The Weapon Genius: Anything I Hold Can Kill-Chapter 45: The Beast That Hates Itself

The ground quaked, tremors pulsing through the plaza as the Face of Regret's remains twisted and collapsed inward, bubbling with black ichor.

The flesh curdled, bones snapping and reforming — but this time, it didn't rise like the others.

It twitched.

Jin tightened his grip on the staff, his breath still uneven, sweat dripping down his face.

"Stay ready," he muttered, voice rough.

Seul adjusted her gloves, wiping blood off her chin.

"I thought Honor was the scariest one," she panted.

Joon rolled his stiffened shoulders, his gloves still smoking from the last blast.

"I'm pretty sure we've upgraded to worse."

The pulsing mound of flesh convulsed — then exploded outward, sending a spray of black sludge across the ground.

A figure emerged from the aftermath, dragging itself into existence like it had been ripped from a nightmare.

It wasn't just broken.

It was shattered.

Its body was a mess of contradictions — its limbs torn and jagged, with bone shards piercing through its own rotting skin.

Its arms were twisted in opposite directions, one too long, the other snapped in half, dragging uselessly along the floor.

Its ribcage was cracked open, and inside, a faintly glowing core throbbed like a dying heart.

The worst part?

Its face kept changing.

The skull splintered and reformed with every passing second — eyes rolling, jaw snapping open and shut.

And then it spoke.

All of it.

At once.

"HURT ME."

"LEAVE ME ALONE."

"I CAN'T DIE. I CAN'T DIE. I CAN'T DIE."

"SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP."

The voices overlapped, echoing like a chorus of madness.

Jin's chest tightened, and he instinctively stepped back.

"This thing's... messed up," Joon muttered, electricity flickering around his fingers.

The creature's body snapped, bones splintering, and it laughed — a wet, fractured sound.

It tilted its head, the bones in its neck grinding like stones.

"THEY'RE SCARED OF US."

"THEY THINK WE'RE A MONSTER."

"WE ARE A MONSTER."

"NO, WE'RE JUST BROKEN."

"KILL THEM. KILL THEM ALL."

Jin clenched his jaw.

"Spread out," he ordered, stepping into a low stance.

The creature twitched, its eyes swirling, and then it screamed — a sound that made their bones vibrate.

Its body fractured even more, chunks of flesh and bone tearing off and hovering around it like floating shrapnel.

And then it charged.

Though it didn't run.

It collapsed forward — shattering its own legs just to fling itself at Jin like a human missile.

Jin twisted the staff, blocking the creature's strike, but the impact sent a shockwave through his body, and the creature's flesh detonated on contact.

BOOM.

Jin was blasted back, skidding across the ground.

Seul grabbed him mid-air, slamming him down to anchor his weight.

"It explodes when we hit it?" she panted, eyes wide.

Jin groaned, rolling onto his side.

"It explodes... whenever it wants."

The creature laughed, its body reforming, and it started clawing at itself, ripping chunks off and throwing them like bombs.

Joon blasted the chunks out of the air, his electricity popping them mid-flight, but every explosion made the creature grow back faster — like it was thriving on destruction.

"BURN IT ALL."

"WE CAN'T DIE IF WE'RE ALREADY DEAD."

"LET US OUT."

"NO. KEEP US LOCKED IN."

Jin gritted his teeth, spinning the staff to bat away debris.

"It's like it's... arguing with itself," he muttered.

Seul dodged an exploding limb, then lifted her hand to slam it back down with gravity, but the moment her ability crushed it — the creature screeched in pleasure.

"AGAIN."

"HURT US MORE."

"DON'T STOP."

Joon's breathing shook, and he blasted another piece.

"It's like it wants us to kill it."

The creature twitched, its head snapping around, and it started bashing its skull against the wall — cracking itself open, bones splintering.

"END ME. END ME. END ME."

Jin wiped the blood from his mouth, his pulse pounding.

"We can't hit it directly," he muttered.

"We have to stop it from regenerating somehow."

The creature laughed, black ichor pouring out of its mouth.

"YOU CAN'T SAVE ME."

"I DON'T WANT TO BE SAVED."

"JUST... LET ME DIE."

Jin's grip on the staff tightened.

His eyes burned.

Because for the first time —

The creature didn't sound angry.

It sounded tired.

The black sludge boiled.

The creature's body morphed and snapped, bones rearranging with sickening pops as it tried to hold itself together.

It was barely stable.

Barely alive.

But it was still moving.

Jin wiped the blood off his face, his chest heaving, and adjusted his grip on the staff.

He glanced around at Seul and Joon — bruised, battered, but still standing tall.

The memory of the Face of Honor's death lingered in the back of his mind.

Jin clenched his jaw.

"...We wouldn't have made it this far without him."

Seul cracked her knuckles, eyes burning with quiet resolve.

"We should've been fighting beside him," she muttered. "Not against him."

Joon stretched out his fingers, electricity flickering through the air.

"He'd probably kick our asses if we lost now," he muttered.

Jin exhaled, steadying himself.

"Then we don't lose."

The creature's head snapped around, its jaw unhinging as it laughed, the sound echoing like fractured glass.

"DON'T WORRY," it rasped.

"I'LL KILL YOU FOR HIM."

It lunged —

And this time, Jin met it head-on.

The Face of Self-Destruction moved like a natural disaster.

Limbs shattered and regrew, claws extended and snapped off, and its body detonated every few seconds, sending shockwaves through the plaza.

But Jin, Seul, and Joon didn't hesitate.

They adapted.

They'd been broken down and rebuilt too many times to fall apart now.

Jin dodged low, his staff spinning in a fluid blur, blocking an incoming claw swipe and redirecting the force.

The creature's arm exploded on impact — but Jin used the blast's momentum to spring backward, landing with perfect balance.

Seul flanked left, her gloves pulsing with gravity, and she threw a chunk of concrete at the creature's face — only to reverse the weight right before impact, turning the small chunk into a devastating cannonball.

The creature's skull cracked, and it reeled back, clutching its face —

And Joon shot in like a bullet, his blasters surging with charged energy.

"BOOM."

He blasted its chest, sending the creature flying — but before it could hit the ground, Jin was already there, slamming the staff down like a meteor.

CRACK.

The creature's body splintered, black ichor spilling across the plaza — and it started screaming, thrashing on the ground like it was fighting itself.

"STOP. STOP. STOP."

"KEEP GOING. I LOVE IT."

"I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE."

"DON'T LET ME LEAVE."

Jin grimaced, pulling the staff back.

"It's unstable," he muttered, eyes scanning the creature's shaking body.

"The more we hit it, the more it collapses on itself."

Joon rolled his shoulder, electricity crackling.

"Good," he muttered, stepping forward.

The creature's skull split open, its face melting into a new one — wide-eyed, grinning, drool dripping from its jagged teeth.

"GOOD?" it cackled.

"YOU LIKE WATCHING ME FALL APART?"

"YOU LIKE ME LIKE THIS?"

It lurched forward, detonating its own leg to launch itself like a missile at Seul.

She didn't flinch.

She ducked, her body glowing as she compressed her own weight — and then she uppercut the creature so hard, its jaw exploded off.

BANG.

The creature slammed into the air, spinning wildly — and Jin was already there.

He spun the staff, his muscles screaming, and slammed it down mid-air, spiking the creature into the ground so hard the pavement cracked.

It should've been dead.

But it just started laughing again.

"I CAN'T DIE."

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE."

"WHY AM I STILL ALIVE?"

Its body pulsed, the ichor bubbling — and it started convulsing, its core glowing brighter.

Jin's pulse spiked.

"It's going to blow," he muttered, eyes narrowing.

Seul winced, clutching her ribs.

"If we stop hitting it, it'll just rip itself apart again," she muttered.

Joon wiped the blood off his face, blinking through the sweat.

His fingers crackled, energy coiling in his palms.

"So we don't stop," he growled.

"We break it all the way down."

Jin wiped his mouth, exhaling hard.

He could feel it — the rhythm of the fight, the way their movements flowed together.

It wasn't just a desperate struggle anymore.

They were in sync.

They'd grown.

Jin lifted the staff, his muscles burning, and steadied his stance.

"Let's finish this," he rasped.

The creature twitched, its face fracturing.

"I'M NOT READY TO GO."

"LET ME GO."

"I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE."

Jin stepped forward, spinning the staff.

Joon's gloves glowed white-hot.

Seul tightened her gloves, her fingers trembling but steady.

They didn't even speak.

They just attacked.

The creature shrieked, bones snapping as they tore through it, pushing it toward its breaking point — until finally, it collapsed onto its knees, its core flickering like a dying flame.

It laughed, voice crumbling.

"THANK YOU."

And then it stabbed itself through the chest with its own bone spike —

Exploding in a wave of black ash.

[The Face of Self-Destruction Defeated]

[Phase 6 Initiating: The Face of Decay]