Chapter 116: The Spider's Venom

"Verna, take Ilis and get out of here. Enya, with me!"

Facing the flaming whip whistling toward him, Jan sneered. With a flick of his wrist, the seemingly ordinary cane in his hand began to shift, instantly transforming into that sharp, ominous magic sword. His figure flickered, and in the next heartbeat, he raised the blade and charged toward Lolth.

If Lolth had descended in her true form, Jan certainly would not have provoked a confrontation here. However, the problem was that as a Demon Lord—and a powerful one with immense divine strength—Lolth could never simply walk into the Prime Material Plane. This was a law, a rule designed to imprison all gods and Demon Lords. No matter how weak an entity might be, once they ascended to the ranks of gods or Demon Lords, they were forever barred from descending in their true form to act within the Prime Material Plane. Their presence alone could cause the rules of the realm to fluctuate or even collapse, and any entity committing such an act would be treated as an enemy by everyone. Unless the Spider Queen wished to face the wrath of all beings from the Lower and Upper Planes, she dared not do so.

Thus, for a true deity to interfere in the affairs of the Prime Material Plane, the only option was a "Saint's Descent"—splitting off a portion of their essence and allowing it to enter the realm to handle tasks or battles that their true form could not. Naturally, these Saints followed the deity's will, yet they possessed their own independent consciousness.

Of course, if they wished, a true deity could also choose to create a clone with the strength of a demigod. But who could guarantee that an autonomous clone with demigod-level power wouldn't develop the ambition to become a new god itself? If that were to happen, it would be a total disaster—losing both the wife and the soldiers, as the saying goes. Because of this, most Saints were not overwhelmingly powerful; they were designed only to ensure self-preservation within the Prime Material Plane. A cunning deity like Lolth was no exception; the strength of the Saint currently before them was merely at the peak of the legendary tier. Of course, in the Prime Material Plane, she was already a match for almost anyone.

Unfortunately, the few "matches" she might have were standing right in front of her.

The flaming whip, imbued with evil curses, descended upon Jan. It collided heavily with the dark sword. Jan’s figure blurred, dodging the reach of Lolth’s claws. His sword returned to his side, and with a swift motion, silver, crescent-shaped arcs of energy rained down upon Lolth.

On the other side, Enya launched a full-scale assault simultaneously. Having undergone "evolution," Enya now possessed legendary-tier strength, much like Patilina. She spread her hands, and scintillating lightning rapidly extended before her jade-white palms, manifesting into a sharp, lethal scythe. The girl crouched on the high platform, poised to leap, and then surged toward Lolth’s lower body, trailing a streak of brilliant lightning. Without hesitation, she swung her scythe, slashing at Lolth’s thick, spider-like legs.

Facing the pincer attack from Jan and Enya, Lolth let out an angry roar. One of her spider legs lashed forward, raised like a massive, jagged, double-edged sword, and thrust downward toward Enya’s slender frame. At the same time, she leaned forward, dodging Jan's strike while raising her right hand, unleashing a barrage of explosive flames at her prey.

But a bombardment from the sky interrupted Lolth’s near-lethal strike. Patilina whistled through the vast underground cavern like a shell, slamming into Lolth’s massive body with a storm of artillery fire. Countless dazzling flashes of light instantly enveloped Lolth, forcing her to abandon her plan and retreat with a shriek.

Strictly speaking, Patilina’s attacks were not fatal. The problem, however, was that her artillery did not come in only one form, and crucially, Lolth’s defenses could not account for every level of bombardment—some of which utilized concepts far beyond the understanding of this world.

Metal shells had no effect on Lolth’s iron-hard exterior, and the frantic rotation of construct bombs could not pierce the invisible fortress surrounding her. Concentrated magic beams were neutralized by her magical barriers, vanishing like bubbles before they could exert any power.

But the subsequent attack exceeded Lolth’s imagination.

A shell, accelerated to the limit by electromagnetism, shattered Lolth's first layer of protection. The next instant, an invisible ripple of gravity struck like a heavy hammer, completely crushing her fragile defenses. An explosion of brilliance followed. The constant, swirling fire transformed into eternal light, coating Lolth’s massive body in a golden fur of energy. The scorching heat and flames mercilessly displayed their existence to the world. Lolth screamed in agony, her hands flailing as she retreated with an agility that belied her massive size.

At that moment, the sword in Jan’s hand struck forward once more.

The pitch-black blade trembled slightly. A sequence of magic runes lit up one by one, forming faint, imperceptible halos along the razor-sharp edge. In a blink, the brilliant sword light erupted again, piercing toward Lolth’s chest with the force of a thunderbolt.

"You won't defeat me! No one can take down Lolth!"

Seeing Jan's relentless attacks, Lolth flew into a rage. She shook her body, and the raging flames were extinguished in an instant. The flaming whip in her hand cracked through the air with a sound like a thunderclap, lashing toward Jan. Simultaneously, her left hand elongated, striking toward Patilina on the other side.

"Too bad, there are no 'people' among us."

Facing Lolth’s roar, Jan retorted with a cold laugh. With a flick of his wrist, the sword light surged, transforming into a massive silver blade that seemed capable of splitting the heavens as it met Lolth’s whip.

The silver blade clashed squarely with the flaming whip, but this time, the exchange did not end. Jan’s sword did not recoil; instead, it latched onto the whip like a wild beast. Lolth felt a surge of immense power traveling up the whip. She looked up, her expression shifting, and without hesitation, she discarded the whip and leaped backward. At the same time, she opened her mouth, spewing a cloud of dark green, corrosive mist that forced Patilina to retreat.

The moment Lolth’s right hand left the whip, the weapon—still locked with Jan’s blade—began to tremble violently. In a heartbeat, the massive weapon, forged from the evil flames of demon horns, began to disintegrate from the base. Its handle, crafted from hardened demonic horn, dissolved into raw magical energy, scattering into motes of light. Even the burning flames were no exception.

"An ancient relic."

Lolth did not attack immediately. Instead, she narrowed her eyes, staring coldly at Jan—and the strange-looking sword in his hand.

"That old immortal gave you a very interesting toy, Third Prince. If you are willing to hand it over, I might consider forgiving your insolence this time."

"If I were to believe the lies of a mother spider with betrayal flowing through her veins, then I’d truly be damned."

Jan replied with a cold sneer. "As for you, if you’re willing to surrender now, I’ll consider censoring the footage before throwing you to the goblins... How does that sound?"

"Go to hell!"

Though she did not understand what Jan meant, Lolth expressed her stance with an angry shriek. She pointed at Jan, and a massive, snow-white spiderweb erupted from her fingertips, surging toward Jan and his companions like a tidal wave.

Seeing the web, Jan immediately retreated. He could see that this massive, white web was a product of solidified souls, and on every strand, countless spiders were writhing and crawling. This was one of Lolth’s many evil treasures; any living being wrapped in this web would, within moments, be torn apart and devoured by the spiders, reduced to white bone, while their soul would be integrated into the web, forever suffering the torment and pain inflicted by the spiders.

What a poisonous spider!

A sharp glint flashed in Jan’s eyes at the appearance of the soul-web. He pulled his sword back, moving with a trail of afterimages. However, as a sentient weapon, the soul-web did not intend to let Jan escape so easily. It expanded, extending its tentacles like an octopus in the deep sea capturing its prey, reaching for Jan.

But just as the soul-web was about to seize him, Jan’s wrist moved slightly. In an instant, without anyone noticing, his grip shifted from a "slash" to a "hold." He raised the sword again, but it was not the start of a combat maneuver; rather, it looked as if he were aiming at a target.

Jan curled his index finger and pulled the trigger.

An ominous, dark light shot from the gaps in Jan’s sword, flying toward the web. The previously empty air began to tremble like cheap stage scenery. The dark light from the sword tore through the setting like the claws of an invisible monster, opening a rift to another world.

The forcibly torn space began to greedily consume everything around it to fill the void created by the dark light. Lolth’s soul-web was the first to suffer, becoming the primary victim. It was shredded and twisted as if sucked into a vacuum, then vanished into the depths of the spatial rift.

After consuming the soul-web, the rift closed rapidly, much like a transparent monster hiding in the darkness swallowing its prey, then closing its mouth in satisfaction, letting out a satisfied burp as it digested its meal.

"You dare—!!"

Seeing her treasure so easily defeated by Jan, Lolth roared in fury. Her hands shifted into two massive front claws, and she charged toward Jan with a frenzied howl.

At the same time, accompanied by the roar of artillery and the flash of thunder, Patilina and Enya, who had been forced aside by Lolth, swung their weapons and launched another attack against her!