Villain's Rising

"Elaborate," Crossing his arms around his chest, Starsuper said with an intrigued look.

Taking a deep breath, Professor Rick began to explain.

"You see Mr. Arthur, the Progenitor, as you may already know, had the ability to manipulate biology.

"With his ability, he mutated thousands of animals and humans alike and created his own army known as the Demon Army.

"He mutated these tigers to act as his guards. It would take at least six- no, ten [SS Ranks] to kill one but you killed them all alone, truly you are such a marvel-"

Cutting in between, Starsuper spoke. "Rick, you can be my fanboy later, first give me your analysis."

Rick, who was looking at Starsuper with sparkling eyes earlier, let out a dry cough before nodding and continuing.

"Yeah, so as I was saying, with his ability he created these beasts to guard this dungeon. But the thing is, he made these beasts loyal."

After letting out that much, Rick took a short pause to let that all sink in. But Starsuper only frowned.

From the looks of it, Starsuper had no idea where Rick was going.

Letting out a disappointed sigh at the dumbness of his childhood hero, Rick continued to elaborate.

"You see, the minds of these beasts made by the Progenitor don't function as the minds of normal beasts or animals. These beasts don't have feelings and a mind that can think about themselves."

With anticipation, Rick took another pause. He hoped that this much explanation was enough to clarify his point to Starsuper.

However, contrary to his expectations, Starsuper had a blank face. He couldn't understand where Rick was trying to go with this.

Facepalming and filled with disappointment, Rick clearly spoke his mind.

"The Progenitor created these creatures to be loyal to him. These creatures had just one task, be loyal to their master! However, their master, the Progenitor, is dead." Rick said before taking a deep breath.

"Despite the fact that their master is dead, these creatures kept on reproducing. Why? They shouldn't be able to think for themselves then why were they trying to save their species that was created by the Progenitor?"

Finally, at those words, Starsuper eyes widened. Seeing that, Rick smirked and continued.

"Yes, they didn't keep their species alive to save their species from extinction. They kept their species alive because they can still feel the connection to their master.

"In simple words, they kept their species alive by reproducing till now not to save them but to serve their master."

Before Rick could speak further, Starsuper spoke up. "Are you saying that…"

"Yes, I'm saying that I think your guess is correct. I think the Progenitor is alive. The Demon King has returned." Nodding like a spring doll, Rick announced.

Touching his chin, Starsuper began pondering over Rick's words.

What the bald professor had said was indeed true. Starsuper knew that these beasts didn't possess a mind that can think for themselves, that was part of the reason why he left this dungeon alone up until now.

He thought that the beasts would die in a few years. Contrary to his expectations, he heard the news about the sighting of a Sabertooth Humanoid Tiger around this area.

At first, he dismissed the news as fake. However, he still decided to check the area in the end.

And here he found that the Tigers that the Progenitor created were indeed alive.

And if Rick's guess was correct and they were keeping their species alive to serve their master again then that means the Progenitor is indeed alive as he had speculated.

-Roaaar!

Shaking him out of his thoughts was the roar of a tiger.

Rick, who was standing beside Starsuper, instantly ran behind him like a child hiding behind his father.

Shifting his gaze to the left where the roar came from, Starsuper saw a humanoid Tiger with two sabertooth protruding out from his upper jaw.

-Roooar!

Another deafening roar followed before the Sabertooth Humanoid Tiger rushed towards the man in a cape like a beast it was.

Starsuper, on the other hand, just stood there calmly, letting the tiger close distance as if it was not a threat at all.

Rick clenched Arthur's cape with his body trembling in fear. Although he knew there was Starsuper protecting him, Rick had always been a scaredy-cat.

As soon as the tiger came into the striking range, it swung its claw at the man in the golden hero costume, intending to cut him in half.

-Thud!!

However, as soon as the tiger's claw clashed against Starsuper's body, the tiger felt like it tried punching a mountain.

According to Rick, a single Sabertooth Humanoid Tiger was enough to give 5 [SS Ranks] a run for their money. But the same beast couldn't even make Starsuper flinch.

"Sigh…" Shaking his head, Starsuper let out a sigh as if he was dealing with a pest. "You should've run"

Those were the last words Starsuper said before swinging his arm at the Tiger's head.

-Swoosh!

-Plush~

Like a baseball bat to a watermelon, as soon as Starsuper's arm struck the tiger's head, it exploded, unable to bear the force of the strike.

Jerking his hand to get the blood off, Starsuper spoke as if nothing happened.

"Right, so now that my suspicion has been turned into a fact, I just need to find that bastard and kill him again… that is if it's the same bastard."

In truth, Starsuper was certain that the Progenitor had returned. Besides the circumstantial evidence, he also felt it in his gut.

He knew that a change was coming and the world was about to be thrown into chaos once again.

However, he had to make sure. And now that he has, all that's left is to find the Progenitor.

With determined eyes, Starsuper, or rather Arthur Willburn, took a deep breath.

"I will find you Progenitor. I will find you and kill you for what you or your kin did to my brothers." He said with determination and fury clearly visible in his voice.

"I will find you before you can hurt my world ever again! I will kill you before you can build your army of Demons!"

*

"General of what?"

Back in the medical room of the Academy City, Lucas was frowning over Sam's words.

"Oh, didn't you hear? I said, `` General of my Demon Army." Sam repeated his words again as if there was nothing wrong with it.

Lucas was stunned, to say the least. By now he had already tried to activate his ability a thousand times but each time his body refused.

He was just sitting there listening to what Sam had to say.

"Didn't you understand? Should I explain myself?" Sam tilted his head with arched eyebrows.

"Y-Yes, I don't understand…" Hesitatingly, Lucas replied.

Without wasting a second, Sam started his monologue.

"You see Lucas, your ability to manipulate vectors intrigued me the first time I saw you. At first, I thought about taking it for myself but then I remembered, I'm alone.

"I need an army if I wish to achieve what I want, and what's an army without a general? So, I decided that you will serve me as my right-hand man. Rejoice! For it's an honor.

"If you comply with me then I'll give you whatever you desire. However, if you don't, then I will just take your ability and give it to someone else, making them my general instead of you."

Sam said those words as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to say.

Lucas was, in all honesty, taken aback by those words. He had two guesses in his mind about who the black-haired boy was.

Either he was a maniac and just babbling nonsense, or he was really who Lucas was thinking him to be.

Just to be sure, Lucas still voiced the question that he had in his mind.

"Wh-Who are you?" He asked the black-haired boy.

A smirk, more vicious than anything Lucas had seen in his entire life, formed on Sam's face.

After a second of silence, which felt like an eternity to Lucas, the black-haired boy finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Me? I'm the current Progenitor and the next Demon King."

===

Information Available On:

[Demons]

•When referring to demons in this world, people mean the humans and animals that were mutated by the Progenitor in the past and not the mythological demons.

These mutated creatures were dubbed demons due to their horrific appearances. These creatures do not exist anymore, the last of them were Sabertooth Humanoid Tigers who have now been killed by Starsuper too.

[Mutation Manipulation]

•The power to manipulate mutations. Sub-power of Biological Manipulation. Variation of Evolution Manipulation.

•The user can cause and manipulate mutations, and changes in the sequence of an organism's genetic material, in self or other living beings.

For example, a rat can be mutated into a ferocious beast. This power is the rawest and most powerful Sub-power of Biology Manipulation.

This is the ability that the Progenitor used to create his legions of Demons in the past.

===