Ch.60Teaching a Lesson

“What kind of mess is this report? Nothing in it is correct. You said there were no critical weaknesses? That it just runs away and there’s no way to catch it?”

Electris, who had seen Black Cat not running away, looked at Yu Anna with a contemptuous gaze.

“It does have weaknesses, it doesn’t run away, and we can just catch it like this and be done.”

“I told you clearly, the Black Cat hunt is suspended. Even if you keep charging in, I won’t help you.”

Yu Anna warned Electris, who was facing Black Cat and gradually building up her ability.

The hunt was already reluctant enough, but to suggest using Black Cat’s characteristics to take shelter citizens hostage as a strategy?

Electris herself had provided the justification to stop the Black Cat hunt.

Now, if anyone asked why Yu Anna didn’t cooperate in hunting Black Cat, she had an answer.

“You want me to just let it go? Are you really a monster lover?”

As Yu Anna took a step back, Electris smiled as if this was better, lifting concrete debris and rebar above her head.

Starlight was more hindrance than help—if she took down Black Cat now, Electris would be the strongest S-rank hero, not anyone else.

“Then I’ll catch it myself, so don’t interfere!”

“You’d be better off not attacking alone…”

Filled with anticipation, Electris unleashed a rain of metal just like before, and Black Cat opened a space again to swallow the building debris.

No matter how Despair-rank it might be, if it doesn’t move from its spot, it’s just a punching bag.

Any counterattack could be easily dodged with her reaction speed.

She would keep up the pressure and kill it.

“Huh?”

Just as she thought that, the space right in front of Electris tore open, and something shot out from the gap.

Rat-tat-tat! With a sound like a machine gun, the rebar that Black Cat had swallowed earlier poured out all at once.

In an instant, Electris transformed into lightning to escape, but she screamed in terror at the rebar that followed her.

“W-what?! Telekinesis?!”

Keeeng! The rebar, now moving even faster than when Electris had fired it, pierced through her.

A hit while in energy form—embedding metal in electricity shouldn’t cause damage.

That should have been the case.

“Guh?!”

Black Cat’s lightning, wrapped around the rebar, tore at Electris’s body like opposite electrodes attracting each other.

Rip, rip—as the pain of her skin being torn away broke Electris’s concentration, her body returned to its original form.

Beside her, the rain of metal that had already passed once struck Electris again.

Electris concentrated all her ability to create a defensive barrier.

She intended to use electromagnetic fields to deflect the rebar away.

But Black Cat interfered with the electromagnetic field using the same ability as Electris.

“Th-this! Aaaagh!”

Screech, screech—with a creaking sound, the rebar that had been deflecting away from Electris changed direction one by one.

Electris, with long rebar pieces piercing her hands and feet, screamed in agony.

Among S-rank heroes, Electris was the fastest superhuman but also the one with the weakest durability.

“What are you doing?! Backup!”

“I told you I wouldn’t help.”

Yu Anna had known this would happen from the moment Electris said she’d attack Black Cat alone.

Not running away meant it was ready to fight. A monster that usually flees choosing to fight meant it was either extremely angry or had already figured out how to deal with the situation.

There was a reason Yu Anna hadn’t been able to catch Black Cat until now.

“There’s no way the same tactics would keep working on Black Cat.”

Electris had already lost half her ability, effectively.

She could never catch Black Cat alone.

Still, an S-rank superhuman wouldn’t die from just that.

Yu Anna ignored Electris’s plea for help, thinking this might teach her a lesson.

More interesting was Black Cat’s fighting style.

Realizing it could control conductors with the Thunder Tiger’s ability, it was mimicking exactly how Electris used her ability.

Like a human, it was learning how to use abilities.

“Starlight! Are you trying to let an S-rank hero die?!”

“You’re the one who told me not to help.”

“Help! Help me!”

When Electris transformed into lightning again to escape, Black Cat, also transformed into lightning, blocked her path.

Rebar pieces circling rapidly like juggling pins created a massive magnetic prison, trapping Electris.

“An isolation chamber…?”

Electris and Yu Anna’s eyes widened.

This time it was mimicking Cage’s ability.

Power that far surpassed Electris, control over abilities.

An Electris-specific isolation chamber that bounced her back even when she tried to escape as lightning.

Inside it, torn space enveloped Electris.

“Aaaaargh!”

Inside the prison, Electris could do nothing.

Even with immunity to electrical abilities, this was too much—Yu Anna, thinking the match was decided, sighed and moved to stop Black Cat.

At that moment, the wounded Electris squeezed out her ability and stole one rebar from Black Cat.

A red-hot iron bar, a beam of light shooting out.

Thunk! Black Cat stopped the tip of the rebar burrowing into the ground with telekinesis and halted its attack.

“G-go stop it…! If you don’t, the people in the shelter will die!”

“That crazy bitch!”

A tug-of-war of abilities—Electris trying to drive the rebar deeper, Black Cat trying to pull it out.

With all her ability focused on one rebar, the electric isolation chamber was released, and the floating rebar pieces fell with a rumble.

The winner was decided in an instant.

Crunch! The crushed rebar moved like a snake, wrapping around Electris’s body.

Then other rebar pieces, charged with Black Cat’s electricity, wrapped around Electris, immobilizing her.

“Graaah!”

Immediately after, Black Cat swung Electris.

Crash! Electris, wrapped in rebar, was slammed into the ground, her body sparking as her mouth opened.

Then again—crash! Crash! Against the wall, the floor, the floor again.

“S-sa…save…Starlight…”

Electris, unable to transform into lightning due to the interference from the ability wrapped around the rebar, was one-sidedly beaten.

Crackle, crackle—the sparks that had been jumping gradually died down.

“Save meee…”

“Sigh…Black Cat.”

Electris’s body was completely crushed, even worse than during the Cage incident.

Starlight uncrossed her arms and stepped forward.

This should be enough of a lesson.

As much as she disliked Electris, she couldn’t let an S-rank hero die.

“That’s enough, let her go now.”

“Grrrr…”

Black Cat was a monster that understood words, sometimes giving up monster cores when asked, and prioritizing humans over other monsters.

Perhaps because she had seen such scenes many times before, Yu Anna tried to stop Black Cat with a light heart.

But Black Cat, as if mocking Yu Anna, bit into Electris’s body.

“Aaaaaaah…!”

“Wait…? Stop it!”

Crunch—the sound of ribs being crushed snapped Yu Anna to attention.

The brain and heart are the source of ability.

This was why Yu Anna had been hesitating, even while thinking she didn’t want to kill it.

Black Cat’s true nature, shown when facing Cage.

No one knew when Black Cat would stop its abnormal behavior and reveal its instincts.

Because Black Cat was a monster, after all.

Could the time bomb be exploding now? With anxiety making her heart pound, Yu Anna’s ability surged.

Crash! Her fist struck out, Black Cat disappeared, and Electris fell.

Seeing Black Cat’s eyes as it reappeared before her, Yu Anna urgently spoke, with the critically wounded Electris foaming blood at her feet.

“Y-you can’t kill her!”

Yu Anna felt a strange disconnect as she faced off against the growling, teeth-baring Black Cat.

Why am I stopping Black Cat?

In the situation just now, Electris had been no different from a monster.

“I understand you’re angry. She suddenly came and did this… I’m angry too, I didn’t know she would take citizens hostage.”

Still, this was a hero, no matter how terrible her actions.

As awful as she was, she was called a hero who had eliminated countless monsters in A City.

Her personality might be terrible, but she had saved far more people than she had failed to save.

A sword necessary for humans to protect themselves from monsters.

“I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again. No other hero will come to catch you when you’re just minding your own business. I’ll stop them.”

With Electris as a precedent, Yu Anna would now have a say in the matter.

So, heroes unnecessarily attacking Black Cat would…

Yu Anna felt increasing self-loathing as she spoke.

It was the heroes who suddenly came to hunt Black Cat after it had helped catch the Bad Cats.

Heroes who protect citizens must be protected.

But are heroes who take citizens hostage still heroes?

Is a monster that protects humans still a monster?

Black Cat must be eliminated at the first sign of wrongdoing, while Electris must be protected even when she does wrong.

Heroes are saved simply because they are heroes.

Monsters are killed simply because they are monsters.

The correct answer, which is wrong only for Black Cat.

“…Please, can we end this here?”

Still, Yu Anna had no choice but to protect Electris.

Partly hoping Black Cat wouldn’t harm humans, but also to protect Black Cat itself.

If an S-rank hero capable of facing a Despair-rank monster was killed, Black Cat’s threat level would be elevated.

The government would send more support to eliminate high-risk monsters before they became Annihilation-rank.

Black Cat would have to be killed before it became a dangerous monster.

For that not to happen, Yu Anna…

“Ugh…”

Yu Anna frowned as she increasingly felt the contradiction in her actions.

I don’t want to kill Black Cat, but I also don’t want to leave a monster that threatens citizens.

The hero Starlight suspects Black Cat to the end, but Yu Anna wants to trust it.

What do I really want to do?

It was at that moment, when Yu Anna unconsciously lowered her ability aimed at Black Cat.

[Why?]

The wind shook eerily and moaned low.

Wondering if she had misheard, Yu Anna was startled when the wind again mimicked a human voice, as if leaking from a dark cave.

[Is that also human?]

“Eh?”

A chilling sensation ran down Yu Anna’s spine.

The monster was speaking.

Not begging for its life, or announcing its presence, or mindlessly mimicking human speech like some monsters.

Black Cat had spoken.

“You… c-can talk…?”

“Ah, aaaah…! Aaaaaaah…!”

While Yu Anna was shocked and confused, she sensed something suspicious behind her.

Space manipulation—the already half-unconscious Electris’s arms were being crumpled.

Amid screams of pain, Yu Anna covered the distorting space with her own ability, burning away Black Cat’s power.

Stop it, please—many words circled in her mouth during the silence.

In the dust-covered ruins, Electris suffered and bled despite a superhuman’s regenerative abilities.

Yu Anna, forgetting even the shock that Black Cat had spoken, just hoped it would leave now.

Black Cat stared at Yu Anna silently, then gradually sank into the shadows.

Monster signal, lost.

Black Cat had fled.

#

Comminuted fractures in both arms, fractures in both legs, broken ribs, penetrating wounds and lacerations all over her body.

After the devastated Electris was hospitalized in the treatment room, people who heard she had been defeated by Black Cat quietly rejoiced.

[Is it true Electris got beaten? Why isn’t the news saying anything?]

[They barely cover Black Cat building cat towers anymore, so it’s possible]

[Electris is probably less than a cat tower to Black Cat anyway]

[I’m friends with a doctor at the treatment facility, and they say that bitch Electris now has different length fingers on each hand]

[I heard she’s got scars all over her body too—can’t show off her midriff fashion anymore, huh?]

[Apparently there’s some residual ability in the scars so they won’t disappear even with regeneration]

[Honestly, if you’re satisfied that Electris got what she deserved, hit like lol]

Citizens were busy laughing at the news of Electris’s defeat, as if they had expected it.

A monster had devastated a hero, yet instead of fear or sadness, there was joy.

Even heroes who would normally feel frustrated by such a reaction were quietly smiling.

“Why couldn’t Electris catch it when she said she definitely would if she followed the plan?”

“They say she ignored the plan and charged in.”

“Just like what Cage did.”

“I heard she didn’t just charge in mindlessly—she claimed to have found a strategy.”

“Hey, did you hear? That bitch’s strategy for catching Black Cat was to take shelter citizens hostage and threaten it.”

“What…? Wait, does that work? Would Black Cat take the hit instead of the shelter?”

“Even if it works, only a crazy person would do that.”

“Why is she treated as a hero and not a villain?”

The hostage situation at the shelter—classified information not released to the public.

The absurd story of a hero using citizens as hostages could cause public anxiety and should never be leaked.

A complete gag order had been issued for this reason, but only to prevent external leaks.

After this ridiculous situation spread within the W City hero team, the heroes developed hostility toward Electris and, inversely, increased affection for Black Cat.

“Black Cat is really something…protecting citizens from a deranged hero.”

“There would be an uproar if citizens found out about this.”

“It would be such a reliable ally if it weren’t a monster…”

“At this point, shouldn’t we just trust it even though it’s a monster?”

Meanwhile, Electris, rising from her seat, gritted her teeth as she overheard the heroes’ whispers.

“I didn’t lose. Starlight didn’t help me. She came along but didn’t provide backup, just watched. I asked for help, but Starlight ignored me…”

White scars on brown skin—Electris’s mouth never stopped as she did rehabilitation exercises holding parallel bars.

“W City is the worst. The heroes don’t even worry when an S-rank hero is injured, they just mock me. The citizens are all trash too, destined to become monster food if heroes disappear, yet they dare insult heroes…”

Wearing gloves to cover the wounds on her hands, Electris felt that nothing had gone right since coming to W City.

The large villain who attacked her, Black Cat, citizens, heroes, Starlight—all just irritations.

“You’ll regret it later, but it’ll be too late. Do you think it’s common for an S-rank hero to come as support? I told you we needed to catch that monster before it got stronger. If it grows and becomes Annihilation-rank, absolutely no support will come. Everyone will be left to die…”

Just then, a hero who saw Electris walking in the rehabilitation area from a distance quietly muttered:

“Meow.”

“Eek?!”

Her legs collapsed beneath her. Seeing Electris trembling with fear, heroes in the distance covered their mouths and laughed.

Recently, teasing Electris like this had become popular among W City heroes.

“She reacts like that just hearing a cat sound now.”

“Black Cat must have really taught her a lesson.”

“Ugh, uuugh…”

Electris sat down on the spot, twitching and falling into despair.

Her broken body not yet recovered, muscles not functioning properly.

She felt the floor beneath her growing wet.

With endless shame, Electris clenched her fists and cried.

Just then, Iron Might, passing by and seeing Electris, poured his drink on her.

“Huh…”

Splash—seeing the soaked Electris, the heroes who had been laughing in the corner looked at each other with serious expressions.

“Is he doing that because she kept making him fetch drinks in the operations room?”

“Wow, I didn’t know Iron Might was like that… he really holds a grudge.”

“I guess he’s not afraid even though she’s S-rank.”

Electris, cola dripping from her wet hair.

Iron Might, standing beside her, quietly watched her for a moment, then left without a word.