With a dull thud, the rock-skinned Monster staggered backward. Fine cracks spread across the area where Yuji's punch had landed, but the damage was minimal. Its defenses were astonishing.
"So hard!" Yuji winced, feeling a sharp pain shoot through his fist.
"Resonance!"
Nobara seized the opening, launching three Cursed Energy infused nails toward the Monster's relatively vulnerable joints.
The Monster simply stomped the ground.
A thick stone wall erupted from the earth, intercepting the nails before they could reach their target.
Its scarlet eyes swept across the three of them as a cruel grin spread over its face.
"If I eat all of you, my power should increase significantly!"
It threw its head back and opened its enormous mouth. A torrent of scorching, magma-like breath erupted toward Nue in the air and Megumi Fushiguro on the ground.
"Megumi, watch out!" Yuji shouted.
Megumi immediately retreated while directing Nue to interfere with the attack. The magma breath covered an enormous area, leaving him with almost no room to escape.
"Divine Dogs!"
Without panicking, Megumi changed his hand signs.
The massive black and white Divine Dogs burst from his shadow. Rather than attacking, they slammed into Megumi and pushed him out of danger, allowing him to narrowly escape the center of the blast. Even so, the intense heat instantly scorched his sleeves.
"Nobara! Now!" Yuji roared.
Instead of retreating, he accelerated.
Cursed Energy surged through his legs as he exploded forward with incredible speed, practically skimming across the ground while avoiding the stream of magma. In an instant, he closed the distance to the Monster's lower body.
"Don't order me around!"
Although Nobara snapped back, she didn't hesitate.
Using the alley walls for momentum, she kicked off several times and launched herself into the air. Her vibrating hammer hummed at full power as she poured all of her weight and Cursed Energy into the strike.
"Haaah!"
She brought the hammer crashing down toward the back of the Monster's neck.
Sensing attacks from both above and below, the Monster roared in fury.
Its thick tail swept sideways to drive Yuji back while its rock-covered arm shot upward to intercept Nobara's hammer.
Bang! Boom!
Two deafening impacts rang out almost simultaneously.
Yuji's Cursed Energy reinforced punch slammed into the back of the Monster's supporting knee. Even protected by layers of stone, the tremendous force made the giant creature stumble.
At the same time, Nobara's vibrating hammer smashed into its raised arm. The high-frequency vibrations combined with Cursed Energy shattered chunks of rock, forcing the Monster to cry out in pain.
"Nue! Discharge!" Megumi commanded as he regained his footing.
Circling overhead, Nue let out a piercing shriek.
Lightning crackled across its wings before a thick bolt descended, striking the Monster squarely on the head.
"ROAR!"
Electricity surged through its massive body, leaving its movements sluggish and unsteady. It swayed violently, temporarily losing its balance.
"Good chance! Yuji! Nobara!" Megumi shouted.
"Got it!"
"Didn't need you to tell me!"
The two attacked without hesitation.
Yuji condensed his Cursed Energy into a single point. His fist glowed with a brilliant deep blue light as he drove it toward the Monster's exposed chest and abdomen.
At the same time, Nobara swung her vibrating hammer once again, targeting the already damaged knee.
However, they underestimated both the Monster's ferocity and its willingness to fight to the death.
"You damned little insects! Die with me!"
Its crimson eyes burned with madness.
Ignoring both incoming attacks, it opened its enormous mouth once more. An ominous crimson glow gathered deep within its throat as an even larger, more violent stream of magma breath rapidly condensed.
This attack would engulf the entire alley, including every civilian who hadn't escaped.
"Oh no! It's trying to take everyone down with it!" Nobara's expression changed dramatically.
"Stop it!" Yuji shouted, his eyes bloodshot.
Megumi's pupils shrank.
He wanted to summon another Shikigami capable of blocking the attack, but there wasn't enough time.
At that critical moment...
A petite figure dressed in green appeared high above the alley as though she had teleported there.
Tatsumaki floated with her arms crossed, her emerald eyes gazing coldly down at the chaos below. Irritation was written plainly across her face.
"So noisy. You brats are causing trouble even while I'm shopping."
Buzz.
An invisible wave of overwhelming telekinetic power instantly enveloped the entire alley.
The magma breath, just moments away from erupting, was crushed back into the Monster's throat as though an invisible giant hand had squeezed it shut. Not even a single spark escaped.
The Monster froze with its mouth wide open, its eyes bulging as unimaginable pressure bore down on it.
Its enormous rock body groaned and creaked like soft clay being squeezed between a child's fingers.
A brilliant green light flashed.
In less than a second, the towering Monster was compressed and twisted into a dense stone sphere no larger than a fist.
Plop.
The sphere dropped onto the pavement, rolled a few times, and came to a stop.
It was completely lifeless.
Silence fell over the entire alley.
Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara remained frozen in their attack stances.
They stared at the tiny stone sphere on the ground, then slowly looked up at Tatsumaki, who floated overhead with an expression that clearly said she couldn't believe she'd been bothered over something so trivial.
They had been saved.
This was the true strength of the Hero Association's S-Class Rank 2 hero, Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror.
A Monster that had pushed all three of them to their limits had been eliminated instantly, without them even noticing her make a move.
"Against trash like that, either finish it in one strike or restrain it immediately," Tatsumaki said as she floated down. "Dragging the fight out like that, were you waiting for it to level the whole street?"
Her dissatisfied gaze swept across the trio before lingering on Yuji.
"Pink-haired boy, there's a limit to recklessness. Try using your brain once in a while."