"Plasma Beam Saber!"
Child Emperor shouted as the Strike Gundam swung its massive beam saber in a wide arc. Any Black Sperm clones it touched were instantly incinerated into ash by the extreme heat.
King, on the other hand, played it much more cautiously. He kept the Freedom Gundam airborne, hovering at a distance while firing his laser rifles into the mass of clones with rhythmic pew-pew-pew shots. His clearing speed was not a bit slower than Child Emperor's.
Meanwhile, Genos and the other two were dutifully cleaning up the stragglers on the periphery, ensuring the clones didn't scatter.
"Oh no, oh no! Sending two giant robots just to deal with me, I'm going to lose!" Black Sperm cupped his cheeks, feigning a melodramatic look of terror. Then, he suddenly sneered, "Psych! I was lying."
"You didn't actually think you'd won, did you? You've only wiped out a few million cells since we started. Do you have any idea what my total count is? 36 trillion, 438 billion, 500 million."
"36 trillion..." Child Emperor gasped. He had assumed the intelligence data Aomori provided was an exaggeration, but he had still underestimated the sheer scale of Black Sperm's numbers. With a total that massive, how could they possibly hope to kill them all?
Should I just drop a nuke? Child Emperor shook his head. Not yet. It might have a weakness we haven't found. If I find it, we can end this.
"Child Emperor, look out!"
King's warning snapped Child Emperor back to reality. He realized several clones had already crawled onto the Strike Gundam's legs and were hammering away at the armor with a metallic clatter.
"They're as annoying as ants!" Child Emperor quickly piloted the Strike Gundam into the air, spinning rapidly to shake the clones off.
"Tch, so you can fly. Big deal," Black Sperm said resentfully, finding the two Gundams more an eyesore by the second. "You think flying is hard for me?"
Having reached a decision, a massive number of clones began to merge. Soon, a giant Black Sperm, roughly the size of a Gundam, stood before them.
"One trillion cells merged! The Multi-Cell Sperm is born!"
"It... it got huge!" King was startled, forcing a weak smile. "Well, at least it still can't fly."
His smile vanished almost instantly. The back of the giant Black Sperm began to writhe, slowly extending a pair of black wings. With his sharp gamer eyes, King could see that the wings were composed of countless tiny, overlapping Black Sperm faces.
"This is the power of cell division and combination," the giant Black Sperm boasted. "Just like your ears or mouth, I can simulate any organ I want." Despite its massive size, its face remained just as sleazy as ever.
"Splitting, merging, shapeshifting... this is total cheating. How are we supposed to kill this thing?" Glasses racked his brain but couldn't think of a way for them to eliminate it completely.
"There is a way, and this is our best chance," Genos said. "If this giant is truly made of one trillion cells as it claims, then destroying it is the equivalent of wiping out one trillion cells at once."
"So, we just need to take out thirty-six of these giants?"
"Yes. At the very least, it's more hopeful than before."
A nearby Black Sperm clone overheard them and mocked, "That's a trillion cells, pal. You think it's a prize hog you can just slaughter? You have no idea how powerful it is!"
Recalling how troublesome the human-sized clones were, they could only imagine the destructive power this giant version possessed.
"King, let's take this one down first." Child Emperor shared Genos's reasoning; this might be the key to defeating the monster.
"Right, got it."
"Let's lure it higher up!"
The Strike and Freedom Gundams accelerated into the sky. Not wanting his prey to escape so easily, the giant Black Sperm flapped its wings and gave chase. Its speed was surprisingly comparable to theirs. "You were acting so tough earlier! Come and settle this!"
Once they broke through the clouds, Child Emperor immediately slowed down. He intended to use the Gundam's radar to gain a tactical advantage in the fog-covered battlefield.
"Hehe, playing hide and seek? What a naughty child." Confident in its power, the giant Black Sperm charged recklessly into the cloud layer. The gusts from its wings scattered the surrounding mist.
"Where are you hiding?" It looked around but saw no sign of the Gundams, though the clouds were swirling violently in certain spots as if something had just streaked through.
"Hmph, I won't fall for these petty tricks," it chuckled sinisterly. "I can afford to wait; your little friends down there can't. The moment you lose your patience and try to attack me is the moment you reveal a weakness. That will be my victory."
After waiting for a long time without a sign of the Gundams, the giant Black Sperm began to wonder if they had simply fled. "Probably not. They're heroes after all; they should have at least some professional integrity."
Suddenly, a searing beam of light pierced the clouds behind it, streaking toward its back.
Instead of being alarmed, the giant Black Sperm laughed. "Found you!"
It nimbly dodged the beam and lunged into the clouds in that direction. However, all it found was a floating cannon.
"Crap!"
Realizing it was a trap, it tried to dodge, but two Gundams wielding massive beam sabers suddenly emerged from the clouds on either side, hacking down at it from front and back.
Clang!
The two sabers were stopped in mid-air, unable to strike home.
"How?" Child Emperor was shocked. "You reacted in that split second?"
The giant Black Sperm grabbed the arms of both Gundams, grinning. "To me, your attack speed is as slow as an unfertilized egg. Don't underestimate me, robots!"
Just as it was about to gloat further, the Freedom Gundam swung the shield in its other hand, smashing it into the monster's face. Simultaneously, its shoulder cannons rotated and fired point-blank into the giant's wrists, successfully freeing itself and the Strike Gundam from the monster's grip.
"Nice work, King!" Child Emperor quickly pulled the Strike Gundam back, marveling at King's smooth maneuvers.
"Child Emperor, go down and help the others," King said with a serious expression. "1v1 is the only way to play a competitive game. I'm going to solo this thing."
"Are you sure you're okay alone?"
"Yes. My win rate solo is 80%. With you here, it drops to 60%."
"...I understand." Child Emperor knew his hesitation earlier had been a liability. He decided to trust King's request. "Be careful. If things go south, disengage immediately."
"Will do."
Child Emperor said no more and piloted the Strike Gundam back toward the ground.
"You want to solo me?" The giant Black Sperm sneered as it repaired its wrists. "I only slipped up for a second. Don't let it give you the illusion that you can actually win."
"We'll see about that."
While slaughtering the tiny clones hadn't felt like much, the confrontation with the giant had put him "in the zone." At this moment, King was the God of Games!
…
"Flashy Kick!"
Flashy Flash delivered a clean, sharp roundhouse kick, sending Saitama flying into a wall and leaving a massive crater. But his expression held no joy; instead, he frowned as his foot felt slightly numb.
This guy's strength has increased again.
During their initial clash, Saitama's power had been unexpected but not quite this absurd. Yet, with every exchange, Saitama's strength seemed to climb higher, as if it had no ceiling.
Was he hiding his strength, or is he growing during the fight? Flashy Flash shook his head. It doesn't matter. His technique is too crude; he's no match for me.
As he mused, Saitama crawled out of the rubble, coughed twice, and spat out a tooth tinged with blood.
"Ah, that cavity finally came out. I was too afraid of the pain to go to the dentist," Saitama said, rubbing his thinning hair as he thanked Flash. "Thanks to you, I feel a lot better now."
"What are you even talking about?" Flashy Flash felt completely bewildered. Was it his imagination, or did Saitama's face look a bit rounder than before?
"Quit the nonsense. Are you surrendering?"
"No, no, I'm not giving up." Saitama stretched his arms and did a few limbering exercises. "That was just a warmup. Now I'm getting serious, so be careful."
"Hmph, nothing but big talk," Flashy Flash scoffed.
The moment the words left his mouth, a violent wind hit his face. Saitama had appeared before him instantly, throwing a punch with a blank expression.
So fast! Flashy Flash was startled. He retreated at high speed, dodging the fist, and launched a counter-kick. "You're full of openings! Flashy Kick!"
However, Saitama had anticipated the move and raised his own leg to meet Flash's. "I'm getting bored of seeing that Flashy Kick."
BOOM!
A terrifying shockwave rippled outward, whipping up a hurricane of dust and debris. Overgrown Rover quickly scurried away, closing its eyes to avoid the dust.
They held the position for a few seconds before Flashy Flash was actually overpowered, sent crashing into a wall by Saitama's kick for the first time.
Impossible! My strength is inferior to his? I was dominating him just a moment ago! Flashy Flash gritted his teeth and stood up, refusing to believe it.
"Fine. So you have more strength. But can you keep up with my speed?"
Flashy Flash accelerated, moving like a blur around Saitama. To a normal person, he would have seemed to vanish entirely.
"Oh, speed? I can do that too." Saitama began running in circles.
Unlike Flashy Flash, who moved silently, Saitama sounded like a freight train entering a tunnel, a thunderous, deafening roar that kicked up massive clouds of dust throughout the tunnel.
"How's this? Do I look like you?" Saitama asked proudly.
"Like hell you do!" Infuriated, Flashy Flash kicked Saitama in the waist, sending him into the wall once more.
"If I don't, I don't. No need to get angry." Saitama stood up and brushed off his uniform, which was now riddled with holes, looking quite pained at the damage.
"You... how are you still fine after being hit so many times? Are you a monster?!" Flashy Flash couldn't fathom it. A single kick from him could buckle a two-meter-thick steel plate.
"Hey, why are you calling names?" Saitama glared at him. "Do you know how many near-death battles I've been through? Your attacks hurt, sure, but they're not that bad."
"Don't compare me to those trash monsters!" Enraged, Flashy Flash was about to launch a finishing move when the ground suddenly shook violently.
Seconds later, the floor beneath them began to collapse. Flashy Flash and Saitama immediately bolted.
"Woof! Woof!" Rover barked, reminding Saitama of its presence. He scooped the dog up and fled.
"What is going on?!"
…
The massive tremors spread across the entire Monster Association base.
"Is Orochi about to bite the dust?"
The clay clones of No. 17 looked at each other. "We can't be too cautious anymore, or we'll mess things up." They began to launch a full-scale assault on the heroes.
…
"Whew..."
Atomic Samurai remained back-to-back with Iaian, facing their enemies, but his condition was much worse than before. Iaian was in even worse shape; if Atomic Samurai hadn't been absorbing most of the pressure, he would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.
The endless supply of stone giants was impossible to clear. Even when they tried to cut through the walls to escape, a new wall would immediately block their path. They were trapped in a cage.
When the tremors hit, Iaian lost his footing and fell. He was immediately ensnared by stone tentacles and hoisted into the air.
"Iaian!" Atomic Samurai shouted, rushing to save him, but he stopped when he saw several stone spikes pressed against Iaian's throat.
A clay clone's head emerged from the ground. "Old man, you don't want him to get hurt, do you? Better surrender quietly."
"You bastard!" Atomic Samurai struggled with the choice but quickly made his decision. "I am a swordsman; I will never lay down my blade voluntarily. If you dare harm Iaian, I swear I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and rip you to shreds!"
"Tch, stubborn old man." The clay clone snapped its fingers, and the stone tentacles pulled Iaian into the wall, vanishing from sight. Sacrifices were always better in greater numbers. "In your state, it won't be long before you're reunited with your precious disciple anyway."
"Hmph, you're welcome to try. Now that Iaian isn't here, I have nothing to hold me back." Atomic Samurai gripped his sword tight and spun, unleashing a massive storm of sword ki: "Atomic Whirlwind!"
It was a wide-range, indiscriminate finishing move. In an instant, every giant in the room was torn apart and the walls were shattered, revealing the view outside.
However, the exertion left Atomic Samurai completely drained, without the strength to escape.
"That was close. Good thing I moved fast." The clay clone emerged from the ground, lingering with a hint of fear. It commanded a stone giant to lift Atomic Samurai by the throat. "Look at you acting all cool, and you still ended up in my hands."
"Hahaha! Two captures at once. I've over-delivered on the mission, as expected of me!"
Laughing, the clay clone dragged Atomic Samurai into the earth, heading toward Orochi. "Orochi, just hold on a little longer."