Chapter 8

"If you really want to do something, go get the box from my bike," Merlin shouted, throwing his motorcycle keys to Hannah.

"OK!" Hannah glanced at Merlin worriedly but knew she couldn't help here and would only drag him down. Clutching the keys, she headed toward the garage.

"Merlin!" growled the lizard-man, now in front of him. Its huge claws reached out, seemingly aiming to capture rather than harm him.

"Buzz!" Just as the claws were about to touch him, a powerful arc wave suddenly shot out, causing the lizard-man to stagger back. Before the creature could regain its balance, two spider threads shot out from behind and stuck to its shoulders.

Gwen, dressed in a sleek black and white suit that accentuated her graceful figure, fell behind unnoticed. She grabbed a strand of webbing with both hands and pulled hard.

"Bang!" The lizard man, already off balance, crashed heavily to the ground with a muffled thud.

"Nice teamwork, man! Well done," Gwen cheered, giving a thumbs up to Merlin across from the struggling lizard man on the ground.

"I think you should use your spider silk to restrain him," Merlin suggested, pointing at the lizard man who was attempting to get back on his feet.

"Oh, sorry. This is my first encounter with this kind of monster, so I got a bit carried away," Gwen apologized, patting Peter's head affectionately. She then extended her hands, shooting out sticky white spider threads that adhered to the lizard man's limbs as he struggled to rise.

"Spider-woman!" Peter looked up at Gwen with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

However, recalling the frightening image of the lizard in the mirror just moments ago, Peter's expression darkened with a mix of madness.

"Roar!!!" The lizard-man roared, breaking away from the spider threads and chasing Merlin again without looking back.

"Damn it!" Merlin was speechless. He remembered that he had nothing against Peter, and they were good friends. Why was he being targeted now? Realizing the lizard-man's identity, he aimed and pulled the trigger. An atomic energy arc shot out, but the lizard-man blocked it with his arm and continued advancing.

Gwen shot more spider silk to slow him down, but it only delayed him momentarily. Anxious, she concentrated her webs on the lizard-man's tail, trying to immobilize him.

She grabbed the thick spider silk, pressed her feet firmly against the ground, and leaned back to pull hard against the lizard-man. The next moment, she flew backward, and a severed green tail wrapped in spider silk landed next to her, wriggling slightly.

"Disgusting..." she muttered, quickly standing up and shooting a line of spider silk to the exhibition ceiling, flying up and away.

Peter glanced at his severed tail, which rapidly regenerated. At that moment, an atomic blast hit his head, dazing him briefly. The blow seemed to trigger his madness, and he roared at Merlin before charging like a car.

Merlin pulled the trigger again, only to find the energy depleted.

"Merlin!" an anxious voice called from the door. Hannah returned, panting, holding a silver box.

Merlin's eyes lit up when he saw the silver box. Without hesitation, he threw aside the depleted atomic energy gun and advanced towards the lizard-man instead of retreating.

"Merlin!" Gwen shouted from above, alarmed as she saw him rushing forward.

Hannah seemed to understand his plan and threw the box towards him. As Merlin and the lizard-man rapidly closed the distance, Merlin didn't slow down. He could even smell the stench from the creature's body. Just as the lizard-man's claws swiped at him, Merlin slid to avoid the attack, narrowly passing by and catching the weapon box Hannah had thrown.

Under the worried eyes of Gwen and Hannah, the distance between Merlin and the lizard man was getting closer and closer. Despite the huge size difference, Merlin showed no intention of slowing down; in fact, he accelerated. He could even feel the stench emanating from the lizard man's body.

"Bang!" The weapon box thrown by Hannah landed perfectly in his arms. In one fluid motion, Merlin unboxed, picked up the gun, loaded the magazine, pulled the safety, gripped the handle, twisted, and tilted his head to aim. When the lizard man turned around, he was faced with the dark, hollow muzzle.

"Click, click, click..." The muzzle of the MK2 bullpup rifle sprayed out dazzling fire, and dense bullets roared out. However, they didn't cause much damage.

"It's useless!" Peter stretched out his arm to shield his fragile eyes, continuing to charge toward Merlin despite the impact of dense bullets. The bullets embedded in his body were quickly squeezed out, and the injuries healed rapidly.

However, in the next moment, his expression changed dramatically. He looked at his arm in panic and exclaimed, "What is this?"

The bullets embedded in his body exploded, and raging flames started from his arm, quickly spreading over his entire body.

"Roar!!!!" He looked up to the sky and roared in pain, resembling a giant setting himself on fire.

Merlin's rifle clicked empty, and just as he was about to load a new magazine, the lizard man, now engulfed in flames, suddenly ran toward the toilet. Merlin quickly reloaded, then raised his rifle and followed cautiously.

Gwen, who had just landed, recovered from her shock and swiftly followed along the ceiling.

"Tick tock! Tick tock!..." The men's bathroom was in shambles, with the mirror full of cracks as if shattered by a hard punch. The room was silent, except for the sound of dripping water and the occasional spark and flicker from the damaged lights.

Merlin raised his rifle and approached a destroyed toilet cubicle. The surrounding wooden panels were obliterated, some still smoldering. The toilet itself was completely shattered, exposing the sewer opening below.