Child Emperor and Metal Knight stared at the projection, their brows furrowed. Without wasting a second, they activated the most advanced machinery available in their world. Mechanical limbs unfolded, lenses rotated, and screens flickered alive as they zoomed deeper into the imagery before them.
Ten thousand times magnification later, Child Emperor's eyes widened.
He had finally found something.
Even Metal Knight, with all his sensors and systems, had missed it. But the young prodigy had spotted a clue.
Metal Knight stepped beside him, metallic footsteps echoing softly.
"What did you find?" he asked, curiosity heavy in his voice.
More heroes of the One-Punch Man World gathered around Child Emperor, drawn by the tension in his expression. Everyone waited, breath held, as if sensing the gravity of what he was about to reveal.
A bead of sweat traced a path down Child Emperor's temple.
"Look carefully," he said, pointing at the magnified image.
"This stone… its color has changed. That only happens when exposed to extreme temperatures, far beyond anything we've seen so far."
He swallowed hard.
"And that means around Bald Cape Hero… there are even more terrifying powers beginning to surface."
Metal Knight stiffened at once.
"If what Child Emperor says is true, the forces hidden in this attack are more devastating than the last five combined energy clusters," Metal Knight said sharply.
Gasps erupted from every direction.
More terrifying than the previous five monstrous energy clusters?
Everyone understood what that meant.
Those five clusters alone could have destroyed the artificial planet if Saitama hadn't met them head-on. The idea that something worse still existed was enough to paralyze even the bravest heroes.
Child Emperor continued explaining, his voice shaking slightly.
"That's the terrifying part. This attack isn't direct. It's pervasive."
He adjusted the screen again.
"When magnified a hundred times, you can see traces of energy that normal eyes would never detect. It's spread throughout the air."
"So that's why Bald Cape Hero is staying purely defensive," he concluded.
"In this situation, it's the only correct countermeasure."
A pervasive attack that couldn't be seen or located by sight alone…
The entire One-Punch Man World fell silent.
The Hero Association froze under the weight of the realization. Even the boldest heroes had no words.
They had believed Saitama had already surpassed his limits. They thought enduring Ashveil's earlier attack meant he had a chance. But reality crushed that hope instantly.
The Shinobi World reacted much the same.
Every shinobi watching wore a stunned expression.
They hadn't understood Saitama's defensive posture at first, but then something changed.
The Sage of Six Paths activated his Rinnegan and instantly detected the truth.
His eyes widened.
"Saitama's reaction is correct," he murmured.
The others followed.
Madara Uchiha, Sasuke, and numerous shinobi suddenly saw the hidden danger lurking in the air.
Madara crossed his arms arrogantly.
"Hmph. I said from the start that baldy could never defeat Ashveil."
"Ashveil defeated me once. How could a mere baldy ever triumph where I could not?"
Even now, Madara could not resist praising himself.
Beside him, Sasuke's expression grew dark and serious.
"This technique… it resembles that guy's," Sasuke muttered.
Naruto blinked.
"That guy? You mean who?"
Sasuke replied slowly.
"Deidara. His explosive ninjutsu."
Onoki's eyes lit up in sudden understanding.
"So that's it. Ashveil fused his Conqueror's Haki into the atmosphere. The explosion is everywhere… invisible but present."
He exhaled grimly.
"Saitama is in real danger."
Everyone finally understood.
If a blow capable of such destruction infiltrated the air, and even the body itself, nothing could survive it.
Not even the strongest fighter.
Defense was the only option.
Meanwhile, in the Pirate World, confusion swirled.
Whitebeard raised a brow.
"What's wrong with this baldy? Why go defensive now?"
Golden Lion frowned.
Kaido and Big Mom shared a rare moment of mutual bewilderment.
They had fought Ashveil before. They had witnessed his battles against the Gorosei and Imu.
But not once had an opponent adopted such a posture.
In Mary Geoise, Ivankov leaned forward anxiously.
"Dragon, what is this situation?"
Dragon studied Saitama carefully.
"Could Ashveil be hiding something worse?" he muttered.
Sabo clenched his jaw.
"But what could make that baldy react like this? He didn't even flinch when facing Ashveil's fused Conqueror's Haki sphere earlier."
Even Red Hair Shanks narrowed his eyes, refusing to look away from the image.
Nearby, Hawkins calmly flipped his divination cards.
Kid approached, impatient.
"Oi, Hawkins. What do the cards say?"
Everyone waited as Hawkins placed the final card.
His voice rang out with certainty.
"This battle is about to end."
Apoo and Killer stepped closer immediately.
"End? Who wins?" Apoo asked.
Hawkins inhaled deeply, then spoke.
"The probability of Ashveil winning is…"
"One hundred."
The air itself seemed to freeze.
One hundred percent.
A perfect certainty.
Not even the strongest versus the weakest reached such numbers.
This was absolute dominance.
Kid's eyes widened.
"One hundred? That means the power gap is terrifying…"
Hawkins nodded solemnly.
"According to my divination… Ashveil's strength is far beyond One-Punch Man's."
"And this next attack… will be a one-shot kill."
Everyone swallowed hard.
Saitama could destroy planets, yet Hawkins claimed Ashveil would end him in one move.
That wasn't human.
That wasn't even monster-level.
Hawkins continued, voice trembling.
"Ashveil's power now surpasses even what he displayed against Saint Imu."
On the battlefield, Ashveil lifted his hand and snapped his fingers.
Instantly, the pervasive Conqueror's Haki rippled into visibility around Saitama.
Magma.
Lightning.
Frost.
Elemental energy and raw Haki converged around him, compressing space itself.
The Conqueror's Haki pressed on him, crushing him down to his soul.
For the first time in his life…
Saitama felt genuine terror.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Explosions erupted throughout the artificial planet as energies fused chaotically, detonating like a cascade of nuclear blasts.
Space itself trembled.
Saitama saw a massive character form above him:
Death.
He was going to die.
This was the dread he had unknowingly inflicted on others throughout his battles.
Now he understood it.
He thought he had broken all his limiters.
He thought he had become a being beyond gods.
Yet before Thorne Ashveil, he was still helpless.
He drifted into memories of the past, as if accepting his end.
But then—
The [Space-Time Pendulum] activated at last.
It released a deluge of radiant light, swallowing and extinguishing the lethal storm Ashveil had unleashed. The planet expanded again, ballooning dozens of times in size until it rivaled the sun.
Only a structure of this magnitude could withstand a battle between Ashveil and Saitama.
The pendulum's voice echoed across the battlefield, glitching and flickering.
"Next… I announce…"
"Announce…"
"The winner…"
"Winner…"
Its light weakened.
Ashveil frowned slightly.
"Is the Space-Time Pendulum running out of energy?" he wondered aloud.
Considering the size of the planet it had constructed, it was entirely possible.
This malfunction shocked every world watching.
Uchiha Madara glared upward.
"What's happening? Is the Space-Time Pendulum breaking down?"
He remembered how he once tried to destroy it.
The pendulum had crushed him instantly, forcing him to obey its rules.
Yet now, the same entity seemed on the verge of collapse.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes.
"For the master of this arena… to fail now… something is very wrong."
____
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