"Lord Bai Zhi, what exactly is that?"
Wang Miaoyin retreated to the demon spider's side, looking at the mountain-like black silhouette with a shifting, uncertain expression.
The dark creatures still alive on the field also vanished from the mortal world as magic arrays rose beneath their feet -- the duration of the Skill: Darkness Summoning had expired.
Crack, crack, crack!
The pitch-black one-eyed giant grabbed the blood-red giant web with both hands, and like an adult easily tearing apart an ordinary spider web, it ripped with a single pull -- the web twisted apart and dissipated.
Spider silk formed from Ten Thousand Binding Threads was as fragile as silkworm silk in its hands!
As the 'Demon Web Blood Sacrifice' domain completely disappeared, the blood-red patterns on the demon spider's body reverted to bluish-purple. The crescent-moon Sigil dimmed, and its body size also shrank, ultimately returning to a leg span and body length of 170cm.
Its heart sank. Illusory characters surfaced before its eyes.
[Target]: Heaven's Punisher (Unknown)
[Vitality]: ???
[Body Length]: 35m
[Status]: Stable
Bai Jie remained silent, its heart extremely heavy.
It could tell at a single glance -- this "Heaven's Punisher" was neither a flesh-and-blood body nor an ordinary mech. Its entire body, though looking as black as charcoal, was actually entirely composed of countless nanite insects!
This was precisely why Ten Thousand Binding Threads could be so easily disassembled by it.
It was truly hard to imagine just how many nanoscale mechanical organisms were needed to condense into such a towering giant,
and what kind of AI system was required to keep these nanite insects operating as a unified whole with such fluid, unfettered motion.
So this was the Federal Government's hidden trump card not displayed at the military parade?
The very next second, the clouds churned violently once more. A suit of armor entirely silver-white, wielding a shield and a giant axe, also descended -- a headless mech!
With a thunderous crash, it landed beside Heaven's Punisher.
It was unmistakably Axe-Bearer: Xingtian.
And on the former's body, there were none of the wound marks from the battle against the mountain of flesh.
Axe-Bearer and Heaven's Punisher appeared simultaneously!
The Military District had actually sent two colossal war machines, just for Bai Jie, a spider not even two meters tall!
"Heh, you humans really do think highly of me."
The demon spider's cold laughter spread across the entire rear mountain.
Silence.
Having all witnessed its uncanny and terrifying strength, no human dared respond to the demon spider anymore.
Heaven's Punisher stood as immovable as a mountain. It was Xingtian who couldn't hold back, swinging a sky-splitting axe down with overwhelming force!
The demon spider's aura condensed. Three lightning spears hovered and then blasted outward.
Buzz!
The axe's momentum was halted, unable to press further down. But the lightning spears' energy also rapidly dissipated, wearing away at the giant axe's surface.
At the same time, Heaven's Punisher finally moved.
It took a single step forward, the earth trembling, and swung both fists thunderingly toward the demon spider on the ground. But it was still blocked by six lightning spears.
The demon spider absolutely dared not meet Heaven's Punisher with its physical body, even with blades -- joking aside, even Ten Thousand Binding Threads would be chewed clean by the nanite insects, let alone the mere flesh of a spider?
Not even a single hair of Heaven's Punisher could be touched! It could only resort to ranged attacks.
The demon spider's figure rapidly retreated, a scheme stirring in its mind.
Profound dark aura swirled around its body. A strange, transparent black magic array appeared at the spot where the demon spider had just been. Ink-like rays of light shot out from the array. The black light converged, forming a dark sphere.
"What the hell is that thing?"
"A black hole?!"
"Does Bai Zhi still have hidden cards?"
"How do I feel... that aura is very similar to the feeling inside the giant crater in the Eastern District?"
Several people, even though they had retreated another hundred meters from the battle zone, were still intimidated by the eerie strangeness of that dark sphere.
Scurry, scurry, scurry...
The dark sphere exuded astonishing suction force, drawing all the corpses of the Gu Insects on the field into itself.
Under this immense attractive force, even Xingtian's body swayed once. Only after fiercely dispersing the lingering might of the lightning spears did it barely manage to stabilize its form.
Only Heaven's Punisher remained completely unmoved. Both hands clenched, and the six lightning spears piercing its palms instantly dissipated. But wisps of black smoke also rose from its hands, with imperceptible nanite insect corpses falling.
Yet Heaven's Punisher clearly realized that within that dark sphere, something terrifying was brewing. It strode several steps forward. Its two sky-supporting giant hands eerily elongated, like two jet-black serpents lunging and biting, pressing tightly toward the dark sphere.
The dark sphere was rapidly expanding, growing larger.
Just at this moment, an expanse of extremely bright bluish-purple radiance illuminated Heaven's Punisher's body. It was none other than dozens of lightning spears, hurtling toward it like a violent storm!
Shing, shing, shing!
The bluish-purple light pillars all stabbed into Heaven's Punisher's chest, lower abdomen, and thighs. Electric filaments tangled chaotically, madly spreading across its entire body. Plumes of thick smoke rose from it. Even its two elongated serpent-arm hands suddenly halted, then violently retracted.
Abruptly, in the sky, the thunderclouds roared. Two furious bolts formed of lightning fluid crashed down with explosive force, separately blasting onto the bodies of Heaven's Punisher and Xingtian.
"My spiritual power is bottoming out. I must use 'Heavenly Lightning Beckoning' to directly deal a heavy blow to these two troublesome bastards -- end this quickly!" the demon spider resolved.
The 'Demon Web Blood Sacrifice' earlier had not replenished much spiritual power. Now, after consecutively using 'Darkness Summoning' and 'Heavenly Lightning Beckoning,' its spiritual power was stretched even thinner.
But at this very moment, the unexpected occurred.
Heaven's Punisher's golden vertical pupil abruptly expanded, its radiance suddenly brightening. A golden energy shield unfolded above its head, actually forcibly withstanding the bombardment of the "Heavenly Lightning Beckoning."
And Xingtian also raised the shield in its left hand, boldly facing the lightning strike.
Boom!
On Xingtian's giant shield, deep cracks appeared. It was blasted charred black. But Xingtian itself was, at least, safe and unharmed.
Bai Jie was somewhat surprised. That Heaven's Punisher could deploy an electromagnetic defensive shield was one thing, but even Xingtian's shield strength exceeded its expectations. Come to think of it, during the last engagement with Xingtian, it hadn't directly attacked Xingtian's shield head-on.
After intercepting the heaven-descending furious lightning, the golden energy shield subsequently vanished.
The next instant, Heaven's Punisher's aura swelled uniformly. The energy roiled within, issuing sounds like thunderous fury. The black tissue of its entire body began to tremble violently as if tendon, bone, skin, and membrane were all stretching open. Then with a sudden jolt, its entire body burst apart, transforming into an enormous, terrifying cloud of black smoke, evoking the feeling of an apocalypse descending.
The black smoke blotted out the sky and shrouded the sun. Writhing and contracting, like a great river's tidal surge, like river waves pounding the shore, rolling up a thousand piles of snow, it fiercely swept toward Bai Jie.
Countless, metal-devouring, iron-consuming nanite insects had arrived.
"It's over. Bai Zhi is doomed without a doubt." Seeing this scene, Jianxin sighed.
"Heaven's Punisher abandoned the cumbersome giant form. Is it deciding to put the enemy to death in its most terrifying posture?" Gui Yu's expression sharpened.
Everyone held their breath in rapt attention.
"Lord Bai Zhi, be careful!" Wang Miaoyin's alarmed cry rang out not far from the demon spider.
Every bristle on the demon spider's body stood on end. A death warning surged fiercely in its heart!
It knew instantly that no living creature could survive being submerged by so many nanite insects.
At that moment,
the dark sphere, which had long since finished forming, suddenly shuddered and rapidly expanded, growing to be six or seven stories tall. From within it, thick, slimy black tentacles extended outward...