"Cough cough... cough..."
With a series of coughs, the concrete slab was laboriously pushed aside.
Garou staggered out of the dust.
At this moment, he looked utterly miserable.
His Monster-fied body was covered in shocking wounds, and one of the bull horns on his head was broken.
But compared to the physical pain, the mental shock made him feel even more despair.
He leaned against a broken wall, gasping for breath.
Blood dripped from his chin onto the dusty ground, making soft pitter-patter sounds.
The arrogance and confidence that had burned in his eyes were now replaced by deep confusion and shock.
"This guy... is he too strong...?"
Garou looked down at his still trembling left hand, the scene from that instant replaying in his mind over and over.
That punch.
The punch that suddenly landed on his chest.
"I am a genius! I am a genius who surpassed Old Man Bang and fused all martial arts styles!"
Garou's fingers dug deep into the dirt.
"But I couldn't even see through his moves at all..."
If it were Bang, Garou could see the fluid trajectory of his force redirection; if it were Flashy Flash, he could see the extreme speed.
But with KING, he saw nothing.
A deep sense of powerlessness enveloped his heart.
The man known as KING, the height he stood at, was not merely the peak of S-Class Hero.
It was another dimension.
It was the realm of "God."
"His martial arts realm far surpasses mine!"
"Is this the strongest man on earth?!"
Boom!
Rocks flew everywhere.
Garou's tattered body suddenly burst out of the ruins, staggering as he landed on the ground.
Even though his body was at its limit, and his heart was filled with shock, he still didn't fall.
As long as he had a breath left, he would fight to the end.
This was the obsession to become "Absolute Evil."
Lin Mo looked at Garou, who had stood up again, with not much surprise in his eyes.
Garou wouldn't fall so easily.
"Do you still want to continue?"
Lin Mo's voice remained calm.
"No matter how many times you get up, the outcome won't change."
"Because from the very beginning, you've taken the wrong path."
Garou stared intently at Lin Mo, his eyes bloodshot, a beast-like growl rumbling in his throat:
"Shut up! You high and mighty hero, stop preaching!"
Lin Mo shook his head, his eyes seeming to see through everything, staring directly into Garou's soul.
As a transmigrator, he understood this "villain" in front of him better than most people in this world.
He understood his loneliness, his distortion, and also the obsession hidden beneath his ferocious exterior that he couldn't let go of.
"Garou."
Lin Mo suddenly spoke, his tone resolute.
"You are not a true Monster."
"Your interest is to be a hero, but because of reality, you had to compromise and become a Monster."
"So, you're just a Monster out of interest, aren't you?"
Boom!!!
These words were like a bolt from the blue, striking Garou's head fiercely.
Garou's mind went blank.
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Snake and the others in the distance gaped, while Saitama scratched his head, seemingly pondering the deeper meaning of the words.
But for Garou, these words undoubtedly tore open all his inner disguises, exposing his truest self to the sunlight.
"What did you say?"
Garou's voice trembled, a sign of extreme rage.
Ever since he was a child, what he hated most was being defined.
Defined as a bad kid, defined as a villain, defined as a supporting character who must lose to the hero of justice.
And now, this strongest man actually denied the identity he had exchanged for everything!
Denied his resolve as a "Monster"!
"What do you even understand!!!"
Garou suddenly raised his head, a roar echoing through the sky.
A powerful black energy burst forth from his body, pulverizing all the surrounding rubble.
"How could you possibly understand everything I've been through!"
"I am Absolute Evil! I am the Monster who brings equal fear to the world!"
Crack! Crack!
With the sound of growing bones, Garou's appearance changed again.
His bull horns, at this moment, grew wildly again, becoming even thicker.
But this was not the end.
"Ugh ahhh!!!"
Accompanied by a painful roar, several huge bone spikes pierced through Garou's flesh, emerging from both sides of his spine.
His body also swelled at this moment, his limbs became thicker, and his original humanoid silhouette gradually blurred.
Demon Wolf, descends!
"Since technique cannot defeat you..."
Garou's voice became incredibly deep.
"And my martial arts realm is inferior to yours..."
"Then I will use power! Absolute power! Violence that transcends everything to crush you!"
Roar!!!
Garou roared skyward, the terrifying sound wave transforming into a tangible shockwave that instantly peeled off a layer of ground within a thousand-meter radius.
He gave up.
He gave up the subtlety of Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, and the techniques of Monster Calamity God Slayer Fist.
After realizing that he could never surpass KING in martial arts realm, he chose another path—
He would use absolute power to bridge the gap in technique!
"KING!!!"
Demon Garou stomped his legs fiercely.
The earth instantly collapsed into a giant crater a hundred meters in diameter.
His speed was faster than before, his power fiercer than before.
But this time, his attacks no longer carried that astonishing martial arts charm.
Only savage collisions.
"Die!!!"
That giant claw, carrying the momentum to destroy everything, smashed down towards Lin Mo!
Facing this seemingly terrifying blow, Lin Mo did not raise his hand to block as he had before.
A hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes.
"Foolish."
Lin Mo sighed softly.
The moment Garou's giant claw was about to touch him, Lin Mo's figure shifted slightly to the side.
Swish!
Garou's attack, imbued with immense power, slammed into empty space, and the sheer wind pressure it generated carved a bottomless crack in the ground.
But not hitting was still not hitting.
"To pursue power, while abandoning your most precious talent."
"Is this your resolve?"
Lin Mo's figure appeared behind Garou, his voice cold.
At this moment, Garou couldn't hear any words.
Missing his attack, he roared and turned, launching a wild barrage of indiscriminate attacks at Lin Mo with his arms.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The earth trembled, the air shrieked.
Every punch that landed could cause a small earthquake.
But in Lin Mo's Martial Gods Eye, which saw through all lines of death, Garou at this moment was full of flaws.
Although his destructive power was astonishing, it posed no substantial threat whatsoever.
Lin Mo didn't even need to use his hands to block.
Every sidestep, every duck, every retreat, perfectly avoided Garou's attacks.
Even by a hair's breadth, Garou still couldn't touch a single corner of Lin Mo's clothes.
Clap!
Lin Mo casually delivered a whip kick, striking the joint of Garou's swinging arm.
"Roar!"
Garou let out a cry of pain, his massive arm instantly knocked off balance by the blow, causing his entire body to stumble forward and fall.
Before he could regain his footing, Lin Mo's foot had already kicked the back of his knee.
Thud!
That massive Monster body was thus easily kicked to its knees on the ground.
"To pursue power, you abandoned your refined techniques."
Lin Mo walked in front of Garou, who was kneeling on the ground, looking at his hideous and ugly face.
"For the sake of so-called victory, you abandoned the dignity of a martial artist."
He bent down slightly, his voice icy cold:
"To win, have you started resorting to any means necessary, Garou?"
——————
PS: I forgot to write it earlier, after comprehending [Monster Calamity God Slayer Fist], he should have transformed into "Bull-Horn Garou." It has been corrected now.
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