The Weapon Genius: Anything I Hold Can Kill-Chapter 80: Cutting Edge

Joon adjusted his stance, eyes flicking over the battlefield. The terrain was jagged now, a result of Echo’s earlier attack—uneven rocks jutted out of the ground, cracks spiderwebbed across the pavement, and chunks of displaced earth made it difficult to find solid footing. It was a mess. But a mess they could use.

Across from him, their opponent stood, rolling his neck. Seok.

He clicked his tongue.

"Tch. Damn kid disappeared. And I got hit with rubble—how annoying." He shook a bit of dirt off his shoulder, expression twisted into mild irritation. "You guys sure love making things complicated for yourselves."

Then, as he took a step forward, the ground beneath his boot shifted unexpectedly. He nearly lost his balance for a split second before planting his foot down harder, scowling.

"Really? You think this little terrain shift is gonna help you?"

Joon didn’t answer. Areum stayed silent beside him, already forming thin glass blades between her fingers.

Seok exhaled sharply, then held up his right arm—and it twisted.

The flesh rippled, muscle tightening unnaturally, bones grinding against each other as his forearm compressed and reformed. The skin split open for a moment, revealing a grotesque shifting of cartilage and metal, before snapping into place.

His entire forearm was now a curved combat knife.

"That’s cute. You really think I need stable footing to deal with you?" Seok smirked.

Then he moved.

Joon reacted instantly—his Magnetron Spheres shot forward, buzzing with electrical energy. But before they could hit, Seok twisted his arm again—his knife morphed into a smooth, curved buckler.

CLANG.

The spheres slammed into the metal and ricocheted off harmlessly.

Seok grinned. "Too predictable."

Areum followed up immediately, flicking her wrist. A cluster of glass daggers launched toward him, sharp and deadly.

Seok didn’t even flinch. His other arm twisted—the skin of his left forearm split open, the flesh collapsing inward and reshaping into a thick, spiked baton. He spun it with a practiced ease, shattering the incoming glass in midair.

"You’ll have to do better than that, sweetheart."

Then, without warning, he lunged.

Joon barely had time to react—Seok’s knee came up, and as it did, the flesh on his leg stretched and reformed, his shin extending into a curved blade. A brutal, unexpected shift of form.

Fast.

Joon twisted, dodging at the last second, but Seok was already following up—his left arm swung, the baton now reshaped into a heavy warhammer, the weight of it aimed right for Joon’s skull.

Damn.

Joon kicked off the ground, throwing himself back just as the warhammer slammed into the dirt where he had been standing, crushing the earth beneath it.

"What’s wrong? Getting cold feet?" Seok taunted, not even giving them a moment to breathe before he pivoted toward Areum.

She reacted quickly, sending another volley of glass shards his way, but Seok’s body twisted in an unnatural way, his ribs shifting to the side, bones moving like liquid to avoid the attack.

Then, he grinned.

And his mouth opened.

Wider than it should. Wider than any human mouth had the right to. His jaw stretched, his tongue rolling out—

—and then, with a click, the shape of a gun barrel formed at the tip of his tongue.

Joon’s eyes widened. What the hell—

BANG.

The shot rang out.

Areum barely ducked in time, the bullet whizzing past her head, close enough to split a few strands of her hair.

Baek laughed, with his mouth still open, the metallic glint of his transformed tongue visible between his teeth. He rolled it back into his mouth, the gun disappearing.

"Scared?" He teased.

Joon grimaced. This guy...

He didn’t fight like a soldier. He fought like a monster.

The way he shifted—it wasn’t clean, it wasn’t precise. Unlike Jin, who wielded weapons like an extension of himself, Seok’s transformations were raw and grotesque, his body forced to bend and contort in unnatural ways. It was brutal. Sloppy. And yet—effective.

"Come on." Baek flexed his fingers. The warhammer shrunk into a machete. "You wanted a fight, didn’t you?"

Joon glanced at Areum. She nodded.

They couldn’t let him control the pace. They had to move first.

This was just getting started.

Baek shifted again, and it was even worse this time.

His left arm jerked and collapsed inward before expanding, muscle tightening as his forearm reshaped into a jagged greatsword. It wasn’t a smooth transformation—it was violent. The crack of bone breaking and realigning echoed in the air, and yet, Seok grinned like it didn’t hurt at all.

Joon barely had time to process before Baek swung.

A massive, brutal horizontal slash aimed straight for both of them.

Areum jumped back, glass forming instinctively at her feet to push herself away. Joon, on the other hand, dropped low, rolling under the arc of the greatsword—only for Seok to suddenly pivot his body in the opposite direction.

His ribs twisted, spine snapping into a new position mid-motion. His entire torso seemed to realign, and as he spun, his other arm morphed—shrinking into the shape of a hooked axe.

Joon’s gut clenched—shit!

He barely managed to bring up a Magnetron Sphere to block, but the moment Baek’s axe-arm slammed into it, the force behind it cracked the sphere apart. The backlash sent Joon stumbling back, electricity flickering around his hand.

"Tch. Annoying." Baek rolled his shoulders as his arm bulged and snapped into a different shape—a whip. The muscle and sinew stretched grotesquely, the tip sharpening into a serrated blade.

And then—he lashed out.

The whip blurred through the air, cutting across the battlefield. Joon barely twisted out of the way, but it still caught his side, slicing through his jacket and leaving a shallow gash.

"You’re fast," Baek admitted, flexing his fingers as the whip shrunk back into a normal arm, only for his elbow to suddenly split open. A new weapon began forming from the exposed joint—this time, a morning star, the heavy spiked ball dangling from a chain of bone.

"But not fast enough."

He swung.

Joon knew if that thing hit him, it wouldn’t just hurt—it would break something.

But before it could connect, the ground beneath Baek shifted.

The uneven terrain threw off his footing for just a second—just enough.

Joon moved, using the momentum to dash past him, one of his Magnetron Spheres forming near his palm as he aimed a precise counterstrike—

But Baek expected it.

The morning star shrunk back into his body, and in its place, his entire hand folded inward—reforming into the barrel of a shotgun.

Joon’s eyes widened. Another gun?!

Baek smirked.

BOOM.

The blast was deafening.

Joon barely twisted in time, feeling the heat of the shot graze past his shoulder. The force sent him skidding back across the dirt, boots scraping against the uneven ground.

"Damn," Baek muttered, shaking his hand as it morphed back into flesh. "Missed."

Areum took that moment to strike.

She launched forward, her glass shifting—this time, forming a thin, needle-like rapier, its tip gleaming in the dim light.

Baek turned toward her, but the terrain screwed him over again. A jagged piece of stone forced him to shift awkwardly, and for the first time, his body didn’t flow into the transformation smoothly—

A tiny window.

Areum thrust.

The rapier shot forward—fast, precise. She aimed for his ribs, a place where the movement of his shifting flesh might not catch up in time.

It was a good strike.

But at the last second—

She hesitated.

The blade still landed. But instead of piercing deep, it only scraped across his side, the sharp tip barely drawing blood before sliding off.

A shallow cut. Nothing more.

Baek froze.

For a long second, no one moved.

Then—he exhaled through his nose.

"Oh."

His voice was different. Lower.

His eyes flicked to her, and for the first time, the amusement in his gaze was gone.

"You’ve never killed anyone before, have you?"

Areum stiffened.

Joon moved to intervene, but Baek ignored him completely. His gaze was locked onto Areum, something almost fascinated in his expression.

"That hesitation. That little moment of doubt." He touched the side of his ribs where her rapier had barely cut him. "You had me. And you wasted it."

He shook his head, clicking his tongue. "No one’s ever shown me such mercy in battle."

Then, his smile widened.

"Do you think you’re better than me?"

Before Areum could respond, Baek moved.

This time, he didn’t shift his arms.

He shifted his legs.

Both limbs collapsed inward, muscle and bone warping, stretching outward—his thighs narrowing, his calves extending, his entire lower half suddenly reshaping into long, bladed appendages.

It wasn’t human anymore.

"Let me show you why that was a mistake."

He lunged.

Areum’s breath caught in her throat.

Baek was too fast.

His new bladed legs cut through the ground as he lunged, moving with a disturbing, insect-like speed. The air whistled as the razor-sharp edge of his leg slashed toward her—

And she froze.

Her mind screamed at her to move, to react, to do something, but her body wasn’t keeping up.

Baek’s grin widened.

"Too slow."

The blade was inches away from cutting through her—

Then—

CRACK.

Baek’s body jerked violently to the side.

A solid impact smashed into his ribs—pure, blunt force—and sent him flying mid-attack. His entire body whipped through the air, limbs twisting unnaturally before he crashed face-first into the dirt.

Areum gasped.

Joon stood in front of her, arm still extended from his strike. His Magnetron Spheres crackled around him, the remnants of an electrically-charged punch still dissipating in the air.

"You good?" he asked, not taking his eyes off Seok.

Areum swallowed. "...Yeah."

Seok’s body twitched.

Then—

He laughed.

Muffled at first—because his face was still planted in the dirt—but then louder, more unhinged.

"Pfft—hah—"

His fingers twitched, nails dragging against the ground. His arms jerked, muscles spasming as he began pushing himself up—his entire back shifting, warping, like his own body was deciding how to put itself together.

And then—

His skin changed.

It was subtle at first—a weird, uneven texture spreading across his exposed arms.

Then—

A low hum filled the air.

Joon’s stomach dropped.

Baek snapped his head up, grinning.

"Nice hit," he admitted, rolling his shoulders. "But..."

His entire body convulsed—his skin hardening, darkening—taking on a smooth, synthetic sheen.

A layer of taser barbs covered him entirely.

Areum’s breath caught.

Joon immediately recognized the change—a living taser field.

"Oh, come on," he muttered.

Baek flexed his fingers, his movements sharp, unnatural. A faint electrical hum pulsed off his body, the built-in discharge of the taser system activating with every twitch of his muscles.

"I was wondering when you’d get serious," Baek said, lifting his arm and cracking his neck. "Now—"

His forearm collapsed inward again—this time reshaping into a long, jagged spear.

"Let’s see what happens when I touch you."