Erasure Head looked at the name of the students remaining on the tablet in his hands.
"Sixteen students from Class 2-A," he mumbled aloud. "And nine from Class 2-B. Why do you think Class 2-B students' incredible strategy of teaming up against Class 2-A students failed, All Might?"
Donning his Young Age Hero Costume, All Might's face was heavily plastered on the tablet in his hands, too.
Only thirty minutes remained now for the boundaries to reach the middle of the Battle Center X and choose the last remaining student as the winner.
In the last one and a half hours, seventy-five students had been eliminated from the competition. A great number of these seventy-five students were those who couldn't handle the pressure and the threat of bloody, brutal attacks, ending up pressing their emergency switches.
No Pro would ever blame them, though.
At least, not after witnessing the acts of some of the students that remained active within the laser boundaries; acts that bordered on being called villainous.
Unlike Aizawa, who was focusing on statistics, All Might was engrossed in a few of those villainous acts himself, enjoying them, in fact.
However, from time to time, he kept bringing up the panel of Shinso, Fukidashi, and Midoriya walking together, with the latter's eyes zoned out.
Midoriya alone had eliminated over a dozen students by now, but not willingly.
He is being used as a tool… All Might frowned, worried. Come on, young Midoriya. Find a way to come out of this pinch…
"Cough!" Erasure Head cleared his throat loudly.
All Might instantly changed the screen to another panel. "Oh, yes… what?"
"…" Aizawa took a deep breath and repeated the question. "What's your opinion?"
"Hmm…" All Might held his chin. "Well, this should be obvious."
"Obvious?" Aizawa asked, puzzled.
All Might nodded. "A chain is as strong as its weakest link," he said, thinking hard on how to put it simply. "Not that I am saying that Class 2-B students are weak, but…"
"…but, by teaming up," Aizawa realized, staring at the reddish city beyond the laser boundaries, "they willingly turned one of themselves into a weak link."
"Exactly," All Might nodded. "Most of Class 2-B students have been focusing so much on making their act of teaming up work, that they are overlooking their own Quirks' potential. Also, they are ignoring a crucial fact. It's not like Class 2-A students are too egoistic to team up, but…"
"…they choose not to," Aizawa finished the words again, knowing that well.
All Might hummed, bringing the video of Momo sniping Kendo. "They know that their Quirks can be explored much further by remaining alone. In a way, even without telling them this explicitly, almost all Class 2-A students recognized the true significance of Battle Royale by choosing not to team up.
"Also, if there were anyone else in Class 2-A's place, then Class 2-B's strategy would have dominated the entire game. It's just that… a few of the Class 2-A students are too proficient in taking advantage of gaps that occur while working as a team. Like in the case of Luke…"
Aizawa's entire face squinted as he heard Luke's name.
That kid… Erasure Head had no idea just what was going through Luke's mind. He hadn't even used one Quirk, other than Spot Heal, in the last ninety minutes. As if that wasn't enough, he was butchering his way to the city's innards, leaving behind a field of blood.
Time after time, one of the Pros kept roaring in the earpieces that they were going to intervene, disqualifying Luke before he hurt someone beyond healing.
But that was the thing…
No matter how hideous the injuries dealt by him seemed, they were not something that Recovery Girl's Quirk couldn't heal right away.
Luke was masterfully avoiding injuring any student's vital parts.
And that had amazed all Pros acting as Assistant Referees for the Battle Royale.
Just how could Luke have known that Shihai from Class 2-B had been hiding in the shadows behind him?! Even if he was proficient in using knives, something that Sand had already shared with UA's staff, how could the boy have known what trajectory the knives would take and where they would land?!
To top it off, Aizawa distinctly remembered that Shihai hadn't even shown himself when Luke had thrown the knives in the air.
Then, how?!
There was something here, Aizawa could tell.
A new Quirk? But Nyx never entered the fifty-meter range around Luke.
A new range limit? But Nyx had remained beyond a hundred meters. Even if Luke's Quirk activation range had increased, it couldn't have increased by that much, right?
Aizawa ran his hands through his hair.
He didn't want to admit it, but there was a feeling that kept screaming within him.
Luke… was just too good to be on the same field as others.
If even he was feeling that, Aizawa considered, then the audience, and the world at large, must be feeling that, too.
I hope there's a simple explanation for all this, he thought, looking at an armored Luke walking leisurely on a wide open road. Because, if not, then…
"Uh-oh…" All Might expressed concern. "This is going to be difficult…"
Frowning, Aizawa moved closer and looked at the video playing out on the table in All Might's hands.
The video showed Shoto Todoroki, looking right at the drone filming him.
The entire scene zoomed out, then, showing where the boy was standing.
It was the widest, emptiest area, with many tall buildings standing in a circle, starting from some two hundred meters from Todoroki.
And, instantly, Erasure Head realized where the boy was.
"EVERYONE!" the Pro Hero roared over the microphone, his eyes widening. "GET READY TO…"
Before Aizawa could even finish the words, though, Todoroki let out a frozen breath, saying —
"Ultimate Move—"
Ice HISSED out from Todoroki's right side as if a nuclear bomb had gone off.
Within a fraction of a second, the entire empty region froze, the buildings froze, and… the ice continued to freeze everything, spanning out to cover the entire city.
"— Ice Age!"