The Power of a God (神様の力 Kamisama no Chikara?) is the hundred seventy-eighth chapter of the Dandadan manga series.
Summary[]
Seiko stands back on her feet from the injuries sustained from the Minotaur. Payase voices his concern for Seiko, to which she compares her experience to that of the most dreadful osteopathy clinic in existence, a statement that resonates with Kashimoto and confuses Payase. Seiko informs the two that the Minotaur's body is made of iron, and his strength increases every time he is hit. The Minotaur becomes overjoyed to be able to fight such strong opponents, prompting him to point out that his groin is heating up. As he keeps shouting, the remaining jiangshi charge forward. Seiko instructs Payase and Kashimoto to handle fighting the minotaur while she goes to retrieve her bag. Using the power of a guardian spirit, Kashimoto executes his attack Aphoom-Zhah to knock back the jiangshi and deal damage. Providing cover for Seiko, Payase employs his cloak of darkness to control his shadow, enabling it to link with the jiangshi's, and strike them from beneath, ultimately leading to the disintegration of their bodies. The Minotaur expresses his delight by his ability and wishes to make it his own, only for Payase to berate him in that his body, being akin to poison from a Kodoku curse, is not suited for someone like him. Payase attempts to pierce the Minotaur from below with his shadow but fails to penetrate his iron body. This gives the Minotaur the opportunity to grab Payase's shadowy body out of the ground and throw him away. After telling Seiko to get behind him, Kashimoto strikes the Minotaur with a series of Aphoom-Zhah, which Payase believes is having an effect on him. However, Seiko warns Payase to not drop his guard. In retaliation, the Minotaur hits Kashimoto in the chest, forcing him into a wall, and urges the man to strike him more. Though Payase worries for Kashimoto, Seiko tells him to not stop and help her get through the remaining jiangshi. As she gets close enough to retrieve her bag, the Minotaur kicks her away on time and suspects her possessing some form of trickery within her bag. Having reached his strongest state of "ultimate hotness", the Minotaur easily takes down Kashimoto and Payase as they try to attack him and recover Seiko's bag. He then grabs Seiko in a bear hug after stopping her from retrieving her bag thrown her way by Payase and demands that she concede her defeat or risk having her organs scattered as he constricts her with deadly force. Kashimoto once again launches an assault on the Minotaur with Aphoom-Zhah. However, the Minotaur advises him to desist, informing him that the force of his strikes is resonating through his iron body and affecting Seiko, as well as making him stronger. Regardless, Seiko yells out to Kashimoto to continue his assault. The Minotaur claims that his iron body doesn't feel a thing from his attacks and that he is only doing what he told him before. However, the Minotaur soon becomes shocked to see his arms broken off his body after Payase extends his hands through them. Following the Minotaur's inquiry regarding the unexpected fragility of his body despite achieving his utmost hardness, Payase, in his shadowy form, elucidates the nature of darkness, stating that the stronger the light the deeper the darkness becomes. Meanwhile, Kashimoto tells the Minotaur that his inability to feel pain was his downfall, explaining that the sensation allows a person to measure how much one can take until their body ultimately falls apart, which is precisely what occurred in his case. Though he is informed of this, the Minotaur takes into account of his body getting hotter and stronger with each blow Kashimoto made. Kashimoto then discloses that his flames, referred to as "Ice Flame", possess the unique ability to drop down to absolute zero and explains that iron, when subjected to such low temperatures, becomes vulnerable to hydrogen penetration, leading to a high likelihood of cracking. After finally reclaiming her bag, Seiko expresses to the Minotaur how much of a hard time he gave her, reflecting on how it has been some time since she took such a beating. After she pulls out a talisman from her bag and affixes it to the Minotaur's head, while also reminding him of his wish to face a worthy adversary, the Minotaur begins to panic and attempts to have Seiko spare him by revealing who is really after her. However, Seiko cuts him short by delivering a kick to his face that obliterates his head, asserting that he would be better off confronting a god as a more formidable adversary.