Chapter 135: The Three Sisters of Talabar

War, once started, is not easily stopped.

This time, the mind flayers risked their entire fortune; fresh reinforcements arrived every moment, and the constantly expanding camp displayed the Overmind's obsession with conquest.

Every mind flayer brought a horde of monsters and servants; this time, they drained their own resources and even summoned vast numbers of extraplanar creatures.

There is only one overlord of the Underdark; the city of Morndin D'kark before them will become the starting point of a new mind flayer empire.

"Boom!" Wooden war chariots were pushed toward the base of the city walls.

On the second morning of the war, the slave legions, once again assembled, were pushed onto the battlefield to die.

This was also the reason the drow nobles and the city lord had come to the city walls early in the morning.

Compared to yesterday, their equipment was even more refined; many servants and slaves had completed basic training and were pushed onto the battlefield.

Although it began as the classic cannon fodder versus cannon fodder, the combat power dispatched by both sides increased by at least fifty percent.

"For the honor of the family!" The matrons waved their nine-tailed whips, throwing all their family's assets into the cruel meat grinder of the battlefield.

Drow society is perhaps the most typical feudal family system; its political and military core consists of individual families, and as a theocratic society, the family heads (matrons) are all high priests of the deities.

When faced with a military threat, each family must make a sacrifice.

"The deities will forever watch your sacrifice."

In other societies, this might be merely a battle cry, but in drow society, it is the truth.

Even though the drow have softened slightly compared to the past, certain internal logics and racial temperaments cannot be changed.

The weak should be enslaved; the strong deserve higher status.

If the Divine Maiden performs poorly in the war, then replacing her family as the new city lord is only natural.

Moreover, if necessary, the deities will happily "bestow" a new divine bloodline.

"Our slaves are running a bit low; our war preparations are insufficient." They felt no regret over their battle losses, only disdain that their previous reserves of slaves were inadequate.

"Damn mind flayers! They not only stockpiled many war slaves but actually enslaved local newborn monsters." A hawkish matron regretted not having absorbed these scattered cannon fodder earlier, allowing them to become the enemy's "assets."

"That great monster remains a war threat... It seems capable of commanding those low-level monsters." All the matrons realized that the Child of the Beast was the key to the war.

Yesterday's bitter battle had dealt a heavy blow to the proud drow.

Today, they brought more war machines and slaves, yet still failed to gain an advantage, because the enemy had increased even more.

"The Beast's Prince" had actually enslaved some newborn monsters, turning them into war cannon fodder.

"... We absolutely cannot retreat; holding this city is the will of the deities." Even the grassroots commanders were fervent believers.

"He watches us. Those who retreat will lose divine favor." For the drow, interest and piety are equivalent.

The drow are a fervent warlike race with substantial material pursuits; their main power structure consists entirely of the priest and cleric systems.

This means that as long as they possess divine favor and maintain sufficient offerings, they will progress endlessly; all family heads are high priests.

And priests are the most special among the extraordinary professions... many practitioners do not even consider them a profession.

They are servants and executors of the deities' will, using divine spells granted by the deities and borrowing the deities' divine power.

Therefore, their piety is enough; even if their martial arts cultivation and spellcasting training are a complete mess, it does not prevent them from becoming high priests.

It is also for this reason that among the young generation of great practitioners, high priests are the most numerous, yet the top-tier extraordinary ones are the fewest.

After all, top-tier priests require immense divine power, which divides the deities' flesh and capital, and also requires a corresponding physical body to bear it.

Basically, only a very few supreme ascetics, those with divine favor, or divine sons/daughters can become top-tier high priests; ordinary high priests are the destined endpoint for many priests.

"... This, perhaps, is also our opportunity." Some words the matrons did not speak aloud, but exchanged with their eyes.

"The order of Morndin D'kark is due for a reshuffle." The third-ranked family had always coveted a higher position.

"Heh, the Divine Maiden? Fighting so uglily." The matron of the second-ranked family had already set her sights on the position of city lord.

Once the drow encounter opportunities for large-scale hunts and wars, they often fall into a race-wide frenzy; this is also an opportunity for them to reshuffle.

Those with outstanding war merits receive rewards immediately; even becoming a high priest directly is possible... this day's bitter battle might equal several years of sacrifice and prayer, so naturally, they would be quite frenzied.

This is also the root reason why both the dovish and hawkish factions always crave war; their only difference is when the war occurs... The Talabar family is already the city lord and Divine Maiden; even if they defeat the surface dwellers, they would only retain their current power and strength.

Winning yields little gain; losing means losing everything; this is also the root reason they became the dovish faction.

This is also one of the reasons for the distorted nature of drow society: the dovish faction is often the strongest family and its allies, while the hawkish faction is often a coalition of families ranked second to tenth; the higher the rank, the more they crave an opportunity for change.

It is said that this structure was intentionally designed by the drow deities to ensure they always progress through internal strife, ensuring they themselves remain high above, the "patriarch" they desperately court.

Their priests probably spent last night desperately filing reports with the deities (the Silver Vase Mirror Maiden).

After all, the Talabar family rose to power in the same way back then.

"... They probably want to force me to march out of the city to campaign." Verna Talabar sighed; yesterday's exhaustion had not yet recovered, and today's battlefield had already arrived.

The battlefield of this day remained in a torturous stalemate; drow society had not actually prepared for war, while the mind flayers had been preparing for this day for far too long.

Verna was somewhat weary, yet divine light still radiated around her, and her signature black blades floated slowly beside her.

This is drow society: if the leader cannot maintain dominance, they must expect to enjoy a constant stream of backstabbings.

She could not even request reinforcements from other drow cities; this was not a holy war against the surface dwellers, but merely an "internal disturbance" of the Underdark... If she asked for help, she would be viewed as weak and incompetent.

Divine bloodlines are hard to strip away, but divine favor and divine power can be reduced; she could not even imagine what would happen to herself and her family if she lost her authority.

"My foolish and incompetent sister will probably be the slave desired by many families." The sighing Divine Maiden stood up again, summoning handfuls of black swords, preparing to charge once more.

This time, at least severely wound that Child of the Beast; if it continues to kill at will, the complaints from these noble ladies of the families will surely affect the deities' favor toward her.

Other deities do not pay such close attention to the mortal realm; weak drow deities, however, pay attention to the gains and losses of every city and even every family.

Verna slowly floated up, gathering strength once more; the "Child of the Beast's" near-infinite regeneration ability was what frustrated her the most.

Even if chopped into two pieces, it could still heal very quickly.

What exhausted Verna the most was that she had always reserved power, preparing to deal with a second Child of the Beast that might appear at any moment.

And her "comrades" would obviously view this only as her incompetence, forcing her to expend herself with various acerbic words.

"Those who hold power but lack outstanding merits should yield their position." This is the most typical drow mindset.

And at this moment, a beam of fire suddenly fell from the sky!

"Boom!"

Accompanying a deafening roar, a massive explosive gash appeared on the giant god's body, and a Valkyrie clad in wings of fire descended from the sky.

"Is this... me?" Those familiar brows, that blade-like aura—wasn't that the reflection of oneself in the mirror?

And the power within this Valkyrie, along with the divine flames attached to her spear, were of the same origin as her own, even seemingly stemming from her very self!

Verna was stunned; what was going on?

But a familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind.

"My foolish sister, are you so surprised to see your other sister?"

Verna turned sharply, seeing her "incompetent sister," yet the other's face was filled with pride and confidence, something she had never seen before.

"She is also Tarabar. Arlekne Tarabar, your own sister."

(End of this chapter)