The Beginning of the End (2)

Minuscule particles of dust covered the dark void as the view became blurry. The remains of the powerful attack were clearly visible as the particles continuously vibrated, having stored an immense amount of energy.

After several minutes of absolute silence, a brilliant light pierced through the thick smoke. It originated from Arplesis's black mist, glowing with a dazzling intensity akin to being engulfed in flames.

"I-I don't think I will be able to use my magic nullifier again," Arplesis exclaimed, sparks of electricity gushing from its mouth. "I feel like I'm about to burst."

The particles slowly cleared, and Arplesis came into view. Half of its forehead was missing, its left leg went out of existence, and its entire body appeared torn and ravaged, bearing wounds and cracks throughout.

"Even after erecting my strongest barrier, I am on the verge of dying," Arplesis glanced at its damaged parts. "What absolute destruction I've caused."

Some of the black mist gathered around its index finger. "My black mist won't be able to hold any longer than two to three minutes," It shook off the mist from its finger and murmured. "The amount of energy it has stored is beyond my imagination."

Looking straight, it started to walk forward. "I never thought I would be abandoning my masterpiece someday," Arplesis covered its mouth using its gigantic hand. "But at the end of the day, it all ended well. I killed that monster."

As Arplesis sighed and started to feel relaxed, a low-pitched light voice whispered in its ears. "Konichiwa."

As soon as Arplesis heard the voice, its eyes turned dark and dilated, and it immediately backed off. It instantly began analyzing the surroundings and found naked Saitama standing on his two feet with not even a single significant wound on his body.

Suddenly, it started to chuckle. "Hahaha... right. A monster."

As soon as it finished, it quickly teleported before Saitama and pushed its black mist onto him, instantly retreating afterward.

"I'm unsure whether it's a blessing or a curse, but that swirling black mist surrounding you is on the verge of erupting in a matter of minutes, potentially obliterating the entire universe," Arplesis pointed towards the shining mist. "If the world is destined for its demise regardless, why not you be the first one to die?"

However, Saitama gradually picked up the mist around him and crushed it under the sheer force of his bare hands. "Hoh!" He exclaimed. "It's gone!"

Saitama continued to do the same for the remaining as Arplesis glued its eyes on Saitama, watching him delete the mist from existence.

"..."

Silence took over as Arplesis lost its mind and words to speak. After a few moments of being blank, Arplesis abruptly shouted in anger. "WHAT? WHAT IS THIS? IT IS UNFAIR! AND HERE I THOUGHT PEOPLE LIKE ME WERE MONSTERS!"

Huffing, it continued, "HOW CAN SOMEONE BE ALLOWED THIS MUCH POWER! IT'S ABSURD!"

Within a few moments, it calmed itself and asked in a low-pitched tone, "What is your secret, you monster?"

"Secret?" Saitama scratched his cheeks. "Okay, I'll tell you."

The mood intensified as Saitama clenched his fists. "100 pushups, no AC, 10km long run, 100 situps, eat bananas (since they're cheap) until you feel like you're dying, and kill one monster every day."

As soon as Saitama finished, Arplesis lunged at him, anger all over its face. "Fine, lie all you want. I'm about to die anyway."

BSHOOM!

The punch pushed Saitama for a few meters before Saitama quickly teleported behind Arplesis.

BOOM!

Arplesis narrowly avoided the counterpunch by a few inches, and within the blink of an eye, all of the tiny particles around it started to gather and form rocks.

"Before I die, I might as well use all of my powers," Arplesis howled as it directed the attack towards Saitama.

BLAM!

One of the rocks clashed into Saitama and broke back into countless pieces. But as others approached him, he lunged at one of them and murmured, "Serious Series: Sideways Jumps."

He teleported on every rock at an unmeasurable speed, creating a zig-zag pattern. With each turn, his speed increased by a factor of two, making him invisible to the naked eye.

Within the next moment, Saitama closed the distance to Arplesis, his fist connecting with its half-broken face with unyielding force. Arplesis was hurtling in the opposite direction, but Saitama didn't relent. He followed up with another powerful punch.

BLAM!

The one-sided barrage of punches continued for several minutes before Arplesis finally retaliated. Attempting to counter Saitama's destructive punch with its own, it ended up losing its right arm in the exchange.

"Aargh..." Arplesis roared as it started to feel nauseous, its vision slowly turning fuzzy. "It's about time."

FLASH!

Suddenly, Arplesis started to glow, and giant sparks of yellow electricity formed all around it. "I'm ready to die!"

It immediately charged into Saitama, hoping to electrocute him to death with the power of its one quadrillion volts.

However, Saitama wasn't passive in the face of these developments. He lunged forward and muttered, "Serious Series: Serious Punch."

FWOOSH!

...

BSHOOM!

BOOM!

The punch obliterated all of Arplesis's lower body and continued to destroy the atoms present in the tiny particles around them.

With only its head left, Arplesis surrendered. It looked at Saitama as its eyes gleamed, fighting to stay alive. "Huh... Now that's a surprise. I can't believe my head survived this destruction. You were strong. So strong that I can't express it in words, mister."

Saitama walked towards Arplesis's head and smiled. "It's the first time I've had so much fun. I have to admit, Marcus, you were far stronger than Magneton or any other monster I've met."

Arplesis started to chuckle. "Yeah, I wasn't even close to your level."

"So, you told me you wanted to ask something from our organization?" Arplesis mentioned. "Ask away before I die."

"Hmm..." Saitama started to ponder. "Zagneton said something, but I can't remember."

"You mean Magneton?" Arplesis smiled, a hint of laughter hidden in the smile. "Take your time. I think I can stay alive for a few minutes."

TO BE CONTINUED...