The flesh and blood, originally covered in scales, had been largely destroyed, exposing charred bones and a few remaining tissues, transforming it into a massive "skin and bones." But it still stood, fiercely protecting the obelisk, whose top and half of its body had been reduced to dust. Only the bare pillars and base remained, their surfaces covered in spiderweb-like cracks. The runes that had once flowed like streams were now dim and lifeless, like dead blood vessels.
"Opportunity." This thought flashed through Karl's mind, and his eyes had already ignited with crimson light. He started from zero frames, and two crimson beams of light raced across the void, passing through the gap between Dagon's ribs.
The damaged obelisk could no longer withstand the impact; cracks instantly spread across its entire body. Then it silently shattered into countless fragments, like black rain, scattered across the cold starry sky.
Dagon stiffly turned its head, "staring" at the scattered fragments of the tombstone behind it, as if frozen in place. Then came "ROOOAR!!!" Though sound could not travel in the vacuum, this mental roar still shook Karl. The remaining part of Dagon's head slowly turned toward Karl, its jaw exaggeratedly wide open, as if about to unleash a furious tirade upon him.
But as the roar reached its "throat," a golden fist crashed into its facial bones. The side of its skull was dented, and bone fragments scattered in all directions. Dagon's roar was abruptly cut off, and its massive skeleton tilted backward.
This was only the beginning. Karl transformed into a golden streak of light and instantly appeared above Dagon's head. His fists rained down like droplets, each strike filled with divine power, each blow instantly annihilating any bone or remaining flesh it touched. Before the scattered fragments could fly far, they were absorbed and burned to ashes by the golden flames surrounding the battlefield.
In less than two seconds, the golden sea of fire surged up like a tide, then rapidly receded. In the void, only Karl's suspended figure remained, white smoke billowing from his fist — the smouldering embers of the purification process. Dagon had vanished without a trace, leaving not even a spark of ash behind.
But Karl did not relax. He maximised his super vision, sifting through the void in his field of view. He looked once, twice, ten times, until he was certain that no trace of Dagon's flesh and blood remained, not a single fragment of the obelisk, before slowly averting his gaze. Cthulhu creatures were abhorrent; even their remnants could become a means to corrupt mortals.
He raised his hand and made a grasping motion; two faint strands of light emerged from the void and penetrated his palm. One strand was black, exuding an aura of madness, writhing like a worm; the other was ghostly green, carrying negative connotations such as cold and resentment. These were the divine remnants left after the destruction of Dagon and its Lion-headed Spider clones. Karl summoned his divine power, and golden flames rose from his palm, enveloping the two strands of divinity. He purified them over ten times until they transformed from their original filthy colour into a pure, translucent state, after which he absorbed them into his body.
Almost instantly, a sense of crisis flooded his heart, nearly choking him. Karl's pupils contracted. Without hesitation, he was already thinking of the "World Travel" button on the system panel.
[Initiating world travel...]
A surreal stream of seven-coloured light burst forth from the void, instantly enveloping his entire body. In an instant, Karl's figure blurred, as if "separating" from the surrounding space.
At the very moment he completely vanished, a "HISSS!!!" echoed. A crack several kilometres long appeared in the void. A pitch-black limb, several times thicker than the previous Lion-headed Spider's, possessing a terrifying, star-destroying power, thrust into the very spot where Karl had been hiding.
The fragments missed their target, but the spreading shockwaves radiated in all directions, silently turning the meteorites floating within a radius of hundreds of kilometres into dust. The energy surge crashed into Freya's protective array, creating powerful golden ripples in the starry space.
The crack widened, and from it emerged a massive lion's head. Followed by a spider's body covered in a carapace — this was the true form of the Lion-headed Spider. Its lion eyes, like those of a lion, scanned the starry sky, reflecting fury and greed.
The prey had vanished? It growled silently, its arthropods swinging furiously. Its gaze fell upon the distant protective screen, and a hint of hesitation appeared on its fierce face. If it attacked the magic array of this deity, it would be equivalent to declaring war.
At the very moment it hesitated, a rainbow ray of light suddenly descended from the void above its head, almost completely obscuring the starry sky. In an instant, the expression on the Lion-headed Spider's face drastically changed, and it suddenly leaped out of the crack, forcing it to close on its own. But it was too slow; its extended forelimb was severed by the closing spatial rift before it could withdraw.
"ROOOAR!!!" From the other side of the crack came a faint, grievance-filled, mournful roar, which gradually faded.
In the divine realm, Freya sat in her woven chair, the mirror reflecting everything that had happened in the starry sky. She coldly snorted, her slender fingers gently touching the mirror, and the radiance of the Rainbow Bridge gradually dimmed.
"You were lucky to have fled so quickly. Daring to come to the Central Court alone to die, without calling your companions," Freya muttered to herself.
"Strange... I can't sense Karl's presence at all."
"This... is even faster than teleportation through the Rainbow Bridge; not a single aura can be traced."
"Perhaps it's his innate ability? But the only man with the Elder Blood was obviously Avallac'h, the one she experimented on..."
A flicker of confusion passed through her eyes; she lightly bit her lower lip and slightly furrowed her brows. The reflection of the starry sky in the mirror gradually blurred, and in the end, the mirror's surface became ordinary. Freya sighed softly, turned, and walked toward the stone table, her skirt brushing against the green grass on the ground, leaving a faint floral fragrance in her wake.
"Hmph, next time we meet, I'll have to ask him properly."
---
During the teleportation process, Karl felt as though he had been shoved into an infinitely long tube, moving at speeds exceeding that of light. Surrounded by flowing, multicoloured light, the concepts of time and space were blurred here.
[Currently travelling between worlds...]
Suddenly, a new notification appeared with text framed in an eye-catching gold border.
[A desperate, irresistible need for help has been detected.]
[Should we alter our jump to this world?]
Karl was stunned; the system had actually alerted him to the existence of another world.
"Which world?" he silently asked in his heart.
The system notification appeared, displaying new text: This world is engulfed in war; the war never ends, and the main themes are sacrifice and despair.
Karl fell silent for a moment, and the seven-coloured light rapidly faded beyond the passage, like fleeting reflections of countless worlds.
"Uh, this... is a recruitment notice?" He forced a smile, but couldn't muster a genuine laugh. Previously, he had considered borrowing an idea from that person and crafted armour and flags. And now he had actually "heard" it?
Karl took a deep breath and said to himself inwardly: "Don't jump yet; choose the shuttle, as originally planned."
"Ugh, next time... next time... I will definitely go next time..."
[Instruction received: Cancel warp alteration; continue along the original shuttle route.]
╔══════════════════════╗
📘 Want more?
Join me on Patreon for bonus chapters
and early access!
🔗 https://www.patreon.com/cw/OverlordD
╚══════════════════════╝