“Just leave the head, okay?”

“……What kind of nonsense is that?”

Myu, hearing Eight’s words, thought he was joking. If not, then he was probably just trying to act tough. Usually, such posturing disappears once faced with reality. He signaled to his subordinates, who were waiting for orders, and they immediately approached Levi-tan, starting to stab her.

As sharp blades pierced her body repeatedly, Levi-tan clenched her teeth and endured the pain. She didn’t let out a single sound. It wasn’t that she wasn’t in pain or hadn’t undergone training related to it; she was just embarrassed about the situation.

Bringing her trusted allies into a dangerous area and betraying them, even if it wasn’t her choice. The situation was absurdly humiliating.

Pook–!

The beastmen, watching her endure without a single scream, were astonished. They turned back to Myu and inquired.

“She hasn’t screamed even once! What should we do?”

“……What’s there to ask about? Clueless beasts.”

After scolding his subordinates, Myu snatched the dagger from one of them and pressed it against Levi-tan’s eyelids. Couldn’t she endure this, though? Finally, she let out a weak scream.

“Uuh, uuhh….”

“─Mr. Eight, you asked us to leave the head, right? What should we do now? If you don’t come out, the head might just go away, you know.”

As he said that, Myu began to twist the handle. Levi-tan’s faint screams grew louder. Eight couldn’t help but grimace at the sight. After all, it’s human nature to wince at moments of gore, even when one knows it’s fictional.

How could he remain calm with a comrade suffering right in front of him?

“……Eight, don’t come out.”

“I know. I won’t, but…”

“But what? What do you think you can do?”

Bira seemed to read Eight’s thoughts and grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Even without her intervention, he wouldn’t have moved.

However, how long could they keep this up? Was there any guarantee they wouldn’t just kill Levi-tan?

Look at how Levi-tan was suffering. It was clear her betrayal wasn’t her will. This meant she had to be threatened or brainwashed….

Then the cost of that betrayal wouldn’t be paid immediately, but later. So it made sense to return to headquarters to figure things out first.

“Bira, how far is it to headquarters from here?”

“Hundreds of kilometers at least… Why do you ask?”

“No, I guess that means expecting help to arrive quickly is out of the question.”

Bira nodded in agreement. Did that mean the heroes in Z City might come to rescue them? However, even that seemed impossible.

This Z City was known as the villains’ city. It’s a slum where even the police don’t do their jobs. They dabbled in the underworld and engaged in illegal activities. Sure, there was plenty of money, but it wasn’t a nice place to live.

In City E, Beastmen faced racial discrimination, but here, they were everywhere, and not a single human who discriminated against them could be seen.

“No reinforcements can come in, no heroes around… We are really in deep trouble here, aren’t we? Bira.”

“I told you not to provoke them earlier…!”

“Yeah, I guess I shouldn’t have provoked them, huh…?”

As Eight regretted his earlier words, Levi-tan, gasping from the knife wounds, shouted.

“─Bira! Don’t you dare unleash your powers! Got it?!”

“Get that girl to make the animals come this way!”

“Gyaah—!”

With a light moan, Levi-tan grinned. She felt she was going to die. To be precise, her body would live, but her mind and spirit would likely perish.

After escaping the laboratory in Z City, her suppressed bio-entities began to awaken slowly. The powers sealed by Regalia’s royal decree were.

─”You will only use this power ‘for your comrades’ from now on.”

She couldn’t use her abilities for herself, no matter what. But for her comrades, even using it for the simplest things was allowed.

Of course, she hadn’t thought she would ever utilize it…….

“Yes. Your lives are worth more than mine.”

Thinking this, Levi-tan unleashed her rampaging bio-entities. The released energy began devouring her body, causing it to grow explosively, the effects becoming visible almost instantly.

The chains holding her to the cross snapped apart abruptly. Levi-tan’s body, once an ordinary woman, transformed into a muscular physique, even engulfing the cross.

“What the….”

Myu swallowed his breath at the sight. The transformed Levi-tan bore a striking resemblance to the being he knew.

The L-series.

The failed products of the Leviathan project.

He had thought the laboratory had been closed after the rampage of these failures, how could that be?

“Successful specimens?”

That couldn’t be. Yet, Myu wasn’t stubborn enough to deny something that had already happened. The rampaging Leviathan was an existence that couldn’t be stopped. An uncontrollable bomb. A deity of destruction that annihilated all.

Adjusting his glasses, Myu ordered his subordinates.

“─Retreat. Move away from here as fast as you can.”

“Eh? Boss? But…”

“In front of that monster, no one will survive. Those two will probably run away soon enough. We’ll maintain our perimeter from a distance and catch whatever runs. Staying here means a certain death.”

With that, Myu and his Beastmen bolted, their superior physical abilities enabling them to disappear in an instant.

As the last of the Beastmen left, the now-transformed Levi-tan eyed Eight and Bira, drooling all over the place. The desert where her drool fell began to melt and sizzle.

“……Bira? Do you think we can hold out against that?”

“Um… I guess we’ll have to see. Probably can’t last long….”

KWAaAAANG–!

Levi-tan’s fist crashed down on the barrier, causing it to tremble violently. Witnessing this, Bira broke into a light sweat as she stared at Levi-tan.

The once-reasonable woman now seemed monstrous, drooling and glaring hungrily at them. It was best to throw away any hope of her regaining her senses and protecting them.

“Can’t hold it?”

“I can hold it…!”

“Truthfully speaking?”

“……I don’t think we can last more than 30 minutes.”

“Understood.”

Hearing that, Eight shrugged off Bira’s grip and stepped out of the barrier. Bira, startled, tried to pull him back, but Eight assured her it was okay.

Once outside the barrier, Eight fiddled with his smartphone.

“Oh, finally getting a signal.”

The barrier must have blocked all types of signal interference. He hadn’t been able to use his smartphone inside the barrier. Now, confirming his phone was operational, Eight sent out a plea for assistance to headquarters, then activated a program he had prepared in advance.

To be honest, he wasn’t sure if the program would work, as he’d only learned about programming in elective courses… But given the life-or-death situation, he needed to try something.

【Hacking military satellite… Complete】

Hundreds, if not thousands, of satellites hovered above. Among them, a few military satellites conveniently passed overhead. Hacking into those satellites, he planned to utilize them.

“Of course, I can’t hide that I used them….”

But what could he do? He couldn’t just sit back and wait for death.

As Eight thought this, Levi-tan, spotting an unprotected human, reached out a hand.

Just as her monstrous claws were about to grip Eight’s body, a beam of pure white light descended from the sky, melting Levi-tan’s hand away.

─Kuu, OOOOOoo–!

“Oh, must hurt like hell, huh.”

─KrahyaaAaan–!

“Don’t worry, I’ll fix you up.”

Ziiiiiing–!

Another beam of light scorched Levi-tan’s other hand. In an instant, she lost both arms, shrieking wildly as she thrashed about.

Even as the earth trembled like an earthquake, Eight watched her without a hint of flinching.

“Just hang in there for now.”

A moment later, dozens of beams of light struck the ground.

“─Scientist!”

Hearing Eight’s call for help, Aile, riding the Witchcraft, rushed directly to the desolate scene where Eight sat surrounded by a wrecked desert and an unrecognizable creature.

Seeing her flying in, Eight waved to welcome her. If she had arrived in that Witchcraft, they could swiftly escape from here.

“Y-you came quickly, Aile.”

“You called the scientist. Of course, I would… But what exactly is that?”

“This? Levi-tan.”

“……What? You’re kidding, right?”

“It’s Levi-tan, I swear.”

Aile squinted at Eight in disbelief. How on earth did that scrappy thing become Levi-tan? It would sound more credible if he said it was a butchered pig being bludgeoned.

However, since making jokes at this point wouldn’t yield any results, Aile rolled with it. Honestly, it was a bit much to keep staring at that meat chunk.

“……Fine, let’s hurry back to headquarters. The Boss is still worried, you know?”

“Yeah. Let’s go. We have a lot to discuss.”

With that, Eight jumped into the Witchcraft alongside Aile, flying away. The Beastmen of Omega Industry, who had been waiting for Eight to emerge, stood like stunned ducks watching them flee.

Upon arriving safely at headquarters, Eight immediately placed Levi-tan in his lab and then headed to the chairman’s office. Upon entering, he found Regalia waiting, enveloped in a fuming rage.

Though the fury came from a young girl, it was no joking matter. Quite the opposite. This was the first time Eight realized the extent of her rage.

“─Yes. We were attacked by Omega.”

“Right. During that time, Levi-tan did betray us… However, it didn’t seem intentional. I’ll deal with it once I’ve treated her.”

“After kidnapping you, they even tortured Levi-tan?”

“I wasn’t hurt, though.”

“Ha ha, I see. So that’s how it is, huh?”

Seeing Regalia burst into laughter, Eight wondered if her anger had subsided, but it hadn’t. They say when someone is too angry, they become calmer instead.

That seemed to be the case with Regalia.

She promptly picked up the phone and started calling someone. After giving instructions to whoever was on the other end, Regalia hung up and muttered in a low voice.

“─I’ll make sure her subordinates know what it means to mess with an evil organization. Scientist? You prioritize treating Levi-tan.”

“Yes, understood. Boss.”

“Well, off you go then. Heh heh, how dare those beasts disturb me…?”

With that ominous laughter echoing in the background, Eight returned to his lab. Levi-tan’s body was gradually healing as she lay soaked in a treatment solution.

Yet he had no intention to let her recover like that. Remembering her actions and Myu’s words, it was clear she was merely an experiment of some lab. As long as she remained a test subject, she would never escape her life as a slave.

“Gene-based treatment… This might be a bit tough.”

But.

All of this was for the sake of his comrades.

With that thought, Eight raised his scalpel.

*

“─You failed?”

“I’m sorry, Boss.”

Omega, the CEO of Omega Industry and ruler of Z City, grimaced as he listened to Myu’s report. How could one possibly manage to fail?

The amount he had offered was not something an ordinary researcher would refuse. Even if they failed to scout him, he’d ordered them to ensure by any means necessary that they bring that scientist back.

And now they had audaciously failed to execute his commands? This was unthinkable, a direct rebellion against him.

However, after hearing the follow-up to Myu’s report, Omega couldn’t entirely dismiss the failure.

“We did successfully kidnap him to Z City, but a successful specimen from the L-series unexpectedly showed up…”

“……A successful specimen from the L-series?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Could it be that it actually succeeded? Well, it can’t be helped then.”

Learning that a successful specimen from the L-series had appeared forced Omega to excuse Myu’s failure. The joy of hearing that something previously thought lost had resurfaced was enough to quelch the fury from Myu’s blunders.

Coughing a few times to clear his throat, Omega furrowed his brow and warned Myu to avoid failure next time.

“Now that we’ve already failed once, the security should be even tighter than before. You need to manage somehow to get him back. If possible, also bring back that successful L-series specimen.”

“Yes, I will take care of it.”

“Go on then.”

After sending Myu off, Omega took a long swig of the wine his girls poured him. Could it truly be a successful specimen from the L-series? If that was true, it meant he could restart the research and enhance his own powers.

Not this remote Z City; he could bring every city under his thumb… all cities’ master. Emperor. That delicious word intoxicated Omega even further.

KWAaaAAANG!

─KrahyaaAaan–!

However, that intoxication didn’t last long. Unpleasant noises that irritated Omega filled the room. Before he could gesture to his subordinates to discover what was happening, the door to his room was smashed open, and a figure flew in.

Glaring at the intruder, Omega’s expression hardened.

“……Galm?”

“Long time no see, furry little man.”

“How could you…? I was sure you were beyond recovery!”

Omega exclaimed in shock while Galm shrugged his shoulders casually.

“I’m back, thanks to the boss.”

“No way. Your body shouldn’t have been able to heal from rust… Unless you somehow replaced parts!”

“Turns out there was a way, even without replacing parts.”

Galm looked around the room. It was filled with women, alcohol, and drugs—a scene Omega had loathed the most in his former life.

“─You and I have had quite a tragic life, huh? Even after retiring, we can’t get a moment’s rest and end up in such a state.”

“Ha! You’re comparing me, who was retired due to incompetence, with you? I didn’t retire because I became useless; I crawled out myself.”

“Why? Did you prefer this dark little corner like a rat?”

“Because I had to shackle myself!”

Omega growled as he summoned his subordinates. However, no matter how loudly he yelled, they didn’t come running.

While he was momentarily puzzled by this, Galm swiftly snatched a head from his waist and tossed it. A familiar face—Myu’s head, which had been ripped apart.

“─That turtle bastard. His shell was sturdy, but not sturdy enough to withstand my claws.”

“……Did you kill him?”

“Who knows? Our boss doesn’t particularly enjoy killing people.”

“Ha— So you express that in a very roundabout way, don’t you?”

“He told me any beast that bites a person needs to be slaughtered.”

Saying that, Galm revealed the true purpose behind his visit.

“─Omega. You’ve meddled with our evil organization. Know that you will pay for that. This is the boss’s message.”

“When did I ever…?”

“Don’t you remember? It just happened today.”

As Galm spoke, Omega grimaced, recalling the report he received from Myu earlier about the scientist from Evil Corporation and the success of the L-series.

How could it have failed? Was there some background to this?

Realizing he was cornered into an unavoidable fight, Omega bit his lip and threw his wine glass against the wall.

“Ha, uhuhuh—! Yes! Galm! I’ve been waiting to clash with you since back in the day!”

“You should call me ‘senpai.’ Don’t act so cocky, you lazy bastard.”

“Even if you claim to have regained your former strength, do you think you can defeat me all by yourself?! I’m the end and culmination of all life! I am Omega!”

Omega shouted as he approached Galm, but just then, light beams shot down from the sky. Omega was swept away by the intense energy wave, rolling on the ground as a Magical Girl descended gracefully through the hole in the ceiling.

“─Sorry, but I never said I was alone.”

Galm said that while clenching his fist.

The evil Magical Girl cautiously raised her wand, moving to support Galm.

“Galm, let’s finish this quickly. I don’t want to spend even one more second in this terrible neighborhood.”

“Right. Here I go, you uppity junior.”

“……Damn it.”

As Omega rolled around on the floor, he sensed Galm and the evil Magical Girl charging towards him, realizing what was about to happen.

He now understood who he had dared to mess with.

An organization of evil he should never have touched.