--Sunday, August 2nd, 2172
"What the hell is this…"
Standing in front of the camp, which was surrounded by drones, security droids, and gun turrets on all sides, Vlad King couldn't help but mutter in disbelief as he stared into the forest. A young man who seemed to be made of metal, arriving under the escort of two earth beasts, couldn't help but stop beside his teacher and ask with a voice heavy with disbelief.
"Could we ever fight something like that someday… sensei?"
"… In a fight against villains, compatibility matters more than strength…" Vlad King could only respond evasively, his gaze still fixed on the forest.
There, in an enormous clearing carved out by explosions, Saito Kai stood surrounded by thick electric arcs in a low stance, holding a black sword and a white one in a defensive position. An enormous barbarian woman made of light was flying around him so fast that she seemed a bolt of light fluttering around him, unleashing brutal explosions every time they collided.
Meanwhile, around the cataclysmic clash of powers, hundreds of self-replicating monsters faced an equal number of earth beasts, giant blue-eyed panthers, and white aura guards. But although the felines and earth beasts were strong, they could barely manage to contain the spread of the self-replicating monster, losing ground every second.
Even so, the time gained was enough to evacuate practically all the students from the forest and bring them to the camps, which activated all their defense systems while sending out distress signals. But Chatora and Shino had trouble getting close to Kai, as the self-replicating monsters were creating literal walls of flesh to prevent it.
…
[Shields 1 and 2 have been breached, master—enemies have entered the property and are rushing toward the mansion!]
[Tell the girls to head to the bunkers. We're going to finish this.]
Upon hearing Sage, Kai's eyes—which had seemed distracted, analyzing every detail of the woman's strange voice—dilated sharply and soon blazed with a dangerous light. Sending a command to his trusted assistant, Kai unleashed his power without restrictions, causing the air itself to tremble and the ground to crack.
At the same time, Kai's swords began to emit a dark, illusory, and dangerous flame—at which moment the woman of light attacked again. As her new attack arrived, Kai, having used his future vision, deflected it from the side with the sword crafted from Tama's aura and reinforced by his Haki and Aura, then redirected it with fluid precision.
Then, Kai used the black sword in his right hand to unleash a precise cut against the woman, who was caught off guard. As if slicing through butter, Kai managed to split the woman in half—but just as before, the two halves quickly came back together as if nothing had happened. Yet Kai, with a cold expression, followed through on the momentum of his cut to spin on himself and leap over the woman of light.
As he moved above her, Kai unleashed a rapid series of cuts, slicing the woman into small fragments of light that began flying toward the ground to reassemble. But Kai quickly kicked off the air and launched himself toward the reforming woman mid-air, who screamed with all her might, a mad smile spread across her face.
"You're good!! Way too good!!"
With the scream, the woman's mace transformed into two long daggers of light, and with them she hurled herself at Kai at a speed at least twice what it had been before. Caught off guard by the insane speed, Kai barely managed to block and was sent hurtling toward the ground at a terrifying velocity, crashing down, creating a small earthquake, and sending enormous chunks of earth flying into the sky.
With no intention of stopping, the woman shot toward Kai like a laser beam, a wild grin on her face, her daggers aimed forward with the intent to impale. But to her surprise, when she arrived before Kai, he looked at her with a cold expression, spun along the ground to dodge her by mere millimeters, then launched himself into the sky by pushing off with his hands.
After a brief moment of surprise, the woman smiled with a murderous madness and quickly turned herself back into a laser beam to appear before Kai. But to her surprise, the young man was now holding two dark daggers of a similar size to hers, with which he deflected her attacks before striking at her neck. In a single blink, the woman could see her own head in the air—but it quickly became a ray of light that rejoined the rest of her body.
"You're really something else, Saito Kai!! No one has ever pushed me this far before!!! HAHAHAHA!!"
Upon reassembling, the woman screamed in a voice filled with madness and a strange excitement and soon launched herself at Kai again—but now her speed was even higher. At the same time, Kai's eyes released electric flashes and blazed brightly as he stepped forward, leaving an electric trail behind him.
…
…
…
"Is that… Saito's true strength?"
In the camp's bunker, Mina couldn't help but comment in a heavy voice, filled with a boundless mix of feelings. She watched through several screens two figures clashing at a terrifying speed, leaving behind only electric and light trails. Each blow was so fearsome that brutal shockwaves shot out in all directions, shredding the forest as though it were made of paper.
"I don't think I could ever be that strong, even if I trained every second of my life…"
Kaminari, not far away, commented while watching the same scene, almost hypnotized. At that moment, Jiro turned to look at Momo, who stood with her arms crossed, watching the screens while biting her lower lip hard, visibly worried. With her heart pounding at full speed, Jiro approached Momo and asked in a low voice.
"Are you okay, Yao Momo?"
"Yes. Kai is strong; he'll be fine…"
Momo replied in a heavy whisper, laced with obvious concern mixed with guilt and self-reproach. Jiro looked at another screen where the Pussycats, alongside the army of cats, the earth beasts, and the camps' defense systems, could be seen desperately fighting to destroy the self-replicating monsters, and commented in a serious tone.
"We're strong too, we could help… It's just that we're students right now, and they won't let us…"
"…"
Momo only bit her lower lip harder and didn't respond, filled with even more frustration and a heavy sense of guilt. Realizing that Kai was also a student, Jiro couldn't help but make a grimace and soon add in a slight panic.
"S-sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
"I know. Don't worry… It's just that Kai never wanted to enter U.A… If he hadn't enrolled, would he have to face all of this…?" Momo commented in a heavy voice, at which point Mina stepped up beside her and said in a serious, measured tone.
"You wanted to enter, Yao Momo, because you want to be a pro hero. If that's a decision you've already made, then those questions don't make sense."
Upon hearing Mina, Momo couldn't help but turn to look at her with surprise but soon whispered with a sense of realization.
"… You're right. Kai will always watch over me… This is an inevitable destiny…"
At the same time, the air around Momo swirled, and from her skin the various parts of her armor began to emerge, at which point she announced in a firm voice.
"Everyone! Even though we were ordered to stay here, that self-replicating monster is too dangerous and could break in at any moment, so we need to be ready! Tell me what you need to fight, and I'll create it with my Quirk!"
Upon hearing Momo, Aizawa—who was about to head out to help fight the infinite replicas—raised his head to look at the resolute young woman. Seeing that some of the students were looking at him with questions, Aizawa nodded with a serious expression, took his eye protection, and announced in a firm voice.
"You cannot leave the bunker—but it's not a bad idea to be prepared. I'll go out and hold back that troublesome monster."
"""Understood!!"""
Several students replied in unison while others rushed toward Mina and Jiro to request specific items. Meanwhile, Momo searched through the bunker and finally found a hidden compartment containing her superconcentrated nutrient solution. After gazing at the bottle for a few moments with a warm smile—knowing Kai had placed it there for her—Momo drank it in a single gulp and quickly got to work at high speed.
…
…
…
[How is it that she gets faster and stronger the more I cut her…?]
While exchanging blows at great speed with the woman of light, Kai couldn't help but comment in a serious tone to his trusted assistant. The beautiful fairy clad in a full-plate armor replied in an uncertain tone.
[I don't understand it either, master. Her 'silhouette' is unlike anything we've ever seen before, but I noticed something. She is weakening—with every passing second, her 'voice' grows fainter, and each time she regenerates, although her power increases, her 'silhouette' conversely becomes slightly more rigid. If my calculations are correct, this woman won't be able to last more than 5 minutes.]
[5 minutes is too long! How are the girls at home?]
Kai replied in a serious tone as he sliced the woman into hundreds of pieces, unleashing his speed and lethality without restraint. As the woman reformed and attacked him even faster and harder than before—sending Kai flying with a single blow—Sage replied seriously, though her voice sounded slightly surprised.
[Quite well, master. Nemuri used her aroma to control the self-replicating monsters and made them fight each other, effectively neutralizing them, while the defense system and Nejire were more than enough to handle the rest. It seems even Keiko wants to join in on the action a little…]
[What?]
While dodging the light dagger aimed at his face and then leaping back to evade a dozen lasers targeting him from every direction, Kai couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief. He looked at a small holographic screen created by Sage at the edge of his vision field.
On the screen, Kai could see Nemuri commanding an army of monsters, Nejire splitting giants with her sword, and Keiko holding two enormous rotary cannon machine guns with a huge smile on her beautiful face.
[This is the current situation, master. They don't appear to be in much danger…] Sage added as Kai began a new exchange of blows at super speed with the woman. Kai couldn't help but reply as a smile finally spread across his cold face.
[It seems so… Have Salem and Tama start looking for ways to finish off the self-replicating monster, and keep me informed if anything changes at home.]
[Understood, master.] Sage, with a dangerous smile on her face, replied, then shot off toward the pair of cats that had already finished off all the other attackers.
…
…
…
Outside the rift in the barrier, Nemuri stood atop a small mountain of monstrous replicas holding a whip, watching as Nejire cut off a giant's arm with her sword and sent another flying with a wave of energy. But at that moment, Nemuri caught sight from the corner of her vision of a dark figure emerging from the rift at great speed, which made her raise an eyebrow and touch her ear to ask.
[Why did you come out, Yumiko?]
[If Keiko's going to join in, I want to try a little too…] Yumiko replied in a somewhat nervous voice as she approached Keiko.
The beautiful black-haired mother stood a few meters from the rift in a full-body black suit like that of a super agent. Keiko was holding two enormous machine guns with which she fired bullets—drawn from her neckline—at every monster that came close. Upon seeing Yumiko approaching nervously, Keiko, who was laughing in an almost manic fashion, paused for a moment and asked with a wide smile.
"Want to give it a try? It's surprisingly fun—now I kind of understand why Kai enjoys fighting so much."
"Oh, no—I was thinking of using my Quirk a bit. I don't really know how strong it is now, since my Accomplice ability is only for detecting lies…"
Yumiko commented as she drew closer to Keiko, wearing a similar suit but in blue. Keiko nodded and raised her massive machine guns while taking a step back, then remarked with an amused smile.
"Some of the monsters slip past Nemuri, I'll leave those for you to practice on."
"A-alright." Yumiko nodded, a little nervously, then took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
After a few moments, Yumiko opened her eyes and, with a resolute expression, created several threads from her fingers, then swung her hand forward in a wide sweep. As if with a mind of their own, the threads shot toward the approaching monsters and ensnared them, at which point Yumiko pulled the threads using the super strength of her [Vital Reactor].
"Looks like they're quite sharp…"
At that moment, Keiko couldn't help but comment while swallowing hard, watching as all the monsters were cleanly cut through by the threads. Even more stunned than Keiko, Yumiko could only respond with visible disbelief.
"Yeah… it seems so…"
***
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