Luke lifted his hand toward Dabi as he flew away, relying on the insane power granted by the Quirk Amplification Device.
But Luke's limbs were moving too slowly.
He was falling after landing that punch.
In a fraction of a second, Dabi had gone out of his Beyonder Abilities' Range.
Burdened by these factors, Luke couldn't help but accept the fact that Dabi would survive today, escaping with the Device.
Not to mention, Luke had a much important matter to deal with right now.
As he fell, he slid down the massive pillar of ice, freezing the plasma within, using his fingers to restrain the speed.
The moment he reached the spot where he had used the Absolute Zero, Luke's fingers dug into the steel-like block of ice.
He couldn't see her anymore.
But he knew — Nyx was here somewhere — frozen solid.
Letting out a frigid breath, Luke snapped the fingers of his right hand, bringing out a mass of swirling flames.
He couldn't have done this before and needed to depend on other sources of flames for even Flaming Jump.
However, after digesting the potion, he could bring out a handful of flames out of thin air in a 50-meter range.
Still, the fire Luke could bring out wasn't much.
After repeatedly using it several times and punching the ice block, chafing off tiny scales, he still couldn't reach Nyx.
Suddenly, Luke's Spirituality triggered.
He and Dabi weren't the only ones who could escape from their icy imprisonment here.
There was one more person on the Tower who could use the innate fire to thaw the sheet of ice over him.
Letting out a cold breath, Luke let out a little smile as he looked over his shoulder and saw Todoroki using the heat from his left side to melt the ice on him.
Then, leaving behind a fiery spark, he disappeared.
…
Todoroki wasn't unfamiliar with using heat to counter the cold.
Because of his Half-Cold Half-Hot Quirk, he was used to his body freezing because of overuse of his right side.
In those times, he would use the left side of his body to unfreeze himself, gaining mobility.
However, this was the first time in Todoroki's life that he had experienced such a thorough freezing of his body.
Even his brain had been acting slow, as if he were too drunk to make sense of anything.
What was that Quirk?! Todoroki asked himself, panting, a touch of fear flashing across his eyes. … Absolute Zero…
As he remembered the words, Todoroki involuntarily looked up, his eyes widening at the magnificent sight.
Even after pouring his everything, going beyond his limits, Todoroki had failed to counter the white pillar of fire.
Yet, here it was — frozen solid.
And, as the shock of the sight disappeared, Todoroki came to his senses. "… I must…"
Suddenly, the heat lingering on his bare left side flared by itself, rooting Todoroki's feet to their place, his heart skipping a beat.
Todoroki couldn't see… and he dared not look over his shoulder, but he knew who it was.
From behind, a cold hand landed on his left shoulder, frigid breaths landing on the back of his neck.
"Easy…" Dr. Blessed said, holding a coarseness in his voice. "… Watch…"
That voice… Todoroki felt as if someone had plunged him into the coldest water. … Why did he feel… such a familiarity in that voice…
Slowly, he saw Dr. Blessed raising his other hand in a random direction, making a finger gun. "… Paw!"
Todoroki could clearly tell that it was Dr. Blessed who had made that noise.
However, in the very next moment, he saw ice exploding dozens of meters away with a BANG as if an actual bullet had hit it.
This…?!
"Now imagine…" Dr. Blessed said slowly, as if he couldn't move his mouth. "… imagine me using this on your friends."
A chill ran down Todoroki's spine.
In pure anger, he gritted his teeth, burying the daring thought of attacking Dr. Blessed. "What do you want?"
Dr. Blessed pressed his cold fingers into Todoroki's shoulder. "You have just avoided… a calamity," he said. "Follow my words… and you will avoid another. Nod."
Todoroki's fingers tightened into a fist. Was he fast enough to counter Dr. Blessed? Could he freeze this monster before he…
Sigh… Todoroki let out a breath, loosening his fingers and nodding.
"Good," Dr. Blessed nodded back. "Come with me…"
After a few moments, Todoroki found himself standing right under the frozen pillar of ice.
"If you do as I say, no one will get hurt…" Dr. Blessed said, letting his shoulder go. "Use your Quirk and shoot fire directly up…"
Todoroki frowned, but did it anyway. He lifted his left hand and sent out a massive pillar of flames up.
Way up, from Todoroki's flames, Luke walked out and grabbed the block of ice again.
Then, using his Flame Control ability, he poured those flames at the spot where Nyx was supposed to be.
Because of the constant bombardment and Luke's precise control, a hint of blackness soon revealed itself.
Luke's eyes stirred as a frozen Nyx fell in his hand.
Even though the ice had melted over her body, she was still rock solid.
It didn't need a scientist to tell that Nyx needed instant medical attention. If she remained like this for more than a few minutes, then there was no Quirk that would be able to help her because unlike everyone else…
… she had come in direct contact with her own Quirk.
Luke looked at Nyx gently before reappearing behind Todoroki, putting his right hand on his left shoulder again.
"You can stop now…" he said. "Remember. A Hero must not always play a Hero… It's good that you learned it sooner than others…"
With a chill in his heart, Todoroki sensed Dr. Blessed backing away.
And, even though he didn't want to, even though he hated to do it, Todoroki agreed with Dr. Blessed's words as he said, "Wait! Can you—"
"— Can you help All Might?"
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