Chapter 328: Chapter 29 – Defeat?
All of Ron’s energy surged into his right leg. In that instant, his entire limb looked as though it were forged from pure gold—brilliant golden lightning arcing wildly across it, with pitch-black Haki coiling around like a furious dragon. The sheer force radiating from it was enough to cause the very air to tremble.
Waves of pressure erupted outward like a tsunami, roaring from Ron’s position in every direction.
Not just the city—no, the entire sky above the nation was thrown into chaos. The weather warped, the heavens twisted.
From space, one would see an enormous vortex forming in the atmosphere over Neon, like the eye of a colossal typhoon.
BOOM!
In his most powerful form, Boros launched upward like a streak of purple light, crashing toward Ron who hovered high above. As he moved, the air around him shattered like fragile glass, unleashing sonic booms that thundered across the sky, echoing like divine drums of war.
"Take this."
Ron spoke softly—but his voice carried the weight of finality. In the next instant, his body dropped like a meteor from the sky.
His left leg recoiled, his right leg extended—unleashing a single, decisive strike.
Ascended Atomic Kick!
RUMBLE!!
Ron transformed into a golden meteor streaking across the heavens, his body igniting with crimson flames from the sheer friction of speed. A blinding, gold-red arc sliced through the sky.
Every inch he traveled left behind collapsing air pockets that exploded with deafening force.
It looked like a high-tier alien civilization had launched an apocalyptic energy beam straight at Earth—an attack capable of total planetary annihilation.
This single, devastating attack, magnified threefold by Ron’s power, would have utterly erased a massive island in the One Piece world.
If Boros chose to dodge it... and this attack landed on the ground...
Forget A-City—the entire nation of Neon would be obliterated!
But—this was Boros.
The Boros who had journeyed across galaxies, driven by a prophecy, just to find a worthy opponent on Earth. A warrior who never backed down.
He would not dodge. He would face it head-on.
His body glowing with black markings, radiant with an intense violet hue, long purple hair trailing like a burning comet—Boros hovered midair and looked up at the golden meteor bearing down on him.
Even he—the all-conquering Boros—felt a chilling sense of dread and danger in that moment.
At full power, he could reduce a city to rubble with a single punch. But this—this attack coming down from the heavens—was in a league of its own. Taking it head-on would not just destroy his body—even his core might be vaporized.
"...Guess I have no choice. Time to use that."
Boros crossed his arms in front of his chest. Surging energy rushed toward the glowing white cavity at the center of his torso.
"You’ve forced me to use this move. Be proud, human. And then... die!!"
Light flared in Boros’s eyes. His entire body ignited with radiant golden energy, surpassing its prior violet hue. He blazed like the sun itself, arcs of thunder as thick as buildings whipping out from his frame, forming a kilometer-wide storm zone.
"Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon!!"
With Boros’s roar, the space around him imploded—fracturing with an otherworldly crack—and a cataclysmic energy cannon blasted out from his core. It surged upward to meet the golden meteor crashing down.
When they collided—
It was like a supernova.
For a split second, the sky went black as night—then it flashed blindingly bright.
Below the alien mothership, Bang and the others had no time to react.
Then came a sound—a world-ending, nuke-like explosion.
BOOOOOM!!!
In an instant—
The heavens and earth shook violently!
The alien mothership—massive enough to rival A-City in scale—lurched violently as if struck by a meteorite, crashing downward toward the ground.
The sky above tore open as the energy cannon burst through it, lightning erupting in every direction. The ground beneath A-City cracked and caved in under the force of the two clashing titans.
It was as if Doomsday had arrived in A-City.
"What... what just happened?!"
"Look out!"
Superalloy Darkshine yanked a dazed Iaian backward just as the earth split open beneath their feet, revealing a bottomless fissure.
"Stay sharp," said Atomic Samurai coolly. "You’re a hero. Don’t get in the way."
"Y-Yes, sir..." Iaian replied, face flushed with shame.
Flashy Flash frowned, eyeing the fracturing ground. "This place is collapsing. We need to fall back."
They didn’t need telling twice—Bang and the rest of the S-Class heroes had already begun withdrawing toward the Hero Association’s headquarters, the only place that still seemed stable.
From atop the HQ building, Child Emperor and the others stared out at the sinking mothership, half of which had already disappeared into a newly formed crater.
Child Emperor, operating a computer at high speed, stared at the readings on-screen. His young face paled in shock.
"This is..."
Zombie Man turned to him. "What is it?"
"These energy readings... they’re off the charts."
Child Emperor wiped the sweat from his brow. "They’re more than a hundred times stronger than the blast that destroyed A-City..."
"WHAT?!"
All the nearby heroes froze in shock.
A hundred times stronger than the A-City-destroying strike?
That wasn’t just city-level—that was nation-ending.
Could the entire Neon nation really be at risk...?
"If this... if all this came from just a fight between two people..."
Child Emperor trembled as sweat poured down his face, struggling to comprehend it.
The other S-Class heroes stood in stunned silence, unable to even process the scale of what had happened.
Tatsumaki had been hurled over ten kilometers away by the explosive shockwave. When she finally returned—
She looked up and saw Boros, hovering in midair.
His body had changed.
He was panting heavily, and his right arm was gone—though it was rapidly regenerating. Still, his aura was visibly diminished, and the radiant purple light around him had dimmed significantly.
"...Where’s that guy?"
Tatsumaki narrowed her eyes and scanned the area. Finally, her gaze landed on the alien mothership’s upper deck—deep within a massive crater.
There—Ron lay motionless.
Half his body was gone. Blood soaked what remained. His once-bright blue eyes had dulled to a dim flicker. His life force... was faint as a dying ember.
Tatsumaki’s eyes widened slightly, her heart jolting.
He... lost?