I couldn't understand what was happening right in front of me.
No matter how insane someone might be, I never thought—couldn't even imagine—that he would kill someone who called him Uncle, someone he himself had called his "masterpiece," without the slightest hesitation.
How broken does a human have to be to do something like that without any hesitation?
"Really now, I warned you so many times, but it still ended up like this. How unfortunate."
Unfortunate? A man who kills someone without the slightest hesitation calls it unfortunate?
Yes, No. 445 attacked me, and yes, I was angry about getting hurt, but I never intended to kill her.
Taking a life—killing someone—requires a certain resolve.
Yes, it's pathetic, but I still haven't found the resolve to kill anyone.
I only thought I should do my best to protect others.
But what the hell is this guy? What kind of brain structure does he have that lets him do something like that so casually?
"Hmm, it looks funny dangling like that. Ahaha! Doctor, really, I told you there was no need to suture it so firmly."
He playfully laughed while holding No. 445's tail in his hand, swinging it lightly.
Every time the still-attached legs, waist, and unbroken intestines swayed, I felt like a piece of my humanity was being chipped away.
What happened before my eyes was clearly reality, but it was so surreal that I couldn't even feel nauseous.
My mind just went completely blank.
"My, you look quite shocked. Are you surprised that I killed No. 445?"
I flinched when a pair of eyes focused directly on me, and I took a step back.
"You crazy bastard..."
Not long ago, I might have engaged in conversation, but now I didn't even want to respond.
A disgusting human. No, he couldn't even be called human—just some twisted something.
"You're not focusing on me at all. Are you perhaps worried about your friend outside?"
"What...?"
Wait a minute. That's right.
If this madman is here, then...
"Ah, don't worry about that. I've already finished over there."
For a moment, I almost lunged at him, but I managed to calm myself down and slowly examined him.
There was what looked like a cut mark on his left forearm and the smell of blood rising from it.
The blood smell was mixed with No. 445's and something else, making it hard to distinguish, but since I'd smelled it before, I could identify it quickly.
That foul, rotten stench like a summer sewer. Yes, that's what his blood smelled like.
He was trying to hide his arm by turning to one side, but he couldn't fool my eyes and nose.
He probably rushed over here after getting his arm cut while preventing No. 445's betrayal, or hiding something else.
That means Hyun is still safe.
Even if not completely safe, at least alive.
*I have to believe that.*
Since I can't rush to Hyun right now, all I can do is trust him.
So focus only on stopping this bastard. Don't think about anything else.
"Haha, I see you're not falling for it."
Feeling like I'd keep getting manipulated if I listened any longer, I quickly checked my physical condition.
The broken or cracked parts seemed to have healed, and my body had mostly returned to normal.
*I can do this.*
"—That's what your expression says."
When I looked at him after hearing his voice full of amusement, he raised his arm with a disgusting smile.
"Even S-Class Rank 1 Choi Hyun and A-Class Hero Ryu Hwa couldn't defeat me together. Do you think you, Yu Sia, have any chance against me? You, who has nothing but a somewhat sturdy body?"
"Shut up."
"Ahaha, how scary. In the past, you would have run away saying 'that's enough for today.' No matter how skilled or experienced you are, when you're completely outclassed, you can only lose. But what a shame."
As he spoke, his arm twisted grotesquely and absorbed—or swallowed?—No. 445's tail along with her lower body.
I'm not sure which.
*Crack, crunch...*
"Now I'm a class above you."
After saying that, he slammed the golden tail on the floor with a bang!
Simultaneously, the floor that had been broken and damaged in various places collapsed.
Damn it...! Even the floor he was standing on!?
As my body suddenly plunged downward, I desperately reached out for something to grab, but all I caught were falling chunks of rubble.
"Look at you, with wings but unable to handle something like this."
"Ugh!?"
In the brief moment I was distracted by the collapsing floor, he approached and grabbed my chin.
I instinctively grabbed his arm, but it was as hard as iron.
*It won't budge...!?*
"I told you, didn't I? My body underwent the same modifications as yours. Of course I won't be pushed back. And my strength...!"
"Ngh...!?"
"Is stronger than yours!"
His voice grew distant.
The wind was catching my entire body, but I was flying even faster than that.
*I can't control my body...!*
CRASH!!
"Urgh..."
My head felt like it was about to burst. My scalp was beyond tingling—it was burning. Strangely, that peculiar heat sensation was spreading.
That's when I realized. Ah, my skull is cracked. It's torn and bleeding.
I felt the blood throughout my body turning cold.
How far had I flown? Were my horns okay? They weren't broken again, were they?
"Urrgh..."
Grinding my teeth, I slowly got up. Fortunately... well, I'm not sure if "fortunate" is the right word, but apart from my torn scalp, there didn't seem to be any other issues.
"I'm okay... I can do this."
I touched my throbbing jaw and looked up to see him flying toward me.
I couldn't tell exactly how fast he was, but I could tell he was much faster than me.
The distance was shrinking rapidly every time I blinked, so I couldn't help but notice.
Wait, how far had I flown anyway?
I turned my head to look around.
"What's going on?" "Shouldn't we call an ambulance?" "Hey, she's looking this way." "She's actually cute in person. But kind of creepy."
"The light's green, why aren't you moving?!" *Honk—!!* "Wow, those wings are actually real." "She doesn't look that dangerous."
"Someone fell from above!" *Siren!!* "Isn't that Yu Sia?" "Excuse me, move aside!" *Siren—!!* "Should we run away...?"
People.
The sound of people wouldn't stop coming from all directions.
Car horns, camera shutters clicking. Music flowing from stores.
All kinds of sounds jumbled in my head.
"Why am I here?"
Just by being here, I was putting everyone's lives in danger.
The moment that thought hit me, my body moved reflexively.
I turned my head toward where he was flying from, spread my wings as wide as possible, and jumped up to collide head-on with him as he flew toward me.
"I was wondering if you'd just stand there and take it, or try to evacuate people. I didn't expect you to recklessly charge head-on. That's unexpected."
I was surprised too. I never thought I'd do something so reckless.
"But no matter how stupid you are, you can't ignore the difference in strength."
He said that while trying to push me down, but I flapped my wings hard to forcibly change our trajectory.
My goal was anywhere without people, so I gritted my teeth and pushed my wings to their limit.
"Your face is completely unprotected."
Of course it was, since I was gripping his waist tightly with both arms.
Sure enough, with a cracking sound, my vision flashed. He headbutted me.
"Kagh...!"
It sounds funny to say, but it hurt like hell since his entire body was armored like a suit of armor.
But I didn't let go. If I let go now, everything would be meaningless.
"You still won't let go...!!"
In the end, despite taking multiple blows to the face, I didn't release him and charged straight toward a nearby mountain.
Of course, it wasn't to slow us down, so we crashed into the mountain at full speed.
—!!!
My face was numb. My entire face hurt so much that I couldn't tell which part hurt more.
As I staggered to my feet, I saw him already out of the crater, dusting off the dirt from his body.
"You're persistent. What are those humans to you that you're so desperate to protect them? They have nothing to do with you, right?"
"That's true... As you said, they have nothing to do with me."
"No matter how much you struggle, to those people, you're just a monster. Why don't you understand that?"
The main culprit who made me like this sure talks big.
But... yeah. Why did I do that?
Did I sacrifice myself for others without caring about getting hurt?
The old me wouldn't have done that.
A face suddenly came to mind, making me smile wryly.
Hyun would have done it.
The hero I admire would have done it.
"That's my business."
I said that and charged toward him.