When had this happened?
Sera looked at the white threads covering her body, and a chill swept through her. She raised her head and saw the threads crisscrossing overhead, forming a vast spiderweb.
At the web's unseen far end, an enormous red-and-black spider watched them with scarlet eyes.
Noticing their gaze, the spider lifted its head slightly. The upper body of a female Dark Elf rose from its back.
A vast altar and the phantom of a temple descended, covering the territory around them. As the temple appeared, the Spider Lady's divine power suppressed the Magic Net in the area and temporarily severed their connection to the Lady of Night.
That meant they could neither cast magic through the Magic Net nor invoke divine spells by communing with their goddess and borrowing her power.
At the other end of the temple, the phantoms of several hundred female Dark Elves sat quietly on benches near the outer wall, watching the group with unsettling eyes.
A temple... the Spider Lady's pet... This is a sacrifice.
Sera had conducted rituals for years. She recognized the sacred air of this scene.
They've offered us to the Spider Lady as sacrifices.
As she watched, the female Dark Elf figure rising from the spider's back curled her lips into a strange smile. Threads of scarlet began to appear where the statue's eyes had never been carved.
At that sight, the hundreds of female Dark Elves on the benches began praying in unison.
"Praise you!
"Great Lolth, Spider Queen!
"Ruler of the sinful Abyss!
"Creator of the Dark Elves!"
As their prayers rose, some mighty being seemed to turn her gaze upon them. Everyone present felt the cruelty and malice in it.
The female Dark Elves clasped their hands, their faces plainly filled with awe. Under that