One Punch Man: Neutral Grounds

Chapter 41

They were dropped off a short ways away to keep from causing a stir. Saitama scooped up Mitsumi to carry her now, and Fumio made sure to walk right next to them. Zenchu stood behind them all and kept a good lookout from his height. As they started to walk into the main street of the market, they heard someone calling for them.

"Wait up!" Lightning Max said when he ran over. "I found out about that thing that changed Rendor!"

"What?" Rendor asked with surprise.

"Yeah! What he said!" Tatsumaki frowned.

"It's guarded by cultists or fanatics now, but I was able to sneak around them to write down what I could find," Max said and handed Inichi a paper.

"Hmm..." Inichi read it over. "So...it was an altar to a...beast god? Of sorts? Interesting. Apparently, it only activates on a full moon. It just passed. Only one chosen person in a hundred years is given the form of the beast god. So...I bet the cultists don't know that you already activated it."

"I was using the light of the moon to find my way..." Rendor sighed. "So...yes, it was a full moon that night."

"We need to go back to it!" Tatsumaki said.

"We will go there first thing tomorrow," Mitsumi nodded. "If the place is swarmed by people, we don't want to give ourselves away. And if we go at night where they gather, it can be damaging. If there are fewer people there during the day, then it will be easier to work with them. A crowd of people is too risky."

"She's right," Zenchu said. "First thing tomorrow."

"Okay," Tatsumaki said.

"Also, um...I think that altar really is sentient," Max frowned. "It was...telling me things. It knew I wasn't like the ones there at all. It...sensed I knew Rendor. Since it lost its power to transform another in full, it wants the cultists gone. There was other stuff, too...but I don't know how to explain it."

"What?!" Inichi asked now.

"Ah...how?" Saitama asked.

"I don't know!" Max said.

"Send me your memories," Inichi said. On getting them, he filtered them out to piece it all together. "Okay...this is fascinating..."

"What is it?" Fubuki asked.

"The altar...it does commune with something. It wasn't glowing, but it was...alert. It knew it was going to be under attack and picked Rendor out of necessity. It was trying to tell you...if you brought Rendor back, it would give a choice. To let Rendor change back and forth from monster to human at will. Or completely remove the form. But...there may be a drawback should he choose to become the monster form at will. Every time he changes back to a monster, Lady Mitsumi will need to show him the flower to help him remember his past humanity to free him. It would be like a fresh monster transformation each time. He will need to remember who he was," Inichi was able to explain.

"Huh. I mean..." Rendor thought it over. "I don't know."

"You have until tomorrow to think about it," King said.

"Like he said," Kamikaze nodded.

"Right. On one hand, it would be nice knowing I can easily protect my family. But...to always have that flower...Tatsi, if I go that route, you'll need to carry one on you. To help me," Rendor said.

"I can do that," Tatsumaki said with a nod. "I want you around. So...I'll do what I can. We'll talk about it later. We said we'd go in the morning, so we'll go in the morning. Um...can I call those people idiots, though?"