The Weapon Genius: Anything I Hold Can Kill-Chapter 190: One Night (Part Thirteen)

Echo ducked under a swinging baton and stepped forward through the gap before the wielder could blink. One jab to the ribs with an open palm released a sonic thump that cracked the nearby cell wall. The prisoner crumpled without a word.

Around him, the air buzzed. Shouts rang out. The West Wing had been caught by surprise, but now it was turning hostile. Prisoners were scrambling into formations, powered by skills and artifacts—some even wielding mythical gear glowing faintly in the dim lights.

Too bad for them, Echo, Yujin, and Kang Hyun had already started the show.

Yujin leapt over a railing, claws tearing into a set of armored bracers. Her beast form shimmered with the energy of her latest transformation—leopard-like grace paired with jagged, muscular limbs and sharp antlers that glinted like obsidian. Her eyes glowed gold, her growl low and constant.

Three men charged her with steel rods that elongated like whips. One swung. She ducked, slid forward on all fours, and headbutted him in the gut with enough force to launch him into a bunk.

The other two turned, but it was already too late.

Echo whistled once—sharp, rising, precise.

It wasn’t just sound.

It was a blade.

The compressed sonic blast tore sideways through the air, slicing both rods in half and dropping the attackers where they stood. Echo appeared behind them a moment later, wind-blown and casual, running fingers through his hair.

"You’d think people would’ve learned by now," he said, glancing toward Yujin. "Don’t chase the pretty girl with antlers."

"You talk too much," Yujin said, breathing lightly, blood splattered across her boots.

A moment later, an arrow thunked into the ground between them.

Then another struck Echo directly in the chest—just before a third hit Yujin’s shoulder.

Neither winced.

The moment the arrows made contact, their bodies launched forward—motion stolen and redirected.

Echo blurred past two prisoners who barely had time to register his presence before collapsing from pinpoint strikes to the jaw and solar plexus. Yujin spun midair, kicked off a wall, and slammed her heel into the back of a fleeing man’s neck.

Kang Hyun walked forward, calm as ever. Another arrow was notched, aimed, and let loose—not at the enemy, but at a pipe above. It rebounded down, shot sideways, then hit the back of a hulking prisoner about to blindside Yujin.

She nodded at him. "Nice."

"Don’t thank me. Just stay mobile."

As they pushed deeper, the West Wing opened up. From narrow corridors to an octagonal chamber lined with elevated walkways and a sunken pit in the middle. It was a hub of activity, prisoners with reinforced gear and combat-focused system skills waiting in groups.

Echo whistled again, lower this time.

"You guys feel that?" he asked, smirking.

Yujin shifted beside him. "The tension?"

"Mm-mm," he said, cracking his neck. "The rhythm. Like the room’s waiting to drop."

Kang Hyun fired another arrow into the air, and it split, forming two as it descended—each one striking the knees of two rushing brutes, dropping them before they got within ten feet.

"Then let’s give them the beat," Hyun muttered.

A roar went up from across the chamber.

Six prisoners charged, glowing weapons in hand. The first one brought down a scythe with black fire. Echo moved left, sound erupting underfoot. He reappeared on the other side of the man, fingers pointed like a gun.

He clicked his tongue.

The sonic burst hit the scythe-wielder in the back and sent him sprawling across the chamber.

"Echo. Right!" Hyun shouted.

Another came in swinging with twin axes. Echo pivoted, then threw up both hands and clapped.

The shockwave that came out knocked everyone within ten feet backward, except Yujin and Hyun, both anchored by Hyun’s arrow just seconds earlier.

Yujin snarled and lunged into the air, her limbs shifting mid-flight. Antlers retracted. Wings burst from her shoulders—part hawk, part reptilian. She spun once and dropped like a missile, claws extended.

Her impact broke the stone flooring.

One prisoner tried to grab her. He caught a mouthful of static when Echo sent a distortion ring right through his helmet.

They fought like a perfect trio. Echo made space, Yujin closed it, and Hyun controlled the angles—always watching, always calculating.

But still, the numbers kept pouring in.

Prisoners with defensive gear. Others with elemental strikes. One shot a beam of molten light that nearly clipped Echo’s leg. Another generated a field that warped gravity around him.

Echo swore, ducked under the shift, then fired off a three-note sequence.

Boom. Boom. Crack.

The gravity user’s nose exploded inward and he hit the floor convulsing.

But even as the last few prisoners fell, Echo’s head cocked.

Hyun lowered his bow.

"Something’s coming," he said.

They all felt it.

The air shifted.

A door at the far end of the octagonal chamber creaked open. But the sound wasn’t loud—it was precise. Controlled. Heavy.

And familiar.

Echo frowned. "That doesn’t sound like any prisoner."

A silhouette stepped into the doorway. A woman, tall and still. Not dressed like a normal inmate. Her outfit was plain, sharp-pressed, and eerily clinical.

Yujin’s claws tensed.

Then Hyun froze.

"...No way."

The woman stepped into the light, her eyes scanning all three of them like tools laid out on a table.

"I know her," Hyun said, his voice low. "Her name’s Eun Hae. I spent seven years tracking her down."

Yujin turned her head. "Another criminal?"

Hyun nodded slowly. "Serial. One murder per year. Always on the same date. Always left a letter."

Echo raised an eyebrow. "Old flame?"

"No." Hyun’s jaw tightened. "She’s the one I put away."

Inmate File

Designation: The Fourth Cell

Name: Eun Hae

Crimes: First-degree serial homicide, psychological torture, impersonation of government officials

Sentence: 341 years, no parole

Notoriety: "The Calendar Widow" – responsible for 12 yearly, ritualistic murders

System Skill: ϟϘϣ◼︎◻︎◼︎↯∅➤☒≡

The air didn’t just grow colder when she stepped fully into the light — it condensed. A tight silence fell across the chamber as prisoners who had been grunting, panting, or growling mid-fight all paused. Even those still standing from the earlier scuffle staggered upright, eyes locked on her.

Eun Hae stood with her hands behind her back, head tilted ever so slightly, her chin lifted just enough to command the space.

"You’re all so lively," she said, voice smooth and silken, gliding between her lips like it was coated in honey. "Strong, reckless, violent... desperate."

She paced slowly forward, boots clicking sharply against the concrete, each step echoing as if the chamber was empty — as if the chaos from seconds ago had never happened.

Echo narrowed his eyes. "That voice..."

Yujin didn’t lower her claws, but even she paused, fur bristling. "There’s something wrong with her aura."

"She’s a manipulator," Hyun muttered. "Psychologically and physically."

Eun Hae stopped at the edge of the raised walkway, arms spread lightly like a conductor preparing to cue an orchestra.

"I’ll make you a deal," she purred. "Take down those three."

She pointed lazily at Hyun, Yujin, and Echo.

"And I’ll reward the one who succeeds..." Her smile deepened. "With a night alone. Just me and you. I promise to be... very accommodating."

A few of the prisoners hesitated — but then the meaning hit them.

The tension snapped like a wire.

Roars erupted from all corners of the octagonal chamber as prisoners surged forward. Those still standing from earlier fights now howled with new energy. Others who’d been hiding in shadow, crouched near corners or up on the balconies, dropped in waves, some activating system skills that glowed pale blue, crimson, or black.

Momentum exploded.

Yujin exhaled through her nose. "This chick’s insane."

"No," Hyun said, tightening his grip on his bow. "She’s strategic."

"She just turned the whole block into her harem cult," Echo muttered, stepping back as a dozen prisoners charged them with spears, knives, gauntlets, or no weapons at all.

One guy came in glowing with violet flame; another with a pair of hooked blades that vibrated with some kind of sonic interference. A third ran at Echo using a shield charged with kinetic propulsion — a system skill designed to explode on contact.

Echo smirked. "You’re not the only one who can play with vibrations."

He sidestepped and clapped once — a sound burst focused just in front of the shield. The force rebounded with amplified frequency, knocking the man backward and slamming him into a column so hard it cracked.

Yujin ducked under a swipe and transformed mid-motion — her arms turning feathered and her eyes narrowing to slits as she kicked off the ground and launched into the air. She twisted and came down hard, slamming her heel into another prisoner’s shoulder, then spun and lashed her tail — now extended and armored like a serpent’s spine — across three more.

Hyun planted two arrows into the floor — one at Echo’s feet, another at Yujin’s. Their bodies shifted instantly, moving with his guidance, redirecting their trajectory through the enemy ranks like chess pieces controlled by a god.

Echo twisted mid-air, snapped his fingers, and sent out a wide-range blast of compressed sound that staggered the front line.

Hyun followed up, loosing two arrows back-to-back — one into the ceiling, which ricocheted downward and slammed into a prisoner’s chest, the second straight through a gauntlet mid-punch, tearing it apart.

Still, they kept coming.

A man wrapped in stone-like armor roared and barreled toward Yujin. She ducked and lashed her whip-tail again — but he caught it.

Then Echo whispered.

The sound wave that burst out from between his palms wasn’t loud — but it resonated directly with the armor’s inner shell.

The stone cracked and collapsed like shattered pottery.

The man screamed and fell to his knees.

From above, Eun Hae watched, smiling serenely.

"They’re even prettier when they struggle," she murmured.

She raised one hand and drew a line in the air.

Around the chamber, more doors opened.

Dozens more prisoners stepped out — not cannon fodder, but advanced. Clearly enhanced. Their eyes glowed. Some held artifacts.

She hadn’t sent the full wave yet.

"She’s calling reinforcements," Hyun growled.

Echo dropped next to him. "If she’s just standing there letting others fight, she’s either too lazy, or too damn dangerous."

Yujin hit the ground beside them, panting slightly. "She’s making a show. Making us waste energy."

Hyun looked up, eyes sharp. "She always escalated slowly. That’s her pattern. Lure. Tease. Swarm."

Echo nodded. "Then it’s time to stop playing by her rhythm."

Hyun fired an arrow that ricocheted off a column and created a blast zone, knocking out another group.

"Echo," he said without looking, "how loud can you go?"

The sonic user grinned, a faint hum building in the space between his fingertips.

"Loud enough to blow the roof off."

"Save it," Yujin snapped, "We’ll need that for her."

They turned as one — and Eun Hae, still smiling, finally descended the stairs at the far end of the chamber.

She walked with grace. Like she had all the time in the world. Like she was already counting how many pieces they’d break into.

Echo’s smile faded. His hands stilled.

And Eun Hae finally spoke again.

"Don’t die too fast," she said gently. "I’d hate for the fun to end before I start."

Hyun exhaled slowly.

"Everyone stay sharp," he murmured.

"Whatever she was in the past..."

He raised his bow.

"She’s worse now."