After finding a seat together with Asuna, Izumi settled back and turned his attention toward the arena.
Now that the mysterious pressure surrounding him had faded, both Saitama and Son Goku refocused entirely on each other.
There was no need for words anymore.
The two exchanged a glance—
—and vanished from where they stood.
BOOM!!
At a speed invisible to the naked eye, the two reappeared in the center of the arena and immediately threw their fists forward.
An overwhelming shockwave exploded outward in every direction.
Fortunately, the terrifying aftershock slammed directly into the defensive barrier Izumi had casually reinforced earlier.
Without it, the spectators would've been vaporized on the spot.
Dadadadadada!!
The sound of fists colliding echoed endlessly.
They clashed.
Separated.
Charged again.
Over and over.
Ordinary people couldn't even follow their movements anymore.
Even many of the powerful visitors from other worlds struggled to keep up.
They were simply too fast.
Only a select few could still track the battle with serious expressions.
Both Son Goku and Saitama had reached the pinnacle of pure close combat.
No flashy magic.
No elaborate techniques.
Just raw power and fist-to-fist combat.
And somehow—
—that made the battle even more exhilarating.
More and more people flooded into the combat district.
Before long, even residents from Gensokyo arrived to watch.
Among them was none other than Yuuka Kazami herself.
The flower youkai stared unblinkingly at the arena, unwilling to miss even a single exchange.
This was the purest collision of strength imaginable.
And everyone watching was completely captivated.
Even Goku refrained from using ki blasts.
Instead, he continued meeting Saitama head-on with nothing but punches.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
The arena trembled nonstop.
Meanwhile, Izumi watched the battle with obvious enjoyment.
Watching combat unfold live like this really got the blood pumping.
Beside him, Asuna stared in amazement.
"They're… incredibly strong…"
It was the first time she had witnessed fighters at this level.
Even she could feel her heart racing just from watching.
Hearing that, Izumi smiled faintly.
"Strong?"
"You do realize Asagi and the others are ridiculously strong too, right?"
"And Eris as well."
"Sure, she acts like an airheaded goddess most of the time, but she's terrifyingly powerful."
Every single one of Izumi's girls was at least SSS-rank.
You could already imagine how absurd that was.
At the moment, Super Saiyan 3 Goku was only around the level of an exceptional Four-Digit.
If Izumi sent his little lolis into battle against him, they could absolutely keep up.
After all—
—their arsenal was completely unfair.
Asuna blinked in shock.
"Huh?"
"Asagi is that strong?"
Izumi nodded without hesitation.
"Don't underestimate her just because she's a researcher."
"If she gets serious, destroying a few planets is easy."
Modern Magecraft, under Asagi Aiba's hands, had evolved to an absurd degree.
She had even recreated systems similar to Grand Order and developed techniques capable of dragging entire planets into battle.
How could she not be terrifying?
Asuna was utterly stunned.
People who looked harmless were secretly monsters?
That realization genuinely shocked her.
Then another thought occurred to her.
"What about Rentarou's girls…? Like Kisara and the others?"
She was suddenly very curious about those eternally tiny, adorable girls.
Izumi chuckled.
"Same thing."
"Destroying planets would be easy for them too."
"They might look like harmless little lolis most of the time…"
"But if you actually fought them, Asuna—you wouldn't beat a single one."
Izumi grinned proudly.
He had poured unimaginable resources into raising those girls.
Divine Gear.
Sacred treasures.
Noble Phantasms.
Magic systems from countless worlds.
If they could use it, Izumi gave it to them.
Every time a new world was connected, they immediately copied and integrated its power systems into themselves.
As a result—
—the combat power of Izumi's loli army had become utterly outrageous.
A few of them alone could steamroll entire worlds.
Asuna was left completely speechless.
Those goofy little girls were actually that powerful?
Her worldview was crumbling.
Seeing her stunned expression, Izumi suddenly stood up and grabbed her hand.
"Come on."
"There's not much left to see here."
"Next, it's your turn."
Asuna tilted her head.
"My turn?"
Izumi grinned.
"Time to strengthen you properly."
And just like that, he dragged her away from the arena.
...
What followed completely overwhelmed Asuna.
Izumi selected abilities perfectly suited for her.
Creation Magecraft.
The Herrscher of Thunder Core.
Various supreme sword techniques.
One after another, priceless powers appeared before her.
Asuna panicked immediately.
"No—I can't accept these!"
"These are way too valuable!"
But Izumi ignored her objections completely.
One by one, he directly infused the abilities into her body.
"Relax."
"You'll repay me eventually anyway."
"So just accept them peacefully."
As the powers fused into her, Asuna's aura began rising dramatically.
SS-rank.
SS+.
And finally—
—it stabilized there.
Reaching SSS-rank would require her own effort from now on.
Izumi could forcefully push her higher if he wanted, but that would only weaken her foundation.
She needed time to truly master the overwhelming power inside her.
Otherwise, there was no way she could properly control so many abilities at once.
Feeling the terrifying energy flowing through her body, Asuna stood there in complete disbelief.
She never imagined Izumi would simply hand all this power to her.
Watching her dazed expression, Izumi suddenly pulled her into his arms and gently held her head.
"Well then…"
"Now it's your turn."
"Let me remove your final seal."
"And help you become a proper adult."
The moment she understood what he meant—
Asuna's entire face exploded crimson.
Crackles of violet lightning flickered across her body involuntarily.
A clear sign that she still hadn't fully mastered the Herrscher powers.
Seeing that reaction, Izumi smiled in satisfaction.
Yeah.
This made things much more exciting.
...
Meanwhile, the battle between Saitama and Son Goku finally came to an end.
For three entire days, the two fought nonstop.
No food.
No rest.
No interruptions.
Neither could claim victory.
Every time Goku unleashed greater power, Saitama grew stronger in response.
The two sharpened each other endlessly through battle.
Only after both had completely exhausted themselves did the fight finally stop.
As expected—
—a friendship between battle maniacs was born through fists.
The spectators, meanwhile, had the time of their lives.
By now, the entire combat district was overflowing with people.
Everyone had gathered just to watch those two monsters fight.
Some had even started setting up food stalls nearby.
One of them was Erina Nakiri.
Before long, the combat district had practically transformed into a massive festival ground.
People from countless worlds flooded the area, turning the entire place into one giant celebration.