Ch.108The Horned Mask Monster (2)

It was truly an overwhelming difference.

Considering we were in the heart of the city filled with CCTV cameras, I had refrained from a complete monster transformation, but I never expected such a one-sided outcome.

How many floors did I crash through after falling from the top of the building?

More importantly, just how badly damaged is my body right now?

“Guh… ugh!”

My body was buried among the debris, wedged between twisted metal beams.

Pain, as if my entire body had been crushed, clawed at every inch of me, and the horned mask that had covered my face was shattered to pieces.

Still, gritting my teeth and pushing away the broken concrete, I crawled out slowly, only to see a figure standing there.

The being who, moments ago, had been wearing a monster’s disguise while slaughtering me.

Now returned to a human face—Congresswoman Avanka.

“Ah, finally coming out, are we?”

“Cough! Cough!”

“Whoa, whoa. Don’t move too much. By now… you might have bone fragments lodged in your internal organs.”

Is that really what should be coming from your mouth, after you did this to me?

I had only been in a partial monster transformation with just the mask, but even so, I possessed combat power equivalent to a Grade 1 monster.

Yet I was defeated so easily, so pathetically.

I tried to stand up but coughed up blood and collapsed back down.

Seeing this, Avanka shook her head as if in pity.

Yet at the corners of her mouth lingered that distinctive politician’s smile, impossible to read for any genuine sentiment.

“Tsk, tsk. Janghoon. Let’s stop here, shall we?”

I drew in a breath.

Then, gritting my teeth, I barely managed to open my mouth.

“Shut… up!”

She paid no attention.

Instead, her tone grew increasingly gentle as she continued, while the malice within became even more distinct.

“What’s wrong with a few sacrifices? Why get so upset over mere numbers? If we don’t interfere with each other, we can coexist peacefully, can’t we? …Oh, except for Zero, of course. I’ll modify her to just keep popping out babies.”

Blood surged.

Anger boiled up from deep within my chest.

But my broken body wouldn’t even allow me to express that much.

“Grrgh…!”

“Besides, right now this building is surrounded by everything from broadcast cameras to heroes. By now, quite a lot of people must be watching this live.”

Her words snapped me back to awareness.

Wait, I didn’t just block an attack and get up just now?

“Oh, right. I forgot to mention something important. Janghoon, you’ve been awake for about an hour now.”

“…!”

I thought I had lost consciousness for just a moment, but I had been lying there collapsed for an entire hour.

As if reading my disbelief, Avanka pulled out a remote control and pointed to an intact TV screen visible among the debris.

News captions scrolled across the screen.

[Terror Attack at Calveno Building?!]

[Unprecedented Monster Attacks Downtown!]

[Dozens of A-Class Heroes Dead! What About S-Class Heroes?]

A series of shocking headlines.

Among them, the most eye-catching was the phrase about dozens of heroes dying.

“…Heroes died?”

“Yes. While you were sleeping, I set the stage a little.”

“Set the… stage?”

Unable to comprehend her meaning, I moved my lips feebly.

And the words she spoke next were a nightmare far beyond my imagination.

“In this situation, there are only two ways for you to escape.”

Sitting on the debris and meeting my eye level, Avanka slowly held up two fingers.

“One is to be branded by the world as a monstrous urban terrorist who attacked the most popular congresswoman.”

“…!”

“The other is to gain public support as the male hero who defeated the monster that took down dozens of heroes and saved Congresswoman Avanka, and then proceed ‘amicably’ with me.”

In other words, she was suggesting we manipulate this blood-soaked scenario.

“You’re telling me to lie?”

“That’s right.”

Her expression remained that of a benevolent politician.

But the words leaking from within were like whispers from a devil straight out of hell.

I gritted my teeth. Bent my knees.

Then I launched my entire body toward her face.

Resummoning my broken mask to cover my face, I squeezed out my remaining magical power and threw a punch wrapped in dark energy.

But.

Swoosh.

“…Huh?”

The trajectory of my punch was pathetically light, slipping through gaps like a snake.

Wasn’t she in human form?

Shouldn’t she have deactivated her monster transformation by now?

“Hehe, aren’t you being too careless, Janghoon?”

I swung my fists several more times.

But Avanka deflected them all with unnaturally flexible movements.

That stance.

A vague memory surfaced.

A martial art I had seen in movies in my original world, before the possession.

“…Tai Chi?”

At my words, she nodded as if pleased to hear the correct answer.

“Precisely.”

I couldn’t believe it.

“No, this is Hero City… such techniques shouldn’t exist…!”

Confusion washed over me.

But Avanka, as if enjoying my expression, slowly opened her mouth.

“I am humanity’s monster. I can remember and reproduce all the techniques, civilizations, and martial arts created by humans.”

This meant she wasn’t just powerful—she carried the entirety of history within her.

“W-what does that have to do with Tai Chi…?”

That’s when it happened.

Avanka’s eyes narrowed, and she spoke in a low voice, stabbing like a dagger.

“Tai Chi was born in a nation that perished 12,000 years before Hero City was established. And now, I am the only being who remembers this technique.”

“…What?”

My mind went blank.

This isn’t the world I knew.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a parallel world, a completely different dimension of Earth?

But.

‘A country that perished 12,000 years before Hero City was established.’

What those words implied was that this place might not be a simple parallel world, but possibly the distant future of the world I had lived in.

While I was lost in confusion, Avanka followed the trajectory of my attack and launched her counterattack.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

“Gahk?!”

“This is Tang Lang Quan. And next…”

Crack!

“A straight punch from Kyokushin Karate.”

“Puhgh!”

The sound of a rib breaking. Blood rose to my throat.

“All martial arts that disappeared with humanity 12,000 years ago. Oh, the straight punch survived in a modified form through Taekwondo.”

Wait, Taekwondo survived?

For a moment I almost felt a strange sense of national pride, but the reality was brutal.

While I was lost in thought, too many blows rained down.

Avanka was literally the monster of human civilization. And that knowledge was the embodiment of lethal techniques.

“Muay Thai – Elbow Strike.”

Thud!

“Capoeira – Backflip Kick.”

Crash!

“Boxing – Jab, jab… and hook!”

“Huff… huff!”

“Followed by Judo’s Osoto Gari.”

Thump!

A series of strikes.

Swept away by this overwhelming wave of techniques, I collapsed again.

My mask was broken, and my body was covered in blood.

And she didn’t stop.

Avanka.

She was a monster who studied humans and imitated them.

Therefore, she knew better than anyone that humans don’t break easily.

Grab.

“?!”

“By the way, this is the ‘heel hook’ from Jiu-Jitsu. A technique that twists and destroys the lower joint.”

I couldn’t move.

If I did, it was obvious my foot would end up facing my head.

I gritted my teeth and raised my head to look at her.

Standing over my blood-soaked body, she smiled leisurely and spoke brightly, like an athlete who had just worked up a sweat.

“Janghoon, let’s just give up now. Take my hand.”

“Avan…ka…!”

“I promise. Except for Zero, I won’t touch anyone around you. After all, human beings are so interesting, aren’t they? After imitating them for thousands of years, I’ve found this human game quite addictive.”

Her words were sweet.

I never realized how perfectly the phrase “sugar-coated” could fit.

Her eyes narrowed. And smiling, she whispered.

“There might be just one way for you to win.”

“…!”

Complete monster transformation.

That was the only key to escape this situation.

But if I revealed my identity at that moment, everything about who I am and what kind of being I am would be exposed to the world.

“I don’t mind, really. I’m humanity’s monster. I can just take off the ‘Avanka’ mask for a while, hide for 2-3 years, and reappear under a different name. But Janghoon, you don’t have that talent, do you?”

“I…”

“Besides, you want to transform into a monster now? If I break your ankle, could you face a special-grade monster like me in a crippled state?”

The overwhelming advantage.

And finally, from her lips came…

“So just follow my instructions.”

Slowly, her hand descended over mine.

“Form an eternal alliance with Congresswoman Avanka.”

As if everything was coming to an end.

“Come on…!”

“SHUT UUUUP!!”

Thwack!!

“Kyaa?!”

Suddenly, something pink, cute, and chubby shot between us.

“What the—?!”

A headbutt.

A direct hit aimed right at the center of Avanka’s forehead.

What emerged from the shadows was Silchong.

With a tear-streaked face, she blocked Avanka’s technique and stood in front of me.

Taking advantage of the opening, I barely moved my freed leg and leaned against her.

“Master Janghoon!”

“Silchong…”

Without a moment’s hesitation, she carried me on her back and began to run.

In that moment, the pain covering my body and the confusion piercing my mind were all forgotten.

Only Silchong’s small, warm back was keeping me alive.