When Ye Chui arrived outside the Dragon Battle Magic Guild, he already recognised the place. Although he paid little attention to the other powerful guilds of the Star Empire, he had still heard the name Dragon Battle.
He had no idea how the three little brats, Dragon Baby, Turtle Baby, and Elf Baby, had ended up here, but the fact before him was clear: his three kids were being bullied!
The chains formed by the Dragon-Trapping Magic Array kept trying to coil around Dragon Baby’s enormous body. Dragon Baby struggled constantly, letting out roar after roar. This magic array, built specifically for dragon-slaying, suppressed Dragon Baby’s power so thoroughly that he could not break it quickly.
The sight ignited an immense rage in Ye Chui.
He strode step by step towards the guild’s main gate, which Dragon Baby had earlier kicked in. The magic book floating beside him merged back into his body. He entered God Guard Armour mode, his skin covering with intricate electronic circuits. Stirring music rang out – The Crimson Bow and Arrow – and his body instantly grew enormous, transforming into an Attack on Titan giant.
The giant looked rather strange. Its surface was pitch-black, still covered with dense circuit-board-like patterns. This was the first time Ye Chui had activated giant mode while in God Guard Armour. His field of vision rose high, and he raised his fist.
Next, he needed the power of the One-Punch Heroic Spirit.
Terrifying fist pressure began gathering around his raised arm. Stones and sand whipped up around the ten-metre giant.
The Dragon-Trapping Array, currently controlled by Fare and fighting Dragon Baby, instantly sensed this overwhelming external force. The serpent-like chain instinctively abandoned Dragon Baby and shot across the sky towards Ye Chui.
In Ye Chui’s estimation, Dragon Baby’s overall combat score surpassed his own, yet Ye Chui’s single punch still possessed absolute overwhelming power. Under the rule of instant kill, his threat at this moment far exceeded Dragon Baby’s!
Fare and the others from the Dragon Battle Guild also saw Ye Chui appear outside. Although the terrifying giant looked ferocious, they could vaguely make out Ye Chui’s features. Panic spread among them. Fare especially felt deep unease. He had not expected to provoke this fearsome demon so quickly. But seeing Ye Chui’s fist already charged with boundless power, he had no choice. He poured everything into controlling the Dragon-Trapping Array to resist Ye Chui.
The Dragon-Trapping Array was born to slay dragons, and it also possessed extremely strong defensive capabilities, able to withstand a direct strike from a magister of prince-king level.
Yet now, facing Ye Chui’s thunderous incoming punch, Fare had no confidence whatsoever.
His Dragon-Trapping Array was incomplete to begin with, and after the earlier fight with Dragon Baby, much magic power had already been consumed. Many of the magical constructs powering the array were damaged.
“Everyone, help me! Today decides whether Dragon Battle lives or dies. Use every means possible to attack him!” Fare shouted hoarsely.
He was a cautious man. After Ye Chui rose to power, Fare had always carefully avoided direct confrontation. Yet now this terrifying situation had suddenly descended. His mind flashed through everything that had happened today: luring the three children to frame the Flower Village Magic Guild. He had never expected those kids to be so extraordinary, practically strong enough to overturn Dragon Battle single-handedly. Then Ye Chui arrived blazing with fury… Could it be that Ye Chui had long planned to destroy Dragon Battle?
He had set a trap for Ye Chui and Flower Village, but in reality Ye Chui had set a trap for him?
Countless possibilities raced through Fare’s mind.
However, he overlooked the most fundamental reason.
Ye Chui had never cared about Dragon Battle at all.
The sole cause of everything… was a single piece of pastry.
Hearing Fare’s words, the Dragon Battle Guild members sprang into action. No longer hiding their strength, they brought out their strongest trump cards and powers to face the most terrifying human in the current Star Empire!
“Advanced Lightning Spell: Wrath of Ten Thousand Thunders!” Countless thunderbolts brewed in the sky. Bolt after bolt, each as thick as a man’s waist, crashed down towards the giant Ye Chui.
“Shatter Star Arrow!” An elderly magister shouted loudly. He drew a worn arrow from his robes – a magical construct. Upon activation, it turned into a streak of light streaking towards Ye Chui.
“Super Destruction Spell: Descent of the Sea of Death!” Heaven-shaking flames erupted. A tall magister, face pale, drew magic power from his body while continuously tossing magic recovery pills into his mouth. His spell was not cast through a magic book; this was a super spell beyond his realm. He could only release it smoothly using an extremely rare scroll.
…
A storm of attacks instantly crashed onto the giant Ye Chui.
The Dragon-Trapping chain slammed onto Ye Chui’s arm with a roar, wrapping tightly around it. Lightning, seas of fire, flying arrows – all manner of powerful assaults followed in rapid succession.
At that moment, alongside the stirring melody of The Crimson Bow and Arrow, another uplifting song rang out.
It was the theme from One Punch Man.
The BGM activated automatically because of Ye Chui’s punch!
Two epic tracks blended in symphony.
Heaven and earth changed colour. Strange resonances filled the air around Ye Chui’s giant form.
It lasted only an extreme instant, yet felt like countless years.
“Neeeeeerd—” (ONE PUNCH!)
With that soaring cry from the One Punch BGM, “BANG!” The chain wrapped around the giant’s arm shattered instantly.
The fist crashed down like a meteor from the heavens, carrying endless wind pressure and scorching heat.
The Shatter Star Arrow winked out like a dying spark. Lightning and flames vanished without trace…
Every trump card the Dragon Battle Guild members had played disintegrated completely beneath this single overwhelmingly powerful punch.
Not because of elemental advantage or anything of the sort – simply because this punch was strong. Strong enough to drive everyone to despair.
Fare’s face turned ashen. His body began shaking uncontrollably.
The other guild members trembled likewise.
Dragon Baby quickly reverted to his chubby human child form and dropped beside Turtle Baby and Elf Baby. Ye Chui’s attack naturally would not harm them, but the massive wind pressure could easily blow their small bodies away. Turtle Baby frowned and raised a protective barrier around the three of them. Her expression was sour; she remembered how, back in the beast garden, Ye Chui’s punch had blasted a gaping, blood-spraying hole straight through her giant turtle shell, causing her to bleed heavily and drop realms. Even now, faint pain still throbbed in her back.
“Eee ya ee ya!” Elf Baby happily waved her little hands, watching the giant bringing his fist down.
Dragon Baby, however, looked worried. He had not expected things to escalate so much that Ye Chui had to rush back… Who knew how angry and furious he would be later? They had to find a way to resolve this!
With that thought, he quickly lowered his voice and said, “In a moment, follow my lead…”
A single punch shattered every trump card Dragon Battle possessed. Terrifying fist winds swept through the entire guild. Several magisters were sent screaming into the sky. The once elegant and luxurious guild courtyard instantly became a scene of withered plants and collapsing stone pavilions and sculptures. The wind pressure finally halted before the guild castle. With a series of bangs, windows shattered. Part of the lavishly built castle immediately collapsed. Servants and retainers fled from the castle in panicked screams.
This apocalyptic scene actually lasted only a dozen seconds. When the wind died down, the place was already in complete ruins, no longer bearing any trace of a six-star magic guild’s grandeur.
Fare collapsed to the ground, his body shaking nonstop – whether from terror or from anger and disbelief that the guild he had painstakingly built over half his life had now been utterly crushed in both reputation and power, no one knew.
No one had died. The Dragon-Trapping Array and their trump cards had absorbed most of the punch’s force. The devastation to the guild came only from the terrifying residual wind pressure. Ye Chui had to admit they were impressive.
By pooling the entire guild’s strength, they had barely managed to block one of his punches.
So, what about the second?
Ye Chui’s giant form dispersed. He returned to normal size and exited God Guard Armour mode. He walked slowly through the ruined courtyard, his face still icy cold.
He ignored the terrified, collapsed Dragon Battle magisters and headed straight for his three bear children, wanting to make sure they were unharmed.
“Master…” At that moment, Dragon Baby suddenly dragged out a long wail, toddled over on his short legs, tripped, scrambled up again, and threw himself at Ye Chui. He wrapped his arms around Ye Chui’s leg and started bawling, “You finally came! I thought I’d never see you again! These people are so scary, waaaah…”
Elf Baby also hurried over, hugging Ye Chui’s other leg. She looked up and let out a string of “ee ya ee ya” cries, her adorable little face wearing an expression of having been thoroughly frightened.
Ye Chui froze slightly.
Turtle Baby walked over with a complicated expression. She had not expected Dragon Baby’s “follow my lead” to mean this… acting cute? She was a chaos turtle several thousand years old. Did she still have any dignity left if she had to act cute for this human magister…
Besides, there were no legs left for her to hug.
Noticing Ye Chui looking at her, Turtle Baby huffed and turned her head away.
“What on earth happened? Where’s Green?” Ye Chui asked coldly. He had already imagined the worst: these Dragon Battle bastards must have sneaked into his guild while he was away, kidnapped the three babies, and brought them here. Only Green had been guarding the guild. When Ye Chui arrived, he had already checked the magic book map – Green’s red dot was gone. Could it be… Green had been killed by these people?
That was the main reason for his extreme anger!
Dragon Baby began explaining through sobs.
Then every trace of rage on Ye Chui’s face turned into pure astonishment.
“Today we were going to buy pastries… Green is fine. Turtle Baby locked him in a pocket dimension to train him… We bought delicious pastries. Baby was saving mine to bring home for you, treasuring it so much. But then, but then…”
Dragon Baby wore an expression of speechless fury.
“Then we ran into these bad people from the guild! They shamelessly knocked Baby’s pastry onto the ground! They said they would compensate us, but in the end they tried to cheat us! They even scam little children! It’s too evil!”
Elf Baby kept nodding vigorously, looking as if these uncles were utterly wicked.
“We don’t know what they were up to, but they tricked us into an abandoned house, and then the house collapsed. Just to avoid paying for the pastry, they tried to silence us! Of course we came here to settle accounts.” Dragon Baby continued vividly, “But when we arrived, they still refused to pay, and then they all attacked us together… Master, they are total scoundrels! You must make them pay for the pastry!”
Dragon Baby deliberately used exaggerated tones. Of course he knew the truth was different. Saying this now was purely to create the impression of “I’m just an innocent little chubby kid who knows nothing” to fool Ye Chui.
Hearing Dragon Baby’s words, Ye Chui fell silent, his face twitching slightly.
Fare, lying not far away, was even more silent – and far more aggrieved.
After all this, it really was just about one piece of pastry?
At this moment he wanted to curse…
Earlier when Dragon Baby demanded compensation for the pastry, Fare had thought he was just bargaining. After all, in his view, someone with such terrifying power could not possibly be as childish as he appeared. But now Ye Chui had arrived, and listening to Dragon Baby’s dramatic sob story, they had truly come just for a piece of pastry?
Fare looked towards Yoru in the distance. What kind of pastry was worth destroying an entire magic guild?
Yoru also looked completely bewildered. The thing he had knocked from Elf Baby’s hand had just been an ordinary pastry…
Would future history books record that Dragon Battle Guild was destroyed today because of one piece of pastry?
At that moment, a figure buried under plant debris slowly crawled up from the ground. It was Evans, who had been drunk earlier. Turtle Baby had brought him here and tossed him aside. Lying flat on the ground during Ye Chui’s punch, he had miraculously escaped most of the impact. Only now did he wake up, still swaying unsteadily.
Seeing the devastation around him and spotting Ye Chui, his confused expression immediately turned tense.
He had not yet grasped the situation, but he harboured deep hostility towards Ye Chui. Suddenly seeing Ye Chui standing right there, combined with the surrounding wreckage, a sense of danger instantly rose in his heart.
In the next instant, he drew a two-foot slender sword from his back, let out a low roar, and charged straight at Ye Chui…
