The tendril that had stabbed toward Saitama only pierced empty air a few meters behind where he had been standing.
Another main tendril that had tried to coil in and strangle him wound itself tightly around nothing at all.
Only that heavy, oppressive, soul-piercing humming noise still clung to the core of the battlefield like a shadow, locking the area down.
"Tch."
Saitama reappeared beside a dead ornamental tree, rubbing his ear.
For the first time in this battle, his face clearly showed impatience.
He stared at the distant purple mushroom cap—the main body that kept spewing noise, smoke, and toxins like some gigantic living launch platform.
In his dead-fish eyes, a faint glint of "this thing is really annoying" flickered.
He bent his knees slightly, clearly planning to rush straight toward that noise core.
But at that very moment—an unexpected change!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a sudden, dense buzzing, like the blades of an old blower spinning at high speed, several unremarkable folds on the underside of the massive mushroom cap split open.
From those wrinkles, more than a dozen pitch-black holes abruptly yawned wide!
The next second, as if flung out by catapults, countless irregular, diamond-shaped black objects about the size of a human head shot out at once!
Their speed was terrifying, carving sharp trails through the air.
These diamond shapes unfolded midair… and began to transform!
Their outer shells split like molting armor, revealing tightly folded black membrane wings inside, folded like bat wings.
The main bodies beneath those wings were twisted, grotesque giant bats, each more than ten times the size of a normal one!
These giant bats had none of a mammal's usual features.
Their heads were hard, diamond-shaped black shells, with two short antenna-like feelers jutting out from the top, glimmering with a ghostly green light.
They had no eyes—only a single slit of a mouth running through the diamond-shaped head, opening and closing constantly to show rows of fine black teeth hooked like barbs.
There were a lot of them—easily over a hundred—like a stirred-up hornet's nest.
After breaking away from the main body, they immediately split up.
A portion dove fearlessly straight toward Saitama in the core area.
More of them scattered toward Steve on the ground and Clint on the rooftop in the distance.
Dozens more shrieked as they streaked toward the chaotic streets nearby, hunting the panicked civilians fleeing in terror.
Their flight paths were unnervingly erratic, sometimes turning at right angles, sometimes dropping into sudden, steep dives.
And their way of attacking was even stranger.
One giant bat diving at Steve suddenly lit up the antenna on its diamond-shaped head when it was still a few meters from his shield.
Bzzzzzz—!
A formless beam of energy filled with intense mental interference slammed into Steve.
Caught off guard, Steve felt as if his brain had been struck with a sledgehammer.
His vision went black, and he nearly passed out on the spot.
Among the bat swarm converging on Clint, more than a dozen suddenly tore open their diamond-shaped mouth slits.
A harsh buzzing rang out as the rows of tiny black teeth inside rubbed and vibrated at high speed.
One after another, high-frequency, visibly rippling, translucent sound wave spheres were spat out in rapid succession, screaming across the air toward Clint's sniper perch.
Their targets were not only Clint himself, but also the structure of the building beneath his feet!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The edge of the water tower under Clint's feet exploded under the impact of the sound wave spheres, sending shards of concrete and metal flying.
Forced into a desperate scramble, Clint could only roll and dodge over and over, completely losing his sniping rhythm.
The most dangerous of all were the bats attacking the fleeing civilians.
Their sonic vibrations and direct mental shock beams were lethal for ordinary people.
"Protect the civilians!"
Gritting his teeth against the splitting headache and dizziness, Steve roared as he swung his shield.
The shield smashed into a giant bat that was about to strike an old man who had fallen to the ground, knocking the monster out of the air.
(End of Chapter)
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