There should be an S-Class Hero around here with about three Disaster-Class monsters, so why are they just leaving them be?
Soon after, a great number of screams could be heard from afar, as if the shelter had been dug up.
Along with the earth-shaking tremors echoing around, isn’t this a bit too much?
What’s the S-Class Hero doing… Are they waiting for me to come out from hiding before they show up?
It’s unlike Yuanna to not have intervened by now.
Did she come from A City with the authority to command Yuanna?
“Hmph.”
In the end, I underwent monsterification and rushed toward the place where the monster’s presence was felt.
The streets were empty, seemingly with all the people evacuated, filled only with the presence of the monster, tremors, and screams.
It’s strangely… deserted.
The presence was gathered in one place, unmoving.
“Growl… growl…”
“Finally, we meet, Black Cat.”
Something felt off, but as I approached, I turned my head at the sound of clapping.
Simultaneously, the monster’s presence disappeared, the screams and tremors ceased.
What appeared from where the presence had been were two women who looked like heroes. As soon as the two women came into my sight, they began emitting irritating sounds and waves towards me.
“Do you think we’re prey? What a foolish cat.”
“Meow!”
The screams and monster vibrations were a trick, bait created by these two women’s superpowers to lure me in.
Realizing they had lured me, I immediately roared and leapt far away.
In front of me, Yuanna descended from the sky, blocking my path.
“Black Cat, you won’t be able to escape here.”
With what seemed like an S-Class Hero from A City and Yuanna, I immediately sank towards the ground.
However, some sort of wall beneath the ground emerged and blocked my path.
This wasn’t your ordinary wall; it was something made by an ability that could stop even my intangible body.
“It’s already too late, kitty.”
A sound like the sky splitting into ice echoed, and a transparent prison that enclosed me and Cage appeared.
Then, Yuanna exclaimed in alarm.
“Hold on, what are you planning?!”
“What am I planning? Didn’t I already say?”
After the S-Class Hero Cage finished his sentence, as he clenched the air, a sword, shield, and armor which glimmered with the same transparency as his prison enveloped his body.
“I intend to hunt Black Cat alone.”
“Are you in your right mind?! We could catch it without risk together…!”
“Are you in yours? I thought I already said this, isn’t Black Cat an opportunity to prove I’m superior to you. If we catch it together, wouldn’t there be impurity, you, mixed into the purity of my strength?”
As I listened to Cage and Yuanna’s conversation, I scratched the wall made of ability with my claws.
Pretty tough… I had already guessed as much when I collided with it underground, but this is something I cannot break.
This is a prison from which there’s no escape until one of us, the hero in front of me or myself, falls.
“I, Cage, will hunt Black Cat alone. And the fact that I am stronger than Starlight will be witnessed by all of W City, and the citizens of A City will bear witness.”
At Cage’s words, the two women who were making sounds and waves took out cameras and antennas from their pockets.
Portable broadcasting equipment I’d seen before; the two women, looking perplexed as they placed their hands on their foreheads beside Starlight, captured Cage and me on camera.
“Let’s begin, this is A City’s top-rated content: the Monster Execution Broadcast.”
The small prison expanded as if it were a coliseum.
As Cage lowered the visor of his transparent armor, the armor darkened and began to glow gold.
A powerful wave of ability—an undeniable power that surpassed the walls composing the prison.
“Isn’t this quite a stimulating entertainment for the uncivilized citizens of W City?”
The fortress on the move charged with its spear towards me.
#
“Damn idiot…!”
Yuanna, disgusted by Cage’s prideful and foolish actions, crossed her arms and watched the ironclad fortress of a prison.
The two women filming the interior of that fortress were narrating Cage’s heroics, turning the monster hunt into an amusement.
When I opened my smartphone to watch the broadcast, the number of people viewing had already surpassed tens of thousands.
This was, in a way, inevitable.
In many cities, they desperately block the release of videos of battles with monsters.
Because seeing heroes suffer injuries while fighting monsters can cause dissatisfaction and anxiety among the citizens.
Therefore, what Cage is doing here must seem very stimulating to the citizens.
The monster hunting broadcast was also an expression of Cage’s immense confidence.
His invincible confidence that he would never fail.
“The monster Black Cat continues to run away from Lord Cage. Naturally, Lord Cage’s impregnable fortress, a wall that can withstand even an Annihilation-Class attack, alongside the impenetrable armor and spear constructed by his abilities must be despair incarnate for this Despair-Class monster.”
True to the words, Black Cat was running around the prison, looking for a way to escape.
Although Cage’s attacks hadn’t landed yet, he tires the monster and slowly wears it down.
Even running around so much like that is just dancing to Cage’s tune; eventually, it will come to a point where it gets impaled by the spear.
And that moment arrived sooner than expected.
“Ah! Lord Cage’s spear has just pierced through Black Cat’s front paw. Black Cat immediately leaps backward to create distance, sinking back into the ground. Lord Cage delivers a powerful attack, piercing through the ground once again! Black Cat has been wounded once more.”
Although the speed of S-Class Hero Cage was slower compared to Yuanna, he had no trouble chasing down the monster in this confined space.
One-sided pressure, the heavier the injuries piled upon Black Cat, the more the painful cries filled the surroundings.
[Is Black Cat really being hunted? For real?]
[Black Cat can’t escape, right?]
[This is Cage? W City morons were saying Starlight was stronger online, but now they finally get to know reality.]
[It was honestly ridiculous how they were criticizing Cage for luckily catching a Mirage once. Now this is satisfying!]
[Starlight couldn’t do anything, huh? Black Cat is just a joke to Cage, right?]
[Cage is strong, right? It seems he just didn’t have a good matchup with Mirage?]
As Black Cat suffered, the speed of the chat uploads in the broadcast increased.
Though some people in W City worried about Black Cat being hunted like this, most said something along the lines of “What can you do, it’s a monster.”
[Black Cat must not die!]
[Hang in there, Black Cat! Don’t die!]
[What the hell, why did you guys come to W City and cause trouble?!]
[Are the people above in their right minds? Why are they sympathizing with a monster?]
[You morons, is this the quality of W City?]
There were some people cheering for Black Cat, but even W City citizens couldn’t support the fact that they were cheering for a monster.
Among A City people, it was all praises for Cage; it seemed like he would successfully hunt Black Cat.
At that moment, Black Cat, whose injuries continued to increase, gave up on fleeing and faced Cage directly.
“Roarrr…”
At that moment, Yuna flinched upon hearing a strange roar she had never heard before.
Low-frequency vibrations, an overwhelming killing intent permeated the surroundings.
A Despair-Class monster, Black Cat, had decided to fight.
Just then, Yuna realized something she had missed so far—Black Cat hadn’t attacked Cage at all until now.
She realized this fact now because, up to this point, Black Cat hadn’t seriously attacked her either.
Upon noticing this fact that she had overlooked, Yuna’s eyes widened.
“Black Cat has confronted Lord Cage. Even beasts must understand by now that running away further is pointless, but hunting a beast that charges is something Lord Cage excels at. Given the movement patterns observed so far, it’s expected that Lord Cage will easily hunt Black Cat… Wait… No.”
Yuanna found herself inexplicably interrupting the broadcast.
Her trembling voice, and the quiet Yuna suddenly speaking caused the A-Class Hero broadcasting it to look at her.
The Black Cat, which had avoided proper attacks and only fled until now, would attack in what way?
With a tense voice, Yuanna spoke about what was about to happen.
“The real Black Cat begins now.”
“Roarrrrr!”
A loud roar, with the prison-shaking cry, Black Cat transformed its form.
As the black flames engulfed it and the tiger grew larger, Cage expanded the prison’s size.
Apparently planning to cover the entire prison with flames, but it wouldn’t affect Cage.
“Shiiik… Shaahhhak!”
Right after, the form of a giant snake transformed Black Cat released a sound and activated a petrification ability.
As the surroundings turned into pure white stone, Cage raised the ability shield in his hand to counter it.
Then, Black Cat transformed into a shadow monster made of many tentacles and surrounded Cage.
“B…Black Cat…? Er…? They… are continuously transforming into other monsters?!”
“Black Cat is an Unstable Form Monster, this should’ve been reported.”
“How many… abilities does it have? Lord Cage!”
“Rawrgh!”
Together with a beast’s roar, the sphere of lightning that gathered inside the prison struck Cage and exploded, and Black Cat transformed into a fox-like creature, surrounding Cage with countless spheres of alluring flame.
From this, Yuanna deduced Black Cat’s intentions.
“Trial by combat… It’s finding an ability that works on Cage…”
One-sided attack turned in reverse now as the rapidly morphing Black Cat relentlessly pressured Cage without giving him a moment to rest.
Ultimately, the form Black Cat chose was the fox.
A monster Cage had once missed, one with abilities akin to Mirage’s that utilized illusions and telekinesis.
The fire burning within the prison wavered subtly, even confusing the camera’s viewpoint with its hypnotic nature.
“Ugh… Where… Black Cat!”
In the forest of flames, Black Cat calmly seated and burning Cage roared arrogantly from above.
With telekinesis, it firmly captured Cage, and with a savage thud sound, it slammed Cage against all sides of the prison.
The one weakness of Cage’s otherwise impenetrable defenses that could withstand all Black Cat’s abilities until now—it exploited the impact his armor couldn’t block.
The prison was now filled with powdered debris from a building swirling about, and the air was filled with white dust.
Through this dust, the trajectory of Cage being swung around became visible.
The telekinetically-held Cage continuously collided with his very own indestructible walls made from his own ability.
The horrifying sight of an S-Class Hero being toyed with by a monster was unraveling before their eyes.
Yuanna held her breath and glanced at the chat room filling up rapidly in the corner of her vision.
[Is Cage dying? Is Cage dead?!]
[What? Is this real? This is actually happening?!]
[Is that Black Cat? Is that really Black Cat?]
[What do we do?! Cage is gonna die!]
[One-sided, isn’t it? What’s Starlight doing?]
[Is Black Cat fighting an actual human?]
[Dmn it! What the hell have you done, you bastards?! If Cage dies, this thing will rampage across W City!]
[Open the shelters! It’s right above our shelter! Make sure we move to another shelter before Cage dies!]
[Why isn’t Starlight doing anything?! Dmn it! Are you trying to kill A City’s hero, you piece of *&%$#!]
[Cage! Snap out of it!!]
[Why did you provoke Black Cat and cause this situation, A City bastards?!]
