The wolf spider, with victory in its grasp, waits silently.

It is well aware that the life of this unfamiliar man is slowly fading away. The hand that is choking his own neck has already begun to lose its grip, and his arm, struggling to support his own weight, gradually begins to tremble.

Soon, this unfamiliar man will die from the poison, while I, before the police arrive, will thoroughly and effectively kill the target of this mission, Koga mother and daughter.

—It was supposed to be a simple task, but it has turned into such a miserable state.

"Rest in peace."

The wolf spider reaches out and grabs Watanabe Gengo's wrist, intending to break free from his grip.

At this moment, a force, coming from an unknown source, erupts from within Watanabe Gengo's body and travels to his fingertips. For the wolf spider, this change is reflected in the fact that Watanabe Gengo's hand is once again filled with strength, tightly, even tighter than when he first choked him, gripping his throat, stealing away his breath. Saliva painfully sprays out from his slightly open mouth, splattering onto Watanabe Gengo's arm.

—W-What just happened?!

The wolf spider reluctantly lowers its head slightly, unbelievably staring at Watanabe Gengo. From where did this dying man, who should have been close to death, gain this strength?

But Watanabe Gengo doesn't give him a chance to confirm. His rough, hardened hand, tinged with the scars of time, mercilessly clamps down on the wolf spider's throat, little by little, compressing his living space.

Finally, the wolf spider understands where this unfamiliar man's strength comes from.

This man, Watanabe Gengo, has calmly accepted his own impending death. With this realization, he uses the last of his strength to prevent the assassination plan of the wolf spider.

As the wolf spider realizes his life is being threatened, he can no longer maintain his previous calm state and begins to struggle intensely.

The wolf spider uses his elbows, palms, and knee strikes to attack Watanabe Gengo's arms, and his shins and feet to fiercely kick Watanabe Gengo's shoulders and abdomen. But these attacks, hitting Watanabe Gengo, feel as if they have no effect; he stands firmly, completely focused, gripping the wolf spider's throat.

Watanabe Gengo has no intention of suffocating the wolf spider to death; he wants to directly snap its neck.

When the sound of bones breaking reaches the wolf spider's brain, he finally realizes that no matter how much he struggles, it is futile.

The obsession a person experiences before death on the battlefield is the most terrifying.

Wolf spider, who has witnessed these things firsthand, is well aware that if he continues to work as an assassin, he will meet a miserable end someday. It's just that he didn't expect it would be today, dying in such a simple mission.

Before his death, the wolf spider struggles to utter a few final words. Due to his throat being twisted and contorted from being choked, these words come out as only the faintest, sharpest wheezes.

"Why... why... why..."

But Watanabe Gengo understood his words, or rather, guessed the question he wanted to ask.

- Why, at all costs, protect that woman and child.

Watanabe Gengo laughed.

At this moment, due to being poisoned, his hands and feet had turned purple, blood vessels bulging all over his body like small snakes, wrapping around his limbs. Even his eyes were no longer clear pupils and whites, but dark yellow eyeballs covered with red and black blood vessels. In fact, he had already lost his sight. There was no "enemy" to be seen in his field of vision. He could only rely on the sense of touch in his hands to clearly perceive that this person he must stop was still within his grasp.

Even so, Watanabe Gengo still laughed, without a trace of sadness for the impending death.

He tried to answer the question of the assassin, but the muscles he used to speak had already been paralyzed by the neurotoxin, and his vocal cords could not vibrate to make sound. At the end of his life, he could only...

As always, proud, disdainful, and rebellious, he showed his contemptuous smile.