NOVEL WEB Chapter 192
“Modified Humans like Justitia are tough, but even she couldn’t withstand the relentless attacks of the Abilities Users.”
She was pinned to the floor by a bunch of ice-pointed spikes, her limbs twisting where they shouldn’t, crushed by an unseen force.
Even so, she was holding onto her weapon and trying to lift her head to look at us. Should I say that’s impressive?
Watching her squirm and writhe, I felt a pang of sympathy.
But right now, I couldn’t afford to care about anyone else, so I pulled up some of the hidden slime to wrap around Justitia’s entire body and forced her to look down at the ground.
Though she struggled to keep her gaze ahead, the tighter I wrapped the slime around her neck, the less she could move.
If I only tied one part down, she’d thrash around wildly with the rest of her body. At the very least, I had to keep her restrained lightly enough for a conversation after this fight ends.
Once she was completely wrapped, I gently blew air into her respirator to make sure she wouldn’t suffocate.
It’s okay to rest now, Justitia. Just lie there for a bit.
“Blanca! Watch out!”
After filling the gap next to her where the ice was creeping out, a hook came flying toward me.
By the time I noticed it, it was way too close for me to dodge.
In a panic about where to move, I looked at Minho soaring through the sky and realized I didn’t need to worry at all.
Unconditional acceleration.
I figured I could kind of do that too. I felt that surge of confidence.
I immediately launched some slime towards me and pulled my body in that direction.
Since my body wasn’t prepared at all, I catapulted out awkwardly and rolled on the ground, but I managed to just barely avoid the hook.
Did Minho always use his powers with that kind of sense? I wasn’t feeling particularly cheerful about it. If it wasn’t a life-or-death situation, I wouldn’t have bothered.
Regaining my footing, I took a slime glob mixed with nitroglycerin and poison liquid and threw it at the guy who had thrown the hook at me.
The guy caught up in the explosion flailed around, trying to put out the fire that stuck to his body, but soon fell down, never to move again.
“Blanca, are you okay?!!!”
“I’m fine, just keep the wind going! We’re almost there, just a bit more!”
I yelled back that I was okay to Ageha, who was shouting from a distance, then told her to keep going.
The wind that had weakened seemed to regain its strength, sending the poison mist I was exhaling toward Arman.
Yeah, that’s it. We can’t even give that punk a chance to breathe. That’s how we’re gonna take him down.
The fight was far from over. The Queen was captured, but their King was still standing strong, and there were plenty of chess pieces backing him up.
It would be great if I could just take out Arman, but his minions were fighting tooth and nail to protect him, making that seem unlikely.
In the end, it was a hellish war of attrition in which it came down to who would fall first.
If you asked who had the advantage, of course, it was us. The levels of our power and supplies were incomparable.
But I couldn’t let my guard down for even a second. A moment’s carelessness could lead to disaster.
Those of us using poison knew that all too well, so even if our mana or stamina was waning, we didn’t stop spitting out poison.
I was struggling to dodge incoming attacks, control my slime, and spew poison at the same time, feeling like I was at my limits, but I could still manage.
As we were nearing the brink of death, those guys were literally dropping like flies.
Looking at Arman’s minions, most of them were oozing blood from every hole.
They were fierce, but many were already soaked in poison, unable to move freely.
So, the abilities users’ attacks weren’t terrifying at all. A little dodging and a jab with my slime would take care of them without issue.
Even other poison users were struggling but still showed some capacity to deal with the situation. If things went on like this, we’d smoothly take them out.
Calling us poison users might sound funny, but surprisingly, that was the official name. That’s what they called us poison-type abilities users in the mission briefing.
Experts like Ageha who generated wind from the back were called wind machines.
A naming scheme typical of Heros Company, who didn’t see people as people.
…Even if we toppled the Evil Society, as long as they existed, this world wouldn’t improve.
That wasn’t my concern. What mattered to me now was how thoroughly I could kill Arman and whether my friends could finish the fight without getting hurt. That was my sole focus.
For that, I had to push myself even harder.
I absorbed the supplies sent out by Heros Company through the slime and took them into my body.
I poured the nearly depleted mana straight into my system in liquid form to resolve the issue.
Of course, that wasn’t the recommended consumption method. But hey, it’s the fastest way to absorb it.
Accepting what could be called pure mana into my body sent a chilling wave that felt like it froze me to the bone, but I could feel my mana replenishing.
Though refined, the rough mana threw my body around reflexively, but I forced myself to stay on my feet by solidifying the slime tightly.
Once the absorption was complete, my material and mana were fully restored. My body was a bit of a wreck, but functional issues weren’t a big deal.
Great, now I could keep fighting. With the other poison users all worn out, I had to carry their weight.
Can I do it? Absolutely. And, I’m more than willing to do so. The fact that the others were down meant I could take out those pests with my poison.
…Somehow, the fact that they were oddly silent was a little worrisome, but I decided to take it positively.
They might be in such bad shape that they could only focus on regaining their footing. Just as I was in the midst of spreading my poison, Arman started walking toward me.
Not running, just strolling. What was his game? Just when I began to think it was an ominous feeling, Minho flew toward me, donning a gas mask he must’ve picked up from somewhere.
At that height, the poison wouldn’t reach him, but it was still risky. And he shouldn’t have any business here.
“Blanca, everything around is rushing this way!!!”
As I stood there dumbfounded, Minho shouted through his gas mask to let me know why he came over.
“Rushing this way? What do you mean… Ah.”
Before I could finish asking what was coming, I realized what was on its way.
As Minho had said, all manner of creatures were indeed converging this way.
Big and small bugs, modified humans, and the abilities users who had been scattered fighting. And, whatever else was lurking.
All that craziness was following Arman.
It seemed Arman was gathering every ounce of remaining force for a big push.
No wonder that side had been weirdly quiet; this must’ve been why.
“How big is it?”
“A lot!”
Who didn’t know that? But if Minho, who usually maintained his cool, was making a fuss, it must have been a hell of a lot.
All those beasts would be poisoned, struggling, so I guess that was the only silver lining.
Those floating overhead were attacking the advancing army, but Arman’s minions were blocking it with a shield, and the advancing numbers overwhelmed them, causing them to retreat.
At least Changwon was trying to keep those troops in check, but it was clear he was at a serious disadvantage.
“Ferocious wind connecting the heaven and earth, here…! Now’s the time, Yeonhwa!”
“Got it!! This’ll… be your doom!!!”
Yeonhwa and Ageha teamed up to unleash a fiery whirlwind, with other wind abilities users combining their powers to torpedo everything in their path.
From the sky, a colossal ice chunk—clearly made by Seolhwa—fell towards Arman, but the giant bugs and several modified humans blocked it with their bodies.
Several other attacks struck Arman and his minions, but it wasn’t enough to break their momentum.
Arman, who had been strolling toward us, pointed at our direction.
Then his following minions, bugs, abilities users, and modified humans all charged straight at us.
It was a mindless, reckless charge disregarding their lives. But ironically, that made it seem manageable.
Should we pull back? But if we do, then what next?
We had to kill that guy, but he could just waltz away while letting his minions go down.
If he came at us like this, we were clearly at a disadvantage.
So somehow, we had no choice but to kill Arman.
How to- well, I’d think about that later.
That was when it happened.
A massive fireball came crashing down from the sky, aimed right at Arman.
“So you are the pestilence that plagues this society!!”
It was Invictus.
After just hanging back protecting core personnel, they suddenly came out strutting, leaving me with a bitter taste in my mouth, but seeing that sight made me breathe a little easier.
If it was them, they could probably stop it.
…Moreover, it might even be an opportunity.
This could be my golden chance to take Arman’s head.