Carnage Kabuto awoke from his slumber and found himself inside the massive metal chamber specifically designed to test combat power.
"Ah, another boring test... Is my opponent really just some scrawny-looking human this time? Has the doctor lost his mind, or has he finally gone insane? Or does he simply want to watch me brutally murder a human?"
Carnage Kabuto's body towered over that of an ordinary person. He slowly approached the gray-haired man standing in the center of the room, his expression filled with disdain. That little man did not have a single visible muscle on his body and looked incredibly weak. Carnage Kabuto could crush him to death with the slightest squeeze of his hand.
"Waking me up just to kill an ordinary human is truly boring. It seems I won't be able to go back to sleep so easily this time. I'll have to find some entertainment for myself."
Carnage Kabuto approached the gray-haired man, preparing to flick him away with one finger before going to cause trouble for the doctor. However, before he could even extend his hand, an intense sense of danger swept over him, making every hair on his body stand on end.
In the next instant, he shot across the room like a whirlwind.
"What's going on? Why did I suddenly sense mortal danger? It felt as though I would die the moment I attacked!"
Carnage Kabuto broke out in a cold sweat as he stared at the man in the center of the room, who was looking back at him with mild surprise.
"You! What the hell are you?!"
"What an impressive danger instinct."
Caelus was genuinely surprised by the performance of the strongest life-form Dr. Genus had created. The moment the cyborg known as Carnage Kabuto tried to attack, Caelus had decided to erase the uncontrollable creature outright.
Unexpectedly, Carnage Kabuto had forcibly stopped his own attack and escaped immediately. Such an acute instinct for danger was truly remarkable.
"It seems my opponent this time isn't some worthless small fry! Excellent. I don't know whether you're human or something else wearing human skin, but you've successfully caught my interest! Let me show you my Carnage Mode! Once I enter this form, I remain trapped in a murderous frenzy for an entire week! Hahaha..."
Before Carnage Kabuto could finish laughing, he transformed into a sheet of paper and fluttered to the floor.
Caelus slowly walked over and picked it up.
Inside the paper, a cartoon version of Carnage Kabuto was looking around in panic before launching a relentless series of attacks against his surroundings. His body produced the overlapping afterimages commonly used in comics to represent extreme speed.
Close-up panels symbolizing overwhelming strength appeared one after another, accompanied by huge impact sound effects. However, none of it accomplished anything.
The paper remained paper, and the cartoon character remained a cartoon character. He could not break free from the restraints of his lower-dimensional existence.
Caelus shook the sheet, tossing Carnage Kabuto around until he became dizzy. He then opened his notebook and slipped the paper inside.
Most of the House of Evolution's other cyborgs had already been reduced to two-dimensional forms along with the building above the base and stored inside Caelus's notebook.
Dr. Genus, carrying a vast quantity of resources and research data, had also been converted into a sheet of paper alongside his clones and Armored Gorilla, who still bore obvious signs of mechanical modification. Caelus was carrying all of them with him.
That meant Carnage Kabuto had been the final remaining creation of the House of Evolution.
Caelus intended to modify him.
After all, Dr. Genus had said that although Carnage Kabuto was his masterpiece, possessing overwhelming strength, adaptability far beyond that of most life-forms, and considerable intelligence, his uncontrollable desire for slaughter and destruction made him an undeniable failure.
Since Carnage Kabuto was unquestionably considered a villain by ordinary moral standards, Caelus felt no ethical discomfort about using him in an artificial hero experiment.
After packing away the entire House of Evolution, Caelus closed the notebook. He then took out his phone, put on his Bluetooth headset, and walked home beneath the setting sun while listening to the world's popular music.
A few days later, at the Hero Association.
"This is the newest S-Class Hero, ranked sixteenth, Spirit Blade, Ren Kanzaki."
At the gathering of S-Class Heroes, the young man wearing a haori greeted his new colleagues with a smile and looked around the room.
Just as he had hoped, he spotted the petite figure with green hair.
Although she had a youthful appearance, he found her strangely alluring.
Perhaps it was because her dress clung so tightly to her body. There was also the infamous question of whether she wore anything beneath it, a mystery that had always attracted attention.
Over the past few days, Ren Kanzaki had traveled from place to place dealing with monsters that appeared without warning. With his graceful movement, relaxed demeanor, and elegant swordsmanship, he had earned the hero name Spirit Blade and received an invitation from the Hero Association to become an S-Class Hero.
"Now that I've stepped fully into the public eye, the news should begin reporting on me. Since I'm an S-Class Hero who never appeared in the original story, any other transmigrator familiar with the plot will immediately realize that I'm another System holder."
"But I'm now an official S-Class Hero of the Hero Association. Attacking me would be the same as openly declaring war on the Association. Whoever did it would immediately be branded a criminal. Under those circumstances, even if someone powerful enough to match me appeared, I could always escape."
"When the time comes, I can join forces with powerful people like Saitama. Then that person will have no chance of winning."
That was why he dared to step onto the stage.
He was now a hero, an embodiment of justice and hope in this world. Anyone who opposed him would be forced into the role of a villain.
And in this world, villains were destined to lose.
"By taking advantage of my status as an S-Class Hero, I can approach Fubuki from time to time and rescue her from danger a few times. If I use Kyoka Suigetsu along the way, her affection for me will rise immediately. Then I'll finally get to enjoy that curvy body."
On the surface, he maintained a kind and approachable expression. Beneath it, however, distracting thoughts constantly surged through his mind. Whenever he encountered an attractive woman, he could not stop himself from fantasizing about her.
Ren naturally understood this flaw in his personality, but he did not care.
His power system was unaffected by his mental state. He did not follow some esoteric spiritual path that demanded inner purity. He only needed to continue increasing his raw abilities.
Even if those desires eventually became obstacles to his progress, he would already have enjoyed his wives enough by then. He could simply purchase a method of severing his emotions from the System and kill them to remove the final obstacle in his path.
It would be a despicable thing to do, but once he became a supreme existence, he could simply retrieve them from the timeline and restore them.
It did not matter.
Ren hummed a tune as he leisurely prepared to play the hero rescuing a damsel in distress.
After all, he had secretly arranged for a Demon-level monster to attack the Blizzard Group. The timing should have been perfect for him to appear and save her.
The Blizzard Group's patrol area was currently under attack by a powerful Demon-level monster.
Fubuki relied on her psychic powers, but she was completely unable to harm the monster. It stood roughly five meters tall and appeared to have been assembled from numerous metal safes.
"Hehehe! I am Safe Monster! After spending all my time breaking into safes, I eventually fell in love with them! Now I will lock every valuable thing in the world inside my body!"
The enormous humanoid monster, composed of countless safes, laughed wildly. He punched away a hero who tried to stop him and sent the man flying.
Safe Monster then looked toward Fubuki, whose supposed psychic powers had caused him no more discomfort than a faint itch, and shouted mockingly,
"So-called heroes are nothing special. Hmm, you're quite beautiful. I've decided. I'll lock you inside one of my safes!"
Despite his enormous size, Safe Monster moved with astonishing speed.
His massive hand reached toward Fubuki. As memories from throughout her life flashed through her mind, a strange sound resembling the rapid beating of insect wings suddenly filled the air.
Safe Monster exploded in front of her.
A crimson figure nearly two meters tall appeared behind him, clad in armor modeled after a living insect.
Not far away, Ren had been preparing to intervene. He stared at the newly arrived crimson figure in shock and disbelief before exclaiming,
"Kamen Rider Kabuto?!"
(To be continued.)
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)