# Chapter 72
If things continue like this, Zenon will kill him, then use a barrier to make the man’s body look like mine before taking photos and videos. And once the cleanup is done, everything will be over.
But if that’s the case, did I really need to come out? Wouldn’t it be safer to just stay in the car? Kane’s body had no power whatsoever. Me moving around was certainly reckless. Especially in a place like this where villains were present.
However, today I couldn’t even think straight enough for such simple reasoning. My plan was to go ahead first since Zenon’s face was probably more widely known than mine, preparing for any possible detection. I completely forgot that Zenon could simply overlay someone else’s face on himself before going out.
Zenon probably thought I had some contingency plan, which is why he just watched me go out. Or perhaps, like me, he was in such a panic that he hadn’t thought that far ahead either.
But what’s done is done, I couldn’t help it now. The best course of action was to be as careful as possible and immediately vacate when Zenon arrived. That’s what I was thinking when—
“Who’s there!”
The man who had been casually conversing suddenly hung up his phone and glared sharply at something.
It wasn’t in my direction. His gaze was slightly off to the side.
Could there be someone else besides me? I hid my body further inside as I turned my head toward where the man was looking. Then I heard a rustling sound, and something small began to reveal itself.
“A cat?”
It was a kitten. The man hadn’t expected this either, as his contorted face instantly crumbled and turned bright red.
“Ah, fucking embarrassing.”
He muttered as he ruffled his hair and sat down. He must have been quite startled, as the aftermath of his surprise seemed significant. The cat, the source of his embarrassment, should have been startled by his outburst, but it didn’t seem to care at all, casually strolling around. Its jet-black fur covering its small body and mysteriously glowing green eyes were quite striking.
The cat’s eyes met mine as it swished its tail and pressed its paws firmly on the ground. I wasn’t visible from the man’s viewpoint, but my shadow was visible from where the cat had emerged. That’s why our eyes could meet as the cat approached.
The cat blinked with an innocent expression, seeming harmless, but somehow I couldn’t shake off the feeling of danger.
And my intuition proved exactly right. The cat, perhaps finding me interesting, began approaching me.
“Meow—”
The cat’s steps, which were cautious at first, quickened. Now it was almost running rather than walking. I prayed it wouldn’t come here, but my wish wasn’t granted.
“Meow—”
Finally, the cat’s front paw touched my shoe. Perhaps because it was still a kitten, it didn’t run away even after seeing a person. Its lack of wariness was fascinating, but that wasn’t what mattered now.
What mattered was the man who was slowly approaching the cat.
“If it goes inside, it might cause some commotion…”
It seemed he wanted to chase the cat away, worried it might cause trouble. My heart pounded with tension, and my palms began to sweat. If he came any closer, I would inevitably be discovered.
I hoped Zenon would arrive by then, but that didn’t seem likely. If he didn’t come, I’d have to handle this alone. From the short distance remaining, I quickly sought a solution.
And my frantically spinning mind reached one conclusion.
I had to kill that man.
There was no other way. If I didn’t kill him now, this plan would be rendered useless.
Exhaling a slow breath, I gripped the dagger in my hand. It was a dagger I had only for self-defense. I never expected to use it in a situation like this.
Trying to calm my racing heart, I recalled sensations from days past. Missions typically involved using supernatural abilities, but I still remembered the basic training for attacking vital points, so killing one person wasn’t particularly difficult.
But that didn’t mean I could be careless. I had to cut off his breath in a single strike, no matter what.
The man’s shadow entered my field of vision, proving he was right in front of me.
“It should be around here… Huh?”
There was no time to hesitate now. If he took even one more step, I would be discovered. I raised my crouched body and swiftly moved behind him. He turned his head in confusion at the sudden appearance of a person’s shadow, but it was already too late.
“Kuheck…!”
The gleaming dagger slashed his throat in one go. With a chilling sensation, blood began to spurt out like a fountain.
He struggled for a moment, but soon breathed his last. After confirming his pulse had stopped, I released the strength in my arm. His ownerless body fell pathetically to the ground.
I stared blankly at the corpse on the floor, then shifted my gaze to my own body. Lukewarm blood covered my face and both hands. Since I had killed him from behind, not much blood had splattered on my clothes, but my hands and face couldn’t be avoided, it seemed.
“Meow—”
As I put my soiled glasses in my pocket, I waited for Zenon. Even in this situation, the black cat seemed to have no intention of leaving, circling around. Perhaps interested in the cooling corpse, it poked at the dead man’s arm with its tiny front paws.
“You shouldn’t touch that.”
After hastily wiping my bloody hands on my shirt, I carefully picked up the kitten. The cat struggled for a moment in surprise, but I ignored it and walked through the bushes.
“Off you go now.”
Since no blood had gotten on it, I could send it back as is. Leaving behind the cat, which was staring at me with a bewildered expression, I walked back to where the corpse was.
The corpse was hidden among a stack of boxes, and I had also thoroughly erased any traces, so unless someone deliberately looked for it, there was no chance of it being discovered.
“You killed him quite nicely.”
Except by Zenon. He glared fiercely at me after seeing my face and the corpse, immediately grasping the situation.
“I said I would kill him, didn’t I?”
“I was about to be discovered, so I had no choice.”
“Ah… really. If I’d known it was this guy, I would have come sooner.”
“Did something happen?”
I made another mistake, perhaps due to the aftermath of killing someone, but Zenon didn’t seem to notice my manner of speech. Perhaps it was because of the reason he was late. Moreover, he looked slightly unwell. His expression was like someone who had just faced an unpleasant memory.
“I saw corpses.”
Zenon muttered a small curse and spoke in a low, subdued voice, as if suppressing rising anger. At his sudden words, my brain momentarily froze.
“Here?”
Finding corpses wasn’t particularly surprising. But that should be the case for Zenon too. Yet, for him to react like this…
“Yeah, and five of them. All with their heads burst open.”
The scene automatically formed in my mind, and my brow furrowed. I could understand why Zenon was reacting this way.
“Their heads burst open?”
“Not like they were hit with a blunt object. More like they exploded from the inside?”
“Did someone plant bombs in their heads?”
“No, the degree of damage to each corpse varies too much for that. If it were bombs, they would all be the same.”
The more I listened to him, the more memories of the past surfaced. I had seen corpses like that before. The sight was so gruesome that I dry-heaved for the first time during a mission. When I came to my senses, the head of a man who had been perfectly fine just a minute ago was gone, and my body was covered in sticky, slimy liquid. The moment I realized what that liquid was, I couldn’t maintain my sanity.
The cause of death for those who gave me such a horrific memory was—
“…Superpower overload.”
When humans exceed the limit of superpowers their bodies can handle, an overload phenomenon occurs. The manifestation varied by ability, but the result was the same.
Everyone who experiences a superpower overload phenomenon dies.
They die either in agony as parts of their bodies explode, or without even a moment to feel pain.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“But why would such corpses be in a place like this…”
“Peace set a trap to catch a villain organization. Those corpses were probably the bait.”
The form of the corpses Zenon described typically appeared when mental ability users used their powers beyond their limits and overloaded.
“What was the range of the explosion?”
“One head, two torsos, and… two ankles.”
The explosion reached even the ankles… The power of the explosion varies according to the superpower user’s rank. Higher ranks result in more powerful explosions. The fact that the explosion reached the ankles meant they were at least B-rank or higher. The head explosion would be D-rank or lower, but they were overexerted to the point of death. It seemed unreasonable to consider them as ordinary D-ranks. The same applied to the other ranks.
“Dangerous things are happening.”
“Exactly. We have no choice but to finish this as quickly as possible and leave.”
“Do you think Peace is trying to say that I made people die like that?”
I asked as I took off my clothes and shoes. Zenon handed me what looked like a new shirt, though I had no idea where he got it.
“Probably. They even sprayed gasoline around.”
“That would certainly ensure the evidence is concealed.”
Though he frowned, Zenon diligently undressed the man. Then he dressed the corpse in the clothes I had been wearing. Since it would be burned anyway, it was just a formality, but because our builds were similar, the clothes fit without much trouble.
“That should do it.”
With Zenon’s superpower added as the final touch, an undoubtable corpse of Kane was created.
“We’ll burn the body, right?”
Zenon, who had taken photos and videos as evidence, asked me. Since his superpower wasn’t permanent, burning was the best way to make identifying the corpse difficult.
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
I put the glasses on the corpse’s face and pulled the hat down firmly. Grabbing the corpse’s collar, I took steps toward a suitable place for burning. But Kane’s strength wasn’t enough, and I started running out of breath after just a few steps.
“…Fine. I’ll move it over there.”
Zenon, who sighed softly watching me gasp for breath while struggling, grabbed the corpse firmly by the hair and walked with heavy steps. Despite my confident words, I ended up needing help after all. Blushing with embarrassment, I quickly followed behind him, trying to cool my hot face in the cold wind.
