curse into your hands or body, unleashing deadly, toxic, and poisonous Miasma capable of mutating and transforming whatever it touches. Monsters will grow into stronger, dangerous variants, and weaker beings such as wild animals or humans will mutate into monstrous aberrations, growing exponentially stronger while also abandoning their sanity. It can also be used on yourself to mutate into a monstrous being, with the power of Divinity, you can control this form and freely reverse it, but you must use it carefully, unless the Curse consumes you instead.]
As Lolth and I finally finished sealing the contract, several new notifications appeared one after another, surprising me with their content.
Apparently I had not only tripled my Divinity out of nowhere. The sudden jump from 500 to 1,500 was so massive that my Aura exploded outward with uncontrollable force. It struck the ceiling of the dungeon and left a permanent, smoking hole that revealed the dark sky above.
Besides the massive stat increase, I had also gained two entirely new Skills. The first was a Divine Protection Skill that had formed against her will. It seemed that whenever I forced a Divine Familiar Contract with a true divine being, my power naturally extracted a portion of their strength and converted it into this form of protection.
It granted me a smaller, controlled version of her unique powers. I was not yet certain how useful it would prove, or whether I would ever truly need it, but I already felt fairly satisfied with what I currently possessed. Still, I suspected I could combine it effectively with my other three — or rather four — existing curses.
The second new ability was the Curse Skill known as "Divine Curse of Miasmic Mutation." This was the same horrifying curse she had spread throughout the city, the one that had forced ordinary people to transform into monsters and had elevated already powerful monsters into intelligent, self-aware beings. The memory of that chaos still made me feel uneasy.
Now that the curse belonged to me, it was an incredibly potent tool. I wondered if I could somehow use it to strengthen my existing Familiars without driving them completely insane. Perhaps it was possible. I would need to test it carefully... starting with myself first and foremost.
"Ugh... my power..." Lolth groaned weakly. Then her eyes widened in shock. "Huh? You took my power!"
"A bit," I replied calmly. "Call it fair compensation. Don’t worry, as my familiar you will enjoy certain benefits as well."
"?!"
FLUOSH!
Her aura suddenly surged with monstrous intensity, expanding larger and larger. Her remaining wounds recovered almost instantly. At the same time she gained a small portion of every elemental affinity I possessed, along with basic knowledge of my combat methods, auras, and techniques.
"T-This is..." She stared at her own hands in disbelief. "Interesting...! I’ve regained some of my lost divine power...! What an incredible thing— No, wait! I am your slave now?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN I NEED TO SERVE MORTALS NOW?!"
"You heard me clearly," I nodded. "And you will fulfill that duty by helping us take down all the crazy, intelligent monsters you personally spread across the world. Do you understand me?"
"Tsk... as if I would ever— Ack!" She groaned as an invisible force suddenly compelled her to agree. "F-Fine...! Ugh! Why did I agree to that?! What is this?!"
"It is what it is, queen," I laughed lightly. "Now turn small and cute. I don’t want a giant spider woman walking around with me wherever I go. Take the form of... uuhhh..."
"A cute and marketable spider plushie," Alice suggested as she appeared at my side.
"I don’t know what that means, but yes," I agreed. "That."
FLASH!
"?!"
Lolth’s body suddenly began to transform. Her entire form compacted smaller and smaller until, much like Armageddon was able to do, she became significantly reduced in size and far more compact.
In the end she transformed into a small, cat-sized obsidian spider with eight gleaming red eyes that resembled polished jewels, and eight long, elegant legs.
"W-What is this form?! You think I am going to become your pet now?!" she demanded angrily. "I am so small! What is this nonsense?! Aaagghhhhh!"
"It’s called an energy-saving form," Beelzebub explained as he buzzed over to my side. "Get used to it, Lolth... It’s either that or the complete annihilation of your soul. Which do you prefer?"
"...Ugh," Lolth groaned. She clearly had no desire for the latter option. "Whatever... Now what? What exactly is going to happen to me from now on?!"
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