Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 18: Gotcha

To the eyes of the heroes, Mirage was a monster that could recover instantly no matter how much it was wounded.

It flew through the sky, delivered deadly blows from an unknown source, closed distances in a blink, and escaped with strange abilities.

That wasn’t how it actually worked—but I still thought it was a pretty decent ability.

I was following one of Mirage’s tentacles with my gaze when I spotted a man collapsed on the side of the road, coughing.

That bracelet stood out—it was the same one worn by the woman who had told me about Sector 2.

Should I help him? I hesitated for a moment, but before I could even decide, Yu Anna flew in and hoisted the man over her shoulder.

As if to assist with the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) evacuation of heroes who’d been rendered combat-unready—that’s when it happened.

It seemed even Mirage had figured out that Yu Anna was the biggest threat among the heroes present.

Anyone exposed to that lethal heat of hers even once could guess that a direct hit would be fatal.

But the other heroes it had already taken down—they were bait.

They were left alive only to lure Yu Anna in.

And Mirage swung its tentacle at her, as if deciding now was the moment—while she was busy protecting someone else.

“Guh...!”

I expected her to block it, of course.

But Yu Anna, having just set the hero down, was struck head-on and flung away.

Blown back by sheer force, she crashed through four buildings before finally stopping.

It was a shocking sight—I was stunned she’d even been hit in the first place.

Could it be... Yu Anna couldn’t see Mirage’s attacks, just like the other heroes?

The tentacle that had just been swung—that was a fake.

The real attack came straight at her.

I thought to myself that maybe this Mirage really was terrifying to humans.

It was easy to track its real form with monster senses, but humans relied entirely on their five senses.

And against a monster that could distort those, it made sense they’d struggle.

“Piiiiiih!”

With a bizarre cry that almost sounded mocking, Mirage spread its limbs and released gas into the area.

Seeing the heroes collapsing, Yu Anna burst out of the building in a panic and charged—

But Mirage was no longer there.

One punch from her and it would’ve been over.

And just like its name, Mirage slipped away from her.

“Kh...! Hah...!”

After taking out the rest of the heroes, Mirage turned its attention solely to Yu Anna.

She was barely dodging using only her sharpened senses, but Mirage started to toy with her.

From all directions—up, down, left, right—its intangible pressure disrupted her sight and hearing,

battering her like a cat playing with a mouse in its paws.

To see Yu Anna being toyed with like that—it was shocking.

But it also showed just how specialized Mirage’s powers were in hunting humans.

“You little shit...!”

“Piiiit?!”

But Yu Anna wasn’t some ordinary psychic.

Her punch came with enough force to generate a pressurized storm.

A flash, almost like a beam, grazed Mirage’s body and exploded—causing it to flinch in panic.

Just for a second.

Then, maybe angered by the fact that it had been scared, Mirage’s power started to swallow the area in thick fog.

It wasn’t playing anymore.

It was ready to kill every hero here—and then hunt Yu Anna.

“Wait—e-everyone evacuate! Any heroes still conscious, retreat—! Guh!”

Just as Yu Anna urgently transmitted a message to the others, Mirage’s power struck her again.

The heroes lying on the ground began to strangle themselves under Mirage’s influence.

Yu Anna seemed unaffected—maybe she burned away the other ability.

But at this rate, all the other heroes would die.

“Where are you...?! Where the hell are you! I know your real form isn’t the one we can see! Stop hiding and show yourself!”

Yu Anna had figured it out.

That Mirage had a true form separate from what was visible.

If this kept up, Yu Anna would win in the end—but W-City as a whole would be left in total defeat.

That couldn’t happen.

“What the... Black... Cat...? When did you...? The alarm didn’t go off...”

I leapt off the building and landed between Mirage and Yu Anna.

If Mirage killed the heroes, my beef would be gone too.

For the beef—I figured I’d step in.

I stared silently at Mirage, blocking its path toward Yu Anna and the other heroes.

“Piii...?”

“Grrrrr....”

We faced off.

I was watching for Mirage’s next move, and it was studying me.

It gave off a confused presence—like it had no idea where I’d come from.

As a monster, my technique for suppressing presence was superior to Mirage’s.

More than that, it was different.

Mirage temporarily confused its location, but I erased my presence altogether.

What was standing before it was another monster—

But because it couldn’t feel me as a monster, Mirage assumed I was a hero in monster form and launched a mental attack.

Ah. So this is what it feels like...

A little unpleasant, but probably lethal to humans without mental resistance.

Sorry, but what’s in front of you is a monster.

This kind of psychic attack? Doesn’t hit harder than a sedative injection.

“Ugh... So it is like that after all...”

As I stood still, unfazed, Yu Anna spoke with a hollow voice, aiming both hands at me and Mirage.

A new technique she’d developed while chasing me—

Firing superheated bullets from long range.

You couldn’t dodge those while suppressing your presence.

I started preparing to evade her attack, activating my monster core.

Then Mirage’s aura changed rapidly.

Murder-Class—confused why such a weak monster was blocking its attacks.

Crusher-Class—still bewildered, starting to get angry that prey was resisting it.

Disaster-Class—finally realizing something was off.

And then—Despair-Class.

“PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!”

“GRRRRRRRRRRR....”

Yeah. I’m stronger than you.

Faced with a monster stronger than itself, a monster’s instinct kicks in: flee.

Fear, the emotion even monsters can feel.

Survival instinct.

Staring at this unnatural phenomenon—this supposedly weak creature that had suddenly outclassed it—

Mirage panicked, its real body writhing into view.

“What the...?! This is...!”

A massive shell, cracked in one spot—that was Mirage’s true form.

A monster with both powerful telekinesis and illusion—Nightmare.

I grew in size, slammed my front paw down on its shell.

To weaker monsters or humans, this thing must’ve been pure terror.

You couldn’t catch it unless you found the real body.

But... to a fellow Despair-Class who could pinpoint it, it was just easy prey.

Honestly, I doubt there’s a single Despair-Class who can’t hunt this thing.

Maybe even some Disaster-Class could, depending on match-up.

“PIIIIIIIIIIK! PIIIIIIIIIK!”

Crack. Crack.

I put my weight on my foreleg, breaking the shell.

The illusion crystal inside burst like powder, scattering the mist.

The shell held illusions.

The meat inside fired off the telekinesis.

I started eating the clam flesh—its chewy texture popped with an odd flavor.

Was this the lingering power trying to resist death?

Surprisingly tasty... for a monster.

“Huh...?”

As I started devouring Mirage, Yu Anna let out a dumbfounded sound.

And just before I could take out the core nestled like a pearl inside, she came to her senses and punched me.

“W-wait! What are you doing?! Don’t eat that!”

“KyAOOO!”

Guess I didn’t get hit earlier today because I helped the other heroes.

I let my guard down and got slugged—flesh torn off.

When a monster eats another monster’s core, it gets stronger.

Yu Anna, a hero protecting W-City, couldn’t just stand by and watch me swallow another Despair-Class’s core.

Unlike other monsters, I wasn’t obsessed with getting stronger.

So I dropped the core and backed off.

Getting hit by Yu Anna and constantly regenerating wounds is exhausting, and this flavorless core wasn’t gonna fill me up anyway.

“PIIIIIH! PIIIIIIIIIH!”

When I let go of the foreleg that Yu Anna had just struck, Mirage immediately seized the chance and desperately crawled along the ground.

Then, lifted into the air by telekinesis, its form took shape—a massive bird.

Wrapped once more in illusions, Mirage attempted to escape W-City.

But Yu Anna was already on its tail, flying after it at high speed.

“Where do you think you’re going, you clam bastard!”

“PIKIIIIK!”

Having confirmed Mirage’s true form, Yu Anna unleashed a scorching wave that engulfed the entire illusion.

Mirage tried to shut its cracked shell in response.

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But that high-density shell, meant to block so many attacks, had already been shattered under my weight.

Letting out a pained, whimpering cry, Mirage transformed into dozens of snakes and began slithering away across the ground.

This time, bullets fired from Yu Anna’s fingertips exploded the snakes one by one.

When the snakes didn’t disappear no matter how many she shot, Yu Anna shut her eyes and stomped her foot down hard.

The resulting heatwave spread like a tide in all directions.

And toward the one especially strong current that surged upward, Yu Anna launched herself.

“PIIK!!”

“Got you.”

Crack—the sound of a thick plate breaking.

Mirage’s shell tore open.

Yu Anna had grabbed hold of its true body, locking it down with one hand to stop it from fleeing, and began pounding it with the other.

Boom. Boom. Like a giant iron ball slamming down, her fists rained blows until Mirage’s core exploded outward.

“KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!”

Held in Yu Anna’s grip and beaten without pause, Mirage’s core finally burst with a pop, splattering blue blood everywhere.

Damn... brute strength or not, her ability really does pack an absurd amount of destructive power.

Yu Anna seemed to have used a good chunk of her energy destroying that core—she was breathing hard, clearly exhausted.

“Haaah... haaaah... haaaah...”

Well then—

Maybe it was time for me to quietly slip away.

I started stepping back soundlessly as I watched Yu Anna finish Mirage off, preparing to take flight.

That’s when she turned toward me and released a wave of burning pressure.

“Where do you think you’re going, Black Cat...?”

“Wa... wauwong....”

My instincts immediately screamed that something was off.

Yu Anna felt different. Stronger than before.

Looking closer, I could see the thick monster blood that had erupted from Mirage’s core burning away in the heat of her power.

...Is she burning it to absorb energy?

I had an ability that let me consume powers too, so it wasn’t hard to believe hers worked the same way.

Still, for someone who’d just fought a Despair-Class, the energy she was putting off was downright murderous.

Yu Anna slowly walked toward me—

And then noticed the hero who had collapsed behind me.

“...Damn it.”

Her glare, locked on me the whole time, faltered.

She clenched her fist, the aura rising around her flickering and breaking apart.

She gave me a frustrated look, like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“That’s my teammate. You think I’d attack another hero? I’m the one protecting them—not you, you monster bastard.”

I blinked and stepped away from the unconscious hero behind me.

Yu Anna scowled even deeper and punched me again.

The blow was stronger than before.

I didn’t manage to dodge in time, and once again, my flesh was torn away with a searing pain.

But she didn’t attack again.

Instead, she pointed somewhere far off in the distance.

“Kyarrrrr...”

“Get lost. You don’t belong here, monster.”

With that, Yu Anna started checking on the other heroes.

I’d already erased my presence, so I crept backward, watching her dig through the rubble.

Was she really letting me go?

She’s not going to chase me?

Maybe she needed to prioritize rescuing the unconscious heroes...

Maybe today was just one of those rare days I got lucky.

Keeping my aura completely suppressed, I slowly floated into the air.

Yu Anna looked up at me.

I should run before she changes her mind.