"Child Emperor, is the emergency medicine ready? Saitama might not make it!"
Seeing the trail of utterly demolished buildings, Atomic Samurai was shaken. His Atomic Slash could produce similar effects, but to do it on such a massive scale? Impossible.
"Don't worry, it's ready. There are life signs ahead—he should still be alive! Hurry and stop Tatsumaki!!"
The radar inside the Invincible Giant mech showed a signal, making Child Emperor breathe a sigh of relief.
"This fight is even more intense than I imagined. We need to move faster!"
Bang's sharp gaze swept the area. Like a hawk, he leapt from the mech's shoulder and soared into the air. Mid-leap, he spotted two figures.
Wasn't that Tatsumaki and Saitama?
"Stop! Tatsumaki! Don't—"
His voice, full of power, traveled quickly through the air, but then Bang froze. On his wrinkled, weathered face appeared rare astonishment and disbelief.
Boom—
Saitama's red-gloved fist had stopped right in front of Tatsumaki's small face. The violent wind pressure from the punch whipped her long, emerald hair into a frenzy. Behind her, an entire row of buildings shattered into nothingness under the force, vanishing without a trace.
When the wind pressure passed and the dust cleared, a massive semi-circular trench—stretching so far you couldn't see the end—was revealed. Along its path, buildings were obliterated, the ground steamed with molten-like heat, and even the clouds in the sky had been pushed into a huge circular gap.
Saitama lifted his head, looking curiously at the group rushing toward him.
Tatsumaki's emerald pupils were fully dilated, her face frozen in a dazed expression, like her soul had been knocked out of her body.
"Oh, people are coming?"
Scratching his head, Saitama—though prone to temper and the occasional accidental city destruction—never killed good people.
He might have a grudge with Tatsumaki since she kept calling him "baldy" and had attacked him before, but killing her? Never crossed his mind. He only wanted to teach this arrogant, bratty girl a lesson about manners.
Bang landed, followed by Atomic Samurai, Child Emperor, and finally Genos and Fubuki. All of them stood in stunned silence at the sight before them.
"I… I didn't imagine that, did I? Just now… what happened to that row of buildings?"
Atomic Samurai's scalp tingled. He could still smell the burnt scent from the ruins where the punch's wind had passed.
"Tatsumaki… looks like she lost?"
Inside the Invincible Giant, Child Emperor muttered. Even inside superalloy armor, for the first time, he felt oddly unsafe.
"Saitama… the physical test record-breaker? The Association higher-ups are going to have their hands full now."
Bang took a deep breath to steady himself. Even as a martial arts grandmaster who specialized in fists and palms, he couldn't easily create that kind of terrifying punch wind.
"Sensei, are you… are you okay?"
Genos looked shaken. Fubuki's expression was even more dramatic—her small mouth hung open, eyes wide, like she'd seen the impossible.
In her mind, a C-class hero like Saitama was weak, someone she needed to protect.
But now…
Looking at her poor sister standing there like a puppet, she realized she might have been very wrong.
"Oh? Genos, Fubuki—you're all here?"
With the tension gone, Saitama's demeanor was back to harmless and friendly.
"Uh…"
Atomic Samurai and Child Emperor's mouths twitched. Especially Atomic Samurai, who now felt that agreeing to help Sweet Mask deal with Saitama might have been the dumbest decision he'd ever made.
"Sensei… today's Saturday. It's already five o'clock."
"Huh? Oh no!! Why didn't you say so earlier? The Saturday supermarket sale! I missed it!!"
Saitama, calm moments before, suddenly looked like a gambler who'd lost everything. His face twisted in horror—missing the weekly super sale was enough to break his heart.
"Sensei… if we leave now, we can still make it. The supermarket closes at seven on Saturdays," Genos explained.
"Really? Genos!! Let's go right now!!"
In an instant, his expression shifted from despair to joy. Lowering the fist still hanging near Tatsumaki's face, Saitama dashed away at a speed even faster than during the fight.
"Wait for me, Saitama!"
Fubuki, still with traces of shock on her face, quickly followed.
"…"
Watching Saitama and Fubuki vanish, Child Emperor, Atomic Samurai, and Bang exchanged glances, chuckling bitterly with nothing to say.
"Tatsumaki, are you okay?!"
Snapping back to awareness, they finally noticed Tatsumaki still standing there in shock.
Thud!
The arrogant little esper's vacant eyes regained a trace of focus. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the ground, her mind still replaying that terrifying punch from the bald monster.
(End of Chapter)
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