Moreover, the fire spread extremely rapidly, uncontrollably racing through the structure and connections of the spider silk. Vast empty spaces were illuminated by a sea of golden fire, and countless spider threads intertwined and burned in the flames.
"ROOOAR?!" Realising its trap had been triggered and its web was beginning to burn, the Lion-headed Spider jolted, its crimson lion eyes instinctively turning to assess the situation.
However, Karl was not its only enemy. In this moment of distraction, Dagon, who had been relentlessly attacking it head-on, seized the opportunity. It swung the severed spider limb in its remaining hand and struck the side of the Lion-headed Spider's carapace, causing it to shudder violently and stagger backward. The Lion-headed Spider, having only half-turned its head, was forced to forcefully swing it back to fend off the attack unfolding before it.
But in that instant of distraction and forced reaction, the golden light behind it scattered and instantly reappeared. Karl appeared directly behind the Lion-headed Spider's body, at the end of its abdomen, where the spinneret secretes and weaves the web. In his hand, a divine spear materialised once more — harder and sharper than before, with flames clinging to its tip. Then, with all his strength, he plunged it into the spinneret organ at the end of the Lion-headed Spider's abdomen.
The moment Karl approached closely, the fine hairs on the Lion-headed Spider's body, used for sensing information, stood on end. Its body trembled, instinctively trying to dodge and flee the scene. Unfortunately... at this moment, its massive size became its greatest burden. Even if it sensed danger, even if it wanted to dodge, its enormous bulk prevented it from effectively evading an attack at such close range and speed.
"THWACK!!!" The divine spear drove deep into the spinneret at the end of the Lion-headed Spider's abdomen. The golden flames on the spear's tip fiercely bored into its body through the wound. At this moment, the Lion-headed Spider's crimson eyes widened to their limit. From the searing pain and severe damage to its vulnerable parts, it began to convulse and twitch uncontrollably.
At the same time, perhaps driven by fading madness or venomous resentment leading to mutual destruction, its two remaining intact, sharpest limbs recklessly and furiously pierced Dagon's chest, which was fiercely attacking it, impaling it through.
Dagon's roar suddenly ceased, turning into a muffled groan of pain.
However, the Lion-headed Spider had no time to look at Dagon's pitiful state. The wound on its abdomen, where the divine spear had pierced it, radiated a blinding golden light, like an extinct volcano suddenly erupting. The golden light instantly enveloped its lower abdomen, and then its rear burst apart, like a balloon inflated to its limit. Countless large and small fragments, covered in carapace and heavily coated in mucus, mixed with dark-green fluid and dissipating black energy, flared up like fireworks in the starry sky.
The piercing, distorted cries of the Lion-headed Spider suddenly ceased, leaving behind only the echoes of dissipating energy and the sight of scattering debris.
As Karl withdrew his spear and released his divine power, he immediately, without hesitation, retreated. He never gave his opponents even the slightest chance for a last desperate attempt or to drag others down with them, especially when dealing with an enemy of this calibre. And indeed, in the next second after Karl flew back, the Lion-headed Spider, whose rear body had been torn away and whose lion head hung limp, appeared dead. The remaining front portion of its body and the fierce lion head suddenly rose again. Its dimmed, cracked lion eyes, now filled with hatred and resentment, were fixed on Karl, who was rapidly fleeing. It was as if that gaze longed to devour and chew his soul.
"ROOOAR...!" It let out a silent, hoarse gasp, filled with endless malice. Immediately after, dense cracks appeared on the surface of its mangled carapace, like cracks in broken porcelain. Within the cracks emanated a strange, ominous green fluorescent glow, emitting extremely unstable fluctuations. At the same time, the remaining not-fully-burned spider threads and the energy released from the shattered body, driven by its last, maddened will, became like countless black venomous snakes, full of life. From all directions, they fiercely and relentlessly raced toward Karl's retreating path, entangling and engulfing him. They tried to drag Karl back into the area about to be consumed by energy before he could escape too far.
Karl moved through the void like an agile golden fish, though the web was as dense as a constellation of stars. Each one hissed, corroding the void, but could not even touch the edge of his garments. Even if the spider silk approached, it would be burned to ashes by the golden flames that ignited upon contact.
Seeing that the spider silk could not catch Karl, fury blazed in the Lion-headed Spider's eyes. Its lion maw opened wide, and it spewed another stream of black energy, solid as substance. The moment the aura left its body, the surrounding starlight was absorbed, forming a dark void that pursued Karl at astonishing speed. At the same time, its remaining limbs suddenly swung, manipulating countless spider threads to change direction.
The target was Dagon, who was barely holding on nearby, leaning against the obelisk. The monument was plunged into pitch darkness, its surface flowing with illegible symbols, drawing energy from the void like a living creature. As the spider silk approached, black mist erupted from Dagon's body, most of which enveloped the obelisk, forming a protective layer. The remainder faced the approaching web head-on, and at the points of contact between the web and the black mist, flashes of purple-black energy erupted.
Karl frowned. He was flying at full speed, but the black aura behind him was like a persistent leech — not only refusing to be shaken off but growing closer and closer. This aura caused him slight discomfort; if he came into contact with it, it would most likely bring no good.
Just as he was about to accelerate again — "BOOM!" There was no sound, only a powerful shockwave. A stunning, ominous green flame crashed down like a tsunami, instantly engulfing Dagon, the obelisk, and everything else in that void.
Had the Lion-headed Spider self-destructed? Karl froze, his biokinetic field colliding with the shockwave, neutralising most of the energy. But a small portion of the ominous green flames still managed to penetrate the defence and race straight toward his body.
Suddenly, a flash of golden light appeared, and several solid shields with flowing runes materialised from nowhere, rapidly rotating around Karl. Freya's divine power spread across the shield's surface; golden light patterns clashed with the ominous green flames, blazing with blinding light. At this moment, the pursuing black aura caught up and crashed into the rotating shield. The two forces fiercely collided, the runes on the shield igniting one by one. Finally, with a piercing tearing sound, the black aura was completely cleansed and vanished.
Karl hovered at the centre of the protective shield, his black hair fluttering in the residual energy waves, coldly observing the epicentre of the explosion. The eerie green flames gradually dissipated, revealing a horrifying scene: Dagon's body was mangled beyond recognition.