While Garon manipulated the time-space rings to deal with the Heart-Eater War God, he turned his head to look at the Spider Queen Lolth.
"You two think that allying with the Abyss will keep you safe? How foolish."
The silver dragon said calmly.
"Ally? No, you misunderstand."
"I sought to gradually gain Aranea's trust and then use it as leverage to seek forgiveness from the Pantheon."
Lolth's compound eyes flickered as she spoke.
"Is that so?"
"The Pantheon has no need for Aranea's trust."
"As for forgiveness, you should first cease resistance, let me seal you, and then face the Pantheon's judgment. Only then will you understand if forgiveness is possible."
When dealing with a deceitful evil god, the best approach was to assume that everything they said was false and meant to deceive. That way, things became much simpler.
"Please, listen to me..."
Before the cold gaze of the silver dragon, Lolth tried to speak again, her special charm making one instinctively want to believe her.
"No, I won't listen."
Interrupting Lolth directly, the silver dragon spread his wings, easily tearing apart the webs that had silently extended towards him, and charged at Lolth with a gale that could shake the heavens and earth.
Meanwhile, the heart of the demon tree attempted to break through the space of the Twelve Trees Plane to escape to other abyssal layers as the dragon and the evil god battled.
Gathering energy, it shot like a purple comet towards the spatial barrier.
Boom!
The space was indestructible and did not break. The heart of the demon tree was sent tumbling by the massive recoil, trembling and shaking.
At the point of impact on the space, there was now a faint, almost imperceptible dragon scale pattern. Despite the heart of the demon tree's collision, only insignificant cracks appeared.
It changed direction and rammed again.
The result was the same.
The heart of the demon tree wobbled, but the space remained unbroken.
The space of the Twelve Trees Plane had been sealed by Garon's time-space blockade.
While observing in the shadows, he had not been idle. He had woven an impenetrable net to ensure the targets within could not escape.
This was why Garon temporarily ignored the heart of the demon tree and directly attacked Lolth.
Roar!
A dragon's might, as deep as the abyss, erupted, shaking Lolth's mind.
Even with a portion of her authority over the mind, Lolth was still inevitably affected by the terrifying dragon's might of the Time Dragon.
It felt as if she was a mere mortal facing the collapse of a grand mountain or the overwhelming surge of a great ocean. Deep within, Lolth felt a sense of helplessness and inevitability.
When she finally broke free from the dragon's might, the immense silver dragon was already nearly upon her.
The Claw of Temporal Fracture tore through the dense web barriers between Garon and Lolth, breaking the spatial threads without any resistance.
Lolth took a deep breath and screamed.
Authority of Destruction: Spider Shriek!
Lolth wielded the authority of destruction, with a focus on the mental domain.
Her Spider Shriek could cause widespread extinction and soul destruction or focus on breaking the mental will of a strong opponent.
The shriek condensed into an invisible, intangible mental spear, thrusting at the silver dragon at close range.
The Temporal Barrier had weaker defenses against mental attacks, a fact Garon had known for a long time.
However, the silver dragon seemed oblivious to the mental spear of the shriek, charging forward without hesitation.
Seeing this, Lolth's lips curved into a faint smile.
Both she and Garon were new to the ranks of powerful deities, and though she knew Garon's combat ability surpassed hers, Lolth did not believe he could withstand a direct hit from her Spider Shriek without consequence.
Her mental attacks were also venomous.
A tiny black widow could poison beasts a thousand times its size, and Lolth's venom could affect beings stronger than herself.
"Arrogance will cost you dearly."
At that moment.
On the back of the silver dragon's right claw, a starry staff imprinted on a dragon scale floated up, enveloped in a shimmering silver glow. The soft, beautiful light flowed over the silver dragon's scales like waves.
Sizzle!
The mental spear struck the silver dragon's head.
It was as if a toothpick had struck ironstone. In the flowing silver light, the mental spear shattered into pieces.
Lolth's smile froze on her face.
Facing the overwhelming presence of the silver dragon, Lolth's bizarre form, half-human, half-spider, trembled. With endless webs weaving around her, she transformed into nine indistinguishable Lolths, fleeing in different directions to evade the dragon's claws.
Garon didn't hesitate, instinctively pursuing one of them.
In that instant, as Garon chased the indistinguishable Lolths, nine branches appeared in the river of time.
Eight of these branches showed Garon chasing the wrong target, while only one showed him locking onto the real Lolth.
However, as Garon's will guided him, the river of time rippled. Before the nine branches could fully form, the eight incorrect paths were erased, leaving only the single correct one.
"He can see through my illusionary selves."
The dragon pursued without hesitation, following the real Lolth.
Lolth's pupils contracted.
Her illusionary selves were almost indistinguishable from her real body, impossible to differentiate by senses alone, yet the silver dragon showed no hesitation, causing Lolth to doubt herself.
After a few seconds of frantic pursuit, Lolth found herself with nowhere to hide.
Boom!
The dragon descended, its massive form casting a shadow over Lolth. The Claw of Temporal Fracture enveloped her entire body.
The surrounding space solidified, making it difficult for Lolth to move.
"My will is the flow of time."
"A few fake copies to confuse me? Naive."
The silver dragon remained calm, unsurprised by the result.
Next, the dragon's claws contracted, but only lightly touched Lolth. Without any real resistance, she shattered like a mirror, turning into tiny fragments that dissolved into particles of light. Finally, only a small, lifeless spider remained in the dragon's claws.
The silver dragon turned its gaze to another direction.
In an unremarkable crack in the ground, a small spider's body swelled, transforming into Lolth. She looked at the dignified and calm silver dragon, her eyes full of fear.
Authority of Deception: Illusory Mirage.
"I admit you are stronger, but if you want to kill or seal me, you cannot do it in a short time."
Lolth took a deep breath, calming herself. She glanced at the Heart-Eater War God, who was about to break free from the encirclement of the time-space rings, and then turned her gaze back to the silver dragon.
As she spoke, billions of tiny spiders were created, pouring into the surrounding space and scattering in all directions.
Each spider could serve as a decoy for Lolth to transfer her consciousness and escape.
As a newly ascended powerful deity, Lolth's direct combat abilities were weak, one of the lowest among her peers. However, her deception and survival skills were highly developed, making her hard to kill.
Hearing this, the silver dragon's serene expression revealed a faint, lofty smile.
The pitying gaze made Lolth uncomfortable, causing her to frown.
Immediately, the silver dragon said nothing, spreading its wings.
In an instant, the flowing river of time froze, time itself halting.
With extraordinary divine power shielding her, Lolth could still move in the frozen time but with inevitable sluggishness, like an insect trapped in glue.
At the same time, the silver dragon let out a low, thunderous roar, its massive form vibrating and then disappearing, merging into the river of time.
Lolth's expression changed.
In the next moment, the river of time surged violently, and the silver dragon materialized in front of Lolth. The Claw of Temporal Fracture tore through space, filling Lolth's vision with silver light.
Lolth opened her mouth, spewing purple venom.
Sizzle! Everything the venom touched corroded, trees withered, mountains crumbled, and even time and space were affected.
The venom spread, forming a protective barrier around Lolth.
"This is my most prized poison."
"Any deity, once touched by my Abyssal Spider Venom, cannot escape unscathed. Their divine body and soul will suffer endless torment through the ages."
Lolth whispered.
However, to her surprise, the silver dragon remained undeterred, as if oblivious to the deadly venom.
The dragon's wings spread wide, charging through the venomous fog.
The purple venom, as if alive, clung to the silver dragon's body, forming purple threads that etched spider web patterns on the dragon's scales.
Sizzle! The river of time washed over the venom, instantly dissolving it.
More venom clung to the silver dragon, but the flowing river of time washed it away, leaving the dragon unaffected.
"How is this possible?"
"My venom... how can it be ineffective?"
For the first time, Lolth showed a look of disbelief.
Even the Insect King, with the highest resistance to poison, couldn't pass through her venomous domain unscathed.
What she didn't know was that any sustained damage was ineffective against Garon, who had merged with the power of time.
No matter how powerful her venom was, how did it compare to the rules of the Prime Material Plane, which could suppress gods?
The suppression of the Prime Material Plane had no effect on Garon, so Lolth's venom was nothing in comparison.
Facing the silver dragon's fierce attack, Lol
th again felt there was no escape, as if the surrounding space was sealed, and she was a trapped insect.
Boom!
The dragon claw, covered in venom, once again gripped Lolth's bizarre form.
Authority of Deception: Illusory Mirage!
Lolth used her trick again to buy time.
In the intense confrontation, time seemed to slow down.
As cracks like spider webs spread over her beautiful yet terrifying body, it shattered like a mirror. At the same time, far away in the Twelve Trees Plane, in an inconspicuous corner, a small spider's body began to glow with divine light.
However, in the spider's vision, she saw the silver dragon's lips curve into a smile, an expressionless one on its majestic face.
Authority of Deception: Illusory Mirage!
The same authority of deception, but this time used by Garon.
With a crack, as if a shell broke, the silver dragon's surface shattered like a mirror into billions of pieces that disappeared. The real silver dragon remained in place.
Simultaneously.
Countless mirror fragments appeared near each of Lolth's decoy selves, transforming into miniature silver dragons, devouring the tiny spiders.
In an instant, Garon annihilated all of Lolth's decoys.
Lolth's beautiful face showed fear as her body, held in the dragon's claws, emerged from the mirror-like state.
"No..."
The piercing scream was abruptly cut off.
Garon crushed Lolth's body.
Feeling the tangible sensation in his claws, the silver dragon looked satisfied.
Within the Claw of Temporal Fracture, Lolth's body, reduced to pulp, writhed and resisted, trying to poison Garon to force him to release his grip, but it was futile. Her body and divine power were continually ground down, quickly weakening her.
Soon.
When the silver dragon opened his claw, there was no sign of Lolth, only a time-amber sealing decayed flesh.
Their battle had been brief.
Yet in that short time, a powerful evil god had been successfully sealed by the silver dragon. Throughout the entire process, Lolth had not inflicted a single effective injury on the silver dragon, making it seem as though they were not on the same level, but separated by an immense, insurmountable chasm.
"Lolth!"
On the other side, the Heart-Eater War God's claws flashed with endless afterimages, clashing with the dense time-space rings. His arms trembled from the strain, clearly under significant pressure.
However, the glow of the time-space rings had dimmed considerably, with numerous branched cracks visible on their surface.
Divine cores were indestructible, but the foundational structure of the time-space rings composed of many divine cores had been damaged.
Without a powerful divine core to unify all the divine cores, the time-space rings had already shown an impressive performance, delaying a powerful war-focused evil god for such a duration.
Garon looked forward to the day he could forge the Time Annihilation Sword with a powerful divine core, imagining the scene.
Meanwhile.
The silver dragon folded his wings, standing tall. He raised his robust dragon arms, covered in silver-gray scales, as if embracing the Abyss.
The river of time silently surged.
Rolling waves of time gathered between the dragon's arms, forming a colorless, semi-transparent arrow, carrying an unstoppable sense of the passage of time, a second lasting ten thousand years.
Time flies like an arrow.
The Arrow of Temporal Perish!
The silver dragon's platinum eyes locked onto the Heart-Eater War God, who was close to breaking the time-space rings.
On the other side, the Heart-Eater War God's obsidian claws clashed with the time-space rings, each collision shaking the space fortified by Garon's time-space blockade, leaving it cracked and marked by claw scars. This was just the residual impact.
Suddenly, he felt a slight pain in his heart, as if locked onto by an unavoidable force.
His beast-like face showed agitation and vigilance.
He hadn't expected that even though both were powerful deities, Garon had dealt with Lolth in such a short time while still manipulating those damned rings to entangle him.
Lolth was weak in combat but very good at self-preservation.
The Heart-Eater War God believed he couldn't handle Lolth in such a brief time.
Suddenly, before the Heart-Eater War God could think further, the Arrow of Temporal Perish was launched by the silver dragon.
Though called an arrow, it was as sharp and powerful as a spear, piercing through time and space, directly aiming at the Heart-Eater War God.
Authority of War: Barrier of Thousand Claws!
The Heart-Eater War God roared.
Centered on his body, countless obsidian claws appeared, layering like a blooming flower, enveloping the Heart-Eater War God, forming a shield, and continually clashing with the time-space rings, filling the air with the sound of vibrating collisions.
Sizzle!
The Arrow of Temporal Perish, a phantom of light and shadow, passed through the countless claws, unaffected as if it didn't exist.
Formed by the power of time, the arrow silently passed through the claws, striking the Heart-Eater War God, piercing his heart.
The flower of claws trembled and retracted, merging back into the Heart-Eater War God's claws.
The powerful evil god looked down at his heart.
No external injury.
Was it just for show?
As this thought arose, the Heart-Eater War God's expression changed dramatically.
His glossy fur turned gray, his firm skin withered, and his thoughts slowed. Symptoms of aging, impossible for an immortal being, appeared on him.
For any eternal being, such aging was terrifying.
Realizing this, the Heart-Eater War God's face twisted in anger. Extraordinary divine power surged, a blood-red glow radiated from his body, restoring vitality and resisting the aging effects of the Arrow of Temporal Perish.
He had to divert part of his attention to counteract the aging of his divine body; otherwise, he would continue to weaken.
"He's somewhat weaker than the Earth Elemental Lord in the Earth Elemental Plane."
"If not for the interference of other gods, the Earth Elemental Lord almost shattered the Arrow of Temporal Perish."
Garon thought as he observed the Heart-Eater War God.
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