Chapter 381

Anser suddenly remembered Eilistraee's casual remark from before: "The gods had a minor disagreement. Things might be chaotic for a while."

'Eilistraee was brushing me off. Does she know about Malyk's descent?'

Anser didn't think she did. Her relationship with her mother, Lolth, had always been terrible, long past the point where reconciliation was possible.

'Maybe it isn't that she doesn't trust me. Maybe she's afraid I'll get dragged into this.'

According to the records, Araushnee—the goddess who would later become the Spider Queen Lolth—had once plotted to seize control of Arvandor. She allied herself with several dark elven deities and Gruumsh, chief god of the orcs, and launched a war against the Seldarine.

Eilistraee had been innocent, merely becoming entangled in the conspiracy without realizing it.

After the war, Corellon had no choice but to carry out the sentence of exile in order to preserve order among the Seldarine.

He knew his daughter was innocent and felt both profound paternal love and guilt toward her. Because of that, he had always quietly supported Eilistraee's work of redemption, allowing her followers to interact with surface elves and even providing assistance at certain critical moments.

So Eilistraee was a natural ally of Sehanine Moonbow.

"My Lady, why did you descend personally? Couldn't you have sent some of the other primal elves?" Anser asked, puzzled.

He vaguely remembered that Malyk's divine rank wasn't particularly high. He was probably either a demigod or a lesser deity. The Seldarine had plenty of members, so couldn't they simply send a few of them down?

"Because he's very powerful right now. If you encounter him, you need to be careful." There was more to Sehanine's words than she let on.

Anser understood.

Malyk's portfolios were chaos, betrayal, and wild magic. The current circumstances really were exceptionally favorable to him.

"My Lady, you came specifically to find me. What would you have me do?" Anser adopted a deferential attitude while privately considering how he should handle this.

Sehanine blinked. "Were you the one who created the Spirit Net?"

Anser's body tensed. He hadn't expected the Spirit Net to be exposed so soon after its creation.

Sure enough, a god and an Artifact were two entirely different things!

Pretending to remain calm, he asked, "How did you know?"

"Ever since you entered my temple, the Spirit Net has been trying to extend itself inside." A hint of amusement lingered in Sehanine's eyes.

"Oh~"

Anser relaxed.

He couldn't establish communications with Sakkors, but Sakkors could sense his location. It was only natural that it would try to break through the temple's defenses.

The Spirit Net's attempts were probably fairly subtle, but there was clearly no hiding them from an exceptionally vigilant deity.

"Where exactly is your temple?"

"This is a demiplane. Its spatial anchor is in the Sea of Moonshae."

"I see."

The Sea of Moonshae lay entirely within the Spirit Net's coverage.

"You still haven't answered my question." Sehanine urged him on, her eyes brimming with interest.

"Mm... I really was the one who created the Spirit Net. Some time ago, I discovered a mythallar. After modifying it, I constructed a network capable of stabilizing raw magic..."

Anser didn't reveal Sakkors's existence. He glossed over the important parts and gave her only some relatively superficial information.

"You're a genius. Bold, meticulous, and clever." Sehanine was generous with her praise before abruptly changing the subject. "Can the Spirit Net extend into the Outer Planes?"

"No. My abilities are limited. I can barely manage to cover the Sword Coast as it is." Anser shook his head repeatedly. Even if it could, there was no way he was going to say so.

"What if you had my help?" Sehanine stared intently at him.

"Uh... what do you mean?"

"The Spirit Net is still weak, but its potential is enormous. If it continues to grow, you won't be able to protect it. The gods won't allow a mortal to control such a powerful tool."

"Let's work together to develop the Spirit Net. It will always remain open to elves and the Seldarine, while you remain in charge of its development..."

After hearing her out, Anser was somewhat tempted.

Sehanine wasn't a member of the Spirit Net. She simply regarded it as a replacement for the Weave.

Since the channels through which faith was transmitted had collapsed and the Weave itself was practically crippled, why not use the Spirit Net to reconstruct one?

She had no intention of claiming the Spirit Net for herself. It wasn't that she couldn't—she simply didn't want to.

They were primal elves, not Karsus.

Anser knew she probably wasn't lying, because the Seldarine really were relatively laid-back.

You only had to look at their portfolios: abundance, renewal, life, laughter, prosperity, gardens, mischief, poetry, dreams, romance, music, dance, love...

If Anser could obtain the Seldarine's support and endorsement, the Spirit Net's development would face far fewer obstacles.

The disruption of the Weave had isolated the Outer Planes from other planes in matters of faith. If the Spirit Net could solve that problem, the vast majority of deities would support it.

At the heart of this was a fundamental issue: the rise and decline of magical civilization.

The faith and followers of quite a few deities depended on a relatively mature magical civilization. If the collapse of the Weave caused magical civilization to decline on a massive scale, their faith would decline along with it.

By stabilizing magical civilization, the Spirit Net was already helping many deities without anyone even realizing it.

However, there was one thing Sehanine had deliberately left unmentioned: if the goddess of magic returned, what would become of the Spirit Net?

Would it be incorporated into the Weave, or continue operating independently?

No one could give an answer, because ultimately, everything depended on what the Overgod decided.

Anser thought cooperation was viable. He really did need a reliable backer.

"I think we can work together. How exactly would we do it?" he pressed.

"Can you still contact the Platinum Dragon God?" Sehanine answered his question with one of her own.

"Uh, no." Anser pursed his lips. Afraid of exposing himself, he had never tried contacting that dragon god.

"Don't be discouraged. He doesn't care about faith, and I don't think he has any Chosen." Sehanine didn't know the actual situation and instead began consoling Anser.

Anser felt a little embarrassed. This lady really was considerate. She certainly knew how to make someone feel better.

At the same time, however, he realized that Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon God, was an enormous asset right now. The guy was absurdly powerful even without faith, so Anser really ought to latch onto him.

Perhaps the only reason Sehanine was speaking to him this way was because she had misunderstood his relationship with the Platinum Dragon God.

"You can publicly announce that the Spirit Net is jointly maintained by the Seldarine, the Platinum Dragon God, and a number of their Chosen..."

"Oh, I get it."

It was a verbal agreement—a banner for the Spirit Net to rally beneath. That way, they could draw in numerous allies while also attracting the attention and hostility of opposing forces.

Anser himself would remain behind the scenes, keeping his identity secret and acting as a low-profile administrator.

"I'll give you this temple. You can treat it as your own divine realm and use it as a base from which to expand the Spirit Net. This place has been altered by my divine power. Even Lolth can't detect it.

"Also, if there's anything you need, you can tell me. All surface elves are your allies..."

Sehanine's tone was calm, yet her words casually revealed the terrifying depth of the resources at her disposal.

Toril was a world dominated by humans, but the elves were hardly weak. Their influence stretched across the world, and they had numerous legendary individuals among them.

Sehanine held a special position among them. All it would take was a single dream from her, and those elves would spare no effort to carry out her wishes.

Anser could barely keep the corners of his mouth from curling upward.

He still hadn't even fully established himself in human society, yet he'd already gained the implicit support of two major peoples in succession: the drow and the surface elves.

"However, I also need you to help me with a few things."

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