***
**Hero Association HQ - The Training Dojo**
**Time: Early Morning**
Atomic Samurai (Kamikaze) sat in meditative silence. A straw he was chewing twitched.
"Something is wrong," the S-Class Rank 4 hero murmured.
Bang (Silver Fang), who was stretching nearby, cracked his back. "Wrong? Did you lose a bet?"
"No," Atomic Samurai opened his eyes. They were sharp. Focused. "I sense a blade. Not here. In City Z."
He stood up.
"It calls to me. It isn't folded steel. It isn't a laser blade. It feels... foreign. Dirty. Heavy."
He grabbed his katana.
"A sword that smells of death," Atomic narrowed his eyes. "If a monster is wielding such a weapon, I must cut it."
***
**City Z - Saitama's Apartment**
**The "Meeting of the Minds"**
"So," Saitama pointed at the TV. "If you press Down-Down-Up, you unlock the secret cat outfit?"
"Correct," King said, controller in hand. "But you need to collect all 50 Yarn Balls first."
Saitama groaned. "Collecting stuff is a pain. Can't I just punch the locked door?"
Genos sat in the kitchen. He was currently using **Yami's Katana** as a conducting rod.
"Experiment 45," Genos announced. "Attempting to channel 'Wi-Fi' through the Dark Magic residue."
Genos held his **Cyber-Grimoire** next to the sword.
**"Syncing..."** the Grimoire's digital voice chimed.
The sword vibrated. *Grumble.* It released a puff of smoke.
"Warning," Genos noted. "The Sword is requesting a nicotine patch. It is suffering from withdrawal."
*KNOCK. KNOCK. SLAM.*
The door wasn't opened. It was diced.
*Slash-slash-slash.*
The metal door fell into neat, 1-inch squares. Atomic Samurai stood in the hallway, hand on his hilt. Behind him were his three disciples: Iaian, Okamaitachi, and Bushidrill.
"I have arrived," Atomic Samurai declared. "To test the blade."
Saitama looked at his destroyed door.
"That's the third door this month," Saitama said, his soul withering. "Do you guys know how much installation costs?"
***
**The Blade Test**
Atomic Samurai ignored the bald man. His eyes locked onto the black, chipped katana lying on the kitchen table next to Genos.
"That's it," Atomic whispered. "The aura... it's thick. It feels like standing in a swamp."
"It's from the Clover Kingdom," Genos explained, standing up. "It belongs to a man named Yami. Do not touch it. It has an attitude."
"Hah!" Atomic scoffed. "A sword has no master until it is conquered! I am the greatest swordsman! Watch me tame it!"
Atomic Samurai marched over. He reached for the handle.
"Hmpf!" He gripped it.
*ZZZZZT.*
Purple lightning exploded from the handle.
"Guh?!" Atomic grit his teeth. "Resistance?! Heavy... so heavy!"
The sword wasn't physically heavy to him. It was *conceptually* heavy. It was rejecting him.
Inside the sword, Yami's lingering will (Ki) assessed Atomic Samurai:
*Posture: Rigid.*
*Vibe: Try-hard.*
*Humor: None.*
*Verdict: Get lost, ponytail.*
"It rejects me?!" Atomic sweated. He pulled harder. "I am Atomic! I cut atoms! Yield to me!"
The sword didn't yield. Instead, the shadow of a massive, muscular man appeared behind the sword. The shadow took a drag of a cigarette and blew smoke in Atomic's face.
"Cough! Hack!" Atomic stumbled back, letting go. "Psychic poison?! No... tobacco smoke?!"
Iaian drew his sword. "Master! That weapon is demonic! We must destroy it!"
***
**The Engine Starts**
"Umm..." King raised his hand from the couch. "Can we keep it down? We're on a stealth level."
Atomic Samurai looked at King.
He realized King was sitting right next to the Cursed Sword.
"King," Atomic said gravely. "You are the Strongest Man. Can *you* lift it?"
King froze. The controller slipped from his sweaty hands.
*Oh no,* King thought. *Not again. If I touch it, I'll cut my finger. Or drop it on my foot.*
"I... I have no need for weapons," King bluffed, standing up slowly to reach for his soda. "I am passing."
But as he reached for the soda, his hand hovered over the katana hilt.
*DOOM. DOOM. DOOM.*
The **King Engine** roared.
The sword heard it.
Yami's Sword Consciousness woke up.
*Heartbeat: Loud.*
*Presence: Terrifying.*
*Intimidation: 100%.*
*Verdict: Is this a Devil King? Is this a God?*
The Sword panicked. It felt a pressure far greater than Dante. Greater than Lucifero. This man's heart sounded like the drums of execution.
"I should... just go," King whispered, terrified.
He reached past the sword.
The sword moved.
It jumped.
*CLACK.*
The handle shoved itself into King's hand.
"Eeep?!" King squeaked. "It stuck to me!"
Atomic Samurai gasped. "It chose him! It lunged into his grip!"
To Atomic, it looked like King used a technique so fast it was invisible to summon the blade.
**The Evolution**
King held the heavy sword. His arm trembled violently.
*Shake. Shake. Shake.*
"He's vibrating the blade!" Bushidrill analyzed. "A high-frequency oscillation technique to increase cutting power!"
The Sword, feeling King's terror-shakes, assumed King was powering up for a universe-ending slash.
*OH CRAP,* the Sword thought (in Sword Language). *HE'S GONNA SWING! I GOTTA PERFORM OR HE'LL SNAP ME!*
The rusty sword forced itself awake. It tapped into the deepest reserves of the Clover Kingdom magic it had stored.
**"DARK MAGIC: DEATH GOD MODE."**
The rust fell off.
The black steel turned abyssal void.
Purple flames engulfed King's entire arm.
A faint sound of Yami laughing echoed in the room.
King stood there, holding a sword made of literal nightmare fuel, shaking uncontrollably.
"P-Put it back..." King whispered.
Atomic Samurai dropped to one knee. "The aura... it's suffocating! He isn't just wielding it... he's dominating the demon inside! This is the legendary **Void Style**!"
Saitama looked up from his manga.
"King," Saitama said. "You're getting smoke on the carpet."
"Take it!" King pleaded, holding the flaming sword out to Saitama. "Take it!"
Atomic Samurai watched, eyes wide. *He's passing the blade? To the bald Class-B? Why?*
Saitama grabbed the blade by the *blade* part (ignoring the dark magic flames that melted the floor).
"Ouch, hot," Saitama said.
He tapped the hilt.
*Thunk.*
"Calm down," Saitama told the sword.
The purple flames vanished instantly. The sword turned back into a rusty piece of junk. It realized Saitama was holding it and went docile, remembering the time he used it to play pinball with Dante.
Saitama tossed the sword onto the pile of laundry.
"Anyway," Saitama pointed at the door. "Atomic Guy. Since you cut my door..."
Saitama picked up a bill.
"...You're paying."
Atomic Samurai stood up slowly. He looked at King, who had collapsed back onto the couch (Hyperventilating), and Saitama, who treated a Cursed Demon Blade like a spatula.
"City Z," Atomic adjusted his straw. "Is a land of monsters. I have much to learn."
He threw a bag of gold coins (monster bounty money) on the floor.
"Keep the change. I need to go mediate under a waterfall."
Atomic and his disciples fled.
***
**Aftermath**
Genos picked up the bag of money.
"Master! This is sufficient to repair the door AND replace the window!"
"Nice," Saitama grinned. "King, you okay?"
King stared at his hand.
"I think..." King whispered. "I think the sword growled at me."
Genos scanned the sword on the laundry pile.
"Interesting. The sword seems to have developed a 'Fear Response' to King's heart rate. It has submitted."
Genos's Grimoire beeped.
*New Spell Acquired: Sword of Fear.*
Saitama picked up the controller.
"Cool story. Now, are we gonna get the secret cat outfit or not?"