Avalon didn't have much to say about the Spider Lady gaining her freedom. She didn't even voice any formal objection, which seemed to confirm what the Spider Lady had just grumbled to Murphy about Avalon's scheming.
This had all been part of her plan.
Perhaps the truth was just as the Spider Lady had said: being bound together in such a fraught relationship had left the two goddesses sick of each other. In that case, granting each other freedom might preserve a shred of goodwill. If things continued as they were, it would surely end in tragedy.
After asking the "wronged party" and receiving an affirmative answer, Murphy looked up at the black figure with a nebula for a face. He glanced at the Primordial Shrine floating beside him and said:
"Swear an oath. I'll invite the Creator to witness it, so that I, a mere mortal, can hold a goddess to her word."
"Perhaps we could do this another way. This seems a little too extreme."
The Spider Lady clearly wasn't willing. She said:
"The words of a goddess carry power. I painstakingly sifted through the Web of Fate to find a way to escape the Frontier Pact, and now you're offering me another chain. That seems rather unfair to me."
"But for this world, which is already on the brink of collapse, it's just right."
Murphy shook his head.
"The Lord of the Hunt can't be allowed to happen again. The Shadow Elves falling en masse is far more dangerous than the gnolls. Your followers have already built a full-fledged civilization and play a significant role in the dark regions of the continent.
"They're part of the order of this continent. I can't accept a situation spiraling out of control because of me.
"Please understand, freedom always comes