Chapter 2185: A Twisted Goddess

After talking about everything we were currently experiencing and more, we decided to continue moving forward. We spent some time simply admiring the castle and the surrounding area, finding everything incredibly beautiful and carefully crafted.

Even though this place was truly amazing, I knew I needed to be far more careful with how I wielded my Divinity from now on. It seemed that the world itself had become especially volatile and sensitive to divine power. That realization made me worry deeply about what I could accidentally do to people or to the environment around me.

When I used to imagine possessing divine powers, I never thought they would be this dangerous. People often picture themselves being able to do just about anything once they gain such strength, but I suppose the truth is far more complicated most of the time.

After all, when two gods’ powers become connected in such a direct way… it can cause quite a dangerous mess if left unchecked or handled incorrectly. At the same time, that same connection can also create incredible miracles — miracles that somehow seem to have brought us into what feels like an entirely different world.

It really made me want to explore what else might be possible with my abilities, and with other dungeons as well. Still, I knew I had to continue exercising extreme caution whenever I used these powers.

“We’re here,” I said quietly as I looked into the distance.

We reached a large open area with no grand door or formal entrance of any kind.

At the center of this section of the temple — or castle — there was a wide open space with an even higher ceiling. Ancient paintings covered the top, depicting various gods from ages long past.

There was a surrounding open terrace that led directly out toward the forest and gardens beyond, offering the most beautiful view of the snow-covered mountains I had ever seen.

At the same time, a huge fountain stood nearby, filled with flowing, crystal-clear spirit and divine water. Sitting at the center of a large bed made of pure white silk was a striking figure.

She was a giantess — voluptuous, with wide hips and large breasts, and long purple hair interwoven with many strands of golden blonde. One of her eyes was a deep purple-red, while the other shone gold-pink.

She had bright, almost luminous white skin and wore a semi-transparent white dress woven from the finest silk.

Behind her rested a large golden-white metallic exoskeleton-covered appendage — a spider abdomen — along with eight long, golden metallic spider legs extending from her back.

Those legs were constantly weaving with the white divine silk she produced. Her eyes looked calm, almost completely different from the last time I had seen her.

A crown of gold sat upon her head, and she was surrounded by many Arachne who quietly attended to her needs.

“Uh… Lolth?” I asked while looking at her carefully and beginning to understand what might have happened.

As I looked up at her towering form, I started to realize that something fundamental had changed about her.

When she looked back at me, her eyes widened in recognition.

“Ah… Welcome. You’re finally awake,” she said in a much softer voice than before. “When everything happened… well, a lot of things changed.”

“You tell me…” I replied. “I was only joking when I said those things, but… I had no idea my words held so much power now. I messed up. Are you… okay? Are you really Lolth?”

“It is me,” she sighed gently. “But my very Divinity has changed… I cannot say I dislike it, though. There’s a strange sense of peace within me that I could never find before. And yet… the darkness I once wove deep inside myself is still there — a permanent half of who I am.” As she spoke, her red eye glowed brightly, and suddenly half of her body overflowed with swirling darkness and cursed power.

“It seems you’ve rewritten my Divinity, but only partially. Your power wasn’t strong enough to do it completely… and that incomplete change created a transformation in both my body and spirit. And yet my darkness remains. It is tamed somewhat, but it is still very much present.

My fears, my anger… I still feel them. They will never fully leave who I am. So technically, I am still myself. And no, I am not brainwashed either… it’s just… a great many things were happening inside my head all at once.

When you become an Evil God, you lose yourself in your own madness. Even if it was an accident, what you did has helped me tame some of that endless madness.”

“…!” I was shocked by that quiet revelation. “I see… So you’re now… Ah!”

Ding!

[Due to your Divine Authority and Divinities, you’ve partially mutated and evolved your Familiar: [Evil Goddess of Spiders and Monsters – Lolth] into the [Spider Mother Goddess of Protection and Love – Lolth]!]

[Lolth’s Abilities have transformed, but her previous Divinity cannot be completely overwritten. However, most of the {Evil God’s Madness} consuming her Divinity has been “tamed” and her Mind has reached a greater state of balance.]

[Your Familiar, Lolth, can now freely switch or combine the two sides of her Divinity, from the Evil Goddess of Spiders and Monsters to the Kind Spider Mother Goddess of Protection and Love.]

[One Divinity specializes in destruction, curses, and mutation, the other on healing, protection, love, and companionship.]

“So you’ve changed from one moment to the next?” my father asked, still sounding skeptical. “It’s hard to believe even if you do look and act different now.”

“I know,” Lolth said with a calm nod. “I don’t have any intentions of trying to earn your trust or your forgiveness. I am well aware that such a thing is simply impossible… but the anger I used to feel toward everything seems greatly reduced.”

“So it’s as if she took some kind of permanent sedative?” Aquarina asked.

“If the change is permanent, it’s more than that,” I said. “Your new Divinity… what can it actually do?”