Gwen glared at the towering reptilian monstrosity, her voice strained with fury. "Dr. Connors, I'm putting an end to this! I'm bringing you in!"
Spider-Woman lunged. Her movements were a blur of pink and white, her agility allowing her to dance around the Lizard's devastating strikes. Every time the monster's claws shattered a concrete pillar, Gwen was already elsewhere, landing a flurry of kicks and punches against his torso.
However, her efforts felt like throwing pebbles at a tank. The Lizard's hide was thick, his muscles dense, and his regenerative factor was nothing short of miraculous. Even when Gwen landed a blow that would have killed a normal man, the wounds closed up in seconds.
Gwen was gasping for air. Her speed was flagging, and her strength was beginning to fail. Sensing a flaw in her rhythm, the Lizard hissed, his tail whipping out to snag her leg. With a guttural roar, he slammed her into a nearby brick wall.
The impact left a human-shaped crater in the masonry. Gwen slumped to the ground, the intense pain paralyzing her. She struggled to rise, but a massive shadow fell over her, blotting out the dim streetlights.
The Lizard let out a harsh, rasping sound—a mockery of a laugh—and kicked her again. Gwen tumbled across the pavement, her resistance completely broken.
As the heavy footsteps of the monster approached, Gwen looked up through blurred vision. Death was closing in. Is this it? she thought bitterly. I just got these powers... and now I'm going to end up like that poor man in the alley?
"I said... didn't you hear me, you ugly brute?"
The voice was calm, clear, and carried a hint of mocking boredom. Gwen's heart nearly stopped. That gentleman... he's still alive?
Su Mu stepped out of the shadows, his white hair glowing under the moon. A fierce, jagged arc pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Attacking me from behind while I was busy... do you really think I'm that easy to bully?"
The Lizard paused, tilting its head in confusion. To its primitive, instinct-driven brain, the "ant" it had swatted away earlier should have been a smear on the pavement.
"Run!" Gwen managed to choke out. "You don't understand—get out of here!"
The Lizard didn't give him the chance. It roared, its massive body launching forward like a runaway freight train. It was a terrifying display of raw kinetic energy. To Gwen, it looked like the thin, elegant young man was about to be turned into a red mist.
She closed her eyes, unable to watch.
But Su Mu didn't move. He simply extended one hand, palm out.
Infinity.
The Lizard's massive, clawed fist sped toward Su Mu's face—and stopped. There was no impact, no sound. It was as if the monster had hit an invisible, absolute wall. The Lizard roared again, putting every ounce of its multi-ton strength into the push, his muscles bulging and snapping with effort.
Yet, he couldn't bridge the final two inches.
Gwen's eyes flew open. She watched in total disbelief as the slender arm of the "gentleman" held back the prehistoric titan without so much as a tremor.
"Come on," Su Mu whispered, his blue eyes sparkling with cold amusement. "If you try a little harder, you might actually touch me."
The Lizard went into a frenzy, lashing out with claws, teeth, and tail. Each strike stopped dead in the air, refracting the light like ripples on a pond. The distance of a few centimeters was, in reality, an infinite void.
Su Mu grew bored. He circulated his cursed energy, feeling the power reinforce his muscles and bones.
"My turn."
Moving with the grace of a gymnast and the lethality of a reaper, Su Mu began to dismantle the monster. Because of Infinity, the Lizard couldn't touch him, but Su Mu's reinforced strikes landed with the weight of a sledgehammer.
BANG!
A roundhouse kick caught the Lizard in the chest, sending the three-hundred-pound beast flying through two brick walls before it crashed into the dirt.
The monster scrambled up, his ribs audibly knitting back together. Gwen's hope flickered and died again. "Sir! Stop! You have to hit him harder than he can heal! If you don't finish him in one blow, he'll just exhaust you to death!"
Su Mu didn't even look back at her. He watched the Lizard charge again, his smile widening into something truly predatory.
"You think he can heal faster than I can erase?" Su Mu sneered. He held out his palm, his long, slender fingers curling slightly as the air began to scream.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."