Naruto Uzumaki stared wide-eyed at the screen, unable to process what he had just witnessed. Even he struggled to imagine that worlds beyond his own held such overwhelming beings.
Kakashi's single visible eye narrowed thoughtfully while Shikamaru exhaled slowly, his expression darkening.
"Emperor Boros… someone on the same level as Thorne Ashveil," Kakashi murmured.
"Even just floating in midair like that shows how strong he is," Shikamaru added.
On the Duel Planet, Emperor Boros descended, excitement radiating from him.
"I've waited countless years for this moment. Let's settle it here!" Boros declared.
Across from him, Thorne Ashveil remained relaxed, posture lazy, completely unmoved.
"Boros, is it?" Ashveil said calmly. "You are indeed strong… but you're still far too weak for me. Not even enough to make me interested."
His blunt words froze Boros, the excitement on his face twisting into disbelief. The Emperor of the Universe—belittled so casually? Rage trembled through his fingers.
"Don't think destroying a planet makes you special. I can do that too!" Boros roared as he launched himself forward. His fist extended, but a thousand meters away from Ashveil, it was suddenly stopped by an unseen barrier.
Boros's anger vanished in an instant, replaced by exhilaration.
"Hahahaha! You're just like me, Ashveil! A true monster!"
He could feel the overwhelming pressure of Ashveil's Conqueror's Haki surrounding him. Sweat slid down his forehead, but his grin never faltered.
"My energy cannon will turn everything to ash!" Boros declared, stepping back as energy surged around him. Lightning crackled across the sky, twisting toward his body.
He thrust his arm forward, hurling a colossal ball of condensed power.
"Energy Cannon!"
The blast tore open space itself, ripping dark cracks across the sky. It slammed into Ashveil's Haki barrier, shattering the outer layer and tearing fragments of raw Haki into the ground, carving deep craters.
Yet when the smoke cleared, Ashveil's defense barely rippled.
Boros froze. Useless. His attack had done nothing.
Before he could speak, a massive meteor of molten magma descended from the heavens.
"Blazing Sun."
Ashveil conjured it with his enhanced Magma Fruit, empowered through countless system upgrades. The blazing sphere—almost the size of a small moon—glowed like a miniature star.
Heat washed across the Duel Planet. The arena became a sea of magma, the air scorched dry. The nearby ocean boiled violently, steam rising in towering plumes. Shattered fragments of molten rock fell from the sky, each impact forming enormous pits of magma.
Across the Pirate World, viewers were stunned.
"He summoned a sun?"
Dracule Mihawk narrowed his eyes at the falling sun. "That slash would be pointless against something like that."
Even Whitebeard inhaled sharply. "Not even my quake power could stop it."
Boros trembled as the miniature sun descended. Muscles swelled as he entered a deeper form, preparing everything he had.
"Energy Cannon! Energy Cannon! Energy Cannon!"
Dozens of blasts collided with the falling sun, breaking chunks from it, but unable to stop its main body. When it finally struck the planet, the resulting explosion shook the world. Temperature surged everywhere. The planet's core fractured, and its surface began to collapse.
Only the intervention of the space-time pendulum saved the Duel Planet, expanding it tenfold and reinforcing it with metal-like land.
In the One-Punch Man world, even seasoned warriors were horrified.
"Is this… god-level power?" Bang whispered.
Metal Knight and the mechanized heroes fell silent, hopeless. Atomic Samurai dropped his sword.
"Who can fight that monster?"
Saitama, however, simply frowned. "Boros isn't dead."
Genos stared at him. Impossible… but Saitama was never wrong.
On the Duel Arena, Boros reappeared in a restored, even stronger form.
"Hahahaha! I didn't expect to be forced into my released state! Ashveil, you're truly terrifying!"
The people of Boros's world cheered with renewed hope.
Boros gathered power until clouds themselves split apart.
"Planet-Collapsing Roaring Cannon!"
The blast streaked upward, tearing open the sky.
In the Pirate World, Bat Boy shouted, "Just like that! Beat him!"
But Ashveil only sighed.
"A good name… but still useless."
A colossal fist of Conqueror's Haki formed above Boros, lightning weaving through its massive shape. It crashed downward instantly.
The two overwhelming forces collided, causing sparks to erupt across the heavens. The strengthened planet cracked under the pressure.
Boros roared wildly, pouring everything he had into the Roaring Cannon. But as soon as Ashveil's Haki fist touched it, his attack was pushed back effortlessly.
"No… no way…" Boros muttered, eyes bloodshot.
His ultimate attack—repelled like a gentle breeze.
The giant fist filled his vision. His body refused to move. The massive kanji for "Death" shimmered ominously above him.
Even so, Boros smiled faintly.
"To think… I found someone a hundred times beyond me…"
He closed his eyes, accepting his fate.
But the space-time pendulum intervened again. At the last second, Boros vanished and reappeared aboard his ship.
He blinked in shock. "Was… was I defeated just now?"
A trembling subordinate knelt before him.
"Lord Boros… you truly lost."
"I… I failed…" Boros whispered.