Dimensional Chat Group: Speed-o'-Light

Despite his chest being crushed inward from the kick, Boros—still embedded in the wall—laughed madly.

Before coming to Earth, he had worried the "warrior from the prophecy" wouldn't be able to satisfy his thirst for battle. He had even specially prepared a set of armor to suppress his own strength, just to make the fight more thrilling.

But now… it seemed the warrior was even stronger than his most optimistic expectations.

This was perfect.

Boros trembled with excitement, every cell in his body seemingly cheering in ecstasy.

"Round two?"

Kizaru curled his finger, gesturing for him to come. No sooner had the words left his mouth than Boros vanished from sight—reappearing high above him.

Even in his base form, Boros was easily the strongest opponent Kizaru had faced to date. His speed, strength, durability, and regeneration were all off the charts. And unlike most natural powerhouses, he lacked none of the combat experience or technique—there were no weak points to exploit.

He was the very definition of a "hexagon warrior."

Kizaru couldn't help but wonder—did Im have the power to match this?

"Hraah!!"

Drunk on adrenaline, Boros didn't even notice Kizaru momentarily distracted. He slammed down a vicious overhead kick like a bolt of divine thunder.

The single strike shattered the floor of the temple and brought the massive structure crashing down.

But Kizaru's speed was simply too overwhelming—he evaded it effortlessly.

"Flash—Heaven-Speed Kick!"

Before Boros could even hit the ground, Kizaru struck again.

Still in midair, he launched a kick that sent Boros flying once more.

Though they were each other's strongest opponents to date, Boros was still clearly outclassed by Kizaru. The difference in their physical abilities was absolute and comprehensive.

Boom!

Boros, along with a mass of temple debris, crashed through the ship's lower deck and pierced straight through the hull, hurtling toward the ruined city below.

Mid-fall, Boros coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body twisting unnaturally.

Even after learning from his earlier mistakes and mentally preparing himself, the brutal reality still caught him off guard.

To think such a powerful warrior existed on this planet—someone capable of suppressing his base form with ease. That kind of strength was nothing short of monstrous.

And while Kizaru was unleashing chaos aboard the Dark Matter Thieves' spaceship in his battle against Boros, fierce combat had also erupted on the ground between the heroes and the alien invaders.

"Atomic Slash!"

With a dazzling burst of sword light, Melzargard's body was once again sliced into countless tiny pieces by Atomic Samurai.

"Acid Spit!"

Just as Bang and Flashy Flash were about to take advantage of the moment to destroy Melzargard's core, Groribas, braving a barrage of missiles from Child Emperor, spewed a torrent of corrosive acid—forcing Bang and Flashy Flash to retreat and avoid being splashed.

Only Superalloy Darkshine could completely ignore the acid thanks to his body being harder than steel. Even Drive Knight, whose body was fully mechanical, had part of his arm melted off after being hit by just a bit of the acid.

"Gwah! That hurts! Groribas! Your acid hit me too!"

Melzargard, having reformed into humanoid shape, gritted his teeth through the searing pain of corrosion and brutally tore the affected chunk of flesh from his own body.

"Idiot! They've figured out your weakness! If you're that eager to die, I'll oblige you later!"

Groribas bellowed in frustration. Without Geryuganshoop—the top-ranking fighter—backing them up, the two of them were barely holding on while being surrounded by these terrifying native warriors.

The average space pirate was no match for these "primitive" fighters and couldn't provide any real help.

No one knew why a planet with such an outdated civilization had so many insanely powerful locals.

"W-What?! Dammit! How did they figure it out?!"

Melzargard started to panic. Only now did he realize that the S-Class heroes had been deliberately aiming for his core during each of their attacks.

His so-called "immortality" was his trump card. Aside from that, while his combat abilities weren't weak, they were nowhere near the level of the other top-ranked warriors.

And after witnessing the sheer power of the S-Class heroes, even someone as prideful as Melzargard had to admit that—now that his weakness was exposed—these Earthlings actually had the strength to kill him.

"Buy me some time! I'm going to use that move and take them all out at once!"

Before Melzargard could even respond, Groribas launched into action, spewing thick purple mucus from his three large mouths and encasing himself in a massive, dark-purple cocoon.

His species possessed the ability to absorb genetic traits from enemies they devoured.

With Lord Boros's permission, Geryuganshoop had once consumed a species with powerful metamorphic abilities and had absorbed their genetic talent.

However, using that transformation ability in a short span drastically reduced his lifespan, which was why he rarely resorted to this ultimate technique.

But now, faced with a group of warriors nearly equal in strength, even him—with all his arrogance—knew that just him and Melzargard weren't enough to win this fight.

"Leave it to me—wait, hold on!"

Melzargard instinctively agreed, but suddenly froze as a realization struck him.

Originally, even with both of them working together, they were barely holding the line. Now that Groribas had begun its metamorphosis and couldn't fight for the time being, things were going from bad to worse.

It was left alone, dragging a bunch of third-rate minions to face off against so many powerful natives—talk about rubbing salt in the wound.

But Groribas didn't give it any chance to object—without so much as a word, it just went ahead and started evolving.

By the time Melzargard realized what was happening, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and face over a dozen S-Class heroes alone.

"Bastard! You dare treat me like that?!"

Metal Bat, who had earlier been sent flying into the Hero Association HQ, had now regained consciousness. Teeth clenched and veins bulging, he stormed back in search of that damn alien. As an S-Class hero, Metal Bat didn't have any flashy powers and his ranking wasn't especially high—but he had a knack for turning the tide the longer a fight went on, often beating monsters far stronger than him.

"This thing has a core inside its body that keeps shifting around! You can't kill it unless you destroy that core!"

Bang stepped up to warn the others. Simply chopping Melzargard into chunks was pointless—Atomic Samurai had already tried that. And if there was anyone better at slicing things up, they weren't present.

"You all can go to hell!!"

Tatsumaki, already seething with rage, unleashed her psychic powers with reckless abandon. The space pirates scattered in all directions, utterly overwhelmed.

They were used to watching Lord Geryuganshoop beat enemies to a pulp with psychic powers—now it was their turn to be on the receiving end of a psychic beatdown.

"You're not getting past here—no matter what!"

Melzargard reabsorbed all five of his clones, merging into a giant, five-headed form. His limbs transformed into a grotesque array of weapons—axes, saws, hammers, you name it.

They might've looked like they were made of flesh and bone, but their durability rivaled steel.

"Like hell that's up to you! Vest Tackle!"

Tanktop Master knew full well his powers weren't suited for taking this guy down alone, so he opted to team up with Atomic Samurai. With a mighty charge, he tackled one of the giant's legs and slammed Melzargard down right in front of Atomic Samurai.

"Tactical Transformation—G-Mode—Electromagnetic Restraint Unit!"

Drive Knight's limbs shot out like anchors, pinning down Melzargard's transformed body, locking all four limbs to the ground like massive nails.

"Atomic Slash!"

Atomic Samurai, already poised and ready, drew his blade in a flash. A storm of radiant sword light burst forth, reducing Melzargard to dust-sized fragments in an instant.

"Psychic Suppression!"

Tatsumaki took a moment from crushing space pirates to freeze the fragments trying to regenerate. At the same time, Child Emperor and Genos finished preparing their combo.

"High-Temp Combustion Mist!"

"Incineration Cannon!"

Wearing a gas mask, Child Emperor carried a massive water-gun-like weapon and unleashed a spray of explosive mist.

Genos followed up by igniting it.

An inferno of extreme heat engulfed Melzargard's body, incinerating the flesh until nothing remained but the near-indestructible core—still conscious, still trying to escape and reform.

"Fang Penetration!"

But the moment the core emerged from the flames, Bang—who had been waiting for this very moment—struck with deadly precision and snatched it clean.

The core inside Melzargard's body—purely in terms of defense—was even tougher than his outer shell.

But in Bang's hands, that meant nothing.

With a casual squeeze, the hardened core let out a crisp crack and shattered on the spot.

And just like that, the second-highest-ranking warrior of the Dark Matter Thieves was dead—less than two hours after descending upon Earth.

"Lord Melzargard got killed by a native?!"

"This must be a dream! There's no way Lord Geryuganshoop and Lord Melzargard could die at the hands of natives!"

"Damn these savages! Hold on—once Lord Groribas finishes his metamorphosis, he'll avenge them both!"

…

The grotesque, bizarre-looking space pirates let out pained howls. If it weren't for Groribas—and their supreme commander Boros—standing behind them, desertions might've already broken out.

"Tch! Then I'll just take you all on—Savage Tornado!"

Annoyed that he hadn't gotten to fight Melzargard himself, Metal Bat turned his frustrations on the remaining alien pirates.

Relying on his near-limitless stamina—so long as he didn't give up, he wouldn't go down—he tore into the horde like a wolf in a flock of sheep.

Sure, he hadn't stood a chance against Melzargard in a head-on clash, but sudden-death fights were never his style anyway.

Only when the enemy couldn't take him out quickly did Metal Bat start to shine—growing stronger as the fight dragged on, until he could crush them with one massive burst of momentum.

"Om nom nom nom nom…"

Pig God stuck to his usual combat method—opening his fan-sized hands, grabbing a space pirate, and stuffing it straight into his mouth.

If anything brought pure psychological trauma to these aliens, it was this S-Class hero who clearly didn't care whether his food was meat or monster.

"Tempest Kick: Gale Cutter!"

Flashy Flash was treating the alien pirates like live-action training dummies. Countless vacuum blades slashed through the air, reducing the invaders to diced chunks.

He was experimenting with merging the Tempest Kick into his own combat system. Compared to other heroes in the training program, Flashy Flash not only had an exceptional foundation—he was also a top-tier martial arts genius.

It turned out that techniques like the Navy's Six Styles were an excellent fit for him. And if he added in the chakra refinement method Kizaru had passed on…

If he could fuse the best of all three worlds into one cohesive fighting style, Flashy Flash just might reach an entirely new level!

"Sixteen… seventeen…"

Superalloy Darkshine silently pummeled the space pirates that rushed him, letting their weapons and fists slam into his body—only to send them flying with a single counterpunch.

This pitch-black S-Class hero didn't have any flashy powers. If anything, it was his steel-hard muscles that delivered true despair to his enemies.

"Hold the line! No retreat! At least wait until Lord Groribas finishes transforming!"

As more and more space pirates started losing their nerve, a group of alien overseers—the equivalent of political officers—stepped forward, barking orders and threatening those trying to flee.

They weren't fearless—just more terrified of the consequences of desertion than of death.

In their eyes, Commander Boros was their anchor, their unshakable pillar. With him still on their side, they clung desperately to the hope that Groribas could turn things around—if they could just hold out long enough.

By now, even the most stubborn space pirates had to admit: this so-called "primitive planet" was far more dangerous and powerful than they had expected.

Two top-tier combatants dead, their troops utterly routed—nothing like this had ever happened in the long, violent history of the Dark Matter Thieves' rampage across the stars.

"Out of my way! Psychokinetic Burst!"

But the aliens' hopes simply didn't match their strength.

Especially not in the face of Tatsumaki—a psychic on par with Geryuganshoop—who made most of them look like cannon fodder.

BOOM!

With a single, full-powered telekinetic blast, Tatsumaki annihilated over a hundred aliens—leaving no trace of their bodies behind.

Whatever morale the space pirates had barely managed to gather was shattered—completely crushed by her alone.

The other S-Class heroes took advantage of the chaos and moved in, wiping out the last of the invaders.

Of the Dark Matter Thieves who had landed on Earth's surface, only one remained—Groribas, still cocooned in his massive purple chrysalis.

"Leave this one to me—Incineration Cannon!"

Genos began charging up, face expressionless. Unlike Kizaru, the other heroes couldn't instantly detect civilian casualties across the battlefield.

°°°

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