"What do you mean you're leaving?" Saitama asked.
"It just means I'm leaving your side."
"But you said you might not ever come back?"
Lexon nodded. "Yeah."
He had no clue how to trigger a world mission for the One Punch Man world.
Therefore, it was likely impossible to take this world for himself as he had with previous ones.
Unless the Main God suddenly lost its mind.
And showed some mercy by issuing a world mission to someone like him, whose power clearly exceeded the limits...
It was evident from the Food Wars world; the main quest issued to him was practically impossible for a regular Reincarnator to complete.
If not for the Sign-in System, he would have been stripped bare by the Main God by now.
This also proved the Main God had realized to some extent that he was 'unusual.'
If he hadn't forced his way into this world using his authority, his main quest would likely have reached an insane level of difficulty.
"This... you never mentioned this before..." Saitama muttered, looking troubled.
By now, he couldn't imagine a day without Lexon.
All those magical creations...
The electronics... the games...
The comprehensive arrangements that covered almost everything...
And that incredibly delicious food...
Life without Lexon was simply unlivable!
Saitama screamed internally.
"That's why I'm telling you now... so you can be mentally prepared," Lexon said with a smile.
His smiling words did nothing to thin the heavy atmosphere that had suddenly settled over the room.
"Master Lexon!" Genos stood up abruptly, looking like he wanted to say something.
"This is an inevitable outcome," Lexon said, looking at him calmly.
Genos closed his mouth and sat back down.
"Teacher, are you going somewhere far away?" Mumen asked.
"Yes, a very distant place."
"Then can I follow—"
"No."
He was cut off before the words could fully leave his mouth.
"You still have people to protect here," Lexon said, then turned his gaze to Saitama. "And you need to look after Genos more. He's your disciple, not mine."
"Ah... right..." Saitama felt a sudden pang of guilt.
As Genos's teacher, it felt like he truly hadn't taught him anything; Lexon had handled almost everything.
After that, no one spoke.
The atmosphere in the room shifted from heavy to stiflingly oppressive.
"Why the long faces? It's not like this is a final goodbye. You're making it seem like I'm about to die," Lexon joked, a rare occurrence.
"Never coming back is basically the same as being dead," Saitama remarked with his blank, egg-like expression.
"Look at you, talking like that." Lexon shot him a helpless glance.
"'Mist Swordsman!'"
Lexon looked toward Fubuki.
In this room, she was the only one who called him by his hero name.
As for Tornado...
She addressed people with 'hey' or 'you' rather than names.
"Roughly when are you leaving?" Fubuki asked.
"Within two months," Lexon answered after a quick calculation of how many more times he needed to sign in for the abilities of Tornado, Bang, and others.
"Why?" he asked in return.
"I... Hellish Blizzard." Fubuki raised her left hand, fingers splayed and wrist bent toward herself, her face filled with an inexplicable resolve. "Within two months, I will defeat the Terrible Tornado!"
"Fubuki?!" Tornado, sitting nearby, was shocked.
*What does this have to do with me?*
She was utterly confused.
*Does she want to fulfill our previous agreement within this time limit?*
Lexon thought to himself, looking at the girl's undeniable determination.
But... it was no longer necessary.
Nowadays, whenever Fubuki visited, Tornado usually tagged along.
Between defeating the Blade Demon and their daily visits, Tornado's favorability had already reached a certain level.
After all... anyone who tasted Lexon's cooking would know. It was impossible not to have high favorability after eating his meals.
Even Tornado, who usually seemed all prickly and no sweetness, was no exception.
This level of favorability was already enough to support Lexon's 'accidental' physical contact during daily life.
So, from Lexon's perspective, whether Fubuki defeated Tornado or not no longer had any meaning.
Moreover, he didn't believe two months was enough for Fubuki to surpass Tornado.
While Fubuki was much stronger than before, the gap between her and Tornado was still massive.
Such a gap couldn't be closed in such a short time.
[No need, that agreement doesn't matter anymore]
Lexon had already prepared the words in his mind.
However, after a slight pause, the words that came out were...
"I'll be looking forward to it."
They were words of consideration for her feelings.
"Yes!" Fubuki nodded heavily, clenching her fists and straightening her posture. "I'll show you what I'm capable of!"
"Good luck," Lexon said warmly.
"Hey! Stop talking amongst yourselves!" a voice called out from the side, ignored by everyone.
...
Inside the gloomy underground facility.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Sitting on a stone throne, Gyoro-Gyoro seemed incandescent with rage, slamming its chubby arm onto the armrest and shattering it completely.
"It's nothing special." Lexon's clone, standing before Gyoro-Gyoro, adopted a nonchalant posture as if he hadn't even heard the words.
"You took all the Monster Cells from within the association and gave them to those Seafolk monsters to make them stronger... Just what is your goal?!"
"The Deep Sea King has already joined the association... It's the leader of the Seafolk and can control them, so there's nothing to worry about." The clone smiled. "Besides, isn't the overall increase in the strength of monsters exactly what the association desires?"
"This interferes with the implementation of the association's plans," Gyoro-Gyoro said in a low, grim voice.
Although the Seafolk monsters had suddenly gained strength, the influence of the Monster Cells meant that low-level monsters who gained great power without the corresponding mental fortitude would become arrogant and violent. Even with the Deep Sea King's suppression, they would inevitably draw the attention of the humans.
In the past, while the association had been recruiting monsters or turning organisms into monsters with the cells, they had always done so discreetly.
But the scale of the feeding the clone had done this time was far too large.
Years of the association's stockpiled Monster Cells had been wiped out in an instant.
Not even a single scrap was left.
How could Gyoro-Gyoro not be furious at such an unauthorized act?
"Plans? What plans? Isn't it just gathering strength and then attacking?" To Gyoro-Gyoro's surprise, this human-turned-monster showed no remorse. Instead, an annoying smile played on his lips as he uttered clearly mocking words.
"The association's plans have deep significance; they aren't for you to speculate on. Furthermore, the implementation of the plan should only happen at the right moment—"
"I believe now is the right moment."
Before Gyoro-Gyoro could finish, it was directly interrupted.
"Do you think you're the one in charge of the association?!" Veins bulged on Gyoro-Gyoro's forehead.
"I could be."
"You..." Gyoro-Gyoro's rage was like an erupting volcano, nearly impossible to suppress.
In the next moment, its gaze darted between the many interconnected underground entrances. "Come out, everyone."
"That's why I said we should've just killed him." From a dark entrance emerged a creature entirely black except for its face, with an antenna on its head and a vulgar expression.
Association Cadre, Dragon-level: Black Sperm.
"Is this guy really a monster? No matter how I look at him, he seems human." From another entrance, a slender, bipedal cat-like creature walked in with an elegant stride.
Association Cadre, Dragon-level: Nyan.
"Gyoro-Gyoro said he swallowed a Monster Cell in person, so he's definitely a monster." At a large tunnel opening, an exceptionally tall humanoid figure with spiked hair, four vertically aligned eyes, and a martial arts gi appeared.
Association Cadre, Dragon-level: Gouketsu.
"Are we finally going to tear this guy apart... I've been annoyed with him for a long time... Why does he get to be so good-looking..." An exceptionally jealous voice followed as Fuhrer Ugly stepped out of the shadows.
More monsters began to emerge from the other exits.
The immensely obese Gums, a Dragon-level whose only facial feature was a massive mouth.
Evil Natural Water, a Dragon-level composed of water containing two eyeballs.
Overgrown Rover, a massive black hound with six eyes.
And coiling around the exterior of this building, the colossal Elder Centipede, whose head alone was enough to reveal its gargantuan size.
Without exception, all were heavyweights of the Monster Association.
Even...
From another vast space within the facility, an incredibly oppressive gaze was directed toward them.
It was the creature at the peak of evolution.
The ultimate existence of the Monster Association.
Monster King Orochi.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]