Two streaks of light, one golden white and the other bright yellow, tore across the sky before colliding violently. The instant they met, a massive circular pressure wave exploded outward, sweeping through the tilted clouds and distorting the heavens themselves. The terrifying display of power ripped through the atmosphere and shook the earth below.
The ground erupted as if struck by divine punishment.
Two blurred afterimages flashed through the chaos. A massive crystal arm, thick and reinforced with terrifying power, descended like a pillar holding up the sky. It carried a crushing force as it slammed toward Saitama.
Saitama did not counterattack.
Instead, he calmly raised both hands and blocked the attack head on.
The moment the blow landed, a catastrophic explosion burst outward. The ground within hundreds of thousands of meters began to ripple like waves on water. Saitama was blasted backward like a shooting star, leaving a glowing trail across the sky. Even so, he forcibly steadied himself midair before crashing into a distant barren mountain, carving two enormous ravines before finally stopping.
Lucien shot forward like a prehistoric beast released from its cage.
Dust spiraled around him as his overwhelming aura surged violently. The sheer intensity of his power made it difficult to look directly at him.
Their eyes met.
Amethyst clashed against Saitama's calm gaze.
Broken stones flew through the air.
Both figures vanished.
A fraction of a second later, the world seemed to freeze as two fists collided.
Boom.
The impact echoed like thunder across the land. Sand exploded into the air while shattered rock rolled in every direction. Beneath them, the ground collapsed layer after layer, peeling apart like thin sheets of dough. Massive clouds of dust rose and twisted into shapes resembling monstrous beasts rampaging across the battlefield.
Heavy impacts continued to echo.
Lucien felt a sharp sting in his fist, and even his body trembled slightly from the force.
The pain only excited him.
Grinning fiercely, Lucien thrust his knee forward.
Saitama, still maintaining a defensive stance, raised his own knee to meet the attack.
A violent circular shockwave erupted instantly.
Both men were pushed apart, sliding across the shattered terrain as distance formed between them.
The atmosphere itself felt suffocating.
Danger, destruction, and raw chaos filled the entire battlefield.
Whoosh.
A violent surge of air exploded outward.
Lucien suddenly appeared above Saitama. His right leg swept downward like a collapsing mountain, the sonic boom tearing through the air so violently it could rupture eardrums.
Saitama's expression remained calm.
He bent slightly at the knees and stepped sideways, easily avoiding the devastating kick. Immediately afterward he flipped backward several times, creating distance until he landed over a hundred meters away.
Behind him, the ground had already been erased.
A massive fan shaped section of desert had formed where Lucien's attack struck.
Lucien slowly withdrew his enormous crystal foot. He breathed heavily as white flames flickered across his body, streaked with arcs of golden lightning.
"Although this is exhilarating, I still hope you will fight back."
Lucien hovered above the ground as he spoke, his breathing rough yet filled with excitement.
The air trembled around him.
Even the earth beneath their feet shuddered from the pressure of his power.
Saitama blinked.
"Alright."
He clenched his fists again and returned to a fighting stance.
Swish.
The two figures disappeared once more.
The ground beneath Saitama's feet instantly sank deep into the earth. The pressure pressing down on him felt like a thousand ton weight crushing the land. Lucien descended from above, forcing them both deeper into the abyss that their battle had already carved.
They continued sinking.
Hundreds of meters.
Thousands of meters.
Eventually the sunlight vanished entirely.
Darkness consumed everything.
Lucien's body glowed like a golden white sun within the abyss, illuminating the shattered underground world.
Saitama spoke calmly.
"Normal Punch."
His right fist shot forward.
At first glance, the punch appeared simple and unremarkable. There was no dramatic aura, no flashy energy.
Yet the moment Lucien saw it, every hair on his body stood on end.
A deadly chill shot straight into his skull.
That was not a simple punch.
It felt like an entire red planet crashing directly toward him.
"Great Might Heavenly Dragon!"
Lucien roared.
A massive divine dragon burst into existence. Its body stretched across the darkness, extending tens of thousands of meters as if it could reach the horizon itself. Its roar exploded through the air like a storm of sound waves, causing the surrounding stone and mountains to crumble like fragile tofu.
"What the hell is that!"
"Is that a dragon?"
"Hey! It's too huge!"
Far away, the arriving S Class heroes stared in horror.
The dragon's body was so enormous that even from a thousand kilometers away its massive tail could still be seen thrashing through the sky. Each casual swing created hurricane level winds that tore across the land. Sandstorms erupted while explosions followed the dragon's movement.
An extreme flash of light burst forth.
There was no sound.
The divine dragon collided with Saitama's red fist.
Lucien's excited expression froze.
Cracks spread across his crystal right arm.
Then it shattered.
Fragments exploded outward as the destruction continued spreading across half his body. The massive dragon released a mournful cry before collapsing completely and disappearing into scattered light.
The earth's crust across a radius of nearly a million meters was violently lifted.
At the center of the destruction, a towering mushroom cloud rose into the sky. Five massive rings of energy expanded outward, punching through the clouds and pushing aside the atmosphere so that sunlight poured down through the massive gap.
Saitama shook his fist slightly, brushing away smoke.
"Oh. Are you okay?"
He looked toward Lucien, who was standing at the edge of the devastated battlefield.
Lucien balanced on one leg.
The other half of his body was gone.
Blood and torn organs were scattered across the ruined ground. Despite the horrific injury, disbelief filled his eyes as he stared at Saitama.
His defenses had been layered with Armament Haki, Iron Body, and full body Hardening. With that level of durability, even a nuclear explosion should have been easy to withstand.
And yet Saitama had shattered everything with a single punch.
That had only been a Normal Punch.
Lucien slowly inhaled.
Even though he had expected this outcome, facing it directly still irritated him.
His remaining flesh began to writhe and twist grotesquely.
Within two breaths, his body regenerated completely.
"So strong. Lucien, are you a psychic?"
Saitama looked genuinely surprised by the regeneration. Losing half a body and regrowing it within seconds was something even he could not do.
Lucien's amethyst eyes burned with excitement.
"Saitama, you really are strong."
"But the battle is not over."
His fighting spirit surged wildly. It had been a very long time since he could fight without restraint like this.
"Come on!"
Saitama's expression brightened as well.
Every enemy he had faced until now had been defeated with a single punch. None of them could survive long enough to make things interesting.
This fight was different.
This felt like a real battle.
Crack.
Lightning exploded as another shockwave surged upward from the abyss.
The sky twisted again, forming an inverted funnel as the ground continued tearing apart.
Deep within the abyss, only two streaks of light could be seen moving at impossible speeds. One golden white, one yellow. Every place they passed exploded like the detonation of nuclear weapons.
Lucien suddenly bent forward, coughing blood violently.
Behind him, the earth had been torn open by the force of Saitama's strike.
But the injuries healed within a single breath.
Lucien steadied himself and launched an uppercut.
The blow struck Saitama's chin and sent him flying upward, his head snapping back from the impact.
A golden white streak followed.
Lucien appeared outside the atmosphere in an instant.
Clenching both fists, he smashed downward like lightning.
Saitama fell back toward the planet at terrifying speed.
The world below descended into chaos as disasters erupted everywhere.
Lucien chased after him.
Saitama suddenly flipped midair and swept his leg toward Lucien's waist.
Boom.
Lucien was blasted away with a sonic boom, crashing into a distant mountain deep within the abyss and triggering a massive tremor.
Whoosh.
Lucien had barely vanished from his previous position when Saitama's foot slammed into the ground. The earth split apart as enormous cracks spread across the walls of the abyss.
A sonic boom erupted behind Saitama.
Lucien had appeared there silently.
His kick shot forward.
In a flash, Saitama vanished and reappeared to Lucien's left, throwing a punch.
Lucien disappeared again.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
The two figures moved so quickly they became invisible blurs. Explosions echoed continuously throughout the dark abyss until the destruction finally carved a gigantic canyon stretching toward the horizon.
Eventually the battle carried them thousands of kilometers away.
They reached the sea.
The ocean split apart as their shockwaves passed through it, exposing the seabed itself. The two streaks of light continued pushing across the Atlantic Ocean until they finally reached another continent.
At that moment, Lucien slammed Saitama's head straight into the barren ground.
The impact crushed the wilderness and instantly carved abyss like ravines across an area nearly a million meters wide.
Saitama suddenly grabbed Lucien's wrist.
His other fist moved forward.
A simple punch.
Lucien's eyelids twitched.
Boom.
His crystal arm exploded into a rain of blood and flesh.
Lucien was sent flying across the battlefield like a broken missile. The impact created earthquakes and tsunamis before he finally crashed into the ground, rolling violently until he carved a massive trench before stopping.
Steam rose from his body.
Colorful threads of flesh twisted together as a new arm regenerated.
Within seconds he stood completely restored.
Lucien threw his head back and laughed loudly.
"Awesome!"
Flames burst from his body. Golden lightning surged through them until the fire itself turned a brilliant golden white.
Shockwaves exploded outward.
Hurricanes formed around him as the ground beneath his feet was continuously ripped apart and lifted into the air.
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