P-City, a four-star hotel.
Inside a suite on the thirteenth floor, Nana sat comfortably on the sofa, watching TV. The screen continuously reported monster incidents and the appearance of heroes responding to them.
"One Punch Man World."
After flipping through several channels, Nana had already figured out where she was.
Modern cities made it easy to gather information, but she did not stop there.
She continued switching channels until one particular report caught her attention. It was an older broadcast, replaying past events.
"God War."
Her eyes sharpened slightly.
The night passed quietly. Nana spent the entire time gathering information, from television broadcasts to casual conversations with hotel staff. This was one of her habits. Whenever she entered a new world, she made sure to understand it as thoroughly as possible.
It was a habit that had kept her alive.
By the time the sun began to rise, Nana's body started to change.
Her strength returned.
Then it surged.
The energy within her grew rapidly, doubling with each passing moment.
At the same time, she had already learned everything she needed.
Her target was locked.
At exactly eleven in the morning, Nana stood beneath the blazing sky, her earlier weakness completely gone. At this moment, she was like the sun itself, radiating overwhelming power.
A streak of blazing light tore through the sky, leaving behind a trail of scorched air as it shot toward the uninhabited zone of Z-City.
The moment this energy appeared, the Hero Association descended into chaos.
"Unknown energy detected, already at God-level disaster!"
"Not good, the energy is still increasing, it has already surpassed God-level!"
"The detector has exploded!"
The alarms abruptly cut off.
Silence followed.
Every staff member and hero stood frozen, their minds blank.
This sudden surge of energy had exceeded even the highest classification.
If a God-level disaster could wipe out life on the surface of the Earth, then this energy possessed the power to destroy the entire planet itself.
The difference was absolute.
Worse still, it was still rising.
Not only the Hero Association, but every sufficiently powerful being could feel it. There was no attempt to conceal it. It was like the sun hanging in the sky, impossible to ignore.
In V-City, at an outdoor café, Sykos slowly lowered her coffee.
Her beautiful face was filled with shock as she stared at the sky.
"Has the sun descended?"
To her senses, that energy resembled the sun itself, pure, blazing, capable of dispelling all darkness and reducing everything to nothing.
As someone who had created Orochi, she understood energy on a scientific level.
The sun's power was immeasurable.
What she felt now carried the same nature. Even if it was not equal to the real sun, it was still increasing at an alarming rate.
It was a living sun.
Meanwhile, in the uninhabited zone of Z-City, Lucien opened his eyes.
His amethyst pupils narrowed as he looked toward the sky, his expression growing serious.
On the balcony, Saitama had already stopped playing games. His usually indifferent face now carried a rare trace of focus.
Lucien stepped out and stood beside him.
He already knew who it was.
Lucien never forgot an aura.
This one was far too familiar.
When Olatayo appeared before, Lucien had already suspected that Nana and Hayato would eventually follow. What he did not expect was for them to arrive one after another, as if they were deliberately presenting themselves for him.
From what he could sense, Nana was far stronger than Olatayo. The gap was not small.
What Lucien did not know was that Nana's strength depended heavily on the sun. During the day, she grew stronger as the sun climbed higher, reaching her peak near noon. After that, her power gradually declined until sunset, when she would become weak.
This was both the strength and flaw of the Sun, Sin of Arrogance.
The reason Nana did not hide herself was simple.
Confidence.
It was daytime, and close to noon.
In this world, only Saitama was someone she considered worth her attention. As for Lucien and the rest, she did not take them seriously at all.
If she behaved like this at night, it would not be confidence, it would be stupidity.
Clearly, Nana was not stupid.
The blazing light faded.
Nana appeared before them.
She still wore her JK uniform, her youthful figure accentuated by long fair legs and short black hair. Sapphire earrings swayed slightly as her arrogant gaze swept past Saitama in his pajamas before settling on Lucien.
"It seems I found you first."
Her voice was calm, yet filled with superiority.
In her eyes, Lucien was nothing more than a walking pile of reward points. Saitama, on the other hand, was ignored entirely.
A slight pity lingered in her thoughts. This mission was only about hunting Darkness, which made it less rewarding overall.
"You people are really persistent."
Lucien's tone was cold, his expression dark.
They had followed him across worlds.
What had once been a single threat had now become multiple. First one Reincarnator, then two, now three.
And the worst part was that they could track him between worlds.
Would it be four next? Five? Even more?
Being forced into a passive position like this irritated him deeply.
His strategy had to change.
From now on, he could not rely solely on hunting chosen individuals. He needed to make use of Transmigrators as well.
Only then could he reduce the danger.
From now on, Reincarnators would be his top priority, followed by Transmigrators, then chosen ones, then major villains.
He could already feel the pressure tightening around him.
The advantage of organized groups over individuals was becoming more obvious.
A metallic sound rang out.
Nana's JK uniform dissolved into radiant light. Golden armor engraved with sun patterns formed around her body, covering her completely.
In her hand, the Divine Axe, Rita, materialized.
She did not waste time talking.
Even with Saitama standing there, she chose to fight immediately.
Saitama's eyes lit up slightly. For the first time in a long while, he felt something.
Excitement.
"Let me handle this."
Lucien stepped forward without hesitation.
There was no way he would let Saitama take this fight.
From the moment Nana appeared, Lucien had already made his decision.
He would use her to trigger his fifth near-death evolution.
He had already experienced it four times.
One more.
He could feel it.
Something would change after the fifth time. At the same time, the ability would likely enter a cooldown period.
It had limits.
Why did he feel this way?
He did not know.
But the instinct was there.
"You are not her opponent."
Saitama spoke bluntly. In his view, the gap was obvious.
"I know."
Lucien's voice was calm.
Even with his current power, even if he pushed himself to the brink again, he knew he was not her match.
But that did not matter.
That was exactly what he wanted.