Chapter 347: Chapter 48: Transcendent Atomic Slash
The villain known as Choze—was dead.
As that realization sank in, the Dragon-level monsters all felt a heavy pressure settle in their hearts. Their eyes, now laced with deep wariness, turned toward the silver-haired boy hovering midair.
The heroes on the other side wore similar expressions.
In terms of raw power, Choze was even stronger than Bang. Under normal circumstances, it would take at least three S-Class heroes working together—and fighting to the death—to take him down.
Yet now, simply because he broke a rule set by that man, he was crushed like an ant. Without effort. Without fanfare.
"It’s like... he’s using power from another dimension."
Child Emperor’s voice trembled as he stared at the figure above, his tone heavy.
The other heroes—Atomic Samurai included—shared that exact same feeling.
In fact, the only one who didn’t react at all to Ron effortlessly crushing Superalloy... was that bald guy in the cape.
At the moment, Saitama was rubbing his chin in thought, seriously considering whether he should try learning some cool-looking martial arts moves too.
Bang leapt down from the ring.
Atomic Samurai walked over and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Nice work."
"You really lived up to your name, Silver Fang."
"With that, we’ve secured one win."
The overall mood among the heroes was quite good.
Over on the monster side...
"That idiot actually got tricked by such a move? What a disgrace. I’ll take the next match."
"I’ll show those so-called heroes what real power looks like."
As he spoke, Black Sperm leapt up into the ring.
But the instant he landed—WHAM—he was crushed to the ground by the intense gravity field.
"Ugh... This is a bit of a struggle..."
He tried to force himself upright under the weight of nine times normal gravity.
Atomic Samurai frowned at the sight and narrowed his eyes with a trace of contempt. "So that’s the opponent they’re sending out now?"
"They’re really underestimating us."
Metal Bat, Genos, and several other S-Class heroes all looked ready to step in.
Tatsumaki didn’t even bother glancing at the ring. Against such a weakling, there was no need for her to act.
Black Sperm finally adjusted to the gravity and managed to rise to his feet. Hands on his hips, he called out to the hero side.
"Who’s my opponent?"
Several S-Class heroes exchanged glances.
Superalloy Darkshine and Metal Bat were about to speak when Atomic Samurai, shouldering his katana, walked forward.
"Let us old folks go first."
With a light step, he leapt up onto the platform.
Black Sperm squinted at him. "Hmm? A swordsman, huh?"
"Something wrong with that?"
Atomic Samurai looked down at him with open disdain. "A guy like you? One slash is all it’ll take."
[Second Hero vs. Monster Duel: Atomic Samurai vs. Black Sperm]
The moment Ron’s voice rang out—
Atomic Samurai drew his blade and struck. A streak of sword light flashed through the air.
In an instant, he had moved behind Black Sperm, sheathing his blade. At the same time, deep sword marks appeared all over Black Sperm’s body, glowing with a pale white light.
"Told you. Over in an instant."
"...You really think so?"
A dozen Black Sperms chuckled in unison behind him.
Atomic Samurai’s eyes widened. He whirled around.
Ten—no, dozens of Black Sperms stood there, all with mocking smiles on their faces.
"Sorry, old man. I’ve got billions of cells inside me. I can split endlessly. Your sword slashes don’t mean squat to me."
"For a swordsman like you, I’m your worst possible matchup. Sucks to be you."
Atomic Samurai, unconvinced, slashed again.
Dozens of sword strikes tore through the Black Sperms, but instead of killing them, they simply split again—multiplying exponentially. Though each was smaller, none of them lost power or speed.
They didn’t grow weaker—they got stronger.
"I told you, didn’t I? Your attacks only make me stronger!"
All the Black Sperms echoed the statement as they charged at Atomic Samurai from all sides.
He was sent flying by a single punch.
The heroes watching below shifted uncomfortably.
"Endless splitting..."
"This is bad."
Fubuki stared anxiously at the ongoing battle, hands clenched.
No matter what happened, she hoped the heroes would win.
"Atomic Slash!"
Atomic Samurai unleashed his ultimate technique, the legendary Atomic Slash, said to slice objects down to their very atoms. He instantly vaporized the wave of Black Sperms coming at him.
"It’s useless!"
Tiny Black Sperms grabbed his right leg. In his widened eyes, they spun and threw him into the air.
Another group followed up with a barrage of punches.
Atomic Samurai was launched again, even harder.
Tatsumaki folded her arms and kept watching.
No matter how many times Atomic Samurai slashed, he couldn’t truly threaten Black Sperm. Each attack only increased their numbers. Gradually, the swordmaster slowed. Wounds appeared on his body.
"Tch. If I’d gone up there, this would’ve been over already," Tatsumaki muttered.
Another Atomic Slash.
After the strike, Atomic Samurai stood hunched over, panting heavily with his sword braced against the ground.
A massive Black Sperm—formed by the fusion of countless copies—walked up to him and grabbed his hair, lifting him into the air.
"Don’t underestimate me, old man. I’ve got eleven trillion selves inside me."
Atomic Samurai sliced off the arm holding his hair.
The severed limb fell and instantly turned into another small Black Sperm, who joined the full-sized one in simultaneously attacking.
Boom!
Atomic Samurai was slammed into the ground, battered and bleeding.
"That’s enough, Atomic! Get down from there!" Bang shouted.
"Your sword can’t hurt him—don’t throw your life away!" Genos added.
Even the most confident heroes felt worried. The enemy’s powers completely countered Atomic Samurai’s style. Even Puri-Puri Prisoner had no confidence in his chances.
Atomic Samurai heard their voices—but said nothing.
He slowly got back on his feet.
"Oh? You’re still going?" one of the Black Sperms said, amused. "After seeing your attacks do nothing, I thought your will to fight would’ve vanished."
"Will to fight? Heh..."
Hair disheveled, body covered in wounds, Atomic Samurai gripped his blade with both hands.
"...This isn’t about willpower. It’s about the pride of a hero—of a swordsman. I refuse to lose!"
"Seriously? You still think you’ve got a shot?"
Black Sperm tilted his head. Another clone said, "Let’s just put him out of his misery."
"Agreed."
A horde of Black Sperms rushed toward Atomic Samurai.
He raised his sword and swung.
A blinding flash of light tore across the ring—then an overwhelming storm of sword slashes erupted in the air.
The oncoming Black Sperms didn’t even have time to split.
They were annihilated by the blinding flurry of strikes.
"Atomic—Concentration Slash!"
"WHAT?!"
Shock erupted across Black Sperm’s many faces.