However, just as he was about to make his move...
Suddenly, he was pierced by an extremely thin, cold gaze, filled with pure malice. Someone — or rather, some entity — was watching him.
Karl froze instantly, his heightened senses sharpened to their limit, scanning the seemingly empty, deep starry sky around him. Nothing? To the naked eye, apart from distant stars and tiny drifting meteorites, there was nothing behind them but the planet protected by the magic circle. But the feeling of being watched and constantly observed not only did not fade but grew stronger and more tangible. As if an invisible hunter was silently approaching from the shadows of the void.
Invisibility? Illusion? Alarm bells rang in Karl's mind, but outwardly he remained calm. He secretly activated his X-ray vision and simultaneously mobilised the divine power within his body, golden light penetrating deep into his eyes. His field of vision began to change; the ordinary starlight, darkness, and meteorite background gradually faded. Instead, traces of energy flow and faint radiation waves became visible in the void. And... some extremely contradictory, distorted, and malevolent dark energy structures.
His gaze instantly locked onto what appeared to be an ordinary starry sky to his left. There, the void was subtly and unnaturally distorted, as if covered by an invisible veil of camouflage. Behind the veil, a massive silhouette was faintly discernible, within which a crimson, blood-red, ominous light flickered.
Karl suddenly raised his right hand, and divine power gathered in his palm. In an instant, a spear materialised in his hand, its entire body gleaming with golden light, its tip blazing with flame. He fiercely hurled the divine spear he held toward this "unnatural" space. The golden spear sliced through the void like lightning piercing darkness, striking precisely the centre of that distorted emptiness.
This "camouflaged" veil, like a burst soap bubble, violently rippled, blurred together, and then rapidly disappeared. At last, the true picture hidden behind it was revealed.
Karl's pupils slightly contracted. It was a strange, blasphemous monster that instinctively evoked revulsion. Its main body was a massive spider's torso, covered in a coal-black, glossy, metallic-looking exoskeleton. Eight sharp, scythe-like legs, their tips gleaming with a chilling green light. And it was firmly gripping and pressing against a boundless black web that covered nearly half the starry sky before it.
The web was not a physical entity, but woven from viscous dark energy and countless tiny, constantly writhing runes. In the starlight, they flickered with an ominous dark-purple and dark-green glow, slowly pulsing. And attached to this spider's body was not a head. Instead, there was the head of a fierce lion, covered in a dark-golden mane. The lion's head had blood-red eyes, in the depths of whose pupils swirled currents filled with tyranny, greed, and endless hatred. It opened its blood-red maw, revealing interlocking, gleaming teeth, and from the depths of its throat emerged a silent, malevolent growl.
At this moment, the powerful spear Karl had thrown pierced the chest of the "Lion-headed Spider." The shaft was almost completely embedded in the wound, and around it, divine power and the viscous black energy emanating from its body clashed fiercely, black smoke rising from the wound. Its crimson lion eyes were now fixed on Karl, as if wanting to devour him alive.
"A lion-headed spider...?" Karl's gaze was cold, rapidly searching his memory. Was this the "deity" worshipped by the "Lion-headed Spider" cult? When he had created the magic array on this planet, the strong sense of unease he had felt... was it this ugly creature? No wonder Freya had established such a powerful planetary defence system. It seemed Dagon was not the only evil god in the starry sky coveting this world. This "Lion-headed Spider" was clearly among them, and appeared more skilled in tracking, espionage, and weaving webs for hunting.
Just as Karl was preparing to launch the first strike, taking advantage of the wound inflicted by the divine spear to begin a fierce assault—
The obelisk he had thrown out along with the island, moving by inertia, drifted and accidentally bumped into the corner of the giant black web covering the starry sky, sticking firmly to it.
"?" The Lion-headed Spider's attention seemed momentarily drawn to the "foreign object" that had suddenly "fallen into its web." A flicker of human-like curiosity and inquisitiveness appeared in its crimson lion eyes. It extended a sharp, spear-like forelimb and cautiously touched the surface of the obelisk.
A soft "clang..." echoed, seeming to penetrate the very soul, emanating from the obelisk. In the next moment — "ROOOAR...?!" The Lion-headed Spider's massive body convulsed violently. A pair of crimson lion eyes suddenly widened, then became dazed and unfocused, as they were directly struck by a powerful psychological shock and distorting information. Countless chaotic, blasphemous images, distorted whispers, and frenzied cries. Like a flooded river breaking its banks, it surged with frenzied force into the obelisk's consciousness, slamming into its foundations and infecting its thoughts.
It instantly lost consciousness, its massive body frozen in place, its eight legs trembling slightly. It was struggling against the psychological contamination of its brain, temporarily losing its ability to respond to the outside world.
Its "knock" had inadvertently touched a sore spot for Dagon, who had just recovered from the magic circle's burn and was in shock and anger at being thrown into an unfamiliar environment. In Dagon's perception, this obelisk meant everything to it, a treasure granting it the right to glorify the Father. First, Karl had forcibly lifted it and taken it from the planet, then it had been subjected to a fierce attack from the magic array. And now this ugly spider-monster with a lion's head was "striking" it with its claws? This was a blatant provocation and insult.
"HISSS!!!" Dagon roared furiously, but its voice could not pass through the vacuum. The remaining black mist around it churned wildly, healing its wounds. With its remaining arm and tail, it suddenly broke free from the grasp, shaking off the remaining lightning chains and stone shackles binding its body. It changed its posture, straightened up, its thick tail covered in mucus and charred wounds, dense black mist billowing around it.
Then it struck hard at the side of the Lion-headed Spider's body, which was in a dazed state, struggling against the mental contamination. The sudden powerful blow knocked the Lion-headed Spider off balance, nearly causing it to fall from the giant black web it had woven itself. Its carapace cracked under the weight, and green fluid splattered at the impact site; the searing pain wrenched it from its struggle with the obelisk. It let out a roar mixing pain and fury, and its crimson eyes instantly filled with murderous intent. It suddenly twisted its body sharply, its eight legs moving rapidly across the giant web, changing direction to face Dagon, its attacker.