"Damn it! Where did that person come from? I finally got an opening, and now they'll be on guard next time."
The giant spider skittered through the forest at high speeds. Standing atop its back, the black-robed man continuously cursed the silver-white figure who interfered.
To his surprise, a sense of unease washed over him. He looked up and saw a scorching trail of fire racing toward his position. Before he could react, a thunderous BOOM echoed as the fire crashed down directly in front of them.
"You again? What else do you want!"
The black-robed man instantly recognized the silver-white armor amidst the swirling dust. This was the same intruder from before.
"You may leave. But the spider beneath you stays."
Sam pointed a finger at the massive arachnid.
"Impossible!" the man barked, his voice filled with rage. "Hand over an A- rank combat asset? Dream on! Since you want a fight, don't blame me for being ruthless! Don't think being strong gives you the right to do whatever you want!"
At his command, the giant spider entered a state of frenzy once more. Like a small house on the verge of collapsing, it charged toward Sam with reckless abandon.
"Futile struggle."
Sam's voice remained as calm as before. She clenched her fist, fire condensing around her knuckles as she fell into a striking stance.
"Attack. Execute."
Sam threw a single punch toward the skull of the incoming giant spider.
Thump.
The battle ended.
There was no fierce struggle, no explosive awakening of hidden power—only the terrifying reality of numerical suppression.
To Luo Lin and Ye Yunzhi, the creature's carapace seemed indestructible. To Sam's fist, it was as fragile as paper. The spider's head was pierced instantly, producing a dull, wet sound. Sam tore the head clean off. With her other hand, she effortlessly halted the massive momentum of the spider's headless corpse.
"How... how is this possible?! Are you an S-rank powerhouse?!"
The black-robed man witnessed the entire sequence from the spider's back. The anger in his eyes vanished, replaced by profound disbelief and sheer panic.
How could this be? S-rank users were supposed to be incredibly rare! Why did one just appear out of thin air?
He finally understood why this person showed no reaction when he mentioned the Heterozone Cult. He initially thought she had a powerful faction backing her, but he was wrong. Just as she said, she simply didn't care.
With S-rank strength, one could walk anywhere in this world with impunity, provided they didn't offend every major power at once. If she truly wanted to wipe out his organization, she wouldn't even need to do it herself. She could simply join a major faction, and those entities would be more than happy to grind his organization into dust just to please her.
The panic in the man's eyes intensified. Cold sweat soaked his black robe, causing the fabric to stick to his skin.
'If you're an S-rank, why didn't you say so earlier?! If I knew you were S-rank, I would have given you the A- rank beast—hell, I would've given you an A+ rank one without hesitation!!!' The man screamed inwardly.
Noticing the change in his demeanor, Sam turned her gaze toward him. With a light leap, she landed on the spider's back.
'The holographic projection device... is it this?'
Upon landing, Firefly noticed a disc hidden within the giant spider's coarse hair. The disc emitted a faint white glow, which served as the source of the black-robed man's manifestation.
Controlling Sam, Firefly picked up the disc and snapped it in half with a casual flick of her wrist. Currents and sparks erupted from the broken device. In that instant, the black-robed man vanished into thin air.
'As expected, a holographic projection. I suppose I'll let him go for now.'
Sam tossed the broken disc aside, jumped down from the spider, and began dragging the massive carcass back toward Ye Yunzhi's location.
★ ★ ★
"Say... where do you think that powerhouse went?"
Ye Yunzhi stood in place, wondering where the silver-white warrior went. Driven by curiosity, she turned to Luo Lin.
Luo Lin, who was busy cleaning spider silk off her weapon, gave Ye Yunzhi a flat stare.
"You're asking me? Why ask me? Do I look like a mind reader for the powerful? Actually, wait—someone that strong probably doesn't even have normal human thoughts I can process."
After finishing her dry remark, Luo Lin continued cleaning her gear.
"I just wanted you to guess..."
Seeing that Luo Lin was unwilling to chat, Ye Yunzhi sighed and continued waiting for the warrior's return. Soon, a silver-white silhouette emerged in the distance, walking slowly toward them. Ye Yunzhi's face lit up, and she moved forward to greet her.
However, after taking only a few steps, she froze.
She saw a familiar object. The giant spider.
"Hiss... that A- rank giant spider was killed just like that?"
Looking at the headless corpse, Ye Yunzhi took a sharp breath, contributing her own small part to global warming. It hadn't even been a minute, had it? How did a creature that looked so lively and dangerous moments ago end up as a mangled corpse so quickly?
Wasn't this thing A- rank?!
Wait... could it be...
"Yunzhi, we should go."
Luo Lin's voice interrupted her train of thought. Ye Yunzhi turned to see her companion ready to move. The silver-white armor stood there, staring at her expressionlessly.
"Oh, right. We should go."
Snapping back to reality, Ye Yunzhi patted her head and began leading the way toward the city. Firefly followed, carrying the spider's head in one hand while dragging the massive body with the other. She chose not to put the spider into her spatial storage because she felt that dragging a massive monster like this looked cooler and more intimidating.
★ ★ ★
"Knock, knock. Is Great Cipher there? I just caught a purple unidentified organism. It claims to be your companion. Big Boss, do you know this thing?"
Lu Zhaoran's voice suddenly echoed in her mind. Firefly, who was currently dragging the corpse, paused. She immediately realized the message was directed at Cipher. The perspective of Firefly rapidly shrunk, shifting until it became the vision of Cipher.