Within the darkness, twisted, inhuman shadows could faintly be seen moving at high speed. Every so often, flashes of firelight and distant, muffled screams drifted out.
"Based on energy signature analysis," Fury continued, "the dark power covering that town shares a certain common origin with the crystal we found in the Sahara ruins… but it's even more… evil and chaotic. We suspect some kind of existence is using energy similar to the crystal—or it's the very target the crystal was pointing to—to summon or create these dark creatures!"
He looked at Saitama. "Glenmore has more than seven hundred residents. The situation is critical. I need you to go immediately! The fastest Quinjet has already been prepared for you!"
"The supermarket…" Saitama blurted out instinctively.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. will compensate you for a full year's worth of missed supermarket discounts!" Fury cut him off without hesitation, clearly understanding Saitama's "weakness."
"Deal." Saitama nodded at once, clean and decisive. "Send me the location, okay."
Several hours later—Scottish Highlands, outskirts of Glenmore Town.
The Quinjet hovered at the edge of the dark canopy. The darkness looked like a physical wall, roiling and surging, exuding a chilling, ominous aura that made the heart tremble. Even light couldn't penetrate it.
"Saitama-san, we can't get inside. We can only drop you off here." The pilot's voice was tense. "We don't know what's happening inside. Please be careful!"
"Mhm." Saitama responded, pulled open the hatch, and leapt down.
He fell like a meteor, landing right at the edge of the black canopy. The moment his feet touched the ground, a cold, viscous darkness—like something that could seep into the soul—rushed straight at him. He frowned slightly. Compared to the ruins' monster stink, this actually wasn't that hard to tolerate.
Without hesitation, Saitama took a step into the absolute darkness.
It was like passing through a curtain of icy water. Inside the canopy, all light vanished completely—only a hopeless pitch-black remained, where you couldn't see your own hand in front of your face. The air was thick with the stench of blood, rot, and a sulfur-like sharpness that stabbed the nose. His ears were flooded with horrifying sounds: shrill screeches, deep roars, the brittle crack of breaking bones, and… human wailing and screams of despair.
Saitama's senses far surpassed normal people. Even in absolute darkness, he could clearly "see" everything around him.
The town had become hell. In the streets and among the ruined houses, countless terrifying creatures with twisted forms were rampaging. Some looked like giant bats that had been skinned alive, circling overhead before diving down to shred fleeing residents with their claws. Some resembled massive rotting hounds, pus streaming from their bodies as they lunged and bit at anything living. Others were shadow-condensed monsters with no fixed shape, seeping out from walls and dragging hiding people into the depths of darkness…
"Help!!"
"God! Someone save us!"
"Monsters! They're everywhere!"
The residents fled in panic, but against this absolute darkness and the omnipresent beasts, their resistance was painfully helpless. Screams rose and fell without end, and the town's former peace was torn to pieces.
Saitama's eyes turned cold. Supermarket discounts could wait—but the lives of ordinary people in front of him couldn't.
His figure flashed, and in an instant he appeared in the middle of a street, where a rotting giant hound was pouncing toward a little girl who had fallen to the ground.
"Get lost."
Bang!
(End of Chapter)
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