Due to the recent incident with the double event of the Dungeon Spire and the Dimensional Portal, most agencies closed down for a few days just so everyone could focus on trying to clear the dungeon.
While Tatsuki's party is the main one, they weren't the only ones tasked with clearing the dungeon. In fact, most agency heads have been assigned a party to which they'd go in succession so the dungeon clear would be as efficient as it could ever get. Tatsuki's party would lead the expedition on the first day and as soon as they returned to the surface, the next group would then proceed where they left off. After that, the next group would then go until the lengthy round-robin was finished. By the time it reached back to Tatsuki's party, they'd have plenty of rest and will be ready to go to the next floors, starting from where the others had left off.
Still, that plan didn't hold out in the end because of the pressure that America pressed on Japan. They've only been given seven days and if they couldn't clear the dungeon, then America would have to take over. Even though that was basically a ridiculous request, Japan knew that America could pull it off by spreading false rumors with the agenda of branding Japan as incapable of clearing Dungeons. If they were to do that, then it's only a matter of time before the masses would follow along and go with the flow. Japan would then be stuck in a cold and hard place with its only escape relinquishing the ownership of the Dungeon Spire.
So the schedule was canceled, and it had been decided that only Tatsuki's party would handle the dungeon which would be a lot faster. They might not get a moment's rest but it was doable. After all, we're talking about the number one superhero here. If he can't do it then who would?
Eye-Goddess sat behind her desk by the Heimdall Agency, sipping on a cup of coffee as she watched the news with unease. Just this morning, she woke up from a nightmare that warned her of a prelude to the future. And right now, that very future was happening in her very eyes.
As someone from the top ten, Eye Goddess had always worked towards the benefit of the people, changing the course of destiny since she could peer into the future. However, she'd rather advise other people what to do than mess with the course of the future herself. Ever since that incident in the past, she had vowed to never personally intervene with someone's future unless the world is in danger and she was the only one who could patch things up as the Eye Goddess.
But recently, she had broken that self-made promise in herself, not because it was for her personal gain, but because the world was at risk of being threatened. She had no choice but to intervene, and in doing so, she had hoped that the future would now right itself to where the world won't be destroyed.
Last night, however, she experienced a nightmare that had warned her of her actions. In her nightmare, the exact opposite of what she wished for had transpired and the figure which was a threat to the world right now had already destroyed it, all because of someone's influence.
And this influence was something that could've been easily avoided if it weren't for the double event incident of the Dungeon Spire and the DImensional Portal.
As Eye Goddess watched the news, her eyes widened in shock and all the colors drained from her face. What she feared the most was already happening— the missing gear in the clockwork had been placed, paving the way to the undesirable future that would eventually come.
"W-what is... what is the Star Spangled doing here in Japan?!" Eye Goddess screamed after muttering the first word of her exclamation. She was dumbfounded. She couldn't find herself to believe that one of the most impossible encounters to even happen was about to happen right in front of her eyes.
"Impossible... no... this is not... this is not happening." Eye Goddess's pupils dilated in shock as she stood up from her desk and stormed out of the building, flagging the very first taxi she saw.
Then again, the past few weeks had worked on her favor. Not only was she able to scout Satoshi, he even joined the agency of his own free will. That alone was a win...
... but who would've thought that such a precaution wasn't enough to avoid the encounter?
"To the Dungeon Spire?"
"I'm sorry, miss?" The taxi driver who was an old man adjusted his glasses since he didn't get what Eye Goddess was trying to say.
Embarrassed, Eye Goddess shook her head and changed her response. "I'm sorry, I mean to the shinkansen." Eye Goddess continued.
"Wait for me, Satoshi," Eye Goddess said, gritting her teeth.
.....
At the same time,
Satoshi positioned himself right in front of the Statue of Captivity and prepared himself for what was to come. Despite his power to upgrade anything and make it his familiar, he was perfectly aware that his superpower was inconsistent. And right now, the Statue of Captivity is probably one of the most if not the strongest beast he's ever met. There was a good chance that his blue flames won't work on it and because of that, he's only got one chance—one try— in order to make it his familiar.
Calming his nerves by breathing more slowly, Satoshi then extended his hand forward. Thanks to the Cloak of Invisibility guarding him with his life, the Statue of Captivity couldn't detect him. This gave Satoshi more time to prepare so his superpower would have a higher probability of affecting the Statue of Captivity.
"All right, here goes,"
Without further ado, Satoshi commenced with his weird dance once again, sticking his rear side out and extending his hand forward while jumping from one side to the other. He was really feeling it, and if there was someone else in the room with him, they'd have disowned him right then and there. His dance wasn't lewd, to say the least, but it was definitely sloppy.
The blue flames formed on his hand and they got bigger and bigger. Satoshi continued to pour energy from it. If he's got only one try then he'd have to juice out every ounce of energy he has. That way it would have a higher chance of succeeding. And on the off-chance that it didn't work, then he won't have any choice but to defeat the Dungeon Boss.
Pretty soon, the flames in his hands were taller than him, and they glowed a nice bright blue and whitish hue. Satoshi was pleased with the result and he thought to himself that there was no way this wouldn't work. The blue flame was the biggest one he'd ever made so it's highly unlikely to fail.
With the blue flames at the ready, Satoshi reeled his arms back and tightened his core. "Raseng*n!" He screamed.
At that moment, the Statue of Captivity noticed his presence, and its eyes glowed a nice shade of red.
.....
A few minutes later,
Rumble. Rumble.
Rumble.
"..."
Suddenly, the Dungeon Spire started rumbling, and out came Satoshi, leisurely strolling from the main entrance of it. "Hey guys, what did I miss?" He asked as if he was just walking out of the park.
Star Spangled didn't know what happened to him but he suddenly activated his superpower, aiming it at Satoshi as soon as he came out. It was his body's natural ability to sense danger that triggered such an instance. And his activation wasn't the controlled one either. Since it was a surprised and unexpected activation, the energy output was set to one hundred percent, a full-powered gravity pressure attack that could flatten a normal person in a split second.
Ayumu and Tatsuki felt the pressure in an instant and they immediately tried to step in. However, their positioning and superpower activation were a split second too late and there was no way they could save their son from his unavoidable death. With desperation, the two of them rushed toward Satoshi.
Boom!
A cloud of smoke rose up from where Satoshi was standing. A huge crevasse then appeared once the smoke cleared, revealing the effect of gravity which condensed a portion of the Earth in an instant.
"What the— " Midori exclaimed as he saw everything unfold. As for Shiroi, Kuroe, and Hiroshi, they all felt the same pressure everyone felt which made them freeze in place. That amount of energy output was enough to render them motionless. It was like a warning that one wrong move and they'll end up dead.
"....,"
Everyone paused.
"..."
"S-Satoshi?" Ayumu muttered, her voice breaking.
"..."
"What was that for?! You looking for a fight, old man?!" Satoshi said out of the blue, suddenly appearing in front of Star Spangled while threatening to trade blows with him.
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