129 THE FLAMING SKULL SPIDER
As Agathae's wrath consumed him, his magic began to falter. Through his control panel, Leo could see the once-solid magical codes of the elephantine armor unraveling, becoming increasingly unstable. Many once perfectly linked codes were broken by junk codes.
Leo sent the ravenous hounds to pounce on Agathae's magic armor to test their resilience and find the weak points in the armor. Then he waited for the right moment, riling him further before exploiting this weakness to land his decisive strike.
"But..", Petunia uttered but stopped.
Petunia still seemed curious but didn't press further. She knew better than to expect a straight answer from Leo when he didn't want to give one.
"Damn it, I forgot something," Leo grumbled as they walked on.
"What now?" Yun-Yun asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I forgot to take Agathae's head," Leo replied, sounding genuinely annoyed.
Petunia groaned. "Seriously? You've already collected enough heads to please Dean Faschae for life. One more won't make a difference!"
Leo smirked, his tone turning playful. "I wasn't worried about impressing the Dean. I just didn't want Agathae coming back to haunt me."
Petunia rolled her eyes. "You're not going back for it, are you?"
"Nah," Leo said with a wave of his hand. "Too much trouble. If he wants revenge, I'll just remind him who sent him to Hell in the first place. I killed him once I'll kill him again."
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They moved cautiously through the desolate ruins of Sodom, a wasteland of crumbling walls and jagged debris. The silence was oppressive, a suffocating shroud broken only by the crunch of rubble beneath their boots.
"This place feels like a graveyard of stone," Leo muttered, scanning the lifeless horizon.
"It is a graveyard," Yun-Yun replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
After hours of trudging through the bleak landscape, they came upon a building that had weathered the ages better than most. Its walls remained intact, offering a rare respite from the relentless elements.
"We can shelter inside," Petunia suggested, her voice heavy with exhaustion.
Once inside, Leo leaned against a wall and let out a weary sigh. "We'll rest here for now. There's nothing out there anyway."
Yun-Yun stayed on her feet, her sharp gaze scanning the room. "Something's not right."
"What do you mean?" Leo asked, immediately alert.
"The floors," she said, her tone tense. "They're too clean. Someone—or something—has been here."
"People?" Leo ventured.
"Or monsters," Petunia added grimly.
A cold draft swept through the room, and the air grew heavy. Before any of them could react, a sudden blur erupted from the shadows. A skeletal monstrosity emerged, its hulking frame scraping against the narrow confines of the building. It moved with an unnatural grace, its spider-like limbs clattering against the stone floor, leaving trails of polished rubble in its wake.
The creature's skull was crowned with jagged spines, and its hollow eye sockets burned with flickering blue flames. The sight was both mesmerizing and terrifying.
"What the hell is that?" Petunia screamed, recoiling in horror.
The creature let out a piercing screech, its talons raking against the stone walls and sending sparks flying.
"Stay back!" Leo shouted, raising his transformed dragon talons.
"It's behind you!" Yun-Yun yelled.
The creature lunged, its bladed ribs slashing through the air like scythes. Leo rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly strike, and scrambled toward Yun-Yun.
The skeletal spider reared back, its hollow eyes blazing brighter, and pounced again. Yun-Yun's hands moved in intricate patterns, and a shimmering force field materialized just in time. The creature's claws scraped against it, filling the air with an ear-splitting screech.
"This won't hold for long," Yun-Yun said, sweat beading on her forehead as she maintained the spell.
"What are we going to do?" Petunia asked, her voice trembling.
Leo gritted his teeth and charged. His dragon claws flashed as he leapt onto the spider's back, slashing furiously at its grotesque form. But its bones were impossibly dense, and his strikes barely left a scratch.
"I can't break its damn skin," Leo growled, frustration mounting.
The creature twisted violently, trying to throw him off. Leo dug his claws into its joints, clinging desperately as it thrashed.
"Die, you bitch!" Petunia screamed, forming intricate patterns with her hands.
A spear of crackling magic materialized and shot toward the spider, striking its body. The creature shrieked, its movements faltering for a moment.
"It's immune to physical weapons," Yun-Yun observed, her voice steady despite the chaos. "But not to magic."
Leo quickly shifted tactics, summoning magic pellets that struck the spider with explosive force. The creature howled in pain, its body cracking under the assault.
"Magic works!" Petunia exclaimed, hurling another spell at the beast.
Leo fired a rapid succession of magical projectiles, each blast chipping away at the creature's defenses. "We're wearing it down," he said through gritted teeth.
But the spider, now desperate, spewed a cocoon of sticky webs at Petunia, ensnaring her in an instant. She struggled against the web but her cries were muffled by the thick threads.
"We have to finish this now!" Yun-Yun shouted, summoning a blade of shimmering energy. She sent it hurtling toward the creature with a commanding gesture.
Leo unleashed another volley of magic missiles, each strike finding its mark. The skeletal spider's movements grew sluggish, its flames dimming. She was wounded.
Yun-Yun's magical sword struck true, slicing through the creature's skull. The spider collapsed in a heap, its blue flames extinguished.
Silence fell once more, broken only by their ragged breathing.
Leo stumbled back, his claws retracting as he turned to free Petunia from the webs. "Is everyone okay?"
Petunia nodded, her face pale but determined. "I'm fine but get me out of these fucking webs."
Leo's laughter echoed through the room as he watched Petunia struggling, cocooned in the spider's web like a mummy. "Hahaha!" he chuckled, unable to hide his amusement.
"What's so funny?" Petunia snapped, her voice full of irritation. "Come on, get me out of this sticky mess!"