One Punch Man: "The hell!! Did I transmigrate as King?"

"Agh—!!!"

A shrill, distorted shriek echoed through the entire park.

Sonic flew like a kite with a broken string, smashing into the ground a dozen meters away. He landed hard, curled into a fetal position, hands clutching his groin with white-knuckled desperation.

Kaito involuntarily squeezed his legs together. Just watching that hurt.

"Ah, King!" Saitama waved happily, as if greeting an old friend at a café. "You came at just the right time! This pervert popped out of nowhere and said he was gonna kill me!"

Genos materialized beside them like a ghost, his expression serious."Based on my scan, this individual is extremely fast. Likely a legendary ninja. Teacher's punch was textbook perfect defense."

Kaito strolled over to where Sonic lay twitching in the grass, still moaning through clenched teeth.

"Hey~, you okay?" he asked, half amused.

As Kaito looked down at the ninja—so arrogant just moments ago—something stirred deep in his chest.

Thump... thump... thump...

A low, rhythmic heartbeat began pounding—not through the air, but directly through the spirit. Like a monster's pulse echoing from the abyss.

Emperor Engine · Minor Accomplishment — Activated!

The sound wasn't just vibration anymore—it was force. Invisible pressure rippled outward from Kaito's body in every direction, like shockwaves through water.

Sonic's half-conscious form suddenly went rigid.

His sixth sense screamed at him. A chill erupted from his tailbone and rocketed up his spine.

"Wh-what... what is that sound?!"

He blinked rapidly, tears blurring his vision, his body still wrecked by that one devastating punch. But when he finally saw the source clearly—

His pupils contracted into pinpoints.

"King...?!!"

S-Class, Rank 7.The Strongest Man on Earth.

The one shrouded in mystery and feared in silence by heroes and villains alike.

Sonic had heard the name countless times. He'd scoffed every time. To him, "hero rankings" were PR fluff—media nonsense for people too slow to survive in the shadows.

He believed with enough speed, even legends could bleed.

The Emperor Engine? A glorified heartbeat. That's all.

But right now—

That heartbeat wasn't just loud. It was alive. And around Kaito, a crimson aura boiled and twisted like molten blood mist.

No... not mist.

Flames.

Blood-red, flickering in and out of sight, warping the air around him. It had form, it had weight, and it had the stench of death. The scent of rusted iron and old blood.

Just looking at it made Sonic's retinas feel scorched.

And worse still—

That pressure. That aura. That wasn't human.

In the ancient records of the Ninja Village, there were cryptic mentions of something beyond mere technique.

"Blood Fiend."

Said to be the mark of a true apex predator. A terrifying aura born from countless battles, relentless slaughter, and walking alone on a path paved with corpses.

Only the mythical first Ninja King had ever allegedly achieved it. A domain of spiritual domination.

"Touch and die."

That's what the Blood Fiend symbolized.

And Kaito… he had it. Not a sliver. Not a trace. A fully realized, suffocating aura of death.

Sonic's breath hitched. His pain was momentarily frozen by an overwhelming, primal fear.

In that moment, he felt like an insect under a dragon's gaze. His instincts screamed submit, but his pride screamed survive.

Sweat poured down his temples, streaked past his cheeks, soaked into his skintight suit. It dripped from his chin, pooling silently into the grass.

[Ding! Detected extreme reverence from Ghost-level threat Speed-o'-Sound Sonic toward host (origin: Blood Fiend recognition + Emperor Engine pressure). Deterrence Points +150!]

Kaito blinked, a bit surprised.

He'd only meant to scare the guy a little. With Saitama present, he figured it'd be safe to milk some Deterrence Points off the encounter.

But this? Apparently Sonic's ninja training came with some excellent lore-reading skills.

He actually mistook the Emperor Engine aura for the legendary Blood Fiend.

Jackpot.

Sonic—usually so smug, so fast—had spooked himself into reverence.

"You… you… just you wait for me…!"

Sonic's voice was hoarse, trembling. Every syllable was forced through clenched teeth as he clung desperately to the last shred of his ninja pride.

Kaito didn't say anything. He just let out a soft snort.

"Hmph."

But in the silence of the park—backed by the infernal thump-thump-thump of the Emperor Engine—that single snort crashed like thunder into Sonic's mind.

To him, it sounded like Death itself whispering in his ear.

Sonic's soul practically evaporated from his body.

Forget threats. Forget pride. His entire being was consumed by a single, overwhelming instinct—survive.

He spun on his heel, all thoughts of speed techniques or graceful retreats abandoned. No teleportation. No smoke bombs. Just run.

And then—"AaaAUUGH—!!"

The jolt of movement yanked hard at his freshly obliterated groin.

The next moment, the once-graceful ninja was bent into a grotesque, twitching human question mark, staggering away with knees knocked, eyes wide, and mouth agape in a permanent silent scream.

He didn't disappear into the wind like a phantom.

No—He hobbled into the trees at a pitiful crawl, leaving behind a trail of damp spots in the grass.

Sweat? Tears?...Or something more tragic?

Saitama scratched his gleaming bald head, watching Sonic vanish.

"Weird guy." Completely oblivious to the anatomical war crime he'd just committed.

Genos, meanwhile, calmly updated his internal logs:

"Data update: Mr. King's 'Emperor Engine' exerts a powerful Spirit-based deterrence, capable of triggering instinctual fear and complete enemy collapse."

Kaito—still radiating faint heat from the recently deactivated Emperor Engine—let the blood-red aura dissolve into the air like mist at dawn.

"Just a nobody." He patted Saitama's shoulder. "C'mon, the Hero Association's right ahead. Let's not be late."

The three of them resumed walking, their casual stroll completely at odds with the emotional trauma they'd just inflicted on a world-class assassin.

Kaito's system chirped pleasantly in his ear:

[Deterrence Points: 565]

Almost enough for the next Emperor Engine upgrade.

Not bad. Let Saitama punch, let him stare—Kaito was the one profiting.

Meanwhile, deep within the shade of the park, far from their line of sight—

Sonic slumped against a wall, panting hard. His face was pale. His fingers trembled. His eyes twitched.

He had never known fear like that.

With shaking hands, he fished a small, worn scroll from his ninja pouch—a forbidden jutsu. One that had been buried deep beneath the Ninja Village for centuries.

"King…" His voice was hoarse. Broken. Seething. "I didn't think monsters like you really existed in this world..."

But behind that fear, something else smoldered. A mad, burning will.

"Just you wait... once I master this forbidden art…"

He trailed off, suddenly struck by another wave of pain. With a gasp, he clutched his groin again, knees buckling.

"Hssss—!"His teeth chattered.

"First... I need to find a doctor..."

Then, with a hate-fueled hiss:

"That damned bald freak... and you, King... next time we meet—it'll be your funeral!"

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