Chapter 21 – Twenty-one Punch
Watching Saitama step straight toward the entrance of the dormitory, Megumi Fushiguro hurriedly called out, "Saitama, don't just walk in without any guard! Stay alert! There might be a Special Grade inside!"
"Don't order around Saitama-sensei!" Genos immediately stepped forward and retorted at Fushiguro.
Fushiguro: "..."
Having already learned about Genos's extreme Saitama-fan tendencies during their short time together, Fushiguro chose silence. He took a deep breath, formed a hand seal, and summoned his shikigami: "Divine Dog!"
The shadow on the ground boiled and shifted, taking the shape of a beast. Within two seconds, a snow-white Divine Dog materialized from the darkness.
"Oh, isn't this that dog from last time."
Saitama paused, looking at the white Divine Dog with interest. He bent down again and reached out to pet it.
The Divine Dog glanced at him and coolly turned its head away.
"Still won't let me pet you, huh." Saitama quietly withdrew his hand.
"Saitama-sensei wants to pet these two dogs." Genos once again stepped in front of Fushiguro and said, "Hey, they're your dogs, right? Let Sensei pet them."
Fushiguro: "...That's enough. My Divine Dog is for reconnaissance, not a pet! If a curse approaches, the Divine Dog will give a warning!"
"Besides, it's time to start searching for survivors. The Second Dormitory is a two-story building. Let's move quickly and confirm the juvenile inmates' status within ten minutes, and then—"
Before Fushiguro could finish, Genos interrupted him. "I can handle something like that alone. There's no need to trouble Saitama-sensei. You all can wait here."
Genos's words made Fushiguro freeze.
At that moment, the cyborg bent slightly at the waist. His long legs braced firmly apart, and a torrent of analytical data and energy positioning flashed through his golden eyes.
"Detected seven energy signatures within the building…"
"Seven?" Yuji Itadori blinked. "Weren't there five victims total? Even if all five survived, that means there are at least two curses inside?"
"Worse case scenario—if all five are already dead, then there are seven curses in this building…" Nobara Kugisaki muttered.
Genos's golden pupils spun rapidly. In a deep voice, he declared, "Saitama-sensei will stay here and pet the dog. Leave the mission to me!"
The blond cyborg bent slightly—and in the next instant, he shot forward. Sparks flew as his heels struck the ground, and his figure vanished into the depths of the dormitory.
"..."
Fushiguro and the other two fell into silence.
"Genos really does whatever he wants, huh," Saitama sighed. "Alright, let's head in too."
...
The Second Dormitory of the juvenile detention center should have been a simple two-story building, each floor containing just over a dozen rooms, along with shared facilities like bathrooms and showers.
But after walking only a few steps deeper inside, it felt as though they had crossed some invisible boundary and entered another world. The scenery before them abruptly changed.
"What is this…" Yuji Itadori gaped in shock.
Instead of a simple dormitory, a vast, rust-covered space stretched before them. Pipes of varying thickness—water pipes, sewage pipes—ran in chaotic tangles. Crooked steel walls were irregularly embedded with windows, drainage outlets, air conditioners, and wire mesh.
Walking through this place felt like being a rat scurrying through underground tunnels.
"Was the inside of the detention center always decorated like this?" Yuji asked.
"No… This is an incompletely formed Innate Domain."
Megumi Fushiguro's voice had gone dry. He scanned the surroundings and said quietly, "Curses are graded by jujutsu sorcerers. Among them, not every curse rated Special Grade can use Domain Expansion—but any curse that can use Domain Expansion will definitely be classified as Special Grade. We've already entered a domain. That means there is absolutely a Special Grade curse inside this building!"
"The domain isn't fully complete yet, but the Special Grade curse is still developing. If we're trapped here for too long, this domain will eventually finish forming and seal completely. When that happens… we might all die here."
As those words fell, everyone's expression grew grave—everyone except Saitama.
Standing at the back of the group, Saitama tilted his head and looked around at the domain, his expression unchanged as ever.
"This place is pretty spacious." he said excitedly. "This is getting interesting."
—What is wrong with him? Is he completely confident, or does he just not understand how serious this is? Fushiguro couldn't even tell anymore.
The four of them and the white dog continued forward.
As he walked, Saitama pondered.
I wonder where Genos ran off to. And this place is even bigger than I expected. Usually I just follow the sound of fighting to find the enemy, but I can't hear Genos battling at all right now…
While thinking this, Saitama suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet give way.
"Huh?"
A swamp-like black shadow suddenly spread beneath him. Saitama fell straight down into it.
"Saitama!" Fushiguro shouted in alarm. "Divine Dog! Go after him!"
"Woof!"
The white Divine Dog leapt toward Saitama and pounced onto him just before he completely sank into the darkness.
In the next second, the black shadow snapped shut like the jaws of a massive beast, instantly swallowing Saitama and the Divine Dog whole.
"What happened? Is Saitama okay?" Yuji Itadori quickly asked Megumi Fushiguro.
Fushiguro closed his eyes, sensing carefully. After a moment, he let out a slight breath of relief.
"There's no problem," he said. "I can still feel that the Divine Dog with Saitama hasn't been destroyed. They've probably been pulled into another domain."
"Another domain?" Nobara Kugisaki's eyes widened in shock. "There are two domains? Doesn't that mean—"
"That's right." Fushiguro pressed his lips together. "There's more than one Special Grade curse here."
After he finished speaking, Fushiguro noticed that neither Itadori nor Kugisaki responded. He couldn't help but glance at them.
With that single look, he saw the blood drained from their faces.
What's wrong?
Before Fushiguro could speak, Kugisaki, pale-faced, pointed behind him.
"Fushiguro, don't talk," she mouthed silently, her face white. "Slowly… walk over to our side…"
At the same time, both Kugisaki and Itadori slowly reached for their cursed tools with deliberate, cautious movements.
Fushiguro's heart trembled. He had already guessed the answer.
"It's… right behind you…"
---
"..."
Saitama stood quietly in a pitch-black space.
The Divine Dog's hind legs were planted on his shoulders, its front paws gripping tightly onto his bald head. Its tongue lolled out with a panting "hah-hah," clearly anxious from being separated from Fushiguro.
Excess saliva dripped from the Divine Dog's tongue, landing on Saitama's head before sliding down his smooth scalp, along his temples, and onto his face.
Saitama's gaze followed the droplet's path downward, then slowly lifted back up toward the top of his head.
"While this does make my head nice and warm—like I'm wearing a fur hat—are you really not getting down?" he asked.
The Divine Dog clung to Saitama's head without moving an inch, its tail even wrapping once around his neck like a fluffy white scarf. It was clearly determined not to let go.
"Alright. Suit yourself." Saitama lifted his dog-topped head and looked around. "It's so dark. I can't see anything. I wonder if Genos has been here…"
Just as Saitama muttered to himself in mild annoyance, the darkness behind him rippled like water. From the thick shadows, one bloodshot giant eyeball after another slowly emerged.
The figure that revealed itself behind Saitama was a curse radiating an intense cursed aura.
It looked like a massive lump of flesh covered in writhing tentacles. All across its surface were eyes of varying sizes, making it resemble an octopus. It silently approached Saitama, its protruding eyes nearly popping from their sockets as they fixed on him. Its tentacles crept toward his back, while the center of its fleshy body split open, forming a grotesque mouth.
"Oh?"
Saitama suddenly turned his head, his gaze landing on the octopus-like curse behind him.
The curse's tentacles were just about to touch him, but perhaps because it hadn't expected him to turn around so suddenly, the fleshy mass jerked in surprise. The advancing tentacles froze midair.
"Woof… whine…"
The Divine Dog atop Saitama's head trembled as it sensed the curse's presence, drooling even more onto Saitama's forehead.
Several drops slid down his brow. To keep the drool from getting into his eyes, Saitama reflexively shut them and began wiping his face haphazardly.
Seeing Saitama close his eyes, the octopus curse sensed an opportunity. It lunged forward violently, its tentacles turning into blurs. The massive mouth split open nearly 180 degrees, about to swallow the blind Saitama and the Divine Dog in one gulp.
"…Don't interrupt when someone's busy wiping their face!"
Still standing there with a dog perched on his bald head and his eyes half-closed, Saitama grumbled and threw a punch.
Boom!
The octopus-like Special Grade curse let out a sharp, piercing shriek. A massive hole nearly one meter in diameter was blasted straight through the center of its body. Through the gaping hole, the crumbling domain revealed the mottled walls and old wooden doors of the juvenile detention center's Second Dormitory, slowly reappearing.
Within seconds, cracks spread from the massive cavity in the curse's body. The octopus Special Grade shattered completely, disintegrating into nothingness—without leaving even a trace of ash.
"My face is covered in dog drool—almost got into my mouth."
After retracting his fist, Saitama grabbed his cape from behind and vigorously wiped his face. Once he'd cleaned himself up, he opened his eyes and looked around—then blinked in surprise.
"Oh—"
The pitch-black domain had vanished along with the defeated Special Grade curse. Before him stood the ordinary two-story Second Dormitory of the juvenile detention center.
Faint noise seemed to come from somewhere not far away. Saitama glanced in that direction.
"There's noise over there. Guess I'll head that way next." he said, immediately breaking into a run toward the sound.
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100 power stones= 1 Bonus Chapter
21 advance chapters available on {P@treon/Zynos}