Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 72: Kill or Be Killed Before Dying

All the heroes are infected, and the one emitting the strongest wavelength unleashed a powerful telekinetic force.

A simple yet potent superpower — countless abilities rained down on me as I resisted the pressure coiling around my entire body.

So, this is the S-Class hero of D-City, the one who wields telekinesis to decisively subdue powerful monsters, claiming absolute offensive control.

While dodging the onslaught of abilities, I swiftly analyzed the tactics and traits of the D-City heroes and transformed to resist the telekinetic force.

Telekinesis against telekinesis — a white fox’s head with a deer’s antlers.

By counteracting with an opposing wavelength, I moved my body, and the S-Class hero, the host, burst a nosebleed.

The output of my ability surpassed his. The brain of the overloaded infected couldn’t handle it and let out a scream.

Among all the S-Class heroes I’d faced so far, the weakest one glared at me with bloodshot eyes, red tears streaming down his face as he laughed maniacally.

“Amazing, a different form? Have you finally succeeded in multi-synthesis?”

He reacted as if it was nothing, and at that moment, his output spiked to an abnormal degree.

The host’s power surged to the point that he was suddenly right beneath me, his ability emanating a grotesque wavelength.

Not a monster, not a superhuman — a dissonance between two conflicting wavelengths.

The telekinetic forces, now equal in output, tangled and ground against each other.

“In that case, is Blaccky’s form a type of Nightmare, or perhaps an Assassinator? And that formidable durability — °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° is it a Bulgasal? You can mix multiple monsters into a single form, can’t you?”

He felt no pain.

The moment I realized that through the scent of emotions, the host clapped his hands in admiration.

Several infected heroes nearby coupled with his telekinetic force.

Resonance of abilities — the now-amplified telekinesis overwhelmed my output.

“Grrr...!”

I opened space behind the host and teleported, swinging my claws.

However, the host reacted as if he had eyes on his back, blocking my attack.

It wasn’t that he perceived my movements with superhuman senses.

His rapid response came from the collective gaze of other heroes whose vision was being shared with him.

A characteristic of parasites — shared consciousness with nearby infected.

The host was both many and one.

I evaded the falling abilities, shifting my form into an amorphous monster.

My mist-like body was pierced by bullets of fire, ice, and steel.

“How many have you absorbed? How can one person contain so many monsters?”

In this form, telekinesis wouldn’t work effectively, but I also couldn’t attack properly.

I reformed my physical body outside the telekinesis range and slashed at the host’s arm with my claws.

Screech! His arm was severed in one strike, but he grabbed the severed limb with his telekinesis and seamlessly reattached it.

Parasites wriggled out like needles, stitching the wound together, his fingers wriggling freely as if to show off.

“You’re strong. Is it because you’re Number 111? Just from the core’s output alone, I can tell you’re a far superior model than I am.”

The host’s regeneration was far faster than Starlight’s — was that because of the parasites?

I heightened my senses and observed his body.

Inside him, the parasites wrapped around his heart, which served as a core, boosting his power output.

They replaced the destroyed flesh with their own bodies, surpassing the human limits.

[Graaaah!]

I scowled, disgusted by the grotesque symbiosis, and shrouded my entire body in crackling electricity.

If he could regenerate, then I’d kill him before he could.

KRA-KOOOM!

I shifted into Thunderfang’s form, and in an instant, became a bolt of lightning that pierced through the host’s body.

Even an S-Class hero’s body couldn’t withstand such a powerful ability without a specialized counter.

The host’s entire body was charred black.

The host plummeted to the ground, his smoking corpse crashing onto the remnants of the cathedral.

With the strongest infected hero out of the way, dealing with the rest was only a matter of time.

Or so I thought — until the moment the host, lying amidst the rubble, began to emit a stronger pulse from his core.

Thump... Thump... The pulse became more monstrous, and pale white worms crawled out from the debris, burrowing into the host’s body.

The parasites, now replacing his skin, organs, and even his eyeballs, kept pouring down, mimicking the human appearance that was now melting away.

“Aaah, ahhh... Ahem. Excuse me. Vocal cords are tricky, you know.”

Can he still be called an infected at this point?

Now, the parasites outnumbered the human cells in his body, and he stabilized his writhing, wave-like skin using telekinesis.

I stared at the increasingly less human host and spoke, contemplating how to deal with him.

[Is there any point in maintaining a human form anymore?]

“Unfortunately, I’m not such a convenient monster.”

[So without a human form, you can’t use human abilities, can you?]

“Oh my, you’ve figured out my weakness? You got me.”

Without any warning, the infected heroes once again unleashed their abilities as the host activated his telekinesis.

A massive barrage, a web of ice formed by freezing the surrounding water, covered the entire area.

A colossal sonic wave shattered the frozen net into tiny shards, and the host’s telekinesis grabbed me, preventing any escape.

But a mere B-Class or A-Class’s abilities couldn’t inflict real damage on me.

Even an S-Class hero’s abilities were at most on par with mine — as long as I counteracted his telekinesis, any damage I took would regenerate in a blink.

The host, realizing this, narrowed his eyes as a parasite wriggled beneath his eyelid.

“Hmmm... Impressive. You’re as durable as they said, far more so than an average Calamity-Class monster. In that case, forming the ring was pointless.”

It was impossible for D-City’s heroes to kill me.

The only way to land a real blow would be through resonance among multiple S-Class and B-Class heroes’ abilities.

The host and I were inherently incompatible.

He was just a persistent test subject, his output, traits, and durability all inferior to mine.

Yet for some reason, he remained calm, an air of confidence radiating from him.

“Hesitation always leads to mistakes... Such a pity, but it can’t be helped.”

The host let out a feigned sigh, his tone regretful.

And then, an ominous wavelength spread.

Wooooong...!

Infected bodies melted away, their liquefied remains forming acidic pools.

It was the venom released by parasites committing mass suicide.

The heroes in D-City disintegrated, their remains trickling down as the host’s core pulse grew stronger.

Neither human nor monster, the infected were neither truly alive nor dead.

Monsters grew stronger the more humans they devoured, and superhumans, in particular, served as special nourishment for monster cores.

The infected heroes, their bodies liquefied by the parasites, were absorbed by the host, strengthening the monster core.

The parasite core that hadn’t even been at Calamity-Class suddenly evolved to Shatter-Class in a flash.

“Now, is this enough to entertain you?”

The host activated his telekinesis again, and my telekinesis was gradually being pushed back.

Now, he was an S-Class superhuman and a Shatter-Class monster — a hybrid of human and monster.

Crrrk! The space in front of me twisted, and the host’s mouth twisted into a smile.

“Not enough, huh?”

Another pulse rang out, and infected citizens of D-City charged toward us, showing no signs of exhaustion.

As the infected neared the cathedral, their bodies liquefied into brown sludge.

The more the infected died near the cathedral, the closer the core pulse came to Disaster-Class.

A monster capable of consuming an entire city...

I twisted the space around me, trying to redirect his telekinesis, but the host smirked, amused by my tactics.

“Well, well... Shall we begin?”

And with that, the host soared into the sky, leaving me alone amidst the cathedral’s wreckage.

Just then, a pulse similar to before echoed in the distance.

Booooong.

The same sound that had preceded the mass suicide of the infected heroes.

“Grrrk...!”

The moment I heard that sound, I clenched my teeth and launched myself forward.

The simplest way to counter multiple abilities at once is to overpower them with sheer output.

Currently, that bastard’s monster core is at Disaster-Class level. If he absorbs more infected and reaches Despair-Class, matching my level, there will be no way to kill him.

I have to stop him before that happens.

However, the moment it takes for him to consume an infected is just an instant.

With just one pulse, he forces the parasites to commit suicide and devours the infected — a grotesque hunting method.

It seems impossible to stop that.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no way to counter it.

Instead of sending out another pulse, he chose to move, aiming to absorb more infected.

The infected, drawn to the cathedral by the pulse, only melted into brown sludge once they reached its vicinity.

Those beyond the pulse’s range remained alive and continued to move.

Which means...

He can only command the infected within his pulse’s range to die.

A monster must devour living humans alive to absorb nutrients.

A completely dead infected is just a rotting chunk of meat filled with parasites.

If I can kill the infected outside his range before he devours them...

I climbed atop the shattered cathedral’s bell tower, shifting into the most monstrous form I’d taken so far.

A predatory bird’s head capable of pinpointing targets from the highest skies, a tiger’s torso wielding lightning, the burning legs of a phoenix, a fox’s tail, and a body that rippled with black flames.

Here, there was no need to hold back my abilities.

I would kill every single human.

BOOOOM!

With a tremendous quake, my monster core, reacting to the murderous intent, resonated violently.

[ROOOAAARRRR!]

Unnaturally fast, dark clouds gathered over the skies of D-City, transforming into thunderclouds.

KRRRRRRK!

One by one, bolts of lightning crashed down amidst deafening roars, multiplying rapidly.

Pinpointing the horde of infected visible in my line of sight, the falling lightning struck down dozens, then hundreds, burning them to ashes in an instant.

The infected, delirious from the hallucinations, mistook an open clearing for a shelter and gathered there, only to be obliterated by a single lightning strike.

Above them, a rain of fire fell, incinerating every last parasite crawling out of the corpses.

An overwhelming barrage — the kind that could devastate an entire district in mere seconds.

From afar, I sensed the desperate approach of an S-Class superhuman.