Hero Hack: Reversing Heroes and Raising Harem-Chapter 71: Explosions Are a Love Language

The steel doors of the rear train car slammed open.

Two figures stepped inside.

One was armored in reinforced tactical plating.

The other one wore some suit with embers dancing across her gloves.

Bastion held his shielded arm forward.

His visor scanned the corridor ahead.

"Stay close, Embercleave."

"This isn’t just a villain rampage."

Embercleave walked beside him.

Her palms were already ablaze with flickering flame.

"I don’t need a babysitter, Bolt."

She glanced around, frowning.

"But yeah... this doesn’t feel right."

They moved deeper into the damaged train cars.

Burned walls, broken seats and scorched glass.

But something caught their attention immediately.

There were no bodies.

Just signs of explosions and scorched blast marks.

Bastion Bolt stopped, eyes narrowing behind his visor.

"This much damage and not a single corpse?"

"Where the hell did they all go?"

Embercleave twirled a flame in her hand, her expression tightening.

"No screams. No backup call on the emergency frequency."

She looked over her shoulder.

"This doesn’t feel like a normal berserker attack."

Bastion Bolt raised his shield slowly.

"No. It feels like someone planned this."

He looked down at a spot of smoldering residue on the floor.

"It should be where a body should’ve been."

Embercleave stopped just behind him, brow furrowed.

"This is really weird. Real weird."

Then—

ROOOOOAARRHHH!

A monstrous howl tore through the train, shaking the rails and rattling the glass.

Both heroes immediately snapped to attention.

"There. He’s still moving."

"Let’s go."

They sprinted toward the source of the roar.

They passed through the broken metal doors of a half-destroyed carriage.

When they reached the next section—

They froze.

Standing in the center of the wreckage was a twisted, monstrous version of Impakto.

His body had mutated grotesquely.

His limbs swelled and his face was unrecognizable.

His body was filled with glowing veins of volatile energy.

Embercleave hissed under her breath.

"What the hell is that...?"

They watched for a moment—and saw it.

An officer’s body got torn apart—

But instead of falling, it vanished into the air.

"...What kind of ability does that?"

Embercleave whispered.

Bastion frowned.

"Explosion-based... but with some freaky extra effects."

He raised his arm, scanning quickly.

"From the pattern of detonation, one of his abilities is Impact Tag."

"Close-range planted explosive marks."

He pointed toward a speaker system on the wall, which buzzed and died again.

"There’s a sound anomaly. Turns on and off in intervals."

"That’s Sound Drown. Blocks noise to suppress movement and comms."

"And those phase-walks?"

Embercleave asked, stepping cautiously forward.

"He passed through three solid objects before triggering a blast."

"Mid-tier," Bastion confirmed grimly.

"Phase Charge."

Embercleave narrowed her eyes, watching the mutated figure twitch and roar.

"Then how do you explain the corpses vanishing?"

Bastion frowned deeper.

"I don’t know... But from what I saw, it’s only the bodies disappearing."

Embercleave tilted her head.

"Absorption-type?"

"Maybe," Bastion muttered.

"But either way... It’s not erasing other things or living people. Which means..."

"No problem for us," Embercleave finished, smirking.

She ignited both hands again. "Let’s go."

"We’ll show him what real superheroes look like."

Bastion nodded once, shield sliding into position.

They moved fast, clearing the corridor with precision.

They soon reached the next group of injured officers pinned behind cover.

They looked up and gasped in relief.

"Superheroes—!"

"It’s Bastion Bolt! And Embercleave!"

"We thought no one was coming!"

Bastion raised one arm, signaling.

"Back off and fall to the next car. Get to the survivors."

"We’ll handle the monster."

The officers nodded immediately, scrambling to follow orders with renewed energy.

As they passed, Embercleave turned toward the raging Impakto ahead.

Bastion gave her a firm nod.

"Start the plan."

Embercleave cracked her neck, flames crawling up her arms.

"Roger."

---

Embercleave smirked as she spotted the monstrous Impakto across the carriage.

Impakto snarled, sparks flickering around his warped limbs.

She didn’t flinch.

Instead, she raised both burning fists and shouted.

"Hey, ugly!"

Her flames flared hotter.

"You explode things? So do I!"

Impakto locked onto her instantly.

He charged with a guttural roar, the ground cracking under each stomp.

Embercleave grinned.

"You really think you’re the only one who knows boom?"

She widened her stance.

"Inferno Bloom."

A ring of searing fire exploded from her body in all directions.

Flames burst outward in a radiant surge.

Melting chairs, shattering glass, and hitting Impakto head-on.

The monstrous villain staggered mid-charge, flames wrapping around his mutating form.

Behind her, Bastion Bolt stepped forward just in time, raising his arm.

"Kinetic Guard."

A translucent hex-barrier shimmered to life.

It absorbed the shock of Embercleave’s explosion.

Before it could hit him or the officers behind.

The heat rolled harmlessly off his armor.

Embercleave cracked her knuckles as the smoke cleared. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"Oh, I’m not done yet."

She lifted both hands.

Special reinforced gloves laced with core alloy.

They glowed bright with her Flame Hand ability.

The metal shimmered red, boosting her output.

"Let’s see if your face can handle fire."

She dashed forward, Ember Trail igniting behind her.

It scorched the body of Impakto that she stepped on.

She jumped on him and quickly readied her fists.

WHAM!

Her flame-charged fist slammed into his jaw, bursting embers across his head.

She hit again.

And again.

Each punch left a flash of fire.

But the monster’s head didn’t give way.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

"Damn it."

She grunted, still pounding away.

"Your skull’s thicker than your brain!"

Impakto roared, his grotesque form twitching as he forced himself upright.

Energy pulsed violently through his body.

Phase Charge flickered erratically as broken debris floated from the ground.

He hurled a massive chunk of metal straight at them.

A mangled bench with Impact Tags glowing faintly across its surface.

"Covering you!"

Embercleave shouted as she ducked back.

She slipped behind Bastion Bolt, smirking.

"Your turn, shield boy."

Bastion didn’t even look at her.

He stepped forward with purpose, shield locking in place.

"Kinetic Guard."

BOOM!

The first explosive-laced debris hit.

It was absorbed instantly into his barrier.

CRACK—CRASH—BOOM!

Two more followed.

Each one detonated on impact, forcing Bastion back half a step.

But his stance never broke.

With every explosion, his armor shimmered brighter.

Energy was visibly gathered inside his gauntlets and boots.

A soft mechanical voice echoed from his suit:

"Kinetic storage: 80%... 95%... 100%."

Bastion’s eyes glinted behind his visor.

"Energy maxed out."

Embercleave grinned.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

She ignited both fists again.

"Let’s melt this freak."