#184 Madness (2)
'The skull... it's smiling...!'
As the corner of the skull's mouth in what she thought was just a drawing curved upward, Dark Lady involuntarily took a step back.
'No, no.'
She blinked and looked again. The skull drawing wasn't smiling. It was just as emotionless as when she'd first seen it, nothing more than a blank skull.
So why had she thought the skull was smiling?
"Look here. See my finger?"
Steel Armor extended his index finger straight out, showing it to Dark Lady and the assassin squad villains.
"I'm gonna show you a magic trick where this finger disappears."
Though hopelessly outnumbered, Steel Armor strode boldly toward Dark Lady without hesitation.
"...Go kill him."
At Dark Lady's command, the villains behind her sprang into action, each fulfilling their roles. Those who boosted physical abilities surged forward to confront Steel Armor head-on, while the ambush specialists scaled walls and ceilings, flanking him from the sides and rear.
In an instant, he was surrounded, but he kept walking straight toward Dark Lady ahead—his right index finger still rigidly extended.
Two villains attacked from his sides. The one on the left aimed for his legs, the one on the right for his head.
Steel Armor neither defended nor dodged, even as the blows landed. He knew full well how tough his body was.
"Kuh!"
As expected, the attacks didn't faze him in the slightest. Instead, the villains who'd struck him recoiled in pain.
Puk!
"Guhhh!"
The villain on the right let out a agonized groan. Steel Armor's right hand clung to his shoulder like a magnet.
"Ta-da~"
And Steel Armor quipped,
"See? Can't see it, right? My finger's gone! That's the disappearing finger trick~ Pretty amazing, huh?"
"You mad bastard..."
The fierce battle erupted.
*****
Steel Armor wasn't the only one facing off against enemies.
"Didn't expect such a warm welcome. What do you think, Gumiho?"
"Indeed, sir."
As the elevator doors slid open, Hardboiled shrugged at the sight of the villains waiting for them. Though surrounded, neither he nor his companion showed a hint of tension.
"Malius, Talion, Cyré... Lots of familiar faces."
Hardboiled scanned the villains arrayed before him with a smile. They were all infamous to some degree—and subordinates of one particular man.
"And even Demon Baron is here?"
"It's been a while."
A man emerged from the pack of villains, his massive build rivaling Steel Armor's. His face evoked a beautiful youth, mismatched with his hulking frame—the S-rank villain, Demon Baron.
"President Valencia. Or should I call you Hardboiled?"
"Right now, I'm not here as Hero Association president. I'm just a grandpa hero rescuing his granddaughter, so call me Hardboiled."
"Understood, Hardboiled."
"..."
Hardboiled frowned at the polite bow from his enemy. This wasn't the Demon Baron he remembered.
"As I recall, you weren't the courteous type... Am I getting senile and forgetting?"
"Merely showing respect to a 'retired' hero."
"Retired hero, eh... Fair point. You're surprisingly well-mannered."
Demon Baron had emphasized "retired," and Hardboiled finally caught the implication: retirement meant less field experience, dulled superpowers—you're no match for me now.
Superpowers weakened without use, just like muscles atrophied from disuse. Hardboiled, once dubbed the Villain Crusher, had been retired for over a decade. Demon Baron, meanwhile, had never stepped away.
"But I've got a question."
"Ask away."
"Are you really human?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know your exact age, but you've been around my era, so you should be over sixty by now... Why haven't you aged a day?"
Demon Baron was an S-rank villain from Hardboiled's generation. Yet his face could pass for a teenager's—unchanged for decades. One had to wonder if he was truly human.
"Who knows? Maybe a demon's blessing. Or my superpower."
"...Whatever. One more thing."
Hardboiled's expression hardened.
"Why kidnap my granddaughter?"
"Your granddaughter was kidnapped? Shocking. But why look for her here?"
"Because the so-called Shadow Killer who took her is hiding here."
"We know nothing about that. And..."
Demon Baron's face grew icy.
"I can't pass up a chance to weaken the Hero Association."
Krriiiind!
Demon Baron's body began to expand. His knees bent unnaturally into reverse joints, bat wings riddled with holes sprouted from his back. Black bone pierced through his right elbow, sharpening into a spear-like point; his blackened fingers elongated into thorns.
The finale was his eyes. The whites turned black, the pupils white, with an inverted pentagram at the center. Those grotesque eyes brimmed with murderous intent.
"I'll show you old men don't die easy."
Viiiing!
Demon Baron had transformed into a sight that would terrify anyone, but Hardboiled only smiled. He activated the massive gloves on his hands. Machinery whirred to life, emitting red light. The temperature around him began to climb.
20°C, 30°C, 40°C, 50°C... It kept rising relentlessly. Heat haze shimmered around the gloves. The air scorched like a desert, yet Hardboiled didn't break a sweat. This was his ideal stage.
"May the deceased rest in peace."
"Hand over my granddaughter, you villain scum!"
Boom!
Demon Baron and Hardboiled clashed.
*****
Two monitors displayed live feeds of different battles. The right one showed Steel Armor fighting Dark Lady and her assassin squad. The left featured Hardboiled against Demon Baron, and Gumiho battling his minions.
"Kuhuhu... Things are getting interesting."
Watching it all, the kidnapper—Dr. Krumolla—let out a grotesque chuckle.
He'd abducted Isabela to bait the Hero Association. With the president's granddaughter taken, the whole organization would mobilize, letting him snag his desired test subject: Shadow Killer.
But it hadn't gone as planned. Only President Valencia and his secretary Gumiho had followed his hint here—not the full association.
A former S-rank and A-rank hero pair was formidable, true. But Shadow Killer's minions lurked here, including the S-rank Demon Baron. Those two couldn't divert enough attention.
Yet the issue resolved itself from an unexpected quarter.
"Who'd have thought you were Steel Armor's daughter... Lucky break."
"Uncle..."
Rachel teared up watching Steel Armor—as the raid boss—face the assassin squad. He'd come to save her again. And he'd called her his daughter.
What she'd longed for had come true.
'I want to call him... Daddy.'
If she met Steel Armor, she'd say the word she'd never uttered—born without a father.
*****
"Hohohohoho~! What are you attacking? That's just my afterimage!"
"Kuh! Shut your... mouth!"
"Ohohohohong~! It's my mouth talking, so why tell me to shut it? That's my freedom!"
"Raaargh!"
The villain swinging a corkscrew-twisted spear bellowed in rage. They were the assassin squad, built to kill S-rank heroes and villains—hence their silent combat style, even in battle.
Silence was proper, sure, but boring. I'd been grinding their nerves, and some finally snapped, opening their mouths to vent fury.
"Grrraaah! Shut up! Why scream like that? Why make my tongue shrivel?!"
The corkscrew villain's roar wilted my tongue. Words faltered. Revenge time.
"Make your tongue shrivel!"
"Guhk?!"
I lunged, pried his jaws open, and yanked out his tongue. Waving it, I mimicked his voice in a one-man show.
"Hi, Screwbar Villain? It's your tongue! Nice to meet ya! Your rotten breath was vibrating so bad, I thought I was dying! So I decided to run away? Bye-bye~ I'm flying awaaay~!"
"Gack?!"
I hurled the tongue sideways, nailing a stealthy approaching villain right in the heart.
"Kyaa! Tongue-raping your heart~!"
"That crazy..."
Dark Lady's voice echoed from afar. Right—she'd been stalling me earlier.
"Oh my! Aren't you Dark Lady? I've missed you so much!"
"D-don't come closer!"
"Aww~ Why noooot~?"
"S-Steel Armor... is a homo...!"
"...Homo? That fucking bitch."
How obsessed am I with women? I can't even sleep without one lately! I love women—madly, insanely!
"Poke! Poke! Poke! Poke!"
Approaching Dark Lady slowly, I jammed fingers into charging villains' bodies.
"Stab! Stab! Rambo! Stab!"
Legs swung wildly too. My surroundings filled with bleeding, collapsing villains.
But no kills yet—they kept rising, clutching my ankles. What? Now I'm the bad guy?
Wait—I'm a villain. Duh.
"Guess no choice then."
Truth was, I hadn't killed a single one. No-Kill Rule still on.
But thinking it over, unleashing madness with No-Kill Rule on was nonsense. True madness meant showing the real insanity inside.
Half-assed like this? They'd think, "Oh, that bastard's just acting crazy."
Go big or go home.
"No-Kill Rule OFF."
The rule deactivated. I spread my palms wide, raised my hands high, and bellowed,
"Earthlings! Lend me your power!"
"Wh-what?!"
"Ugh?!"
Poke-holed villains floated into the air.
Clang!
"Kk!"
"Cough!"
The airborne villains magnetized, slamming together. They thrashed to escape but couldn't.
Clang! Clang-clang!
"Guhk?!"
"Ughhh... C-can't... breathe..."
"N-no more..."
The human magnet cluster swelled with each addition.
Eventually, all villains balled into a giant, spherical clump.
"...!"
Dark Lady stared in disbelief, unable to accept the scene.
"Dark Lady!"
"Wh-what the hell is... this..."
Crunch!
Kraaaah!
With a gruesome sound, the human magnet ball compressed. The core ones probably suffocated or were crushed.
"Look into my eyes!"
Crunch!
Aaaaagh!
It compressed again. Screams intensified.
"You're getting happy!"
Crack!
Kuuuh!
Screams weakened. Few left alive.
"Call out to Steel Armor! You're getting happy!"
Kwahd!
The massive ball's final compression ended. It shrank to soccer-ball size, dropping into my hand.
"Don't hesitate—right now!"
"..."
Dark Lady gawked blankly.
Oh right—my sleazy rotten-ball buddy's mixed in there too?!
Sob! Buddy! You wanted to be a ball, and now you are! I'll never forget you! But... what was your name?