Chapter 669

What class poses the greatest threat to mages?

Some think it's warriors, others think it's assassins, but in truth, it's the seer—who wields the strength of a warrior and the speed of an assassin.

Watching Loki being swung by the leg by Peter, Steve frowned slightly with unease and turned to Shiler and Strange: "Um… isn't it a bit wrong just watching like this?"

"True." Strange nodded and cast a sound-amplifying spell on himself, then shouted toward them: "Peter! He's chanting a defense spell! Interrupt him! Yes, go around the shield! Jump onto his head! Throw him up! Good job!

Only when Peter slammed Loki onto the ground did Stark fly over and feign concern: "JARVIS, launch the capture net—first, stop Peter…"

With a *whoosh*, a capture net shot out from the armor's arm—but missed Peter entirely. Loki, dusty and bruised, struggled to his feet and shouted: "Is your targeting lens made of wood? Aim to the right!"

Before he finished speaking, Peter lunged again. Loki barely dodged—and failed. He was flung once more, hastily casting a defense spell to avoid real injury, then yelled: "Stop him! His strength is growing!"

Even without him saying it, the others had noticed: at first, Peter could only knock Loki back a few steps, but as time passed, he began hurling him up and down—and now, each throw left a crater in the ground.

If this continued, no one could withstand a single punch unless Thor was called. Steve leapt forward first, tapping his shield. Sure enough, Peter turned and charged him. When Peter struck the shield, Steve was shoved back several meters, his ankles sinking into the earth.

Seizing the moment, Stark flew over and fired another capture net—but the instant his targeting system locked onto Peter, Peter vanished. He tried again, repeatedly—same result.

Clearly, under these conditions, Peter's spider-sense had intensified. Eventually, the moment Stark even thought of aiming at him, Peter would instantly retreat from the armor.

"He seems to be learning?" Natasha, watching from afar through binoculars, said: "His abilities are growing stronger too. This can't go on…"

She immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie on her belt, patched through to Steve, and said: "No good—we need to fight in space. Otherwise, the city will be destroyed."

"The problem is, we can't catch him. How do we get him up there?" Steve, holding his shield, sighed: "We should've chosen space as the battlefield from the start…"

"Wait—he's got a symbiote inside him, right?" Natasha suddenly remembered. "The red one. What's it called? Red Wasp? Can't it take control of his body?"

"I'll try!" Steve threw his shield again. Peter rolled away, turned, and glared at Steve. Steve shouted: "Red Wasp! Red Wasp! Are you there? Take control of Peter's body—we need to take him to space!"

Peter gave no response. Shiler dissolved into a cloud of gray mist, using gray mist factors to touch Peter's body and awaken the sleeping Red Wasp.

"What are you doing? Why are you sleeping?" the mist asked.

"…I don't know. Suddenly, a force surged into my host's body. I absorbed part of it and am digesting it. Symbiotes sleep when digesting power… Sorry, did I delay something?" Red Wasp mumbled, drowsy.

"You absorbed that force. Do you know what it is?" Shiler asked.

"No. But it's beneficial. I haven't finished digesting yet, so I don't know its exact effects. What do you need me to do?" Red Wasp asked.

"Can you suppress Peter's body? His instincts are too strong—if this continues, he'll destroy the city."

"That instinct he gained is incredible—I've never seen anything like it, so I don't know how to control it. But I can make him quiet for a while—about ten minutes…" Red Wasp replied.

"Enough."

After the two symbiotes finished speaking, seconds later, Peter abruptly froze—stopping mid-sprint, motionless on the ground. Shiler's gray mist enveloped him instantly, lifting him upward, piercing the atmosphere, arriving in space.

Only Stark followed him up. The others couldn't handle space combat. But revived, Peter careened wildly through the cosmos—smashing celestial debris, sweeping up space junk—while Shiler and Stark watched from the sidelines.

Stark frowned: "I think we can't let this continue. What if a fragment gets fully captured by Earth's gravity and becomes a meteorite? What if it hits someone?"

"What about your robots?"

"Which one can survive a single punch from him? Get smashed by him, and they just become new space junk."

"I think we need to hire a few mercenaries with space combat capability… I mean, temporary contractors." Shiler mused, glancing at Stark. Both realized they were thinking of the same group.

About half an hour later, several symbiotes arrived near Earth. As Blue Spirit approached, Shiler asked: "Where's Venom? Didn't I call him? He's not still obsessed with chocolate, is he?"

"He's behind me. Seems to have had a little disagreement with his host… Oh, he hasn't been eating chocolate much lately. Probably dieting." Blue Spirit shook his head and descended to join the others in restraining Peter.

Soon after, Venom arrived—late, and in a state completely unlike what Shiler expected.

Normally, upon entering space, Venom should fully envelop Eddie's body, like the other symbiotes—this state being optimal for cosmic combat.

But now, Venom only wrapped Eddie's legs. His upper body was detached, and he had to extend an oxygen tube to feed Eddie air, lest he suffocate. Eddie now looked like a man with two heads. As they drew closer, Shiler heard Eddie roar:

"You ruined everything! You damn parasite! How could you make me kiss my girlfriend—"

"Shut up, coward! Without me, would you two have gotten any further? Dream on! You should thank me—and still call me a parasite? Look at this! Without me, you'd be dead!"

"Without you, I wouldn't even be in space!"

"Then I'll drop you back down right now, how about that?"

"Get lost! Do you think I want to be stuck with you? Do you know how much trouble you've caused me? The NYPD knows me by name now! Why won't you ever listen? Are you insane?!"

Even from afar, Shiler could hear Eddie's breakdown. When Eddie finally approached, Shiler asked: "What happened? Why are you fighting Venom again?"

Eddie sighed helplessly: "He's gone mad. Not only does he wander at midnight, standing on the tallest buildings shouting, 'I am Venom, I am vengeance,' but while I sleep, he takes control and builds all kinds of machines—even stole a helicopter and hid it in my basement…"

"He's installed a whole mess of devices everywhere. Every night he roams New York. I haven't slept properly in days…"

"Uh…" Shiler made a noise. Something about this sounded familiar. He rubbed his chin: "He's acting like a proper alien lifeform—monitoring humans and all…"

"But he's not monitoring! Those junky devices he built are useless!"

"I just haven't activated them! Shut up, coward!" Venom roared.

Shiler studied them both: "You really plan to split up? Don't be impulsive. Calm down…"

"I can't calm down! Do you know what he did yesterday? He took control and kissed my girlfriend! My god! I'm seriously thinking of calling the police!" Eddie's voice was frantic. "I thought he understood me—but now he's like a raving monster. I can't communicate with him at all!"

"Raving? You said Venom's been… raving?" Shiler narrowed his eyes at Eddie. Eddie nodded: "It's not just a little. He's been overexcited! He bites anything he sees on the street—I don't even know how to explain the tire tracks full of teeth marks and the chewed-up bumper to the traffic cops…"

Shiler exchanged a glance with Stark, who had just arrived. Stark whispered: "Could this be related to Peter's raving state?"

Shiler pulled Eddie and Venom away from the battlefield, then activated his magical sight. Instantly, the golden glow radiating from Venom blinded him.

"What's going on? Why do you have…?" Shiler circled Venom in confusion. Venom and Eddie were still shouting at each other. Stark glanced around, saw no one was watching, and swapped his armor's core for a magical energy source.

He then saw the anomaly too—the same golden glow as Peter's. He searched his memory for connections between them, but found none. Then Shiler suddenly exclaimed: "Oh—I get it. Could it be…? I nearly forgot…"

*Come, Sword!

Perhaps some still remember: during the Bat Invasion incident, Shiler had bonded Venom to Peter, staging a "Bat God Descends" performance—originally just to make money and boost S. . . . . .'s prestige. But somehow, they'd actually created a Bat God.

Coincidentally, at that time, the Spider's ancient enemy—the Morlun family—had taken interest in this world's Spider-Man: Peter Parker. They came to hunt him. But Peter, bonded with Venom, carried within him the darkness of Batman.

Morlun's arrival triggered Peter. The black tide erupted—and the unfortunate vampire was infected by Batman's inner darkness.

In the end, that Morlun family member was slain by Wong. But before dying, he activated the Morlun family's communication network, allowing the darkness to spread through it.

Shiler didn't know this. But he knew the most important link between Peter and Venom was the Bat God born during the Bat Invasion—their fused entity.

Now both have gained considerable faith energy. Could someone truly worship this Bat God?

At that moment, a portal opened midair. Strange poked his head out and said:

"Results confirmed. The Sanctum Sanctorum has seen."