Tajana cannot see the slightest hope of defeating the Star Alliance to this day.

"Tajana!"

A shout interrupted Tajana’s distraction. She turned around to see Viniya walking quickly toward her, looking at her with puzzled eyes.

"What are you thinking about so deeply? I’ve called you several times."

"It’s nothing." Tajana shook her head and, seeing Viniya’s travel-worn appearance, asked, "Did you just return from the outside?"

Viniya nodded: "The martial skills leader needed a few experts to scout the Star Alliance’s situation, so I volunteered to go."

"Did you find anything?"

"No." Viniya shook her head grimly, "Those spider golems are too tricky; even I can’t detect their presence, so we didn’t dare to get too close."

Hearing this, Tajana showed a sorrowful expression.

Dark elves are renowned for their expertise in assassination and stealth, and few creatures can contend with them in the shadows.

But the Star Alliance’s dual-bladed spiders are an exception.

Those golems have no spiritual presence and can suppress their life aura to an extremely faint level. When silent in shadows, even dark elves struggle to detect them.

The key is that their movements are extremely swift, able to navigate the complex terrains of the underground world with ease.

One could say they are more suited to be scouts than the dark elves.

Initially, the dark elves underestimated the dual-bladed spiders’ power and suffered greatly in intelligence gathering, with many trained dark elf scouts perishing under the sharp limbs of the dual-bladed spiders.

And now, no dark elf scout dares to get too close to the Star Alliance territory.

No one knows how many dual-bladed spiders are lurking in that darkness.

"The Star Alliance has taken over the two city-states we evacuated, and now Magic Spider City is completely surrounded by the Alliance,"

Viniya spoke heavily, with a hint of helplessness.

"Tajana, do you think we can win?"

Tajana pursed her lips and said softly, "Magic Spider City still has the protection of the Goddess Queen."

At the mention of the Goddess Queen, Viniya’s spirits lifted, and she nodded firmly.

"Indeed, we have the protection of the Goddess Queen; she is omnipotent!"

Tajana forced a smile. Only she knew how insincere her earlier words were.

If the Goddess Queen were truly omnipotent, Magic Spider City wouldn’t be in its current plight.

"By the way, is the Matriarch Council meeting today?" Tajana changed the topic.

Viniya nodded, looking in the direction of the central temple.

"It should have started by now."

The twelve clans of Magic Spider City each have their own clan temples, not shared with others.

However, six years ago, when the Goddess Queen delivered a divine mandate, the twelve clans abandoned their internal strife and united outward. They first pooled their strength to build a central temple.

The new temple is larger than any clan temple.

Besides enshrining the statue of the Goddess Queen, it is also the place where the twelve clans discuss major affairs.

And at this moment, in the conference hall of the central temple, the matriarchs of the twelve clans have gathered.

Twelve dark elven women, each with a different form and beauty, sat around a long table, their expressions indifferent or somber, all silently.

The heavy atmosphere pervaded every corner of the hall.

After a long time, the matriarch of the foremost Reshta clan of Magic Spider City spoke, breaking the silence.

"The Star Alliance is coming aggressively. Magic Spider City is now completely surrounded by the Golem Legion. Does anyone have a good solution?"

A silence followed.

Ultimately, it was Lady Olori of the Olori clan who spoke first.

"If we don’t eliminate that Wizard, we can’t fight back at all."

Everyone remained silent, looking at each other without saying a word.

They all understood this point, yet could not come up with a good solution.

Even the Spider-Elf couldn’t contend with that young female Wizard; what can they do?

If they could handle it, they would have taken action in the past five years.

"I’ve been wondering if the Star Alliance is plotting something in secret," suddenly said Lady Valledure of the Valledure clan, "Over the years, the Star Alliance’s actions have always seemed strange. I feel they haven’t fully committed, but intentionally let us off."

The hall fell silent.

The matriarchs looked at each other.

Lady Philier sneered, "You overestimate the Star Alliance!"

Lady Valledure shot her a cold glance: "I’m just stating facts."

"I think it’s your Valledure clan that fears battle and is intentionally conserving strength. If the Valledure clan hadn’t fled first, causing the entire defense line to crumble, Wulu City wouldn’t have fallen to the Star Alliance!"

"That was just an accident. I’ve already turned the responsible commander into spider feed; what more do you want?"

"You..."

"Enough!"

Lady Reshta promptly interrupted the dispute between the two, her gaze coldly sweeping over them.

"Now is the time for unity. Put aside your usual grievances, or do you intend to defy the Goddess Queen’s mandate?"

Seeing Lady Reshta invoke the Goddess Queen, Lady Philier and Lady Valledure’s expressions simultaneously changed. They glared at each other before falling silent.

Lady Reshta ignored them and, after surveying the others, said solemnly:

"After twelve hundred years, the Dark Elf race has finally regained the Goddess Queen’s attention. This is a rare opportunity!"

"We must fulfill the Goddess Queen’s mandate and regain her favor!"

"If we fail, without the Goddess Queen’s protection, Magic Spider City won’t last long against the Star Alliance attack!"

As Lady Reshta spoke, the matriarchs became increasingly solemn.

They naturally understood this truth.

Magic Spider City undoubtedly stands at a life-and-death juncture.

If the Goddess Queen ceased to gaze upon the dark elves, Magic Spider City could not possibly withstand the Star Alliance without her protection.

"But what should we do?" Lady Olori frowned.

"A grander ceremony!" Lady Reshta declared without hesitation, "We need more Spider-Elves!"

Everyone furrowed their brows simultaneously.

The birth ceremony of Spider-Elves not only requires dark elves as sacrifices but also a large number of spider species.

But over the years, the spider species raised in Magic Spider City have been nearly exhausted for the ceremonies.

A new batch of spider species was recently born and still needs time to mature.

Lady Reshta had naturally considered this point, saying gravely: "Use secret techniques to accelerate the growth of spider species. Those slaves brought from other city-states take up too much space and can be used as material."

Understanding flashed in Lady Olori’s eyes.

No wonder Lady Reshta insisted on taking away the burdensome slaves from the two city-states; it turns out it was to prepare for this moment.

None could think of a better solution, so they prepared to agree with Lady Reshta’s proposal.

Yet at that moment, they suddenly showed a collective reaction, looking out towards a certain direction of the conference hall.

It was where the statue of the Goddess Queen was located.

The next moment, a spider’s phantom apparition appeared out of nowhere in the void.

"Goddess Queen!"

The twelve matriarchs immediately left their seats and knelt down, displaying expressions of reverence and devotion.

Following that, a voice simultaneously resonated in everyone’s mind.

The content of the voice left the twelve matriarchs showing looks of shock and astonishment, but they quickly composed themselves and bowed their heads respectfully.

"Great Goddess Queen, your mandate is our mission!"

The spider apparition above the hall slowly vanished.

The twelve matriarchs remained in their kneeling positions for a moment longer before they slowly got up.

"You’ve all heard the Goddess Queen’s mandate."

Lady Reshta’s face remained hidden in the shadows beyond the firelight, showing no change.

"The Goddess Queen was very displeased with our previous performance; now is the time to make amends."

Lady Philier was the first to declare: "The Philier clan is willing to provide a hundred of the most loyal dark elf warriors!"

Seeing this, although the other ten matriarchs all looked grave, they too announced their stances one after another.

Soon, the matriarchs’ meeting reached a consensus.

Afterward, the twelve departed in unison, swiftly returning to their respective clans to make arrangements.

They all understood clearly; this would be Magic Spider City’s last chance!