The Super Fight tournament arena.
The massive stadium, once bustling with people, had now become a colossal, ruined crater.
The stands were a chaotic mess, strewn with the debris left behind by the panicked escape of the spectators.
The silence was shattered by a boisterous laugh.
"Haha… Hahahaha! Do you see this, Suiryu! This is power! This is a realm you will never be able to reach!"
A man of unusually robust build was forcefully stepping on Suiryu's chest with one foot.
He was Bakuzan, one of the seeded contestants of this tournament, a Martial Artist of the "Dark Hell Style".
However, at this moment, he could no longer be entirely called human.
The monster cell had caused his power to surge wildly, inflating his muscles to several times their original size, and his height had terrifyingly increased to ten meters.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his face bore a look of deranged laughter, a result of his rapidly expanding power.
Beneath his foot, Suiryu was drenched in blood, his limbs twisted at unnatural angles, clearly completely broken.
His once pristine martial arts uniform was now tattered, stained with blood and dust.
He tried to struggle, but the weight from the foot on his chest made even breathing incredibly difficult.
"Cough… cough, cough…"
Suiryu painfully coughed up a few mouthfuls of bloody foam. He looked at the opponent before him, who had once been a fellow Martial Artist, his eyes filled with disdain and contempt.
"You… traitor to humanity… scum…"
"Scum?!"
Bakuzan seemed to have heard the funniest joke. He suddenly pressed down harder with his foot, causing Suiryu's sternum to emit a crisp "crack".
"Ah ah!" The intense pain made Suiryu let out a muffled groan.
"Open your dog eyes and see clearly! Suiryu!"
Bakuzan roared with laughter, "I am not scum! I am an evolver! A new human who has surpassed you mere mortals! I possess — absolute power!"
He ecstatically spread his arms, reveling in the unprecedented strength within him.
"What techniques, what skills, in the face of this power, they're all garbage! Your so-called 'Nether Body Fist' is like a child's toy in front of me!"
Bakuzan's arrogance was not without reason.
After consuming the monster cell, his already strong body had undergone a mutation.
Although he hadn't reached the formidable level of Gouket, his strength, speed, and regenerative abilities had steadily crossed the threshold of a "Dragon" level Monster.
For human Martial Artists, this was already an insurmountable chasm.
"Look at you, Suiryu."
Bakuzan lowered his head, looking down at the defeated man beneath his feet with a cat-and-mouse gaze.
"Aren't you one of the favorites to win this tournament? And now? Your martial arts, which you pride yourself on, couldn't even block one of my fingers!"
"Your so-called martial arts dignity is simply laughable!"
As he spoke, he used his toes to grind into Suiryu's wounds, enjoying the sight of the other man convulsing in pain.
This pleasure of trampling a former genius underfoot intoxicated him, rendering him unable to extricate himself.
In a corner of the arena, some Martial Artists who hadn't managed to escape, or who were too terrified to move, watched this scene, trembling.
Their gazes towards Bakuzan were filled with fear, but also mixed with a hint of… an indescribable envy and wavering resolve.
Bakuzan noticed their gazes, and the smile on his face grew even more smug.
"You all see it, don't you? This is the power of evolution!" he shouted loudly to those people.
"As long as you are willing, you too can gain power that transcends human limits, just like me! Stop clinging to those ridiculous principles; the future of martial arts does not belong to humans!"
His words were like a seed, taking root and sprouting in the hearts of these already wavering Martial Artists.
They looked at the horrific state of Suiryu, then at the incomparably majestic Bakuzan, and the scales within their hearts began to tip dramatically.
Suiryu saw all of this, and a wave of sorrow washed over him.
Perhaps… he had been wrong all along.
He had once believed that with his exceptional martial arts talent, he could handle everything in the world.
Heroes or Monsters, in his view, were nothing more than boring "games."
His life's creed was to play through life, enjoying the cheers of victory, the adoration of beautiful women, and the luxury of wealth.
He had never thought of protecting anything, nor had he ever truly understood the weight of the word "responsibility."
Only today did he realize how terribly wrong he had been.
When true disaster struck, his ridiculous pride, along with his body, was easily crushed to dust.
Just as Suiryu's consciousness was gradually sinking into despair, a bald head abruptly intruded into his mind.
Yes, that man… the one who with a single punch… Heroes… Yes, Heroes… Where are the S-Class Heroes?
"Help… help me…"
His voice was hoarse and dry, each word pulling at his wounds, causing him to cough up hot blood foam.
This was the first time in his life he had so humbly asked for help.
"Someone… save me…"
"Heroes… where are the Heroes…"
Those S-Class Heroes he had once mocked as "boring civil servants," those nameless heroes who selflessly fought to protect the city—at this moment, he yearned for their appearance like never before.
He longed for a Hero, any Hero, to appear in this wasteland.
"Heroes?"
Lord Bakuzan seemed to have heard the funniest joke. He grabbed Suiryu by the hair, pulled his bloody face up to his own, and laughed cruelly:
"There are no heroes in this world! Only power! Only absolute power is everything! And I, Lord Bakuzan, now possess this strongest power!"
"The heroes you hope for, even if they come, will only be crushed to death by one of my fingers!"
With that, he released Suiryu's hair, letting his head fall limply back to the ground.
At the same time, he raised his other fist, aiming it at Suiryu's head.
"Die, loser. I will remember you, remember your ugly crying for your mommy and daddy before you die! Hahahaha!"
The fist, carrying the whistle of tearing air, smashed down with a roar.
Suiryu closed his eyes in despair.
It's over… Is this the end of my… arrogant life… How… pathetic… However, the anticipated death did not come.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
"Thud."
A muffled thud.
Suiryu trembled as he opened his eyes, and what met his gaze was a scene he would never forget.
A man in a yellow jumpsuit, wearing a white cape, with a bald head, had appeared before him at some point.
That man, with just one hand, had casually caught Lord Bakuzan's terrifyingly powerful punch.
The wild laughter on Lord Bakuzan's face froze.