The Tux family's mansion is huge and impressive.

The natural rock formations are already magnificent, but over the centuries, Mother Tux has added countless intricate carvings.

The circular vault flashes with purple demonic fire, and the magic spider web fence is even said to have been woven by Rose herself.

But in Santila's opinion, it was a bit exaggerated.

From a wizard's point of view, although it is gorgeous and extraordinary, it is a bit too much.

The door swung outwards as she approached, and a group of Tux family warriors bowed to her.

The ogre servants hurriedly stepped forward to take away her mount. Eight fully armed drow women, the elite guards from the matron, led her through the winding corridors and straight to the center of the fortress: the Temple of Lolth.

The young wizard marched with the guards, and her mood became more and more uneasy as the temple approached.

As the bell rang at midnight, Santila entered the hall of the shrine.

The two most powerful priestesses of Lolth in the ancient city of Orens caught her sight.

They are all high-ranking priests of Lolth, typical representatives of the followers of the Spider Queen.

Wearing dark priest robes and a serious and pious look is Marina, the guardian of the Temple of Rose.

This seemingly bored and lazy guardian has a strong belief in Lolth and rarely leaves her beloved shrine.

The other one is Elisabetta, the matron of the Tux family, the leader of the first family and the perfect choice to be the matron of the family.

To Santila, this old bastard was nothing more than a vicious two-legged spider.

She is cold, extremely practical, ruthlessly efficient, and even her slightly gloomy and majestic image makes her a little timid.

Santilla saw her magical mentor standing behind her two sisters.

When she noticed the unfamiliar indifference on the other person's face, her uneasiness increased.

In the shrine.

Standing prominently above the three Tux sisters is a huge magical illusion, which is a tribute to the Spider Queen Lolth, endlessly changing between giant spiders and beautiful drow women.

About ten years ago, her father, the Chief Archmage, personally created this breathtaking illusion to please the matron of the Tux family.

This magical illusion was one of the conditions for her being raised by the Tux family.

"You are finally here." As usual, Matron Elizabeth's tone was stern and emotionless.

Santila bowed deeply to her, flashed her eyes, and said in a deliberately frivolous tone, "At your command, Aunt Tux."

"It's the mistress!"

Marina reprimanded sternly, her anger at the lack of respect for Santila clearly expressed in her words.

Santila ignored it.

Being rude is just one of the reasons why this high-ranking priest who is most devoted to the Spider Queen hates her.

In fact, there is a deeper reason.

One night a year ago, Marina worshiped Rose religiously as usual.

But she was hiding quietly in the dark, using the power of magic to activate two spider silks, vividly imitating her distinctive staggering gait and exaggerated kneeling posture.

The prank in front of the temple, Santila once thought that this incident would annoy the Spider Queen.

But the strange thing is that Rose is not unhappy about this. It seems that even evil gods will appreciate a little black humor occasionally, so that her Aunt Marina can only suppress the anger in her heart.

"Praise Rose. One day, the capricious Spider Queen will get tired of her tricks, but for now, this naughty girl has undoubtedly won Rose's favor." Afterwards, Matron Elizabeth was

Analyzed this way.

Because of these words, she almost entered the Spider Academy where priestesses were trained.

As usual.

The guardian of the shrine took a deep breath and prepared to give a lengthy scolding.

But to Santila's surprise, Mistress Tax waved her hand to keep her sister quiet. She leaned forward, stared at her for a long time, and spoke slowly.

"It can be seen that you are over thirty years old. However, you did not enter the academy as required by law and custom for nobles. When you should have been preparing to serve the Tuckers family, you wasted it.

Nearly fifteen years for you to have fun with."

"I am from the Pumor family." Santila raised her head and faced the mistress firmly, "My family has been extinct for centuries, so I do not belong to the nobility."

"Besides," she emphasized, "I made good use of this time. My father arranged the best magic training for me."

A smile crept up the corner of Matron Elisabetta's lips. She glanced at the angry-looking Jolana and said softly to Santila, "Don't worry, child. Soon, you will be a true noble.

The most dazzling drow princess of the Tux family, when you complete the blood sacrifice, I will personally adopt you as my adopted daughter to make up for the regrets of your dead mother."

"Is this my father's decision?" The young wizard's expression changed slightly.

Khadrov refused her to join the Tux family. As his only daughter, he did not want her to become the target of countless conspiracies.

He told me this himself, Santila thought.

"That old Loth beast will definitely be furious." Matron Elizabeth snorted mockingly, showing an evil smile, "But he has no choice. This is the end of his lack of piety towards Loth.

"

This old bastard finally revealed her purpose, Santila thought angrily.

She could not help thinking maliciously of the reason why Elizabeth had never had a mate.

Some obscure rumors even suggest that the Mistress's hobbies are incomprehensible even by drow standards.

But it is obviously extremely unwise to say these things.

Her heart sank, but she knew that it was impossible to avoid this disaster. The most important thing now was to pass her own blood sacrifice ceremony and become a true drow recognized by Rose.

Santila nodded with great difficulty.

Then, she saw that the old bastard Mistress Elizabeth's fake smile became even more obvious.

This made her consider whether to secretly set up a monitoring spell in this old bastard's bedroom, and then publish the crystal image at the festival in ancient Orens City.

In this case, some kind of obscure rumor will be made public, which must be very exciting, she thought maliciously.

"Are you ready for the prey?" the mistress turned to ask her second sister.

"Yes."

Jolana nodded gloomily, "The young drow standing in front of us shows great potential, which is in line with our expectations for her. If she is not given a real test, this will be a threat to the future of the first family.

An insult to a princess.”

"I see."

Matron Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and said coldly to Jonara with threatening words, "Very well, as long as it is within the rules of blood sacrifice, this is your prerogative and I will not interfere.

However, do you know that if any misfortune happens, you will be the first to bear the brunt?"

"The great Spider Queen Rose has been watching her devout people." Jolana did not answer directly. She looked at the image respectfully and asked, "Are you doubting my belief in Rose?"

"Praise Rose!" Marina whispered.

It turns out that this old bastard's position was threatened, so she was trying to recruit allies. Santila, who was watching with cold eyes, saw the reason.

"Santilla, the future princess of the Tax family, are you ready?" Mother Elizabeth looked at her.

Santila bowed deeply, trying her best to conceal her uneasiness and make her appearance appear calm.

"Then, this will be the prey you have been waiting for." Jonara raised her arms high, and then swung her arms to both sides of her body.

A slight crackling sound resounded in the heavy, humid air of the room, and a strange array of light suddenly flashed on the ground.

Every pair of eyes in the hall turned around, expecting the prey that was about to appear.

Santila looked uneasily at the surging light.

The moment the light of the magic circle dissipated.

A half-elf male wearing a black cloak appeared in front of everyone.

"This is an insult!"

Seeing the face of the prey clearly, Santila became very emotional and blurted out in anger and confusion, "I always thought that my blood sacrifice would be a test of skill and courage, a hunt for dangerous creatures on the surface.

He is an intelligent race, and this blood sacrifice has humiliated him and me."

"Presumptuous! You yourself have misunderstood the meaning of blood sacrifice, and you can't blame others." Marina, the guardian of the temple, said coldly:

"You have heard so many stories about surprise attacks by surface commandos over the years. What do you think they are slaughtering? Could it be domestic animals like Los beasts? Prey is prey! Whether it has two legs or four legs, it is sacrificed to

The prey of the Spider Queen!"

"I won't do that." Santila refused coldly.

She turned her head, and a huge cage appeared in her sight.

This is a sacrifice prepared to receive the blood ritual. It is surrounded by huge magic-fed spiders, which are the core of the power of Taksi's guard.

In fact, there are giant spiders standing guard everywhere - in every corner of the room, on every step leading to the throne, and even hanging from the ceiling of the room by long glowing threads.

"You have no right to choose in this matter." Matron Elizabeth looked at the stubborn wizard and said slowly, "It is the matron's business to choose the prey, and what hunting is is also defined by them.
To be continued...