Became a Failed Experimental Subject Novel - Chapter 19

The Espers saw Mirage as a monster that recovered instantly, no matter how much damage it took. It could fly through the air, inflict unidentifiable lethal blows, and close or extend distances in an instant with its abilities.

It wasn’t actually like that, but I thought it was a pretty useful ability. My gaze followed Mirage’s tentacles, then I spotted a man lying on the side of the road, coughing. A distinctive bracelet caught my eye, identical to the one worn by the woman who told me about Sector 2. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should help, but there was no need. Yoo Anna flew over and scooped the man up. It was at that moment, as she seemingly tried to help the incapacitated Espers evacuate.

Presumably, Mirage also knew that Yoo Anna was the most threatening of the Espers present. If exposed to that deadly heat even once, it would know that a direct hit would be fatal. However, the other fallen Espers were just bait. They were left alive only to lure Yoo Anna. Mirage, seeing Yoo Anna protecting another Esper as an opportunity, lashed out with its tentacles towards her.

“Ugh…!”

I expected her to block it, but Yoo Anna put down the Esper in her arms and was struck by the tentacle, sent flying. She crashed through four buildings before finally stopping. It was a shocking sight; I was surprised that Yoo Anna had even been hit by that attack. Could it be that Yoo Anna, like the other Espers, couldn’t see Mirage’s attacks at all? A moment ago, the lashing tentacle was a feint; the real attack was a linear strike. I started to think that this monster called Mirage might truly be a terrifying monster for humans. To a monster’s senses, where its true form was clearly felt, it seemed like nothing special, but humans rely on their five senses. It made sense that it would be difficult to counter a monster that disrupted the five senses.

“Phee-e-e-e-e!”

With a strange cry that seemed to mock, Mirage stretched its entire body and spewed gas into the surroundings. Yoo Anna, seeing the Espers collapsing, rushed out of the building and charged, but Mirage wasn’t there. One hit from that fist would take it down, yet it truly avoided Yoo Anna like its name, Mirage.

“Ugh, haah…!”

Mirage, having incapacitated all the other Espers and focusing on Yoo Anna, began to toy with her. Yoo Anna, who had barely been avoiding Mirage’s attacks with her heightened senses, refined by her ability, was now being attacked from all directions—up, down, left, right—with intangible pressure that disrupted her sight and hearing, like a cat playing with a mouse in its paws. It was a shocking sight to see even Yoo Anna being toyed with like that… but Mirage’s ability was specialized for hunting humans to that extent.

“You, you bastard!”
“Phee-eet?!”

However, Yoo Anna wasn’t an ordinary Esper either. A punch so powerful it brought forth a high-pressure storm, a flash of light like a laser grazed Mirage’s main body and exploded, causing Mirage to flinch and recoil. It was only for a moment. Perhaps enraged by the fact that it had flinched, Mirage’s ability began to deeply permeate the surroundings. It was done playing; it intended to kill all the Espers and then hunt Yoo Anna.

“Wait… ev-evacuate! Remaining Espers, all evacuate…! Ugh!”

The moment Yoo Anna desperately sent a communication to the Espers, Mirage’s ability struck Yoo Anna once more. The Espers lying on the ground slowly began to strangle themselves with Mirage’s ability. Yoo Anna seemed fine, as if she had burned away other abilities, but if this continued, all the other Espers would die.

“Where are you… where are you?! I already figured out that your true form is different! Stop acting cowardly and show yourself!”

Yoo Anna had already figured out that Mirage was a monster with a different true form from what was visible. If things continued like this, Yoo Anna would ultimately win, but from the perspective of W-City as a whole, it would be a devastating defeat. That couldn’t happen.

“What…? Black… Cat…? When did you get here…? The alarm shouldn’t have sounded, should it?”

I leaped from the top of the building and landed between Mirage and Yoo Anna. If Mirage killed the Espers, my beef would disappear. For the sake of beef, I decided to intervene. I calmly glared at Mirage, blocking it from approaching Yoo Anna and the other Espers any further.

“Phee…?”
“Grrr…”

A probing battle between us. I observed how Mirage would react, and Mirage observed me. It seemed baffled by my presence, unable to understand where I had appeared from. My technique for hiding my presence as a monster was superior to Mirage’s, and our methods were also different. Mirage used a method of temporarily confusing the location of its presence, while I used a method of erasing the presence itself. The entity before its eyes was another monster, yet it didn’t feel like one, so Mirage must have thought I was an Esper who transformed into a monster. It unleashed its mental attack on me.

Ah, so this is what it tastes like… It was a little unpleasant, but it would probably be fatal for humans who lacked defense against abilities. Sorry, but what’s in front of you is a monster. This level of mental attack is less effective than a single tranquilizer injection.

“Ugh…! In the end… as expected, is that it…?”

As I stood facing Mirage with no reaction, Yoo Anna spoke in a devastated voice, aiming her hands at both Mirage and me. This was a new technique Yoo Anna had developed while chasing me: an ability to fire high-heat projectiles from a distance. I couldn’t avoid that while erasing my presence. I gradually activated my monster core, preparing to dodge Yoo Anna’s attack.

Then, Mirage’s presence rapidly changed.
Lethal-Class. It looked like it couldn’t understand why such a weak monster was blocking its attack.
Crushing-Class. Still bewildered, even angered that mere prey was resisting it.
Disaster-Class. It was starting to feel that something was strange.
And finally, Despair-Class.

“Phee-e-e-e-e-eet!”
“Grrrrrrrr…”

Yes, I am stronger than you. The instinct of a monster facing one stronger than itself: to flee to survive. This was driven by fear, an emotion monsters could also feel, and the instinct for survival. Mirage, shocked by the abnormal phenomenon of a seemingly weak monster suddenly becoming stronger than itself, revealed its true form and flapped about frantically.

“What…?! This is…!”

A giant clam with a broken shell in one spot. This was Mirage’s true form: a monster with two abilities, powerful psychokinesis and illusion, Nightmare. I grew in size in front of the fleeing Nightmare and stomped on its clam shell with my front paw.

Perhaps, this one was probably terrifying to monsters weaker than itself or to humans. It couldn’t be caught unless its true form was seized. But… for an equally-ranked monster capable of discerning its true form, there was no simpler prey. Perhaps there wasn’t a single Despair-Class monster that couldn’t hunt this one? Even below that, a Disaster-Class monster might be able to hunt it depending on their compatibility.

“Pee-gee-ee-eek! Pee-ee-ee-eek!”

Crunch, crunch, as I put weight on my front paw and shattered the clam shell, the ability crystals handling illusion burst like powder, scattering the mist. This monster’s shell held illusions, and the clam meat inside had the power to emit psychokinesis. As I tore into the clam meat, the elastic flesh popped in my mouth, giving off a subtle flavor. Was it the remnants of psychokinetic energy resisting its death? Pretty tasty for a monster.

“Oh…?”

Just as I began to tear into Mirage, Yoo Anna, standing next to me, made a foolish sound. And before I could pull out and devour the core, which was nestled like a pearl inside the clam, Yoo Anna, having come to her senses, punched me.

“W-wait! What are you doing! Don’t eat it!”
“Kya-oo!”

I had let my guard down, thinking she wouldn’t hit me today since I’d helped other Espers, but Yoo Anna landed a punch, and I felt the pain of my flesh being torn. Monsters grow stronger by eating the cores of other monsters. From Yoo Anna’s perspective as an Esper protecting W-City, she probably couldn’t stand by and watch me swallow the core of another Despair-Class monster. I, who unlike other monsters, had no particular obsession with growing stronger, released the core and put some distance between us. How tiring it was to regenerate wounds every time Yoo Anna hit me, and eating one tasteless core wouldn’t even fill my stomach.

“Phee-ee-ee! Phee-ee-ee-eet!”

As I let go of the forepaw I was holding after being hit by Yoo Anna, Mirage desperately crawled on the ground, seizing the opportunity. Following that, its body lifted by psychokinesis, taking the form of a large bird. Mirage, veiled by illusion, then attempted to escape W-City. But Yoo Anna was chasing close behind the swiftly flying Mirage.

“Where are you going, you clam bastard!”
“Pee-gee-ee-eek!”

Yoo Anna, having confirmed Mirage’s true form, generated a heatwave that engulfed the entire illusion, causing Mirage to close its broken shell. However, the high-strength shell, which could block many attacks, had already been crushed and broken by me. Mirage let out a cry of pain and transformed into dozens of snakes, slithering across the ground. This time, projectiles fired from Yoo Anna’s fingertips burst the snakes one by one. When the snakes didn’t disappear no matter how much she shot, Yoo Anna closed her eyes and stomped her foot hard. A heatwave spread like a ripple, and Yoo Anna shot towards a particularly surging current within it.

“Pee-eek!!”
“Got you.”

Crunch, with the sound of a thick plate breaking, Mirage’s shell was torn away. Yoo Anna, holding its true body, grabbed it with one hand to prevent its escape and began punching with the other. Thud, thud, with sounds like giant iron balls slamming down, Mirage’s core burst.

“Kiiiiiiiiiii!”

Mirage’s core, continuously hit by Yoo Anna, finally burst with a pop, scattering blue blood around. Ugh… so crude… That ability truly had monstrous attack power. Yoo Anna seemed to have used considerable ability to destroy Mirage’s core, as she was breathing heavily, exhausted.

“Haah… haah… haah…”

Alright, I guess it’s time to make my escape. Watching Yoo Anna catch Mirage, I silently backed away, preparing to fly. Just then, Yoo Anna directed a high-heat pressure towards me.

“Where are you going, Black Cat…”
“Wah… wao-oong…”

I instinctively felt something was wrong and became wary of Yoo Anna. Somehow… she seemed stronger than before. Upon closer inspection, the thick monster blood that had burst from Mirage’s core was burning away and disappearing into Yoo Anna’s ability.

…Was she absorbing power by burning the ability?

Since I also had the ability to devour abilities, it wasn’t strange for such an ability to exist. Yoo Anna, radiating a terrifying momentum for someone who had just fought a Despair-Class monster, slowly walked towards me. And then, she discovered the Esper lying unconscious behind me.

“…Damn it.”

At that moment, the glare in Yoo Anna’s eyes, fixed on me, wavered. Yoo Anna clenched her fist, dispelling the aura that was rising, and stared at me with a bewildered expression.

“That’s my comrade. Do you think I’d attack an Esper? I’m the one protecting, not you, you monster bastard.”

I blinked, then moved away from the unconscious Esper behind me. At that, Yoo Anna looked even more disgusted and punched me. I couldn’t properly dodge the slightly stronger attack than before and felt the pain of my flesh being torn off again, but Yoo Anna didn’t attack me further and pointed a finger far away.

“Kya-ruru-ru…”
“Get lost, you monster…”

With those words, Yoo Anna began to tend to the other Espers. I, having erased my presence, slowly increased my distance, observing Yoo Anna as she sifted through the building debris. Was she really letting me go? She’s not chasing me, right? Perhaps it was because she had to tend to the unconscious Espers. Feeling that it might be alright today, I ascended slowly while hiding my presence, and Yoo Anna looked up at me. I should make my escape quickly before she changed her mind.