"Those are some solid punches. Countless monsters have fallen to them. If it were the me from before, I probably wouldn't have been able to take it and would've collapsed by now."
Visible was the obvious collapse of Garou's left shoulder. Even the protection formed by that jet-black substance couldn't shield him; his scapula had already suffered severe damage. By all rights, he should no longer be able to fight...
"That's exactly it. Under your protection, humans live their lives without any psychological burden. With the threat of monsters gone, discrimination, bullying... war keeps expanding. Greed, arrogance, jealousy—these deep-rooted vices ingrained in the soul quietly breed, and then give rise to even more evil."
"The Hero Association you belong to is the same. After all, it sits at the center right under that protective umbrella, so of course it'll be the first thing to rot."
"Only within absolute, equal terror—only by living in fear—will humans root out these dark things and unite as one to fight for survival."
"I, who fight for world peace, will absolutely never be overturned by justice!"
"I am the God-level monster, Garou!!!"
Roaring these convictions, Garou once again underwent a transformation. The jet-black substance was stirred by his intense emotions, expanding, building, and filling out. In no time, his body grew even more massive; his muscles and even his proportions were optimized. His physical abilities began to leap forward on a geometric scale.
"...Suddenly, I feel like I'm the villain here..."
"It's simple. As long as you've hurt another person, you have to accept the punishment."
"When you carried out your so-called evil, when you gave it your all to become a monster, did you ever spare a thought for the bystanders you harmed, directly or indirectly?"
"Maybe they were working hard to earn money for their families, or maybe they just rarely went out to buy something?"
Stark and the others all heard Zodhis's words. Exactly—this was what they, as superheroes, had to do!
"That's why only by implementing absolute, equal evil, by abandoning useless entertainment products like video games, and by refocusing humanity's goal back onto survival can we—"
"Enough—"
Zodhis moved like a walking storm across the ground; everywhere he passed, white shockwaves erupted.
"I've seen through your moves! God-Slaying..."
"I've also seen through the fact that you've seen through my moves!"
Those words still echoed in Garou's ears. The God-Slaying Flash Strike was broken in an instant, and then a mighty force—resilient and continuous like flowing water, unpredictable and elusive like a whirlwind—enveloped his entire body.
Bam bam bam bam bam————
In midair, the enormous demonic body of the monsterized Garou was instantly covered in deep, distinct fist imprints. He was like a ragged doll that, under the ravages of overwhelming power, would soon be torn to shreds.
Then, Zodhis's Dark Knight armor began to flash a red light signaling danger, especially the energy timer on his chest... no, the energy reactor on his chest.
One glance was enough to tell anyone something was wrong with his armor.
Boom——!
"Th-this... is this Zodhis's true strength...?"
The expressions on the S-class heroes were perfectly frozen in a state of stupefaction. They couldn't keep up with Zodhis's speed at all; all they could see was Garou spasming through the air as if having a seizure, before being blasted into the ground.
And in those two brief yet brutal exchanges, they had been utterly unable to visually track the battle.
Absolute speed, terrifying attack power—this meant that if Garou wanted to, dealing with the S-class heroes present was just a matter of time.
And Zodhis... it seemed like he'd taken down Garou in just a few seconds, too. So they themselves would probably all be defeated the very instant they saw it happen...
"Cough, cough... this... this is what I feared most..."
"Power... wielded in the name of... justice... indiscriminately... rejecting anyone who's different."
Though his voice was faint and his speech had become halting, even with his monsterized body almost completely destroyed, Garou somehow still staggered and crawled out of the deep crater.
"I was... just one step away..."
Garou stared at the red light flickering unsteadily on Zodhis's armor.
That armor must have reached its limit too. He just had to endure a little longer, or become even stronger!
A feeling called sorrow began to spread in all directions, as if he were about to climb over a cliff edge only to see a hundred people lining up to jump off it right above him.
Hope was clearly right before his eyes, yet he could never grasp it.
Strength, speed, reaction time, martial arts technique, battlefield awareness... This was the first time Garou had been utterly crushed. No, the exact same thing had happened before, and it was eerily similar to now.
Martial arts couldn't possibly lose to technology, so the difference must be between the individuals themselves.
Just then, the energy light on Zodhis's Dark Knight armor abruptly went out.
The entire scene instantly froze.
On the superheroes' side, it was: We're done for!
Could Zodhis's armor have run out of energy?!
Granted, for that armor to have lasted this long was already a miracle—and a testament to Zodhis's sheer strength. But couldn't it have run out of energy after he'd finished off this monster?
Garou was somewhat uncertain. After all, who knew if this was Zodhis baiting him, and the moment he moved in, he'd get a one-hit kill...
With that thought, Garou kicked a surviving Demon-level monster toward Zodhis.
Zodhis cleanly smashed the Demon-level monster with two punches.
"He's finished!"
The Dragon-level monsters who had escaped the earlier freezing were overjoyed. Psykos, even more so, took control of a Demon-level monster and sent it charging in to test the waters.
As a result, this time Zodhis was easily struck; his armor cracked, and nanometal fell to the ground in pieces as if it had lost all energy.
Surrounded by countless enemies, Zod dropped to one knee. The Dark Knight armor on his body—armor so mighty it had struck terror into countless foes—could finally no longer withstand all those attacks and shattered apart.
"Hahahaha, Zod, your mighty battle armor has been broken! What awaits you now is death!"
The Dragon-level monsters were wild with joy. They knew they'd won, because Zod had always relied on his powerful battle armor to fight enemies; he himself was just an ordinary person.
The superheroes' faces were all masks of despair, but waiting to die was impossible for them.
They forced themselves to their feet, ready to fight to the bitter end!
"Damn it, I..."
Zod stood up, his whole body trembling. The Dragon-level monsters erupted in howling laughter.
"The battle armor that sealed my own immense power... you actually shattered it!"
"What?!!"
In the monsters' stupefied gazes, Zod, his armor broken, began to radiate a golden light from his entire body.
Zodhis floated up into the air, looking down upon the monsters from high above. His cape billowed on its own, though there was no wind, and a faint, overwhelming pressure emanated from him.
/-\
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