Shaking his head to clear his mind of distractions, Gustavo carefully put the parchment away.
His strength grows very quickly. Three years may be an extremely short period of time for an ordinary Dragon-Hunting Spider, but for Gustavo, it is enough to bring about a tremendous transformation.
"When the time comes, I'll definitely get involved, no matter what. A demiplane... hmm, I wonder if Spider Mom would be interested..."
"What a pity about these corpses, they were all destroyed by Hades. Otherwise, they could have been used to make puppets." Gustavo glanced around the alternate dimension, clicking his tongue with a hint of regret.
Hades harms both the body and the soul; creatures poisoned by Hades are absolutely inedible, at least not until their poison resistance is high enough.
"Hades made a great contribution in this battle, and he also has the [Poison Calamity Body]. I think we can make the most of this move, 'Heaven and Earth Coexisting,' to increase my poison resistance, and then use poison to attack indiscriminately. Hmm... that sounds promising!"
As he pondered this, Gustavo used spider silk to collect the relatively intact remains of several High-Rank Transcendent Lifeform and put them together into a large cloth bag.
"Oh, and this Legendary item."
Gustavo examined the black cloak before him, which was covered with dense, tadpole-like dark runes.
Divine Power permeated it, and a surge of information flooded into the mind.
"It turns out to be a four-star common quality item, which counts as entering the Legendary realm. Stokes Cloak, what a long name. From now on, I'll call you Shadow Cloak." Gustavo happily put away the Legendary item after renaming it.
"It's time to get out, but when will this alternate dimension open?"
Looking around, Gustavo found no signs of the space shifting, so he lay down on the ground and waited patiently while slowly healing his injuries and recovering the energy he had lost in the battle.
Time passed slowly, and after more than half an hour...
Click!
Space shattered, Gustavo suddenly stood up, using gravity to float up. He looked around again and saw irregular black cracks appearing all over the alternate dimension. Finally, with a bang, the Alternate Space Prison turned into specks of light and disappeared.
However, before Gustavo could even rejoice, a huge tail nearly a hundred meters long lashed out.
Its tail is five or six meters thick, covered with brownish-yellow scales with flame patterns on the surface. The combination of these features gives it an explosive and ferocious aura, while also giving it a sense of stability and power, like the earth itself.
The air distorted, emitting a mournful wail.
"Earth Flame Python!"
Gustavo was startled and immediately recognized the owner of the snake's tail.
"Damn it, it's this again!"
The familiar plot made Gustavo's teeth ache a little.
Hidden Star Lake and Caro Volcano are over a hundred kilometers apart, so how did this Earth Flame Python end up here?
It's most likely that Luck Deprivation intervened again.
Boom!
The snake's tail slammed into the ground, the terrifying force creating a rift five or six hundred meters long. The earth shook violently, and many creatures living nearby were killed instantly.
Having narrowly escaped the attack, Gustavo looked down at the Earth Flame Python, which had revealed its full form.
This creature is definitely considered enormous among magical beasts; many Legendary beasts are not as big as it. It is nearly 300 meters long and looks like a mountain when coiled up.
The crimson snake flickered its tongue, its two bright red, jade-like eyes coldly fixed on Gustavo, carrying an undisguised, chilling killing intent.
Gustavo narrowed his eyes and decisively retreated.
This Earth Flame Python is by no means weak even among Ninth-Rank Transcendent. Putting aside everything else, just its enormous size alone must contain terrifying power.
Moreover, don't forget that the Earth Flame Python is a dual-elemental magical beast of earth and fire, extremely adept at both offense and defense. My current combat strength is only around the upper-middle level of the Tier Eight, far from enough to contend with it. Retreat is the best strategy.
However, he wanted to leave, but the Earth Flame Python wouldn't allow it.
For the Earth Flame Python, Gustavo posed a very strong threat, and it would not allow such a creature with the potential to reach the Tier Nine to appear on its territory.
Furthermore, Gustavo's bloodline is very attractive to the Earth Flame Python. It senses that once it devours this spider-like, unknown beast, it might be able to unlock the door to Legendary.
Therefore, no matter what, the Earth Flame Python will not let Gustavo leave.
Buzz!!
A surge of earth vein energy emanated from the Earth Flame Python and spread in all directions. Immediately afterwards, a massive, three-dimensional gravity field covering a kilometer radius appeared out of thin air.
Boom!!
The terrifying gravitational pressure was several times more terrifying than Gustavo's 107 times gravity.
The ground subsided, rocks crumbled, and trees broke...
In the blink of an eye, the originally uneven ground was flattened by gravity, and a wild plaza appeared out of thin air.
"Good heavens, you'd be perfect for infrastructure!" Gustavo grinned, desperately resisting the gravitational pull coming from all directions.
He activated the ultimate level 12 Gravity Control, imbued himself with an anti-gravity field, and propelled himself with a repulsive field, engaging in a new level of struggle with the Earth Flame Python.
Hiss!
The Earth Flame Python flicked its tongue, staring at Gustavo in the sky with suspicion and uncertainty. The power Gustavo was using was causing its bloodline to surge restlessly, and its desire to devour grew stronger.
Thump!!
With a thunderous Thunderclap, the Earth Flame Python soared into the sky, its massive body twisting and turning like a dragon. Its head opened, and a burst of blazing sun was brewing within it before it suddenly spewed out!
Boom!!
The pillar of fire cleared a path, leaving behind a long-lasting crimson trail. The air crackled with explosions, as if a rainbow had pierced the sky and split it in two.
"Holy crap!"
This powerful fire pillar attack definitely reached the Tier Nine. Feeling the increasingly intense heat approaching, Gustavo's mind raced, and finally he gritted his teeth and chose to take it head-on!
An overwhelming surge of energy erupted from within, enveloping the body. Solid spider silk swiftly weaved and intertwined, forming a pair of broad wings.
When the pillar of fire struck Gustavo, it first collided with the protective energy, tearing it apart before striking the Thorn Iron Armor.
laugh!--
The silver shell instantly turned bright red, and some parts even began to melt, with all the sharp spikes on its surface burned away.
"You dead snake, just you wait!"
Gustavo endured the excruciating pain, fully activating his Gravity Control and using the pillar of fire to generate propulsion. His spider silk wings unfurled, resembling a large bird with a long, fiery tail, and he soared into the sky, instantly escaping the Earth Flame Python's gravitational field.
Immediately afterwards, Gustavo unleashed all his explosive skills without hesitation, transforming into a silver meteor that streaked across the sky and disappeared.
Upon seeing this, the Earth Flame Python hissed and gave chase without hesitation.
However, it lost track of Gustavo after a short chase, vented its anger by crushing a mountain before finally giving up and choosing to leave.
In the shadows, Gustavo, cloaked in Shadow Cloak, watched the enormous serpent depart, let out a cold snort, and vanished from the spot.
If it weren't for the invisibility cloak, it would have been really difficult for him to escape the Earth Flame Python's pursuit. He could only say thank you to Captain Brooks; he's truly a treasure-giving boy. He, Old Gu, will definitely pay a personal visit to express his gratitude another day.
Oh right, and that fortune teller too. Best friends should all be together, not one of them can be left out.
Night City.
Headquarters of the Brooks Mercenary Corps.
In an elegantly furnished and exquisitely decorated woman's boudoir, a thin goose down comforter outlines a delicate figure on the bed.
Achoo!
Diwoer, who was lying in bed taking a nap, frowned. She was Legendary being; although she wasn't good at fighting, her physique was absolutely formidable, and she hadn't sneezed in ages.
"Is someone targeting them?"
For most people, this might not matter at all, but Diwoer is a diviner and is very sensitive to these mysterious things.
"How about we find an excuse to leave Night City? I have a feeling Brooks either." As if a strange chill were creeping over him, Diwoer pulled the blanket tighter and decided to leave in a couple of days.
"Unfortunately, a diviner cannot predict their own Fate, but I can predict the Fate of Brooks..." Diwoer's eyes flickered slightly, and he immediately sat up, took out a gift that Brooks had given him, and activated his Divination.
A moment later, fine beads of cold sweat appeared on Diwoer's fair and smooth forehead.
Should I run away, or should I run away?
"What? You're leaving?" Brooks frowned.
"That's right, I just remembered, there are still some things to take care of on Planet Guta." Diwoer said, her eyes darting around. Lying to her best friend, she sounded a little weak-willed.
She had intended to leave without saying goodbye, but after all, they were sisters, not just superficial friends, so Diwoer still came to find Brooks.
"You... did you divine something?" Brooks reacted with remarkable speed, especially considering that a device she had left inside Lennar two days ago had been triggered, likely causing the mercenary team's mission to fail.
"Sigh, don't ask anymore. If I reveal too much, the price I'll pay in the future will be even greater. I already regret giving you a divination," Diwoer sighed helplessly.
Brooks's pupils contracted slightly; she gleaned a wealth of information from her best friend's words.
"You should go. After all, Planet Guta is the safest place in the Elven Plane. You can probably avoid trouble there." Brooks didn't stop her. She understood that it was already kind of her that Diwoer came to say goodbye. Any further entanglement would only push her best friend further away.
"Take care!" Diwoer pursed his lips, turned and left. A moment later, a flying saucer slowly rose into the sky and disappeared into the heavens.
Brooks stood by the window, looking up at the sky. Her hands unconsciously clenched and unclenched, repeating this several times. After a while, she seemed to make a decision, took out an old communicator, and dialed the only number stored in it.
No one answered.
Brooks took a deep breath. "I agree to join you."
"Welcome to [Ashes], Ms. Brooks!" Only then did an aged voice come from the other end of the phone.
After a long while, the call ended. Brooks carefully put away the old communicator, let out a long sigh, and muttered to himself, "Hopefully, I didn't make the wrong choice this time!"