Chapter 110: Actually No Different
"Hyaaaaaaaa!!"
Garou roared as he charged forward, letting out strange, unintelligible cries. He pushed the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist to its absolute limit, an overwhelming barrage of fist shadows striking at King from all directions simultaneously.
He didn't believe it, nor was he willing to admit it. How could his Hero Hunting activities face such a setback at the very first step? How could he fail so directly at the very beginning!
Garou considered himself a heaven-sent Genius with extraordinary talent, something that had been evident back when he was Bang's top head Disciple.
Steps that others had to practice bitterly for a long time, he could learn easily with just a glance, and his combat ability far surpassed that of the other Disciples.
He was once Bang's most satisfying student, yet one day he resolutely chose to betray the School, making sure to severely beat all the other Disciples before he left.
Consequently, many Disciples feared Garou's retaliation and chose to withdraw from the School one after another.
In the end, only the weakling Charanko, who had no talent for martial arts, was left, and the once-popular Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist School gradually fell into decline.
Although Garou didn't much like the old man, he had to admit that the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist the old man taught him was precisely the capital he used to challenge the strong.
However, facing Garou's all-out attack, King stood tall and motionless on the spot, merely raising a single finger.
In the next second, King's right hand seemed to turn into a series of fleeting afterimages. Every time it extended, it accurately met Garou's fists, easily neutralizing the flowing water intent attached to them.
Garou also noticed this. Beads of cold sweat unconsciously rolled down his forehead, yet he maintained his maximum punching frequency, unwilling to stop no matter what.
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it!! Why is all my force being neutralized by that guy's single finger! Are you kidding me!!
This feeling was the most unbearable. If it were a simple case of being crushed by power, Garou would only feel that his own strength was insufficient, but at least he could enhance his strength through a battle of flesh and blood.
But now, Garou didn't even know how his flowing water intent was being neutralized by the opponent, giving him a painful sensation akin to hitting cotton with all his might.
This attack lasted for nearly a full minute before Garou finally stopped. The muscles throughout his body were trembling uncontrollably; he had clearly reached the peak of exhaustion.
He panted heavily, his narrow, wolf-like eyes filled with resentment.
Curse it... why can't even one of my punches touch him... why is the force of every punch neutralized so easily... Garou was, after all, a martial arts Genius. Through these many exchanges, he had already sensed that while what King used wasn't the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, it was a new style derived from it.
Or rather, it was a modified version of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist combined with his own characteristics, and its power was even several degrees stronger than the original version.
During the repeated clashes, Garou tried to imitate it. He struck an attack posture similar to King's, but he could never integrate that overbearing intent; he was merely mimicking the form, an empty shell.
Amidst his constant panting, even though his body had reached the limit for throwing punches, Garou still reassumed the starting stance of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, his eyes fixed intently on King.
"Hey, hey, hey, you don't think I'm about to go down, do you? I'm very tenacious. Before defeating a so-called hero like you, a Monster won't just fall!"
In an instant, as if responding to Garou's unyielding will, his body—which had already reached its limit—squeezed out one last shred of strength, and he unleashed another Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.
His fist, carrying immense power, tore through the air with a sharp whistle, containing both fierce force and the clever finesse of flowing water.
"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"
Garou let out another passionate roar like a hot-blooded chuunibyou youth, his fist aimed straight at King's face, his expression filled with tenacity and resolve.
Thump!
A dull thud sounded. Garou's hot-blooded chuunibyou roar came to an abrupt halt, and he collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud, his eyes rolling back as he lost consciousness.
King withdrew his finger; he had only lightly flicked Garou's forehead.
With just a simple flick, that precise force passed directly through the skin into Garou's brain, giving him a moderate concussion.
"Seriously, just like a chuunibyou youth having an episode, shouting and screaming all day long. He really thinks he's the protagonist of a hot-blooded manga."
Well, it's pretty much like that anyway. After all, One-Punch Man has another nickname, "The Legend of Garou." This kid's screen time could be said to take up nearly half of One-Punch Man's length.
King casually picked Garou up by the scruff of his neck, contacted the Hero Association's Staff Members, and had him thrown into a cell to let him stay in prison for a while.
As for the charges, it was quite simple. Just randomly attacking professional heroes on the street and attempted murder were enough to keep this kid locked up.
After dealing with the minor trouble that was Garou, King then remembered that there seemed to be a Monster Association hiding beneath the entirety of Z-City, biding its time.
So, King released his vast Psychic energy and unexpectedly discovered that a large number of Dragon-Level Monster auras were concentrated in one place, along with many Demon Level and Tiger Level Monster grunts.
He immediately realized that this group of Monsters was likely holding a meeting here.
Thinking of this, King didn't hesitate for a moment and chose to break directly into the meeting venue.
He wasn't worried at all about whether it was a trap or a long-planned collaborative ambush.
In King's eyes, these so-called Dragon-Level Monsters were actually no different from the weakest Wolf-Level Monsters...