Carnage Kabuto's charging form froze in place, pupils shrinking in disbelief.
Dr. Genus, wedged under an arm, struggled to lift his head; after Carnage Kabuto's rampage, he had accidentally slammed his skull, and now blood covered his face, his consciousness fading.
Sensing the impact had stopped, puzzlement flickered through him; he forced himself to speak:
"Carnage Kabuto, why did you stop?"
But at this moment, Carnage Kabuto had no desire to answer; his gaze was locked on the dark passage ahead.
Something's wrong… why is my insect instinct screaming danger… is something approaching?!!
Trusting that instinct implicitly, he spun to dash back toward the spacious training ground without hesitation.
The next second, a golden radiance flooded the passage, followed by a devastating surge of energy.
Seeing that colossal energy racing toward him, Carnage Kabuto's soul nearly left his body.
What the hell is this?!
He curled into a tight ball, his tough insect armor sealing into a perfect sphere like a living shield.
As for Dr. Genus, with such violent movement, the beetle completely forgot he was there.
So when Ashura crouched, the doctor wedged in his arm was crushed flat—two-dimensional.
Blood and viscera splattered; the stench should have enraged the beetle, but instead his terror spiked.
An instant later, the berserk golden orb swallowed him whole, destructive power crackling across his shell; armor that seemed unbreakable shattered piece by piece.
The sphere didn't halt: after a brief pause, it kept flying, only slightly smaller.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!!
It slammed into the training ground, the blast warping and shredding the custom alloy walls.
The armored sphere slowly unfolded, revealing the battered Carnage Kabuto.
Charred plates and gushing green blood showed how grievous the wound was.
Terror filled his face; the world felt absurd.
His gaze swept the paper-thin remains of Dr. Genus, rage flared, and he stomped the body into pulp.
This idiot kept claiming I was the new world's god, a new humanity the old could never match…
And now what?! I didn't even see the enemy and nearly got vaporized!
"No good—I have to run. I can't stay in the House of Evolution; the intruder is out of my league."
Carnage Kabuto's insect senses let him detect danger early and dodge it.
Now he could feel two auras that made his heart pound racing closer.
Worst of all, the blast that nearly killed him hadn't cost the intruder the slightest effort.
Which meant that energy ball wasn't some ultimate move—just a casual strike.
Before activating the so-called "Ashura Mode," reason ruled him; nothing mattered more than staying alive.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the passage, King sighed,
"Used less than ten percent of my power, yet House of Evolution's metal only bent—pretty tough stuff."
Saitama watched enviously, remembering his own fights.
One punch, another punch, always one punch.
Honestly, Saitama wished he had King's energy-blast move—those effects looked awesome, super cool!
Sadly, I'm just a powerless human… the Bald Demon King sighed; he was merely an ordinary guy who threw fists.
Can't fly, can't shoot energy—only knows how to punch.
KING's the real deal: flies, super popular, and fires those awesome energy spheres.
Noticing Saitama's envious stare, King's mouth twitched—he could guess what the guy was thinking.
Give me a break—who could possibly beat you?
Having racked up plenty of system rewards, King was several times stronger than when he first arrived.
Yet even with that power, he knew he still couldn't defeat Saitama.
The stronger he became, the more he sensed Saitama's hidden depths—an ocean, a starry sky without end.
By his estimate, at full power he could barely take a normal punch; any harder, and he'd be turned into mincemeat.
And that assumed Saitama wouldn't keep growing.
In the redrawn canon, Saitama grows every instant, especially during battle, skyrocketing exponentially.
In combat, he can one-shot the self of a second ago; that growth rate is terrifying.
Just then, both King and Saitama snapped into battle faces, vanishing as blurs.
They sensed a powerful presence trying to flee the House of Evolution—likely the "monster" Mechanical Gorilla mentioned.
Passing a section of even more mangled corridor, King halted and looked down.
There, a flattened lump of flesh in a tattered white coat lay stuck to the floor, a pair of shattered glasses beside it.
Well, damn—Dr. Genus got himself flattened into 2-D on the highway.
Even King had to chuckle at the thought.
Clearly, the guy had done something different from canon, and Carnage Kabuto squashed him for it…
...
(End of Chapter)
[Throw some stones]