Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Empress's Descent
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Psssh– Psssh–
Viper's head had been split clean open, her body tumbling across the floor.
Blood gushed up like a fountain, soaking my bare skin in crimson.
"W-what the hell is that thing?!"
Kwak Executive screamed as he toppled backward behind the sofa.
The Hunter Team Leader hurriedly drew his massive greatsword, positioning himself between the executive and me.
"Executive, fall back! This isn't your average mimic!"
"Keeek!"
Squirmy didn't miss its chance.
The tip morphed into a scythe-like blade, slicing through the leather straps binding my wrists and ankles in an instant.
Snap, plop!
"Ugh, urgh..."
The restraints gave way, and I tumbled off the operating table.
The cold floor chilled my bare ass.
Right in front of me lay the crazy woman who'd been about to castrate me just moments ago, her body bisected.
The fishy stench of spilling guts and the intoxicating reek of blood numbed my nose.
For the first time, after taking a life, my heart pounded like mad.
Excitement, fear, terror, and ecstasy churned together in a wild storm.
But the first thought that hit me was singular.
'I have to escape! If they catch me here, I'll never see Lady Apophis again!!'
"S-stay back, or I'll kill you!!"
I screamed instinctively toward Kwak Executive.
As if reading my intent, Squirmy clashed its razor-sharp blades together with a clack-clack, threatening them like a rattlesnake shaking its tail!
"Damn it!"
Judging that protecting the executive came first, the Team Leader hesitated to attack and stepped back cautiously.
This was my chance.
Dadadak! Boom!
I spun around and kicked open the VIP room door, bursting into the hallway.
Right away, I spotted the emergency metal staircase leading to the arena.
"Hah, hah...!"
I bolted down the stairs like a madman.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Each impact of my bare feet on the steel steps echoed loudly.
The dank underground air had filled the stairwell corners with dust and cobwebs. My soles blackened, and sharp metal shards pricked them, but I had no time to feel the pain.
"You crazy pervert bastards!"
Even amid the humiliation, I desperately covered my groin with one hand.
A blood-soaked naked man, one hand shielding his junk, tentacles trailing from his ass as he ran—what a sight.
Anyone who saw it would think, 'What genre even is this?'
'Please, please, let there be no one!'
I'd nearly reached the bottom of the spiral staircase when—
Bang!
Against my hopes, the door at the arena's first-floor entrance flew open, and a swarm of black-suited thugs poured out.
Obvious underlings.
"Hey! There he is!"
"Grab that naked bastard!!"
They spotted me and blocked the bottom of the stairs.
A dozen vicious-looking guys wielding baseball bats and butcher knives.
"Eek...!"
I froze.
Up meant the Hunter, down meant the gangsters.
Trapped like a rat in a corner.
"Don't let him get away! He can't die, so no blades—just beat him down!"
The Team Leader's shout from above spurred them to charge up the stairs en masse.
"D-don't come closer! Get away!"
I backpedaled, yelling.
But Squirmy had other ideas.
Shwaaak—!
It whipped out from behind my ass like a lash.
"Wha...?"
The lead gangster gaped dumbly.
A flash of light streaked across his vision.
Pfook!
"Gaaahhh!"
Thick blood sprayed from his shoulder.
Writhing in agony, he lost balance on the stairs, tumbling backward and bowling over his pursuing comrades.
Crash!
They fell like dominoes.
"S-sorry! I didn't mean to!"
Sorry spilled from my lips automatically, but my legs didn't stop, pounding down the stairs.
To survive, I had no choice.
"Die, you monster freak!!"
Then—
One of the fallen thugs, roaring in rage, lunged again.
A steel pipe hurtled straight for my head.
"Ugh, aaah!!"
"Keeek!"
Clang—!
Squirmy surged up over my head, blocking the pipe.
The sturdy steel snapped in two the instant it met Squirmy's blade.
"W-what the hell?!"
While he panicked, Squirmy hooked his ankle and flung him off the stairs.
"Uwaaaah!"
Thud!
Startled by the crash, I peered over the railing. D-did I just kill him?
"Groooan..."
Thankfully, he curled up like a shrimp, still alive.
"G-good..."
"Keeek!"
As I tried to say something fair-minded about dodging a second kill, Squirmy smacked my ass.
Then it pointed its tentacle toward the arena floor below the railing, as if signaling to jump— it'd grab the rail, so no worries.
Body language(?), clear as day.
"O-okay! Got it!"
No time to hesitate—I squeezed my eyes shut and vaulted over the stair railing, landing on the arena ring floor.
Thud—
Thump—
Wobble—
"Urgh..."
Squirmy had gripped the railing to cushion the impact, but my pathetic body still twisted an ankle on landing.
"Kreek!?"
"I-I'm fine. I can move."
Squirmy rubbed my ankle with a tentacle in alarm, but...
"There! He's there!"
The gangsters weren't about to give me a break.
I hobbled away, but even more suited thugs than before closed in, tightening the encirclement.
And then—
"That's far enough, you little rat."
A heavy voice boomed.
Looking back, the Hunter Team Leader—who'd jumped down from the second-floor VIP room—stood blocking my escape, greatsword in hand.
He approached with a fearsome glare.
"Quite the threatening weapon you've got. But you're clumsy with it. No combat experience, huh."
He was right.
I didn't know how to fight. No matter how skilled Squirmy was, my body was just that of an ordinary (frail) human.
"Seize his ankle."
The Team Leader stomped, and his shadow writhed like a living thing.
"Wha...?"
Sssslither—!
The black shadow coiled around my ankle like a snake.
Squirmy frantically slashed at it, but of course, the intangible shadow couldn't be cut.
In fact, the shadow ensnared Squirmy too.
"W-what is this!?"
"Keeek!"
"Shadow Bind. My awakening ability. Perfect for capturing monster scum like you alive. We supply all the monsters for this arena."
Shwick—
"Urgh..."
No sooner had his kind explanation ended than a tranquilizer dart flew at me.
A sharp sting in my thigh, and my vision spun.
Squirmy's movements visibly slowed too.
"Got him! Pin him down!"
The thugs swarmed, crushing my limbs. Squirmy resisted to the end, swinging its blade, but a blow from the flat of the Team Leader's greatsword sent it slumping to the floor.
"Kreeeng..."
"S-Squirmy..."
Pinned to the ground, I gazed at it.
Tears welled up.
Sorry. Bad owner. If only I were stronger...
"Hmph. Just a mimic after all that."
"Fuck, turning my business into a bloodbath?!"
Then a voice echoed from the stairs—the Kwak Executive who'd screamed and dove behind the sofa earlier.
"Hey, Team Leader. Chop off his limbs and tail. Mimics have strong vitality, right? Turn him into a cripple so he never pulls this shit again."
"Understood."
The Team Leader raised his greatsword.
I squeezed my eyes shut. It's over. Really over this time. Sorry, Squirmy. Forgive me, Lady Apophis.
"Wait, but..."
Kwak Executive asked as if struck by a sudden thought.
"This bastard's main body is this strong... that woman with him—she okay? You sure she's handled?"
"Don't worry."
The Team Leader paused mid-swing and replied gravely.
"Guardian and Striker, who went with our men, aren't ordinary B-rank Hunters. They're veterans from our team who've taken down D-rank dungeon bosses solo. No enhanced Awakener could stand against them."
"No, but your team girl got one-shotted."
"..."
The Team Leader's face twitched. He seemed at a loss for words.
"Th-that was carelessness. Besides, Viper's not combat—she's a contract support... Anyway, no issue. Even if they slipped up, we've got dozens of organization guys from the entrance to here..."
He regripped his greatsword.
"No way she'd storm in alone. Real combat ain't like the movies. No matter how skilled an individual..."
KABOOOM—!!!
Before he finished, a thunderous roar erupted.
Not a normal explosion.
Like a missile strike.
"Wh-what?!"
"Earthquake?!"
The entire underground shook. Dust rained from the ceiling.
And the sound that followed was more terrifying than any quake.
"Gaaahhh!"
"S-save me!"
"M-monster!!"
Desperate screams from the entrance.
The gruesome cracks of bones shattering and flesh bursting echoed vividly through the basement.
Splat! Crunch! Crackle!
The sounds grew closer.
"W-what's that noise?"
Kwak Executive paled, scrambling backward.
Sensing danger, the Hunter Team Leader tightened his grip on his sword, glaring toward the entrance.
Bang—!
The steel shutter crumpled like paper and flew inward.
One crushed thug beneath it became a bloody pulp without even a scream.
A thick dust cloud billowed up explosively.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
And from that gray smoke—
A low, chilling voice scraped up from the depths of hell.
At the same time, something ominous crawled out, tearing through the smoke.
It was a kaiju—a monster.
Blood-smeared eyes flickered menacingly, dozens of black tentacles rising from its back like an aura, dominating the entire space.
Rage.
Due to extreme fury, the beautiful face I knew was gone. Inside a gaping maw of a mouth, a face-like mass grotesquely twisted and writhed.
"Lady... Apophis...?"
I stared up at her in a daze.
Tears burst forth.
It was terrifying. Covered head to toe in gore, enormous, tentacles thrashing wildly with chunks of human meat dangling from them.
But to me... she was more beautiful than any god's visage.
"W-what the hell... a monster...?"
Kwak Executive collapsed, crawling on the floor.
The Hunter Team Leader's hand trembled on his greatsword.
Anyone not blind could see it.
They'd poked something they couldn't handle—a calamity.
Apophis's gaze from the maw fixed on me, pinned down by the thugs.
My blood-drenched naked body, Squirmy limp beside me.
The moment she confirmed my wretched state, black energy exploded from her back.
Her roar was the signal.
Shwaaaak—!
Dozens of tentacles lashed out in all directions.
Faster than bullets.
"Gaaahhh!"
"S-save...!"
The thugs pinning me were yanked into the air.
One skewered through, another halved, some vanished entirely.
In one second, over a dozen became meat chunks.
"B-block it! Attack!!"
The Team Leader bellowed, thrusting out his hand.
"Shadow Bind!!"
Black shadows surged from his feet like a wave, charging at Lady Apophis.
The same technique that neutralized me earlier. Dozens of shadow chains wrapped her limbs and tentacles.
"Got her! Now, fire!"
He yelled. Shadows can't be broken by physical force—only smothered by more shadows. No matter the monster, immobilized meant done.
But—
Lady Apophis bellowed.
Pop—
"Huh...?"
The shadows snapped.
No—torn apart. Devoured by the denser, vaster power emanating from her body.
"I-impossible... Tearing shadows with raw force?!"
One tentacle surged at the Team Leader.
He swung his greatsword in resistance, but—
Clang—
With a massive ring, the enormous steel blade bent like taffy and flew away.
And then—
Pfook—
"Guhk...!"
The tentacle pierced his gut, hoisting him up.
The 190cm hulking Hunter dangled helplessly like a bug.
"S-spare... me..."
He croaked desperately, but no one could help.
Squelch—
A bursting sound.
The tentacle twisted toward him, popping him like a water balloon.
A pathetic end for the top-tier Hunter who'd led a B-rank veteran team.
Drip drip—
Rain-like blood poured down as Lady Apophis slowly, carefully approached me.
Her terrifying form shrank, gradually reverting to human shape.
"Ugh... Lady Apophis..."
I sniffled, and her fierce gaze softened in an instant.
Her tentacles snapped the ropes binding me.
Then, with bloodied hands, she caressed my cheek.
"Sorry I'm late, Minwoo."
She pulled me into her embrace.
It was warm. And reeked of thick blood.
But even that stench felt fragrant. It was the blood of my enemies, spilled by my savior for me.
"Were you scared?"
"Y-yes... Sniff, so scared... Th-they were gonna do Squirmy and me..."
"I know. It's okay now. I'm here."
She kissed my forehead, then turned to the dozens of terrified thugs.
"Now, time to clean up."
Her eyes gleamed with a predator's cold light once more.
"I'll repay them... no, a hundredfold for the pain my bride endured."
The gates of hell opened.
And its queen was my mate.