Episode 257: Within the Underworld's Golden Lightning, You Have Nowhere Left to Hide!
『 For the Lahmu, acting recklessly alone and charging into an encirclement full of enemies was obviously an extremely unwise choice.
He needed to handle the predicament before him more cautiously and search for a suitable opportunity to counterattack.
It was clear that these Lahmu were no longer the mindless monsters of the past that only knew how to charge.
Now, they possessed the ability to think independently and could flexibly adjust their strategy according to the battlefield situation.
Although they were essentially still alien beings, this slight shift in intelligence was enough to make the situation even more unfathomable.
"..."
"These monsters… are really very tricky…" Everyone on the scene felt unprecedented pressure. They could clearly see that these few enemies were almost on par with Mash.
Facing such formidable foes, everyone's expression involuntarily tightened, their brows slightly furrowed, revealing their inner concern.
But…
There wasn't much time for them to consider too many problems, because that Lahmu, which had just retreated, upon seeing its companions standing behind it, suddenly launched a second assault.
BANG—! BANG—! BANG—!
It continued to focus all its firepower on Mash alone without mercy.
Fortunately, Mash possessed sufficiently keen reflexes, and she successfully blocked all the fierce offensives from the opponent.
However, under such dense and powerful continuous strikes, the sound of metal weapons clashing echoed across the entire Underworld like a terrifying sonic boom, causing everyone who heard it to feel a tremor in their hearts.
And Mash herself, who bore all of this, felt her arms beginning to tremble involuntarily, as if she were reaching her limit.
There was even a moment that made her feel somewhat bewildered—to think that this group of enemies was actually this formidable!
At this very moment, just as everyone was holding their breath, staring intently at what might happen next, that Lahmu, which had been fighting Mash so intensely, suddenly disappeared into thin air, as if it had never appeared at all, leaving everyone present astonished.
"Oh no, IT'S A FEINT!!" Fujimaru Ritsuka shouted almost instantly.
But he was just an ordinary person, and in the split second, he was completely unable to take effective countermeasures.
That cunning Lahmu was simply too fast; the sound of the air being torn apart as it moved made it impossible to predict where its next move would be directed.
In just the blink of an eye, that terrifying enemy had silently approached behind Fujimaru Ritsuka.
A tentacle full of threat, with a pitted surface, quickly extended, as if it were about to pierce through his body without mercy.
"Ugh… ugh...."
Suddenly, the Lahmu, which had been charging toward Fujimaru Ritsuka with irresistible force, was firmly restrained by some unknown power in an instant, stopping dead in its tracks in front of him like a wooden chicken.
At the same time, one of its barb-covered tentacles had reached the position where Fujimaru Ritsuka's heart was located, with less than half a centimeter of distance remaining between them.
Just that tiny bit of distance!
A little further forward, and Fujimaru Ritsuka would have disappeared from this world forever, becoming a sad and cold piece of historical dust.
But fortunately, at this critical moment, this cruel and terrifying creature had completely lost the ability to act. 』
『 .....』
〜Dimensional livestream, Chat Room〜
[ Umaru Doma (Himouto): "So dangerous, just a little bit, it was almost gone." ]
[ Oyama Mahiro (Onimai): "Exactly." ]
[ Oyama Mahiro (Onimai): "Thankfully, at the last moment, he was saved." ]
[ Mash Kyrielight (Type-Moon): "SENPAI!!" ]
[ .....]
『 Just as the audience was wondering what mysterious power had saved Fujimaru Ritsuka, who was in imminent danger, a strange and beautiful change began to appear—from the top of its head to the tips of its toes, the monster's body began to transform into the appearance of pink-purple flower petals gradually.
Soon, its entire body was covered by those gorgeous petals, and finally, it drifted slowly toward the vast horizon of the Underworld.
It turned out to be… the Magus of Flowers, Merlin!
Indeed, it was that great magician Merlin, who usually seemed frivolous but hid his true depths.
Upon noticing that his companion was in danger, he waved the staff in his hand immediately and, relying on his own powerful magic, successfully prevented this fatal attack.
Even in such a tense and exciting situation, Merlin, who was usually careless and casual, could not help but reveal a hint of unprecedented seriousness.
Because if he were to be slightly inattentive... the consequences would be simply unimaginable... these things called Lahmu were clearly far more powerful than they appeared.
At this very moment, the same thought flashed through everyone's minds: one must absolutely not underestimate their strength!
"Are you hurt?"
Witnessing the thrilling scene just now, Ishtar looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had narrowly escaped, with a face full of deep concern for his safety, but unfortunately…
She did not know what kind of severe challenge she would face during this brief moment of distraction.
Suddenly, a sonic boom that streaked past with a sharp whistle struck toward the unprepared Ishtar violently.
SWISH—! With a sudden sound of tearing wind, although many onlookers were staring intently at this area, they still could not capture the trace of that elusive assassin.
The only exception was the goddess Ishtar, who possessed extraordinary abilities and responded in time to protect herself.
However, through her shocked expression at this moment, it could be seen that this evasion actually contained a fair amount of luck.
It was obvious that in such an extremely dangerous and unpredictable confrontation, the slightest distraction could lead to an irreparable situation.
Everyone gathered their spirits and stood ready, knowing that in the face of the current predicament, only by giving their all could they possibly escape alive.
No negligence could be allowed to spread; otherwise, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Everyone stared ahead, poised and ready to meet the arrival of a new round of battle. 』
『 .....』
〜Dimensional livestream, Chat Room〜
[ Keqing (Genshin Impact): "Such fast speed." ]
[ Kizaru (One Piece): "Interesting." ]
[ Paimon (Genshin Impact): "My eyes, I can't see it clearly at all." ]
[ Yanqing (Honkai: Star Rail): "Are even the opponent's subordinates evolved to be this difficult to deal with now?" ]
[ Kakarot (Dragon Ball): "It's alright, it's still clear enough to see." ]
[ Genos (One Punch Man): "….." ]
[ .....]
〜Naruto World〜
"Too fast… this speed… The legendary Yellow Flash, I have only seen this kind of speed in my student, Namikaze Minato."
Jiraiya couldn't help but sigh. Facing the scene before him, he was indeed very shocked.
Perhaps it was normal for these guys to have powerful strength, but this superhuman speed… it was truly indescribable.
Even Jiraiya couldn't help but sigh; even if he activated Sage Mode and his speed increased, he was definitely no match for these guys.
After all, this kind of speed was already enough to surpass ninety percent of people.
Although their speed was very fast, it didn't mean that Jiraiya in full power mode wouldn't be able to single-handedly fight these guys. After all, compared to these items that had self-awareness but were still mere appendages, Jiraiya, with so much combat experience, was incomparable.
However, Fujimaru Ritsuka, before him, wasn't dealing with just one, but as many as eleven of them. With their current state, whether they could resist the attack of these Lahmu was really hard to say.
"If only they had Teacher's Sage Mode, they would be able to rely on their senses to dodge these monsters' attacks."
Naruto, on the side, couldn't help but worry. The scene before him was simply too thrilling.
If they were forced to withdraw here due to injury, let alone stopping Tiamat, even crossing these monsters would be a problem.
Because of this, Uzumaki Naruto couldn't help but clasp his hands together, silently praying for everyone still fighting in the video.
Praying that they could reach the shore of victory.
—
〜One Punch Man World〜
"How is it possible! How can these monsters have the same level of speed as me!"
Genos looked at the analysis on the data panel and couldn't help but feel very puzzled.
As an S-Class hero, was he now unable to even compare to a group of appendages born from Tiamat? These monsters actually had their own speed…
This fact made Genos doubt himself. What did his cool exterior and abnormal strength even count for…
Genos's expression became very dejected for a time. To be honest, since he accepted the transformation, he had never received such a blow.
Even.... even if he couldn't compare to an ordinary person, it would be fine, but….. he actually couldn't compare to this group of ugly monsters.
Genos's mood hit rock bottom.
"Genos….. don't be sad…. the monsters in their world are like freaks.... we can't compare to them."
Looking at his dejected disciple beside him, Saitama, who had never known how to comfort people, felt soft-hearted for a moment and spoke stammeringly to comfort Genos.
Hearing his teacher comfort him like this, Genos's heart finally warmed up a little.
"Yes… Teacher is right."
Genos looked at the scene before him, occasionally thinking of his own speed. To be honest, among S-Class heroes, he couldn't even be counted as one of the weak ones. When he knew he had the same strength as that useless goddess, even if she was useless, Genos could barely endure that kind of pain.
But…. when he knew that the useless goddess couldn't even defeat a few Lahmu, his heart gradually collapsed.
Clearly, in this world, he hadn't won many victories, and he hadn't even been able to defeat the monsters of his own world a few times. As a result, now, he had to be humiliated in another way. At this moment, Genos could only feel deep despair in his heart.
However, after hearing Saitama's encouragement, he seemed to slowly calm down.
Teacher Saitama was right; these monsters were top-tier powerhouses in this world. Since the teacher said so, they must be powerful opponents even for him. It was normal that I couldn't beat them.
It seems I really need to work harder. I must continue to improve and become stronger under the teacher's guidance, and one day I will be able to take over the teacher's mantle and beat all these monsters off the Earth…
If Saitama heard these thoughts of Genos, he would definitely slap him on the head.
I haven't died yet, and you want to inherit my mantle? You must have some rebellious heart.
However, in the end, Saitama didn't hear it.
With these thoughts, Genos's inner ideas slowly came out of his mouth:
"Then….. Teacher, could you dodge their attacks? I suppose even you, Teacher, would find it very difficult to dodge their attacks, right?"
Poor Genos, he had to ask such a well-known question; I don't know if he was really stupid or pretending to be.
Genos, whose mood was slowly returning to normal, had his curiosity piqued again for a moment and couldn't help but ask about Saitama's situation. To him, he was very curious about how such an attack was.
"Huh? What attack…?"
Genos frowned, looking at his teacher, who had a blank expression, and he himself felt very puzzled….
Clearly, the teacher had been watching this video; did he not see the scene just now? Or did he not react at all…
Thinking this way, Genos's heart slowly felt balanced.
"It's… the blow where that black monster rushed at that silly goddess just now, Teacher, did you see it clearly…?"
That's what he thought, but Genos still explained slowly on the side. In order not to hurt the teacher's feelings, he could only speak more tactfully.
In the teacher's eyes, it turns out he couldn't see the attack that exceeded the speed of light. But that's true; even with my mechanical eyes, it was very difficult to capture that scene, and as a mortal, it was very normal for the teacher not to be able to capture it with the naked eye.
I suppose in the teacher's eyes, he probably didn't even know what was happening and just saw that black thing jump onto the face of that guy with the staff. Oh, to be so thoughtful for the teacher, I have to say, I am really a good disciple… me.
"Oh….!?"
Saitama's face appeared very confused, but in an instant, it was as if he had come back to his senses, suddenly understanding what Genos meant.
"Is it that… that blow where the guy, like a fly, flew over? To be honest, this is actually an attack…. It's clearly so slow, anyone could react to it, don't you think, Genos?"
When Saitama came back to his senses, he found that Genos was looking at him with very horrified eyes.
"Teacher…. what…. what did you say?"
Hearing Saitama's words, Genos finally couldn't hold it together anymore, twitching constantly, as if he were about to break down in the next moment.
In the teacher's eyes… it didn't even count as an attack…. this level, I am nothing more than this…..
As if some button had been triggered, Genos's eyes had completely lost their luster at this moment, just like a pile of scrap metal, collapsing directly onto the ground.
I suppose this sentence directly fried Genos's CPU.
"Hey hey…. Genos…"
Saitama finally reacted; it turned out his disciple was driven to autism by this attack.
However, by the time he reacted and wanted to change his words, it was already too late, because Genos had already slowly curled up his body, constantly crawling toward the window. When it came down to it, he wanted to jump down from the building and start over.
Fortunately, Saitama still reached out to catch him and gave him a round of psychological counseling.
It's just…. the more Genos listened, the more he wanted to start over.
He never expected that he would be driven to a mental breakdown by his own teacher.
—
『 However, in the scene at this moment.
"What kind of speed is this!"
The Lahmu before them streaked past Ishtar like lightning, so fast that it was almost impossible to perceive.
This sudden high speed made even the experienced Ishtar feel very surprised, looking at the opponent before her in disbelief.
This kind of power and speed had already far surpassed the category of ordinary mass-produced enemies; they were completely not on the same level for comparison.
"Hoo…. hoo…. hoo….!"
With the sound of breathing constantly ringing out, the Lahmu, which was like a cannonball, drew streaks of afterimages in the air, constantly shuttling past Ishtar, its movements fast and sharp. For a time, the whole scene became dazzling, making people overwhelmed.
BANG—!
In this suffocating moment of tension, facing the rain-like attacks, Ishtar relied on her agile body reflexes to quickly and accurately dodge the Lahmu's attacks one after another.
At the same time, the Heavenly Boat located on the side was not to be outdone, acting as a temporary shield and trying its best to block some of the Lahmu's fierce offensives.
However, continuing like this was obviously not a long-term solution.
If she continued to maintain such a high-intensity dodging state without counterattacking, she would eventually make a mistake due to the gradual exhaustion of her physical strength.
Therefore, relying solely on hiding to deal with the enemy was obviously not a wise choice; Ishtar was well aware of this. 』
『 .....』