Raquey Coastal Beach - The Temple Ruins
It was raining. Of course it was raining.
The Deep Sea King stood on a jagged rock, arms spread wide, embracing the downpour. But this rain was different. In the OPM world, rain just made him stronger. Here? In this magic-saturated world?
The rain hummed.
Every drop was packed with natural mana. The Sea King breathed it in through his gills. His muscles swelled, ripping his trench coat at the seams. His green skin glowed with a bioluminescent aura.
"Marvelous," he purred, his voice wet and jagged. "I feel... infinite."
Below him, Vetto the Despair Beast sat on a pile of broken sand-golems. He looked grumpy.
"Don't get cocky, Fish Face," Vetto growled, nursing a healed scar. "The humans here have teeth. Especially the Bulls."
"Teeth?" The Sea King laughed. He reached down and picked up a huge chunk of coral. He squeezed. It turned to fine white dust. "I have conquered the abyss. A few land-monkeys with sparkly sticks mean nothing. I am the pinnacle of evolu—"
ZIP.
A green portal ripped open in the sky above the beach.
"INCOMING!" Asta's voice screamed.
The Black Bulls dropped like bombs.
Yami landed perfectly on the sand, katana drawn.
Asta crashed headfirst into a dune.
Magna and Luck hit the water and immediately started fighting sharks.
Saitama landed last. Thump.
He stood up, wiped sand off his yellow suit, and looked around. Rain instantly soaked his cape.
"Ew," Saitama said. "Wet socks."
Genos hit the ground in a crouch, steam hissing off his hot metal plating. His mechanical eyes zoomed in.
"Target Identified," Genos announced, voice laced with venom. "Deep Sea King. Threat Level: Demon. Upgrade Status: Magical Enhancement Detected."
"That's him," Saitama pointed at the tall green figure. "The guy who beat up Mumen Rider. And he's wearing hearts on his nipples again. Dude has zero fashion sense."
The Clash Begins
The Deep Sea King hopped down. He towered over them, twelve feet of muscle and arrogance.
"More trash?" The Sea King smirked. "And oh look... a tin can. Didn't I melt you before?"
Genos's core flared. He remembered. The acid. The helplessness. The modern art jokes.
"Not today," Genos hissed. "Incineration Cannon: Variable Mode!"
But before Genos could fire, water exploded.
"Don't ignore royalty!"
Noelle Silva launched herself from the ocean surf. She was wearing her Valkyrie Armor. Water wings shimmering, a lance of spiraling magic in her hand.
She looked like a goddess of the sea.
"You call yourself a King?" Noelle shouted, hovering mid-air, the rain bending around her. "I am Noelle Silva of the Royal House! The sea is MY domain!"
She thrust the lance.
"Sea Dragon's Roar!"
A massive dragon made of condensed high-pressure water erupted from her lance. It roared like a freight train, crashing straight into the Deep Sea King.
BOOM.
Water sprayed everywhere. The impact cratered the beach. It was a clean hit. A hit that had blown holes in powerful devils before.
The mist cleared.
The Deep Sea King was standing there. He wasn't hurt. He was... giggling?
He held the dragon's head in one hand. He had stopped the spell physically.
"Cute," the King said.
He squeezed. The water dragon shattered into droplets.
"But my water hits harder."
The Sea King opened his mouth. His jaw unhinged. inside, a Moray Eel head shot out.
"Acid Spit: Mana Venom Edition."
A blob of sizzling purple liquid shot at Noelle. It moved faster than sound.
Noelle gasped. She couldn't dodge. Her Valkyrie armor tried to compensate, but—
CLANK.
Saitama wasn't there. But Genos was.
Genos slammed a metal wall into the sand in front of Noelle. Not his body—he learned that lesson. He used his Grimoire.
"Steel Magic: Bunker Shield!"
The scrap metal from the rusty book unfolded into a multi-layered barrier. The acid hit. The first three layers dissolved instantly, turning into green sludge. The fourth layer held. Barely.
"He's strong," Noelle breathed, landing behind the smoking wall. "My magic didn't even scratch him."
"He absorbs water," Genos analyzed rapidly. "The mana in the atmosphere is feeding his cells. He is effectively immortal as long as it rains."
"Despair!"
From the left, Vetto charged. He was glowing with beast magic, aiming a claw swipe at Yami.
"Yeah, yeah, Despair guy," Yami sighed, cigarette sizzling in the rain. "Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash."
Clash.
Black blade met beast claw. The shockwave blew the rain sideways.
"Asta!" Yami barked. "Take the fuzzy one! Baldy! Tin Can! Handle the sushi!"
Noelle's Stand
"I'm not done!" Noelle refused to back down. This was her element. If she couldn't fight a water enemy, she wasn't a Magic Knight.
"Genos-san! Cover me!" Noelle commanded.
"Understood," Genos whirred. "Activating High-Tide Protocols."
Genos slammed his hands into the wet sand. His grimoire fluttered wildly. He channeled the heat from his core into the groundwater.
"Steam Magic: Fog of War!"
Instant whiteout. A massive cloud of superheated steam exploded across the beach, blinding the Sea King.
"Blind me?" The King's voice echoed from everywhere. "I can sense your blood flow! I can smell your fear!"
A massive green fist punched through the steam, aiming for Genos.
Noelle used the cover. She skated on the water droplets in the air.
"Point Blank!"
She appeared right next to the King's ear.
"Sea Dragon's Nest!"
She encased the King's head in a sphere of ultra-hard water, trying to drown the fish-man or at least crush his skull.
The King just smiled inside the bubble.
He flexed his neck muscles.
Pop.
The bubble burst.
"You annoy me, little girl."
The Sea King backhanded Noelle.
It wasn't a magic attack. It was just raw, physical monster strength amplified by magic.
CRACK.
Noelle's Valkyrie Armor shattered. She flew backward, skipping across the water like a stone, finally crashing into a jagged rock face.
"NOELLE!" Asta screamed, distracted from his wrestle-match with Vetto.
"Pathetic," The Sea King wiped his hand. "Is this the best the surface offers? Where are the real warriors?"
He walked toward Noelle's prone form. She struggled to get up, blood trickling from her forehead.
"You..." Noelle gasped, hand trembling as she raised her wand. "I won't... yield..."
"Die then," The King raised a clawed foot to stomp her.
Then, the rain stopped.
Not everywhere. Just in a five-foot circle around the King.
"Hey."
The King looked up.
Saitama was standing on the King's knee.
He was balancing perfectly on the monster's kneecap, looking bored.
"You hit the girl," Saitama said. "And you wrecked the robot last time. And the bike guy."
The King blinked. "Get off me, insect!"
He swung a fist at his own knee to squash Saitama.
Saitama jumped.
The King punched his own leg. CRUNCH.
"AGH!" The King stumbled back, hopping on one foot. "YOU LITTLE PEST!"
Saitama landed on the sand between the King and Noelle. He looked back at her.
"You okay, sparkles?"
Noelle blushed through the pain. "I... I told you my name is Noelle!"
"Right. You did good. But this guy is slippery."
Saitama turned to face the Deep Sea King. He cracked his knuckles.
"Genos says you got upgraded. Magic skin. Mana regeneration."
The Deep Sea King roared, healing his knee instantly with water magic. "I am a GOD! I am the pounding storm! You cannot hurt me! I am one with the mana of the world!"
He raised both hands. The ocean behind him rose up. A tidal wave, fifty feet high, loomed over the beach. It was shaped like jaws.
"Tsunami: Dead Zone!"
The wave crashed down. Thousands of tons of water. Enough to wipe the coastline off the map.
Yami paused his fight. "Crap. That's a big one."
Saitama sighed.
"Serious Series," Saitama muttered.
He didn't punch the monster. He punched the wave.
"Serious Punch."
DOOOM.
He hit the air in front of the tidal wave.
The air pressure became a physical wall. The blast wave hit the water.
The tsunami didn't just stop. It was reflected.
The water was blasted backward, turning into instant mist. The force was so great that it split the ocean itself. For a moment—just a glorious, impossible moment—the sea floor was visible for miles, revealing confused crabs and sunken ships.
The Deep Sea King stood there, dry. The rain around him had been blown away into the next continent.
His mouth was open. His crown was crooked.
Saitama lowered his fist. Steam curled off his glove.
"Now," Saitama said, walking forward. The dry sand squeaked under his boots.
"About my dry cleaning bill."
The Deep Sea King felt something he hadn't felt since he was a tadpole.
Fear.
"What..." The King took a step back. "What spell was that?! Wind magic? Impact magic?!"
"Punch magic," Saitama said.
Vetto, seeing this from the side, panicked. His despair shtick didn't cover "Bald man splitting the Red Sea."
"King!" Vetto yelled. "Together! Combined Attack!"
Vetto abandoned Asta and tackled Saitama. He wrapped his hairy beast arms around Saitama, pinning his arms to his sides.
"NOW!" Vetto roared. "Hit him while he's grabbed! He can't dodge!"
The Deep Sea King grinned. A savage, predatory grin. He channeled all the mana in the area. His fist grew to the size of a carriage. It glowed toxic green.
"Goodbye, hero!"
He swung. A punch that could pulverize a castle.
Saitama looked down at Vetto holding him.
"This is an awkward hug."
The King's fist connected.
BLAM.
It hit Saitama directly in the face. The shockwave drove Saitama and Vetto ten feet into the ground. Dust and sand exploded.
Yami winced. "Oof. Chin music."
Noelle screamed. "SAITAMA!"
Silence.
"Is he dead?" Luck asked, vibrating.
The dust settled.
Saitama was standing in a hole. Vetto was still hugging him, but Vetto's arms were trembling.
Saitama had taken the punch to the face. His cheek was slightly red.
"That wasn't bad," Saitama admitted. "Like... a mosquito bite. A big mosquito."
The Deep Sea King's fist was vibrating. He pulled it back. His knuckles were shattered.
"My hand..." The King whispered. "My royal hand..."
Saitama shrugged Vetto off. He simply expanded his chest muscles, and Vetto went flying like a ragdoll.
Saitama looked at the Sea King.
"My turn."
He didn't wind up. He just walked up to the towering monster.
The King swung his other claw frantically. "STAY AWAY! ACID! STORM! DEATH!"
Saitama caught the claw.
"Mumen Rider says hi," Saitama said.
One punch. A normal punch.
Into the King's gut.
SPLAT.
It wasn't like the anime where a hole opened up. This was physics. The impact force traveled through the King's liquid-filled body. His eyes popped out. His scales shot off like shrapnel. The clouds above the beach spun into a spiral.
The Deep Sea King didn't fly away. He just... folded. He crumpled into a pile of green mush and regret.
Rain started falling again, gentle and natural this time.
Saitama shook his hand. "Gross. Slime."
Genos hobbled over, his grimoire closing with a snap. "Threat neutralized. Master, your vengeance for Mumen Rider is complete."
Asta and Yami walked up to the pile of groaning Vetto and the unconscious fish-man.
"Baldy," Yami exhaled smoke, looking at the parted ocean which was slowly filling back up. "Remind me never to spill your drink."
Saitama picked at his ear.
"Hey, Yami."
"What?"
"Since we're at the beach... did you bring a BBQ?"
Noelle lay on the rock, watching him. Her heart beat fast. Not from the pain.
He protected me, she thought. He split the ocean... just to punch a fish.
"Bakasta has competition," she whispered, and then passed out.