God is Dead

Less than ten minutes.

An entire well-armed modern US military unit had been wiped out by Abomination. Humans wailed, flames raged, and a once bustling, peaceful corner of the city had become a living Purgatory.

Abomination was like a monster crawling out of hell, born for slaughter. The flattened car beneath its feet oozed thick blood. It lowered its head to look at its own clenched fists, feeling the unparalleled, transcendent power in its body, and its face twisted into a human expression of madness and satisfied cruelty.

"Don't... don't kill me..."

The gun in his hand clattered to the ground with a crisp clack. The sole surviving American soldier stood before a building reduced to rubble, staring in terror at his comrades, torn apart in an instant. His spirit and will seemed utterly shattered in that moment, and his legs gave way, dropping him to his knees in a pool of blood.

Along with them, his lifelong faith crumbled too.

That overwhelming power, defying all common sense and reason, made the American soldier wonder—if God really existed, even He might be strangled by this unstoppable monster!

Abomination grinned savagely at the American soldier, showing no intention of letting him go. It took a step forward, the stride of death itself, and the earth trembled and groaned beneath its foot!

The American soldier knelt motionless, hands limp on the ground, waiting for death.

Just as Abomination debated whether to crush the soldier in its hand or grind him into pulp underfoot, a graceful silhouette flashed across the fire-lit night sky behind it.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Three white spider webs in quick succession struck Abomination's bald head. It reached back, grabbed at its scalp, and its palm came away coated in tough, sticky white webbing. Abomination froze, then turned to look at the Bell Tower behind it, now missing a corner. At the top of that tower crouched a young girl in a black-and-white Spider Suit.

"Big guy, wanna play with me?" Spider-Woman Gwen looked down at Abomination, tauntingly curling her finger, then without hesitation yanked on her web and swung away backward.

"ROAR!!"

Abomination bellowed at the sky, ignoring the American soldier entirely. It kicked off hard from the ground! The asphalt cracked and collapsed beneath its feet as Abomination launched itself like a human missile, slamming into the top of the Bell Tower! Without any pause or buildup, it lunged straight after Gwen, who was swinging on her web!

The American soldier stared blankly at all this, until a young voice came from beside him: "Hey, mister, aren't you going to take the chance to get out of here?"

The American soldier instinctively turned toward the sound, but saw only a fire-ravaged ruin. Who could have spoken to him?

Still, it snapped him out of his daze. He struggled to his feet and stumbled away from the unforgettable, brutal battlefield.

Inside a building by the roadside, its residents already safely evacuated, a silver-haired youth stood behind a window, a round shield on his back and a longsword in hand. It was none other than Xi Nian.

Xi Nian let out a soft sigh. Even he didn't understand why, after weighing the pros and cons, he had chosen to leave—only to turn back and follow Spider-Woman into the city's war zone where the military had been routed.

Deep down, he couldn't quite let go of that lone girl charging into the battlefield.

They had only just met, a mysterious person with extraordinary abilities!

"Forget it. Since I'm here, I'll see how it goes."

Xi Nian tightened his grip on the Retro Longsword in his left hand, leaped from the windowsill, and landed on the Rooftop of a church thirty meters above the ground, not far from the Bell Tower that Abomination had just smashed down to a single stub.

He crouched low, hiding himself, and quietly observed the city ahead.

Spider-Woman seemed to know she couldn't go head-to-head with Abomination. She kept swinging on her webs through empty streets, her agile, compact body darting between high-rises, slipping through windows and alleys only she could fit through—

But still.

Abomination stayed hot on her tail. The distance between them wasn't widening—it was shrinking!

Abomination didn't care about obstacles ahead. It simply charged and leaped, brute force and fury! Anything in its path was instantly pulverized by its green body!

BOOM!!

Another missile-like crash landed. This time, Abomination vaulted over Spider-Woman's head and punched a hole through the outer wall of the building in front of her.

Abomination clung to the wall by one corner of the eaves, its massive hand reaching for Spider-Woman as she zipped past. At the last possible moment, she yanked on the web behind her, twisting her body back. Her white hood barely brushed against Abomination's hand and was torn to shreds!

"ROAR!!" Abomination grew even more enraged and chased after Spider-Woman as she ducked into an alley.

"That was close."

Watching from above, Xi Nian's heart raced, but he also realized something—Spider-Woman was tougher and more skilled than he'd thought.

Still, even if she kept fleeing like this, it would only buy time.

"No, she's not just running."

Xi Nian's eyes lit up with understanding as he watched Spider-Woman deliberately luring Abomination into the city's denser, more crowded buildings.

Crack crack crack—

The walls on both sides of the alley were heavily damaged. Abomination burst out of the alley, covered in dust and grime. It watched Spider-Woman slip into another long, narrow passage, and veins bulged across its head and forehead in fury.

Abomination roared like thunder, charging madly into the alley mouth, widening the whole passage by two or three times!

But this time, when it burst out the other end, it seemed to have stumbled into a giant spider's nest—outside the alley, white webs were strung tightly everywhere, anchored to the intact buildings on all sides. Hundreds of them, at a glance, formed a massive web trap in the open space beyond the alley!

On a normal day, Abomination might have avoided it. But now, driven by rage and hatred, it charged straight into the trap.

"Now!"

Xi Nian, watching from the church heights, came to the same conclusion. Spider-Woman, her back pressed against a high wall, fired webs from both wrists in rapid succession. The strands clung to Abomination's head and limbs like iron chains, anchoring the other ends to the surrounding building walls.

In about five seconds.

Abomination was nearly cocooned in webbing, its face and mouth sealed shut, completely bound to the structures around it!

"Impressive. I really underestimated her." Xi Nian couldn't help but praise from his hiding spot.

Having nearly exhausted her web supply, Spider-Woman finally let out a breath of relief and sat down, exhausted, on the high outer wall.

Maybe because no one was around, she pulled the bottom of her Spider-Man mask up slightly, revealing a delicate, pretty chin, a small mouth gasping for air, and a slender, straight nose.

"No way." Xi Nian suddenly stiffened.

Even with only half her face showing, Spider-Woman looked just like someone he knew.