OberonLA
patreon
OPM: Heroics Start with Dual Kamui 43
🕑 Added 2025-07-12 17:17:32 +0000 UTCChapter 43: Carnage Kabuto
Deep within a vast underground chamber, the floor was soaked in blood and strewn with torn limbs and mutilated corpses, the remains of Dr. Genus’s clones, all slaughtered in an instant.
The monster responsible stood tall in the center of the carnage, a grotesque hybrid of man and rhinoceros beetle. Covered in thick armor, with a body built like a tank, its humanoid face twisted with a manic expression. This was the result of Genus’s warped genetic experiment: the Carnage Kabuto.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
With a loud crack, the creature slammed another clone into the wall, blood and bone exploding on impact. It wasn’t just attacking, it was reveling in the violence.
Only after a long pause did Dr. Genus dare to emerge from the shadows. His face was drenched in cold sweat, and his hands were trembling.
“Carnage Kabuto... you’ve killed so many of my clones again. You should’ve calmed down by now, right?”
If not for his backup stock of disposable clones, Genus wouldn’t have risked showing his face at all.
“Huh?”
Carnage Kabuto turned his head toward him, his red eyes narrowing. With a quick jerk of his neck, he snapped the metal shackles that had restrained him.
“What are you talking about? Calmed down? Not a chance! You locked me, the strongest weapon in the House of Evolution, down here in this underground prison?! What a waste! That pissed me off!”
Veins bulged across his forehead as the rage built up in his voice. It was clear he hadn’t forgiven Genus for sealing him away.
“Calm down. Your mental state was unstable. We couldn’t control you, so we had no choice...!” Genus replied, barely holding it together. If it hadn’t been for desperation, the looming threat of total failure, he would’ve never released the beast again.
“Control me? Ha ha ha ha ha—!”
Carnage Kabuto let out a wild, mocking laugh. “I’m the perfect evolution of your so-called ‘new humanity’! You lot? You’re the fossils! You should be serving me!”
Dr. Genus didn’t argue. He just couldn’t. Even if he wanted to justify himself, he knew he couldn't win against a creature like this. But deep down, he understood the truth—this thing was a failure. Sure, it had unmatched power, but lacked stability and discipline. A wild beast wearing a mask of a man.
Just then, Genus’s wristwatch beeped urgently.
He glanced at the screen and quickly changed the subject. “Let’s talk about something more important. There’s a target I want you to collect, someone absurdly strong. Only you have a chance of beating him. Dead or alive, I don’t care... just bring him in.”
...
Meanwhile, deep in the labyrinthine underground corridors of the facility, Shinji, Saitama, and Genos were making their way forward. The passage seemed endless, dimly lit, and eerily quiet.
Beep. Beep.
Suddenly, Genos’s bio-scanner gave a reading.
“Did it find Dr. Genus… or a monster?” Shinji asked, glancing back.
Genos studied the screen for a moment, his expression tightening. “Two lifeforms. Both approaching fast.”
“There are two targets coming straight for us!” he shouted, stepping back instinctively.
“Genos, get back,” Shinji warned sharply.
Something was coming, and fast.
Using the insight granted by his Mangekyo Sharingan, Shinji had already seen it coming, the towering figure of Carnage Kabuto charging down the corridor toward them, its presence like a storm bearing down.
The thunderous noise grew rapidly louder until, in the blink of an eye, the beast appeared before them. It was dragging Dr. Genus along, holding him up effortlessly by the head like a toy.
“Oh? Three people. Which one’s your target?!” Carnage Kabuto asked with a cruel smirk, glancing at them with gleaming eyes.
“That red-eyed youth… and the bald one too…” Genus choked out, his words nearly lost as the crushing grip on his skull threatened to cave it in.
“Is that so? Then the third one's useless!”
Without a second thought, Carnage Kabuto tossed Genus aside like trash and lunged at Genos.
Even without transforming, its speed was terrifying. Genos couldn’t react in time; it was as if the air itself had vanished between them. But just as the massive blow was about to land, Shinji calmly placed a hand on Genos's shoulder.
In the very next instant, the beetle’s colossal fist, nearly the size of Genos himself, passed straight through the space Genos had just occupied and slammed into the wall behind them, punching a deep crater into the concrete.
“Huh?”
Carnage Kabuto blinked in surprise, genuinely confused by the miss.
Meanwhile, Genos, with his eyes wide, took a half step back. If his face hadn’t been cybernetic, he would be sweating profusely.
“Master Shinji…?” he murmured. He hadn’t seen anything. Could the slight touch on his shoulder have been what moved him? Teleportation? Or something else?
Carnage Kabuto’s gaze shifted to both of them, eyes narrowing as he noticed they were completely unharmed.
“Hmph. Looks like you’ve got some skill. Dodging one of my attacks, not bad!”
But instead of following up with another hit, the beetle cracked his neck and grinned.
“Name’s Carnage Kabuto. There’s a combat arena nearby. Let’s go there and have a proper fight~”
“Sure,” Shinji replied with a nod, calm as ever.
That answer only made the monster’s grin widen. After being locked away in the underground lab for so long, his thirst for battle was practically boiling over.
Before long, the group entered a massive, circular arena surrounded by reinforced steel and concrete. It was the largest combat chamber in the facility. Dr. Genus stayed back in the shadows, choosing not to interfere, just observe.
“This is the biggest arena we’ve got down here,” Carnage Kabuto said, stepping to the center and stretching out his limbs. “All three of you can come at me. Hopefully, you’ll put up more of a fight than the others did!”
His expression twisted into something wild and gleeful. “Now then... let’s have ourselves a good old-fashioned slaughter!”
“No need. I’m not into gangbanging up on someone so ugly. Let me take you on first,” Shinji said, already stepping forward.
“You wanna go first, huh? Then I guess I’m up next,” Saitama added casually from the side, looking completely unbothered. Internally, he was hopeful. If this thing could push Shinji even a little, maybe, just maybe, it would finally be a decent fight.
But before Shinji could advance further, Genos stepped forward instead.
“Master, let me go first,” he said, his tone resolute.
“Genos, didn’t you say you wanted to learn from me? Then watch closely. This is your chance to see how I fight.”
What Shinji didn’t say was the part lingering in the back of his mind; once you see it, you’ll probably stop calling me your master.
“Yes, Master! I understand!” Genos answered without hesitation, taking a step back as he focused.
Carnage Kabuto tilted his head at them, unimpressed. “So you’re not gonna team up? Fine. I’ll just take you apart one at a time.”
He started forward at a casual pace, the floor creaking under each step. His eyes studied Shinji’s calm expression with something between curiosity and anticipation.
“Oh? Still standing still, not even flinching. Confident, huh? Good. I like the brave ones.”
He gave a short nod to himself, lips curling into a twisted grin. This one looked promising. Genus might’ve finally dragged out someone worth breaking.
And then, in a blink, his entire body vanished.
To Genos’s eyes, it was nearly instantaneous. One moment, Carnage Kabuto was in front of them. Next, he reappeared behind Shinji, launching a full-force punch aimed right for his spine.
So fast.
Genos couldn’t keep up. His sensors barely registered the movement before the strike was already halfway there. Panic kicked in. He wanted to shout, to warn him, but the punch was about to connect.
Except it didn’t.
Carnage Kabuto’s fist froze just short of Shinji’s back, trembling slightly mid-air.
He hadn’t missed because of hesitation. It was instinct.
His peripheral vision caught those eyes, deep red, glowing like molten glass, staring back at him without a hint of fear. There was no doubt. That gaze was locked onto him the entire time.
In truth, Shinji hadn’t moved because he hadn’t needed to. With his Mangekyo Sharingan, he’d been reading every tiny movement in the beetle’s body. Every twitch of muscle, the angle of the elbow, the shift in weight, all of it laid bare.
“You’re too slow.”
His voice came out soft, almost bored, but the effect was chilling. Carnage Kabuto’s smirk twitched, the momentum behind his strike dissolving in silence.
And just like that, the predator had become uncertain.
