Ch.61Subjugation Opposed

# “Operation Black Cat Elimination Failed. Too Bad. Good Work, Starlight.”

In the dark communications room, Cage set down his teacup calmly, speaking in a tone that didn’t sound disappointed at all.

“I think there would have been a good chance if Electris had followed the plan… but I somewhat expected this.”

“You expected it?”

“You and Electris have never gotten along. You don’t know how to handle her. And Electris is like a wild horse that runs wild without a proper leash…”

“Wild horse? More like a rabid dog.”

“I agree. I apologize first. I didn’t expect she would do something as absurd as taking citizens hostage.”

Cage bowed his head, a rare gesture from him.

“…If this gets out, Electris’s reputation will plummet in A City.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve kept the reporters at bay. Only the heroes in W City know about the Black Cat elimination attempt.”

“W City heroes have strong camaraderie, so I’m not worried about leaks. I appreciate your consideration. But that wasn’t necessary.”

“What?”

When Yu Anna voiced her displeasure and suspicion, Cage spoke leisurely while sipping his tea.

“I was planning to properly put Electris in her place… I’m tired of her irresponsible extreme superiority complex. And dealing with each of the fools gathering under her.”

“You, don’t tell me…”

“When she listens, there’s no better hero, but when she thinks someone is weaker than her, she runs wild as she pleases. Thanks to Black Cat, my standing has fallen quite a bit, and Electris has been climbing up. But I didn’t expect she’d give me such a powerful justification… Thanks to this, I can get rid of everyone gathering under Electris in one go.”

“You used W City for your political games?!”

“‘Political games’ sounds unpleasant. Wouldn’t you say I’ve simply reattached a handle to the blade that is Electris?”

Suddenly, something Cage had said flashed through Yu Anna’s mind.

Whether Black Cat died or not didn’t matter.

Perhaps that wasn’t just meant for Black Cat.

“From your expression, there seems to be a misunderstanding… I wanted Electris to return alive. It would have been better if she had eliminated Black Cat. However, as long as she didn’t die, I didn’t mind if she was defeated.”

“Ha, not that you didn’t mind—you were hoping she’d get beaten, weren’t you?”

“This is exactly what I wanted. I should thank Black Cat for sending her back with only recoverable injuries.”

“Do you even realize that because of you and Electris, civilians could have been hurt! The things that woman did to citizens…!”

“In the end, only one person was injured: Electris.”

It was true. The citizens only received electric shocks under the name of “education” from Electris, but none had lasting effects or injuries.

Even the shelter that Electris targeted was well-protected by Black Cat, and they didn’t even know they were targeted.

“Despite appearances, she’s a hero I keep in A City. She may be troublesome, but she doesn’t kill citizens recklessly.”

“She was dead serious, for sure.”

“She was desperate to break through Black Cat’s ability, wasn’t she?”

“No matter how desperate, does it make sense to point her ability at citizens?”

“If that’s a monster’s weakness, then yes.”

“What if the people in the shelter had died?!”

“How… you haven’t changed at all.”

Cage looked at Yu Anna with contemptuous eyes.

“Starlight… a single Despair-rank monster’s maximum casualties were about 300,000, with 20,000 deaths. That was before the hero system was properly established, but it could happen anytime without heroes. You learned this too. A shelter’s maximum capacity is 50 people. Would you hesitate to kill 50 people to save 2,000… no, let me use a recent example. If there’s a simple calculation that killing 50 people could save 500, would you hesitate and let everyone die?”

“There’s also the option of saving everyone.”

“Of course that would be best. But we’re people who minimize damage, not transcendent beings who can eliminate all damage.”

With a bitter expression, Yu Anna couldn’t refute Cage’s realistic argument.

“Has Black Cat made you too relaxed? Using a shelter as bait to kill a monster was one of the basic strategies, wasn’t it?”

“I still can’t accept such garbage strategies. That’s something you choose only in unavoidable situations when nothing else works.”

“What situation is more unavoidable than a growing Despair-rank monster?”

There was none.

It only seemed like a misguided method because W City’s Black Cat was such an unusual monster.

Cage sighed as if tired.

“…You’re still too idealistic. Grow up, Starlight. That’s why I don’t want to acknowledge you.”

“Who asked for your acknowledgment?”

“You didn’t ask, but I acknowledged you anyway, didn’t I? Then I’d like to see behavior worthy of that.”

Cage looked at Yu Anna with cold eyes.

“Don’t blame Electris. You’re W City’s S-rank hero, the top superhuman in that city. If Electris ran wild under you, that’s your fault.”

“Electris is an S-rank hero like me.”

“Even if you’re both S-rank, you’re not equals. Your sense of camaraderie and egalitarianism is the problem. Equality doesn’t exist in the monster era. There are only the strong and the weak. If you had properly put her in her place even once, Electris would have provided proper backup to eliminate Black Cat.”

“So you’re saying it’s my fault for not keeping that woman on a tight leash when she harmed citizens and even took them hostage?”

“Of course.”

“If I or Black Cat hadn’t stopped her, there would have been casualties.”

“That’s impossible. A superhuman I acknowledge as my equal couldn’t possibly fail to handle someone like Electris.”

Yu Anna clenched her fist, feeling like she wanted to punch him if he were in front of her, unsure if his words were praise or mockery.

“You and Electris are both filthy, disgusting bastards.”

“Thank you for the compliment. For citizens, superhumans must always be dirty. Nothing is as filthy as a superhuman with clean hands and body.”

“Would you shut up? I don’t want to talk anymore about being used in your political games.”

“Hehe… thank you for contributing to A City’s peace.”

Chuckling, Cage set down his empty teacup and said:

“Well then, shall we get to the main point?”

On screen, Cage’s expression changed to one of fatigue, as if switching masks.

“I sincerely wanted Black Cat eliminated as soon as possible. This incident proved that Black Cat can mimic other monsters’ characteristics. Moreover, it even imitated the structure of my ability… it’s growing stronger at a frightening pace every day. If we don’t cut off its head soon, Black Cat might become a monster that no one can capture.”

Having read the battle report, Cage appeared extremely tense, perhaps recalling when he was defeated by Black Cat.

Being able to freely use numerous abilities and characteristics means the possibility of becoming a monster against whom no attack works and whose every attack is lethal.

Moreover, the number of abilities is increasing day by day, and it’s even learning how to use abilities by stealing them from heroes.

Black Cat’s growth rate is several times faster than other Despair-rank monsters.

“Black Cat tried to kill Electris. This proves that the only hero it gives special treatment to is you, Starlight.”

Cage, who confronted Black Cat, nearly died, but Yu Anna wasn’t counterattacked even after delivering several fatal blows.

Electris… Yu Anna and W City heroes interpreted that Black Cat’s fury was triggered because Electris tried to attack citizens, but outside W City, this interpretation lacked credibility.

Rather than “a monster got angry because a hero tried to attack citizens,” there was a simpler answer:

Electris attacked, so Black Cat counterattacked.

Then why doesn’t Black Cat properly counterattack Yu Anna’s attacks?

“The destructive power of your ability is the highest among all S-ranks. For monsters, destructive power is the easiest measure of strength. The cause of its abnormal behavior is simply temporary submission to you as a stronger being.”

Black Cat is merely crouching until it becomes stronger than Yu Anna.

With its high intelligence, it probably thinks Yu Anna will endlessly pursue it if it harms even one human.

The moment it becomes confident it’s stronger than Yu Anna, the storm that is Black Cat will surely reveal its true nature.

It must be eliminated before then.

“So I was planning to deploy three S-rank heroes even if it was excessive…”

As repayment for Yu Anna saving him from Black Cat.

Cage was genuinely worried about the delay in eliminating Black Cat and was willing to use all means.

Emergency mobilization based on Electris’s defeat, treating W City’s Black Cat as near-Annihilation rank and designating it as a priority elimination target.

Just as Cage finished all preparations and made contact, Yu Anna expressed her refusal to support.

“Why did you send an opposing opinion?”

This communication was aimed at discussing that.

Yu Anna, who had been quietly closing her eyes, sighed and steeled her resolve.

After taking Electris to the treatment room, Yu Anna endlessly pondered the differences between Black Cat and Electris, and what she wanted from Black Cat.

The result was this:

“…I’m going to tame Black Cat.”

Yu Anna asserted what she had been denying until now.

More precisely, the possibility.

Cage, as if he had somewhat expected this, didn’t seem surprised at all and sighed:

“Sigh… Starlight, I understand. W City has only one S-rank hero—you. Heroes are always in short supply. Black Cat is an unusual monster. A monster that eats other monsters… you want to use Black Cat’s help… yes, I get it.”

Then, frowning, he glared at Yu Anna through the screen.

“But taming a monster? Are you insane?”

Of course such words would come.

Yu Anna made a bitter expression at the expected reaction.

“Has a superhuman with enough experience to reach S-rank mistaken Black Cat for something good just because it eats some monsters? Don’t be weak. If you waver, all of W City wavers. The moment you stop doubting and trust a monster, it’s not you who will be torn apart in the monster’s mouth, but the weak citizens.”

“I know. I’m saying this knowing all that.”

“Yes, of course you know, yet saying such things proves you’ve weakened. A superhuman must not weaken, Starlight.”

On screen, Cage, rippling like a mirage from overflowing ability, glared with murderous eyes.

“Have you forgotten how the delusional plan of weaponizing monsters, started by those incompetent pigs, ended?”

The long-running monster weaponization plan only left blood-soaked results proving humans cannot tame monsters.

Monsters that escaped due to carelessness caused fatal damage, and high-ranking officials who proudly believed monsters were safe eventually hid behind the heroes they had tried to trample, using them as shields.

Having anticipated these words, Yu Anna pulled out the materials she had prepared.

“Wait, could you look at this?”

Yu Anna sent Cage a video file.

Electris, with her electrical ability, always damaged hero cams, and she couldn’t remember the situation as she was unconscious.

The video showed Black Cat pouncing on Electris, then gradually retracting its bared teeth when Yu Anna intercepted and made a request.

Cage’s expression changed moment by moment as he watched the video that hadn’t been included in the report.

“If it had gone just a little deeper, Electris would have died.”

“Yet Black Cat didn’t kill her. Besides this, during the Mirage incident, and when catching the Disaster-rank monster…”

Yu Anna played another compiled video showing Black Cat giving her a monster core.

“This is… strange.”

“I don’t think Black Cat is pretending to be docile because it’s afraid of me.”

If Black Cat were hiding its true nature until it gathered strength, it would naturally try to swallow the cores.

But Black Cat willingly gives up monster cores it has hunted when Yu Anna demands them, and shows little interest in becoming stronger by giving up heroes.

As if ignoring the monster instinct to eat humans and grow stronger.

“Maybe… Black Cat really is a monster that can be tamed.”