Crossover PS 187 (Patreon)

Minoru looked up at the behemoth before him. Its skin was covered in twisted patterns, and its two massive eyes stared fixedly at him.

"Tsk. Actually, never mind. This look... it's just too ugly. Even if you surrendered, I wouldn't really want you."

Orochi's pupils constricted. "Human! What did you say?!"

Minoru said flatly, "Just stating a fact. I originally thought about just letting you surrender for Psykos's sake."

"Thinking about it now, I'd better just kill you. You're too ugly, bringing you back would ruin my mood."

"Hahahaha!!!"

"Human! You are too arrogant!"

"Do you think that just because you defeated a few pieces of trash, you can act all high and mighty before me?!"

"Do you think that because Psykos is imprisoned by you, I will yield?!"

"I am the Monster King, Orochi!!!"

Crack!

A crack appeared on the mask on Orochi's face.

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!

Countless cracks spread like a spiderweb, covering his entire face.

Boom!!!

The mask shattered completely and Orochi's "true form" revealed itself.

His face was composed of dozens of thick tentacles intertwined with each other, wriggling like a mass of twisted snakes.

His entire form trended toward a centipede-like shape, yet it was a hundred times more terrifying than any centipede.

Orochi's eyes lit up with an eerie glow as he stared fixedly at Minoru. In the next instant, his body moved.

At the same time, the dozens of horns atop his head thrust out simultaneously, each one locked onto Minoru's vital points.

Minoru stood where he was and raised his hand.

Clang!

The horns, which could have instantly killed a Dragon Level threat, all snapped.

The moment Minoru raised his hand to block, Orochi's countless arms moved in unison. Every single arm assumed the same stance.

Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!

Minoru raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."

He still stood where he was and spread his fingers. The sky full of punches froze completely three inches in front of him.

The moment the fists were frozen, Orochi's dozens of heads opened their mouths simultaneously.

Ultra-high temperature breath!

High-temperature energy poured down toward Minoru from all directions.

Minoru glanced up. "The temperature is decent."

"Hooo..."

A stream of air escaped from Minoru's lips. The dozens of ultra-high temperature breaths, capable of melting steel, were extinguished by this stream of air, just like a candle being blown out by the wind.

Orochi still had one last move—his strongest move.

His tail targeted deep into the earth. If he absorbed the energy of the Earth's core, he could unleash Gaia Cannon and destroy everything.

However, at the very moment his tail was about to pierce the ground, a purple light arrived in a flash.

Orochi's movements froze. He looked down behind him, at the tail that had been about to absorb the core's energy. It was severed clean at the base.

"This..."

He hadn't even seen how Minoru had made his move.

"That's a no-no. If you suck out the Earth's core, there will be earthquakes, you know. Tsunamis and volcanic eruptions, too."

"Even if you sever my tail, I can still regenerate!"

Orochi roared, and the flesh at the severed tail began to wriggle frantically. A new tail was growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"My regenerative ability is invincible—huh?!"

The regeneration stopped and even the newly grown part was beginning to disintegrate.

"W-What's happening?!" Orochi's voice carried a hint of terror.

Minoru's lips curled up slightly.

Onmyōdō: Terminus!

"Weren't you able to regenerate? Why don't you try it again?"

Orochi frantically pushed the energy within his body, attempting to heal the wound. But that black power was like a maggot on a bone, tightly entwined around the wound. Every inch of new flesh that grew was eroded and disintegrated by that power.

Grow again.

Disintegrate again.

Grow again.

Disintegrate again.

...

In the underground space, the eerie sound of flesh constantly growing and then shattering echoed. Even Orochi's body began to crumble, inch by inch.

"No... Impossible..."

"You... what exactly did you do to me?!"

Orochi roared, his countless tentacles flailing wildly in an attempt to attack Minoru. But every tentacle that came within three meters of Minoru disintegrated.

Minoru looked up, staring into the void behind Orochi. "You've been watching for so long, aren't you going to come out and say hello?"

Orochi was stunned.

What? Who is this human talking to?

Minoru smiled. "Not coming out? That's fine. Then just keep watching."

He looked back at Orochi. "Do you know why I cut off your tail?"

Orochi's body stiffened.

"Aside from not wanting you to cause destruction, there's another point. Because the moment you absorbed energy, the aura on your body changed. Deep within that power, there's a nauseating scent."

"That feeling is exactly the same as the aura emanating from the thing behind you. Though, you probably can't see it. Of course, I've also isolated its aura, so you won't be able to feel it either."

Minoru smiled slightly.

Behind Orochi, there was a massive phantom image. This phantom was undoubtedly a sliver of God's will.

Orochi's pupils contracted as he realized something.

What that invisible power of Minoru's, which covered the entire space, was actually for.

From the very start of the battle, that faint sense of suppression had always enveloped the entire space.

Hidden and unreleased.

That wasn't the power Minoru used to attack him.

That was a barrier!

A barrier that isolated the inside from the outside and blocked all prying eyes!

"You... from the very beginning, you..."

Minoru raised his hand. "Alright, this farce should end now. Your performance was decent."

Minoru closed his fingers, using psychokinesis.

Orochi's body began to emit an unbearable creaking sound.

"Im... Impossible!"

Orochi struggled frantically, countless tentacles exerting force simultaneously, trying to break free from that invisible power but it was useless.

"Aaaargh!!!!!" Orochi let out a final roar before vanishing.

Minoru withdrew his hand, reclaiming Orochi's power.

Then, he looked up again at thin air. "What, still not leaving? Waiting for me to invite you for tea?"

After several seconds of silence, a vast consciousness began to recede.

The barrier Minoru set up wasn't just psychokinesis, it was a cognitive barrier created by stacking three layers of powerm

[Reality Anchor], [Presence Adjustment], and [Psychokinesis].

From start to finish, God hiding in the shadows, only saw the images Minoru wanted it to see. As for the true battle, it saw nothing at all.

Minoru waved his hand toward that void. "Next time you want to watch, remember to knock. Peeping is very impolite. As for Orochi's corpse, don't even think about it. I won't leave it for you."

In the original series, God had once turned Orochi's corpse into its own apostle.

...

Inside the Infinity Castle.

Psykos stared fixedly at the light screen, her mouth agape and her eyes wide.

From the moment Orochi revealed his true form, to his use of various abilities, to his complete erasure, she had held her breath the entire time.

When seeing Orochi's miserable state of constant regeneration and disintegration, her stomach churned.

"This... what is this..." She murmured to herself.

When Minoru spoke to seemingly thin air, her heartbeat accelerated.

That thing...

That thing that drove Homeless Emperor mad.

That thing that showed her a false future.

It was right there just now?!

And Minoru knew from the very beginning?!

He even specifically set up a barrier so that thing couldn't see anything?!

Psykos looked down at her hands. These hands had created Orochi. She had once thought he was her greatest trump card against a despairing future. Now, he had been completely erased by that man in just a few minutes.

And that "God" who drove her to despair...

It couldn't even peep?

Psykos's cheeks flushed red. But this time, besides shame, there was an indescribable emotion.

That man had known her past, her despair, and the thing standing behind her from the very beginning.

But he hadn't said anything. He just ate cake with her, listened to her despairing prophecies, and then went and wiped out the entire Monster Association by himself. He even conveniently blocked that "God".

"Just who..."

Psykos stared at the back of the figure turning to leave on the screen.

"Just who are you..."