Needless to say, the tide of the battle shifted completely in everyone's favor once Aura joined in.
She wasn't just strong; she was overkill. And the scariest part? She still had plenty of untapped potential to grow.
It was no surprise then that this A-rank monster boss, despite its immense vitality, felt its very cells scream in agony with every blow Aura landed.
Ultimately, its ability to adapt simply couldn't keep pace with Aura's raw, pure power.
The more it was beaten, the more it teetered on the brink of death, desperately trying to recover just enough to be punched again by Aura.
"I feel like we're totally redundant now that she's stepped in," Violet said with a deadpan expression, watching Aura relentlessly pummel the wretched creature.
"I can't believe that thing was actually giving us a hard time a moment ago. The 'Superman' of this verse is incredible," Abaric remarked, voice thick with exhaustion.
"Superman? You know Superman?" Reito looked at Abaric, confused.
"Superman? Who's that?"
"Huh? You just said his name!"
"What name?? What are you talking about, kid?"
Reito felt like he might also be suffering from delusions, just like Kai.
Standing nearby, Baron watched the one-sided massacre and clenched his fists.
'She's so strong... I've been looking like a total clown this whole time. I couldn't even land a killing blow, and I almost got killed myself.'
Uh-oh, it looked like his Vegeta was taking a serious hit.
The monster grew more battered by the second—beaten so badly its own mother wouldn't recognize it.
Its tentacles were rendered as useless as skewers. It had to do something... anything to change the course of this fight!
Ting!
A familiar sound echoed, drawing everyone's attention to a nearby chest.
This was its chance and It didn't wait.
"?!" Aura saw it vanish instantly, then looked toward where it was bolting.
The monster lunged at the chest, desperate and pleading, and flung it open. Immediately, its body began to knit back together. Its power surged at a dizzying rate. Most notably, it began to grow... a mouth... then breasts... then thighs... and—
"What is that?" Kanna asked, bewildered.
"That's the chest that sucked Kai in! If it's granting power like this, there's a high chance Kai has been used as the 'ingredient'!!" Baron said through gritted teeth.
"What?!"
Aura glared at the evolved monster. The creature smirked and locked eyes with her.
"Come at me—"
WHAM!
A single punch buried itself deep into its stomach. The monster froze, stunned, before vomiting up a disgusting fluid.
"Whoa, so even if it gets stronger, it's still useless? Why were we even worried?" Abaric quipped.
After delivering the blow, Aura glanced at her hand and then back at the beast. The monster recovered after a moment of agony. It was still in pain, but it could still fight.
'Its skin is tougher... its adaptation has improved... No doubt about it, it's significantly stronger than before.'
The monster suddenly sprouted thousands of tentacles, thrusting them toward Aura at supersonic speeds.
Aura dodged them all effortlessly and wound up for another strike. This time, prepared, the monster blocked with a mass of tentacles, only to have them shattered.
They regrew instantly, and the creature let out a triumphant laugh.
"I'm finally adapting to your strength!"
Aura raised an eyebrow. Light began to condense in both of her hands with terrifying intensity.
She unleashed a dual-fist strike, left and right. The monster's body was blown apart, leaving only its lower half behind.
"...Did we get it—?" Kanna started.
"OI! DON'T SAY THAT!"
True to the jinx, the monster regenerated instantly.
"See?! It's already back!" The group glared at Kanna.
"Why are you looking at me like it was my fault??"
The situation was looking grim. Even though Aura could one-hit the thing, it kept coming back with even greater pressure. It was already hard to kill; now it seemed impossible.
"Hehe... You can't kill me... I am invincible! Invincible!!" it declared with extreme arrogance.
The chest really shouldn't have given it a mouth; it was getting way too full of itself.
"Invincible?"
Aura's voice rang out, drawing everyone's attention. She looked at the monster with a gaze full of pity—as if she hadn't considered it a serious threat for a single second.
"You call that invincible? Just because you're hard to kill?"
"Hehe... Exactly... As long as I live, I adapt... The more I adapt, the stronger I become... until I become the strongest of all... and you will be nothing more than a lowly speck for me to crush..."
Truly foul-mouthed for a monster. Aura listened in silence for a long moment, then she laughed.
"Hahaha!"
"...?"
It was the first time any of them had seen Aura laugh. A chill went down their spines. Something was very, very wrong.
"Hahahahaha!"
"You... what are you laughing at?!"
"No, no... it's just... hahaha... the way you think about 'Invincibility' is such a joke..."
She wiped a tear from her eye and smiled cheerfully at the beast.
"What you're describing isn't 'Invincibility'—it's 'Growth.' You're just trying to grow to a point where people think you're so strong they call you invincible. But nobody actually understands what that word means. They just slap the label on anyone who's never lost."
She leaned in, her gaze sharpening.
"To me, 'Invincible' means it is impossible to lose. It means having no rivals. It's a concept that sits even above 'Omnipotence.' The word 'Strong' doesn't even come close to 'Invincible.'"
"No matter how powerful the opponent, the Invincible one will always be the winner in the end. In fact, to an Invincible person, calling them 'Strong' is actually an insult to their power."
"The strongest? Are you kidding? Invincibility doesn't have a concept of 'Strength.' It only has the concept of Winning."
Her eyes glowed brilliantly as she flashed a confident, predatory smile.
"And I always win."
...Gojo Satoru? Is that you??
The monster stood frozen, stunned by Aura's absolute, borderline extremist confidence. Then, it flew into a rage. To be this arrogant! It refused to accept losing to this girl.
"Damn, that was actually kind of cool."
"If she says 'Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the honored one,' she'll basically be the Buddha," someone whispered.
The monster roared, unleashing a terrifying aura.
It was truly going all out to kill Aura once and for all.
Aura stood there and start aura farming, she raised a single hand.
"To show you what 'Invincible' really looks like... I'll activate my Skill."
Hearing this, Violet flinched, her face pale with fear.
"What's wrong?" Reito asked, seeing her tremble.
"She... she's about to use it... The ability that makes even my own Skill useless against her..."
"What?" Reito was more confused than ever.
"SHUT UP AND DIE!!!!" the monster screamed.
It gathered a massive orb of energy in its hands, winds howling violently, and fired it directly at Aura. This attack was even more powerful than her previous punches—enough to erase a city in an instant.
"Activate," Aura's voice whispered softly.
Her red hair shifted to a vibrant orange, standing on end like a roaring flame.
Her clothes were instantly incinerated, leaving her completely nude... well, not quite. The flames, for some reason, acted as a veil, obscuring everything sensitive.
From her raised hand, she fired a beam of energy hotter than the sun itself. It tore through the monster's energy blast like paper, sliced through the beast, and pierced straight through the atmosphere.
And yeah... the monster took the full hit.
Without even a chance for final words, it was vaporized. Not a single speck of dust remained.
"...The 'Superman' of this verse is definitely Aura."
'...Is this the difference between an A-rank skill and an S-rank skill?' Baron thought, sweat pouring down his face as he looked at her silhouette.
Aura, with her glowing orange eyes, stood tall as the eternal flames continued to rise around her.
Invincible (S): You cannot lose.