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"How... how is this possible?"
Gwen almost cried out in surprise at the sight.
She never expected the opponent's movement speed to be so fast.
No, is this truly something a human can achieve?
"!!!"
But just as Gwen was looking around for Erica's figure, her Spider-Sense once again gave a strong warning.
Without thinking, Gwen lunged to the side, narrowly dodging a knife Erica thrust from behind her.
"Oh, my assassination technique was dodged again..."
A strong sense of curiosity appeared in Erica's eyes.
After she was resurrected a second time by The Hand's secret arts and inherited more power from the original demon, the Beast, she had never encountered an opponent like Gwen who could continuously dodge her assassinations.
Her eyes, as black as ink, stared at Gwen for a moment before Erica spoke with a surprising statement:
"Although I don't know how you obtained this ability, you must be able to sense the killing intent emanating from an attacker the moment they strike, right?"
As her words fell, Erica's figure once again turned into a blur, using the cover of the shadows on both sides to silently appear behind Gwen.
However, this time, she did not rush to attack.
Instead, she grabbed the hood on Gwen's head and pulled it upwards with force.
Even though Gwen keenly sensed and reacted the moment the opponent's hand touched her suit, her movements were still a fraction slower than Erica's.
Swish—
As the hood fell, strands of golden short hair, along with her delicate and lovely face, were exposed to the air.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
Gwen felt a chill in her heart, because her Spider-Sense, which she prided herself on, had not given her a warning just now.
But before she could react, the opponent had already kicked her, sending her flying far away.
She even rolled several times backward upon landing before finally coming to a stop.
It's no exaggeration to say that Erica was the strongest enemy Gwen had encountered since her "debut."
Even the previously "mutated" fire-breathing monster, Mark Raxton, could not compare to her.
Whether it was speed, strength, or reaction ability, she was superior to Gwen... no, several times superior!
In a word, this woman was impossibly powerful!
Gwen quickly covered half her face with her hand, staring intently at the opponent, "What... what exactly do you want?"
Erica did not directly answer her question, but casually tossed the hood aside, saying with a look of approval:
"It's a very good ability, at least more powerful than the 'super senses' Matt possesses."
"However, it's useless for those who are skilled in assassination. You just need to restrain your killing intent and not show any intention of attacking you before making your move, and you can successfully deceive this ability of yours."
Clearly, Erica had successfully summarized a method to deal with the Spider-Sense during their brief exchange.
This made Gwen feel an unprecedented sense of crisis.
As the opponent said, if this woman had truly wanted to kill her just now, she would probably be headless by now.
Even if the Spider-Sense would give a warning the moment Erica attacked, as long as the distance was close enough, she still wouldn't be able to escape unscathed.
What's more, the opponent's speed was even faster than hers.
In the past, when encountering such a powerful enemy, Gwen would definitely have fled immediately.
Running away when you can't win, for a "hero-in-training" like her, there was no psychological pressure or burden whatsoever.
Helping others shouldn't mean sacrificing your own life, right?
But the awkward thing now was that she couldn't escape... or rather, she absolutely couldn't leave before dealing with this powerful woman in front of her!
Because... the opponent had seen her face clearly.
If she couldn't deal with this big problem, the opponent only needed to make this information public.
Then, many criminals Gwen had apprehended would help The Hand come looking for trouble with Gwen.
At that time, her normal life and studies would be completely disrupted.
She might even go from being a "somewhat famous" vigilante to a "vilified" rat in the streets.
However, although Gwen realized the problem at hand, she had no way to reverse this disadvantageous situation.
The formidable power Erica displayed had already formed a crushing dominance over her.
This had a tremendous impact on Gwen's psyche, especially since she had "lost" her greatest reliance, the Spider-Sense.
What to do? Can't run, can't win?
Damn it, what's going on tonight? Why do I always run into such strange people?
"Miss Spider, I hope you will consider my previous proposal... Join The Hand, become my subordinate, and I can make you even stronger."
Erica did not rush to attack.
Because from their brief exchange, she had already judged that Gwen was a rookie with little combat experience, and who had likely never even killed anyone before.
And someone like that, even with extraordinary powers beyond ordinary people, was simply no match for her.
What's more, the extraordinary power the Beast had bestowed upon her was far more powerful than that of this spider-girl in front of her.
"Never..."
Gwen showed the stubbornness unique to a young girl, knowing that to defeat such a powerful opponent, she would likely have to rely on that mysterious power from before.
So, as if by some uncanny inspiration, Gwen blurted out again, "Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne!!!"
These words were like a key that could unlock the mysterious power that had been imprisoned.
That powerful and surging energy instantly filled Gwen's entire body.
"Hmm?!"
This time, the calm expression on Erica's face finally changed abruptly.
Because she actually sensed an unprecedented sense of danger from the opponent.
Through the mysterious power the Beast had granted her, she even saw a scene that ordinary people could not perceive.
And she quickly pinpointed the true source of Gwen's power: the mysterious symbol on the center of her forehead, which symbolized Khorne's Blessing.
"Could this guy also be a 'God Chosen (proxy)' who believes in some ancient demon or god, just like me?"
But before Erica could even ask, Gwen on the opposite side had already launched a new round of attacks against her.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Several strong webs shot rapidly towards Erica.
At the same time, Gwen's figure flew forward like lightning.
Then she swung her arm, twisted her waist, and delivered a beautiful spinning back kick.
Her slender leg was like a soft whip, leaving a distorted blur in the air, instantly maximizing the body's kinetic energy as it flew towards Erica's face.
Gwen's offensive objective was very clear: she wanted to rely on this powerful move to directly eliminate the enemy in front of her.
However, this feint-like tactic had no effect on Erica, who had more combat experience.
Erica merely leaned back slightly, successfully dodging the kick.
Then, with the two of them almost less than an arm's length apart, she directly executed a High Kick, returning the favor by sweeping towards Gwen's head.
Bang—
Even though Gwen managed to block the kick with her forearms at the critical moment, her entire body was still sent flying far away by the powerful force.
She slammed heavily into the wall, creating countless spiderweb-like cracks.
During this process, the Spider-Sense seemed to have malfunctioned, showing no reaction at all.
However, fortunately, this level of attack was completely painless for Gwen, who was empowered by Khorne's strength.
Instead, it ignited an even more surging fighting spirit within her.
She immediately charged towards Erica again.
"It's useless..."
Erica dodged Gwen's returning punch, staring at the khorne rune on the top of her head, and said greedily:
"This power, used on a rookie like you who doesn't know how to fight at all, is truly a waste."
"Why don't you tell me how you obtained this power, and I can spare your life today?"
"Dream on."
Gwen said stubbornly, "Today, I'm going to eliminate all you scourges of society."
However, before she could finish her sentence, Erica hit her on the left cheek with a lightning-fast Forehand Punch.
And in that instant, through body extension and a second charge brought by the arm pull, she unleashed another punch to Gwen's face before Gwen could even be sent flying.
Bang!!!
Gwen was undeniably sent flying again.
This time, even the thick wall was dented by her impact.
"It doesn't matter if you don't want to tell me."
"I can kill you first, and then revive you through our Hand's secret arts."
"By then, you will not only submit to The Hand, but you will also willingly tell us everything you know."
Erica's pupils narrowed slightly, and a cold smile appeared on her face.
Then, her figure, like a ghost, created ripples of afterimages as she rushed in front of Gwen.
Her katana, aimed at the heart, thrust out like lightning.
Whoosh whoosh—
While dodging, Gwen raised her hand and shot two crimson webs, precisely sticking the katana in Erica's hand to the ground.
After being enhanced by Khorne's power, the durability of these webs was far beyond what ordinary swords could cut through.
Erica clearly noticed this change, and immediately kicked out with a Lunging Flying Kick, blocking Gwen's escape route.
Then she took two exquisite sai from her thighs and launched a storm-like assault, with every move aimed at killing.
Due to the extremely confined space of the Underground Room, Gwen's most effective combat style—relying on web-swinging and rapid movement between cover to disrupt the enemy's attack rhythm—could not be utilized here.
She could only rely on her agile movements and powerful static adhesion, capable of sticking to any surface, to continuously dodge Erica's lethal attacks using the walls and ceiling, while looking for opportunities to counterattack.
Thus, the two began a fierce, cat-and-mouse struggle in this Underground Room.
However, gradually, Erica was astonished to find that the spider-girl, who had initially displayed very clumsy combat techniques, was growing at a terrifying, visible speed.
Moreover, her counter-attacking moves were exactly the same as the killing techniques Erica had used earlier.
How is this possible? Is this person a master imitator?
How can an ordinary human learn an enemy's moves in such a short time, and in such high-intensity combat?
This is simply not something a human can do, right?
However, what she found even more unbelievable was yet to come.
Gwen, who had been "scurrying" around like a spider, now uncharacteristically stopped.
She just looked at Erica expressionlessly, with eyes as silent as if she were looking at a dying person!
"Your speed is very fast, so I can only come up with this method to restrain you..."
As she spoke, Gwen raised her hand and continuously shot several webs towards the direction behind Erica, completely sealing off the last opening.
At this point, the web fluid in her wrist-mounted web-shooters was also completely depleted!
"Stop bragging, you can't even... Hmm?!"
Before Erica could finish her sentence, she was startled to find that she had unknowingly pursued the opponent into a small space, less than 5 square meters, completely sealed off by dense, crimson webs.
What... what does she want to do?
Wait a minute.
Could it be that this person was deliberately playing cat and mouse with me just now, just to attract my attention and lead me here, thereby restricting my movement?
As if sensing something, Erica's face immediately showed an expression of disbelief.
She couldn't believe that this spider-girl, who had no combat skills just a few minutes ago, could possess such terrifying tactical planning ability.
Could it be... she was playing dumb all along?
However, this time, Erica truly wronged Gwen.
Because Gwen had not thought about tactical issues at all throughout the entire process.
Including the creation of the enclosed small space using webs during her escape, it was all done purely by combat instinct.
And this combat instinct was a primal power inherent in Khorne's Blessing to his God Chosen.
The purpose was to allow these God Chosen to fully engage in slaughter during combat without distractions.
In Khorne's own words: "Little brother, in the process of combat, you don't need to think about useless things like tactics or techniques. Just remember one thing: kill them to death, and that's it!!!"
Whoosh whoosh—
The moment Erica hadn't yet recovered from her shock, Gwen swiftly glided past, knocking the two sai from her hands and sticking them heavily onto the web-wall behind.