Chapter 1096: Trading Divine Abilities

When Sein opened his eyes again, he found himself standing at the heart of a massive space-time altar.

The turbulent currents of space-time energy during transit had knocked him out cold before he could stay conscious for long.

Thanks to the Spider Queen’s precise control and the altar’s pull, Sein’s return to the Magus World had gone smoothly, without any issues.

Traveling such immense spans of space and time was beyond what most low-ranking beings could withstand.

Even those at Rank Four and higher seldom dared to cross such long passages.

One of the greatest risks of such journeys was the physical strain.

If the journey was too long, it could cause lingering discomfort or even bring back strange phenomena from the space-time passage into the Materia Plane, like the tiny white sparks flickering around the hem of Sein’s robe right now.

No one could say for certain what those sparks were.

They could have been the result of some strange fusion between light and space-time energy. Whatever they were, it would take time for them to fade away fully.

Aside from those oddities, traveling through the space-time passage twice had cost Sein more than a hundred years of his lifespan.

Thankfully, for a demigod-level mage at his age, it was a price he could afford.

When weighed against everything he had gained in Faeloria, along with the sheer relief of being back in the Magus World, it was well worth it.

Sein stretched his arms and legs on the altar, shaking off the stiffness. But his attention quickly shifted to the large silver spider cocoon nearby.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Even now, faint movements stirred within it.

The moment Sein laid eyes on it, he knew exactly what it was.

“The Moonlit Cat Goddess is in there? She’s still alive?” he asked, clearly surprised.

“The soul of a Rank Five being isn’t so easy to erase. Besides, I’m not trying to kill her. I only want to take her place.”

Lorthisra’s voice reached his ears.

Sein turned to find the Spider Queen already beside him, as if she had appeared out of nowhere. She stood in her human form, silver high heels clicking softly against the floor.

She was still as alluring as ever.

Her long silver hair shimmered with a divine sheen, radiating purity—but paired with her striking features and the confidence she carried, she exuded an unmistakably sultry allure.

This was the real Lorthisra.

All the times Sein had seen her before, it had only been her clones.

Even so, Sein was not exactly nervous meeting the Spider Queen in her real form, perhaps because they had worked together for centuries by now.

In fact, he even sneaked a quick glance at her backside.

Damn. What a figure!

Sein knew there was a species known as the Black Widow Spider in the Magus World. They were highly venomous and had some... interesting habits.

The females would lure in males to mate, and once it was over, they would poison them and devour them without a second thought.

Looking at Lorthisra, Sein could not help but think of Black Widow Spiders.

He even wondered if she ever devoured any poor fools who had dared to climb on top of her.

The idea was enough to kill any inappropriate thoughts instantly.

“You’ll need to stay here for a while. I need time to extract the divinity and divine abilities from those divine relics,” the Spider Queen said, turning on her heel to walk away.

Sein followed behind.

He was about to ask a question but held his tongue when two monstrous chimera beasts came into view.

They were clearly above Rank Four, their lower halves seemingly fused into the dark walls, leaving only their grotesque upper bodies exposed to Sein’s view.

One of them even had a head that looked suspiciously like a dragon’s.

This place was dark and oppressive. Sein got the sense they were inside a tower, but with no windows around, it was impossible to tell for sure.

Noticing his gaze, the Spider Queen chuckled softly and explained, “There are quite a few dragons in Blackhaven, but they are all evil breeds. Only the strongest black knights can tame one as a mount.”

“Dragon knights aren’t exclusive to the Byrne Empire. Here in Blackhaven, we’ve got our own sizable army of evil dragons,” she added.

Sein chuckled awkwardly and nodded. “Good to know.”

“Relax. I won’t steal your divine relics. All I want is the divine abilities and the faith power sealed inside. As for their divinity... I’m not really interested,” Lorthisra said with a shrug.

“I’ve prepared all the resources I promised you. You did help me grind away in another world for a few centuries; it’s only fair to reward you,” she added, smiling.

Sein’s cautious smile slowly turned genuine as he nodded.

Together, they descended three more floors before finally reaching their destination.

The building they were in was indeed a massive tower similar to a divine tower.

On one of the upper floors, Sein had caught a glimpse outside.

All he could see was a sea of white clouds, giving him a rough idea of how far above the ground they were.

The space she led him to resembled a large laboratory.

There, Sein laid out the six divine relics he had brought with him—those of the God of Brute Force, the God of First Light, the God of Fire Crickets, the God of Craft, the Goddess of Waters, and the Goddess of Music.

Each relic glowed with a different elemental hue, radiating law energies that revealed their respective attributes.

Among them, the God of First Light’s relic shone the brightest.

As the Spider Queen had once said, god had the potential to reach Rank Five, but he died too early.

Sein did not take out the Verdant Wilderness God’s divine relic fragment.

That emerald shard contained no divine abilities or faith power—it held only the purest dendro elemental essence.

After all, the Verdant Wilderness God had not died. The fragment was a piece of its core, willingly offered as a sign of goodwill to Sein and the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Sein placed the six relics in specific positions on the experimental table.

As the Spider Queen activated the divine array etched into the surface, streams of white mist rose, and law projections began to emerge.

Those projections represented the divine abilities sealed inside the relics—the true treasures for any Rank Four and above being in a divine faith system.

For most gods, there was no such thing as owning too many divine abilities.

Only the ambitious ones like Lorthisra, who aimed for much higher realms, bothered to refine and condense their divine laws into a purer form.

Lesser deities wanted as many abilities as possible.

More abilities meant wider influence and more followers to attract.

Of course, Lorthisra had no plans to absorb these divine abilities for herself.

Under her command were several Rank Four beings—her most loyal followers and right hands in spreading her faith.

Even if the divine abilities pulled from these relics did not align perfectly with their innate attributes, they still made for excellent gifts.