While the battle with the Upper Moons raged deep in the forest, the Swordsmith Village was anything but calm.
Preparations for a full-scale demon assault were underway, every craftsman and villager moving with urgent precision.
Tecchin stepped forward, leaning heavily on his staff yet standing firm.
He looked smaller than usual… but when he spoke, his voice thundered through the entire village.
"TO YOUR POSITIONS! PROTECT THE FORGES AND THE CHILDREN FIRST! AND GET READY TO EVACUATE THE INJURED!"
"Yes, TECCHIN-SAMA!" the villagers shouted in unison, scrambling to obey.
Someone rushed up to him, panic lacing their voice.
"Tecchin-sama, what should we do now? Should we activate the other Type Nulls too?"
The village chief shook his head.
"Not yet. We can't use them right now. The toys that kid Akira made should be enough for us to hold for a while."
Yes, Akira had indeed made several defensive weapons for the village during his spare time.
The chief turned again.
"Is everyone in the village accounted for?"
A villager answered, "No, a few of them are missing."
Tecchin clicked his tongue. "Where are they? Did they not hear the alarm?"
"I don't know," the man replied nervously. "Some might be in their hidden forges, and some might be in the hot springs too. We didn't have time to check for everyone."
"...We can't check for them now either," the chief muttered, gripping his staff harder.
Then.
A shrill scream cut through the tense atmosphere.
"THE DEMONS ARE HERE!"
From a distance, multiple big fish demons with legs thundered toward the village. Alarm bells rang across the village.
Tecchin's eyes widened.
"They're here… Everyone, to your positions!"
The fish demons, each carrying a porcelain pot on their back, rushed out of the forest in a chaotic stampede.
Fear rippled through the villagers as they watched the monstrous horde closing in.
"I hope those things work well…" Tecchin whispered, praying under his breath. At this point, that was all he could do.
Just as the demons crossed into a predetermined range.
Two machines mounted along the village walls were activated.
They were turrets, almost resembling miniature Phalanx CIWS systems, but smaller and modified.
TATATATATATA!!
They unleashed rapid-fire volleys, not bullets, but poison darts.
More specifically, Wisteria poison darts.
The demons hit by the projectiles staggered, slowed, then collapsed in heaps, dying instantly.
The poison was a special formula Akira developed with the help of Tamayo and Shinobu, not their strongest concoctions, but far superior to Shinobu's usual stock.
One by one, the fish demons fell, unable to push past the relentless barrage.
Cheers erupted across the village.
"It's working!"
"The turrets are killing them!"
"We're saved!"
The automated targeting system precisely tracked every approaching demon.
Akira had built these using the same demon-detection sensors he installed in the Yoriichi Type Null units.
When he realized he couldn't produce more Type Nulls for a while, he repurposed the sensor technology to create this defense system instead, and now, it was proving to be invaluable.
Back then, Erika had even asked him.
"Is it really okay to introduce advanced technology like this in Taishō-era Japan?"
Akira's only response had been.
"There are freaking demons in this world. Who cares about tech people won't even understand or reproduce for 50 years? They literally have a 300-year-old robot here."
And now, seeing the turrets perform exactly as intended, it was hard to argue with his logic.
But the relief didn't last long.
A massive fish monster appeared in the distance, towering, hulking, easily several times larger than the other fish demons. Its grotesque body thrashed forward, scales glistening under the torchlight.
Without hesitation, it grabbed one of the smaller fish demons beside it and threw it at the turret.
The impact destroyed the machine instantly.
Villagers gasped.
The monster picked up another demon and destroyed the second turret.
With both turrets ruined, the massive demon roared and charged toward the village, the remaining fish demons following close behind like a stampede.
"Tecchin-sama!" someone cried out, panic rising. "Should we activate the Type Null units!?"
The village chief gritted his teeth behind his mask and shouted, "Yes, do it!"
But before anyone could activate the Type Null units.
SLASH!
SLASH! SLASH!
Brilliant pink arcs of light flashed through the night.
The demons charging toward the village were suddenly cut down in a blur, their bodies collapsing before they even understood what happened.
A graceful voice rang out, "Love Breathing, First Form — Shivers of First Love!"
The massive fish demon, the one that had destroyed the turrets, was split cleanly in two, its grotesque remains falling apart as Mitsuri landed gracefully.
"Sorry, everyone! I'm a little late! I'll take care of everything now!"
The villagers cheered.
"MITSURI-SAMA!!"
"We're saved!"
"A Hashira is here!"
Cheers erupted across the courtyard.
But then.
All the fish demons suddenly turned to ash.
Mitsuri blinked. "Wait…what? I just got here…"
What they didn't know was that Yoriichi type null Alpha completed his mission and killed the Upper moon 5 Gyokko, and all his summoned demons died along with him.
Meanwhile, deep within the forest, far from the chaos in the village.
Akira and Akaza were locked in the middle of their explosive, high-speed battle.
And now a new song blasting through the forest from Akira's system, it was [One Punch Man season 1 OP — The Hero]
♪ ONE PUNCH! THREE! TWO! ONE! KILL SHOT! ♪
Akaza snarled mid-exchange.
"What the hell is this sound anyway!?"
Akira ducked a punch, countering with one of his own.
"It happens when I fight. Just ignore it!"
Their fists collided.
BOOOOOM!
Shockwaves split the air. Trees uprooted. Rocks shattered.
Akira was fast, faster than most Hashira-level fighters, even faster than Akaza himself.
But Akaza's Compass Needle countered all of his attacks.
Every time Akira slipped into his rhythm, Akaza's pattern-reading footwork forced him back.
Akira went for a punch, but Akaza blocked and countered.
Akira slipped to the side and unleashed a leaf whirlwind kick, but Akaza leapt back with acrobatic grace.
"Destructive Death—Air Type!"
Akaza punched the air, sending invisible shockwaves.
Akira rushed in, dodging with the help of his Mystic Eyes.
At long range, he was disadvantaged. As a mage, he never thought one day he'd suffer a disadvantage at long-distance combat of all things.
The irony wasn't lost on him as he weaved between the blasts, closing the gap instantly.
Akaza's eyes sharpened.
"Destructive Death— Disorder!"
A flurry of chaotic fists blurred toward Akira.
He jumped into the air and unleashed a blazing kick.
"FALCON KICK!!"
A flaming falcon-shaped eruption tore down toward Akaza.
Akaza didn't flinch.
"Destructive Death — Leg Type: Flying Planet Thousand Wheels!"
His spinning kick met Akira's mid-air.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The shockwave blasted both fighters apart again, hurling them through the forest like cannonballs.
But thanks to their healing factors, they recovered instantly and lunged at each other again.
Akaza asked, a bit curious, "Are you even human, Akira!?"
Akira shrugged, "Does it matter at this point?"
Akaza's grin widened. "No. I just want to beat you."
Akira smirked back. "Me too."
Akaza slammed his foot into the ground and roared.
"Destructive Death — EIGHT LAYERED DEMON CORE!"
Shockwaves burst forth, each stronger than the last.
Akira dodged desperately.
Then, Akaza rushed him again with a punch.
"Destructive Death — Crush Type — Ten Thousand Leaves Flashing Willow!"
Akira barely leapt back in time.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
Akaza's fist slammed into the earth,
sending a seismic shockwave exploding outward in all directions.
But Akaza wasn't done.
"Destructive Death— Disorder!"
A swarm of fists ripped through the air, and a barrage of shockwaves so dense it looked like a solid wall, launched at Akira.
Akira used his mystic eyes to dodge all of them. He ducked, twisted, and spun, dodging each shockwave by a hair's breadth.
Even while dodging fists that could pulverize rocks, his mind was spinning with something entirely different
"The hell, he has too many special moves…"
Compared to Akaza's endless arsenal of destructive death techniques,
All Akira really had was.
Falcon Punch.
Falcon Kick.
That's it.
That realization hit him harder than Akaza's shockwaves.
"I can't keep up with just falcon punch and falcon kick…I need something more to deal with him, but what should I do?"
And then.
A familiar voice echoed inside his mind, soft but amused.
"Looks like you're in trouble, brother."
Akira mentally sighed. "Well, he has too many super moves. And I can't do much with only martial arts. If I could use mana right now, I'd have more options…"
Selena hummed thoughtfully. "Then why not just learn it from him?"
Akira nearly tripped mid-dodge. "I can't just learn it from him! Sure, I can copy his movements, but I can't generate shockwaves like he does...Wait!"
He froze mid-thought, as a sudden realization dawned on him.
Selena's voice giggled in his mind. "Brother, you do know you can create shockwaves just by punching really hard and fast, right? You even recreated Falcon Punch."
Akira stiffened. "…Yeah. I could do that. Why didn't I think of that before?"
Selena said, "I don't know. I think you didn't really try to think of it?"
Akira groaned internally while ducking under another devastating blow.
"Maybe… I'm not really that interested in martial arts anyway."
Selena said with a smile, "Well, brother, we can talk about your interests later. For now, try to learn from him."
Akira sighed mid-fight.
Then suddenly, his expression shifted.
He sensed something.
A presence.
He raised one hand sharply.
"WAIT. Time out."
Akaza's eyes widened as he froze mere centimeters from punching him, from confusion, and asked.
"…What?"
Even the background music stopped.
Akira held up a finger as he looked toward the trees.
"Hold on. Someone's coming."
Akaza blinked in disbelief. "What?"
Then both of them heard it.
"Akira-kun! Do you need some help!?"
A pink blur sprinted through the trees.
Mitsuri Kanroji appeared, running toward them with full concern.
Akaza stared. "Oh.…It's a girl."
Akira blinked at him. "What? You won't fight girls?"
Akaza nodded, "Of course not. Do YOU?"
Akira said, "I support true gender equality."
Akaza gave him a flat, deeply unimpressed look.
"Whatever. Just tell her to go away."
Akira turned to Mitsuri.
"Mitsuri-san, I'm fine. Go help Erika and the others."
"Okay! Be careful!" Mitsuri nodded and turned back to the forest.
Akira added quickly. "Oh, and don't disturb us for a while. We're in the middle of something."
"Okay! You guys can continue!" Mitsuri said energetically and vanished back into the forest just as quickly as she came.
The two fighters stood in silence for half a second.
Akira exhaled. "Alright. We can continue."
Akaza immediately brightened, far too much for a murderous demon. "Finally."
He slid into his stance.
Akira mirrored him perfectly, taking the exact same pose.
Their eyes locked.
Akira grinned. "Let's begin."