Saitama looked at the trembling Carnage Kabuto and couldn't help but complain,
"This is House of Evolution's strongest monster? Isn't it just a big rhinoceros beetle? And it's ugly as sin."
As he spoke, he prepared to dash forward and explode the ugly thing with one punch.
But right then, King raised a hand and stopped the reckless Saitama.
"Leave this guy to me. Don't you have something more important to do?"
Saitama tilted his head, puzzled. "Something more important? Do I have anything important today?"
Hearing that, King silently raised one finger.
"Do you remember what day it is?"
"Today is—"
Saitama's voice cut off mid-sentence; his eyes slowly widened as if he'd remembered something crucial.
It's Saturday… which means—!
Veins crept across his eyeballs. He turned into a blur, vanished, and punched straight through the special ultra-alloy wall. A heart-rending shout drifted back through the air:
"TODAY IS SUPERMARKET SALE DAY!!!"
Carnage Kabuto was dumbstruck. Watching the wall blossom open from the punch, his heart nearly stopped.
What the hell?
The gate's durability was several grades lower than the wall, yet he'd needed a full minute of continuous attacks just to deform it.
And now a bald human had blown the wall apart with one punch?!
Accompanied by a chain of impacts, shards of metal flew everywhere; all ten layers of wall were instantly punched clean through.
Seeing this, King couldn't help but marvel: Saitama's obsession with bargain sales was beyond normal imagination.
Even as an S-Class Hero with a generous salary, he still couldn't shake the habit ingrained over years.
Only buy discounted goods.
Realizing the unfathomable baldy had really left, leaving only the golden-haired man whose aura felt like an abyss, Carnage Kabuto's panic eased a little, though he remained extremely cautious.
King had stopped Saitama from one-shotting the creature mainly because he wanted to experience Carnage Kabuto's power—and to feel that so-called [Ashura Mode].
With that thought, he stepped forward; his golden hair fluttered in the wind blowing through the hole, his majestic face provoking Carnage Kabuto's nerves.
King crooked a finger at Carnage Kabuto, contempt for the weak dripping from his voice.
"Choose: fight me, or die right now."
Those provocative words landed like a depth charge in Carnage Kabuto's ears.
His mind was already fragile and unstable; ever since earlier he'd been under intense despair. Now, suddenly provoked again—
All accumulated emotions transformed in an instant into boundless fury, into courage daring to strike at a god.
"ROOOOAR!!"
Carnage Kabuto let out a beast-like roar. With a beat of his wings he shot forward, his massive fist descending to smash King.
King slid his hands into his pockets, not even bothering to block; he simply released surging blood-qi, forming a crimson shield.
Next, vast mental power welled up, Psychokinesis wrapping his body. Under the blood-qi shield, a pale-green Psychokinesis shield formed as well.
Carnage Kabuto's fist tore through the air with a sharp sonic boom, slamming into the blood-qi shield.
Invisible shockwaves spread outward, the special ultra-alloy floor beneath them caving in.
Yet the attacker, Carnage Kabuto, actually staggered back several steps, clutching his aching fist; rage-blinded reason returned.
King's blood-qi shield hadn't even cracked, let alone shattered; not to mention the Psychokinesis shield beneath it.
"This is the power you pride yourself on? Pathetic."
The taunt ignited Carnage Kabuto once more; anger flooded away what reason remained.
"Don't look down on me, you relics of the old age! This lord is the new humanity destined to rule the world!!"
In the last second before sanity vanished, Carnage Kabuto released his full power.
His body ballooned again; from three or four meters he shot to seven or eight. The yellow-brown shell shed, replaced by blue-green skin.
The last trace of white in his eyes disappeared, turning completely blood-red.
Carnage Kabuto—[Ashura Mode]!
"I didn't want to use this form. In this state I gain endless stamina for seven days and nights, and an irresistible urge to kill. You forced me—now pay with your life!!"
He turned into a blue-green streak, shuttling across the vast training ground, appearing behind King almost in an instant.
With a furious roar, his fists became a blur, pounding the blood-qi shield like a violent storm.
"KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL!!"
The ultra-alloy floor groaned under the strain; shockwaves and thunderous booms echoed through the training ground.
Carnage Kabuto grew more excited; even as his fists shattered from the relentless strikes, he felt nothing.
"DIE!!"
At last, a crack appeared in King's blood-qi shield under the continuous barrage, spreading across its surface.
Seeing that, Carnage Kabuto's grin grew wilder, his punches faster.
Yet King, at the center of the assault, only yawned; with a thought, the shield repaired itself.
"Since I've tasted your mode's power, let's test its defense."
With that, he actually dismissed both the blood-qi shield and the Psychokinesis shield, exposing his bare body…
...
(End of Chapter)
[Throw some stones]