The monster let out the most shrill, most despairing, and also most genuine roar of its entire existence.
This roar was no longer a mental shockwave, but a physical sound wave that made the entire underground space tremble.
Its "eyes" were filled with unbearable pain, terror, and disbelief.
Its massive body convulsed violently, trying to struggle, trying to pull its power back together—but the chain reaction triggered by its core being completely shattered was irreversible.
The cracks spread rapidly, deepening with terrifying speed.
The monster's body began to fall apart like weathered rock, large chunks flaking off and breaking into pieces, crumbling into lifeless purple dust.
Its flailing tentacles drooped weakly, then snapped apart inch by inch.
That horrifying pressure, that suffocating and mysterious power, receded like the tide and vanished in an instant.
In just a few seconds, that once-arrogant colossus, radiating intelligence and malice, completely collapsed before Saitama's eyes.
All that remained was a vast, eroded pit and a layer of slowly fading purple dust, as the only proof it had ever existed.
With the monster's death, the mysterious, oppressive force that had permeated the entire underground space—and even seeped up into the battlefield above—vanished without a trace, like morning fog burned away by the sun.
The air began to flow again.
The light was no longer dim and dirty.
Though the scars of battle remained all around, that bone-deep sense of evil had been completely wiped away.
Saitama pulled his fist back and blew on it, wiping away dust that technically wasn't there at all
—after all, what he had hit just now was an energy core, not anything physical.
He glanced around the now-empty underground space.
Only after confirming that the strange power was truly gone did he nod, satisfied.
"Alright, time to head back."
He turned around and, following the path he had taken down, leapt lightly upward a few times and disappeared into the ascending tunnel.
On the surface, on the battlefield—
At the very moment that mysterious power vanished, Steve, Natasha, and Clint all felt their bodies lighten at once.
That crushing pressure and mental suffocation evaporated like smoke.
What surprised them even more was that those previously ferocious, fearless monsters suddenly moved as if their spine had been ripped out—their actions turned stiff and sluggish, and the crazed crimson in their eyes faded rapidly, replaced by confusion and… fear.
"The power's gone! The monsters got weaker!" Clint shouted in delight, loosing an arrow that punched straight through the eye of a noticeably slower lava pangolin.
"It's Saitama. He did it!" Natasha's spirits soared, and the weapon in her hands danced even more viciously than before.
Steve smashed into a rock giant that had fallen into chaos, ramming it back again and again with his shield.
A relieved smile finally appeared on his face.
"Hold the line! It's our turn to hit back!"
Without that mysterious power's blessing and berserk state, the remaining monsters crumbled quickly before the heroes whose fighting spirit had been reignited.
By the time Saitama's figure hopped casually up from the giant fissure as if he'd just gone out for a stroll, emerging once more into the light—
(or rather, the faint illumination filtering down from the ceiling of the underground cavern)—
What he saw was Steve's squad leading the agents in finishing off the last few monsters.
"Saitama-san!" Steve was the first to spot him and immediately strode over.
Natasha and Clint quickly followed, and the surrounding agents and survivors all stopped what they were doing, their gazes converging on Saitama.
"That big guy down below—taken care of?" Clint couldn't help blurting out.
(End of Chapter)
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