The giant was slowly taking one step after another, getting closer and closer to Shunshi and the others.

The fact that he was standing between a member of his family, his sister, and a monster for the first time in his career was a greater motivation to stand firm than Shunshi had ever felt.

Not breaking eye contact with the beast, Shunshi whispered to his older sibling, "Sis, Genos-Senpai came to watch this tournament too. He should be here any second to help."

Shaking in horror, Ishisu explained to her superhero sibling, "He... He left earlier to respond to the emergency. He hasn't come back since."

Having very little time to contemplate this, Shunshi whispered once more, "Ishisu run for it. If any of these things try to chase after you, they'll be dead before they take a step."

"What? But I-." Ishisu began to argue back but was cut off by what her little brother told her next.

"No buts. I can't fight at full strength with you nearby. It's my turn to protect you, sis. Now go."

Even after watching his displays of superhuman abilities, Ishisu hadn't realized how much her younger brother had changed. But now, after hearing these words, it sunk in. He ran so far without needing her there to help him along the way, and now, he could truly take care of himself.

"Alright. Kick-ass, baby bro," Ishisu exclaimed as she quickly started sprinting for one of the athlete's gates.

Shunshi saw it right away when one of the giant's eyes locked onto her, prompting him to shout, "Hey, four-eyes! She can't fight, but I can! Leave her alone, and I'll give you the fight of your life!" With that declaration made, Shunshi activated Fist Of The Impenetrable Fire Spirit.

Up until now, the audience had been panicking and making a run for it, but when they saw that Super Fight's winner was proudly taking a stand, many replaced their fear with excitement.

One man in a baseball cap went so far as to point at Shunshi and exclaim, "Look, everyone! Monster Mask and the other Heroes are gonna fight those freaks!"

Joining in on this, another man cheered, "Hell yeah! Heroes are the best!"

Slowly bringing all of its eyes to focus on the glowing man in front of him, the giant spoke, "Enticing. Maybe I'll take you up on that after we're done here. Go get on the stage with other fighters for now. I have something to give you all."

The fact that this beast was actually taking the time to speak about something other than murder and destruction caused an eyebrow to cock on Shunshi's face. It was unusual, to say the least, but it brought back a few memories. An ogre creature begging for its life only to get shut down before getting swallowed whole. A group of aliens who wanted to go home, only to get chopped to pieces. Most recently, a newly transformed monster that had managed to regain some semblance of its humanity after being talked to. Despite the monster's stated goal of making them all like it, all these memories gave Shunshi hope that perhaps this all could somehow be ended peacefully.

Dropping his explosive barrier to conserve stamina, Shunshi replied, "Okay, fine. Let's hear what you have to say... Everyone in the audience, run for it! We don't know how dangerous these monsters are!"

Shunshi was worried that that last bit would upset his new acquaintance, but the giant merely scoffed as people listened to Monster Mask and began to run.

"You're lucky I'm here on business, Hero. Now move it," the giant barked. Intensifying his own glare, Shunshi followed instructions and walked backward into what remained of the arena.

"What are you doing?!" Lightning Max asked frantically.

Once he'd backed up enough to be standing next to Max, Lin Lin, and Sneck, Shunshi explained quietly, "Listen. We don't know how dangerous this big guy and his birds are. They came barging into a martial arts tournament. They're either plain stupid or stupidly powerful, and the quad-clops doesn't seem particularly dumb. On top of that, I have reason to believe it might've defeated the Demon Cyborg. Let's try and keep it talking for as long as we can to make time for more Heroes to arrive."

When Shunshi suggested this course of action, he had a particular Caped Baldy in mind.

The idea of cooperating with a monster angered Sneck to no end, but Monster Mask's logic was sound.

"Okay, rookie. We'll try and play it safe for a few minutes. Let's see if we can size the big lug up in that time."

At the same time, all Max could say was, "I'm not letting this thing make me into a monster... but I guess you're right. Caution is better for now."

"I hope you're right," Lin Lin added in a worried tone.

With that, all four of them backed up and stood next to the other martial artists.

Once it had walked onto the arena, the giant looked over all the fighters and explained, "It would be easy for me to murder all of you, but we have other plans today. I'm from the Monster Association. The name's Gouketsu."

When he heard this, the Announcer yelled, "What?! Gouketsu?! No way, it can't be! The first Super Fight's champion?! That Gouketsu?!"

"The original champion?" Suiryu asked.

Gulping, the Announcer explained, "The first Super Fight was, by far, the most intense one. And the man who pulled through fierce battle after fierce battle was a martial artist named Gouketsu. But, he was challenged and killed by a legendary monster years ago."

Its face unchanging, Gouketsu spoke up, "You seem to know a lot about me. But I wasn't killed. I was captured by an unstoppable monster. It took me to its nest and offered me the chance to realize my full potential if I joined them. They gave me this power. The power to take anything I want by force! The Human body has hard limits which no one can surpass." Shunshi chuckled at that, thinking of Saitama, as Gouketsu continued, "By becoming a monster, I could easily smash through such limits! Do you understand!? The old martial artist Gouketsu is gone! He cannot even begin to compare to the being who stands before you! I exist on a whole other level now...! Oh, that's right. I almost forgot the present I promised you all."

Reaching into his massive gi, Gouketsu pulled out and threw to the ground a bundle of dark purple, tumor-like clumps of pulsating meat.

"Listen up, amateurs. These are monster cells. Eat one whole, and it will induce mutations in your bodies. You'll become monsters and join the Monster Association as cannon fodder! We'll work your asses off, and you'll be grateful for it! Refuse to eat, and you're dead! So, will you die... or join us?" Almost as soon as these words were spoken, Rosie sprung awake, leaped forward, and grabbed one of the monster cells.

Just as quickly, Shunshi grabbed Rosie, put him in a full nelson, and ordered him, "Stop! What are you doing!?" Looking at the clump of disgusting flesh in the martial artist's hand, Shunshi was horrified to see that a bite had already been taken out of it.

Soon after, Rosie began erupting with veiny muscles as his spine grew protrusions running down the whole thing. The newly made monster was able to worm its way free of the disgusted Hero's grip.

As Rosie breathed heavily, it declared, "These cells are incredible! I'm overflowing with strength! With anger!"

Stepping past Shunshi, Sneck exclaimed, "Looks like talking's off the table, Monster Mask!"

Striking up an offensive stance, Sneck got ready to fight as Lightning Max did the same. However, almost in the same instance, Gouketsu extended its leg at the three A-Class Heroes and sent them flying away.

As he watched them get sent flying, Suiryu smirked and thought, That's hilarious. The Heroes are just as useless as I thought. You really aren't much without your Kie, are you, Shunshi?

However, as Shunshi and his allies were sent hurtling away, the youngest of the three recomposed himself. While Sneck and Max were sent out of the arena, Shunshi flipped himself upsidedown, formed a Light Ball, and kicked at it. Taking advantage of his explosions' kinetic energy once again, Shunshi torpedoed back towards the ground. In the process, he landed on one of the three crow monsters, crushing its skull and putting a hole through the rest of its body.

Everyone, excluding Gouketsu, Suiryu, and Bakuzan, gave Shunshi a surprised look as he was covered in monster blood and guts. Some of the other martial artists had somewhat relieved faces when they saw the champion, nearly by accident, kill one of these towering crow creatures.

The young Hero was doing his best to keep up a steady demeanor, but he internally thought about how painful Gouketsu's effortless attack was. Nothing was broken yet, but his ribs had come very close.

"So you can recover from me lightly tapping you. I suppose that's a bare minimum benchmark for potential. Shame it took out one of my ex-pupils. They were somewhat cute, even if they lost their minds to the monsterfication," Gouketsu commented.

As Shunshi fully regained his senses, he quickly lit himself up with an inferno of Kie. The other two crows had initially been approaching him after he took out their brother but backed away in fear of the flames.

Looking back over at Gouketsu and Rosie, he saw the new monster walking over to the unconscious Dave. In a flash, Shunshi raced at Rosie and pinned it by its wrists to the ground.

"Rosie! Listen to me and get ahold of yourself! You can come back from this and regain your humanity! I've seen it happen! Just think about those you care about! The ones closest to you! Do you really want to face them as this freak of nature?!" Shunshi pleaded as he looked the former Human in its face.

Growling at Monster Mask as its wrists began to burn, Rosie barked back, "Who?! My worthless parents who made me waste my life on studying?! They'll be the first ones I kill!"

When Shunshi heard this, he was almost heartbroken. This man's humanity was truly gone, and no part of him wanted it back. The Hero released his grip on one of Rosie's writs, with the monster immediately using its freed hand to try and punch at Monster Mask, cracking a knuckle against the Human's flesh in the process.

As Shunshi placed his open palm near Rosie's now frightened face, he told it, "I'm sorry," before forming a Light Ball that took its head off as well as a small chunk of what remained of the arena floor.

When Gouketsu saw this, he pondered, Is that... The same as Homeless Emperor?

Quickly standing up to look back at Gouketsu, the Hero was surprised once again when he saw Choze and Bazuzu holding monster cells.

Pointing at the two of them as he switched back on Fist Of The Impenetrable Fire Spirit, Shunshi declared, "If you eat those of your own volition, I'll kill you! That goes for all of you! Lin Lin, I know all this must be frightening for you, but don't let anyone else get near those things!"

At her boyfriend's beckoning, Lin Lin snapped to attention and got between the other martial artists and the monster cells. Despite her diminutive size, she did her best to act as a barrier between the other participants and the monster cells.

"How amusing. If I read the brackets right, you're the A-Class Hero known as Monster Mask. So, what'll it be, worms? Death by Hero or death by Monster?" Gouketsu threatened.

Realizing the no-win scenario this brought up, Shunshi readied as powerful of a Light Ball as he could and declared, "I'll just destroy all the monster cells then!"

For a fraction of a second, when Shunshi yelled this, a person could almost see a twinge of panic from Gouketsu's stone-like face.

"Don't bother. They're crafted by the Monster King and are immune to heat and explosions," the martial art monster told Shunshi.

The A-Class stopped mid-pitch when he heard this, screaming in frustration, "Are you serious?! Damn you!"

While its face remained stoic, Gouketsu's internal thoughts had an amused tone to them, Huh, that worked? I never thought of myself as being particularly good at lying.

At the same time, Choze had taken the time to begin eating his monster cell, proclaiming, "Ba! Do you think a death threat from you frightens me, Hero? I possess the ultimate Human genes. If I partake in this evolution, I will surely surpass all and make that bald fool pay for toying with me."

Likewise, Bazuzu had also started chowing on his own monster cell, declaring, "You made a mockery of me and my style! Treating me like I'm some two-bit brawler and breaking my hand! Once I'm a monster, my punches'll put holes straight through ya!"

These declarations prompted Shunshi to start rushing at the monster cells, but he stopped when he was suddenly hit by a powerful shot of wind that knocked him back. Without unfolding its arms, Gouketsu had flicked its thumb at Shunshi, creating a powerful blast of compressed air to knock him away while the others fed.

"Well? Hurry up and eat, pissants! Last chance!" Gouketsu yelled.

Lin Lin had turned her head to watch all that unfold, and so didn't see as Volten struck her in her kidney with an electrified punch. Standing behind him were Hamukichi and Benpatsu with fearful and panicked expressions.

While Shunshi pulled himself back to his feet, he saw what happened to his lover and yelled furiously, "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Volten!?"

As these three also picked up Monster Cells, Volten yelled over to Shunshi, "If it means anything, I'm genuinely sorry, Monster Mask. I really was considering becoming a Hero and learning this Kie stuff, but you said you need a pure heart to do that, so I guess that's off the table once I eat this. Either way, the end result will be me becoming stronger than you."

"What the fuck ever! I just don't wanna die," Benpatsu exclaimed as he shoved the monster cell in his face.

In a sickening mixture of fury and disgust, Shunshi set off an explosion of Kie at his feet, intending to shoot himself at the ones eating monster cells. Unfortunately, he was met with another air-bullet from Gouketsu and sent smashing into the ground again. This display of futility prompted a chuckle from Suiryu.

Guess his silly tricks were just a bad match for me after all, the former champ thought.

As he scarfed one of the monster cells down, Hamukichi exclaimed, "That self-defense dojo never made any money for me! Once I become a monster, I'll live freely and do what I want."

Once all the martial artists consumed monster cells, their appearances were altered thusly. Benpatsu grew a third eye as his teeth grew razor-sharp, and his muscles swelled slightly. Hamukichi's muscle's bulked as he grew fur and transformed into a mindless, bipedal hamster-like creature. Bazuzu's mohawk turned into a row of horns, his mouth twisted into some kind of beak, his skin turned pink and became covered in feathers, his hands and feet turned into talons, and peculiar openings formed on the ends of his elbows. Volten's face and hair had turned white, as his eyes and mouth became like empty voids; his body suddenly exploded with electricity, obscuring anyone from getting a proper view of him past the first few initial seconds. Choze's body took on the same color and pattern as his red sweater, except for two black stripes that ran from his waistline up to his armpits and one more that wrapped around his head and down to his neck. As the color of his eyes turned pure white, pyramid-shaped spikes formed on his shoulders and now black forearms. His now black hands had grown claws, he had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and lips that looked like they were about to crack apart, and lastly, two almost gazelle-like horns sprouted from his now bald head.

Resting his thumb, Gouketsu told Monster Mask, "I thought they'd all be useless, but the results turned out better than I expected. Feel free to test your mettle against them, Hero. As for all of you, that's your first test as monsters. Kill your first Hero!"

As Shunshi glared furiously and got ready to fight, Suiryu looked to his side and noticed that one of the showgirls who'd been clinging to Shunshi had collapsed in fear and couldn't run away.

Leaning down to her, Suiryu asked, "Hey, babe. If I chase off all these monsters, would you go out with me?"

Although initially confused, with tears in her eyes, the girl desperately nodded her head.

Standing up, Suiryu made sure his hair was tied back once more as he announced, "Alright, hold on. I'm fighting too."

When the new monsters saw Suiryu, with his bandaged arms, walking towards them, those who were still sentient laughed condescendingly.

"The guy who lost to our punching bag is gonna take us on? I bet you can't even throw a real punch right now with how messed up your arms are!" Bazuzu squawked out.

Chuckling, Suiryu boasted, "These are barely flesh wounds. And it sucks to admit, but my fighting style was no good against all that exploding Kie crap. But monsters like you lot don't have anything like that, do you? You'll all be a cakewalk. Besides, this way, I can show off just how much more powerful I really am than that Hero."

Splitting his four eyes between Suiryu and Shunshi, Gouketsu commented, "So, even in this hopeless situation, there is still someone who'd defy me and come to your aid as an ally, eh, Hero? In that case, I'm done waiting on the rest. Any Humans who would or even could stand against the Monster Association will be exterminated."

With a more annoyed expression now, Shunshi thought to himself, I mean... I guess that's what you'd call him right now, but I still feel like he doesn't really count.

Giving off a hearty laugh, Suiryu exclaimed, "You're still talking about that cheat like he's the main event. Wise up, first champ. I'm the one who's gonna mop the floor with you."

"I'm done talking. Pick your target and kill them all, boys!" At Gouketsu's orders, Volten, Hamukichi, and Benpatsu charged Suiryu, while Choze and Bazuzu rushed Shunshi.

"Time to vent some stress," Suiryu exclaimed with a smile as the monsters rushed him.

Benpatsu was the first to rush in, screaming, "So what?! You develop a sense of justice all of sudden, pretty boy?! Hahaha! This is the end for you!" In an instant, Suiryu struck Benpastu with a casual but powerful roundhouse kick that planted its body into the ground.

"Sense of justice?" The young martial artist asked as Hamukichi came at him from behind. Twisting his torso, Suiryu caved in the monster's face with an elbow strike.

"Weren't you listening? I said I'm gonna show everyone just how much better I really am than that cheater," Suiryu exclaimed.

As Hamukichi's body collapsed, Volten jumped above the ex-champ and declared, "With my new Super Thunder Thunder Fist, you'll be left a fried pile of flesh! Hope you're ready, Suiryu!"

Cartwheeling out of the way of Volten's stone smashing drop-kick, Suiryu commented, "You were talking big about how you'd be stronger than mister Hero. Figured you'd be gunning for him first. Get cold feet?"

Actually pausing for a brief moment, Volten explained, "Attacking him right away after betraying his trust would feel dishonorable. I'll kill him after I warm up with you."

However, before Volten could react, Suiryu grabbed the ponytail of Benpatsu's dead body and whacked it against the lightning monster with enough force to break its ribs.

As Volten tried to get back up, Suiryu smashed Benpastu's corpse into the lightning monster once more and stated, "Ya know, with all that stuff about finding your humanity that Monster Mask was spouting, he probably would've tried to talk you down after hearing that... You really should've gone after him instead."


At the same time as Benpatsu had rushed Suiryu, Choze had allowed Bazuzu to make the first move against Shunshi.

As Bazuzu ran at the Hero, one of the openings in its elbows suddenly sucked in a huge pocket of air and ballooned the size of its owner's arm, "Hahaha! Face my new Rocket-Powered Nuclear Fist! Die, Monster Mask!"

Shunshi didn't even bother to put up a guard for this attack, as the air was suddenly pushed out of Bazuzu's arm, rocketing its fist towards its target. However, as soon as it made contact with the Hero's chest, the feathered monster's entire arm was taken off with an explosion.

"You still can't punch me without breaking your hand... Congrats. Hope it was worth your life," Shunshi said with genuine sorrow in his voice. In the next instance, he open-claw struck Bazuzu's face, taking its head off with the combined force of an explosion and his superhuman strength.

Meeting Choze's gaze as it watched him, Shunshi asked almost emotionlessly, "Any reason you picked me to go for?"

"Super Fight's champion will make an excellent test of my proper superiority. Far better than the one who lost to you," Choze answered as it readied its claws.

"Right..." That was the last word from Shunshi's mouth before the two rushed one another and collided roundhouse kicks.

Much like with Suiryu, though, Choze's kick was knocked away by an explosion. The new monster was almost knocked over by the blast. However, despite its leg getting fractured in that exchange, the monster was able to regain its footing and charged back in.

Once the creature got near him, Shunshi quickly went for a claw swipe, but Choze jumped back just before the attack could hit him. After that, Choze jumped back in and went for a gut punch. The attack landed, only for the red monster to get knocked back by a blast once more, leaving Shunshi relatively unharmed in the process.

As Choze regained its footing, Monster Mask was sure that he saw a look of uncertainty appear on the creature's face for a glimmer of a second. Before the Hero could process what this could mean, Choze ran in for another punch. Shunshi was quick to try and meet this attack but was surprised when the monster seemed to slide out of the way at the last second and maneuver behind him. The burning Hero quickly spun around to try and land a roundhouse kick in retaliation, but Choze once again dodged the attack and went in for a kick of its own, only for it to miss by a hair once more.

Shunshi began to grow suspicious and went for a held-back palm thrust. It was then that he fully noticed that Choze seemed more prepared to dodge any incoming attacks than to actually fight back. With this, the Hero decided what to do next, as the monster seemed to come in for another attack.

As he dodged the beast's next punch, Shunshi casually commented, "You meant to miss with that one."

Side-stepping a strike aimed at his solar plexus, the Hero continued, "I could tell from your first couple attacks that you're faster than this. What's wrong?"

Jumping back to evade a flurry of clawed strikes, Shunshi hypothesized, "You thought your new body would be stronger, but our first couple exchanges wrecked your arm and leg, didn't it? You're not nearly as strong as Suiryu, and you're afraid of what'll happen if you hit me again, aren't you?"

Gritting its newly razor-like teeth as it clenched its fists, Choze exclaimed, "How dare you suggest-."

Before it could finish its rebuttal, a Burn Whip shot out from Monster Mask's palm and wrapped tightly around the actual monster's neck.

As it felt its flesh getting melted off, Choze tried to pull itself free. However, before it could make any headway with freeing itself, Shunshi pulled Choze into striking distance.

"Let me show you what'll happen," Shunshi stated as coldly as Genos, as he thrusted his palm into Choze's torso, hitting the monster with an explosion that sent it digging through the ground until it eventually stopped when it collided with the arena.

Cracking his neck before whipping at the ground with his tendril of light, Shunshi made a show of turning and declaring, "Okay. Now onto Gouketsu!" Unfortunately, Monster Mask had to cancel that idea when he saw Choze climb out of the hole he'd been put in.

"Did you really think that that would've killed me?!" The monster yelled in fury. The flesh of its neck had been partially burned and melted off, but it stood as if it were trying to defy the pain it was in.

Sighing in disappointment, Shunshi turned back around and answered, "No, that was just a love-tap combined with an explosion. But I'd hoped you'd be not dumb enough to get back up. Just sit quietly while me and Suiryu take care of Gouketsu. I'll try and get you some help after that."

Choze's eye twitched in rabid malice at that. Suddenly a ball of light formed between the monster's horns. This took all the Humans watching, even Shunshi, off guard. In response, the Hero dropped Fist Of The Impenetrable Fire Spirit and began to charge a Light Ball in his free hand.

As its attack charged, Choze explained, "My clan aimed to conquer humanity, but that is beneath me! I shall eradicate the Human race and only leave those I deem useful to live! I shall rebuild this world in my image! But you have failed my screening! You are disqualified from existence! Now vanish for all eternity!"

Looking at the ground to aim its horns, Choze slung its energy ball attack at Shunshi and shouted, "Inferior Race Annihilation Cannon!" As the attack was fired, Bakuzan, Suiryu, and Gouketsu watched in curiosity.

Once Choze's attack had traveled halfway between itself and its target, Shunshi flame-concealed pupils fully dilated.

Suddenly, the Light Ball in his hand tripled in size, and as Monster Mask threw it, he yelled, "I tried to spare you! Now face the Miniature White Sun!"

The two balls of light collided with each other for a moment, the energy radiating off of them leaving a crater in the ground beneath the spheres. However, after a few seconds of pushing back and forth, Miniature White Sun ate the Inferior Race Annihilation Cannon.

Before Choze could hope to get out of the way, the Light Ball closed in on it. For a brief second, it wrapped around the monster before going off with such a bright explosion that Goketsu actually had to close its eyes at first. The force of the blast sent everyone, including the crows, sliding or flying backward. Suiryu and Bakuzan were strong enough that they were able to keep their footing, while Gouketsu didn't even have to try.

However, the martial art monster did move when it noticed the remaining monster cells go flying. Faster than anyone could see, it grabbed the tumors of pulsating purple flesh and gently tossed them back where they were as soon as the wind died down.

Once the blast had finished going off and everyone could open their eyes again, they all could see that Monster Mask's attack had left a crater beside the arena big enough to fit a couple of sixteen-wheelers inside of.

Even Shunshi, after seeing this, had a dumbfounded look on his face as he thought aloud, "I'm... gonna be honest. I had no idea my Miniature White Sun had become that powerful. The last time I used it was... In the park? No, Garou took me out before I could cut loose... Right?"

Recomposing himself as he broke out of his stupor, Shunshi put on a tough face and proclaimed to the lead monster, "See that, Gouketsu? You're next!"

When all the other fighters heard Monster Mask's words after witnessing his display of power, they all climbed to their feet and cheered with their shared excitement of getting to live, and pride at their choice to remain Human.

"What was...? Could I have survived that?" Suiryu asked quietly as he looked down into the hole.

As all the martial artists were cheering on Monster Mask and Suiryu, Gouketsu focused all his eyes on Shunshi and spoke up, "That's not a half-bad attack. I can see why you were bolstering about giving me a good fight... Y'know, it's not too late to change your mind. If you became a monster, I bet you'd become one of the Monster Association's Cadres. I think you might even make a decent sparring partner after you transform. It's not a bad deal. Humanity's reign is coming to an end. Soon the world will belong to monsters. Money, law, government, authority, none of that will matter. The strong will rule, and you'll be able to kill to your heart's content. You'll have true freedom and then some. Just imagine it, life as a carefree monster... I suppose that goes for you as well... Suiryu, was it?"

At Gouketsu's words, Suiryu slowly picked up a monster cell, shocking all the watchers. Shunshi, however, simply sneered at the monster's words and his rival's apparent lack of mental fortitude.

"Fine then! I'll fight both of you monsters, Suiryu!" With that declaration, the Hero began charging towards the arena.

However, Shunshi's stride faltered ever so slightly when he saw Suiryu take the monster cell in his hand and throw it at Gouketsu's face.

"Like I'd ever make myself that butt-ugly," Suiryu scoffed.

Jumping at Gouketsu as Monster Mask closed in, Suiryu shouted in a fury, "Besides, I warned you that I'm the more powerful one! Monster Mask is nothing but a cheat!"

Utilizing the same technique he'd used to fight Monster Mask in the air to attack Gouketsu's face, Suiryu yelled, "Void Sky Dragon Fist!"

By now, Shunshi had put together that his Burn Whips moved faster and were more precise than his Light Balls, but with the trade-off of a shorter range.

Unleashing a flurry of these mid-ranged attacks at the boss monster's torso, Shunshi exclaimed, "Lashing Inferno!"

As these two expert martial artists combined the might of their techniques, Gouketsu slammed a fist out at Suiryu and a kick at Monster Mask. The first attack smashed Suiryu into the ground and caused a geyser of blood to spew from the young fighter's mouth. The kick effortlessly broke through Shunshi's Burn Whips and struck the young Hero with a foot that dwarfed his body. The resulting explosion from making contact with Shunshi that would've stopped Suiryu in his tracks left the massive monster unphased and its attack unhindered.

Typically, an attack like this would've sent Shunshi skidding along the ground, but Gouketsu's attack hit with such force that the Hero got planted into the earth as soon as he collided with it. While Shunshi's Kie protected him to the best of its ability, he could still feel that his nose was broken, his ribs were cracked, and his skull was fractured.

"If that's your last words on the offer, then you can both die," Gouketsu coldly exclaimed.

Dividing his four eyes between the two fighters, Gouketsu asked, "What's wrong? Didn't you say you're the stronger one, Suiryu? And, Monster Mask, didn't you say you'd give me the fight of my life? I'll give you both three seconds to get up."

The two martial artists squirmed and flinched in pain as the three seconds crawled by, and the other martial artists looked at them in horror.

Lifting its foot above Suiryu, the martial monster said, "Time's up. You're first."

In the half-second before the giant's foot could crush him, Suiryu opened his eyes and flipped to his feet in time to avoid getting pancaked. He then jumped into the air with his absurd strength and landed on Gouketsu's large shoulder. Taking a deep and sharp breath, Suiryu unleashed a flurry of powerful strikes on Gouketsu's face.

"Hahaha! That's what I'm talking about. Fight back like your life depends on it," the giant monster exclaimed as if these attacks did not affect it. As it spoke, Gouketsu reached at its shoulder for Suiryu.

Sensing the danger, the young martial artist leaped from the monster's shoulder just in time to avoid the crushing grip of Gouketsu. Just as Suiryu escaped the beast's grasp, Monster Mask's Burn Whips wrapped around Gouketsu's head.

Despite the burning hot tendrils entangling them, Gouketsu shifted its eyes to look see Shunshi at the end of these ropes, pulling himself towards the monster for a drop-kick. The attack connected with the back of Gouketsu's hand, due to the monster having just missed grabbing Suiryu. The subsequent explosion obscured everything above the monster's shoulder in a cloud of smoke.

As he watched the smoke, Suiryu thought to himself, Well, at least he's good for keeping the big guy busy. But I gotta be careful. If I take damage like that again, I'll be down for the count. To make it worse, I don't think Gouketsu even blinked when I punched him in the eye... What should I try next?

Just as he finished his thought, Suiryu heard shouting and smashing coming from behind. Turning to look, he saw the two remaining crow monsters attacking the martial artists who were still conscious and hadn't monsterified. A few of them were trying to fight back, but the difference in power between the Humans and these monsters left all the defiant ones beaten in one hit each.

At the same time, the Announcer grabbed the remaining showgirl's wrist and managed to escape with her in all the confusion.

Suiryu was worried by this sight, but couldn't focus on it when he heard, "You have interesting powers. Perhaps I was too hasty. I should capture you as Orochi did with me."

Looking back at his inhuman opponent, Suiryu saw Shunshi trapped in Gouketsu's grasp. An endless wave of futile explosions went off against the monster's fingers and palm due to the Hero's Kie-based martial art. The burn whips were still wrapped around Gouketsu's face, but their crushing grip and sizzling heat left no impact on the monster's mighty frame.

This is bullshit! I thought I'd be able to smash his hand into his face, but the bastard didn't even budge when I kicked him. I gotta figure a way outta this. At least the explosions are keeping me from a repeat of the Deep Sea King, Shunshi thought within the span of a couple seconds.

The fact that the explosions that had left his arms fractured weren't even phasing this beast caused fear to begin growing inside of the ex-champion. This fear only intensified when Gouketsu shifted its gaze back over towards Suiryu.

"I suppose I'll be disposing of you one-handed now," Gouketsu declared as it effortlessly tugged the Burn Whips from its face.

Clinching his fists and gritting his teeth, most of the fear in Suiryu was immediately replaced with a returning frustration at the monster's words.

"So he's worth capturing, but you still don't see my potential?! You're even dumber than I thought, ugly!" Suiryu shouted as he took up a combat stance. However, before he could even understand what was happening, Gouketsu vanished from sight.

At the same time as Suiryu felt a presence behind him, Gouketsu's voice told him, "If you were as great as you claimed, you could at least keep track of me once I start moving seriously."

Just as Suiryu spun around to fight, he was met by a fist twice the size of his body. The impact sent him flying towards the edge of the arena and caused an audible crunching noise to echo from Suiryu's arm.

As he slid along the ground, Suiryu looked at his arm and internally panicked, It's broken?!

Seeing this, Shunshi rasped out, "Suiryu... Just stay on your toes...! I'll break free to back you up in a second!"

Stopping itself mid-step, Gouketsu looked at the exploding man in its hand and exclaimed, "Enough from you." All of a sudden, the monster strengthened its grip and started crushing Shunshi's body.

Despite all he had been through to become a Hero, the pain of having his entire ribcage and arms crushed was still enough to render Shunshi unconscious, as blood erupted from his mouth and nose.

Seeing the two seconds Gouketsu used to crush Shunshi as an opportunity, Suiryu lept at the monster and readied another punch.

"Void Quake Tiger Fist!" The former champion roared as a twister covered his good arm. However, just as Suiryu's attack was about to connect, Gouketsu caught the punch between the thumb and index finger of its freehand.

"What!? You pinched my strongest attack!?" Suiryu couldn't help but shout.

Dropping Shunshi's limp body to the ground, Gouketsu raised its other hand and flicked Suiryu a couple dozen times, breaking bones and tearing muscle with each strike.

It then dropped Suiryu and ordered him, "Get up."

As Suiryu climbed to his feet, he felt as if his entire body was leaking blood.

The guy who... who beat me got laid out so easily. How am I supposed to beat this... This monster? It's above me in every way, Suiryu lamented to himself.

Before the martial artist knew what was happening, Gouketsu kicked Suiryu in his chest, breaking a few of his ribs and sending him towards the crows.

"Looks like you're worn out," Gouketsu said before addressing the crow monsters.

"Well then, if you two are done with the fodder, I've got a snack for-." Before Gouketsu could finish talking, a Light Ball collided with and blew up against its face.

Looking behind itself, Gouketsu saw Shunshi on his knees, blood streaming from his mouth. The Hero's arms were limp at his side, making the giant monster genuinely curious as to how the Light Ball was thrown.

Staring at Shunshi in disbelief, all Suiryu could do as he looked at this seeming half-dead man fighting to help him was ask, "Ah... What?"

"Get away from him...!" Despite the determination he spoke with, Shunshi could bearly get those words to escape his blood-filled mouth.

Glaring at Gouketsu, Monster Mask formed two new Light Balls in the palm of his limp hands. After that, he used his back and core muscles, flailed his body about, and used his broken arms like slings to hurl the spheres of energy at the monster boss.

Gouketsu let these attacks hit it without resistance, the power behind them doing no more to harm it than anything else thus far.

A demented smirk almost seemed to form on this creature's face, as it expressed, "When I crushed you, I wasn't even sure if you'd survive that. But even with a broken body, you're already up and trying to fight me again." Then, as it had done before, Gouketsu vanished with its speed.

Reappearing behind Shunshi, the monster brought its foot down on him and exclaimed, "I'm going to enjoy watching Lord Gyoro Gyoro break your mind. I'll look forward to having a good sparring partner once you become a monster. For now, I'm curious how much more you can take before you lose consciousness." The creature then brought down more of its weight on Shunshi. Once more, even with everything he'd been through thus far, the feeling of his entire body getting crushed forced the young Hero to scream in agony.


At the same time as Gouketsu tortured Monster Mask, someone dear to the Hero was hiding nearby. Within the Super Fight coliseum's halls, Ishisu was sitting on the ground with her hands over her head, shivering in fear. However, as a scream of horrid pain echoed through the hallways, the young woman's eyes shot open.

"After all that...? He can't be losing now, right?"

Climbing to her feet, Ishisu found herself steeling her nerves as her legs moved on their own and carried her towards the source of the screaming.


Gouketsu was continuing Shunshi's endurance test back out in the arena before remembering its other remaining target.

Looking at Suiryu, the martial arts monster spook once more, "Like I was saying. Eat up, boys. It's real high-quality grub. And don't let him get away." With their orders received, the birds closed in.

Suiryu just managed to evade, as a crow pierced the stone ground he'd been standing on with its beak. The second one tried to strike at Suiryu with its talons, but he was able to use his semi-good arm to deflect the attacks. Unfortunately, the first crow took this opportunity to sock Suiryu across his face. The second one then closed in and hit the young fighter in his back with a taloned kick. Throughout this beatdown, Shunshi continued screaming in wretched pain, only serving to distract Suiryu's already preoccupied mind.

This is bad. I can't beat them in my condition. Gotta run. When that realization hit him, Suiryu violently pushed the second crow away and began to bolt for it. However, the first crow then jumped in front of Suiryu and hit him with a punch to his gut.

As he slid back, Suiryu thought to himself, This is bad! This is bad! Am I really gonna-?

Before he could finish that thought, Suiryu noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. Bakuzan was standing just outside the arena and had been watching all this unfold.

Initially, Suiryu was confused about what he was doing, but he quickly shoved that thought aside and yelled, "Hey, Bakuzan! You're pretty strong, too, right? We're in real trouble here! I need your help!"

At first, Bakuzan said nothing, but eventually, a smile crept onto his face.

"I thought I'd wait to see how things unfolded, but it looks like things are basically over now. After I watched the fight between you two, I realized that you and Monster Mask are stronger than me. On top of that, you're both still young and have room to grow. Honestly, I was feeling pretty jealous. No matter how much I try, I'll never be able to surpass either of you. I have no choice but to admit that. And yet, even guys like you two, even when you team up, can't help but knock on Death's door when up against monsters. Even guys in your league, at the top of Humanity, can't make the cut against monsters. Kinda ironic, ain't it?" Bakuzan monologued.

Not understanding why Bakuzan just said all that, Suiryu begged further, "Yeah... I know, you're right! That's why I'm asking you to help us out here!"

Pulling all the remaining monster cells out from his gi, Bakuzan exclaimed, "Help you? That's not how this is going down. I've decided that I'm gonna become a monster too! And I'm not gonna leave any of these for you, Suiryu! It'd be better for me if you just kicked the bucket here and now! I've given up trying to be the world's strongest Human! I'm gonna surpass that ceiling and become the world's strongest monster!" With that, Bakuzan scarfed all the remaining monster cells into his mouth.

"Would you look at that, Monster Mask? He went and ate them all," Gouketsu commented as he pressed down harder on Shunshi, causing a piece of his skull to cave in.

As Monster Mask let out another scream, Gouketsu exclaimed, "I know. What a greedy bastard."

When Bakuzan heard this, his ears had begun to grow to a point, and his teeth had started sharpening.

"Keep talking, smart ass! Once I'm a monster, I'll be shutting you up for good!" Bakuzan shouted through the chunks of monster cells spilling from his mouth. However, the second after this, Bakuzan grabbed at his stomach as his eyeballs shot out from his head. In the next second, he was face down on the ground, dead.

While Shunshi continued to wail, Bakuzan explained, "Looks like he took in too many monster cells. The monsterfication failed. I guess you proved your point, Suiryu. You're the last one standing. At least no one will hear you-."


Simultaneously, as Bakuzan had been eating the monster cells, Lin Lin began to regain consciousness from when Volten sucker-punched her.

As she laid there on the ground, Lin Lin was confused at first and just wanted to go back to sleep. However, some annoyingly loud person was keeping her awake with their screams.

Properly opening her eyes, Lin Lin looked at her surroundings. The destruction and bloodshed shocked her at first, but the next thing her eyes fell upon frightened her like nothing ever had before.

Underneath the foot of that Gouketsu creature was Shunshi. He was being crushed to death, and his cries of pain were so unlike what she'd ever expected from someone so strong. However, there were no feelings of disappointment or any other such things. The only two emotions in her at that point in time were shock and fear. The cause of the shock was obvious. However, she couldn't place exactly where her fear was placed.

While Lin Lin shook on the ground, tears started to well up in her eyes as she thought, No... Please, don't leave me... Get up... You're a Hero, you gotta do something, or you'll die...! Shunshi'll die...? No! Someone has to do something! Someone... I... I have to do something. If I don't do something... If I... don't... do... something... I can't lose you!

As Bakuzan died from monster cell overload, and Gouketsu was commenting on it, Lin Lin quickly climbed to her feet.

Stoping itself mid-sentence, Gouketsu noticed as the female fighter got up, seemingly ready to stand her ground.

"Looks like some of the trash got a second wind. I guess Suiryu's got one more piece of backup, eh, Mask?" Gouketsu asked as he crushed Shunshi further, prompting yet another scream.

Inraged, Lin Lin shouted as tears continued to roll down her face, "Stop that! Get off of him, you bastard!" As she yelled this, a series of small sparks seemed to flicker along Lin Lin's arms.

Both Suiryu and Gouketsu were a bit confused by this sight. Before either of them could guess what was happening, Lin Lin let out a blood-curdling scream as her body became covered in an inch-thick aura of purple flames.

Glaring at the monster crushing her boyfriend to death, Lin Lin yelled once again, "Shunshi, I love you! I don't care what happens to me! I'll save you! I promise!"

Once her declaration of love was made, Lin Lin began rushing towards an unimpressed Gouketsu, while a shocked Suiryu couldn't take his eyes off her. Unfortunately, Lin Lin was intercepted when one of the monster crows rushed and hit her with a punch to her side.

She reacted fast enough to raise her arms in defense but was still knocked away. However, as she slid on her feet across the arena, the new flaming fighter braced herself for the amount of pain she'd be in but opened her eyes in confusion when she realized how little she had been injured.

That hardly hurt... Although a valid topic to ponder at the moment, this thought was pushed out of Lin Lin's mind when she saw that same crow rushing at her to continue its assault.

Righteous fury was all that remained in the female fighter, though, as she rushed at the bird monster in retaliation and shouted, "Move, you freak!"

At the same time as Lin Lin was fighting, the first crow hit a stunned Suiryu with a beak attack to his torso that tore through some of his muscles. After taking this hit, Suiryu began trying to avoid this monster once more.

Once they reached each other, the crow threw a punch at the female fighter. Lin Lin side-stepped the punch fast enough so that it only grazed her, slightly burning the crow in the process. Closing in, Lin Lin hit the crow with a vibrating open-palm thrust to its gut. The strength behind her attack wasn't as great as the monster's own attacks and did little more than stagger it slightly. However, once Lin Lin's hand made contact with the crow, a small ring of purple flames expanded from her palm. This caused a section of the crow's body that was the size of Lin Lin's body to catch fire.

As it began to catch ablaze, the crow took steps back as it flailed about in a futile attempt to put out the flames.

Once he saw this, Suiryu dodged another talon attack and yelled, "Hey! Please, I need some help over here!"

To make his desperate cry, the former champion had to take his eyes off of his monstrous opponent for a half-second. This proved to be a fatal mistake on his part, as this gave the crow the opening it needed for another beak strike. This time, it was aimed at the young man's head.

Fortunately, just before the beak could pierce his skull, a figure jumped in between Suiryu and the attack.

"Coiling Defense!" Was yelled by Bitting Fist Sneck as he, wearing his Hero suit, rotated his arm and redirected the attack into the ground.

After that, Lightning Max, also dressed in his heroic clothing, jumped into the arena and roundhouse kicked the monster crow with one of his signature explosive kicks while shouting, "Lightning Flash Kick!" The resulting blast ignited the bird's chest and sent it tumbling backward.

Getting in between Suiryu and the bird, Sneck and Max dismissed the pain they were both in and stood firm.

Looking at the Heroes in front of him with complete bewilderment, Suiryu asked, "Wait. Max? Sneck? You survived...? But you were safe... You even took time to get changed... Why would you ever come back?"

When they heard this question, Max and Sneck exchanged a confused glance before answering as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "To save you."

Hearing those words entered his ears, an expression formed on Suiryu's face that showed signs of both amazement and what seemed like admiration.

"We're not the same fighters as we were in the tournament. This isn't just a snake-skin suit. It's my special battle suit. I crafted it from the scales of a monster I slew. It can deflect claws, fangs, and even beaks," Sneck explained as he tugged on his clothing.

Lightly kicking his foot against the ground, Max explained, "And I brought my special Lightning Shoes. You're about to see what the real Lightning Max can do!"

As Max got ready to fight, Sneck suggested, "Looks like you've only got the one to deal with, Suiryu. I'll leave you in Max's hands while I take care of the one over there."

"Got it," Lightning agreed.

With that, Sneck darted in Lin Lin's direction. The other crow attempted to attack Sneck as he rushed towards its brother, but this proved fatal for the creature. This action left the monster open to Lightning Max, which the Hero took advantage of with an explosive cartwheel kick to the beast's back. The force of Max's superhuman strength and speed, combined with the explosive power of his shoes, split the crow in half, leaving it a burning and bloody mess on the ground.

All the while, as Sneck got closer to his target, he noticed it seemed to be somewhat on fire. Paying this no mind, Bitting Fist jolted forward and hit the remaining crow with a double palm strike that mimicked the movement of a snake bite. The deadly power of this A-Class Hero's attack put a hole in the last crow's gut and sent it flying towards the empty audience seats.

Once the monster was gone, Sneck saw who he had rescued, as well as the purple fire and monster guts that covered her.

This bewildered him at first, but he pushed the confusion out of his head and asked, "You fighting or escaping? This is life and death stuff."

Gritting her teeth at Sneck, Lin Lin aggressively answered, "Fighting!"

Sneck merely nodded to this and rushed back over to Max, now with Lin Lin at their side.

Once the crows were dead, Suiryu smiled an earnestly thankful smile.

"Thanks. You guys really did save me. Now let's get outa here," with those words, Suiryu turned to run but stopped when he realized that all the others were grouping up to fight Gouketsu.

"What do you guys think you're doing?!" Suiryu yelled in concern.

Pointing to under Gouketsu's foot, Max explained, "You can hear that screaming, can't you? We still need to save Monster Mask."

In a tone of agreement, Sneck added, "Besides. This will buy you some time. The monster's gonna be distracted fighting us. You should take the opportunity to get outa here."

As everyone struck up their distinctive combat stances, Lin Lin exclaimed to Gouketsu, "You hear that, you big bastard!? You're dead!"

Turning around fully, Suiryu made one more attempt to persuade them, "No! Wait! Monster Mask was the strongest one here, and even he didn't stand a chance! Come on; you guys couldn't even beat me!"

Ignoring these words of discouragement, none of the Heroes in front of Suiryu batted an eye as they all took a step towards Gouketsu.

Turning to run as the others rushed in to fight, Suiryu desperately tried to comprehend what he was watching. I don't get it. Aren't they scared? This... This is my only chance! I'll use the last of my strength and jump out of the arena.

As he fled, Suiryu could hear the sounds of bone snapping and flesh-crushing strikes.

With the last fighters being crushed behind him, Suiryu used his outstanding strength and jumped above the walls of the arena while repeating to himself, "I gotta go! I gotta go! I gotta go!"

As Suiryu's momentum was about to carry him out of the arena, a new monster that was almost as big as Gouketsu jumped in front of him. The creature had pointed ears, claws, and teeth, the same black hair as Bakuzan, and four arms with spikes on each of their shoulders. It wore a pair of torn-up, white trousers and had black fur on sections of its torso, legs, and face. It also sported three stripped tails and a single horn atop its cranium.

"Where do you think you're going, Suiryu?! The fun's right here!" The monster shouted as it bashed a terrified man into the arena ground.

When Suiryu crashed back down, Gouketsu commented as Lin Lin, Max, and Sneck laid half-dead at its feet, "Well, well, looks like I caught a big one. Looks like you adapted well to the monster cells, Bakuzan. You became a Dragon! Just like me."

Landing next to Suiryu, Bakuzan exclaimed, "Damn straight! You have fun stomping that Hero! I'm gonna kill this brat, though! Get in my way, and I'll kill you! Hear that, Suiryu?! In the end, I became stronger than you! This serves you right!"

"Hmm, looks like he still has some manners to learn. Right, Monster Mask?" With that question, Gouketsu squished Shunshi further, only getting a groan from him this time.

Lifting its foot, Gouketsu questioned, "Reached your limit, huh? Oh well. A defiant one as strong as you'll be better off brain-dead anyway." After that last comment, Gouketsu pinched and picked up the crushed mess that used to be recognizable as Shunshi's body

As the monsters spoke, Suiryu found the strength needed to just bearly stand, even as his blood pooled beneath him.

"OH?! You still trying to get up!?" Bakuzan questioned. After asking that, Bakuzan jumped into the air and came back down with a barrage of punches. As it beat Suiryu to a pulp, Bakuzan cackled in such a way that truly signaled any signs of humanity within this creature were long gone and nowhere to be found.

As Gouketsu watched this display of brutality, a large eyeball with insect wings and several tendrils with hands at the end of them approached it.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the eye, "Hey, Gouketsu. Come back to base. If you stay too long and the S-Class gang up on you, even your strength won't be enough to save you."

"I doubt that, but fine. I'll be cautious. By the way, I'm bringing back an especially powerful Human for you to experiment on. He's a Hero, so he adamantly refused to eat any monster cells, and they all got eaten by an especially greedy one before I could force-feed one to him. It sounds odd, but I think his body is worth the experimentation," Gouketsu explained to the eye.

"Oh. You have me intrigued. Very well, just hurry back with your capture," the eye responded as it flew away.

Once the eye was gone, Gouketsu was about to speak to Bakuzan when a rock hit it in its face. Turning to face the direction of the rock thrower, Gouketsu saw Ishisu, crying her eyes out.

Through her sobbing, Ishisu picked up another rock and shouted, "Let go of my little brother, you bastard!"

At the sound of his sister's voice, Shunshi's one working eye shot open as he weakly looked at her. He wanted to scream at her to run, but he was too injured for any noise but a raspy gasp and gurgle to escape his throat.

Gouketsu almost looked surprised by this arrival, as it asked, "A normal Human came to fight? You don't even have a gun or weapon of any kind. I must admit, you must either be the bravest or dumbest woman I've ever met. Wait... Brother? The man in my grasp is your brother...? If I remember my Human emotions correctly, I suppose this makes a bit of sense."

As she shook with fear, Ishisu threw her second rock at Bakuzan.

Once the rock connected with its shoulder, Bakuzan roared, "Monster Mask's sister?! Amazing! Now I get to make him suffer too! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Once he had managed to gain something close to consciousness, Shunshi had been weakly examining his surroundings. He saw Lin Lin, Max, Sneck, and Sour Face all beaten to near death on the ground. All the other martial artists shared the same fate as them. Even Suiryu laid bloodied and broken.

When he saw all this, a thought entered his damaged mind, "I'm supposed to be a Hero... I'm supposed to save people from this... No, I'm just a failure... Ishisu, please run! I'm not strong enough to watch this happen to you too. Not you too..."

As Shunshi wept internally, Ishisu continued to cry as well as she weakly proclaimed, "That's... That's my baby brother... I can't leave him here to die... I won't do it!" With that last shout, Ishisu picked up the largest rock she could carry and started running at Gouketsu and Bakuzan while giving off her best war cry.

Glancing over at Monster Mask, Bakuzan taunted, "Would you look at that, Mister Mask? You're sister's volunteering to help me put you both through the ultimate despair!" However, the instant Bakuzan took a step towards Ishisu was when the young man in Gouketsu's grasp suddenly forced both of his eyes open.

Without warning, a pillar of white flames exploded off of Shunshi's body. The power of the explosion and the heat's intensity was so sudden and great that Gouketsu actually found itself being forced to release its grip.

Once Shunshi dropped to the ground, his broken body hit the stone with a hard plop. However, in that same second, his jelly-like legs began to flail about as crunching and cracking noises could be heard coming from them until they took a proper form once again. Once Shunshi was flipped feet, the rest of his shattered body began to repeat this process. His torso, his arms, even sections of his fractured skull pulsed and shook about as his pieces audibly snapped and crunched back into place. Just like when he fought Garou, his hair flailed about in all directions, with the ends of his locks turning white. At the same time, much like how his armor had previously melted off of him, Shunshi's karate gi quickly began to burn off of him.

Shunshi's intense aura of flames was so powerful that it pushed any unconscious bodies far away from him. The heat of this white fire was so fierce that Ishisu's tears dried up as she was forced back and looked on with both concern and hope for her little brother. However, Ishisu wasn't the only one hoping, as Suiryu weakly looked on at the living inferno with a mixture of hope and fear for his own safety.

Once Shunshi's eyes had properly repaired themselves, he suddenly and sharply glared back and forth at the monsters standing at either side of him.

"You'd dare...? You'd dare...? You'd dare approach Ishisu...!? And... and Max, and Sneck, and Sour, and... and Lin...! Pay... You'll pay! You'll both pay for what you've done! Burn! BURN! BURN YOU UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING BUT ASH!"

With those maddened words of unspeakable rage bursting from this Human, Bakuzan looked on with undeniable worry, while Gouketsu seemed nothing more than intrigued.