Heart Kingdom - Outer Barrier
Invasion Start
The sky shattered.
Not metaphorically. The massive magical dome protecting the Heart Kingdom literally cracked like an egg dropped on concrete.
A beam of black/purple mana pierced the clouds. It smelled like rot. Like old blood.
"HELLO!"
The voice boomed across the entire jungle country.
Vanica Zogratis dropped from a floating rock ship. She didn't land gracefully. She cannonballed.
BOOM.
She smashed into the lush forest, creating a crater that instantly filled with groundwater and broken trees.
Behind her, five figures descended. The Dark Disciples. All of them empowered by devil mana, their eyes black, marks glowing on their chests.
"Playtime!" Vanica laughed, skipping out of the crater. "Find the Spirit Guardians! Kill them! But save the Queen for me! And look for the shiny bald head!"
She zoomed off toward the palace, leaving a wake of cursed decay that withered the vibrant plants instantly.
Training Grounds - Sector 4
Genos was sitting cross-legged, undergoing a firmware update.
Gadjah, the Lightning Spirit Guardian, wiped sweat from his brow. "The inscriptions are complete. We have bonded natural mana runes directly to your skeletal alloy. It... it shouldn't be possible."
Genos opened his eyes.
They weren't just yellow anymore. They had concentric rings of blue glowing runes within the iris.
"System Diagnostic: Green," Genos spoke. His voice had a new resonance—a humming reverb. "Mana Absorption Efficiency: 300%. I can now 'breath' magic."
CRASH.
A figure landed in the clearing, creating a dust cloud.
It was a man with lipstick, tight clothes, and skin that looked rubbery. Svenkin Gatard. The Dark Disciple of Skin Magic.
"Ooh?" Svenkin sashayed out of the dust. "A Spirit Guardian? And... a trash can?"
Gadjah stood up, sparks flying. "Spade invaders. You dare enter this sanctuary?"
"We dare everything, darling!" Svenkin giggled. "Lady Vanica wants bloodshed! I am Svenkin! My Skin Magic makes me invincible!"
He flexed. His skin turned dark grey. "Soft and hard! Elastic and rigid! I can absorb any blow!"
Svenkin vanished. He reappeared instantly in front of Gadjah.
WHAM.
He punched Gadjah in the gut.
Gadjah was fast. He was strong. But the punch bypassed his lightning barrier. Svenkin's fist softened to pass through the electric currents, then hardened on impact with the stomach.
"Gah!" Gadjah flew back, smashing into a tree.
"Spirit Guardians?" Svenkin scoffed. "More like Spirit Garbage. Now, tin man..."
Svenkin turned to Genos.
"Are you gonna crumble? Or crumple?"
Genos slowly stood up. Steam vented from his shoulders. But this steam wasn't just heat. It sparkled with Natural Mana.
"Analysis," Genos droned. "Threat Level: Demon-Adjacent. Attribute: Skin. Strategy: Blunt force trauma."
Genos raised his hand.
The runes on his palm—Clover Design mixed with Heart Kingdom Natural Runes—lit up.
"You call yourself invincible?" Genos asked. "Let us test the melting point of your epidermis."
"Try me!" Svenkin lunged. His fist became a giant rubber hammer.
Genos didn't dodge.
"Rune-Tech Art: Thunder-God Engine."
ZIZ-ZAT.
Genos caught the punch.
Svenkin's eyes went wide. His fist didn't squash the metal.
Genos's hand was vibrating at ultrasonic speeds, charged with True Lightning Magic. The vibration frequency disrupted Svenkin's skin hardening.
"H-Hot!" Svenkin shrieked, pulling back. His indestructible skin was smoking. "What are you?! That wasn't just lightning! It was... heavy!"
"I am the Demon Cyborg," Genos stepped forward. The runes on his chest spun like clockwork. "And I have been upgraded."
Genos opened his chest plates.
Usually, this was just a beam. But Gadjah had taught him the power of "commands."
"TRUE STEEL MAGIC: GATLING BARRAGE."
BRRRT.
Genos fired projectiles. Not lasers. But condensed spheres of super-heated molten iron, accelerated by magnetic runes.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
Svenkin tried to block. "Soft Skin! Absorb!"
The iron spheres hit his chest.
SPLAT. HISS.
They didn't bounce off. They seared into him.
"AAAAAAAAHH!" Svenkin screamed. "IT BURNS! IT BURNS LIKE ACID!"
"Target neutralized?" Genos zoomed in. "Negative. Regeneration active."
Svenkin's skin was bubbling, healing over the iron. He panted, furious. His vanity shattered. "My beautiful skin! YOU SCRATCHED MEEE!"
Svenkin expanded. His skin bloated, turning him into a massive, muscular rubber ball of rage. Devil power 50%.
"I WILL CRUSH YOU INTO SCRAP!"
Svenkin jumped. He became a meteorite of flesh aimed at Genos.
Genos crouched.
"Saitama-Sensei advised me to 'just hit harder'," Genos muttered.
"Maximum Output: Core Overload."
The runes on Genos's body turned red.
"Machine Art: Spiral Incineration... RUNE BREAKER!"
Genos punched upward.
A pillar of fire—blue, hot, focused into a spiraling drill—erupted from his fist. It engulfed Svenkin.
The "Skin Magic" that could soften impact couldn't soften plasma.
Svenkin didn't even have time to scream his name. The drill pierced his softness, melted his hardness, and launched him into the stratosphere.
DING.
A twinkle in the sky.
Genos cooled down, his vents whirring. He looked at Gadjah.
"Combat Efficiency: Satisfactory. Guardian Gadjah, was that technique correct?"
Gadjah stared at the scorch mark on the ground.
"You..." Gadjah swallowed. "You learned in two weeks what took me ten years. Just... who is your Master?"
Palace Corridors - The Snack Room
Saitama was lost.
Again.
"This place is too big," Saitama complained, wandering down a hallway made of water-glass. "All the doors look the same. I just wanted to find the bathroom."
A shadow dropped from the ceiling.
It was a man with a tongue so long it wrapped around his neck like a scarf. Robero. The Tongue Disciple.
"Gehehe!" Robero slithered down. "Lost little bald man? Perfect snack!"
Robero didn't sense mana, so he assumed Saitama was a servant.
"My tongue can taste your soul!" Robero lunged, his tongue shooting out like a spear, tipped with poison barbs.
Saitama watched the gross, slobbery pink thing flying at his face.
"Ew," Saitama said.
He reached out.
Grab.
He caught the tongue mid-air.
"Geh?!" Robero gagged. "Let... go...!"
"You touch things with this?" Saitama looked at the slime on his glove. "Disgusting."
Saitama pulled.
He yanked Robero toward him. But instead of punching, Saitama started... tying.
Flip. Loop. Yank.
In three seconds, Saitama had tied the ten-foot-long magic tongue into a complex sailors' knot. A really tight one.
"Mmph?! MMMRPH?!" Robero tried to retract his tongue, but the knot was too big to fit back in his mouth. He stood there, gagging on his own tongue-knot, looking pathetic.
"Don't lick strangers," Saitama lectured. "It's unsanitary."
He shoved the confused Disciple into a broom closet and kicked the door shut.
Slam.
"Now," Saitama wiped his glove on the wall (sorry Lolo). "Bathroom. Is it left or right?"
The Throne Room - Crisis
"NOELLE!"
Queen Lolopechka screamed.
The door to the throne room had exploded.
Vanica Zogratis strolled in. She dragged Mimosa by the collar (Mimosa was unconscious but alive).
"Knock knock!" Vanica chirped, tossing Mimosa aside like a ragdoll. "Lolo-chan! Did you miss me? Did your tummy ache?"
Noelle stood in front of the Queen. Her Valkyrie armor was fully deployed—Mermaid Form. She looked fierce, terrified, and royal.
"You," Noelle hissed. "The one who killed my mother. Acier Silva."
"Acier?" Vanica tilted her head, her eyepatch giving her a menacing look. "Oh! The steel woman! She was strong! Super fun! But she died too fast. Are you her daughter?"
Vanica smiled. Megicula's shadow loomed behind her.
"Let's see if you're as fun as Mommy!"
BOOM.
Vanica launched herself.
Noelle reacted. "Sea Dragon's Roar!"
The dragon fired. Vanica didn't dodge. She punched the dragon. Blood Magic exploded from her fist, shattering the water spell instantly.
She appeared in front of Noelle.
"Too slow!"
Vanica kicked. Noelle blocked with her lance, but the force sent her skidding across the water floor, smashing into Undine.
"Weak!" Vanica pouted. "Boring! I came all this way for this?"
She turned to Lolopechka. The Queen was trembling, water floating uncontrollably around her.
"If the daughter is boring," Vanica summoned a sword of cursed blood. "Maybe I should just kill the Queen and go home. Dante won't mind if I start the war early."
Vanica raised the blood sword.
"Any last words, Four-Eyes?"
Lolopechka sobbed. She wasn't a warrior. She was a library of knowledge. "I... I don't want to die..."
"Bo-ring," Vanica swung the sword.
CREEEEAAAAK.
The sound of hinges groaning.
The side door (the servants' entrance) slowly pushed open.
Vanica paused. Her sword halted an inch from Lolopechka's neck.
A yellow boot stepped out.
"Excuse me," a flat voice asked.
Saitama stuck his head in.
"Is the toilet in here? The sign in the hall was written in squiggle-language."
Silence.
The Queen stared.
Noelle (pulling herself out of the rubble) stared.
Vanica stared.
Vanica blinked her one visible eye.
"A bald guy," Vanica whispered. "No mana."
Her smile grew. Slowly. Widely. Until it split her face.
"IT'S YOU!" Vanica shrieked, jumping up and down. "The Anomaly! The Punching Man! I HEARD ABOUT YOU!"
Saitama walked in fully. He saw Mimosa unconscious on the floor. He saw Noelle bruised. He saw the crying Queen.
And he saw the woman with the eyepatch and the bad attitude.
Saitama's face dropped the confusion. The shadows returned.
"You broke the door," Saitama said, pointing at the main entrance debris. "And you hit the plant girl."
"I want to fight you!" Vanica ignored him, her devil power flaring to 50% instantly. Her half-body turned black. Wings sprouted. "Dante said you're scary! But you look silly! FIGHT ME!"
"I need to use the bathroom," Saitama said.
"FIGHT ME!" Vanica lunged. Red Beast.
She was faster than the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Faster than Zagred. She was using Supreme Devil reinforcement.
She aimed a clawed hand at Saitama's face.
Saitama sighed.
He caught her wrist.
SNAP.
Not her bone. The shockwave of the stop snapped the air around them.
Vanica froze. She tried to pull her hand back. It wouldn't move. It was like her hand was encased in the center of a mountain.
"You guys really don't have manners," Saitama said low.
"Hehe..." Vanica's eye went manic. "Strong... SO STRONG! MEGICULA! MORE POWER!"
Dark runes spread over her face. 70%.
"EXPLODE!" Vanica shouted.
Point-blank explosion. Curse-Bomb.
A nuke of pure curse energy detonated between them. It destroyed the throne room's ceiling, vaporized the water, and shook the foundations of the palace.
Smoke covered everything.
"Did I win?" Vanica panted, hopping back. "Did he break?"
The smoke cleared.
Saitama was standing there. His cape was blown off (burned away). His suit was blackened.
He was holding a piece of his cape—a burnt scrap—in his hand.
"That was my favorite cape," Saitama said. "I sewed the hole myself."
He looked at Vanica.
"Hey. Eye-patch."
He took a step.
"I'm going to teach you a lesson."
Vanica shivered. A cold dread, deeper than the Abyss, crawled up her spine. Even Megicula, the devil inside her, whispered one word:
Run.