Before everyone's eyes, only one scene remained.
Saitama alone stood in front of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, shielding them with his body.
Off to the side, The Flash—Barry Allen—was breathing hard, clearly rattled, as if he'd just been badly frightened.
Barry was about to say something when he suddenly saw Saitama raise a hand, signaling him to keep quiet.
Saitama stared straight at Vandal Savage.
"Just now," he said, "you really tried to kill the two of them."
Savage answered without hesitation. "That's right."
"You were even willing to kill the woman you love most," Saitama said slowly.
"So what?" Savage replied. "Am I not allowed to?"
"You're seriously twisted," Saitama said.
"Oh? So that means you're going to protect them," Savage said with a sneer.
In a flash, he sheathed his curved blade and pulled out a futuristic rifle from the twenty-second century.
He had been given this gun not long ago by a man who looked exactly like him.
That man had told him that, at some point in the future, he'd need this weapon.
Looking at things now, that statement had proven true.
Savage couldn't help feeling glad he hadn't killed that man back then.
Then again, it wasn't like he'd had a choice—at the time, he couldn't beat the guy who looked just like him.
"So time travel really does exist…" Savage thought to himself.
He ran a hand fondly over the weapon from the twenty-second century, feeling his confidence grow.
"Even if you're strong enough to crush me," he said, "that doesn't mean you can win against this."
He pulled the trigger.
Beams of pale blue, web-like light burst from the barrel and shot straight toward Saitama.
On the other side, Rip Hunter—who had just finished dealing with Damien Darhk and turned back toward the battlefield—caught sight of the weapon and went pale.
"Gideon, warn Saitama!" he shouted.
"That's a Time Tribunal weapon! Saitama, get out of there!"
In the far-flung future of the DC world, there existed a temporal organization that could manipulate any timeline they wished.
They were the Time Tribunal, and they enforced the "proper" flow of time. Anyone who tried to disrupt that flow would be judged by them.
The weapon in Savage's hands had been given to him by agents of the Time Tribunal.
"This is a Time Shackle," Rip said urgently. "Once it binds you, only someone from the Tribunal can undo it!"
Saitama didn't really understand Rip's explanation.
To him, the pale blue, thread-like beams looked like nothing more than condensed energy lines.
How could something like that possibly trap a person?
But the moment his right fist touched that web of light, he suddenly felt an enormous pressure.
"…Huh?"
Saitama was genuinely surprised by the force hidden inside those beams.
From his previous experience, faint, thread-like lines of light like these shouldn't have had any real binding power.
Only the Time Tribunal of DC's far future knew how they'd made such a weapon.
The moment the Time Shackles latched onto him, Saitama immediately understood one thing.
If his other fist got caught as well, he'd be left with only his legs to fight with.
And whether he could win or not aside… fighting like that would be terrible for his image.
He had no idea why he was worrying about his "image" at a time like this, but his body was already moving.
He brought his already-bound fist into the path of the incoming beams, letting the new shackles loop themselves around the existing ones.
In an instant, four pale blue rings of light were clamped tightly around his right fist.
Seeing this, Savage's bearded face split into a grin.
"Saitama, you're already bound," he said. "Are you still confident you can defeat me?"
As he spoke, he fired another volley of Time Shackles.
Once again, Saitama used his right hand to intercept the glowing rings.
Savage's eyes lit up. "Oh? Interesting."
"You really think you can keep blocking my Time Shackles with just your right fist?" he said. "Don't be in such a hurry, my dear—I've got plenty more ways to attack you."
Everyone present was on edge now.
Whoever they were, they could all tell that the weapon Savage was wielding far exceeded their imagination.
And Saitama, at this moment, appeared to be at a disadvantage.
"Damn, looks like the big cue ball finally met his match," Heat Wave Mick muttered.
"This guy Savage," Captain Cold said quietly, "he's got some serious toys.
"Hey, Sara Lance—aren't you going to help Saitama out? Don't forget, you came here under the title of 'Mrs. Saitama,' you know."
"Are you seriously joking at a time like this?" Sara snapped. "You really think an assassin trained by the League of Assassins can take down a demon king like that?"
"Mr. Saitama," Barry called out, "do you want me to help?"
Saitama kept his gaze locked on Savage, his expression icy.
"Savage," he said, "you're getting happy way too early.
"My strength goes way beyond what you can imagine."
"Is that so?" Savage said. "Then come on—knock me down."
The gun barked again.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Another barrage of pale blue ring-shaped Time Shackles shot out of the barrel.
Each and every one of them flew straight toward Saitama.
This wave was even denser than anything Savage had unleashed before.
Savage already saw victory in his grasp.
But just as that thought crossed his mind—
Saitama punched himself in the arm.
Boom.
His indestructible Serious Punch slammed into his own bound arm, and in the next instant, those super-technological Time Shackles from the DC future shattered.
He braced his fist with one hand, sliding the remaining shackles up along his forearm like bangles, then swung with the other hand, smashing the Time Shackles again and again until they were all broken.
By the time he stepped up to Savage once more, his face was colder than ever.
He grabbed Savage by the collar with one hand and lifted him clean off the ground.
"So, 'immortal demon king' Vandal Savage," Saitama said, "do you really think you can withstand even one punch from me?"
Right in front of everyone, Saitama drove his fist forward.
With a single punch, he blew Savage's heart apart.
At this point in the timeline, the so-called undying demon king died on the spot.
The people standing around Saitama and Savage were stunned into silence.
"I can't believe it," Rip Hunter breathed. "He actually shattered Time Shackles like that… that's insane."
"Too strong," Jefferson said softly. "Way too strong to be human."
"Now I really want a tissue sample," Professor Martin Stein muttered. "Just imagine the research…"
"So much for my plans to sit back and watch the show," Heat Wave Mick said with a sigh. "Still, Saitama never disappoints. Strong as ever."
"Looks like we're destined to spend our lives at his feet," Captain Cold said wryly, "serving as his loyal lackeys."
(End of Chapter)
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