Chapter 102: This Thing Doesnât Work on Me!
"Little Mustache, werenât you so cocky when you were hunting me down? Why so quiet now?"
On the second floor of the internet cafe, amidst the rubble of a collapsed wallâ
The Human-Faced Spider stood there, nearly unscathed, brimming with arrogance.
In the corner, the bearded guy sat slumped, leaning against a cracked cleaver, his entire body drenched in blood.
He had been right.
This Lost One was indeed Combatant-Rank.
Just one rank above himâyet the gap was like a chasm.
The bearded guy lifted his head with difficulty, his vision swimming in a sea of red.
That guyâ
He had once been a normal Awakened.
He had gained the ability to control and mutate spiders.
But when he refused to join the Demon Slayers Bureau, they had been forced to keep him under surveillance.
Then one dayâ
The informant who had been monitoring him vanished.
When the bearded guy finally tracked the guy down, he found that this once-human Awakened had turned into a spider monsterâ
And the informant?
His body parts were scattered across the entire living room.
Some of them were inside the spiderâs belly.
Monsters like him had a specific name within the Bureauâs leadershipâ
Aberrant Lost Ones.
These special cases had only started appearing after the "Black Coffin Rises to the Heavens" Awakening incident in Changbai Mountain three years ago.
There wasnât solid proof that the two events were linkedâ
But the Bureau was nearly certain.
The truth wasâ
Their understanding of Awakening Events was still shallow.
They hadnât even fully deciphered the earliest caseâ
"Kunlun Immortal Palace", from a decade ago.
All they had gotten from it was a breathing technique engraved on a stone tablet at the base of the thousand-layer staircase outside the palaceâ
The "Primordial Return Technique."
And even that had taken them ten years to decode.
"If this were two days ago, this whole branch of the Demon Slayers Bureau mightâve been wiped out."
"...What?"
The Human-Faced Spider narrowed its eyes at the bearded guy.
The manâs head drooped, his body weak and near collapse.
Yetâ
A grin split across his bloodstained, unshaven face.
Slowlyâ
The bearded guy stood up, lifting a trembling hand.
The spider tensed, sensing something amiss.
With explosive speed, it lunged forward like a cannonball, razor-sharp legs slashing.
A severed arm went flying.
But the bearded guy just laughed.
From his remaining hand, he suddenly yanked out a bloodstained talismanâ
And slapped it onto the spiderâs forehead.
His lips moved.
"Boom."
Silence.
Nothing happened.
The Human-Faced Spider twitched, then slowly peeled the talisman off its face.
It tossed it on the ground and kicked the bearded guy over with a sneer.
"Boom what, you dumbass?"
The bearded guy stared, dumbfounded.
The hell?
Was the talisman fake?!
No wayâ
He had seen the radiant, golden aura of righteous energy on it!
But thenâ
He glanced down at the talisman again.
The once-brilliant auraâ
Had completely vanished.
"...Hey, little mustache."
The spider mockingly patted his face, voice dripping with sadistic delight.
"When you pulled that thing out, I almost panicked."
"Thought it was some kind of trump card."
"But this?"
"This is just comedy."
Memories of being hunted by this man surged through the spiderâs mind.
The humiliationâ
The angerâ
Letting the bearded guy die quickly would be too easy.
Noâ
He needed to savor this.
With a cruel chuckle, the spider whispered,
"How should I torture you?"
"Maybe Iâll wrap you up in webs, leave only your head exposedâ"
"Then slowly inject digestive fluids into your feet."
"Let your body melt away, bit by bitâwhile you watch me eat you alive!"
"Ke-ke-keâ"
Suddenlyâ
A soft breathing sound came from behind him.
Very close.
The spiderâs hair bristled.
He whipped his head aroundâ
And found himself staring at a ridiculously handsome, buzz-cut young man.
Standing just two meters away.
Holding a talisman.
Identical to the one he had just thrown away.
"...Who the hell are you?"
The spiderâs instincts screamed danger.
How had this guy gotten so close without him noticing?
Had he been too focused on the bearded guy?
The young man said nothing.
He just moved closer, lifting the talisman.
The spider stepped back, eyeing it cautiously.
Thenâ
He snorted.
"You think that cheap-ass talisman can do anything to me?"
The young man took another step forward.
"Then try it."
"You seriously think Iâd be dumb enough to slap that thing on myself?"
"I think youâre too scared to."
"...Heh. You little shitâfine! Iâll do it just to shut you up!"
"Then do it!"
"Fine, I will!"
"DO ITâ!!!"
The spider lifted a leg, ready to slap the talisman onto itselfâ
But at the last secondâ
He hesitated.
"...Wait a second."
"You really think Iâm that dumb?"
A twisted grin spread across his face.
His scarlet eyes gleamed with sinister intelligence.
"If I had to guessâ"
"The moment I put this thing on, thereâs gonna be a smoke bomb effect or something."
"Blinding meâ"
"Letting you grab mustache-man and escape!"
The young man remained silent.
Then, without warningâ
He casually poked the spider in the face with a laundry pole.
Thenâ
He dove under a desk, curled into a ball, and grabbed a chair cushion as a shieldâ
And covered his ears.
He sighed sympathetically.
Thenâ
Light.
Thunder.
Fire.
BOOMâ!
A blinding white explosion ripped through the entire second floor.
When the dust settledâ
The second floor was practically destroyed.
From the wreckageâ
A tiny, palm-sized, charred spider scurried toward the cafeâs entrance, frantically trying to escape.
Its mind was a chaotic mess.
But one thought was crystal clearâ
If it didnât run, it was dead.
Dodging overturned computer desksâ
Evading collapsing debrisâ
Jumping over burning keyboardsâ
It leaped toward the exitâ
Only for a girl to step into its path.
No problem.
She wasnât an obstacle.
Exceptâ
She raised her handâ
And slapped a talisman onto the door.
The spiderâs six eyes widened in horror.
"OH F**K, NOâ!"
BOOMâ!
Under the desk, Chen Huaiâan closed his eyes in pity.
A soft chime rang from his pocket.
His game interface had a new message.
ãTarget Eliminated: Spider Demonã
Rewards:
Demonic Cultivation Fragment x1
Spider Silk Armor x1 (Delivered)
â¦