Pheromone Monster

Noecheonryu — Lightning Flash.

A crimson trail of light tore into Chad's massive frame. The blade carved through the knotted, ridged hide of his Drake form. Blood sprayed, but the wound was too shallow to call fatal.

"Haha. Doesn't matter if you're wearing armor."

Chad's enormous right fist came flying. I raised my left hand and caught it. The impact alone sent a shockwave outward in every direction, cracking the asphalt under our feet.

I clenched my teeth inside the helmet. Without Stormbreaker, that punch would have launched me clean off the ground.

I held my ground and focused. Drawing on the same sensation as when my other self in the Dark Moon world used telekinesis, I seized the four swords floating behind me with magnetic force.

All four blades shot into the air at once. They spun, hunting for an opening, then dropped on Chad together in a storm of red lightning.

The sword that struck his back bounced off with a dull, heavy clang — a Drake's hide was hardest along the spine. The blades aimed at his left arm and thigh bit in a little. The last one went for his throat, but Chad twisted his head and slipped past it.

…So the neck is the weak point?

Chad tensed. The swords lodged in his arm and thigh were forced out and flung aside.

"Execution time!"

He sounded like he was having the time of his life.

His head began to mutate. It warped like slime dropped in water, swelling until it became a Drake's skull — something uncomfortably close to a carnivorous dinosaur. The jaws yawned open. Those jagged teeth alone were enough to plant a lifelong trauma in any kid who still thought dinosaurs were cool.

I threw myself backward and barely cleared the attack.

Crack.

The four swords tumbling across the pavement answered my will and rose into the sky. Thunder filled the heavens.

Fall.

The four blades became red thunderbolts and plummeted as one. They weren't aiming for Chad's throat this time. Each sword claimed a cardinal point around him.

"Huh? What the hell are you playing at?!"

Chad's dinosaur head went rigid. Instinct, maybe, or raw animal sense — he understood how dangerous Thunder Roar was. He tried to get clear in a hurry.

Gale Rush layered with Acceleration.

It couldn't touch Charna, but it was still blisteringly fast. I closed the distance in a blur.

"Where do you think you're going, lizard?"

"…I'll give you this much — you've got a trump card of your own. But even the strongest attack is worthless if it never lands."

The instant he tried to sidestep, I charged him head-on. My target was his throat. He bared his teeth and counterattacked, clearly planning to drop me or knock me flying before he escaped the cage.

But I had a read on how he fought by now. And Stormbreaker, for pure defense, was second to almost nothing. Tanking him was trivial. More importantly—

Crackle-crackle-CRACK!

The lightning resonating between the four swords was growing stronger by the second, carving into him. Even that proud Drake hide was starting to scorch. The vortex of electricity was slowly taking him apart.

I, on the other hand, was fine. Between ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Lightning attribute and Noecheonryu, I was all but immune to electricity. I didn't know where the upper limit sat, but it was a long way past whatever this overgrown gecko could throw at me.

We stayed locked in close combat. Every one of Chad's bestial strikes was a threat. His palm crumpled Stormbreaker's shoulder plate; the shock from his fists sank all the way into my bones.

I held.

In a minute of pure brawling, I neither went down nor took a critical hit.

Crackle-crackle-CRACK!

Chad's body was coming apart by degrees. Blood that left his wounds evaporated in the red lightning before it ever touched the ground.

"GAAAAAAAH!"

He screamed — a raw, hideous sound — and tried to claw his way out of the electric storm.

"Not a chance."

I caught his thrashing tail. With the lightning dismantling him from the inside, he no longer had the overwhelming strength from before.

I slammed him into the pavement, mounted him, and started driving my fists into his skull as the mutation began to unwind.

Thud! Thud-thud!

I kept hammering him for a while, then felt Thunder Roar nearing its limit and backed off.

The crimson vortex compressed to a single point — and detonated.

A massive crater opened in the street. At its center, Chad Lovell was gone. Not even a scrap of him remained.

I let out a breath, left the stunned New Yorkers behind me, and headed for the hotel.

Someone must have been watching the whole thing. The elevator doors opened and I came face-to-face with Jack Taylor on his way down.

He was a solidly built man with short brown hair cut clean and neat, wearing a suit under a gray coat. Smart. Soft-edged. Approachable.

"Pleasure to meet you, Jupiter. Blue Cad filled me in. I'm grateful for your help — though I can't say that officially."

"I understand."

People liked to call me a dark hero. I was still a criminal.

"I won't forget what you've done."

Jack Taylor walked past me and out of the hotel. Spotlights found him at once. My part was finished. I took the emergency stairs — no cameras — and tore a spatial transfer scroll.

I met Sophia. Joy and sorrow shared the same space on her face. The sorrow was easy enough to read: she already knew we would have to part.

"Thank you. Because of you, America's future is safe."

"Sophia. Will you let me have you again tonight?"

"When you put it like that, how am I supposed to say no?"

We spent the night in combat sex.

I planned to use Information Erasure to scrub my presence clean and go home to Korea. Jupiter would vanish from the record, and I would slip back into ordinary life.

Sophia and I sat naked on the bed, watching the computer monitor. Jack Taylor's press conference was being broadcast live.

The world had already pieced together Juji Boshi's corruption from Jupiter's trail of bodies — because Jupiter had only ever executed criminals tied to the president. What they needed now was the decisive blow that would bring Boshi down. Jack Taylor was supposed to deliver it.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Recently, Jupiter murdered eleven criminals and the S-Class hunter Chad Lovell. Those eleven were vicious offenders, and Chad Lovell was an S-Class hunter of poor character. That does not mean they deserved to die at Jupiter's hands. Jupiter is simply a criminal with power. He ignored the authority of the state. He ignored America itself and carried out private justice. Jupiter is nothing more than a criminal."

The air in the room went cold.

Sophia gripped the edge of the mattress and started to shake. I stared at Jack Taylor on the screen.

"It has been speculated that all eleven of the criminals Jupiter killed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were connected to President Juji Boshi — but is that actually true? It is only speculation. There is no evidence. Sophia Mayvers's articles? Those pieces are years old. They never offered proof; they only raised suspicions. I spoke with Sophia myself. I asked her whether she had hard evidence. She told me she did not."

"Aaaah!"

Sophia screamed. Before she could throw a punch at the monitor, I lunged and wrapped my arms around her from behind.

"Calm down! Sophia!"

"How…! How could he—! Jack Taylor…!!!"

"I stake my name on this statement. Boshi is innocent. The so-called evidence circulating online of collusion between Boshi and those criminals is entirely fabricated — so flimsy it is embarrassing to call it evidence at all. I will say it again. Boshi is innocent."

This was the moment Jack Taylor was supposed to turn on Boshi and present the proof. Other politicians were supposed to fall in behind him. This was supposed to be the first crack that brought Juji Boshi down.

"My fellow citizens. I, and the New America Party with me, stand with President Juji Boshi. Boshi will make America greater still."

"This can't be…."

The strength drained out of Sophia's body. I sat her on the bed and sank into thought.

Was Jack Taylor on Boshi's side from the start?

No. If he had been, there would have been no reason to use Blue Cad.

Something happened while he was detained at the hotel. A deal with Boshi… or a threat.

The Jack Taylor on the monitor did not look like a man under duress. His eyes were full of conviction. So were the eyes of the politicians standing with him.

Can a person change this completely overnight?

One possibility surfaced.

Mind control.

But these were American politicians. The most powerful nation on earth. Would American politicians really have no countermeasures against mental manipulation?

Something else slid through my mind.

The Gwangwon Sect.

And their remnant — Bill Hyton.

The Gwangwon Sect. If those bastards used power from another world… it's possible.

They had always specialized in bizarre methods of brainwashing people. Twisting a politician's mind wouldn't be out of character.

They didn't brainwash indiscriminately — they focused on American politicians. That means there must be conditions attached to the brainwashing itself.

The Gwangwon Sect.

Just thinking about them made my irritation spike.

I got off the bed and started getting dressed. I didn't like Boshi. I didn't like the Gwangwon Sect either. I couldn't leave it like this. If I wanted to sleep with my legs stretched out, I was going to have to feed those bastards a loss myself.

"…Where are you going?"

"To finish Boshi. Someone has to save America."

"You're going to kill him? That's impossible. The thirty bodyguards protecting him right now are all A-Class ability users."

"I don't plan to kill him. Like you said, that would be impossible. But there is a way to drag him out of the presidency. I'll be back."