Aaron laughed, thoroughly delighted.
He had to admit that Lolth's move was downright vile.
From Nastya's memories, Aaron knew that Lolth had sunk her refuge into the Phlogiston Sea to prevent other deities from interfering with her ascension ritual. Even if a deity truly chose to abandon their divine power and enter her refuge in their true form, it would not matter. They would be forced to fight Lolth with only legendary peak strength.
Although everyone would be at the same legendary peak strength, the land belonged to Lolth, and so did the realm. Under those circumstances, how could an outside deity fight Lolth's true form in an environment where she had set every rule?
This called for an explanation of what the Phlogiston Sea was, and why deities dared not enter it directly to fight.
The Phlogiston Sea could be understood as a substance filling all the gaps between crystal spheres in the Great Wheel. It resembled both void and liquid, was combustible, and was neither water, earth, fire, nor air. It was the source of all energy and matter.
On rare occasions, a few life-forms could be born in the Phlogiston Sea, but as a whole, it was unstable and extremely dangerous.
Crystal spheres were islands within the Phlogiston Sea. Each excluded the sea through its crystal shell, securing a relatively peaceful, stable environment within the universe. Like an island keeping the seawater outside its boundaries, it allowed the creatures within to live normally.
Lolth was precisely that sort of lunatic. She dared to sink her refuge into the Phlogiston Sea, and if pushed too far, she would blow herself up along with everyone else-unless they agreed to play by her rules.
This gave her an absolute advantage. Every Chosen had to "complete quests" to earn entry into