Limiter

Facing Bug God and Royal Ripper, Garou plants himself in front of Tareo. Royal Ripper reveals that Gyoro Gyoro dispatched the pair to observe him and admits their surveillance has left them doubting he is truly a monster. When Garou taunts him, Royal Ripper orders him to kill Tareo, and Bug God explains that becoming a monster demands casting off one's humanity, with Royal Ripper adding that Garou's loss to Saitama may already disqualify him. Garou instead tells Tareo to run, but the frightened boy freezes, so Garou snatches the hero catalog from his grip and scolds him that he must grow stronger. Royal Ripper strikes at Tareo, and Garou intercepts, hoisting the monster by his blades and driving a kick into his abdomen. Sent flying, Royal Ripper anchors himself with his blades and flips to recover, wounding his own arms before healing them. Garou shouts for Tareo to flee, and this time the boy obeys, prompting Royal Ripper to brand Garou an enemy.

At the Monster Association base, Gyoro Gyoro meditates atop a bean bag when Phoenix Man enters, questioning why two such uncontrollable monsters were sent to watch Garou and warning they may simply kill him. Gyoro Gyoro counters that Garou must be forced to his limits to grow. Pressed on his intentions, Gyoro Gyoro invokes Orochi's beginnings, revealing that the Monster King was once an ordinary human raised to that station through Gyoro Gyoro's labor and sacrifice, a disclosure that stuns Phoenix Man. Gyoro Gyoro believes Garou could follow the same path to become the next Orochi and notes that Bug God was told to keep Royal Ripper from killing him, since another specimen could always be found if Garou died.

From a rooftop, Zombieman studies a takoyaki stall he suspects fronts for the House of Evolution. Inside he meets Armored Gorilla, who mistakes him for a customer, and learns the House of Evolution is finished. He then finds Dr. Genus, who warmly remembers Zombieman as the immortal experiment that escaped and razed his lab. Zombieman levels an axe and demands to know why the House of Evolution fell, hinting it could rise again while Genus lives. Genus recounts meeting Saitama, insisting the hero stripped away his own limiter to eclipse any artificial creation and topple Genus's research. Every living thing, he explains, carries built-in limits that keep it from degenerating into a mindless monster, a safeguard set by God. Asked whether Saitama's power exacted a toll, Genus confirms it did, costing him his hair and leaving him detached from society. Zombieman declares that anyone who wields overwhelming strength without turning monstrous is a hero, and Genus expands on the split: monsters are forged by inner and outer forces, while heroes cultivate innate potential through effort or enhancement. Some entities, like the Seafolk or the Dark Matter Thieves, are simply hostile beings, whereas heroes are usually born with promise. Saitama stands apart, having reached his heights through raw determination despite starting with no natural gift. Conceding defeat in his ambitions, Genus explains the stall exists because he found a way to grow endless octopus tentacles.

The fight flares up again as Garou punches Bug God's torso and only bruises his own hand. Royal Ripper answers with a torrent of slashes that Garou either evades or turns aside, and when Bug God slips in from behind, he is met by Royal Ripper's deflected blades. Bug God then slams Garou into the earth and flings him onto electric cables for a jolting shock. Garou springs back and charges as both monsters leap in, leaving the three locked in a standoff. Confident, Garou insists he has already seen everything they can do and will not be struck again, but the revelation that Sludge Jellyfish has captured Tareo breaks his focus for an instant. In that gap Royal Ripper rips across his back, Bug God hammers his torso, and a relentless flurry of slashes leaves him bleeding on the ground. Bug God calls a halt, insisting Garou be kept alive, and Royal Ripper stops but sneers that it may already be too late, then turns to Tareo with a chilling grin and promises they will become the best of friends.

Garou battles Bug God and Royal Ripper while defending Tareo, who eventually flees but is later seized by Sludge Jellyfish. Gyoro Gyoro reveals to Phoenix Man that Orochi was once a human elevated into the Monster King, and that he hopes to shape Garou the same way. Zombieman confronts Dr. Genus, who explains the limiter and describes how Saitama removed his own to gain unlimited power at the cost of his hair and social connection. The renewed fight leaves Garou badly wounded, though Bug God orders that he be kept alive.

This Monster Association Arc chapter was collected in Volume 18 and adapts webcomic Chapter 56, corresponding to anime Episodes 26 and 27. The cover features Saitama, Zombieman, and Dr. Genus. In the original release Genos was drawn hidden among the Mysterious Beings on one page, implying he might be a monster born of negative emotion, but he was removed when the chapter was redrawn.