After the meal, the atmosphere had barely settled when Seryu suddenly walked up to Bang and, without hesitation, dropped to her knees.
"Master Bang, please take me as your disciple!" she declared, her eyes burning with determination.
The room fell silent, all eyes shifting toward her in shock. Even Garou looked momentarily stunned before scoffing, but before he could say anything, Esdeath of all people stepped forward and, with an elegant motion, lowered herself to one knee beside Seryu.
"I, too, wish to become your student, Master Bang."
If Seryu's action was surprising, Esdeath's declaration was outright absurd. The Jaegers, the Emperor, and even Honest,who had quietly returned to eavesdrop, looked dumbfounded. The idea of General Esdeath bowing her head to become someone's student was unthinkable.
Garou clicked his tongue. "The hell do you two think you're doing?"
Bang, rather than dismissing them outright, looked thoughtful. "And why do you wish to learn from me?"
Esdeath answered first, smiling in a way that sent chills down most people's spines. "Because I wish to become stronger. Strong enough to dominate Garou and make him mine."
Bang opened his mouth slightly at that, then slowly turned his gaze toward Garou with an expression that could only be described as... pity.
"I didn't know my student was into that kind of thing," he said, shaking his head.
Garou's eye twitched so violently it was a miracle he hadn't already exploded. "I swear to god, old geezer, I will break her limbs."
Bang chuckled, clearly enjoying himself, before turning back to Seryu. "And what about you? Why do you want to learn from me?"
Seryu, still kneeling, straightened her back and saluted with military precision. "I wish to become strong enough to purge all evil and bring absolute justice to the world! The weak suffer under the tyranny of the wicked. I will become the blade that punishes all criminals without mercy"
Bang's amused expression faded instantly. He frowned, his sharp eyes scrutinizing her as if he were peeling away layers of her soul. "That's not a good reason," he said bluntly. "That kind of thinking will destroy you."
Seryu blinked in confusion, but before she could protest, Bang sighed and gestured toward Garou. "I already had a disciple with a mindset like yours, and let's just say... It didn't end well. It almost caused an irreversible disaster during the war"
The room went still as everyone processed what he was implying. Their gazes drifted toward Garou, who was now scowling, arms crossed. Some of them had wondered what had driven him before, but to hear that he once held similar ideals to Seryu? That was shocking.
"Tch. Don't lump me in with her," Garou muttered. "We're not the same."
Bang didn't argue, merely raising an eyebrow, prompting Garou to elaborate.
"She wants to be strong so she can impose her idea of justice. I don't buy into that crap" Garou said, his voice calm but firm. "Justice is just the morality of the winning side. It's biased, hypocritical, and it lets people get away with anything as long as they're on the 'right' team. Heroes are the same—if someone they like does something terrible, they look the other way, but if someone they don't like steps out of line, suddenly they're a menace."
Seryu clenched her fists, looking like she wanted to argue, but Garou continued. "I used to think absolute evil was the only way to bring real justice—because evil doesn't discriminate. If everyone saw me as the absolute evil, then they'd all be equal before me. No double standards, no favoritism, just pure, unbiased judgment. There will be a unification"
The room felt heavier as Garou spoke, his words cutting deep. Even Esdeath looked intrigued, a smirk tugging at her lips.
"But," Garou exhaled sharply, "I was wrong. I wasn't suited to be evil and that mindset didn't unify anyone—it just made me another target. A feared monster. And that's all people ever saw. In the end, it didn't fix anything. The strong still ruled, the weak still suffered. The cycle didn't change."
Bang's gaze softened slightly, though he said nothing.
"So no, we're not the same," Garou finished, looking directly at Seryu. "You are chasing some black-and-white fantasy. But the world ain't that simple and what I tried was to change the order of things but I still failed in the end."
Seryu was trembling, her jaw tight. Her entire world revolved around the belief that justice was absolute, that evil had to be purged no matter what. To hear Garou reject that ideal so thoroughly was almost too much to process.
Bang finally sighed. "That's enough."
Seryu flinched, expecting a reprimand, but Bang simply patted her head. "I won't take you as a disciple, not with that mindset. If you don't learn to question your own justice, you'll break one day, and I don't want to be responsible for that."
Seryu looked down, gripping her knees tightly, frustration evident on her face.
As for Esdeath, she had been watching the entire exchange with great interest. "So, does that mean I pass the test, Master?"
Bang gave her a flat look. "No."
Esdeath chuckled, standing up gracefully. "Oh well. I'll just have to find another way to make Garou mine."
Garou groaned, rubbing his temples. "Why is everyone in this world insane?"
"You are no better" Bang said while shaking his head.
General Budo leaned forward, arms crossed, his eyes fixed on the old man. "I am curious about the war you keep speaking of and what Garou did in it."
Bang exhaled, running a hand through his silver hair. "It's a long tale, but I suppose you should know, given what's happened today." He folded his hands behind his back and began. "Back in our world, there exists an organization called the Hero Association. They were established to combat the constant threat of monsters—creatures that vary in strength and intelligence but all share a common goal: destruction. Among them was the Monster Association, a powerful faction that declared war on humanity, gathering some of the most dangerous beings to ever walk the earth."
"A war of that scale must have had devastating consequences," Budo mused.
"It razed an entire city to the ground," Bang confirmed grimly.
"A city is tens of times larger than this capital." Garou added, arms crossed, his expression serious.
A ripple of shock passed through the gathered group. The sheer scale of destruction was difficult to fathom. Even Honest, who had been eavesdropping, felt fear of a destruction of that scale.
"And then there's Garou." Bang sighed, rubbing his temples. "During this war, my disciple fought against S-Class heroes—the strongest defenders of humanity. Not only that, but he took on Dragon-level threats, monsters capable of wiping out entire regions single-handedly. But it wasn't enough. He kept fighting, pushing his body beyond its limits, until he… transformed."
"transformed?" Budo repeated.
Bang nodded. "Garou went under the monsterization process, he transformed into something entirely different. A true monster in body and power, surpassing even the strongest among monsters and heroes alike. To this day, there's still debate over whether he should be classified as the first God-level disaster in our history— a threat capable of ending civilization itself."
Silence hung thick in the air. The weight of Bang's words settled over the group like a suffocating fog, the realization of what kind of a monster sitting next to them. Even Esdeath, who reveled in strength and battle, found herself gripping her arms, as if grounding herself against the sheer absurdity of Garou's feats. Seryu's expression wavered between awe and disbelief, while Honest, despite his usual antics, had turned pale.
"I lost it all." Garou's voice cut through the silence, his tone even but laced with something, a pity. "The power, the abilities, even the ultimate martial art I created during that time. Everything is gone."
Despite the grim revelation, there was no regret in his words—only a statement of fact.
Esdeath's eyes narrowed with interest. "But you could regain it?"
Garou tilted his head, thoughtful. "I think I can. If I got the chance to fight some of the strongest again in order—Bang, Bomb, Flash, Blast, and especially that strong baldy, Sitama or whatever his name was—I might reach that level once more and without monsterization."
Bang snorted, shaking his head. "Still so full of yourself. You're too young to think you can win. Besides, my back's finally fixed. I'd be a bit tougher than the old man you used to fight."
Garou smirked, a glint of challenge in his eyes. "Why not give it a try then? Let's see who is stronger between the two of us"
"I would like to see Garou give it his all" Esdeath commented with a smile.