CRASH-!
A glass window broke and two people went flying out into the field outside the orphanage. It was Dohwa and Junhyeong.
"I wish it didn't have to be this way." Junhyeong spoke as he landed, his tone laced with slight regret.
Dohwa had the same old grin she always had on, "How so? Did you really think I'd go along with your stupid plan?"
Feather-like stingers began to orbit around the area, making Dohwa's grin turn into a frown of annoyance.
"No." Junhyeon spoke while gathering the stingers at one point, "But i just didnt think I had to use force against you to make you give in."
Ultimate defense mechanism of the tarantula
Sting sling!
The stingers shot at Dohwa like a machine gun. A relentless attack that didn't seem to end.
But Dojwa didn't budge. Not a single bit. In fact she ran through them with a smile, "You moron."
She delivered a powerful strike to Junhyeong, breaking his complex and disabling the defense mechanism.
"Your cheap tricks won't work on me!" She said with absolute confidence, but surprisingly, Junhyeong was relatively unfazed by the attack.
"Okay." He glanced at her, "I guess my stingers don't have that much impact on that exoskeleton of yours."
Then Junhyeong made a brutal mistake, turning and reaching for Dohwa in an attempt to engage in close quarters combat.
"Then I'll just have to use my strength to beat you instead!" But his arm never connected to Dohwa.
Because she had already leapt into the air by pressing off the ground with her tail, "Just give it a rest man…"
Junhyeong turned but it was already too late, "It's time for you to wake up…"
"AND SNAP BACK TO FUCKING REALITY, ASSHOLE!" Dohwa's legs sprung into Junhyeong's body with such force he went flying back.
Signature Dohwa Dropkick!
"Whew~ that felt good." Dohwa stood in front of Junhyeong's clearly dazed and unconscious body, "But I went easy on you, since we're 'friends'."
VROOM-!
As soon as she said that a yellow van drove by her with Yerim in tow, "Wait–!" She turned, "That bastard's taking the kid!"
WHOOSH-!
Not even a second later, a strong gust of wind passed by Dohwa, a blur barely registerable, tailing the van from behind.
It was Do-Hyeok, "Dohwa! Go help Suchan down in the basement then catch up with me!" And when he finished, he continued to follow the car from behind.
"Tch!" Dohwa kissed her teeth, "Don't tell me what to do, Antboy!" she shouted, but they were already gone.
Then without delay, Dohwa went to the basement to help Suchan.
—
At this point, it was obvious Do-Hyeok was holding back. If he wanted to, he could have stopped the caretaker before they even got in the van.
So why was he letting them run? Because if they were to move anywhere, it would probably be somewhere of importance.
So, he stayed a reasonable distance from the van, while also staying close enough to stop it if the caretaker tries anything with Yerim.
'Sorry Yerim… I'm using you as bait.' Do-Hyeok felt a little guilty but it wasn't as if she couldn't be saved at any moment.
He continued to follow the van down the road, keeping a valid distance from it to make it seem like they were getting away.
"Damn!" The caretaker in the car said, "there's no way he can keep up for too long." And he sped up.
Then all of a sudden, from the sky dropped a certain blue scorpion. That scorpion, of course, being Dohwa.
THUD-!
She landed in front of the van, perched her tail into the ground as support and tackled it head on.
WHAM-!
The van's front was completely crushed, lifted in Dohwa's arms like it was nothing. "Now you've really gone and done it. Making me use my powers!"
Then she toppled the van to the side where only the caretaker would be harmed. Thankfully, Yerim was relatively fine.
"Dohwa there's a kid in there! Careful." Do-Hyeok jogged over to Dohwa to which he got a chop to the skull.
"Are you stupid? Obviously I knew that." Dohwa scoffed.
"How did you get here anyway?" Do-Hyeok asked, she practically came in like a nuke.
"Hm? Oh." She pointed at the sky, "Suchan dropped me in." And then they both looked up to see a dragonfly gliding down to join them.
"Yo. Yerim okay?" He asked before anything else.
"Yeah," Do-Hyeok said observing the van, "she looks unharmed, just unconscious."
"Phew, that's good." Suchan sighed in relief.
"Alright then, let's grab her and-" but before Do-Hyeok could finish, his body moved. A leg appeared in front of him out of nowhere, a kick he barely dodged.
"I can't believe you chased down a car." Junhyeong appeared, "I brought a psycho to the orphanage."
Do-Hyeok narrowed his eyes and responded, "Fuck off, hot topic."
Then the two moved, blow after blow, it was clear Do-Hyeok held the advantage, although the stingers were an annoyance.
"Quit it with the stingers already!" Do-Hyeok shouted as they exchanged blows, "They're annoying as hell!"
"While it's true that my stingers have no effect on you with that odd exoskeleton…" Junhyeong began, "would the same apply to the kids at the orphanage?"
That made Do-Hyeok freeze.
"They're so weak that even a single prick would hospitalize them." Then he turned to Dohwa, " just going to have to help you realise the harsh reality…" he peeled off the bandages on his face, "...That it's better to have these powers than nothing at all."
"I've never shown you this ability of mine, Dohwa." Two fangs appeared at the sides of his mouth. "So watch closely and learn…"
'Wait that's…!' Do-Hyeok went wide eyed.
Junhyeong got into a slightly lower stance, "because this is exactly what those kids need to survive." And he leapt toward Dohwa.
Black mamba
Before either Do-Hyeok or Suchan could react, Dohwa's neck was pierced by Junhyeong's fangs.
"Dohwa!" Do-Hyeok and Suchan shouted, but it was too late. Dohwa was already caught.
There's no way out now.
Not even you can avoid this…
…Because the moment a prey sees these fangs…
…The battle is already over.
"J-unhy-eong" Dohwa let out weakly before passing out.
"I didn't give enough to kill you. Just relax and take a nice nap." Junhyeong said, turning to the other two.
Junhyeong decided to take care of Dohwa first, that much was obvious, then almost immediately after, he launched all his stingers at Suchan, catching him off guard and taking him down.
It happened fast, but not faster than Do-Hyeok could see. So why didn't he stop Junhyeong?
The reason was simple really.
"Back in the casinos I used to frequent there was a certain unspoken custom the locals would do."
"?" Junhyeong turned to Do-Hyeok confused. He'd just witnessed him take down two of his friends with relative ease and now he's talking about casinos?
Even then, Do-Hyeok continued, "whenever someone arrogant or overly confident came into the casino and actually won all their games, a group would silently form and beat their ass in the alley out back."
"It was so their ego wouldn't get too big and lose all their money the next day. Of course, I was subject to this a bunch of times, even joined in a couple times."
"They would call this, Humbling the rookie."
Junhyeong looked at him, confused. "So what?"
Do-Hyeok's pale grey exoskeleton faded, leaving just him, armourless and defenseless, "well… in this case, you are the rookie that needs to be humbled."
He wanted to humiliate this guy without interference.
"Dropping your guard was your biggest mistake." Junhyeong moved immediately, planning to use black mamba on Do-Hyeok.
But instead of dodging, Do-Hyeok didn't move, he stood still with a neutral expression. Letting Junhyeong's fangs pierce his skin.
But instead of Do-Hyeok losing consciousness… he stood and stared at Junhyeong as if nothing had happened.
Junhyeong was shocked, It was impossible! The battle should've been over already, how is he still standing?
The Rasberry crazy ant (Nylanderia fulva)
"Whats wrong?" Do-Hyeok asked, "try again." He said monotone. As if this was boring to him.
Though they primarily deal with fire ant venom, these ants are famous for being the first insects known to neutralize another insect's venom using their own formic acid as an "antidote".
Junhyeong snarled, 'It probably just wasn't enough.' convincing himself he used black mamba again.
Their ability to detoxify neurotoxins suggests a unique evolutionary path for surviving venomous predators.
Prick-!
Yet once again, Do-Hyeok didn't move, simply staring at Junhyeong with a pitiable expression on his face.
In short, they can neutralize venoms to an extent and even create new antidotes if exposed to a toxin and they manage to survive.
"I can see why your parents didn't want you." Do-Hyeok smirked, "So bitey…"
At this, Junhyeong charged him, swung left and right, kicks, his stingers, and Do-Hyeok effortlessly dodged it with [zone].
"AAAARGGHHHHH!!!!!" Junhyeong had never felt so humiliated in his life, he didn't care anymore, launching his stingers at full capacity straight at Do-Hyeok, "DIE!"
What Do-Hyeok did next was absolutely baffling to Junhyeong. Do-Hyeok used his field ant complex and an exoskeleton covered his arms as he slowly walked right into the barrage of stingers.
"?!" Junhyeong had never felt so underestimated. Do-Hyeok casually walked through the attack, swatting away all the stingers that got too close.
And when he got close enough, he placed his hand on Junhyeong's shoulder, moved in closer, and whispered in his ear, "kneel."
And at that a crushing force pushed Junhyeong down onto one knee. Looking up, all he saw was a man with an indifferent look on his face, as if he'd just squashed a bug without noticing.
And to Junhyeong, that was absolutelyterrifying.
—
END OF CHAPTER
A/N: Sorry I'm a week late. I was writing like two other fics that I will post here soon. I'm about 7 chapters in on one and I've finished the rewrite of the other one.
Dont worry i will be posting weekly still, i was just a lil busy is all.
Have a wonderful day, till next week.
Oh and if you have any questions about why Do-Hyeok didn't do this or that, two words:
Webnovel logic.
See ya. More Junhyeong torture next week.