Doing his absolute best to guard Fubuki against the rain of destructive spheres, Bang was using his martial arts mastery to deflect everything that came near them on their way to aid Shunshi.
The first time Silver Fang attempted to deflect one of Homeless Emperor's attacks, it had exploded in his face on contact, blasting the old man's shirt off and singeing his face. To counteract this issue, Silver Fang switched to using the changing air pressure caused by his techniques to redirect the Cadre's onslaught.
Bang's change-up seemed to do the trick but unfortunately slowed their pace to a crawl, as he and Blizzard had to stay under the air umbrella the martial art master was creating.
"We're never going to get to Shunshi at this pace! Assuming he's even still alive in all this destruction!" Blizzard shouted in order to be heard over the surrounding explosions.
Doing his best not to lose focus to Blizzard's pessimistic points, Bang continued countering as he exclaimed, "That boy is still alive! After what I've seen he's capable of, I'm sure something like this wouldn't do him in! We just need to stay persistent, keep moving, and-!"
It was at that moment Bang realized the explosions surrounding them had ceased, and he was striking at nothing.
Taking stock of the situation, Blizzard stated, "The attacks stopped! Whichever enemy was doing that must've run out of energy! Let's make a run for Shunshi!"
Just as Fubuki said that, a larger, more focused blast went off in the distance, toward where Garou was fighting Tatsumaki, Genos, and Bomb.
"Or perhaps the monster is simply shifting the focus of its attacks. Either way, you're right that we should run like mad," Bang replied as he rushed up to Blizzard and picked her up in his arms, startling her slightly. "Let's move, leader!"
As Silver Fang carried Fubuki toward Shunshi faster than she could have moved on her own, Fubuki looked at where the last bombardment came down and worried internally, That didn't hit my sister... Right...? Please...
At the same time as Silver Fang and Blizzard were running to Monster Mask's side, the Hero Hunter was trading blows with the Demon Cyborg and the master of Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist.
And while the melee warriors fought in hand to hand, The Tornado Of Terror continuously uses her esper powers to alter the landscape in the Heroes' favor. Raising and dropping the debris floor around Garou in any way that would inconvenience him while he was on the ground, or simply raising boulders to obscure his field of vision and obstruct his path whenever he was airborne.
With his incredible strength, speed, and techniques, Tornado's efforts did little to slow Garou down, as he dodged, adapted to, or simply smashed his way through anything the witch put in his way.
However, Tatsumaki's efforts still did distract the Human Monster for half-seconds at a time. Granting Genos and Bomb more than enough time to exploit openings in Garou's defenses.
While Garou was distracted breaking through a stone wall Tornado had put in his path, Bomb swooped in and landed a whirling cut to Garou's torso, while Genos came through the remains of the wall and connected with a spear-palm strike to the center of Garou's back. And for a moment, it felt to the combatants as if they were about to puncture Garou's Kie-hardened body. But it was not to be, unfortunately, as the Hero Hunter expanded a Darkness Barrier out of his body and forced them away with an accompanying shout.
These energy readings are nearly identical. Not good. It seems he has successfully managed to copy Shunshi's Kie-based abilities. Genos postulated as he landed away from the shielded Hunter.
Simultaneously, Bomb thought as he leaped back, Those energy moves of his are annoying... But if Garou keeps relying on them so heavily, then perhaps his martial prowess will start to falter... Hrm, I can only hope.
Suddenly, just as Tornado was about to make her next move, all four combatants were distracted by the blinding light showering down on them. In response, both Garou and Tornado reflexively put up their barriers.
Recognizing what was causing these lights with his scanners, Genos instantly opened up the entire row of cannons on his arms and fired a volley of lightning rays into the air, pushing back the explosions of Homeless Emperor's light spheres high into the air.
That attack... The power readings from it were approaching my last resort powers. It would have reduced us to ashes if it had connected, Genos thought.
Gritting his teeth with anxiety, Genos spent a half-second too long staring at the blasts that could've reduced him to scrap. As before he could counter, the Demon Cyborg's right arm was torn from its socket, carried away, and crushed to pieces by a Shadow Sphere.
While Genos recoiled from the damage he'd sustained, he shouted, "Dammit! Dammit! Why do I never learn?!"
As Garou looked at the Demon Cyborg scream in rage, his palm still pointed at him, the Hero Hunter thought, Who the Hell asked that Homeless asshole to get involved with my hunt? That settles it, he's the first Cadre I'm taking out.
Rushing at Garou in an attempt to give Genos time to recompose himself, Bomb unleashed a double-palmed whirling strike to Garou's back. Or rather, the old master had intended to but was stopped midway when his hands were wrapped up at the last second by Garou's apparently fully prehensile wings.
And as Garou effortlessly smashed apart more debris thrown at him by Tornado, he muttered, "I guess I should take you three down first."
However, Garou suddenly flinched with a sharp pain as two of his wings were shredded off of his back. Evidently, the wings the Hero Hunter has used to parry Bomb hadn't been as effective as he'd thought, with Bomb's attack going through and cutting those wings to pieces.
In response, the Human Monster threw a smashing elbow strike behind himself, his four remaining wings hiding his movements as his blow landed directly in Bomb's chest, breaking a couple of rips with audible crunching noises.
As Garou did this, though, Genos fired a merged barrage of lightning blasts at Garou. Using his intact wings and his legs together, Garou effortlessly leaped out of the path of this attack, smirking as he expected to see Bomb enveloped by the blast as it raced past him. He was slightly shocked, however, as the blast curved upwards, following the fallen martial artist.
No time for a Darkness Barrier! Garou shouted to himself as he crossed his arms and his wings in front of his body as the blast detonated against him.
Once the smoke cleared, it became apparent that Garou had absorbed the beam, but had lost half of another fleshy wing in the process. But before Garou could recompose himself, a fourth wing was suddenly torn from his back as he just barely managed to notice avoid another glowing, psychically-infused rubble spear from Tatsumaki aimed for his chest.
As blood flew from his back and he landed back in the center of his three opponents, Garou thought, Didn't realize the witch still had enough power for more of those kinds of attacks. Okay...
"You dick heads got more fight left in you than I thought. Fine. Let's get serious," Garou stated as he straightened his posture, and the stumps of his damaged wings began growing back. At the same time, Garou released an Abandonment breath from his lungs as he stared at his foes and grinned.
Having reached Shunshi's now unconscious body, Blizzard and Bang were equally horrified by what they saw.
Shunshi's body was heavily torn apart, having had no protection from the Homeless Emperor's carpet bombing. The fact that he hadn't been atomized was an impressive enough feat on behalf of his body's natural durability, but the young Hero was still missing the lower halves of his legs and his left arm. The only sign that life was still flowing in his body was his rising and falling chest. But with the pool of blood around him getting larger, it was doubtful how long that life would remain. On top of all that, despite them being open, his rolled-back eyes made it clear he wasn't conscious.
Surprisingly, though, most of the armor on his torso had actually survived the bombardment.
"Oh... my..." Bang began before Blizzard pushed herself out of his arms.
Darting to Shunshi's side without hesitation, Fubuki placed her hand on his chest and said with an immediately serious tone, "His powers are supposed to help him heal faster. If I can get Shunshi's Kie to jumpstart, then maybe the bleeding will at least stop."
"How do you plan to do that?" Bang asked desperately as he rushed over.
Raising the psychic powers in her body, Blizzard explained, "That Kie stuff of his has always had volatile reactions to my telekinesis. But I've only ever attacked him before. If I try to stimulate his body's natural processes instead of hindering them, then maybe I can get a positive reaction of some kind. Like how I helped you and Bomb against that giant dog thing."
Looking at Shunshi's fatal wounds, Bang asked, "And you think that'll work?"
"No clue. But I don't have any better ideas," Blizzard admitted as her psychic power traveled down her arms.
All at once, Fubuki began stimulating Shunshi's muscles and organs. Her psychic energy infused his body, desperately searching for a spark of Kie to react with.
Initially, Blizzard's work only resulted in an increased blood flow, causing the blood pouring from Shunshi's severed limbs to pour out like geysers.
"Blizzard, you have to-!" Bang started, only to be cut off by Fubuki again.
"If I stop now, then Monster Mask'll be dead for sure!" The Blizzard of Hell exclaimed as her eyes erupted with blue light.
Come on, come on! Where is it?! Fubuki screamed at herself.
Finally, Blizzard gave up on simple stimulation, instead deciding to fully suffuse Shunshi's flesh with her power. And as the psychic energy bored its way into the core of Monster Mask's heart. There, the psychic energy of the Blizzard Of Hell encountered the last spark of Kie in Monster Mask's body.
Suddenly, it felt as if time had frozen for Fubuki as energy backlashed into her. At first, it felt as if she were about to receive the same painful response she'd experienced before of bringing Kie into contact with ESP. However, Fubuki quickly realized this sensation of pain was different. Instead of a burning stroke like before, this agony was instead coming from an unbearable level of empowerment.
Fubuki could feel as the amount of psychic energy in her body and mind, as well as the potency of it all, increased by magnitudes. It almost felt as if the power was too much, causing Fubuki to lose her posture and fall onto Shunshi, blurring her vision. The Blizzard Of Hell's body was like a mountain trying to contain an erupting volcano, and she only had so long before she would burst.
However, just as the number one B-Class was worried she was at her limit, the energy felt as if it had changed somehow. Or perhaps not changed, but rather had been merged with something else. In an instant, Fubuki went from feeling like her body was overloading itself to feeling as if she were in the embrace of a lover who would help her through any trial. And once she opened her eyes, she saw him, the one who eased her soul and transformed the pain into strength. And at once, she went to embrace him.
Shunshi was in the same darkness he'd experienced after having his back torn off by Melzargard. Every second, he felt as if death was coming closer to him as he sunk further into the darkness.
However, suddenly and without warning, the last fragment of Kie in his body ignited. The sensation was vaguely similar to the sensation he'd experienced by clashing Kie with ESP. The difference this time was how the two powers interacted. Whereas before, it was like trying to mix fire and water, this time, the water had been replaced with gasoline, causing the flames to erupt violently, burning even their host away.
But just as Shunshi feared he'd be consumed by his own flames, the psychic energy suddenly wrapped him in what felt like a tender hug. It was as if the esper responsible for this sensation was engaging their souls in a passionate dance. The affectionate emotions that swirled in Shunshi's heart over this could only be compared to the love he felt for those he held dearest to him.
All at once, the pain was replaced by an enriching sensation that started building his power up beyond anything he'd felt beforehand. And immediately, Shunshi wanted to embrace the one responsible for these gifts he'd been given. To help with this endeavor, gouts of fire erupted from the blown-apart sections of Shunshi's body, replacing all the flesh he'd lost.
With all his body parts returned to him, Shunshi saw a beautiful figure above him and extended his arms to hold this individual as she returned the gesture.
While the battle between the strongest Heroes and the Monster Association Cadres waged on, Charanko and the Heroes who came from the hospital were loading the injured civilians into a rescue helicopter. In actuality, it was more accurate to say that the Heroes were loading people while the exhausted Charanko had gone back to sleep on one of the cots after healing his hundredth person.
But as the Heroes worked, suddenly, one of the shoulder straps on Tanktop Girl's tanktop snapped.
Taking note of this, the Hero named Tanktop Professor remarked, "That's a bad omen."
"Really?" Another Tanktopper asked.
Suddenly, crashing in the midst of the Heroes before bouncing across the ruined ground, came Pig God.
Watching the overweight S-Class go, License-less Rider exclaimed, "Pig God?!"
With shocking grace, Pig God turned himself midair, landed on all fours, slid across the ground, and vomited up Bushidrill, Okamaitachi, and the mercenaries as he moved.
Standing up as he wiped spittle from his mouth, Pig God stated, "None of them are critically injured, but they still need medical attention."
Running up to Pig God alongside the Tanktop Army, License-Less Rider asked, "Pig God, sir! How's the battle going?!"
"We were able to work together and beat the boss of the Monster Association thanks to Tanktop Master's arrival. Thanks to him, we have a chance to win," Pig God explained.
Gleefully, License-Less Rider asked, "Really?!"
"On top of that, thanks to his amazing throw, I was able to evacuate the wounded."
Cheering as one, the Tanktop Army exclaimed, "That's our Master!"
"And right now, he and the S-Class are fighting the remaining Cadres. I need to get back to help," Pig God said as he turned around.
But as he turned, Pig God remembered Tanktop Master's words, looked back at License-Less Rider, and said, "By the way, I have a message from Tanktop Master. He said, 'This will be a victory win by the Heroes who gave up their beds.' Do you know what that means?"
Glancing at the Tanktoppers, License-Less Rider replied stoically, "He must have known that everyone would have followed him out here."
As the weight of the faith their leader had hit them, the Tanktop Army shuttered momentarily.
Then, with renewed resolve, the tanktoppers roared, "Alright, everyone! Let's rescue everyone single person and fill up those empty beds!"
"I swear we'll get it done on my tanktop!"
As the Heroes rushed back to work, License-Less Rider saw Pig God begging to walk away, so he told him, "Pig God, sir. Be careful!"
Continuing to trudge forward, Pig God muttered, "Should I do it now...? No. This isn't the time mentioned in the prophecy. I need to hold onto my power until the very end."
Then, with absolute determination, Pig God began leaping and bouncing away, leaving behind a slightly puzzled License-Less Rider.
Back on the battlefield, Bang couldn't fully process what he'd just witnessed.
The moment Blizzard attempted to help Shunshi with her psychic energy as she'd done previously for him, she and Shunshi began shouting at the top of their lungs before transforming in varying ways.
From Blizzard's eyes and mouth, dark blue beams of light shot out. But just as soon, the beams were pulled back into her body. It then seemed as if Fubuki's skin cracked apart and shattered. Underneath was the same woman as before, except with glowing blue skin and pupilless eyes.
As for Monster Mask, the man's hair flailed wildly for a moment as it turned white, starting from the ends of his locks and going down. Once the white reached his roots, his pigment-shifted hair laid flat. Then his eyes let out a flash of bright white light as his pupils vanished like Blizzard's, leaving them as pure-white balls of luminescence. Finally, as the forearm and hand of Shunshi's remaining limb was wrapped in a substance that was at once solid and intangible, all of his missing body parts returned to him in eruptions of fire so powerful it shook the entire battleground. And once his limbs came back, they were all wrapped with the same aura as his left arm.
But perhaps the strangest part Bang witnessed was how, the moment Blizzard and Monster Mask stopped screaming, the two suddenly threw themselves into each others' arms for an out-of-nowhere impassioned kiss.
While Bang tried to comprehend what the two youths were doing, Shunshi and Fubuki suddenly shot their eyes open and looked directly into the others'. And as they pulled away from each other, both their faces were shocked and flushed while they climbed to their feet.
Pointing at Blizzard, Shunshi screamed, "What the Hell was that?! Why were you kissing me?! Why are you blue?! And... And how am I still alive? Actually... I feel better than ever... What the fuck going on?!"
Returning the gesture, Fubuki screeched, "ME!? What do YOU think YOU'RE doing, you dirty...?!" As she raised her hand to point at Shunshi, Blizzard only just now noticed the change to her skin when she saw her own outstretched hand.
What the Hell...? What is this...? And why do I suddenly feel so... so powerful. And why do all the advanced Esper techniques seem so easy to wrap my head around now? It's like my mind suddenly expanded... Am I sensing something? Blizzard thought in equal parts bewilderment and amazement as her gaze drifted to the horizon.
Before this arguing could continue, suddenly, a rotund projectile crashed into the ground in the middle of Shunshi, Fubuki, and Bang. Although they were initially confused, the B, A, and S-Class Heroes relaxed slightly when the smoke cleared and revealed the projectile to be Pig God.
"Pig God?! What happened?!" Bang asked urgently.
Getting to his feet, Pig God explained, "Tanktop Master threw me out of the battlefield, so I could get the injured to safety because more of the Cadres showed up. Tanktop Master stayed behind to keep them busy, but they were all horrendously strong. We need to get back to help him as soon as possible. He's in that direction!" With those last words, Pig God pointed westward.
Despite the group's collective confusion, Bang and Shunshi understood the severity of the situation, both of them looking toward where Pig God was pointing. As for Blizzard, she seemed distracted by whatever her newly enhanced psychic senses had picked up on.
Is that... Yes, I'm sure of it! Blizzard thought.
"Shunshi, come with me! Hurry!" Silver Fang exclaimed as he dashed away.
Watching Silver Fang go, Shunshi had to take a nanosecond to ponder, Why is Silver Fang-Sensei running so slowly...? Whatever, I'll just follow his lead.
Easily catching up to Bang and then matching his pace, Shunshi raced off with his Sensei, leaving Pig God and Blizzard in the dust.
Watching the martial artists rush off, Pig God said to Fubuki, "Blizzard, we should go with them too."
Right away, Blizzard began walking just as Pig God had suggested. However, she befuddled him by heading in the opposite direction that he meant for her to go.
"Blizzard?! Where are you going?!" Pig God asked reflexively.
Tightening her gaze as her blue skin glowed even brighter, Fubuki stated, "They can handle the situation over there. I have my own business to take care of."
"Huh?!" That was all Pig God could get out as a response before Blizzard made her move.
Suddenly, the Blizzard Of Hell erupted with a similar level of psychic power as the Tornado Of Terror. In this explosion of esper might, Blizard suddenly flew into the air, aiming for the target she could sense the presence of.
Her empty eyes glaring at the distance, Blizzard declared internally, Psykos... I can feel you. Your power is coming back, so there's a good chance you freed yourself. I don't know what this new power is, but it's almost enough to compare to Tatsumaki! So, if you were stupid enough to do that, then I'll use this power and finish what my sister couldn't!
As Silver Fang rushed to drop off the mangled Tanktop Master back with Pig God, Shunshi stood resolute, staring at the amassing clump of Black Sperms glaring at him.
And in less than a second, Shunshi started trying to piece his situation together, How did I make an explosion that big that quickly? I mean... I'm feeling amazing right now, but that can't be enough to account for this power boost, right? It feels at least twice as strong as Spirit Rage, for Pete's sake... Whatever's happening to me, it's not just boosting my body and Kie, but my mind too. I feel like I can understand how to use Kie better than ever. Before, I'd need to actively focus to use the explosive shield of my martial art. But what just happened there wasn't just more powerful, I pulled it off as an instantaneous reflex. Hrm... Guess I'll have to figure out the specifics of this later. But... What do I call this power? Let's see... I called the last one Spirit Rage for pretty obvious reasons. As for this one, I needed Blizzard's help to turn this on, so...
Smirking, Shunshi said aloud, "Spirit Harmony."
Some of their heads tilting, a few of the Black Sperms not in the lump asked, "What'd he say?"
"Who cares. Our evolved self is just about ready to tear the muttering asshole apart," another Black Sperm remarked.
Assuming a stance that combined Bomb's and his own martial arts, Shunshi smiled fully and remarked, "Is he now? Okay, I'm actually excited, so bring it on. I just need to hold you off until Bang-Sensei is able to come back to tear you apart, after all."
Staring at the clump, Shunshi was puzzled as he saw it begin to change not just shape but color as well. In a seamless instance, the blob changed from pitch black to shiny gold. It then began coalescing into a more solid form, one that reminded him of the bodybuilder physique of Superalloy Darkshine, except even bulkier, if that was even possible. Finally, this muscleman body sprouted a Black Sperm-esque head from its shoulders, one that glared at Shunshi with contempt and ego.
Folding its arms, the new monster stated, "First off, time for introductions. Call me Golden Sperm."
Involuntarily, Shunshi snorted in response, unable to hold back his amusement at such a name.
"Tch... Laugh if you want, but... Well, let me give you some context." Unfolding its arms, Golden Sperm began slowly approaching Monster Mask, explaining, "That me that you blew apart a second ago? He had about four thousand mes composing his body. As for me..." Grinning, Golden Sperm finished, "I am composed of forty-two trillion cells!"
In a shimmering blur, Golden Sperm moved past Monster Mask. And suddenly, a flurry of explosions came off of the Hero's body, covering the surrounding battlefield in blinding smoke and dust, taking a few of the other Black Sperms with it.
As Golden Sperm emerged from the dust cloud in a casual strut, scorch marks on its knuckles, it stated, "I just needed to pass through for a second."
"Hey, cocky asshole! You got some of us caught up in those blasts!" A Black Sperm yelled at Golden Sperm.
Glancing at the smaller versions of itself, Golden Sperms ordered, "Then go fight somewhere else if you don't want to get caught up in my collateral damage. They have no one to blame but themselves."
"Why you-! Huh?!" One of the Black Sperms exclaimed, looking past Golden Sperm at the dispersing dust.
Stepping out of the cloud and rubbing his face, Monster Mask looked at a slightly surprised Golden Sperm and told it, "Sorry about that. I got cocky and wasn't expecting even forty-three trillion of you together to move that fast. I let my guard down, and you got to pummel me pretty good there. I promise I'll take you fully seriously now."
As he finished nursing his wounds, Monster Mask thought, Individually, those punches weren't too bad. Like getting hit with a whiffle bat. But with him piling on thousands at once, the pain really built up. Can't drop my guard again.
"Uuuuuh... Okay, let's bolt and leave this to Gold, gang! There's plenty of other Heroes to gang up on!" One of the Black Sperms shouted, prompting them all to flee the scene.
As its lesser selves ran, Golden Sperm stared at Monster Mask. There was a hint of annoyance on the creature's face, but mixed in was also amusement and perhaps even a dash of respect.
Clenching a fist, Golden Sperm replied to the Hero, "Fair enough. In that case, I'll take you seriously too, and come at you with more than just a storm of half-assed punches... But first off, I and the other mes have just been calling you 'that nobody' up until now. But it's clear you're actually the Hero Association's secret weapon. So, tell me, what's your name?"
Cocking an eyebrow as he smiled in disbelief, Shunshi replied, "Secret weapon...? Hehe, okay, sure. Anyway, you wanna know who I am? Well, my Hero name is Monster Mask. My friends just call me Shunshi."
"Still keeping up with those cocky laughs of yours, eh, Monster Mask? What a stupid name for a gentle-looking guy like you... Whatever, you'll regret your tone soon," Golden Sperm said as it raised its fists into a boxing stance.
In response, Shunshi formed four Burn Whips on his shoulders while assuming his prior stance, stating, "Ready when you are, Goldy."
At once, the two combatants closed in on each other, each cutting loose with the best they had to offer the other.
Golden Sperm relied primarily on its brute strength and speed in combination with its brawler combat style to throw out countless punches and kicks that each individually held the power to level a small city.
In turn, Monster Mask somehow moved his shoulder-mounted Burn Whips so flawlessly it was as if they were fully functional appendages. Combined with his martial arts, Monster Mask deflected and evaded each blow thrown his way by Golden Sperm.
For the monster, it was like fighting a six-armed martial arts master. And just as Golden Sperm through a punch at what it thought had been an opening in the Hero's defenses, the Cadre found its arms coiled by one of Monster Mask's extra arms.
Feeling the Burn Whip as it tried to melt through its muscular arm, Golden Sperm gave the whip a hard pull and exclaimed, "Are you an idiot!? The melting point for gold is well over a thousand degrees!"
"Never said I was trying to melt you!" Monster Mask immediately shot back.
The Cadre's taunting and attempted retaliation proved for naught, however, as it was quickly met with two of the other whips wrapped around its shoulders. Planting a literally explosive kick in the Golden Sperm's chest as he was pulled in, Monster Mask followed it up with a glowing hand to Golden Sperm's face. Monster Mask's blow was an open-palm strike that combined the vibrations of Lin Lin's techniques with the cutting rotation from Bomb's school. And although the blow failed to break flesh, it had left a glowing mark on Golden Sperm's cheek.
Releasing his Burn Whips, Monster Mask planted a double kick to Golden Sperm's torso, sending himself flying back with the explosions before landing gracefully.
Rubbing an arm across its face as it gave chase to Shunshi, Golden Sperm yelled, "Stupid, cocky Hero! Do you think any of that was enough to-!? Wah!?"
The attacks Monster Mask landed had indeed hurt Golden Sperm, but nothing that would do any meaningful harm. However, when the Cadre noticed that the soreness from the spots Monster Mask had struck wasn't going away, but instead intensified, it panicked momentarily. And before Golden Sperm could understand what was happening, the monster found itself spewing explosions from its mouth as internal explosions went off throughout its body.
Thinking back to his forest fight with Garou and his brief skirmish with Rhino Wrestler, Shunshi muttered, "I'm not going to fall victim to someone using my Burn Whips against me ever again. And that Rhino guy really helped me practice my internal Light Ball techniques... I think I'll call this the Fist Of Pure-Hearted Palm Spirit... Eh, that one needs work."
Initially, Golden Sperm reeled from the fresh pain, but just as fast, its monstrous eyes glinted red as it darted toward Shunshi with a pulled-back fist.
Gnashing the teeth that hadn't been blown from its mouth, Golden Sperm shouted, "Golden Missile!"
"Oh shit!" Shunshi exclaimed as he jumped back into action.
Utilizing Fist Of Flowing Water Crushing Rock as soon as Golden Sperm got near him, Monster Mask palmed the Cadre's arm and redirected its punch back into its own face. The speed and proficiency at which the Hero utilized this technique put any of his prior uses to shame, something which he immediately took notice of.
While the Cadre was knocked back, Shunshi thought, I... That almost reminded me of how Silver Fang-Sensei uses Fist Of Flowing Water Crushing Rock.
As Golden Sperm spewed more blood from its mouth and went tumbling backward, it felt a sharp pain in its arm. And the second Golden Sperm regained its footing, it realized what caused this pain. The spot on its forearm where Monster Mask had placed his hand had been blown open by another under-skin Light Ball, leaving a palm-shaped hole behind.
"You... You bastard! Do you have any idea how many cells went into making this body!?" Golden Sperm screamed.
Pulling his hand back, Monster Mask replied, "Yeah. A lot. You told me, remember?" Thrusting his palm forward, in an instant, Monster Mask shot out a Light Ball aimed for Golden Sperm, one that easily dwarfed the building-like size of even his True White Sun attack.
Watching his Light Ball fly, Shunshi thought, Whoa! I wasn't even trying to do anything special with that one... Maybe I should be a bit more careful with this power.
With how fast the gargantuan Light Ball was closing in on it, Golden Sperm thought in shock, That... I don't think I can dodge this... It's like fighting a version of Homeless Emperor who's got the muscle to match his energy attacks...
Just as the massive Light Ball was about to close the gap on Golden Sperm and do untold damage, another orb of light of matching size crashed into Monster Mask's.
Although no longer suffering a direct hit, Golden Sperm was still in the blast radius of the resulting explosion. And as it thrown back, Golden Sperm reflexively crossed its arms and legs to shield itself the volcano-like collision of power.
Staring lazily at where it had launched its sphere of destruction, Homeless Emperor asked and excited Psykos, "Please explain again as to why I'm helping that one?"
Staring at him with false admiration, Psykos exclaimed, "Because if you can work together with Black Sperm, even for just a few minutes, you'll be able to beat everyone here, Emperor!"
But behind its happy exterior, Psykos' thoughts held a different tone, How many times have I had to explain this to you as Gyoro Gyoro?! But now you listen just because a pretty face is saying it?! What an infuriating bastard!
Summoning forth a few dozen more of its projectiles, Homeless Emperor gave Psykos a sideways glance before sighing and replying, "Fine. I'll snuff out that glowing guy who's giving Sperm a hard time. But after that, he's on his own."
Her brow twitching with irritation, Psykos replied, "Thank you so much..."
But before Homeless Emperor could launch its attack, it noticed a glowing blue figure flying toward itself and Psykos.
Pointing its hand at the approaching entity, Homeless Emperor smirked and stated, "Looks like Sperm'll have to hold out on his own for a bit longer. We've got incoming, Psykos."
Feeling an immense psychic energy headed toward her, Psykos exclaimed, "What?! Tornado's back...?! No, this is-." And as Psykos said these words, the terrain around her and Homeless Emperor began to levitate, with debris of all sizes suddenly swirling around them.
Carrying Tanktop Master toward where he had left the Blizzard Of Hell, Bang pondered, It's nothing short of a miracle that pulling on his tanktop somehow reset his shattered bones, but I still need to get Tanktop Master to Ms. Fubuki for healing... But where on Earth did she go?!
Before Silver Fang could go any further, he suddenly found himself having to face a black fist that erupted from the ground. Countering with a kick and sliding backward while keeping Tanktop Master balanced on his back, Silver Fang grimaced as he saw a small battalion of Black Sperms pop out of the Earth.
"Hold it there, old timer! If Gums can't enjoy that meal, then we'll take it," one of the Black Sperms exclaimed gleefully.
Letting out a sigh of frustration as he readied his legs for kicking, Bang grumbled, "Just wonderful..."
Rushing at Silver Fang in a wave of white faces, the Black Sperms cheered, "And don't think we'll leave you out of the fun! You can be our dessert, you old sack of crap!"
However, before the Black Sperms could get anywhere near Silver Fang, their front line all had their bodies cut up in such ways that they took on the likeness of a perfectly peeled apple skin.
Suddenly appearing in a dash of speed, Atomic Samurai arrived with his sword drawn, stating, "Looks like you scattered yourself all over the battlefield, sword-testing monster. So long as I don't complete the cut, you can't split into more of yourself, right...? In that case, I should be able to just beat you to death." Reversing his blade, so the flat of his katana was facing front, Atomic started swinging again, caving Black Sperms' heads in.
"You shitty old samurai!" One of the dying Black Sperms seethed.
Repeating the same techniques of his master, albeit, with less elegant results, Iaian showed up wielding Atomic Samurai's spare blade, declaring, "We'll keep them busy, Bang, sir! Get Tanktop Master to safety!"
Turning to dash off, Silver Fang replied, "Right!"
However, as Bang ran, the Black Sperms multiplied like crazy. And although Atomic and Iaian bashed most of them to death, a few dozen slipped past them and rushed after Silver Fang.
"Wait up! We need our protein, ya shitty geezer!"
But before they could catch up with the martial arts Hero, the entire bunch of duplicates popped like balloons as Superalloy Darkshine, his muscles glistening with water, rushed in with a swinging fist that atomized the monsters.
Standing proudly with his fists on his hips, Superalloy Darkshine exclaimed, "It doesn't matter how much protein you have, or how dark your bodies are! None of you have enough shine!"
Gritting their teeth with rage, some of the Black Sperms that had come from the battle between Monster Mask and Golden Sperm exclaimed, "Shine, huh? Don't look down on us, you bastard!"
Exploding through the sky with her new power, Blizzard's gaze was focused squarely on surrounding Psykos in a cage of debris. However, she grew somewhat frustrated when the barrier she'd put up was blown to dust by the energy attacks of Homeless Emperor.
"Stay out of my way!" Fubuki screamed at the bum, with only a hundred feet left between her and them.
Pointing a finger at Fubuki, Homeless Emperor retorted, "Such insolence. As if I'd let you near my fellow disciple. Straight Line Bombardment."
With a line of energy balls circling around it, Homeless Emperor began firing them in a straight line, one after another, at Fubuki. However, the Cadre soon found itself regretting this tactic, as each orb that got near the Blizzard of Hell was wrapped up by her psychic energy. She then launched the spheres back in the Cadre's direction.
Just as Homeless Emperor dreaded the psychic Hero launching his attacks back at him, he felt an equally powerful sense of relief when he realized the orbs were aimed at Psykos instead. However, with how close the two were standing to each other, Homeless Emperor was certain it'd still be caught in the blasts.
Fortunately for both Cadres, Psykos wasn't willing to just stand there and take the punishment. Raising her arms, Psykos used the power which had returned to her and created a tidal wave of debris directed toward Blizzard. The rock wave never reached its target, though, all of it being reduced to rubble by Homeless Emperor's reversed attacks.
Sticking her hands out, Psykos exclaimed, "I might not be at full power, but I can still handle you, Ms. President!"
Reaching out with psychic tendrils, Psykos tried to grab Fubuki and break her neck. However, the energy was almost instantly dissipated, like rain being mixed into a whirlpool. This was entirely thanks to Fubuki's efforts.
Although the power boost that Spirit Harmony had granted her was massive, Fubuki didn't need to rely on it to handle this situation.
You always were obsessed with raw power over technique, Psykos, Blizzard thought as she kept her own psychic energy in a constant whirlpool that diminished any other psychic power that came near her. This was a technique Blizzard had come up with through years if training to fight her sister with, only to learn that Tatsumaki was always using the same technique subconsciously. But now, using the psychic whirlpool felt as easier to Fubuki as breathing, amazing herself while keeping Psykos' attack nullified.
And as the glowing blue Blizzard got closer to her, Psykos fretted, Why does Fubuki look like that?! Where did she get this power from...?! Wait. I remember now. In my research on Muscle Aura, there were records of rare times when an Esper and one of those users would use their powers to try and heal each other. Whenever that happened, they granted each other massive power boosts instead of canceling each other out. Don't tell me... Did Fubuki do that with that guy who defused me from Orochi?!
But as Psykos worried over this possibility, she was hit by a truckload of power when Fubuki slammed into her with her full psychic might. Psykos was sent flying back before being pulled to the ground, getting dragged along by Fubuki's telekinetic grasp.
Gritting its nasty, rotting teeth, Homeless Emperor pointed at Fubuki and yelled, "Unhand my bride!" But just as the Cadre was about to launch a bus-sized orb at Blizzard, it heard something approaching him. Shifting its gaze just in time, Homeless Emperor saw the giant maw of Pig God coming toward it.
Reflexively, Homeless Emperor redirected his sphere of destruction, aiming it at Pig God just as the Hero was about to swallow the monster. This attack scorched Pig God's face and sent him flying with the resulting explosion.
"Looks like we're having roasted pig tonight," Homeless Emperor remarked smarmily as it readied more spheres and watched Pig God struggle to stand back up a distance away.
As Fubuki pummeled her childhood friend and Homeless Emperor got ready to blast apart Pig God, Shunshi and Golden Sperm had resumed their battle.
Doing its best to keep its guard up, Golden Sperm was doing all it could to trade attacks with the literally explosive blows of Monster Mask's seemingly endless attacks.
The Hero wouldn't stop unleashing his flurry of punches and kicks, leaving behind explosions under Golden Sperm's skin with each blow. And unlike the somewhat clumsy brawler-syle moves that Golden Sperm used when it had passed through, each of Monster Mask's blows were precise and refined. Every single attack striking between muscle fibers, organs, and pressure points.
That massive Light Ball came about after just a half-second of charging. I gotta stick with melee attacks for now if I don't wanna risk catching the S-Class in my attacks.
Although Golden Sperm's incredible physique was keeping it alive, the monster's body was slowly but surely breaking down. Not only was its damage accumulating, but the monster found that the longer they fought, the harder it had become to land any attacks of its own. And by now, the Cadre couldn't even graze Monster Mask.
By now, Golden Sperm had recognized that not only was Monster Mask's technique superior to its own, but the Hero's strength and speed had left it behind as well.
This bastard...! This freak! He's growing more powerful with each attack! I... need to gather the rest of my cells and fuse with them too! That's the only chance I have n-.
Before Golden Sperm could finish its thought, it felt its feet come out from underneath it as it tried to land a barrage of punches against Monster Mask. And as Golden Sperm was flipped onto its back, it saw that Monster Mask had created another pair of Burn Whips from his lower back and had wrapped them around the Dragon-Level monster's ankle.
"You know, you Monster Association assholes really pissed me off!" Monster yelled at the disoriented monster.
Getting thrown feet-first into the air, Golden Sperm tried to reorient itself but had no time to do so.
On the ground, Monster Mask had detonated a blast under his feet, launching himself in a spinning motion at Golden Sperm, shouting, "This is for every life that you bastards cut short! Burning Buzzsaw!"
As Shunshi made this declaration, his glowing heel cut into Golden Sperm's torso. And before Golden Sperm could go far from the erupting attack, Monster Mask set off another blast against himself to race past Golden Sperm. And with yet another explosion, Monster Mask sent himself at Golden Sperm again, hitting the monster with a combined strike from all his Burn Whips and his fists, each set of limbs utilizing a different martial art. This ended with Monster Mask hitting Golden Sperm with a strike that combined Fist Of Flowing Water Crushing Rock, Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist, Fist Of The Impenetrable Fire Spirit, and even Suiryu's Void Fist.
This combo move tore into Golden Sperm, cutting, smashing, and burning the monster's body before sending it flying with an explosion. But once more, Shunshi used his own explosions to hurl himself around and cut off Golden Sperm, landing another martial arts combo. The A-Class Hero repeated this over and over, knocking Golden Sperm around while leaving trails of glowing white kie behind himself. In the span of a few seconds, Shunshi repeated this attack pattern over a thousand times, making it appear to onlookers as if he had trapped Golden Sperm in a massive orb of light in the sky.
I think I'm high enough not to hurt anyone now, Monster Mask thought as he flourished his multiple Burn Whips
While Golden Sperm was suspended in the center of the sphere of light, pummeled to the point of fading consciousness, Monster Mask wrapped the monster's limbs with four of his Burn Whips. Pulling himself and the Cadre closer toward each other for a kick while using another explosion to propel himself that much faster.
Suddenly, Golden Sperm's flickering eyes filled back with life.
"NO!" The monster shouted as it struggled against the restraints, managing to pull its right arm free and using it to shield its body.
Then, just as Monster Mask's foot was about to connect with its target, he formed another True White Star-sized Light Ball between his foot and Golden Sperm.
"Fist Of The Pure Spirit: Orb Of Justice!"
With his attack named, the Orb Justice erupted in the sky as Golden Sperm was sent crashing into the Earth with such power that the monster's body created a mile-wide crater, sending a wave of rubble across the battlefield.
Landing on the ground after his newest attack, Shunshi smiled in satisfaction and muttered, "I was practically flying there... What should I call that...? Blast Stepping. We'll go with that for now."
Switching to scanning the battlefield, Shunshi went on, "Alright, another one bites the dust. Looks like I was able to handle this without Master Bang having to get involved. Now, where should I go next...? Huh?! NO!"
And with that final scream, Monster Mask began making his way across the battlegrounds like a ray of light toward the source of his distress, the Hero Hunter.
A moment earlier, the Black Sperms continuously multiplied in an attempt to overwhelm the Heroes they were fighting.
Bang did his best to avoid and expertly kick at the Sperms that got near him in order to protect Tanktop Master. Atomic Samurai and Iaian stood back to back, Iaian doing his best to keep up as he and his master used the flat of their blades to bash apart the Sperms. Finally, the largest bulk of the monsters had wrapped themselves around Superalloy Darkshine in an effort to smother him, only for the powerhouse to break out with a simple flex of his muscles.
Sending the wrecked bodies of his monstrous foes flying with his incredible body, Superalloy Darkshine thought merrily, I knew it! My muscles of steel didn't betray me after all! That water monster was no challenge, and now I'm shining more than ever! Everyone's watching me!
Watching Darkshine with venom in their eyes, the Black Sperms growled, "Shit! If we keep trying to beat him like this, he'll just steamroll us! Tch! Didn't wanna do this, but there's no choice! We gotta split to our absolute limit and..."
Suddenly exploding in mass, a literal wave of Black Sperms formed on the battlefield, each one declaring in unison, "FLATTEN EVERYTHING WITH A SPERM TSUNAMI!"
However, as the Heroes redoubled their efforts to keep the trillions of Black Sperms off of them, with Superalloy sending them flying with waves of his massive arms, one of the Sperms shouted, "Wait! What are we doing?! Splitting up more won't work! We need the power of merging! We need to get Gold over here to beat him!"
But in response, another Sperm exclaimed, "Don't lump us in with you cowards! We can handle- WHAT THE HELL?!"
Suddenly, a nearly equal-sized wave of rubble came crashing across the battlefield, smashing into the Sperm Tsunami. The collision sent an eruption of Black Sperms and rocks into the air and easing up the burden of what the Heroes had to deal with.
"Gah! Where the fuck did that come from?!" A few Sperms screamed as they were thrown upward.
Riding on a stone, one of the Black Sperms exclaimed, "Who cares!? Let's ride this and use it to rain down on those bastards again!"
Coming down in a rain of stone and monsters, the Black Sperms were ready to pummel the Heroes again. But they never got a chance to do so, as four new blades joined in the battle and slashed through the multi-Cadre.
"Why are you all arguing so much? Wouldn't it be better to die as friends?" Nichirin asked as he cut a pair of Black Sperms to pieces.
Arriving alongside their leader, Amahare, Zanbai, and Spring Mustachio strutted into the battle while cutting through enemies.
"Hey there, Kamikaze. You're truly putting in a hard day's work, eh?" Nichirin asked as he and his colleagues approach their fellow sword master.
"Nichirin!" Atomic exclaimed happily as he bashed apart through more Black Sperm.
"It's the Council Of Sword Masters!" Iain cheered.
Rubbing his chin, Amahare remarked, "Yes, well... Be it the Monster Association or whomever, we can't allow attacks against our order to go without retaliation."
"After they turned one of our council members into a monster, we can't stay silent," Zanbai added.
Standing beside Bang, Nichirin said, "I see you have a bit of a load there. Would you mind if I covered you, comrade?"
Smiling, Silver Fang replied, "Of course. I am Bang of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. I've heard much about you. Nice to finally meet you. Now, would you mind helping to make an opening? I need to get this big guy to safety."
"An opening? No issue, my ally," Nichirin replied eagerly.
"Don't get all relaxed, shitheads!" A hoard of Black Sperm yelled as they charged in.
However, all the monsters soon found themselves floating in the air, before being pulled toward Nichirin. The elder swordsman had begun twirling his sword like a fan blade, creating a vortex that pulled in the monsters.
"Create a vortex and hit as you swing! Never stop attacking!" Nichirin exclaimed.
But just as he said that, the elder stopped his attack and sheathed his sword once a large enough gathering of Black Sperms had been pulled in. Then, suddenly, a huge chasm was cut open beneath the sword master and the monsters.
"Spring Mustachio!" Nichirin shouted as he leaped back from the opening in the Earth he'd made.
Jumping into the air above his master, Spring Mustachio replied, "Right!"
Landing next to Silver Fang as Spring Mustachio's sword coiled in, Nichirin monologued, "In case you were wondering why a swordsman trained by me is in the lower ranks of the A-Class... Well, he needs to keep the piercing power of his blade in check when fighting in cities."
"Tomboy Barrage!" Spring Mustachio cried as he unleashed dozens of his rapier thrusts, each one extending hundreds of feet, skewering hundreds more of the Black Sperms in the process.
"Whoa! Nice!" Iaian exclaimed as he crushed another Black Sperm's head.
Landing on the ground, Spring Mustachio slid for a moment and flourished his rapier, before he came to a stop and stated, "Your kind words move me dearly, master."
"Dammit...! DON'T GET COCKY!" An explosion of Black Sperms from the chasm roared.
Confronting this beast, Amahare and Zanbai began cutting into it.
And while the two other sword masters joined the frayed, Bang took this opportunity to finally dash away toward a flying figure in the distance. This feminine individual was glowing blue and had a recognizably ample bosom that made Bang sure of who it was.
With a final rib-shattering uppercut to Bomb's chest, Garou sent his old master's brother flying as blood leaked from his mouth, and he passed out.
By now, Garou had torn off and shattered all of Genos' limbs, as well as beating his head so badly that his the artificial hair and skin of his scalp had come off.
And with both melee combatants down, this left no one to reinforce Tornado as her stamina ran on fumes.
Not even managing to float off the ground anymore, Tatsumaki called on what little power she still could and lifted three more boulders. Extending her arms toward Garou, Tatsumaki threw her projectiles, but by now, they could only move as fast as gunshots.
Easily, Garou countered with three Darkness Spheres that turned the boulders to dust. And with the last obstacle out of his way, the Hero Hunter dashed at Tornado, ready to finish her with one of Monster Mask's attacks.
However, just as Garou was about to hit Tornado, something struck him in his back. But with his Kie-enhanced body, it was hardly even enough to make him flinch.
Having used the jets on his shoulders, Genos had launched himself headfirst at the Hero Hunter in a last-ditch effort to save Tornado.
Unfortunately, all Garou needed to do to knock away the Demon Cyborg as the Hero pushed against him was to straighten his spine.
Pitifully, Genos was bashed back into the ground, with Garou turning around to look at him.
Stomping on Genos' head, Garou exclaimed, "You just do not quit, do ya, tin can...?! Hmm. Well, I'll give you one thing." Pulling his foot back, Garou gave Genos' face a hard kick, cracking away half of it and sending the cyborg flying as Garou finished, "That shaved head of yours makes for a great soccer ball!"
Before Genos could go far, though, a beam of white light suddenly interceded him. The resulting flash messing up Garou's eyesight for a moment.
Blinking to clear up his vision, Garou saw the Demon Cyborg's wrecked body being set on the ground by a man who had white hair, several tentacles of light coming out of his back, and was wearing tattered armor similar to Monster Mask's. And while The Hero Hunter couldn't tell who this was for a tenth of a second, his impressive mind near instantly put the dots together.
An odd expression formed on the Human Monster's face as he looked at Monster Mask. It was an impossible combination of annoyance and joy as Garou assumed a combat stance. And as he stood ready, Garou couldn't deny the eager feeling in his gut as he anticipated what Monster Mask would do as his first move. However, Garou was taken off guard by what the Hero did next.
Having laid Genos down, Monster Mask said, "Hey, Senpai. Are you alright?"
With his one functional eye, Demon Cyborg looked up at his fellow Hero and replied, "Shunshi...? Is that you...? Your energy readings have skyrocketed."
"Shunshi...? Looks like I have a name and a face to pin on you now. Any other time I got a look at you, I'd beaten you too badly to tell what you actually look like," Garou mocked, grinning as he expected Shunshi to blow up at him.
Observing Monster Mask's arrival, Tornado wondered in her punch-drunk state, Huh...? Who's this guy again?
As if ignoring Garou, Shunshi told Genos as he was crouched beside him, "Yeah. Blizzard gave me some kind of power-up. I'm calling it Spirit Harmony. I doubt it's permanent, but do you mind if I use it to help you out while I can?"
"You... You have a more personal grudge against the Hero Hunter. I would have no right to stop you even if I still could."
"Hey! Are you ignoring me, Shit Mask?! Do you plan on just standing there while I beat you to death!?" Garou shouted.
Standing up, Shunshi looked at an increasingly impatient Garou before giving him a thoughtful look and replying, "Hey, Garou. Sorry, I just needed to finish my conversation with Genos. Man, you look crazy different now... And, actually, I was hoping I could try out talking with you again."
Garou, Genos, and Tatsumaki's eyes all nearly popped out of their heads, all of them asking, "What?!"
Forming a Shadow Sphere in his left hand, Garou yelled, "Why the Hell would I waste time talking to you?!"
"Couple of reasons. First, your nephew asked me to save you, and I promised I would. I don't feel like breaking a vow to a kid. Next, there's that," Shunshi said as he pointed at Garou's Shadow Sphere. "Seems like you got Kie working, so I suppose I owe you an apology. I had you pegged as a psycho asshole, but it looks like there's a heart in there after all. If you aren't evil, I'd prefer to talk this out."
"Not... evil?!" Garou asked, dumbfounded. "The Hell do you mean, 'I'm not evil?!' I'm the Hero Hunter with a kill count of over a hundred Heroes! The Human Monster! I'm the ultimate evil!"
What is Shunshi trying to do? Should I ask, or would that ruin his plan? Genos wondered.
Leaning his head over for emphasis, Shunshi replied, "Actually... You haven't killed anyone yet. In fact, I was scared when I first started rushing over here, but even after just a second of watching this fight, it's obvious you still weren't trying to kill these guys. Besides, you look more like an Angel than a monster at this point. So, I have an offer for yo-."
"Where the fuck do you get off trying to decide what I'm trying to do!? I'll kill everyone here! Come on! You've even got the Hero's stereotypical miracle transformation! Don't act like you've got any option but to have a final battle with the big bad!" Garou vehemently interjected.
Sighing, Shunshi lamented, "Man... I'm really not good at this, am I...? Listen, Garou. How about you help us defeat the Monster Association? After that, we'll go let Tareo know you're alright, and then we can have one last match. Our fight in the forest wasn't exactly fair, and it got cut short after all."
Glancing at the mostly immobile Demon Cyborg, Garou thought, Tareo's alright...? No! We have to settle this properly...! A final showdown...! I think I know how to get him to understand.
Instantly, Garou launched his Shadow Sphere at Genos, screaming, "Fine! If you won't take this seriously, then I'll make you! Your robot pal dies first!"
Before the Shadow Sphere could connect, Shunshi knocked it away with one of his Burn Whips, tightening his gaze at Garou and declaring, "No. I'm not letting you hurt anyone else here. Especially not Genos-Senpai. He's my best friend, and he's been through enough today already."
When Shunshi made his declaration, Genos' gaze widened as he stared intensely at him. At that moment, both internally and externally, the young cyborg was at a loss for words, unable to process the full weight of Shunshi's admittance of how much he cared for him.
"Tough shit! He dies!" Garou exclaimed as he conjured two additional Shadow Spheres, firing them at Genos. But once more, Shunshi deflected the attacks with his Burn Whips.
"Again, you're still holding back... Tch, fine. Let's get this out of your system." Taking a deep inhale, Shunshi rushed the Hero Hunter. It hadn't even looked like he'd prepared himself for the charge, instead using his Burn Whips like springs to launch himself forward.
Colliding with each other, Shunshi and Garou crashed their elbows against the other's while grabbing each other's shoulders with their free hands. Shunshi intentionally kept any explosions from detonating during this clash, instead focusing on trying to push Garou away from the injured Heroes. And, surprisingly, it almost felt as if Garou were letting him.
While watching the two martial artists push each other away from her, Tornado shouted with all her strength, "Listen, you useless nobody! I don't care what kind of hangups you're having! Fight to kill that bastard!"
Blocking a half-hearted roundhouse kick from Garou with a Burn Whip while planting a whirling claw into Garou's chest, Monster Mask thought, Just ignore her, Shunshi.
As the Hero Hunter and Monster Mask began their battle, the rubble from Golden Sperm's crater shook for a moment. It then completely erupted as Golden Sperm came bursting through.
The monster was heavily injured, covered in bleeding wounds, and with its right hand blown off from absorbing the brunt of Monster Mask's attack.
Gritting its teeth as blood leaked from its lips, Golden Sperm fumed, "Dammit! Shit! Fuck! That Monster Mask asshole had me completely outmatched...! I, I need to merge with the rest of myselves. Then I'll have enough power to turn him into a blood stain! Now where the Hell are the-?"
Just as Golden Sperm was about to finish that sentence, it saw that all of its other cells had gathered together to gang up on a collection of Heroes.
"Of course... I guess the other mes just can't do anything right without me there to help them... Oh well. This'll be a great way to burn off some of this rage," Golden Sperm concluded as it began dashing for the main battle.
Simultaneously, Homeless Emperor was chasing Pig God down with an endless barrage of one destruction sphere after another.
Ha! All this fool can do is dodge! It's been fun toying with him, but I should finish this off and help Psykos... if she's still alive.
Meanwhile, Pig God was using his body to its full advantage, bouncing and rolling out of the way to move as fast as possible.
Attacking him head-on didn't work at all. I just have to keep this Cadre distracted until Blizzard or another of the stronger S-Class can get here to handle him.
Just as Pig God and Homeless Emperor finished their thoughts, the Cadre heard something approaching him at high speeds. Reflexively, Homeless Emperor jumped and clumsily rolled out of the way of whatever was coming for him, allowing the brutally beaten Psykos to collide with the ground where he'd been standing.
With a single drop of anxious sweat, Homeless Emperor muttered, "That was close. I almost got hit too... Oh, that's Psykos. I guess Blizzard must be heading back this way."
Glancing at where Psykos had come from, Homeless Emperor saw Fubuki flying toward him.
Alright... Let's see just how much your power boost or whatever can really handle. As Homeless Emperor had this thought, he formed a sphere of equal size to what he'd attacked Child Emperor with on one hand. Then, on his other hand, he formed a second one of these attacks.
Without hesitation, Homeless Emperor threw his first sphere at Fubuki. In response, Fubuki came to a screeching halt as she poured all of her power into trying to grab Homeless Emperor's attack.
Ultimately, although she was slowing it down, Blizzard realized immediately that she didn't have the raw power needed to stop the destruction sphere entirely, and that it would reach her very soon.
"Ah, good," Homeless Emperor exclaimed as he fired his other destruction sphere in Pig God's general direction, with the Hero getting caught in the blast radius, ending his attempt at another surprise attack.
But at that same moment, Fubuki heard Silver Fang's voice yell to her, "Push it upward!"
Not knowing what the elder Hero had in mind but knowing that he was there to help, Fubuki did as she was told and started trying to push the orb to the sky.
Rushing the ball and using the same air-pressure trick as before, Bang used a powerful kick to create a massive air current that, combined with Fubuki's telekinesis, was able to throw the orb into the air and detonate it safely.
"Ms. Fubuki! I need your help to heal Tanktop Master. He's in critical condition, but he's fortunately been unconscious this whole time!" Bang cried out.
Speaking in an inaudible rasp as blood leaked from his mouth, Tanktop Master said, "No, I haven't..."
Watching as Psykos struggled to get back to her feet, Fubuki glanced between her target and those that needed her help, exclaiming, "What? But Psykos is...!" She then remembered that Homeless Emperor was still there and was about to ready another attack. "Augh, fine! Let's go!"
Grabbing Bang, Pig God, and Tanktop Master with her telekinesis, the Blizzard of Hell got ready to fly off as Homeless Emperor grinned and asked, "You really think you can get away just like that?!"
But just as the Cadre was about to form another volley of destruction orbs, he was caught off guard by Fubuki's next trick.
All at once, Homeless Emperor and Psykos were surrounded by numerous twisters of psychic energy and rubble. Each one rapidly closing in on them.
"She has the focus to do this and flee?!" Psykos screamed.
With no other choice, if he valued his own life, Homeless Emperor created a ring of medium-sized orbs, one for each twister, and launched them to meet their targets. And in a spectacle of debris, dust, and explosions, all the twisters were erased. But as soon as the dust settled, the four Heroes were nowhere to be seen.
"Tch. The pests slipped away... Hey, are you still alright, Psykos?" Homeless Emperor asked half-heartedly.
On shaking knees, Psykos wrapped her arms around her bare chest, stating, "No...! I... I couldn't do anything to her. None of my powers worked... Either you need to handle her, or we need to have the Black Sperms take care of her."
With a disapproving glance, Homeless Emperor replied, "Riiight... So, what should we do now, my bride-to-be?"
Shuttering internally at Homeless Emperor's way of addressing her, Psykos looked over at where the Black Sperms were fighting, stating, "We should join in the battle over there! That way, Fubuki will have to get through the Black Sperms to get to me! And it'll speed up the Heroes' demise!"
Mulling it over briefly, Homeless Emperor conceded, "Sounds logical enough. All the Black Sperms are gathered together too. Once the Heroes are dead, they'll be easy to carpet bomb and get rid of."
"Sure... Whatever," Psykos said, somewhat giving up on getting the two Cadres to fully cooperate.
But as they started making their way toward the battle, Homeless Emperor looked at Psykos and thought, I'll be focusing solely on taking out enemies going forward. From here on out, you need to protect yourself if you want to prove your worth to God's cause, my dear.
And as two more Cadres went to join the fray, Fubuki had taken Pig God, Silver Fang, and Tanktop Master behind an especially large piece of debris to hide them as she worked.
To Bang's amazement, Fubuki was able to work on both men at once, only using one hand to channel psychic energy to both of them. And in moments, the two S-Class regained consciousness. Or rather, Pig God regained consciousness while Tanktop Master became well enough to move and speak again.
Sitting up but still very sore, Tanktop Master exclaimed, "Ack! Woo! My bones still hurt, but whatever you just did was amazing, Blizzard! Thank you!"
Rolling up, Pig God added, "Yeah. My skin still doesn't feel amazing, but it doesn't feel like it'll melt off of me anymore."
Taking a breath, Fubuki replied, "Of course. I used psychic energy to stimulate and accelerate your bodies' natural healing functions. And with how fast you S-Class seem to heal, you'll both reach full health in roughly an hour."
"Wow... Psychic power truly is amazing. I'm glad I chose it to be my rival," Tanktop Master said.
"I'm sorry?" Bang asked him.
Feeling a strong tremor and noticing a bright light off in the distance, Fubuki looked toward its source. Suddenly, as her eyes fell upon the outlines of two white and gray Kie-covered warriors engaging in combat, the Blizzard Of Hell felt a sudden ache in her heart and a desire to go to where the light was coming from. The white light specifically.
"Monster Mask is fighting over there. I'm going to go help him!" Blizzard exclaimed, taking off at high speeds before anyone could even begin a question.
Looking at where she was referring to, Bang saw the gray and white outlines battling one another.
"That's Shunshi over there? Then the one he's fighting... That gray energy! It must be Garou!" Bang shouted. But just as the elderly Hero was about to take a step, he felt the ground shake and turned his head to see it was coming from where the other Heroes were fighting the Black Sperms.
"Oh... That can't be good," Silver Fang, Tanktop Master, and Pig God surmised in tandem.
Hey everyone, Batty1377 here. I figured this'd be information some might want to know, so I'm going to share exactly how powerful Blizzard is in her transformed state by comparing her to Tornado.
Before entering Spirit Harmony, I would highball estimate Blizzard to be at roughly 1-2% of her sister when Tornado is at full power. However, Spirit Harmony magnified her psychic strength enough to put her in the ballpark of 12-13%. This is the only reason Fubuki was able to counter Homeless Emperor's attacks as she did.
Additionally, it is my belief that, after her battle with Psyrochi, Tornado was at roughly 10% or lower. Meanwhile, post-Kie weakened Psykos is at around 7-8% of Tornado's power in this scenario. Even with the seemingly small difference, Fubuki's higher level of skill essentially makes that small power difference worth ten times what it would seem like on paper.
Additionally, I had a question for everyone. Would you all be interested in me giving a full explanation of how Kie works in my author comments for the next chapter, or would you guys prefer to keep your level of knowledge at what the characters themselves know, having it all slowly revealed with time?
I created a poll for people to vote on what they'd rather have. I selected to put it on my profile page, but the website is taking a long time to update my profile page. As such, it might not be there if you go to vote.