Royal Capital - Rooftops
Status: Critical
Julius Novachrono wasn't dead. But he wasn't exactly winning, either.
Mimosa Vermillion's hands glowed with desperate green light—Plant Magic: Princess-Healing Flower Robe. She was sweating, pale, pouring every ounce of her mana into the small, pierced body on the tiles.
"His time store is empty," Mimosa gasped. "The wound is closed, but... he's fading. It's like his existence is unwinding."
Genos was knelt on the other side. His chest core was connected to Julius via a makeshift mana-cable he'd ripped out of a street lamp.
"I am attempting to jump-start his biological rhythm with mild electric pulses," Genos reported. "Frequency: 60 beats per minute. Don't die, old man. You owe Master fifty million."
Saitama stood by the chimney. He looked at the sky where Patry had vanished. Then he looked at Yami.
Yami wasn't smoking. That was how you knew it was bad. He was just gripping his katana until the leather handle creaked.
"Yami," Saitama said.
"Shut up, Baldy."
"Is he gonna pay me?"
Yami whipped around, eyes flashing with dark fury. "The guy is dying, and you're asking about your paycheck?"
"Yeah," Saitama said, not breaking eye contact. "Because if he dies, the deal is void. If he lives, I get my hot tub. So..." Saitama crouched down next to Mimosa.
He put a gloved hand on Julius's forehead.
"Hey. Glasses guy. Wake up. Interest is compounding."
Maybe it was the electricity from Genos. Maybe it was Mimosa's magic. Or maybe it was the sheer audacity of demanding money from a dying martyr.
Julius gasped.
A blue clock appeared on his forehead. It spun wildly—backwards.
Poof.
Smoke exploded.
When it cleared, the adult Wizard King was gone.
In his place, buried inside the oversized red robes, was a teenager. Maybe thirteen years old. Same star mark. Same messy blonde hair.
"Huh?" The Teen-Julius blinked, checking his hands. "My stored time... I had to use it to reverse the biological damage. I reset myself."
He looked at Saitama.
"Did... did you really punch the leader of the Elves into space?"
"Yep," Saitama nodded. "Now, about that check."
Teen-Julius laughed. It was a high-pitched, cracking teenage laugh. "You're truly fascinating! Don't worry. A debt is a debt. But first... you have to save the Kingdom to collect it."
The Assembly
Mereoleona Vermillion landed on the roof like a meteor made of bad attitude. She saw the Teen-Julius and didn't even blink.
"You shrank," she stated. "Pathetic."
"Nice to see you too, Mereoleona," Julius squeaked.
"Listen up!" She turned to the group: Asta (who had arrived carrying Noelle), Zora Ideale (the masked trap mage), and the Saitama Duo. "The leader is gone, thanks to the Bald One. But the Elves aren't stopping. They're congregating."
She pointed north.
A massive, floating conglomeration of rocks was assembling in the sky. The Gravito Rock Zone. It pulsated with enough mana to make the air taste like battery acid.
"They're opening the Gate," Mereoleona growled. " The Shadow Palace. The world of the dead. If they fully open it, the reincarnation becomes permanent. We lose our friends forever."
Saitama raised his hand.
"Yes, you loud suit-destroyer?" Mereoleona barked.
"Is the Shadow Palace... a palace?"
"Yes."
"Does it have a treasury?"
Mereoleona grinned. A savage, shark-like grin. "It's the realm of the underworld. It probably has treasures beyond your imagination."
Saitama cracked his knuckles.
"Genos," Saitama said seriously. "We're going raiding."
"Affirmative, Master! Looting protocols initiated!"
Transit - The Sky
Getting there was the problem.
Mereoleona could fly with mana skin. Noelle had her Valkyrie Dress. Genos had boosters. Asta had his black demon-sword form.
Saitama... had gravity.
"I am not carrying him," Noelle shouted, blushing furiously. "I am Royalty! I am not a mule!"
"My chassis is heavy," Genos apologized. "My thrusters cannot support Master's density. He is surprisingly heavy for a man with no muscle definition."
"Hey," Saitama frowned. "I have definition."
"Get on," Mereoleona ordered.
Before Saitama could protest, she grabbed him by the back of his belt.
"Flame Magic: Calidus Brachium Rocket!"
She launched herself into the air, dangling Saitama underneath her like a purse.
"This is undignified!" Saitama shouted over the wind, legs dangling. "My belt is gonna break!"
"THEN HOLD ON!" She accelerated, breaking the sound barrier.
Behind them, Zora rode on his trap-magic broom. He stared at the woman carrying a man who had punched a god.
"This squad," Zora mumbled, crunching a bug. "Is the biggest circus I've ever seen."
Gravito Rock Zone - The Dungeon Entrance
The floating base was swarming. Possessed Golden Dawn members stood guard on the flying islands.
"Intruders!" an elf shouted. "It's the humans! Kill them!"
Mereoleona dropped Saitama.
"Clear the landing zone!" she roared.
Saitama fell two hundred feet. He landed on a floating rock platform.
CRASH.
The impact shattered the platform. The three Elves standing on it were launched into the air by the see-saw effect.
"Hi," Saitama said to them as they flew past him.
Genos landed next, firing immediate suppressive fire. "Spiral Incineration!"
The Elves scrambled, their magic bouncing off Genos's witch-enhanced shielding.
Mereoleona touched down, her fists blue with fire. "Asta! Use that anti-magic sword to open a path! Zora, traps! Baldy... just break stuff!"
"Copy that."
They rushed the main structure. A massive castle made of twisting dark stone floated in the center.
Blocking the path was a familiar face.
"Humans."
Rhya the Disloyal floated there. He had his arm back (he'd regenerated it with healing magic). Next to him were four other Apostles of Sephirah.
Rhya looked tired. He looked at Saitama.
"You," Rhya sighed. "You punched Licht. Do you know how hard it is to run an organization when the boss is on the moon?"
"Is he on the moon?" Saitama shaded his eyes, looking up. "I aimed for the sun, actually. My bad."
Rhya twitched. "You aimed for the... never mind."
Rhya opened his grimoire. It glowed with Copy Magic.
"I can't copy you," Rhya admitted. "I tried. My arm broke. You're a glitch. But..."
Rhya smiled.
"I can copy him."
Rhya touched the chest of a massive Elf beside him—Ronne, who possessed swapping magic. But Rhya didn't copy Ronne. He reached through a portal.
He touched a memory.
"Space Magic: Absolute Void."
He had copied Langris. But boosted by Elf mana.
"Genos said space magic deletes stuff," Saitama noted. "Annoying."
"Delete THIS!" Asta roared.
Asta flew in, Black Divider sword huge. He swung at the spatial orbs.
CLANG.
The Anti-Magic hit the Spatial Magic. Sparks flew. Asta gritted his teeth, veins popping. "I won't... let you... stop us!"
"Go!" Asta shouted back at the group. "I'll handle the Copy Guy! He's tricky! Go inside!"
Mereoleona didn't hesitate. "Don't die, Brat!"
She smashed the front door of the Shadow Palace with a punch. "INTRUDERS COMING THROUGH!"
Inside the Shadow Palace - The Endless Corridor
The inside of the Palace didn't make sense. It was Escher-like. Stairs went upside down. Corridors looped.
Saitama, Genos, Mereoleona, and Noelle stood in a hallway made of black obsidian.
"Which way to the treasury?" Saitama asked, looking at three doors.
"There is no treasury!" Noelle stressed. "It's a metaphor! We need to stop them from putting the final magic stone in the pedestal!"
Suddenly, the walls rippled.
"Separate them," a whispery, rasping voice echoed. It wasn't an Elf. It sounded wet and ancient.
Space twisted.
The floor opened up underneath them.
"TRAP!" Genos engaged thrusters, grabbing for Saitama. "MASTER!"
But the portals were specific.
Mereoleona fell into a red portal. (Fire Dimension).
Noelle fell into a blue one. (Water Dimension).
Genos tried to boost away, but huge magnetic chains shot out of the walls, dragging him into a grey metallic portal.
Saitama just stood there as the floor vanished.
He fell.
"Woooaaaah," he said monotone.
He tumbled through darkness.
The Kitchen Dimension?
Saitama landed on a hard tile floor.
He stood up and looked around.
It wasn't a hellscape. It wasn't a void.
It was... a pantry?
Thousands of jars lined the walls. Pickled newt eyes. Dragon tongues. Dried herbs.
And standing there, stirring a cauldron that smelled absolutely foul, was a young girl with glasses.
Sally. The crazy scientist form the Midnight Sun. (She wasn't an Elf, just... Sally).
She dropped her ladle.
"Ooh?" Sally adjusted her glasses, grinning manic. "A specimen fell in! The bald specimen!"
She pulled out a syringe the size of a trumpet.
"I saw you on the monitor!" Sally giggled, drool hitting the floor. "You act like you have no mana, but you do physics-breaking stuff! Are you a mutant? Is your skin rubber? Can I dissect you?"
Saitama backed up. He looked at the giant needle.
"No needles," Saitama said sternly. "I hate shots."
"Just a little sample!" Sally summoned her Gel Magic salamander. "Sticky Salamander! Hold him down!"
The red gelatin monster lunged. It wrapped around Saitama, stickier than glue.
"Gotcha!" Sally approached, needle gleaming. "Now, hold still while I harvest your spinal fluid!"
Saitama looked at the sticky slime hugging him.
"This is ruining my suit," he sighed.
He inhaled.
He expanded his chest.
Just... breathed in really big.
SNAP.
The Gel Salamander exploded. Not from a hit. From Saitama's ribcage expanding two inches. The tensile strength of the gel couldn't handle the girth.
Saitama stood there, covered in goo.
"Now I'm sticky," Saitama grumbled. "And you..."
He looked at the shelf behind Sally.
"Are those dried squids?"
Sally blinked. "What? Those are Krause krakens tentacles. For potions."
"Edible?"
"Technically... but they cause hallucinations..."
Saitama grabbed the jar. He popped the lid. He ate a dried tentacle.
Chew. Chew.
"Not bad," Saitama swallowed. "Needs salt."
Sally lowered the needle. Her scientific curiosity was burning, but her survival instinct was screaming.
"You ate the Kraken tentacle..." Sally whispered. "And you didn't turn purple?"
"I have a strong stomach." Saitama grabbed another jar. "Genos needs fuel too. Do you have any oil? Or batteries?"
Sally stared. A lightbulb went off in her head.
"Wait..." she smiled, and it was slightly less murderous. "You want stuff? I have stuff. Forbidden artifacts! Dark magic items!"
"Can I sell them?"
"Yes! Priceless relics!"
"Deal." Saitama pointed at the door. "Show me the exit, and I won't punch you. Also, give me the squid jar."
Sally, the mad scientist who usually experimented on humans, realized she was currently the lab rat.
"Follow me, Specimen S!" she chirped. "I'll show you to the center! Maybe you'll let me count your teeth later?"
"No."
Meanwhile: The Machine Room
Genos fell out of the grey portal and crashed into a room filled with gears and clockwork.
And standing there were five possessed Golden Dawn members. They all used Steel Magic or Stone Magic.
"A metal puppet," one elf sneered. "Abomination. We shall scrap you."
Genos stood up. His core was pulsing oddly. The magnetic chains had disrupted his gyro.
"Scrap me?" Genos's eyes flashed red. His Witch-Blood coolant hissed.
His rusty Grimoire floated up. But it began to rattle.
The gears in the room began to rattle.
The Clockwork Room... was made of metal.
Genos grinned—a rare, mechanical expression of victory.
"Environment Scan: 90% Metal Composition."
Genos slammed his hands on the floor.
"Witch-Tech Art: Scavenger Configuration!"
His Grimoire ate the room.
Bolts flew out of the walls. Cogs ripped from the ceiling. The floor plates peeled up. They all flew toward Genos, magnetically clamping onto his body, building armor on top of armor, guns on top of guns.
He grew to twelve feet tall. A junk-mech monstrosity of magic steel and science.
"I am Modern Art," Genos roared, six cannons aiming at the terrified elves. "I AM THE MASTERPIECE!"
Incineration Cannon: Industrial Revolution.
The blast filled the room.
The Throne Room of Shadow
At the very center of the palace.
A black pool bubbled.
A figure emerged. A devil. Zagred. The mastermind. The one whispering.
"Hehehe..." Zagred laughed. His voice twisted reality. "The elves are confused. The humans are strong. But it matters not."
He held the final magic stone.
"With this... I shall manifest fully. And this world will act as my playground."
Suddenly, the wall exploded.
Not from a door. The wall just dissolved into dust.
Sally came flying through, thrown by someone.
Then Saitama walked in, crunching on a dried squid.
Zagred looked at the intruder.
"Who..." Zagred spoke. "Who are you? My Word Magic says 'Stop', yet you walk."
"Saitama."
Saitama swallowed the squid. He saw the creepy horned guy. He saw the spooky pool.
And he saw the glowing magic stone in Zagred's hand.
It was shiny. It looked like a gem.
"Is that the treasure?" Saitama asked.
Zagred paused. "Treasure? This is the key to hell."
"Looks expensive."
Saitama took a step forward.
"I need that rock," Saitama said. "I have a lot of debt. And my friend Julius is a kid now, so his credit score is probably ruined."
Zagred smiled. It was a hole in reality full of teeth.
"Die."
Word Soul Magic.
The command wasn't a projectile. It was a law of physics. The universe was ordered to make Saitama die.
Saitama stood there. He blinked.
"Did you say something?" Saitama asked. "It's echoey in here."
Zagred's eyes went wide.
"WHAT?"
Saitama walked closer.
"Give me the rock."