Chapter 320: Chapter 21: Each One More Monstrous Than the Last
Above Z-City.
A massive meteor, engulfed in flames, tore through the clouds with an overwhelmingly terrifying momentum as it plummeted toward the city at breakneck speed.
The people below looked up at the approaching meteor, their faces filled with despair.
"It’s huge..."
"We might actually die this time."
Genos, carrying a metal case, soared across the rooftops.
"A meteor this big... with my current firepower, I’m not sure I can stop it."
He glanced down at the case in his hand.
"Didn’t expect I’d have to use this prototype so soon."
As his words fell, he pressed a button on the case.
With a mechanical hiss, the case shot out of his hand, splitting apart and transforming mid-air. The components reassembled around Genos, attaching seamlessly to his body. He flipped through the air with swift agility, landing atop a skyscraper.
"Can my Incineration Cannon stop this thing? No—I don’t have time to think. I’ll just pour everything into one full-powered blast and pray it works!"
Just as Genos was about to release his energy—
A rumbling echoed from the sky.
A steel-clad robot bristling with weaponry appeared above the city.
Genos’s eyes widened in surprise. "That’s Metal Knight, S-Class Rank 7? He came here to stop the meteor too?"
Under Genos’s gaze, the robot opened fire at full force, unleashing a storm of missiles toward the falling meteor.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the sky. A massive shockwave swept across the city, shattering countless windows. People on the streets screamed as they were knocked to the ground by the force.
"What just happened?"
Saitama, who was sprinting toward Genos’s direction, glanced up.
The sky above Z-City was ablaze with fiery red light. Flames roared, engulfing the clouds in a sea of crimson, but they quickly faded, replaced by thick black smoke.
Genos squinted at the sky.
"Did it work?"
"No. It failed."
A young voice answered from behind him.
Startled, Genos turned around.
Ron stood there calmly, gazing at the sky.
"When did you get here?"
"Forget about me," Ron replied, pointing upward. "You should worry about what’s in front of you."
Genos looked up—and his pupils shrank in horror.
The meteor had emerged from the smoke, completely unscathed. Still wrapped in flames, it continued its descent, as if it were about to bring the heavens crashing down.
"It really is enormous..."
Ron watched the meteor fall, reminded of Fujitora’s gravity-induced meteor strikes.
This one... looked even bigger.
From afar, Metal Knight’s remotely controlled robot spoke: "As expected, that level of firepower still isn’t enough."
Genos clenched his fists as he stared at the descending meteor.
"No choice then..."
"I’ll have to risk everything with a full-powered Incineration Cannon. It needs five seconds to charge... but the meteor’s already too close! And even if I destroy it, what about the fragments? I don’t have enough energy to deal with them..."
Ron glanced at him and chuckled. "If you hesitate like this, that thing’s definitely going to crash."
"You’re right—calm down, Genos."
A graceful figure landed behind Genos.
It was Bang.
His sharp gaze locked onto Genos as he said, "I can tell you’ve lost your composure. Relax. You’re still young. Don’t fear failure. In the face of disaster, that’s when you need to stay loose."
Ron stepped forward. "Should I just handle it?"
"No need," Bang interrupted.
Inspired by Bang’s words and thinking back to Saitama’s usual carefree demeanor, Genos’s eyes regained focus. With newfound resolve, he tore open his shirt, reached into his chest, and pulled out his energy core. He inserted it into his mechanical left arm. Instantly, arcs of blue electricity surged through his body.
"Watch closely—this is everything I’ve got!"
Genos stepped forward, raising his left arm toward the meteor, firing his full-powered Incineration Cannon.
A giant, dragon-like blast of concentrated energy surged skyward, colliding head-on with the falling meteor.
BOOM!!
With a furious roar, Genos unleashed his maximum output. Flames soared into the sky as shockwaves rippled outward in every direction.
"Still not enough?" Genos muttered.
Bang narrowed his eyes. "Wait... it looks like it’s slowing down."
"Really?"
"No... maybe I imagined it."
"Old man!!"
The enormous blast slowly shrank into a beam, then faded into nothing.
Exhausted, Genos collapsed to his knees, white steam rising from his overheated body.
"Nine seconds left... before it hits. You two should run..."
"Run?"
Ron let out a light laugh. "Why would I do that?"
Bang turned toward him. "You have another plan? This isn’t like martial arts. No matter how far you’ve mastered it, it can’t stop a natural disaster."
He had already recognized Ron as the young man who’d visited his dojo with Fubuki. He admitted Ron was stronger than himself, but still didn’t believe he could stop this meteor.
Under their watchful gazes, Ron stood with his hands in his coat pockets, smiling as he looked up at the rapidly falling meteor.
"If I act, that thing won’t hit the ground."
"But this time," he added with a grin, "I’ll let Saitama have the spotlight."
Just then—
A bald man in a hero costume with a white cape stepped onto the rooftop.
"Mm. Leave it to me."
Bang blinked in confusion. "Who’re you?"
"I’m Saitama. Just a hero for fun."
"Ron, take care of Genos for me," Saitama said as he stepped forward and stomped down hard.
The rooftop cracked and sank beneath his feet.
Before Bang’s stunned eyes, Saitama shot into the sky toward the meteor like a missile—his speed nothing short of terrifying.
"Sensei..."
Genos stared upward, dazed.
BOOM!
One punch—and the meteor shattered.
Ron looked up at the meteor fragments and the figure that had punched straight through them, once again marveling at Saitama’s monstrous physique.
An absolute freak.
"The meteor... was destroyed?!"
Bang stood frozen in place.
What is with the youth these days? How is each one more monstrous than the last?
Genos suddenly snapped back to reality. "Wait! The fragments! The meteor debris is falling!"
"No need to worry."
Genos and Bang turned toward Ron.
Ron pulled his right hand out of his pocket and held it palm-up.
A ripple of blue energy pulsed outward from his palm, rapidly spreading across the entire sky.
The meteor fragments, like a rain of deadly fireballs, suddenly lost all momentum—suspended in mid-air like balloons over the city.
Genos, Bang, and the citizens below—who had all resigned themselves to death—stared in awe at the floating stones above, utterly stunned.
"That’s... telekinesis?!"
Genos looked at Ron in shock. "You’re a psychic too?!"
Bang was equally shaken.
A body stronger than human limits. A king-like aura. And now, powerful psychic abilities... What kind of monster is this guy?!
"It’s over," Ron said casually. "I’m heading home. You heroes can figure out how to clean up the rest."
With that, his body vanished into thin air.
Leaving behind two stunned men—and a sky full of floating meteor fragments, like an asteroid belt hanging over the city.