Following the successful elimination of the Deep Sea King and the Seafolk's retreat into the depths of the ocean, the crisis was officially over...
And the name of Lexon, the 'Mist Swordsman,' had truly resounded across the world.
After all, this so-called Demon-level threat was one that even two S-Class heroes couldn't resolve.
Yet, it had been dealt with effortlessly by a B-rank hero.
All the credit was attributed to a single person.
It would have been strange if he hadn't become famous overnight.
Furthermore, his appearance was so striking that it left a deep impression on everyone...
Some of the civilians present had even begun to look upon him with worship.
Information, embellished by his fanatical admirers, spread like wildfire.
Those who were previously unaware looked into the news and were quickly drawn to the Mist Swordsman's image and mystery, spontaneously forming fan clubs.
As a result, even though he was only ranked first in B-rank, the Mist Swordsman's popularity rivaled that of the top A-Class hero, Sweet Mask.
Originally, after Saitama one-shotted the Deep Sea King, his hero rank went up, but his reputation suffered due to the doubts cast by some dim-witted civilians.
He was even considered a charlatan who merely stole the credit from other heroes.
However, that was based on the original timeline where the Deep Sea King had seemingly fought on equal terms with heroes like Genos and Puri-Puri Prisoner.
In this timeline, where the Deep Sea King's strength had increased significantly, driving everyone to despair as he swatted heroes aside with single punches...
After the Deep Sea King was insta-killed, even those fools couldn't claim that the monster was simply exhausted from fighting previous heroes or that Lexon was just reaping the rewards of others' labor.
Thus, Lexon taking full credit for resolving the crisis went unquestioned.
However, because of the main quest, Lexon requested the Association to simply file the achievement without using it to promote his hero rank.
Although the Association found it strange, they chose to respect Lexon's wishes.
"Lexon... you're ranked so high on this popularity chart..." Saitama exclaimed, holding the latest hero registry.
"Heh." Lexon, sitting down, sipped his coffee and chuckled.
He didn't really care about such things.
"There are so many fan letters for you too." Saitama shifted his gaze to the pile of envelopes nearly covering the table.
"You'll get there too," Lexon encouraged.
"I hope so." Deep down, Saitama actually craved a bit of that treatment.
He had been a hero for fun for so long... he had protected people for so long...
He didn't need worship or fan clubs...
But he at least wanted to be recognized when he went out...
The few times he was recognized, people just called him 'Caped Baldy,' which was truly annoying.
"I'm heading out for a bit. I'll be back soon... then we can start." Ignoring Saitama's slightly sour expression, Lexon stood up.
"OK." Saitama knew what he meant.
The duel that had been put off for nearly a week.
"Genos, Fubuki... and my disciple, Mumen, will be coming over later. Remember to host them," Lexon instructed before heading out.
"Sure~" Saitama replied lazily. But then he realized something in Lexon's words and shouted, "Wait, what? A disciple? Yours, Lexon?"
But Lexon had already vanished, so he naturally didn't hear the surprised questioning.
...
On a desolate, trash-strewn beach in Z-City.
Lexon appeared.
"Alright, time to let him out and take a look," Lexon murmured.
Immediately, his eyes transformed into the Sharingan.
However, upon sensing the Kamui dimension, his expression suddenly turned peculiar.
In his perception, large chunks of rubble were floating everywhere within the Kamui dimension.
Beneath the rubble, a fast-moving green figure was locked in combat with a streak of blue lightning and a yellow silhouette.
Despite it being two against one, the green figure didn't seem to be at a disadvantage at all.
"Dammit... what is this monster? How is it so strong?! It was bad enough when that meteorite suddenly crashed down, but now he just throws a monster in here?! You've got to be kidding me! That bastard!" The suit-clad youth cursed in frustration during a gap in the exchange.
"Focus on the fight, or we'll die!" Power Woman warned.
"I don't know where this place is... but if I kill you both... I should be able to get out!" The green figure laughed maniacally, launching a continuous barrage of attacks.
"Dammit..." The suit-clad youth couldn't help but grit his teeth and curse.
...
'He really is strangely strong... the Deep Sea King...'
Lexon thought as he sensed the battle within the Kamui dimension.
That's right.
The Deep Sea King wasn't dead.
The green figure fighting the two Reincarnators inside the Kamui dimension was indeed the Deep Sea King.
Under the sword technique unleashed yesterday, he had appeared to be killed instantly, but in reality, Lexon had thrown him into the Kamui dimension.
He had survived.
Because Lexon had things to do, he had spared its life.
What Lexon hadn't expected was that the Deep Sea King could actually fight two Tier 3 peak Reincarnators to a standstill without losing ground.
This was beyond his expectations.
From 'watching the show' yesterday, Lexon knew the Deep Sea King had become stronger.
But he had assumed it was just a minor change caused by the butterfly effect, nothing to be surprised about.
But looking at it now, the Deep Sea King's strength was borderline ridiculous compared to the original story.
It was a flat-out exponential increase.
It was far too strange.
"Let's see why that's the case." With that, his ocular power radiated, and he activated his pupil technique.
"Kamui."
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