Chapter 84: Dark Arts
2015-03-03
Author: Floating Tower
It was around ten o’clock in the morning.
The first batch of indigenous slaves was transported back to the camp, and all the pirates who had not participated in the battle were watching with curiosity and excitement as they dragged one group of slaves after another off the ship. These indigenous slaves were relatively short, with dark skin and hunched bodies; it was unclear if this was due to genetics or their way of life. The pirates kicked and pushed the indigenous slaves down, promptly locking them all up in cages within the camp.
These slaves couldn’t start working immediately, as qualified slaves needed to undergo professional training.
The slaves that Soren had originally brought over were still busy working. Upon seeing the captured slaves, they couldn’t help but show curiosity and schadenfreude, but there was little compassion or sympathy among them. In truth, there weren’t many people in this world overflowing with empathy; otherwise, paladins wouldn’t have become a symbol of virtue. Strictly speaking, this was a morally corrupt era, where both the noble and wealthy classes lived extravagant and debauched lives. Even the lower-class poor were often not kind-hearted, as the hardships of life had filled many of them with resentment and anger, only waiting for the opportunity to do evil.
Otherwise, no one would utilize the paladins as tools for their own purposes.
This situation would continue until the devil’s shadow appeared; the incitement of hatred would brew in the hearts of the lower-class poor, ultimately leading to widespread riots and rebellions. This was a precursor to the turmoil that would follow, and when the riots and rebellions occurred, the arrival of the Saint’s Cataclysm would be very near.
Vivian’s figure appeared on the deck, and the little girl seemed indifferent to everything before her.
Although she was a very kind little girl with considerable sympathy for others, her moral perspective changed when it involved Soren. To her, it became “Brother is always right.” So, she merely glanced calmly at the situation before turning to enter her room. In her mind, another entity was already writhing and threatening to emerge, making her want to pull it out and spank its little bottom, just as Soren occasionally did when she made mistakes.
“Lilian!”
The little girl frowned, raising her fair little hand to tap her forehead. Talking to herself, she said, “What are you getting worked up about! Calm down this instant!”
She tapped her own head.
At this moment, the girl looked a bit silly but also adorable, making people unable to help but want to laugh.
“Can you feel it?! Can you feel it?!”
Lilian’s voice was very excited, as if she had discovered some earth-shattering secret, flailing around in Vivian’s mind: “You don’t feel it? You actually don’t feel it? You’re such a fool! Hahaha! … Indeed, Brother and I are the closest! … Am I the only one feeling it?! …”
Vivian’s cute little face showed some annoyance, as if she were a bit unhappy, huffing, “Lilian! What are you getting all worked up about! Just say it quickly! …”
“If you keep this up, I’ll lock you up; you know it’s my turn to control the body now.”
Finally, Lilian quieted down.
There was no choice.
Among the two, while Lilian had slightly greater power, Vivian was the true master, inherently superior in controlling the body, especially now that Vivian had begun to grasp divine power. Lilian seemed somewhat aggrieved but didn’t dare openly argue back, much like a child suppressed by their parents. She muttered, “You really are a fool! … You didn’t even realize Brother has integrated the divine essence of that bear spirit! …”
“Brother seems to be a divine son too! …”
Finally, she had realized something.
In the past, although Soren had defeated the Demon Son of Fear, he had only absorbed the divine essence; the divine power had transferred to Vivian. Therefore, neither of the little girls had noticed the change in Soren. They only believed that the power from the slain Demon Son of Fear had transferred partially to them. However, everything that happened concerning the bear spirit made Lilian aware of one critical difference; that was, there was no divine power transfer, and the divine essence had been directly integrated by Soren.
“Divine Son?”
Vivian was taken aback upon hearing this, then frowned slightly, murmuring, “Is Brother also a divine son? But why doesn’t he seem like us? It seems Brother doesn’t have divine power? …”
Silence filled the room.
Vivian and Lilian seemed to be thinking of something else, sinking into contemplation.
Soren was able to absorb divine essence!
But was he really a divine son?
Now even Lilian wasn’t so sure!
………………
On the other side.
The indigenous tribe had turned to ashes, and Soren was overseeing the captured indigenous prisoners, simultaneously instructing the drow warrior leader nearby. Andrei Darkblade had a hesitant expression, seeming reluctant to comply with Soren’s demands, yet unable to refuse, ultimately saying helplessly, “Your Excellency! We have sworn to abandon the worship of the Spider Queen, so many overly cruel arts have been discarded; your request may trouble us!”
“Is that so?” A playful expression crossed Soren’s face as he slowly said, “The Underdark girl has fallen for so long; does your race still maintain this faith? Lost the divine arts bestowed by the deity, your weakness seems almost unavoidable! Are you still stubbornly pursuing the so-called goodness? After wandering the surface world for so long, have you not seen through the essence of this world?”
“Goodness requires power to maintain.”
“If there is no power, goodness will simply become weak and easily bullied! You’ve weakened to this extent; do you really wish to abandon the important techniques inherited from the drow? They may be somewhat evil and cruel, but at least they can make your race survive, right?”
“Look at these indigenous people.”
“If we don’t find a way to strengthen ourselves, it will be very hard for us to survive here for long!”
Soren’s words seemed like the devil’s temptation, revealing a struggle in Andrei Darkblade’s expression, as this lord before them was enticing them to fall again, to reclaim some of the evil traditions they had abandoned. Those bloody, cruel, and ruthless methods were precisely the key to the drow’s reputation in the Underdark. During their pursuit of goodness and the surface world, they had given up many cruel methods, including extremely harsh punishments and various means of control and enslavement.
“Look here.”
Soren pointed at the indigenous slaves, his voice passionate as he declared, “There are nearly a thousand people here; they can work for us, provide us with food, build cities for us, and we can cultivate some for handicrafts in the future. The things we need, these people can supply us; do you still expect the warriors in your race to do the labor?”
“I have been to the Underdark.”
“I know very well how evil and cruel the traditions are among the drow; the ruthless killings made me detest them as well. But those were forced distortions of will to please the Spider Queen. We can abandon those traditions designed to appease the Spider Queen and rediscover the drow’s oldest dark arts!”
“Only then can we establish a foothold here.”
“Perhaps you should have the female priests in your tribe come and talk to me; they will surely agree with my perspective.”
The drow were undeniably strong.
Anyone who understood this race would find that every family among the drow engaged in brutal internal strife; at times, siblings would kill each other. Then, if you opened your eyes a bit wider, you’d see that every family was in conflict, every family within a city was at war, and cities were still battling each other. It was an endless cycle of internal strife and slaughter. Yet the drow could still dominate the entire Underdark, becoming the most powerful force, occasionally even sending elite troops to counterattack and harass surface elves.
One can imagine how formidable they truly were!
Anyone knowledgeable about drow traditions can clearly feel they are a self-destructive race, and the Spider Queen’s cruel rule is equally self-destructive. Yet, it is precisely this hardheaded pursuit of self-destruction, whether it be the Spider Queen or the drow, that leads them to grow stronger step by step. When Soren traversed the Underdark with others, the most direct observation in his mind was that if drow families and cities united, they could instantaneously form a formidable and horrifyingly large army!
In the Underdark, attacks on surface elves were initiated by individual drow cities.
In other words.
Drow would rise city by city; there were rarely alliances between drow cities. The Spider Queen seems to have different thoughts; regardless, she continuously encourages brutal infighting among the drow. Perhaps she finds such chaos pleasurable.
Punishments, enslavement, assassination.
The dark arts of the drow—skills that Soren valued for their utility; they were far crueler than pirates and more professional than slave traders, especially the female priests among the drow, who were experts in such matters.
Soren needed these evil means!
Otherwise, he would take a long time to control these indigenous slaves; throughout the entire Underdark, the methods of controlling slaves possessed by the drow were second only to spirit-sucking monsters, relying on skill rather than just spells like eye demons. Each drow city had large populations of slaves whose dark arts had been accumulated over long periods.
Of course.
Their evil also manifested in debauchery, degradation, depravity, and taboos.
What Andrei Darkblade feared was that once the door to evil was opened, their race would revert to their former ways, unless some powerful external force were to forcibly extract them from the depths of utter depravity. Otherwise, the internal assassination traditions of the drow would likely gradually revive.
It’s hard for people to become good; becoming bad can happen in an instant.
……………… (To be continued ~^~)
