Where did it all go wrong?
Where did my existence become unacceptable?
I’m certain I’m a sinner who committed an unforgivable crime.
But still.
Am I still an evil man?
Am I such a bad person that I deserve to suffer and hurt like this?
Is that it?
Then why?
My mind twists and twists and twists and twists....
...and then I realize.
Ah. I see.
It doesn’t matter.
That isn’t what matters right now.
It’s not over.
Get up.
Just like always.
It worked perfectly.
Leaping out of the thick cloud of dust, Bom was certain.
...This was over.
A finishing combination technique that shattered even the sturdiest defense like paper and sent shockwaves raging through the body from within.
[Giant Roaring Burst Fist].
As a powerful technique that could only be used once a day, its destructive force was guaranteed.
If the target was human-shaped, there was no way it could survive this.
Thinking that, Bom turned his gaze toward Silver Fang.
"...Bang."
"..............."
Silver Fang kept his eyes closed and remained silent.
Only his tightly clenched fist was trembling hard.
As if reflecting the state of his heart, a quiet wind carrying moisture began to blow.
...He had boasted that he would protect him, and in the end, this was what happened.
Bom thought of how he had cherished the child, doting on him with such care.
He had been a child he loved terribly, like his own son.
He had been a little kid who would shout, "Grandpa!" and come running on his tiny legs before throwing himself into his arms.
He had failed to protect that child.
He had lost him once, and when the child returned changed, he had cut him down with his own hands.
As an adult, as a guardian, as a teacher, he was unworthy.
Bom guessed that was what he was thinking.
"...Bang, let’s check whether he’s alive first. You can brood after we deal with Garou."
"...............brother, I..."
At that moment.
GROOOOONNNNG!!!
"Kgh?!"
A massive wave passed through, and the ground shook and heaved as if an earthquake had struck.
He hurriedly turned his head and looked into the clearing dust.
"...K...gghhh..."
"...No way."
Words that might have come from anyone’s mouth slipped out.
That was how unreal the monster hunter’s figure looked as it emerged from the dispersing dust.
Every part of his body was broken.
There was nowhere that wasn’t bleeding.
Cracks spread across him, and dark red blood seeped through them.
Both legs were split apart, his left arm—the one that had tried to block the attack—was torn open, and his abdomen, which had taken the shockwave head-on, was crushed.
Half his face had literally been blown away, and below his right shoulder blade, where the force had passed through, his body had crumbled to powder.
Because of the shockwaves circulating through his body, patches of skin kept swelling as if boiling, then sinking back down, over and over.
But.
He was alive.
Even after taking the ultimate secret technique head-on, even with his body on the verge of bursting apart into pieces.
He stood up.
Get up.
"Grrrrr...!"
[Gouketsu Style]
- [Demon Absorption]
The body that felt like it was about to explode expanded in an instant, converting the shockwaves raging and bursting inside him into heat.
Then, while compressing his body again, he expelled that heat as if wringing out a wet towel.
Pshhhhhhhhh!!!
Hot air spread in all directions, and in the meantime his body compressed even further, shrinking to around two meters.
The flow of his momentum changed completely, and his red eyes snapped open.
Super regeneration began.
His split legs twitched and returned to normal.
A new hand sprouted from the torn arm.
The crushed abdomen straightened out.
Half the face that had been blown away grew back.
And that wasn’t all; he mixed in another breathing method.
[Hardening Breath Technique]
"Huuuu..."
"No way... his appearance changed!"
The near-fatal injuries on his body vanished in an instant, as if washed away.
There was no doubt he had taken tremendous damage.
But.
"...He had super regeneration too?"
The tenacious vitality to survive even with cracks all over his body and half his face blown off.
And the super regeneration that instantly restored severed limbs.
...Suddenly, Silver Fang thought of one possibility he desperately hoped was wrong.
No way.
Had he been going through death’s door like that all this time?
If one of the opponent’s techniques broke or severed something, he would stubbornly regenerate it and patch himself up.
Then he would keep enduring, keep getting back up, and keep charging in to land a single blow.
An absurd way of fighting... sacrificing his own bones to take the enemy’s bones.
...From when he was a low-rank, all the way until now that he had become dragon-level?
"..............."
How much pain had he endured?
How much had he suffered alone?
How hard had it been?
It was because of me.
Because I failed to protect him, the child is suffering.
He may have gone through horrible, unimaginable things he never should have had to face.
The child’s smile came back to him, still vivid in his mind.
That voice calling out, "Grandpa," with such pure joy.
...Ah. I ruined everything.
The day I lost you.
Because I couldn’t protect you....
"..............."
"Bang! Snap out of it! He’s co-!"
THOO-KWAAANG!!!
The monster hunter kicked off the ground and reached them in an instant.
At the same time, an incoming strike came with him.
He hurriedly raised his guard, only to be stunned by a power on an entirely different level from before.
KWA-AAAANG!!!
"Ghk..."
He managed to block it, but was still shoved about seven meters back, scraping up the ground.
It was unbearably heavy.
Part of that was because he had just used [Giant Roaring Burst Fist], but even at full strength, it would have been the same.
He was strong.
KWA-AAAANG!!!
"Kgh..."
He’s gotten so much stronger.
That young, young child.
He could still clearly remember how he used to try breaking things with his tiny hands, careful not to hurt himself like the other kids his age.
THOO-KWAAANG!!!
BANG!!
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG!!!
"Kuhhaaaagh!!"
A barrage of blows followed, and he was flung backward.
He rolled across the ground and smashed into a tree before finally stopping.
Blood flowed from his mouth.
His vision was blurry.
Agony crashed through his whole body.
As if a certain pressure point had been struck, his body would not move properly.
I never taught him techniques like this.
Thinking that, he looked up at the approaching monster.
No.
At the child.
"...............you..."
At first, it was only suspicion.
He had not believed the absurd possibility that the child he had lost had lived on as a monster.
No, maybe he had wanted to deny it.
But.
Then, and now.
You.
"I don’t know who you are, but I’ll say this much."
The natural stance of [Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist], with the body lowered more than necessary.
And even the habit of twitching the index finger when speaking while exhausted.
It was still there so vividly it hurt.
"You’ve got the wrong person. I’m not who you’re looking for."
With that.
Silver Fang’s vision went dark.
He had won.
But.
"...That was close."
Only after confirming Silver Fang’s body had gone limp did he finally feel relieved.
If he had gotten back up and tried to fight here, this side might not have been able to hold out.
[Absorbing ???’s finger]
In that instant, he bit down and swallowed the massive energy stored in the finger.
He planned to absorb that energy, instantly raise his physical abilities, and deal with the fatal strike that was flying toward him.
But.
Compared to what he expected, the energy in the finger was a little... different.
It was a special energy, distinct from the energy he already possessed.
Like water and oil, it would not mix easily with the energy inside his body.
Because of that, he couldn’t gain all the power at once, and he couldn’t use it immediately either.
Absorption had begun, but the progress was extremely slow.
In the end, he had to use both breathing methods at once and endure the strain on his body.
The side effect made his legs tremble, and he realized just how close he had come to his limit for a brief moment.
He left the old man he had knocked out beside Silver Fang and started walking.
It felt as if the whole world had been filled with cotton candy, a soft and sinking world.
He was dizzy.
His whole body ached.
Because of the energy rampaging inside him, it felt as if his whole body had collapsed once and then been reconstructed.
It hurt like hell.
[Giant Roaring Burst Fist], was it?
It had been an attack he could have dodged if he really wanted to.
He could have simply used Warp to get out of range.
But he hadn’t.
What had stopped him was... the intervention of something.
Whenever he tried to remember it, his head throbbed as if it would split open.
He couldn’t remember.
All that remained was... that he had seen something enormous, and that he had felt fear like a lamb staring at a falling meteor right in front of it.
Those two things were everything.
Because of that, both his skill use and his body’s movements had frozen completely for an instant.
Naturally, evasion had been impossible too.
"...What the hell was that?"
...He had a strong feeling he would see it again soon.
He really hated that, but he felt certain he would face it again.
To make sure he wouldn’t get beaten helplessly like that again-
"...Ugh."
His head throbbed violently again.
...What was I just thinking?
He couldn’t remember.
He couldn’t even grasp what he had been thinking about.
His mind was in complete disarray.
...Ah, right.
"...That human."
Yes. He must have been thinking about Silver Fang.
...What was it, anyway?
That attitude, as if he knew him, was irritating, but in another sense it was also hard to ignore.
He had no memory or recollection of him at all.
He had faintly felt the emotions behind those exchanged fists, but he could not understand that attachment.
Did I have a past?
If so, there should at least have been fragments of memory left behind.
Unless the memory had been erased as cleanly as paper cut out with scissors, there should have been traces left, like pencil marks that remain even after being rubbed out.
"...Looks like I was mistaken in a pretty big way."
He must have been someone he treasured a great deal. Otherwise he wouldn’t have mistaken a monster like me for that person.
Come to think of it... there was that saying that love blinds human eyes.
That was probably the case here.
"...............sad."
Yes.
Someday, let’s hope he reunites with the person he’s looking for.
Clutching his strangely trembling index finger, he thought that as he staggered forward.
Now all that was left was to head for Z City for real.
My mind kept wavering unsteadily, but my instincts were still working.
It was a shame I hadn’t found the remaining half of that monster, but if I stayed here, it was obvious more heroes would come swarming in.
Roughly, this way....
"Phoenix Explosion Beak Attack!!"
KWA-AAAANG!!!
"...Huh?"
...What is this guy now?
He was wearing a strangely similar mascot costume to the bird monster from earlier.
He caught the high-speed beak with one hand and looked down at his opponent.
He was a humanoid monster who looked like what that bird monster might have looked like if it had been anthropomorphized.
"No way... you got this much stronger... impossible. You blocked it so casually with one hand?!"
"...You’re that bird monster from earlier, aren’t you?"
Good.
His body was in terrible shape, and he needed to replenish his nutrition.
He grabbed the struggling guy’s neck hard and opened his mouth wide.
His strength had definitely increased.
But just because you got stronger doesn’t mean I got weaker.
And just because I’m tired doesn’t mean I have to lose to you.
Just as he was about to bite off the head without another second’s delay.
"Listen up!! I’ll be taking Garou with meeeee!!"
"...What?"
"Please handle the remaining heroes!!"
...What is he talking about?
As he wondered at the guy screaming at the top of his lungs like a man on the verge of a breakdown, a belated instinctive thought surged through his mind.
He should have grabbed him and finished it right there.
"Elder Centipedeeeee!!"
A massive vibration began to echo up from underground, as if a huge earthquake had struck.
It grew louder and louder.
It was right below them.
Something enormous, moving at terrifying speed, burst out like a giant steam locomotive.
The difference was.
It was even bigger on this side.
KWA-AAAAANG!!!
"Kuhhaagh!!!"
He was blown back by the collision with that monstrous mass.
Because of the sudden impact, he lost his grip on the guy he had been holding.
He shook his head hard to clear the dizziness and opened his eyes wide.
He looked up at the sky and saw something enormous covered in purple, armor-like shell rising upward.
It was so huge he almost doubted whether it was truly a living creature.
A centipede monster that had to be at least kilometers long.
That was unquestionably dragon-level.
Absolutely.
That thing, which devastated everything around it just by moving, was clearly top-tier even among dragon-level monsters.
As its body began to rise in multiple places, he noticed heroes about to fall through the cracks in the ground.
He quickly accelerated his body far beyond the speed of sound, darting around and scooping up all the heroes.
Including the two martial artists and the three heroes he had knocked out earlier, he hoisted eight people onto his shoulders and leaped upward.
...The silver-haired guy who had been calling himself a monster was nowhere to be seen.
Not long after he started moving his gaze desperately, he happened to notice a single feather drifting above him and reflexively looked that way.
The bird monster was flying far away, carrying the silver-haired man.
...That was a speed I could still catch.
He wrapped psychic power around his whole body and floated into the air, just as he was about to fly after him.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAA!!!
"...Damn it."
He froze.
The place Elder Centipede was heading toward came into view.
If it kept going straight, it would reach the city soon.
There would definitely be massive casualties and property damage.
He could probably stop it... if he tried.
But even if he did.
At this rate, he would have no choice but to watch the bird monster kidnap that human.
He ran through tens of thousands of possibilities and the outcomes they would produce in his mind.
Impossible.
This wouldn’t work either.
That would be too late too.
Unless he could deal with that giant insect in one blow, there was no way he could handle both.
More than anything, his body was in no condition to fight.
At this rate, it would come down to one of two things: countless humans would die, or he would helplessly watch a human be kidnapped by a monster.
While he desperately tried to work his aching brain for a solution, a sudden beam of light flew in from somewhere and struck Elder Centipede head-on.
KWA-AAAAAAANG!!!
"...What is this?"
Just as his mind was about to grow even more tangled from the sudden variable, someone appeared in front of him.
"Monster hunter, leave this to me and go after that one."
"...You are..."
He remembered.
The blond cyborg who had been lying in the shelter where he had fought the Sea King.
"...Please."
...Did he have no choice but to trust him?
He thought it would be hard to stop that thing with the power he had shown when he seemed to have lost to the Sea King... no.
That powerful heat ray just now, and the fact that he was a cyborg, meant he must have been able to upgrade his parts.
Whether that would be enough against that destructive giant beast was questionable... but all he could do was hope he would pull through.
He set down the heroes he had carried to a spot some distance away and drew up his psychic power.
Feeling his body lift into the air with a fierce gust of wind, he took off.
Damn bird monster.
Today, no matter what it took, I’m turning you into chicken.
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