*BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM—!! *
Deafening explosions echoed in a continuous roar. The earth trembled and groaned violently. Those Demon-level Grudge Corpses—fearless of death—were instantly purified and evaporated by the scorching white flames during their collective charge, reduced to ashes.
The already-scarred earth suffered another heavy blow. After the smoke cleared, the scorched ground—subjected to a carpet bombing of Prince's Tactics—was barren, with not a single blade of grass. The circular craters scattered across it resembled the uneven surface of the moon.
As expected, while clearing the Grudge Corpses, no system notification sound popped up in Jack's mind. Evidently, the puppets sharing the Monster's power were not counted as valid kills by the system.
Since the cannon fodder yielded no benefits, the Grudge Overtime Ghost—a special summoning-type Monster—had no reason to exist.
Just as Jack clenched his fist, preparing to punch the Monster into oblivion, a powerful, heart-palpitating Psychokinesis fluctuation—like a green energy tide—descended from the sky. A vast, domineering invisible force field instantly enveloped the entire area. The air solidified. The gravel and steel bars on the ground began to tremble slightly, as if worshiping a coming king.
Having already sensed it, Jack's expression showed no surprise. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he looked up at the sky.
—It's here!
Above the clouds, a transport plane—far away—suddenly opened its bottom hatch. A slender green meteor detached from it, streaking across the sky at astonishing, unimaginable speed, plummeting vertically toward the battlefield's center.
As the green light receded, Tornado's petite figure hovered in mid-air. She surveyed the ravaged battlefield from above. Though Jack seemed somewhat familiar, her nonchalant gaze habitually ignored the passersby nearby, instead locking onto the Monster staggering up from the flames.
"Hmph… these Hero Association guys are really unreliable." Tornado's emerald eyes showed a hint of disappointment and impatience after a brief assessment. "To disturb my vacation for a mere lungworm of this caliber!"
Grudge Overtime Ghost: ???
—Lungworm?
Jack: ???
—Lungworm bug?
Offended! ×2
The hard-hat Monster was already dazed by the shockwaves of the explosion. Hearing the disdainful complaint from above, its fierce beast body trembled again, and it instantly flew into a rage.
"Tie Mie…! What… did… you… say?!"
Surging black mist of grudge soared into the sky, obscuring more than half of it.
Tornado's delicate eyebrows slightly raised—this finally piqued her interest a little.
"Now that's more like it—hey!"
Her demeanor smoothly shifted to that of a strong person. She looked at the familiar handsome man below, whose gaze was fixed on her, and said stiffly with dead-fish eyes.
"And you—the small fry—don't get in the way here."
She casually waved her slender, pale fingers to the side. A powerful emerald Psychokinesis swept over like a hurricane.
Jack allowed the green Psychokinesis light to cling to him, and then felt a powerful but not overbearing force field descend, seemingly intending to blow him away and clear the area. Letting the Psychokinesis field pull and tug at his Fierce Beast Body, Jack couldn't help but blink.
The seemingly rough action was actually well-controlled. Even if someone else were thrown away, they probably wouldn't be seriously harmed. Is this the kind-hearted tsundere?
I love it, I love it!
"…Hmm?"
Tornado, who was about to attack the Monster, paused. Her delicate, rosy face showed a surprised expression for the first time.
Jack—who should have exited—remained standing. His feet rooted to the ground, unmoving. The Psychokinesis, strong enough to easily overturn armored vehicles, only caused the man's hair to flutter slightly twice.
"Hmph—I underestimated you. Wait…"
Admitting she had misjudged, Tornado couldn't help but look at Jack a few more times. His highly recognizable handsome face brought back a nearly forgotten memory, and the tsundere loli's beautiful eyes widened.
"So it's you—the guy who saved Fubuki last time."
"My name is Jack—remember that."
Jack thought, and a cyan Psychokinesis light radiated from his body, dispersing the Psychokinesis Tornado had casually released.
"Also, about your sister last time—no need to thank me."
"Hmph—who said I wanted to thank you?" Recalling the situation at the time, Tornado crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze displeased. "I'll take good care of my sister myself. Even if you weren't there, I would have acted. It was just…"
A pause.
"…to teach her a lesson."
Heh—a siscon tsundere.
Jack internally complained, but he wagged a finger and said: "Studies show that the more parents tell their children 'I'm doing this for your own good,' the more likely children are to develop rebellious psychology, Miss Tornado… You don't want your sister to resent you, do you?"
Tornado paused, thought seriously for three seconds, and then realized.
"Shut up!"
The ground suddenly shook violently without warning. Tornado's cheeks flushed slightly, and her voice carried killing intent.
"You… you've only mastered a little power, and you dare to lecture me?"
"It's not a lecture—just a rational discussion and suggestion."
"Hmph—meddling…"
Perhaps out of consideration for Jack having saved Fubuki, Tornado remained silent for a moment, then turned her head away. Her fingers tapped impatiently on her fair, delicate arm, her voice noticeably quieter by a billion points.
"This kind of thing… then what should I do?"
"Hmm?"
Jack hadn't expected that—playing a part-time psychological counselor—Tornado would actually listen! Indeed, once it involved her sister Fubuki, the ultimate siscon simply couldn't resist.
Jack cleared his throat and began to analyze very professionally.
"The key to this problem is to find the crucial issue. My view is… blah, blah, blah…"
Tornado unconsciously lowered her height, nodding repeatedly as she listened.
"Mm-hmm—that makes sense…! And then…?"
"And then, of course… abba, abba…"
Grudge Overtime Ghost: …
Two humans actually started chatting as if no one else was around—right in front of him, a Dragon-level Monster!
This disregard made him feel immense humiliation. However, when he heard Tornado's name from Jack's mouth, his five-meter-tall fierce beast body trembled again. His massive frame shook with excitement, letting out a deafening roar.
"AHHH! Miss Tornado! The real Miss Tornado!!"
"Miss Tornado—I'm your fan!!"
"It's actually you in person! Anyway—I don't have to work after becoming a Monster—I'm going to take you home!! And have 100 children!!"
Tornado: ???
Jack: …
How disgusting—why are you shouting your inner thoughts!
A mutated Monster was actually her fan. At this moment, Tornado's expression became exceptionally vivid—truly hard to bear.
"…Go to hell—!!"
(ಠ益ಠ)
*BOOM—!!! *
A terrifying Psychokinesis storm erupted with her at its center. The ground of the entire abandoned factory cracked layer by layer under this force. Countless tons of concrete blocks, twisted steel bars, and discarded machinery were all torn and lifted into the air by invisible power. For a moment, the sky darkened. Sand and stones flew—as if the end of the world had arrived.
Her green curly hair and slit skirt, wrapped in emerald light, fluttered fiercely. Facing the sudden 'fan service,' Jack's gaze below couldn't help but become serious. He pushed up his non-existent glasses.
His powerful vision—exceeding human limits countless times—penetrated the clouds and mist, attempting to uncover the greatest secret of the One-Punch Man world.
"Hiss… Sure enough…!"