Soros naturally heard Kaine's shout, but at that moment, he was preoccupied with fending off the giant spider that the Scarlet Spider-Man had transformed into.
Kaine didn't care what Soros was doing. He only wanted to tell him that everything he had done would come at a price.
With a burst of speed, Kaine appeared at Soros's side and delivered a powerful kick to his father's abdomen.
Soros flew like a cannonball, crashing through the castle walls and landing back on the battlefield outside.
But Kaine wasn't about to give him any time to react. He burst out of the castle, steel trident in hand, thrusting it straight toward Soros's chest.
However, age often comes with experience—Soros swiftly reached out and caught Kaine's trident with both hands.
Using all his strength, he completely halted the trident's advance, preventing it from getting anywhere near his chest.
Soros simply stared at his rebellious son in front of him. "Why didn't you just die out there? Why didn't you stay hidden? That would've been better for everyone."
"And what about my mother? What was she to you?" Kaine gritted his teeth, still trying to push the trident into Soros's chest. But no matter how hard he tried, he was still not quite a match for Soros.
Kaine's attack, to be honest, surprised Soros a little.
He hadn't expected this least favored son of his to force him to exert so much effort.
With a swift kick to Kaine's abdomen, Soros sent him flying backward.
"You know," Soros said slowly, rising from the ground and straightening his back, looking down at Kaine, "you and that woman are the greatest disgrace of my life."
"You—!"
Kaine charged forward again with his steel trident, but this time Soros had no intention of letting him get the upper hand so easily.
His massive body moved with shocking agility, easily dodging Kaine's strike and even grabbing the trident's shaft.
With his other hand, he raised a fist the size of a pot and smashed it directly into Kaine's face.
Kaine didn't even try to defend. Instead, he punched Soros in the chest at the same time.
The two were knocked back almost simultaneously, but while Soros only staggered back a few steps, Kaine was sent flying dozens of meters away.
His trident was flung far off, embedding itself in the ground.
Kaine struggled to prop himself up—Soros's punch had dealt him serious damage.
At that moment, a few figures appeared beside him, helping to steady his trembling body.
Turning his head, he was surprised to see it was the Spider-Men—his former prey, once his enemies—supporting him.
"Our goal now is to take that guy down. So for now, we're allies," Peter Parker said, patting Kaine on the shoulder.
"Not just take him down—we're going to kill him," Ultimate Spider-Man added, voicing what Kaine truly felt.
However, Peter frowned upon hearing those words. His moral code didn't allow him to kill someone like that.
Before he could try to dissuade the others, another massive figure leapt out of the castle—it was the enormous spider that the Scarlet Spider-Man had become.
And the giant spider had only one target: Soros.
The spider's purpose aligned perfectly with Kaine and Ultimate Spider-Man—they all wanted Soros dead.
As the giant spider engaged Soros, Ultimate Spider-Man exchanged a glance with Kaine.
Then he extended four iron spider legs from his back and charged toward Soros, while Kaine went to retrieve his trident.
He would use the weapon he forged in his youth to end Soros's life.
Peter Parker watched the fierce charge of his comrades and could only sigh, preparing to stop them when the moment came—when they tried to kill Soros.
At the same time, Bruce had begun to act as well.
He flung Batarangs like they were free, and almost every single one found its mark on the Inheritors.
For Morlun and Daemos, these Batarangs posed little physical threat, but the gadgets attached to them were incredibly annoying.
Freezing, electric shocks, explosions, ultrasonic waves—Almost every Batarang carried some specialized device meant to disrupt the Inheritors' movements.
While the Batarangs didn't cause much actual injury, their attached effects kept the Inheritors constantly on edge.
To be fair, Morlun and Daemos were extremely powerful. Even after Kaine had helped the Spider-Men deal with the other Inheritors, and even with Batman's support, they still couldn't take down these two in a short time.
Morlun soon locked eyes on Bruce, who was disrupting their battle from a distance.
Whether it was Bruce's interference in the fight or the conversation he had with Kaine earlier, Morlun now clearly understood—this man could not be allowed to stay alive.
If he still didn't understand why Kaine had suddenly turned against them, then all his years of life had been lived in vain.
"I'm going to kill you!"
Morlun roared, using all his strength to fling away the Spider-Man in his path, sprinting toward Bruce with murderous intent.
But Bruce, calm as ever, simply tossed two smoke bombs at his feet.
By the time Morlun charged through the smoke, Bruce was nowhere to be seen.
He had already slipped away and even left a device directly in Morlun's path.
Just as Morlun was about to continue his pursuit, the device activated, unleashing a sonic attack even more violent than before.
The blast completely disoriented Morlun, preventing him from tracking Bruce's movements.
Clutching his ears, he tried to minimize the discomfort.
At that moment, Bruce deactivated the sonic device, and before Morlun could react, a young girl leapt down from the ceiling, stomping hard on his back.
Another girl landed from Morlun's back right after.
"You okay?" The first girl removed her mask, revealing a gentle face.
Gwen looked at Bruce anxiously, a bit worried as she spoke.
Ever since Bruce had decided to enter the Inheritors' world, Gwen had been constantly worried about his safety. Even with comfort from Jessica of Earth-1610, she still couldn't shake her concern.
Only now did she finally see Bruce again. The fact that his suit was intact brought her some relief.
He still had his suit, and he wasn't missing any limbs—that at least proved Bruce was still the same spirited Batman.
As for Morlun, he was already being overwhelmed by the incoming Spider-Men again.
This time, the Spiders had abandoned close combat. They were employing a hit-and-run tactic, harassing Morlun from a distance with webs.
As a result, more and more webs wrapped around Morlun.
Soon, he was completely cocooned like a mummy, unable to move at all.
But the rumbling from outside still reminded the Spider-Men—the fight wasn't over yet.Soros was still undefeated.
After some time working together, Kaine and Ultimate Spider-Man had developed a sense of coordination. Now, they were able to put Soros completely on the defensive.
Whenever one finished an attack, the other would immediately follow up with their own.
Even so, Soros still managed to find an opening. He snapped off one of the giant spider's pincers and stabbed it into the creature's head.
"Kaine!!"
Ultimate Spider-Man shouted at the top of his lungs, but Soros only sneered in contempt.
Taking down this giant spider would significantly ease his burden.
But in the next moment, a dual attack from Peter Parker and Ultimate Spider-Man was already upon him.
Soros quickly blocked the attack from the two Spider-Men, but he had forgotten about the son who had been waiting all this time for him to drop his guard.
Kaine grabbed his steel trident and plunged it into the back of his so-called loving father.
Soros looked down in disbelief at the trident piercing through his chest.
"This is my gift to you, Father," Kaine whispered into Soros' ear before pulling out the weapon.
Soros collapsed, lifeless, his body gradually disintegrating, leaving behind only a blood-red crystal.
Kaine smashed the crystal with one strike of his trident, then fell to his knees, gazing up at the familiar sky.
He had returned—but this place no longer held the people he once knew.
Peter Parker opened his mouth as if to say something, but when he looked at Kaine, he swallowed his words. This was a personal matter. It had little to do with him.
If it had been Ultimate Spider-Man who wanted to kill Soros, Peter would have tried to stop it. But since it was Kaine who dealt the final blow, there was nothing he could do.
"You have to accept these things. Sometimes, it's better for something to die than to keep living," Ultimate Spider-Man could clearly see Peter Parker's inner conflict and sorrow.
But he wasn't the type to offer comforting words. He didn't have Peter Parker's kindness or compassion.
What he did have was ruthless vengeance for his enemies and fierce protection for those he loved.
Ultimate Spider-Man would never allow anyone to hurt the people close to him.
Without another word to Peter Parker, he turned and walked back into the castle.
Peter looked up at him and shook his head, then turned his gaze to the corpse of the giant spider that had once been the Scarlet Spider-Man. A wave of sorrow washed over him.
He had hoped this war wouldn't take the life of another Spider-Man—but he had been wrong. War always meant death.
In the distance, he saw the tattered remnants of the Scarlet Spider-Man's costume. Picking it up, Peter slowly made his way into the castle.
By now, Morlun and Daemos had been completely subdued by the Spider-Men inside.
"What did you do to my father?!" Daemos shouted at the Spider-Men entering the castle, unaware that his rebellious brother was among them.
"He's dead," Ultimate Spider-Man replied as he approached Daemos. This time, he was the one towering over the so-called heir.
"You'll pay for this!" Daemos struggled and roared at the Spider-Men before him. But the one he truly hated the most was Kaine, the brother who had returned from exile.
Unlike Daemos, Morlun wasn't agitated. He simply stood quietly, watching everything unfold.
"You're the one who should pay!" Mayday Parker suddenly charged out, aiming a kick at Daemos's face—only to be caught and restrained by Peter Parker.
"Let me go!!"
"I'm going to kill him!!!"
"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!!!!"
Mayday still remembered the twisted, maniacal smile Daemos had worn when he murdered her parents.
He had even tried to kill her younger brother. Mayday could never forgive him for that.
"Mayday!" Peter tried to calm the girl in his arms, but at that very moment, a steel trident came flying from outside the castle, shattering Daemos's skull on impact.
It was Kaine's trident—he had returned.
All the Spider-Men turned and saw the man. Kaine, heavy-footed, walked step by step toward his weapon.
"Kaine!" Peter Parker wanted to stop him, to prevent him from doing something he might regret.
But Kaine had already made his decision.
He pulled out his trident and drove it straight into Morlun's body.
"Goodbye, brother," Kaine said flatly.
The scene stunned all the Spider-Men around him.
Most of them had never intended to kill the heirs.
They had only wanted to ensure the heirs could never harm anyone again.
But Kaine had now brought an end to the entire journey.
"It's time for you to go home," Kaine said, retrieving his trident and addressing the surrounding Spider-Men.
Peter Parker wanted to say something, but Mayday Parker's sobs in his arms brought him back to reality.
There was nothing more to say.
"I will stay here to atone. I'll protect the Master Weaver," Kaine said, walking up to the Master Weaver and sitting down before him.
Here, he felt true peace.
A few of the Spider-Men wanted to say something to Kaine.
But truth be told, they didn't know what to say.
The Kaine before them… was different from all of them.
"Master Weaver, send them home," Kaine said, not intending to chat. He simply requested the Master Weaver to return them.
The Master Weaver began weaving the path home for the Spider-Men—and one lone bat.
(End of Chapter)
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