Five minutes earlier, in Z-City.
"I am Pluton, King of the Underworld. You foolish humans—full of intelligence, yet you have no restraint. You never stop producing garbage. It disgusts me."
"Today, I'll flatten the entire surface of your world and wipe out every last one of you revolting creatures!"
A colossal pig—taller than a mountain, so huge that even skyscrapers dozens of stories high could only reach its calves—rampaged through Z-City without a care.
"Be destroyed, you small fry!"
Pluton opened his massive mouth. In the next instant, countless high-rises and towers were swallowed up like a storm devouring everything in its path, sucked straight into his cavernous snout and instantly digested into energy.
Inorganic matter, organic matter— אפילו the energy particles drifting in the air—everything was inhaled clean, leaving nothing behind.
"Monster disaster assessment complete: Dragon-level!"
"Hurry—go to Hero Association headquarters and request Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror!"
High above, a Hero Association staffer watched from a distance, clutching a detector made by Child Emperor. He stared at the absurd readings, sweat dripping down his forehead. In his mind, there was only one person who could deal with a threat like this—especially now that Jovian and Blast were both nowhere to be found.
"Got it, sir. I've already contacted HQ. They said they're sending Tatsumaki to Z-City immediately!"
Beside the older staffer—who looked to be in his thirties, seasoned, cigarette hanging from his mouth—a younger newcomer (barely into his twenties) held a super-satellite phone developed by Metal Knight, reporting back.
"HQ also said that before Tatsumaki arrives, we should dispatch nearby heroes and stall that monster as much as possible."
"I understand. Then issue an emergency mobilization order and an evacuation order at the same time—get heroes moving while civilians evacuate. We have to keep the damage to an absolute minimum—huh?"
Mid-sentence, the older staffer froze as the energy detector in his hand spiked with a set of bizarre, overwhelming readings.
"Wait. What is this strange… insanely powerful signature?"
"Don't tell me… he's back…"
He lowered the detector, raised binoculars, and looked toward the top of Pluton's head.
In his scope, a man in a white fur coat hovered in the sky, arms folded across his chest, perfectly still.
"Tell HQ Z-City doesn't need reinforcements anymore."
He lowered the binoculars and spoke to the newcomer beside him.
"Sir… did something happen? Why don't we need HQ's help? Z-City is facing a Dragon-level monster!"
The young staffer looked completely lost—he still had no idea what was going on.
"Because the fight is about to end."
"The strongest hero—the one who defeated a God-level monster and protected Earth's people…"
"The one called Freedom—no… the Godslayer…"
"Lord Jovian is back."
The older staffer's eyes burned with fanatic devotion.
"Jovian is back…"
"The strongest hero!"
It wasn't just him. Everyone aboard the aircraft—the young staffer, the pilot—every single person had the same feverish look in their eyes.
That was the current state of the Hero Association, and of humanity as a whole: awestruck by Jovian's strength, worshipping it.
"Who are you?"
Pluton had also noticed the human speck buzzing in front of him. In a hoarse, domineering voice, he demanded an answer.
"Ah…"
"My head hurts…"
The man in the white fur coat didn't even acknowledge Pluton's question. He rubbed his forehead, wearing a faintly pained expression.
"Did you not hear me? Insignificant human—the great King of the Underworld is questioning you!"
"Tell me who you are!"
"And why can a tiny human like you fly so freely in the sky?!"
Fog and cloud burst from Pluton's nostrils as he continued to interrogate him.
"Why do you have so many questions?"
"Can't you see my head is pounding?"
The instant the man finished speaking, he threw a punch straight at the enormous pig monster's head.
The fist tore through the air. Friction ignited it like it was wrapped in flame, carrying unstoppable force as it thundered toward Pluton's face.
"Uh…"
Pluton stared at that plain-looking punch.
In a heartbeat, that fist—no bigger than a fist should be—seemed to expand in his perception until it was as massive as a mountain peak.
His instincts screamed warnings. The warnings condensed into a single word that filled his mind and would not leave:
Death.
"So… I'm going to die."
Pluton watched the punch he couldn't evade, already touching his cheek. He understood, with perfect clarity, that his long, long life had finally reached its end.
BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, the moment the world's strongest hero—Jovian—landed that punch on Pluton's head…
…a spray of ketchup-like gore rained down—
—and Pluton's entire upper body vanished as if it had never existed.
"You talk too much," Jovian said coldly, pulling back the fist that still steamed with heat.
"If you were smart enough, you would've dropped to your knees and begged the moment you saw me."
"But considering you're a pig… it's normal that you don't have a brain."
"It's Jovian!"
"Jovian saved us!"
"The strongest hero in the world!"
From beneath the rubble, countless civilians looked up at the sacred, untouchable figure hovering in the sunlight—the one who had erased the King of the Underworld—and shouted their praise at the top of their lungs.
"…"
Jovian listened to the cheers without saying a word.
After killing the Dragon-level monster Pluton, he didn't leave. He simply hovered there in silence, as if waiting for something.
"Jovian—why did you come back so late?"
"You're too slow! Too slow! Too slow!"
A few minutes later, a sharp, high-pitched voice reached Jovian's ears, and only then did he slowly open his eyes.
Floating in front of him was a tiny woman wrapped in a green glow, her hair curling in thick, octopus-like spirals. Arms crossed, she stared at him with open irritation.
"Tatsumaki. Go back to the Hero Association. I have something to discuss with you."
Jovian finished speaking, turned, and ripped through the air toward the Hero Association headquarters in A-City—leaving Tatsumaki behind in his wake.
"I'm going to kill him!"
Tatsumaki cursed under her breath and shot after him.
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