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chapter 153
Camila Duarte.
One of the thirteen pillars that make up the “Axis of Evil.”
Specifically, a high-ranking executive of the City Cartel—the largest of them all.
She was the head of the rising Korean branch of the drug market, as well as the overseer of the Asia-Pacific region. At that moment, she was engaged in a conversation with someone inside Club Tronica.
“So what exactly are you trying to say? Can you stop circling around and just get to the point?”
Camila crossed one long, bronzed leg over the other, a cigar between her lips. The slit in her dress revealed her sculpted legs—sensual yet somehow threatening.
The bodyguards present flushed red, hastily looking away or pretending to cough while squeezing their eyes shut.
After all, more than one man had already lost his head from staring too long.
She was every bit the disciple of Arachne—the spider said in legend to be the origin of all spiders.
But—
“Well, I thought I’d explained myself well enough already.”
Her charms had no effect on the handsome man across from her.
The man with neatly combed blond hair laughed boisterously and downed his glass of whiskey in one go.
Clink.
The ice cubes rattled crisply against the glass.
“Damn, that’s good stuff. What did you say this was called? I’ll have to buy a bottle when I head back to France.”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The pounding EDM bass outside the room added to the atmosphere.
The man was starting to like this place. Not just the club—Korea itself.
A paradise with endless places to party, 24/7.
Why the hell is France such a shithole in comparison? Should I just blow it up?
Meanwhile, Camila’s brow furrowed. She had puffed so hard on her cigar that it was already half gone.
Her murderous intent wasn’t a metaphor or a passing impulse. It was a serious consideration.
His name was Maxence Érion de Gremont.
A member—and high-ranking officer—of the secret society known as the Sons of Zeus.
Maxence had come to Korea for one reason only:
To find Demon Thunder.
He wants to find Demon Thunder—and then he dares approach us, the ones who have a grudge against him? Me, the one who lost honor because of him?
Camila’s first instinct was to refuse Maxence outright. She intended to kill Demon Thunder on sight.
Working together with those zealots searching for Zeus, the one Demon Thunder supposedly inherited power from, was unthinkable.
And yet—
The deal Maxence proposed had been unusual.
“Once we find the lead, we part ways. Whether we fight over it or steal it first—that’s up to us.”
It made her suspect he didn’t truly want to find Zeus—maybe he was planning to eliminate Demon Thunder before that.
She had heard that within the Sons of Zeus, many feared that Zeus’s apostle might eventually claim command over them.
And at the time, our own pursuit had hit a dead end.
Demon Thunder had vanished completely. No matter how they dug, nothing came up. Every time they thought they had a lead, it slipped away.
Clearly, someone was deliberately hiding information.
Jet was the most suspicious, but investigation there also failed.
White Burn rejected all contact, and Jet’s fighting style was totally different from Demon Thunder’s anyway.
Even when she reluctantly joined forces with the Central Hero Committee—well, with Pingxin—the only result had been Lucas Montenegro’s pathetic death.
And of course, his body carried no trace of Demon Thunder.
Thunder magi usually left distinctive “lightning scars” due to the uniqueness of their magic patterns. But nothing had been found.
Eventually—
—Ah, my most precious Camila.
She had been forcibly summoned by her boss.
—You’re my little bluebird, aren’t you? So you know how much I hate seeing business fail. And lately… you’ve been making a lot of mistakes, haven’t you?
That sweet yet menacing voice had whispered to her in the dark chamber, still echoing in her ears.
—Drag him to me with a leash. Otherwise…
The red lips had leaned close to whisper the last words:
—It’ll be you wearing it.
…My life doesn’t have much time left.
Camila knew the Drug King genuinely cherished his people. He always called them familia.
But she also knew how dangerous he was.
Once you lost his favor, it was over.
There was never a second chance.
She would be floating face-down somewhere in the Pacific before long.
That was why she’d allied with the Sons of Zeus—on the slim chance they had a way of finding Zeus.
But now—
And after all that, he eats up everything I give him and offers nothing in return?
Just moments earlier, Maxence had said they were withdrawing from the investigation.
“Well, since you didn’t quite get it, I’ll say it again. I don’t like your cartel’s methods. Every time you don’t like someone, you kidnap, beat, threaten them… honestly, it’s too disgusting to work with—”
“You’ve found Demon Thunder, haven’t you?”
Camila cut him off, eyes sharp.
Maxence’s lips curled into a crooked smile.
In that instant—
Bzz!
Something gleamed faintly under the dim lighting.
“Don’t move!”
At Maxence’s shout, the Sons of Zeus hunters behind him froze mid-motion.
“Sir, this is—”
“The room’s been filled with magic threads. Don’t move carelessly.”
The hunters’ pupils trembled as they realized their sleeves had been neatly sliced, and something was coiled around their necks.
Maxence smirked at Camila’s venomous glare.
“Latina women really are fiery. That’s what makes them so charming. I guess spiders are the same—most alluring when they’re angry. Maybe that’s why we get along so well, hmm?”
His mocking French charm only enraged her further.
“Where is Demon Thunder? Tell me.”
“Well, maybe I’ll talk once you put away your little toy. Hard to open up otherwise.”
“If you don’t speak… you die.”
Maxence’s eyes curved slyly.
“Here? Oh my, too many eyes watching. Is that what you’re into?”
He had crossed far beyond the line.
Her threads flared blue, tightening around his throat—
BOOOOM!!
Suddenly, the ground shook violently.
Sparks crackled. Lights flickered.
A surge of thunderous energy filled the air.
“…What the hell?”
Camila’s eyebrows twitched.
“Didn’t you just ask if I’d found him, Madame?”
Maxence casually brushed aside the thread at his neck with a finger and poured himself another drink.
“No need to worry about finding him. He’s already here.”
“What?”
Camila was about to demand what he meant when—
BANG!!
The door burst open and a man stumbled in.
“C-Controller! It’s terrible! D-Demon Thunder is outside right now—!!”
“…!!!”
Camila instantly withdrew her threads and dashed out the door, her cartel hunters scrambling after her.
Silence fell over the room.
Everyone was gone. Only the pounding beat of the club’s music remained.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Maxence slowly sipped his final glass, his face drained of all emotion—like a lifeless statue.
Lee Hyun walked leisurely down the club’s hallway.
Civilians were allowed to leave.
Mafia members—
“Die.”
BOOM!!
—were slain on the spot.
His Keraunos had already seized the entire building. Electricity flowed through every corner, ready to smite enemies at will.
“Fuuuuuck!!”
“Die already!!”
“Get the hell out of here…!!”
The cartel fighters tried desperately to block him in the narrow corridors—
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!
Electric currents crawling along the walls erupted in chain explosions, killing them before they could even approach.
Those hiding in blind spots, cloaked in stealth, lurking in ceilings—
Flash!
A swing of his rune staff unleashed bolts that surged through the walls, devouring them in an instant. Death by electrocution.
More died lurking than blocking his path directly.
“A-AAAHHH!!”
“He’s a monster! That thing is a fucking monster!!”
“Fuck this, get out!!”
Hyun advanced at a crawling pace, slower than a turtle.
Secret safehouses, emergency power, security wards—all destroyed.
“Why… why won’t it connect?! We need to… call… Mexico…!!”
Those frantically clutching phones, trying to alert the cartel higher-ups, burned to death screaming, their final moments nothing but despair.
“Shit! Lock the doors! Close the fire doors!!”
Whirr! Clunk!
“They’re down!!”
The heavy fireproof shutters slammed shut, trapping Hyun inside.
“Hah! Got him! That bastard’s locked in! You think that’s just a shelter? No—it’s a prison we spent a fortune building just for freaks like you! You’ll starve to death in there!”
One man laughed hysterically, pointing at the shutter. Others peeked out, hope flickering in their eyes. Maybe… he was really trapped?
“Do you even know who we are, huh? We’re the Duarte Familia! We’re the goddamn heart of the City Cartel! A little shit like you—”
BOOM!
The entire barrier shook violently.
The boasting man froze, along with the others who had stepped out.
But when the fire door held without a crack, their confidence returned.
“Hah! See that? Try all you want, you won’t—”
BOOM!
“—get… through—”
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
The reinforced wall caved in like a soda can, terror flooding their eyes.
The next impact shattered it completely. The gloating man was crushed flat by flying steel.
KAAA-BOOM!!
White flames erupted, racing along the walls, fused with crackling currents. The rest of the cartel fighters were swept away in an instant.
A massacre.
The Duarte Familia—one of the City Cartel’s ten strongest groups—was annihilated in less than thirty minutes.
“….”
Even then, Hyun kept pressing the survivors with merciless calm.
And then—
His steps halted.
Slice!!
Flames and lightning were neatly severed. Webs spread thick around him.
[Legacy: “The Spider Who Defeated a God in Weaving” traps you in Spider Hell!]
『Demon Thunder…!! You dare slaughter my subordinates?! I’ll tear you apart limb by limb!!』
Camila’s furious voice thundered overhead.
At that moment, she had forgotten her boss’s orders to capture him alive.
Hyun tilted his head up slightly.
The mask hid his expression, but his cold golden eyes gleamed.
He spoke softly, looking past her.
“You talk big… for someone already dead.”
Camila wanted to shout back, but—
…!?
Her voice wouldn’t come out. As if something clogged her throat.
Rumble… Crackle…
Lightning flared, deafening currents filling the air.
The entire space was saturated with Demon Thunder’s storm.
Only then did Camila realize—
This place was no longer a battlefield.
It was the belly of the whale known as Demon Thunder.
