Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 75: Reinforcements

D-City had been consistently reporting that everything was fine, with both the S-Class hero and the mayor personally backing those claims.

But now, as they forcibly pried open its insides, the rotting, festering truth was laid bare.

And among the many disturbing revelations, the most alarming was the recent monster alarm log.

“Six hundred forty-seven monster alerts across the entirety of D-City...?”

“With no alarms properly activated, and yet that many? That means there are monsters in every single area.”

Currently, the system was flashing warnings that monsters were appearing in every sector of D-City.

Yu Anna’s assertion that D-City might have already become a monster nest was gaining more weight.

At that moment, Cage manipulated the server and connected to D-City’s surveillance cameras.

[The government is going to raise hell over this... using the master code without authorization.]

“Handle it. You’ve done it before.”

Most of D-City’s surveillance cameras were either broken or filled with static.

Whether they were intentionally disconnected or simply destroyed was unclear — all that remained were glitchy, grainy screens.

Among them, only a handful of screens still displayed intact footage.

The ground was stained black with human blood, pressed into the white walls of the buildings.

Humans running somewhere suddenly burst open, and from their bodies, insect-like monsters burst forth.

[What the hell was that?]

“Were they infected?”

It was a horrifying sight.

Bugs tearing through human flesh — parasites that had evolved by consuming nutrients inside the human body.

The insect monsters buzzed, their flight sound now all too familiar, as they sped toward something.

The bugs chasing after a shadow all at once spat out acidic fluid.

A dark shadow darted through them, and with a series of grotesque sounds, the insects exploded in various places.

“...What?”

The speed was too fast to be caught by the camera.

But for the heroes of W-City, the attack pattern was unmistakable.

And then, on another screen — the relatively intact footage now showed countless insect monsters soaring through the air like fighter jets, the characteristic shockwaves of telekinesis rippling through the air.

The bugs plummeted, and the screen was soon engulfed by a storm, fire, and lightning.

From the perspective of the surveillance equipment, the end of a city was being recorded.

[Oh, God...! Oh, God...!]

[Save me, please save me!]

Humans who had been praying for salvation were torn apart by insects, incinerated by flames, and crushed under falling debris.

Buildings disintegrated under the vibration of a powerful core, and the static-riddled screen flickered before dying out.

One by one, the screens went black, until only a single dark mass remained on the screen.

[God....]

What appeared on the screen had no definite shape.

Or perhaps it had too many shapes to be defined as one.

Like the darkness of the ocean, it sprawled over the city, consuming everything.

Whenever it moved, the world in the footage crumpled and flattened as though the screen itself was made of thin paper.

It kept shifting forms without pause — one moment, it looked like a swarm of insects, then a dog’s silhouette, then a bird, then an amorphous mass of writhing tentacles.

And when it roared, its voice distorted through the surveillance camera into a barrage of discordant noise.

The incomprehensible cacophony echoed through the room like a declaration of death, a single instinctual scream that pierced through the minds of the psychics.

Death. That was all it desired.

The shockwaves from the dying humans, torn apart by the bugs emerging from within their bodies, stained the city with dark red smears.

It was hell.

A scene straight out of hell.

And the heroes could do nothing but stare in stunned silence.

“Is that... Blaccky?”

Countless monster forms, countless abilities — the attack pattern and characteristics were unmistakably Blaccky’s.

The adorable creature that had once napped lazily around W-City was now rampaging through D-City.

And it looked... as though it was enjoying itself.

Shredding through the city and its inhabitants as though playing a game.

“What... what the hell is going on?”

“How long has D-City been like this?”

“That’s definitely Blaccky, right? Isn’t it...?”

“...Judging by the way it moves, yeah. That’s Blaccky. Two, maybe three days at most.”

Amid the heroes’ shocked whispers, Yu Anna finally spoke up.

The last time they had connected with D-City, the S-Class hero Vector had shown her a real-time feed of D-City, assuring her that nothing was wrong.

The city had been pristine and white, children playing happily in the streets, civilians smiling and going about their day.

And now, in just one day, it had all turned to this.

Could it be...? This time, had Blaccky...?

“The parasites ate through his brain, so the part of him that wanted to protect people is gone...?”

“You idiot. If that were the case, he would’ve started rampaging in W-City first.”

“Maybe he didn’t get infected — maybe he went to D-City to exterminate the parasites.”

“That’s a pretty optimistic take.”

“It’s not optimistic... considering the state of D-City.”

Either way, the grainy footage from the surveillance cameras wasn’t enough to draw any conclusions.

As the heroes exchanged anxious glances, two S-Class heroes spoke almost in unison.

“We need backup. Now.”

[Backup, yes... or rather, investigators.]

The decision was made — S-Class psychics would be deployed to the collapsing city.

Their objective: assess the situation and suppress the monsters.

Rescuing survivors wasn’t even mentioned.

****

Thump...

Thump...

Each time the core pumped, the monster’s blood surged through his body.

Each time it pulsed, the overwhelming instinct for slaughter and destruction filled his mind.

Every object that shattered under his power brought a visceral thrill.

The exhilaration of a fun game.

The satisfaction of a delicious meal.

But D-City was small.

A tiny bowl, barely enough to hold a few cubes of kimchi.

The tilted bell tower, the dull clang of its bell, rang out like a broken, hollow sound in the midst of telekinetic waves.

[I won’t forgive you! I won’t forgive youuu! My city! My everything...!]

How many times had the sun risen and set since then?

The infected, who had been trying to stop me from consuming and killing, had finally realized that they couldn’t stop me in human form and had taken on a new form.

Now, it no longer looked human.

A singular entity composed of countless shiny, black-shelled insects.

A ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) mass of bugs that used human brains and hearts as its core components.

The swarm, which had evolved from parasites, flowed down like a liquid when it swung its arm, then surged back up like a tidal wave.

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

The form was revolting but not threatening.

A storm of bugs. A mass of the weak remains weak, even when gathered.

I pulled forth a bird’s form from my morphing body and unleashed a concussive wave, slicing through the bugs.

It tried desperately to counter my power, but my abilities, enhanced by the rotting flesh of infected corpses, were far superior.

Tens of thousands of bugs — enough to pose a threat to humans as an Extinction-Class swarm — were sliced apart with a single blade strike.

As I tore through the telekinetic wave, I sneered at it.

[In the end, you’re nothing but a poor imitation of an Extinction-Class monster.]

Not a human, not even a real monster.

Overwhelmed by the sheer difference in power, it let out a howl, releasing an emotion I knew all too well.

[Why... Why are you doing this?! Why are you ruining everything?!]

Desperation, curses, and resentment.

The emotions emanating from the monster’s body were disturbingly foreign.

[Why are you doing this to me? Why?! Have you still not realized?! A mere experimental subject like you doesn’t even comprehend the noble purpose!]

[Aren’t you just another experimental subject yourself?]

[I am a god! The Messiah that will save this world!]

[You idiot. A monster saving humanity? That’s a joke.]

The buzzing of countless insects and the discordant laughter of intertwined monster voices created a cacophony.

KIIIIII!

In the space distorted by the clash of telekinesis, I sneered at it as I tore open the air and unleashed my power.

The creature abandoned the air to withstand the lightning. It formed a carapace to resist the flames.

Then, how about ice this time?

The breath of a snow mountain — the insects that came into contact with my power instantly froze and fell, shattering.

Terrified by the fear of death, the swarm of insects connected to the core recoiled all at once.

And just like a human bursting open upon death, they all scattered.

[Hmm?]

From within, the core re-emerged, taking the form of a humanoid S-Class psychic.

Now, it was so overridden by monster flesh that it was hard to tell where the human ended and the monster began.

Its compound eyes gleamed as it powered up its psychic abilities.

Under the pressure of its overloaded powers, the parasites fell off its body in clusters, and the carapace began to crack and split apart.

It spread out its powerful telekinetic waves as if trying to prevent me from reaching the remaining insects.

“Grrrr...”

Did it realize that no matter what it tried against me, it wouldn’t work? Did it change tactics?

The mass of insects was a decoy — inside, it had been reinforcing the core.

And reinforcing the core was also a decoy — the real plan was to implant parasites into the swarm.

The core was stalling for time, intending to escape D-City and spread out to find a new nest.

“I will return...! This is a trial! God will be reborn!”

Not a bad plan. No, a very good plan.

If it succeeded in setting up in another city, it could quietly bring about the same kind of collapse that had consumed D-City.

To think that a creature this enraged would choose to flee instead of fight...

[I underestimated the parasitic monster’s nature.]

For a brief moment, I considered how to handle the core and simultaneously eliminate the remaining insects.

Two abilities came to mind: Cage’s electromagnetic barrier and Electrice’s lightning bombardment.

Should I try imitating them? Forming a massive cage with electric fields, like a giant birdcage.

The instant I thought of it, the two abilities I imagined simultaneously descended over D-City.

“This... This is...?!”

BOOOOOOM!

From the sky, sharp, spike-like lightning bolts rained down like the spines of a chestnut burr, shooting down the fleeing insects.

Immediately afterward, a faint barrier spread across the entire city.

It looked weak enough for even a Disaster-Class monster to tear through, but for the feeble parasites, it was impassable.

Then, a massive projectile pierced through the barrier and softly landed on the ground.

KWAANG!

The giant projectile morphed into the shape of a suit of armor, and the pointed warhead became a lance that its owner gripped tightly.

“Arrived at the perfect timing... A hero-launch cannon? That’s some ridiculous tech they’ve come up with.”

“You know, you’re the only one who can withstand it.”

“Doesn’t matter. Just arriving at the same speed as you makes this project worthwhile.”

With a rumbling crash, a dark-skinned woman landed next to the armored knight holding the lance.

Two S-Class heroes from A-City.

“Well then, are we dealing with an Extinction-Class monster and Code Baal? Or just Code Baal alone?”

WOOOONG!

Cage clenched his fist, and the electromagnetic barrier that had been spread across the entire city rapidly compressed, shrinking down to the size of a single district.

In that instant, all the infected hiding within that district were herded toward the center by the barrier.

Seeing this, Number 3 began shedding its monster carapace rapidly and screamed at the heroes.

“The enemy! The enemy is Blaccky! Blaccky did this to D-City!”

“Please help us, Cage! Electrice!”

“Kill Blaccky! Please!”

“Save us!”

Number 3 and the infected, mimicking human behavior, ran toward Cage.

The shift in the situation sent a shiver through me, and my fur stood on end.

So that’s the play? Pretending to be victims and framing me as the cause?

Going up against not two, but three S-Class heroes... This might get difficult.

“Oh, Vector, you’re alive?”

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

“Electrice, please protect us...?!”

At that moment, Cage extended his hand toward Number 3, while Electrice pointed a single finger at the infected.

“Ugh...?!”

“AAAAAARGH!”

The two S-Class heroes unleashed their powers simultaneously — Cage’s barrier shrank, trapping the core in a confined space, while Electrice’s lightning bolts pierced through the infected.

Electrice incinerated a group of humans in an instant, blowing away the smoke rising from her fingertips as she muttered:

“Look at that. Almost convincing as real humans, huh?”

“It’s a good thing we came ourselves. If it had been someone like Starlight, they’d have hesitated to kill them.”

“Grrk... Agh, Aaaaargh!”

Cage shot a glance at Electrice and twisted his fist.

CRUNCH, CRUNCH!

The barrier tightened like a crushing vice, and the core within began losing its human shape.

The head squished, and the parasitic masses fell to the ground, splattering like oil in a hot pan.

“Go wild, Electrice.”

“Don’t order me around!”

“S-Save me! Save meeee!”

“You... you murderer!”

KWA-THOOM!

A streak of lightning surged, ripping through the infected, still clinging to their human forms.