Twenty minutes to go…
Beams of laser bombarded frozen cars as Mina slid over the ice, effortlessly dodging Yuga's attacks.
It would have been a different matter if he could aim properly, standing still.
But Yuga should have stayed holed up, hidden, instead of trying his best to enter the race, reaching for the central area, too.
Now, his skin had gained a reddish-blue appearance, a long trail of snot frozen as it dripped down his nose. Not to mention, he was shivering so much that by the time he aimed at Mina and fired the laser beam, she had already read its trajectory, dodging it.
Mina didn't suffer because of the chilling temperature as much as he did.
There was a constant layer of acid on her body, which she kept discarding and replacing with a fresh layer. Also, unlike Yuga, her feet weren't in direct contact with the ice, a thick, bulbous layer of acid letting her almost float in the air.
In a final swoop around the laser, Mina finally closed the gap between her and Yuga.
Acrobatically, she jumped over the boy before he could fire his laser beam indiscriminately, grabbed his shoulders as she hung in the air, and came down, lifting him.
Then, with a loud slam, she planted him down on the floor.
When she straightened herself and looked at Yuga, her lips twitched, making her realize that she had perhaps overdone it.
Vomit was dripping from the corner of his mouth, his pupils shaking in delirium.
So many laser beams had already given him a bad stomach. To top it off, she had given him a roller coaster-like experience, pushing him beyond the edge. He couldn't even press the emergency switch now, it seemed.
Licking her lips, Mina had just bent her waist to do the same for him when a chill ran down her spine.
It started with a low roar of jet engines.
The sound boiled in her mind, becoming louder and louder.
As if time stopped for her, Mina suddenly realized what and who it was.
It was Tenya — roaring his way right toward her!
Mina had a distinct feeling in that moment.
By the time she would get up and turn around to face him, it would already be all over.
If it were before, then she probably would not have had any way to defend herself. But, like others, she had been working on her Quirk for the last two months, including the Training Camp. She hadn't gotten a chance to show off during the Training Camp, but…
Just the roar of engines deafened her ears; instead of getting up, Mina flipped forward.
Simultaneously, from her legs, an insane amount of acid spurted out, becoming a wall behind her.
This acid was different, though.
Even during the Training Camp, Mina had been working on increasing the solubility and viscosity, ultimately creating an Ultimate Move — Acid Veil!
The Ultimate Move training, though, gave her the time she needed to perfect her Acid Veil, turning it into Super Acid Veil!
Tenya, who had only planned to knock out Mina, saw a layer of acid appear between him and her so fast that he couldn't do anything but jump at it, kicking out.
His engines were firing so fast that his armored foot slammed into the acid with the speed of a missile.
"…"
Tenya's eyes widened.
Instead of sending the acid splattering everywhere, his foot embedded deep within the acid wall, slowly going deeper and deeper.
Meanwhile, behind the Super Acid Veil, Mina grinned.
Because her Ultimate Move was not only super, super viscous, but… it was also super, super corrosive.
A painful grunt escaped from Tenya's mouth as the gelatinous, highly corrosive acid melted its way through the armored boot and burned his foot, forcing him to use his other leg to throw himself in a different direction.
Mina watched as Tenya crashed on the frozen concrete, rolled several meters, and then slammed into a car.
Then, letting out painful grunts, he planted his naked foot into the ice.
"Oi!" Mina shouted, knowing that Tenya wouldn't ever let her reach the central region given his speed. "I am not done with you!"
Breaking out in a run toward Tenya, she created blobs of low-viscosity but highly corrosive acid, aiming to use another Ultimate Move — Acid Shot — on Tenya.
Suddenly, another figure appeared from around the corner, seemingly rushing toward the central region as well.
It was Kyoka Jiro!
The moment Jiro saw Mina running toward Tenya, holding balls of acid in both hands, and saw Tenya getting up with one naked foot, she realized what series of events must have led to this situation.
If she turned around now, then she would have to go around an entire block of buildings.
Who knew whom she would run into on that path? Luke? Midoriya? Momo…?
Here, at least, both Mina and Tenya… were exactly where she would have wanted them — only a few meters apart — both too occupied to dash away from her range or do anything else.
Mina and Tenya seemed to have guessed the thoughts Jiro was going through, too.
Sadly, just as Mina changed her target from Tenya to Jiro and fired her Acid Shots towards her, and just as Tenya fired his engines to move out of range, Jiro's earlobes jacked into the equipment around her wrists.
Like many of the Class 2-A and 2-B, her Hero Costume had undergone a definite upgrade as well. Now, along with the Stereo Speakers on her ankles, her wrists donned two high-tech Amplifier Jacks, insanely amplifying her heartbeat.
Mina and Tenya had not seen it in action.
But, from the destruction they had seen in its aftermath…
Amplifier Jack —
Dozens of tiny blobs of acid went for Jiro like bullets.
Simultaneously, Mina created another Super Acid Veil, hiding behind it.
Tenya shot himself into the air, hoping to take cover behind the car instead of trying to outrun the incoming attack.
Both Mina and Tenya's strategies were sound.
But…
— Heartbeat Surround!
A BOOM rang out like a titan's heartbeat…
… the sound waves upending all and everything, sending both Mina and Tenya flying like twigs!