"Black Sperm?"
Gouketsu heard the voice behind him. He casually tossed aside the blood-soaked thigh in his hand, his expression turning savage and impatient.
"Wait until I finish killing these people."
He was enjoying himself far too much to stop now.
"The L City and K City branches were wiped out minutes ago. Phoenix Man, Gale Wind, and Hellfire Flame are all dead. Evil Eye saw that man heading toward J City with his clairvoyance."
Black Sperm's expression was grave. The sudden destruction of two branches had caught the Monster Association completely off guard.
The deaths of Phoenix Man and the others, along with many elite monsters, had significantly weakened their overall power.
He had come to notify both Centipede Elder and Gouketsu to retreat. Although the Monster Association had multiple Dragon-level monsters, every single one of them mattered.
Dragon-level beings were at the very top of the food chain.
They were the only forces capable of standing against S-Class Heroes.
"Hmm? Phoenix Man and the others are dead? How many S-Class Heroes did they send?"
Gouketsu frowned slightly, surprised. To eliminate those three and destroy an entire branch, the Hero Association would have needed at least two S-Class Heroes, supported by numerous lower-ranked ones.
"It wasn't the Hero Association."
Black Sperm's voice dropped, heavy with tension.
"It was God."
The air seemed to grow colder.
"This is a direct order from Monster King Orochi. You must retreat. The Monster Association is suspending all activity for now."
Black Sperm finished speaking, yet received no response.
Frowning, he looked up.
Gouketsu was staring behind him, his body completely rigid. His breathing had stopped, and cold sweat slid down his face.
That reaction alone was enough to send a chill through Black Sperm's entire being.
Slowly, stiffly, he turned his head.
Then his face froze.
His pupils shrank, and sweat began to pour down his forehead.
"I just heard you mention Monster King Orochi."
Lucien hovered a few feet above the ground, his amethyst eyes gleaming with a faint, almost playful light. His spiky black hair swayed slightly, along with the miniature Gatling gun and rocket launcher earrings dangling from his ears.
He wore a simple T-shirt, beach shorts, and flip-flops, with a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips.
There was something roguish about him.
Something completely detached.
"Damn it… when did he get here?!"
Black Sperm screamed internally. He hadn't sensed anything. No presence, no movement.
It was as if Lucien had always been there.
By now, both the Hero Association and the Monster Association had identified certain beings in this war.
Gods.
And the man before him was clearly one of them.
Faced with Lucien's gaze, Black Sperm forced a stiff smile, his face pale and drenched in sweat.
"Black Sperm, you can divide your cells endlessly, creating independent bodies, and you can merge them again. You are resistant to physical attacks. Quite an interesting ability."
Lucien exhaled a thin stream of smoke, holding a small data sheet in his right hand. The information was minimal, just a photo and a short description.
Still, it was enough.
"This body in front of me is just one of many, right? Killing you completely would be troublesome."
Lucien lowered his head slightly, his star-like eyes gleaming with amusement.
"Do you mind taking me to the Monster Association headquarters?"
"O… of course!"
Black Sperm answered instantly.
Then he vanished.
In less than a few breaths, he burrowed over a thousand meters underground, fleeing with everything he had.
"He scared the hell out of me… what a monster."
His heart pounded violently, blood rushing through his body.
But then, a trace of arrogance surfaced.
Even if that man was a God, so what?
Could he really catch him?
A sneer appeared on Black Sperm's face.
Then everything changed.
A crystal thorn suddenly erupted from the surrounding earth, wrapping tightly around his neck. The heat it emitted melted the soil instantly.
Before he could react, his body was yanked upward at terrifying speed.
In the next moment, he found himself face to face with Lucien once again.
"Hi. We meet again."
Lucien smiled faintly.
Black Sperm's entire body trembled.
Impossible.
This had to be impossible.
"P… please… spare me…"
Even as just a single cell body, fear consumed him completely.
The crystal around his neck grew hotter and hotter. His cells began to burn and rot.
"God or insect, it doesn't matter."
Lucien's voice was calm.
"Die."
"Die for me!"
At that exact moment, Gouketsu roared and attacked.
His fist tore through the air, carrying immense force.
But it meant nothing.
A sharp, tearing sensation filled his body.
His strength vanished instantly.
Blood poured from his mouth and nose as he stared down at the hand embedded in his chest.
His powerful body began to crumble.
Within three breaths, he turned into ash.
"Your flesh and soul have some value."
Lucien held the struggling soul in his hand and absorbed it without hesitation.
To him, it was barely worth mentioning.
Slightly better than nothing.
Black Sperm's face twisted in horror.
Gouketsu… was killed instantly.
His body reduced to ash, his soul devoured.
What was that white mist?
A soul?
Cold dread wrapped around Black Sperm as his body shook uncontrollably.
"Have you made your decision?"
Lucien turned his gaze back to him, as if nothing significant had just happened.
"You… you can't kill me."
Black Sperm's voice trembled, yet a trace of confidence remained.
"True. Your ability is troublesome."
Lucien nodded slightly.
"Then I will just kill every single cell."
In that instant, his perception expanded.
His Ki combined with Observation Haki spread across the entire city, allowing him to sense everything.
Every presence.
Every movement.
Nothing escaped him.
"We will meet again."
The crystal thorn flared with intense heat.
Black Sperm screamed as his body was incinerated.
Lucien vanished.
In the next second, he reappeared kilometers away, directly in front of another identical Black Sperm hidden inside a building.
One minute later.
Every single Black Sperm clone in J City had been located and destroyed.
Inside the Monster Association headquarters, the real Black Sperm's face turned deathly pale.
He felt every death.
The sudden loss of so many cells weakened him drastically, his aura dropping by nearly twenty percent.
Centipede Elder was no better.
His massive body burrowed desperately into the ground, trying to escape.
But it was useless.
Two fingers clamped onto his tail.
No matter how he struggled, he could not move.
With a violent pull, more than half of his enormous body was ripped out of the earth and lifted into the air.
Boom!
Before he could react, Lucien flicked his finger.
The air screamed.
A shockwave burst forward.
Centipede Elder's armored head, harder than steel, exploded instantly, spraying green blood across the ruined battlefield.
The surrounding heroes froze in shock.
They had thrown everything they had at this monster and failed to even scratch it.
Yet Lucien killed it with a single flick.
Lucien glanced at the corpse, his expression thoughtful for a brief moment.
Then he made a decision.
This one was even larger than the previous centipedes.
It would taste better.
He could take it back, let it be prepared properly, and while waiting, wipe out the Monster Association completely.
Perfect.
With a casual motion, he pulled out the massive soul and absorbed it.
The air burst apart.
Lucien transformed into a streak of golden-white lightning and vanished into the horizon.