The underground hall fell deathly silent.
The alarms were still ringing.
Red lights continued to flash.
Yet those sounds seemed to have grown distant.
Viper slowly looked at his palm.
The green glow was still there.
But it was becoming weaker.
More unstable.
Once, as long as he was willing,
the entire base could become his weapon.
The air was a weapon.
The liquid was a weapon.
The metal was a weapon.
Even every breath his enemies took
could potentially become poison.
But now.
All of it was disappearing.
Lucian continued walking forward.
His footsteps were not fast.
But they never stopped.
Ten meters.
Nine meters.
Eight meters.
The azure domain continued to expand.
The green domain continued to retreat.
Just like dawn swallowing the darkness.
Slowly.
Yet irresistibly.
Viper suddenly laughed.
His laughter was faint,
carrying a weariness that was difficult to describe.
"Crow was right."
"You really are the most dangerous kind of person."
Lucian did not answer.
Viper continued.
"People with great strength."
"I've seen plenty."
"Smart people."
"I've seen plenty of them too."
"But someone like you."
"This is my first time."
Lucian stopped.
The distance between them was now less than five meters.
Viper slowly raised his head.
There was no anger in his eyes anymore.
No madness.
Not even fear.
There was only a certain sense of confirmation.
"You know?"
"The most terrifying thing isn't killing an enemy."
"It is denying the meaning of their existence."
He lowered his head and looked around.
Large amounts of transparent liquid flowed across the floor.
The poison that had once filled this place
was now nothing more than ordinary liquid.
"You did it."
The air fell silent.
Far away.
High in the mountains.
Crow was still watching the monitor.
Almost all of the green had disappeared from the screen.
The azure had occupied nearly the entire area.
He silently watched.
His fingers slowly tapped against his knee.
No one knew what he was thinking.
Inside the underground hall.
Viper suddenly turned around.
He looked toward the depths of the hall.
Countless massive storage tanks stood there in rows.
The last of the green liquid remained inside them.
That was the very core of the entire Cobra system.
It was also the result of everything he had built over the years.
Poison weapons.
Corrosive equipment.
Ability amplifiers.
Transportation networks.
Underground factories.
Countless resources.
Countless lives.
Countless wars.
Everything had ultimately converged here.
And now.
All of it was collapsing.
Viper quietly stared at it.
For a long time.
Then he slowly closed his eyes.
Many scenes flashed through his mind.
The slums.
His alcoholic father.
The gangs.
Crow.
Grave Hound.
The lawless zone.
And Cobra, which he had built step by step.
He suddenly realized
that he had no regrets.
Because if he could start over,
he would still choose the same path.
The only difference was—
this time,
he had met Lucian.
And so.
Viper slowly opened his eyes.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Looks like…"
"I lost."
The air fell silent.
Lucian said nothing.
Because they both knew.
This was no longer a victory or defeat on the level of combat.
It was a victory or defeat between two paths.
Viper had lost.
Completely.
Just then,
Viper suddenly raised his right hand.
Click.
A faint sound rang out.
Like a switch being activated.
The next second,
the entire underground facility suddenly fell silent for a moment.
Then—
Rumble—
An extremely low roar came from even deeper underground.
Lucian's eyes shifted slightly.
But Viper smiled.
His smile was even more relaxed than before.
"It finally started."
Lucian looked around.
Countless red warning lights began flashing wildly.
[WARNING]
[WARNING]
[Structural Stability System Deactivated]
[Self-Destruct Sequence Initiated]
[Countdown Started]
The air instantly became tense.
Viper slowly spread his arms.
Like a man who had finally cast off every burden.
"No one can kill me."
He looked at Lucian.
Smiling, he said,
"Except me!"
BOOM!
The entire base suddenly shook violently.
Huge cracks appeared across the ceiling.
Countless pieces of debris fell.
The storage tanks in the distance began exploding one after another.
Residual poison sprayed in every direction.
But this time,
none of it mattered.
Because the truly dangerous thing
was not the poison.
It was the explosives buried deep beneath the entire underground facility.
Massive amounts of high-energy explosives.
Ability fuel.
Weapons cores.
Energy storage facilities.
Everything was connected together.
Once detonated,
it would be enough to blow the entire mountain apart.
Lucian understood instantly.
Viper had never intended to escape from the beginning.
The final escape route he had prepared for himself
was death.
Or rather—
mutual destruction.
Viper slowly stepped backward.
Debris continued falling behind him.
"You know?"
"I actually don't like losing."
"So many years ago…"
"I prepared one final choice for myself."
BOOM!
An even greater explosion erupted from deep underground.
The entire hall began to collapse.
The ground split apart.
Steel beams snapped.
The air filled with an aura of destruction.
Yet Viper continued standing there.
As if nothing had happened.
"If one day…"
"I really lose…"
"Then we'll die together."
He spoke calmly.
As if he were simply talking about the weather.
Lucian did not answer.
He merely slowly raised his head.
Azure light began rapidly spreading outward.
Faster.
Brighter.
The entire hall was engulfed in blue light.
Lucian spread both hands.
All of his power was poured into defense.
For the first time.
And one of the very few times in his life.
He did not attack.
He did not alter.
He did not expand.
Instead,
he used all of his abilities to protect.
BOOM!!!
A second explosion erupted.
Then a third.
A fourth.
A fifth.
The entire underground facility was completely consumed by flames.
Far away,
Crow slowly stood up.
The monitor had already turned to static.
The light from the explosion reflected across his face.
He quietly stared at the mountain range.
For a long time, he said nothing.
Then he let out a soft sigh.
"It's over."
At that moment,
for the first time,
a cold hostility appeared in his eyes.
It lasted only an instant.
But it was real.
Because Viper was dead.
Grave Hound was dead.
And Cobra was dead as well.
Yet just as he was about to turn and leave,
a flash of cold light suddenly streaked through the distant forest.
Crow's pupils contracted slightly.
Almost simultaneously—
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
The bullet grazed his cheek.
The rock behind him exploded instantly.
Crow abruptly stepped back.
His eyes immediately locked onto the distant area.
Several kilometers away.
At a concealed sniper position,
Scope slowly pulled the bolt.
The scope remained locked onto the target.
A voice came through the communication channel.
"Target acquired."
"Confirmed."
"Crow successfully acquired."
In the distance,
Crow slowly touched the side of his face.
His fingers came away with a trace of blood.
Then,
for the first time,
he smiled.
A genuine smile.
"So that's how it is."
"Is it finally my turn?"
The wind swept across the mountaintop.
And the era that belonged to Cobra
came to an absolute end
at that very moment.