Book 3: Chapter 74 |
"What... what the hell is this..."
Garou struggled with all his might, but he could not tear through Pain's white flesh, which had rapidly enveloped his entire body.
Earlier, Garou had felt a vast power gradually filling him, but now that strength was rapidly flowing into Pain's flesh, while his own body grew weak at an alarming rate.
'I can't... break free...'
'What is this... my strength is leaving me... what's happening... how is this possible... how can I die here...'
With the rapid drain of his power, Garou's consciousness began to sink into darkness, but he gathered every ounce of his will for one final attempt at resistance.
"Aaaaaaaaah!!!"
Garou's weakened body surged with life force once more, but this flare-up was immediately suppressed and absorbed by Pain.
Garou's power was devoured in seconds, while the remains of Pain's body transformed into a vast mass of white flesh, far exceeding the size of monsters like Gyoro-Gyoro or Gums.
"I must stop this immediately... Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!"
Bang attacked the shapeless mass of flesh with all his strength without hesitation.
He felt he had to interrupt this immediately, even though he didn't understand the essence of what was happening!
Terrible changes could occur if Garou were successfully absorbed by this monster, not to mention that Bang could not simply watch his former disciple die.
But it was already too late.
Boom! Boom!!
Bang's most powerful attacks could crush Dragon-level monsters like Fuhrer Ugly and Gums in an instant, but striking this formless mass of white matter felt like an old man punching thick, viscous dough.
Bang's blows had no effect at all, save for a faint ripple across the surface of the white substance.
Whoosh!
In the next instant, a terrifying recoil slammed into Bang's arms, violently throwing him back dozens of meters.
Splash!!
Then, a crack appeared in the massive, writhing slime-like flesh, and Garou's figure was spat out.
Garou had survived, but his cellular vitality had plummeted to near-human levels because his life force had been almost entirely drained by Pain, along with the monster cells.
"Oh..."
Saitama's mouth dropped open in surprise at first, but then he appeared directly in front of the shapeless mass and threw a punch.
Pain's flesh shuddered and distorted under the force of Saitama's blow, but at that exact moment, a hole opened right in the path of the fist.
Boom!!!
Most of Saitama's punch sailed through the hole in the center of Pain's formless body and slammed into the ruins of the Monster Association headquarters behind him.
Squish! Squish!!!
Pain continued to grow rapidly in size, while the hole in the center of his body healed instantly without any visible trace.
Now, Pain's body was a massive, elastic sphere, relentlessly expanding in all directions.
Soon, several white tentacles sprouted from the surface of the growing sphere, shooting out in different directions.
Swish! Swish! Swish!!
Whether it was Fuhrer Ugly, Gums, Black Sperm, or Gouketsu, none of the Dragon-level monsters could evade these white tentacles.
The tentacles pierced the Dragon-level monsters and instantly drained their life force to the last drop, leaving them no chance to resist.
Every Dragon-level monster, except for Psykos, was killed instantly!
"!!"
Psykos felt a surge of terror and panic, but she soon sighed in relief when she noticed the white tentacles weren't targeting her.
Once Psykos recovered slightly from the shock of the sudden turn of events, she swallowed nervously and turned her head to look at the massive white sphere.
'He actually did it...'
'The final evolution...'
By clashing with a superior opponent and absorbing Garou's monster cells along with several Dragon-level monsters, Pain had shattered his limiter and transcended to a completely new stage of evolution!
After this evolution, his threat level would likely exceed even Divine-level!
A threat level never seen before!
A monster like no other!!
It was difficult for Psykos to even imagine what kind of power Pain would possess after this evolution, for he was already far stronger than Orochi to begin with, and now he was stepping into a realm completely unknown to her!
Whoosh! Whoosh!!
Meanwhile, the faces of the S-Class heroes paled, their eyes filled with shock even though Pain's tentacles weren't aimed at them.
Something truly catastrophic was happening!!
Whoosh!!!
After consuming several Dragon-level monsters as a dessert, Pain's body expanded violently once more, his white tentacles lashing out like whips and forcing the S-Class heroes to retreat.
Within seconds, the diameter of Pain's body reached nearly a kilometer! He had transformed into a giant, elastic white sphere with a single massive eye at its center!!
The life force of this sphere had already completely surpassed Lilith and was approaching that of Yeruashi himself!
"Is he going to get big again, just like last time?"
Saitama whispered in surprise and pulled back his fist, intending to continue his attack, but he suddenly stopped.
In that moment, Pain's numerous writhing tentacles froze, and his massive body began to contract rapidly.
In the end.
The massive white sphere, nearly a kilometer wide, compressed into a small humanoid figure.
Pain's figure was clad in the white robes of the Six Paths, but instead of the usual magatama, they were decorated with strange, unfamiliar patterns symbolizing the power of evolution.
Having successfully completed his final evolution, Pain had gained immense power, comparable to Yeruashi himself. However, Pain still failed to surpass the main body, so it was not difficult for Yeruashi to maintain control over him, just as before.
A brown substance appeared in the air behind Pain and condensed together, forming several brown spheres that resembled Truth-Seeking Balls.
Despite the obvious outward similarity, these brown spheres were fundamentally different from Truth-Seeking Balls because they were rooted in a terrifying life force.
Pure life force in itself carries no specific destructive power, but once it reaches a certain degree of concentration, it becomes extremely dangerous, annihilating everything it touches. The destructive power of such life force exceeded that of ordinary Truth-Seeking Balls and approached that of the All-Killing Ash Bones, capable of destroying even the Truth-Seeking Balls and the power of the Six Paths.
Since Pain's life force was many times stronger than Kaguya's, the power of these Evolution Search Balls could easily crush even the All-Killing Ash Bones!
"At last... I've done it..."
Pain slowly opened his single eye, which was filled with serenity and calm.
He first glanced at the Evolution Search Balls floating gracefully in the air around his body and felt the power surging within him. Then, he clenched his fists and whispered, "The power of evolution... there is nothing too surprising about it, and it's not even that difficult to control."