Gwen glared at the massive reptilian monstrosity before her.
"Dr. Connors, this time, I'm definitely taking you down and bringing you to justice!"
Spider-Gwen lunged at the Lizard. While the beast's raw power could easily snap concrete pillars like twigs, it was helpless against the agile Spider-Woman. It was forced to stand there and tank her relentless assault.
However, while Gwen's strikes landed consistently, they failed to deal any meaningful damage. The Lizard's hide was thick and tough, bolstered by a regenerative factor so potent that even Gwen's superhuman punches—each capable of killing an ordinary man—hardly left a mark. Even the minor wounds she did manage to inflict knit back together in seconds.
Driven by fury, Gwen's strength peaked, but her stamina drained just as quickly. Before long, she was gasping for air. Having only recently become Spider-Woman, she was still unfamiliar with her own limits and lacked the polished combat experience needed for a war of attrition.
As her stamina waned, her speed and power dipped. Slowly, the tide began to turn.
Suddenly, the Lizard caught an opening. It snatched Gwen by the leg and hurled her away. With a thunderous crash, she slammed into a nearby brick wall, leaving a person-shaped indentation in the masonry.
Gwen had only possessed her powers for a short time; such a heavy blow left her reeling in agonizing pain. She struggled to stand, but a terrifying green shadow loomed over her, blocking out the dim streetlights and plunging her into darkness.
The air hissed. A heavy tail whipped through the dark, and Gwen was sent flying again. This time, her resistance broke completely.
Heavy, rhythmic footsteps approached. Gwen tried to lift her head, her body trembling with the effort to rise, but it was no use. She watched the Lizard lumber toward her, the cold shadow of death creeping over her heart. Dr. Connors had completely lost his humanity to the beast; she knew he wouldn't show mercy.
Am I really going to die right after getting these powers? No... I don't want to die!
But the searing pain radiating from every joint and the lack of response from her limbs told her the truth: she was finished. She was about to follow that young man from earlier into the abyss.
Just then, a voice drifted from the distance. The voice belonged to the man she thought was dead—so much so that Gwen feared she was hallucinating. But when she saw the Lizard freeze in its tracks, she knew she hadn't misheard.
The gentleman was alive! But how was that possible?!
The next words confirmed her impossible suspicion.
"Hey. Didn't you hear me, you ugly freak?"
Aurelius Viremont stood there, his lips curled into a savage arc as the Lizard turned to face him.
"Attacking me without a word... you really think I'm an easy target?"
The Lizard tilted its head, confused. How was this ant still alive? Dr. Connors was a genius, but the Lizard was a creature of low intellect and high instinct, far more interested in destruction than deduction.
Seeing Aurelius Viremont "revived," the beast paused for only a second before roaring and charging, intent on shredding the nuisance once and for all.
Seeing this, Gwen's eyes widened. She didn't understand how he had survived, but she was certain he was no match for the monster's raw physical power.
"Run!" she screamed.
But what happened next left her jaw on the floor.
ROAR!
The Lizard thundered toward Aurelius Viremont. Though the beast looked bloated and cumbersome, its speed was terrifying—it only seemed slow when compared to the hyper-agile Spider-Woman. In reality, its reflexes and agility were peak-human; its massive frame simply added a freight-train level of momentum to its charge.
Facing the beast, Aurelius Viremont felt like a truck was barreling toward him.
But it was just a truck.
Aurelius Viremont extended a single hand. Around him, space began to overlap into an infinite series of layers, reaching the state of "Limitless" where nothing could truly reach him.
The Limitless Technique.
Under Gwen's horrified gaze, the massive Lizard was about to collide with the "frail" young man. Given his slender build, he should have been reduced to a red mist instantly. She almost looked away.
But as he held out that thin, seemingly fragile arm—an arm that looked like a toothpick compared to the Lizard's bulk—the monster came to a dead stop.
What is happening? What is wrong with the world? Gwen's mind raced with questions she couldn't answer.
Looking at the Lizard, which was snapping and clawing frantically just inches away but unable to bridge the final gap, Aurelius Viremont gave a bright, mocking smile.
"Come on. Put some back into it. If you try a little harder, you might actually touch me!"
Infuriated by the taunt, the Lizard's muscles bulged and twisted. It coiled its entire weight into one final, desperate strike.
Nothing.
A few centimeters of space felt like the distance between two different universes. It was untouchable.
Tiring of the game, Aurelius Viremont allowed his energy to convert into pure Cursed Energy, coating his entire body. It was time to end this.
While Aurelius Viremont's current physical reinforcement wasn't quite a match for the Lizard's raw power, the Six Eyes turned the fight into a joke. The Lizard was nothing more than a giant, stationary punching bag.
With Limitless active, the Lizard couldn't touch him, but Aurelius Viremont could strike at will.
Reinforced by Cursed Energy, Aurelius Viremont's attacks landed with the weight of a sledgehammer. To Gwen's utter disbelief, the "frail" gentleman began to systematically brutalize the Lizard, suppressing it with terrifying ease.
Drawing on Satoru Gojo's combat instincts, every one of Aurelius Viremont's strikes was perfectly placed. The lethality was staggering; each blow carved a new wound into the reptilian hide.
CRACK!
A kick slammed into the Lizard's chest, sending the beast crashing through several brick walls before it finally skidded to a halt.
But almost instantly, it scrambled back up. As much damage as Aurelius Viremont was dealing, the monster's horrific regeneration knit the wounds back together before the blood could even hit the ground.
Gwen's brief spark of hope flickered. That regeneration was exactly why she had lost. No matter how strong this man was, if he couldn't deal a fatal blow in one shot, the Lizard would simply outlast him.
"Sir!" she called out. "Dr. Lizard has incredible healing! If you can't finish him all at once, he'll wear you down! You have to hit him harder than he can heal!"
Aurelius Viremont didn't acknowledge her. He merely watched the increasingly berserk Lizard as it snarled and prepared to lunge again. A cold, predatory smirk crossed his face.
"You really think I have no way to deal with you?"
He raised his hand, his fingers curling into a specific, lethal sign. His voice turned ice-cold, echoing with a strange, harmonic power.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!"