For a power like the Serpent Ring Family, bloodlines don't matter; anyone they can bring on board is considered family.
Having decided to pledge allegiance to the Gendaya Royal Court, choosing a faction to align with was a natural instinct. Webster and Baudelaire were both seasoned veterans in this regard, and naturally, they understood each other perfectly. A glance at each other was enough for them to know what the other was thinking.
For a pure, uncorrupted brute like Balhak, the words of his clan patriarch and the Grand Elder were truly beyond his comprehension. He stared wide-eyed, frozen in place for a long time, unable to understand.
Fortunately, as mentioned before, Balhak's strength is that if he can't figure something out, he won't dwell on it; he'll just do what the chieftain says. When it comes to execution, he's absolutely unambiguous.
While Balhak, carrying out the patriarch's orders, went down to erase the information about the Ten Thousand Serpents Armor, Webster and Baudelaire went to the family treasury, carefully selected and prepared a generous gift for Lancelot.
"He who takes a bribe is bound to be obligated to serve it; he who eats another's food is obligated to pay his respects; it's never wrong to be polite." Webster and his companion surely understood this principle.
Sure enough, when the storage ring, stuffed full to the brim, was placed in Lancelot's hand, the tone coming from under the mask became much more amiable. The previous subtle sense of distance seemed to vanish without a trace.
The two sides then had a very pleasant conversation.
Lancelot also successfully obtained the help of the Serpent Ring Family's intelligence network to pinpoint the location of the dark Mage on Planet Pandora.
"I've already spoken to His Majesty. You may travel to Holy Knight Star to pay your respects in three days."
After leaving those words, Lancelot refused the Serpent Ring Family's repeated attempts to persuade him to stay, and leaped away in a flash of lightning.
"This guy seems to have a deep-seated hatred for the dark Mage. Destroying the City of Freedom wasn't enough; he also wants to wipe them out completely?" Baudelaire stared at the dissipating blue light in the sky, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Webster turned around, his voice leisurely and ethereal, "These are none of our business. Prepare yourselves and go pay your respects to our Serpent Ring Family, our new lord."
Astral Realm.
The dark Void was boundless and vast; as far as the eye could see, there was only darkness.
The Fallen Star Nest passed through the dimensional crystal wall without registering in the Void City, and flew directly into the depths of the Void.
Inside the lair, as Index gazed at the increasingly distant Elven Plane behind her, a trace of sadness flashed in her emerald eyes.
"Mother, why do we have to leave the Elven Plane?" Mora, disguised as a little girl and dressed like a rebellious teenager, walked over and asked.
"Of course there are enemies," Bradley, dressed in a black tuxedo—a gift from Gustavo— answered first.
After saying that, Bradley asked anxiously, "Mother, how is Father?"
Hearing her brother's question, Mora also looked up.
Spider Mom Index didn't reply. Instead, she raised her hand, and a faint white light emanated from her palm. Within this light, a spider egg the size of a fist appeared.
Thump! Thump!
The spider eggs throbbed like a heart, emitting a barely perceptible breath of life.
"Ha, you fool! I told you long ago that the Guta Star People are unreliable, yet you still stubbornly charged into a sea of fire and water. If I hadn't been prepared, you would really be dead this time!"
Index coldly berated the spider eggs, but received no reply.
After hearing their mother's words, Mora and Bradley stared at each other in disbelief before focusing their attention on the spider eggs. "Is that Father? How did he turn into spider eggs?"
The mischievous Mora tried to poke the spider eggs with her finger, but Spider Mom Index gently tapped her with her bent finger. Mora immediately crouched down in pain, her eyes filled with tears. Bradley, standing nearby, looked terrified.
"This is Egg of Resurrection."
Index explained to the two children.
"Years ago, after I sensed that your father might be in danger, I secretly collected his karma, Fortune, and blood... and used a secret method to create this spider egg."
"The Egg of Resurrection? But Mother, the Inherited Memory that just surfaced in my mind tell me that this is clearly Egg of Curse..." Bradley said hesitantly.
Then, with a sharp thud, he covered his head and squatted down, his eyes blurry with tears. Mora, who was next to him, immediately laughed, her face full of schadenfreude.
"If I say it's the Egg of Resurrection, then it is the Egg of Resurrection. What? You two brats have a problem with that?" Spider Mom Index glared with her emerald eyes, her maternal authority causing her two offspring to nod hastily, like chicks pecking at rice, obediently complying.
Spider Mom glared at them and continued her rant, "Your father is a complete idiot. I was blind back then. I don't know what I was thinking when I fell for him. So many talented young men from the Mitrola Clan were interested in me. If I had known this day would come, only a fool would have followed him to this desolate place to suffer..."
When their mother complained, Mora and Bradley exchanged a glance, lowered their heads, and decided to let it go in one ear and out the other.
He secretly wondered to himself, "Who was that guy who was all lovey-dovey with my father not long ago?"
Once, the siblings genuinely thought their parents were arguing, so they rushed over to mediate. But for some reason, the couple's anger was directed at them, and what followed was a miserable beating.
From then on, Mora and Bradley learned a lesson: when their parents argue, just listen; the best way to handle it is to remain silent so as not to give them an excuse to shift the blame.
After her outburst, Spider Mom Index's tone softened, and she murmured, "He's a fool, treating the Kelaxiweifu Family as his own, without even considering what they think? Utterly stupid! But as his partner, my job is to protect him. Others, even he himself, don't need to consider his future, but I can't... The Egg of Curse, the Egg of Resurrection, are just names. With the remnants of karma, Fortune, bloodline, and soul aura that I secretly stole, he still has a glimmer of hope; he's not completely dead. As long as we find a sufficiently powerful master of karma, the probability of him surviving is high. However... the key now is to get away from the Elven Plane as quickly as possible. I can't continuously resist the erosion of that evil power. The only way to weaken its erosion is to keep as far away as possible, the farther the better..."
In the end, Spider Mom's face turned pale, Black Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth, and specks of gray haze rose up.
"Mother..."
Mora and Bradley cried out and tried to pounce, but were gently pushed far away, making it difficult for them to get close.
"Stay away from me..."
Index's voice was very weak.
The reason for this is that she used the connection between herself and the resurrected spider egg in her hand to transfer the corruption of the Divine Power from the Elven Plane onto herself.
Although this power had flowed several times and traversed vast distances, becoming extremely weak, it still significantly weakened Spider Mom, a Low-Rank Demigod.
As I said before—a god is, after all, a god!
Although Demigod have the word "god" in their name, they are far inferior to them in terms of power, and there is a fundamental difference between them.
Of course, these Divine Power could not pose a fatal threat to the Spider Mom; no matter how high their quality, insufficient quantity would be fatal.
Just like poison, if the dosage is insufficient, it won't kill you.
Just because they can't harm the Spider Mom doesn't mean they can't kill the weak, ant-like resurrected spider eggs.
If even the slightest bit of the evil god's power were to taint the Egg of Resurrection, Sylvain's last hope of resurrection would be extinguished.
That is why Spider Mom was willing to sacrifice herself to withstand the corrosive Divine Power.
Furthermore, if the Divine Power god continues to pour in, Spider Mom may be able to hold on now, but not necessarily in the future, so she can only desperately stay away from this power.
In the Astral Realm, there are two supreme powers that are formidable enemies that no life form can withstand.
First, time.
Second, space.
Sufficient time or space scales can change anything.
Even the deepest feelings will be worn down by the passage of time and alienated by the distance between people.
Even the most indestructible material will be washed away by the torrent of time, reduced to dust and scattered mud.
The same applies to the Divine Power.