Delayed My Meal

Gotham City, within the dark, cold Batcave.

Bruce Wayne sat before the computer like a statue, his eyes bloodshot. He had been rigidly seated there for a full four hours.

Over those four hours, the Gotham guardian renowned for his rationality felt as though his soul had been repeatedly roasted over the fires of hell.

He had seen how that madman painted like Joker toyed with human nature, and he had also seen... the sin he could never erase for the rest of his life.

"Phew... phew..."

Bruce gasped heavily, cold sweat having long since soaked through his expensive shirt.

With his world-leading expertise in criminal psychology, he was utterly certain that Joker's criminal logic in that video, Harvey's character flaws, and the corruption chain within the Gotham City Police Department were all flawless beyond question!

This was not some fabricated movie!!!

In another dimension.

The Demon Slayer world, the Butterfly Mansion.

Shinobu Kocho collapsed onto the corridor floor, clutching the haori left behind by her sister Kanae as she sobbed uncontrollably.

In the file titled Demon Slayer, she had personally seen her future self inject wisteria poison into her own body in order to poison Upper Rank Two Doma, only to be devoured by that evil demon with a smile in the end.

"Wonderful... we won."

[Ding! Group member "Dark Knight of Gotham" has undergone a major shift in his fate trajectory! Congratulations, Host, you have received: 200 points!]

[Ding! Group member "Smile Under the Wisteria Flowers" has undergone a major shift in her fate trajectory! Congratulations, Host, you have received: 200 points!]

The next morning, on the outskirts of Chiba Prefecture.

Lin Xiao, sleeping in a makeshift tent, was awakened by a string of crisp notifications in his mind.

He rubbed his eyes and opened the system panel for a look.

"Adding the 500 points from killing Golza yesterday to today's 400 points, have I already reached 900 points without realizing it?"

The traversal function only required 1,000 points.

In other words, as long as he dealt with one more monster, he would be able to descend into those worlds in person and give them a true physical send-off.

Lin Xiao unzipped the tent and took a deep breath of the slightly cool morning air.

The city, which had become desolate from the monster's destruction, was barely maintaining order through the efforts of the Self-Defense Forces and rescue teams.

He sent a message to the group.

[He Is Simply God]: "Have you all finished watching it?? This is only one possible future development."

[Smile Under the Wisteria Flowers]: "Mr. Lin Xiao, I've finished watching it. To be honest, I still have some doubts about this so-called chat group even now. But... it felt far too real. If this truly is the destined future, thank you for telling me."

[The Underdog Who Wants to Be Hokage]: "Um, I haven't watched it yet... I'm doing a mission."

[He Is Simply God]: "No rush, take your time..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Xiao suddenly froze.

Because he had fused with Earth's Light, he could clearly sense that high above, at an altitude of ten thousand meters, the atmosphere was being violently torn apart by an extremely savage high-speed object!

[He Is Simply God]: "Put the chatting on hold for now. Everyone, another troublesome fellow has arrived uninvited."

[Dark Knight of Gotham]: "A troublesome fellow?"

[He Is Simply God]: "That's right. Another monster is here. Yesterday's was called Golza; today's is called Melba. Its speed exceeds Mach 6."

Far away in the Batcave of Gotham City, Bruce Wayne's pupils suddenly contracted when he heard that number.

"Mach 6? If it's also sixty meters tall, combined with that speed, the destructive force it generates would be catastrophic."

But there was something else he cared about even more.

[Dark Knight of Gotham]: "Melba? Lin Xiao, where did that name come from? According to Yukino Yukinoshita, it appeared in your world for the first time. Why are you so certain of its name and designation?"

[He Is Simply God]: "Because I once saw records of them in a special place. They are called Ultra-Ancient Monsters. They should never have appeared in this peaceful era."

[He Is Simply God]: "Mr. Bruce, I know that as a guardian, you are accustomed to doubting every unknown power. That is a good thing. Gotham needs that vigilance of yours."

[He Is Simply God]: We will become friends.

[Dark Knight of Gotham]: "..."

Inside the Tokyo Air Defense Command, piercing alarms nearly blew the roof off.

"Radar has detected an unknown high-speed flying object! It is diving toward Chiba Prefecture's urban district at Mach 6.5!"

"The F-15J fighter squadron has taken off! Missiles locked on!"

"Damn it, yesterday's one was just taken down! Reconstruction hasn't even begun, and another new monster has appeared today!"

In the sky, four Self-Defense Forces jets trailed flames as they fired several air-to-air missiles at the enormous shadow tearing through the clouds.

However, Melba's enormous body, with a wingspan of over fifty meters, merely made a sharp turn in midair and shook off the missiles with unbelievable maneuverability.

Then, two orange destructive beams shot from its enormous eyes!

Boom! Boom!

Two miserable bursts of flame bloomed in the sky as the fighter jets were instantly vaporized like paper.

The main battle tanks on the ground fired wildly, but the armor-piercing rounds only scraped a few faint sparks from Melba's bony plates.

"Monster... is this a monster on the same level as yesterday's... what has happened to this world..." The commander of the Air Defense Command slumped helplessly into his chair, his face ashen.

Just as Melba prepared to spew destructive beams at the densely packed urban district.

Boom!!!

A muffled explosion rang out from the sky.

Before the horrified gazes of countless civilians and Self-Defense Forces officers, a crimson pillar of light shot into the sky from the outskirts!

Within that light stretching from heaven to earth, a fifty-meter giant clad in red and silver appeared in the sky a thousand meters above without warning.

Lin Xiao abruptly spread his enormous arms in midair and forcibly caught Melba head-on as it dove at Mach 6!

A visible ring of white sonic boom clouds exploded over Chiba Prefecture, shattering even glass curtain walls several kilometers away.

On the Self-Defense Forces' radar screens, the curve representing the energy peak instantly broke the scale!

"He stopped it..." The commander stared fixedly at the screen. "It's that red giant from yesterday! He's protecting the city!"

In midair, Lin Xiao clutched Melba tightly by the throat and, carrying the gravitational potential of a falling meteor, violently smashed it into the ground from several thousand meters up!

Rumbleee!!

Forests stretching for several kilometers in every direction were reduced to ash in that instant. When the giant's feet touched down, the earth trembled, and tens of thousands of tons of soil were flung dozens of meters into the air like a tsunami!

"Screech!"

Melba let out a shrill cry and tried to beat its wings as it rose. But Lin Xiao gave it no chance to counterattack.

Gaia's oppressive body took a fierce step forward. His right hand formed a blade, and two dazzling Palm Light Arrows shot forth with a howl, precisely severing Melba's proud massive bony wings!

Then Gaia crossed his arms, crimson high-heat energy rapidly gathering at his head before he brought them down sharply!

Gaia Photon Ice Blade!

Rumbleee!!!

The red energy whip completely swallowed Melba, reducing it to dust scattered across the sky amid a violent explosion.

[Ding! Successfully killed the Ultra-Ancient Monster Melba, protected Earth's order, and received: 500 points!]

[Current total points: 1,400!]

[Traversal function activated!]

The battle ended. The red giant glanced at the Self-Defense Forces helicopters circling overhead, then transformed into countless points of light and vanished.

In the command room, the Prime Minister stared blankly in the direction the giant had departed. "He... he is simply God."

Lin Xiao reappeared beside the ruins of the park, picked up the rice ball that had fallen onto the grass, and dusted it off.

"You delayed my meal."