Kaito didn't ascend to the rooftop with the other heroes right away.
Instead, he focused most of his Spirit on the mech avatar that was tailing Saitama inside the alien spaceship.
Child Emperor was an undeniable genius.
His meticulously crafted "Emperor's Shadow" mech had an incredibly advanced mimicry system, able to replicate even his signature Emperor Engine roar and the dark-red Spirit particle effects that came with it.
But at the end of the day, it was still just an imitation.
The mech could roar all it wanted, but it couldn't truly shake the Spirit of the monsters.
Kaito tried activating the mech's Emperor Engine deterrence effect, yet the result was hollow.
The sound was still deep and thunderous, the special effects impressive and flashy—but the alien grunts kept charging without pause.
For them, it was nothing more than background noise and a light show.
They howled.
They rushed forward.
They didn't even flinch.
---
Now, let's talk about Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.
Through the mech, relying on Child Emperor's combat modules, its power, speed, and precision could be perfectly replicated.
And with Kaito's martial arts intent infused into every motion, the technique gained a terrifying edge—enough to obliterate Demon-level monsters and even some weaker Dragon-level foes.
Yet strangely, the deterrence points gained were pitifully low.
The reason was simple.
These alien grunts were nothing but cheap cannon fodder or weapons twisted by technology.
They had no true fear, no despair to exploit.
Even when the mech crushed them, the destruction was purely physical.
Their souls remained untouched.
"The efficiency is too low."
Kaito clicked his tongue in irritation.
The entire purpose of piloting the mech was to rack up deterrence points, but after all this fighting, the numbers barely moved.
Against living monsters who could feel terror, the difference was night and day.
And meanwhile, Saitama was already tearing his way through the ship's interior.
The grunts weren't even warm-ups for him.
"…Forget it. Picking up scraps behind the bald guy is hopeless. This clunky mech might as well just serve as a surveillance camera and his chat partner. As for me…"
Kaito's eyes sharpened.
"…There's juicier prey coming my way."
Without hesitation, he shifted most of his Spirit back into his real body, leaving only a fragment behind to keep the mech trailing after Saitama.
---
At that same moment, on the rooftop of the Hero Association headquarters—
All the S-Class heroes unconsciously stepped aside as the "Strongest on Earth" advanced.
Even Tornado, who had been floating midair, descended slightly without realizing it.
Melzargard's five heads all turned toward the man who had just appeared, its ten eyes narrowing.
The aura rolling off this human was unlike anything it had encountered among the others.
It wasn't prey.
It was something that made the alien's instincts scream.
Kaito ascended slowly, condensing a staircase beneath his feet with Spirit until he stood taller than Melzargard itself.
From above, his voice rang out, cold and disdainful:
"I remember… as long as those five constantly shifting regenerative cores inside you are destroyed at the same time… you'll die completely, won't you, ugly five-headed monster?"
"!!!"
The rooftop went dead silent.
Melzargard's five faces froze.
Its ten eyes widened in unison.
"You… how do you know this secret?!" it shrieked, its voices overlapping in sheer panic.
This knowledge—it was the very foundation of its arrogance!
The invulnerability of its "immortal body!"
For a mere Earthling to expose it so casually… the shock was more terrifying than any blade Atomic Samurai could swing!
Under Kaito's calm gaze, the alien felt all its confidence melt away like snow beneath the sun.
A primal chill seized it, the raw fear of a cornered beast staring into something far above itself.
---
[Ding! Successfully intimidated Dragon-level monster Melzargard with absolute information asymmetry, causing it to fall into extreme fear. Deterrence points +1000!]
Just then, its middle head shook violently.
A frantic voice, echoing with urgent mental waves, exploded in its mind—
It was a telepathic message from Geryuganshoop, the universe's greatest esper and the tactical commander of the ship:
"Melzargard! What are you dawdling for, you idiot?! Two extremely dangerous intruders have already breached the outer defenses and stormed into the power core area! That useless Groribas is finished!!"
"Especially that bald guy in yellow! His power… his power defies all logic! Even the psychic barriers I set up might as well be paper!!"
"Lord Boros is in the throne room! If he is disturbed because of your negligence… you know the consequences!!"
"Immediately! Return at once! Eliminate them at all costs, or we'll all share Groribas's fate!!"
---
*Lord Boros!*
The name crashed into Melzargard's mind like molten lava poured onto ice.
The dread it felt toward Kaito instantly drowned beneath the deeper, absolute fear of Boros.
Boros's wrath was annihilation—body and Spirit erased in one stroke.
"ROOOOAR!!!"
All five of Melzargard's heads howled, the sound torn between terror and fury. Its ten eyes bulged, veins crawling red across them like cracks in glass.
There was no choice.
Everyone who heard its secret had to die.
Then it had to rush back to the ship before Boros noticed its failure.
Otherwise…
The punishment would be unimaginable.
---
*Berserk! Desperate fight!*
Its five internal cores erupted in blinding light.
Its body swelled like an overinflated beast, muscles knotting and splitting beneath the carapace.
Heat vented from its joints in furious streams, while the alloy platform buckled and screamed beneath its weight.
A destructive energy storm churned inside it—enough to obliterate everything on the rooftop in one blast.
"All of you… DIE!!!"
---
But would Kaito allow such a thing?
Hardly.
This five-headed creature had already served its purpose. Its secret was squeezed dry, and Kaito had no time to waste in a drawn-out death match. The spaceship held richer prey—far better targets for harvesting deterrence points.
"Noisy."
His voice was level, unshaken, even as Melzargard's berserk aura peaked.
"Clang—!"
A sword cry, sharp as a dragon's roar, split the rooftop air.
Kaito flicked his finger. The famous blade gifted by Atomic Samurai sprang free of its sheath.
In the same motion, his right hand closed around the hilt, steady and inevitable.
---
"BOOM—!!!"
Emperor Engine · Perfected.
This time, it wasn't just a rumble.
It exploded like the first drumbeat of creation, shaking heaven and earth. Space itself trembled under the pressure.
No longer a wide-area mental impact.
This was something far more focused.
A dark-golden glint seared through Kaito's eyes.
He compressed the viscous, crimson-gold Spirit that flowed around him like molten lava. It swirled, condensed, and roared into the sword's edge—no longer an aura, but a living ocean, raging and refined.
It was as though a world-sized tide of crimson-gold flame had been forced into a single blade.