Emergency evacuation sirens rang through City Z. As people ran toward the Shelter, some saw multiple S-class heroes rushing in the same direction.
S-class heroes were certainly the people most capable of making civilians feel safe, but when so many overwhelmingly powerful heroes suddenly gathered for one operation, it only filled people with intense unease.
A dog's possessive growl over its food echoed like a drumbeat through the collapsed area.
That single blast had nearly annihilated the entire surroundings in an instant. Rubble that should have fallen with the collapse could not last even half a second before turning to dust, leaving behind a vast open space like an arena.
The pitch-black beast emerged, only its six eyes glowing brightly in the dimness as it stared without blinking at the kitten who would barely make a mouthful.
Among all the Monster Association executives in their ordinary states, it definitely ranked near the top in raw strength, and its oppressive presence left the others far behind. In every respect, Nyan, that Disgrace of Executives, couldn't begin to compare.
The growling stopped. Overgrown Rover sprang forward on all four limbs, its enormous body closing the distance to Yimi almost instantly. It opened a maw large enough to bite apart a house the size of Saitama's and unleashed another burst of highly dangerous energy at point-blank range.
It could even fire Energy Blasts of this power repeatedly. Almost no living creature in this world could take a direct hit and remain completely unharmed.
"Serves you right. Blame yourself for being that monster's daughter and that bitch's niece!"
"Meow!"
Copying its method of attack, Yimi opened her little mouth. The Mana Burst she normally liked to channel through a spear gathered inside, and she traded a mouth-fired beam with Overgrown Rover face-to-face.
The dark beams collided. Rover's huge mouth was forcibly bent into an arc, and on the scale of the city, the beam looked like a thin horizontal line carving a heavy stroke across City Z.
Psykos's expression stiffened slightly.
Overgrown Rover's strength was naturally exceptional if Psykos valued it this highly. Yimi had not stacked every buff and unleashed a full-power strike the way she had against Lord Boros, but after absorbing Lord Boros, her own power had also increased enormously.
Rover actually endured the clash from this close, merely shrinking a little.
Psykos didn't care whether Rover had endured it. All she saw was that, in a direct contest of power, Rover had actually been suppressed.
If even the little one was this powerful, then Tatsumaki herself would be—
"Why are you hiding underground?"
As if her thoughts had summoned the answer, the moment Psykos wondered that, an almost irresistible force of psychokinesis clamped around her like the Buddha's hand closing around the Monkey King.
It spread across the entire Underground City, uprooting her from a depth of a thousand meters together with the whole base and bringing everything to the surface.
"Tatsumaki!"
So this woman could sense her location too!
Child Emperor, who had come along to help, lowered his lollipop in shock. "Tatsumaki, you might hurt the hostage doing this!"
"That brat isn't that fragile."
Tatsumaki's long hair floated upward. Even though her bangs could no longer cover her forehead, her entire face somehow seemed shrouded in shadow.
"You did this, didn't you? I can't sense the brat's psychic waves. Release her now, and I'll let you keep a healthy, complete corpse."
"Onee-san..."
Fubuki, who had been anxiously searching for her little niece amid the alarms and collapsing ground, parted her lips slightly. More surprising than her sister suddenly losing her temper was the person confronting her.
A woman in black-rimmed glasses with wavy blue-violet hair stood before her, every bit as striking in looks and figure as Fubuki. Judging only by her appearance, she had no monster traits whatsoever.
The true founder of the Monster Association, Dragon-level Psykos.
"Homeless Emperor, Fuhrer Ugly, Black Sperm! What are you standing around for?"
...
An earthquake had suddenly started. These monsters really seemed to be planning something big.
Dodging falling rubble with agile steps, Garou looked ahead.
He had never heard of such a huge open space beneath City Z before.
"A human? Are you a hero?"
Turning a corner, Garou saw a strange bird crouching there.
Phoenix Man, a Demon-level monster who had been unable to remove the bird costume he wore and only realized after the fact that he had become a monster.
Garou pulled both hands from his pockets. "A monster? I don't have time for you. Though if I try to pass, you're obviously going to stop me, right?"
"I haven't said anything yet. But you're not wrong. Since you're a human appearing here, whatever your purpose is, please die."
Phoenix Man opened his beak.
Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!
Garou took his stance and slammed his palm into Phoenix Man's chin, forcing his mouth shut. Then a fluid combination of strikes hammered one human vital point after another, every move lethal and already deviating from the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist's original principle of unified offense and defense.
He could feel it. Surviving his fight with Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask had made him significantly stronger again.
It wasn't only his extraordinary growth as a genius. His gradual monsterization was probably contributing too. Given a little more time, he would abandon his human identity and become a monster bent on becoming the ultimate evil.
Heroes...
Perhaps because he still had a road back right now, he suddenly remembered his childhood: feeling sorry every time the monsters in cartoons lost to the heroes, and clashing with his classmates because they saw things differently.
The most popular boy in his class back then loved forcing other children to play the monsters, then taking the hero role himself and launching an utterly merciless flying kick at them. Those kicks had really hurt.
After Garou fought back and it reached the teacher, he was the one who got scolded for things like "not being able to tell games from reality" and "getting angry over a little make-believe game," as if the child playing the monster had been wrong just for fighting back.
"Guh!"
The final palm strike sent Phoenix Man flying. A vicious light flashed in Garou's eyes as he looked at the monster struggling to stay upright.
Phoenix Man closed his eyes, looking as though he had accepted defeat and was waiting for the finishing blow.
This guy could really take a beating. Still, during these baffling past two weeks, the monster in front of him was the only opponent Garou had actually managed to beat, and that victory successfully restored his confidence.
But it still felt a little unsatisfying.
Garou stared at the resigned Phoenix Man for a while, then helped him up and made him stand properly.
"You...?"
Just as Phoenix Man thought Garou had decided to show mercy to a fellow monster, another fist slammed into his face.
Garou chose to beat him up again.
"What's that noise?"
Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask, who had also gotten lost inside the Monster Association's lair, followed the sound over and immediately saw the man he had previously beaten senseless now beating another monster senseless.
Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask remembered that he had not held back much when fighting Garou. Yet despite injuries like those, this man had actually followed them here and was repeatedly hammering monsters with righteous fury.
"What are you doing?"
Garou let go of Phoenix Man and looked Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask over. "What am I doing? Hey, hey, shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"
A monster pretending to play hero.
After thinking about it, Garou chose not to say that aloud. Despite how combative he was, he also didn't challenge Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask for a second round.
He looked at Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask with interest. "Don't you have something you need to do? Are you going to waste your time on me?"
Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask scrutinized him for a while, then decided to ignore him and walked down a passage he had not explored yet. During their earlier fight, Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask had released his power for only an instant before ending it. Judging from Garou's calm attitude, perhaps he had not noticed Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask was actually a monster.
Garou followed behind him without making the slightest effort to hide his footsteps.
"Why are you following me?"
Garou kept both hands in his pockets and raised his chin provocatively. "Did you build every road in the world? Mind your own business, great hero."
He was only following because he was curious what this guy planned to do.
Phoenix Man, who had somehow avoided being beaten to death, shakily stood up. "You... you're here to rescue that brat, aren't you? If my guess is right, her head has probably already been twisted off. And sooner or later, you'll die here too. We monsters—pfft!"
"Sorry, but I sure as hell won't die here." Garou punched his head into the wall.
Things were getting interesting. Heroes and monsters were fighting? Once they really started, why not find a chance to beat both sides up?
Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask watched from the side and once again saw Garou's punch as a righteous act.
Had he gotten that angry because he heard a child might be in danger?
Thinking about it that way, Garou following him without attacking immediately might not have meant he was looking for a chance to kill Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask. Maybe he really did want to help rescue the brat. Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask had openly turned his back on him just now, and Garou had not launched a surprise attack.
His method of repeatedly beating monsters was even more extreme than Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask's, and his strength wasn't exceptional, but there were at least a few things worth admiring in this young man.
Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask couldn't say he liked a young man with this kind of drive, but naturally, he didn't dislike him either.
He put a hand on Garou's shoulder.
"If this incident ends well, I can nominate you for the Top Ten Heroic Young Men on my personal program. But this isn't a place someone as weak as you should be. If you value your life, turn around and go back the way you came."
"..."