Absolute Nothingness

Meruem's wings suddenly tensed, every black feather standing on end.

He could feel it again.

It was not the pressure of Nen, nor the intimidation of power, but a deeper fear born from Life Origin. Like an ant facing a boulder falling from the sky, you did not even have time to think of resisting. You could only tremble on instinct.

"Stop him!!"

For the first time, Meruem let out a frantic roar.

Heaven's Arena erupted in an instant.

One thousand and twenty-four Black Saitamas unleashed silent roars at once, surging toward the center of the arena like a black tsunami. Fists, knees, elbows—every part of their bodies that could attack became a lethal weapon. Their dense barrage formed an impenetrable net, completely sealing off every inch of space around Saitama.

At the same time, Meruem rapidly formed seals before his chest. Deep-purple Nen energy gathered wildly in his palms, forming a constantly spinning sphere of energy. This was the strongest technique he had created after fusing the powers of countless Nen users—Black Star. Power sufficient to raze Heaven's Arena to the ground was now compressed to its absolute limit.

"You think you can reach me?!" Meruem's eyes were bloodshot. "I admit you're strong! Stronger than I ever imagined! But you're still only human! You can't fight a thousand copies of yourself and me at the same time!"

The energy sphere let out a piercing hum, and the air around it began to warp.

Saitama remained in his punching stance.

He did not even spare the charging black duplicates a glance.

From beginning to end, his gaze remained fixed on Meruem in midair.

"Serious Series—"

Saitama's voice was soft, yet it cut through every sound and reached everyone's ears clearly.

"Normal Punch."

The moment the words fell.

Time seemed to