Dear Heroes, I really am a Villain-Chapter 73: Standing Earth, Sky-Piercing Cannon!

The beastmaster gritted his teeth, standing on the platform surrounded by many of his comrades. The beast controllers, their arms clutching the chains linked to the beast’s collar, awaited his command.

"Stimulate the beast! Stomp that human into meat paste!" he shouted.

"Yes, sir!" The beast controllers quickly pulled the chains at their stations. One of them pulled out a long syringe and jammed it into a port nearby.

A red liquid—carrying traces of blood and unknown substances—was injected directly into the behemoth’s brain.

Blaaaaaaargh!

With a primal roar of berserk rage, the behemoth’s eyes glazed over with a lust for destruction. It rushed toward Maximilian, raising one of its colossal feet and bringing it down with the intent to crush the tiny human before it.

Maximilian, however, remained undistracted. As if time itself had slowed to a crawl, the world outside his mind ceased to exist. He planted his foot firmly into the ground, his hands moving in a steady rhythm, breathing slowly as he gathered his power.

A primal force... older than human history... began to gather. A warm energy like sunlight swelled from his abdomen, where the so-called dantian resides. It grew, burning like a furious sun.

That force revitalized his muscles, strengthened his sinews, and hardened his bones. His posture became sharp and imposing, like a drawn sword in the calm before a storm, as he inhaled deeply.

"Standing Earth, Sky-Piercing Cannon," Maximilian whispered, his focus locked on the behemoth’s left foreleg... the pillar supporting its massive weight as the right leg hovered, ready to stomp.

Then...

With a rush of wind, his dark, long coat fluttered. Maximilian vanished with a single step, like an arrow released from a taut bowstring. freewёbnoνel.com

He reappeared at the colossal left foreleg of the behemoth, his foot crashing down and cracking the earth beneath him, anchoring his stance.

His elbow, empowered by the primal force and the full might of his body, struck.

Boooooooooooommm!

The impact was devastating. A massive concentration of qi surged into the behemoth’s leg. The force rampaged like a blender, shattering its steel-like bones into fragments. Muscles liquefied. Tendons snapped. The qi rampaged through the limb like a berserk animal stampede.

The behemoth’s tough hide ruptured from within. Muscles and blood tore through its flesh as a flood of gore burst forth like a dam breaking.

Blaaaaaaaaaaargh!

The behemoth screamed in agony. It’s right leg, having missed its mark, no longer sought to stomp but to stabilize itself. Yet the loss of its left foreleg, now reduced to a pulp of broken bone and shredded sinew, threw off its balance.

With the immense weight of the fortress on its back, the behemoth faltered, then began to fall.

Booooooooooom!

Rumble! Boooom! Rumble!

Like a mountain collapsing, the fortress and its monstrous carrier crashed to the ground. Concrete, stone, and massive artillery tumbled down, crushing nearby buildings in a devastating landslide of ruin.

The thunderous impact echoed across the post-apocalyptic city. Nearby mutated beasts, startled by the noise, stampeded into the forests. The behemoth’s fall triggered a chain reaction of chaos on an unprecedented scale.

— Meanwhile – Arkadia City – UEC Fort —

Inside the command room filled with sci-fi equipment and electronic devices, a siren blaring threw the entire group of officers into frantic chaos. They rushed to determine the cause of the alarm, checking monitors and readouts. After a few minutes, the source was identified.

"Sir! We’ve detected seismic activity—around 5.5 magnitude, epicenter 30 kilometers west of Old Manhattan!" one of the officers reported to the man in a military uniform.

He was Theodore Monroe, the UEC Fort Commander of Arkadia City-State.

"Is our satellite currently over the area?" Theodore asked.

"Yes, sir! Bringing up the satellite image now!" the officer responded, typing rapidly on his console. A live feed appeared on the central screen.

From the satellite view, a colossal Behemoth could be seen lying helplessly amidst a massive pile of debris from surrounding buildings. The scale of destruction was almost unbelievable. The buildings were reduced to rubble across nearly three city blocks, with debris scattered everywhere.

"Did... did someone just take that thing down?" one officer asked in disbelief.

"No... judging from the battlefield, there’s no trace of explosions or heavy weapons use. I think something else... something bigger, just drop this thing down," another officer offered, his voice tense.

"Something bigger?" The words sent a cold shiver through the entire command room.

"Enough chit-chat, gentlemen," Theodore barked, silencing the murmurs. "Send in a spy plane and get me visual confirmation. Then dispatch a task force to investigate the area. After that, I’m going there myself."

"Yes, sir!" the officers responded, immediately setting to work.

—

On Switch and Dragon Fist’s side, having witnessed the scene firsthand, neither of them could feel anything but awe and disbelief.

A single man had felled a Behemoth... with a single unarmed strike.

For Switch, the very idea felt absurd. If she told anyone, no one would believe her. They’d think she was on high or delusional. Even she could hardly believe it, if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.

As for Dragon Fist, his eyes sparkled like stars, a new flame of determination rising within him. He wanted to learn it. Not just for himself, his clan needed this! The Ancient Martial Arts! A technique spoken of only in legend had just been displayed in full glory before his eyes.

He couldn’t let this chance go to waste.

Dragon Fist clenched his fist with determination.

"Huuu~" Maximilian let out a deep breath to clear his mind. This was pretty intense, even though he had the experience, body condition, and state of mind needed to pull it off, thanks to the seamless metamorphosis and reward he received through the transfer.

Still, it had to be said: experiencing it firsthand was intense... and exhilarating. Maybe... his state of mind was also affected by the memories and mindset of the experts whose skills he inherited.

That must be why... he felt such excitement, such exhilaration, with every punch thrown, and every enemy he brought down.

It was like the mark of a true expert. No... more specifically, an ancient martial arts expert. Even in today’s age of firearms and high-powered weapons, martial arts could still prevail.

Because, honestly, he hadn’t felt this kind of thrill when he inherited the skills of Blood Mongoose, a master of modern-era close combat. This was different.

"H... How!?" Switch suddenly shouted, running toward him.

"What do you mean? How?" Maximilian asked, tilting his head in confusion.

He glanced at Dragon Fist, who was approaching. Maximilian adjusted his glasses, hoping Dragon Fist wouldn’t recognize him as the guy who beat him up before. This display of strength might trigger a memory.

Switch, clearly frustrated, blurted out, "I mean... how... how can you do this!?"

Her words came out clumsily, she was too shocked to speak clearly.

"You mean I shouldn’t have killed that thing?" Maximilian asked, glancing over at the Behemoth, which was still struggling under the sheer weight of the debris, grievous injuries, and the loss of its left foreleg.

"Or are you saying I shouldn’t have killed the mutants? But... weren’t they trying to kill you?" he added, still confused by Switch’s question.

Hearing those words, and interpreting that Maximilian might have shown off his skills because she was in danger made her heart skip a beat. She blushed slightly, but quickly tried to hide it.

"No! I mean... hell! How can you... I mean, the punch! The... the thing that—" Switch was now completely beyond the limits of her vocabulary. The surprise had overloaded her brain.

"Grand Master," Dragon Fist interrupted calmly. "I think what she means is: how could you use that mountain-shattering strike, despite looking so... harmless?"

"Is that what you meant?" he asked, turning to Switch.

"Yes! That’s what I meant!" she replied, glad someone could translate her thoughts.

"Hm? But I never said I was harmless," Maximilian said with a straight face, though inside, he was quietly amused by Switch’s reaction.

Then, his gaze flicked back to Dragon Fist. He still wasn’t sure how this guy would react if he found out the "Grand Master" he now respected was the same guy who beat him up not long ago.

Rumble!

Blaaaaaaaaaaargh!

At that moment, the ground trembled as the Behemoth struggled to get up, but it couldn’t. Still, just its massive body flailing around was enough to cause seismic activity.

"I think we should get out of here first. The Behemoth flailing around like this might cause other problems, like a landslide or a sinkhole," Maximilian said, glancing worriedly at the thrashing creature.

"Yes! As the Grand Master says. We should escape from here first!" Dragon Fist agreed.

With that, the three of them quickly turned and ran, trying to get away from the danger zone.

But just then, a low-flying spy plane zoomed past overhead, made a sharp U-turn in the sky, and flew back over their location.