Its attacks were not only overwhelmingly powerful, but also ever-changing, filled with the tactical sense of an intelligent lifeform—far from the mindless beasts on the surface that only acted on instinct. The entire underground space was flooded with raging energy turbulence, light twisted, and shards of rock flew everywhere.
Saitama's figure wove through the dense barrage. He was no longer moving as casually as before; his footwork had become nimble and precise. Sometimes he slipped past the sweeping lash of an energy whip like a ghost; sometimes he shattered volleys of incoming energy projectiles with punches so fast they blurred beyond the naked eye; sometimes he sprang lightly away a split second before a force-field trap detonated.
He was counterattacking as well. Probing punches crashed onto the monster's carapace, which was covered in glowing energy conduits, producing deep, booming impacts. Violent purple light flickered, and fine cracks spread across the shell—but the monster's massive body only swayed slightly, as if it hadn't been truly hurt. The defensive power of that energy armor far surpassed that of the previous mushroom-cap core.
The monster seemed enraged by Saitama's blows. One of its thickest tentacles suddenly swelled, and at its tip a gigantic purple energy sphere condensed, black lightning churning within it. It didn't fire immediately. Instead, it locked onto the path Saitama used to dodge and blasted it out along a predicted trajectory!
The energy sphere wasn't particularly fast, but its flight path was erratic, and it radiated a powerful suction force that tugged at Saitama's movements. At the same time, several other tentacles fired dense rays of light from different directions, sealing off all of Saitama's escape routes!
"Now this is kinda interesting." Saitama's eyes narrowed slightly. He stopped dodging blindly, and instead picked his moment. When the energy sphere was about to reach him and its suction peaked, he suddenly drove his fist forward.
"Normal Punch."
His plain, unadorned fist collided head-on with the raging energy sphere.
"BOOOOM——!!!"
A deafening explosion swept through the entire space! Blinding purple radiance and a shockwave swallowed Saitama's figure whole. The monster let out a triumphant psychic shriek—but in the very next second, that shriek cut off abruptly.
From within the explosion's smoke and glare, Saitama burst out completely unscathed! The momentum of his punch hadn't diminished in the slightest. Carrying the leftover force from smashing the energy sphere, his fist came crashing down on the thick tentacle that had launched the attack!
"Crack——————splash!"
The tough energy tentacle snapped cleanly in two! Purple "blood," like flowing light, sprayed out in a torrent! The monster let out a pained, physical roar for the first time, its enormous body shuddering violently under the agony!
The searing pain of the severed limb sent the mysterious monster into a brief frenzy. Its remaining tentacles whipped about wildly, bombarding the surrounding rock walls indiscriminately. The entire underground cavern shook, chunks of stone raining down like a storm.
The scarlet glow in the vortex of its "head" pulsed violently, filled with rage and disbelief.
Saitama, however, used the opening created by the monster's loss of control to calmly observe it. That punch had broken a tentacle, but the main body remained solid. The defensive strength of that energy armor truly was terrifying. He needed to find the real weak point.
His gaze swept over the monster's colossal form like the finest scanning instrument. When the monster hunched forward in pain and its energy veins surged chaotically, Saitama keenly picked up on a tiny anomaly—every time the monster prepared to unleash a powerful attack, or when it was injured and its energy grew unstable, a relatively hidden spot beneath its abdomen would suddenly blaze with an extremely bright, frantic light, like an overclocked core engine. And once the attack ended or its energy calmed, the light there would dim slightly again.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!] [[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]