Chapter Ninety-Three: The Whip and the Robber

Kurohime’s enhancement did not last very long. To an outsider it was over in almost an instant, yet a nameless power had been added to her body.

Only Joshua knew what it was: a force called magical power.

Contrary to his guess, after this evolution Kurohime still retained the symbiotic body of liquid. Her human shape looked and felt even closer to the real thing now; for instance, the hair that had once also been liquefied symbiote matter had now become true hair.

Aside from that, however, there was not much change.

This evolution seemed to have used Kurohime, in her blackened form, as well as the Archer Chloe von Einzbern as its foundation, granting her the ability to control magical power, along with the three inherent skills possessed by that heroic spirit.

Though it differed somewhat from the original, and she had not obtained a class or a Noble Phantasm, Kurohime knew nothing of such things. She was simply delighted by the increase in her own strength.

It seemed that no matter who it was, there would always be that simple joy born of instinct.

Seeing that Kurohime was in a good mood, Joshua, unusually, did not tease her today. Instead, he hugged the box containing Riot and began considering how to deal with the little spider.

...

"Ah... yes... this is it... the old bastard who got me beaten so badly my spine was broken, who had those people drag me in as an experimental subject, lives right here..."

On a nighttime street, a man in a hooded trench coat stood by the curb, his eyes hidden beneath the hood fixed dead on a house across the road.

If Ben Parker or Peter Parker had seen his face, they might have recognized him: the robber they had once briefly encountered.

"Heh heh heh... that is exactly why you got to meet me... my power... no, our power now. We are Venom. We will rule the world!"

"No, I have no interest in the world, idiot. I only want to kill him, and his family. Then we'll rob a huge pile of money and hide somewhere with no one around, living it up in peace."

"Yes, yes, I'm also very interested in those things you mentioned. Are they called women? We symbiotes don't have such troublesome distinctions, but from your memories, you really do like that sort of thing, heh heh heh..."

Although only one person was present, the hooded man kept muttering to himself, looking as if he were conversing with himself.

"Hey, you! What are you doing here?" Suddenly, someone approached from a distance, apparently a patrolman in the area. Seeing the hooded man standing there all this time, he grew wary and came over to investigate.

"I... am waiting for food!!!"

The hooded man's voice was low, but with each word it grew sharper and more piercing, until the final syllable erupted into a savage roar.

The man who had come to ask had not even managed to turn around before a huge blade-like thing pierced through his body. Then, beneath the hood, the man’s mouth split open into a gigantic, horrifying maw lined with razor teeth.

"Oh my God... no... please, don't do this to me..."

His lungs had been pierced, and with every plea blood surged from his mouth. Yet it was utterly useless. All he could do was watch as the ferocious mouth drew nearer and nearer to him, and then...

Crack!

"Mmm~~ delicious. Next, let's eat more, and more!"

"Fuck! What the hell did you make me eat?! No... wait, that's it, that's exactly what we should do! I'll devour that old bastard bite by bite! Hahahahaha!!!!"

The hooded man tore off his outer coat, then transformed into a massive dark-orange symbiote and lunged toward the house he had long since set his sights on.

Outside that house, on the plaque bearing the homeowner's name, the metal-etched surname Parker gleamed beneath the night lights...

"Ben? What's happened?" Peter Parker's aunt, May Parker, looked at her husband, who had suddenly pulled out a gun, bewildered.

"Shh... May, hide in the room... if you get the chance, run straight outside. I just saw a monster across the street, and it looks like it's coming for our house."

Ben Parker gestured for May to back away quickly, while in his hands he brought up the old hunting rifle that had sat in the house for years.

He knew full well that this old thing might not do much against that monster, but holding it at least made him feel a little more at ease.

"Damn it... what the hell is that guy? And why do I feel like I know him somehow... have I seen him somewhere before?"

Ben was deeply unsettled. New York had grown more and more restless lately, and the scars of that terrible war from not long ago still lingered in every ordinary person's heart. Coming upon an event like this only darkened his mood further.

"Strange, after it charged across from the other side of the road, where did it go? By rights, by now it should have come over here, shouldn't it?" Ben cautiously poked his head out by the window to look outside, only to find the street empty, with nothing there but a headless corpse lying by the roadside.

"Are you looking for me, you old bastard? Hahahahaha!!!"

Suddenly, accompanied by a burst of wild laughter, Venom’s massive form flipped out of the shadows, smashed the window with a single punch, and in the next instant hurled himself at Ben, knocking him flat to the ground.

Bang!

The hunting rifle fired only once before Venom snatched it away and twisted it into a writhing knot. The small hole from the bullet did not affect him in the slightest.

"Hahahaha, old bastard, do you remember me?" The symbiote matter on Venom’s face peeled back, revealing the figure within, and Ben’s heart immediately tightened.

"You?!"

What had happened that day was still vivid in Ben’s memory, and he instantly recalled the man’s identity.

"That’s right, it’s yours truly... Because of you, I ended up like this, so in return I’ll kill your whole family, then chew you to pieces and swallow you down, hahahahaha!!!"

Could it really end like this... was everything going to finish here...

A chill of despair swept through Ben’s heart. This man was nothing but a senseless madman, and now that he had gained such power, there was no way an ordinary person like Ben could deal with him.

Still, there was at least some comfort in the fact that his nephew Peter Parker was not at home, but had run out to "fight for justice."

It was like how many people, in middle school or high school, thought they were secretly watching adult videos at home without their fathers noticing. Did you really think you were hiding it well?

No. In truth, they had long since known.

Peter Parker thought he had concealed it perfectly, but the old couple were not blind, and had already figured out that he was the boy who called himself Spider-Man.

Though they had told him countless times that with great power comes great responsibility, Peter still only cared about being competitive every day. Rather than fighting for justice, he was merely playing the hero with the power he had suddenly obtained.

"What a pity... I can't keep walking this road with you... Live well, May... Peter..."

Watching Venom’s drooling maw draw ever closer, Ben’s heart had already fallen into utter desolation.