Chapter 2189: Fighting The Guardians

As we faced a long staircase of polished glass and glowing runes leading upstairs, a voice whispered from the skies themselves. For a single clear moment I heard both Lolth and her sister Htlol speaking in unison, their tones overlapping yet distinct.

"Sylph, this entire area has already been calculated to possess three floors. You’re on Floor 1 as of now. By climbing the staircase and enduring the divine pressure that grows heavier with each step, you can reach Floor 2 and then Floor 3."

"I see that!" I answered while already turning to face the divine beasts charging toward us. "What about these things? Will they ever stop attacking us?!"

"I’m afraid I cannot stop them," Htlol replied with a hint of genuine regret.

"They’re here to kill you! So just die!" Lolth sharper, more mocking voice cut in immediately after.

"Enough with that," Htlol said firmly. "Good luck, Sylph. I am sure you can use this place to grow stronger alongside your family."

As the dual goddesses’ presence faded once more into the background, the giant divine beasts attacked without hesitation. The mechanical Arachnes — golems of purple and golden metal with gold and purple divine fire constantly fueling their forms — charged across the glass floor with terrifying speed.

There were five of them in total. Four were smaller yet still imposing, each holding dozens of different weapons in their many hands. The fifth was a true giant, a nightmarish combination of many fused into one. It possessed two heads, eight arms, eight spider-like legs, and a large mechanical eye made of glowing jewels that glared at us with cold, calculating hatred.

They moved in complete silence except for the sharp, rhythmic sound of their metal legs striking the glass floor. The echoes rang loudly through the vast chamber as they charged with deadly precision and coordinated speed.

"Let’s fight as one," my father said, his voice steady and commanding. "Don’t step outside the formation, kids. We don’t want to fight them alone!"

We all nodded without a word and charged forward together. My father swung his blazing blade first, cutting through the nearest smaller Arachne and tearing several of her arms apart in a single powerful arc. I followed immediately with a rapid thrust of my soul weapon straight into its chest, shattering the core into glittering pieces.

CRAAASH!

At the same time, three other arachnoid golems attacked from behind me, but my brother and my mother were already there to cover my back.

My mother’s living chains shot out and bound two of them down for a critical moment, while my brother swung his own blade with precise timing and pierced the core of the second one cleanly. The remaining two managed to free themselves from the chains and lunged at my brother, but my father and I struck them from behind before they could land a fatal blow.

The giant Arachne attacked the moment we were engaged with its smaller kin. It swung eight different swords at us with immense precision, each blade trailing streams of divine energy that fired outward in every direction like deadly comets.

"Avoid!" my father called out urgently, but my mother ran forward and relied on her barriers the same way she always had. "Faylen, no!"

"?!"

My mother’s eyes widened in pure shock as her carefully constructed barrier was instantly slashed to pieces. The remaining attacks continued toward her without slowing.

"MOM!"

I leaped toward her without thinking and pulled her against my chest, taking the full force of the blows on my own body. I was already in my Weredragon form. Thick Dragon Bone Armor surged across my scales and helped me survive the initial impact, yet deep gashes still cut through one of my arms, sliced part of my tail, opened wounds along my legs, and even pierced into my spine.

"Ugh!"

"S-Sylphy! No!!!"

My mother screamed in horror as she felt my blood spray across her, but I quickly weaved my divine power through every severed piece. My limbs returned to me and fused back into my body within seconds, leaving my entire family staring in stunned silence.

"What? I can do that now, yeah! Now let’s continue!"

Now that my body was composed of countless cells I could freely control — each one carrying a tiny fragment of the System — even when my body was cut into pieces I could put myself back together as long as I still had enough divine power remaining.

However, divine power was the absolute key, and I still did not possess the largest reserves even after bonding with Lolth and turning her into my familiar. My Divine Energy pool was not endless yet.

At most I could perform that kind of regeneration only a couple more times before I would become fully exhausted. I could not afford to abuse the ability for too long in this place.

"Attack it!" I ordered, my voice sharp with renewed determination.

My family snapped back to reality and nodded at once. My mother conjured a giant magic circle beneath her feet and poured her divinity spark into it without hesitation. "Take this! Grand Nova Cannon!"

RUMBLE!

A powerful Tier 10 Spell erupted forward, painted with the pure white-gold light of her divinity. The concentrated beam pierced straight through the divine beast’s thick armor and blew a large piece of its torso clean off.

My father followed immediately with a sharp horizontal slash and then a vertical one using his blazing white sword. My brother helped him by flanking the giant from the opposite side, cutting through several of its remaining arms before it could unleash another full slashing barrage.

At the same time I took a high leap into the air and descended with my spear pointed downward. I drove the weapon through both of the monster’s heads and all the way into the fat, glowing core nestled deep inside its chest.

"Bye!"

Crack, crack...!

CRASH!

BOOOM!

A violent explosion of divine energy erupted from the destroyed core, hurling all of us backward across the glass floor. My brother nearly fell over the edge of the platform, but I extended my Yggdragon Aura just in time and caught him, pulling him safely back to my side.

"Bro, are you alright?" I asked quickly.

"I-I’m fine... what about you?! You just got cut to pieces!!!" he said, still staring at the places where my body had been severed only moments earlier.

"I’m fine," I sighed, rolling my newly restored shoulders. "I’ve survived worse. Literally."

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