Spica's Shadow Brawl
Spica, who had hurled herself toward Marie, shattered the iron bars and rushed to her side. She swung her fist at the villain still frozen in shock beside Marie.
The villain never imagined she'd charge at him in her battered state—he couldn't even react properly before her fist slammed into his jaw. A shockwave followed.
-BOOM!
Struck by the shockwave, the villain flew back, crashing into the wall and slumping limply to the floor.
"What the hell."
Only after one of their own went down in a single blow did the remaining villains finally rush at Spica. Their numbers had dwindled from five to four with that attack. None were as strong as Stormbringer, but in a fight, numerical superiority was absolute. Especially since Spica wasn't in pristine condition.
Realizing she couldn't win a head-on clash, Spica racked her brain and thrust her fist toward the fluorescent lights on the ceiling instead of the enemies.
Her extended fist glowed brightly as a shockwave erupted, smashing the lights and plunging the basement into total darkness.
"Damn it, I can't see a thing!"
"What are you idiots doing, getting played by just one person?!"
With no sunlight reaching the basement, the loss of the fluorescents brought pitch-black darkness. Unlike Spica, who fought alone, the villains hesitated to move rashly, fearing they'd hit their own allies.
While the enemies panicked in the unexpected situation, Spica focused all her senses on her ears, reacting to every sound. Their voices, ragged breaths, the crunch of shattered fluorescent shards underfoot as they shifted—these clues let her pinpoint their positions. She launched herself into the dark.
Aiming for the head would take them out in one hit, but in zero visibility, targeting such a narrow spot was tricky. Instead, she gauged their builds and punched for the torso.
-BOOM!
"Gah…!!"
Confirming the impact of her fist sinking into the enemy's midsection, Spica followed with a straight right. The foe, who had taken the hit to a vital spot, collapsed and stopped moving.
Three left. Her glowing fist during the attack had given away her position, so Spica quickly leaped away. Attacks flew at where she'd been a split-second later, but she dodged by a hair.
The villains grew more furious at being toyed with by a single mid-level hero, losing their cool and making rash judgments. Having fallen from predators to prey, they failed to leverage their numbers and got picked off one by one by Spica.
"Fuck. Getting our asses handed to us by a dying hero…"
-BOOM!
One villain, never dreaming he'd be the hunted, spat in frustration. Spica zeroed in on the voice and charged. Another comrade down—now the remaining two held their breaths, cautiously probing for her presence.
Silence blanketed the impenetrable darkness.
Spica crouched low, groping the floor until she gripped a shard of broken fluorescent glass. She hurled it hard in a random direction; it bounced with sharp clinks.
One tense villain unleashed a barrage at the sound. Spica, anticipating it, gathered her power and struck at him.
-BOOM!
One remained.
The lone villain spoke up, his voice echoing. "Gotta say, you're impressive. I underestimated you as just a mid-level hero, but fighting this well in your condition? Didn't see that coming."
"You're weaker than I expected. I was tense with five of you."
"The others were all scrubs. But I won't be easy."
Spica provoked him to cloud his judgment, but he smirked and brushed it off. As expected, this guy was the strongest of the bunch here.
In a one-on-one, her previous strategies were useless, so Spica maxed out her phone's flashlight and set it on the floor. Light finally pierced the dim basement, revealing each other.
"Talk about perfect timing. Joker raiding the hideout right now? Did you bring him?"
"What are you talking about? A hero wouldn't team up with a villain."
It was a reasonable suspicion, but as she said, heroes allying with villains was hard to imagine. Spica calmly lied it away, and the man dropped the topic without pressing.
"Doesn't matter right now anyway. More importantly, to avoid getting chewed out by the boss, I'd better step up. He set this stage for us—if I can't take down one little girl, docking pay won't be the end of it."
"Villains get salaries too, huh?"
"Loyalty always comes from money."
"Doesn't seem like you guys are worth paying for."
"Haha, cheeky brat who hasn't even seen blood."
"Focus on the fight instead of yapping."
Spica charged. Shockwaves weakened with distance, so she closed in for a finishing blow—but as the villain reached out, dizziness hit her hard, freezing her in place.
"Ugh… what is this?"
"How's it feel? Can't even stand, right? I caught your friend with this easy."
Her head spun, headache pounding, balance shot, stomach churning. As Spica staggered, the villain closed in and punched. Her jaw snapped back, collapsing her stance.
"Kuh…"
"Too easy. Where'd that confidence go?"
"…That's a dirty way to fight."
"Grown-ups are always dirty."
The man grabbed her hair, hoisting her up for more punches. Already at her limit before the fight, Spica's vision flashed with each hit. She clenched her teeth, clinging to consciousness.
"Damn, you're tenaciously filthy. Gotta admit, I'm impressed even as your enemy."
"Hah… hah… you sure it's safe getting this close?"
"Drop the lame bluffing. Dizzy and can't even swing properly—how do you plan to take me down?"
Spica's strength was strikes. Without balance, punching was near impossible—no weight behind it, couldn't even land a hit. The man dropped his guard.
That was his mistake. Spica summoned her last strength, grabbed his leg, and yanked him down.
"What the—?"
Entwined, she flipped, sliding her right arm under his neck, gripping it with her left bicep while pressing his head with her left forearm—a perfect choke.
"Grk…!?!"
She locked his lower body with her legs for total control.
"You got too cocky. Sure, your power makes punching impossible when I'm dizzy, but up close like this? I can still choke."
As he'd thought, her main arsenal was striking, useless without balance. But if the enemy let her close in carelessly, submissions like chokes or joint locks worked. Muscle memory from endless training kicked in amid the spinning world.
Of course, such techniques were useless against monsters, so few physical heroes bothered learning them—except Spica, who'd trained in martial arts before becoming one.
"Kuh… damn… you."
The man thrashed as his airway tightened, but escape from perfect submission was impossible. Soon, he went limp, unconscious.
As he passed out, the dizziness tormenting Spica vanished. But her body, at its absolute limit, trembled with pain.
She crawled toward the bound Marie.
"Unni… Marie unni!"
Grabbing Marie's shoulder and shaking, but her eyes stayed shut. Even breaths confirmed she was alive, at least.
Spica debated: escape with Marie now, or wait for Joker? Things had gone as planned with him— she'd draw the villains first, then he'd cause chaos to distract while she rescued Marie. But could she carry Marie out like this? Even Joker couldn't solo the hideout alone.
As she pondered, shouldering Marie to flee—
"Tch. Incompetent fools. Can't even handle something this simple."
Another villain appeared in the dark basement.
"…You're."
The only lights were Spica's phone flash and the glow from the door the newcomer had opened. Backlit, his face was hard to see clearly, but the massive scar crossing it and the sword at his waist gave him away.
Drake—the A-rank villain who'd terrorized the department store with Stormbringer, claiming four mid-level heroes' lives.