"The residents in the city have all been evacuated! Anyone too old to move has been taken to Hero Association HQ!"
"That's the super shelter we had Metal Knight build for us. Even if that ship really crashes, there won't be any casualties!"
"Heroes—please get to safety too!"
The blond aide who always stayed by Sitch's side walked up to the group of S-Class heroes and spoke urgently.
"Hahahaha…!"
"How stupid."
"Shelter? Where exactly do you think you can hide?"
"Do you really believe there's any safe place left on a planet targeted by the Dark Matter Thieves?"
"If you think beating me means you've won, that just proves how naive you are…"
"Once that great lord makes his move, all your resistance will be meaningless."
Hearing the aide's words, Melzargard—still held in place by Tatsumaki's psychic power—burst into laughter. His five heads took turns, each one mocking the heroes.
"You…"
Tatsumaki's expression darkened. Her fingertips tightened slightly.
"Ghk—"
In an instant, Melzargard couldn't make a sound. Worse, his body let out a high, creaking squeal, like Tatsumaki was about to crush him into powder.
"Tatsumaki, calm down. Don't crush him yet—let's hear what he's trying to say."
Bang kept the bigger picture in mind. Seeing Tatsumaki about to kill Melzargard on the spot, he spoke up to stop her.
"Hmph."
At Bang's words, Tatsumaki relaxed her fingers slightly.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
Spared at the last second, Melzargard gulped air greedily, then shot a terrified glance at Tatsumaki. He hadn't expected a remote planet like Earth to have something this horrifying. Even if this world got conquered, if this psychic wanted to join the Dark Matter Thieves, she'd probably get treated like royalty—hell, with enough strength, Boros might even favor her and elevate her above the "three lieutenants" altogether…
"Go on, then," Tatsumaki said, arms crossed as she floated in midair. "Who is this 'great lord' you're talking about?"
"That great lord…"
"…is the ruler of the universe, the leader of the Dark Matter Thieves—Lord Boros!"
Melzargard didn't dare resist. He spat out Boros's name.
"The ruler of the universe…?"
The S-Class heroes stiffened. A title alone didn't prove anything, but people who carried monstrous titles usually had monstrous power to match. "Ruler of the universe"—if you didn't have real strength, you'd never dare wear that name.
"Why would a ruler of the universe target a backwater planet like ours?" Child Emperor frowned, genuinely confused. As a genius, he knew Earth was just one tiny rock among countless worlds. He couldn't understand why something like a cosmic overlord would bother conquering a weak planet that hadn't even left its own solar system.
"Because of a prophecy," Melzargard said. "Twenty years ago, when Lord Boros conquered a resource world, he consulted a witch famous across the universe. She prophesied that Boros would meet an opponent here—someone who could match him!"
"Heh. An opponent who can match Lord Boros? What a joke. That was just some bullshit those bastards made up to distract him…"
"Exactly. There's no one in the universe who can match Lord Boros."
"That idiot witch—once we conquer this planet, we'll go back and destroy her planet!"
Melzargard started arguing with himself again, head to head, babbling in circles.
"Enough," Tatsumaki said, annoyed. Her fingers tightened just a little, and Melzargard shut up again.
"Ask the alien about that cosmic overlord's strength," Bang said, rolling his shoulders, like he was actually preparing to fight Boros.
"Mm."
Tatsumaki loosened her grip around Melzargard's neck.
"Cough—cough—cough…"
"Strength?! Don't tell me you're actually planning to fight Lord Boros?"
"Hahahaha…"
Melzargard sounded like he'd just heard the funniest story in the universe.
"Give it up! If Lord Boros is in a good mood, this planet still has value!"
"But if he's in a bad mood, not only will this planet be destroyed—several nearby planets will get wiped out too!"
"Lord Boros is a ruler with power so overwhelming he can snuff out the sun of an entire civilization!"
"You weak lifeforms who die the moment you're exposed to the vacuum of space—how could you possibly stand against the ruler of the universe?"
"Surrender. It's your only way out!"
All five of Melzargard's heads shook as he spoke. In his eyes, these "natives" had absolutely no chance to win.
"Snuff out the sun?!"
The S-Class heroes' expressions changed sharply. If Melzargard was telling the truth, then this world—this planet under their feet—might really be impossible to defend.
"Hmph."
Tatsumaki looked at the sagging morale and snorted.
"Look at you—pathetic."
"You haven't even seen the enemy yet and you've already scared yourselves stupid. And you call yourselves S-Class heroes? What a joke."
"But… the enemy can destroy the sun," Superalloy Darkshine blurted out first, legs pressed together, looking like he didn't know what to do with himself.
"And what if he can?" Tatsumaki shot back, unimpressed. "Even if he can destroy the sun—or Earth—so what?"
"Have you morons not noticed that the 'ruler of the universe' hasn't come down from the ship even once?"
"Even if your brains are as dumb as monkeys, you should still be able to tell the ship's been roaring nonstop since earlier, right?"
She sounded almost tired, like she couldn't believe she had to spell it out. If Earth's heroes were really this dim, then there'd be no need for a God-level monster—Earth would finish itself off.
"You mean… Jovian?!" Atomic Samurai and Bang exchanged looks, the same possibility flashing through both their minds.
"Since earlier, there have been two ultra-high energy signatures in the sky—both powerful enough to destroy Earth—and they've been expanding nonstop!" Genos's words confirmed it. He stared at the streams of data in his vision, his voice tight with shock. "Those two energies have been chasing and colliding for a full thirty minutes!"
"See?" Tatsumaki crossed her arms again and casually flicked her hair, sounding almost smug. "Don't forget why that so-called cosmic overlord crossed countless star systems to come here. If you ask me, he dragged that ship all this way just to die."
"A prophecy… was it really true?"
Melzargard had never been the smartest, but he wasn't brain-dead either. From what they were saying, he could piece together the truth.
Their invincible ruler, Boros… had been fighting someone on that ship for thirty minutes, and it still wasn't decided?
The ruler of the universe had actually met a real opponent?
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