Chapter 390
The unexpected onslaught momentarily stunned the mages. The spiders surged toward them, forcing the group to scatter and redirect their focus. Simultaneously, the phantom spider looming in the sky began to destabilize the binding spell. By the time the mages dispatched the smaller spiders, the Alpha broke free.
A red-haired goblin mage, a specialist in earth magic, slammed his staff into the ground, conjuring a wall of jagged stone spikes. The Alpha smirked—a terrifyingly human expression—and leapt, using its webbing to anchor itself to the wall and propel upward.
Weaving through a hail of ice shards and energy blasts, the Alpha closed the distance. It lunged at the goblin mage, its claws raking across his chest in a blur of motion. Blood sprayed into the air as the mage collapsed, lifeless before his body hit the ground.
"We need to regroup!" shouted Elinor, her voice cutting through the chaos.
The Alpha allowed no such reprieve, unleashing a barrage of webbing that ensnared the legs of two descending mages. One mage frantically tried to burn through the webbing with fire magic, but the Alpha was upon him in seconds. Its mandibles clamped onto his shoulder, tearing through flesh and bone. His agonized screams echoed through the canyon.
The second trapped mage managed to slice through the webbing with a blade of pure energy, but not before the Alpha’s tail-like appendage speared him through the abdomen. Blood dripped from its claws as it flung the limp body aside.
The eldest mage glanced at the phantom spider in the sky, his eyes narrowing with determination. Conjuring a cyclone of wind, he ascended rapidly. The closer he got to the phantom, the more his spell faltered, but he pushed forward. When he reached his limit, a faint smile graced his lips.
He detonated his mana core.
The battlefield went silent for a moment as a brilliant flash of light engulfed the area, followed by a deafening explosion. The phantom spider shattered, its oppressive field vanishing with it.