"Get out here, damn woman! Stop with the tricks and let me rip you apart!"
Elder Centipede coiled its massive body inward like an iron fortress, but no matter how it searched, Helen was nowhere to be seen.
Where had she gone?
"You really want me to come out?" Her voice echoed.
This time Elder Centipede froze, struck like lightning—because the voice came from inside its body.
Impossible!
Then—
BOOM!
A muffled thunderclap erupted from within, its armor shattering outward. A flash of white burst free.
Helen.
And Elder Centipede now had a gaping hole through its body, blood and flesh spilling grotesquely.
"You... how could you..."
"Defense is meaningless. The inside is always the easiest point to break." Helen smiled.
Her Vision body let her phase between matter and energy. During its "Hundred-Foot Rampage," she phased straight inside and detonated from within. Without magic or mental power, brute force alone could never touch her.
Metal Bat stood dumbstruck. A dragon-level monster, defeated like nothing.
"I can't lose! I'm dragon-class!!" Elder Centipede bellowed, body thrashing, legs hammering down—but all of them pierced through Helen harmlessly.
She countered from within, bursting more holes through its body.
Its once-impenetrable armor cracked like pottery, green ichor flowing in torrents.
Fear overtook rage. Greater than even its fear of Blast.
It couldn't hurt her. It could only be beaten.
"Where next?" Helen mused from above, her smile dazzling and terrifying. "Maybe your head. I'd like to see what's inside a dragon-level insect's skull."
To Elder Centipede, the words were a death sentence. Its body was already breaking—if she struck the head, it was finished.
It made a choice.
Run.
The colossal worm roared in despair and dove underground, fleeing.
Metal Bat: "..."
Was that a dragon-level? It ran faster than a rat.
At Association HQ, staff stared wide-eyed.
"Did it just... run away?"
"This woman forced Elder Centipede to flee?! With that alone, she deserves top 20 S-Class rank!"
Most agreed—the true elite began at rank 20. This newcomer had achieved what many veterans failed.
"Top 20? Perhaps... higher," Bond muttered, eyes narrowing.
On the ruined street, Helen floated serenely, smiling faintly.
From below, Elder Centipede's angry voice echoed: "Next time, woman! Next time you're dead!!"
Its kind was infamous for burrowing and escaping. Heroes had failed to kill it for years.
Helen's eyes glinted. "Why wait for next time?"
The Vision Cube had given her Ultron's databanks and Vision's body—she knew how to handle insects.
"The saying goes, 'A centipede dies but never stiffens.' Then best not to kill halfway."
Her voice resonated through the earth. "Come back. Present yourself here. Now."
Metal Bat blinked. "She's insane... telling Elder Centipede to come back?"
But then—
RUMBLE!
The ground convulsed. Elder Centipede erupted once more, slamming back onto the street.
Its colossal form quivered in terror.
"No... my body... it won't obey me?!"
It had fled kilometers away. But then her voice reached into its mind—dragging it back against its will.
The Mind Stone.
One of the six primal gems of the universe. Focused on a single dragon-level monster, even Helen's current limits were enough.
And so, before the Association's horrified eyes, Elder Centipede's massive head lowered itself obediently before her, as though delivering its neck to the executioner.
Silence.
Utter silence.
Terrifying beyond belief.
More terrifying than the earlier ghost- and demon-class captures. A dragon-level monster forced to return... and kneel.
Its eyes bulged in horror. Its body resisted, but its soul obeyed.
"Very good," Helen said gently. "Now then, let's end this, great centipede."
Her hand shifted to phasing mode, reaching toward its head. Just a slip inside, and a single squeeze—
The battle would be over.
(End of Chapter)
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