My great thanks to TodaBruh, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!
A-city, Hero Association Headquarters.
"Sir, we… we just lost the sun! It just exploded…"
Sitch's eyes bulged as he looked at the incoming stream of data, followed by him looking up at the videos showing the world outside the HQ of the Hero Association… And the way the sky was currently on fire.
"Good gods…" He muttered.
"Is it the end of the world?"
"Are we all going to die?!"
"Dammit, I was going to reach retirement age in a month!"
"Yeah? Well I'm too young to die! I'm only 25!"
"Just so you know, I'm the one who took those 50 creds you lost a while back."
"You bastard! I knew it was you! Come here, I'll wreck your face in before we all die-"
"Hey! Shouldn't we all be dead already? What's going on out there?!"
Sitch glanced at the man who last spoke, before frowning.
That was a good point. How were they-
"Sir! The Good Hunter is protecting the world!" yelled out one of his subordinates, the young woman crying tears of relief and joy as she stared at her screen. "There's a global shield somehow keeping the planet warm and protected from stray explosions coming from the god!"
"Oh thank the gods!"
"I'm going to donate so much next time I go to the church…"
"I'm never going to skip a prayer again!"
"Praise the gods! Praise our saviors!"
"Silence!" Sitch shouted, before turning towards the young woman who was still mostly able to focus on her job, tears of relief streaming from her eyes aside.
"Make sure the plans for a Threat Level God are fully in effect! I want every shelter in every city filled with as many people as possible! I'm not taking any chances! Ensure that all available heroes are spread throughout the population, to keep the shelters safe and the people calm! Check the food and water reserves! Ensure that all critical infrastructures are operational!"
He turned towards all of his assistants, face grim and determined.
"Gather yourselves! The greatest threat in human history is here, we cannot afford to lose composure now!"
"Sir, yes sir!" managed to choke out the crying young woman from her desk, working as hard as she could, while the others flinched at his voice before they began to scramble to follow his orders.
Sitch glared around the room, daring anyone present to not do their job, before he focused back on the screen before him once he was satisfied they all were working.
"Shelters within city A are already filling with people, the checks for resources confirm no issues!"
"Shelters for City B are in progress, though the ETA is-"
"Shelters in City C are-"
"Shelters in City D are-"
Sitch let the sounds of his people working wash over him, even as he ground his teeth in fear and determination, his eyes bouncing between videos viewing of the sky above and various news networks reporting on the situation.
For a moment, his eyes rested on the sky. It was a bright, burning white-red-gold, with hints of blue here and there.
And all of those colors were present because of the explosions in the sky. Or rather, the fact that the sky showed nothing but explosions.
Countless white blooming rings of energy kept appearing in the sky, as the two warriors up there fought with growing brutality and raw power.
Already, a report from Child Emperor made it clear that the moon had been utterly vaporized, same with every other celestial object in the solar system… the Sun included.
The only reason they had light at all was the never-ending explosions in the sky. Otherwise, all things on Earth would be freezing to death in darkness right now.
Of course, that was if the explosions didn't disintegrate the Earth, which they would have done, if not for literal divine intervention.
And one look at the world outside made it clear that everyone knew it too, as he glanced at his screens showing off people from across the world.
"Praise be to the gods!" screamed a priest in a church, holding a Holy Book high. The man in question stood tall, a mountain of a man who despite wearing heavy robes covered in religious symbols was heavily muscled, looking more like someone expected within a gym or the military than a priest. Despite that fact, he looked at home among his fellow clergy, men and women both looking like they would be as ready to sing religious hymns as they were to beat a monster to death with their bare hands (and as a matter of fact, such events did happen several times when they defended their church from wandering monsters). The man was Jeremiah Slade, a former elite mercenary turned Priest, who ended up converting to the worship of Aeon, the Good Hunter, after the latter ended up saving him and his unit's lives from a flesh-eating monster who had been about to devour them all. Fast-forward a few years, and now the man was a minor local celebrity, known as much for his ruthless desire to exterminate monsters as he was for his fierce willingness to defend his fellow man from them.
The Church they were all in was absolutely packed with people, each of them visibly praying or listening intently to the priest as the man kept shouting to be heard by as many people as possible. Even the female reporter and the cameraman showing the scene could be heard praying right now, and it wasn't hard to see why, not when the lights from the sky filtered through the church strangely, as a result of the unnatural source of that light being all the explosion above. Shadows danced in strange and even disturbing forms along the walls, occasionally showing a tall bald man with a cape facing a one-eyed Devil grinning widely, and yet every representation of the Gods throughout the church stood clearly illuminated, as if the light could never leave their forms.
"Praise Aeon, He who delivers us from Evil without fail, Slayer of Beasts and Saviour of Man! Praise Oedon, whose' love knows no bounds, who stands by her husband' side against all who wish us harm, and soothe our sickly spirits! Praise Lucy, whose knowledge brings us ever closer to the Gods! Praise the Trinity, who even now protect this World from annihilation! Praise be unto the Gods, who watch over Mankind with love, and protect us from those seeking our destruction! Turn away from Evil, reject the Bestial Idiocy that seeks to devours us all! Stand fast, my Brothers and Sisters! The Night has come, and Nightmares beckon! But together we may all overcome this trial, and live to see Sunrise! Praise to the Gods!"
"PRAISE BE." sang hundreds, possibly thousands of people as one.
A fierce woman glared at the crowd walking with a modicum of order towards the nearest shelter, the scowling woman covered in blood-red robes holding a spear in one hand and a book chained to her arm in the other. The cameraman filming the scene made sure to keep her in sight, and the reason why was clear to anyone recognizing both the robes and the woman wearing them.
That woman was the head of a fringe religious order dedicated to Oedon, The Lady of Blood and Kindness, and said woman was very much more focused on the "Blood" part of the Goddess' worship than the "Kind" part. The Order of the Bloodied Rose was made up of women who swore to fight in Oedon's name, and most, if not all of them had either lost someone they cherished to monsters, or had that person saved by the Goddess directly or indirectly. In either case, the women finding their way to the Order, and accepted fully within their ranks, tended to be as unshakably faithful to their goddess as they were vicious in battle.
The woman was known simply as the "Lady Bloodraven," a title given to the leader of their Order, referencing both the blood which was shed to achieve the position, the death wrought in the name of their Goddess, and the wisdom and Insight required to be the Lady Bloodraven in the first place.
Those who knew of the woman knew that she could easily be a S-class Hero if she had desired it, but the woman had no desire for the position. All that mattered to her was the utter destruction of all that her goddess found offensive, in the most bloody way possible.
Standing a bit over 6.5 feets tall, with pale white skin, silver hair tied in a strict bun and fierce blood-red eyes, the young-looking woman was anything but, and was in fact over a hundred years old. Having rejoined the order after Oedon saved her children, grand-children and even great-grand-children from death at a monster's hand, she had used her newfound youth from the Rejuv-nat serum to dedicate herself to the Order of the Bloodied Rose. An old soldier once part of the elite commandos of the United World Government, she had rapidly climbed the ranks until finding herself in the leader's seat. Mastering the use of the Order's chosen weapon, the spear, and finding herself a natural with the Blood Magics of her Goddess, she had become a symbol of terror and death upon all that would scorn that which her Goddess loved. Known for her brutal hunts (and ensuing murder) of child kidnappers and rapists, the woman's name was rarely spoken of without well-deserved fear.
And right now, that woman was glaring at the civilians stumbling their way towards the shelters, decades upon decades of experience as an elite soldier finding the slow, chaotic way civilians got anywhere to be near offensive to her well-trained military instincts.
Still, she said nothing. She just kept glaring, almost as if she was trying to get a bunch of misbehaving children to finally form orderly lines and behave themselves with a modicum of obedience.
"Herding cats would be faster." she muttered, sending yet another glare at a bunch of civilians currently gawking like idiots at the exploding sky above their heads. Yes, the sky was on fire, and yes, it looked like the end of the world, but if the world was still there after the damn sun got blown up then it clearly wasn't going anywhere for a while, so there was no point in staring upwards with open mouths like drooling idiots.
At least they weren't trying to take Goddess-damned pictures…
Thankfully for the fools, a handful of her girls, noticing both her increasingly deep scowl and the tightening of her fingers on her spear, went to them and sent them walking forward once more.
She sniffed once in approval, her scowl easing slightly, satisfied that at least her people weren't like that lot. She raised enough children, watched over enough grand-children and taught enough people in her career as a soldier to know how to instill discipline in people.
Why, if she was given even a few days with these idiots, she would have them running to the shelter in such perfect formation a drill sergeant would be hard-pressed to see even one boot out of line with all the others walking in cadence.
Bah. Kids these days. Just because they had Gods and all those grand-standing costumed idiots running around didn't mean they couldn't know how to follow simple orders like "Get to point B from point A in quick and orderly fashion!"
At least her Goddess knew how to raise her kid. That Sherry girl definitely got a lot of cheekiness from her dad, but just like him she knew how to get shit done when it mattered.
She sniffed at the memory of that girl calling her "Grandma Hard-ass." The cheek on that girl!
Not that it stopped the girl from eating the cookies she baked. Hpmh!
"Got y-"
SQUELCH.*
She scowled in contempt at the monster who just tried to come out a nearby street thinking it could get the jump on her. Well, the giant hole from her spear in his head certainly crushed that belief.
"You-"
SQUELCH.*
She gave an even deeper look of contempt at the second monster who thought that jumping at her after she killed the first would allow him to get close to her. Idiot, she knew better than to lower her guard like that.
She glanced around, sneering slightly as she saw the civilians cower and begin to panic just because a bunch of those damn freaks of nature came out of the nearby streets to try and feed on them. With her girls already fighting them off, there was little need to make a scene out of-
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"
Her blood-red eyes narrowed, seeing a few of her girls fly and then crash roughly on the ground, bloodied and bruised, a towering monster looking like a minotaur with muscles on top of his muscles roaring in laughter over their groaning forms.
With a quick gesture, her spear flew straight at the damn beast, the monster's laughter cutting off into a gurgling cough as his heart and a good chunk of his chest disappeared into a fine red mist.
"You fool! You're weaponless-"
And yet another freak came out to jump at her, looking like some kind of demented tentacle monster.
The woman known as Lady Bloodraven scoffed, and barely even bothered to turn around while slamming her Book of Prayers on top of the monster, an explosion of blood and gore surrounding her as she negligently pulverized the upper half of the lastest idiot to challenge her.
Glancing at her blood-stained book with a Glare of Disapproval (enhanced through decades of training soldiers and raising kids), she sent half the blood towards her fallen girls, using the life energy still within to heal them up, and the other half went straight into her own mouth.
Licking her lips clean of blood, she scowled.
"Can't even be bothered to taste good. Damn Beasts."
Then she went back to glaring at more qawking civilians, while praying to her Goddess for the mental strength to not go there and spank them raw until they called her Mommy, summoning her spear back to her hand with a flex of magic.
"Pretty Lady! Pretty Lady!"
She blinked, then looked down towards a child who probably couldn't be more than 6, maybe 7 years old running towards her, a blood-red flower in hand, while behind the child a panicked-looking woman urgently ran after her, calling her back.
The child reached her first however, and smiled brightly up at her with a toothgapped grin, holding the blood-red flower up at her while her blue eyes twinkled happily.
"Here, pretty lady! You killed the bad monster attacking us, and I picked up the flower before the sky went crazy because I thought it looked pretty, but you can have it as thanks!"
Lady Bloodraven stared, then looked up at the frazzled mother finally arriving to pick up her child, only for the mother to freeze under the weight of her blood-red eyes.
They stared at each other for a few seconds that no doubt felt like an eternity for the frozen mother, before Lady Bloodraven looked back down towards the still grinning child.
Then she gently reached for the flower, examined it for a moment, before putting it in her silver hair, the woman not even blinking once as her stern, terrifying aura faded greatly because of the bright red flower now firmly stuck within her hair.
"Thank you, child." she said with a nod and a kind voice. "But you shouldn't run like that. Your mother is here, as is the rest of your family, yes?" she remarked, seeing the looks on the face of who had to be the child's brother and father at the scene before them from within the ranks of the civilians. "Then go with them, and stay close to them. Me and my girls will keep your family safe, as long as you do not leave your parents' side." She raised an eyebrow at the young girl, her lips quirking upwards ever so slightly. "You wouldn't want your family to get lost without you, right? So make sure you don't let them wander off the path."
The girl gasped, before turning around, taking her mother's hand and shouting at her that they needed to get back in the line, before her silly mother got lost in the big city.
Said mother visibly struggled to accept what had just happened, though when their eyes met, Lady Bloodraven glared at her and indicated the child, making it clear that she shouldn't have let her run off like that in the first place.
The mother paled and visibly gulped, but nodded, and Lady Bloodraven looked away satisfied.
She kept glancing around, alert for any other monsters.
Though she still sent a few glares at her girls for staring at her, or the flower in her hair at least, rather than at her surroundings.
Damn kids, maybe they did need some additional training after all…
Lucy Shirley wiped her forehead off sweat with the back of her head, while working as hard as she could to fix the damn gate.
It was just their luck that the gates for this specific shelter had not been checked for some time, with the next check-up meant to happen in two days.
Well, they needed those gates working right now, and unfortunately they most definitely weren't working.
Some cable got busted by rats or something, which fried a few things that definitely shouldn't be fried, and now everything was a bit of a mess.
Still, it could be worse. The entire planet was being protected by the gods, and their people had answered the call to arms. Worshippers of Aeon were helping to keep civilians safe from monsters as they evacuated towards shelters, worshippers of Oedon were healing everyone in need and making sure everyone had everything they needed, and worshippers of Lucy-
She clasped her hands after finishing her prayer, a wave of power washing over broken cable and fixing it all up near instantly.
-were hard at work making sure the shelters and all the equipment within them were working as they were supposed to.
Pulling back slightly, Lucy Shirley pursed her lips, eyes glowing a multitude of colors as she saw through the walls and checked the cables for any other damage in need of repair.
Around her, several other Priests-technicians were hard at work doing the same, eager to finally be able to close the damn gates. Yes, the gods were protecting the world, but rumors were that many monsters were trying to attack people right now, and no one wanted their current shelter to be attacked by an army of the damned things simply because they couldn't close the gates.
She let out a curse when she saw another cable in need of fixing, moving quickly towards the section of the wall where the damage was and muttering yet another prayer.
"Great Lucy, the All-Knowing, give your servant the power to reshape the world, that all may be put to Order in your sight!"
She pressed her right hand against the wall, the material under it dissolving and floating above her head, waiting to be sent back to where it was meant to be.
Lucy wasted no time, uttering yet another prayer and fixing the cable there as well, before returning, the floating cloud of matter returning to its proper place to recreate the wall perfectly.
Satisfied, Lucy continued to glance at her area of work, checking the walls for any other bits of damaged cables or anything else that needed to be fixed.
Once she confirmed that everything in her section of the wall was fixed, she turned around and gave a thumb-up to her superior, who nodded and told her to wait.
Looking around, Lucy was pretty sure that everyone was almost done with their work. Which was good, because the longer the gates stayed open, the longer they tempted the universe to throw complications their way.
"Alright, everything seems good, we're going to try and close the gates! Time to pray, everyone!" shouted her superior after a few minutes, and Lucy gathered with the others, though she stood a step before them.
Being a blonde woman named Lucy and worshiping the Goddess of Knowledge of the same name did come with side-effects, especially when she showed genuine aptitude with miracles.
Personally, Lucy had found the expectations placed upon her to be annoying at first, but she was beginning to get used to it.
"You!"
Their group paused and turned, seeing a young-looking woman with silver hair (and a blood-red flower? What?) and blood-red eyes, armed with a spear and a book chained to her other arms, stomped towards them. "Get moving, we've got a dozen monsters headed this way, with more behind them!"
Without even slowing down the woman kept walking, before stopping in the open entrance of the shelter with a mighty scowl towards the outside world.
Other women with blood-red eyes and spears and wearing blood-red robes gathered at her back, expressions grimly determined.
"Right, you heard the Lady Bloodraven, we need those gates closed, and we need them closed right now." firmly said her superior, and Lucy sent a glance at the young-looking woman who was obviously far from truly young.
The Order of the Bloodied Rose was infamous, and she couldn't help but shudder slightly at the sight of them, as they were a part of the worship of Oedon that no one really liked to think about.
Militant orders for Aeon were one thing, but for the "Bloody Angel", as Oedon's hero name was, it just felt wrong.
Their well-known ruthlessness and brutality against their foes didn't help.
Though Lucy supposed that she shouldn't complain, not when they were protecting them from monsters.
So instead, she began praying, even as elsewhere another Technician-Priest hit the button to close the doors.
"Great Lucy, the All-Knowing, give your servant the power to reshape the world, that all may be put to Order in your sight. Let these doors be closed, let the Knowledge of Man save us from the cruelty of Beasts-"
Lucy began to hear the sounds of monstrous roars and screams of pain as the Order fought against the coming tide of monsters, but she focused on her job. She needed to pray, both to close the heavy, multi-tons doors faster, but also to strengthen those doors with divine protection.
"-let all be Enlightened by your Knowledge, may Mankind transcend its limitations and one day stand at your side as beings freed from Bestial Idiocy-"
"IÄ! IÄ! OEDON FHTAGN!"
SQUELTCH!*
Lucy winced, her ears ringing as the strange, divine words of power were shouted from who had to be Lady Bloodraven, her Books of Prayer opened and a snarl on her lips as around her the world turned red or blue with the blood coming from the exploding monsters.
Still, she did not stop, as the doors moved at greater speed than natural for such heavy contraptions, and did so while glowing a strange, ethereal blue.
"-and in your Name we consecrate these doors, to protect us from those who would cast our knowledge into Oblivion! Let your Husband's Hunters consume the Beasts, and protect the faithful! Praise be unto the Gods!"
""PRAISE BE!""
BOOM.*
Lucy let out a relieved sigh as the doors finally closed, a myriad of incomprehensible symbols to her mortal mind flashing into existence across the length of the doors before disappearing, the divine glow surrounding her and the other Technicians-Priests that had built up as they prayed also fading away.
The red-robed women of the Order guarding the gates fell back, a few teasing some of their members about mistakes being made or particularly well-executed moves with their spears, while the Lady Bloodraven closed her Book of Prayers with a heavy "Thud" sound, nodding once at a job well-done.
Lucy couldn't help but notice the lack of any blood on any of the women, and it didn't take a genius on the level of Child Emperor to know that was because they had absorbed every drop of it that had fallen upon them. For the women of their orders, consuming the Blood of their foes which fell upon them was a sacred practice, though any blood that fell upon the ground was considered as belonging to their goddess.
Not that they wouldn't call upon it and consume it themselves if needed. Blood was power to these women, and any foe that required them to drink so greedily of blood as to absorb every single drop shed in battle was unquestionably a worthy prey to hunt.
"Well done, everyone. It seems we managed to close the gates in time for us to ensure not one of our protectors fell in battle." declared her superior, smiling proudly at their team.
"An acceptable effort. Could use some improvement, but acceptable."
Lucy and her team jerked, staring wide-eyed at the Lady Bloodraven now standing right there by her side, expression firm and, if one was feeling particularly kind, almost approving.
Though Lucy could have sworn that the woman's eyes had gained an amused glint at their surprise, but… no, it was probably just her imagination.
"You honor us, my lady." respectfully said Lucy's superior, though Lucy noticed a slight hesitation and unease in his voice and eyes.
The young-looking woman snorted contemptuously. "You did good work, this time. But the fact the gates needed to be fixed in the first place is unacceptable. Mistakes like that can get people killed. That no one died is a miracle worthy of thanking the gods for, but not one we should have needed in the first place."
The woman straightened, and Lucy unconsciously gulped at the air of authority and displeasure suddenly crashing upon them all, the beautiful blood-red flower in her silver hair doing nothing to lessen the fierce glare in the red eyes flashing with danger.
"You're the one in charge of this lot? Good, then you probably know who I need to chew out for being an incompetent idiot that let this situation come to pass in the first place. You will lead me to them."
It was not a question or a request, and her superior clearly understood it as such as he quickly nodded in acceptance.
"T-this w-way, my l-Lady!" stammered the man.
The woman sniffed once, then all but marched forward like she was daring the world itself to try and stop her as she followed her superior, who looked ready to cut and run at the mere thought of the scowl the blood-red eyed woman wore on her face being turned upon him.
"May Lucy have mercy on whatever poor bastard is about to face that woman's wrath." muttered one of her fellow Technician-Priest.
Lucy Shirley shuddered in agreement, as she really doubted that someone like Bloodraven chewing them out was something you could survive with your dignity intact. The woman looked like a real hard-ass…
Even if she still couldn't help but wonder about what was up with that beautiful red flower in her hair.
Sitch closed that window, satisfied that that shelter and the people within it were now safe.
He glanced at others videos from around the world. Churches packed with people, shelters filled with civilians, some videos showing monster attacks being handled by heroes or hordes of faithful currently empowered by faith and fury.
Worshippers of Aeon wrecking monsters with anything they could get their hands on, worshippers of Oedon healing anyone wounded while fighting monsters or trying to evacuate in general, worshippers of Lucy fixing any and all damage to buildings and facilities as battles were fought…
The world may be in more danger than ever before, but with the clear protection of the gods shining brightly above their heads, Humanity was showing its best foot forward in this time of crisis.
Not to say that looters and more weren't a thing, but considering the fate they faced every time they met a mob of Aeon's worshippers going around protecting civilians from monsters… Well, let's just say the only thing those looters were going to get is a spectacular hospital bill.
"Status of the evacuation?" he questioned, his eyes still bouncing between videos, and occasionally going back up to stare at the exploding sky.
"Still ongoing, though the last few shelters should have their doors closed in 5 minutes." declared one of his assistants. "Though even then-"
"Even then, it won't be enough to protect all of humanity in the worst-case scenario. I know." finished Sitch.
"We've got a lot of people in the churches, maybe…" another one of his assistants trailed off hopefully, and Sitch pursed his lips and nodded. "We can only pray, but let's be honest, if the planetary shield goes down, I dare say we'll all be in deep trouble."
Or be completely fucked, really, he thought but did not say.
He glanced around, trying to think of something, anything more he could do-
And then paused as he saw a green-black portal opened, Tatsumaki going through it before closing it with a grim look on her face.
"Sitch." she spoke up at the sight of him. "Things are about to get worse before they get better."
"What do you mean?" he questioned, dread pooling in his gut at her words and grim look.
"I can feel more or less what power both of the idiots fighting possess." she replied, green eyes darkened by terrible knowledge. "Neither of them has gotten tired yet. And considering what they threw at each other so far, the only conclusion is that they are about to escalate."
Sitch paled.
"How much?" he questioned.
Tatsumaki looked at him dead in the eye.
"I don't know."
And Sitch felt a chill go down his spine at those words.
Saitama stared at the alien, a slight grin on his face.
The weird blue alien's armor was cracked everywhere, but so far it had managed to hold up despite the growing amount of power they both threw at each other.
But it was clear to both of them that that was not going to last. Too much raw power had been called forth, and the golden armor was now hanging more by spit and a prayer than anything else.
And that fact visibly made the alien guy gleefully happy, his one eye wide and almost glowing with utter delight.
"Yes!" he roared, even as their fists connected and a wave of power crashed throughout what used to be the solar system… before everything except Earth was annihilated utterly. "More! We must use more power!"
Saitama stared at him… and agreed.
"Consecutive normal punches!"
The alien's eye one went wide, even as his vision was filled with red gloves-
And then the punches hit.
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
The darkness of space turned a blinding white.
Everything over several light-years was utterly obliterated by the power of his punches.
And yet, the Alien Leader stood before him without a single bruise…
But with his armor completely gone.
The alien guy seemingly just stared at himself for a long moment, before speaking up.
"This set of armor, used to seal my immeasurable, irresistible power, has been broken…"
"Ok." replied Saitama, staring blankly at him. Weirdo.
The alien leader shuddered, before his skin turned a dark blue, his hair becoming an almost glowing purple color-
WWWWWHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHHH!*
The alien's power suddenly bloomed like a massive star, illuminating the darkness of space while blasting energy across and beyond what used to be the entire solar system.
It kept spreading and spreading, pushing other star systems out of the way by the sheer strength of the released energy.
Saitama stared at the sight before him blankly, both impressed and yet disappointed.
Aeon had a lot more power, and he didn't have to show it off like this.
"It is time!" screamed the alien.
And then he moved, and Saitama blinked surprise at his speed-
Before getting punched in the face.
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!*
Saitama blinked again, finding himself flying through space ass over head…
While in the distance, a newborn supernova bloomed in existence right where he was standing.
The alien didn't let up however, slamming a flurry of punches at Saitama who raised his right arm to protect his face, punch after punch causing new supernova to bloom in the darkness of the void between stars as they flew through the galaxy, planets and even stars being in their way shattering and blowing up in their path, a cosmic trail of destruction being left behind them as they kept fighting.
Eyes narrowing slightly, Saitama used a split second opening to punch the alien back, holding back less power this time.
The alien's left arm partly exploded, a look of surprise on the alien's face before his next punch sent him flying back.
The blue-skinned guy stared at him after recovering, his one eye wide and showing a complex mix of emotions… though joy was the most prominent of the list.
"I see… Even now, after releasing my power, you are still able to keep up…" he muttered.
Saitama held up a fist. "Yeah. You're pretty strong, too." he said honestly, because seriously, the number of beings who pushed him to use this much power can be counted on one hand… with fingers to spare.
The alien guy (Bolos? Bobos? Ah, Boros!) smirked in return, before exploding into action, uncaring of his lost arm as his remaining hand tried to punch him hard enough to create an even stronger supernova.
They flew through space in a twin trail of light, passing through countless star systems as they fought. Most of them were lifeless, but occasionally Saitama had to be careful to redirect their fight away from random alien spaceships and inhabited worlds.
"Hey! Don't go destroying random worlds full of people! Watch where you're throwing your punches, you idiot!" Saitama cursed as he yet again protected a defenseless alien world full of weird multicolored blobs people.
"Then try and stop me, Saitama the hero!" cackled Boros, totally uncaring of the countless lives their fight might end.
Saitama scowled, even as he backhanded a Black Hole that Boros literally kicked in his direction, the Black Hole spinning out towards the void beyond the galaxy.
"Nice moves!" grinned Boros. "As I thought, you are strong! Of all the myriad beings I have fought, only you have lasted this long!"
Saitama said nothing, merely staring at him in silence as a pillar of blue energy formed around the widely-grinning Boros, his one eye almost glowing with cosmic power.
"Now to release the destructive energy held within me! Any normal creature or world hit by this would be utterly vaporized!" Boros screamed with bloodthirsty anticipation.
A ball of pure white-blue energy gathered before the alien's body, before shooting out towards Saitama at blinding speed.
Everything on its path was utterly atomized, but Saitama merely looked at it with a calm look.
The moment it hit him, an explosion bright enough to be seen across the galaxy ensued, the raw power of the attack blowing thousands, possibly dozens of thousands of solar systems out of their natural path within the galaxy, if it didn't destroy them utterly.
The shockwave of power spread throughout the cosmic void like the eye of an angry god, an unstoppable force blowing away all in its path.
Across the galaxy, countless civilizations despaired at the sight of such power, while across the universe countless other instinctively shuddered at the memories of the passing of the infamous pirate group that none could possibly defy resurfaced, the countless would-be heroes who sought to put an end to the Dark Matter pirate band finding only crushing defeat and death more often than not as a consequence.
And yet… here and now, those same civilizations would have stared in shock as Saitama eventually managed to stop himself from flying off further into the cosmic void, his body showing not even a single scratch despite the massive amount of power he had just been hit with, the bald hero looking down to stare at the spinning Milky Way galaxy beneath him, though he couldn't help but notice the holes and stars spelling out into the Void as a results of this fight.
"Behind you!"
Saitama turned his head slightly before being punched in the right cheek by Boros, who still was smiling widely at the sight of his survival. The alien seemed completely unbothered by the lack of wounds on Saitama, and instead grinned happily as Saitama took the lastest punch to the face without even a single grunt of discomfort.
"You were a worthy opponent." declared the alien after he pushed himself away from him. "But the outcome of this battle is clear. My species won the struggle to survive amidst the harsh environment of our home world. We possess the ultimate in regenerative abilities. I, in particular, have self-healing abilities, physical prowess and latent energy beyond your comprehension."
Boros took a deep breath, and exhaled with a smile. "A deep wound that would be fatal for you, I would heal from it in mere moments. By focusing all my energy in my destroyed arm, I can explosively speed up the healing process." His cut-off arm twitched, before regrowing in a blink of an eye into a fully regrown arm, the alien extending it towards him as if to show it off. "Good as new."
Boros grinned at him. "You, on the other hand, will only get injured more, all while your stamina gradually decreases-"
"Shut up."
Boros blinked, straightening in surprise at his cold, almost bored voice cut him off instantly.
"Blah, Blah, Blah. Are you done with this?" questioned Saitama, pinning the alien with a flat look.
Boros said nothing at first, just stared at him in blank surprise for several seconds.
And then his hands clenched into tight fists, and his face twisted into a series of emotions- Surprise/Hope/eagerness/Anticipation/Joy/Determination- before he grinned widely.
"Not yet!" he shouted, before rushing straight at him with a fist cocked back.
"Meteoric Burst!" Boros screamed, his one eye wilder than ever as his body glowed a bright purple-white.
Saitama's eyes widened, before he got punched in the face, a shockwave of white-purple color blooming from where he was floating in the void of space, the others explosions that preceded this one seemingly small and benign compared to the cosmic shockwave this punch sent reverberating through the entire local galaxy and beyond.
Boro held nothing back, seemingly surrounding him at all time so fast was his movements that Saitama was now surrounded by after-images of his opponent, all of them punching him hard enough to make the entire Milky Way galaxy tremble and shudder violently from the mere aftershocks of each punch.
Boros was now calling on more power than ever before by far, but the now white-skinned alien visibly didn't care, focused entirely on unleashing a brutal flurry of blows which shook the local space-Time continuum violently.
Again and again he slammed his fists into Saitama's body, sending the hero flying through every direction as the alien kept ruthlessly trying to beat him into submission with sheer brute force-
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
And then Boros knee him in the guts hard enough that Saitama flew through the void between galaxies, leaving a trail of light that went through three different nearby galaxies before he finally came to a stop between the third and fourth.
For a moment, Saitama merely stared blankly at his surroundings, before he blinked and looked around.
Seeing nothing but darkness and the very, very distant lights of galaxies, he paled.
"Wait, shit, where do I go now?"
Then he blinked again when, of all things, an arrow made of light formed before him, pointing in the direction he came from, before it changed to write "Hurry it up, will you?"
Saitama stared.
"Aeon?"
The light changed again. "Who else? It sure as hell isn't the tooth fairy!"
Saitama snorted. "Right. Well, give me a second."
He narrowed his eyes, squinting in the direction indicated, before pursing his lips and focusing-
Moving fast enough, he stepped on the atoms present within the void of space and jumped back from whence he came, a burning light in the darkness of the cosmic void.
Passing through the same galaxies he went by before, his eyes remained narrowed on the white-purple light of Boros, his body sent hurling through the void going at speed far, far beyond the speed of light until-
There!
He stepped once again on the atoms within the Void of space, slowing himself down until he stood back before Boros, who was looking up at him with one wide, stupefied eye.
"Hey! I made it." Remarked Saitama to him with a grin.
For a long moment, Boros just stared at him, frozen in shock.
And then he leaned forward, a look of pure focus and determination on his face.
Rushing at him like an enraged berserker, Boros turned into a trail of light before hitting him over and over again, explosions once again blossoming across the Void-
But this time, Saitama wasn't willing to play around anymore. Not after Aeon asked him to finish this.
Calling upon a greater fraction of his power, Saitama punched Boros straight in the chest, a shockwave pushing the entire Milky Way galaxy back and away from the fight from the sheer power of the punch.
Despite that, Boros still didn't die. For the first time he coughed out blood, before being blasted backwards at superluminal speed, and still he returned a few moments later, expression as determined as ever to win.
"That's the way, Saitama!" the alien coughed mouthfuls of blood to the side. "You are indeed worth defeating!"
Saitama didn't let him keep going however, as he too was now fighting to win. Before Boros could even react, he stood before him, unleashing a consecutive series of punches that all but disintegrated the pirate Lord utterly, the shockwaves spreading out into the cosmic void beyond the Milky Way.
Even still, Boros refused to die. Somehow managing to recreate his entire body from nothing but his eye, the alien roared in defiance.
"I will defeat you!" the pirate screamed, pure battlelust in his bloodshot eye. "All of my energy will be released, blasting you and this entire galaxy straight into hell!"
The alien took a deep breath, before screaming at the top of his lungs
"Collapsing Galaxy, roaring cannon!"
Saitama's eyes narrowed. He could feel the power being gathered around Boros, who was now shining brighter than an entire galaxy, from the sheer amount of energy he was gathering within himself.
Space and Time themselves bent and break before the amassed power, and he supposed the guy really did earn the whole "denominator of the universe" title or whatever it really was.
"In that case, I'll use my own final move."
Saitama took a deep breath.
Every being in the universe suddenly froze, feeling a chill go down their body, an instinctive warning that the greatest predator inimaginable was on the move.
The bald hero closed his right hand into a fist, a fist strong enough to crush the universe itself with.
His eyes focused on the glowing form of his opponent, nothing but the purest will to win showing in his eyes.
He cocked his fist back… and then moved.
"Killer Move: Serious Series, Serious Punch!"
The punch was thrown forward.
A blinding light filled the universe.
For the first time since the Big Bang, an explosion reaching from one side of the universe to the other came to be.
The universe, in all of its near endless size, its sheer cosmic proportions-
Was near-instantly split in two.
Across countless galaxies, within numberless skies, the wide, shocked eyes of innumerable lifeforms stared up at the trail of pure light which split reality in two.
Stories, legends and even religious myths would be told for eons of the gods who fought in the heavens, seeking to claim dominion over the universe. Vision of two humanoid creatures would fill the minds of seers and shamans, mystics of species from the length of the universe who were tasked to understand what happened.
They would all tell the same tale, of the bald man standing tall and unyielding among the stars…
Over the broken body of the one-eyed grinning devil, who now stood as little more than dust caught in the solar winds.
"Did I… lose?" the broken warrior whispered with the last dregs of his strength.
"You're still conscious?" muttered Saitama, a note of genuine respect in his voice at the sight of his defeated and broken opponent still managing to speak. "You really are strong." he praised earnestly.
"The prophecy held true." muttered Boros. "The battle was… hard-fought."
Saitama turned away, staring in the distance at the slowly disappearing trail of light splitting the universe. "Yeah. It sure was."
There was a moment of silence, before Boros spoke again, a note of amusement and reproach both in his voice. "You lie. You had strength to spare. I never stood a chance... It wasn't even a battle."
The alien chuckled weakly. "So much for prophecies. You were too strong… Saitama."
Saitama said nothing, even as he heard the last, gentle sigh of Boros as he breathed his last.
For a moment, he just kept staring at the trail of light brought by his punch, feeling numb to it all.
And then, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder, and the action made him jolt in surprise. Not because of the unexpected feeling of human contact-
But because the pressure on his shoulder was just shy of painful, something he didn't feel once again Boros.
He turned, and saw Aeon staring at him, a gentle, yet knowing smile on his face.
"Come on, my friend. You've done your part, the least I can do is pay you a proper Hero's feast now. And besides…"
The grin turned mischievous and challenging.
"Don't think that our next fight will be that easy for you."
Saitama paused.
Then, eyes lighting up by both the promise of (free!) good food and a proper fight later on, he grinned.
"Sure. Sounds good!"
"The ship! It's falling!"
Silver Fang looked at the ship, before his eyes widened.
"Quick! Run!" he shouted to his team.
"Angel Dash!"
"Dammit you you bastard, don't run before me naked!"
"Angel Daaaaaaaaasssshhh!"
"Fuuuck you, you bastard!"
"When did Silver Fang get so fast?!"
"Now's not the time to get competitive!"
"Shut up and keep running!"
He and his team ran, glancing worriedly above them as the ship came crashing down all of a sudden. He had no idea what just happened, as one moment the ship was just hovering in the sky, and the next it began to fall.
"Child Emperor! What's the situation?" he asked through the comms.
There was a long moment of silence, enough that Silver Fang opened his mouth to repeat himself, before the voice of Child Emperor finally came.
"The… the alien leader seemed to have died. The energy powering the ship had just cut short, and all systems within it are powering down from lack of energy. Also… Well, there's the sky."
"What's wrong with the sky?" questioned Silver Fang, who couldn't really see the sky from where he was, underneath the falling ship.
"You'll see. I don't think I can explain it."
Silver Fang frowned, but after a moment decided to just focus on running faster.
The ship was massive, but being S-class he and his team still managed to run to a safe distance before the ship finally hit the ground.
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOMM.*
Not that they still didn't get caught up in the dust storm caused by the ship crashing on the ground, but they all easily survived that without issues, beyond coughing out any blown-out dust entering their bodies.
"It's down!"
"Good, then-"
Silver Fang fell silent, staring at the sky.
"Hey, what's up-" Metal Bat looked up as well, before falling silent too.
The rest of the team did the same, just staring up in silence for a long moment.
"Well, damn." muttered Atomic Samurai, staring a bit wide-eyed at the night sky above (though it was a night sky because there was no longer a sun) which, from one horizon to the other, had a gigantic trail of light cutting the heavens above in half.
It was like someone had taken a brush and traced a white line across the very fabric of the universe itself.
"Child Emperor, what's… what is that?" asked Silver Fang, his eyes never leaving the cosmic trail of light.
"I'm… I'm not sure, but I had a bunch of equipment and stations across the world giving me data and… I might be wrong, but…" Child Emperor audibly gulped through the comms. "I believe this to be the aftermath of an attack of truly cosmic might, powerful enough that, even from Earth, we can see it only as a white line splitting the sky in two."
"... Doesn't Light have a specific speed? Should we already be able to see this from Earth?" questioned Silver Fang.
"No." replied Child Emperor, voice half-confused, half-awed. "No, I think that, somehow, someway, the power of the attack just… isn't following physics. I can't be sure, but I think the attack was visible instantly from Earth from the moment it was unleashed… and possibly visible for the rest of the universe as well."
"... How big is that trail of light, Child Emperor?" asked Silver Fang.
"That's yet another terrifying part. We don't know. I'm trying to find out, but… so far, the data from the world's observatories only let us know that it has no end. The trail just keeps extending more and more across the cosmos the more we observe it."
Silver Fang fell silent, before asking one last question.
"It wasn't Aeon who did this." he said, not as a question but as a statement.
"... No. Apparently, that was One Punch Man."
Silver Fang's eyes continued to observe the never-ending trail of light.
"Equal to the gods, huh?" he muttered, remembering Aeon's words about Saitama.
Then he took a deep breath, and nodded.
"Right, we still need to make sure that the aliens within the ship are pacified. Child Emperor, I trust that you can help us navigate the ship?"
His words seemed to shake the much younger hero off his shock, as his voice became a lot more focused and firm.
"Right, I'll lead your team to the nearest entrance of the ship, and-"
As Child Emperor kept speaking, Silver Fang sent one last look to the split sky above, before focusing on the task at hand.
He did promise to himself he'd drink a glass of alcohol once he was back at the dojo, though.
Both for celebrating his, and the world's, survival, but also because after seeing all of this, he really earned a damn drink.
All of Humanity did, he felt.
After sending Saitama back to Earth, I couldn't help but stare at the Cosmos around me.
This battle really did a number on the local space-time, to say nothing of the rather wrecked Milky Way and Solar System.
True, the battle was won, but hot damn did it still feel strange to see the Milky Way seemingly bleeding stars, from the way that countless star systems had been sent flying off into the Void beyond the galaxy from the clash of titans that had just occurred.
For all of my age and experience, this was certainly new, and I took a moment just…floating in the void, staring at the consequences of a single battle between true god-like beings.
A good reminder, if nothing else, that uplifting all of Humanity into god-like beings will have consequences, once I get to it.
Though in all fairness, I had deliberately held back on getting involved, since it was Saitama's battle to win, not mine.
Still, nothing quite like staring at a wrecked galaxy and a literal split in the universe to show off the consequences of people having god-like powers and not holding back on using them.
Of course, I could and would cheat like a shameless motherfucker to keep things from devolving into chaos.
For example…
I raised my right hand… and snapped.
The universe froze, before all the damage done during the fight suddenly flowed back into seemingly never having happened.
Well, except for the trail of light splitting the universe. Honestly, I liked looking at it, since I was most likely never going to see something like that again.
Or at least, hopefully not anytime soon.
Also, it stood as a perfect example of the potential of life to grow to match the very gods themselves.
I wondered how many pantheons' worth of gods, seeing this done by a human hand, would all but collectively crap their pants at the sight of human potential for power.
I had a feeling the answer would be "damned-near all of them."
That thought made me grin, and I promised myself to introduce Saitama to said pantheons of gods when I inevitably get to meet them.
Though I would have to prepare the field, so to speak, because if they freaked out enough to do something stupid, there might be one less pantheon in existence in very short order…
On the other hand? Intimidating an entire pantheon by going "I'm uplifting humanity to this level, be good to them or they'll punch you like this." would be fucking hilarious.
I shook my head. There would be time to think about all of this later. For now, I still had some work to do.
I did find it amusing that Saitama was going to end up with more cults across the universe than me after this, though. The first time I actually revealed myself to the world, and a human gets to be more worshiped than me!
Without even trying!
Oh, the irony!
I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of the look on Saitama's face once that happened.
He was going to freak out so hard!
Just because I can't beat you in a fight doesn't mean I can't defeat you through trolling, Saitama!
Ultimate victory shall be mine! Bwahahaha!
"-the latest crisis was truly unprecedented in all of human history. Nonetheless, thanks to the Heroes who bravely choose to stand up and fight for Humanity, and the Gods who watch over us all, we have overcome the greatest threat in our history!"
The public cheered as Sitch caught his breath, while behind him the heroes present during the battle with the Dark Matter space Pirates stood tall and proud.
His eyes swept through the cheering crowd, and he smiled before glancing to the side… where Blast was standing, arms crossed and a small smile on his lips.
Their eyes met, and the man nodded.
It was time for the announcement that would change the face of the Hero Association.
"It is therefore impossible to not desire to reward our brave heroes for their success in saving the world. Each of them will have a reward worthy of their deeds, and that is why we are all gathered here today. And none deserve more credit and praise than One Punch Man, the hero who defeated the alien leader, the man who saved the world from an alien tyrant."
Sitch took a deep breath, before turning towards the bald hero.
"One Punch Man, step forward."
The man blinked, looking vaguely surprised, before doing exactly that.
Insead of Sitch going to him, however, Blast was the one who stepped forward.
"You have protected the world from a threat that few in existence could have hoped to survive, much less triumph against." declared the hero with a pleased look. "The Gods themselves acknowledged you, a man, as their equal. There can be no doubts of your strength, nor of your courage and heroism. Indeed, the Hero Association itself has come into existence because before you had power, you had courage and the heroism to stand up for what is right, no matter the odds, no matter the danger to yourself."
Blast smiled.
"I have held the seat of S-class Rank 1 for years now, but I never sought it, nor have I done much with it. Perhaps, in hindsight, it was because it was never mine to hold to begin with. Aeon once told me that a human hero needed to hold that seat, not a god, and I see now what he meant. With that being said…"
Blast took a deep breath, before turning towards the masses of Humanity which came together on this day to cheer for the heroes who saved them from destruction.
With the eyes of the world upon him, he put a hand on Saitama's shoulder, and spoke the words that would bring a new Age upon humanity.
"On this day, I relinquish my seat as the greatest Hero of the Hero Association to Saitama, the One Punch Man, the new S-class Rank 1 Hero of Humanity! May his unyielding might and unbreakable spirit light the way for a brighter future for all of us!"
For a few seconds, the world fell silent, as all stared at him in shock- none more so that Saitama himself.
And then the world shook from thunderous applause and the screams of countless people exulting over the rise of the greatest Hero Humanity has ever known.
In the background, I smiled, even as I began clapping enthusiastically.
Now, my work was done with this world.
Saitama's Ascension had been secured.
Time to secure mine, now… And my destiny awaited at the Center of All things.
I had a date with the creator-deity of the Omniverse to prepare for, after all…
Saitama entered his home with a deep sigh of relief and tiredness.
Today had been just crazy. There had been the surprise promotion, and then the public speaking, and then the meetings-
He shuddered. So.many.meetings! He thought he was going to scream!
So many people wanted to congratulate him, so many wished to talk to him, or be close to him, or be weirdos about shaking hands with him…
"Huugh!"
He let himself fall face first into his couch, feeling more exhausted than the fight with that weird alien blue guy left him. He'd gladly fight him again than go through anymore of that.
And he'd have to, because there were already more meetings scheduled and people wanting to meet him and-
"Hnnng…"
He groaned, trying to cheer himself up with the fact that, at least, being briefed about that evil god dude trying to break free and invade the world was pretty interesting, especially since he was more powerful than that Bolos guy.
And honestly, he really wanted to punch something right now-
Riiiiiiiinnnnng!*
Saitama froze, eyebrows twitching.
Riiiiiiiinnnnng!*
The twitching grew.
Riiiiiiiinnn-!*
"I'm coming!" he shouted, scowling fiercely as he got up, wondering who it was that was bothering him after a long day and wondering if he could get away with punching them.
Unlocking the door, he swiftly opened it, a scathing remark on his tongue-
Only to pause and blink as Sherry smiled up at him with a bright smile.
"Heya!" she cheerfully greeted him.
Saitama closed his mouth, blinking and relaxing at the sight of her.
She leaned forward and kissed him, her grin widening. "Can I come in, or am I meant to stay at the door?" his girlfriend teased him.
Saitama stepped back, opening the door wider to let her pass.
Having a girlfriend was a recent development, since so far his love life had been… Well, almost as dead as his bank account had been before he joined the Hero Association.
Which was really saying something.
Still, he couldn't help but smile. Sherry was cheerful, funny and very beautiful, so honestly he thanked his lucky stars every day that he somehow ended up with her.
He'd thanked the gods, but… Yeah, that really wasn't the right thing to do in this case.
Not when he was dating their daughter.
"So, I heard that you had quite the day, huh?" Sherry said with a mischievous grin, blue eyes dancing with amusement.
Saitama groaned even as he closed and locked the door. "Don't even get me started. Today was just crazy. So many meetings and people wanting to meet me and straight-up weirdos…" he grumbled, turning back towards her.
Sherry's smile softened, her gaze turning more gentle. "Yeah, I know. Being famous can be really annoying sometimes. Still!" she perked up, the mischievous spark in her eyes returning in full. "Doing good work like you did does come with benefits, you know!"
Saitama snorted. "What kind of…"
He trailed off as she took out her coat and then her top, showing off a belly dancer bra.
In seconds, she was standing before him wearing very, very little, beyond a bright, lustful grin on her face.
"What do you think, hero?" she purred, hips swaying as she walked towards him with blue eyes darkened with lust. "Good enough for you?"
Saitama swallowed.
Maybe today wasn't quite as bad as he first thought…
A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the One Punch Man Arc!
I started the chapter by showing off a bit more of the world and the influence that Aeon and co. had on it, and a bit of how religion did become pretty important in the OPM world. With so many monster attacks and more, Humanity would naturally cling to anything that make them feel safe, and that's even more true when the gods walk among Man, and freely empower people.
Also, If Boros was canonically somewhere around planet to star buster level in power, this one was a full-on Galaxy buster level being. He's supposed to be this terrifying force for a great deal of the universe, after all, so I felt that making him pretty Bullshit was appropriate.
Saitama did get out of the whole thing with the best promotion possible, though, which is fair considering he single-handedly won against the first (known) God-level threat in human history. Besides, Blast has been wanting to give the seat to someone else for a while now, so he was more than happy to give it to someone that could be trusted to deal with the expectations that come with it.
And yes, Sherry finally got with Saitama! Sorry if that wasn't quite as build up to as I would have liked, but I did sprinkle a few hints in the past few chapters.
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, we continue OPM, with most likely the last, or second to last chapter before Love Azathoth!