Cut back to the girls' side.
"Roxxy!!!"
Sera rushed to the scene, and the first thing she saw was a vehicle that had crushed Roxxy against the wall of a building. The car was completely wrecked, and Roxxy had been flung up onto the hood before tumbling down to the pavement.
Shattered shards of ice and wisps of vapor scattered across the crash site. A man-sized slab of ice lay broken nearby.
Just from those traces, Sera already knew what had happened.
Roxxy had managed to conjure an ice wall to absorb the impact between her and the car just in time.
"...Roxxy!"
Sera approached to check her condition. Roxxy looked dazed and confused, clearly shaken. The British girl quickly used the opportunity to begin healing her. Then she turned her attention to the cause—what had made the car suddenly swerve off the road and slam into them?
The answer was right there… in the driver's seat.
The body of the car's owner, a woman, slumped lifelessly over the steering wheel.
"Hey! You! What kind of driving is that—?!"
Sera was about to snap, but stopped dead when she got a better look. The woman was already dead.
And the car itself—rust covered every inch of it. Especially the wheels, where the tires looked like they'd been eaten through by acid.
"..."
Clack... Clack... Clack...
Roxxy slowly pushed herself up from the ground, limping forward, clearly intending to chase Soo-min again despite the injury.
"Wait! Roxxy! Calm down! Your leg's collapsed—I haven't even healed you yet!"
"Let go!"
Roxxy slapped Sera's hand away and snapped.
"That bitch ran! What the hell are we waiting for?!"
"Watch out!"
Another car came hurtling toward them. Sera yanked Roxxy out of the way just in time before it crashed violently into the already-wrecked vehicle.
BOOM!
"What the hell now?!"
"Wait... look around you..."
Sera pointed out the street.
Roxxy looked—and saw it.
What they had just experienced wasn't a freak accident.
The entire road had descended into chaos.
Every vehicle, every form of transportation that could move, was now barreling into each other, slamming into light poles, into walls, into people.
"Everything that thing ran past... it's all infected by those parasites!"
!!!
Meanwhile, Soo-min had made it into the construction site.
The structure was partially built, with its main pillars and foundation in place—your typical urban site. Cranes. Cement mixers. Dump trucks. All there.
Most of the workers were on lunch break, so the site was nearly empty. Nearly.
Two workers who had stayed behind saw a bloodied woman in a suit staggering into the restricted area.
"Hey, miss! You can't be in he—?!"
Before he could finish his sentence, both men were shot dead.
Soo-min didn't even hesitate. Just disposable tissue.
She made her way to the second floor, crouching behind a raw cement wall and waited.
"That little brat… the way she lost it, she was like a rabid animal..."
She wiped the blood off her face with her sleeve.
"But that kind of power… not bad at all. And now I know how to beat them…"
Back outside, Roxxy and Sera arrived at the construction site. They couldn't see Soo-min, but they were certain she was in there.
"..."
Roxxy scanned the area. Nothing. Just construction tools and concrete.
"Damn it!!!!!"
She stomped like a madwoman, kicking over drills and hard hats, clutching her head, swinging her fists into the concrete until it cracked.
Sera was shaken by the girl's behavior.
Shit...
"Come out, you bitch!!!! You're not getting away!!! I'll kill you!!"
The girl's roar echoed across the site, a feral scream.
"Roxxy! Calm down! You're giving away your position!"
Sera tried to intervene.
"..."
Roxxy gritted her teeth hard.
And then—a shot rang out from the second floor.
!?
It struck Roxxy squarely.
A bullet.
Thanks to Syd's buff, it felt more like a Muay Thai knee from Buakaw than a kill shot.
The bullet wasn't dissolved?
She deactivated her power?!
Back on the girls' side.
"Roxxxxxxyyyyy!"
Sera ran over to the crash site. The first thing she saw was a vehicle smashed beyond recognition, crushed up against the wall of a building. Roxxy's body had been flung up onto the hood and now slid off, hitting the pavement with a thud.
Shards of ice hissed and steamed across the area, along with what used to be a full-body-sized ice wall—now shattered.
From the traces alone, Sera could already tell what happened.
Roxxy had summoned an ice barrier just in time to absorb the impact before the car hit her directly.
"...Roxxy!"
Sera rushed to check on her. Roxxy was dazed and confused, trying to register what had happened.
The British girl knew what to do. She immediately began healing Roxxy before turning her eyes to the wreck that had slammed into them.
Inside the driver's seat was a lifeless woman, slumped over the wheel.
"Hey! You! What kind of driving was that—?!"
Sera started to confront her, but stopped mid-sentence when she realized...
The woman was already dead.
The car's body was rusted all over, especially the wheels—the tires looked like they'd been melted with acid.
"..."
Creak... crack...
Roxxy slowly pushed herself off the ground, already limping, determined to keep chasing Soo-min.
"Wait, Roxxy! Calm down! Your leg's collapsed in—you've got a fractured bone! I haven't healed you yet!"
"Let go!"
Roxxy smacked Sera's hand away and snapped.
"That bitch ran off again! What the hell are you standing around for—?!"
"Watch out!"
Suddenly, another car came careening toward them.
Sera yanked Roxxy out of the way just in time as the second vehicle smashed into the first one, exploding in a mess of screeching metal and shattered glass.
BOOM!
"What the hell is going on?!"
"Wait... look around you..."
Sera pointed, and Roxxy followed her gaze—only to see the chaos unfolding around them.
It wasn't just one or two cars.
The entire boulevard had gone to hell.
Every vehicle, boat, and moving machine was out of control—crashing into each other, into poles, even into pedestrians.
"Everything she passes by... it's all infected with parasites!"
Soo-min, meanwhile, had made it into the construction site.
It was a skeletal building—steel beams in place, columns poured, but no finished walls. Cranes, cement mixers, dump trucks—everything typical of a worksite.
Most of the crew were on lunch break, so the area wasn't empty—but it wasn't crowded either.
Two workers nearby noticed her, bloodied and limping, barging in without permission.
"Hey! You can't be in here—!"
They didn't even finish their sentence.
Soo-min shot them both dead on sight. Cold as discarding used tissues. No hesitation.
She climbed to the second floor, tucked herself behind an unfinished concrete wall, and kept watch, waiting for her enemies.
"That little shrimp... when she loses it, she's completely feral."
She dabbed blood off her face with her sleeve.
"But her destructive power? Impressive. Still... now I know how to beat them. Heh!"
Roxxy and Sera arrived at the construction site. They hadn't seen Soo-min yet, but they knew she was here.
"..."
Roxxy scanned the area. Nothing but steel, scaffolding, and tools.
"Goddamn it!"
She stomped the ground, kicking power drills and hard hats like a tantrum-throwing beast. She ruffled her hair and punched the concrete hard enough to crack it.
Sera was alarmed by Roxxy's state.
Shit.
"Come out, you bitch! You're not getting away! I'm going to kill you!"
Roxxy's voice dropped into a feral second tone—an animal's roar echoing through the site.
"Roxxy! Calm down! You just gave away your position!"
Sera tried to reason with her.
"..."
Roxxy gritted her teeth.
Then—gunfire.
Bullets rained down from the second floor, slamming into Roxxy's body.
Thanks to Syd's buff, she only felt like she got kneed by Buakaw in the gut.
Wait. The bullets didn't dissolve?
Did she disable her power?!
Roxxy stumbled back and shouted up.
"There! She's up there!"
She charged immediately, calling her power. The air turned icy again—but then a wall of pink aura shot up from the ground, blocking her path.
Sera grabbed her by the collar and yanked her behind cover.
Roxxy was furious.
"What the hell are you doing?! Didn't you see her up there?!"
"You idiot!"
Sera shouted back.
"Think about it—why do you think she turned her power off?!"
Roxxy froze.
"She's baiting you! She's waiting for you to charge up there so she can reactivate it! You really think she won't just turn it back on the second you're mid-way?!"
"You want us to shoot from here? That won't work either!"
"Roxxy, wait! Hey—!"
Too late.
Roxxy dashed out from cover, making a beeline for the second floor.
"Damn it!"
Sera pulled out the pistol Mickey gave her and fired to support—but the bullets dissolved into rust and clattered to the floor.
"Shit! She turned it back on! Roxxy, fall back!"
Soo-min smiled behind cover.
"You can yell all you want, but it's pointless. Don't you get it? That brat's completely unhinged now."
Roxxy's face darkened. Black marks and bulging veins crawled up her skin. Her cheeks, arms, and legs—all beginning to unravel, segment by segment.
"Give her two seconds, and she'll be torn apart. She's not even halfway up yet. This'll be over in a flash."
But then...
The ground rumbled.
"What the—?!"
A pink-glowing cement slab erupted under Roxxy's feet—an elevator of aura that lifted her straight toward Soo-min.
From Soo-min's stunned expression, the tables had turned.
Sera smirked.
"What? You thought you were the only one who could weaponize Roxxy's breakdowns?"
"Shit. That bitch figured it out?!"
"You made it easy—infecting everything in sight like a dumbass."
"Tch!"
Soo-min tried to retreat—but it was too late.
Roxxy was already in her face.
"RAAAAGHH!"
Soo-min aimed her gun—but Roxxy froze the weapon and her wrist before she could even pull the trigger.
CRACK.
Roxxy kneed her in the gut—hard.
Sera didn't just watch. She used the same elevator trick to reach the second floor herself, remembering what she saw earlier—back when she'd saved Roxxy from the car crash.
Soo-min had infected everything, causing the whole street to go berserk.
But Sera noticed something odd—despite all the destruction, the driver of that car hadn't decomposed. She died from the crash, not the parasites.
Why?
If the parasites destroy anything that moves, why didn't it affect her?
Sera pieced it together now.
It's all about the frame of reference.
Parasites judge movement relative to the host.
If a parasite infects a car, then only the parts of the car that move (from the car's perspective) get decomposed. The driver, being inside the car and moving with it, is stationary relative to the car—and thus, spared.
Just like how Sera's wallet and phone survived on her person—because, to her, they weren't moving.
The vehicle is the host. The driver is inert.
Sera had figured it out.
"ARGH!"
Roxxy pummeled Soo-min with blows—but each punch made her ice armor thinner. Her fury weakened her own power.
Not good. She's figured me out way too fast!
But there was no time.
Sera reached the second floor.
"RAAAAAAH!"
Soo-min screamed, tackling both Roxxy and Sera, smashing them through a glass window—
CRASH!
All three of them flew out into the open air.
Shit! Now all of us are "moving"!
If they hit the ground like this, not only would the impact kill them—but the parasites would kick in at full force.
"AAAAAAAH!!!"
Everything slowed.
Sera reached out—steel beams below shimmered pink and grew upward in a flash, catching her arm just in time.
Got it!
But she felt someone grab her leg.
She looked down.
Not Roxxy.
Soo-min.
"!!"
Roxxy, meanwhile, was still falling.
"ROXXXXYYYYYY!"
No time. She couldn't reach her. And Soo-min wasn't letting go.
"I'm right here, and you're still worried about that midget bitch? Heh! Fine by me!"
Soo-min raised her other gun, aiming it straight up at Sera's chin. Close range. There'd be no escape.
Sera tried to kick her off—but couldn't.
It was over.
If Soo-min timed it right—turned off her power a split second before impact, shot Sera, then re-enabled it just as Roxxy hit the ground—it'd be game over.
"You're the most goddamn annoying pest ever... But this time, I win."
Soo-min pulled the trigger—
But at that exact moment—
WHOOSH!!!
A massive gust of wind surged from the ground like a typhoon!
It was strong enough to slow Roxxy's fall—and in that moment, a tall female figure leapt up and caught her mid-air, cradling her down safely.
Only a few bruises and burst capillaries—not fatal.
The typhoon wind died down like it had been snapped out of existence.
Roxxy looked up.
Sera and Soo-min looked down.
And there stood—
Jody Johansson.
"JODY!!!"