'Is the opponent I want to face truly over there...'
From a great distance, Blade Demon's gaze fell upon the wide-open gates of the Hero Association building.
A faint expression of excitement appeared on his otherwise indifferent face.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Blade Demon sensed something was wrong. He looked up and raised his black blade.
*BOOM...*
A heavy roar rang out.
A glowing blue arm carrying immense power slammed into the black blade. The invisible shockwave from the collision swept across the surroundings, kicking up a violent gale of dust and stone.
The ground beneath Blade Demon's feet shattered and caved in uncontrollably due to the clash.
"Not bad strength."
Blade Demon, his body unmoved, glanced at the person who had attacked him.
One eye, spiked light purple hair, blue skin covered in vein-like lines where violent energy surged continuously.
"You are the opponent I have been looking for!"
Blade Demon heard the other's voice, filled with thick battle intent and excitement.
"But you are not the one I seek," Blade Demon uttered coldly.
"Heh!" Boros did not care. With a loud shout, he clenched both fists.
Then, carrying frenzied energy and power, Boros's fists rained down on Blade Demon like a torrential downpour.
'The power is decent, but I have no interest. No need to waste time.'
Blade Demon's eyes showed a lack of interest.
Facing the thousands of punch shadows, he simply swung his black blade once.
In an instant, a dense black aura erupted from the blade along the path of the swing, quickly condensing into a chilling black light. It instantly enveloped and swallowed all the incoming punch shadows, continuing toward Boros with undiminished momentum.
'I can't dodge!'
As the black light approached, alarm bells rang in Boros's heart. He could feel the danger it posed and understood clearly that in his Released state, he could not avoid it.
'Should I enter Meteoric Burst?'
'No, there isn't enough time!'
"Energy Cannon!"
At the critical moment, Boros only had time to mobilize all his energy, condensing it into a single point and blasting it out at the incoming black light.
However, in the next moment, he was shocked to find that even his energy cannon was completely swallowed by the oncoming black light.
He could only watch helplessly as the black light continued to descend upon him, left with no way to resist.
Enveloped by the black light, Boros was carried off into the distance. It was unknown how far he went or if he had been killed outright.
Blade Demon wasn't interested.
He simply continued walking toward the Hero Association, just as he had before.
"Was that a monster just now?" Bang asked in the conference room.
"Likely a survivor from the destroyed spaceship," Child Emperor judged.
"But he was too weak. He got one-shotted just like that," Metal Bat said disdainfully.
"Well... it is good that he is helping us deal with the monsters," Child Emperor added.
"Are you just going to watch him walk over here?" Seeing the S-class heroes talking without taking action, Sweet Mask seemed displeased, veins bulging on his handsome face.
"Hah? I do not need you to tell me what to do..." Taking a new bat from a staff member, Metal Bat retorted.
The sense of beauty on Sweet Mask's face faded even further.
"I will make a move. My long-range firepower is better suited for this," Genos said, preparing to stand up near Lexon.
"Don't. Let them handle it," Lexon pressed Genos back into his chair.
"It is fine, Mr. Lexon. Don't worry, I am much stronger than before," Genos said confidently.
Lexon gave him an exasperated look.
'I'm letting you enjoy the show, why do you insist on rushing to your death?'
"I said do not do it, so do not."
"Fine..." Seeing Lexon's firm opposition, Genos could only sit back down.
"Can I have some food?" Just then, a flat voice came from beside Lexon.
"Here." Lexon pulled out a bottle of cola and a bucket of popcorn and tossed them to Watchdog Man, who had approached at some point.
"Thanks," Watchdog Man said.
"No problem," Lexon said with a smile, taking the opportunity to pet the man's dog-head suit.
Perhaps he could not dodge, or perhaps because Lexon showed no hostility and even gave him food, he accepted the petting.
Regardless, the result was that Lexon made contact with Watchdog Man.
[SYSTEM: SIGN-IN SUCCESSFUL]
Uh...
Looking at the sign-in message appearing before him, the smile on Lexon's face froze.
[SYSTEM: TERRITORIAL INSTINCT: POSSESSES A STRONG PROTECTIVE INSTINCT OVER RECOGNIZED TERRITORY, ALLOWING NO INTRUSIONS FROM OTHERS.]
'So he really is a dog?'
Lexon looked at Watchdog Man, who shared Saitama's face, and could not help but wonder.
Meanwhile, the 13th ranked S-class hero, Flashy Flash, moved.
His tall, elegant figure suddenly transformed into a nearly invisible streak of light, rushing toward Blade Demon, who was nearly a kilometer away.
Instakill.
Flashy Flash silently recited the name of his sword, wielding the glowing long blade to strike violently at Blade Demon's neck.
"Flashy Slash."
Flashy's first move was a killing blow.
In the original story, this strike delivered with incredible speed could kill two Dragon-level monsters in an instant.
Even if those two Dragon-levels were on the lower end, it was enough to prove the terrifying power of Flashy's technique!
A piercing whistle flashed past, and the trajectory of the strike from Instakill seemed to linger in the air.
The tall, elegant figure stopped moving and stood still. His flowing yellow hair and milky-white cape fluttered in the wind.
"It seems... he was not a difficult opponent to deal with." Sheathing Instakill, Flashy did not even bother looking back at the corpse.
The strike he just made had definitely connected.
That is why he was so sure.
In his understanding, no one could withstand a strike driven by his extreme speed once it hit.
"You are a swordsman too."
Suddenly, a voice came from behind Flashy.
What?
Flashy was startled.
In the back? Not dead?
The moment the thought surfaced, Flashy twisted his body, swung his cape, flicked his palm, and reversed his grip on Instakill to strike behind him.
*CLANG!*
The sharp sound of blades clashing rang out.
*SNAP!*
Immediately after, Flashy heard an inexplicable sound.
Taking a quick look, he saw a scene he could hardly believe.
The Instakill in his hand had actually... snapped!
It was cut right in half!
Impossible...
Flashy's pupils dilated, and a look of shock appeared on his face.
Before he could process it, he saw the black blade in the opponent's hand swing again with casual ease, cutting toward him.
'Must... must dodge!'
The speed-specialist Flashy Flash relied on his extreme reflexes to narrowly avoid the swing from Blade Demon.
And as he dodged, he swung his leg in a whip-kick toward Blade Demon's head.
*THUD!*
The sound of the attack hitting the blade rang out.
'His speed... is actually faster than mine!'
Seeing the opponent's lightning-fast defense, Flashy was filled with astonishment.
Then, he felt an incredibly powerful counter-force transmit from the blade the opponent used to block.
*BOOM!*
In an instant, Flashy's elegant figure was sent spinning through the air like a ragdoll. He crashed back toward where he had come from with a thunderous impact.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]