After all, he had held back specifically to capture this unusual Blade Demon for a sign-in.
If Saitama killed him offhand, it would be a loss.
"Don't worry, I have a very good handle on my strength," Saitama said.
Lexon walked into the crater where the Blade Demon lay.
Sure enough, he wasn't dead.
However, his breathing was intermittent.
And his eyes, staring at the sky, seemed somewhat hollow.
"So, how are you feeling right now?" Lexon squatted down, propping his chin with his hand, his smiling tone full of mischief.
He actually quite enjoyed the feeling of making those who thought they were invincible doubt their lives.
"Why... why are you both so strong..." the Blade Demon said extremely weakly.
"Because we have better luck, I suppose," Lexon replied casually without much thought.
"I see..." the Blade Demon responded. "All my life... I reached my peak with the blade, lived for the blade, and died for the blade..."
He was starting to tell a story.
Lexon didn't interrupt him and just listened quietly.
"In the real world... I reached a peak in the domain of the sword where I could no longer advance. Therefore, I chose suicide, only to be unexpectedly chosen by the Main God to enter the Main God Space... I believed this was a sign from the heavens for me to continue down this path."
"So, I went mad for the blade, became obsessed... gradually... none of the experts praised by others could take a strike from me... killing the strong at will eventually led people to call me the 'Blade Demon'..."
"I thought I was strong." The Blade Demon's hollow eyes moved from the sky to Lexon beside him.
'Why are you looking at me? Keep looking at the sky.'
'Do you want me to praise you or something?'
Lexon looked down at him.
"But... you are much stronger than me," the Blade Demon continued.
"That's why you shouldn't always think you're invincible. It's not just me; the baldy who slapped you is also stronger than you. See that guy in the dog suit eating popcorn on the chair? He's stronger than you too," Lexon said.
"You're different," the Blade Demon said solemnly. "You're a Reincarnator."
"What? Is being a Reincarnator something noble?" Lexon replied with a smile.
In his view, there was no difference between plot worlds and reality, or plot characters and people from the real world. After all, he wasn't even from the same real world as Reincarnators like the Blade Demon.
"You... really are different," the Blade Demon muttered, staring at Lexon.
"So, can you surrender now?" Lexon asked. "Considering you haven't really done anything too evil, I'll let you off if you behave well later."
"After my strength reached a point where I could slaughter those 'experts' at will... I looked forward to meeting a truly powerful person."
The Blade Demon's answer completely missed Lexon's point.
"And then... to slay them in battle."
"And you... you are a truly strong person, so..."
As he spoke, a sharp light suddenly flashed in the Blade Demon's hollow eyes.
The Blade Demon gripped the black blade he had begun to let go of, and then, as if exhausting all his strength, he swung it toward Lexon.
"You just won't give up, will you?"
Lexon jumped back lightly, easily evading the Blade Demon's strike.
Even this desperate final spark failed to touch Lexon in the slightest.
"If you have the mind for this... you'd be better off..."
Just as Lexon was about to continue, he suddenly froze.
He saw that the black blade in the Blade Demon's hand, which hadn't touched him, didn't stop. Instead, it continued its trajectory without hesitation, the edge aimed directly at the Blade Demon's own neck!
*Slice...*
A soft, clean sound of severance.
Under Lexon's puzzled gaze, the Blade Demon's head separated from his body.
"Even if I have to give everything, I will realize my vision." Though his head was severed, one last sentence escaped his mouth.
Suicide?
Lexon looked at the corpse that had completely lost its life force, his thoughts racing.
But those last words were clearly a precursor to another outburst...
Yet his life force had completely vanished; even his soul no longer existed, not a trace left behind.
Through his perception, Lexon clearly understood this fact.
Death of this degree was true death—dead as can be. Even Lexon's Impure World Reincarnation or Gedo: Art of the Rinne Rebirth couldn't bring him back.
*Crack...*
At the moment Lexon declared him dead, the cracks on the black blade in the Blade Demon's hand widened until it shattered completely.
Broken?
Lexon looked at the fragments of the black blade with some regret.
He had originally wanted to repair this black blade; after all, it was a decent weapon.
He could have paired it with his Nichirin Sword for some dual-wielding fun.
Maybe even try out Master Kirito's Starburst Stream.
But that idea had clearly fallen through.
Lexon stood up.
"He's still dead?" Saitama's voice came over.
"Yeah," Lexon nodded. "He committed suicide."
"Couldn't see past it, huh? Young people these days," Saitama sighed. Then, a smile broke across his face. "Well, the crisis is over. Let's go home and eat!"
"Alright..." Lexon responded.
*Gurgle, gurgle...*
But at that moment, a strange sound like a stuck vocal cord suddenly rang out.
"What's that sound?" Saitama felt a bit uncomfortable hearing it.
"I don't know." Lexon turned his gaze back to the Blade Demon's corpse in the crater.
He discovered that the headless corpse had undergone a sudden mutation at some point.
The severed head of the Blade Demon had disappeared, and a black blade tip, identical to the shattered Nightshade, had grown from the stump of the headless corpse's neck!
It was as if... the black blade had replaced the Blade Demon's head!
Then, the eerie corpse, which had no life force whatsoever, slowly stood up.
A disgusting, gloomy aura, so dense it could make one faint, erupted from its body and swept across the surroundings.
The heroes who were still conscious felt their vision go black and lost consciousness instantly under the wash of this aura.
Even Genos, Mumen, Fubuki, and others who had been unaffected under Lexon's protection were the same.
Even... all the people in the shelters in City A fell into an uncontrollable stupor.
No... it wasn't just City A... it seemed like over a dozen nearby cities were affected!
The Blade Demon now... looked like a true blade demon!
Under the wash of such an aura, Watchdog Man, who had remained calm and conscious, put down his popcorn and frowned as he looked at the Blade Demon.
"What is this thing? It feels pretty disgusting," Saitama said, finding the thing with a sword for a neck inexplicably annoying.
He didn't know why this emotion arose, even though he had seen monsters far more disgusting than this before.
"I'm not sure either." Lexon looked puzzled and shook his head.
Then, the look of confusion on his face deepened.
Because he suddenly felt a disturbance inside the spatial ring on his finger.
Something was in there...
Lexon placed a bit of his consciousness into the spatial ring.
Then he found it.
The cause of the disturbance... was actually that "arm" he had captured from Jeju Team Two earlier.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]