"Durian Head's done."
Arthur glanced at Inasa and said.
"Oh! That was fast!"
Yoarashi Inasa said, sounding hyped.
"Next up, the last one. Use your Quirk to guard the 'nuclear bomb' well. I'll go on the attack." Inasa heard that and rubbed his chin. "Feels like you're doing all the fighting. That's not really matching the intense school life I'm looking for."
"Aren't you trying to be a hero? Do you think you can do whatever you want at a time like this?"
Arthur used the whole hero concept to tempt him.
Sure enough, Inasa immediately nodded. "You're right, I was being too narrow. Then I'll leave it to you, Arthur-kun!"
Arthur slowly walked up to the fourth floor.
As soon as he entered, he saw Izuku Midoriya holding the unconscious Katsuki Bakugo in his arms, trying to wake him up. When he saw Arthur coming down, Izuku Midoriya visibly flinched.
"That guy won't be waking up for a while, hero."
Arthur spread his hands playfully. "Alright, the enemy's right in front of you. What are you gonna do?"
Let me see how The World stacks up against One For All.
Arthur thought to himself.
"Kacchan's already out, and the nuke is still upstairs. If I were a real Pro Hero right now, I should…"
Izuku Midoriya placed Katsuki Bakugo in the corner, quickly running through options in his head.
"What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? I still can't control my Quirk reliably. If I have to fight…" Izuku Midoriya's brow furrowed harder, and big drops of sweat rolled down his face.
He didn't even realize he was muttering all of this out loud.
Everyone in the monitor room had black lines on their faces.
"Alright, let me give you a push."
Arthur suddenly summoned The World.
Thump!!
The World slammed its fist into the ground. Shards of broken concrete exploded like buckshot toward Izuku Midoriya and the unconscious Katsuki Bakugo.
"Oh no! Kacchan!"
Izuku Midoriya hurriedly shielded Katsuki Bakugo, spreading his arms and legs into a big "X" shape.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several stones hit his small body.
They tore through his hero costume, and blood started flowing out.
He didn't use One For All.
But he still protected Katsuki Bakugo behind him.
"Still not using it?"
Arthur raised his right index finger and pointed forward.
The World suddenly dashed out, attacking with a knife-hand strike.
This time, the target was actually Katsuki Bakugo.
Instead of attacking Izuku Midoriya, going after his 'wife' would push him harder into using his Quirk.
Sure enough, Izuku Midoriya saw that and looked even more desperate than when he was the one getting attacked.
A special energy with red stripes covered his whole body, followed by that familiar surge of power.
"Here it comes."
Arthur got serious for the first time in this combat training.
"I can't worry about the consequences anymore. This is my only move."
Izuku Midoriya gritted his teeth.
The energy of One For All covered his entire right hand.
"Smash!!!!"
"Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda!!!!"
Boom boom boom!!!!
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Half a second later, violent white smoke filled the air.
The walls around them shattered like balloons, breaking into pieces.
One floor, no, three floors got wrecked, and the building tilted hard.
From All Might's view outside, it wouldn't be surprising if the whole thing collapsed the next second.
Inasa on the top floor swayed and shouted in shock, "What happened!?"
No time to think.
Yoru Inasa quickly controlled a whirlwind, using the wind to lift the nuclear bomb into the air.
He also rode the whirlwind up, looking down at the tilted building below, and saw the insane sight.
All Might, who had been standing in another building nearby, rushed over and braced the building that was about to fall.
"Well, good thing I figured something like this might happen…"
All Might held up the building with both hands, let out a breath of relief, and shouted inside, "Hey! Izuku Midoriya! Arthur! And Katsuki Bakugo! Are you still conscious? Get out of there fast!"
"Monsters…"
In the monitor room, all the students were stunned by the punch those two just threw at each other.
It was also the second time they had seen the terrifying destructive power of Izuku Midoriya's Quirk.
On the monitor screen.
The smoke from the impact slowly cleared.
Momo Yaoyorozu and the others started to see the situation inside.
Izuku Midoriya was clutching his right arm, which was completely bruised and purple.
Just looking at it made your heart clench.
Then they looked at Arthur.
The World's hands looked like shattered porcelain, covered in spiderweb cracks, with blood constantly seeping out.
And Arthur himself, his hands were in the exact same condition as The World's.
"When the Stand gets hurt, the user takes the same damage?"
Tokoyami muttered quietly.
He had found another difference between Arthur's Quirk and his own.
At least if his Dark Shadow got injured, it didn't affect his own body.
"In this round, the best performance goes to Inasa Yoarashi!"
After the second match wrapped up, All Might gave his evaluation of Arthur, Inasa, Izuku Midoriya, and Katsuki Bakugo.
"Even though you were on the villain team, you reacted immediately when things went wrong and moved the 'nuclear bomb' to safety. That was the right call. Very professional."
Getting praised like that, Inasa scratched the back of his head, grinning like an idiot.
Arthur and Midoriya had already been sent off to the infirmary for treatment from Recovery Girl.
Bakugo had woken up too, but he just stood there with his head lowered, his bangs hiding his expression.
"And then there's Bakugo…"
All Might's smile faded as his gaze shifted. His tone got a lot more serious.
"You clashed with your teammate right from the start. On top of that, you used a large-scale attack in a confined space, inside enemy territory."
"That not only put your teammate at risk, but also handed your opponent an opening. I'm afraid this round is a fail for you."
Bakugo's fists tightened.
His body shook slightly, like he wanted to argue back.
But nothing came out.
"…However, Arthur…"
All Might glanced toward the infirmary outside the training grounds.
'To take a full hit from One For All at 100 percent and still be able to move… he's improved a lot compared to ten months ago…'
Midoriya's 100 percent still wasn't anywhere close to All Might's own level.
Even so, being able to withstand it head-on was no joke.
So far, All Might had only seen one other Quirk capable of clashing directly with One For All.
And that memory wasn't a pleasant one.
The rest of the combat training continued, but Arthur, already in the infirmary, didn't see any of it.
Midoriya's right arm was wrapped in a thick cast, and Recovery Girl had just finished scolding him.
Arthur's arms were also covered in bandages, but once he put his uniform back on, you couldn't really tell.
"That just now… was that your full 100 percent?"
Arthur suddenly asked.
Midoriya froze for a second, then nodded, a bit confused.
"Not even close."
After dropping those three words, Arthur turned and walked out first.
Midoriya lowered his head, his expression dim.
He thought Arthur was judging him.
What he didn't know was that Arthur wasn't talking about him at all.
"Even with One For All… still not enough to push 'The World' any further?"
Arthur thought to himself.
He had assumed fighting against One For All would be enough to break past his current limit.
But it didn't happen.
Maybe it was because he knew Midoriya wouldn't actually try to kill him.
During the fight, all he was really doing was testing himself.
If he wanted a real breakthrough, he needed something more extreme.
Something that actually put his life on the line.
Once All Might's class ended, school was over for the day.
After that training session, everyone had a rough idea of each other's abilities and personalities.
Arthur, Inasa, Todoroki, Bakugo.
Those four were clearly at the top in terms of raw combat power.
Midoriya… was questionable.
His Quirk hit hard, sure, but it also wrecked his own body.
Every time he used it, it felt like he was one step away from taking himself out along with the enemy.
Below them, Tokoyami, Kirishima, Iida, and the others were solid.
But compared to the top four, there was still a noticeable gap.
"Arthur-kun, are your injuries okay?"
Momo Yaoyorozu stepped closer and asked.
"An opponent who isn't trying to kill me can't really do much."
Arthur casually waved his bandaged hand.
With Recovery Girl's Quirk, he'd be fine in a couple of days anyway.
"Arthur-kun, want to spar sometime? I heard if we ask a teacher, we can get permission to train using our Quirks!"
Inasa called out, clearly hyped.
That immediately caught everyone's attention.
Arthur versus Inasa.
Who was actually stronger?
Even Todoroki, who had been about to leave, slowed down without realizing it.
"Sounds interesting, but I'll pass."
Arthur waved him off.
"Huh? Why?!"
Inasa looked like he couldn't accept that answer, but Arthur was already walking out.
Seeing that, Momo quickly grabbed her bag and hurried after him.
"You won, but you don't look happy. What's up?"
Jiro asked, lightly flicking one of her earphone jacks.
"The loneliness of the strong."
Tokoyami muttered from the side, sounding way too serious about it.
From the end of the battle training until now, Bakugo hadn't said a single word.
His pride had taken a direct hit.
...
Read advance chapters on p@treon
[email protected]/guilt_free_daoist
Join disc0rd link in synopsis.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.