"Heading out for work?" Saitama's eyes lit up the moment he heard Jovian say it.
"The Hero Association has located the Monster Association's base," Jovian said as he stood up and stretched a little. "They're summoning all S-Class heroes to assemble at the A-City headquarters."
He'd been waiting for this day for a long time.
"An assembly?" King's expression sharpened the instant he heard "A-City." "Then we finish this fast."
He started playing seriously.
Every time the Hero Association summoned the S-Class, King's heart would pound like it was trying to escape his chest. He knew what it meant: the kind of crisis that no single S-Class hero could handle alone. The enemy would be terrifying, and the road ahead would be full of obstacles and danger.
But since he took an S-Class paycheck, he never once missed a call-up. Because even if his physical ability was worse than the weakest C-Class hero, King still understood something clearly:
Showing up was part of what he was being paid to do.
"No," Jovian said. "You three can stay here."
"I'm enough on my own."
He brushed imaginary dust from his clothes, opened Saitama's window, and turned into a streak of white light as he shot out into the sky.
"Wait—" Genos tried to speak, ready to go with him, but before the word fully left his mouth, Jovian was already gone.
"KO!"
At the same time, King—now in absolute kill mode—landed a combo that erased Saitama's health bar in an instant.
"I—I lost again…" Saitama stared at the empty bar, then roared at King like he'd just witnessed a crime against nature. "Damn it!!"
"Saitama," King said carefully, "the Association is forcibly summoning the S-Class. How about we continue our match after the meeting?"
"Yeah…" Saitama scratched his shiny bald head. "If the Association is calling S-Class heroes, then I guess it can't be helped. We'll keep fighting after the meeting."
"Great," King said, visibly relieved.
Honestly, if Saitama refused to let him go, King wouldn't have had any options. Saitama's strength was beyond anything a normal person could even imagine—Saitama was a monster that lived outside the limits of reality.
But thankfully, Saitama was easy to talk to—and he actually cared about the bigger picture.
"Huh?" Saitama looked around. "Where'd Jovian go?"
Only after getting obliterated again did he realize Jovian had disappeared without a sound.
"Sensei," Genos answered immediately, "Jovian already left. It looks like he intends to solve the Monster Association himself."
"Flying is nice…" Saitama said, a little envy creeping onto his face.
Then he shook his head, clenched a fist, and his energy shot up.
"Genos, we can't keep dragging our feet. If we're too slow, the enemy will be wiped out by Jovian before we even arrive! As heroes, we can't miss this fight!"
"Yes, Sensei!" Genos responded, catching fire right along with him.
In the next second, Saitama and Genos both jumped out the window, hit the abandoned street below, and took off running.
"Jovian, Saitama, Genos… everyone's so damn diligent," King muttered as he watched them from the window. "Guess I should move too."
He estimated the drop to the ground, immediately decided against it, and turned toward Saitama's front door instead.
Click.
After easing the door open, King suddenly remembered something and turned his head back.
"Fubuki, it's urgent, so I'm heading out first!" he called politely to the woman kneeling on the floor with her legs pressed tightly together, trembling.
Then King left—taking tiny steps, breathing a little hard as he headed for the stairs, one very normal flight at a time.
"Finally…" Fubuki whispered, watching the S-Class heroes leave. "They're all gone…"
She stood up with her knees squeezed together, stumbled into the bathroom, and shut the door.
Pssshhh…
With the refreshing sound of running water—like a clear stream cutting through a lush forest—Fubuki's pale, strained expression finally eased.
She could breathe again.
Meanwhile, at the Hero Association headquarters in A-City…
Boom!
A violent gust of wind exploded outward as a figure dropped from the sky and landed in front of the massive metal fortress.
"Mr. Jovian…" The Hero Association manager stationed at the entrance stared, his heart churning.
He knew Jovian was fast, but this was still shocking. From the moment he called—and Jovian hung up—to the moment Jovian appeared in front of him…
Less than three seconds had passed. Barely enough time to finish a sentence.
"You found the Monster Association, right?" Jovian asked, arms folded, looking down at the manager without any small talk.
"Yes," the manager said quickly. "After you told us to investigate, we mobilized all our manpower and resources. When the search came up empty, we spent a fortune bringing in Metal Knight for support…"
"Metal Knight only needed three days to confirm the Monster Association's exact location."
"Good," Jovian said. "Send me the location."
His brow twitched at the word "told us," but he didn't have time to argue about tone. He needed to move.
If he'd known Metal Knight was this efficient, he would've gone to Metal Knight first and skipped the Hero Association entirely. It would've saved a lot of time.
"Uh…" The manager forced a smile, keeping his voice polite. "Please wait. The danger level of the Monster Association is far beyond what we expected."
"According to Metal Knight's data, there are multiple monsters inside with Dragon-level combat power."
"And Metal Knight has already lost contact at that location. I think you should wait until all S-Class heroes arrive, so we can analyze the enemy's strength, create an operation plan, and then go together."
"So I hope you can be patient—"
"Location." Jovian turned his head slightly and looked down at him, emphasizing the word like a verdict.
"Uh…" The manager's body trembled under the pressure.
"Are you trying to tell Jovian how to do his job?" a stern voice snapped.
The manager stiffened as a middle-aged man with graying hair and a worn face stepped up beside him.
"Send the location. Now."
"But Sitch—" the manager tried.
Sitch frowned.
The manager folded instantly. "Okay. I understand."
"I'll send it to you right away, Mr. Jovian."
He hurriedly forwarded the coordinates to Jovian's phone.
"Heh." Jovian glanced at the message and smiled coldly. "So that's where you've been hiding."
Then he lifted off, shot into the sky, and vanished.
Sitch finally exhaled. Then he rounded on the manager.
"You tried to lecture that man?" Sitch hissed. "Are you out of your mind?"
"But Sitch," the manager protested, "isn't giving heroes the correct support our job?"
"It is," Sitch said, voice hard. "But there's a condition: we provide correct support, not the wrong kind."
"For Jovian, the best support is simple: whatever he tells us to do, we do it."
The manager still looked unhappy.
"Do you know why you were assigned to receive Jovian?" Sitch asked, shaking his head.
"Because your clearance wasn't high enough to attend the meeting Jovian held with the Association's top executives a few days ago."
"If you'd been in that room, you wouldn't have spoken to him like you did. You'd treat him like a god—and you wouldn't dare offer a single suggestion in front of him."
After dropping that loaded statement, Sitch turned and walked away.
The manager stared after him, thoughts churning. He had a sinking feeling he'd just been used by someone inside the Association.
Deep underground…
It was chaos—monsters of every shape and size swarmed around a massive, titanic creature, chanting, praying, and dancing.
This was the monsters' palace.
Their paradise.
Their gathering place.
Metal Knight's remote-controlled combat robot—Unit One, originally sent to collect intelligence—had been torn apart. Its limbs were removed, it was wrapped up in netting, and it hung in midair like a trophy for all monsters to gawk at.
"I didn't expect the Hero Association to find our location this early," a one-eyed monster muttered, rubbing its chin as it thought.
"But I jammed its signal to the surface. The outside probably hasn't learned what's happening down here."
"Still… we need to prepare for the worst."
It stood beneath the enormous body of the giant monster, eyes narrowing.
"Everyone!" the one-eyed monster shouted. "Those filthy heroes have found our location!"
"Prepare yourselves—our enemy could strike at any moment!"
"But this is also our chance. A chance to return to the surface… to rule the world above… to become the kings of the land!"
"We've lived in the shadows for far too long."
"It's time to go back."
"It's time to make those hero bastards—whose hands are stained with our comrades' blood—pay the price!!!"
"War is coming! Under Monster King Orochi, we will crush every hero, dominate the surface, and enslave humanity!!"
"We are sworn enemies of justice!"
The one-eyed monster—Gyoro-Gyoro—finished and nodded once toward the giant behind it.
Boom!
The instant Gyoro-Gyoro nodded, the massive monster moved—and Metal Knight's captured robot was obliterated completely.
"Long live the Monster King!!"
"Long live Gyoro-Gyoro!!"
"Down with justice!!"
The monsters roared, fired up like they were ready to tear the heroes apart.
"Hehehe…" Gyoro-Gyoro laughed quietly, eyes gleaming. "Bunch of idiots. This'll be easy to use."
"And Fubuki… watch closely. I'll show you my choice was the right one."
Among the crowd, several monsters radiated an especially terrifying aura.
This wasn't just a swarm of weaklings.
It was an army—nearly ten Dragon-level monsters, dozens of Demon-level monsters, and hundreds—maybe thousands—below that.
"Hehehe…" Gyoro-Gyoro stared at its forces and laughed louder. "This round, the advantage is mine!"
BOOM!
Just as Gyoro-Gyoro prepared to strike first, a violent impact erupted overhead.
The ceiling split open—an enormous hole punched straight through from above, as something crashed down from the surface and tore through the Monster Association's roof like paper.
"What happened?!" Gyoro-Gyoro snapped, looking up at the broken opening, shocked—and suddenly afraid, like it had just realized something terrible.
The dust slowly settled.
And a man stepped forward.
A muscular figure wearing a white fur-lined coat.
Gyoro-Gyoro's eyes widened.
"You are—?!"
The man ignored every monster around him. He looked up at the biggest monster in the room.
Then he asked, flat and vicious:
"So you're the fucking Monster King?"
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