The Weapon Genius: Anything I Hold Can Kill-Chapter 188: One Night (Part Eleven)

The ground cracked as she lunged.

Big Mama moved faster than anyone her size had the right to. Her cleavers spun in her hands like oversized kitchen knives on a butcher’s line—one red, one black—both gleaming with sharpened, well-used edges.

Hanuel barely had time to bring his staff up.

The first cleaver hit the extended pole and sent a shockwave down the shaft, forcing Hanuel’s boots to skid across the tile. His heels dug into the floor, but even then he was driven back, the force splitting the metal legs of the bench behind him like twigs. He bounced into a crouch, barely stabilizing.

The second cleaver didn’t come for him—it came for the space to his right.

Joon was there.

He ducked, but not fast enough. The cleaver tore through the air where his head had been and embedded itself deep into the concrete wall behind him, slicing clean through a steel beam. Dust and sparks exploded from the impact.

Joon rolled away, landing on one knee, spheres already humming around him. "We’re seriously fighting a horror movie final boss..."

Jisoo didn’t answer. Her chains moved first.

A crack like a whip snapped through the room as her twin cords of steel and energy lashed out toward Big Mama’s biceps. She aimed for control, not damage—restrict the arms, stop the cleavers. Precision over power.

But the chains only managed to wind once before Big Mama twisted violently.

With a roar, she flexed both arms and snapped the chains like thread. Metal links went spinning. One clanged against the ceiling. The other slammed into a nearby table.

The burst of resistance bought them seconds. That was all Joon needed.

Electricity surged through the spheres orbiting him—three total, pulsing with cyan light. He flicked his wrist, and the first darted forward.

It struck Big Mama in the stomach.

The hit didn’t stop her. But it slowed her.

The second sphere shot toward her left knee. Another grunt. She faltered.

The third hit her shoulder.

This time she growled, cleavers raising again—her eyes locking onto Joon like she was picking a carcass apart.

"She’s still walking?" he muttered.

"Focus!" Jisoo shouted.

She snapped her chains back, both now glowing with a faint gold hue. Her pupils glinted.

[Nemean Tether – Activation Confirmed.]

The whips expanded—no longer segmented steel, but smooth, shimmering coils lined with shifting glyphs. The air around them tightened, the kind of pressure that made weaker men stop breathing.

Jisoo didn’t hesitate.

"Hanuel, keep her busy!" she barked. "Joon and I will clean house!"

Hanuel didn’t respond verbally. He gripped his staff in both hands and charged forward again, enlarging the weapon mid-swing. Shadows rippled from his feet as he vaulted into the fray.

Big Mama swung.

Hanuel caught the cleaver with the reinforced mid-section of his staff, shadows condensing around the point of contact like liquid armor. The impact bent metal and sent both of them skidding, but Hanuel twisted, redirecting the force upward, and spun low beneath her second swing.

Big Mama’s eyes widened slightly as Hanuel appeared behind her.

The staff shot upward—twice the length now. She ducked just in time to avoid a temple-shattering blow, her apron whipping in the wind, cleavers dragging arcs of sparks as she flipped around to block with crossed blades.

In the chaos, the other prisoners moved.

Ten of them. No cleavers, but batons, chains, bare fists—all enhanced. The glow of system equipment lit up across the cafeteria—gloves that shimmered with thermal energy, gauntlets crackling with frost, boots that left trails of wind.

Joon grinned.

"Alright," he muttered. "Let’s test some new skills out."

He extended both arms. His spheres expanded outward—five now, as two fresh ones emerged from his inventory, folding out mid-air.

He shifted stance, crouching slightly. A hum filled the air.

[Skill: Inductor Surge – Magnetic Field Deployed.]

The floor trembled as magnetic pulses radiated out in pulses.

One prisoner rushed forward with a gauntlet punch—only to be launched sideways by a sphere that bent its trajectory mid-strike. He hit the wall shoulder-first and slumped.

Another prisoner tried to flank Joon with a curved dagger glowing with venom, but Joon caught him mid-step—two spheres slamming into the man’s knees from opposite sides like dual hammers. He collapsed in a howl of pain.

To the side, Jisoo was a storm.

The Nemean Tether coiled and spun with deadly precision. She didn’t go for wide sweeps—she struck surgical. One prisoner reached out, only for her chain to wrap around his elbow and twist—bone cracked audibly.

A second came from above with a chair leg.

Jisoo spun on her heel, her chain flicking up like a cobra—snap—right under the chin. He was airborne before he hit the floor.

She moved toward another, the tether wrapping once, twice—slam. He hit the table and didn’t move again.

Joon glanced back, impressed. "You got meaner."

Jisoo, breath steady, replied, "You got slower."

They turned back to the fight in sync.

Big Mama roared again—Hanuel now holding her at bay with a spinning staff that extended and retracted with every blow. He danced around her like a shadow come to life, using the terrain and tables to bounce, evade, and lash back.

But she wasn’t slowing.

Each swing gouged deeper into the stone. Each roar louder. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

She kicked forward, sending Hanuel into a backwards roll. He vanished into the floor at the last second, reappearing behind her with a jab to her side—but her elbow swung wide and clipped him mid-air.

He tumbled, hit a support beam, and dropped into a crouch.

Jisoo looked at Joon. "Think she’s winding up?"

Joon nodded. "Yeah. Time to put something bigger between us and her."

But they weren’t fast enough.

Big Mama slammed her cleavers together once. The sound cracked through the air like a thunderclap.

The sound rang across the cafeteria like a war drum.

Every prisoner froze.

Joon flinched.

Jisoo’s grip on her chains tightened.

Hanuel rose slowly from his crouch, one knee braced against a table leg, shadows curling at his feet. His gaze never left her.

Big Mama straightened fully, spine popping audibly as she pulled her cleavers apart. Her apron was torn, one sleeve shredded at the seam. Blood ran freely down her temple from where Hanuel’s earlier strike had landed. But her grin was steady. Wide.

A second sound rang out.

DING.

The cafeteria lights dimmed slightly. Something unseen shifted in the air—heat, or pressure, or presence.

And then the system box flashed.

[System Skill: Grand Prep Kitchen – Active]

└ [ɢʀɪʟʟ.ʙʟᴀɴᴄʜ.ғɪʟʟᴇᴛ.ʙᴀᴋᴇ.ʙʀɪɴᴇ.ᴄʜᴀʀ.ɪɴꜰᴜꜱᴇ.ᴄᴜʀᴇ...]

Heat blasted outward first.

Joon stumbled back, shielding his face. Steam hissed across the floor. Tiles buckled, groaned, and darkened under sudden thermal bloom. A ring of heat bloomed out from Big Mama’s feet, curling like smoke.

Jisoo blinked sweat out of her eyes. "She’s boiling the damn floor—"

Before she finished, Big Mama stepped forward—and the cleaver in her right hand glowed orange. Like it had just been pulled from a forge.

She swung once toward Hanuel. He raised his staff to block—and the impact hissed. Steam exploded between them. Hanuel’s staff twisted from the heat, the edge glowing faintly where it had made contact.

Hanuel dropped low and vanished into shadow.

Big Mama didn’t follow.

She turned instead—eyes snapping to Joon.

Her left cleaver—black—now shimmered with frost.

She hurled it.

Joon’s eyes went wide. He leapt backward as the spinning weapon tore through two tables, freezing them mid-shatter. The cleaver embedded into the far wall—and in an instant, that entire stretch of stone turned white, then cracked apart in jagged, frostbitten spears.

"She’s running a full kitchen," Joon muttered. "That’s not even a metaphor anymore."

"Focus!" Jisoo shouted.

She dashed forward, chains alive around her.

Big Mama retrieved the fire cleaver from mid-air with a short hop—pivoted—and swung.

Jisoo’s chains snapped out. One wrapped around Big Mama’s wrist, glowing gold.

But the moment it touched, Big Mama twisted—and the chain sizzled. A burst of radiant heat snapped the tether loose.

Jisoo grimaced. "She’s augmenting her entire body. That’s not just weapon enhancement."

Hanuel appeared behind her again, this time bringing the full force of his enlarged staff down on Big Mama’s back.

She took it.

The floor cracked beneath her. Her knees dipped slightly.

But she didn’t fall.

Instead, she turned her head slowly toward him, smiling even wider.

The cleaver shot backward into her hand like a summoned tool.

And she swung behind her in a perfect, practiced arc.

Hanuel ducked barely in time, the flame-edged blade shaving clean through the air above his head. He flicked back, shadows curling around his ankles, and disappeared again.

Joon shouted, "Jisoo! Go wide!"

He leapt sideways and launched a pulse of electricity from his sphere, aiming for her now-glowing feet.

The charge reached her—and fizzled.

A glowing sigil flickered under her boots, absorbing the current.

"Absorbing lightning? Are you—" Joon started.

Big Mama reached into her apron, drew out something—then hurled it.

A flaming pot lid.

It spun like a discus, arcing through the air. Joon raised his arm—and a shield sphere snapped into place just in time.

The pot lid hit.

BOOM.

He went flying into a table, tumbling, coughing.

Jisoo launched her next chain—this time twin strikes. One aimed high, one low.

Big Mama batted the high one aside—but the second coiled around her ankle.

Jisoo yanked.

Big Mama stumbled.

Hanuel emerged mid-air above her, pole aimed for her spine.

He brought it down with a shout.

It hit—square between her shoulder blades.

She grunted. Took a step forward.

And grabbed the pole.

Hanuel’s eyes widened.

She lifted him—pole and all—and slammed him sideways into a stack of overturned benches.

The room thundered.

Prisoners still trying to fight began to panic.

"She’s really going all out!" one screamed.

Another bolted. "Screw this! I ain’t dying for nobody."

Joon rolled to his feet and called out, "We need to leave the cafeteria!"

Jisoo ran to his side, breathing hard. "What—"

"She’s using the wide-open terrain to her advantage."

Hanuel groaned from the rubble, slowly crawling up.

Big Mama cracked her neck.

"You kids are tough. Real tough." Her voice was calm again. Too calm. "But y’know what they say..."

She stepped toward them.

"Can’t stand the heat..."

She raised both cleavers.

"Get outta my kitchen."

A sudden hiss swept outward like a gas line rupturing. Beneath their feet, the metal floor rippled, liquefying at the edges. Heat shimmered upward in waves, distorting the air, making everything blurry—like looking through warped glass.

Joon cursed under his breath. "Nope."

He grabbed Hanuel by the shoulder, hauling him out of the bench debris as Jisoo snapped her chains back and spun to move.

"Move! Now!" she barked.

Big Mama swung one cleaver in a wide arc. It missed—but the wake of it sent a line of fire slicing across the cafeteria floor like a drawn blade. Steel screamed and curled inward, half-melted from the sheer intensity.

They ran.

Joon’s spheres sparked to life around him, forming a protective perimeter as he cleared the aisle. Hanuel stumbled once, but the shadows at his feet caught his movement, helping him balance as they sprinted.

Behind them, Big Mama’s steps thundered like falling ovens.

Each one left a glowing imprint in the floor.

"She’s not slowing down!" Joon shouted.

"She won’t!" Jisoo snapped. "Keep running!"

The prisoners that hadn’t fled already screamed and scattered again as the Sixth Cell thundered after them, cleavers raised, eyes wild with fervor.

"Don’t run, kids!" she roared after them. "Dinner ain’t done yet!"

Joon kicked open a side door—an emergency access corridor half-collapsed from earlier impact—and dove through. Hanuel followed, shadows helping him weave past fallen pipes. Jisoo went last, her chains lashing out behind her to knock a table down in Big Mama’s path.