Chapter 12

“My name is Iron. A B+ rank hero.”

“…B+?”

The Training Room was a bit dumbfounded.

B+.

It was definitely a rank that could be called a top-tier hero, but to her, it was a rank she could easily stomp on.

‘…Does he not know who I am?’

Either he doesn’t know the Training Room, or he doesn’t know Eclipse’s executives.

Otherwise, there’s no explanation for why he would show up so boldly without any sneak attack.

“…D-do you not know who I am..?”

“Huh? Of course, I know! You’re from Eclipse, that organization where Meiken or Faiken or whatever is active, right?”

Listening to him, it seemed like both.

He didn’t know the Training Room, and he didn’t know Eclipse. What an idiot.

‘Hmm… It’s been 5 years since my last activity, so maybe it’s unavoidable…’

It had been 5 years since the Training Room last revealed herself, but still, she was a bit dumbfounded that he had forgotten her in that time.

“…Are you planning to stop me..?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I plan to stop you. If you guys erase the information here, my livelihood will disappear.”

“..?”

What he was saying was a bit strange.

Even if the mission fails, the Association wouldn’t kick out precious top-tier heroes, would they..?

The Training Room was a bit puzzled, but she decided not to care too much.

Swoosh-

“I-I’ll stop you. I-I’ll cut you down..”

“Doubt you can cut me.”

Thud.

The Training Room placed the large bag she was carrying on the ground and instantly lunged at his neck.

As if testing how he would react to the attack, a straightforward and clean horizontal slash.

Swish-

A threatening attack aimed straight at his neck.

But until the moment it touched his body, Iron didn’t move.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing, and sparks flew.

“Didn’t work~”

The man smirked.

There wasn’t a single scratch on the man’s neck.

“Physical… enhancement…?”

“My ability enhances my skin. It makes my skin as strong as minerals.”

Crack.

Iron clenched his fist and threw a punch toward the Training Room.

Crash-!

She hastily blocked the attack with the side of her sword, but the Training Room was sent flying toward the wall as her sword shattered.

She looked at Iron with slightly more serious eyes.

“How is it? Don’t you feel like falling for me?”

“..Ugh.”

Seeing him boast after sending her flying like that,

The Training Room felt extremely annoyed.

‘…He’s ugly..’

The ugly guy was not only annoying but also creeping on her, making her feel repulsed at every cell.

Especially since the way he looked at her chest was so blatant, the Training Room felt even more disgusted.

‘I think I need to finish this quickly..’

Having made up her mind, the Training Room discarded the broken sword, grabbed a weapon from the bag she had placed on the ground earlier, and charged.

***

Zzzzt!

“Ouch, that was close.”

Dodging the flying ice chunks, I looked at her.

“Now, how are you going to escape?”

Her furrowed face looked like it could freeze me with just her glare.

“Another smoke bomb? Or are you going to break the wall to block the path? Or a trap? Yeah, that sticky stuff was a bit annoying. Or maybe you’ll take a rookie hero hostage like before? Oh, there are no heroes here, and it’s a dead end with a wide room, so none of that works?!”

Uh, um…

‘Seems like she’s way more pissed than I thought…’

Maybe I should’ve teased her a bit more moderately?

“…It’s because you keep following me. If you pretend not to see me now, I’ll just take what I need and leave cleanly.”

“Is that what you call a statement? A hero telling a villain to pretend not to see them? Where in the world does such a hero exist?”

There are probably more than you think…

I looked at her and chuckled.

“You really don’t know anything.”

Well, she wouldn’t know.

Even if she acts prickly, she’s a straightforward hero who firmly believes in people.

In the original story, the heroes only found out about the corruption much later, and she probably got a lot of flak for being so rigid.

“So, what are you going to do now? I’m currently cornered.”

Until now, I’ve been using simple tricks to escape, but after doing this for hours, I started to feel my magic running low.

“As the Queen said, this is a dead end. There’s no one here, and it’s just a wide space, so most of the methods I’ve used to escape so far are impossible.”

Originally meant to be a large laboratory, the space itself is quite wide, but what can you do in a place with no obstacles?

At best, you can set traps, but seeing that she’s covered the floor around her with ice, it seems like she’s ready to counter at any moment.

“…What else can I do? I’m going to catch you.”

“Is that so? Then…”

I lightly tapped the floor with my shoe.

Tap tap.

‘As expected, there’s a space here.’

I smirked and looked at Ice Queen.

“I guess I’ll have to find a way to escape you no matter what.”

“What are you up to now…”

Before she could finish her sentence, I threw a bomb.

“Damn it…!”

Countless bombs thrown into the air.

Ice Queen tried to freeze the bombs with her ability, but it was impossible to stop all of them.

Boom!!

Eventually, some of the bombs fell toward the ground, creating a large crack.

And both Ice Queen and I fell through the collapsing floor.

***

Crash!

Bam!

‘What the hell, why is she so strong?!’

Iron looked at the Training Room, who was going berserk in front of him.

After switching weapons a few times at first, she realized that blunt weapons worked and had been pounding Iron with them ever since.

Whack!

“Ahhh!!”

Swish!

Iron clenched his fist and threw a punch, but the Training Room dodged it as if it were the most natural thing.

‘Did she read my attack pattern again?’

At first, Iron’s attacks seemed to work, but at some point, the Training Room adapted and didn’t allow a single attack after that, overwhelming him completely.

‘She scrunched her right eye, so there’s a high chance she’s aiming for my jaw.’

‘She’s twitching her left pinky and slightly adjusting her shoulder angle? It’s a kick pattern.’

‘Ah, she made a face. This is just a simple punch, so I just need to protect my vitals…’

This was a method using her ability.

She was someone who had no limits in absorbing knowledge.

Therefore, she could analyze and learn the habits of her target’s movements in real-time, allowing her to counter as if she had been dealing with those attacks for years.

Whack!

“Ahhh!!!”

From the receiving end, it was bewildering and absurd.

“This is cheating..!”

Iron was annoyed at how far things had deviated from his plan.

‘Should I just… use it?’

Iron felt the smooth bottle in his pocket.

If he used it, he thought he could turn the tide.

‘Yeah. Let’s use it.’

He was planning to use it after fighting for a while anyway.

He decided it was time to use it now rather than waste time on pointless antics.

Smirk.

The expression on Iron’s face, which had been filled with annoyance, turned lustful once again.

“..?”

‘What’s with her… does she like getting hit..?’

Unintentionally catering to her preferences, the Training Room felt a chill.

Now, to finish things, she charged at Iron.

“I-it’s over now!”

Just as she was about to swing her hammer with all her might.

Splash!

Iron sprayed a red liquid at her.

‘Got her!’

The Training Room was completely drenched in the liquid.

Iron’s lips curled up.

“Pfft! How is it? Can’t use your powers at all, right?”

Iron dodged the Training Room’s uncertain attacks, her concentration wavering.

Iron sneered and shouted at her.

‘She’s properly drenched in the Ability Suppressant!’

Ability Suppressant.

Actually, the name “suppressant” was just something the man came up with; it didn’t have an official name yet.

It was an unintended creation by the researchers here.

‘Originally, it’s more effective when ingested, but just touching the skin has some effect too.’

Iron clenched his fist and threw a punch at her left cheek.

She staggered for a moment but managed to dodge.

Iron was convinced.

She was definitely an ability user, and most likely a sensory type.

‘Otherwise, it would be impossible for her to read and dodge my attack patterns!’

Then, from now on, dodging his attacks would be a burden.

Iron began to attack her indiscriminately.

‘Now she’s just a powerless ability user!’

The beauty in front of him was now a powerless, helpless woman.

A woman who couldn’t resist no matter what he did.

Just a beautiful woman who couldn’t do anything.

“W-what the…”

A woman who wouldn’t care no matter how much he indulged his dark desires. Or so…

“H-how are you dodging everything..?”

Iron had thought.

Until the Training Room, drenched in the suppressant, dodged all his attacks.

‘What’s going on? The suppressant was real, right?’

But her ability is still there?

A chill ran down Iron’s spine.

Seeing him like that, the Training Room tilted her head as if puzzled.

“Ugh… my body feels a bit sluggish…”

She then swung the blunt weapon she was holding behind her head.

“I-I can still catch you, though…”

Crash!!

With a sneer, the Training Room swung the blunt weapon toward his head.

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