City A.
Hero Association Headquarters.
Starting yesterday, the Association had entered its highest state of alert and convened an emergency operations meeting of all S-Class heroes.
At the long conference table, S-Class heroes filled the seats: Rank 2 Tornado of Terror, Rank 3 Silver Fang, Rank 5 Genos, Child Emperor, Atomic Samurai, Metal Knight, Drive Knight, Watchdog Man, Superalloy Darkshine, Sweet Mask, Iaian, Bushidrill… basically everyone who could come had arrived.
"What about Rank 2 Tornado, Rank 4 Puri-Puri Prisoner, Rank 10 Pig God—and Miss Fubuki? Why can't we reach them…?" the meeting lead snapped.
"Hmph! Forget them. Who knows where that baldy ran off to. I've got that cheap little sister waiting at home. Start the meeting—I don't have time to waste on you," Tornado said coolly. She was not someone he could afford to provoke.
The meeting quickly moved to the main topic, all triggered by Lord Shibabawa's prophecy: a world-ending catastrophe was imminent.
"An earth-shaking disaster? The end of the world? So when she said 'half a year' she meant she wasn't sure if it would be today or tomorrow?" Genos asked.
"…Yes. But Lord Shibabawa has never been wrong—every one of her prophecies has come true!" the lead said, face like iron.
Shibabawa was the most famous seer in the One Punch world, never once missing, and had saved cities from destruction more than a few times. So the Association leadership placed extreme trust in her words—this time, upon receiving the prophecy, they'd rushed to recall nearby S-Class heroes overnight.
"An event this uncertain?" Child Emperor frowned slightly.
"Great Seer Shibabawa has passed away. But her words…"
Boom—
Suddenly, the Association building shook violently, as if under attack! The gathered S-Class heroes' expressions shifted.
"What's going on?!"
Headquarters was under assault—despite Metal Knight's special reinforcement of the structure!
Outside—
Several hawk-headed, winged, taloned Birdmen with ferocious faces hovered in the air.
"Hahaha, this building's pretty sturdy—for the Hero Association!"
"Follow me—Sky King! Charge—!"
The red Birdman at the lead, Sky King, cackled. He'd caused the earlier strike and now unleashed a barrage at HQ. He'd heard that the world's law and order currently depended on the Association—so if he crushed them, the whole world would belong to Sky King!
"Boss—up there—" one of his lackeys barked.
Sky King halted mid-charge, looked up—and his pupils constricted.
At tens of thousands of meters altitude, a terrifying starship the size of a city appeared in the once-azure sky—blotting out the sun. Its shadow swallowed all of City A.
"What the hell is that… who…"
He didn't finish. A thin line slowly appeared at the center of his forehead—like an overripe fruit splitting with a crack. Blood spurted; his body fell in two halves.
So-called Demon-class Sky King… not even worthy of being cannon fodder.
"What just happened?"
"If it's flying, kill it. Protect the mothership. That's the order."
High above, a hulking monster with dozens of heads and blood-red eyes floated, its arms shaped into vicious axe-blades. Behind it loomed the terrifying starship, drawing closer and closer until it settled thousands of meters above the city, oppressive enough to suffocate.
Then—
Thunderous roars.
Like a swarm erupting from a hive, a dense storm of shells poured down over the city.
—At a different residence—
Fubuki, in a black-and-white maid outfit, was eating chocolate and watching TV.
Climudna, in a gold-and-white maid dress, was cleaning the kitchen and living room.
Saturday Sale, dressed like an office lady, was handling the latest expenses and accounts.
A tranquil, harmonious domestic scene.
The Association's urgent summons to the S-Class meeting had been directly ignored by the three.
"Hmm?"
All three stopped at the same time and exchanged a glance. No words were needed.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
They vanished—three streaks moving at near-maximum speed.
"Such nerve—planning to wipe out the city?"
High in the sky, a woman with dark-green hair down to her hips floated, her body wrapped in emerald telekinesis. Her brows knit, her fine nose giving a light snort.
Swish—
A massive telekinetic sphere expanded from their villa, covering a radius of dozens of kilometers.
At the same time, Climudna's sharp fangs tore open, and with a flourish appeared an exaggerated three-meter conical knight's lance and a two-meter-tall greatshield.
The incoming ice crystals shattered instantly—splitting into a layer of shards that became zigzagging lightning, slicing apart the shells about to strike the ground.
Saturday Sale planted her bare, armored legs on a stone post; twin shoulder-mounted Gauss cannons unfolded.
A web of countless blue filaments laced the sky; the shells detonated en masse.
Like a calamity snuffed out, the whole city flashed white.
Association HQ.
Shrill alarms blared. City A's projected map flared a shocking red, showing the city at 67% destroyed!
"—What just happened?! Sixty-seven percent of the city got wiped out! Only HQ and… that sector are intact!" the lead cried.
If not for the three women's timely arrival, City A would have been obliterated in an instant. As is, they'd saved nearly half.
"Move—outside!"
"Has the disaster begun already?!"
The S-Class heroes' faces tightened; gone was any earlier nonchalance. They surged out of HQ.
Thousands of meters up—
The horned, terrifying interstellar warship—practically a floating city—hung in the sky, obscene in scale, bristling with gaudy, eye-dazzling missile ports.
—Mothership Control Room, ten seconds earlier—
"Lord Geryuganshoop, we've arrived above City A on the planet called Earth," a monster reported respectfully.
The central pit was crowded with monsters, each exuding powerful auras. At the name "Geryuganshoop," every one of them paled and trembled instinctively.
"That fast? Clean it up. Lord Boros can't stand weak, stupid trash," drawled a giant octopus monster glowing with a purple sheen. He didn't move a tentacle, yet consoles floated around him as if guided by telekinesis.
Geryuganshoop—Peak Dragon-level!
One of the highest combatants of the Dark Matter Thieves, and one of Boros's three top lieutenants!
The "cleaning volley" was merely their routine missile barrage. With the most advanced missile craft known in the universe, erasing a city was trivial.
After the sky-filling bombardment, Geryuganshoop eyed the display, puzzled at the still-intact sector.
The image zoomed in. "Interesting. Melzargard, get moving. Kill them—no, capture them alive. I'm curious about the lifeforms of this weak little planet."
(End of Chapter)
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