However... the expected attack never came. The golden spears remained silently embedded in the ice, radiating light and faintly connecting with one another. A flicker of doubt passed through Dagon's eyes.
In the next moment — BOOM! All the divine spears pinned to the ice surface blazed brilliantly at once. From the shafts of each spear, countless thin, powerful golden lightning bolts burst forth. These bolts rapidly interwove in the air, instantly forming a giant, inverted bowl-shaped lightning cage. It then completely enveloped Dagon and the surrounding area for several dozen metres.
Immediately after, inside the cage, even more golden lightning rained down like a torrential downpour, wrapping around Dagon's body and the wall of condensed mist. "HISS! HISS! HISS! HISS!!!" The golden lightning and black mist fiercely clashed and neutralised each other, the black mist rapidly burning away and dispersing. The lightning acted like shackles, tightly binding every joint and pivot point of Dagon's body, making its movements sluggish.
"ROOOAR!!!" Dagon roared furiously and desperately, struggling with all its might, using the black mist to erode the spears and lightning that formed the cage and chains. Some of the spears and lightning were indeed corroded and dimmed at a noticeable speed. But Dagon's actions were ultimately significantly slower than Karl's. It was temporarily bound by the lightning cage, fighting against the corrosion and trying to break free.
Karl's figure flickered through the air and dove sharply toward the centre of the lake, which was trembling violently as the ice constantly cracked.
"BAM!" A dull, heavy thud. He forcefully punched through the solid layer of ice tens of metres thick with his body. Ice fragments and splashes of black water shot into the sky, forming a massive hole. His figure vanished into the abyss, and with unstoppable force, he rapidly approached the towering obelisk at the lakebed.
"HISSS!!!"
Seeing this, Dagon, bound by the lightning cage, went completely mad. It let out its most ferocious roar yet, and its body began to thrash wildly and desperately. Black mist erupted from its body, corroding the cage and chains even more fiercely. It knew full well that once Karl touched the obelisk, its plan would completely collapse.
However, Karl was faster; he had already reached the lakebed. He used his divine power to create an isolating shield surrounding the obelisk, holding its base with both hands. The moment he touched it, he felt the immense and sinister power contained within the stone tablet. He let out a soft cry, and all the power within his body erupted without any restraint at this moment.
"BOOM! B..."
At the centre of the obelisk Karl was holding, the ice sheet and even the small island within a radius of over a hundred metres on the lake began to rise. This included Dagon's location, as well as the island beneath it and the vast lake it had just melted and then refrozen. Dagon's desperate struggle only worsened the situation due to the shifting of its foundation.
The rising speed increased rapidly, lifting ice, permafrost, rocks, and the intertwined vegetation on the island... Everything was torn from the lake's surface and launched into the air.
The people on the shore finally saw this horrifying scene clearly: in the distance, at the centre of the frozen lake, a strange combination of ice blocks, islets, and obelisks was rapidly rising from the lake, resembling a small mountain. Atop that small hill, where black mist churned and golden lightning flashed, lay the desperately resisting evil god.
Their hearts beat even faster as, upon reaching a certain height, they finally saw its base. A figure radiating bright golden light, raising its hands high into the air. Alone, it was lifting this entire "mountain" and carrying it toward the higher heavens — it was Karl.
"Wait... where... where is he taking that monster?!"
Triss's face instantly turned pale, her heart clenching for no apparent reason, her voice trembling with undisguised anxiety.
In Margarita's eyes, the shocking spectacle was reflected; her pupils contracted, and her expression showed a complex mixture of shock and deep concern. She took a deep breath, her expression grave, and said in a dry voice: "He... he wants... to get as far away from us as possible."
"This thing... might be about to explode, and he doesn't want it to affect us."
Before she had even finished speaking, Margarita saw Hen and Tissaia beside her. They exchanged glances and nodded slightly.
"All of you stay inside the shield. Tissaia and I... will go help Karl." Hen's voice was calm, but carried an undeniable authority.
Before Triss and the others could react, teleportation lights blazed around Hen and Tissaia simultaneously. In a flash, the two figures were transported out from beneath the protective barrier. In the next moment, they appeared on the lakeshore, beside Miali.
Miali had already arrived on the shore, where she was using the power of the entire lake to gather uncontaminated water from afar and entangle Dagon with it. They began to chant spells, speaking silently but rapidly opening and closing their palms, casting incantations, their hands tracing trajectories like butterflies fluttering among flowers. Magical azure light surged from their bodies like a tide.
The light spread rapidly across the sky, attempting to envelop and imprison Dagon atop the rising "hill." However, the black mist surrounding Dagon possessed extremely strong contaminating and anti-magical properties. The magical azure light quickly blackened and warped upon contact with the black mist, its structure collapsing and becoming ineffective.
"Hmph!"
"Hmph!"
The forced dispelling of their magic caused Hen and Tissaia to groan simultaneously. The two men paled, their brows furrowed, clearly feeling unwell.
"The Transformation and Sealing Technique is ineffective! Its internal power is too great; ordinary spells are useless!" Tissaia quickly concluded, her voice extremely serious. Hen nodded, indicating his understanding, and they changed their strategy.
Tissaia's gaze sharpened, and she clenched her fists. Lightning, thicker than buckets, instantly gathered and erupted from her palms. These bolts of lightning deftly interwove in the air, forming crackling, popping silver chains. The chains entered the water flow that Miali was controlling and suppressing around Dagon, wrapping around its limbs, neck, and torso. Meanwhile, several bolts of lightning struck the ice surface on the "hill." They formed a series of slowing runes, creating an invisible forcefield that further slowed Dagon's struggles.
Hen, on the other hand, chose a different approach, slamming his boots heavily against the ground. The frozen soil and silt on the lakeshore seemed to come alive, rising and churning like a mudslide. They spread across the surface of the "hill," accumulating and pressing down on Dagon's key points of strength, such as its joints and tail. Then, with a wave of his hand, he drained and compacted the soft silt. It transformed into solid stone chains and a yoke, binding Dagon even more tightly, several times over.
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