Ch.23You… You’re a Monster, Aren’t You…?

# Absolute Chaos

It was complete pandemonium. Everyone watching was shocked by the desperate situation—the seemingly human-friendly special entity called Black Cat had turned hostile, and at this rate, S-rank hero Cage would die.

Among the viewers, Yu Anna sighed as she saw comments blaming her for not going to help. She spoke directly to the broadcasting camera:

“…The fact that the prison is still maintained means Cage hasn’t lost consciousness yet. I can’t break through that even if I attack it. It’s not that I won’t help—I can’t help.”

This only made the chat room explode with more comments:

[So you’re saying Cage’s death is certain! What will happen to A City?!]

[Why did you let Cage go to W City, you crazy bastards!]

[Won’t W City be in big trouble once Cage dies? Can Starlight really handle this?]

[Starlight, please, PLEASE save him!]

[Someone calm Black Cat down! Please!]

[Fuck, why did that guy enter alone after coming to W City instead of teaming up with Starlight?]

[Looks like we’re screwed? Can’t help but laugh ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Cage is truly insane, if you’re going to die, die alone instead of taking all of W City with you]

[Tell Cage to release the prison!]

Would anything change if the prison were released now?

If she had trapped Black Cat inside the prison with her from the beginning, they might have been able to capture it.

But Cage had already made a grave mistake, and it couldn’t be undone.

Yu Anna grabbed the camera and antenna from the two A-rank heroes.

“Both of you, leave this area.”

“What? But, but…”

“When Black Cat comes out soon, you’ll just be in the way, so go.”

“Ugh… Cage…”

The two heroes tearfully handed over the camera and antenna to Yu Anna.

She was about to end the broadcast when, seeing the chat room’s reaction, she set up the camera in a suitable spot and plugged in the antenna.

People were begging her not to turn it off—it seemed they needed time to accept reality rather than being left in anxious uncertainty.

As a hero, Yu Anna had a responsibility to reassure the citizens who were trembling with fear.

Stepping into the camera frame and stretching dramatically, she spoke calmly to those watching:

“Well, everyone… the fact that Black Cat hasn’t torn Cage apart yet is actually good news. It means it either knows it can’t pierce that armor with its teeth, or it won’t eat him until he passes out.”

[Fuck! How is that good news?! Are you joking?!]

[Is Starlight crazy? Is she happy her colleague is dying?]

[She’s saying she’ll survive because she’s an S-rank hero, right?]

She had genuinely meant to offer hope, but everyone seemed too agitated to understand her meaning.

Yu Anna added a more detailed explanation:

“Everyone’s too excited. What I meant about eating after passing out is that when the prison opens after Cage faints, I can jump in and attack Black Cat, you see?”

[Huh?]

[Huh?]

[Is Starlight saying she’s going to try to save Cage from that thing? Did I understand correctly?]

[Damn! Starlight! I believed in you!]

Yu Anna smiled bitterly at how quickly public opinion changed.

Well, people… they’re understandably sensitive when living under constant threat from monsters, but sometimes it gets exhausting.

Just then, her superhuman vision detected the prison’s special ability beginning to waver.

“It’s about to break. Well then, I’ll do my best.”

[Starlight! You can do it!]

[Starlight! Starlight!]

[Second Middle School Star Class Yu Anna, fighting!]

[Save Cage! Please!]

[Star Punch! Star Punch!]

Unable to keep watching the chat, Yu Anna threw her smartphone aside and took her stance, feeling the tension.

The flames rippling around her, Flare Drive at maximum power after defeating Mirage.

BOOM! The moment Cage was thrown to the ceiling and broke the prison with his shaking body, a human bullet named Yu Anna was fired.

“HAAAAAAAH!!”

With sufficient aiming time and her special ability unleashed at ultra-high speed in a confined space, Yu Anna shot forward, tearing through the dust storm in a circular pattern with her fist clenched and elbow raised.

Even her specially enhanced fist couldn’t withstand this impact force.

That’s why she led with her elbow, which glowed red like a missile warhead from the extreme acceleration and heat.

Just before the airborne Cage began to fall, the fox-like form rapidly approaching Yu Anna made contact and exploded.

“KYAANG?!”

Perhaps her aim was slightly off in the dust and shadows—BANG! Yu Anna, having blown off two of Black Cat’s front legs, slid across the ground covered in blood.

CRASH! Stopping herself with both feet in a position almost parallel to the ground, Yu Anna leaped forward again and caught Cage.

People watching through the video were so shocked by the unimaginable scene that no one typed in the chat.

[Starlight is fucking strong?]

After that first comment in the chat window Yu Anna couldn’t see, cheers erupted from beneath the ground she stood on.

The voices of citizens in the shelter made Yu Anna smile despite the gravity of the situation.

Her previous attack hadn’t killed Black Cat.

Instead, Black Cat had instantly regenerated its front legs and transformed back into the familiar black cat form.

Impressive regenerative ability befitting an amorphous being. Yu Anna clenched both fists and aimed at Black Cat.

“Well then… the real fight starts now, right?”

The city was completely evacuated, with all citizens properly sheltered.

With the help of A City’s S-rank hero Cage, the area was under complete control, and it seemed no one would blame Yu Anna even if she destroyed part of the city.

Monster Black Cat glared with murderous intent.

“So this is your true form?”

Looking closely, its eyes were different from the usual round, gentle gaze—now they were sharp like a predator’s.

Unlike its normally clean appearance, Black Cat was now drooling with exposed teeth, its eyes revealing unmistakable monstrous instincts.

The desire to bite, tear, and devour humans.

Seeing it like this confirmed that Black Cat was indeed a monster.

“Did you decide to stop hiding after being trapped and beaten once?”

While Black Cat’s appearance—black enough to be called a black cat and cute if you looked closely—hadn’t changed, its atmosphere and aura were completely different.

At this moment today, Black Cat must have clearly realized that humans were its enemy.

Monsters are enemies of humans, and humans are enemies of monsters, so they must fight.

Yu Anna had no intention of letting Black Cat go like this.

“GROOOOAR!”

Black Cat charged at Yu Anna, wrapping its entire body in flames.

The fire’s impact spread to Yu Anna’s surroundings, instantly melting the broadcasting antenna and camera.

Yu Anna immediately spread her two fists, joining her index and middle fingers, and pinky and ring fingers, concentrating her ability between the three separated fingers to fire high-temperature light bullets.

A ranged technique she developed while chasing Black Cat. Hit by the light bullets, Black Cat instantly turned its body into a black liquid-like substance and burrowed into the ground.

Shadow transformation. Yu Anna immediately fired photon bullets at the ground while stomping, and the flames spreading across the ground burned Black Cat.

Following this, Yu Anna, surrounded by high heat, half-dug into the ground to confront Black Cat, whose flame-transformed claws dug into Yu Anna’s body.

“What? This is more lukewarm than I expected!”

“KYAOOO!”

BOOM! The flame body dispersed in a circular pattern from the impact, and Black Cat, transformed into something like a giant gorilla, grabbed Yu Anna’s leg and swung her like a club.

Slammed toward the ground, Yu Anna curled her entire body to absorb the impact, then burst with energy in her captured leg.

BANG! Escaping from the shattered grip, Yu Anna’s kick aimed for Black Cat’s head.

Black Cat avoided it by transforming into a formless monster like mist, then immediately changed into a wolf and lunged at Yu Anna from behind.

A monster from memory, the Fenrir type’s characteristic was the power to annihilate whatever it bit.

The moment Yu Anna blocked Black Cat’s upper and lower jaws with both arms, their special abilities collided with sparks.

“Ugh… urgh…!”

“Grrrr… SHAARK!”

Their abilities were evenly matched, but in this standoff, Black Cat’s fangs began to melt from exposure to the extreme heat.

A matter of ability compatibility. Black Cat transformed into a giant snake monster and unleashed a petrification ability.

Yu Anna’s body temporarily stiffened, but she burned away the petrification with her own ability—the sun that burns everything.

Not missing that momentary gap, Black Cat swung its iron-pillar-like snake tail and knocked Yu Anna away.

“Ugh… BLACK CAAT!”

After crashing through about five buildings, Yu Anna stopped herself by clawing the ground with both hands, then charged again in a beast-like posture.

But for some reason, Black Cat was looking around with a blank expression.

The buildings in ruins, an S-rank hero lying unconscious—the wasteland Black Cat had created in an instant.

Just before delivering a fatal blow to the unresponsive Black Cat’s head, Yu Anna stopped her fist due to an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

“Ugh…!”

“KYAANG!”

A powerful strike that blew away half its face. Startled, Black Cat stepped back and shook its head, changing its form to something like slime.

Yu Anna was surprised that she had stopped her fist at the perfect opportunity to kill a Despair-rank monster, and shook her head to focus on the battle.

Clearing distractions, Black Cat’s new form was slime, weakness is the core, the core’s location is…

At that moment, Yu Anna realized something was strange.

“W-wait a minute?!”

Black Cat, now transformed into a gooey substance, was sinking into the ground.

Only then did Yu Anna recall how things usually went between her and Black Cat.

If the distance increased, Black Cat would escape and win—a contest Yu Anna had always lost.

“Wait! Stop! Really!”

When the panicked Yu Anna shouted, Black Cat, which had been sinking into the ground, stopped with just its eyes and ears peeking out, back in its usual black panther form.

Its eyes seemed to ask, “You fell, so I’m going to run away now, what’s wrong?”—different from the monster’s eyes Yu Anna had seen earlier.

The usual Black Cat, returned to its round-eyed appearance, blinked as if asking if she had something to say.

It was as if it had lost its reason and then regained it.

“You, are you not going to fight again? Are you trying to run away again?”

Black Cat blinked several times and nodded its head like a human, as if to say, “That’s the plan.”

Black Cat, a monster that avoids harming humans.

When Yu Anna took a step forward, it took a step back… seeing its reluctance to continue fighting, Yu Anna wondered if she should use all her strength to capture Black Cat now.

With Cage down, capturing Black Cat without the prison would require paying a great price in damage.

If Black Cat fully awakened its monster nature and tried to eat everyone, she would have to eliminate it regardless of the damage… but somehow, the current Black Cat didn’t seem like it would do such a thing.

It was a thought that might call her qualifications as a hero into question, but Yu Anna, who had received Black Cat’s help several times, wanted to make a slightly emotional choice.

Honestly, Yu Anna hoped that Black Cat was truly a monster that wouldn’t attack people.

“Haa… this is driving me crazy…”

Yu Anna withdrew her ability directed at Black Cat and looked around.

Unconscious Cage, the camera and antenna already melted and non-functional.

Even the body cam attached to her clothes, despite being specially made to withstand high temperatures, had melted like glass.

Nothing was recording the current situation.

That fact made Yu Anna a little impulsive.

“Why do you keep running away instead of fighting? Why don’t you attack people… no, you did attack, but why… why do you keep helping people who are attacked by monsters?”

After asking this strange question to a monster, Yu Anna waited for Black Cat’s answer, knowing it was a meaningless action.

Black Cat remained silent, seemingly unwilling to answer.

No, monsters can’t speak… belatedly recalling this obvious fact, Yu Anna changed her question.

“…You are… a monster, right?”