In places where the golden light passed, the viscous, almost living black mist hissed and rapidly burned away.
Karl gave it no chance to react, clenching his fists once more before striking.
"BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!!!" A series of muffled, rapid, continuous impacts rang out in the air above the frozen lake. Karl's fist struck Dagon's chest in the exact same spot in a fraction of a second. The scale-covered chest, flesh, and bones of Dagon rapidly evaporated, sublimated, and almost completely disappeared into the air, concentrated at the points subjected to the continuous barrage.
In an instant, a massive, horrifying hole appeared in Dagon's chest, stretching from its forehead to its back. Through the opening, one could even see the ice debris behind and the distant sky beyond.
"ROOOAR!!!" Dagon roared in pain and fury. Its arms swung wildly, its claws lashing out at Karl before him, trying to crush this "golden beetle" that had caused it so much harm!
However, Karl was faster, moving just in the nick of time before Dagon's claws could land. He nimbly dodged, easily evading the attack, and even had time to adjust his position.
At that moment, Borch in the sky seized the opportunity.
"ROOOAR!!!" The dragon's roar resounded across heaven and earth. Its massive body swooped down at speed, its maw wide open, and searing dragon's breath descended from the sky like a waterfall of fire.
Yet, though most of the black mist around Dagon had been dispersed, remnants still remained, and more black mist surged forth from its body once again. Above its head, a cloud rapidly condensed, forming an ever-rolling and writhing black mist shield.
"HISS! HISS! HISS!!!" The dragon's burning breath struck the black mist shield, producing a harsh, sizzling sound of resistance. The black mist covered everything, and the dragon's breath could not penetrate the seemingly fragile defence; most of the flames were absorbed or deflected. Only a few stray sparks of flame touched Dagon, scorching some of its scales but causing no significant harm.
Meanwhile, the Saliva Demon, which had been ordered to entangle Dagon, was in a dire state. Its body lay prone on the ice, its numerous sharp limbs trembling, some broken and limp. Its precious chitinous carapace, as thick as a city wall, was now largely destroyed. Exposed skin and green fluid leaked out, pooling on the ice in puddles of viscous green liquid. Numerous grey-black mist tentacles coiled and clung to its wounds and the cracks in its carapace, constantly writhing and eroding them. The Saliva Demon's body hissed under the black mist's influence, its carapace and flesh taking on a grey-brown tinge. Its head hung low, breathing heavily and emitting pained hisses; the bright light in its compound eyes had faded to pain and weakness.
Faced with an enemy of this calibre, this fierce beast was utterly helpless.
Karl took notice of the Saliva Demon's pitiful state — it was almost completely consumed by the black mist and on the verge of death. With a thought, a cluster of golden divine power, like a shooting star, instantly vanished beneath the Saliva Demon's shattered carapace.
"HISSS!!" The black mist enveloping the Saliva Demon's wounds rapidly dissipated under the rays of divine power. The Saliva Demon's massive body trembled violently, emitting hisses that mixed pain and relief; the agony in its compound eyes significantly diminished.
Immediately after, a dark-red magic circle appeared beneath it, quickly enveloping it. A flash of light — and the Saliva Demon's massive, wounded body vanished from the icy surface, sent back by Karl to its original realm.
"It has done all it could," Karl knew in his heart. The Saliva Demon's power was undeniable — a crushing force against ordinary enemies. However, when facing a powerful opponent like Dagon, its massive body, due to insufficient agility, became a liability. As in their previous confrontation, when not using divine power, it had still managed to entangle Dagon through its self-healing ability and high resistance to magic. But once Karl used his divine power, the Saliva Demon became powerless to resist. Leaving it here would only increase the number of casualties.
His gaze shifted to Borch, who was still trying to breathe dragon fire from the air, holding Dagon at bay. This friend's condition was also not optimistic; though thanks to its ability to fly, it had no external injuries. However, its golden dragon eyes now involuntarily reflected pain and struggle, and its flight had become sluggish and trembling. Clearly, prolonged exposure to Dagon's influence and close-quarters combat was proving overwhelming even for a dragon.
"Borch, you need to leave immediately." Karl's voice echoed in Borch's ears. "If you continue to stay here, directly contacting this place and fighting against it, your spirit will be constantly eroded and defiled."
"Sooner or later... you will become like those fish-men below, transformed into mad mutants."
Before he had even finished speaking, Karl snapped his fingers again, and another tiny spark of divine power precisely entered Borch's body. Borch's body trembled violently in the air, and the darkness and burning pain in its soul instantly diminished by more than half. The pain in its eyes rapidly subsided, and its gaze became clear once more.
Borch hovered in the air for a moment, rhythmically flapping its wings and creating gusts of wind. It fell silent for a moment, a complex expression on its face — a mixture of worry, anxiety, a sense of helplessness, and acceptance that its current position had become a liability. It knew Karl was telling the truth, and that feeling it had just experienced — as if countless needles were piercing and eroding its spirit — was no illusion. Staying here would not only be of little help but could even become a problem that needed to be "dealt with."
Without hesitation or pretence, Borch nodded. It sent a sincere message through their mental link: "You... be careful."
With that, it no longer lingered on the battlefield; it suddenly gained altitude, flapped its enormous wings at full power, and changed direction. Then it flew swiftly toward the support position on the shore where Triss, Hen, and the others were located. Since it could not participate in the main battle, contributing to the ground operations — stabilising the defence and eliminating remaining threats — was also a way to make a difference.
In that brief moment when Borch left and Karl's attention was slightly diverted —
"ROOOAR!!!" Dagon let out a low roar, its chest riddled with the horrifying hole Karl had made. It had barely healed under the frantic attempts at regeneration from the churning black mist and writhing fleshy buds. Though terrible scars and dents were still visible, at least it was no longer an open gap.
It seized the moment, suddenly raising its hand, its claws enveloped in a dense, almost tangible black aura. It once again swung its claws furiously at Karl, hovering in the air. This time, the claw-wind was even more ferocious, and the black mist condensed and did not disperse, clearly carrying greater power.
However, facing this seemingly unavoidable strike, Karl did something that surprised everyone.