Chapter 95 – Battle

Punk didn’t have much time to think, as the dark green spider before him had already completed its fusion. The dominant soul floated faintly visible on the spider’s forehead.

“Hahaha, do you see it? Do you see it? This is the power bestowed upon us by the supreme Goddess Tisha Xia’er! Even we insignificant lambs can achieve Formal-Level strength through the goddess’s grace!”The believer’s soul laughed maniacally, while the souls wandering across the dark green spider’s body joined in the laughter.” Their sharp voices were as grating as metal scraping against a blackboard.

“Power? Utterly ridiculous. How long can that lump of yours last? Three minutes? Or five?”

Facing the overly inflated cult leader, Punk mercilessly mocked him. In his view, these pitiful wretches were not only ignorant but exceptionally foolish.

This method of fusing to create monsters was essentially just instant biological alchemy. Though he didn’t know what secret technique these guys used to achieve fusion without a Formal-Level practitioner’s control, they still couldn’t escape the major drawback of “instant alchemy”—it couldn’t last!

The monster they formed through fusion did possess Formal-Level power, but this power of the dark green spider was entirely obtained by burning the souls of over fifty followers. In at most five minutes, these fanatical believers’ souls would be completely consumed. When that happened, without anyone needing to lift a finger, the dark green spider would lose its sustaining power and revert to a pile of disgusting rotten flesh.

“Damned mortal! You… you dare question the salvation of the great, supreme Goddess Tisha Xia’er? You shall pay for your crimes!”

Hearing Punk’s mockery, the souls on the dark green spider’s body instantly turned vicious and resentful. A gathering of hatred concentrated in the spider’s eight eyes, with bloody killing intent glowing terrifyingly in the dim cave.

Though he verbally belittled the dark green spider monster as worthless, Punk didn’t dare be the slightest bit careless in his heart.

Punk’s current situation was quite tricky. The enemy’s big boss seemed to have somehow foreseen his arrival in advance. But perhaps the prophetic information was vague, or perhaps the opponent was too busy with important matters to spare attention—regardless, the enemy hadn’t set up an elaborate ambush. Instead, they chose to use these unreliable believers and the illusion spiders outside to buy time.

However… whether the enemy had discovered him or not, the fact remained that they had obtained relatively accurate intelligence. Under such circumstances, no matter how underestimating the enemy might be, their surveillance of the cave passages would certainly be heightened. At the very least, Punk didn’t believe that relying solely on a Silence Field would guarantee complete safety.

Moreover, the enemy’s power was likely capable of reaching Formal-Level. If they came to support and joined forces with this dark green spider against him… then the situation would truly become dangerous.

“So… I must end this quickly!”A cold glint flashed in Punk’s eyes, with azure spell radiance rapidly swirling within his pupils! Though dealing with this time-sensitive monster only required stalling for a few minutes to “subdue the enemy without fighting,” Punk was running out of time.

First came a routine application of “Greater Haste” upon himself. Now protected by “Deflection Field,” “Greater Mage Armor,” and enhanced mobility from “Greater Haste,” Punk had secured his personal safety.

Just as Punk’s spell completed, the emerald spider’s attack was also finalized.

A green liquid sphere hovered before the spider’s fangs, the condensed viscous ball emanating an aura of terrifying destruction.

“Sinful heretic, receive the judgment of Goddess Tisha Xia’er”!

The cult leader’s soul roared with maximum edginess, while the viscous sphere condensed by the emerald spider transformed into a green streak shooting toward Punk.

“What an idiot”!

Facing the emerald spider’s assault, Punk dismissed it with utter contempt—not because the viscous sphere lacked power, but because the cult leader had foolishly delivered a lengthy monologue before attacking. This brain-dead behavior made evading the spider’s strike exceptionally easy for Punk.

Having anticipated the incoming attack from the edgy cultist’s shout, Punk naturally couldn’t be hit. Under the effects of Greater Swiftness, friction against Punk was drastically reduced. With just a light tap of his toes against the ground, he glided sideways like a weightless martial arts master, covering considerable distance.

The sticky green sphere missed even the edge of Punk’s clothing, impacting empty ground instead.

The emerald sphere exploded violently upon the rocky surface, concentrated acid clinging together as it instantly corroded a large crater. The scalded earth emitted continuous sizzling sounds while thick white smoke billowed from the pit.

Observing the attack’s potency, Punk’s expression tightened slightly. He hadn’t expected this seemingly insignificant sphere to possess such corrosive intensity. Most troublesome was the clearly potent toxin mixed within the magical acid—from its properties, it appeared to be particularly difficult magical poison that would cause extreme complications if it made contact.

“Hahaha, see? The power of Goddess Tisha Xia’er cannot be stopped by insignificant heretics”!

Witnessing his attack’s tremendous force, the fanatical leader—who had recently reached Formal-Level—shouted excitedly. The mucus covering the emerald spider trembled along with his eerie laughter.

Now completely intoxicated by the false power, the cult leader never once considered projecting his voice beyond the “Silence Field” to request aid from the still-researching “master” within. Or rather, the unprecedentedly arrogant heretic leader believed he needed no “assistance” at all.

“You really think I can’t handle you”?

Hearing the emerald spider’s haughty laughter, Punk responded with an icy tone, calmly voicing his disdain.

“What, you…”…………Just as the emerald-green spider was about to use another long-range attack to make the “heretic” before it properly experience the power of “Goddess Tisha Xia’er,” a terrifying aura suddenly emerged, firmly locking onto the spider’s head.

Though fanatically arrogant, the cult leader was not foolish enough to ignore the sudden sense of danger that descended upon its mind. Realizing it had been targeted by Punk’s Mind Lock, it knew that if it continued its attack without evading, a powerful spell would soon strike its head.

“Ahhhhh! No… damn heretic”!

The cult leader, forced to abruptly interrupt its attack, roared in fury. The backlash from halting the attack mid-preparation twisted its soul into a contorted mass on the spider’s forehead. In this critical moment, all the believers’ souls once again erupted with the power of burning their souls. Wisps of black energy seeped from the spider’s limbs as the cult leader controlling it prepared to dodge the incoming assault with all its might.

“Fools remain fools. Don’t you realize you’ve forgotten something”?

Punk sneered coldly at the grimacing cult leader, who only now began to comprehend the oversight.

Hearing Punk’s icy question, the cult leader suddenly recalled the existence it had ignored from the very beginning. Through the wandering souls on the emerald-green spider, it saw a towering figure silently charging toward the spider’s massive body.

Thick-soled feet stomped heavily on the filthy ground, claws wreathed in blood-red chaotic energy radiating sharp killing intent. Bizarre purple-black eyes and burlap-stitched skin all marked the identity of the approaching figure—Golem Number One!

(End of Chapter)