"This is supposed to be a Dragon-level monster? Doesn't seem all that impressive," Han Yu remarked with a faint smile, his hands casually tucked into his pockets as he gazed at the massive Bat King, whose presence blotted out the sky.
"These are likely mutated bats," Genos analyzed in his usual calm tone. "Their blood-sucking speed has significantly increased, and their wings are highly reinforced, making ordinary weapons ineffective against them."
"Ah…" Saitama's face remained expressionless.
"Genos, why don't you handle this?"
King weakly suggested. To the outside world, King was seen as the strongest among the four. But within the group, they all knew the truth—King was actually the weakest.
"I'll take this one. Let me see how strong the monsters in this world really are," Han Yu said with a smile.
As he took a step forward, his clothing suddenly began to transform. What had been a simple modern outfit turned into a black kimono-style top paired with tapered pants. Draped over his shoulders was a white haori.
Han Yu's left hand slowly curled his fingers inward. Wisps of white mist, visible to the naked eye, emerged in the air around him, gathering in his palm. The mist condensed, elongated, and finally formed into a pristine, ancient long blade of pure white.
As the blade fully materialized, the sweltering summer heat abruptly dropped. The sudden chill caused many onlookers to shiver involuntarily.
"Who is that? Why isn't King or Genos stepping in?"
"Is he another S-rank hero? I've never seen him before!"
"How did he change his outfit like that? And that sword—it appeared out of thin air!"
The crowd erupted into excited speculation about Han Yu's identity, but their chatter also caught the attention of the Bat King.
"Hmph, another fool rushing to their death. Even the 'Flashing Flares' is trapped by me—what can you possibly do?" the Bat King sneered, sending a swarm of bats toward Han Yu in an attempt to ensnare him as he had Flashing Flares.
As the bats surged forward, Han Yu gripped the sword's hilt. With a slight press of his thumb against the guard, the blade left its sheath. In one fluid motion, he drew, swung, and re-sheathed the sword.
The sequence was so seamless that to an ordinary observer, it seemed as if Han Yu had merely nudged the sword open with his thumb before putting it back.
"What is he doing? Is he just bluffing? He didn't even fully draw his sword!"
"Exactly! I checked the hero rankings, and there's no hero listed who uses a sword like that. He must have learned some cheap tricks and decided to show off here!"
"Well, he's in trouble now. That Bat Monster won't give him any chances to act cool!"
The crowd, unable to follow Han Yu's movements with their naked eyes, dismissed him as a pretender. But their skepticism only piqued the interest of Genos and Saitama.
"Such incredible swordsmanship!" Saitama exclaimed in admiration.
"Indeed. I had to use my ultra-high-speed camera function to capture his movements," Genos added, his eyes gleaming with curiosity. He knew Han Yu as the older brother of the one who easily defeated him—a clear indication that Han Yu's strength was on another level.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," King said with a shrug. As an ordinary human, his perception was no different from that of the crowd. But hearing Saitama and Genos speak so highly of Han Yu, he began to suspect that the swordsman might actually be capable.
The Bat King, still grinning, kept his gaze on Han Yu. To him, Han Yu's lack of visible action was the hallmark of someone about to meet their doom. Yet, something strange began to happen—he suddenly lost his connection with a portion of his bats.
That missing portion was precisely the swarm sent to surround Han Yu.
"Look over there!"
At that moment, someone finally noticed something unusual. The bats were turning into ice sculptures at a speed visible to the naked eye. Their frozen bodies fell from the sky, shattering into countless pieces of ice on the ground.
"What… what's happening?!" The Bat King's expression changed drastically. He couldn't comprehend what was going on. His gaze darted toward Han Yu, but Han Yu's figure blurred in his vision, moving too fast to track. "Damn it! Don't underestimate me!"
With a thought, the Bat King commanded his bats to unleash ultrasonic waves, audible only to them, rippling across the area.
The surroundings appeared in his mind like a vivid sonar map, capturing every movement in detail. He could "see" everyone's actions with perfect clarity.
"Damn it! Why can't I locate that guy's position?!"
The Bat King cursed inwardly. His echolocation had never failed before, yet now it couldn't detect Han Yu. A sense of unease crept into his heart.
Just then, a light chuckle came from behind him.
"Do you want to turn into shattered ice too?"
The Bat King spun around sharply, but no one was there. Cold sweat trickled down his face.
He tried to summon his bats to form a shield around himself, transforming into the colossal figure from earlier. However, he soon realized that another portion of his bats had lost their connection to him. When he looked again, he saw piles of black-centered ice fragments on the ground—his bats.
"If that's the case, I'll just start with these people! Let's see if you come out then!"
The Bat King gritted his teeth. At this rate, his bats would be wiped out before he even saw his opponent. He decided to threaten the humans, just as he had with Flashing Flares, to force Han Yu to reveal himself.
Without hesitation, countless bats flew toward the nearest humans.
At that moment, a soft voice echoed across the sky.
"Frozen Domain."
With those words, snowflakes began to fall, and an intense cold, seemingly intelligent, targeted the bats in the air. The icy aura froze a vast number of bats mid-flight, causing them to crash to the ground and shatter into fragments.
Even the bats trapping Flashing Flares were completely frozen. Inside the icy enclosure, Flashing Flares tentatively touched the frozen mass around him, puzzled by what was happening.
At his touch, the outer ice layer crumbled with surprising ease, shattering and freeing him from the confinement.
Picking up a piece of the ice, Flashing Flares noticed that the bats within still had fierce red glows in their eyes, but the light faded quickly. Their eyes turned misty, lifeless, as their vitality disappeared.
"It's done. Let's head back."
Han Yu retracted his blade, Hyorinmaru, and, under the gaze of the stunned crowd, his attire reverted to his casual modern clothing. Calmly, he returned to Saitama and the others.
"Not bad. Your sword skills are pretty impressive," Saitama remarked with a hint of surprise. He could tell Han Yu hadn't even been serious. It was as if Han Yu had been swinging a toy around and effortlessly resolved the situation. Saitama began to wonder if Han Yu possessed the same kind of overwhelming strength as himself.
Saitama had seen many master swordsmen, but their movements always seemed painfully slow to him, easy to follow even without trying. Han Yu's effortless precision had truly caught his attention.
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09