The castle of the Inheritor Clan had already crumbled into ruins.
Above the wreckage, dark energy spread rapidly, corroding the broken walls and debris.
Vibrant spider-magic clashed intermittently with the darkness, sparking fleeting bursts of light.
At that moment, the green totem power seemed to sense a threat and vanished into the void in the blink of an eye.
The two figures standing amid the ruins paid no mind to Fin Fang Foom's movements.
They silently stared at each other, their gazes colliding with faint sparks.
The darkness surged, the Eight Immortals' artifacts floated high above, and the eight demons roared uncontrollably.
The scene was like a hell on Earth.
Corrupted Charlie slowly clenched his fists, the dark side within him growing infinitely as his power surged.
Inside him, countless Spider-Men struggled and roared.
They wanted to escape this cursed place.
But the darkness bound them tightly.
Countless Spider-Men, countless thoughts sparking within a single body—this made it hard for Corrupted Charlie to stay rational.
So, he chose to give up trying.
He rubbed his temples and said, "Fine. Only one of us can remain anyway. Settling this now isn't a bad idea."
Charlie frowned. "You can still let them go."
Corrupted Charlie crossed his arms and sneered, "What's swallowed stays swallowed. I'm doing great, and I'm strong."
He touched his head. "And not bald. It's practically perfect."
Charlie shook his head. "Then it has to be this way."
With a swift motion, he yanked a pendant from his waist. "Go!"
Hum!
Instantly, Lü Dongbin's sword transformed into a streak of light, shooting straight for Corrupted Charlie's face.
The brilliance of that moment seemed to pierce through time itself.
Riiip!
The sword's light tore through space. Corrupted Charlie calmly patted his shoulder, and the fire demon Shendu transformed into a raging dragon, bursting forth.
Roar!!
The dragon's cry echoed through the gloomy sky. A terrifying pillar of fire, hundreds of meters wide, erupted from Shendu's mouth, tainted by darkness and enveloping the incoming sword light in black flames.
Hum!
The sword light froze mid-air, trembling violently. Corrupted Charlie swiped at the demon pattern on his knee.
Boom!!
In the next second, a violent sandstorm swept through the ruins. Terrifying tornadoes surged in all directions toward Charlie, intent on shredding him to pieces.
Charlie flicked his wrist, pulling another pendant. The folding fan in his hand expanded several times, unleashing a gentle breeze.
Whoosh~
In a flash of light, the breeze passed, and the raging sandstorm instantly calmed, as if it had never existed.
Corrupted Charlie clapped his hands and laughed. "Nice. I like this turn-based game."
Then, he slapped the patterns on his suit again, and one demon after another roared into existence.
Charlie didn't back down. The Eight Immortals' artifacts shot out in beams of light, and the ruins were plowed over again and again by terrifying forces.
The sky, the earth, the ocean, flowers, grass, flute melodies— It seemed all beauty was swallowed by darkness in that moment. The darkness behind Corrupted Charlie grew even deeper.
"Hahaha, still not getting serious?"
With a cold laugh, he condensed the power of the eight demons into a dark Bagua symbol. The entire sky spun counterclockwise under its power, a terrifying suction pulling at the earth, threatening to devour everything in sight.
Including the invincible Spider-Man cloaked in the spider totem.
Charlie stood rooted to the ground, unmoving as a mountain. The Eight Immortals' artifacts fiercely protected his body, but their flickering light told him they weren't as powerful as he'd hoped.
Though the artifacts could suppress the eight demons, they had a certain restraining effect.
But now, the dark side had fully merged with the demons' power, while the artifacts in Charlie's hands were merely "borrowed," not truly his own.
If the Eight Immortals were present, the demons' power would be no threat.
But in Charlie's hands, the artifacts could only barely protect him.
Fortunately, he had more than just the artifacts.
Buzz~
The next moment, the twelve talismans around Charlie began to glow.
Boom!
Roar!!
Instantly, the twelve talismans unleashed their full power, transforming the battlefield into a separate dimensional space within a radiant burst of light.
In this space, Charlie seemed to become a god once more.
An omnipotent god!
He locked eyes with the grim-faced dark side and slowly extended a finger.
Boom~
In an instant, an infinitely massive finger broke through the clouds, descending slowly from the sky, its boundless pressure sweeping across the earth.
Realizing he was locked onto by the finger, Corrupted Charlie's eyes lit up.
"The Great Desolate Imprisoning Finger! Impressive!"
The finger condensed the full power of the twelve talismans, a manifestation of their rules—an unstoppable divine force.
Yet Corrupted Charlie seemed prepared.
"Break it!!"
He spread his arms wide, black webbing spreading infinitely beneath his feet. Drawing on the power of thousands of Spider-Men within him, a tide of dark energy surged forth.
Under the overwhelming darkness, the descending finger showed no change.
But a crack appeared in the power of the twelve talismans.
Sensing the talismans' disturbance, Charlie's expression shifted.
"This is…"
"The Tiger Talisman!"
Corrupted Charlie roared. Half of the Tiger Talisman among the twelve began absorbing the dark energy—the very culprit behind the dark side's creation and the only talisman linked to Corrupted Charlie.
As darkness invaded the talismans, the massive finger in the sky trembled uncontrollably.
Finally, just as the finger was about to crush the dark side, the talismans' power collapsed. The giant finger turned to ash, vanishing above Corrupted Charlie's head.
Boom!
With a deafening roar, the sky erupted as the half-Tiger Talisman unleashed a surge of darkness. The twelve talismans, caught in the explosion, scattered as streaks of light into the distance.
Charlie's face darkened. He stepped into a portal to retrieve the scattered talismans, but at the other end, black webbing sealed the exit, reminding him of being cornered by Supreme Peter in the Resurrection Match.
"When did you learn that trick?" Charlie exhaled.
Corrupted Charlie gripped the black webbing, the surrounding space completely warped by darkness.
"I told you to study hard and aim high, but you never listened. Now you'll pay for it."
With a cold laugh, he tightened the webbing. The entire world transformed into a cage under its pull.
Crack!
The cage contracted, space shattered, and endless darkness poured from the cracks, instantly engulfing Charlie.
In the darkness, he could feel the cage still shrinking.
If the black webbing captured him, he'd be powerless.
In this limited time, Charlie's mind raced.
The dark side was indeed strong—diligent, decisive, nearly flawless.
But that was the old him.
Now, Corrupted Charlie had swallowed all his weaknesses!
With that thought, Charlie's eyes glowed with vibrant light. As he formed hand seals, the second-stage spider totem bloomed beneath his feet.
Buzz~
Radiant light became a small sun in the darkness, only to be devoured by it in the next second, leaving just a faint spark.
But that was enough.
Charlie's lips curved slightly. The spider totem connected to the Web of Life and Destiny.
This was the Totem Universe, the closest place to the Web of Life and Destiny!
Seeing a spark flash in the dark cage, Corrupted Charlie seemed to realize his opponent's plan.
He sneered coldly. "Good brother, don't forget—my totem power is stronger than yours!"
With that, he formed seals, and eerie black webbing vanished into the void, connecting to the Web of Life and Destiny.
Just as he prepared to sever Charlie's totem connection to it, his face changed.
"What?"
Corrupted Charlie was stunned. "Why is your spider totem…"
He realized Charlie's totem power merely passed through the Web of Life and Destiny without lingering.
It wasn't trying to use its power to fight the darkness—it was something else.
Realizing this, Corrupted Charlie accelerated the cage's contraction.
"Come here!"
His fingers twitched, and the dark cage fully collapsed. But the spark was gone, and Charlie had vanished.
Now he was truly panicked.
Before he could dwell on it, an unimaginable force erupted within him.
That force was… Charlie!
Charlie had somehow entered his body, aiming to break him from within.
Corrupted Charlie's face darkened completely.
"Damn it, I knew it!"
He focused all his power to suppress the disturbance, but the internal chaos not only persisted—it incited more Spider-Men to rebel.
"Oh, finally some breathing room."
In the dark space within Corrupted Charlie, the Eight Immortals' artifacts propped up a light shield, expanding the eerie space. The Spider-Men inside could finally catch their breath.
The Spider-Men stretched, their chatter filling the air with chaos.
"Hey, buddy, you just stepped on my foot."
"So what? My face almost got squashed."
"Someone touched my butt!"
"Who shoved their stinky foot in my mouth? Come out, let's settle this one-on-one, no backups!"
The noise overwhelmed Charlie, but thankfully, the reliable ones gathered around him.
Corrupted Charlie had summoned a Spider-Man army—and brought all their friends.
"Hey, Invincible Spider-Man, what's with you? Looking a bit rough!" Lizard Parker quipped from the side.
It was Charlie who had contacted him through the Web of Life and Destiny, using Lizard Parker's reverse-summoning skill from the Resurrection Match to enter the dark side's body.
To Lizard Parker's teasing, Charlie rolled his eyes. "Follow my lead later."
Lizard Parker shrugged. "Fine, but tell me—why'd you eat me?"
"That wasn't me."
"Oh, I get it. Your fanboy, mimicking you like crazy. He got a face-lift."
"Shut up."
Gwen pushed Lizard Parker aside, her eyes worried as she looked at Charlie. "You okay?"
Charlie shook his head. "Fine for now. Put your hand on my back."
"Okay."
Gwen didn't ask why. Supreme Peter and the others knew this wasn't the place for chit-chat, so they linked hands, channeling their power into Charlie.
"This'll work?" Thor Peter asked.
Charlie's mouth twitched. "What are you guys doing?"
The Peters exchanged glances.
"Aren't we lending you our power?" Venom Parker asked, confused.
Charlie rolled his eyes. "I don't do that. It wouldn't work anyway."
"Then…"
They looked at Gwen, her hand on Charlie's shoulder, with strange expressions.
Charlie explained, "My back's itchy. She's scratching it. That's reasonable, right?"
Everyone: "…"
Classic Invincible Spider-Man—still cracking jokes at a time like this.
Crack!
The dark space began to surge with power. The light shield propping it up started to falter under the strain.
The eight demons bombarded the shield from outside. Sweat beaded on Charlie's forehead.
"No time for nonsense. Focus now. Think of anything—anything at all. Your future, your tragic past, or a cute classmate. Don't stop."
"What?"
Takuya Yamashiro scratched his head. "We have to do this?"
"Of course! Hurry, do it!" Charlie shouted.
"Alright, let's play it this way!"
Lizard Parker closed his eyes first. "I'll be the greatest comic artist—drawing superheroes. Thinking of a pen name… Stan Lee, how's that?"
"Don't say it—think it!"
"Got it. Plotting my comic in my head. Hmm, what brand of pen? Nah, I'll use a computer. But I can't afford a good one. Who'll sponsor me—"
The more Spider-Men, the weaker they get.
That's a Marvel rule.
But the more Spider-Men together, the easier the "contagion" spreads.
Lizard Parker started the chain, and Venom Parker recalled his past.
"Sob I was so miserable. I should've saved the little girl first. That boy grew up to be a cop and arrested me…"
"No!! Gwen!!" Spectacular Peter shot webbing wildly. "You can't save people with webbing!!"
Gwen: "…"
These lunatics.
Then she closed her eyes, thinking about the underwear color she debated buying last night.
Amazing Peter clutched his head. "What to think? Oh! If I'd earned enough for a wedding ring, Mary Jane would've been thrilled… No, Harry had more money…"
"May!!"
"Uncle Ben…"
"Sob…"
Unlike Lizard Parker, most Spider-Men recalled their tragic pasts.
At that moment, the destined-to-be-lonely Spider-Men overflowed with misfortune. This misfortune spread rapidly in the dark space, flooding Corrupted Charlie's mind with countless voices.
He thought of his Uncle Ben, Aunt May, Mary Jane, Gwen, Harry… No, those weren't his.
He was just Spider-Man's dark side. He didn't need to care about these things.
But he couldn't control his thoughts.
Familiar yet unfamiliar faces flashed in his mind, scenes of joys and sorrows he'd never experienced.
"Ah!! My head…"
The darkness collapsed. Corrupted Charlie knelt in the ruins, clutching his head and wailing.
"I don't want purple underwear!!"
"No! Charlie says purple has flair!"
"Idiot, turn back—there's dog crap ahead!!"
The crazed Corrupted Charlie roared. The S.H.I.E.L.D. totem warriors arriving at the scene were dumbfounded.
"Spider-Man! How?!"
"That man's back."
"The black Spider-Man—he destroyed the Inheritor Clan!"
"What's he doing?"
"He's lost it."