The wormhole didn't feel like movement. It felt like being turned inside out while listening to heavy metal at max volume.
When the S.S. Discount emerged on the other side, the screaming stopped.
Silence. Absolute, terrifying silence.
"Where are we?" Fubuki whispered, staring out the viewport.
Outside was not space. There were no stars. Just an endless expanse of swirling purple mist. Floating in the mist were… spheres. Millions of them. Some cracked, some glowing faintly, some dark as coal.
"Scan complete," Metal Knight's drone intoned, sounding unusually shaken. "Those aren't planets. They are universes."
Saitama pressed his face against the glass. "They look like marbles. Can we play?"
"Don't touch them, Sensei!" Genos warned. "Each sphere contains a closed causal loop of an entire reality. This place... this is the graveyard of failed timelines."
This was the Dimension of the Lost. Where God kept his trophies.
Ahead, looming out of the mist, was a structure. It defied geometry. Staircases that led nowhere, towers that twisted into infinity, massive gates made of bone and starlight.
The Cathedral of the End.
"Well," Garou cracked his neck. "That looks inviting."
"We're going in," Saitama decided. "I see a parking spot."
The ship docked on a sprawling stone plaza floating in the void. As the ramp lowered, the atmosphere was thin, smelling of ozone and old dust.
They stepped out. The plaza was lined with statues. Not of gods, but of heroes. Heroes from every universe.
A statue of All Might, shattered. A statue of Superman, kneeling. A statue of Goku, head bowed in defeat.
"Trophies," Zombieman lit a cigarette, his hand shaking slightly. "He collects the ones who tried to stop him."
At the end of the plaza stood a single figure. Not a monster. A woman.
She wore a simple white dress. Her hair was black, floating as if underwater. Her back was to them.
Fubuki gasped. She would know that silhouette anywhere. Even across dimensions. Even across death.
"Tatsumaki?"
The figure turned.
It was her. But not her. Her eyes were galaxies. Her skin was translucent, revealing veins of pulsing violet light.
This wasn't just Tatsumaki possessed. This was Cosmic Tatsumaki, fully awakened by God's touch.
"Sister," the entity spoke. It wasn't just Tatsumaki's voice. It was a chorus of billions. "You finally arrived. You kept me waiting."
Fubuki stepped forward, tears in her eyes. "Tats... snap out of it! It's me! Fubuki!"
"I know," Cosmic Tatsumaki smiled. It was terrifyingly serene. "I remember the small, weak girl who always needed saving. But you don't need saving anymore, do you? You brought him."
She looked at Saitama.
"The Bald One. The Glitch."
Saitama waved. "Yo. Is your landlord around? He owes me for some property damage."
Cosmic Tatsumaki raised a hand. The statues in the plaza crumbled into dust.
"God does not owe," she said. "God takes."
"And right now," she pointed a finger, "He wants to take the Glitch apart to see how it works."
Gravity inverted.
The plaza fractured. Floating islands of stone shot upwards.
"Seize them," Cosmic Tatsumaki commanded.
From the cracks in reality, shadows poured out. But not random shadows. These were the fears of the S-Class, made manifest.
A dark Bang appeared in front of Garou.
A melting Dr. Genus appeared in front of Zombieman.
A broken, rust-covered Genos appeared in front of the real Genos.
"Divide and conquer," Child Emperor yelled, deploying his shield drones. "It's a psychological assault! Don't let them touch you!"
"Saitama!" Fubuki screamed as the island fractured, separating her from him. "Save her! Save my sister!"
Saitama stood alone on a floating rock. Cosmic Tatsumaki hovered opposite him.
"You can't save her," the entity mocked. "Her mind is gone. Merged with the Infinite."
Saitama looked at her.
"She called me bald," Saitama noted. "That sounds like her mind is working fine."
He jumped.
The gap was a mile wide. He crossed it instantly.
Cosmic Tatsumaki raised a Psychic Shield. It wasn't green; it was black hole event horizon material.
Serious Series: Serious Knuckle Crack.
Saitama didn't punch. He just cracked his knuckles in front of the shield. The shockwave of the pop shattered the barrier like spun sugar.
"What?" the Entity blinked.
Saitama landed in front of her. He grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Listen, sassy child. Your sister is crying. And I'm missing a sale on cabbage."
He shook her. Just grabbed the cosmic goddess and rattled her like a vending machine.
"Wake. Up."
The violet light flickered. Inside the galaxy eyes, a speck of green appeared.
"Get... off... me!" a familiar, annoying voice squeaked from inside.
"Impossible!" the Entity roared. "Her ego is too small! She cannot resist the Infinite!"
"Her ego is massive," Saitama corrected. "It's the biggest thing in the room."
He slapped her cheeks. Whap whap.
"Wake up! Or I'm telling everyone you're actually taller than you look because of the heels!"
That did it.
"SHUT UP, YOU BALDY!"
Green psychic energy exploded outward, tearing through the violet shell. The Entity shrieked as it was forcefully ejected from the vessel by pure, concentrated stubbornness.
Tatsumaki fell forward, collapsing into Saitama's arms. She was gasping, back to her normal self (and height).
"Did you..." she wheezed, glaring up at him. "Did you just slap me?"
"You had a god on your face," Saitama said, dropping her unceremoniously. "You're welcome."
The shadowy figures attacking the rest of the team dissolved. The plaza stopped shaking.
"She's back!" Fubuki sobbed with relief.
But the Entity—the disembodied God-Consciousness—wasn't done. It swirled above them, forming a massive face in the purple sky. A face of pure rage.
The sky began to crack. Not with lightning. With reality fissures.
From the Cathedral gates, something emerged. It was enormous. Blocking the horizon. It had wings made of dead universes and a sword that dripped entropy.
THE ARCHANGEL OF EXTINCTION.
Saitama looked up at the behemoth. He cracked his neck.
"Finally," he muttered. "The boss fight."
He turned to the weary, battered S-Class heroes huddled on the broken stones.
"You guys take a break," Saitama said. "I got this."
He walked toward the Archangel.
"Genos," he called back over his shoulder.
"Yes, Sensei?"
"Start a timer. I want to see if I can beat my high score."
Saitama bent his knees. The stone island he stood on disintegrated just from the prep.
He launched.
And for the first time in the entire series... he smiled. Not a bored smile. A feral one.
The Garden of Dead Stars was about to get really, really noisy.