Z-City Abandoned Zone.
"Is this the end...?"
Just as Garou's figure was about to be swallowed by that brilliant golden light, an extremely fast black shadow appeared beside him without warning.
"Bang!"
A powerful yet strangely soft force suddenly kicked Garou's side waist.
Garou only felt his body lighten, and he flew out horizontally, uncontrollably, the golden light pillar in his vision instantly brushing past him.
He could even feel the hair on his temples instantly turning to ash in the terrifying high temperature, and a burning pain on his skin.
"Boom! ! !"
A deafening roar followed immediately.
The terrifying energy of the Super Incineration Cannon swept past where Garou had been standing, slamming heavily into the distant ground.
A massive crater, dozens of meters wide, was instantly blasted open.
After Genos's attack ended, wisps of white smoke still rose from the seams of his armor, and the light from his chest core slowly began to fade.
He maintained his attacking posture, his gaze sharply fixed on the smoke-filled area.
However, when the smoke slightly dispersed, what appeared before him was not the heavily injured figure of Garou.
An old man with a hunched back, dressed in white martial arts attire, stood quietly between where Garou had been kicked away and Genos.
He was not tall, but his muscles were gnarled like rocks, and his seemingly cloudy old eyes now gleamed with a chilling brilliance.
It was none other than the S-Class Rank 3 hero, Silver Fang, Bang.
On the other side, Garou fell heavily to the ground, rolling a few times before stopping.
Ignoring the pain in his body, he suddenly looked up, his gaze piercing through the swirling smoke, staring intently at that back.
When he clearly saw that back, the arrogant smile on his face instantly froze, replaced by an extremely complex expression.
"Old... man..."
Garou almost squeezed out these three words through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse and dry.
Bang did not look back at him, only watched Genos with a calm and profound gaze, slowly opening his mouth, his voice aged but full of vigor:
"Genos-kun, this unruly disciple, may I handle him?"
Genos's gaze swept back and forth between Bang and Garou, who was struggling to get up in the distance.
Finally, he disengaged his attack mode, and the core light in his chest completely subsided.
"Thank you, Genos-kun.", Bang nodded slightly.
Then, he slowly turned around, his sharp eyes finally landing on Garou.
He looked down at his former disciple, the emotions in his eyes complex and hard to decipher; there was heartache, disappointment, and a hint of almost imperceptible pity.
"Long time no see, Garou."
Garou supported himself with his hands on the ground, struggling to stand up, his body trembling slightly from the impact and the intense emotional fluctuations within him.
He listened to that incredibly familiar voice, yet it felt incredibly jarring.
"Let me end all of this,", Bang's voice remained calm, yet it carried a resolute determination.
"Bring it on."
"End? Hahaha!"
Garou laughed wildly, as if he had heard the biggest joke.
"End? My life has just begun!"
"I am going to become the absolute 'evil' that will make all heroes tremble and the entire world fear! How could I fall here, before an old stubborn man like you!"
"Stubborn!"
Bang's eyes suddenly became sharp as blades, and he assumed the starting stance of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.
"If words cannot awaken you, then this old man can only use these iron fists to knock you awake!"
Before he finished speaking, Garou had already launched his attack!
Filled with anger and unwillingness, he lunged at Bang like a ghost, his hands turning into sharp claws, unleashing a Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist that incorporated other martial arts styles!
"You can't stop me, old man!"
Facing Garou's storm-like offensive, Bang's expression remained unchanged.
He stood his ground, moving only when Garou's attack was about to connect.
Bang's movements seemed slow, yet he reacted later but arrived first.
His hands, like two swimming fish, met Garou's attacks with incredible precision.
Genos's electronic eyes operated at high speed from the side, recording and analyzing the battle before him.
He witnessed an unbelievable sight.
Garou's sharp hand-blades, capable of cutting metal and stone, were deflected by a clever force the moment they touched Bang's palms.
Bang's arms always found the tiniest gaps in Garou's attacks, then with a gentle flick and a pull, completely disrupted Garou's entire attacking rhythm.
The more Garou fought, the more his heart trembled; no matter how much he increased his speed and strength, his opponent always effortlessly neutralized them.
Even more frightening, he could feel his own strength being guided by his opponent, almost falling several times due to an unstable center of gravity.
"This is... the true Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist?"
Genos watched from the side, his mind shaken.
His previous battle with Garou was based on the King Style Secret Arts, combined with his own powerful mechanical performance and firepower.
It was a fighting style that combined technology with martial arts philosophy.
What Bang displayed before him, however, was a pure martial arts realm.
Not a single wasted movement, not a single wasted bit of energy; every move and every form contained the ultimate understanding of "force."
It was the peak of skill achieved through countless refinements.
"Break!"
Garou roared, changing his tactics, launching a powerful punch directly at Bang's face.
Bang's eyes narrowed, neither dodging nor evading, meeting it with a palm strike.
The moment fist and palm met, Bang's wrist gave a peculiar twitch, and a spiral force permeated through his body.
Garou felt that most of the strength he had put into his full-force punch was instantly dissipated, while a counter-shock force rushed up his arm directly into his internal organs, causing his blood and qi to churn.
Seizing this opportunity, Bang stepped forward, closing in on Garou, his palm like a knife, lightly tapping several joints and vital points on Garou's body in quick succession.
"Thump!"
Garou's eyes were wide open, but his body, like a marionette with cut strings, softly knelt to the ground, all his strength seemingly drained.
"It's over.", Bang retracted his hand, looking down at him with a complex expression... At the same time, an old man, somewhat similar in appearance to Bang but with thicker eyebrows and a more imposing build, slowly walked forward.
He was Bang's elder brother, Bomb, the master of the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist.
He sighed helplessly, shook his head, his aged face filled with a wry smile.
"Really, this Bang fellow..." Bomb muttered under his breath.
"He kicked Garou out of that cyborg's beam, controlling the force just right, both saving him and preventing him from getting too badly hurt."
He recalled the lightning-fast scene from before; Bang's position and the angle of his kick were incredibly precise.
"He talks about purging the sect, but he holds back everywhere, only restricting his movements, not even breaking a single bone. His intentions are too obvious."
A hint of worry appeared in Bomb's eyes as he looked at Garou, whose hair had already turned red.
"But, facing Garou, who has already begun to Monsterize, can your soft heart truly pull him back to the right path, my brother...?"