Side. Third Person
At a quick glance, one could say the advantage had shifted to the students of Class 1-A.
Joined by Midoriya and Towa, along with Bakugo, Kirishima, and Todoroki, they now outnumbered the villains. Additionally, one of the enemy's key combatants, Nomu, had been frozen and restrained by Todoroki.
Side. Third Person
At a quick glance, one could say the advantage had shifted to the students of Class 1-A.
Joined by Midoriya and Towa, along with Bakugo, Kirishima, and Todoroki, they now outnumbered the villains. Additionally, one of the enemy's key combatants, Nomu, had been frozen and restrained by Todoroki.
Of course, the remaining Shigaraki and Kurogiri were by no means opponents to be taken lightly, but the advantage still lay with the students' side.
Ice, Explosion, Hardening, and two Enhancement-types. While not exactly abundant, they had a variety of Quirks and should be able to handle various situations.
However, Shigaraki, who seemed to be the one cornered into an unfavorable position, showed no panic, instead making his displeasure blatantly obvious. He scratched his neck irritably and cursed.
"Haah... Seriously, every single one of you... Well, anyway, it's bad that the exit's blocked. Nomu, take out the explosion brat, get Kurogiri back."
After giving that brief order, Nomu, who should have been immobilized by the ice, strained its body and moved.
Instantly, with a cracking sound... the frozen parts of Nomu's body shattered. But Nomu, just like when it was roasted by flames earlier, showed no sign of being disturbed, let alone any indication of pain.
Before the astonished eyes of Todoroki and the others, from the cracked, damaged wounds on Nomu's body, dark red flesh swelled up with a squelching sound... and before their eyes, it 'regenerated' back to normal.
Bakugo, stunned by that shocking and grotesque spectacle, was slow to react. The next moment, following Shigaraki's command, Nomu's fist closed in on Bakugo.
—Fwoosh! BOOM!!
A punch that would have blown Bakugo's head clean off if it connected, however, did not hit him... it swung through empty air with a roaring sound of cutting wind, utterly unlike any noise a human body could make.
But it hadn't hit nothing at all...
"...Ah, oof!"
"You bastard... What the hell are you doing, you big woman!"
Just before Nomu's fist was swung, Towa had shoved Bakugo aside to cover him, while she herself bent her upper body back sharply, narrowly avoiding the fist... it had grazed her.
Merely grazing her from her abdomen to her chest area, Towa's sturdy, corset-type suit, made of tough material, was torn to shreds. With nothing left to hold her chest, Towa's ample bust bounced out, exposed.
"Ugh... Hey, are you okay, Bakugo! Fumiko!"
"Shut up, of course I'm fine, shitty hair!"
"I'm fine too! But, just a graze did this... the wind pressure, or rather, the power is insane. I thought my boobs were gonna get torn off."
"...If you can crack jokes, you must be okay."
"W-well, I'm glad you're not hurt, but Fumiko, your, your chest! Your chest is out! You should fall back for a moment..."
"It's fine, it's not like I lose anything if people see... Showing an opening to these guys is worse than being naked. Next time, it might be my head getting blown off if I'm not careful."
Saying that, Towa nonetheless buttoned up her school uniform-style jacket, temporarily covering her now topless upper body.
Midoriya felt relieved seeing that, but the critical situation was still ongoing.
Shigaraki was still active, Kurogiri had been freed from Bakugo, and the Nomu that had been restrained by ice had completed its regeneration. It maintained its eerie silence, showing no expression, let anything resembling emotion.
Staring at Nomu's imposing figure... Midoriya's mind raced at high speed.
The situation was pretty bad. It had completely reversed from earlier, and they were now at a disadvantage. Kurogiri was free, Nomu was free and in perfect condition, and it had just demonstrated its overwhelming combat prowess.
Speed and power likely superior to anyone present here, regenerative abilities that shrugged off injuries from their attacks. From its movements, it didn't even seem to feel pain... and attacks boasting lethal power with each blow were being unleashed upon them without the slightest hesitation.
They, still immature and inexperienced, didn't know how to face these enemies. But stopping their thoughts now would mean the end. Therefore, Midoriya desperately thought.
(The most dangerous one is that enemy called Nomu... Its absurd regenerative power that instantly restores lost limbs, power enough to tear a special material suit with just a graze, speed so fast its movements are hard to see, and toughness that didn't flinch even under Fumiko's full-power attack... Any single one of these would be more than just troublesome. It's just like All Might... Now that I think of it, Todoroki-kun said that thing is the villains' secret weapon against All Might... They came here intending to kill All Might in the first place. Asui-san also said 'they probably came because they have a plan to kill him.' If that's the case, then at the very least, the enemy side is confident that this Nomu is strong enough to beat All Might? No, rather...)
Thinking that far, Midoriya suddenly recalled several scenes from the fight up until now.
Simultaneously, a certain question occurred to him.
"...An enemy that can beat All Might... or rather, an enemy that 'can' beat All Might...?"
He muttered those words almost under his breath, but they were heard by Todoroki, Bakugo, and Towa, who were nearby.
(It's not that our attacks are completely ineffective. Todoroki-kun's ice attacks worked, and even though it regenerated, we did manage to deprive it of its limbs once. When Fumiko attacked by throwing the flamethrower, it burned and got scorched, and metal fragments from the explosion pierced and embedded themselves. It seemed to bleed too, and it had small wounds all over its body... That's strange. The impact from metal fragments that cause 'small wounds' should be far less powerful than Fumiko's punches. Despite that, the latter had no effect, while the former... whether it was effective or not, it was able to wound it. What's the difference? If it's not simple power... then the type of attack? Heat, cold, and sharp, piercing attacks work, which means...)
"Could it be that Nomu guy... has some 'Quirk' or something that makes it immune to blunt force...?"
"Oh, what's this, you figured it out, messy hair-kun. That's right... This one's name is 'Nomu'. it's the secret weapon against All Might. It possesses the Quirks you just saw, 'Super Regeneration' and 'Shock Absorption', which nullifies the opponent's attacks. On top of that, its power is on a level where it can trade blows with All Might. It's a super high-performance sandbag. You guys, of course, and even All Might himself can't beat this thing."
•••
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