Chapter 48: Arthur’s Resolve

[New Genva, Southern District]

On the other end of new Geneva, while Tempest and Emila were clearing out the monsters, another scene was taking place

The air in the southern civilian district of New Geneva was thick with the acrid stench of burning rubber, pulverized concrete, and the lingering, metallic tang of blood.

Plumes of grey smoke snaked into the sky, smudging the pale sunlight light.

The streets, once pristine and bustling, were now a chaotic maze of shattered glass, overturned vehicles, and caved-in buildings.

Though the giant fifteen-meter-tall Aberrant King had been annihilated, the lesser monsters spawned by Dr. Lannister’s distributed "evolution potions" still crawled through the wreckage like ravenous roaches.

"One, two, three... heave!"

With a sharp, guttural grunt, Arthur Lionheart strained against a colossal slab of fallen concrete.

The veins on his forearms bulged, pulsing with a faint golden light. His hands, scraped raw and caked in dark grime, clawed for purchase beneath the jagged stone.

With a deafening crack, Arthur lifted the massive debris, tossing it aside.

"Quickly! Get them out!" Arthur yelled, coughing as a cloud of grey dust billowed into his face.

From the dark hollow beneath the rubble, a bruised and trembling mother crawled out, clutching her young daughter tightly to her chest.

A couple of nearby volunteer rescue workers rushed forward, wrapping them in blankets and guiding them toward the emergency medical tents.

Arthur slumped against a dented car hood, his chest heaving violently as he drew in ragged breaths.

He was in an absolute mess. His iconic golden armor which usually gleamed with a heroic luster was covered in soot, scratched to pieces, and dented in multiple places.

A deep gash on his temple bled sluggishly, the dark red streak painting a stark path down his dirt-stained cheek.

His muscles screamed in agonizing protest, every fiber of his being begging him to collapse and rest.

But as he looked around at the weeping citizens and the smoking ruins of his idol’s city, he refused to let his knees buckle.

Instead, he forced his lips to curve upward.

With all his will power, he stretched his mouth into a wide, bright, and beaming smile, his white teeth shining in stark contrast to the grime on his face.

"A hero’s smile must never fade," Arthur muttered to himself, his voice raspy but resolute.

"Because only with our smiles can others find the strength to smile in the face of danger."

It was his absolute creed. It was the very reason he had chosen his hero name: Justice.

Yet, as he wiped the blood from his brow, his mind couldn’t help but drift back to the events just now.

He looked up at the sky, where the faint, dispersing clouds still bore the circular ripples of the apocalyptic explosion.

The "second sun".

Arthur had watched the entire battle unfold on a cracked display screen in a shelter.

He with the rest of the world had seen Sentinel, the legendary Iron Wall of Elysium, stand unyielding against a Level 5 nightmare, declaring himself humanity’s greatest defense even as his body shattered.

And then, he had seen him, his hero and role model.

Imperion.

The man who had descended like a wrathful god, floating cross-armed above the clouds with red steam rising from his hoodie.

The man who had saved him from a life of arrest and from the Federation’s corrupt officers.

But it wasn’t just Imperion’s overwhelming physical power that had left Arthur in absolute awe.

It was the speech he had broadcasted to the entire world right before unleashing the Heaven-Splitting Slash.

"What makes someone strong is not some s-class power, neither is it some potion..."

"What makes you strong is the willingness to never back down regardless of the odds. The willingness to fight back even when you’re weaker."

Those words had pierced straight through Arthur’s soul like a golden spear.

"The willingness to fight back when you’re weaker..." Arthur whispered, his hands clenching into tight fists.

In his past, Arthur had always felt like a speck of dust.

He was just a high school student who did back-breaking odd jobs to support his mother and little sister, struggling to survive in a world dominated by S-Class giants.

Even after awakening his S-Class potential, his actual energy level was stuck at Level 1. He had felt so incredibly small.

But Imperion’s speech had shattered that self-doubt.

True strength wasn’t about the quantity of God Particles in your body. It was about the unyielding weight of your resolve.

SCREEECH!

A terrifying, blood-curdling howl suddenly shattered the morning air, snapping Arthur out of his thoughts.

From the collapsed upper floor of a nearby shopping mall, a hideous, mutated beast leapt down onto the asphalt.

It was an unstable Level 2 aberrant, mutated into a grotesque, arachnid-like creature with six segmented legs, razor-sharp chitinous armor, and a chest lined with rows of weeping, pale eyes.

The monster hissed, its mandibles dripping with a corrosive, yellow acid that hissed as it ate through the concrete.

"A-Aberrant!" a rescue worker screamed in terror, dropping his medical kit.

The beast’s multiple eyes locked onto a cowering group of injured civilians huddled near an ambulance.

With a terrifying burst of speed, it scurried forward, its sharp legs punching deep holes into the road as it prepared to slaughter them.

"Get back!"

Arthur didn’t hesitate. In a flash of gold, he launched himself forward, intercepting the beast mid-stride.

With a roaring cry, he swung a heavy, golden-infused fist directly at the monster’s head.

BANG!

The impact echoed across the street, but the beast’s chitinous armor was incredibly dense.

Arthur’s fist only left a shallow crack. The monster didn’t even flinch. With a brutal swipe of its front leg, it struck Arthur squarely in the chest.

"Argh!"

The sheer physical force of the Level 2 blow shattered the golden chest plate of his armor.

Arthur was sent flying backward, crashing violently through a brick wall and tumbling into the ruins of a flower shop.

He coughed, spitting out a mouthful of bright red blood. The pain in his ribs was blinding; at least two of them were cracked.

"Justice!" the civilians cried out in despair.

The arachnid aberrant hissed triumphantly, slowly crawling over the rubble toward him, its yellow acid dripping closer and closer.

Arthur struggled to push himself up, his arms trembling violently under his own weight.

His vision was spinning. He was only a Level 1 superhuman. Against a Level 2 beast with peak physical mutations, his physical body was simply outmatched.

His muscles were torn, and his energy was nearly depleted.

’Is this my limit?’

’Am I really going to fall here?’

No.

The memory of Imperion’s proud, smiling face flashed in his mind.

"Grow, Arthur! The future is looking stormy! Be strong, your help will be needed to clear the storms!"

"Like I said before, the fire of justice that burns in you is no less than mine, so don’t give up! And walk your path! Unwavering! And firm!"

Arthur’s eyes, previously clouded with pain and exhaustion, suddenly burned with a ferocious, brilliant light.

He had promised the world’s strongest hero that he would not let him down.

He had promised his family that he would always return with a smile. If he gave up here, if he shrank back because the enemy was stronger, then he was nothing but a hypocrite.

"I... will not... back down," Arthur growled, his voice echoing through the ruined shop.

He forced his trembling legs to straighten.

He stood tall amidst the debris. And despite the blood dripping from his lips, despite the agonizing pain racking his body, he forced his lips to stretch into a wide, defiant smile.

It was a smile of absolute, unwavering conviction.

At that exact moment, something deep within Arthur’s soul snapped.

His S-Class potential, which had been locked behind his physical limitations, recognized his absolute refusal to submit.

His mind, completely consumed by his unyielding desire to protect and uphold justice, began to compress.

Humm...

A strange, mesmerizing resonance filled the air.

Suddenly, a brilliant, golden-blue light began to seep out of Arthur’s skin.

It wasn’t the wild, unstable flaring of God Particles.

It was a dense, highly concentrated aura that wrapped around his body like a second skin, distorting the very air around his fists.

It was the Will of Justice, will the power that Sentinel and Arthur had only come into.

Yet a level 1 new hero had successfully awakened it, if Ethan was here he would say as expected of the protagonist

Yes Arthur had successfully condensed his willpower into a physical, reality-altering force.

The arachnid aberrant sensing this paused, its six legs freezing in place as its rows of eyes dilated in instinctual terror.

It sensed an overwhelming, suffocating pressure radiating from the small, bloody human in front of it, pressure that made its own God Particles stagnate.

The next sencond, Arthur’s engry level broke through going from level 1 to level 2

Feeling a sudden, massive surge of revitalizing energy flood his veins.

The golden-blue aura around his fist condensed further, humming with the force of a falling star.

"My turn," Arthur whispered, his smile shining brighter than the sun.

Boom!

In a blur of golden-blue light, Arthur vanished from the spot.

He reappeared directly beneath the beast’s jaw. Before the monster could even register his movement, Arthur drove his condensed fist upward in a devastating uppercut.

"JUSTICE... SMASH!!!"

BOOOOM!

The strike was catastrophic. The dense, condensed Willpower completely bypassed the beast’s outer chitinous armor, exploding directly inside its skull.

The massive Level 2 aberrant was lifted off the ground, its entire upper body disintegrating into a shower of black ash and golden sparks under the sheer force of the blow.

The headless corpse of the monster crashed heavily onto the ruined road, completely motionless.

Silence descended upon the street.

Arthur stood amidst the falling ash, his golden-blue aura slowly receding back into his skin.

His breath was still heavy, and his body still ached, but his smile remained completely intact, shining with an unparalleled, heroic brilliance.

The cowering civilians stared at him in absolute, wide-eyed shock, before the entire street erupted into deafening, jubilant cheers.

High above New Geneva, hidden from view, a single Nexus Corp monitoring drone silently recorded the entire breakthrough, transmitting the footage directly to the highest floor of the black tower.

The spark had been lit. The protagonist justice had officially taken his first step toward becoming a powerhouse.