Facing such a powerful enemy, Kaito's heart remained calm.
With Saitama standing behind him, there was nothing to fear.
More importantly, the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist he had recently mastered—specifically designed to counter direct, brute-force combat—was the perfect weapon against humanoid monsters like the Insect God.
The monster sneered as Kaito stepped forward without hesitation.
"Seeking death, are you?"
Its massive arm, plated with thick armor and heavy as a battering ram, came crashing down with a terrifying shriek that split the air.
That strike carried enough force to flatten a tank into scrap.
But Kaito's movements were as fluid as water, seamless and effortless.
Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist · Power Absorption!
In the instant the giant fist descended, his body slipped aside at an impossible angle. To the Insect God, it was as if his attack had sunk into the ocean and vanished without a trace.
The strike that could split mountains and shatter stone was dispersed, redirected, and dissolved into nothing.
Kaito's clothes barely fluttered in the wind of the blow.
"What?!" Insect God's three compound eyes widened in disbelief.
Before it could recover—before new strength could gather—Kaito countered.
Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist · Penetrating Strike!
His palm tapped lightly against the monster's chest armor. There was no earth-shattering crash, no dramatic explosion. Instead, a condensed, high-frequency shockwave drilled straight through the steel-hard carapace.
It ignored the armor entirely and tore into the fragile organs within.
"Pfft—!"
Insect God's body seized, a mouthful of dark green blood and fragments of its insides spraying from its jaws. Pain ripped through its body like lightning. For the first time, genuine fear flickered in its eyes.
"Impossible! My defense—!" it roared in panic.
Then, crouching low, it unleashed a desperate transformation. Steam hissed from cracks in its armor.
Iron Wall Mode · Release!
"Click… click… click…" The carapace writhed, reshaping itself like a living thing. In the blink of an eye, four new muscular insect arms tore out, and the monster's power surged.
With a furious bellow, it launched its ultimate technique:
Six-Arm Secret Art · Mountain Breaker!
Six fists blurred through the air, hammering down like avalanches.
Yet Kaito stood unshaken.
Hard and Soft Domain · Open!
Within a ten-meter radius, the air thickened, turning heavy and viscous, forming an invisible Tai Chi force field. The crimson Qi mingled seamlessly with the essence of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist—soft and hard, flowing in endless cycles.
Insect God felt its body sink as though trapped in a quagmire. Every movement grew sluggish, its strikes subtly pulled and deflected.
Worse, the very field it struggled against borrowed its own force, bending it back upon itself.
Bang!
Crack!
Two-thirds of the power behind its punches rebounded into its own body.
With every blow, armor splintered and bones cracked, echoing like breaking branches.
In only a handful of exchanges, the proud monster was reduced to a pitiful wreck. Its boasting, its arrogance—all silenced.
Its impenetrable armor had been pierced.
Its overwhelming strength had been absorbed and turned against it.
Everything it relied upon was nothing before Kaito's mastery.
Terror gripped its heart like a venomous snake.
Ding! Ghost-level monster Insect God has developed absolute fear toward the host. Deterrence Points +300.
"Cut… Cutting King! Help me—!"
It shrieked in desperation, turning its massive head toward its ally.
But then it froze.
Its words died in its throat.
What it saw shattered every last shred of courage.
Gone.
No—not gone. A body remained.
A headless corpse, collapsed at the feet of the bald man in the ridiculous yellow suit.
Blood spurted from the severed neck, spreading in a crimson tide across the ground.
An instant kill.
Absolute. Overwhelming. Unquestionable.
Insect God's body went cold, thoughts freezing solid as fear drowned its mind.
That bald man they had mocked—what kind of monster was he?
And King—what kind of monster was he?
In its final moment of awareness, only Kaito's eyes remained. Cold as eternal ice, burning with crimson Qi.
And beneath it all, the deep, booming roar of the Emperor Engine:
Dong. Dong. Dong.
Like a death knell.
…
Deep within the monster's lair.
"Wonderful… truly wonderful…"
Great Eyes floated mid-air, its voice dripping with mockery.
"However, King, I have now mastered all your combat data!"
Through its countless tiny clones—It scattered throughout the tunnels—it had observed Kaito's battle with the Insect God in vivid detail.
The exquisite Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.
The strange Hard and Soft Domain.
The bone-rattling Emperor Engine.
All had been carefully recorded.
"Rover!" Great Eyes suddenly barked, its voice shaking the cavern walls.
"Go deal with King—and that bald man in the yellow suit!"
Howl—!!!
A deafening roar thundered from the depths, rattling the underground palace to its core.
The earth quaked. Stones rained from above.
Then, from the darkness, a terrifying beast emerged—its body massive as a mountain.
Rover.
This Dragon-level calamity was covered in coarse, jet-black fur, each strand as sharp and unyielding as steel.
Six burning eyes glowed on its monstrous head, each one radiating soul-crushing pressure.
Every time its colossal limbs struck the ground, craters several meters wide formed beneath its paws.
"Go, Rover," Great Eyes sneered.
"Show them true power."
Howl—!
With another roar, Rover lunged forward like an unstoppable train.
The walls of the tunnel collapsed in its wake.
Low-tier monsters who couldn't flee were crushed into pulp or torn apart by flying debris.
Screams filled the lair. Blood and flesh splattered the walls.
At the same time.
Kaito stood beside Insect God's mangled corpse, the roar of the Emperor Engine slowly subsiding.
Ding! Ghost-level monster Insect God eliminated. Deterrence Points +500.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
Eight hundred points from a single Ghost-level foe—not a bad harvest.
"King, are you done over there?" Saitama asked casually, brushing dust off his gloves. He pointed at the headless corpse of Cutting King.
"This guy was too weak. Didn't even break a sweat."
Kaito was about to respond with a quip when—
Dong! Dong! Dong!
The Emperor Engine thundered in his chest without warning.
A suffocating wave of danger flooded his senses.
His head snapped up. From the far end of the tunnel, a vast black shadow surged closer with terrifying speed.
That aura. That pressure.
"Rover…" Kaito's pupils contracted.
Without hesitation, he stepped in front of Saitama, shielding him.
From the darkness, six burning eyes glared like crimson moons.
The beast opened its jaws wide. Deep in its throat, a blinding red glow gathered—
Incineration Breath.
An attack powerful enough to obliterate the entire tunnel in a single blast.
At that exact moment—
"Sit."
Saitama's voice cut through the tension, flat and impatient.
And then—
BOOM!!!
A blur. A fist.
Rover's massive body convulsed under an irresistible strike, its six eyes bulging in shock.
Howl—!
The Dragon-level monster let out a pitiful wail as it was swatted away like a ragdoll.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Its body smashed through layer after layer of rock, disappearing into the depths of the earth.
The ground trembled violently. A massive pit, a hundred meters across, yawned where it had fallen—bottomless, choked with dust.
Kaito blinked, his vision a blur of black shadows and scattered rubble. He caught the faint sound of a dog's whimper vanishing into the abyss.
When the dust finally cleared, Saitama stood casually at the edge of the pit, retracting his fist.
He scratched his bald head, looking mildly annoyed.
"So noisy. Stupid dog."
Kaito: "…"