Ch.24The Modern World’s Deadliest Poison (2)

From Lajerita’s body, a new form emerged as if an insect shedding its skin.

It had deep green-blue hair and eyes marked with radiation symbols.

Its entire body was covered in something like repulsive waste fluid, a monster with a somewhat human-like appearance but with sharp teeth.

“Kyaa~. After all, nothing beats having your own body, right?”

“Mom… a monster came out of your body?”

“Yes, that’s right, Carmilla~. I’ve already completed my revival, so I have no more use for your mother’s body.”

The worst extreme toxin of modern times.

The radiation monster, which destroys all cellular concepts of living beings upon even the slightest exposure, had finally made its appearance.

“Kya, but really, it feels so good to be back in my original body~. Being trapped inside that weak human body was so suffocating, I felt like a total loser!”

After a full three years, the radiation monster had returned to its original form.

She was now smiling with delight as she looked down at Lajerita sprawled beneath her.

Meanwhile, though she appeared like a cold corpse…

…hoo.

…….hoo.

“…!”

Looking closely, her mother’s body was still trembling ever so slightly.

‘Mom is still alive…!’

Though precarious, her breathing could still be heard. After all, it had been a body hosting a monster.

Even a monster couldn’t parasitize a dead body, so in a way, it made sense that she was still alive.

But the problem was that her condition looked extremely critical.

What should be done now?

As Carmilla was desperately wavering in her heart, like someone clutching at straws…

“Carmilla, you just felt relieved thinking your mom is still alive, didn’t you?”

As if seeing through such innocent childish thoughts.

“Kahahaha! But what a shame~! Your mother is destined to die soon anyway?”

“…What?”

The radiation monster walked lightly up to Carmilla’s eyes and kindly explained while looking down at her.

“Just as you thought, when a monster possesses a human body, that human doesn’t die. But there are always ‘exceptions’ in this world~!”

“Ex… ceptions?”

Could things get any worse?

The real mother she had finally met.

The mother she thought was dead was miraculously alive, and now you’re saying you’ll kill her again?

“What’s my epithet? The. Monster. Of. Radiation!”

“!!”

“My very existence destroys cells, and you thought a human parasitized by such a monster wouldn’t suffer from ‘radiation exposure’?”

Just as a sword monster doesn’t break its sword.

The radiation monster, true to its name, had overwhelming immunity to the radiation it emitted.

So while possessing that human body, whether for 3 years, 5 years, or 10 years, the body could remain intact with immunity to radiation.

But now that it had left.

The human body that had been constantly exposed to radiation could no longer remain intact.

It meant she was already suffering from radiation poisoning.

Right now.

“Cough?!”

Just like Carmilla below her, who was unknowingly exposed to radiation as soon as the monster revealed its true form, and was gradually entering the stage of radiation sickness.

“Ah, it hurts…!”

“My, your blood is already turning black? Seeing bruises all over your body without even being hit, I guess all your platelets are already damaged?”

“M-mom… mommy…”

“Pfft! Kuk, kukkuk…! Hahahaha! Hey, Carmilla, are you really that stupid? After learning from me for three years, how can you still be this foolish?”

Eyes, nose, mouth.

Black blood began flowing from every orifice of her body.

As her body trembled and her vision blurred, Carmilla saw her blonde hair falling out.

‘My body… won’t move…’

She couldn’t even speak properly.

It felt like if she moved even slightly, she would crumble completely like a cookie.

This can’t be…

I just finally met my real mother…

Even the monster’s laughter, the one who did this to her family, was becoming hard to hear.

“Calling for your mom is pointless since both your mom and you are destined to die by my hand, you know?”

That’s right.

Mom and Dad were all killed by you, so why am I being murdered by you again without being able to do anything?

She was furiously angry.

So much so that she couldn’t tell if what was flowing down her eyes was blood or tears.

She wanted to bite her lip until the flesh tore, but she didn’t even have the strength for that.

Meanwhile.

Ring ring ring.

“Hm?”

The radiation monster, thoroughly enjoying its power, saw the Hero Association’s phone number urgently calling on the cellphone it had used during its human days, and answered with even greater pleasure.

“Hello~.”

“Ah, you finally answered! Ms. Lajerita.”

“Aha. Yes. It seems I couldn’t answer the phone due to some business.”

“…? Um, Ms. Lajerita. Your voice sounds a bit different, are you perhaps in an area with poor reception?”

You don’t even know who you’re talking to.

The thought of the Hero Association employee being so polite even to a monster almost made her laugh and reveal her identity.

But she had to be careful.

This would be the last contact with the Hero Association, so shouldn’t she enjoy it to the fullest?

“Yes, that’s right. Is it because of ‘the monster that just appeared’? I guess it’s causing poor reception~.”

“Ah, I see! Well, since you’re staying in City C where it’s currently located, I completely understand.”

What fools.

“Pft! Pfft… pfft pfft pfft!”

They don’t even realize that the monster they’re talking about is the very one on the other end of the phone.

“So what’s the Hero Association’s current plan? For an A-class hero like me to be contacted, this must be ‘quite a monster.'”

Mmm!

Quite a monster.

Yes, indeed.

Someone like me would be Level 1… no, by human standards, I’d be a Disaster Level Dragon.

As the radiation monster was aiming to be the first monster since the establishment of Hero City to be rated as Dragon level…

“That’s exactly right, Ms. Lajerita.”

“…!”

Even through the phone, she could vividly feel the humans’ emotions.

Fear.

Terror.

And the exclamations of those desperately chasing hope.

“This one… the one that appeared in City C is a very dangerous monster.”

Of course it’s dangerous!

Who do you think I am!

She smiled happily, imagining all the humans of this world who must be fearing her right now.

“Radiation, don’t be too arrogant. There are epithets in this world stronger than yours.”

Shut up, you damn Nuclear Bomb bitch.

She wanted to crush the head of that woman who always pretended to care for her in the “other world” where monsters lived.

That’s why she came to the human world, the hunting ground of dreams for all monsters.

If she could spread more fear of radiation here, someday she too could surpass the high-rank and become a top-tier monster…!

“For now, we’ve assessed its threat level as Level 1!”

“…Just that?”

A top-tier… monster?

“What do you mean ‘just’?! Ms. Lajerita, a Level 1 threat means it could destroy an entire district of Hero City!”

…No, you idiot.

If I spread radiation, it’s not just a district but your entire human ecosystem that would be finished.

And yet I’m just a Level 1 monster?

‘Damn… Level 1 means I’m on the same level as that Violence monster that appeared in City Y before?’

Well, that old man might be stronger than me in combat.

But being considered on the same level as that primitive monster who could barely speak made her feel inexplicably bad.

But then.

“Ms. Lajerita, anyway, please be careful. The monster is currently moving at an incredible speed.”

What nonsense is this?

“…What?”

“We were quite shocked too, but we’ve never seen a monster that didn’t break through the barrier but jumped over it!”

Jumped over… the barrier?

She couldn’t understand.

How could someone jump over the 50-meter high barrier at the edge of the district when she herself was right here?

“What are you talking about?”

“It means exactly what I said. The district where the monster is believed to have appeared is City E, known as the Education District…”

The appearance and characteristics captured on CCTV.

A horn mask painted crimson-black with black flesh fluttering like a cape.

Finally, it was said to have brilliant blonde hair and stood just over 2 meters tall.

And.

As soon as she heard this description, what came to the radiation monster’s mind was the final period of her three-year stint possessing a human.

Today at lunch.

That mixed-blood bastard who had inflicted upon her a humiliation she had never experienced before, something not even her sister had done.

CRACK!

“You, you…! Puhub?!”

“Hello? Ms. Lajerita? Ms. Lajeri…”

The radiation monster never finished pretending to be Lajerita on the phone.

Because the monster alert that she thought she had caused.

The true culprit of this incident who had punched the monster in the face, causing yellow nosebleed, while the entire Hero Association was in panic, thinking the emergency was due to her, the radiation monster.

“You…!!”

Enemies meet on a narrow bridge, as they say.

The monsterized Kang Janghoon, standing in front of the yard of the single-family home where radiation poisoning was already progressing, as if radiation meant nothing to him.

Crack.

Crack crack.

“Achoo! Achoo!”

Just a cough without a drop of blood.

He let out a massive roar that could shake the entire City C while making such “careless coughing sounds.”

“Grrrr…”

“Monster, mister…!”

“KRAAAAAAAAAAA!!”