Chương 147: Chapter 140: The Void Strikes Back (Part 1)

The piercing wail of disaster sirens echoed across the continent, drowning out the ambient noise of a dozen different metropolises. For nearly three months, the world had enjoyed a fragile peace since the sudden, cataclysmic emergence of the extradimensional eldritch horrors that had claimed the life of A-Class Rank 39, Caped Baldy. But the peace was an illusion. In R-City, the sky took on a sickly, bruised violet hue.

The streets were choked with terrified civilians fleeing for their lives as the nightmare began anew. Ripping their way through the asphalt and concrete were numerous multi-limbed, extradimensional abominations. Their biomechanical carapaces clicked rhythmically, a horrifying, alien sound that preceded the devastation of their destructive cosmic beams. In a narrow commercial alleyway, a group of young women screamed in absolute terror.

They were cornered against a brick wall, hopelessly trapped by three towering, spider-like eldritch monsters. The creatures raised their jagged, scythe-like appendages, preparing to impale the helpless civilians. Before the blades could fall, a blur of flawless motion intercepted them. With a sickening CRACK, the center monster was violently launched into the air, its carapace entirely caved in by a devastating, raw physical kick. The remaining two monsters turned, but they were instantly dismembered.

A pair of impeccably manicured hands drove through their biomechanical armor as if it were wet paper, ripping their limbs from their sockets. As the monsters died, their bodies instantly dissolved, disintegrating into thin air without a trace. The girls opened their tightly shut eyes, looking up at their savior. Standing before them, fixing his perfectly styled hair and brushing a speck of dust from his pristine white suit, was A-Class Rank 1, Amai Mask.

"Are you unharmed, ladies?" Amai Mask asked, offering them a dazzling, camera-ready smile.

"A-Amai Mask!" the girls shrieked in unison, their sheer terror instantly replaced by comical, overwhelming fangirl adoration, their eyes turning into massive hearts.

"Please, evacuate immediately to the nearest shelter," Amai Mask instructed smoothly, his voice a melodic hum.

"I shall handle these ugly beasts." The girls nodded frantically, sprinting away down the cleared alleyway. As soon as they were out of sight, Amai Mask's charming smile instantly vanished, replaced by a dark, disgust-filled scowl. More multi-limbed horrors crawled over the rooftops, dropping into the alley and surrounding the idol.

"Disgusting aberrations," Amai Mask sneered. He dashed forward, his movements a terrifying blend of elegance and brutal, lethal force. He drove his hand directly through the chest cavity of a lunging monster, pivoting gracefully to deliver a spinning heel kick that shattered the skull of another. As their bodies disintegrated into nothingness, Amai Mask's eyes narrowed. They are faster. Their carapaces are denser. These creatures are definitively stronger than their initial appearances three months ago.

Three more abominations dropped from the sky directly behind him, their cosmic eyes charging with violet energy to blast him in the back. Amai Mask didn't even turn around. FSHHH-SHING! A blinding arc of light cut through the alleyway. The three monsters behind him were instantly diced into a hundred perfectly symmetrical pieces, dissolving into thin air before the pieces could even hit the ground. Simultaneously, the deafening roar of high-caliber handguns echoed through the narrow space. BANG! BANG! BANG!

Heavy, armor-piercing rounds blew the remaining monsters in front of Amai Mask to disintegrating ash. Amai Mask sighed, looking up. Standing on the rooftop to his left, sliding his pristine katana back into its scabbard, was Flashy Flash. Walking out from the shadows of the street, smoking a cigarette and reloading his massive Desert Eagles, was Zombieman.

"I had the situation entirely under control," Amai Mask stated arrogantly, crossing his arms.

"I can handle all these ugly beings by myself. I do not require an audience." Flashy Flash scoffed, his long blonde hair blowing in the wind.

"Do not flatter yourself, idol. I never intended to help you. The Association deployed us to this sector. You simply happened to be standing in my way." Zombieman let out a long, exhausted sigh, blowing a cloud of gray smoke into the air.

"Can we skip the ego measuring? We have a city to save." Despite his annoyance with Amai Mask's abrasive personality, Zombieman harbored a quiet, lingering respect for the idol. He had witnessed firsthand how Amai Mask had helped Superalloy Darkshine regain his composure and overcome his mental insecurities following his devastating loss to the Hero Hunter, Garou. Even though Darkshine has retired after the battle was over. A massive tremor shook the ground.

Dozens more multi-limbed eldritch horrors poured out from the main street, their carapaces clicking menacingly. Although Amai Mask and Flashy Flash deeply disliked each other, their professional lethal efficiency was undeniable. The three heroes dashed forward as one.

"Flashy Slash!" Flashy Flash moved at absolute lightspeed, leaving a trail of blinding afterimages. He wove through the horde, his blade a continuous, inescapable net of silver light that severed the abominations' limbs with microscopic precision. Zombieman waded directly into the center of the swarm. A monster fired a cosmic beam, blowing a massive, bloody hole straight through the S-Class hero's torso. Zombieman didn't even flinch.

His flesh rapidly, violently knitted itself back together in seconds as he swung his heavy machete, cleaving the creature in half before unloading his handguns into the next one. Amai Mask fought with savage, bare-handed brutality, tearing through the alien armor and crushing their cosmic cores with pure, unadulterated physical strength. Every monster they struck down disintegrated into the wind, leaving no corpses behind, but the heroes fought on relentlessly.

Miles away, in W-City, the situation was equally dire. Four A-Class heroes stood back-to-back in the center of a wide intersection, desperately holding the line to protect a massive convoy of evacuating civilians.

"Keep them back! Don't let them near the buses!" Rank 33 hero Heavy Kong roared, swinging his massive, chain-linked spiked maces. He smashed a multi-limbed monster into the asphalt, the creature dissolving instantly upon death.

"There's too many of them!" Rank 27 hero Smile Man grunted, spinning his giant kendama weapon. He hurled the massive wooden ball forward, crushing the skulls of two lunging abominations.

"They just keep coming!"

"Golden Breakout!" Rank 26 hero Golden Ball shouted. He pulled back the band of his specialized slingshot, firing a barrage of shape-memory alloy balls. The projectiles ricocheted wildly between the buildings and the monsters' carapaces, piercing through multiple enemies in a deadly, golden web.

"We must maintain our formation!" Rank 28 hero Spring Mustachio commanded, stepping forward elegantly. He thrust his specialized rapier, Tomboy, forward. The blade extended and compressed with terrifying speed, piercing through the cosmic eyes of a towering monster. At first, the four A-Class heroes managed to hold their ground, destroying wave after wave of the disintegrating monsters.

But as the eldritch horrors adapted, utilizing their cosmic beams to suppress the heroes' movements, the sheer volume of the swarm began to overwhelm them. Heavy Kong was blasted backward by a violet beam, groaning as his armor scorched. Spring Mustachio parried a scythe-like limb, gritting his teeth as his boots skidded across the pavement. Just as the swarm prepared to surge forward and overrun their position, the air itself seemed to vibrate.

In a fraction of a second, the front line of twenty multi-limbed monsters completely froze in place. A heartbeat later, their biomechanical carapaces cleanly separated into hundreds of perfectly cubed pieces. The monsters dissolved into thin air. Heavy Kong, Smile Man, Golden Ball, and Spring Mustachio gasped, looking toward the source of the impossible swordsmanship. Walking calmly down the street, casually chewing on a piece of straw, was S-Class hero, Atomic Samurai.

He was now Rank 3 since the former S-Class Rank 2 hero, Silver Fang (Bang), has retired. Flanking him with their hands resting on the hilts of their blades were his three elite disciples: Iaian, Okamaitachi, and Bushidrill.

"Atomic Samurai!" Golden Ball cheered, sagging in relief. Spring Mustachio stood up straight, offering a deeply respectful bow. As the disciple of Nichirin, the leader of the Council of Swordmasters, he held profound reverence for Kamikaze.

"We are incredibly grateful for the backup, Master." Atomic Samurai spat out his straw, his sharp eyes locking onto the next wave of eldritch nightmares crawling over the buildings.

"You four focus entirely on protecting the civilians and escorting the buses out of the sector," Atomic Samurai addressed the A-Class heroes without looking away from the enemy.

"My disciples and I will handle this army."

"Understood! Let's move!" Smile Man yelled to his comrades. The four heroes quickly broke off, rushing to secure the civilian convoy. Atomic Samurai rested his hand on the hilt of his katana, lowering his center of gravity.

"Iaian. Okamaitachi. Bushidrill. Do not underestimate these creatures. The Association reports indicate their carapaces are significantly denser than before. Keep your guards up."

"Yes, Master!" the three disciples shouted in unison. The eldritch swarm lunged. Iaian drew his blade with his single arm.

"Iai Slash!" He moved with blinding speed, a crescent wave of sheer cutting force severing the front limbs of a massive beast.

"Kamaitachi!" Okamaitachi twirled gracefully, swinging her blade through the air. Invisible, razor-sharp vacuum blades sliced through the air, decapitating three monsters simultaneously. Bushidrill lunged forward, his unique, drill-shaped sword spinning violently as he drove it straight through the armored chest of an abomination, shredding its cosmic core before it dissolved. But the master was in a league of his own. Atomic Samurai stepped into the center of the horde.

He drew his blade so fast it created a vacuum.

"Atomic Slash!" Over a hundred microscopic, crisscrossing slashes filled the air in less than a millisecond. Everything within a ten-meter radius of the S-Class hero, dozens of heavily armored, multi-limbed extradimensional horrors, was instantaneously reduced to atomic dust, their bodies disintegrating before they even realized they had been cut.

In B-City, the newly rebuilt metropolis that had once been leveled by the colossal titan Beefcake (the Brain and Brawn Brother), the streets were once again plunged into chaos. Down a secluded residential street, a terrified family, a mother, a father, and two young children, were huddled together against a locked door. Three massive, multi-limbed nightmares clicked their mandibles, advancing slowly on the helpless civilians. The monsters raised their scythe-like appendages.

"JUSTICE CRASH!" A heavy, green bicycle hurtled through the air, smashing directly into the carapace of the lead monster. The impact was entirely harmless to the heavily armored eldritch beast, the bicycle clattering uselessly to the asphalt, but it served its purpose. The three monsters turned away from the family, glaring at their attacker. C-Class Rank 1 hero Mumen Rider, stood a few yards away. He was panting heavily, his armor dented, but his posture was completely unbroken.

"Run!" Mumen Rider yelled to the family without taking his eyes off the monsters.

"Get to the evacuation shelter! I'll distract them!" The father nodded frantically, grabbing his children and sprinting away down the street. Mumen Rider raised his fists, dropping into a fighting stance. He gritted his teeth, sweat pouring down his face. He knew he possessed absolutely no chance of winning against a Demon-level extradimensional horror, let alone three. But he was a hero. He didn't run away. He faced them bravely. The three monsters hissed, lunging forward to tear the cyclist apart.

Suddenly, a blinding, roaring pillar of golden fire descended from the sky. The sheer, apocalyptic heat of the laser beams instantly melted the three monsters, vaporizing them completely. Genos landed heavily onto the asphalt in a three-point superhero crouch, his cybernetic arms smoking as the ports on his palms sealed shut. The orange core in his chest pulsed with volatile, dangerous energy.

"Demon Cyborg!" Mumen Rider gasped, lowering his arms.

"Thank you!" Genos stood up, his optical sensors scanning the horizon. From the surrounding intersections, dozens more multi-limbed nightmares began to pour into the street.

"They have re-emerged," Genos noted, his synthetic voice tight with surprise and a rising, desperate hope.

"After nearly three months of absolute silence."

"Do you think Void-Gorgon showed up as well?" Mumen Rider asked urgently, stepping up beside him.

"If the main body is here, it could be our chance! We might find a clue to the whereabouts of Saitama-kun!" Genos clenched his metallic fists, the metal joints groaning.

"I have already executed a maximum-range scan across multiple cities. I have not detected any spatial resonance matching the 'main body'. The progenitor is not here." Seeing the massive army of eldritch horrors rapidly closing in on their position, Genos raised his glowing palms.

"Mumen Rider. Focus entirely on assisting the civilians and supporting the other heroes with evacuations," Genos commanded.

"I will handle this army." Mumen Rider nodded, retrieving his battered bicycle.

"Be careful, Genos! The reports say these creatures are much stronger than their initial emergence!"

"I am aware," Genos replied flatly, engaging his thrusters. After Mumen Rider pedaled away, Genos stood completely alone against the advancing horde of cosmic abominations. His optical sensors narrowed into sharp, lethal slits. He ignited his thrusters, fully prepared to incinerate every single monster in his path. But his thoughts remained entirely fixated on the missing Dragon-Level threat that had stolen his master. Void-Gorgon... Genos thought, launching himself forward into the fray. Where are you right now?

In Y-City, the battlefield was a chaotic mix of high-tech weaponry and raw, gluttonous power. Child Emperor, dodged a sweeping strike from a multi-limbed monster, landing agilely on top of a crushed car. He reached into his backpack, drawing his specialized lightsaber. He parried a second strike, cleanly severing the creature's arm before shooting it in the face with a compact laser pistol.

"Their structural integrity has increased by exactly 42%," Child Emperor calculated, licking a lollipop as he evaded another cosmic beam. Suddenly, a massive monster dropped from the side of a building, preparing to ambush the boy genius from behind. Before Child Emperor could turn around, two massive, meaty hands shot out, grabbing the eldritch horror by its legs. Pig God simply unhinged his jaw to an impossible, terrifying width and swallowed the entire, thrashing extradimensional monster in one massive gulp.

The S-Class hero burped loudly, patting his massive stomach as the creature dissolved internally.

"Thank you, Pig God!" Child Emperor called out gratefully. More multi-limbed monsters surged around the corner, hissing violently. BAM! A solid metal baseball bat swung with the force of a freight train, slamming directly into the side of an abomination's head and sending it flying through three concrete walls. Metal Bat marched into the street, resting his dented weapon over his shoulder. He looked absolutely furious.

"Metal Bat! Thanks for the backup!" Child Emperor said in relief to his fellow S-Class hero.

"Un-freaking-believable!" Metal Bat complained loudly, kicking a piece of rubble.

"I promised Zenko I was gonna take her to the zoo today to see the new panda exhibit! And it gets completely ruined by these multi-limbed bastards crawling out of the woodwork!" This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. He glared at the approaching horde, his fighting spirit already skyrocketing.

"I'm gonna smash every single one of you ugly bugs into paste!" The three S-Class heroes engaged the horde. Metal Bat fought with savage, escalating fury. The more cosmic beams he blocked and the more hits he took, the stronger and faster he became.

"Savage Tornado!" he roared, spinning like a violent hurricane of metal, completely obliterating any monster foolish enough to step into his radius. Pig God simply waded through the battlefield like an unstoppable tank, grabbing the abominations and eating them whole, his impossible digestive system neutralizing their cosmic energy instantly. Child Emperor analyzed the shifting battlefield, realizing the sheer numbers required a heavier response.

"Time to clean this up!" Child Emperor announced. He pressed a button on his backpack. Three small, mechanical, dog-like robots deployed onto the street: Underdog Man No. 23, No. 24, and No. 25. At first, the three robotic hounds fought individually, darting between the monsters' legs, biting and tearing at their carapaces with high-frequency vibrating teeth.

"Underdog Men!" Child Emperor commanded, raising his hand.

"Combine!" The three robotic dogs leaped into the air. Their metallic bodies shifted, clicked, and locked together in a flawless, complex combination sequence. They landed on the asphalt as a towering, incredibly muscular, three-headed humanoid beast robot: Underdog Man Cerberus. The mechanical Cerberus roared, rushing forward and unleashing a devastating flurry of high-powered, brutal melee strikes, completely thrashing the remaining eldritch horrors alongside Metal Bat and Pig God.

Back in A-City, within the high-security operator room of the Hero Association Headquarters, the tension was palpable. Sitch, Sekingar, Busho, and Jinruzen stood around the central holographic console, closely monitoring the live feeds from R-City, W-City, B-City, and Y-City.

"So far, the deployed heroes are successfully holding the lines," Busho reported, wiping sweat from his brow.

"The monsters are disintegrating upon death, just like before."

"They have definitely re-emerged," Sekingar noted, his single eye narrowing at the footage.

"But according to Demon Cyborg and Child Emperor's live scans... the 'leader' or 'main body' that was reported as Void-Gorgon remains entirely unseen."

"This is deeply concerning," Jinruzen argued, crossing his arms.

"Is simply destroying these spawns enough? If they can spontaneously re-emerge after three months of absolute silence, they will surely appear again in the future. We are fighting a symptom, not the disease. We absolutely need to understand the dimensional background of these eldritch abominations."

"But without the main body, and without Caped Baldy to testify to what actually happened during the initial breach, we are completely blind," Sitch sighed heavily. Suddenly, the operator room descended into a frenzy of frantic typing and shouting.

"Sir! We are detecting massive, synchronized spatial anomalies!" a brown-haired operator shouted, standing up from his terminal.

"New emergences are touching down right now!"

"What?! Where?!" Sitch demanded, rushing over to his console.

"M-City, Q-City, C-City, and D-City!" the C Branch Operator, a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, called out from across the room. Her fingers flying across her keyboard as the red warning screens multiplied.

"The energy signatures are massive!" Sitch, Sekingar, Busho, and Jinruzen stared at the map as four entirely new cities lit up with disaster warnings. The invasion wasn't contained. It was expanding. Sitch slammed his fist onto the console, his face pale but resolute.

"Issue a maximum emergency broadcast!" Sitch roared to the operators.

"Deploy every available S-Class and A-Class hero immediately! We are at war!"

In C-City, the afternoon sky had turned a sickly, bruised violet. The streets were absolute pandemonium. Terrified civilians ran screaming down the wide boulevards as numerous extradimensional, multi-limbed horrors emerged from the shadows. The eldritch abominations scuttled over skyscrapers and tore through the asphalt, their biomechanical carapaces clicking rhythmically. Some struck out with razor-sharp, scythe-like appendages.

Others fired devastating, concentrated cosmic beams from their horrific, eyeless faces, vaporizing entire city blocks in an instant. A massive, spider-like beast cornered a family against a collapsed bus, its mandibles dripping with a corrosive substance. It raised its scythes for the killing blow.

"Hell Storm!" A violent, localized tornado of psychic energy erupted from the asphalt. The sheer kinetic force of the telekinetic whirlwind lifted the multi-limbed monster into the air, violently spinning it until its carapace cracked and shattered. The beast dissolved into thin air before its pieces even hit the ground. Standing at the head of the intersection, her dark green dress billowing elegantly in the psychic wind, was B-Class Rank 1, Fubuki, the Blizzard of Hell.

Behind her stood the fully mobilized ranks of the Blizzard Group.

"Do not hold back!" Fubuki commanded her subordinates, her green eyes glowing with fierce determination.

"Association reports confirm these creatures are significantly denser and more powerful than their initial emergence three months ago! Attack in formation!"

"Yes, Miss Fubuki!" Eyelashes, Mountain Ape, Lily, Piko, and the rest of the Blizzard Group shouted in unison. The suited heroes charged forward. Eyelashes utilized his specialized eyelash-curler weapons, blinding the lower-tier monsters with rapid strikes, while Mountain Ape used his immense physical bulk to grapple and toss the beasts backward. Lily leaped through the fray, swinging her three-section staff with impressive, practiced speed to shatter the monsters' joints.

Fubuki hovered a few feet off the ground, her psychic output pushed to its absolute limit. She was no longer hiding behind her subordinates. Her recent experiences, and the quiet, profound inspiration left behind by Saitama, had fueled her. She was determined to eventually ascend to the A-Class, to become a true hero. She hurled heavy debris, crushed cosmic beams with telekinetic shields, and tore the monsters apart. But the swarm was endless.

"Miss Fubuki! There's too many of them!" Mountain Ape yelled, holding back a thrashing abomination. Fubuki gritted her teeth, sweat pouring down her face as three massive, heavily armored horrors lunged at her simultaneously, their cosmic eyes glowing bright violet. She raised her hands, preparing a desperate shield. Suddenly, the three monsters abruptly stopped mid-air. An overwhelming, terrifyingly dense aura of emerald green psychic energy seized the entire street. CRUNCH!

Every single multi-limbed creature within a five-block radius was instantly and violently twisted like a wet rag. Their dense, biomechanical armor was crushed into microscopic cubes by an invisible, god-like force. In a fraction of a second, the entire localized swarm was obliterated, disintegrating into thin air. Fubuki lowered her hands, looking up. Descending slowly from the violet sky, surrounded by an intense aura of green psychic light, was her older sister. S-Class Rank 2, Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror.

Tatsumaki landed gracefully next to Fubuki, her curly green hair floating in the residual energy. She crossed her arms, looking at her younger sister. Though her posture retained its usual sassy, arrogant edge, her eyes held a soft, undeniable glimmer of respect. Ever since the conclusion of the Psychic Sisters conflict, Tatsumaki's toxic, overprotective nature had significantly eased. Saitama had bluntly shown her that she couldn't shoulder the entire world alone, and that she needed to let her sister grow.

"Not bad, Fubuki," Tatsumaki noted, offering a small, approving smirk.

"Your output has improved. You actually held your ground against Demon-level threats." Fubuki blinked in surprise, before a warm, incredibly proud smile broke across her face.

"Thank you, Sister." Tatsumaki looked out at the fading ash of the disintegrated monsters. Her smirk faded into a deep, serious frown.

"I heard the Association officially marked him MIA yesterday," Tatsumaki murmured, glancing sideways at Fubuki.

"You still haven't found a single trace of the baldy's whereabouts?" Fubuki sighed, looking down.

"No. Genos and my group have checked the entire continent. It's like he vanished from existence," Fubuki looked back up at the sky, her fists clenching.

"But with the re-emergence of these specific creatures... maybe there is a way to track the dimensional anomaly. Maybe this is our chance to locate him." Tatsumaki uncrossed her arms, her green aura flaring to life once again. She scoffed, though the sound lacked its usual bite.

"Hmph. Please. That bald idiot is too stubborn to die," Tatsumaki declared confidently.

"He's still out there somewhere. And when he comes back, I'm going to demand a proper rematch." From the surrounding alleyways, the clicking of carapaces echoed loudly. A fresh wave of hundreds of multi-limbed eldritch monsters poured into the street.

"Let's just handle these freaks for now," Tatsumaki said with serious face toward the monsters.

"Yeah," Fubuki nods. The psychic sisters stood shoulder-to-shoulder, their respective green auras blazing to life in perfect unison, ready to completely eradicate the horde.

Meanwhile, in Q-City. Lightning Max, Stinger, and Lightning Genji were sprinting at top speed through the seemingly empty, deserted streets.

"Hurry!" Stinger yelled, gripping his spear tightly.

"The emergency broadcast said the swarm hit Q-City too!"

"We have to get to the central plaza!" Lightning Max panted, his gunpowder shoes sparking.

"I hope we're not too late!" Lightning Genji sprinted beside them, with his dual stun batons in his hands. Because Q-City is statistically the most dangerous city on Earth in terms of the number and average disaster level of Mysterious Beings, an extradimensional invasion here could wipe out the entire population. The three A-Class heroes rounded the corner, mentally preparing themselves for an apocalyptic warzone. They burst into the central plaza, and immediately skidded to a complete, baffling halt.

Lightning Max, Stinger, and Lightning Genji stood completely paralyzed, their jaws dropping in profound, comical bewilderment. In the dead center of the plaza was a towering, massive mountain of severed biomechanical limbs, shattered carapaces, and cosmic monster heads. The pile was steadily disintegrating into ash, but the sheer volume of the corpses was staggering. Sitting perched at the very peak of the monster mountain, wearing his fluffy, full-body dog suit, was S-Class Rank 10.

Watchdog Man stared down at the three A-Class heroes. His face was locked in its usual, utterly blank, profoundly bored expression. Surrounding the plaza, thousands of Q-City citizens are excited by yet another heroic deed of their city's protector.

"Watchdog Man saves the day again!"

"So cool! And cute as always!"

"We love you, Watchdog Man!" People were cheering, clapping, and taking pictures of their beloved guardian, completely unfazed by the supposed apocalyptic invasion. Lightning Max let out a long, heavy, comical sigh, dropping his fighting stance.

"Right," Stinger muttered, resting his spear on his shoulder with a deadpan expression.

"Q-City. The most dangerous city on Earth..."

"... and simultaneously, the safest city on Earth," Lightning Genji finished, holstering his stun batons. Watchdog Man blinked once, resting his chin on his paws, waiting for someone to throw him a treat.

In M-City, the streets were a chaotic battlefield of raw, physical brawn.

"Keep the evacuation lanes clear!" Tanktop Girl shouted, directing a massive crowd of terrified civilians toward the underground shelters. At the front lines, the Tank Topper Army was holding back the tide.

"TANKTOP TACKLE!" S-Class Rank 13 hero Tanktop Master charged forward like a runaway freight train. His massive shoulder slammed into a towering, multi-limbed horror, completely shattering its exoskeleton. Tanktop Tiger and Tanktop Black Hole fought alongside him, utilizing the sheer versatility of the tanktop to suplex and crush the smaller spawns.

"Master!" Tanktop Black Hole grunted, narrowly dodging a cosmic beam.

"These things are way heavier than the ones from three months ago! Their armor is like solid titanium!"

"Then we must push the tanktop to its absolute limit!" Tanktop Master roared, grabbing a beast by its scythes and ripping them off. Amidst the fleeing civilians, a group of men in striped black-and-white prison uniforms were sprinting for their lives. The criminals had broken out of a transport vehicle during the chaos, attempting to use the invasion to escape. But their luck ran out. Five massive eldritch horrors dropped from the rooftops, entirely surrounding the terrified convicts.

The monsters clicked their mandibles, charging their cosmic eyes.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" a bald convict screamed, covering his head. But then...

"ANGEL RUSH!" A massive, incredibly muscular, entirely naked man burst from the alleyway, surrounded by a blinding aura of angelic, sparkling light. Puri-Puri Prisoner unleashed a terrifying barrage of hyper-fast, heavy punches, completely pulverizing the five multi-limbed monsters in a matter of seconds. The beasts disintegrated into thin air. Puri-Puri Prisoner struck a fabulous pose, turning toward the terrified convicts with a radiant, deeply affectionate smile.

"Are you alright, my precious boys?!" Puri-Puri Prisoner asked happily. The criminals stared at the naked S-Class hero. Their sheer terror at the monsters was instantly eclipsed by a far greater, much more personal horror.

"IT'S PURI-PURI PRISONER!" they shrieked in absolute panic.

"NO! WE DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO THE SMELLY LID PRISON! HAVE MERCY!"

As the local police forces arrived to drag the sobbing, traumatized criminals back to their cells, Tanktop Master jogged over.

"Thank you for the assistance, Puri-Puri Prisoner," Tanktop Master nodded respectfully.

"Anything for justice, and for my boys," Puri-Puri Prisoner smiled, flexing his muscles as his prison uniform magically reformed around him. Suddenly, the ground trembled. A massive, concentrated horde of over fifty multi-limbed horrors poured out of the subway entrance, shrieking violently as they charged the two S-Class heroes.

"Here they come again!" Tanktop Master Tanktop Master dropped into their fighting stances, followed by Puri-Puri Prisoner. BOOOOOOM! The vanguard of the monster horde was suddenly and violently obliterated from behind. A massive, dark-skinned blur of sheer, impenetrable muscle tore through the monster ranks like a bowling ball through pins, scattering their shattered bodies into the air. The figure skidded to a halt in front of the two heroes, his impossibly large, glistening muscles reflecting the sunlight.

"Superalloy Darkshine?!" Tanktop Master gasped in surprise.

"But I thought you officially retired from the Hero Association!" Puri-Puri Prisoner smiled brightly. Superalloy Darkshine stood tall, flashing a brilliant, confident smile that sparkled perfectly. Though he was no longer an active hero, the deep-seated mental trauma from his defeat by Garou had finally healed.

"I am may be not part of the Association any longer," Darkshine affirmed, flexing his massive biceps, a brilliant sheen radiating from his skin.

"But my muscles simply could not sit back and watch the apocalypse unfold! A true shine never fades!" Puri-Puri Prisoner and Tanktop Master grinned in profound relief.

"Let's show them the true power of physical beauty!" Puri-Puri Prisoner cheered. The epic clash of pure brawn commenced.

"Angel Crawl!" Puri-Puri Prisoner dove into the asphalt, swimming through the concrete like water before bursting upward, uppercutting an eldritch monster into the stratosphere. Darkshine waded directly into a barrage of cosmic beams. The devastating extraterrestrial lasers simply bounced off his flawless, glistening musculature without leaving a single scratch.

"Superalloy Bazooka!" Darkshine roared, thrusting his fist forward. The massive shockwave of displaced air entirely obliterated ten multi-limbed monsters, turning them to disintegrating ash.

"My turn! Tanktop Throw!" Tanktop Master yelled. He dug his fingers into the asphalt, ripping a massive, house-sized chunk of reinforced concrete from the ground. He spun violently, hurling the colossal debris at high speed toward a group of fleeing monsters. However, the eldritch horrors were faster than expected. They leapt nimbly out of the way.

"Ah! I missed!" Tanktop Master grunted, watching the massive chunk of concrete soar high into the air, flying completely out of M-City and disappearing over the horizon. Meanwhile, on the the other side M-City...

"THEY ARE HERE! RUUUN!" The streets were entirely deserted, the citizens having fled the moment the emergency sirens began wailing. The heavy glass door of an Akihabara-style video game store chimed happily as it opened. Stepping out onto the sidewalk, holding a plastic bag containing a highly anticipated, limited-edition dating sim RPG, was King. He had put on noise-canceling headphones to listen to a gaming podcast, completely missing the apocalyptic sirens.

King pulled off his headphones, blinking in confusion at the abandoned street.

"Huh. Did a sale start somewhere?" King muttered. CLICK. CLICK. CLICK. King froze. From the alleyways, five massive, terrifying multi-limbed eldritch abominations scuttled onto the street, completely surrounding him. Their cosmic eyes locked onto the scarred man, glowing with lethal intent. King stood perfectly still. His expression was a flawless mask of stoic, intimidating, battle-hardened seriousness. His eyes were narrowed, his jaw set in stone. But on the inside, his soul was leaving his body.

"WHY ME?!" King shrieked internally, tears streaming down his face inside his mind.

"I JUST BOUGHT 'DOKI DOKI SISTERS 4'!!!" The legendary King Engine began to roar, echoing down the empty street like a war drum. THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP. The eldritch monsters hesitated for a fraction of a second, unnerved by the deafening sound of the man's heartbeat. But their alien programming overrode their fear. They raised their scythes, lunging directly at King to tear him apart. KRA-BOOOOOOOOOM! A catastrophic, deafening impact shook the very foundation of M-City.

A massive cloud of dust and debris exploded into the air, completely engulfing the street. King was completely unharmed. He looked down. Less than three inches from the tip of his shoes, a colossal, house-sized chunk of reinforced concrete, the exact debris thrown by Tanktop Master miles away, had fallen directly from the sky, crushing all five multi-limbed monsters into paste instantly.

As the dust slowly cleared, a group of terrified civilians who had been hiding in a nearby subway stairwell peeked their heads out. They saw King standing fearlessly in front of the obliterated monsters, standing calmly beneath the shadow of a massive meteor of concrete.

"Look!" a civilian gasped in absolute awe.

"King didn't even use his hands! He just used his psychic aura to summon a meteor to crush them!"

"As expected of the strongest man on Earth!" another cheered wildly.

"KING SAVED US!"

"THANK YOU, KING!" People clapped their hands full of excitement and grateful toward the S-Class Rank 6 hero. King stood there, holding his plastic shopping bag. He stared blankly at the concrete block, his face an unreadable mask of serious power, while his heart continued to hammer against his ribs in sheer, unadulterated, traumatized panic. Saitama-shi... King thought desperately. Seriously, where are you now?! We need you!

In D-City, the situation was desperate. A-Class Rank 37, Sneck, leaped gracefully through the air, his bespoke snakeskin suit heavily scorched.

"Biting Snake Fist!" His hands moved in a fluid, striking motion, piercing the cosmic eyes of a lunging monster. The beast shrieked, collapsing into ash. Sneck landed heavily on the pavement, panting.

"Everyone, run! Get to the evacuation center!" he yelled to a group of fleeing civilians. He turned around, his heart sinking as five more multi-limbed horrors crawled over the ruined cars. Sneck wiped blood from his lip, questioning his sanity. What are these things?! Before he could engage, a heavy, bladed chain whipped through the air, completely decapitating two monsters.

A swarm of explosive, motorized butterflies descended from the sky, detonating against the remaining three, blowing them to disintegrating pieces. Sneck looked up as three A-Class heroes landed beside him: Forte (Rank 31), Chain'n'toad (Rank 36), and Butterfly DX (Rank 16).

"Sneck! Are you alright?" Forte asked, adjusting his headphones.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the support," Sneck breathed heavily.

"I didn't get to fight these extradimensional creatures during their initial invasion before. Never thought they were this strong."

"I didn't fight them back then either," Forte admitted, spinning a record in his hands.

"Butterfly and I did, though," Chain'n'toad grunted, retracting his chain.

"And you're right. Their carapace density has significantly increased. They are adapting." A loud, brutal sound of impact echoed from the next street over. The four heroes ran toward the noise, turning the corner. They found three traditional martial artists standing over a pile of dissolving monster parts: Sour Face, Lin Lin, and Zakos.

"You three?" Sneck gasped, recognizing them instantly from the Super Fight Tournament.

"Sneck," Sour Face grinned, adjusting his gi.

"We were just in the area. We may not be official heroes, but we can't let these ugly bugs destroy our city."

"More incoming!" Zakos warned, pointing down the avenue. Dozens of multi-limbed eldritch abominations poured into the street, completely surrounding the group of heroes and martial artists. The odds were staggering. Just as the monsters prepared to fire their cosmic beams, a blur of motion tore through the frontline. Three monsters were instantly obliterated by a sequence of devastating, hyper-fast kicks that shattered their armor completely.

Suiryu landed smoothly in the center of the group, wearing his dark martial arts uniform. He flashed a brilliant, confident smile at the four A-Class heroes and the three martial artists.

"Mind if I join?" Suiryu asked cheerfully.

"Suiryu!" Lin Lin gasped in shock. The last time they had seen him was in the hospital ward, recovering from the horrific injuries inflicted by Gouketsu and Bakuzan during the Monster Association incident. Sneck stared at the martial arts champion. He remembered Suiryu's insufferable arrogance. But now, the man standing before them radiated a grounded, humble, and fiercely heroic aura.

"Oh, the Super Fight champion," Sneck smiled to him.

"You seem... brighter. In a good way."

"Well... I've been looking for a good warm-up," Suiryu smirked, settling into the Void Fist stance. It wasn't the arrogant smile of a glory-seeker. It was the smile of a man who finally understood what it meant to be a hero, inspired by a bald man in a yellow suit. Suiryu looked at the martial artists and the heroes.

"Let's fight until the end." Sour Face, Lin Lin, and Zakos nodded fiercely.

"Well, you heard him. Let's save the city!" Butterfly DX said to his fellow A-Class.

"Yeah!" Forte and Chain'n'toad nod in unison. Sneck and the A-Class heroes readied their weapons. The eight warriors charged forward together, engaging the eldritch nightmare that just numbered up.

On the other side of D-City... The panicked crowd was surging toward the evacuation shelters. Among the fleeing masses, a young boy with a catalog book clutched to his chest was running as fast as his little legs could carry him. It was Tareo. As the crowd bottlenecked near a collapsed building, Tareo was accidentally shoved by a panicking man. He tripped, falling hard onto the asphalt, dropping his hero catalog.

"Ouch..." Tareo whimpered, rubbing his scraped knee. He slowly looked up. The crowd had already rushed past him. He was entirely alone on the street. An approaching sound was heard. Tareo froze. He turned his head slowly. Emerging from the shadows of the alleyway were three towering, multi-limbed eldritch horrors. Their cosmic eyes locked onto the defenseless boy. They raised their scythes. Tareo squeezed his eyes shut, tears spilling down his cheeks as he braced for the end. However...

In a fraction of a millisecond, the air itself seemed to ripple with flowing, blue energy. A flurry of perfectly aimed, devastating strikes hit the three monsters simultaneously, completely bypassing their dense armor to shatter their internal cosmic cores. The monsters dissolved into thin air. Tareo slowly opened his eyes. Standing in front of him, having just saved his life, was a young man wearing a simple, slightly dirty delivery uniform.

His distinctive, twin-pointed hair had been cut short, framing a sharp, serious face. Tareo's eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

"Uncle?!" Garou looked down at the boy. The fierce, terrifying aura of the Hero Hunter was gone, replaced by a grounded, gruff calmness.

"Brat?" Garou grunted, resting his hands on his hips.

"What are you doing out here in the open?"

"It's been a while, Uncle!" Tareo cried happily, completely ignoring the danger as he stood up. He never forgot the man who had saved him multiple times during the Monster Association nightmare.

"Yeah, yeah," Garou muttered, though a faint, fond smirk touched his lips. He looked around the ruined street.

"Uncle, I heard the news on the radio!" Tareo warned urgently.

"Those creatures aren't from this world! They're aliens!"

"Seems like it," Garou replied, cracking his knuckles. He had heard the reports. These things were supposedly much stronger than their initial emergence three months ago. Perfect. He needed a good workout.

"We can talk later," Garou said, pointing down the street toward the shelter.

"Go evacuate, brat."

"Be careful, Uncle!" Tareo yelled, picking up his catalog and running toward safety. After Tareo disappeared around the corner, Garou turned his attention to the main avenue. A massive swarm of over forty multi-limbed eldritch abominations was advancing on his position. Garou smirked, settling into a low, predatory stance. Tap. Tap. The sound of footsteps approached from behind. Garou didn't even turn his head. He recognized the heavy, disciplined presence instantly.

"You're slacking on your form, Garou." Standing behind him was Bang, his hands clasped behind his back. Beside him stood his brother, Bomb, and his struggling disciple, Charanko.

"We saw the news," Bomb noted, looking at the approaching swarm.

"It seems the world still needs an old man's fists."

"You've gotten better since your redemption, Garou," Bang added, a proud, fatherly smile on his face. Following the horrific events of the Monster Association, Garou had finally returned to Bang's Dojo, paying off his debts through part-time delivery work and brutal, humbling training.

"Shut up, old man," Garou complained comically, though there was no malice in his voice. Bang turned to his other student.

"Charanko. Sour Face is in this city. Go find him and assist the evacuation."

"Yes, Bang-sensei!" Charanko nodded, sprinting away down a side street. Garou, Bang, and Bomb stepped forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder. The ultimate master-student trio faced the apocalyptic army of extradimensional monsters. Garou glanced sideways at his former master.

"Don't slow me down, you two," Garou smirked, blue energy beginning to flow around his hands. Bang and Bomb chuckled warmly at his comical arrogance. He was still rough around the edges, but his heart was finally in the right place.

"Try to keep up, boy," Bang replied. The multi-limbed eldritch creatures shrieked, dashing toward them. Together, the three martial artists lunged forward, unleashing a devastating storm of flowing water and whirling wind against the nightmare.