Ch.75Reinforcements

# D City is now a Monster’s Nest

D City had been consistently reporting that everything was normal, with S-rank heroes and the mayor providing reassurances.

But the moment they forcibly opened it up, the rotting flesh inside was revealed.

Among the most disturbing findings was the recent alarm activation record.

“647 monster alerts throughout D City recently…?”

“If there are this many alerts despite no properly functioning alarm systems, doesn’t that mean monsters are everywhere?”

Currently, alerts were showing that monsters were appearing in every district of D City.

Just as Yu Anna’s claim that D City might have already become a monster’s nest was gaining credibility, Cage manipulated the server to connect to D City’s surveillance cameras.

[The government bastards will complain again… saying a hero used the master code without authorization.]

“Handle it however you want, like you always do.”

Most of D City’s surveillance cameras were broken.

Screens filled with noise, impossible to tell if they were deliberately cut or if the cameras were damaged.

Among them, only a handful of screens still maintained some form of image.

Black human blood caked on the floor and pristine white buildings.

Humans running somewhere suddenly burst open, and insect monsters emerged from their corpses.

[What was that just now?]

“Infected people?”

It was a horrific sight.

Insects tearing through human bodies—probably parasites that had evolved by feeding on nutrients inside humans.

The insect monsters flew toward somewhere, making the now-familiar buzzing sound.

Insects that had been chasing something collectively spat acidic liquid.

A black shadow quickly passed by, and bizarre sounds erupted from various places as things exploded.

“…Huh?”

The speed was too fast to be recognized by cameras.

But for the heroes of W City, that attack method was all too familiar.

On another screen, one of the few still functioning properly, countless insect monsters flew like fighter jets, and the distinctive ripples of telekinesis spread through the air.

Insects fell in droves, followed by storms, fire, and lightning that covered the screen.

The mechanical eye witnessed the end of a city.

[God! Oh God!]

[Save me, please save me!]

Humans who fell to their knees begging for salvation were torn apart by insects or burned to death by flames.

As buildings flew away from the vibrations of a powerful core, the noisy screens trembled and reached the end of their life.

As screens went dark one by one, something black revealed itself.

[Oh God…]

What appeared on the screen had no form.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say it had too many forms to be defined as any one thing.

Each time it moved, the world on the screen crumpled and unfolded repeatedly like thin paper, like the darkness of the sea consuming the city.

Constantly changing into countless monsters, it looked like an insect one moment, then briefly like the profile of a dog, then a bird, then an indescribable mass of tentacles.

And when its howling sound spread as noise through the surveillance cameras,

The cacophony transmitted even through the screen conveyed a single intention to the superhumans.

Death, a howl desiring only that.

Humans being torn apart by insects bursting from inside their bodies exploded, leaving dark red marks across the city.

The heroes fell silent at the hellish situation.

“Is that… Black Cat?”

Countless monster forms and abilities—judging by those characteristics, it had to be Black Cat.

The creature that had been cutely napping in W City was now rampaging in D City.

And seemingly enjoying it.

Playing while tearing apart the city and humans.

“W-what the hell is going on?”

“How long has D City been in this state?”

“That is Black Cat, right…?”

“…Judging by the joint movements, it’s definitely Black Cat. At most three days, no, two days ago.”

Yu Anna answered the questions raised by the heroes.

When she had contacted D City, the S-rank hero Vector had told her there were no problems and showed her the downtown area in real-time.

A pristine white city with children playing and citizens who looked happy, suggesting there had been almost no monster damage recently.

For it to become like this overnight…

Could it be that Black Cat this time…

“Maybe the parasites ate its brain, removing the part that wanted to protect humans…”

“Don’t be stupid. If that were the case, it would have gone berserk in W City first.”

“Maybe it wasn’t infected but went to D City to exterminate the parasites?”

“That’s too optimistic.”

“Not really optimistic, considering D City’s situation.”

Either way, there was too little they could determine from the blurry surveillance cameras.

Amid the anxious heroes, two S-rank heroes spoke different yet similar words.

“We need to send support now.”

[Support will be necessary, no… investigators.]

The deployment of S-rank superhumans to the already doomed city was decided.

The objective: assess the situation and suppress the monsters.

Rescuing survivors was not part of the mission.

#

Thump…

Thump…

With each pump of the heart—no, the core—monster blood fills the entire body.

The instinct for slaughter and destruction filling the mind, the thrill of everything being destroyed by special abilities is exhilarating.

The excitement of playing a fun game, the satisfaction of enjoying delicious food.

But D City is small.

Like cubed radish kimchi sparsely filling a tiny bowl.

The leaning bell tower, the bell shaken by telekinetic waves makes a dull, broken sound.

[Unforgivable, unforgivaaable! My city, my everything…!]

How many times had the sun risen and the moon appeared?

The one who tried to stop me from killing and devouring the infected finally realized it couldn’t stop me in human form and transformed into its current state.

It no longer appeared human.

A single form made up of clustered insects with black, glossy exoskeletons.

A mass of insects using human brains and hearts as core components.

The insects evolved from parasites flowed down and rose again as if it were swinging its arms.

[What will you do if you can’t forgive me?]

Its form was disgusting but not threatening.

A storm of insects—weaklings gathered together are still weak.

From my constantly shifting body, I momentarily took the form of a bird and fired a vibration wave that cut through the air, sweeping away the insects.

It tried desperately to block my ability, but my output was superior after consuming the infected, that rotten meat.

The insect swarm, which would have been a Despair-rank threat against humans, died too easily against a single blade.

Having torn apart its telekinesis, I mocked it:

[In the end, even your monster form merely imitates a Despair-rank monster.]

Neither human nor a proper monster.

At this overwhelming difference, it howled and released a familiar emotion.

[Why… whyyy! Why, why are you ruining the plan!]

Despair, cursing, resentment.

Emotions too unfamiliar to be coming from a monster’s body.

[Why are you doing this to me, why! Haven’t you realized yet! The noble cause that an experiment like you couldn’t understand!]

[Aren’t you an experiment too?]

[I am! A god! The messiah who will save this world!]

[How stupid, a monster could never save humanity.]

The sound of swarming insects and the laughter of various intertwined monsters created a cacophony.

Keeeeeng! Between the distorted void from the collision of telekinesis, I mocked it and tore through space to unleash my ability.

It abandoned the air to withstand lightning and created an exoskeleton to withstand fire.

Well then, shall I try ice this time?

The breath of a snowy mountain—insects touched by the ability froze and fell.

In fear of death, the insect swarm connected to the core collectively shrank back.

Then, they scattered all at once, like humans exploding to death.

[Hmm?]

What emerged was the S-rank superhuman host imitating human form again.

Its eyes glittered as it amplified its ability, now so replaced by monster parts that it was hard to find any human flesh.

Parasites fell in droves from the overloaded ability waves, and the exoskeleton skin cracked.

It seemed to be trying to prevent me from targeting the insects by spreading powerful telekinesis.

“Grrrr…”

Having judged it couldn’t win against me no matter what, it changed its strategy.

The insect mass was a deception; it had been strengthening the host inside.

And even strengthening the host was a deception; it had been implanting parasites in the insects.

The host was buying time, planning to leave D City and spread in all directions to find new nests.

“I will return…! This is a trial! God will be resurrected!”

Not bad—no, a very good decision.

If it succeeds in establishing itself in another city, it would secretly collapse a city just as it devoured D City.

I never expected such an angry creature to choose escape rather than fight.

[I underestimated the characteristics of parasite monsters.]

For a brief moment, I considered how to eliminate all the insects after dealing with the host in front of me.

What came to mind was Cage’s ability, the isolation chamber, and Electric Girl’s omnidirectional discharge.

Should I imitate them, forming a large cage of electricity?

The moment I thought this, the two abilities I had in mind covered D City.

“T-this is…?!”

Crash! Lightning bullets extended like spikes from the sky, shooting down the escaping insects.

Then a pale curtain covered the entire city.

The curtain looked fragile enough that even a Disaster-rank could tear through it, but the weak insects couldn’t penetrate it.

Immediately after, something like a giant bullet gently pierced through the curtain.

Bang! The giant bullet that landed on the ground transformed into armor and grabbed the spear-like tip.

“Seems like I arrived at just the right time… a hero-launching cannon, what an absurd invention.”

“Could anyone but you withstand that?”

“It doesn’t matter. Just the fact that my arrival speed is now similar to yours makes this invention valuable.”

With a thunderous sound, a brown-skinned woman landed and stretched her legs, alongside a knight creating a shield.

Two S-rank heroes from A City.

“Now then, is our opponent one Despair-rank and Code Baal, or… just one Code Baal?”

Woong! As Cage clenched his fist in front of me, the isolation field that had spread throughout the city rapidly compressed to about the size of a single district.

This forced the infected that had been hiding to be pushed toward the center by the isolation field.

Seeing this, Experiment No. 3 quickly shed its monster exoskeleton and shouted to the heroes:

“The enemy, the enemy is Black Cat! Black Cat turned D City into this!”

“Help us, Mr. Cage! Ms. Electris!”

“Please kill Black Cat!”

“Save us!”

Experiment No. 3 and the infected ran toward Cage, imitating humans.

Sensing the rapidly changing situation, I bristled with tension.

I didn’t expect this… facing three S-rank heroes would be… difficult.

“Oh, Vector, you’re alive?”

“H-he’s strong. The whole city ended up like this because…?!”

“Ms. Electris, please protect us…?!”

At that moment, Cage reached out and grabbed Experiment No. 3, while Electris pointed a single finger at the infected.

“Ugh…?!”

“Kyaaaah!”

The two heroes’ abilities trapped the host in a confined space, and lightning pierced through the infected.

After incinerating a group of humans in an instant, Electris blew away the smoke rising from her fingertips and said:

“Look at what they’re doing, they really seem human, don’t they?”

“Good thing we came in person. If it had been someone like Starlight, they might have hesitated to kill.”

“Ugh, ah, ah…aaaah!”

Cage nodded to Electris and twisted his fist.

Crunch, crunch, the isolation chamber narrowed like it was crushing its contents, causing the host to gradually lose its human form.

The crushed head and the mass of parasites at its feet bubbled up like boiling oil.

“Go wild, Electris.”

“Don’t order me around!”

“S-save me, save meee!”

“Y-you murderer!”

Crash! A streak of lightning began to sweep through the human-form infected.