Chapter 31

 

Galm is a real tough guy.
Whether his comrades were kidnapped, tortured, transformed into monsters, or just recently returned to human form; whether he had to tear apart an old comrade with his own hands after meeting them again after a long time—none of that fazes him much.

He’s an executive in an evil organization, and he does what needs to be done.

In other words, like any proper villain, he revealed himself and wreaked havoc on the city. As usual, there was a formal announcement from the corporation beforehand, and the citizens, as expected, evacuated to shelters in advance.

Some citizens, who were already accustomed to this routine, even joked with Galm.

“Hey, Mr. Villain! My car’s pretty old—mind smashing it for me? I could use an excuse to get a new one…”

“Hm. Sure thing. Just don’t mention on social media that I did it.”

“Of course! Thanks a lot!”

Galm, who seemed more like a politician than a villain, socializing with the citizens, sensed an approaching presence and smiled.

The prelude to an upcoming battle. For Galm, who had lived through battlefields where bullets and bombs rained down, it was as comforting as a mother’s embrace. In fact, a peaceful, uneventful life felt more like a thorn in his side.

Soon after, Galm encountered a cocky hero he hadn’t seen around this city before. The hero yawned loudly, scratching the back of his head as if bored by the whole situation. Another hero, whom Galm did recognize, stood nervously beside the yawning one, clearly uneasy.

“Ahem, Galm—! This is as far as you go! We can no longer tolerate your evil deeds—”

“—So, you’re Galm? What kind of useless morons couldn’t handle one beast and had to call me in?”

Red, a hero from City E, was about to introduce himself with a flashy line and pose when the yawning man stepped forward, cutting him off.

Sensing the aura radiating from him, Galm immediately knew that this guy wasn’t like the others, who had only experienced playful skirmishes. No, this one had faced real battles where blood and flesh flew.

And feeling that aura, Galm finally unleashed his true seriousness, something he had never shown before.

“You seem pretty confident in your skills, human.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess.”

“Let’s fight fairly, then.”

The man let out a derisive laugh at Galm’s words.

“‘Fairly,’ my ass—villains sure have a lot of nerve, huh?”

And then, in the next moment, dozens of heroes appeared from all directions.

Each one of them had powers that were the worst possible match for Galm—ranged attackers. And in front of him stood the man who could keep Galm from escaping or attacking the others.

Realizing this, Galm knew they had come with the intent to truly capture him.

“—Pretty cowardly for a hero.”

“Didn’t you know? All the brave heroes are dead.”

With that, the man gestured, and a barrage of attacks rained down on Galm.

Galm fought back with all his might, but… he was no match for those who had come solely to take him down.

And so, Galm was defeated.

For the first time in a long while, another loss was added to his record.

After treating Levi-tan, I ended up with two bodyguards. More accurately, I gained some extra baggage. After all, a bodyguard without any real abilities isn’t much of a bodyguard.

I glanced down at Levi-tan, who was lying on my lap, her head resting on my thigh. When she noticed me looking, she immediately met my gaze and smiled brightly, twitching her ears.

“Bwoop bwoop—?”

“Levi-tan, you’re heavy. Please get off.”

“Levi-tan is light!”

“No, I’m saying you’re making me feel heavy.”

“I’m light.”

Sensing a hint of menace, I turned my head, trying to ignore the weight on my thigh. Levi-tan, clearly displeased with my lack of attention, started playfully tapping my thigh with her head.

Just as I began to feel the blood circulation in my thigh being cut off, the lab door opened, and Galm walked in, covered in wounds from head to toe—a rare sight.

“—Scientist. Got any meds?”

“Galm? You’re hurt. What happened?”

“Ah, it’s been a while since I lost. Those cowardly hero bastards…”

I was about to clap like a seal at the news of Galm’s defeat, but then I remembered that he could still smash my skull with a single punch, so I quickly put on a serious expression and propped my chin on my hand.

Luckily, Galm didn’t seem to notice my near outburst as he walked further into the lab, fiddling with various items.

“You shouldn’t rummage around like that!”

“Where’s the medicine? Is this it? The color looks right.”

“Ah—! I’ll get it for you, just sit down!”

Worried that the damned beast might mess with something and cause an accident, I quickly handed him a bottle of red medicine I had prepared. Galm chugged it down and sighed in relief.

Soon, the wounds all over his body began to heal rapidly, disappearing like snow in the sun. Watching this, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the beastman’s remarkable regenerative abilities.

“—Scientist, I have a request.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“After fighting those cowardly heroes… I realized my strength isn’t enough. I want to get stronger.”

“And?”

“…? I want you to make me stronger.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Galm’s request. Saying he wants to get stronger without any specifics—how am I supposed to interpret that?

Strength is a relative concept. Even if hundreds or thousands of foot soldiers can be slaughtered by a single tank, that same tank can be reduced to a mere target with a well-placed anti-tank weapon in the hands of a soldier.

In the 20th century, the mighty battleships that were thought to be invincible couldn’t withstand the torpedoes and submarines lurking beneath the seas.

In the medieval era, the knights who could massacre dozens of peasants with just a sword were rendered obsolete by firearms—tiny iron projectiles fired from guns that a knight couldn’t handle alone.

Strength is never absolute; it’s always relative, and it’s always defined by the purpose it serves. While a fighter jet is stronger than a tank, that doesn’t mean armies should only produce jets.

“Alright. What’s bothering you? As far as I know, no one can match your physical abilities, Galm.”

“It’s not that no one can. I met a hero today who was on par with me. He wasn’t a problem by himself, but he had subordinates helping him, so…”

“It was a struggle?”

“…I wouldn’t say it was a struggle. Just… a little bit, a very little bit, I was pushed back.”

Galm was clearly downplaying it out of pride, but judging by the state of him when he walked into the lab, he had been pushed back quite a bit.

After all, if it hadn’t been so bad, would he have come to me, asking to be made stronger? The same guy who had flat-out refused even steroids before.

“So, you need a way to counter enemies at a distance?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. I need a way to deal with those who are far away. Throwing cars or objects only goes so far.”

“Alright, then. You’re in luck. Levi-tan, come here. I’ll explain it to you both.”

“Me?”

Levi-tan, who had been lying on the couch, glanced over and smiled brightly before dashing over. With the two beastmen in front of me, I pulled out a small gene sphere I had separated from Levi-tan during her treatment.

It looked like a tiny candy ball. This was the genetic code extracted from Levi-tan’s body—specifically, the Leviathan gene. I had processed it to make it easy to consume.

“This is a genetic code extracted from Levi-tan’s body. Levi-tan, why don’t you try one?”

“Eek… You want me to eat that?”

“It came from your body, after all.”

“I guess… Alright.”

Levi-tan grimaced but cautiously placed the sphere in her mouth. The next moment, scales began to sprout all over her skin.

Startled, Levi-tan started touching her body, and I smiled, realizing the experiment had been a success.

“E-Eight, what’s this?”

“I’ve reawakened the Leviathan gene in your body, Levi-tan. To be precise, the medicine you just took reactivated the genetic code. Until the effects wear off, you should be able to use the powers you had before.”

“…I feel even stronger than before, though?”

“Ah, I made a few tweaks.”

“—Scientist. Enough with the complicated explanations. So, what happens when I take this?”

Impatient, Galm interrupted my conversation with Levi-tan and started fiddling with the gene sphere. I thought about how to sum it up simply and then smiled as the perfect word came to mind.

“When you take this… you’ll be able to shoot beams from your eyes.”

“…What?”

“Eye beams.”

Oh…

Galm let out an intrigued sound, clearly entertained. I laughed along with him. Only Levi-tan, who didn’t understand what was so funny, kept tilting her head in confusion.

Gaisa, an S-class hero from City G, had been dispatched to City E on orders from the Hero Association. His first thought upon arriving in City E was, “Are these guys playing house?”

After all, in this city, villains didn’t run amok. Instead of kidnapping and threatening to kill heroes’ families, they even provided advance notice of when and where they would appear.

At first, Gaisa thought this was a trick to make the heroes drop their guard, but it turned out they had been following this procedure for years. In fact, if the villains didn’t adhere to it, they would even file complaints with the Hero Association.

“They’ve got it easy here.”

Coming from City G, where villains launched daily guerrilla attacks on heroes, kidnapped and tortured their families, and even assassinated mayors in secret, this was unimaginable.

To someone from City G, this place was a paradise. A lukewarm paradise. If it were up to him, he’d stay here forever.

But thinking of his hometown and the still-suffering City G, he knew he couldn’t.

“Gaisa, we’ve got a mission.”

“Huh? There wasn’t anything scheduled for today.”

“It came up this morning. Maybe they’re planning to take revenge or something.”

“Alright, we’ll finally bag that beast bastard this time.”

“Haha, let’s hope so.”

Gaisa was still sore about losing Galm last time. If they had captured him then, he’d be back in City G by now instead of lounging around here.

But regret was foolish. Forgetting the past and focusing on the present was the key to survival.

Heading to the designated location with the heroes from City E, Gaisa let out a chuckle as he gazed at the stadium, which could hold tens of thousands of spectators.

“Does that bastard have no learning curve? He’s going to get caught the same way.”

“Yeah, it’s weird… He’s not a stupid guy.”

The hero from City E, puzzled, entered the stadium. In the middle of the field stood Galm, arms crossed, exuding a commanding presence.

Seeing this, Gaisa exchanged glances with his comrades, who spread out among the stands, aiming at Galm.

Meanwhile, Gaisa boldly approached Galm.

“Hey, beast bastard.”

“—You’re late.”

“Late or not… do you think we’re your lackeys? Show up just because you call?”

Galm shrugged off the provocation as if it didn’t bother him. He didn’t seem any different from when they last fought…

Puzzled, Gaisa began to stretch as he approached Galm, his powers enhancing his entire body.

“I didn’t get to ask last time. What’s your name?”

“Why does a hero need to know a villain’s name?”

“My name is Galm. Warrior. Tell me yours.”

“Crazy bastard. What kind of villain—”

“Hm… Not planning to tell me?”

Galm then took out his phone and snapped a picture of Gaisa’s face. While Gaisa frowned, Galm quickly finished his search and spoke.

“Gaisa. S-class hero from City G. I can find everything about you with a simple search.”

“That’s a violation of privacy, you bastard.”

“I’m a villain, so it’s fine.”

As they exchanged words, Gaisa received confirmation from his comrades that everything was ready. He gestured, and powers were launched at Galm from all directions, while Gaisa made sure Galm couldn’t target his teammates.

However, unlike before, Galm didn’t try to dodge or counterattack. Instead, he simply stood there, watching the incoming attacks.

‘What is this bastard up to…?’

Gaisa’s confusion only lasted a moment—then the barrage of attacks hit Galm head-on. With the force they had concentrated, they should have been able to subdue the Galm they fought previously.

Gaisa felt this was the moment Galm had been subdued, and that his time in City G had finally come to an end. As he chuckled at the absurdity of it all, beams suddenly shot from Galm’s eyes through the smoke.

—Screeeaam!
—Aaagh!
—What the hell is this!?

He could hear the screams of his comrades as they were struck by the beams from all directions. Gaisa stared in disbelief at Galm, whose eyes were emitting beams.

“…A beast with superpowers?”

“It’s not superpowers—it’s science.”

“What? What the hell are you talking about…?”

There was no time to continue the conversation. Galm, having incapacitated the heroes with his eye beams, charged at Gaisa, delivering a blow far more powerful than before.

Galm, grinning wickedly, looked down at Gaisa.

“—One-on-one, you’re nothing, hero.”

“…You fucking beast bastard!”

And so, Gaisa and Galm exchanged blows. The time for revenge had come. After trading punches for a long while, Gaisa eventually rolled on the ground, unconscious.

Having regained his glorious victory, Galm grinned widely.