Chapter 1090: Tug-of-War

The sudden emergence of silver spiderwebs made it clear that whoever set this trap now held the upper hand in this divine clash.

At least when it came to combat, Sein could trust Lorthisra most of the time.

So far, the Spider Queen had never let him down in this regard.

Still, the Moonlit Cat Goddess was no helpless kitten waiting to be hunted.

The feral swipes of her sharp claws and the shadowy trails she left behind told Sein she had no intention of surrendering.

He had no idea what the Spider Queen had prepared back in the Magus World. All he could do now was hold his breath and hope for the best.

It was then that he felt a numbing sting on his cheek.

Reaching up to touch it, he discovered three thin scratches across his skin.

Somehow, the Moonlit Cat Goddess’ divine energy had managed to pierce through the divine spider web!

Sein immediately backed off several meters.

Around him, ancient trees toppled like broken pillars, sending dirt into the air.

Yet amidst the chaos, the Moonlit Cat Goddess continued thrashing within the web.

In truth, Sein had overreacted.

In her current state, Nocthera could not truly harm him unless she broke free from the web entirely.

“Who is it?!” the goddess snarled, her voice sharp and filled with fury.

She knew there was no way someone like Sein could have created a trap powerful enough to hold a Rank Five goddess like herself.

The complexity of this confinement array far surpassed that of the one cast by three Rank Four natives during the Gumo interplanar war when they attempted to seal Master Dark Flame.

Now, the spider web was tightening around Nocthera faster and faster. Even Sein could no longer make out her form.

All he could see now was a writhing mass of darkness, entangled in shimmering silver threads.

“So this is what a real battle between deities looks like...” Sein murmured, eyes wide.

Impressed by the surges of elemental energy and the power of law, he pulled out a crystal ball from his robe and began to record everything.

A battle at this level was not something a mage stumbled upon often.

From the complexity of the array to the techniques of manipulating law itself, this single encounter would give him years’ worth of research material.

While Sein was observing the clash between goddesses up close in Faeloria, the Spider Queen—far away in Blackhaven of Magus World—was no longer as calm as she had been in front of him.

At that moment, a massive magic altar had been set up on the floor of the black tower where Lorthisra was.

The three levels above and below it had also been transformed by her over the past two centuries. Their walls and floors were now covered with all sorts of complex magical inscriptions.

Thick silver threads at the heart of the altar shimmered with Lorthisra’s divine power.

The threads were woven so densely that they resembled a spider’s cocoon. If one looked closely, they would see the faint projection of the Moonlit Cat Goddess trapped within.

Lorthisra had not inherited the mastery of such a powerful confinement array from her adoptive father but from her biological one.

And in recent years, her skills had started to surpass even his.

Faeloria’s closed-off nature made extracting living beings from it extremely difficult.

The only reason she could retrieve Sein at all was because he originated from the Magus World—and more importantly, because he carried a fragment of the Tablet of Fate and had been connected to her divine spider silk.

But the Moonlit Cat Goddess was a true Rank Five native of Faeloria. Pulling her to the Magus World was a challenge so great that even Lorthisra might have needed her adoptive father’s help.

Yet she was far too proud to ask.

Even if she did, Nergal might not be inclined to help.

That infamous black mage of the Magus World had always taken a hands-off approach to parenting, preferring to let Lorthisra fend for herself.

So, instead of leaning on anyone else, Lorthisra relied on her own intelligence and strength.

Combining years of experiments and her own experience, she had finally managed to construct a remote soul confinement array after using an absurd amount of rare materials available in the black tower.

The silhouette of the Moonlit Cat Goddess at the heart of the altar was not her actual body but her soul.

To even briefly strip the soul of a Rank Five entity from its body was a stunning feat. It was undeniable proof of Lorthisra’s expertise, not only in array arts but also in soulology.

What Sein was witnessing back in Faeloria was merely the surface of the struggle between the Moonlit Cat Goddess and the Spider Queen.

The real clash was actually taking place right here in the Magus World.

Near the heart of the altar, Lorthisra stood in her true form, her divine power fully unleashed.

If the Moonlit Cat Goddess radiated playful charm, then the Spider Queen exuded a seductive allure.

Her upper half was breathtakingly beautiful, but the grotesque spider abdomen below should have sent chills down anyone’s spine.

Yet, there was something strangely captivating about her. She radiated a fusion of power and seduction that defied expectation.

Now in her true form, she had bright silver spider threads wrapped tightly around her arms and legs.

From afar, it looked like she was locked in a desperate tug-of-war.

Lorthisra was pouring every ounce of her strength into dragging Nocthera’s soul from the heart of the altar toward her.

Countless threads snapped under the strain, but no matter how many broke, new ones immediately formed, binding tighter and tighter around the projection.

The massive altar glowed brighter by the second, channeling its full energy into Lorthisra.

Still, the vast spatial distance between Faeloria and the Magus World, as well as Nocthera’s fierce resistance, kept the struggle at a standstill.

Even with all her resources, Lorthisra knew she could not afford to construct another magic array of this scale anytime soon.

She had to succeed this time, there was no room for failure!

The cold, prideful mask she always wore was beginning to crack, gradually replaced by the wild edge of desperation.

Still pulling the silver web toward her, she finally snapped and shouted, “Do not just stand there, you lazy bastards! Get over here and help me!”

Her sharp cry cut through the air and finally drew a response.

From the shadowy corners of the black tower’s top floor, hidden in the mist thick with death and dark energies, monsters began to crawl forth.

They were horrific in appearance, but the power they radiated was undeniable—none of them was below Rank Four!

These monsters were not Lorthisra’s pets. They served the true master of this black tower.

Some were undead, others were dark creatures. But most were chimeras—horrific synthetic beasts!

They were Nergal’s creations, left behind to guard this place.

But Lorthisra, raised in the black tower as Nergal’s daughter, held authority here.

None of these creatures dared to disobey the young mistress of the tower.

The grotesque beings exchanged glances, then crawled out from the darkness to obey her call.