"Hahaha..." Beast King's laughter came out forced. Strained. "Surprisingly—some skill!"
The massive lion took a deep breath.
His blood boiled. Heart pounding like a war drum. Full power mode engaged.
His body swelled—muscles expanding, frame enlarging until he stood three times his previous size. Fifteen meters of enhanced predator towering over the arena.
"Then test the King's FULL POWER!"
Beast King's claws extended to their absolute limit—gleaming blades longer than swords.
"LION SLASHES: METEOR SHOWER!!"
A hurricane of slashing strikes erupted. Each swing generated warship-cleaving force—compressed air blades carving through space faster than the eye could track. The ground bore the brunt instantly, alloy floor shredding like paper.
Accumulated energy detonated.
Smoke engulfed both figures.
"You know," Jordan's voice drifted through the haze, "shouting the technique name really does give a damage bonus!"
The smoke cleared.
Jordan floated in midair, blue psychic flames wreathing his entire body. Completely unharmed.
Beast King's crimson eyes went wide with incomprehension.
His body took another half-step backward without conscious thought.
"Then I'll give it a try!"
Jordan raised one fist.
"Wait—wait a minute—"
"ORA!!"
A simple punch.
The air around Jordan's fist shrieked—vacuum forming, atmosphere collapsing inward. Distorted ripples exploded outward in concentric rings.
Beast King, bearing the full brunt of the strike, left the world with an expression of pure terror frozen on his leonine features.
His upper body converted to red mist. Instantly. Completely.
The mangled lower half crashed to the ground.
Before the blood mist could even drift downward, the molecular bonds holding the physical matter together eroded—magnetic field disruption at the atomic level.
The spray vanished into nothing.
[Fate card draw count +1]
Armed Gorilla: "..."
Dr. Genus: "..."
Every clone in the facility: "..."
Silence.
Absolute. Complete. Stunned silence.
F-boy detached from Jordan's body—pale purple Stand materializing fully. It reached down, extracted Beast King's struggling soul with one hand, and crushed the spiritual energy into card form.
Jordan descended, floating directly in front of Armed Gorilla.
"Alright. Your turn."
Armed Gorilla froze for exactly one second.
Then it ripped off its helmet.
A gorilla head covered in sweat appeared—expression surprisingly earnest despite the obvious terror.
"My sincerest apologies!" The voice was nothing like the mechanical monotone from before—this was emotional, expressive, almost pleading. "Is it too late to apologize now?"
Jordan blinked.
"Wow. You read the situation fast."
He lowered his raised fist. Honestly, the big gorilla looked pretty harmless up close. Fresh from the production line, probably hadn't even committed any crimes yet.
Letting it live wasn't a bad call.
"Thank you! Thank you so much, sir!" Armed Gorilla flashed what could only be described as a husky's dopey grin—all teeth and desperate gratitude. It immediately dropped into a crouch, head bowed low. "Thank you for forgiving my transgressions! Thank you for sparing my life!!"
"I might spare you," Jordan said, crossing his arms. "But can you at least speak properly? Where'd the robot voice go?"
Armed Gorilla immediately performed a perfect dogeza—full prostration, forehead slamming into the alloy floor with a resounding THUNK.
"I'm sorry! I was just showing off!"
"...Then recover."
"Huh?" Armed Gorilla looked up cautiously. "Oh—okay!"
"Ahem."
Making absolutely certain it hadn't misheard, Armed Gorilla sat up, cleared its throat, and spoke in a much more natural—if muffled—voice:
"Reporting, sir. Is... is this acceptable?"
"Perfect. Though if we keep this up much longer, readers will complain about word-count padding."
Jordan waved dismissively. "Step back."
Armed Gorilla's eyes lit up like it had just received a pardon from execution.
It bowed respectfully—actually grabbed its fallen helmet before retreating—and then bolted.
Speed completely disproportionate to its massive frame. One second visible, the next gone.
The two clones who'd been standing near the entrance got blown backward by the windstorm of Armed Gorilla's panicked sprint. They couldn't even see the exhaust trail.
"That... that spineless bastard!"
Dr. Genus stood outside the combat arena, fingers gripping the doorframe white-knuckled.
One of his two most capable lieutenants: killed instantly.
The other: defected to save its own skin.
Expected? Perhaps. But it still wounded his pride deeply.
Beast King dying in battle—that was one thing. Warriors fell in combat. It happened.
But Armed Gorilla committing the cowardly act of switching sides mid-battle?
Dr. Genus nearly had a stroke.
"Has Carnage Kabuto arrived yet?!" he demanded.
"Should be on the way!" a clone called back.
Dr. Genus took a deep breath. Forced himself to calm down.
Beast King couldn't even survive one punch. Just... exploded. Molecular disintegration.
If they substituted Carnage Kabuto—the ultimate weapon with comprehensive performance upgrades across every metric—
Maybe it could last a little longer?
Now they could only hope the cooperation offer was genuine.
One minute later.
The buzzing of insect wings echoed down the corridor.
The massive brown beetle flew into the combat space at high speed.
Clones at the entrance scrambled out of the way. Dr. Genus stood frozen, heart hammering against his ribs, until Carnage Kabuto passed and he could finally breathe again.
Thank God. Survived another encounter.
Strictly speaking, Carnage Kabuto's creation was both success and failure.
It truly possessed all the extraordinary capabilities a "new human" should have. Combat superiority, enhanced senses, devastating power. Undeniable success.
But its massive personality flaws rendered it nothing more than an uncontrolled killing machine. Which meant, ultimately, it remained a failure.
THUD.
Carnage Kabuto landed.
Its gaze swept the arena, immediately recognizing the half-corpse on the floor.
"What?" The beetle's voice carried genuine surprise. "Beast King died before he even got to fight me?"
A dismissive snort.
"As expected. Defective product."
Its attention shifted to Jordan.
"So. You're my opponent this time? The so-called human hero?"
Carnage Kabuto rubbed its armored hands together, cruel anticipation spreading across its insectoid features.
"Are you ready to die at the hands of my completed New Human form?"
"Ready?" It crouched slightly, predatory stance. "Let's begin!"
Compared to Beast King, Carnage Kabuto radiated pure viciousness. Tyrannical, unpredictable nature. Enjoyed torturing and killing the weak for entertainment.
Drape it in a stars-and-stripes cape and you could call it a beetle-shaped Homelander without irony.
"Would you like to unleash Asura Mode first?"
Carnage Kabuto froze mid-stance.
How did he know?
The top-secret transformation—information that existed nowhere outside Dr. Genus's research notes—
"Eh..." Confusion flickered across the beetle's face. "How do you know I have that form?"
Unlike Dr. Genus with his layers of cunning, Carnage Kabuto was simply bewildered.
"Because if you're not serious," Jordan said calmly, "you might die instantly."
He gestured toward Beast King's half-destroyed corpse.
"Just like that."
Carnage Kabuto went silent.
Its mandibles twitched. Expression gradually contorting.
"Hey." The voice came out dangerous. "Were you just mocking me?"
"THEN GO TO HELL!!"
The second half of the sentence hadn't even finished echoing before Carnage Kabuto transformed into a brown blur—appearing behind Jordan in a fraction of a heartbeat, massive right fist raised high, already descending toward Jordan's skull—
Jordan turned his head slightly.
Their eyes met.
The savage grin on Carnage Kabuto's face stopped dead.