Lee Han-yeong placed her hand on my chest, and the trembling stopped.
At that mont, from the highest vantage point, the monster that had been staring down at swelled with wariness and sent ripples through the surroundings.
At its nacing warning, I imdiately underwent monsterization again and placed Lee Han-yeong beneath my body.
“You’re... a good kitty... huh, huhu...”
Whether she had realized it was an act of protection, she let out a pained voice.
A dying human—sothing already no different from a corpse—what need could there possibly be to protect such a thing?
This is my prey. Saliva dripped from my mouth at the hunger that flared from the monster’s instincts.
And yet, a resistance powerful enough to ignore the emptiness, to overco the monster’s primal urges, held my will firmly in place.
“Can you... win...?”
At Lee Han-yeong’s barely-moving lips and faltering words, I turned my gaze toward the massive wolf.
A dominating force—now that we had both exposed our strength through monsterization—my instincts stirred restlessly.
That thing, as it is now, is stronger than I am.
By a small margin, yes, but for monsters, even that is a fatal difference. I cannot win against that thing in a fight.
[Stronger than .]
“Then... that’s bad... people... a lot of them... will get hurt...”
An esper lacking in combat capabilities. A mber of the rescue unit.
From the way she handled monster corpse disposal, I had seen that Lee Han-yeong was a good person.
She hated people getting hurt, wanted to give hope by saving even just one more life, and used her ability beyond necessity, ticulously searching the deepest corners of the underground.
Even if all that remained was a corpse, she would give her all just to find it—for the sake of the person who would want it found.
“You’re... a monster... aren’t you...”
When I gave a small nod, the wolves mistook it as a sign of attack, their fur bristling.
The knowledge of monsters forcibly implanted into —the information the drugged researchers around used to murmur—replayed itself within my mory.
The monster wolves, Vargr, aberrant creatures modeled after Fenrir, the beast that devours all with a single massive jaw.
If these things ever reach the level of an Extinction-Class, they would truly beco monsters worthy of the na Fenrir.
Abilities capable of swallowing the sun, capable of swallowing everything.
“Please... fight...”
[No.]
As if unable to stand watching such a monster hurt people, Lee Han-yeong stretched out her hand toward my front paw.
Pleadingly, like a desperate request—I rejected it.
[That thing is stronger than I am.]
I don’t want to die.
In that alone, the monster’s instinct surpassed my will.
When there is no way to win, then running is the correct answer. Surviving is victory. The one who remains alive is the victor—that is the path to becoming strong.
[I still want to eat lots of delicious things.]
“Ah... haha... really... ah...”
When I gave my reason for not wanting to die, Lee Han-yeong burst into a laugh with her pale face.
Still mumbling that I was drooling even now, she gently closed her eyes.
Powerlessly, and then, her voice ca out—no different from how she usually spoke.
“Even if you eat ... you still won’t win...?”
I could not answer Lee Han-yeong’s question.
Driven by the monster’s instinct, my hunger had already reached its limit, and even now, saliva continued to drip from my mouth.
If I were to eat Lee Han-yeong, then one of those wolves, maybe... but there are still two more after that.
The mont I thought that, I felt it—a powerful pulse erupting from an esper far in the distance.
A threatening surge, monstrous in its own right—a signal directed at the monsters, revealing their position.
A declaration: If you don’t co to , I will co to you and fight.
The hunt interrupted, the massive wolf Vargr growled in displeasure and jerked its snout toward the two wolves.
As if to say that even without them, it could handle soone like with ease.
Even so, it continued scanning the surroundings, wary of whether any additional Heroes might interfere.
To Vargr, I was nothing more than prey—not even worth being cautious of.
And Vargr’s judgnt was correct.
As I am now, I still cannot defeat Vargr.
However, if Vargr were left alone—
[I can win.]
If I eat Lee Han-yeong, I will win.
When I stated that fact without emotion, Lee Han-yeong smiled brightly.
“Please... eat .”
I—
—I don’t like it when people die.
“Eat ... and win...”
And more than that—
—breaking the final request of a dying human—
“Help people.”
—is difficult.
[...Visualize it.]
I opened my mouth toward Lee Han-yeong and surrendered my resistance to instinct.
The lab that had kidnapped , the researchers of the experintal facility, their words as they fed other experintal subjects with human at.
Research conducted to deliberately create powerful monsters.
[To kill that monster, think of the strongest thing you can imagine. Leave ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) it behind as a curse.]
All monsters grow stronger when they eat humans.
Not just the body, but the knowledge—that person’s thoughts—they devour.
Not just images of despair, but visions of powerful beings...
They eat the mind.
[I eat your mind—your thoughts—and grow stronger.]
Upon hearing my explanation, Lee Han-yeong slowly brought her hands together.
“A curse... that’s...”
As though in prayer, her palms pressed together, and the scent intensified.
“You’re saying... you’ll eat my wish and win for ... right?”
A scent that strongly stirs my hunger—the mind of a human.
“It’s a wish.”
I opened my mouth toward her, and we shared our final conversation.
“I have... one request. After the fight... please eat... the rest of my hands...”
There’s no need to eat an entire human in order to obtain psychic powers.
Just because a monster eats an esper doesn’t an they inherit their abilities, and the origin of such power lies not in the hands, but the mind.
However... Lee Han-yeong’s ability had always activated through her hands.
Perhaps, this was her way of saying she wanted to accept the entirety of her power.
That determination, spoken as she gripped her hands tightly—I couldn’t easily refuse it.
[I promise.]
“Ahh... I really wanted... dumplings...”
[Let’s go eat. After I eat you first.]
This weekend. Together.
That is a promise.
At my answer, Lee Han-yeong smiled wide.
And then I—
—I tore off Lee Han-yeong’s head.
Crunch. Crunch.
That texture—the intense explosion of flavor across the monster’s tongue.
A crunchy texture, a sweet richness—a deep flavor like chocolate cream bursting open.
Ah... so this is what a human tastes like to a monster.
And then, thoughts burst open in my mouth.
The address of the dumpling place she wanted to visit. The shock she felt the first ti she saw . The thought she had the mont the monster transford into .
The terrifying image of the monster overlaid with my human form—her thoughts consud with worry for the Heroes.
That they wouldn’t die. That they wouldn’t be hurt.
The tender, precious heart of a human was being worn down.
The monster’s ability, which deconstructs everything, shredded Lee Han-yeong’s thoughts.
The strongest image within her, the thod of growing stronger, torn apart by the instinct of the monster.
The direction of evolution, the destination, the strongest monster, the most feared being, the monster that even monsters... consider the most powerful... the esper.
Yu Anna.
An endlessly burning storm of light.
To Lee Han-yeong, the strongest—her idea of the most powerful living being—was Yu Anna.
An infinite blaze of wild fla, light blazing with heat.
To fight against a monster attempting to beco the wolf that swallows the sun—
She offered the image of the sun, more radiant than anything else.
What ca to mind was fire, a storm of flas that would burn everything.
An infinite phoenix that scorches even death, an undying bird of fire.
That form took shape within my body.
“Ghh... OOOOOHHHHHHHH!!”
The monster core consud human thought and expanded rapidly.
Power spread through my body—the omnipotence it delivered, the ecstasy, the urge to destroy.
And all of it now aid toward the monster before —Vargr.
Having beco the bird of fire, I rode the rising air currents and lifted into the sky, looking down upon Vargr.
The beast was panicking as it looked up at .
It too understood that everything had changed from just a mont ago.
A monster’s instincts, faced with a stronger being, forced it to recoil.
[Vargr... you don’t understand.]
Vargr began to flee, and I instantly spread my wings and gave chase.
Trying desperately to hinder my pursuit, Vargr darted between the forest of buildings.
A body of fla would lt the buildings with even the slightest touch, and that, however little, would work in Vargr’s favor by slowing my movents.
[A monster experiences its most dramatic evolution the first ti it eats a human.]
But I passed through the buildings.
A power that freely moved between the boundaries of the tangible and intangible—a psychic ability that transford all contact with the body into fluid form.
Lee Han-yeong’s power—Fluid Swimming.
[That’s common sense for humans. And... this is common sense for monsters.]
Did Lee Han-yeong... sohow already know what kind of ability I, as a monster, possessed?
Of course not—it was simply an incredible coincidence.
Ability ingestion—an aberrant being that digests endlessly.
That was . The one hundred and eleventh experintal subject. CXI.
[The weak are devoured by the strong.]
“GRRRROOOOOHHH!! KYAAAAAOOOOHHHH!!”
It didn’t take long before Vargr, caught by my burning claws, bit into my body in resistance.
I didn’t dodge. I offered my body willingly.
It hurt considerably—had all three of them attacked at once, even I would’ve struggled—but this was only one.
The flas that scorched my wounds regenerated my body faster than the injuries could accumulate.
[Go on—try to swallow again.]
Vargr, the wolf monster trying to beco Fenrir, the wolf that swallows the sun.
But it had not beco Fenrir yet.
I could feel it.
The despair of a monster that failed to consu the sun.
[In that case... it’s my turn.]
Vargr, as it was now, was no longer my enemy—it was prey.
I opened my mouth toward Vargr.
And honestly, I had been curious.
What does a Despair-Class monster taste like?
****
“What the hell... is that?!”
“Sothing’s happening to Code Alpha! Its form is... ev-evolving? We don’t know! It hasn’t reached Extinction-Class!”
As Yu Anna and the other Heroes subdued the two Disaster-Class wolves, they exchanged urgent communications, unable to take their eyes off the scene before them.
The monsters observed in the area had certainly been identified as the Despair-Class beings previously tagged as Code Alpha and Code Zero.
Zero—whose head resembled a wolf. Alpha—whose body was that of a feline predator.
But now, suddenly, a burning giant bird had soared into the sky.
The creature previously assud to be Code Zero, seen commanding the two Disaster-Class monsters, was now being overwheld and torn apart by the newly evolved Alpha.
It couldn’t even be called a battle—this was a one-sided hunt.
The flaming bird devoured even the wolf’s powers as it resisted, eating them as it tore the beast apart—and once it reached the core, the wolf stopped moving altogether.
It was closer to feeding than to fighting, and it happened in full view atop the buildings for everyone to witness.
So far, the damage amounted to about ten buildings total—shockingly small, given that two Despair-Class monsters had clashed.
Atop the building, the bird that had bitten into the wolf’s heart transford into a tiger before everyone’s eyes.
The form of a flaming tiger leapt from the building and ca crashing down, and Yu Anna rushed forward without hesitation.
“Handle the two Disaster-Class ones! I’ll take care of the remaining Despair-Class!”
The two Disaster-Class monsters were already in tatters. The other Heroes would be more than enough to secure the area and clean up what was left.
As Yu Anna gazed at the falling Despair-Class monster, burning like a cot, her mind cleared.
“As I thought, it’s Formless-Type!”
If that’s the case, then maybe the previously observed Code 0 and Code Alpha had always been a single entity—and this new wolf monster might be an entirely new species.
A Formless-Type monster operating independently—Code Zero—a tricky opponent... but now surrounded by Heroes and cornered, it had to be dealt with here.
And yet, as Yu Anna flew toward the monster, a deepening sense of unease continued to stir within her.
The remaining Despair-Class—having defeated what should have been a worthy enemy—should be rampaging to feed by now... and yet, the city was too untouched.
A Despair-Class monster had erged, and yet it moved through the city like a cat on a casual stroll, lightly stepping along fences.
The mont flashed in Yu Anna’s mind—when Code Alpha had leapt in the way of her attack.
Shielding soone. Throwing its body forward to protect.
The Black Cat. A monster that protects people.
Could such a thing really exist?
It shouldn’t—but if, just maybe, such a thing did exist—
That fleeting doubt was shattered by the monster in the very next mont.
“Crunch... crunch... crunch...”
The monster, having landed, was eating a human.
The body of a woman—already missing her lower half and decapitated, leaving only her torso.
The clothing she wore—Rescue Unit. An esper.
With superhuman vision, Yu Anna could read the na tag: Lee Han-yeong.
The face of the Hero she’d t before flashed across Yu Anna’s mind.
“You... bastard... you piece of SHIIIIIT!!”
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