By now, both of them were fighting with savage abandon.
Neither could even recall the ten-punch wager; all that remained was the pure thrill of battle.
King lashed out several punches in a row; the violent blasts of air grazed that gleaming bald head, tearing the atmosphere behind him and almost carving out a vacuum.
Saitama's eyes sharpened; seizing the opening, he slammed a fist straight into King's abdomen.
"Gah!"
King's stomach caved in, his body rocketing backward under the titanic force.
He ploughed his legs into the ground, carving a kilometre-long trench before he finally stopped.
Damn, that hurts… The blow had nearly burst every organ, but Ultra-Speed Regeneration was simply too broken—even a shattered torso knits itself back together in an instant.
He wiped the blood from his lips; the crimson steam around him flared even wilder as he shot forward like a red comet.
Saitama hadn't had this much fun in ages; a grin wider than any game ever gave him lit his face, life finally flickering in those once-dull pupils.
Apart from not using the Serious Punch, he fought without a single restraint—the ten-promise long forgotten.
How could he not be ecstatic to meet someone who could actually trade blows with him?
It was like a lone expert sitting atop a mountain, watching everyone else still at base, tasting only the chill of solitude.
Then, suddenly, someone broke past the foot of the slope and reached the mid-slope, staring up at him.
At that moment, loneliness and boredom exploded into joy.
Maybe this… is the fight I've been craving!
A blur, and King reappeared, his blood-steam-wrapped fist warping space as it smashed toward the shining scalp.
Saitama twisted, hips snapping his left fist into King's wrist.
With a crisp crack, the wrist folded at a grotesque angle, pale bone jutting through skin.
Yet a flash of green light and the ruined joint was perfect again, as if never injured.
King seized the gap, funneling every ounce of aura into his right fist and hammering Saitama's chest.
The colossal force blasted outward, shattering the remaining ground and sending stone skyward in cascading layers.
Even though the punch landed squarely, King couldn't force a smile.
This guy's defence is insane!
No attack had left a scratch—King felt as though he were a commoner punching a slab of super-alloy that actually punched back, bruising him every time.
King could sum the situation up in one line:
He was an ordinary man doggedly striking a super-alloy plate—only the plate fought back, smashing him to pieces with each exchange.
Their eyes met, and both vanished; sonic booms ripped through the air, then titanic energy detonated where they collided.
Invisible shockwaves pulverized the exposed ground, birthing yet another hundred-metre-deep crater.
What had once been an endless golden desert was now not even dust beneath their duel.
From on high, the battlefield looked like a moonscape: hundreds of black pits pocked the land, the remaining surface cracked like a spider-web—eerie and alien.
Fifty kilometres away, Genos felt the violent quake and finally lost his composure.
"How can you two be this strong?!"
He wanted to watch, but at fifty kilometres, even his Cybernetic Eye's Telescope Mode couldn't make out a thing…
Z-City, downtown.
A young man in black bell-bottoms, a red shirt, and delinquent-styled hair swaggered down the street, swinging a gleaming baseball bat.
Though he looked like a punk, he ranked among the 17 S-Class Heroes.
S-Class Rank 15—Metal Bat.
Right now, he was on his way to his little sister's piano recital; just picturing her under the spotlight made him grin ear to ear.
Heh, my sis is the best.
A hardcore Sis-con, Metal Bat put her above everything; if anything happened to her, he'd go berserk on the spot.
Suddenly, the ground rumbled; buildings and streets trembled beneath everyone's feet.
Pedestrians cried out, grabbing lampposts and walls to stay upright.
"What's going on? An earthquake? But there was no alert!"
"You still trust those warnings? Quakes come and go in a minute anyway."
"True—guess I can skip work and head home for once."
While the civilians stayed relaxed, cold sweat drenched Metal Bat.
He froze, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead as he stared toward the city's outskirts.
Hey… what kind of energy joke is this—who the hell is fighting out there?!
As an S-Class Hero, his energy sense far surpassed any normal human's.
So while others merely felt a quake, he sensed the overwhelming pressure—so vast resistance felt impossible.
...
(End of Chapter)
[Throw some stones]