Gustave and Vaccine Man collided directly with each other repeatedly, then exchanged energy blasts. The sound of explosions echoed throughout the sky above City A.
"Mommy, I'm scared!"
Hearing the horrific explosions coming from the sky, a little boy hid in his mother's arms, trembling.
"It's okay, baby. Mommy's here."
The little boy's mother held him tightly, desperately hoping this terrifying battle would end quickly.
BOOM!
Another massive explosion rang out. The Thunder Giant—Gustave's transformed state—and Vaccine Man collided with each other, then separated once more.
"This guy's as resilient as a cockroach!"
Every collision saw Gustave either unleashing thunder's terrifying killing power or using magnetic fields to tear apart portions of Vaccine Man's body, but this creature just kept enduring and regenerating rapidly—as hard to kill as a cockroach.
Beyond his tenacious vitality, Vaccine Man's offensive power shouldn't be underestimated. Not only did he possess tremendous physical strength, he could also release devastating energy waves. Even though Gustave had double protection with his Armament Haki and electromagnetic shields, this monster had still broken through his defenses several times.
Fortunately, Gustave was currently in his elemental lightning form. If he were in his normal human state, he'd probably be covered in wounds by now.
"What a formidable opponent!"
"Human! I represent Earth's will and I am the Son of Nature! As time passes, I will only grow stronger and stronger! You cannot defeat me!"
Vaccine Man started his grandiose declarations again. Gustave's ears were practically calloused from hearing it.
However, Vaccine Man was correct about one thing. Gustave had discovered this creature became progressively stronger as they fought. All of nature was unconsciously replenishing him with energy. He genuinely did represent part of Earth's will.
Therefore, facing such an opponent, even Gustave—who excelled at prolonged battles—didn't dare engage in an extended fight. Otherwise, he'd have no choice but to call Saitama to finish things.
If Gustave wanted to end the battle quickly, the tried-and-true methods were best: magnetic field control combined with destructive thunder.
So Gustave took the initiative, charging directly toward Vaccine Man. Seeing this, Vaccine Man also rushed toward Gustave.
They moved so fast that friction with the air raised the temperature of everything around them, like two meteorites colliding.
BOOM!
Another tremendous explosion erupted.
Just as Gustave and Vaccine Man were about to pass each other, he seized the perfect opportunity. An extremely powerful magnetic field manifested around Vaccine Man.
"Did you think I was fighting you in close combat for fun? It was to control you!"
This Vaccine Man was quite capable, but he loved pointless commentary and his tactics weren't particularly sophisticated.
If the magnetic field were deployed on a large scale, Vaccine Man could easily break free with his strength. If deployed on a small scale, although the magnetic field's intensity would increase, Vaccine Man could easily dodge it. Therefore, Gustave had chosen close combat specifically to seize the moment of collision and trap him with the magnetic field.
"Damn human! What method is this?! Why am I stuck as if in a quagmire, unable to move?!"
Vaccine Man struggled with all his might, but something seemed to be pulling him in place, holding him immobile.
Seeing that Vaccine Man was successfully controlled by his localized magnetic field, Gustave increased the power with one hand, continuously intensifying the magnetic field's strength. Faced with such tremendous gravitational force, the sky suddenly cracked like a mirror.
A dark void appeared behind Vaccine Man, constantly pulling him inward. Vaccine Man's physical resilience had now evolved to an extraordinary level. Even facing such powerful suction, he held firm.
But that didn't matter. Gustave's other hand was already accumulating power. The light spear that had killed the King of Sky and Wind last time materialized in Gustave's grasp.
But this time was different from before. Last time, the light spear had felt impossibly sharp, capable of piercing anything. This time, the light spear exuded a rampant, destructive aura.
To kill Vaccine Man in a single strike, Gustave had modified the light spear slightly, ensuring that upon impact, it would completely destroy him without allowing any regeneration.
As the power accumulated in the light spear grew stronger, Gustave could no longer maintain his elemental transformation. The blue Thunder Giant slowly shrank until Gustave's human form appeared.
But at that moment, the light spear's power reached its absolute peak. Gustave threw it with tremendous force, and the spear flew at unparalleled speed, penetrating Vaccine Man's chest.
"Haha! Human, do you think you can kill me with this move?"
Vaccine Man immediately began taunting, but the next instant, the light spear dispersed. Destructive golden lightning burst forth from within, instantly sweeping through Vaccine Man's entire body.
Golden electrical light danced across Vaccine Man's surface, and wherever it touched, his body disappeared bit by bit.
"What?! What kind of power is this?!"
Vaccine Man felt genuine fear for the first time, because he discovered that the areas destroyed by this golden lightning could never regenerate as before. Once gone, they were gone forever.
But Vaccine Man would never hear the answer to that question.
"Finally dealt with this guy!"
Watching Vaccine Man's body crumble piece by piece, Gustave breathed a sigh of relief.
"Damn you!"
Vaccine Man roared unwillingly, but even if he was going to die, he wouldn't let Gustave escape unscathed.
In his final moments before death, Vaccine Man gathered all his remaining strength and fired an arrow of concentrated light from his mouth.
Never mind that Gustave's physical strength was completely depleted—even if Gustave were at full capacity, dodging this light arrow wouldn't be easy.
Fortunately, Vaccine Man couldn't aim properly in his dying moments. The arrow didn't strike Gustave's head but instead pierced through his right chest.
But this blow created a fist-sized hole clean through Gustave's right chest. The severely injured Gustave plummeted from the sky.
Vaccine Man disappeared beneath the destructive golden thunder, and the cracked portion of sky began repairing itself, slowly returning to normal.
"We need to save him!"
With a loud shout, Tank-Top Master ran toward where Gustave was falling. It would be such a tragedy if such a powerful fighter died like this.
Tank-Top Master was taking action, and Atomic Samurai moved as well, but before they arrived at the location, they saw a yellow streak shoot into the sky, catch Gustave, then vanish.
"What was that just now?"
Tank-Top Master and Atomic Samurai looked at each other, but neither could clearly see what the yellow streak had been.
The yellow figure who caught Gustave was naturally Saitama. After seeing Gustave falling from the sky like a kite with a severed string, Saitama had pushed off with his legs and leaped up like a grasshopper. Seeing the horrific wound in Gustave's right chest, based on Saitama's previous experience, he estimated such an injury should be fatal.
Fortunately, that was only ordinary human experience and didn't apply to Gustave.
When Gustave realized Saitama had caught him, he tried to speak, but suddenly, a mouthful of blood spurted out, splattering all over Saitama.
"Hey, Gustave! Hold on! I'm taking you to the hospital right now!"
Saitama hadn't expected Gustave to still be alive with such serious injuries, so he prepared to rush him to a hospital.
"No... no hospital. Take me to the beach. I need you to go into the ocean and catch me some food."
Although Gustave's wounds looked horrific, as long as he had sufficient energy to replenish himself, he could use the Life Return technique he'd cultivated to its peak to recover.
"Alright!"
Although Saitama didn't understand Gustave's purpose, he immediately changed direction and headed toward the beach.