"It's horrible!"
Goddess Artemis covered her face as she watched Garou's body being relentlessly battered, contorting with every blow.
She had never imagined that someone could be beaten so severely.
"Yami, your attacks are too harsh! Are you sure you won't leave a psychological scar on him?"
Yami didn't have time to respond to Artemis's concerns. He had already made his words to properly "train" Garou, and he wasn't one to break his word.
As for killing him, that had never crossed Yami's mind. After all, in some ways, Garou wasn't a villain. His worldview was just different from most people's. He simply approached battles with extreme ruthlessness, always fighting as if life and death hung in the balance.
It wasn't necessarily right or wrong—it was just his way.
Everyone has their own path, and as long as they stay true to their hearts, there's no need for shame.
Besides, it wasn't yet time for Garou to be taken down. His potential was staggering. Though it couldn't match Saitama's, Garou was still one of the most promising individuals in this world.
With his unlimited growth, terrifying learning ability, and incredible adaptability, Yami found him fascinating.
To be honest, Yami was eager to fight Garou at his peak.
Boom!!!
With a powerful double-handed blow, Yami sent Garou flying. He had intentionally directed the strike away from any buildings, but the commercial street's road wasn't so lucky, and massive craters formed where the body landed as if struck by a heavy object.
Cough!
Garou spat out a mouthful of blood as he hit the ground.
In just a brief clash, he had been severely injured. His exposed upper body was bruised and purple, with broken bones sticking through his skin.
For an ordinary person, such injuries would be fatal. But despite his terrible state, Garou stubbornly rose, pressing his dislocated bones back into place with a sickening crack.
The sound made anyone watching have goosebumps.
Seeing this, Yami's expression became rather... complicated. With his heightened senses, he could clearly see the state of Garou's muscles and bones. Though he'd pushed his bones back into place, it was merely shifting them from one broken state to another.
No fear of pain at all!
"Do you really still want to keep fighting like this?" Yami asked. "You can't even break through your inner barriers, and you haven't even touched the edge of my clothes. Are you sure you want to continue?"
"To be honest, you're not even worth the effort right now."
Yami stood with his hands behind his back, his clothes rustling softly in the breeze.
Garou's body trembled violently, his eyes clouding with exhaustion. For a brief moment, he saw a phantom behind Yami—his old master, Bang.
"What a joke... how could I fall here?!" Garou roared.
Flowing arcs of energy surged as Garou reactivated his martial arts technique.
Even from a distance, Artemis could see the raw fury behind Garou's movements, though she couldn't fully grasp why he was so enraged.
Yet, that anger had transformed into raw strength, allowing him to break through the mental barrier in his heart and evolve into something new.
Without even realizing it, Garou's hair was starting to change as well. Despite his battered body, he pressed forward with renewed determination.
Yami's eyes flickered with approval. This was the charisma of the man before him.
"Oh? So, you're evolving now?"
"As expected. Under enough pressure, this guy has limitless potential."
"Even after facing near-death situations, or repeated failures, he continues to sharpen himself through battle, climbing closer to the strongest. It's incredible!"
Yami smiled, slipping back into a fighting stance.
Everything up to this point had merely been to trigger Garou's early evolution.
In this world, if anyone had the potential to approach Saitama's level, aside from the mysterious Blast, it was this man standing before Yami.
Yami planned to complete this task by defeating Garou and then challenge the strongest hero himself.
"How much you can learn from this is up to you, Garou."
"Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist!"
Switching from the defensive grace of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, Yami unleashed the aggressive and relentless Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist.
While the former technique allowed weaker opponents to fend off stronger ones, the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist was a pure offensive force, becoming stronger with every strike.
Despite breaking through his psychological barrier and regaining mastery of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, Garou still couldn't hold up against Yami.
In just a dozen moves, Garou's defense was utterly shattered.
A familiar, yet distinctly different sensation of impact coursed through his body, but he no longer had the presence of mind to analyze it.
All he felt now was the overwhelming pain and the fleeting vision of his imminent defeat.