Ch.112I Didn’t Do Anything

A place similar to where I am now, a special shelter for government officials located in each district in case of emergency.

Among them, the failures who were being kept sedated in a repurposed shelter that was no longer in use.

The Despair-rank monsters who had their human intelligence completely devoured and had fallen to become pure monsters were beginning to wake up.

Currently, there is only one S-rank superhuman in A City.

With just Baskerville and me, it’s impossible to handle five Despair-rank monsters plus Yeo Un-jae.

Even if all the superhumans in A City cooperated, they couldn’t win.

[Are you listening?]

At that moment, Gu Seo-ryong, who had forcibly extracted the cat through Sa Gu-gu from far away at the laboratory, spoke to me.

[I’m done here, could you open a door so I can come over there?]

I immediately responded to Gu Seo-ryong’s request by spreading wavelengths to couple abilities with Sa Gu-gu.

A passage connecting spaces was created through the linked abilities, and Gu Seo-ryong and Sa Gu-gu emerged from the passage.

“Something smells delicious?!”

“Yeo Un-jae is Monster E55, and A City is being used for disposal of failures who are useless because they don’t listen, along with the assassination of Cage who had been slowly approaching the laboratory, and destroying evidence amid the chaos.”

[Gu Seo-ryong.]

“Things are getting interesting, aren’t they?”

I made a demand to Gu Seo-ryong who appeared at the entrance of the underground shelter.

[We don’t have enough personnel to deal with the Despair-rank monsters. Help us.]

“Hmm, I knew you’d ask something like that.”

Gu Seo-ryong and Sa Gu-gu are monsters that rank among the upper echelons of Despair-rank.

With these two added, our forces against the laboratory’s monsters would be one S-rank and three Despair-rank monsters.

We’re still outnumbered, but the situation is much better.

“Are you asking me to die protecting humans as you wish? No matter how much I like you, did you think I’d agree to something like that?”

[There’s no time. Do as I say.]

“My, how forceful. Darling, that’s not how negotiations work. If you’re going to make such a hea~vy request of me, you should give me something of equal value in return.”

Typical of Gu Seo-ryong to set conditions at a time like this.

Tsk, clicking my tongue, I reluctantly made a promise, baring my teeth.

[I’ll let you rub my belly.]

“What? Are you serious? Do you think I’d risk my life for something like that?”

[Fine. I’ll let you pat my head too.]

“…Shouldn’t you at least offer to sleep with me? Hmm… no, is offering your belly and head actually a big deal for a cat? That might not be so bad…”

[Hurry up.]

“I’ll do it.”

Another boom, vibration sound made me hurry, and Gu Seo-ryong snapped her fingers and accepted the conditions.

“I suppose being a woman who risks her life to please the man she likes is quite admirable. But… just one more thing.”

[What is it?]

“This is a government special shelter, right? Those over there are pigs, correct? Give them to me.”

What Gu Seo-ryong is after is the city’s master code.

The human corpses are still warm.

If eaten quickly… it might be barely possible to consume their memories.

Thinking it would be better than letting the code disappear, I permitted Gu Seo-ryong to have her meal and spread my wings from my spine.

[Do as you please.]

“Great, huh? Gu-gu? Where did you go?”

“Um… Sa Gu-gu didn’t eat anything.”

Boom! Leaving Gu Seo-ryong and Sa Gu-gu behind, I kicked off the ground and soared into the moonlight, spreading my wavelengths.

The wavelengths spread in a circle, and at their edges, I could sense E55 flying far away.

Numerous magic bullets were chasing after E55, who was flying rapidly across the sky.

E55 twisted its body like a circus performer to avoid the magic bullets that followed in curves, then caught one between its wing joints with its fingers.

Crunch, the crumpled bullet rose to its thumb and bang! was fired.

Its target was the rooftop of the tallest building in the area.

“What the hell! Where did this monster suddenly come from…!”

Bang! Baskerville extended his hand shaped like a gun and performed the feat of blocking the bullet with another bullet.

E55 accelerated immediately afterward and rushed in front of Baskerville, extending its claws to snatch him like a bird of prey.

“Grooooar!”

With a thunderous sound, I charged at E55, aiming for its neck, and became entangled with it.

As we fell from the air, rotating, Baskerville’s magic bullets followed us.

“Where did this one come from too?!”

I took the magic bullets that traced sharp angles with my body, while E55 swung its wings to cut them down.

With that one exchange, I realized.

Baskerville is no match for either me or E55.

His ability is garbage against monsters, only slightly better than Meister.

His fighting style of hiding in one place and firing prepared magic bullets to track enemies, combined with the weakness of his main body that can’t even react to attacking monsters.

He might be able to handle hundreds or thousands of weak monsters alone, but he becomes endlessly weak against strong monsters.

Conversely, E55 is unusually specialized as a monster in fighting strong opponents rather than killing many humans or destroying buildings.

E55, which had folded its wings in mid-air and completely transformed into a bear-like form, placed its palm on my body.

“Haha!”

Boom, the shock wave that extended from E55’s hand spread in a large circle, then instantly condensed toward the center.

The pain was like having my skin peeled off, followed by the impact of being impaled by a massive stake.

For a moment, I felt tremendous pain as if I’d been hit by Starlight.

With all my internal organs ruptured, my vision rapidly blurred, and I fell to the ground from the impact.

Crash! Debris scattered around me as I hit the ground, bursting the bodies of soldiers and heroes who were fleeing.

“Eek! M-monster!”

“Run, run!”

“Grrrr….”

With an unpleasant feeling, I rose from the crushed corpses and shook my head, dripping saliva and blood from my mouth.

Despite rapid regeneration, the lingering pain numbed my entire body.

Is this Yeo Un-jae’s ability at his prime?

It’s several times more painful than anything I’ve experienced before.

“Isn’t it pathetic?”

Whoosh, E55 spread its wings again and landed silently in front of me, then completely folded them, assuming the same posture as Yeo Un-jae.

A deep voice scraped through monsterized vocal cords, flowing with mockery.

At the end of E55’s gaze were superhumans and soldiers fleeing from the monster.

“This is the true nature of superhumans. In reality, no one wants to risk their lives.”

“The m-monster…”

“It… can… talk?”

As he said, the superhumans are frozen in place, not even attacking properly for fear of provoking me or Yeo Un-jae.

Rather than fleeing, they’re completely paralyzed.

Drip, remnants of Yeo Un-jae’s memories, torn apart by the monster, leak from E55.

“Hehehe… that’s why I said it was wrong.”

The Superhuman Registration Law, superhuman supremacy, Cage’s ability that drastically reduces the danger of monsters.

All of these have mass-produced superhumans who prioritize protecting themselves over humans.

People who just want to wield the power given to them.

Half-wits who can’t do anything without Cage.

If they lived by the rule that the strong do as they please, they should be fine dying by that same rule.

“Don’t you agree that these trash don’t matter, even for a strange monster like you who hesitates to attack humans?”

Humans are food.

Monsters weaker than oneself are also food.

However, fights with monsters that are equal or stronger are avoided.

“Look, kitty! Do we need to fight? There are so many delicious humans scattered around here!”

[How pathetic, to be dominated by mere monster instincts.]

After I rejected the cooperation proposal based on monster instincts, E55 stomped its foot hard.

Boom! The shock wave that burrowed under the ground came crashing like a wave, flipping the earth.

Then, from behind the wall that blocked my view, E55 charged at me, breaking through the wall with both hands extended.

This monster completely masks its presence better than me, Gu Seo-ryong, or Sa Gu-gu.

A speed that doesn’t match its size, the wavelength of ability that sharply increases output only when needed.

I swung my claws to face E55 that approached right in front of me.

At that moment, the two hands stretched forward spread widely in a circle, deflecting my front paws to the side.

“Your technique is lacking.”

Then, the naturally folded elbow touched my neck, and a shock wave.

The sharp wing that sprouted from the arm like a blade followed the rotation of the wrist and cut my neck.

A high-frequency blade created by appropriately mixing rapidly rotating wind and shock abilities made an unpleasant sound as it touched my neck bone.

I immediately turned my body into shadow and passed through E55, then twisted my regenerated neck left and right, feeling an eerie sensation I’d never experienced before.

It’s properly attached.

I never expected there would be an opponent who could penetrate this body so easily.

This is… I can’t fight while worrying about the humans around me either.

Thump, thump… as the monster core beats louder with survival instinct, my vision gradually turns red.

[Get out of here now!]

I shouted at the superhumans who were of no help, spreading my entire body.

An exploratory battle to find the ability that works best against E55.

From various parts of my body, which had stretched like a black form fallen to the ground like a piece of meat, monster bodies emerged chaotically.

“What a truly strange monster!”

Telekinesis, freezing, ultrasonic waves, mind control, petrification, flames, lightning.

The shadow that engulfed E55’s surroundings, the storm of abilities that burst out from all directions at once, and E55 delicately slid the wind to create gaps.

Just before touching E55’s body, the abilities bent by shock control branched out in all directions and missed.

It quickly shook off petrification by shedding stone fragments, countered telekinesis with pure strength, and nodded its head against mind control.

Unlike Sa Gu-gu, E55 is not a specimen created for control.

Simple curiosity about how strong a monster would be if an experienced superhuman was used as material, treated as disposable like a bomb dropped on a city center.

Therefore, its mind was not worn down.

Is this the only ability that guarantees a proper hit?

Crack! With the sound of a huge ice sheet breaking, space was cut away.

An attack using intersection from a higher dimension, and E55’s arm fell off from the sharply split cross-section.

You react to this? I was momentarily surprised by how skillfully it avoided the slash fired through space manipulation.

“This is… th-this ability?”

E55’s presence became strange after avoiding the space manipulation slash.

Twitching eyes, human memories flowing back explosively.

As fragments of an unfamiliar woman’s appearance broke out, E55’s ability output increased explosively.

“You… what did you do to my daughter…!”

[…I didn’t do anything.]

“You, you monster, you, you, monster, monsterrr!”

Yeo Un-jae’s remaining humanity momentarily devoured the monster’s instincts and became enraged.

This ridiculous human, overcoming monster instincts to give more power?

Boom! A shock wave spread following the footstep on the ground.

The ground, flipped in a circle as if an earthquake had occurred, suddenly gathered around E55.

Boom! As the wavelength of ability shot up sharply around E55, E55’s hand appeared before my eyes.

Barely reacting, I ended up with half my brain blown away, followed by a kick that broke my waist.

I regenerated my brain as I flew far away.

In the meantime, E55 appeared before my eyes and swung its feathers, sharpened like knives, completely cutting off my waist.

“Groooar!”

“Kieeeeee!”

“Ooooooh!”

As I fell with only my upper body remaining, the monster alarm throughout the city grew louder, signaling that the fully awakened Despair-rank monsters had begun to move.

Neither Sa Gu-gu nor Gu Seo-ryong can help me.

This is.

Really dangerous.

#

Once, monsters that were despair itself became enemies that could be subjugated as superhumans gradually grew stronger.

Among them, A City controlled monsters with overwhelming power, even turning monster hunting into entertainment for citizens.

However, now all the heroes and humans in A City were purely despairing at the appearance of monsters.

“Despair-rank monsters, three more…?!”

“Why, why? How? Where from?!”

“Those things fighting over there definitely aren’t just Disaster-rank monsters!”

“Then the number of Despair-rank monsters in A City now is…”

In total, five.

And there was only one S-rank hero to face them: Baskerville.

“Who’s supposed to fight those things! We don’t have Electris or Cage!”

Cage was stabbed through the heart in front of everyone.

A shock that even an S-rank superhuman couldn’t survive.

No one knew why Yeo Un-jae had done such a thing, but now wasn’t the time to think about reasons.

Now was the time to decide what to do about the monsters that had appeared in A City.

“…Let’s abandon it.”

And before them, the opinion of the superhuman who spoke first was all too realistic.

“Let’s escape to another city! We can’t win! How are we supposed to catch five Despair-rank monsters!”

“Are you out of your mind? We’re heroes!”

“What’s a hero anyway! Why should we risk our lives for humans!”

“That’s… right, we can’t catch them anyway, and if we die, the citizens die too? Since they’re going to die anyway, while the monsters are eating the citizens…!”

They would escape.

With this many superhumans, they could survive if they went to the closed zone now.

“You crazy bastards! Have you forgotten the responsibility of superhumans?”

At that moment, Baskerville, who had come down to control the heroes, shouted in dismay.

However, the heroes who had already thought of ways to survive on their own didn’t stay quiet.

“That’s fucking something only Cage claimed! Superhumans are superior so we protect weak humans? I never liked that from the beginning! If we’re superior, why should we sacrifice ourselves!”

“Right, humans who couldn’t even awaken are failures anyway? It doesn’t matter if they die!”

“You, you guys… are you former villains? Which district are you from!”

“Shut up! Then who’s going to catch those monsters! You, Baskerville, are just a half-wit who can only catch up to Disaster-rank despite being S-rank!”

“Even if you buy time, there’s no Cage or Electris anymore!”

“Kuk…!”

An A-rank superhuman jumped out from among the heroes and completely disrespected the S-rank superhuman, but Baskerville couldn’t refute.

It was true.

Baskerville’s ability couldn’t catch Despair-rank monsters.

“This is a necessary sacrifice, we must survive.”

“What…?”

“Cage said it too, that one superhuman’s life is more important than a hundred citizens!”

“That’s because we can save that many people…!”

“So we can save people in other cities, right?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

The superhumans, completely divided into two, raised their voices, split between abandoning the city and fighting to the end.

Seeing them like this, soldiers pointed their trembling guns and shouted.

“Heroes running away, what bullshit!”

“What are we supposed to do if you run away!”

“My family, my family will die! Fight, fight!”

“What the fuck? Why should we fight because of you?”

“Don’t you know that heroes fleeing from monsters is a violation of military law!”

“Military law? Military what?! Look at this crazy bastard, do you think this is still the superhuman soldier era!”

“If you want to die so badly, go die yourselves!”

“Stop, stop it!”

Ratatang! Gunshots rang out, and bullets lodged in a superhuman’s body.

The lead bullets only caused slight wounds before falling off the body that had already transcended humanity.

The soldier who fired the gun did so not to kill, but to stop them.

However, the superhumans took it differently.

“Huh?”

“These bastards, are they challenging us now?”

“Cage is gone, so we don’t need to follow orders to minimize casualties anymore, right?”

Inferior humans still interfering with them and treating them like subordinates.

As the superhumans raised their abilities in anger, Baskerville urgently tried to stop them.

“Stop, halt! Both sides…!”

“Fight the monsters, people are dying even as we speak!”

“Why should we fight! Us!”

“You worm bastards, giving orders when you don’t even have the power to fight!”

“Let’s just leave them and go, we don’t have time to deal with them!”

Now they were divided into three groups.

Superhumans who wanted to kill the soldiers before leaving, those who wanted to just leave them, and those who wanted to fight the monsters and save as many citizens as possible.

“Don’t move, stop! Can’t you even hear Baskerville’s words!”

“Are you trusting that son of a bitch now?”

“Better to fight Baskerville alone than three Despair-ranks.”

“These bastards…!”

When soldiers pointed their guns at the superhumans who were trying to leave quietly, the situation escalated further.

They needed as many superhumans as possible to fight the monsters.

Recalling what Cage had said when accepting villains, Baskerville finally raised his magic bullets.

More heroes couldn’t be allowed to side with them.

If necessary, even if it meant killing them.

“Huh?”

“What’s… that?”

At that moment, in the heroes’ field of vision.

A comet drawing an arc across the night sky.

Whoosh! With the sound of flickering flames, the comet shot down toward the heroes, then stopped in mid-air.

“These… crazy bastards.”

Long hair burning with a reddish light close to white.

Yu Anna, who had put down a huge red-hot iron bullet from her hand, landed among the heroes.

“What the hell are you doing! Now!”