The mirage that the heroes could see was a monster that would immediately recover from any injury.
It flew through the sky, delivered unpredictable and lethal blows, closed distances in the blink of an eye, and possessed evasive abilities.
Though it wasn’t real in the manner it appeared, I thought it was a fairly useful ability. While tracking one of its tentacles with my gaze, I noticed a man lying on the side of the road, gasping for breath.
The bracelet he wore was conspicuous, identical to the one worn by the woman who had informed me about the second district.
Should I help? I briefly pondered this, but before I could act, Yuanna arrived, sweeping the man up onto her back.
At that moment, perhaps aware that Yuanna was the most threatening of these heroes, the mirage seemed poised to assist by covering the incapacitated heroes’ retreat.
It appeared the mirage knew that Yuanna was the most dangerous among the current heroes.
Anyone exposed to her intense heat could easily sustain fatal injuries.
But the other heroes that it had felled were merely bait.
It had deliberately kept them alive, sparing their lives to lure Yuanna.
Recognizing this opportunity, the mirage swung its tentacles toward Yuanna.
“Graagh…!”
I expected her to block it. But after placing the man she was carrying down, Yuanna was struck by the tentacle and flown backward.
After being hurled by the tremendous force, she didn’t stop until she had pierced through four buildings.
I was astonished that Yuanna had been hit by this attack. Could it be that she, like the other heroes, couldn’t see the mirage’s attacks?
The tentacle that swung moments ago was a feint. The real attack had come in a straight line.
I realized that this monster called mirage might truly be terrifying to humans.
While its true form was distinctly perceivable to the monster’s senses, humans, who relied on their five senses, might have a hard time combating something that disrupted them.
A strange, mocking cry emanated from the mirage as it stretched its body and emitted gas.
Seeing the heroes fall, a frantic Yuanna leaped from the building to charge forward, but the mirage was nowhere to be seen.
Though one hit from her fist could knock it out, the mirage was indeed living up to its name, evading Yuanna.
“Gahhh…!”
Having incapacitated the other heroes, the mirage now focused entirely on Yuanna, who used her heightened senses to narrowly evade its attacks.
From all angles, sight and sound were distorted, and the intangible pressure that struck her was akin to a cat playing with a mouse in its grasp.
For Yuanna to be toyed with like this was shocking, but it highlighted just how specialized the mirage’s abilities were in hunting humans.
“YOU LITTLE—!”
“Pheeet?!”
Still, Yuanna wasn’t an ordinary hero.
The power of her punch was accompanied by a high-pressure storm; the lightning-like streak of a brilliant flash nearly hit the mirage, and it flinched in fright.
But just as quickly, the mirage seemed to grow enraged at its own fear, and its abilities engulfed the surrounding area.
It had finished playing around and now intended to kill all the heroes before hunting down Yuanna.
“In, in Retreat! Remaining heroes, retreat…!”
As Yuanna frantically sent a warning to the other heroes, the mirage struck her again.
The heroes lying on the ground began to choke themselves under the effect of the mirage’s ability.
Though Yuanna appeared unscathed, as if burning other abilities, if this continued, all the other heroes would die.
“Where…Where are you?! I already figured out that your true form isn’t what we see! Stop your cowardly tricks and show yourself!”
Yuanna had already discerned that the mirage was a monster with a different true form.
If this continued, Yuanna might win in the end, but when considering all of W City, it would be a despairing defeat.
That can’t happen.
“What…Black Cat…? When did you get here…? The alarm didn’t go off…”
I leapt from the top of the building, landing between the mirage and Yuanna.
If the mirage killed the heroes, my steak dinner would vanish.
For the sake of the steak, I decided to intervene.
I glared fixedly at the mirage, preventing it from approaching Yuanna and the other heroes.
“Pheee…?”
“Grrrr…”
A mutual reconnaissance effort ensued. I was observing how the mirage would act, while it was inspecting me.
It seemed confused about where I had come from.
My skill in concealing my presence was superior to the mirage’s, and the methods were different.
While the mirage temporarily confused the location of its presence, I erased it entirely.
The mirage before me should have been another monster, yet since it didn’t sense anything monstrous, it directed its mental attack at me.
Ah, so this is what it feels like… It was somewhat unpleasant, but it would be lethal to humans with insufficient defense against such abilities.
Sorry, but what’s in front of you is a monster. This level of mental attack is less effective than a sedative shot.
“Guh…! In the end, is that… really the case…?”
As I maintained this stance without any reaction, Yuanna emitted a distressed voice, aiming at both me and the mirage with both hands.
A new technique she had developed while chasing me, an ability to fire high-temperature bullets at a distance.
It’s one I can’t avoid while cloaked, so as I prepared to evade her attack, I gradually activated the monster core.
At that moment, the mirage’s presence quickly changed.
Kill level: It didn’t understand why such a weak monster was blocking its attacks.
Crush level: Still utterly confused, it grew enraged by the prey resisting it.
Catastrophe level: It was slowly beginning to realize something was off.
And finally, Despair level.
“Peeeeeeeeeet!”
“Grrrrr…”
Yeah, I’m stronger than you.
The instinct of a monster when faced with a stronger one: survival through escape.
Fear and survival instincts are feelings even monsters can experience.
Horrified at the strange phenomenon of a seemingly weak monster suddenly growing stronger, the mirage flailed, revealing its true form.
“What…? Is this…!”
A massive clam with one cracked shell—this was the true form of the mirage.
A powerful monster with telekinesis and illusions: Nightmare.
As the Nightmare attempted to escape, I grew in size, stepping on its clamshell with my front paw.
Perhaps this creature was nothing but fear to weaker monsters and humans.
Without capturing the core, it could never have been caught.
But to a monster of its level, with the insight to penetrate its true form, there was no simpler prey.
Maybe in the Despair class, there isn’t a monster that can’t hunt this one. Maybe even a lower-tier Catastrophe class monster, depending on the matchup, could hunt it.
“Peeeeeeeeeek! Piiit!”
With added pressure, I crushed the clamshell, causing the illusion-controlling core within to burst like fine powder, clearing the haze.
The shell of this monster contained illusions, while the clam’s flesh inside it emitted telekinetic forces.
As I tore into its flesh, the chewy clam meat burst in my mouth, emitting a peculiar taste.
Is this residue from its resistance? For a monster, it’s quite delicious.
“What…?”
As I began devouring the mirage, the nearby Yuanna emitted a baffled sound.
Before I could consume the core embedded like a pearl within the clam, a now-sobered Yuanna threw a punch at me.
“Hey, wait! What are you doing? Don’t eat it!”
“KYAAAA!”
Today, with other heroes around to help, I might have avoided a beating. But lost in my carelessness, I was hit by Yuanna, and some flesh was torn from me.
Monsters get stronger by eating the cores of other monsters.
From Yuanna’s perspective, protecting W City, she couldn’t just stand by watching me swallow another Despair-tier monster’s core.
Unlike other monsters, I didn’t particularly have an obsession with getting stronger, so I dropped the core and put distance between us.
How tiring it is to heal from Yuanna’s punches every time. Eating an unappetizing core wouldn’t fill me up anyway.
“Piiiiiiik! Piiiiiiiiiiit!”
As Yuanna’s punch freed the claw I was holding, the mirage, seizing the opportunity, desperately scuttled across the ground.
It then levitated through telekinesis into the shape of a large bird cloaked in illusions, attempting to escape W City.
But Yuanna quickly chased after the fleeing mirage.
“Where do you think you’re going, clam bird?!”
“Peeeeik!”
When Yuanna, who had identified the mirage’s true form, caused a massive heatwave enveloping the entire illusion, the mirage hastily closed its broken shell.
However, the high-intensity shell that could block numerous attacks had already been crushed by me.
The mirage let out cries of agony before transforming into dozens of snakes that slithered along the ground.
This time, bullets fired from the tips of Yuanna’s fingers exploded each snake.
When shooting proved ineffective, Yuanna closed her eyes and spun forcefully.
Turbulent waves of heat spread around her, and particularly towards the rising current, she launched herself.
“Piiik!!”
“Got you.”
A loud crack echoed as the mirage’s shell was ripped apart.
Yuanna, having grabbed the core, firmly held onto it with one hand, preventing its escape, and began pounding it with the other hand.
BOOM, BOOM! Sounds akin to a massive iron sphere being dropped reverberated as the mirage’s core exploded.
“Kiiiiiiiiii!”
Trapped by Yuanna, the mirage’s core eventually burst with a loud pop, splashing blue blood all around.
Damn…she’s brutal. Her attack power was incredibly overwhelming.
After expending considerable energy to break the monster’s core, Yuanna panted heavily.
“Huff… Huff… Huff…”
Then, it’s time for me to escape.
As I watched Yuanna capture the mirage, I silently retreated, preparing to take off into the sky.
At that moment, Yuanna directed a high-temperature pressure toward me.
“Where do you think you’re going, Black Cat…?”
“Woooww…!”
I instinctively sensed something was amiss and became cautious of Yuanna.
Somehow…she felt stronger than before.
Upon closer inspection, the concentrated monster blood from the shattered core was burning and disappearing within her abilities.
…Is she absorbing energy by burning her abilities?
Since I also had an ability to consume abilities, it wasn’t particularly strange.
Still, the menacing aura she exuded after fighting the Despair-level monster moments ago was excessive.
Yuanna slowly approached me and noticed the hero lying unconscious behind me.
“…Damn.”
At that moment, the gaze of Yuanna, who had been glaring at me, wavered.
Yuanna tightly clenched her fists, dissipating her threatening aura, and looked at me incredulously.
“That’s my ally. Do you really think I’d attack a hero? You’re the one who needs guarding, monster!”
I blinked in confusion and stepped aside from the unconscious hero behind me.
Then, Yuanna, looking even angrier, threw a punch at me.
I managed to evade the slightly stronger attack, though I still felt the pain of flesh being torn.
After that, Yuanna didn’t attack me anymore and pointed to the distance with her finger.
“Grrrrr…”
“Leave now, you monster…”
With that, Yuanna began attending to the other heroes.
I subtly concealed my presence and carefully increased the distance as she rummaged through the building debris.
Is she really letting me go? Is she not chasing me?
Is it because she has to care for the unconscious heroes? It seemed safe today, so while quietly concealing my presence, I slowly ascended into the sky.
Yuanna glanced at me.
Better escape before she changes her mind.
