While Midoriya waited for his turn to depart from the clearing, he felt something was off.
It seemed like a faint smell of smoke was drifting on the wind.
Just as he was about to say something, the others noticed it too.
"Wait, is that smoke?"
"Yeah. Why would there be a smell like that on a mountain at night?"
"What could it be?"
As Tiger and Mandalay voiced their confusion, a rough voice rang out from the forest.
At the same time, Pixie-Bob was sent flying in that direction and smashed into something like a massive iron pillar.
A man in sunglasses pinned the fallen Pixie-Bob to the pillar and said with a sly grin, "The housecat lady was getting in the way."
His words and actions were so openly hostile that even an idiot could tell what he was after. Sho muttered in a trembling voice, "They said they were fully prepared... so why is a Villain here?"
"Pixie-Bob!"
Midoriya tried to rush to the fallen Pixie-Bob, but Tiger’s thick arm blocked him.
Mandalay’s expression hardened. "It’s dangerous."
The tension in her voice made Midoriya step back, then suddenly turn his head.
A Villain had appeared out of nowhere, and the smell of smoke wrapped around everything.
And there was a child alone.
"Kota!"
Just as Midoriya was about to move, a lizard-like man stepped out from beside the man who had taken down Pixie-Bob and shouted with his arms spread wide, "We are the League of Villains! The Vanguard Action Squad!"
"The League of Villains?"
"Why are they here?"
As the startled children cried out in confusion, the burly man rested the pillar on Pixie-Bob’s head with one hand and said in a chilling voice, "Should I crush this girl’s head? What do you think? Hey, what do you say?"
"You think I’d let you? You—!"
"Wait! Hold on! Don’t be hasty, Magne!"
Just as Tiger ground his teeth and lunged forward, the lizard man sprang out and spread his hands between them.
"Tiger, you too! Life and death all come down to whether what Stain said matches your claim or not!"
"Stain!"
"A guy influenced by his ideology!"
When that unforgettable name appeared, Midoriya and Iida both reacted.
The man struck exaggerated poses like a stage actor and said, "Yes, that’s right. And you are, Glasses Boy! The one who brought about Stain’s end in Hosu City! My introduction is late! I am!"
He pointed at Iida, then drew the sword strapped to his back.
A grotesque weapon came into view, a mess of all kinds of blades haphazardly bundled together and tied with leather straps.
"Spinner! The one who will carry on his dream!"
Tiger stepped forward, letting out killing intent at the sight of him.
His low voice rumbled with menace. "I don’t care who the hell you are, but you lot! That girl lying there, Pixie-Bob, only recently started worrying about marriage. She was trying to hold on to her happiness... working hard even at that dangerous age! And you scratched up that woman’s face! Don’t stand there grinning like some man while you run your mouth!"
"A Hero dreams of the happiness of ordinary people?"
As Tiger shouted and bared his claws, Spinner came at him like a seizure, sword raised.
Mandalay took a fighting stance and said, "Tiger! I’ve already given the orders. Leave the other students’ safety to Ragdoll! The two of us will hold them here! Everyone, hurry and go! Do you understand? Do not engage in battle under any circumstances! Class rep, take the lead!"
"Understood. Let’s go!"
At her urgent voice, the children moved at once.
Midoriya did not join them. Instead, he looked at Mandalay’s back.
Seeing that determined back, he could not stop thinking about Kota.
Iida’s voice snapped him out of it. "Midoriya!"
"Mandalay! I-I know where Kota is!"
Midoriya told Mandalay and asked permission to take Kota with him.
After barely getting the okay, Midoriya ran without hesitation toward the secret base where he had met Kota yesterday.
Since Kota had not been seen at dinner, he figured the boy would probably be there again today.
In a place this wide, the odds of a random non-target running straight into a Villain were probably low, but you never knew what life would throw at you.
To get Kota to safety, he pumped his legs as hard as he could.
At that same time, Kota was slowly backing away.
It was not because of Mandalay’s urgent voice reaching him.
Not the telepathic order to return to the facility right away, nor the apology that followed, was the immediate problem.
The problem was the guy in front of him right now.
"I was looking around for a nice place to sightsee, and I found a face that wasn’t in the files... But wow, that’s a killer hat, kid."
The burly man wrapped in black cloth all over his body had a perfectly ordinary voice.
It was neither a growl nor a grating scrape of metal.
It was simply the presence of someone who had killed people, someone who had crossed the line, pressing down on Kota with overwhelming force.
"Trade it with this country bumpkin mask I’m wearing. The rookie’s share was supposed to be delivered ages ago, but all they gave me was this toy."
"N-no!"
Kota fled on instinct like a herbivore that had met a predator.
But before he could even take a few steps, the man yanked off his mask with a playful motion, leaped, planted a foot on the wall to his right, and landed in front of him to block the way.
With a grin, the man clenched his fist, and muscle fibers rose over his arm.
At the same time, the cloth covering his head fell away with the sudden movement, revealing his face.
"Cheer up and let me land one punch, okay?"
Seeing that face, Kota remembered a news broadcast he had once watched alone, knees drawn up in the dark.
The sound from the news had spoken over the photos of his mother and father, praising them.
"Water Hose were outstanding Heroes. But the brilliant lives of those two came to an end at the hands of a criminal no better than a thug. The culprit is still at large, and the police and Heroes are tracking his whereabouts."
He never forgot why that dry voice had struck his chest so hard.
No, maybe it had been the photos of his mother and father that had struck him to the core.
Even though no one was there, he had tried hard to keep a blank face, but the storm inside had only burned.
So he could not forget.
The man’s face when the screen changed.
He had an artificial eye in his left socket now, but Kota recognized him instantly.
A strangled voice spilled out of him before he could stop it, echoing emptily through the clearing.
"You! Dad, Mom!"
His weak voice could not stop the falling fist.
As the man’s fist grew larger and larger in his vision, and the smell from his parents’ funeral drifted through his nose, light burst forth.
Cough, cough.
"Why?"
Midoriya appeared wreathed in lightning and threw his arms around Kota, sending them both flying backward.
The shockwave from the fist that sliced through the air and punched into the ground came back with brutal force even though it had not landed cleanly.
As Midoriya rolled several times and coughed, Kota looked at him in confusion.
But there was no time to answer.
"Oh? You were on the list, too."
Midoriya glared at the leisurely Villain. 'I ran here to keep him from making contact with a Villain, and there was one right here at the exact spot! Damn it!'
His eyes fell on the phone that had been knocked away and smashed in the collision.
'My phone’s broken! I came here without even telling everyone where this place was. That means I can’t count on reinforcements like last time... I’m alone. Just me! Can I really take down a Villain by myself while protecting Kota?'
His gaze shifted back to Kota, who was staring in shock and crying.
Frozen in place, unable even to make a sound, the boy trembled all over. Midoriya shook off his foolish thoughts.
'What am I saying! I have no choice but to take him down! Right here, right now, with my own strength!'
He struggled to steady his shaking heart and thought of the Heroes he had seen so far.
Like Kirishima, who advanced with an unbreakable spirit, or All Might, who made salvation feel as natural as the setting and rising of the sun.
He set his voice and said, "I-it’s okay, Kota! I’ll definitely save you!"
With that resolve, lightning crackled around his body.
The man laughed at Midoriya. "You’ll definitely save him? Yeah, you really do sound like a wannabe Hero. Jumping in wherever you please and acting like you’re justice itself. You’re Midoriya, right? Good timing. I was specifically ordered to kill you first. I’ll fry you nice and slow. Let me see some blood!"
Muscle fibers burst from the man’s arms and wrapped around his body.
He threw off the cloth covering him and charged with a shout.
Midoriya blocked the sudden ambush with his left arm, but the impact drove his whole body backward and slammed him into the wall.
As he struck the massive rock face like he had been embedded in it, the man’s lazy voice reached him.
"Ah, I forgot. Right, right. If you know, tell me. Where’s that kid Bakugo?"
'Kacchan?'
"You should at least do your job first, shouldn’t you?"
Midoriya’s eyes widened at the unexpected name, and the man rushed him again.
This time he barely managed to dodge, but pain shot through the arm that had been left in a terrible state.
It didn’t seem broken, but it definitely felt like it had cracked.
'Kacchan is his target? Why?'
"Can I take your silence as a no? Fine, then! Let’s play!"
Before Midoriya could regain his balance, the man had already closed the distance and kicked him.
Midoriya was struck, slammed into the wall, and fell forward. Then he realized it.
At this level, he had no chance.
"Hahahaha! This is great! Blood! This is so damn exciting! What was it you said? You’d save him? Why are you running? That’s weird, you bastard!"
'Ugh. That tendon-like Quirk... how is he that fast? What kind of power is this? No, don’t think about Kacchan right now! Focus! The enemy in front of you!'
Midoriya forced his creaking body upright and threw a punch at the man.
The clean, fast punch was blocked far too easily.
Then the man sneered. "What, is that your Quirk? Nice speed, but you’re lacking power!"
He sent Midoriya flying with nothing more than a shake of his arm, then began talking about his own Quirk as if to prove how much of an advantage he had.
"My Quirk is Muscle Augmentation. Speed and power pushed beyond the limit by muscle fibers so dense I can’t even fit them all under my skin. What, you ask? I’m bragging! In other words, you’re my perfect inferior version!"
The man charged in with a face full of excitement.
Midoriya somehow felt like he resembled someone.
Then Kirishima came to mind, and he shook his head.
Kirishima certainly enjoyed battle, but he had a sense of honor.
Even if it was only his own code, he did not hurt people indiscriminately, and he did not enjoy seeing blood.
Kirishima was a warrior, but the Villain in front of him was nothing more than a madman.
As Midoriya retreated sharply, a chunk of stone shattered by the man’s fist flew up and struck his head as it passed.
He had trained enough not to be rattled or lose focus over something like that, but the man’s speed and power made all of it meaningless.
Midoriya was kicked by the man, who had leaped after him, and crashed to the ground.
The taunt reached him as he lay there. "You said you’d definitely save him? With what? Don’t spout pretty words you can’t even make real. Let’s live honestly with ourselves!"
As the man shouted with one arm raised, a small stone fragment flew toward the back of his head.
The man turned, and there stood Kota, tears streaming down his face as he held the throwing pose.
"Water Hose! My dad... and my mom too! You were the one who tortured them and killed them, weren’t you!"
"Huh? Seriously? You were the kid of a Hero? Now that’s fate, isn’t it?"
The man spread both arms wide, as if he found it fascinating.
"Water Hose! So you’re the ones who turned my left eye into this artificial one."
"Because of you! Because of people like you! It’s always! Always like this!"
"Kids always dump responsibility on someone else that fast. That won’t do. I don’t exactly resent this eye either, you know? I just wanted to kill people, and those two wanted to stop me. We each did what we wanted. The ones who were wrong were your damn father and mother for wanting something they couldn’t do! If I put it like that, I know exactly how you’ll answer."
The man turned his head as if he had predicted it all.
Midoriya’s face was there, rushing in with lightning crackling around him, twisted with fury.
"The one who’s wrong is you! I’ve got you! Speed doesn’t matter now!"
Midoriya thrust his hand into the muscle fibers that had burst out over the man’s shoulder and wrapped around his body.
The man sneered as if it were absurd and pulled back his fist.
"So what? You’re going to hit me with that arm that’s already losing power?"
"It’s not about whether I can or can’t! A Hero is a job where you throw away your life to make those pretty words real! [One For All]! 100% Smash!"
A fist carrying a completely different kind of force from before tore through the air and struck.
The man sensed that something was different, but he could not dodge.
A massive impact shook the mountain.
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