## Chapter 21 – A Hero of Justice, or a Villain Consumed by Pleasure? (1)
As a shallow darkness settles and people’s productive activities momentarily cease,
the evening’s bustling streets come alive with delicious meals and entertainment to relieve the fatigue of labor.
This street, which should have been a lively place filled with laughter,
invariably saw movements that threatened to endanger citizens once again.
“GRAAAAAAAAH!!!”
A hulking man with a physique several times that of an ordinary person.
With no particular weapon in hand, the man, clad only in a white shirt and leather pants,
suddenly appeared in the bustling street and began attacking people.
“KYAAAAAAAH!! It’s a monster!!”
“What’s going on!! AAAAAH!!”
A form closer to a beast than a human, and the monstrous power emanating from within.
And a deafening roar that seemed to flaunt that power.
“Grrr… Grrrr… GRAAAAAAAAH!!!!”
– KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!!!!
– Screeeeeech… KWOOOOOONG…!
The massive villain indiscriminately destroyed everything from pubs and barbecue restaurants where people gathered in groups,
to stores displaying and selling numerous luxury brands.
The overgrown and grotesque muscles were enough to collapse the outer walls of a four-story building with sheer brute force.
“That’s far enough! Stop your destructive activities!”
Just three minutes after he appeared on the street and began destroying buildings.
A touch-and-go situation as he completely destroyed a four-story building and looked for his next target.
A voice filled with clarity and great confidence.
With her orange hair fluttering, A-class hero Ignition confidently shouted in front of the villain.
“Krrr… Grrrr… GRAAAAAAAH!!!”
“Huh?! This guy… he doesn’t listen to people!”
The villain, closer to a beast than a human, merely let out a growling roar,
and there seemed little chance that he would respond to her cry.
“In that case! I’ll have to use a method that suits a beast, right?”
“Grrrr…”
– Whooooooshㅡ
Enveloping her legs in flames and causing them to explode,
she uses the resulting propulsion to leap high into the air.
“HAAAAAAAH!!”
Then, stretching both legs straight towards the villain,
she creates a massive explosion at the tips of her palms and slams down.
– KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!!!
“Grrrr… GRAAAAAAAH!!!!”
The villain is pained by Ignition’s kick that landed squarely on his right shoulder.
However, even with such a powerful attack that generated an earth-shattering explosion,
he only suffered minor injuries.
‘Is it difficult with direct strikes…?’
Although a considerable amount of blood gushed out from the small wound,
it didn’t seem to be a fatal blow that would bring the villain down.
Ignition watched the villain, who was howling in pain like an angry bull,
and thought of another plan to defeat him.
‘That guy’s body… something’s wrong. Could that be…?’
She carefully observed the villain and noticed several strange things.
Numerous surgical scars and needle marks visible on the surface of the monster’s skin.
And the color of the blood flowing from the wound was closer to purple than red.
It reminded her of a major social problem that had been occurring for about ten years.
“Grrrr… GRAAAAAAAH…”
People who have been transformed into monsters by abnormally enlarging their muscles and skeletons using illegally manufactured special drugs or mechanical devices.
Some evil organizations with huge capital and technology have created ‘monsters’ with tremendous destructive power from just a single individual through numerous experiments.
The destructive power of the monsters was not at a level that heroes could not handle,
but the problem was that they were getting stronger day by day.
In addition, these monsters may be henchmen of their organization,
but there are also many cases where innocent citizens are used as test subjects.
In other words, the monster standing in front of Ignition may be an innocent citizen.
“Grrrr…! Ugh… UGHHHHHHH…!”
The wound on the monster’s shoulder widened as purple blood gushed out,
and a pungent odor spread from the purple puddle on the street.
Fortunately, almost all the citizens in the street had evacuated to a distant place,
but Ignition sensed something strange.
In contrast to the fact that the monster’s behavior, which had been in a frenzy, was gradually calming down,
his body was slowly swelling up despite bleeding profusely.
‘No… way!’
And the moment Ignition noticed it and tried to deal with it.
– FWOOOOOOOOOOSHㅡ
The monster, who appeared to be in an unstable state, suddenly exploded with a roar.
“Ugh… UGHHHHHHH!!!”
The blast pressure was transmitted even to Ignition, who was standing some distance away,
and after the explosion, only a purple puddle and the wreckage of the destroyed building remained.
‘I’m sure. This is a self-destructing monster that has recently started appearing.’
As the name self-destructing monster suggests, it blew away all the surrounding buildings and structures,
leaving only thick smoke in its place without leaving a single piece of flesh.
Fortunately, no casualties occurred, so Ignition breathed a sigh of relief,
but one uncomfortable thing remained in her mind.
The fact that the monster may have been an ordinary citizen.
Female Yoon Do-hwa had already become a loyal henchman of the villain Dominator,
and her current heroic activities were also maintained under his orders.
However, the righteous heart of a hero still remained in her mind.
Although her identity as a sex slave and spy villain had taken hold due to cognitive modification,
the sense of justice that had not been completely erased made her uncomfortable.
‘Right. This is… just a job. It’s just part of what Dominator-nim ordered.’
This is just part of the process of carrying out orders.
She turned away from the self that would have been tormented by the unfortunate feeling even while defeating him in the past.
[ Hero Ignition. Villain suppression completed in the downtown area of S City. ]
[ Situation ended due to self-destruction of the villain, presumed to be an explosive monster. ]
[ Requesting prompt follow-up support. ]
***
“Haaa…! I’m tired.”
“Dohwa Unni! Are you back from work?”
Dohwa, who returned to the hideout while stretching as if she was tired.
Jiwoo was humming and sweeping the dust inside the hideout.
“You’re back?”
“Master!”
Siyoon, who was sitting on the sofa and looking at her cell phone, also greeted her.
“You look tired. Were you busy today?”
“Yes… The frequency of monster appearances has increased recently, so…”
“A mon… ster?”
Siyoon seemed to be hearing about the existence of monsters for the first time.
“They are a type of experimental subject created by some villain organizations using illegal drugs or devices.
The problem is… the test subjects may be innocent citizens.”
“Hmm. If we had the manufacturing technology and facilities, it could be quite helpful.
But is it still a long way off for us?”
Setting aside the fact that innocent citizens may be sacrificed,
Siyoon is only considering the efficiency of monster operation.
It is a natural way of thinking for him, who is a thorough villain,
but Dohwa could not hide her embarrassment at his attitude.
“It’s terrible. The monster I defeated… may have been a citizen.”
“To conduct such experiments on innocent citizens… the risk is too great.”
The embarrassment she felt a few hours ago.
She was clearly working as a spy for a villain organization as a hero,
but for some reason, the righteous mission to protect citizens shook her mind.
‘How… can he think like that…?’
Dohwa inadvertently became disappointed and suspicious of her master.
The righteous heart of a hero that was deeply rooted in Dohwa’s heart,
and the lewd spy’s heart that was covered by cognitive modification were clashing.
‘Who… am I…? I… I am…’
“What’s wrong, Unni? You don’t look good…”
“That’s right. Did you get hurt somewhere?”
Jiwoo and Siyoon were worried about Dohwa’s confused expression.
“No! I’m just… tired. Is it okay if I go in and rest first?”
“Well… okay.”
Dohwa tried to smile at the two as if nothing was wrong,
and went into the room with the large bed and lay down for a while.
“I wonder if something really happened to Dohwa Unni, Master?”
“Hmm…”
Siyoon could vaguely tell by looking at Dohwa’s expression.
That expression did not indicate negative emotions caused by fatigue or pain,
but rather psychological anxiety and confusion.
‘Could the command be lifted for another reason, or the engraving be erased…?’
Clearly, his command to the engraved subject was absolute.
Moreover, the targets he had cognitively modified were not ordinary people,
but two A-class heroes who could be said to be the top forces of the Hero Alliance.
[ Status: Engraving Stage 2 (Subjugation 100%) ]
According to the display Siyoon was looking at,
it was certain that the engraving on Dohwa had not been erased.
Even her engraving subjugation was 100%.
It was time for the next stage of evolution to take place.
‘Perhaps… there are conditions for the engraving to evolve to the next stage…?’
