Spiderweb

The sudden attack forced Larkspur to abandon her attack. Using her magic, she performed a quick mid-air maneuver, spinning her body and slamming her gauntlets heavily onto the spider spears, thus narrowly avoiding the attack from below.

However, this did not mean the end of the crisis. The Aberrant Beast in front of her could realize that the magical girl before her had been affected by the Rule, and naturally had no reason to give up. Soon, the Aberrant Beast caught up and tried to pursue the Larkspur.

In the critical situation, Lantern intervened in time, taking over the position of Larkspur. The two magical girls fought and retreated, finally managing to barely defuse the Aberrant Beast's attack.

However, the Larkspur silk on the lark's elbow still hadn't been removed.

During lulls in the battle, she repeatedly used her Masterpiece to cut the spider silk binding her, trying to break free, but to no avail. This spider silk, generated by the Rule, was completely unaffected by her Magic Armament or magic power.

More importantly, as she took a closer look at the spider silk on her arms, she realized that the silk binding her seemed to be no different from the silk that had bound Cat Tail and the others. This finally made her realize what Spider meant by "personal experience" before transforming.

The Cat-Tail Squad had clearly fought the Spider before, and the reason the entire squad was defeated was obviously because they couldn't overcome the Rule of this Aberrant Beast.

Even for her, once her elbow was entangled in special spider silk, not only was it difficult to bend or move her arm, but even the flow of magic became extremely sluggish.

"How is the situation?" Seeing the grim expression on the Larkspur's face, the Lantern couldn't help but ask, "Can't we get rid of him?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to think of another way."

The Larkspur gave up on dealing with the spider silk on its body and breathed a sigh of relief, "We need to figure out its Rule first, otherwise even our attacks will be restricted."

The spider silk on her arm appeared when she was trying to chase the Aberrant Beast. Although she didn't know if there was any connection between the two, it didn't stop her from being cautious beforehand.

"But..." The Lantern hesitated, glancing up at the Spiderweb in the air.

The Larkspur looked up along with the Lantern, and saw that the magical fluctuations on Cat Tail and the others on the Spiderweb in the air were becoming increasingly weak.

Using the Mana Perception of two magical girls, it's not hard to discover where this magic went: it was all sent into the body of the Aberrant Beast along the spider silk.

Clearly, due to the depletion caused by the previous battle, the Aberrant Beast has accelerated its rate of absorbing magic power. If this continues, Cat Tail and the others will likely weaken and die before the battle ends.

The Larkspur fell silent.

She did have a winning strategy in mind, but it was clear that speed and stability could not be achieved simultaneously.

To ensure her safety and Lantern the two of them could defeat the Aberrant Beast before them, she knew she couldn't act impulsively. She had to carefully observe the opponent's Rule before looking for an opportunity to attack.

If you want to save Cat Tail, you definitely won't have time to slowly figure out the Rule; you'll have to resort to a more aggressive approach.

"Lantern, split up and proceed."

After weighing her options, she spoke again, "You go up and rescue the people, I'll deal with this Aberrant Beast down here."

"Huh? That won't work!"

Upon hearing this, Lantern quickly shook his head. "Senior, you've already been influenced by its Rule. Even if someone should be kept, it should be me, who's in better condition!"

"You were just seriously injured, how could you possibly be in good condition?"

Larkspur glanced at her. "Besides, you've already lost to it once before, I can't let you deal with it alone."

"But..." Lantern wanted to retort, but the Larkspur didn't give her a chance to argue.

Don't waste your time.

Reaching out to push aside the Lantern, the Larkspur assumed a fighting stance as the Aberrant Beast prepared to attack again from the air. "If there are no obstructive Rule, I'm confident I can quickly take it down."

As soon as she finished speaking, spider silk shot out from the darkness once more, and the Larkspur, manipulating her Magic Armament, charged out to fight the Aberrant Beast again.

Crimson spider silk mixed with purplish-black magic intertwined with azure magic threads within the lair. Masterpiece magically crafted blades clashed fiercely with the exoskeleton of the Aberrant Beast, resulting in a stalemate.

The Lantern ultimately obeyed the Larkspur's command, setting aside its unnecessary worries, and flew towards the Spiderweb in the air. This left the Larkspur on the ground to engage in an extremely dangerous battle with the Aberrant Beast.

The mindless Aberrant Beast couldn't understand why the two magical girls had split up. In its view, since only one magical girl remained, it was undoubtedly a golden opportunity to kill her as quickly as possible.

So it ignored the departing Lantern and launched an even more ferocious attack on the Larkspur.

Shortly after the battle began, Larkspur's arm, which had been entangled in spider silk, was completely wrapped up, and he lost all ability to use magic.

This forced her to abandon fighting with both hands and switch to using one hand in combination with Magic Armament silk threads, but this also inevitably made her fighting style more defensive.

With only one hand still functional, she had to prioritize the safety of her other hand; if both hands were rendered immobile, the situation would become even worse.

In addition, she had a headache.

The side effects of unleashing her full magical power were becoming increasingly severe, even causing her to lose her balance several times. The intense pain forced her to grit her teeth to avoid crying out; her body's instincts urged her to finish the fight quickly, but she knew that now was not the time for a quick victory.

Even though the situation was extremely unfavorable, the Larkspur remained calm.

Despite a splitting headache that was enough to make her eyes blurry, Larkspur continued to think. She carefully observed the behavior of the Aberrant Beast in front of her, piecing together any potentially useful clues in her mind.

She could sense that the Aberrant Beast before her seemed to follow some kind of peculiar pattern of action, which was why it repeatedly told her to retreat and then regroup. What exactly was this pattern?

Reflecting on everything that had happened since she first saw the spider, Larkspur felt that the answer was already hidden within it.

At the beginning, I and the Lantern launched a surprise attack on the spider. I ambushed the spider from behind using my Magic Armament. This attack should have been effective, otherwise the spider would have no reason to endure my interrogation.

This attack should have successfully abolished Spider's normal combat abilities. The Anti-Magic Technique prevented him from using magic, forcing him to access the Beast Viscera to regain his power.

Larkspur began to put herself in the Spider's shoes. If she were the Spider, knowing that only transforming into Aberrant Beast offered a chance to turn the tide of battle, what would she do?

Without a doubt, he must take advantage of his remaining human rationality to make a series of arrangements for the upcoming battle in which he transforms into Aberrant Beast.

The spider was willing to endure the Larkspur's interrogation and keep delaying, presumably for this very reason.

So, what could he possibly do right under the Larkspur's nose?

The answer to this has already been found: the White Spider Aberrant Beast that completely obeyed his commands.

A turning point in the spider's counterattack was when he sent the white spider to ambush him from the air, drawing the Larkspur's attention while buying him time to transform. Before that, he must have been directing the spider to do something in the air.

Above?

When the word came to mind, the Larkspur suddenly felt a flash of inspiration.

Because she suddenly remembered what the spider had been doing before the battle even began.

He was looking at the sky.

What was he looking at? And what did he see that made him feel the time was right?

These two questions seemed to give Larkspur the clue to the problem, and amidst the chaos, he looked up and saw only Spiderweb.

Besides, there is also Lantern, who has already approached Cat Tail and the others, and is trying to use Spell Formula to peel Cat Tail off the Flesh Spiderweb.

She seems to be really close to success.

The spider silk binding the Cat Tail and others is a product of the Rule and cannot be easily removed, but the Flesh Spiderweb in the air is clearly not.

The Lantern only needs to sever the part of the Flesh Spiderweb that is sticking to the investigation team to take them down from the air and prevent them from having their magic drained further.

However, this behavior was clearly noticed by more than just the Larkspur.

As the master of the Spiderweb, the Aberrant Beast clearly understood its Spiderweb's situation better than the Larkspur. When the Lantern reached the investigation team's side, about to begin the rescue, even having lost most of its intelligence, it knew what that meant.

This means that its prey, which it is about to kill, will be stolen.

Within its own Nest, as the master of this space, the Aberrant Beast would not allow such behavior.

So after only a brief pause, it abandoned the seemingly tough Larkspur in front of it. It screeched angrily, its spider silk contracted, and it pulled its body into the air, trying to stop the Lantern's actions.

The Larkspur instinctively tried to fly up after it, but after the magic erupted, she realized that her feet had been stuck to the ground by a clump of spider silk.

She couldn't pursue him.

The Lantern beside the Spiderweb was also drawn to the roar of the Aberrant Beast. When it realized that the Aberrant Beast had become its target, it began to condense its Spell Formula, ready to fight the Aberrant Beast.

But that was absolutely not acceptable, Larkspur knew this very well.

The Lantern in the air is probably no match for this Aberrant Beast. Her injuries have not yet healed, and her mastery of the Wonderland is not good enough. If I just stand here and watch her fight the crippled beast, the Lantern's chances of winning are definitely no more than 20%.

What should I do? What can I do to get the Aberrant Beast's attention back?

Her brain raced, but she still couldn't come up with a solution. Seeing the Aberrant Beast getting closer and closer to the Spiderweb in the air, the Larkspur's eyes widened, and she finally made a decision.

She has to take a gamble.

She already had an answer in her mind regarding the Rule of the Aberrant Beast and what the spider had done before transforming, but she couldn't be sure that the answer was correct.

But if she wants to handle this battle as well as possible, she needs to take a gamble.

"Lantern!"

So the Larkspur raised its voice and shouted at the Lantern in the air, "Forget the Aberrant Beast, attack the Spiderweb above my head with all your might! With all your might!"

"Huh?"

The Lantern, Spell Formula was almost slipping from his grasp, showed a slight pause.

She didn't know why Larkspur had given such an instruction, as this action seemed to have nothing to do with the current battle situation.

If Larkspur had given her orders to ignore the Aberrant Beast and prioritize rescuing the investigation team, or to protect the investigation team and fight the remaining beasts, she could understand those orders. However, attacking a Spiderweb that was completely unrelated to her was beyond her comprehension.

Just as she was stunned, the Larkspur on the ground opened its arms, and the Masterpiece that had been gathered around her returned to its original Magic Armament form, turning into countless threads that climbed up the outer wall of the nest.

These magical threads instantly intertwined in the air to form another network, blocking the Aberrant Beast was originally rushing into the air and stopping it in mid-air.

However, this barrier cannot last long.

The Aberrant Beast the two were currently dealing with was a Half-Molt, far superior to the small fish and shrimp they had encountered before at the Egg Rank Looper Tier. The strength of the magic threads was insufficient to restrain Aberrant Beast at this stage. Therefore, the net woven by the Larkspur lasted only a few seconds before being torn open in several places by the Aberrant Beast's impact.

The Larkspur could only continuously control the silk threads to patch up the gaps and hinder the Aberrant Beast's movements.

This action bought time for the Lantern in the air, and finally made her realize that the Larkspur wasn't talking nonsense; the Larkspur seemed to really have some thoughts that she didn't know about.

So the Lantern steadied itself, immediately changed the Spell Formula in its hand, and aimed the nail spear at the flesh and blood network not far away. That network corresponded to the area above the Larkspur's head.

She carefully controlled her magic, pouring the vast majority of her power into this attack, and in an instant, the Spell Formula burst forth from her hand.

Hundreds of magical spikes flashed through the air, raining down on the Spiderweb. After a brief standoff between the deep brown magic and the Flesh Spiderweb, the torrent of magic pierced through the Spiderweb, completely destroying that section of the structure.

A magical smoke screen, shattered flesh and blood, unidentified liquid spilling out from the fracture, and a huge hole instantly blasted open in the pierced Spiderweb.

To the Lantern's surprise, after the Spiderweb was blown apart, the Aberrant Beast in mid-air also let out a miserable howl.

"Squeak--"

Its voice became incredibly sharp and high-pitched, as if it were enduring some immense pain.

Then, the Lantern saw a surging torrent of azure magic erupt from the ground.

Seconds after the Spiderweb was shattered, the Larkspur had already shot up from the ground into the air.

Her entire body shimmered with blue light as she unleashed her full magical power, and her eyes burned with an icy killing intent. She stretched out a hand, seemingly holding something extremely small, and charged rapidly towards the Aberrant Beast.

The spider silk that had been wrapped around her had disappeared without her noticing.

As it turns out, the Larkspur's answer was correct. Because the spider's Rule, much like its name and its behavior, are embodied in its Spiderweb.

When he was ambushed by the Larkspur in his human form and thus controlled by Anti-Magic Technique, he chose to stall for time so that the white spider could weave its Spiderweb in the air.

Once it becomes Aberrant Beast, its Rule are actually quite simple—if it is caught in Spiderweb, it will be entangled by the spider silk.

It's not direct contact, but rather a blanket – meaning that if someone steps on the ground into the area corresponding to the Spiderweb in the air, that person will also be entangled in the Spiderweb.

This was deduced by the Larkspur from the strange gait of the Aberrant Beast itself.

It kept giving the two Larkspur a chance to lure them into the Spiderweb to fight it, but it always stayed at the edge of the area covered by the Spiderweb, never stepping inside.

This is precisely why the Larkspur's attacks on the spider silk binding it were futile: after all, these spider silks were essentially just products of the Rule, merely projections of the Spiderweb above its head. How could attacking a projection possibly harm the main body?

As for why the Aberrant Beast appeared to be in such pain after the Spiderweb was broken, the Larkspur had no idea.

She doesn't need to know.

Because at this moment she had already taken to the air, the surging torrent of magic power was like a tangible killing intent, representing the current mood of the Larkspur.

She didn't need to know so much about the thoughts of a monster or a dying person.

A metallic gleam shimmered in the Larkspur's hand. Amidst a burst of azure light, it flashed from beneath the Aberrant Beast and appeared above it. Then, a torrent of magic surged forth from the Aberrant Beast's body and the network of magic.

In mid-air, the already torn Spiderweb became precarious, and the once bright red flesh and spider silk began to turn blackish-gray. The spider silk lost its source of support and began to shrink rapidly.

Dark purple blood dripped from the sky, and the pitch-black lair, except for the magical light, inexplicably began to shake.

"--squeak!"

Then, accompanied by the Aberrant Beast's miserable howls, the Aberrant Beast's body, which had been blocked by the blue threads in mid-air, instantly disintegrated.

Boom!

Amidst the exploding blood and out-of-control magic, it plummeted towards the ground, eventually shattering into countless fragments.