Chapter 74: The Young Fox of Ultimate Justice

Venigo faced the werewolf, staring at the blue gel smeared across its arm.

In the next moment, the dangerous layer of gel reacted with the air and spontaneously combusted. The dim flames possessed temperatures dozens or even hundreds of times hotter than an ordinary torch. In an instant, the skin of the werewolf’s entire forearm was charred, shrinking its once thick limb by a whole size.

The werewolf howled in agony, frantically shaking its arm and slamming it against the ground in a desperate attempt to extinguish the fire. Venigo was not about to show mercy; tightening his round shield, he strode forward with purpose.

Ultimate attack—Final Justice!

The Captain America constructed by Venigo was not based on the original comic, but rather modeled on the Captain America from fighting games. That version was easier to quantify in data—the greatest benefit being that it allowed Venigo to use several direct actions from the game.

Such as this Final Justice.

Shield strike, launch, slash, throw—a series of powerful, seamless attacks flowed together, something Venigo could never accomplish under normal circumstances. Yet, fueled by the consumption of mercury, each move unfolded naturally from his hands, displaying formidable destructive power.

“It’s doomed now, isn’t it?” Cait Sith whispered, clearly startled by Venigo’s dazzling combo.

“No,” Sophie replied, raising her sword.

Venigo’s movements inevitably came to a halt. Such explosive actions demanded him to hold his breath and force his body into overdrive, at the cost of exhausting himself. Every outburst must be followed by decline.

Sophie strode forward, gripping the hilt with one hand and pressing the blade with the other, raising her sword in defense. Just as expected, the mass of burning flesh suddenly leapt up, delivering a vicious overhead strike from above. Had Sophie not intervened in time, Venigo would have been lucky to escape with his life.

Even so, Sophie was knocked back several steps, blood trickling from her lips. She was clearly gravely wounded.

Venigo stood, pulling Sophie into his arms to absorb the brunt of the impact. The intimacy of the gesture brought a blush to Sophie’s cheeks, and she gently struggled to free herself.

“Thank you. But let me handle this myself,” Venigo said softly.

The opponent was strong, especially in combat, able to overpower Venigo with ease. But this was not a duel—it was a fight to the death. In such circumstances, the mutated werewolf, Ash Rack, had weaknesses that could prove fatal.

Lacking reason, clumsy, not agile.

As long as there was a weakness, Venigo would find a way. He touched his belt, which still held plenty of gadgets to welcome the werewolf.

“Come on, little Ash,” Venigo taunted, beckoning with his finger at the raging beast. He ran in another direction, aiming to draw the werewolf away from Honey and Sophie.

Honey had already leaped onto Cait Sith’s back. With the big cat’s speed, she was safe for now.

But Sophie… speed was not her forte. So Venigo planned to lure the werewolf far enough away for Sophie to have a chance to assist, without being too close to the fray or forced to directly confront the beast.

Once the distance was established, Venigo had plenty of ways to toy with this little Ash.

But this time, those tricks were merely auxiliary. Venigo’s main force remained the Captain America he had constructed. This ability was his greatest guarantee for survival in this dangerous world; thus, he had to become as familiar as possible with all his cards.

And what better opponent than this formidable foe to serve as a perfect test?

“This terrain will do. There’s cover, and the ground is full of loose sand—ideal for further hindering the enemy’s speed,” Venigo quickly found his target.

They were near the edge of the Flying Dragon Desert, where the sand was particularly loose. Finding such a spot was not difficult. As for Venigo’s own speed—Captain America, despite his imposing stature, was essentially an agile and nimble hero, and Venigo also had Azure Sky as support, so he had no fear of mere loose sand.

“Come on, little Ash,” Venigo called, swinging a silver slash that left a scar atop Ash’s head. Enraged, Ash howled skyward and charged at Venigo with thunderous steps.

“Captain America weighs much more than I do. Using Azure Sky will reduce acceleration and stamina. I need to factor that in,” Venigo muttered to himself, as if oblivious to the beast barreling toward him.

Suddenly, Venigo raised his head and pointed his left hand downward, murmuring, “Trap.”

The loose sand, shaken by the airflow released from Venigo’s left hand, sank abruptly. Ash felt the ground drop beneath him; his full-speed charge became his greatest liability, flinging him headlong.

Venigo wasted no time. His right hand sent the round shield flying, unleashing a silver slash that struck Ash’s jaw, distorting his ugly face and snapping it upward.

At the same time, Venigo’s left index finger aimed at Ash’s right eye.

Finger Gun—M500!

Venigo felt his left index finger go completely numb. The focused burst of airflow was condensed into a single line, unleashing its tremendous force within Ash’s vulnerable right eye, instantly blasting his eye socket into a bloody pulp.

Everything Venigo had done was in preparation for this strike.

Ash’s regenerative abilities were formidable; ordinary wounds barely fazed him. Thus, Venigo used the most powerful M500 finger gun, designed to obliterate his eye and optic nerve completely. No matter how strong the regeneration, such devastating damage to the intricate eye would surely take considerable time to heal.

Venigo caught the returning shield in his right hand, and quickly took another small sphere from his belt, tossing it out. This time, the werewolf had learned and tried to dodge instead of attacking. Venigo threw his shield, smashing the sphere midair.

The shield shattered the sphere, spraying its contents. The next instant, it ignited. Ash’s right eye was scorched by the eerie green flames, rapidly turning to charcoal.

Flames hinder regeneration; if they burn the tissue to charcoal, it’s almost impossible to heal without removing the damaged area.

“Whew…” Venigo breathed a sigh of relief. By now, he had used up two lethal weapons from his waist pouch, and his left hand, Azure Sky, was overloaded from the M500, leaving him with only his shield and the werewolf for the final battle.

Had he failed to blind Ash’s right eye, Venigo would have seriously considered retreating.

He took a deep breath, his spirits rising, and steeled himself with self-hypnosis. Then, holding his shield, Venigo strode toward Ash.

Captain America—a modern knight embodying chivalry. Before Venigo ever gained his extraordinary power, he already possessed the spirit to stand against tyranny and defend the weak. To unleash the full strength of this “fantasy construct,” he had to fully embrace that spirit.

—Total immersion.

“Come, monster.” Venigo shed his usual flippant tone and spoke solemnly to Ash.

Ash howled in fury, rose to his feet, and charged at Venigo like an arrow shot from a crossbow.

“No retreat!” Venigo growled. He leaned forward, feet braced against the ground, ready to meet the assault head-on.

Indeed, the shield was battered by wild impacts; in the blink of an eye, dozens of deep gouges appeared across its surface. For the shield to be so damaged, Ash’s claws could surely shred even plate armor with ease.

“Unyielding!” Venigo clenched his teeth, muscles bulging in his arms and legs, pouring every ounce of strength into resisting the overwhelming force, determined not to be driven back by Ash’s might.

“Fearless!” Venigo roared. As Ash’s frenzied attack inevitably slowed for a moment, Venigo switched from defense to offense, using his wounded left shoulder to land another crushing blow to Ash’s right face.

The heavy shield, though not particularly sharp, possessed incredible shearing power. This forceful strike tore open the already injured right side of Ash’s face with a gruesome wound. Venigo quickly sidestepped to Ash’s right.

Here, he was in Ash’s blind spot.

Ash turned and roared, but his left eye saw nothing. His sense of smell told him Venigo was nearby, yet he couldn’t pinpoint his location.

A sharp pain stabbed his right shoulder. Without thinking, Ash swung his right claw, covering most of the space to his right and spun rapidly—but all he saw was the tail of Venigo’s disappearing coat.

His right shoulder was wounded again. Ash didn’t even know what kind of attack Venigo had used.

He was like a turtle being teased by a fox, spinning helplessly but forever lagging behind the opponent.

Strange… he’s gone. Ash had to stop, sniffing the air to locate Venigo.

Above!

A jolt of agony struck his skull. Ash howled, raising both claws and grasping—did he catch something?

No, he had only caught a shield.

Venigo had leapt from above, crouched atop the shield, and, just as it was about to strike, launched himself with a powerful kick, driving the shield hard onto Ash’s head. The blow was so forceful that, even with Ash’s incredible bone strength and muscle density, it nearly knocked him out.

“Honey, now!” Venigo called.

“I’m ready! Watch my Spotlight Magic Orb!” Honey shouted excitedly, charging from afar.

Blazing light descended from the sky, shining upon Ash’s head. The Spotlight Magic Orb was slow to activate, and required a long recovery afterward, making it less practical. But if it hit, its mighty divine power could instantly turn even the strongest dark creature to ash and smoke.