Within the shattered space filled with dust and smoke on the side of the tower rocked by ongoing battles, Kim Tae-Hyun—a commander belonging to the Galactic Alliance—clasped his hands behind his back, a cruel smirk playing under his Noh mask.
— "Oho, pretty dog-girl hybrid! I really love moments when the two of us are this close!"
CRACK... CRACK…
From the pile of collapsed rubble and shattered bricks, Roxy Vance slowly crawled up. She brushed her gray, dust-coated hand casually across her tattered leather jacket, her deep red eyes burning with wild hatred.
— "Now that you're here, come at me! I'm dying to smash that disgusting, rotten mask of yours!"
Tae-Hyun stood in silence for a brief moment before breaking into a chuckle—a mocking laugh that gave anyone listening goosebumps:
— "Look at that! You look even cuter when you're mad! But... I'm so sorry that I'm about to hurt you!"
The moment those words left his mouth, a sharp, cold light flashed in Tae-Hyun's eyes!
GRAVITATIONAL VECTOR SHIFT!
WHOOSH! BOOM!!!!!
Without a single warning, the entire gravitational pull beneath Roxy's feet suddenly inverted completely upward! Roxy's body instantly lost control, hurled like a cannonball that slammed BAM! hard into the solid alloy ceiling. Before she could recover, the gravity vector flipped 180 degrees in reverse, sending her into a freefall at terrifying velocity, crashing straight into the rubble below!
EXPLOSION!
Bricks and stones sprayed everywhere. Roxy coughed violently, gritting her teeth to force herself up, but the crushing downward gravitational pressure was so intense it forced her entire body flat on her knees against the cracked steel floor.
Tae-Hyun crossed his arms and stepped forward a few paces, tilting his head as he asked:
— "How does that feel?"
With that, he casually waved his hand, restoring normal gravity. As the pressure vanished, Roxy instantly sprang to her feet. Her face had completely transformed—anger replaced by extreme vigilance. She realized she had just encountered an insanely stubborn and freakish opponent.
— "Pretty strong... But how about this?!" Roxy roared.
SWISH!
Roxy drove power into her legs, pouncing forward like a predatory beast, her five fingers spread with razor-sharp claws aimed straight at Tae-Hyun's throat. Yet, just as she was inches away from him, her trajectory violently sheared off at an entirely absurd 90-degree angle!
SLAM!!!!!
Roxy's body crashed headlong into the thick load-bearing wall beside them, crumpling it into a deep crater.
Tae-Hyun broke into a delighted laugh, spreading his hands:
— "Haha! I'm over here, so where are you flying off to?"
Roxy crawled out of the shattered wall, forehead swollen, her eyes filled with bewilderment:
— "I was clearly aiming straight at you... How could I be yanked off course like that?!"
— "Simple!" Tae-Hyun smirked triumphantly. "I can bend your entire trajectory simply by shifting the gravity vector in another direction!"
Without giving Roxy time to recover or devise a counterplay, Tae-Hyun immediately raised his hand, clenching his five fingers tight!
SINGULARITY CRUSH!
WHOOSH... BOOM!
A hyper-compressed gravitational point no larger than a pea suddenly condensed right where Roxy stood. This singularity unleashed a terrifying pull! All surrounding rock, steel, debris, and Roxy's own body were violently sucked into a whirling spiral toward the center, crushed tight into a colossal mass of matter burning white-hot from extreme friction!
Roxy was trapped right in the center of the crushed sphere. The compressed rubble pinned her limbs tightly, rendering her completely immobile.
CRACK... CRACK…
The crushing force of tens of tons of matter pressing against her body inflicted severe damage on Roxy's internal organs.
— "Agh... cough!" Roxy screamed in pain, vomiting mouthfuls of dark red blood.
Tae-Hyun sauntered over to the floating sphere, his eyes brimming with cruel mockery:
— "Seeing you in such pain breaks my heart! A face as gorgeous as yours covered in blood is just such a shame, isn't it?"
Reaching his hand through a gap in the rocks, he gently stroked her hair, leaning his head in to inhale her intoxicating scent.
Amid the bone-splintering, flesh-tearing agony, Roxy did not break. She lifted her blood-drenched chin, her lips curling into a faint, defiant sneer:
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— "You think... this little trick can lock me up?"
SPIT!
Roxy spat a mouthful of fresh blood directly onto Tae-Hyun's Noh mask—the ultimate wild act of defiance!
— "You...!" Tae-Hyun froze, fury flaring as he made to strike.
But in that exact split second, a wave of destructive heat erupted from deep within Roxy's body! The temperature skyrocketed at an astronomical rate, turning the surrounding ball of compressed rock glowing red like molten magma!
BOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!
The gravity sphere blew apart into thousands of blazing fragments! The intense thermal blast hurled Tae-Hyun backward dozens of meters.
As the dust and embers slowly cleared, an entirely transformed Roxy stepped forward. She had officially activated her state:
INFERNAL AWAKENING — UNFAINTING HELLHOUND!
Roxy's beast ears and fluffy tail erupted into fierce flames, transforming into dazzling, brilliant spiritual fire. Her entire body was shrouded in a dense, dark red-and-purple hellfire aura that oozed like molten lava from the bowels of the earth. The surrounding air scorched to the point of warping distortion.
Tae-Hyun stared wide-eyed in astonishment at her majestic and threatening form. Raising his hand, he ripped off his Noh mask!
Beneath the ceramic mask lay the face of a very young, sharp, and handsome man. But the most striking and haunting feature was his eyes—glowing with an eerie, emerald-green radiance.
Tae-Hyun threw his head back and laughed with wild excitement:
— "Hahaha! Seeing you up close like this, you look so powerful! I absolutely love this!"
Before he could even finish savoring his awe—
WHOOSH!
Roxy's speed now transcended her former limits! Her body ripped through space, vanishing right before Tae-Hyun's eyes.
Hellfire Swarm: Cerberus Stampede!
AWOOOOOOOO!
Roxy let out a haunting howl that echoed throughout the corridors. From the blazing flames on her tail, dozens of gigantic phantom hounds made of red-purple hellfire bounded out! The pack of hellhounds stampeded alongside Roxy, forming a tsunami of flame sweeping directly over Tae-Hyun's position!
Tae-Hyun's face paled—there was no way he could react to an attack of such blinding speed and sheer density!
CRACK! SIZZLE SIZZLE!
The fire hounds tore into him ravenously. One Cerberus clamped its jaws down and severed Tae-Hyun's left arm completely, while another ripped his right leg apart! The wounds didn't just bleed—they were relentlessly scorched by hellfire, emitting sickening sizzling sounds like meat searing over red-hot coals.
Roxy landed on the floor, her fiery gaze locked on her enemy:
— "You underestimated me, you bastard!"
Yet despite losing two limbs, Tae-Hyun didn't collapse. Gritting his teeth, he focused the colossal reservoir of Sophion energy inside his body.
SQUELCH... SNICK... CRACK!
At the site of his severed limbs, flesh tissue and bone sprouted forth at a dizzying rate, fully regenerating a brand-new arm and leg within seconds.
Roxy dropped low into her stance, a low growl rumbling in her throat:
— "Grrr... grrr...!"
Tae-Hyun wiped the smear of blood from his chin, curling his lip in a faint smile, though his eyes had turned wary:
— "Looks like I'm about to get ganged up on... I can feel a few troublesome flies heading this way. Let's take this play party outside!"
Before Roxy could utter a single word, Tae-Hyun suddenly unleashed his full gravitational force into a shockwave push!
BOOMMMMM!!!!!
A terrifying repulsive force blasted straight into Roxy, sending her flying at thousands of kilometers per hour! Her body blasted clean through the tower wall, soaring through midair before slamming violently into a massive mountain far in the distance. The impact force and the flames consuming her body instantly incinerated a vast swath of forest!
Tae-Hyun instantly kicked off the ground, vaulting toward the mountain to pursue Roxy.
Just seconds after Tae-Hyun departed, two figures rushed onto the scene at the ruined hall. It was Stolas and Lang Mac.
Stolas looked around the blazing heap of rubble, frowning:
— "Where are they?"
Lang Mac stepped up to the edge of the giant hole carved out by Tae-Hyun's gravity blast, his eyes darkening:
— "It seems he noticed us coming and intentionally blew Roxy far away to avoid being surrounded."
Stolas adjusted his sleeves, an evil red glint flashing in his eyes:
— "I'll pursue them! You head back to the server room to support Group C!"
Lang Mac gave a decisive nod.
Instantly, Stolas exploded with his full primordial power.
RUMBLEEE... CRACK CRACK!
A surge of pitch-black, ancient demonic energy erupted around Stolas. Surrounding space shuddered violently, and the ground cracked apart into massive slabs. The Hell Prince's entire body morphed into a Majestic Giant Owl of sinister, demonic form. Stolas flapped his shadowy wings spanning dozens of meters, tearing through the wind as he streaked toward the distant mountain in Tae-Hyun's direction.
Lang Mac didn't hesitate, spinning around to rush back toward the server room area.
Meanwhile, in the corridor leading to the central system room.
The atmosphere was suffocatingly heavy. Both Renji and Russo—the two proud underworld bosses—now lay collapsed on the blood-drenched floor. Their clothes were shredded, and countless stab wounds and heavy blunt impacts covered their bodies.
Standing in the middle of the corridor, Qin Wuhuang stood firm as a mountain. He didn't have a single major scratch, hands still thrust in his pants pockets, his eyes cold like an emotionless killing machine.
GRAB!
Renji's blood-soaked hand reached out with everything he had, clamping down on Qin Wuhuang's pant leg. Even with his body completely exhausted, the Yakuza leader's eyes still burned with raging fire. Renji gritted his teeth, uttering each word in Japanese:
— "「クソッ……俺はこの部屋を守らなきゃならないんだ……。そうじゃなきゃ、ただじゃおかないからな !」" (Dammit... I have to protect this room... Otherwise, you'd be dead meat!)
Qin Wuhuang looked down at the hand clutching his pant leg, his tone terrifyingly indifferent:
— "It's useless, Renji."
He casually raised his foot, preparing to stomp Renji's hand to splinters, when—
THUD!
A roar shattered the silence from behind!
— "LET RENJI GO RIGHT NOW!!!!!"
Kwon Tae-Joon burst out from around the hallway corner, a roaring blaze erupting from his entire body, his eyes bursting with killing intent as he charged straight at Qin Wuhuang!
The moment he saw Kwon Tae-Joon charging out engulfed in overwhelming fire, Qin Wuhuang froze in his tracks. The foot he was about to bring down halted in midair. Then, before everyone's astonished eyes, Qin Wuhuang slowly reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a metallic microchip glowing with a faint blue aura.
Tae-Joon stumbled to a stop, his eyes opening wide:
— "The YX Chip?!"
Qin Wuhuang coldly used the tip of his boot to kick Renji's bloody hand off his trousers, then nonchalantly tossed the chip through the air toward Tae-Joon.
Tae-Joon reached out and caught it. The feel of cold metal along with hyper-compressed data waves tingling across his palm left him standing dazed, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Qin Wuhuang lowered his voice, his razor-sharp eyes locked onto Tae-Joon:
— "Decrypt it! I need to know what this thing is hiding from me... and what filthy secrets Lu Junlin is keeping from me!"
Tae-Joon furrowed his brows, about to ask, but Qin Wuhuang calmly offered an explanation first:
— "Arthur handed this chip over to me. So don't bother asking how it ended up in my hands!"
With that, Qin Wuhuang turned around and walked leisurely toward the end of the corridor. The assassin's back gradually faded into the shadows, but not before leaving behind a warning chilled to the bone:
— "I will return the moment you finish decryption... Don't disappoint me."
At the hallway intersection, Qin Wuhuang brushed past Lang Mac who was rushing toward them. The two passed each other in a suffocating instant. Qin Wuhuang didn't even bother giving Lang Mac a glance, treating him like invisible air as he walked on.
Lang Mac stood dumbfounded, turning to stare suspiciously after Qin Wuhuang's departing figure, before hurrying over to Tae-Joon. Seeing Tae-Joon unharmed, Lang Mac tilted his head in surprise:
— "The Federation's top assassin just walked right past me... Did he actually spare you?"
— "Not just spared..." Tae-Joon held up the chip in his hand. "He handed us the exact thing we need most right now on a silver platter."
Wasting no time, Tae-Joon immediately shoved open the reinforced alloy door of the Federation's central system server room.
HISS... CLICK!
Inside the server room, dozens of spectral monitors flickered continuously. Xie Xingchen and Loona were pouring all their focus into typing at dizzying speeds, attempting to breach the Federation's firewall. Hearing the door open, both startled and spun around.
Tae-Joon rushed over, slamming the chip onto the control console:
— "Loona, Xingchen! We have the YX Chip—decrypt it right now!"
Xie Xingchen stared wide-eyed at the microchip, flabbergasted:
— "How... how did you get this?! Wasn't this chip lost?!"
Tae-Joon let out a sigh, shaking his head and waving his hand:
— "It's a long story, I'll explain later!"
Standing nearby, Loona's anxious eyes darted behind the two of them, her voice trembling slightly:
— "Tae-Joon... Where is Shin? Is he still fighting?"
Tae-Joon's face darkened slightly, concern visible in his eyes:
— "I don't know Shin's current situation either... But the most important task for you two right now is to quickly decrypt this chip and broadcast all of the Lu family's atrocities to the entire galaxy! Lang Mac and I will head straight to Lu Junlin and Lu Xie's lair to settle the score once and for all!"
— "Understood! Leave the decryption to Xingchen and me!" Loona nodded resolutely, immediately plugging the YX Chip into the master data drive slot.
Tae-Joon and Lang Mac turned and rushed back out to the hallway. They lifted Renji and Russo—the blood-soaked enforcers—so they could lean back against the reinforced steel wall outside the server room.
Renji gritted his teeth, spitting out a mouthful of dark blood, growling in annoyance:
— "Damn it... Remember this, Tae-Joon... That strike I owe Qin Wuhuang, I'll collect it personally..."
Tae-Joon smiled, patting Renji on the shoulder:
— "You guys rest up. Leave the rest to Zero Horizon."
Lang Mac clenched his fists, intense killing intent burning in his eyes as he looked toward the central tower—where Lu Junlin and Lu Xie were entrenched.
— "Let's move, Tae-Joon... It's time to put an end to this rotten family!"
Both shot forward at wind-splitting speeds, heading straight toward the supreme command room of the Lu father-and-son duo.
(To be continued)