The flowers swayed, and a red-and-blue figure sprang out of them.
Ryan turned at the sound and froze in shock.
"Holy shit, what kind of monster is that?"
In front of him stood a Spider-Man with one shoulder half exposed, his hands planted righteously on his hips. His crooked mask made him look utterly ridiculous.
"Spider-Man?" Felicia looked equally stunned.
Ryan sneered. "Spider-Man? Looks more like a circus performer to me."
He knew about Spider-Man, the superhero who had defeated the Lizard Monster.
That battle had turned Spider-Man from an unknown evil entity into a hero.
But he didn't believe the ridiculous performer before him was Spider-Man.
This didn't fit the image of a superhero at all.
Someone had to be playing a prank.
"Buddy, if you want to play the hero and save the girl, put your suit on properly first."
With a cold laugh, Ryan drew a pistol from behind his waist and aimed it at the unknown evil entity.
His movements were practiced, his grip textbook-perfect.
This wasn't his first time drawing a gun.
"Listen up, clown. Lick my toes!"
Faced with the black muzzle, Mark felt delight rather than fear.
"Oh my God, it's a legendary demon-hunting holy relic!"
Information about the prince of the neighboring kingdom appeared before his eyes.
[Common NPC: Stitch] [Identity: Third prince of the Titch Kingdom/Demon Hunter] [Level: Beginner]
[Liana's Holy Light] [Grade: Rare] [Description: A weapon blessed by an Upper-Class Demon Hunter. Severe damage has reduced it to Rare grade. It possesses sacred power capable of destroying demons' souls.]
Mark clapped his hands and laughed.
"Today's my lucky day. You're the one!"
"What?"
Ryan found Mark's reaction strange, but before he could think it through, Spider-Man was already advancing on him.
"Damn it, stay back! I'll shoot!"
"Hahaha! Go ahead and scream. Scream your lungs out, and nobody will come save you."
"I'm not screaming!"
"Mwahahaha!"
The great Demon Hunter eagerly approached. Ryan gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger.
"No!"
As Felicia cried out, fire flashed from the muzzle.
Bang!
With the gunshot, the great Demon Hunter effortlessly raised a hand and caught the lightning-fast holy light.
"What?!"
Seeing that the bullet couldn't hurt Spider-Man at all, Ryan went pale with shock.
Mark casually crushed the holy light. "Sorry, I'm not a demon. Your holy relic doesn't work on me.
"But out of respect, I'll only throw one punch."
As he finished speaking, the paving stone beneath his feet shattered. With an eruption of tremendous force, he became a blur and appeared before Ryan in an instant.
"No-"
Before Ryan could fire again, his eyes widened.
In his vision, a fist grew to the size of a sandbag in the blink of an eye.
Demon Hunter—Holy Light Fist!
Whoosh!
The punch tore through the air, and watermelon juice suddenly sprayed everywhere.
Beginner versus Beginner. Instant kill!
His opponent was far too weak.
As the headless corpse crashed to the ground, Felicia stared wide-eyed, blood spattered across her face and her whole body trembling.
"You... you killed him..."
She watched Spider-Man shake out his hand, her lips trembling and her face pale.
Then she smiled.
"That's wonderful."
"Beautiful Princess, I heard everything."
Mark picked up Liana's Holy Light and spoke gently to the princess.
"He threatened you with your father. I thought he needed to disappear."
He wasn't Peter.
Spider-Man wouldn't kill. He was a Demon Hunter, and he had to eliminate evil forces.
Even if this was a game.
He kindly comforted the princess, then examined the weapon in his hand.
[Liana's Holy Light] [Grade: Rare] [Attribute: Spirit +1] [Skill: Liana's Holy Light] [Liana's Holy Light: Consumes 1 Spirit to deal 1 soul damage to a demon. Cooldown: 15 seconds.]
Satisfied, Mark put the weapon away.
Soul damage should also count as a type of magic damage.
But just one point of soul damage probably wouldn't be enough.
So he looked at the princess.
"Beautiful Princess, I'd like to know why the evil dragon abducted you."
"What the fuck?"
Felicia looked baffled. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, thank you for clearing that up, Princess. I understand now."
Mark stroked his chin thoughtfully.
The evil dragon had abducted the princess because she possessed a portion of the Demon Dragon's power.
The queen of the Kingdom of Ake had once been abducted by an evil dragon, and the princess was the child of that dragon and the queen.
Children born of demons and humans possessed purer magic.
The Demon Dragon had chosen to abduct Snow White because of that power, too.
Yes, that made sense.
But something still felt off.
The evil dragon was sooo big, and the queen was sooo small.
How had they made a baby?
Never mind. That wasn't important.
Royal families were all pretty messy anyway.
"Then, beautiful Princess, how can I take the most precious thing inside your body?" he asked again.
Felicia immediately grew wary at those words.
"What exactly do you want to take from me?" she asked, wanting to be sure.
Mark looked perfectly serious. "Your most important thing, of course."
"Shit, you're a lunatic!"
Felicia finally lost her temper and cursed him out.
She'd actually spent all this time talking to a nutcase.
Mark, however, was very understanding of the princess's current state.
She'd had a fright, after all.
First she'd encountered an evil dragon, and now an evil, fallen Demon Hunter.
She must have been terrified.
Fortunately, he'd found a weapon that dealt soul damage this time, so the trip hadn't been wasted.
"All right, Princess. Get some rest. I'll come see you another day."
With that, Mark turned and vanished deeper into the park.
Felicia looked at Ryan's disgusting corpse and frowned slightly.
Ryan hadn't been
a good person to begin with, and he'd even joined Hell's Kitchen. If he was dead, he was dead.
But his dying here would cause trouble for her.
Everyone had seen Ryan chase her here.
She had to find a way to cover this up.
Soon, her brow relaxed.
She had an idea.
She was the daughter of the Master Thief Spirit Cat. Handling something like this was nothing.
She immediately mussed up her hair and ran toward the park's lake in utter terror.
"Help! The Lizard Man is back! He killed Ryan!"
Ryan's head had been smashed apart. Clearly, an ordinary person couldn't have done that.
She could only pin it all on the Lizard Monster.
"Achoo!"
In the Secret Laboratory, Professor Connors suddenly sneezed.
"Oh shit, is my body getting weaker and weaker?"
He couldn't understand why this was happening.
Well, perhaps it was rhinitis.
Click.
Just then, Norman arrived at the laboratory.
He brought good news.
"Professor Connors, congratulations on becoming an even more terrifying demon."
Smiling, he handed him a handheld computer.
On its screen was a reporter's interview with Felicia.
"Boohoo... you have no idea what I went through. That Lizard Monster killed my boyfriend right in front of me. We'd only just gotten together. I can't bear this cruel truth. If you feel sorry for me, you could try donating some money..."
Tears soaked Felicia's exquisite makeup.
Anger spread across Professor Connors's face.
"Holy shit! I didn't do this!"