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A mature Dryder was at least a Three-star. In order to qualify as an elite Dryder, that Dryder would have to at least be a Four-star. To the Dark Elves, such a natural born strength was nothing less than the Spider Queen’s favor. After all, normal Dark Elves had to rely on training to gain their strength. Most Dark Elves never even made it past Four-star if their talent was lacking.

But even though the advantages of being a Dryder were numerous, they also had a glaring weakness: they were unable to reproduce. In other words, a Dryder was unable to reproduce with another Dryder, meaning every Dryder in existence had to have come from a union between Elf and spider.

Vessels for a Dryder birth had to be a young Dark Elven female. What was even more disturbing was that the more devoted amongst them even saw this as an honor.

In reality, Dryders were an undeniably powerful force in Dark Elf society. There were thirteen large clans that ruled over all Dark Elves. Of these thirteen, five had only qualified because of their reliance on Dryders.

In order to maintain the Dryder population, a certain number of females would be sent to the Arachne Cavern annually to become vessels.

Even though these vessels were permitted to return to the clan after fulfilling their duty, very few ever make it back. To put it simply, most of these vessels were often broken in the process…One could only imagine what sort of cruelty they underwent in Arachne Cavern if even a Dark Elf couldn’t endure it.

The reason why Jezsere ran away from home was because her mother wanted to send her off to Arachne Cavern. After all, she was worthless to the clan, and such an existence wasn’t permitted, not even for the clan leader’s daughter.

Honestly, I think that dirty spider could have easily protected Jezsere if she wanted to. But based on what I just heard, I doubt she had the mind to do so. Hmmm… for her to treat her own flesh and blood in such a manner, what a deplorable woman. Really, did this race even deserve to exist?

“But if the situation is so dangerous, why did Jezsere return?”

I was previously told that the both of them returned willingly because they obtained my medium. But did simply handing in my medium absolve them of their desertion and lack of contribution?

That question didn’t last much longer as the Dark Elven Warrior soon provided me with an answer.

“Because both Lady Jezsere and Sir Reyage knew that they couldn’t keep hiding forever. The clan has always adopted an at-all-costs approach to hunting down deserters, unless, of course, they managed to hide themselves with their father. But…” The Dark Elven Warrior paused at that point and sighed. “Even if they reach their father, the fate awaiting them there might not be any better.

“And Jezsere’s father is…”

Honestly, the fact that their father was even alive was a shock to me. I had always assumed that all female Dark Elves were all widows… the kind that never got married… a black widow. Sister, you can’t just drop a bomb like that. Spare a thought for my tiny brain! How will it ever process the fact that that dirty spider still has a living mate somewhere!?

Also, what kind of person is this father of theirs? Where is he now? How did the two of them know each other? And why would it potentially be a bad thing if they ever took refuge with him?

“Lady Jezsere’s father is a Nature Elf.” The Dark Elven Warrior did not explain any further at that point. Even so, I vaguely got the feeling that he must have held an important position amongst the Nature Elves.

Hold on… so Jezsere’s father was a Nature Elf?! No wonder that Dark Elven Warrior did not feel their chances were high with him.

Nature Elves were also known as Wood Elves; the typical fantasy elf that had long golden hair, blue eyes, a handsome, elegant appearance and specialises in archery. The true question was: how the heck did a Wood Elf and a Dark Elf end up together? They were both hated rivals with each other! Why would they ever have children together? There must be a mistake somewhere!

I guess even that dirty spider was a teenage girl once…

“Can you elaborate more on Jezsere’s father? Like how did he meet her mother? And what happened after that?”

If I do say so myself, I’m a connoisseur of such gossip. This might just be a Romeo and Juliet 2.0 in a fantasy world -why would I ever want to miss out on that? If one had to point out the difference between their story and Romeo’s, it would be that they ended up giving birth to children, and they were both alive still. Even so, it was also a fact that the both of them had to be separated because of the hatred between their clans.

The more I think about it, the more I can’t help but admire them -what a noble love that overcomes the barriers of hatred! I approve.

Even though the Dark Elven Warrior couldn’t hear that last bit of approval, that didn’t stop her from coldy glaring at me. “You are sure you wish to know?”

“Of course I do. It’s not like I have anything better to do.” At that point, I gave Jezsere a quick wink. As expected, she obediently tossed a curious look at the Dark Elven Warrior as well. Even though she never explicitly said so, I could tell that she herself didn’t know much about her father.

“Since Lady Jezsere wishes to hear about it, I’ll summarise their story.” After spending some time to organise the facts, the female warrior started recounting…

Roughly ninety years ago, when Jezsere’s mother, Paliseth, wasn’t yet the clan leader, she had unexpectedly captured a Wood Elf, Solar, during one of her routine hunts.

According to rules, captives had to be sent to the colosseum, and that was exactly what happened to Solar. Normally, it would be impossible for the both of them to ever have any relationship in such a situation since the fate of a slave gladiator was to descend into madness and ultimately die.

Slaves who fought in the colosseum of the Dark Elves either became increasing numb after each match, or they simply died. In order to survive, they had to employ the cruelest tactics possible to win. Such a daily conditioning made one numb to the world and eventually forced them to madness.

An alternative, of course, was to let the Dark Elf who defeated them have her way with them.

Such a bleak fate only fuelled the rage and murderous intent of the colosseum’s participants. Under such circumstances, even the kindest of persons would eventually break.

Yet there was one person who defied this fate, even becoming more steadfast with each passing day. Each time he stepped into the ring, he would emerge victorious. When faced with the alluring prospect that was that defeated Dark Elf, he prevailed. While he might have wavered at times, he resisted this corrupting influence in the end.

He was the first gladiator ever in the history of their colosseums to have never killed his opponent or fallen for their allure.

Even the corrupt Dark Elves had to admit that this man was beyond reproach. However, that only made them want to corrupt him even more! That was basically how every female Dark Elf felt.

As time passed, more and more female Dark Elves grew interested in him. His daily battles had pushed his renown to its ultimate limit until that fateful day arrived. Finally, Paliseth, a Matriarch-candidate of the Dark Elves, took to the stage herself…

“And then they fell in love at first sight?”

Forgive me this interruption but… this has all the makings of a noble story about love triumphing over hatred. Evidently, it wasn’t only me who thought this way. Jezsere was on the edge of her seat listening to this tale being recounted.

However, our eagerness only earned us the scorn of our Dark Elven storyteller. In the end, her tale continued under the eyes of an overly-eager Jezsere.

That paragon of virtue was none other than Solar, the Wood Elf. The moment Paliseth appeared to him, he recognised her as the person who once defeated him.

Knuckles white from gripping his sword, Solar immediately launched into an attack against his captor.

Their furious duel lasted for over ten minutes before a victor was decided. It was Solar, but only by a hair’s breadth.

As the loser, Matriarch-candidate Paliseth could only wait for the judgement of Solar. Even though she was next in line to become a Matriarch, the colosseum’s rules couldn’t be broken. If Solar really wanted to kill her, she was dead.

She knew that he had never chosen to kill those he defeated; neither had he ever gotten into a relationship with anyone either. But she knew she was different. At the end of the day, she was the only reason why he was forced into this situation right now…

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

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If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.