Chapter 735: Three Hundred and Sixty Thousand Times

It became evident that Xiletor’s resolve wasn’t nearly as steadfast as imagined.

At this moment, Lolth—seated before the unfolding tapestry—had already learned of Xiletor’s fate after venturing to the main plane. She buried her face in her hands, a torrent of thoughts condensing into a single utterance:

"Xiletor, you’re such an idiot…"

Kululu, overhearing this, chuckled softly.

"Patience—your later actions grow even more foolish!"

Lolth shot her a quizzical glance at these words but resumed observing the visions. True to Kululu’s prediction, the scenes grew increasingly absurd.

She and Xiletor had incited over a dozen Abyss Lords and hundreds of demon clansmen before recklessly charging toward the main plane. The semi-permanent portal materialized at the damned entrance of the Church of Light—a detail that now chilled Lolth, who fully understood the might of Mira and the Church’s Pope. Were it not for her divine lineage as the God of Light’s progeny, annihilation would’ve been inevitable.

Yet this wasn’t the pinnacle of idiocy.

Lolth soon noticed the aberration within her past self. Though claiming to avert the End of Days, the crimson-gowned version of her radiated unsettling frenzy and brutality, indistinguishable from a warmonger. She relentlessly provoked conflicts, embraced reckless strategies, and even personally challenged nations’ demi-gods and Holy Domain guardians—crushing them in battle.

"Was I under some curse?" Lolth murmured, perplexed.

"Ah, so you sense the dissonance too," Kululu remarked, leaning back. "To be precise, you’d been *corrupted*… Blame Sokabus and her naive cohort. Novices at resurrection, they neglected to purge the taint entwined with your soul—a task I’d always managed for you."

"So the End of Days corrupted me?"

"More precisely," Kululu corrected, "the *source* behind the End of Days."

"Ah, clarity at last."

Fragments from Xiletor and Trish’s accounts now coalesced in Lolth’s mind. She’d never grasped why her elder sister sought her demise—until now. Witnessing this deranged version of herself, she’d have made the same choice. Every decision, whether strategizing with subordinates or launching assaults, reeked of merciless extremism.

Xiletor repeatedly objected to the escalating recklessness, but the Xiletor of three millennia past proved powerless against her tyrannical self. Later, when the Plane Will-anointed hero emerged, Xiletor adopted the "Sword Master" guise, alternating with Lolth in departing Demon King Castle to infiltrate the hero’s party. Yet this only deepened the past Lolth’s paranoia.

Ultimately, Xiletor stood alongside Trish upon Demon King Castle’s spires, blades gleaming.

"I see… Are you here to kill me, sister?"

"Precisely… But save your reproaches for when you awaken anew, little sister."

The vision concluded at this moment—the subsequent events between Trish and Xiletor were already known to Lolth.

Kululu observed Lolth with folded arms.

"Your thoughts?"

At this inquiry, Lolth tousled her own hair.

"I’m such a damned fool."

She chuckled bitterly after uttering these words.

Her three-thousand-year-old self truly had been an insufferable wretch…

Though "tainted," this hardly excused her actions.

"At least you atoned through death."

Kululu remarked while storing the scroll.

She then lightly tapped Lolth’s crown with the aqueous parchment, whereupon…

Lolth sensed an awakening within her soul.

"The Abyssal Will…"

She exhaled slowly.

Her status as Demon King now compensated for the deficiencies in her rank.

Unlike the reigning sovereign, she didn’t bear the Abyssal Will—she commanded it.

"Indeed. Congratulations, dearest Lolth."

Kululu applauded softly.

Lolth tilted her head in contemplation.

"Yet complications remain… don’t they?"

The counterquestion drew a nod from Kululu.

"Truthfully, your third incarnation wasn’t rebirth—merely a fragmented awakening after severing corrupted soul fragments."

"Which reminds me… Aren’t you curious about my ‘deceased’ appearance?"

"The answer lies entwined with two other queries."

"Lolth… do you know which iteration this is for you?"

Kululu’s eyes glimmered playfully as she posed the question.

Lolth hesitated, sensing verbal snares ahead.

Nevertheless, she tallied her known existences:

"Eternal Goddess, Banquet Goddess, Demon King, and now—four lifetimes across three cycles. Five if counting my pre-arrival existence."

"Incorrect." Kululu crossed her arms disapprovingly. "Second question then—how was the World’s Edge formed and structured?"

"Its architecture baffles me."

Lolth shook her head, voicing her perpetual confusion.

Kululu’s laughter rippled through the void.

"Bizarre indeed—defying natural laws in every aspect: spatial constructs, governing principles, even the Plane Will itself…"

"What does this resemble to you…?"

Kululu murmured as Lolth furrowed her brow.

"A realm scoured by catastrophe… yet the End of Days breeds chaos, not this frozen, distorted void."

"Precisely. More than mere apocalypse transpired here."

Kululu cradled Lolth’s face tenderly.

"Illuminate our surroundings… Let your divine flames reveal where we shared eternity."

Her voice carried unfamiliar warmth.

"My beloved… Teacher Lolth."

Their lips met, igniting pink conflagrations across the Return Ruins.

Post-embrace, Kululu withdrew with sorrowful eyes.

The spreading flames unveiled countless spectral duplicates—

Myriad versions of Lolth and Kululu lay entombed in luminous fire,

Their perished forms constituting the World’s Edge.

"Lolth…"

Kululu smiled through anguish.

"This marks your… 367,841st incarnation."