For the time remaining, I trained Midoriya in using his equipment so he could qualify for special admission.
In particular, the cutter fire from [Gearshift], which he had been training for under Tsutsumi, had become fairly skillful.
And at last, today was the day of the special admission exam.
I also had the backing of Hawks and Public Safety, so I was able to qualify for the exam.
"You’re riding with us again today, right?"
As I tried to head out with Midoriya and Tsutsumi, Hawks’ car pulled up in front of us.
Ever since the face reveal of "Raven," Hawks had been coming to the safe house more often.
"Yes, thank you as always, Hawks!"
"You really did hire a proper driver, right?"
Midoriya and Tsutsumi often rode with him too.
Midoriya was still tense, while Tsutsumi kept reacting with obvious annoyance.
Hawks deliberately raised his voice toward my side.
"Come on, Tsutsumi, no matter how you look at it, I’m not the kind of guy who pockets other people’s money."
I shot him a look, and he gave a lazy little nod as if to say fine, fine, before the car pulled away.
Maybe to ease the tension before the exam, Midoriya was muttering more than usual.
"Come to think of it... Tenma, did you see the news?
The person called "Raven" from Hawks’ agency has a Quirk a lot like yours. The face and voice are completely different, though..."
It was a sharp deduction, but I didn’t let a single muscle move.
"Sounds like the same type of Quirk."
"Maybe. Hawks, is Raven still on a long business trip? I wanted to get an autograph... He seems cold, but he’s a Hero who can subdue Villains alone and even treat them afterward. That’s amazing."
Just like Midoriya, and just like society, the stories about "Raven" had slowly turned into the kind of feel-good tale people wanted to hear, even after all this time.
A lonely hero who kept his distance for the sake of civilians. A saintly man who kept working as a Hero even while terminally ill.
Even "All For One," whom I had said was my brother, had been forgotten as a dead Hero, and the most widespread rumor was that the serious expression he wore at the end was because he had been unjustly killed by Villains.
"Don’t trust rumors. Don’t believe everything you hear."
"Huh...? But if you listen to the interviews with Shishida Kamui and Mount Lady, he doesn’t seem like a bad person."
Watching the world turn, I was reminded once again that Hero society was rotten. It was full of naive idiots who thought anyone was an ally if they helped them a little.
When I ignored him, Hawks turned around from the front seat and said,
"That Raven guy’s just really busy. And he’s more shy than you’d expect, so if you put him on the spot, he gets even worse. It’ll be hard to see him often."
Tsutsumi rested her chin on the window and turned her head.
"He probably has plenty to hide, just like someone who works under you.
Besides, you can see inside this car, but not from the outside."
Hawks gave a small shake of his head and sighed.
"Geez, Tsutsumi, you react to everything I say like that. Let’s talk about something lighter instead.
Our agency’s been having trouble with a bunch of "mice" lately."
"It was supposed to be a clean, tidy office, and yet I have no idea where all these mice keep coming from..."
Tsutsumi hugged herself, visibly creeped out.
"Why are you suddenly talking about mice? I hate mice. Hamsters are one thing, but..."
"Tsutsumi, you’re surprisingly fond of cute things, huh? We’re almost there, so if we don’t talk now—"
Thunk!!
"W-What is that!!"
Along with the driver’s scream, a huge black tide that should have been impossible on a road surged over the car.
What was scraping at the windows wasn’t a tide.
"...Mice."
Countless disgusting rats with red eyes were drooling as they pressed their grotesque front teeth against the glass.
When the windows were covered in black fur and red eyes, something unimaginable happened.
The outside of the car, which looked like it couldn’t be pierced even by bullets, was being [Disassembled].
The shattered pieces of the car turned into sticky mud, then transformed into pitch-black "mice" with red eyes.
Even with [Super Regeneration], there was no guarantee of safety against that.
Hawks and I shouted at the same time.
"Everyone, get ready to jump!!"
As if we had planned it, Hawks cut the driver free with his feathers while I took Tsutsumi and Midoriya, sliced through the car door with sharp feathers, and turned it to dust with [Overhaul].
The moment the door vanished, the rat swarm lunged in from every direction to surround us.
"Damn it, there are too many! Watch out, Tenma!"
Hawks hurled his feathers like daggers and slaughtered countless rats, but there were far too many for feathers alone to handle.
If we let this continue, we’d all be disassembled and turned into rats ourselves.
"[Barrier]!!"
For now, I put up a [Barrier] around Hawks and me.
But as the rats swarmed over it like they were claiming territory, cracks spread rapidly and it began turning into rats too.
If I used [Hell Flame], I might be able to clear them quickly, but burning rats running wild could make things even more dangerous.
Disgusting as it was, I had no choice.
The rats were pierced in an instant by long, razor-like teeth.
The sight of dark red blood and fur mixing with those white teeth in my mouth made me want to vomit.
"[Chien], [Overhaul]."
The teeth shattered instantly, turning into shotgun pellets that slammed into the rats.
This time, blood sprayed so heavily it soaked everyone, including me. The stench grew even worse, and everyone gagged.
The shattered teeth glued themselves back together as if stuck with adhesive.
Just like with Moonfish, the teeth came alive in an instant.
They bit back into the rats, but there were still too many.
"Are you just going to stand there and watch!? Jump!"
I shouted as I grabbed Midoriya and Tsutsumi and glided out on [Strong Wings].
Tsutsumi’s eyes widened when she saw my red wings.
"Those are the same wings as before..."
The road had already been swallowed and covered by rats.
Even so, the rats were still chasing only us, surging upward as if they had singled us out.
"Is that really the important part right now? It’s the same type of Quirk.
Midoriya, you can fly, so get away from me."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Midoriya jumped off and flew away using [Float] and [Gearshift].
Some of the feathers from my red wings clung to Tsutsumi’s back.
That was enough to let her fly too.
"I’ll join you in a moment. Don’t die."
Tsutsumi nodded and transformed her arm into a rifle.
"...Got it. You don’t die either. We still haven’t kept our contract."
After escaping to a height the rats couldn’t reach, I altered my face and vocal cords, then quickly changed into the "Raven" costume from my bag.
"Kgh!?"
Suddenly, a scorching heat, a freezing chill, and a pain like being stabbed by spikes hit my back all at once.
Looking down, I saw that from the hundreds of thousands of rats with red horns, far greater amounts of fire, ice, electricity, and blades were being launched than before.
The horned rats stepped over the others as if they were forming ranks.
One group fired, then prepared again while another group kept shooting nonstop in the gap.
It was tactics. A coordinated volley to eliminate blind spots.
I needed to find the one controlling the rats, fast.
While dodging and blocking the attacks, I used my status window on the rats.
[곦밯갓펄]
어ㅡ조어냐자농나존타나본내고
!Error: The number of Quirks identifiable through the status window has been exceeded.
Quirks? Those rats had Quirks?
I couldn’t believe it. There even seemed to be a command structure.
"What a damn mess this world is in."
I couldn’t just sit here and wallow in despair.
I used [Chien] and [Overhaul] on the approaching rats, firing living teeth like shotgun pellets to cancel out their attack.
The tooth bullets quickly adapted to the countless swarms of rats.
The teeth went beyond shotgun pellets and turned into grenades, scattering fragments everywhere and massacring the rats.
But when the rat corpses exploded, the swarm covered them and new rats appeared again.
"...There’s no end to this. They’re not leaving even a trace."
The moment I was about to bring out [Hell Flame] to ignore the damage around us and burn everything down, the mountain of black rats was instantly covered in white frost and ice.
A few rats that weren’t frozen tried to escape the ice and surround us.
I couldn’t let them get away. Whether it was an ice Quirk or someone else’s doing, the perfect conditions for extermination were ready.
I flew in quickly and used [Overhaul] to reshape the ice, creating space inside it.
The stubborn rats were still alive inside the ice, writhing as they rushed to surround me.
"[Seal]."
Black, shadow-like matter spread out from the opening and covered the area. Now I could unleash attacks on the rats alone without wasting anything.
"[Hell Flame]."
My clone scattered red fire everywhere, blurring my vision with steam.
Firepower alone wouldn’t kill them all at once.
I gathered as much as I could for one moment of overwhelming force.
For the ideal condition: a steam explosion.
By the time the clone was giving off the smell of burning flesh from overheating,
the blaze had grown beyond red, its core turning blue and white.
"Ignite."
Sshaa!!
The sound of a whip cracking, along with vibrations and shockwaves that shredded debris in every direction, shook the space.
The flames lasted only an instant.
With a crushing explosion, hot steam rose up.
The steam lasted only an instant too.
The hazy white vapor quickly turned into a mist close to fresh blood.
The chittering stopped completely, and when [Seal] was lifted, a fishy, nauseating red mist spread through the area as well.
I didn’t need to look to know where the red mist had come from, so I moved on without hesitation.
With the giant rat swarm gone, the rats scattered even more than before.
As if their "command tower" had collapsed, the momentum from before vanished.
I quickly headed toward Tsutsumi, who was firing from the air, and Midoriya, who was driving the rats back with [Black Whip] wires.
"R-Raven!? Why are you here..."
"...Red wings again."
My mask had been torn, revealing part of my altered white hair and green eyes.
"I’ll say this only once. Wait for the moment when the rats move in perfect formation."
Midoriya trembled, but he nodded.
"Leave it to me."
Tsutsumi spread the red wings I had lent her and moved out with Midoriya.
I immediately climbed to the rooftop.
"Earphone Jack, Gigantification, Overhaul."
"Quirk Replication: Overhaul—Fusion."
Just like with Moonfish, my clones fused together into the shape of a giant speaker. This time, power wasn’t the issue.
Time was. The safety lock was off.
!!!!!!
The ground shook with a tremendous vibration.
"Screee!!"
The rats scattered in pain.
Not only that, but the army that had been stacked like a tower began crashing down, leaving streaks of blood on the ground.
In the air, they were desperately gathering around and protecting the rat with horns like a "red crown."
Nothing reached me.
I didn’t need [Seal] or [Silence].
It was an ultrasound only rats could hear, not humans.
I could maintain it for about five seconds.
"Move!!"
Tsutsumi’s body shook violently as she dodged attacks while flying,
but the hand holding the gun and the eyes fixed on the target never wavered.
"Squeak."
Just before she pulled the trigger,
with a sudden cry, rats that looked like they were wearing helmets piled up and offered themselves as a meat shield.
"Damn it!"
Tsutsumi hurriedly tore at her own hair and fired in rapid succession.
Even after piercing the bodies of several helmet rats, the meat shield had already become two or three layers deep.
"Damn... my concentration..."
It felt like my brain had been dropped into boiling water.
Even if I blacked out for about ten seconds, I’d be fine, but Tsutsumi and Midoriya, who I had invested so much in, might die.
As I forced myself to keep going and tried to raise the volume further, an unexpected voice and a shock of green hair covered in wounds disrupted my focus.
"SMASH!!!"
Midoriya unleashed [Full Cowl] and [Gearshift] at maximum output, then slammed into the helmet rats with steam pouring from his gauntlets as if he were shoving them aside.
Squeak!?
Caught off guard from the side, the rats were blown away in the direction of the impact.
Only two huge helmet rats remained, hugging the crown rat tightly to protect it.
Because those two were especially large, Tsutsumi’s shot would have trouble getting through.
Even as Midoriya was thrown back by the recoil, he raised his right arm.
"Take this!"
From Midoriya’s overheated gauntlet, the [Gearshift] cutter flew out precisely and struck the two rats. They were hit and knocked away.
"Tsutsumi! Please!!"
In response to Midoriya’s shout, a bullet flew.
"Crack!"
It was a tiny rat’s head so far away it was barely visible,
but from the red eyes to the red horn, everything vanished cleanly, and blood burst out like a small firework.
Squeak!! Squeak!! Squeak!!
The cries spread like a chain reaction. As if their king had been assassinated, the rats scattered through the sky and across the road, trampling one another as they fled in panic.
Midoriya landed, utterly exhausted, and Tsutsumi landed lightly, using the wings as if they were her own now.
It was over.
I thought it was over, until I heard a sound from underground.
The manhole cover flew off as easily as a coin.
The rats’ final struggle surged forward, as if they intended to tear Midoriya apart.
"If I squeeze out the last bit..."
The distance was a little far, but I could still stop that.
So much blood had run from my nose that when I swallowed, all I tasted was blood.
Just as I was about to fire an ultrasonic attack, another sudden cry cut me off again.
KWAH!!!
The rats, which had been like a black storm, were blown apart in front of Midoriya by a single burst of wind pressure.
"...Sorry I’m late."
"It’s all right now. I’m here!!"
Golden V-shaped hair, a massive build, and a booming voice.
"All Might!!!"
As Midoriya shouted in tears, overwhelmed with relief and emotion, my consciousness finally cut out.
When I came to, I quickly tried to wipe the saliva from the corner of my mouth and found myself looking straight into his eyes.
Blue eyes shadowed by darkness.
...All Might.
He even backed away quickly, as if he’d tried to touch my body, and stayed on guard.
But then All Might bent so far forward he looked like he might topple over at more than ninety degrees.
"S-Sorry! I thought you were unconscious!!"
He had climbed more than fifteen floors in ten seconds and still planned to rescue us?
What kind of physical ability was that?
When I kept staring at him suspiciously, All Might bowed even lower, to the point I wondered how he was still standing.
"I should have arrived sooner... but you and the boys saved the civilians, and this place.
No matter how the story goes, today you were a greater Hero than I was!"
It seemed that when All Might had jumped in, Midoriya had been saved after all.
"I’m leaving. I’m busy."
I spoke as bluntly as possible, making sure I was still understandable.
If I openly tried to pry into Quirks with the status window, he might become suspicious.
This conversation was a loss for me.
If I was going to make the Heroes my enemies, then All Might would become the greatest one of all, so I needed to move more carefully.
That was what I thought as I turned around, but All Might grabbed my hand tightly.
"Wait!"
When All Might straightened his back completely, his massive shadow blocked my view.
The apologetic expression from before had turned serious.
"Actually... there’s a reason I came here separately like this."
"I want to talk about your brother... no, about "All For One.""
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