The anger was still burning, but now it was mixed with a confusion he couldn't understand.
What… did this little bug… do?
The instant the core shattered, it wasn't silent at all. As that basketball-sized energy core turned to dust between Saitama's fingers, the enormous power stored inside lost its restraint. Like a balloon being punctured, it burst out violently. A visible shockwave mixed with rubble and dust expanded outward in a ring, tossing the dirt on the ground high into the air. There wasn't an ear-splitting explosion, but the intense energy radiation swept across the entire battlefield as if it had substance.
The first to be hit was Hulk, the closest one.
The rage he'd been bottling up from a bitter, drawn-out fight—under the fierce stimulation of that outside energy—was like gasoline being poured on a fire. With a boom, it completely snapped out of control! The alien aura within the energy wave wildly provoked his already unstable nerves.
"ROOOAARRR!!!"
Hulk's eyes instantly turned blood-red—redder than in any past state of fury. His muscles swelled even further, veins bulging beneath green skin like coiling dragons. He lost the last shred of reason. He even forgot the rock monster from moments ago, forgot the cause of the fight entirely.
Right now, the only thing in his field of view was that tiny bald creature who had just crushed the core—still carrying the disgusting energy scent that made Hulk violently, instinctively enraged!
Destroy! Tear apart!
Only the most primitive instinct remained in Hulk's mind.
He slammed a massive foot into the ground, stamping a deep crater. His huge body shot forward like a cannonball, carrying the momentum to annihilate everything, charging straight at Saitama's back as Saitama was about to leave. A fist the size of a bowl, packed with terrifying force—enough to smash a main battle tank into a thin metal pancake—ripped through the air and hammered toward the back of Saitama's head!
If that punch landed, forget a human—an entire reinforced concrete building would be pierced straight through in an instant.
The pressure of the fist-wind pressed down, blowing Saitama's tracksuit tight against his back.
But at the critical moment, Saitama seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Extremely naturally he shifted half a step to the side.
Just that tiny half-step made Hulk's furious, killing blow miss by a hair's breadth, grazing past Saitama and striking nothing. The punch landing in empty air created a sonic boom that made the remaining glass windows in the distance buzz and tremble.
Missing once only made Hulk more frenzied. His other fist swept in almost at the same time, trying to break Saitama in half.
Saitama leaned aside again, movements smooth as if he'd rehearsed them countless times. Hulk's punch missed again.
Hulk let out a mad roar. His fists rained down like a howling storm, every hit carrying power enough to split mountains and shatter stone. But Saitama slipped through the dense storm of fist shadows like a ghost—each time moving the smallest possible distance at exactly the right moment, letting every one of Hulk's attacks fall into empty space.
His expression didn't change at all. Still that plain, slightly bored look, like he was just avoiding a light drizzle that didn't matter.
"Hey, big guy. Are you done yet?" Saitama said as he dodged with ease, sounding like he was breaking up a fight. "The enemy's already gone. Calm down."
But to a Hulk who'd completely lost his mind, those words were nothing but fuel on the fire.
Seeing he couldn't land a hit, Hulk flung his arms wide in fury, trying to grab this slippery little bug and crush him…
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!] [[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]