"Master!" Iaian, Atomic Samurai's disciple, saw his master's battered and wretched state and moved to help as well.
"Get back, Fubuki!"
"Don't come any closer, Iaian!"
Tatsumaki and Atomic Samurai's sharp voices rang out at once.
Hearing their stern rebukes, both Fubuki and Iaian halted in their tracks.
"Stop just standing there! You lot! This isn't an opponent any of us can face alone!" Tatsumaki shouted at the Blade Demon, her face looking as if it were carved from frost.
Even the incredibly proud Tatsumaki now chose to seek support, wanting to cooperate with the other heroes to take him down.
Immediately after, she used her psychokinesis to pull out the black blade. After stanching the flow of blood, she redirected the weapon to shoot back at the Blade Demon.
"Monster Slayer: Raptor."
Drive Knight, who had been in his cage form, disassembled again and instantly reconfigured into a menacing, high-tech eagle. With a shrill cry, it dived toward the Blade Demon.
"Fearless Giant, combine!"
At Child Emperor's cry, various components erupted from his backpack, assembling in an instant into a massive mechanical titan that pierced through the ceiling of the meeting room.
Child Emperor himself sat within the cockpit located in the giant's chest.
"Giant Heavy Punch!"
Under Child Emperor's control, the giant's arm joint thrusters ignited with a violent flare, propelling its fist downward with world-shaking force toward the Blade Demon.
"Superalloy Bazooka!"
"Tanktop Tackle!"
"Dark Angel Rush!"
The S-Class Rank 11, Superalloy Darkshine, whose bulging muscles gleamed with a black luster; the S-Class Rank 14, Tanktop Master, a massive man in a tanktop; and Puri-Puri Prisoner, who had stripped naked yet again, sprouting black wings far different from before—the three muscular heroes struck out together.
"Atomic Slash!"
"Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!"
Atomic Samurai and Bang joined the fray as well.
They synced their rhythms perfectly. Despite never having cooperated before, they acted with instinctive synergy, launching a fierce, multi-directional assault on the Blade Demon from every angle at the exact same moment.
Aside from King, who was effectively a civilian, the remaining S-Class Rank 8, Zombieman, and Rank 10, Pig God, stood ready, intending to follow up the moment the initial attacks connected.
Yet, faced with such a relentless, airtight offensive from all sides, the Blade Demon remained indifferent and composed.
"All of you, lie down for a while."
His icy voice fell.
The surrounding scene felt as if its speed was being stretched; the flow of time itself seemed to slow to a crawl.
From a distance, Lexon raised an eyebrow, a look of genuine interest crossing his face.
'This ability... involves time?'
Within that slowed world, the Blade Demon was unaffected. With a flick of his wrist, the green-glowing black blade snapped back into his hand.
With a light shake, the green glow shattered like glass.
Then, the Blade Demon raised the black blade.
"Nightshade," he uttered the blade's name. "Soul Reaver."
As the words left his lips, a dense, pitch-black aura erupted from the blade, coalescing and then expanding into hundreds of dark ribbons that shot toward everyone present.
Everyone except Lexon's group, who were protected by a shield he had pre-emptively deployed, was targeted.
Without exception, the black ribbons erupting from the sword pierced through every other person in the room.
With their reactions seemingly sluggish, the heroes had no room to resist the onslaught.
They could only watch, dazed.
However, these ribbons were clearly not physical weapons.
They caused no pain, leaving no wounds.
It seemed they had simply passed through their bodies without inflicting any physical harm.
"Return." At the Blade Demon's command, the ribbons suddenly retracted.
As the dark ribbons exited the heroes' bodies, their ends carried a strange, nameless radiance that flickered conspicuously.
'What is this...?'
Tatsumaki stared blankly as the ribbon left her body, unable to comprehend what it had taken from her.
But soon, the realization hit her hard.
The overwhelming sense of emptiness within her body told her clearly.
'What had been taken from my body...'
'...was my stamina.'
The scene returned to normal.
The sluggish sensation vanished completely.
*Thud...*
Her energy drained, the hovering Tatsumaki lost her support and slammed into the floor.
*Thud. Thud. Thud.*
One after another, the sound of bodies hitting the ground echoed through the room.
Of everyone present, not a single soul remained standing, save for the few in Lexon's vicinity.
They were all limp, a profound weakness surging through them, leaving them without even the strength to stand.
Aside from being able to turn their heads, they were like paralyzed patients—incapable of movement and left entirely at his mercy.
'It's over.'
This single thought mirrored in the minds of every fallen S-Class hero.
In an instant! Just one instant!
He had defeated nearly all the S-Class heroes! And it was an absolute, undisputed crushing defeat!
'How can we possibly fight an opponent like this...?'
An atmosphere of despair began to spread.
"The nuisances are down." The Blade Demon turned his head, his gaze landing on Lexon, who was still smiling and eating popcorn. He raised his black blade slightly.
It seemed the darkness on the blade had deepened.
It was so heavy it seemed to swallow the surrounding light.
"It's our turn now," the Blade Demon stated.
At that moment, the heroes, only their consciousnesses remaining, turned their heads to follow the Blade Demon's gaze. Only then did they notice that several people were still sitting.
'That's... Watchdog Man? Demon Cyborg? That B-Class guy? And two unknown bald guys...?'
'They didn't go down?'
The heroes were utterly astonished.
"Don't fight him! Scatter!" Tatsumaki somehow managed to find a sliver of strength to shout. "Go find Blast!!! Only he can handle this guy! Go, now!!"
Having been saved by the S-Class Rank 1 Blast as a child, Tatsumaki now placed all her hopes in the hero who had once rescued her.
She believed that only Blast could defeat this terrifying enemy!
However, despite her desperate cry that used up her last bit of energy, Lexon's group didn't react at all.
It was as if her words were merely the passing wind.
'These fools!'
Tatsumaki cursed them in her heart.
But beyond mental cursing, she was powerless.
'Blast...'
'Only he can do it...'
'Where are you... Blast...?'
Unconsciously, deep within her soul, Tatsumaki began to pray for Blast's arrival.
Just like in her childhood, arriving like a beacon of hope at the brink of despair—arriving like a hero to...
Save her.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]