Marado was located south of Jeju Island.
Administratively, it belonged to Seogwipo City in Jeju, but since it was an independent island, one must travel by sea to reach it from Jeju Island.
Here’s a question:
Did Ji Cheon-hyang’s ability reach Marado?
Though it fell under the sa administrative jurisdiction as Jeju, would her power affect the tangerines growing on Marado?
The answer was, ultimately, no.
Ji Cheon-hyang’s perception was confined to the island of Jeju itself, so, unfortunately, her ability did not extend to Marado.
Thus, Marado did not have a public security system utilizing tangerine trees.
Instead, soldiers ard with firearms and so ability users were stationed to protect the island.
And now, they were unleashing a barrage of bullets at countless spiders raining down from the sky.
“Ahhhhh!!”
Screaming, they opened fire wildly.
They aid their guns skyward and unleashed rapid, continuous shots.
Yet, the enemies—spiders swarming Marado in an airstrike—were not easy targets for the bullets.
Their long legs, resembling joined chopsticks, made them hard to hit, as their bodies were only the size of a human fist.
Tat-tat-tat.
The bullets rely grazed between the spiders’ legs.
Even if so of the bullets struck the spiders’ bodies or legs, it only ant hitting a single spider at most.
“Ugh, ugh…! Why are they doing this!!”
Spiders rained down from the sky.
In addition to those descending by interlocking legs in a gliding motion, the corpses of spiders hit by bullets fell faster.
Thud!
Even though they were rely spider corpses, falling from such a height carried significant physical force.
While their shapes beca unrecognizable, the impact was enough to deal hailstone-level physical damage.
Above all…
The fact that the spiders were close enough to be hit by bullets fired from rifles indicated they had already neared Marado.
Tap, tap.
Groups of long-legged spiders began landing on the ground one by one.
Using webs stretched between their legs as parachutes, the spiders landed smoothly on Marado without significant obstacles.
“Perfect.”
In the center of the spider swarm, a woman dressed in an unmistakable costu indicative of soone controlling the spiders spread her arms wide as she landed.
Wearing a punk-style outfit predominantly black with deep purple accents, the woman’s body was adorned with nurous tattoos.
“It’s been so long, Korea. Sniff. Ah. The sll of kimchi, even in the middle of the ocean. It’s nostalgic but also disgustingly revolting.”
The woman, Queen Spidey, covered her nose with her gloved hand of deep purple.
“Stop—stop! Do you even know what you’re doing right now?! This is a cri!”
“A cri? What cri? I’m just visiting my holand with my pet insects, that’s all.”
Queen Spidey lowered her black sunglasses over her eyes and shrugged.
“If anything, I should report you. How dare you shoot at soone making an ergency descent to save their life after falling from a plane? That’s 1 million won per spider. I’m suing for damages.”
“Crazy…!”
“Crazy? Killing soone’s pets indiscriminately cos with consequences. Oh, and don’t worry—it’s not the governnt I’ll be suing. It’ll be you, personally. Rest assured, I’ll claim damages directly from the individuals who pulled the trigger and killed my pets. No need to feel guilty about harming the nation.”
Those defending Marado gritted their teeth and trembled in anger at Queen Spidey’s audacity.
No matter how close Jeju Island was, or how many S-class heroes were stationed there…
It would take ti for reinforcents to arrive, and in the anti, Queen Spidey could do whatever she wanted on Marado.
“I won’t kill anyone. I’m not a villain. Though from Korea’s perspective, I might be considered a treacherous villain. But I’m an ability freelancer providing personnel services to the Australian governnt, after all. Hehe.”
“And you think no one knows you’re committing cris with that power?!”
“Oh my. You make it sound like I’m using my little ones for actual cris.”
Queen Spidey twisted her hand slightly to the side, and the long-legged spiders began detaching from each other.
“E-everyone, be careful! She’s about to throw a tantrum!!”
“Tantrum? Really. Am I so kid you see at a holiday gathering?”
Queen Spidey chuckled, placing her hand on her temple.
“Urgh, my head…!”
“She’s coming!! Prepare for combat!!”
“Oh dear. Stressing out like this… Ah?”
Thunk.
Queen Spidey dropped her hand as if a puppeteer cutting the strings of her dolls and smirked mockingly.
“It seems my ability to control insects faltered montarily because of the stress.”
At that mont—
Scuttle, scuttle!
The spiders surrounding Queen Spidey scattered in all directions.
As if they were searching for sothing.
“Shoot—shoot! Don’t let the spiders…!”
Tat-tat-tat.
“Don’t let them annihilate Marado’s native ecosystem!!”
Then naturally, Marado becos Queen Spidey’s domain.
When soone had the ability to control sothing, if they covered an area with that ability, the area practically beca theirs.
It was similar to how Ji Cheon-hyang dominated Jeju Island through control of its tangerines.
[An ability user who can control specific animals could easily take over a city or island with malicious intent. For example, an island in the UK was taken over by a rat-controlling ability user.]
“Is this really the ti to talk so leisurely?!”
[We’re already going at full speed, and talking won’t make us arrive any faster. So, it’s better to discuss strategy while we’re on the move.]
I pointed back and forth between Tae Irin and myself with my finger.
[This collaboration is a one-ti thing. Even I don’t want to see long-legged spiders nesting on Marado and spreading to Jeju and the Korean Peninsula.]
“Ugh… Then what’s the plan? Are we killing her, or turning her into a powerless husk?”
[The phrase ‘husk’ against a woman is—]
“Does it matter, as long as the aning is clear?!”
Tae Irin shouted sharply.
I had intended to lighten the mood and ease the tension a bit, but Tae Irin, seeing thousands of long-legged spiders spreading across Marado, was visibly tense.
Maybe even scared.
Well, no matter how much of an ability user you were, seeing thousands of giant spiders, each up to 30 cm in size, crawling around would inevitably make anyone shudder.
Especially considering that each spider was controlled by the Spider Queen and could potentially possess the combat ability of an F-rank ability user.
“That’s not just a swarm of spiders, that’s an army! When Lee Chae-hyeon infuses her mana into those spiders, they practically beco ability users!”
[Like getting superpowers from a radioactive spider bite, being bitten by these ability-infused spiders might—]
“Stop spewing outdated references and just answer the question!”
Oops.
“Are you going to kill Lee Chae-hyeon?! If you are, I’ll stop you before you can do it!”
[Still can’t stomach the idea of killing soone, huh? Heroes will always be heroes.]
“Answer !”
[No, I won’t kill her. She’s committed wrongs, but whether this warrants execution… that’s a separate matter.]
Queen Spidey had not yet crossed a line deserving death.
But.
[She’s the kind of troublemaker who likes to toe the line, scratching at people’s nerves. One more yellow card, though, and she’ll earn a red card imdiately.]
“What kind of…?”
[For instance, if any Marado resident has a heart attack due to the long-legged spiders she brought.]
“……”
If her actions directly caused soone’s death, she would imdiately beco a target for execution.
[If she kills soone, I won’t hesitate. Even without that, though, bringing thousands of universally reviled creatures to foreign territory and dropping them from the sky is no different from terrorism. I’ll make her a Zenros.]
Marado was gradually coming into view.
Residents and soldiers gathered at the harbor were diligently attacking the long-legged spiders climbing over walls, while the spiders scattered, evading attacks, and began hiding in every corner of Marado.
Inside toilet lids.
In the long rubber boots left outside doorsteps.
Between traditional jars, under the eaves of buildings, even squeezing through half-open car windows to hide under the driver’s seat.
[For psychopath villains who enjoy others’ fear, a Zenros sentence fits perfectly.]
“Are you going to shoot?”
[I will. But I’m not shooting with a gun.]
I covered my mouth with a finger.
[When an ability user experiences confusion in their ability, they weaken. Watch carefully.]
Screeech!
I drove the bike hard and landed right in front of Queen Spidey, who was still surrounded by hundreds of long-legged spiders.
“Well, well, look who it is! The famous S-class villain, Goblin!”
[Spidey Queen. Insect Mage. Lee Chae-hyeon. Among insect users, you’re the strongest, they say?]
“Ha! Of course! Why? Are you here to recruit ? Can you pay more than the Australian governnt for the best insect mage in the world?”
[Is that so.]
I dismounted the bike and pointed to the spiders around her.
[But spiders aren’t insects.]
Let say it again.
[Why do you call yourself an insect mage? Spiders aren’t insects. They’re animals, at best.]
“……What?”
The way to subdue an ability user was to attack their brain.
[Not knowing the limits of your own ability? That’s unfortunate.]
This included ntal attacks.
[You claim to be the world’s greatest insect mage, and yet you don’t know this?]
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