Chapter 75 : Human Pride (4)

The cockroach is the strongest creature on Earth.

It’s just that its small size prevented it from becoming the apex predator.

If all life forms on this planet were born the same size, the cockroach would have been the ruler of this world.

‘I need time… time to at least reattach my arm…!’

If nothing else, the cockroach was known for its unmatched vitality.

A monster born from the fear of such cockroaches had the ability to regenerate—any severed body part would automatically reattach if placed in its original position.

However, the cockroach monster could not regenerate this time.

The reason? It didn’t even have the chance to pick up its severed arm, as a relentless barrage of sharp slashes kept flying at it.

“Seriously…! I never imagined such a powerhouse would be around here.”

“You, say something! I’m actually the one starting the conversation for once, aren’t I?!”

The cockroach monster had fought numerous enemies using its gentlemanly demeanor.

It had a talent for manipulating the mood of battle, turning even the slightest conversational slip into an advantage.

But Zero was different.

A homunculus that only looked human.

A living machine.

She had no interest in unnecessary words during battle—her actions were simply the execution of pre-programmed instructions.

Slash.

“Urgh?!”

There was a limit to how much it could dodge.

More than that, it had let its guard down and suffered a devastating surprise attack.

Realizing that, in its current state—severely bleeding and missing an arm—it had no chance of defeating an S-Class hero, the cockroach monster hesitated.

It pondered what to do against this relentless, soulless foe that wouldn’t even give it a chance to gain an advantage.

“U-Uh, big sister, you can do it!”

“…!”

Among the refugees fleeing as Zero stormed into the shelter, there was a child—clearly an easy target.

“Shut up. Ptoo!”

The cockroach monster spat out one of its own teeth like a bullet, aiming to use the child as a distraction and throw Zero off balance.

But even that trick was useless against this “fake human.”

“No, stop!”

“M-Mom! Mom!!”

The projectile that was about to pierce the child’s heart was blocked by the sacrifice of the mother standing beside them.

If things had gone as planned, Zero should have instinctively moved to save them.

But she didn’t.

She remained completely unfazed, continuing to slice away at the cockroach’s flesh.

Slice.

“AAARGH?! Y-You! Are you really a hero?!”

“You let an innocent civilian get hurt! Just because you didn’t get distracted, a child’s mother is now lying on the ground, bleeding!”

The cockroach monster’s speed slowed as its leg tendons were severed.

It desperately tried to shake Zero’s heart with its words.

But to her—who had no heart in the first place—it was nothing more than background noise.

“This… This is what you call a hero?!”

“What kind of hero doesn’t even try to protect people?!”

Slash.

“Urgh?!”

Zero’s thrust struck true, piercing the cockroach monster’s solar plexus.

Like a wasp’s deadly stinger, the blow sliced through its bones and even grazed its heart.

Even for a creature with its legendary vitality, the attack was fatal.

“One refugee…”

“…!”

Zero finally spoke.

“And one million lives in this shelter.”

“You…”

“My calculations recommend not wasting time on ‘unnecessary things.’ So, I ignored it.”

“…Heh. That response… It doesn’t sound like something a ‘human’ would say.”

The strength drained from the cockroach monster’s lower body.

The sight was like that of evil bowing before justice—enough to make even the fleeing refugees pause.

Of course, reality was a bit different.

At this moment, without any chance of shedding its exoskeleton and escaping, the cockroach monster instinctively knew it had lost.

And just before it could utter its last words—right before this fake human could slice off its head—

“I apologize, ‘monster of humanity’!!”

“Monster… of humanity?”

“Thanks to you, I finally made it back here… but now I have to return already!!”

Screaming toward the ceiling of the shelter, the highest-ranking monster—who had accomplished in mere days what should have taken over a hundred years—

Mentioned ‘humans’ one last time before its head was severed and it collapsed to the ground.

“…Monsters like that should only exist in myths and legends recorded by humanity. Well, I had no intention of negotiating with a creature that had already taken lives, so I simply decided to kill it.”

“…Is it over?”

“We really won…?”

“It’s all over!”

And so, the nightmare that plagued City C—the cockroach monster—was finally exterminated.

As the sunlight streamed into the shelter, the only S-Class hero standing tall was Zero.

The refugees, who had once been running for their lives, finally realized that they had survived.

“O-Oh…”

“Ohhh…”

“Uwaaaaaah!!”

One by one, they embraced each other, tears of joy overflowing.

From all around, triumphant cheers erupted.

“Who the hell is that person?”

“No idea. I heard they’re ranked 15th in S-Class?”

“Then… are they acquainted with Carmilla?”

“By the way, I don’t see Carmilla anywhere. Could she have already been defeated?”

“I don’t know! More importantly, we survived, so let’s just be happy about that!”

Do humans get that happy when they escape death?

Zero blinked with empty eyes, unable to understand, as she looked around at the endless laughter surrounding her.

Then, what stood out the most…

“Mom! Mooooom!”

Among the joyous people, a child was clinging tightly to their already deceased mother.

It was the pitiful sight of a child who had suddenly become an orphan because Zero hadn’t saved them.

Zero’s eyes met the child’s for a moment.

In the child’s eyes, there seemed to be something even more ’empty’ than Zero, who was a fake human.

And then, as she saw the child embrace their mother again and scream…

Throb.

“…? What was that, just now?”

Had her tension eased so much that it put a strain on her heart?

Zero suddenly felt an unknown pain in her chest, something she had never learned about even in the test tube.

For a moment, she was dazed by this unfamiliar sensation.

Drdrdrdrdr…

“Huh?”

“…Huh?”

“!!”

A shadow began to rise again behind her.

At the same time, she sensed a presence and quickly turned around—there, a headless monster’s corpse stood up.

The cockroach monster was surrounded by an unknown black aura, and before long, without even shedding its shell, something emerged.

Crack… snap!

“An arm…”

“It grew back?”

This time, like a lizard—no, even a cockroach shouldn’t be able to regenerate like this—its body regenerated, even growing an entirely new head from where nothing was before.

“This is impossible. Even after reviewing all records of cockroach monsters appearing, there has never been a case where a lost body part was regenerated without molting.”

“Moreover, there was never a record of it being wrapped in such a sinister aura.”

“Ah… it’s not over yet…?”

“R-Run…!”

“Everyone, run!!”

Not yet!

As the shelter once again fell into chaos, the revived cockroach monster ignored Zero, who had returned to battle mode.

Instead—

“Huh?”

While everyone else was fleeing, one child still sat frozen in front of their dead mother.

The same child who had been ignored by the monster earlier when it realized Zero wasn’t an easy target.

Now, the monster was charging straight for the child.

Taat!

“It’s running toward the child?”

For some reason, the cockroach monster had become unusually silent.

Zero naturally saw this as an ‘opportunity.’

She didn’t know why the creature was targeting that human child.

But if that was the case, while it attacked the child, she could go behind it and kill it the same way.

That was the most ideal plan that her supercomputer-like brain had come up with.

“Mom! Mooooom!”

Throb.

Hurry up and take that child’s life.

That way, I can calmly take your life in return.

…Or so she had planned.

But somehow, Zero found herself ahead of the cockroach, standing in front of the child.

…

“…Huh?”

Even she didn’t understand why she had done it.

As if she had ‘glitched.’

Zero had no idea why she was doing such a ‘pointless thing.’

And in that moment, the monster’s attack was already coming down upon her.

She intended to deflect the blackened blade-like hand strike with her sword.

But—

Slash!

“…Huh?”

Just as ‘she’ had changed, so had ‘it.’

If her change was internal, then its change was external, granting it far more power than before.

As Zero looked down at her own abdomen, sliced open despite her attempt to block, she realized—

“Khak?!?”

Boom!

Before she could even collapse, she was grabbed by the hair and thrown toward the far end of the shelter wall.

Through the hole pierced in the wall, all she could see was the cockroach monster, now far surpassing any previously recorded version, stepping outside to finish her off.

The threat level was likely at least First Class.

Zero couldn’t understand why she had thrown away her earlier chance at victory.

Crunch!

“Ugh, AAAAAAAARGH!!”

Both her legs were crushed, rendering her nothing more than a ‘meat puppet’ that could no longer move.