Black Bulls Base - Courtyard
06:00 AM
"NINETY-NINE!"
The ground shook. Sweat flew like rain bullets. Asta slammed his chest into the dirt, pushing the planet away with enough force to create small shockwaves.
"ONE HUNDRED!"
He exploded upward, vibrating with adrenaline. "I DID IT! Master Saitama! I did the push-ups!"
Asta turned, eyes shining like high-beams, expecting praise. Expecting the secret of the universe to be unlocked.
Saitama was sitting on a lawn chair he'd dragged out of the wreckage of the hallway. He was reading a Weekly Sorcerer magazine upside down.
"Too fast," Saitama deadpanned. He didn't look up.
Asta froze. "H-Huh? Too fast?"
"Yeah." Saitama flipped a page. "You did them in, like, thirty seconds. The point isn't to be fast. The point is to feel your muscles burning and regretting your life choices. You gotta do them slow. Like... ugh. Agony."
Asta grabbed his head. "MUSCLE AGONY! I SEE! OF COURSE! MENTAL FORTITUDE!"
He dropped back down. "ROUND TWO! SLOW MOTION STYLE!"
Swoosh.
Genos landed next to Saitama, kicking up a dust cloud that coated Asta. The cyborg was gleaming. He'd polished his chassis overnight using Noelle's expensive hair oils (she hadn't noticed yet).
"Master," Genos reported, notebook out. "Morning surveillance complete. I have mapped the perimeter. I also analyzed the dietary habits of the 'Magic Beasts' in the forest. They are edible. Shall I procure breakfast?"
"Did you find eggs?" Saitama asked.
"Negative. Just giant boars that breathe fire."
"Boar again..." Saitama rubbed his stomach. "My gut is gonna turn into pork."
Suddenly, the air in the courtyard changed.
It wasn't malice. It wasn't the heavy, crushing pressure of a devil.
It felt like... time stopped for a second. The wind paused. The birds stopped mid-chirp.
Then, a bubble of blue energy popped open near the gate.
A man in elaborate robes walked out. He looked like a eccentric noble who'd gotten lost on the way to a costume party, complete with a red cape and a star on his forehead.
The Wizard King. Julius Novachrono.
Most Magic Knights would kneel. They would salute. They would wet themselves.
Saitama looked at the intruder. "Who's the cosplay guy?"
Julius ignored the insult. He didn't even hear it. His eyes were locked on Genos.
"Oh," Julius whispered. He floated forward, drifting over the grass like a ghost. "Oh my."
He stopped inches from Genos's face. His eyes literally sparkled—actual anime sparkles.
"Metal?" Julius touched Genos's arm. "No, not iron magic. This alloy... it's completely foreign. Cold. But there's heat inside? A fusion core?" He tapped Genos's chest plate. "How does the mana circulate? Where are the runes?"
"Back off," Genos intoned.
His palm snapped up, inches from Julius's face. The Incineration Cannon began to glow orange. "Stranger. You are violating my personal space. Identify yourself or be deleted."
"So cool!" Julius beamed. "Delete? Is that a spell? Show me!"
"GENOS, WAIT!" Yami kicked the back door open, sending it flying off its hinges (again). "Don't toast the boss!"
Yami stomped into the yard, holding a mug of coffee that smelled like tar. "Morning, Julius. You're early. I haven't even had my morning dump."
"Yami!" Julius spun around, looking like a kid on Christmas. "You didn't tell me! You said you found 'weirdos.' You didn't say you found a SENTIENT GOLEM MAN and a BALD GOD!"
Saitama pointed at himself. "God? No. Hero. Hobbyist."
Julius blurred. One second he was by Genos, the next he was examining Saitama's bald head from three different angles.
"Incredible," Julius muttered, hovering sideways. "Absolutely zero mana. Empty. A void. But yesterday, the timestream shrieked when you punched Lucifero. It's like watching a rock fall into a river—the river breaks around the rock. You defy the flow!"
Saitama blinked. "Can you stop flying? It's making me dizzy."
"I want to see!" Julius landed. "We have to test this! The cyborg. Genos, was it? You use energy, but not mana?"
"I utilize a nuclear fission core," Genos stated.
"Nuclear... fish... on..." Julius savored the word. "Amazing. And if we introduced mana to that core? What happens when magic meets machine?"
Genos's mechanical eyes dilated.
He looked at Saitama. Saitama was picking at a loose thread on his glove.
"Master Saitama is the pinnacle of physical power," Genos reasoned aloud, his voice synthesizing rapidly. "I cannot surpass him physically. However... this world's 'Magic' offers a variable I have not optimized. If I assimilate this power, I could become a more efficient elimination tool for Master."
Genos turned to Julius. "Give me the magic."
Julius grinned. "To the Grimoire Tower!"
The Tower of Books
Nearest Location: Common Realm
They didn't go to Hage Village. Too far. Julius warped them to a dusty, ancient tower in a neutral zone near the capital. It was filled to the brim with floating books.
It smelled like old paper and forgotten dreams.
Saitama stood near the entrance, looking bored. "So... books. We came for books?"
"A Grimoire chooses the mage," Julius explained, watching Genos stand in the center of the room. "Usually, you get one at fifteen. But you are... unique. Let's see if this world accepts you."
Genos stood rigid. He opened his internal vents.
"System Scan: Active. Mana receptivity: Maximum."
Nothing happened.
The books floated silently on their shelves. Green ones, red ones, thick ones, thin ones. They ignored the cyborg.
"It seems incompatible," Yami muttered, leaning against a pillar. "He's got no soul for the book to latch onto. He's a toaster."
"I am not a toaster," Genos corrected without turning. "I also have a hair-drying function."
Asta, who had tagged along because training opportunity, looked disappointed. "Aw, man! Imagine a robot wizard! That would be so cool!"
Saitama walked over to a shelf. He pulled out a book. It didn't glow. He put it back.
"Maybe you need a manual?" Saitama suggested. "Like 'Magic for Dummies'?"
Then, a noise.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
It sounded like metal hitting stone.
From the highest, darkest shelf in the back—a section covered in cobwebs—something moved.
It wasn't floating gracefully. It was vibrating.
A book dislodged itself. It fell, hit a shelf, bounced off a railing, and plummeted toward the floor.
BANG.
It hit the ground in front of Genos. Dust flew up.
It didn't look like a Grimoire. It looked like a brick.
The cover was rusted iron. Gears—actual physical gears—were embedded in the spine. There was no clover on it. Instead, etched into the metal was a symbol that looked dangerously like a circuit board mixed with a geometric rune.
"Ooh?" Julius leaned in, his face inches from the floor. "I've never seen a Grimoire like this. It's... mechanical magic? Junk magic? No..."
Genos scanned it.
"Object analysis: High-density metallic cellulose. Wait."
Genos's chest core flashed yellow. The book's gears clicked. Tick-tock-whirrrrr.
The rusty cover hissed. Steam shot out of the binding.
The book floated up, heavy and jagged. It slammed itself against Genos's metal chest. Magnetic lock engaging. Click.
"New Hardware Detected," Genos announced. His voice changed. It became layered, echoing with a metallic chorus. "Grimoire Synchronized."
The rusty metal of the book began to peel away, revealing gleaming chrome underneath. The gears spun so fast they blurred. Blue neon light—Mana—began to bleed from the pages into Genos's core.
"ERROR," Genos jerked. "Mana levels rising. Internal temperature 5000 degrees. Logic gates rewriting. MAGIC INTEGRATION DETECTED."
"Is he gonna explode?" Asta asked, stepping in front of Saitama instinctively.
"Maybe," Saitama said. "Genos, don't blow up the library. I don't have a library card."
"TESTING," Genos raised his arm.
Usually, his arm turned into a cannon. This time, the pages of the chrome book fluttered aggressively. Blue runes—angular, sharp, binary code-like runes—surrounded his arm.
"Steel Magic: Creation Mode," Genos spoke, but it wasn't his voice. It was the spell's voice. "Spell Name: Gatling Dragon!"
His arm didn't just transform. It grew. The metal warped, pulling iron from the surrounding shelves, creating a six-barreled rotating cannon the size of a tree trunk.
And instead of fire?
"FIRE!"
Beams of condensed, super-heated mana mixed with plasma shot out.
BRRT.
One burst. Just one.
It punched a hole through the library wall. Then through the forest behind it. Then through the mountain range in the distance.
The sound was deafening. A mix of a dubstep bass drop and a cannon firing.
The Grimoire snapped shut. The smoke cleared.
A distinct, perfectly circular tunnel, ten meters wide, now existed through the geography of the Clover Kingdom.
Julius's jaw hit the floor. "Mana... conversion to pure thermal kinetic energy? Without a delay? That's... that's faster than light magic!"
Genos stared at his arm, which slowly retracted back to normal.
"Efficiency increase: 400%," Genos whispered. He looked at his hand. "I can feel it. The Mana. It... tastes like electricity."
He turned to Saitama and bowed so low his head cracked the floor tiles.
"MASTER! With this power, I shall incinerate your enemies with even greater precision! I am now a Magic Knight Cyborg!"
Saitama looked at the hole in the wall. Then at the happy cyborg.
"Cool," Saitama said. "But you're fixing that wall."
Scene Break
Late Night - Black Bulls Base
The party was in full swing. Because any excuse to drink was a good excuse for the Black Bulls.
Genos was in the corner, surrounded by Magna and Luck. He was demonstrating his new "Chrome Grimoire" (as he called it).
"So it runs on batteries AND mana?" Magna asked, trying to touch the glowing book.
"Do not touch," Genos swatted his hand away. "This grimoire requires a biometric uplink. It is scientifically enchanted."
"So cool!" Luck cheered. "Shoot me with it! Please!"
"Denied."
On the couch, Saitama was experiencing a crisis.
He was holding a game controller. Beside him, Noelle was holding another one.
They were playing "Grimshell Kart," a magical console game Yami had bought from the Witch's Forest (don't ask).
"You're terrible at this," Noelle gloated. Her character, a princess on a swan, was lapping Saitama's character, a bald goblin.
"This controller is laggy," Saitama muttered. He was leaning forward, intense focus on his face. This was harder than fighting Boros. "How do you drift? The manual didn't explain drifting!"
"It's intuitive!" Noelle scoffed. "Peasants just lack the dexterity for royal gaming."
"I will crush you," Saitama whispered. His thumbs moved at mach speed.
"Blue Shell!" Noelle tapped a button.
On screen, Saitama's kart exploded.
"GAME OVER," the text flashed.
Saitama stared at the screen. He placed the controller down very gently. The plastic cracked under his grip.
"One more match," Saitama said, voice shaking. "I wasn't serious that time."
"Saitama," Yami called from the bar. "Quit losing to a teenager. Come have a drink."
Yami poured a mug of bubbling purple liquid. "So, Julius thinks you're a glitch in the system. Says your timeline doesn't exist. He wants to study you."
Saitama took the mug. "Is he gonna pay me?"
"Knowing Julius? He'll pay you in weird rocks or appreciation."
"Pass." Saitama sipped the drink. His eyes widened. "Spicy."
"Everything here is spicy," Yami laughed. He grew serious for a moment. "Hey. That punch yesterday. You really holdin' back that much?"
Saitama looked into his cup. "I don't hold back. I just... don't have to try."
"Must be boring," Yami said.
"It is."
Yami grinned. "Stick around here long enough, Baldy. This world? It's messed up. We got devils, elves, angry gods, and corrupt kings. Something's gonna make you sweat eventually."
"Hope so," Saitama said. "Or at least, I hope the grocery sales are better."
Meanwhile - The Diamond Kingdom Border
Secret Research Facility "The Chimera"
The alarms were blaring.
Morris, the Diamond Kingdom's insane magic scholar, was staring at a screen. His prosthetic eyes whirred.
"Did you catch that?" he asked his assistant.
"Yes, sir. A massive energy spike in the Common Realm. It wasn't natural mana. It was... structured. Digital."
Morris licked his lips. He was the master of modification. He turned children into weapons. He grafted grimoires together.
But he had never seen a signal like that.
On the screen, a waveform display showed the moment Genos fired his new cannon. The mathematical perfection of it. The blend of steel and soul.
"Beautiful," Morris whispered. "Is it an artifact? A new species?"
"It seems to be associated with the Black Bulls, sir."
"Of course. Yami and his trash heap."
Morris stood up. Behind him, huge tanks of green liquid bubbled. Inside were twisted abominations—his experiments.
"Prepare the retrieval team," Morris commanded. "I don't care about the bald one. I don't care about the Anti-Magic brat. I want the machine."
He pulled up a sketch. A crude spy drawing of Genos.
"A body of metal that can channel mana," Morris chuckled, and it sounded like dry bones breaking. "With that technology... I could rewrite the human race."
He pressed a red button.
"Wake up the Shining Generals. It's time for a field trip."