Episode 57: Combination is True Romance!
As Asmodeus stared intently at the collapsed building, King emerged from it.
Perhaps because he had been unilaterally pummeled by the criminal, his clothes were tattered, and his hair was disheveled and dirty.
However, there wasn’t a single scratch on his body.
“Well now, haha! It’s been a while since I took a beating like that. Look, my clothes are in tatters.”
Laughing, King spread out his tattered clothes, showing them off to Asmodeus.
“Ugh… That last one was a masterpiece, too.”
Asmodeus, exasperated by the undamaged King, rubbed his head against the building’s railing.
The shock seemed to be significant, especially since the Modified Fiend criminal he had just unleashed on King had been his pride and joy.
“Oh well, whatever! Alright then, let’s try the next one~”
Asmodeus looked up and clapped his hands briskly.
Then, from out of nowhere, more Modified Fiend criminals, similar to the previous one, appeared one after another.
Just where had they been hiding?
King had no way of knowing, but such things didn’t matter to him.
“Heh-hoh. I wonder if I can enjoy this a little!”
Seeing the group of Modified Fiend criminals emerging one after another, King licked his lips gleefully.
He had been caught off guard earlier, but this time he intended to go all out from the start.
The last one had broken easily, but King was anticipating how long these next ones would last.
“Don’t break so easily on me!”
King dashed forward, forcefully tore apart the nearest Modified Fiend criminal, and threw its upper and lower body parts towards the others.
The criminals hit by the chunks of flesh, thrown at a speed impossible to catch, were splendidly pulverized.
From there, King, using his body activated by Matchless Strength, utterly destroyed every attacking criminal.
◇◇◇◇
Around the time King and Asmodeus were engaged in a fierce battle in America, the Overlord was rampaging in China.
Modified Fiend criminals created by Asmodeus were also rampaging in China, but they were being hunted down by Gifted individuals, led by The Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
China has a large population, so the number of Gifted is also high.
The Ivera Church had sent the most forces to China, but it was completely meaningless.
As long as the Overlord stood at the apex, China could not be brought down.
Both Ibinom and criminals vanished like dust.
It was unknown how much effort Asmodeus had poured into creating them, but all his toil came to naught.
“Hmm… Unsatisfying.”
“Aniki. We’ve cleaned up over here.”
“I see. What’s the situation in various places?”
“There’s considerable damage, but no major problems. Unless an Ultra-Large one appears like last time—”
As if triggered by The Great Sage Equaling Heaven’s words, a report came in confirming the appearance of an Ultra-Large Ibinom.
Hearing this, The Great Sage Equaling Heaven pointed at himself, wondering if it was his fault, but the Overlord laughed, saying that wasn’t the case.
“Hahaha, that’s unlikely. They must have been prepared from the start. How meticulous of them.”
“What do we do, Aniki? Only we can handle an Ultra-Large one.”
“Hmm…”
To be honest, he wanted to return to the international conference venue and fight Makoto.
However, as The Great Sage Equaling Heaven said, only powerhouses like the Overlord and The Great Sage Equaling Heaven in China could deal with an Ultra-Large one.
The Overlord, responsible for national defense, concluded there was no need to hesitate.
“You and I will deal with the Ultra-Large one. How many are there?”
“Twice as many as before.”
“Oh! Kukuku, the Ivera Church is being quite generous, aren’t they?”
“This isn’t exactly a laughing matter, though~”
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven was a self-admitted and widely acknowledged battle maniac, but troublesome things were still troublesome.
The Ultra-Large ones were a prime example of that.
Not only were they troublesome due to their size, but their life force was also dozens of times greater than that of large ones.
Moreover, the scale of destruction was on a completely different level, making it impossible to fight while suppressing damage.
When that happened, he felt a little guilty.
However, if left alone, it would cause enormous damage and become a catastrophe for the country.
That was something he wanted to avoid at all costs, so in the end, he had to fight.
“Well then, shall we head out?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“What’s wrong? You don’t want to?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that Ultra-Large ones are a pain.”
“True. But they make for good punching bags.”
“Well, you’ve got a point there.”
Sharing a light laugh, the two of them headed towards the location where the Ultra-Large Ibinom had been confirmed.
◇◇◇◇
And if Ultra-Large Ibinom were confirmed in China, then naturally, Ultra-Large Ibinom had also appeared in other countries.
They might be decried as unoriginal, but to begin with, Ultra-Large Ibinom were not something that could be easily defeated.
They were strong enough that it took many powerful Gifted from each country gathering together to finally subjugate them.
Yes, normally.
Right now, in Japan, there was only Sanada Nobuyasu, known as the Samurai.
He possessed two Gifts: Body Enhancement and Severance.
It was said that if he got serious, he could even sever a mountain, but Nobuyasu didn’t possess that much power.
At best, he could cut through a building.
Even that was sufficient, but against an Ultra-Large one, it was a bit tough.
The Ultra-Large ones were as huge as battleships and possessed the characteristic toughness of Ibinom, so Nobuyasu’s slashes could only manage to scratch their surface.
“Kuh! I knew this would happen, but to experience it firsthand is quite frustrating!”
Nobuyasu was dealing with the Ultra-Large Ibinom that had made landfall.
He had his subordinates prioritize the rescue and evacuation of citizens while he confronted the Ultra-Large Ibinom himself.
However, it was like a fly buzzing around a human; the Ultra-Large Ibinom paid him no mind.
The Ultra-Large Ibinom headed towards the city, destroying the town as it went.
He desperately tried to stop it, but Nobuyasu’s slashes were like mosquito bites; the Ultra-Large Ibinom did not stop its advance.
“If only I had more power!”
Nobuyasu gritted his back teeth in frustration.
Before his eyes, the Ultra-Large Ibinom continued its leisurely advance.
Just when it seemed no one could stop it, hope appeared from beyond the horizon.
“Haaahahahahahahaha!!! To think, to think, such an opportunity would present itself so soon! I am grateful to the Ivera Church!”
What appeared before Nobuyasu and the Ultra-Large Ibinom was a giant bipedal robot with mechanical wings, shining metallically.
Vwoom! Its eyes lit up red, and the robot, which had a robust-looking face, leaped out in front of the Ultra-Large Ibinom.
Nobuyasu was dumbfounded and bewildered by the suddenly appearing robot, but then he heard a voice.
“Can you hear this voice? Sanada Nobuyasu-dono.”
“This voice? Could it be, from that robot?”
“Indeed! This robot, Ga—nn! No, no. That’s not it. This Dojikiri, built as Japan’s guardian deity, will take it from here!”
“But, alone?!”
“Do not worry. I am not alone.”
“Eh!”
When Dojikiri pointed, there were other mechs flying in from beyond the horizon, just like Dojikiri.
Including Dojikiri, a total of five robots stood blocking the Ultra-Large Ibinom’s path.
“O-oooh!”
Nobuyasu’s voice trembled, thinking that with this, they could stand against the Ultra-Large Ibinom.
However, upon closer thought, the robots were only about ten-odd meters tall.
Against the Ultra-Large Ibinom, this was somewhat, no, far too small.
Compared to the Ultra-Large Ibinom, it wasn’t even like an adult and a child.
It was more like the difference between an infant and an adult.
A height difference alone is an advantage.
No matter how many robots there were, they probably couldn’t win against the Ultra-Large Ibinom.
“Fuffuffuffu! You thought there was no point even if we increased to five units, didn’t you? But you are naive, so naive! The real show starts now!”
Nobuyasu gasped at those words.
Just as Nobuyasu was staring at the robots, wondering if they still had a trump card up their sleeve, Dojikiri’s pilot shouted.
“Combine!!!”
“”Roger!””
Dojikiri and the other robots danced in the sky.
Seemingly obsessed with unnecessary theatrics, the robots transformed with loud clanking and crashing sounds.
And then, the five robots combined into one, like a giant robot from a transforming hero show.
A giant robot, no less imposing than the Ultra-Large Ibinom, revealed itself before Nobuyasu.
“U-uoooooooooh…!”
It didn’t matter that he was an adult.
Nobuyasu was excited by the appearance of the giant robot he had watched as a child, now right before his eyes.