Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Towards Pyongyang (3)
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Kim Hyun lightly snapped her fingers.
Shwick!
In that instant, the spiders around her were cleaved in half. They died without even a chance to scream.
But that was just a tiny fraction of them.
Like reserves filling the front lines, more spiders waiting behind the fallen ones charged at Kim Hyun.
Of course, that wasn't enough to overwhelm her.
She stomped her foot, and the oncoming spiders flattened in an instant. The sudden pressure burst their bodies open.
Still.
There were a lot of spiders.
"So damn many of them."
Kim Hyun clicked her tongue.
She was killing every one that came at her, but compared to the total horde, it was barely a dent.
If anything, now that they'd noticed her presence, spiders were swarming in from all directions.
"This is why I hate dealing with mobs."
Kim Hyun snapped her fingers again.
Shwick!
Hundreds more charging at her collapsed.
'Taking them out one by one like this is just stupid.'
Kim Hyun smacked her lips with a bored expression.
'Bugs need to be swept away all at once.'
She slowly spread both hands wide.
And then.
"Come forth, Thorn Tree."
She began invoking one of the powers she'd honed in hell.
Vrrrrrm!
As her murmur echoed, the entire city of Pyongyang trembled. The spiders halted uneasily, sensing something was off.
But it was already too late.
Boom!
Black thorny vines erupted across Pyongyang.
From the spiders' shadows, the shades of buildings, every dark corner untouched by light.
Black thorny vines lashed out.
Shraaak!
In a flash, the writhing vines like tentacles filled the city, coiling around the nearby spiders.
And then.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
The vines squeezed tight.
Screeeee! Screeeeech!
The spiders thrashed and screamed.
But they couldn't break free from the thorns. They were hopelessly outmatched in strength.
Crrrrunch!
The coils tightened with immense pressure, shattering exoskeletons echoing everywhere.
And finally.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
Green fluids sprayed as the spiders burst open.
Screeeeech!
From the smallest to bus-sized ones, every spider regardless of size was crushed by the vines.
Screams resounded across Pyongyang.
But they gradually faded.
There were fewer left to scream.
Crunch! Splat! Crunch! Splat!
And so.
With the last spider exploding against the vines.
Pyongyang fell silent.
"Whew."
Kim Hyun exhaled and lowered her hands.
The black thorny vines vanished into the darkness.
"Let's see."
She scanned the surroundings.
All the spiders in Pyongyang seemed dealt with.
Roughly a few billion dead, give or take?
Sure, there were plenty more spreading beyond the city across North Korea, but that wasn't her problem. Let the military handle it.
"Not bad. Nice and clean."
Kim Hyun nodded in satisfaction.
That was when it happened.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The ground began to shake.
Kim Hyun looked up.
A massive shadow approached from afar.
No, not exactly a shadow.
It was another spider.
An S-rank boss monster boasting the size of a soccer field.
The master of the Pyongyang Gate.
Screeeeeeeeech!
The boss spider let out a roar that made the ground vibrate.
Kim Hyun smirked up at it.
"What, pissed that I killed all your kids?"
Screeeeeek!
"If you're mad, come at me then."
As if it understood her words.
The boss spider charged straight at Kim Hyun.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Shockingly fast for its enormous bulk.
Kim Hyun kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
At that moment.
Spiiiit!
The boss spider looked up and spat green liquid from its maw.
Acidic venom.
Strong enough to melt anything, flying straight at her.
But.
"Doesn't work."
Kim Hyun didn't even bother defending. Ranged attacks rarely pierced her barrier.
Sizzle!
The venom fizzled out in midair.
The boss spider didn't stop.
This time, it spat sticky spider silk.
Not white, but green.
Acidic webbing.
Of course, it too vanished against her barrier.
"You got no learning curve?"
Kim Hyun snapped her fingers, popping one of its eyes.
Enraged at losing an eye in an instant, the boss spider retaliated.
Spider silk whipped at her from all sides like lashes.
But none hit Kim Hyun.
"Too slow."
She dodged leisurely, muttering to herself.
The boss spider then reared up on the spot, as if planning to smash her with its massive leg.
Of course, she could just evade...
'But do I really feel like dodging?'
Kim Hyun twisted her lips.
The next moment, a building-sized leg came crashing down on her.
Boom!
A massive shockwave rippled outward.
Glass shattered in nearby buildings, and weaker structures collapsed from the impact.
Yet, despite taking the hit head-on.
Kim Hyun was unscathed.
More than that.
She had caught the enormous leg with one hand.
Shocked by the sight, the boss spider hesitated.
Gazing up at the scene.
"My turn now, right?"
Kim Hyun chuckled.
She gripped the spider's leg tighter.
Creeeak!
And lifted.
The soccer-field-sized body was dragged up with it. Kim Hyun had hoisted the boss spider by sheer strength.
Screeeeech!
The boss spider screamed.
But Kim Hyun didn't stop.
"Eat this!"
Whish!
She swung her body, hurling the boss spider off to the side.
Boom!
The air exploded as it flew at tremendous speed.
And then.
Kaboom!
It smashed into a massive, ornate building in the distance.
Once called the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun.
The Kim family's palace crumbled in seconds.
Screee...!
The boss spider groaned.
Kim Hyun kicked off and soared toward it.
Whish!
Landing in front of it in a flash, she cracked her knuckles with a grin.
"No need to look anymore. Time to end this."
Kim Hyun lunged at the boss spider.
Her hand seized one leg and.
Ripped it clean off.
Screeeee!
The boss spider shrieked.
But Kim Hyun pressed on.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
One, two, three, four.
She tore off its legs one by one.
Naturally, the boss spider fought back.
Spitting venom, spraying silk, twisting its body.
But it was useless.
Crunch! Crunch!
All eight legs were gone.
Screee...
Legless, the boss spider could barely writhe on the ground.
Kim Hyun looked down at it, then clenched her fist.
And.
Her punch pierced straight through its chest.
Kaboom!
Unable to withstand the impact, the boss spider's body exploded.
Green fluids splattered everywhere, making Kim Hyun grimace.
"Ugh, gross."
Didn't expect it to burst at the end.
She ended up covered in some of the gunk.
"Eww."
Kim Hyun clicked her tongue and wiped the fluid from her face with her sleeve.
Right then.
Vrrrrm!
A strange energy leaked from the exploded boss spider's remains.
A vivid emerald glow.
The energy slowly drifted toward Kim Hyun.
"This is..."
She narrowed her eyes.
'The outsiders' power.'
Outer god energy.
'Some kind of blessing? Why's it coming from the boss spider?'
Kim Hyun pondered briefly before concluding.
'Looks like the outer gods are reaching into Earth not just through abominations, but blessings too.'
She snatched the approaching green energy.
It seeped into her body like reuniting with its owner.
'I'll collect it for now.'
Could come in handy for reinforcing the dimensional barrier later.
'Well then...'
Pyongyang Gate cleared.
Monster waves would spread from here, but that was for the Korean government to handle.
'Still...'
Might as well lend a little help.
With that thought, Kim Hyun moved to leave.
Or tried to.
"..."
If not for the sudden sense of déjà vu.
The feeling of being watched, monitored.
Kim Hyun looked up at the sky.
Soon, her lips twisted into a smirk.
"Humans are so sneaky."
She chuckled and kicked off the ground.
"..."
Langley, Virginia.
A white man staring at the screen licked his lips.
"Did she just... look right at us?"
"N-No way. How could anyone notice a satellite watching from orbit?"
"..."
Sensing a camera on a satellite outside the atmosphere was logically impossible.
But.
If it was her—the one who cleared an S-rank gate in three minutes and silenced Pyongyang, which even America deemed untouchable.
Kim Hyun might just be capable of it.
"...Guess I should apologize later for peeking without permission."
The CIA Director muttered as he tugged at his tie.