The air in the Hero Association's main conference room was thick with a tension that had nothing to do with monsters. Around the polished table, high-ranking officials sat with grim faces, their attention fixed on a large screen. The image displayed was a map of the city, overlaid with photos of various heroes. A harsh, red 'X' had been digitally slashed across several of them.
"…confirmed that Mister Muffintop was found severely beaten" a nervous director stated, adjusting his tie. "His condition is stable, but the message was clear. It's the same pattern as the attacks on recent hero`s, even Tanktop Master himself was defeated single-handedly and is currently in critical condition."
The screen changed, zooming in on a photo of a white-haired, intensely focused young man with a feral gleam in his eyes. The name GAROU was displayed in bold, red letters beneath it.
"The so-called 'Hero Hunter' is escalating," another official, a stern-faced woman, declared. "He's systematically targeting high-profile heroes, and his strength… it's abnormal. He's a former student of Silver Fang, and he's using that knowledge to dismantle our ranks."
The display shifted again, this time cycling through the remaining high-profile heroes, their faces and names flashing one by one: Watchdog Man, Metal Bat… and finally, it landed on a particularly stern, scarred visage.
KING
S-Class. Rank 7.
The Strongest Man on Earth.
A heavy silence fell over the room. The implication was clear. Garou was working his way up the food chain, and the pinnacle of the Hero Association was now firmly in his sights.
---
The familiar, satisfying chime of the system echoed in King's mind as another Tiger-level threat, a hulking brute made of living concrete, dissolved into dust before his King's Armor-enhanced fist.
[Tiger-level Threat: Urban Golem - DEFEATED]
[Bonus BP: +1,800]
[Total BP: 8,350]
"Good. Steady progress," King muttered to himself, wiping a speck of dust from his shoulder. The memory of Talon's wings was a constant motivator. Every point earned was a step toward Seismic Clap or Kinetic Blast. He was so engrossed in his mission that the vibration of his Hero Association-issued phone in his pocket felt like an unwelcome intrusion from another world.
He contemplated ignoring it, but duty, or at least the lingering ghost of it, made him answer. "This is King," he said, his voice a low rumble.
"King! Sir!" a young, overly earnest voice chirped from the other end. "This is Dispatch. We have a critical assignment for you! We need you to act as a bodyguard for a high-value executive who may be targeted by the Hero Hunter, Garou! Your presence would be a massive deterrent!"
King blinked, processing the request. Bodyguard duty? That meant standing around, waiting. It meant being in the public eye. It meant zero monster encounters and a complete halt to his BP acquisition. The very thought was anathema to his current goals.
"I cannot," King stated, his tone flat and final. "I am currently occupied."
"O-occupied, sir?" the dispatcher stammered. "But this is a matter of utmost import—"
"My hunt cannot be interrupted," King interrupted, his gaze scanning the ruins for his next target. "There are… entities here that require my full attention. You will have to find someone else."
He wasn't lying. To him, the monsters of Z-City were entities that required his attention—they were his point piñatas. But the dispatcher on the other end of the line heard something else entirely. He heard the legendary King, his voice grave, speaking of a "hunt" he couldn't abandon. Visions of a secret, catastrophic Dragon-level threat that only King could sense filled the young man's mind.
"I… I see!" the dispatcher said, his voice filled with newfound awe and understanding. "Of course, sir! My apologies for the interruption! We'll handle the bodyguard assignment with another asset. Please, continue your… your vital work!"
The line went dead.
King shrugged, sliding the phone back into his pocket. The interaction was already forgotten. His King's Eyes caught a flicker of movement in a nearby alley—another red blip on his mental map. A pack of Wolf-level threats, perfect for a quick aura-based extermination.
"Now, back to work," he rumbled, the King Engine giving a low, purposeful thrum as he turned towards the new prey. The points weren't going to earn themselves, and he had a very specific, very expensive set of abilities to buy.
The dismissed phone call was a fleeting distraction, swallowed by the immediate, tangible reality of the grind. King moved through Z-City's ruins like a force of nature, a golden-eyed reaper whose harvest was Belief Points. With each encounter, he wasn't just accumulating currency; he was sharpening his weapons, feeling them become extensions of his own will.
The changes were subtle but profound. When a hulking, six-armed Tiger-level gorilla monster burst from a garage, roaring and pounding its chest, King didn't flinch. He simply thought of defense, and the King's Armor responded. Instead of just a single limb, a brilliant, shimmering cuirass of golden energy formed over his torso and shoulders, while greaves and boots of light encased his legs. He let the monster's powerful fists hammer against his chest plate. The impacts were deafening THUD-CRUNCH sounds, but King stood firm, the armor dispersing the force effortlessly. He then drove an armored fist up under the monster's jaw, ending the fight.
[Tiger-level Threat: Brutalize-Ape - DEFEATED]
[Bonus BP for Unbreakable Defense: +2,200]
[Total BP: 10,550]
"Good," he grunted, examining the fading armor. "The coverage is improving." He could feel the increased strain when covering larger areas, a clear sign of growth. He could now choose: full upper body defense, or armored legs for powerful, crushing kicks and stable footing.
His King's Eyes were evolving in tandem. As he stalked through a labyrinth of collapsed office spaces, he didn't just see the rubble. He perceived the faint, shimmering red outlines of life forms hidden within it. Two Wolf-level parasites were lying in wait behind a shattered wall, and a larger, serpentine Tiger-level threat was coiled in the elevator shaft ahead.
"They're making this easy for me," he murmured, a slight smile touching his lips.
He focused his King's Aura and pulsed it directly through the wall. The two hidden parasites shrieked once before being silenced.
[Wolf-level Threat: Ambush Parasites - Terminated]
[BP Generated: +900]
[Total BP: 11,450]
He then approached the elevator shaft. Without even looking inside, he thrust his King's Armor-clad fist through the thin metal wall, directly into the head of the coiled serpent. The fight was over before it began.
[Tiger-level Threat: Shaft Serpent - DEFEATED]
[BP Generated: +1,950]
[Total BP: 13,400]
The efficiency was staggering. He was no longer just fighting monsters; he was processing them. The combination of his predictive sight and his evolving armor made him a perfect predator in this urban jungle. The BP counter climbed at an accelerated rate, a satisfying reward for his refined methods.
14,800... 16,100... 17,000...
After clearing out a nest of flying, bat-like creatures (a task made simple by leaping from wall to wall with armored legs to swat them from the air), he finally paused. He was deep within the city's core, the silence broken only by the wind and the fading chimes of his system.
[Total BP: 18,720]
A quick mental calculation flashed in his mind. Seismic Clap: 12,000. Kinetic Blast: 15,000. King's Authority: 18,000. He had enough for the first one, and was close to the second. The temptation to buy one of them right now was strong—a guaranteed solution to any future Talon-like problems.
But a deeper, more strategic thought prevailed. Why choose? Buying one now would only reset his progress toward the others. The grind was efficient now; his enhanced abilities allowed him to farm faster than ever before. If he was patient, he could amass the points for all three in a relatively short time.
"Patience," he rumbled to himself, the word a vow. "A complete arsenal is better than a single tool. Temporary deprivation for overwhelming future power."
He looked around, his golden eyes piercing the shadows, seeing the faint auras of monsters hiding in the ruins around him. They weren't just stepping stones to one ability; they were the foundation of his complete ranged dominance.
"The goal is 45,000," King declared, his voice echoing with a calculated determination. The King Engine beat a steady, powerful rhythm, a drum announcing not just a hunter, but a strategist building an empire. The grind continued, but the final prize had been redefined, and it was far greater than he had initially imagined.
The sun began its descent, painting the ruins of Z-City in long, weary shadows. King stood amidst the dissolving remains of a Tiger-level monstrosity that had resembled a twisted pile of construction equipment, his King's Armor fading from his arms. The familiar chime was a little less satisfying than it had been hours ago.
[Tiger-level Threat: Junk-Golem - DEFEATED]
[Bonus BP: +1,950]
[Total BP: 41,380]
He was close. So agonizingly close to his goal of 45,000 BP. But the path to get here had become a slog. The initial, thrilling efficiency of his hunt had ground down into a tedious process of searching.
"It's thinning out," he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. His King's Eyes scanned the surrounding area, their enhanced perception now showing him mostly empty, crumbling structures. The faint red blips on his system map, once a dense constellation of targets, were now few and far between, often requiring long treks across the ruins for a single, mediocre payoff.
He'd spent the entire day on this single-minded mission. He'd cleared out entire blocks that had once been teeming with low-level threats. The Wolf-level monsters he could erase with a thought were virtually gone. The Tiger-level threats, his main source of income, were becoming scarce. He spent the next hour in a frustrating search, his BP inching up with painstaking slowness as he tracked down the last, scattered monsters.
42,100... 42,900... 43,400...
Finally, after cornering and obliterating a lone, wounded Wolf-level creature that had been hiding in a sewer main—a pitiful reward of 350 BP—the number he had been grinding for all day finally appeared.
[Total BP: 45,000]
A wave of profound relief and accomplishment washed over him. He had done it. Through relentless, methodical effort, he had reached his goal. But the triumph was immediately tempered by the stark reality of the situation.
He looked around at the silent, picked-clean ruins. This was no longer a viable hunting ground. The well was running dry. The high-density monster populations that allowed for rapid point accumulation were clearly elsewhere.
"This is not a game monsters wont respawn," he mused aloud, the analytical part of his mind, sharpened by his High Combat Instincts, already working on the problem. "I've created a territory so dominated by my presence that nothing weak dares to enter."
The implications were clear. If he wanted to continue growing at this pace, to afford the even more expensive abilities that loomed in the future like Ultimate Hellfire Burst Wave Motion Cannon, he would need to find richer hunting grounds.
That meant the truly dangerous places. The heart of the disaster zones, where Demon-level threats were rumored to lurk and the air was thick with malevolent energy. The thought was daunting, a cold stone of primal fear in his gut, but it was met by the steady, powerful thrum of his King Engine and the solid weight of the power he now wielded.
He had the points. He was ready for his next evolution. But as he prepared to open the shop, a new, grim understanding settled over him. This was a milestone, but also an ending. The easy, repetitive grind was over. The next phase of his growth would demand a greater price, not just in points, but in risk.
"First, the tools," King rumbled, his voice a low promise in the twilight. "Then, the bigger game."
With the goal finally achieved, King didn't hesitate. He pulled up the [LEGEND SHOP], the blue interface a beacon in the gathering twilight. With a series of decisive mental commands, he made his purchases.
[BP: 45,000 -> 33,000 -> 18,000 -> 0]
[Ability Acquired: Seismic Clap (Lv. 1)]
[Ability Acquired: Kinetic Blast Projection (Lv. 1)]
[Ability Acquired: King's Authority (Projected) (Lv. 1)]
A torrent of new sensations flooded his nervous system. It wasn't painful, but it was overwhelming—like three new limbs he never knew he had suddenly snapping into existence, each with its own purpose and potential. He took a moment to steady his breathing, the King Engine thumping with a mix of exhaustion and exhilaration. It was time for a field test.
He started with the most straightforward one. Seismic Clap.
He faced a relatively clear area littered with chunks of concrete and the rusted frame of an old car. Planting his feet, he brought his hands together with a focused, explosive intent. He didn't just clap; he envisioned his palms compressing the very air between them.
KA-BOOM!
The sound was not a sharp crack, but a deep, thunderous detonation. A visible, concussive wave of pure force erupted from his hands in a perfect, widening cone. The rubble on the ground was not just pushed back; it was launched into the air as if the ground itself had erupted. The car frame was sent tumbling end over end like a child's toy, screeching across the concrete before coming to a mangled halt fifty feet away. A perfect, fan-shaped crater, clean of all debris, was scoured into the earth before him.
King stared, his hands still stinging slightly. "Incredible," he breathed. No more being swarmed. This was the ultimate "back off" button.
Next was Kinetic Blast Projection.
He turned towards a skeletal structure that had once been a lamp post, its iron pole thick and solid. He raised his right hand, palm open. He focused, feeling a buildup of potential energy in his arm, a pressure begging for release. He didn't thrust his palm; he punched the air.
FWOOM!
A barely-visible ripple, like heat haze, shot from his palm. There was no slow projectile to track. It was instantaneous. A perfect, dinner-plate-sized hole appeared in the center of the iron pole with a sharp PANG! of tortured metal. But the blast didn't stop. It continued, punching through the crumbling brick wall behind the pole, then the next, and the one after that, leaving a series of clean, aligned holes before the energy finally dissipated in the distance.
"A precision tool," King analyzed, a slow grin spreading across his face. No more scrambling for rocks. This was a sniper rifle built into his arm.
...Finally, it was time for the ability that intrigued him most. King's Authority (Projected).
This felt different. It wasn't a technique of the body, but an extension of his will, his legend. He stood before a row of dilapidated, five-story apartment buildings, their windows like dead eyes. He focused, drawing not on his muscles, but on the core of his being—on the fear he inspired, on the unwavering belief of the public, on the sheer, terrifying presence that was the King Engine. He felt it all condense, not into a blanket of dread, but into a single, hyper-dense point of absolute authority in the space directly in front of his chest.
The King Engine roared, not a rhythmic thump, but a sustained, deafening BOOOOOOM that shook the very foundations of the ruins around him. The air grew heavy, charged with oppressive energy. He was the focal point of a coming storm.
He unleashed it.
He expected a blast, a projectile like the Kinetic Blast. What emerged was something else entirely.
It was a wave, but not of force. It was a wave of pure, solidified Intent. It was a visible distortion, a shimmering wall of golden-tinged energy that moved forward with the inexorable, crushing finality of a glacier. It didn't hit the first apartment building; it disassembled it. The structure didn't explode; it simply came apart, brick by brick, beam by beam, disintegrating into its constituent parts in a cloud of dust and debris. The wave continued, obliterating the second building, then the third, leveling them into a flat, smoldering field of rubble in a straight line for hundreds of feet. The sound was not an explosion, but a deep, groaning, grinding roar of annihilation.
When the last echo faded, an eerie silence fell. The king's triumphant shock curdled into a sharp gasp as a vise of pain clamped around his chest. His heart, the legendary King Engine, stuttered—a dissonant, painful thrum against his ribs. It was a direct backlash from the cataclysmic power he had just channeled.
As the phantom ache subsided, a system notification materialized in his vision, its cold text a stark warning:
[Caution: User's current physical condition and King`s Aura Level are insufficient for efficient utilization of this ability. Severe recoil damage is probable.]
A trump card, he realized, his breath catching, but my body isn't strong enough to wield it yet.
He looked at the smoldering devastation, then at his own trembling hands. A cleared path, a canyon of ruin, now led deeper into the city. He had come for tools to handle flying enemies. He had left with a power that could erase more than that.