Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Fall of the Spider Queen
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"I get that your cockiness is part of your charm, honey, but push it too far and I might just have to teach you a lesson. Or is that what you're hoping for? Some kind of punishment? Is that your kink?"
A thin, razor-sharp energy in the form of threads poured from Sara's body, wrapping around Do-hyun.
Like a spider web.
It was her unique skill—the one that had crowned her queen of LA's villains.
'She hasn't done her second class change yet?'
Sara's class was Spider Web.
It could freely manipulate shape and intensity, boasting terrifying lethality.
Once trapped inside Sara's domain, your life was as good as hers.
But.
'With her infamy, I figured she'd at least be a Web Mistress by now. Disappointing.'
Do-hyun eyed the spider silk encircling him.
So fine it was nearly invisible unless you focused, yet tough enough to slice a normal human in half without effort.
'It's still just spider silk. I expected at least Web Mistress level. Tsk.'
Sara was LA's Demon Queen.
The final boss for what Do-hyun had planned in LA.
'A weak boss makes for a lame climax, so maybe I should give her a little lesson here.'
Mistaking his stillness for fear, Sara twisted her lips.
"Beg for mercy with tears in your eyes right now, and I'll forgive you. Otherwise, it's gonna hurt—a lot."
Unlike usual, Do-hyun drew a gun instead of his knife.
A Glock 15.
A popular compact pistol, but to high-level Awakeners, it was no more than a toy BB gun.
Yet.
Bang! Bang!
When Do-hyun fired, the unbelievable happened.
Sara's threads snapped like nylon string!
"What?!"
Sara instantly realized his trick.
Where the spider silk overlapped and tangled, weak spots formed—and he'd nailed them precisely!
Of course, she was only mildly surprised. Sara countered immediately.
Shiiiing!!
She unleashed Spider Web even more fiercely.
Strands upon strands—far more than before—erupted from her body—
Bang!! Bang!! Bang!!
Do-hyun fired like lightning, severing some of the incoming threads.
A gap opened in the net, and Do-hyun slipped right through.
"Three seconds."
"!!"
Flash!
Do-hyun's knife gleamed, grazing past Sara's throat.
'What? Lv. 7 movement like that? Without even using Soul Force?'
No time for idle thoughts. In an instant, Do-hyun's knife flashed countless times.
Each strike sent her heart racing.
Luckily, none touched her—but not thanks to her own skill.
'This bastard... he's going easy on me?'
Sara burned with genuine rage.
Shing!!
She finally tapped into her hidden power.
The force that elevated Lv. 8 Novas above regular S-Ranks: Soul Force.
Sara's movements grew incomparably faster and stronger.
But.
"Speed and power alone don't win fights."
"!!"
Do-hyun appeared right in her face, thrusting his knife.
Slash!
No escaping it.
She wrapped herself in threads with her defensive skill to block.
Yet.
'?!'
Sara's body floated into the air.
Somehow, she'd been pushed to the rooftop's edge!
A dizzying drop yawned below.
"Eighteen seconds. Not even a minute. Time to be my dog? Wanna bark for me? Do it, and I'll let you live."
"Shut up!!"
Shing!
Sara shot a thread like a lifeline to the rooftop.
As if refusing to fall just yet.
But.
Flash!
Do-hyun's knife severed the thread holding her to the rooftop railing.
"!!"
Sara plummeted toward the ground.
Desperate, she fired another to the floor below. She dangled there precariously, but Do-hyun wasn't done.
Thud—
He leaped from the rooftop, circus-acrobat style, stepping on a narrow window ledge below to descend—and sliced her thread again.
"You bastard!!"
Sara tumbled downward once more, and Do-hyun smirked.
"Twenty-seven seconds so far. Wanna bet? Can you make it to the bottom in the remaining minute, or not?"
The initial wager was already Do-hyun's win.
Now it was about how far Sara's pride would fall.
Sara gritted her teeth and deployed Spider Web again.
Threads lunged at Do-hyun, but between her midair plunge and his stable footing on the ledge, the advantage was clear.
His knife flashed, shredding every strand.
"Ready for round two? Let's have some fun."
Whoosh! Do-hyun launched from the ledge, diving toward the falling Sara.
"!!"
Sara frantically blocked his knife!
"You maniac!! We'll both die like this!!"
Their rooftop brawl was over seventy stories up. Even an S-Rank couldn't survive a straight drop, so Sara used her threads to create air resistance and slow her fall.
But Do-hyun attacked full-throttle, ignoring the danger.
"This half-assed crap is why you're in this mess."
"!!"
Right.
If Sara had gone all-out to kill him from the start, Do-hyun might've been in real trouble.
But she'd only unleashed Soul Force after he'd seized control of the fight.
"Forty-five seconds down. Give me your all for the last fifteen. Do that, and I'll respect you."
Sara gnashed her teeth.
Hitting the ground like this meant fatal injuries.
Fight or no fight, survival came first.
'This damn bastard...!'
Do-hyun sneered at her mockingly.
Scared, huh?
Cowards like you will never reach your 'goals.'
"...I'll kill you."
Sara finally unleashed her full Soul Force, no holds barred.
Solely to kill Do-hyun, consequences be damned.
For the final fifteen seconds of freefall.
An unprecedented battle erupted between them.
In the end, it was Do-hyun's victory.
'No way she could fight at full strength while falling from the sky.'
Do-hyun had battled in far harsher conditions, every kind imaginable.
Sara hadn't.
Still, her full power was no joke. Do-hyun weathered several close calls.
...In exchange, Sara paid a horrific price.
She hit the ground unprotected, bones shattering across her body.
Even as a Lv. 8 superhuman with advanced Arcane Science medicine, recovery wouldn't be quick.
"You the one who did that to Sara?"
"No idea what you're talking about."
"Sigh. LA's villains are in chaos now. Sara was the only thing keeping order. The ones who feared her are rising up—it's a mess."
Do-hyun shrugged.
Exactly as planned.
'Wonder if Sara can make a comeback. Doesn't matter either way.'
If she returned stronger as LA's Demon Queen, fine.
If someone else took her out and claimed the throne, that worked too.
Either way, Sara kept her word.
Even in the chaos, she'd paid Do-hyun.
"This really got nothing to do with you?"
"Agent McKay got too much free time? Wasting it on pointless interrogations? Or do you just wanna chat with me?"
"Fine, Sara was an excuse. I called you to talk."
"Hmm?"
"...You really hitting Babel Farms?"
"Ask Genocider."
"Sigh. Fuck."
Roder glanced around, then killed every recorder on him.
"Happy now? Answer seriously."
Do-hyun tilted his head, curious why Roder was going this far.
"Yeah, soon as I'm ready, Babel Farms goes down."
"...I know you're no ordinary villain. Still, think it over."
"Why?"
Roder checked surroundings again—not just for people, but bugs too.
"This is classified, but... intel says Babel Farms has backers."
"Backers? China?"
"How'd you...?"
'It's famous.'
China White.
Another name for fentanyl.
Pre-Cataclysm conspiracy theories claimed China deliberately flooded America with it—payback for the Opium Wars.
Unproven back then, but NHD's spread? Definitely China-backed.
"...You know and still going after them?"
"You're worrying too much. Someone might think the FBI agent has a crush on me."
"That's not—!!"
"Mind checking boat people slipping from Tijuana into California?"
"What...? Why that all of a sudden?"
Not just Awakeners headed for America.
With Latin America south of Mexico turning hellish, endless refugee waves poured north.
"See if they're all deported properly. No missing numbers. If there are, track where they went."
Roder's face hardened as he caught on.
"Refugee disappearances tied to Babel Farms?"
Do-hyun just shrugged.
"You'll know soon enough."
Do-hyun made final preparations to strike Babel Farms.
With Sara's massive payout, he built a huge short position. Then he opened a Nutube channel.
Countless viewers zeroed in on the video.
Would Genocider really hit Babel Farms in 14 hours? Stream it live?
As the countdown ticked down, viewers exploded in numbers.
Over a million people waited.
And then.
Fwoosh—
The stream went live!
"Hello, everyone. Genocider here."
No face shown—just the camera feed.
Voice distorted, but it sure seemed like Genocider.
Babel Farms HQ filled the screen.
"Hunter clips of dungeon monster hunts are all the rage, right? This time, I'm streaming a special: hunting Babel Farms scum! I'll reveal their secrets too—how they make NHD. Stick around till the end!"
Then, helicopters appeared on-screen.
Missiles launched straight at Genocider.
"Aw, fireworks to welcome me! Let's party hard!"